Pakistan

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Friday approved Pakistan’s Green Taxonomy, as proposed by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, in a “major step towards environmental sustainability”. “The chair appreciated the initiative, noting that it was long overdue and would play a vital role in facilitating access to financing for green projects in the country,” a statement issued by the Finance Division read. During a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change and Environmental Coordination in March, State Bank Governor Jameel Ahmad said the taxonomy will allow financial and non-financial companies to share a common definition of economic activities that can be considered environmentally sustainable. The statement issued today noted that the ECC meeting was held under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb to deliberate on a range of important agenda items concerning industrial growth, environmental policy, skill development, housing...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met with U.

Even as an uproar over files relating to Jeffrey Epstein engulfs United States President Donald Trump and Congress, the US Supreme Court is due to wade into the controversy and decide whether to hear a bid by an associate of the late financier and convicted sex offender to overturn her criminal conviction. The justices, now on their summer recess, are expected in late September to consider whether to take up an appeal by British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after being found guilty in 2021 by a jury in New York of helping Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls. Maxwell’s lawyers have told the Supreme Court that her conviction was invalid because a non-prosecution and plea agreement that federal prosecutors had made with Epstein in Florida in 2007 also shielded his associates and should have barred her criminal prosecution in New York. Her lawyers have a Monday deadline for filing their final written brief in their appeal to the court. Some legal experts see merit in M...

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Say approximately 38m people are affected by obesity across the country

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Iran said it would continue nuclear talks with European powers after “serious, frank, and detailed” conversations on Friday, the first such face-to-face meeting since Israel and the United States bombed Iran last month. Before the meeting in Istanbul, Iran also pushed back on suggestions of extending the United Nations resolution that ratifies a 2015 deal, nearing expiry, that was designed to curb its nuclear programme. Delegations from the European Union and so-called E3 group of France, Britain and Germany met Iranian counterparts for about four hours at Iran’s consulate for talks that the UN nuclear watchdog said could provide an opening to resume inspections in Iran. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said afterwards that both sides had presented specific ideas on sanctions relief and the nuclear issue. “While seriously criticising their stances regarding the recent war of aggression against our people, we explained our principled positions, including on the so-called snapback mechanism,” h...

The Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) has issued a weather alert ahead of the fifth spell of monsoon rains, expected to impact various parts of the province from July 28 to July 31.

Gujar Khan police have arrested a head constable for allegedly recording women in the toilets of the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital and have begun an investigation, officials said on Friday. Speaking to Dawn.com, Assistant Superintendent of Police Syed Daniyal said, “The police received a complaint from a resident who said that the suspect — a serving head constable posted in Lahore office of Punjab Police — was allegedly involved in filming women while they were using the toilets in the hospital’s wards.” The police arrested the suspect from the hospital and also recovered his cell phone, he said. “It was during a preliminary investigation that police discovered that the suspect was a serving officer.” Police said that several compromised videos of women using the toilets had been found on his cell phone, which have been sent for forensic verification. ASP Daniyal later told Dawn.com that the aggrieved party has moved a cyber-inducement application against the constable. “The matter is already under process wi...

Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, Dr Musadik Malik, urged global climate leaders to honour climate finance commitments and strengthen cooperation between developed and developing nations during the COP29 Heads of Delegation (HoD) Retreat held in Shamakhi, Azerbaijan.

President Asif Ali Zardari met with Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Saeed Al-Malki at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Friday to explore avenues for enhancing bilateral relations, with particular emphasis on trade, economic collaboration, and cultural exchange.

Mohammad Rizwan will continue to lead Pakistan in a three-match ODI series against West Indies as a 16-member ODI squad was announced by the Men’s National Selection Committee, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Friday. “The series will be played at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad and Tobago on Aug 8, 10 and 12,” the statement said. “Right-handed batter Hasan Nawaz is the only uncapped player in the ODI squad, while Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi are part of the ODI squad,” it added. The PCB also said that Pakistan will play three T20 Internationals against the West Indies, scheduled on July 31, Aug 2 and 3, at the Central Broward Park and Broward County Stadium in USA’s Lauderhill. “Salman Ali Agha will captain the T20I side, while fast bowlers Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi return to the squad in this format,” the statement read. It added that Pakistan will arrive in the USA on July 27 following the conclusion of the three-match T20I series in Bangladesh. Pakistan OD...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif assured Dr Fouzia Siddiqui on Friday that the government would continue to provide all possible legal and diplomatic support in the matter of her sister, Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist serving a prison sentence in the United States, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. On Wednesday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Registrar Office put on hold the processing of the contempt of court notices issued to PM Shehbaz and his cabinet members as the dealing staff decided to ascertain its validity first. IHC Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq on July 21 had issued a contempt of court notice to the entire federal government, including the prime minister and all ministers, for refusing to file an amicus brief to support Dr Aafia’s case in the US. “The government is in no way negligent regarding the case of Dr Aafia Siddiqui,” the prime minister was quoted as having said by APP in a meeting today with Dr Fouzia. On the instructions of PM Shehbaz, the government has previously provi...

The legal team of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) received eight signed power of attorney documents from party founder Imran Khan on Friday, authorizing legal representation in his ongoing cases.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting with Nawabzada Mohsin Ali Khan, a former provincial president and ex-minister from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), during which Khan, accompanied by his son Shehryar and a group of supporters, formally announced his decision to join the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Rescue 1122 firefighters on Friday are still working to bring under control a fire at a tobacco warehouse in the Azamabad area of Razaar tehsil in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swabi district that has been raging for 38 hours. The fire, which broke out at 4am on Thursday morning, was still out of control today, forcing firefighters to continue their extinguishing efforts. A Rescue 1122 official, Luqman Khan, said that the three-storey warehouse was filled with ‘white patta’ tobacco and its stems that were mainly used in snuff and cigarettes. “The biggest problem for the firefighters was that no ventilator or exhaust were built,” the official said. He said that the rescue team drilled holes in the walls from the outside to start the process of putting out the fire, adding that it was such a difficult task that “four firefighters fainted during the operation”. According to the official, the intensity of the fire had compelled the district administration to contact Rescue 1122, requesting additional fire extinguishing ve...

A high-level military meeting was held on Friday as Major General Saidzoda Bobojon Abdukodir, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and First Deputy Minister of Defence of Tajikistan, met with General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), at the Joint Staff Headquarters in Pakistan.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi has announced that the judiciary is actively exploring the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the legal system.