Pakistan

Torrential downpours lashed several parts of Punjab and Peshawar on Saturday night, worsening the already grim situation in flood-hit regions.

SHARJAH: Saim Ayub and Hasan Nawaz struck half-centuries as Pakistan thumped the United Arab Emirates by 31 runs in Sharjah on Saturday, making it two wins from two in their T20 tri-series also featuring Afghanistan. Opener Saim smashed a 38-ball 69, with four sixes and seven fours, while Hasan’s 26-ball 56 included six maximums, lifting Pakistan to 207 all out in exactly 20 overs. Asif Khan threatened to snatch an unlikely win for UAE with a brilliant 35-ball 77 before falling in the last over. The UAE managed 176-8 from their 20 overs. Skipper Muhammad Waseem also hit a breezy 18-ball 33 but was run out in the sixth over. Earlier, Pakistan’s innings was built around the excellence of Saim and Hasan after they won the toss and batted first. Once Pakistan lost Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman and skipper Salman Agha cheaply, it was left to Saim and Hasan to provide the rescue acts. Saim’s fourth T20I half-century came off just 25 balls while Hasan’s fifty was reached in 24 deliveries with a hat-trick of sixes o...

CHINIOT - The Chenab River has reached a historic high flood tide of 855,500 cusecs in Chiniot, with the water level continuously decreasing.

Flood death toll rises to 30 n 130 villages inundated in Jhang district 14 snake bites cases reported due to flood in Sialkot PDMA issues high alert for Jhang, Multan as 900,000 cusecs expected at Trimmu Headworks and 700,000 cusecs at Head Muhammad Wala today.

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday landed in China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War in Beijing and other official engagements.

ISLAMABAD: Leading human rig­hts and civil society organisations in a joint press conference on Saturday condemned government’s failure to put an end to the practice of enforced disappearances, calling it a deeply entrenched tool of repression that continues to devastate many families. The groups, including Amnesty Int­ernational, the Human Rights Com­mi­ssion of Pakistan (HRCP) and Defence of Human Rights (DHR), voiced collective alarm over what they described as a systemic failure to deliver justice, truth or reparations to victims and their families. “A flawed system of accountability and official data from the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappear­a­nces (COIOED) reveals the scale of the problem but also the system’s failure to provide meaningful justice,” cha­­irperson of Defence of Human Rig­­hts (DHR) Amna Masood Janjua said. Ms Janjua noted that state institutions have practised enforced disappearances with utmost impunity for over two decades. HRCP, seven other groups seek justice, legal reform...

ISLAMABAD - We were asleep when a wave of stones and mud along with roaring flood entered our vil-lage and all of sudden swept away many houses.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif reached PDMA head office during heavy rain on Saturday and reviewed flood situation and took a briefing from all Deputy Commission-ers on video link.

ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Department of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has submitted a report in Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s case, stating that the contempt of court notices served to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his federal cabinet cannot be executed before resolving certain legal issues. The department placed a report in the case file of Dr Fowzia Siddiqui, who is seeking her sister Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s release from a US prison, noting that the notices to premier and his ministers over non-compliance of the order were not executable. In its report, the registrar office proposed the formation of a larger bench to deliberate over three central legal issues. The office questioned whether a judge can self-assign cases to their court, violating the Roster of Sitting. It also asked whether a judge can hear a case without the issuance of the approved cause list and whether the consent of various benches is mandatory for the consolidation of identical petitions. IHC registrar office proposes larger bench to determine leg...

ISLAMABAD - The federal government has announced 15% increase in Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) pensions, raising the minimum monthly pension from Rs10,000 to Rs11,500.

ISLMABAD - Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday visited the Embassy of Saudi Arabia, where Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Saeed Ahmad Al-Malki warmly welcomed him on his arrival.

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, Musadik Malik on Saturday said government was drafting district-level policies to protect riverbanks and build small reservoirs to divert floodwater from populated areas.

GILGIT: Unprecedented climate disasters and other factors have caused a sharp decline in both foreign and domestic tourist arrivals to Gilgit-Baltistan this year, badly affecting the local economy. Officials said that international conflicts, natural calamities and other issues resulted in a 90 per cent drop in tourism across the region. Sajid Hussain, assistant director at the GB Tourism Department, said that only 270 international climbers arrived in GB this year to attempt peaks, including K2, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum-I, Gasherbrum-II and Nanga Parbat, as compared to more than 2,000 foreign climbers and trekkers who visited the region last year. He said that most climbers returned without success due to extreme weather conditions at the peaks. Rockfalls, avalanches and high winds forced many to abandon their attempts and remain at base camps before heading back to their countries. According to the department, only 40 climbers summited K2, 25 reached Nanga Parbat and about a dozen summited Gasherbrum-I this s...

