Pakistan

Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb on Friday said she was “honoured” that members of the US Congressional Pakistan Caucus have recognised the provincial chief minister’s “bold vision” to mechanise brick kilns, end bonded labour and “peshgi” exploitation, and build a green, ethical and “investment-ready” brick kiln industry. Peshgi system is the commonly used term for the practice of debt bondage in Pakistan. Instead of just seeking wages in exchange for labour, poor workers take an advance from an employer (in cash or any other form) under the obligation to work for that employer until the debt is paid off. “Child labour at kilns, once a painful reality, was eliminated under a campaign initiated by [then chief minister] Shehbaz Sharif, neglected for [four] years, and now fully revived and strengthened by CM Maryam Nawaz,” Aurangzeb said in a post on X. The senior minister’s post highlighted that all brick kilns across Punjab have been geo-mapped, QR-coded, drone-surveyed and linked to a central monitor...

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Friday announced a “new reward” for the upcoming Pakistan Super League (PSL) edition set to be held in April 2026. “Complementing the Pakistan Super League’s growth, I am thrilled to announce a new reward for franchises in the forthcoming editions,” Naqvi said on X. The champions will take home $500,000 — the same as the 2025 edition — while the runner-up team will take home $300,000, which is an increase of the previous year’s $200,000 reward. Additionally, a $200,000 reward will be given to the “best franchise contributing towards cricket development. Separately, PCB announced on Friday that the auction for the two new PSL franchise teams will take place on 6 January, 2026, while the decision for which cities have been shortlisted will be made after December 15. “This marks a significant milestone in the league’s continued expansion and its commitment to expanding its footprint across Pakistan,” the board said of the development. “The addition of two new...

The Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) has officially moved into its newly constructed building, where all administrative affairs and Bar activities will now take place starting today.

Justice Shahid Karim of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday praised efforts to preserve historical heritage under the Neela Gumbad project and directed authorities to intensify action against smoke-emitting vehicles on city roads.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was earlier reported to have skipped out on attending an Asean summit to avoid broaching the issue of Pakistan in a possible meeting with United States President Donald Trump, will be attending the G20 summit in South Africa which has been boycotted by the American leader. The Kolkata-based Telegraph reported that Modi had avoided the last two multilateral platforms where the US President was present — the Asean summit in Malaysia and Trump’s Gaza Peace Summit in Egypt — “resulting in speculation that the prime minister was trying to avoid a meeting with the American leader till the India-US trade deal is finalised”. Trump’s administration has said it will not attend the first G20 summit in Africa, alleging that the host country, previously ruled by its white minority apartheid system until 1994, discriminates against white people. The US president has also rejected South Africa’s agenda for the November 22-23 summit of promoting solidarity and helping developing natio...

Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan said on Friday that he hoped the institution would “stand as a guardian of constitutionalism and an enduring symbol of justice for generations to come”. The FCC was established under the recently enacted 27th Constitutional Amendment amid much opposition from the opposition and within the judiciary. According to government officials, the creation of the FCC is intended to reduce the Supreme Court’s workload, ensure timely adjudication of constitutional cases, and strengthen the independence and credibility of the judicial system. “The creation of this court represents an important moment in the nation’s ongoing constitutional journey,” Justice Aminuddin said in a message posted on the newly launched website for the FCC. “One that reinforces our collective commitment to the rule of law and to the enduring promise of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” he stressed. He said that the FCC “has been entrusted with a mandate of great ...

The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) on Friday said it had issued show-cause notices to seventeen major private school systems for allegedly forcing parents to buy branded supplies from exclusive authorised vendors. “The CCP has issued show cause notices to seventeen major private school systems for allegedly abusing their dominant position by compelling parents to purchase expensive, logo-branded notebooks, workbooks, and uniforms exclusively from school-authorised vendors,” a press release by the CCP said. “The action has been taken to safeguard millions of school-going children and their families from unfair pricing practices,” it added. According to the commission, the enforcement action follows a detailed suo motu inquiry initiated on the basis of numerous complaints from parents, guardians, and other stakeholders. It said that the complainants alleged “arbitrary fee hikes, non-transparent selling practices, and the bundling of mandatory branded school supplies, effectively leaving families with ...

