Pakistan

Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has said that the recent floods have inflicted Rs50 billion in losses on Punjab’s economy.

Aleema Khan, sister of PTI founder and former prime minister Imran Khan, has alleged that authorities are preparing to hand down another conviction against him in the Toshakhana-II case.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif departed for London on Monday, where he is expected to stay for around two weeks.

United States President Donald Trump said on Monday he would call a national emergency and federalise Washington DC after Mayor Muriel Bowser said its police would not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). At issue is the provision of information on individuals living in, or entering, the United States illegally. Trump’s threat adds to a move critics have seen as federal overreach, with more than 2,000 troops patrolling the city. The comments come after several thousand protesters hit the streets this month over Trump’s August deployment of National Guard troops to “re-establish law, order, and public safety“, after calling crime a blight on the capital. “In just a few weeks. The ‘place’ is absolutely booming … for the first time in decades, virtually no crime,” Trump said on Truth Social. Bowser’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s post. Earlier, he had put the metropolitan police department under direct federal control and sent federal law enforcement,...

Indian security forces killed a top Maoist commander and two other rebels in a gun battle on Monday, officials said, as the government intensifies efforts to crush the decades-long conflict. India is waging an all-out offensive against the last remaining traces of the Naxalite rebellion, named after the village in the foothills of the Himalayas where the Maoist-inspired guerrilla movement began nearly six decades ago. More than 12,000 rebels, soldiers and civilians have been killed since a handful of villagers rose up against their feudal lords there in 1967. The latest gun battle took place early on Monday in the mineral-rich eastern state of Jharkhand, India’s Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) said in a statement. The federal police described the operation as a “major breakthrough”. Three “top Naxal commanders” were killed in the fight, the CRPF said, including Sahdev Soren, who was part of the central committee of the Maoist organisation. Authorities had issued a bounty of around $113,000 for his capture...

An Islamabad court has issued a written order on a petition seeking registration of a case against former president Arif Alvi.

Several parts of Karachi received light rain early Monday morning, bringing a brief spell of pleasant weather.

The Punjab government has unveiled the installment plan and balloting schedule for the upcoming E-Taxi Scheme 2025, aimed at generating job opportunities for youth, supporting unemployed residents, and curbing air pollution in the province.

Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput has assumed charge as Acting Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court.

Three-day anti-polio campaign in eight districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa begins today.

SAHIWAL: A member of the local Ahmadiyya community narrowly escaped an alleged gun attack late on Saturday night outside his residence in village 6/11-L in Sahiwal tehsil. According to eyewitness accounts, victim Z took cover behind an iron gate as two unidentified motorcyclists allegedly opened fire on him. The victim, however, escaped unharmed and the attackers managed to escape from the scene. The Harappa police registered a case under sections 506 and 34 of the PPC against two unknown suspects, based on Z’s complaint. Speaking to Dawn, Z said that he was standing near the gate of his house when two young men — estimated to be between 20 and 25 years old — approached on a motorcycle and fired directly at him. “It was dark, and I managed to hide. That’s what saved me,” he said. He claimed that he would be able to identify the attackers if he saw them again. Local villagers, who witnessed the incident, confirmed hearing multiple gunshots. The area has a documented history of communal tensions, particularly f...

PM says people, govt to work together to bolster democracy.

HYDERABAD/Karachi/Islamabad - After wreaking havoc in Punjab, water inundated scores of villages in Sindh amid high flood at Guddu Barrage, Sukkur Barrage, and Kotri Barrage.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazl ur Rehman has strongly criticised the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, accusing it of misgovernance and failing to introduce any meaningful policy shift.

Heavy monsoon rains in the Koh Sulaiman Mountain range have led to a remarkable archaeological discovery in the Sakhi Sarwar region, where flash floods unearthed a collection of rare ancient coins dating back over two thousand years.

• Fixed rate for industrial, commercial consumers increased from Rs400 to Rs750 • Opposition leader asks KE to withdraw MUCT increase in electricity bills • Mayor claims City Council approved hike in its budget session KARACHI: In a move drawing sharp criticism from the opposition for allegedly violating “defined legal limits”, the Karachi Metropolitan Corpor­ation (KMC) has increased the rates of the Municipal Utility Charges and Taxes (MUCT) for industrial and commercial users from Rs400 to Rs750. Members of the business community complained that they were being charged nearly double the previous amount in the head of the MUCT. The MUCT are collected via K-Electric bills from its consumers living within the jurisdiction of the KMC. Leader of the Opposition in the City Council Advocate Saifuddin of the Jamaat-i-Islami has sent a legal notice to KE Chief Executive Officer Moonis Alvi, demanding that the power utility immediately withdraw the increase in the MUCT, which was made “unlawfully” without the approv...

• Aurangzeb says PM has set 100-day target for full rehabilitation of victims • Promises farmers emergency support packages for next sowing season • Says loss assessment surveys likely to be completed within 15 days TOBA TEK SINGH: As Pakistan grapples with devastating floods, a senior Inte­rnational Monetary Fund official confirmed an upcoming mission will evaluate if the country’s financial and emergency plans are adequate to handle the crisis, shortly after the finance minister signalled talks with the lender for relief. An IMF team is expected in Pakistan by the end of the month for a review mission, Federal Minister for Finance and Reve­nue Muhammad Aur­angzeb said on Sunday, stressing that discussing flood-related financial needs with the IMF was a necessary step. “There is nothing wrong with asking the IMF about the relief, because we are in the fund programme,” Mr Aurangzeb said during a visit to flood-affected areas in Kamalia. “The IMF responded very responsibly and the prime minister announced the ...

ISLAMABAD: Praising the J-10 and JF-17 aircraft for str­engthening Pakistan’s aerial defence capabilities, President Asif Ali Zardari reaffirmed on Sunday that Pakistan and China would continue to expand their collaboration in the field of defence production and aviation. The president expressed this resolve during a visit to top Chinese aerospace and defence conglomerate, the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), which manufactures the J-10C aircraft. According to the President’s Secr­etariat, he is the first foreign head of state to visit the facility. He was accompanied by his children, PPP Chairman Bilawal and MNA Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari. During the visit, President Zar­dari met with the company’s engineers and scientists and pra­ised the Chinese-made aircraft’s capabilities, which he said were amply demonstrated during the recent Maarka-i-Haq and Opera­tion Bun­yanum Marsoos against India. Head of state gets a peek at stealth fighter production; praises J-10C, JF-17 for strengthening a...

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif will depart for Qatar today (Monday) to attend the Emergency Arab-Islamic Summit in Doha.

ISLAMABAD: The PTI has called on a foreign observation mission to release its report on the 2024 general elections, claiming that it lays bare “systemic rigging, institutional bias, and deliberate targeting of PTI and its founder, Imran Khan”. The demand came after a recent report by the independent news outlet Drop Site News claimed that the Comm­on­wealth Observer Group (COG) group had “buried their report” after finding the Feb 8 general elections to be riddled with problems. Although the group’s report on Pakistan has yet to be officially released, media outlets claimed to have obtained leaked copies of the report. In a statement issued on Sunday, the COG said it was aware that a version of its report on the 2024 Pakistan general elections was circulating online, adding that they did not comment on leaked documents as a matter of policy. C’wealth says report shared with govt, ECP; will be released this month “The government and the Election Commission of Pakis­tan have already received the report. The ful...