Pakistan

Farmers to get seeds and support to curb narcotics cultivation

.

Heavy snowfall blocks roads, strands residents as evacuation deadline extended to February 5

PUTA warns salary crisis threatens university's academic stability

Kamran Tessori questions who controls the hydrants and how many of them operate illegally

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other world leaders on Thursday signed the charter for the “Board of Peace” headed by United States President Donald Trump, who has billed the body as a platform for resolving international conflicts. Originally meant to oversee peace in Gaza after Israel’s two-year war on the Palestinian enclave, the board’s charter envisions a wider role in resolving international conflicts. A group of leaders and senior officials from 19 countries — including Pakistan — gathered on stage with Trump at a signing ceremony in Davos, Switzerland to put their names to the founding charter of the body. Trump — who is the chairman of the Board of Peace — said they were “in most cases very popular leaders, some cases not so popular”. “That’s the way it goes in life,” he said. “Congratulations, President Trump. The charter is now in full force, and the Board of Peace is now an official international organisation,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “Every one of them are friends of ...

LAHORE: Lahore police registered a case on Thursday following the alleged abduction of KIPS Education System Chief Executive Officer Abid Wazir Khan by “unidentified” suspects. The first information report (FIR), seen by Dawn, was registered on the complaint of Abid’s brother, Tahir Wazir Khan at Lahore’s Jauhar Town under Section 365 (kidnapping or abducting with the intent to secretly and wrongfully confine a person) of the Pakistan Penal Code. In the FIR, the complainant recounted a telephone conversation between his brother and the KIPS general manager, identified as Lubna. He said his brother called Lubna shortly after leaving a corporate office in Jauhar Town in his car on Wednesday at 6:34pm. He quoted Lubna as saying that she heard a knock on the car’s window, followed by a voice saying, “You have caused an accident involving my car”, after which the call ended. “Unidentified suspects have kidnapped my brother and his life is in grave danger,” the FIR quoted the complainant as saying.

Pakistan clinched a comfortable 8-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in Harare during the team’s last group-stage match in the ongoing U19 World Cup, advancing into the Super Six round. After facing a 37-run defeat by England in their tournament opener, the Green Shirts made a comeback, beating Scotland and Zimbabwe in back-to-back matches. With the win, Pakistan has secured second place in the group rankings, with England on top. As per the tournament’s format, the top three teams from the four groups will qualify for the Super Six round, where they will be divided into two groups of six teams, each playing two matches. This means that despite the loss, Zimbabwe will also advance into the Super Six stage. Pakistan U19 captain Farhan Yousaf had won the toss and elected to field first at Takashinga Sports Club. Pakistan’s bowlers maintained a strong grip over the Zimbabwean batters, with a dominating performance by Ali Raza, who took three wickets and bowled four maiden overs. Mohammad Sayyam, Abdul Subhan, and Momi...

KARACHI: Parts of Karachi received rain on Thursday under the influence of a westerly wave, which the Met Office said was expected to lead to a dip in temperatures till Saturday. Reports of rain were received from Surjani, North Karachi, Scheme 33, Super Highway, Defence Housing Authority, Sohrab Goth, Clifton, Sharea Faisal and Gulistan-i-Jauhar. Data from the Met Office showed that the highest amount of rainfall in Karachi fell in Surjani Town, with 26.3 millimetres (mm) of rain recorded as of 5pm. The lowest readings were in Kemari and the old airport area, with trace amounts of rainfall, while Orangi Town, Quaidabad, Saddar and Bin Qasim saw no rain at all. In other parts of Sindh, Jacobabad and Sukkur experienced the most rainfall, with each recording 10mm of rain. The least fell in Shaheed Benazirabad and Sakrand, with both recording 1mm each. Karachi only received trace amounts of rainfall, according to the data. Meanwhile, an alert by the traffic police at 3:49pm said Hub River Road had been closed fo...

Bangladesh began official campaigning on Thursday for the hugely anticipated general elections next month, the first since the 2024 uprising ended the autocratic rule of Sheikh Hasina. Tens of thousands of flag-waving supporters of key frontrunner Tarique Rahman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) crowded the streets of the northern city of Sylhet, chanting his name. “We have liberated the country from autocratic rule,” prime ministerial hopeful Rahman, who returned to Bangladesh in December after 17 years in exile, told crowds of BNP loyalists. “Now we must establish the rights of the people.” Rahman vowed to create jobs for “millions of unemployed youth” and support women’s economic independence. “Do we have a leader? Yes, we do,” BNP loyalists shouted, carrying placards of Rahman. Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) supporters gather for a rally ahead of the upcoming national election, in Sylhet on Jan 22, 2026. — AFP Key rival Jamaat-i-Islami began its campaign in the capital Dhaka, after being crush...

