Pakistan

A terrorist plot to blow up a bridge in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district was foiled on Saturday. According to an official statement from KP police, terrorists attempted to blow up Dawa bridge in Bannu’s Basia Khel area using an improvised explosive device (IED). It said that the plot was thwarted due to timely action by the Bannu police bomb disposal squad. It said that the terrorists had attached the IED, a bucket full of 8-10 kilogrammes of explosive material, to the central pillar of the bridge. “The local people praised the timely action taken by Bannu police,” the statement said. It also quoted Bannu Regional Police Officer Sajjad Khan as saying that it was necessary to “eliminate elements inconveniencing the public by destroying infrastructure”. He asserted that such elements do not deserve any mercy. Pakistan has witnessed a surge in terror activities, particularly in KP and Balochistan. The spike in incidents followed the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ending a ceasefire with the gover...

Rescuers raced to find more than a dozen people still missing on Saturday after a week of heavy flooding in Vietnam, where authorities said at least 55 people have died. Relentless rain has lashed south-central Vietnam since late October and popular holiday destinations have been hit by several rounds of flooding. Whole city blocks were inundated this week in coastal Nha Trang, while deadly landslides struck highland passes around the Da Lat tourist hub. At least 55 people have been killed across six provinces since Sunday, while the search continues for 13 others, the environment ministry said in a statement released on Saturday. Mountainous Dak Lak province was the hardest hit, with more than two dozen fatalities, it said. Rescuers were still plucking people from treetops and the roofs of homes as floodwaters receded there on Friday, state media reported. Multiple highways remained impassable Saturday and 300,000 people were without power, after a blackout that initially affected more than a million, the en...

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has taken up a case challenging the operations of Saudi oil company Aramco-branded fuel stations in the federal capital, issuing notices to the country’s top oil regulator and other respondents for allegedly allowing the foreign entity to operate without a license. The petition, filed by Mohammad Shafiq Mir, owner of a PSO station on Srinagar Highway, was heard by Justice Mohammad Azam Khan. The court has ordered a response from the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), Aramco Asia Singapore Pvt Ltd, Gas & Oil Pakistan Ltd (GO), Askar Oil, and several other government bodies. The petitioners counsel Kashif Ali Malik argued that the Saudi state-owned oil company, has been running petrol pumps under its own branding without being a registered corporate entity in Pakistan and without obtaining a mandatory marketing license from OGRA. The petitioner contends that this violates the OGRA Ordinance, the Pakistan Oil Rules 2016, the Petroleum Act, and the Explosives Act. H...

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday expressed concern over excessive construction taking place in the city, declaring it a main source of contribution to pollution. Hearing several identical petitions regarding smog and environmental pollution, Justice Shahid Karim observed that the anti-smog gun would be of no use under these circumstances. He noted that the environment department had extensive powers only if it chooses to use them. The judge further remarked that the Air Quality Index (AQI) was also high because of smoke-emitting vehicles. He expressed concern over the vehicles causing pollution and ordered that environmental squads must be visible on the roads for the next two weeks. Justice Karim pointed out that the vehicles coming from Karachi were causing increased smoke and a higher AQI on GT Road. He said many vehicles on the roads were still emitting smoke. The judge also sought a report on the failure to enforce time restrictions for commercial activities. He expressed dissatisfaction over the ...

ISLAMABAD: Amid media reports regarding his potential removal from office, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday to discuss matters concerning the province, including the imposition of governor’s rule, the PM Office said in a statement. A source in the PM Office said the prime minister expressed full confidence in Mr Kundi and gave signals that the government has no intention of removing him. The discussion covered key administrative issues concerning KP and the country’s overall political situation. Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs Engineer Amir Muqam and Federal Minister for Public Affairs Unit Rana Mubashir Iqbal also attended. A few days ago, the governor denied reports about his removal but said he would “accept whatever the decision will be by the leadership of Pakistan Peoples Party”. The issue of imposing governor’s rule was also discussed, reportedly due to a rigid stance by KP’s newly elected Chief Minister Sohail Afridi towards the Centre, ar...

• Buyers deposit dollars in FCY accounts, then withdraw to invest in cryptos • Dollar sales to banks drop to $3bn in 10 months KARACHI: The country has lost an estimated $600 million to illegal crypto transactions, a development that has sharply reduced the flow of dollars into the banking system as people buy dollars from exchange companies and route them into cryptocurrencies through unlawful channels. “Last year, during the first 10 months of the calendar year, we sold banks about $4 billion, which fell to $3 billion during the same period this year. These disappeared dollars were mostly invested in crypto currencies,” said Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan Chairman Malik Bostan. He said people buying dollars from exchange companies are depositing them in their foreign currency (FCY) accounts, from where they withdraw the dollars and purchase cryptocurrencies through illegal means. During Jan-October this year, Pakistanis retained about $400m in their FCY accounts, while $600m left the country wit...

