Pakistan

Lahore continues to battle hazardous air quality, ranking as the second most polluted city in the world on Sunday.

HYDERABAD - At least six people were killed and eight injured after an explosion ripped through a fireworks factory in of Hyderabad on Saturday, a rescue official said, warning the toll could rise as operations continued at the site.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Gomal University has expelled several students after a series of serious campus unrest incidents, according to an official handout issued by the varsity administration. The statement said that on various dates in October, students along with external accomplices stormed the registrar’s office, assaulted a female student, attempted to forcefully enter the vice-chancellor’s office, attacked a police guard, and showed deliberate disrespect during the national anthem at an event. Another reported incident involved anti-Pakistan slogans during a cricket match screening. A fact-finding committee was formed to investigate the incidents, after which the case was referred to the university’s disciplinary committee. The accused students were issued show-cause notices and given the opportunity to present their defence. Their replies were found unsatisfactory. Under university discipline rules, the administration expelled the involved students and cancelled their admissions. Hostel rooms were vacated an...

ISLAMABAD - Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar here on Saturday chaired a meeting of inter-ministerial committee to review progress on the government’s privatization agenda.

SAHIWAL: Senior Civil Judge Masood Ahmed Faridi on Saturday issued an arrest warrant for Musa Maneka, the younger son of Khawar Maneka and Bushra Bibi, over his repeated absence from the court proceedings. Mr Musa is the main accused in a case of a domestic servant over a minor dispute at his residence in the Pir Ghani area of Pakpattan on July 17, 2025. The judge directed the Pakpattan Saddar Police to arrest Musa Maneka and present him before the court on November 19. A case was registered against Mr Musa at the Saddar police station after getting enraged when his 18-year-old servant, Ali Bahadur, removed bedsheets from his room without his permission. In a fit of anger, Musa allegedly fired a 30-bore pistol at Ali, hitting him in the left knee. The bullet passed through his leg. Witnesses claimed that Mr Musa then threatened other household servants with similar consequences if they attempted to assist the injured servant. A call was later made to the police, prompting District Police Officer (DPO) Javed I...

LAHORE: Interpol has rejected the Pakistan government’s request to extradite former federal minister and senior PTI leader Moonis Elahi for ‘want of evidence’ against him in money laundering, murder and other allegations. Mr Moonis has been living in Spain for about three years following the crackdown on Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) here. Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had been vigorously pursuing the extradition plea before Interpol and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had furnished so-called evidence related to money laundering and other offences during the last couple of years with the Interpol. Rejecting the Pakistan government’s plea, the Interpol said: “The General Secretariat of International Criminal Police Organization – Interpol – hereby certifies that as of today Mr Moonis Elahi is not subject to an Interpol notice or diffusion.” Cites lack of evidence in money laundering, murder and other cases A source in the FIA told this reporter that Interpol had dropped the invest...

Karachi’s Pink Bus Service has announced new routes and revised timings for women commuters, effective October 17.

LAHORE: Punjab’s air quality continued to deteriorate on Saturday with its capital being ranked as the most polluted city of the world for the fourth consecutive day with thick smog blanketing major areas, reducing visibility and posing serious health risks for residents. According to the data from IQAir, an air quality monitoring platform, Lahore’s Air Quality Index (AQI) soared to a staggering ‘hazardous’ level of 577 in the early hours of the day, once again ranking it as one of the most polluted cities in the world. The provincial capital was ranked second after improvement in its air quality on the global pollution index in the evening. The AQI of other stations in Lahore at 8pm were recorded at 448 at Phase 8 DHA, 342 at Gurumangat Road and AC Office Shalimar Complex Wahga at 305. Other major cities in Punjab also reported hazardous conditions. In Gujranwala, particulate matter levels soared to 632, far exceeding safe limits. Similarly, Sialkot recorded an AQI of 462, indicating extremely poor air quali...

The birth anniversary of historic leader Chaudhry Rehmat Ali is being observed across the country today, with tributes highlighting his pivotal role in the Pakistan Movement and for coining the word “Pakistan,” which later became the name of the new homeland for the Muslims of the subcontinent.

ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman called for stron­ger ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh on Sunday, telling a large religious gathering that a shared “unity of faith was a stronger bond between the two nations that cannot be abolished”. The JUI-F chief was addressing the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat conference at Suhrawardy Ground in Dhaka. “The people of Bangladesh possessed a strong and dynamic spirit of activism, but religious movements stood for continuity and stability at the ideology not violence,” he said. Maulana Fazl emphasised that the delegation from Pakistan had not come merely to attend the event but to convey a message of goodwill from the Pakistani people to their Bangladeshi brethren. Focusing on the conference’s central theme of the finality of prophethood, Maulana Fazl underscored a core shared belief. “We the Muslims of Pakistan and Bangladesh are part of a single Ummah,” he said, adding that scholars across the subcontinent are united in the belief that anyone...

Mother Mary Comes to Me By Arundhati Roy Scribner Books ISBN: 978-1668094716 352pp. Our relationship with our mother is complicated; I dare say more than it is with our father. That is because, all over the world, the mother’s role is venerated as the provider of nurture and unconditional love. Anything that veers from that is vilified — think Mommie Dearest, the memoir, then movie, about Joan Crawford’s alleged abuse of her adopted daughter. That phrase conjures up the worst images about motherhood. This notion of mothers and motherhood being perfect also explains why there is still a lot of taboo around postpartum depression. To admit you’re feeling anything other than perfect following childbirth brings about feelings of shame because society places a lot of unrealistic pressures on women. Sure, things are changing and there are so many resources to help women with pregnancy, postpartum and parenting, but it takes a rare kind of no-holds-barred honesty to describe motherhood and/or mothers as complex, not ...

