Pakistan

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Rawalpindi to be decorated amid strict regulations, extensive surveillance

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday said that any talks on sporting ties with India would be held on equal footing and there would be no more pleading for negotiations. The suspension of bilateral ties between Pakistan and India has now been officially extended beyond cricket to all sports. On Thursday, India’s sports ministry issued a new policy that ends bilateral sporting ties with Pakistan, even on neutral venues. However, no stoppage has been announced for engagement at multilateral tournaments, paving the way for the much-anticipated Asia Cup cricket clash between the two rivals next month. Last month, the Pakistan Sports Board had asked sports federations in the country to seek approval before participating in sporting events held in India. Questioned about sporting ties with India during a press conference in Lahore, Naqvi said: “I think we are very clear that whenever talks are held will be on an equal footing with India and there will be no more begging for negotiations. That ti...

India’s national investigative bureau opened a criminal case against tycoon Anil Ambani after receiving a complaint from the country’s biggest bank alleging fraud, the agency said on Saturday. Anil, the younger sibling of Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, has business interests that range from power to defence. The State Bank of India (SBI) alleged Anil and his former telecom firm, Reliance Communications, “misappropriated” bank funds by entering into transactions that violated the terms of the loans. SBI claims it was hit with a loss of 29.29 billion rupees ($335.4 million) as a result of their actions. The Central Bureau of Investigation said it had registered a case and that the bank’s complaint would be subjected to “thorough investigation”. The agency searched premises linked to Reliance Communications and Anil’s residence on Saturday. His spokesperson said the tycoon “strongly denies all allegations and charges” and “will duly defend himself”. “The complaint filed by SBI pertains to matters dating back...

The PML-N and PPP on Saturday announced that they would contest the upcoming by-elections together. PTI’s 12 lawmakers were disqualified in Punjab by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) following their conviction in the May 9 (2023) cases. The disqualified lawmakers hailed from eight National Assembly and four Punjab Assembly constituencies. The PPP has shown interest in contesting on six vacant seats — NA-143 and PP-203 (Sahiwal), NA-185 (Dera Ghazi Khan), and NA-96, NA-104 and PP-98 (Faisalabad) — and sought applications from the interested candidates. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and Railways Minister Hanif Abbasi made the announcement during a press conference in Islamabad with PPP MNA Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Secretary General Nayyar Bukhari. “We want to tell our workers and the whole of Pakistan that we are a democracy,” Abbasi said, adding that they would contest the by-polls according to a “predetermined formula”. “We will contest together. Wherever a PPP candidate is runni...

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar said on Saturday that national highways in flood-affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan had been fully restored, whereas out of 60 affected feeders, 52 were now fully functioning.

India’s foreign minister said on Saturday that trade negotiations with Washington are continuing but there are lines that New Delhi needs to defend, just days before hefty additional tariffs by the United States are due to hit. Indian goods face additional US tariffs of up to 50 per cent, among the highest imposed by Washington, due to its increased purchases of Russian oil. A 25pc tariff has already come into effect, while the remaining 25pc is set to be enforced from August 27. A planned visit by US trade negotiators to New Delhi from August 25-29 has been called off, dashing hopes that the levies may be lowered or postponed. “We have some redlines in the negotiations, to be maintained and defended,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said at an Economic Times forum event in New Delhi, singling out the interests of the country’s farmers and small producers. India-US trade talks collapsed earlier this year due to India not agreeing to open its vast agricultural and dairy sectors. Bilateral trade...

The Sindh Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on Saturday said that it found involvement of the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in the target killing of a man in Badin district and arrested six suspects in this connection. On July 30, the CTD had said it arrested four suspected members of a banned separatist militant group in Karachi over charges of killing a man in Badin’s Matli on May 18. During interrogation, the suspects had confessed that they had gunned down the victim, identified as Abdul Rehman. A case was registered under terrorism charges. According to a statement by the law enforcement agency today, “In a joint operation, Sindh CTD and the state intelligence agencies traced the network working for the Indian intelligence agency RAW (Research & Analysis Wing) and arrested six suspects.” It added that the 45-year-old victim was “an innocent citizen who actively participated in welfare work”. “The suspects escaped after unjustly killing him,” the statement said, adding that ...

