Pakistan

Pace bowling great Wasim Akram has urged Pakistan and India’s cricketers to ignore the noise and enjoy the game when they meet in a highly charged Asia Cup T20 match on Sunday. The Group A match in Dubai is the first clash on the cricket field between the countries since a military conflict four months ago took relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours to their lowest point in decades. India resisted calls to boycott the match between the pair, who have not played in any bilateral series since deadly attacks in Mumbai 2008. “Enjoy, it’s a game of cricket,” legendary left-armer Akram told AFP of the match, which potentially could be the first of three high-octane meetings between the countries in the T20 tournament. “Forget about everything other than cricket. One team will win, and one team will lose,” he said. “Just enjoy the moment if you win the game. Pressure will come, enjoy that and show discipline because this is just a game. It’s for both teams and for both sets of fans.” A full house of 25,000 i...

On the directives of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb late Friday night visited flood-hit areas of Alipur to oversee ongoing rescue and relief operations.

At just 40, Farhat had never imagined her world would shrink to hospital corridors, infusion drips, and the sterile hush of oncology wards. A spirited schoolteacher from Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Karachi, she was known for her laughter — loud, contagious, and always a beat ahead of the room. But after her breast cancer diagnosis, the laughter disappeared. What followed was not just the slow unraveling of her physical health, but a silent, suffocating assault on her emotional wellbeing. Sara, another breast cancer patient, endured mastectomy, chemotherapy, and the disorienting fog of fatigue and pain. But the darkest moments weren’t marked by physical suffering; they came in the long, sleepless nights filled with fear, anxiety, and an overwhelming sense of isolation. “Everyone talks about surviving cancer,” she whispered, “but no one prepares you for surviving yourself.” Like countless women in Pakistan, these women found themselves trapped in a blind spot of our healthcare system: psychological support. Farhat was rec...

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir on Saturday underscored the importance of coordinated civil-military efforts to address the challenges faced by flood-affected communities in Punjab.

Rights activist and lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir on Saturday submitted an application to the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) registrar for the preservation of CCTV footage of an “unfortunate incident” that took place with her — a reference to her exchange with IHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar — earlier this week. In her application to the IHC registrar,which Mazari shared on X, she said: “I write to you today to seek [the] preservation of CCTV footage of the Honourable Chief Justice’s courtroom no.1 from September 11, 2025 between 9am and 11am, as an unfortunate incident took place with the undersigned counsel, as a result of which it is imperative that the exchange recorded on the CCTV footage is preserved. “I would also request [the] provision of a copy of the CCTV footage from the aforementioned date and time on the USB I have annexed herewith this instant application.” The proceedings that Mazari referred to in her application are from a hearing on Thursday, during which she represented he...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Saturday chaired a high-level meeting focused on transformational reforms in Pakistan’s Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunications sectors, aimed at boosting digital growth and attracting strategic investments.

A sea of purple posters at the Narita Airport announces the World Athletics Championships — in both English and Japanese. Banners of Haruka Kitaguchi, Japan’s javelin star, are plastered on the walls of the mazy metro stations in the Japanese capital. On the buildings in Ginza, digital billboards have the Japanese athletics team on display. After a spectator-less Olympics four years ago during the Covid-19 pandemic, Tokyo is geared up to host a global athletics extravaganza beginning on Saturday. It was an emotional memory for Japanese athletics chief Yuko Arimori, who teared up when asked at the opening press conference on Friday what it meant to finally have fans in attendance at the championships. “Sports aren’t just for athletes but for everyone to enjoy,” the former marathon runner said as she recalled being cheered on by fans at her international debut at the 1991 Tokyo World Championships. A poster of Haruka Kitaguchi at the Sendagaya metro station in Tokyo. — Photo by Anushe Engineer The stadium is so...

President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday underscored the importance of expanding cooperation between Pakistan and China in the political, economic, and cultural domains, during his official visit to China.