Two trains traveling from Karachi and Peshawar to Quetta were unexpectedly halted at Jacobabad railway station.

Seven people were killed and one injured in a terrorist attack on the peace committee office in Bannu.

Chief Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court, Aminuddin Khan, said on Friday that protecting fundamental rights is the top priority of the constitutional court, and that the Constitution will be interpreted with transparency, freedom, and integrity.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, in a letter to his counterpart in Punjab, Maryam Nawaz, has raised concerns over the alleged manhandling of PTI founder Imran Khan’s sisters by police and the obstruction of the incarcerated ex-premier’s visitation rights. The development comes after Afridi on Thursday was denied access to meet Imran for a seventh time. Further, two days ago police had allegedly manhandled and “violently detained” Imran’s sisters from outside Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, where they were camped out after being denied a weekly meeting with him. The letter, which was shared by the PTI on social media platform X early on Friday, said that Afridi wished to draw Maryam’s attention to “serious concerns” regarding the “administration of court-mandated visitation rights” of Imran and the recent treatment of his family members. “Clear and binding judicial directions govern Imran’s visitation schedule. These orders explicitly permit his close family members and nominated individuals to meet...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has written an official letter to Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif raising concerns over the denial of a meeting between PTI founder Imran Khan, who is currently detained at Adiala Jail, and his family members, despite court orders.

A boiler explosion at a chemical factory on Friday claimed the lives of eight people and injured several others.

An earthquake measuring 4.

A fresh wave of cold and dry weather is set to envelop most parts of the country on Friday, with very cold conditions expected to intensify in hilly regions during the morning and night hours, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).

KARACHI - As the government has indicated to introduce the 28th Amendment, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement–Pakistan (MQM-P) has once again raised its long-standing call for a new province in Sindh, unveiling plans for a public mobilisation campaign and legal steps to secure constitutional rights for urban residents.

ISLAMABAD - The International Monetary Fund has recommended integrating Parliamentarians’ development schemes under the Sustainable Development Goals Achievement Programme (SAP) - into the PSDP process for the purpose to stop the inclusion of politically driven projects into development portfolio without proper procedure.

KARACHI may be Pakistan’s largest city and its economic engine, but the metropolis suffers from a poor quality of life for the teeming millions who call it home. This is mainly due to official neglect, manifested in the form of crumbling infrastructure, high pollution levels, and violent crime. Yet the city is due to expand in the decades to come, and unless there is commensurate planning to cope with this growth, an even more unliveable urban hell awaits future generations. According to the UN’s World Urbanisation Prospects 2025 report, Karachi could be the globe’s fifth most populous city by 2050, with a population of around 33m. This is in keeping with the worldwide trend of rapid urbanisation. But as Karachi expands, its services and infrastructure are not growing apace. As per the Economist Intelligence Unit’s ranking from earlier this year, it is amongst the world’s five least liveable cities. If this dubious distinction is to change, much work is needed at the official level. The Sindh government has s...

• IMF highlights need for risk-based asset verification • Says NAB’s ‘political compromise’ hindering anti-corruption efforts • Seeks autonomous oversight body to audit internal control processes ISLAMABAD: With the Inter­national Monetary Fund (IMF) describing the country’s top anti-corruption agency, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), as a “political compromise”, the government has agreed to the publication of asset declarations of high-level public officials in 2026 and their risk-based verification to improve the country’s accountability and integrity standards against widespread corruption. According to IMF’s Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment (GCDA), released by the Ministry of Finance as a structural benchmark of the ongoing $7 billion loan programme, the two sides have agreed under a short-term action plan to “strengthen accountability and integrity among high-level federal civil servants by initiating the publication of asset declarations in 2026, and introduce risk-based verifica...

1267 panel warns of attacks from Afghan soil; Says al Qaeda expanding its regional footprint; China urges listing