Pakistan

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Protest erupts as sanitation staff go three months without pay

President Asif Ali Zardari has expressed hope that expanding linkages between China’s Xinjiang region and northern Pakistan will further strengthen cultural and economic ties.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has inaugurated Pakistan’s first state-of-the-art co-ablation cancer treatment center at Mayo Hospital, Lahore, making Punjab the pioneer in introducing this breakthrough technology, not yet available in India.

The federal government agreed to provide $390 million to the Reko Diq mining project to build rail tracks from mines in Balochistan, according to the Finance Division on Thursday. The decision was taken during a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) in Islamabad, chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, according to a press release from the Finance Division. The press release stated that the railways ministry submitted a summary on rail development and bridge financing agreements with the Reko Diq Mining Company, to provide $390m for laying a 1,350-kilometre railway track to transport large volumes of export material from mines in Balochistan. “The ECC approved the proposal and directed the Ministry of Railways to share both agreement documents with the Finance Division for appraisal,” the press release read. “It further instructed the Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Finance to submit an update to the ECC by March next year on the execution and implementation of the project.” Ad...

Fresh witness statements have come to light in relation to the Toshakhana-2 case on a Bulgari jewellery set against PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, alleging that the appraiser was pressured into undervaluing the ornaments. The development comes three days after a special judge central completed the cross-examination of the two key witnesses, an appraiser named Sohaib Abbasi and the former prime minister’s personal secretary, Inamullah Shah, in an over six-hour-long proceeding inside Adiala Jail. The case pertains to Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi retaining an expensive Bulgari jewellery set gifted by the Saudi royal family — including a necklace, earrings, bracelets, and rings — at a low price, causing significant loss to the exchequer. One of the witnesses, Sohaib Abbasi, confessed to undervaluing the Bulgari set at Rs5 million. He did so under the pressure of Imran Khan’s former personal secretary, Inamullah Shah, he claimed. Shah is the other key witness who has testified in the case. In his ...

India has voiced concern over the recently signed Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA) between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) 100-index maintained its bullish momentum on Thursday, surging by 1,775.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday that it was analysing the “implications” of the recent mutual defence deal between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia for its own national security. Pakis­tan and Saudi Arabia entered into a landmark mutual defence agreement, under which any aggression against one state will be considered an attack on both. The ‘Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement’ was signed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman at the Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Wednesday. A military confrontation between India and Pakistan recently occurred in May as the former, without evidence, linked the Pahalgam attack to Islamabad, which strongly denied the allegations. On the night of May 6-7, New Delhi launched a series of air strikes on Pakistan, killing at least 40 civilians. Both sides then exchanged missiles, which stretched over the week, before a US-brokered ceasefire had both sides agree to stop the hostilities. In a statement issued on today’s developm...

Information and Technology (IT) Secretary Zarrar Hasham said on Thursday that restoring damaged undersea internet cables may take four to five weeks. During a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication today while responding to a query raised by member Sadiq Memon over the slow internet and disruptions, the IT secretary replied that multiple cables had been cut off the coast of Yemen, affecting internet services. “Not only one or two cables have been cut, but between four and five,” Hasham told the meeting at Islamabad’s IT Park. “The issue is serious considering the situation in Yemen. Two cables coming to Pakistan have been affected.” The secretary added that bandwidth had been shifted to alternative networks. “Repairing the cables may take four to five weeks,” he said, adding that special boats would be required to perform the repairs. Memon remarked that it It is being said that three new cables are coming.” “If three new cables are coming, then w...