• FO says Islamabad understands ‘economic pain’ caused by closures but security threat ‘existential’ • Can’t let ‘our people be killed indiscriminately’ • Scheduling of planned Turkish delegation’s visit in connection with Pak-Afghan conflict still awaited ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) on Friday said that the resumption of trade with Afghanistan depended on the Taliban regime ending cross-border terrorism, and also linked the fate of key regional energy projects to Kabul halting its support for terrorist groups. “The onus of delay in the reopening of the border crossings rests with the Afghan Taliban regime,” Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said at a weekly media briefing. Pakistan and Afghanistan’s bilateral trade, estimated at $1.6 billion to $1.8bn in 2023-24, with key border gateways like Torkham and Chaman handling most of the traffic, has been suspended since mid-October, following deadly clashes between Pakistani forces and Taliban fighters. This suspension is estimated to b...

• Aurangzeb-led commission to chart strategy, form sub-groups for new award • Provinces, Centre to give 10-minute briefings on fiscal positions • Terms of reference cover distribution of five key federal tax categories • Commission to debate cost-sharing for provincial, national, transnational projects • PM expected to engage with leadership of key allies before formal sitting ISLAMABAD: After yet another rescheduling, the federal government has convened the inaugural meeting of the 11th National Finance Commission (NFC) on Dec 4 to set the housekeeping framework for subsequent technical, financial and legal discussions on horizontal and vertical resource sharing among the federating units. According to notices sent to the provinces, the first NFC meeting, to be presided over by Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, will take up three agenda items. It will begin with general discussions on “strategy for deliberations on the 11th NFC award, including proposed formation of sub-groups for deliberations on...

ISLAMABAD: The Fed­eral Constitutional Court of Pakistan (FCCP) on Friday received the first-ever appeal against a Sindh High Court (SHC) decision after a dedicated Filing and Information Desk was formally opened. FCCP Registrar Muhammad Hafeezullah Khan inaugurated the desk on the premises of the Islamabad High Court (IHC). “The establishment of this desk marks a significant step toward enhancing public facilitation and improving access to judicial services,” says a handout issued by FCCP. At the inauguration, the desk received two fresh cases, marking the commencement of its operational functions. The desk has been established to serve multiple purposes, including filing of new cases for FCCP, providing information and assistance to litigants, lawyers and the general public and receiving applications for attested copies of judicial records. Before the setting up of the information desk, the lawyers were facing difficulty since they had no idea where to file petitions or appeals. Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, wh...

An Indian fighter aircraft, the indigenously developed Tejas, crashed during a demonstration flight at the Dubai Air Show on Friday, a witness and officials told AFP. The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited-built Tejas jet crashed at about 2:10pm local time. View this post on Instagram Videos circulating on social media showed the aircraft failing to recover from an aerial maneuver and bursting into a ball of flames after impacting the ground as onlookers watched in shock. A plume of smoke billowed from the crash site as emergency vehicles sped towards it. The incident happened on the last day of the Middle East’s biggest airshow, which features a flying display each afternoon. Hundreds of people were watching from a grandstand, while the apron was packed with planes, helicopters and other hardware on static display. In September, India signed a $7 billion order for 97 upgraded Tejas Mk1A fighter jets to replace its Russian MiG-21 fleet after decades of use. In a post on X, the Indian Air Force (IAF) confirmed the ...

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ISLAMABAD - The Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, H.

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting on Friday with Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi to review matters related to the province.

ISLAMABAD - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar yesterday met with the foreign ministers of Slovenia, Netherlands, Cyprus and Denmark, wherein they discussed the matters of bilateral, regional and global importance.

ISLAMABAD - The crash of India’s indigenous fighter aircraft Tejas at the Dubai Air Show has exposed corruption, failures and incompetence in India’s defence equipment manufacturing sector.

FAISALABAD - At least 20 people were killed and several others injured after a boiler exploded at a chem-ical factory in Faisalabad on early Friday.

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday that national economic growth, jobs crea-tion and increased income are not possible without industrial development in the country.

FO says Afghanistan must ensure its soil is not used against Pakistan Islamabad pursues regional connectivity on its own terms and is committed to broader trade diplomacy Appreciates US role in reducing Pak-India tensions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s top security official denied on Friday that he had agreed to a Trump administration peace plan, and European leaders hastily sought a response to a draft that endorses most of Russia’s key wartime demands. Washington has presented Kyiv with a 28-point plan that would require Kyiv to give up additional territory, scale back the size of its military and forever abandon hope of joining the Nato alliance. Ukraine’s European allies said they had not been consulted over the plan and scheduled an urgent phone call to discuss the situation. Britain and Germany said their leaders would take part. Zelensky’s office did not say whether he would join in. US officials said the plan was drafted after consultations with Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, a close Zelensky ally who served as defence minister until July. “This plan was drawn up immediately following discussions with one of the most senior members of President Zelensky’s administ...

Foreign Office cautious over Modi's war assurances