Pakistan

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CM accuses Centre of 'discriminatory attitude' towards K-P; raises concern over funds, gas supply

Demand up to 100% raise as salary freeze since 2016 sparks sit-in

MPAs ask if talks are linked to Imran's release

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Another court defers bail decision for alleged facilitators

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A meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari has resulted in broad agreement between the federal government and the Pakistan Peoples Party on most proposals related to the upcoming federal budget, according to sources.

Street crime in Karachi continued to surge in May, with the latest data released by the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee revealing 4,671 criminal incidents across the city.

Yemen’s Houthis said on Monday that they would ban ships linked to Israel from the Red Sea after Israel renewed its military attacks on Iran, adding to concerns about global shipping and energy flows. This is why it matters and what it means for the Iran war and the global energy crisis: How big is the risk to global energy markets? Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz since Israel and the United States attacked it on February 28 has disrupted most oil and other energy exports from the Gulf, raising prices and causing a major energy shock. Saudi Arabia has responded by diverting more than 70 per cent of its normal daily crude exports to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. That has been a lifeline for the energy market, helping to keep down global oil prices. Any sustained Houthi disruption to Red Sea shipping, including potential attacks on shipping or ports, could be a big problem. When the Houthis launched attacks on Red Sea shipping in November 2023, Gulf oil exports were flowing freely, meaning cargoes were dive...

The PTI on Monday rejected the tentative election results for 24 seats of the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly, levelling allegations of rigging and calling for re-election in a constituency in Astore. The preliminary count from Sunday’s polls indicates that the PPP is currently leading in 10 constituencies, the PML-N in six, and independent candidates in five. Addressing a press conference, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said PTI was barred from campaigning in the days leading up to the election, alleging that it was part of a “planned arrangement aimed at eliminating the party from the polls”. He said that out of the region’s 24 seats, PTI-backed candidates were leading in two constituencies — Naik Karim in Hunza and Sohail Abbas in Gilgit — while their ally Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen’s Muhammad Kazim was ahead in Skardu. However, Gohar claimed PTI-backed candidates were “winning 100 per cent” in a total of eight constituencies — one seat from Astore, one from Diamer, two from Nagar, and one from...

Iran on Monday said it was ending its latest military operation against Israel after the first exchanges of fire between the foes since a shaky ceasefire began, but warned it could inflict a more “crushing” response. United States President Donald Trump earlier on Monday told both Iran and key ally Israel to stop fighting, against the background of reports of an increasingly testy relationship between the US leader and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Iran fired dozens of missiles at Israel overnight and Israel responded by targeting military sites in the Islamic republic, sparking fears the escalation could usher in a new full-scale conflict after the April 8 truce. “Israel and Iran must immediately stop ‘shooting.’ President DONALD J. TRUMP,” the US leader wrote on his Truth Social network. Minutes later, he added in a new post that “final negotiations” towards peace were proceeding “subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way.” Iran’s military command then said it was halting the operati...

Afghan residents in the western city of Herat have told AFP of witnessing multiple women detained by the Taliban government’s morality police, in a crackdown over clothing which has drawn criticism from the United Nations. The UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Sunday it was “concerned over multiple arrests and detentions of women in Herat Afghanistan for alleged non-compliance with dress requirements”. Taliban authorities have gradually tightened restrictions on women since returning to power in August 2021. Women nationwide must be completely covered when they leave home, with many wearing a flowing abaya robe along with a headscarf and a face covering. In Herat, residents witnessed women being detained on Saturday for not wearing the body-cloaking chador or burqa. They spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “I saw two employees of the ministry, one of whom was carrying a whip, putting two women who were not wearing chadors into a vehicle,” said a 23-year-old woman, referring to...

India has deported nearly 5,000 Bangladeshi citizens since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist party swept to power in West Bengal last month, according to official statistics. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a sweeping victory in elections in the eastern border state of more than 100 million people, promising to “detect, delete and deport” illegal migrants. India shares a long and porous border with Muslim-majority Bangladesh, where migration has historically been driven by economic hardship and longstanding family links. On taking power, the new West Bengal government ordered the establishment of detention centres for undocumented Bangladeshis and Rohingya refugees, a mainly Muslim people who fled persecution in Myanmar. State Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, speaking in the capital Kolkata on Sunday, said nearly 5,000 Bangladeshi citizens had been deported across the border. “We have started the work of deporting Bangladeshi infiltrators who do not fall under the purview of the Citizen...

ISLAMABAD: In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that “vitriolage” (acid attack) is an offence more heinous than homicide. The ruling came after Abdul Manan, convicted for throwing acid on a young woman in Faisalabad, appealed against a 2022 Lahore High Court (LHC) order. The LHC had upheld an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) verdict sentencing him to life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs1 million. Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, heading a three-judge bench consisting of Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, upheld the LHC order. The ruling comes only days after an acid attack on a female doctor in Quetta’s Civil Hospital. Following the attack on 29-year-old Mahnoor Nasir, doctors in Quetta went on strike, demanding a thorough investigation. “Unlike death, which consumes its victim only once, the victim of an acid assault is relegated to a living death, where they are compelled to endure the agony of their trauma and the degradation of their physical self on a daily bas...

Pakistan has issued visas to 737 Sikh pilgrims from India to participate in an annual religious festival scheduled from June 10 to June 19.

The Punjab government has announced a large-scale electric bike rental initiative aimed at reducing air pollution and promoting affordable, eco-friendly transport in Lahore.

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake in the southern Philippines on Monday killed at least 31 people, according to provincial authorities, after toppling buildings and sparking tsunami warnings across the region. National disaster authorities said at least a dozen people were still missing, while 134 had sustained injuries. Philippine authorities urged people in affected coastal regions to move to higher ground after the offshore quake hit south of General Santos, a city of about 720,000, where at least nine were killed. A series of powerful aftershocks rocked the area from about two hours after the first quake, according to the United States Geological Survey, with the largest measuring 6.5 magnitude. In General Santos, an AFP journalist watched on Monday afternoon as rescue workers dug through the rubble of a popular grocery store chain in a desperate bid to reach the bodies of two employees buried beneath. Rene Punzalan, disaster chief for hard-hit Sarangani province, told AFP 14 people had died in Glan municipality...