Three years ago, the international effort to create a binding treaty to end plastic pollution started with an explosion of hope. Last year it collapsed. This has stalled the birth of an agreement that could begin to rein in production of a fossil-fuel-based material that is harming ecosystems on every part of Earth. The treaty seemed to be the latest victim of a struggling multilateral system. Shifting geopolitics, changing national positions and the global influence of fossil fuels are frustrating the broader work of curbing climate change – humanity’s common interest. I reported on the plastics negotiations over this period, watching as 184 countries seemed increasingly unable to find common ground. With so much at stake, one absence in particular seemed to weaken the process: the ability, when countries could not reach full consensus, to make a decision anyway based on a two-thirds majority vote. Arcane as it sounds, this omission lurked behind some of the most dramatic negotiation scenes, and still haunts...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Asim Munir on Thursday held informal meetings with various world leaders on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The two met with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, according to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). PM Shehbaz and Field Marshal Munir also attended US President Donald Trump’s address to world leaders at the WEF held on Wednesday. Field Marshal Munir and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on the sidelines of the WEF, just before the signing ceremony for the Board of Peace Charter. In a post on X, Dar said he and the field marshal met Fidan moments before the ceremony, writing, “Pakistani and Turkish nations share a strong bond which has stood the test of time and is cherished deeply by both nations.” The ...

Ran Barzilay, a psychiatrist and researcher at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, won’t be letting his nine-year-old son get a smartphone before age 13. He made the decision based on data from his recent study, published in the medical journal Pediatrics, which linked getting a smartphone at a young age to worse health consequences. Kids who owned a smartphone by age 12 had a greater risk of depression, obesity, and insufficient sleep compared to those who didn’t, a research team led by Barzilay found. That was based on observational data collected between 2016 and 2022 in an ongoing study of more than 10,000 children across the United States. Designed to assess brain development and child health, the nationwide Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study has been following children for the last decade, starting from ages nine to 10 into early adulthood. The age at which kids got a phone in this cohort ranged from four to 13, with a median age of 11. “We’re not advocating for people to go back to the Stone...

Bangladesh will not travel to India to play in next month’s T20 World Cup, its cricket board said on Thursday, effectively ruling the country out of the tournament. According to ESPN Cricinfo, the decision was announced after a meeting in Dhaka between Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Aminul Islam Bulbul, CEO Nizamuddin, Sports Adviser Asif Nazrul and several national team players. “Our only demand is to play the World Cup – but not in India,” the BCB president told reporters. The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that it would not be making any changes to the World Cup schedule or groups, days after Bangladesh requested that its matches be moved to Sri Lanka after refusing to play in India. “We will go back to the ICC with our plan to play in Sri Lanka,” the BCB president said. “They did give us a 24-hour ultimatum but a global body can’t really do that. ICC will miss out on 200 million people watching the World Cup (if Bangladesh is axed). It will be their loss…” “Bangladesh is a cricket...

Nestle on Thursday announced that it would invest an additional $60 million in Pakistan and would also “undertake a robust expansion of its operations in the country”. The development came as Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb met Remy Ejel, the executive vice president and chief executive officer for Asia, Oceania, and Africa at Nestle, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, according to a statement issued by the finance ministry. The ministry said Aurangzeb chaired a high-level business roundtable on the sidelines of the WEF, bringing together chief executive officers and senior leaders of leading global corporations to discuss Pakistan’s reform trajectory, investment climate, and long-term growth potential. “The roundtable formed part of the government of Pakistan’s ongoing engagement with multinational investors to promote policy predictability, economic formalisation, and sustainable, export-oriented growth,” it said. “A major highlight of the discussion was the announcement by Eje...

Rain accompanied by gusty winds swept across several parts of Karachi, leading to a sharp drop in temperatures and a chilly atmosphere across the city.

KARACHI: Over 288,000 e-tickets have been issued under the Traffic Regulation and Citation System (TRACS) since its launch in October last year, it emerged on Thursday. Last year, the Sindh government had decided that e-challans for traffic violations would be delivered to vehicle owners’ registered home addresses. The system was officially inaugurated in October and drew a mix of praise and criticism from the public. According to a press release issued from the office of Sindh Inspector General of Police (IG) Javed Akhtar Odho, in a meeting held at the Central Police Office Karachi today, the newly appointed IG reviewed the performance of the new traffic system. During the meeting, the deputy inspector general of traffic police briefed Odho that “so far, over 288,000 e-tickets have been generated under TRACS,” out of which 52 per cent of the tickets had been delivered, while 48pc were still under process. The IGP was informed that the “reason for the delay in delivery was due to refusal to accept tickets, ch...

The US is due to officially exit the World Health Organisation on Thursday, in the face of warnings it will hit both US health and global health and also in violation of a US law that requires Washington to pay the UN health agency $260 million in fees that it owes. President Donald Trump gave notice that the US would quit the organisation on the first day of his presidency in 2025, via an executive order. Under US law, it has to give one-year notice and pay all outstanding fees before departure. On Thursday, a US State Department spokesperson said the WHO’s failure to contain, manage and share information had cost the US trillions of dollars and the president had exercised his authority to pause the future transfer of any US government funds, support, or resources to the WHO. “The American people have paid more than enough to this organisation and this economic hit is beyond a down payment on any financial obligations to the organisation,” the spokesperson said by email. Quick return unlikely Over the last y...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar held a sideline meeting with Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow on the occasion of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Punjab Police on Thursday rejected allegations of fake encounters involving the Crime Control Department (CCD), telling the Lahore High Court (LHC) that crime rates across the province have dropped by up to 60 per cent since the department’s establishment.