RAWALPINDI: The Military Lands and Cantonment on Friday unveiled a new policy for internal audit in the cantonment boards across the country. Military Lands and Cantonment Director General Maj Gen Irfan Ahmad Malik unveiled a new initiative of Internal Audit Framework for Cantonment Boards across the country to ensure enhancing transparency, accountability and operational excellence. According to a press release, external audits are already being conducted by the Directorate General Audit Defence Services (ADS), the need for an internal mechanism had long been felt to ensure corrective measures are taken in time and to reduce the number of audit observations during external reviews. The newly-instituted system has been designed with clear objectives: Transparency and Uniformity in auditing practices, accountability at all levels of field offices, preventive and remedial action to identify irregularities or unwarranted practices at their earliest stage. A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) devised by Director ...

The federal government has decided to relocate the Federal Constabulary (FC) Headquarters from Peshawar to the federal capital, in line with its plan to transform the force into a modern and active security institution.

PDMA says 4,500 villages washed away n Over 2.

NEW DELHI: Protesters in Nepal ousted the prime minister and set parliament ablaze over the government’s ban on social media and corruption allegations, but in India the violence is being misrepresented online as something else entirely: a religious uprising. While some claim that the demonstrations are a demand for a “Hindu state”, others say the opposite — that they are an attack on the faith. Fuelling the narrative are allegations from Indian broadcasters and politicians that rioters vandalised Nepal’s Pash­u­pa­ti­nath temple, a revered Hindu site. “Some rioters, hiding within the crowd of protesters, attempted to vandalise the temple, and it was only after this incident that the army was deployed,” an anchor for the right-wing Zee News channel said in a report featuring a clip of people climbing onto the temple’s gate and violently shaking it. Jivesh Mishra, a member of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar state, which shares a border with Nepal, told reporters on Wednesday: “An attack on...

RAWALPINDI: PM Shehbaz Sharif addresses ground breaking ceremony of T-Chowk Flyover.

Foreign Office Spokesperson says Israeli attacks against sovereign states threaten regional peace Pakistan ready to counter any external threat.

ISLAMABAD - Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, NI (M), HJ, Chief of Army Staff; General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, NI, NI (M), Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee; Admiral Naveed Ashraf, NI, NI (M), Chief of the Naval Staff; and Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, NI (M), HJ, Chief of the Air Staff, on behalf of the Armed Forces of.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Navy continues relief and rescue operations in flood-affected areas of Punjab and Sindh Province.

ISLAMABAD - A delegation from the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad, led by Chargé d’Affaires Shi Yuanqiang, visited the National Emergencies Operation Centre (NEOC) at National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) headquarters on Friday and attended a briefing on flood relief and response efforts.

ISLAMABAD - Guided by the direction of Secretary Defence, Lt-General (retired) Muhammad Ali, HI (M), and the forward-looking vision of DG ML&C, Major General Irfan Ahmad Malik, HI (M), the Military Lands & Cantonments Department (MLCG) has unveiled a landmark initiative, a Comprehensive Internal Audit Framework for Cantonment.

KARACHI: The residents of Saadi Town and surrounding gated communities in Scheme 33 of District East deserve all praise for their resilience and positive attitude during the recent flooding in their localities as most of the water receded on Friday. A rug hangs out to dry from a balcony of a home. Grey clouds still cover the sky but life carries on as usual in Saadi Town. Just a couple of days ago, the houses here looked like water-locked islands. “The water did not enter our houses. Since this is not that old a town, the houses are built quite above the roads so we were fine, despite being marooned,” Babar Mirza, resident of Saadi Town, Block 7, told Dawn. Even though the water has receded, it has left the roads in bad shape with an uneven surface, cracks and potholes. But the wild grass and weeds in vacant plots are lush green from the rain. They provide distraction from the moisture stains on brick walls. Communities in Scheme 33 say their expensive residential town ‘turns into a katchi abadi’ when it rain...

LAHORE - An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Friday extended the pre-arrest interim bail of Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan, sisters of PTI founder, until October 12 in a case related to violence against police during the October 5, 2024 protest.