Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - President Asif Ali Zardari will attend the Second World Summit for Social De-velopment in Doha, Qatar from November 4–6, being held under the auspices of the United Nations General Assembly.

ISLAMABAD - Senior PML-N leader Engr.

SINJAWI - Chief Minister Balochistan Mir Sarfraz Bugti while addressing a large public gathering in Sinjawi on Sunday, reaffirming his government’s commitment to the fair and effective use of public resources to deliver essential services to the province’s most remote areas.

LAHORE - The government of Punjab has extended the enforcement of Section 144 across the province for another seven days, until November 8 (Saturday), in view of security concerns and to maintain public order.

PESHAWAR - A Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) official was martyred and two others sustained injuries when explosives stored inside a CTD police station detonated here on Sunday morning, police said on Sunday.

PESHAWAR - Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi on Sunday attended the funeral prayers of the police officer Bilal Khan martyred in the tragic explosion at the Peshawar Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) station.

Islamabad - Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Sunday said that with the establishment of a joint monitoring and verification mechanism, the onus would be on Kabul to take action against terrorists using Afghan soil.

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Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Sunday said that with the establishment of a joint monitoring and verification mechanism, the onus would be on Kabul to take action against terrorists using Afghan soil. A second round of discussions between Pakistani and Afghan Taliban delegations had began in Istanbul on October 25, following days of border hostilities, but Islamabad’s long-standing concern over terror attacks emanating from Kabul remained a major point of contention, resulting in a stalemate. A breakthrough came after Turkiye and Qatar salvaged the dialogue process for the second time in less than a week, following Pakistan’s announcement on Oct 29 that the talks had “failed” and that its negotiators were preparing to return home. The talks produced a three-point understanding — the continuation of the ceasefire, the establishment of a monitoring and verification mechanism to ensure peace, and penalties for violations. The operational details of that mechanism are expected to be finalised when the “p...

Lawyers backed by the Awami National Party (ANP) have won at least 12 of the 28 seats of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council, outperforming other groups in polls held across the province on Saturday, according to provisional results. The unofficial results released on Sunday revealed that three candidates of Malgari Wakilan (MW), which is affiliated with the ANP, two of the PTI’s lawyers wing and an independent candidate were elected on six of the seven seats of Peshawar. Meanwhile, there were conflicting reports about the results for the seventh seat until the last updates were received. Those who were declared successful in Peshawar included Khizar Hayat Khazana, Fazal-i-Wahid and Babar Khan Yousafzai of MW, Ali Zaman and Sophia Noreen of the Insaf Lawyers Forum (ILF) and an independent candidate, Muhammad Saeed. As for the winner for the seventh seat, initially Rafiq Mohmand of MW was reported as successful, but later reports also emerged about the victory of a female candidate, Khushnood Zakirullah. The offici...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Local government, Elections and Rural Development Meena Khan Afridi on Sunday announced that the provincial government would set up an inquiry commission to probe the vandalism of the Radio Pakistan building in Peshawar during the riots on May 9, 2023. Following the arrest of former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan on May 9, 2023 from the Islamabad High Court’s premises, riots erupted across the country that went on for at least 24 hours. Public properties and military installations were also vadalised during the riots, including the Radio Pakistan building in KP’s provincial capital. The announcement that the KP government would be forming a commission to probe the vandalism of the building was made by Meena Khan during a press conference alongside Adviser to the KP chief minister Shafiullah Jan in Peshawar today. “Since it is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in our jurisdiction, our first cabinet will form an inquiry commission to probe what happened at the Radio Pakistan b...

Tehran’s main source of drinking water is at risk of running dry within two weeks, state media warned on Sunday, owing to a historic drought. The Amir Kabir dam, one of five which provide drinking water for the capital, “holds just 14 million cubic metres of water, which is 8 per cent of its capacity,” the director of the capital’s water company, Behzad Parsa, was quoted as saying by the IRNA news agency. At that level, it can only continue to supply Tehran with water “for two weeks”, he said. The megacity of more than 10 million people is nestled against the southern slopes of the often snow-capped Alborz mountains, which soar as high as 5,600 metres and whose rivers feed multiple reservoirs. But the country is in the midst of its worst drought in decades. The level of rainfall in Tehran province was “nearly without precedent for a century,” a local official declared last month. A year ago, the Amir Kabir dam held back 86 million cubic metres of water, Parsa said, but there had been a “100pc drop in precipit...

Journalist and policy expert Mosharraf Zaidi has been appointed as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesperson for foreign media, it emerged on Sunday. The notification, shared by Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on X, said that the appointment was made in “supersession of his (PM Shehbaz’s) earlier orders of even number dated [June 4] and Cabinet Division’s Circular No. 3-2/2024-Min-I, dated [June 10]”. “The prime minister is pleased to appoint Mr Mosharraf Ali Zaidi as Prime Minister’s Spokesperson for Foreign Media, with immediate effect and until further orders,” the notification read. “[The] Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Cabinet Division are requested to take further action accordingly.” In his post, Tarar wrote: “Welcome on board, brother. A great addition to our team. It’s been great working with you these past few months, looking forward to continue this teamwork.” Speaking to Dawn, Zaidi said the appointment is “a privilege to serve the Pakistani people—the best people on the plan...

Section 144 to remain in force until November 8