Rawalpindi - Federal Minister for Railways Muhammad Hanif Abbasi on Saturday announced that the first-ever Mother and Children Hospital of Rawalpindi Division, with a capacity of 1,000 beds, will be completed this year.

• Rejects Sindh govt’s delayed appeal, observing delay in invoking legal remedies cannot be excused without sufficient cause • Justice Mazhar stresses equality before law applies to state and private litigants alike • Criticises routine govt pleas citing administrative delays as ‘mechanical and unpersuasive’ ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Saturday emphasised that delay in invoking a lawful remedy by a person or entity, who was sleeping over their rights can be denied. The observations came from a three-judge bench headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, while hearing a case involving the Sindh government. The bench noted with concern the tendency of the federal and provincial governments, as well as autonomous bodies, to institute appeals after the lapse of the limitation period prescribed by law. Authored by Justice Mazhar, the four-page order regretted that often the plea taken by the governments for condoning the delay was that fulfilling inter-departmental procedures and seeking final instructions from th...

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari gave his assent on Saturday to the Pakistan Land Port Authority Bill, 2025, turning it into law and paving the way for the establishment of a new statutory body tasked with managing border crossings and facilitating cross-border movement. The newly created Pakistan Land Port Authority will act as a central platform for coordinating between multiple border management agencies. Its mandate includes facilitating the smooth movement of goods and passengers across land ports, reducing delays, and ensuring more efficient trade flows. With this development, Pakistan becomes the third country in South Asia, after Bangladesh and India, to establish a dedicated land port authority. The authority will introduce a robust mechanism to coordinate effectively with border management agencies, streamline trade facilitation, and enhance cross-border connectivity. It will also play a vital role in meeting Pakistan’s obligations under international agreements and conventions. The establishme...

• Goods transporters report delays on routes other than motorways • Transport alliance urges Punjab administrations to install diversion signs for container trucks • Fertiliser shipments via flood-hit river corridors suspended • Movement on highways still smooth • Onion, potato supplies to Karachi decline KARACHI: As various goods for import, export, and local consumption continue to move smoothly on motorways and highways, goods’ transporters have claimed that the ravaging floods in Punjab are causing delays on other routes. They said shipments from the port city of Karachi to different parts of Punjab, as well as consignments arriving from Punjab to Karachi, are being delayed. All Pakistan Goods Transport Alliance President Nisar Hussain Jafri said that over the last three days, the supply chain has faced delays of two to three days. He added that excluding motorway routes, shipments of goods (both import and export items) from Karachi to various areas of Punjab usually take two to three days under normal c...

PESHAWAR: At least three Frontier Corps personnel and two policemen embraced martyrdom in separate incidents of terrorism in Khyber Pakh­tun­khwa’s Upper Dir, Kohat, and Mohmand districts, sources said on Saturday. Sources said militants ambushed Bara Rifles’ 163 Wing in Upper Dir’s Barawal tehsil, leading to a fierce exchange of fire. The checkpost, which is a few hundred metres from the Afghanistan border, was initially overrun by the militants, but they were later repulsed by local volunteers who also joined the fight. At least three soldiers laid down their lives, while three sustained injuries and moved to a nearby hospital. There were also reports of militant casualties as well, but it could not be confirmed. The incident comes at a time of heightened militant activity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s border districts, where security personnel and civilians have increasingly come under attack in recent weeks, rai­sing concerns among residents about the deteriorating law and order situation. In Kohat’s Lachi tehs...

• Mass evacuations underway due to exceptional floods, downpours in Punjab • Authorities execute controlled breaches along Chenab River to save critical barrages, bridges, and major urban centres • Urban flooding in KP areas leaves neighbourhoods submerged; minor dies in Peshawar • Ghizer district faces increased flood risk due to glacier melt, PMD issues alert LAHORE/ PESHAWAR / GILGIT: While severe flooding in Sutlej, Ravi, and Chenab rivers prompted mass evacuations across Punjab, the situation aggravated due to a renewed spell of downpour and a barrage breach in India, leaving Sindh to revise flood displacement estimate, now projecting over 1.65 million people at risk along both banks of the Indus River. In the country’s northern parts, glacier melting threatened further floods in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Ghizer district as per Met Office warning and some Khyber Pakhtunkhwa areas, including Peshawar, recorded urban flooding amid heavy rains. Authorities in Punjab are grappling with what they call an unprecedent...

Deluge leaves trail of destruction; 1.65m people at risk in Sindh; Torrents expected to enter Balochistan on Sept 2