A judicial magistrate in Islamabad on Saturday ordered the release of journalist Khalid Jamil, who was arrested by the National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency (NCCIA) a day earlier, noting that “there is no incriminating material” against him. According to a first information report (FIR), seen by Dawn.com, Jamil was accused of “sharing highly intimidating content on social media X on May 7”. It stated that he “knowingly disseminated/propagated, fake, false, misleading and misinterpreted information leading to hatred against the government functionaries, including members of national security”. The FIR said that a review of Jamil’s “broader social media activities reveals a deliberate pattern of conduct involving mocking, ridiculing, and maligning state institutions with the clear intent to instigate public discontent”. A case was registered at the NCCIA Cyber Crime Reporting Centre on Aug 8 under Section 20 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (Peca) (offenses against dignity of natural person...

Pakistan Railways has announced the upgradation of the Shalimar Express, following the successful launch of the Pak Business Express.

Peshawar - The first meeting of Joint Steering Committee on Accelerated Implementation Programme (AIP) of merged districts was held here on Friday, with the Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur in the chair.

It was almost deja vu. We’d walked through this foul water before. Felt our way through barely recognisable streets from memory. When you live in a city like Karachi, it almost begins to feel normal. And yet, nothing can get you used to the fact that you — the privileged you, who has made a living out of writing on the city’s myriad governance issues — will be among the thousands stranded in water-clogged streets as you experience it in real time. Time and again. In 2020, when Karachi witnessed one of its worst floods in decades — it can’t definitively be the worst because we like beating our own records — my dad and I walked back home, to Garden West, from I.I. Chundrigar Road in waist-high floodwaters. At 55, my father was surprisingly surefooted with the stride of a mountain goat. He dragged me through the deluge, all the while making sure to keep an eye open for potholes, ragged stones and bare electric wires. He even cracked a joke here and there to ensure that the neurotransmitters in my brain remained ...

WASHINGTON: Pakistani students and other visa holders in the United States are facing growing uncertainty, as even minor infractions, political activity, or incomplete documentation could put their stay at risk. Recent cases indicate that traffic violations and campus protests may be reported to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), raising alarms among the Pakistani community. Two Pakistani students in northern Virginia were shocked when a traffic court judge informed them that courts are now required to share records of traffic violations with DHS. “We were planning to drive to Chicago, but we’ve been advised not to,” said Y*, a student from Baltimore, Maryland. “We are on visas and even a minor mistake could lead to revocation.” US reviewing social media for anti-American or extremist content; Pakistani embassy says it’s monitoring the situation, advises caution in political activities Students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests, are even more anxious. “Some of us joined those demonstrati...

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Saturday attended the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan, where she received a warm reception and a comprehensive briefing on the exhibition’s objectives, projects, and global initiatives.

Pakistan has successfully achieved 68 percent of its tree plantation target under the government’s flagship initiative, the “Upscaling Green Pakistan Program,” which aims at combating climate change, enhancing forest cover, and restoring degraded ecosystems across the country.

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore on Saturday approved a five-day physical remand of Sher Shah, son of Aleema Khan and nephew of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, in connection with the Jinnah House attack case.

Mohmand - Chairman WAPDA, Lt Gen (Retd) Muhammad Saeed visited the Mohmand Dam Hydropower Project, being constructed across the River Swat in Mohmand district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa here on Friday.

ISLAMABAD - Dr.

US President Donald Trump announced Friday that the draw for the 2026 World Cup will be held in Washington on December 5 — and then jokingly asked if he could keep the golden trophy for himself. The draw for the 48-team football championship will be held at the Kennedy Center in the US capital, where Trump recently installed himself as chairman in what he called a war on “woke” culture. “It’s the biggest, probably the biggest event in sports,” Trump, flanked by FIFA chief Gianni Infantino, said as he made the announcement in the Oval Office of the White House. The 2026 World Cup is being hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico next year, and Trump has made a big deal about it happening during his presidency. Infantino, who has fostered close ties with the billionaire US president, brought the World Cup with him for the announcement and even let Trump get his hands on it. “Only the FIFA president, presidents of countries, and then those who win can touch it, because it’s for winners only. And since you ...

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Saturday dispatched another 100-ton relief consignment for the people of Gaza, bringing Pakistan’s total humanitarian aid to 1,915 tons.