A day after Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a landmark mutual defence agreement during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Riyadh, the premier on Thursday expressed gratitude for the “heart-warming welcome” given to him in the Gulf State and shared that his talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman covered regional challenges, as well as enhancing bilateral cooperation. PM Shehbaz reached Riyadh for a day-long visit yesterday where he and Crown Prince Salman signed the ’Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement’ at the Al-Yamamah Palace in the Saudi capital. “Deeply touched by the heart warming welcome, accorded to me by my dear brother HRH (His Royal Highness) Prince Mohammed bin Salman, crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia, on my official visit to Riyadh. “From the unprecedented escort provided to my aircraft by the Royal Saudi air force jets to the smartly turned out guard of the Saudi armed forces, this welcome reception speaks volumes about the abiding love and mutual respect between Pa...

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) rose by 1,700 points on Thursday to settle near the all-time high of 158,000 on the back of increased investor confidence after the signing of a mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia. The benchmark KSE-100 index surged by 1,775.65 points, or 1.14 per cent, to close at 157,953.46 — its highest level in history. Pakis­tan and Saudi Arabia entered into a landmark mutual defence agreement, under which any aggression against one state will be considered an attack on both. The ‘Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement’ was signed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman at the Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Wednesday. Talking to Dawn.com, Awais Ashraf, research director at AKD Securities, said the pact had “bolstered investor confidence”, driving the KSE-100 Index to an all-time high close with the second-highest trading volumes in today’s session. “This agreement is expected to pave the way for enhanced cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including greater ...

Chairman Pakistan Ulema Council, Maulana Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, has praised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for finalizing a mutual defence agreement between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Thursday warned of widespread rain with thunderstorms across several districts in Punjab over the next two days, increasing the risk of river swelling in vulnerable areas due to rising water levels in upper catchments.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has scheduled hearings on the sentence suspension pleas of former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, in the £190 million case.

The United States Embassy in New Delhi has revoked and subsequently denied visas for some Indian business executives and corporate leaders based on their involvement in trafficking fentanyl precursors, it said in a statement on Thursday. Fentanyl precursors refer to the basic or parent chemicals that form fentanyl, a leading cause of US overdose deaths. The statement from the embassy did not name the people affected, but a spokesperson said they were Indian nationals. Indian government officials have been closely cooperating with US counterparts to combat the challenge of drug trafficking, the US embassy added in its statement. India’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment on the US visa measures. US President Donald Trump, whose punitive 50 per cent tariffs on Indian imports hurt bilateral ties, has previously imposed additional levies on imports from China, Mexico and Canada, saying they facilitated the flow of fentanyl into the US. In a statement to the US Congr...

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a landmark defence agreement on Wednesday during a visit to the latter country by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, marking what is being considered the most significant upgrade in Pakistan-Saudi defence relations in decades. The announcement was made in a joint statement by Islamabad and Riyadh. The statement said the pact “reflects the shared commitment of both nations to enhance their security and to achieve security and peace in the region and the world”. “[It] aims to develop aspects of defence cooperation between the two countries and strengthen joint deterrence against any aggression,” the statement said. While not many details have been shared yet, the key driver of Wednesday’s agreement appears to be the principle that “any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both.“ The two countries have long shared a multifaceted relationship rooted in strategic military cooperation, mutual economic interests, and shared Islamic heritage. It is i...

President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday visited the Urban Operations and Management Center of Urumqi, where he was received by the Mayor of Urumqi and the Vice Governor of Xinjiang.

PTI founder Imran Khan has written a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, it emerged on Thursday as party leader Latif Khosa delivered it to the top judge at the Supreme Court. In the letter dated September 16, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, Imran expressed grievances over several matters, including the conditions he has been kept in inside jail, and urged CJP Afridi to direct the Islamabad High Court to fix some “critical petitions” that had been “hanging in the doldrums” for hearing. The petitions he was referring to pertain to Toshakhana and Al Qadir Trust cases. Speaking to the media after delivering Imran’s letter, Khosa said the CJP had sought the ex-premier’s complaints regarding the conditions in jail in writing and assured that his grievances would be addressed and responded to within 24 hours. He said, “We will inform you about whatever happens in [the next] 24 hours.” Khosa said he had also expressed “our reservations” about the judiciary to the chief justice and rai...