ISLAMABAD: Chagai and Quetta in Balochistan and Attock in Punjab were the top three districts across the country where most of Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders or undocumented Afghan nationals were arrested or detained in over 10 months this year, says a UN refugee agency report. The highest number of arrests or detentions were made in 2025, the report says, adding that a total of 100,971 Afghans were arrested from Jan 1 to Nov 8, 2025, whereas 9,006 Afghans were detained in 2024. In 2023, 26,299 Afghans were arrested. The UNHCR report, which was released on Friday, says that prior to 2023, there was no data collected on the arrest and detention of Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders or undocumented Afghan nationals. Since January 2023, International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has started to collect this data. From Nov 2 to 8, a total of 13,380 Afghan nationals were arrested and detained, marking a 72 per cent increase compared to the previous week. Out of all arrests and detentions during Nov 2 to 8, th...

UNITED NATIONS: Senior UN diplomats are cautiously optimistic that China and Russia may abstain rather than veto a US-sponsored Security Council resolution to authorise an international stabilisation force (ISF) in Gaza — a key test of the UN’s ability to back a postceasefire vision for the enclave, according to diplomatic sources. The draft resolution is expected to come up for vote in the UN Security Council on Monday, and would take effect if it secures at least nine affirmative votes and avoids a veto from any of the five permanent members (the US, China, Russia, Britain and France). “China will not veto the resolution, but Russia’s position is uncertain, and key as well,” said one senior diplomat. Another added, “both China and Russia may abstain, but they will not use their veto.” The draft resolution, formally circulated by the US, would authorise a two-year mandate for a transitional body called the Board of Peace, chaired by President Donald Trump, as proposed in his 20-point Gaza plan. It would also...

An 1895 photograph in Las Bela, in the south-west of modern-day Balochistan, by Col Patrick Alexander Weir, a British medical officer serving in British India, shows a small mausoleum. On it, a cross stands on top of a dome and another large cross is placed on the tomb itself. Today, both crosses are gone and the site is fast approaching dereliction. Nearby at Bara Bagh, the necropolis of Las Bela’s ruling Jams fares little better. The subject of Weir’s photograph is the tomb of Robert Groves Sandeman, the British Raj army officer who laid down and executed the colonial blueprint in securitising modern-day Balochistan, playing on the suspicions of different Baloch groups with one another. Sandeman died in January 1892, days before turning 58. After months of ill-health and a summer in Scotland, he returned to the Subcontinent in November 1891, spending Christmas in Quetta before travelling to Las Bela — his final resting place. PART OF THE GREAT GAME Las Bela had become an important port of call for Sandeman,...

Over the last 50-plus years, I have sat through numerous presentations on government, NGO, masters and PhD students’ development projects, in various countries, both in what is now known as the global North and global South. In addition, international financial institutions (IFIs), such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, have also sought my assistance. I have also been a member of various United Nations committees on physical and social development, and a consultant to them. As the chief adviser and the chairperson of the Orangi Pilot Project (OPP) and the Urban Resource Centre (URC), I have challenged the structure of thinking of many such projects and documented my concerns regularly. The most important thing I have learned in the process is that most of these projects have a very strong anti-poor bias and are primarily concerned with brick and mortar aspects of problems. ANTI-POOR BIAS As far as academia is concerned, almost all teachers and supervisors bring their class prejudices with them...

DIVERSITY is central to the human spirit. The International Day for Tolerance, which is being observed today, is a reminder that acceptance and appreciation bind us, and that the divergence of opinions, cultures, behaviour, heritage and beliefs close the loopholes in our social fabric. Ancient societies were rife with intolerance. Sadly, despite education and scientific advancements, we are witnessing a global regression towards earlier patterns due to misplaced superiority. Power, in all its manifestations, seeks to control the vulnerable. In Pakistan’s turbulent societal setting, governments weaponise fear, which creates insularity and animosity. We need a greater sense of security for more harmony among our people. Some have different faiths, others different politics, ethnicity, aspirations and practices. All these should translate into collective growth. The path to prosperity lies in valuing differences. A firm stand against intolerance of any kind hinges on how committed the state, citizens and the cle...

Islamabad, Amman reject Palestinian displacement; PM, Jordan's king vow to enhance relations

5 terrorists liquidated in K-P operation

The federal government on Saturday kept the price of petrol unchanged, but increased the price of high-speed diesel by Rs6 per litre for the next fortnight. According to a notification from the Finance Division, the new HSD price is Rs284.44 per litre. The prices will come into effect on November 16. “The government has revised the prices of the petroleum products following input from the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and the relevant ministries.” Most of the transport sec­tor runs on HSD and its price is considered inflationary as it is mostly used in heavy transport vehicles, trains and agricultural engines like trucks, buses, tractors, tube-wells and threshers and particularly adds to the prices of vegetables and other eatables. Petrol is primarily used in private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws, and two-wheelers, and directly impacts the budgets of the middle and lower-middle classes. The government charges about Rs99 per litre on both petrol and diesel. Although the general sales tax (GST) i...

ISLAMABAD - Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday visited Cadet College Wana, where security forces recently thwarted a militant attack aimed at targeting students and staff.