Pakistan

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Checkers cite vague payment terms, time-consuming procedures

Gold, valuables looted in Surjani Town; mobile shop looters held in DHA

Writers, thinkers delve into culture, human rights, the evolving role of AI in creative arts

PAC Chairman Khuhro opposes NFC cuts, urges federal delegation of tax powers to Sindh

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QUETTA: Baloch rights activist Abdul Qadeer Baloch passed away on Saturday in a Quetta hospital after a prolonged illness. He served as the vice chairman of the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP), which set up a camp years ago on Quetta’s Adalat Road, a site that has long stood as a symbol of protest against enforced disappearances in Balochistan. VBMP Chairman Nasrullah Baloch confirmed the rights activist’s passing to Dawn, saying: “He had been ill for a long time and was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Quetta for the past two months.” The group’s chairman added that the funeral prayers and burial would be performed on Sunday in Shaheed Sikanderabad district. Baloch said the deceased’s struggle had remained prominent in human rights circles across the country. In November 2011, Qadeer received the mutilated body of his son, Jalil Reiki, who was the information secretary of the Baloch Republican Party. The kidnapping and subsequent death of his son further galvanised the advocacy group, st...

The United States Justice Department released thousands of heavily redacted documents related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday that made scant reference to President Donald Trump but extensively featured Democratic former president Bill Clinton. The absence of references to Trump was notable given that pictures and documents related to him have trickled out of previous Epstein releases for years. Trump’s name appeared in flight manifests listing passengers on Epstein’s private plane that were part of a first batch of Epstein material the Justice Department released in February, for instance. The partial release was intended to comply with a law overwhelmingly passed by Congress in November that mandated the disclosure of all Epstein files, despite the Republican president’s months-long effort to keep them sealed. The scandal surrounding Epstein has become a self-inflicted political wound for Trump, who for years had promoted conspiracy theories about Epstein to his su...

The United States (US) is facing a delicate balancing act in defining the mandate for a proposed International Stabilisation Force (ISF) in Gaza. Any plan must address the concerns of potential troop-contributing countries while also satisfying Israel’s security demands — a combination that has so far proven elusive. As diplomats gathered this week in Doha and Miami, it became clear that clarity on legal authority, rules of engagement, and operational responsibilities is a prerequisite for any country, particularly Muslim-majority nations, to commit troops. Until these questions are resolved, phase two of the Gaza peace plan risks remaining largely a blueprint on paper rather than an actionable plan. Consultations in Doha and Miami Earlier this week, the United States and its partners convened a conference in Doha, Qatar, bringing together representatives from more than two dozen countries to discuss key aspects of the ISF, including leadership, rules of engagement, and operational structure. The meeting, how...

ISLAMABAD: Mahmood Khan Achakzai, head of the Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) and chairman of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, lamented on Saturday that the Constitution and the law “have been torn to shreds” in the country and asked that the sovereignty of Parliament be acknowledged. He expressed these views in the inaugural address at the two-day national conference titled “Protection of the Consensus Constitution: The Need of the Hour and a Way Forward through Collective Wisdom”, organised by TTAP - an alliance of opposition parties. The opposition alliance had announced the national conference after Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry assailed Imran Khan for creating and spreading an “anti-army” rhetoric, stating that such narratives were now out of the realm of politics and had become a “national security threat”. “The current situation in the country is such that the Constitution and the law have been torn to shreds, and raising one’s voice agai...

The wedding schedule of Junaid Safdar, son of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, has been formally confirmed, with arrangements for the ceremony now underway.

Pakistan Railways has resumed train operations from Quetta to Peshawar after an improvement in the situation, with two trains dispatched to accommodate passenger demand.

Balochistan experienced widespread rainfall on Saturday, bringing much-needed relief after a prolonged dry period and easing drought-like conditions across large parts of the province.

Tens of thousands of Bangladeshi mourners, including the country’s interim government leader, attended the funeral on Saturday of a slain youth leader and election candidate amid tight security. Sharif Osman Hadi, 32, a key figure in last year’s student-led uprising that toppled longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was shot in the head by masked assailants in Dhaka last week while launching his campaign for an election due in February. He died on Thursday in Singapore after six days on life support. His death has prompted a wave of unrest in the South Asian nation that included coordinated mob attacks on major newspapers and cultural institutions. Police and paramilitary forces were deployed across the capital for Saturday’s funeral, but there were no reports of any renewed violence. A convoy carrying the body of Sharif Osman Hadi, a student leader, who died after being shot in the head, moves along the crowd after the funeral prayer, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, December 20. — Reuters Interim government leader Mu...

The Ministry of Finance said on Saturday that the federal government released provincial shares under the National Finance Commission (NFC) on a fortnightly basis, adding that “no outstanding liabilities exist in this regard”. The statement from the ministry came a day after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi accused the federal government of stalling development in the merged tribal districts by not disbursing funds under the NFC resource-distribution formula for the current fiscal year. In the statement released on Saturday, the ministry reaffirmed the federal government’s “continued commitment to ensuring timely, transparent, and sustained financial transfers” to KP under the NFC Award and beyond. It said that under the 7th NFC Award, KP’s share was determined at 14.62 per cent of the provincial share in the divisible pool. “In recognition of the extraordinary burden borne by the province during the war on terror, an additional one per cent of the undivided divisible pool was allocated exclusi...

A passenger train smashed into a herd of elephants in India’s northeast, killing seven animals on the spot, officials said Saturday. No travellers were injured in the accident in Assam state, home to more than 4,000 of the roughly 22,000 wild elephants in India. Senior Assam police official V.V. Rakesh Reddy told AFP that seven jumbos were killed, and one elephant sustained an injury. Five coaches of the train, which was headed to New Delhi from remote Mizoram state, were derailed. Authorities have introduced speed restrictions along routes designated elephant corridors, but the latest accident occurred outside of these zones, Kapinjal Kishore Sharma, an Indian Railways spokesman said. “The loco pilot, on observing the herd of elephants, applied emergency brakes. However, elephants dashed with the train,” he said. Deforestation and construction activity near their habitats force elephants to stray further afield for food, often bringing them into conflict with humans. According to parliamentary figures, 629 p...

Pat Cummins skittled England’s top order and Nathan Lyon spun out their soft underbelly to all but seal another Ashes series victory for Australia on day four of the third Test at Adelaide Oval on Saturday. Chasing a world record 435 runs to win, England were reduced to 207 for six at stumps, still 228 runs short of victory and having played no small part in their predicament through batting misadventure. Jamie Smith, on two, and Will Jacks, on 11, were left to try to salvage something from the wreckage of another demolition day for the tourists. With holders Australia 2-0 up in the five-test series after eight-wicket wins in Perth and Brisbane, they need only draw the match to retain the urn. View this post on Instagram But there is little prospect of a rousing comeback win from an England squad that have failed to live up to expectations. “Obviously very disappointing. Uphill battle from here,” England opener Zak Crawley told reporters. “We came here to win the Ashes and we’re staring down the barrel now …....

A mild earthquake was felt on Saturday morning in Islamabad and several other parts of the country, prompting residents to step out of their homes as tremors shook the region.

Federal Information Minister Atta Tarar on Friday stated that the prison terms handed down to former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the Toshakhana-II case will take effect only after they complete the previously awarded 14-year sentence in the 190 million-pound reference.

The World Bank has approved $700 million in financing for Pakistan under a multi-year initiative aimed at supporting the country’s macroeconomic stability and service delivery, it emerged on Saturday. The lender said the funds will be released under the bank’s Public Resources for Inclusive Development — Multiphase Programmatic Approach (PRID-MPA), which could provide up to $1.35 billion in total financing. Of this amount, $600m will go for federal programmes and $100m will support a provincial programme in Sindh. The approval follows a $47.9m World Bank grant in August to improve primary education in Punjab. A separate statement issued by the lender quoted Bolormaa Amgaabazar, the World Bank’s country director for Pakistan, as saying, “Pakistan’s path to inclusive, sustainable growth requires mobilising more domestic resources and ensuring they are used efficiently and transparently to deliver results for people.” She said that through the MPA, the bank was working with the federal and Sindh governments to “...