Pakistan

Olympic body expresses disappointment after failed bid to secure visas for the nation’s athletes

Dallas cornerback’s freak home mishap adds to team’s defensive woes ahead of Washington clash

Boro end winless streak as Whittaker shines and Brynn’s penalty save proves decisive in home victory

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mohammad Sohail Afridi on Friday declined to attend a top-level huddle chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to chalk out a course of action regarding the future of Afghan refugees. However, Mr Afridi was represented by Muzzamil Aslam, former adviser to the chief minister on finance, in the meeting. In a statement on X, the chief minister said that he had declined to attend a federal government’s meeting about agriculture and Afghan refugees on the ground that attending such meetings without policy guidelines from detained PTI founder Imran Khan would be an insult to people’s mandate. He hoped that the federal government would resolve the issue of his meeting with Mr Khan and direct relevant authorities to arrange his regular meetings with the party’s founder. Mr Afridi said that his legal team was approaching the Islamabad High Court and other forums on the matter. Hopes Centre will ensure his meeting with Imran in jail Earlier in the day, he was denied a meetin...

McLaren driver stays positive after being edged out by Verstappen during a close qualifying session

Sources say next round of talks will continue on Sunday (today) to deliberate on cross-border coordination mechanisms

Luis Enrique’s injury-hit side showed spirit to avoid defeat in a tense clash at home

PMD warns of gusty, dust-laden winds affecting Karachi, surrounding areas intermittently

New tunnelling tech by The Boring Company cuts cost to $8bn, completion under eight years

QUETTA: The Federal Ministry of Commerce has exempted 57 items from the requirement of a Certificate of Origin (COO) for trade with Iran, a move hailed by the business community as a major breakthrough in strengthening bilateral trade. The decision was announced during a Zoom meeting between the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) and the private sector, chaired by Member Customs Policy Ashhad Jawad and participated by Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI) President Muhammad Ayub Mariani, Chief Collector Customs Irfan Javed, Collector Customs Jameel Baloch, State Bank representative Muhammad Yasir, commerce ministry official Zubair Khan, and other stakeholders. The meeting focused on addressing long-standing hurdles in Pakistan-Iran trade, particularly issues related to the Electronic Import Form (EIF) and COO. Speaking on the occasion, Ashhad Jawad said the government was taking all possible steps to promote legal and formal trade with Iran, and that the exemption of 57 items from the COO...

Sale of shares to settle inheritance tax raising concerns over retail investor sentiment

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary committee on Friday asked Pakistan Railways to strengthen regular patrolling on sensitive routes and install three jammers in each train to protect passengers from terrorist attacks on trains. The National Assembly Standing Committee’s decision came following a briefing given by Pakistan Rail­ways’ officials to the committee about the October 7 attack on the Jaffer Express. The officials said that Jaffer Exp­ress was targeted with an improvised explosives device on October 7 near Sultan Kot Railways Station in Sindh. The blast derailed five bogies and damaged the track. Seven passengers, including Pakistan Railw­ays employees, suffered injuries. The standing committee, chaired by Ramesh Lal in the absence of the chairman, heard updates on the Jaffer Express train blast, encroachments of railways lands and Kara­chi-Pipri freight corridor project. Briefing the committee on the freight corridor project, the secretary of Pakistan Railways said the project would start from Keamari, linki...

Defuse rare earth dispute ahead of APEC summit

GWADAR: Police have registered an FIR against Jamaat-i-Islami Balochistan Emir Maulana Hidayatur Rehman Baloch, at the Suntsur police station for allegedly making a speech against the Frontier Corps (FC) during an assembly session. According to police, the case was lodged on the written complaint of Khuda Bakhsh, a resident of Sarbandan in the Dasht area, who alleged that Mr Baloch accused the FC of being responsible for killings in various areas. The complainant further stated that Mufti Shah Mir and Maulana Ghulam Sarwar were killed by unidentified assailants, but Mr Baloch blamed the FC for their deaths without any evidence. Police have registered the FIR against the JI leader under sections 124, 506, 505, and 504 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), as well as sections 26, 20, and 11 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016. Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2025

ISLAMABAD: In the aftermath of TLP protests, Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi pledged strict action on Friday against any group bearing arms against the state, while simultaneously assuring religious leader that the government would not close Islamic seminaries or target innocent people. The interior minister’s remarks came during a meeting with Jamiat Ule­ma-i-Pakistan Secre­tary General Allama Shah Owais Noorani, in which detailed discussions were held on religious harmony, tolerance, and national unit, according to a press release by the Interior Ministry. Both leaders agreed that “no action would be taken against any innocent person, and all of the innocent will be released,” the ministry said. They also agreed that no madressah [seminary] will be closed down. Mr Naqvi reiterated that those bearing arms against the government will face the law. “Holding arms against the state can never be allowed,” Mr Naqvi was quoted as saying, adding that the leaders also agre­­ed that “the miscreants will be deal...

Price of gold per tola drops by Rs10,600

QUETTA: The son of the Assistant Commissioner (AC) Ziarat, who was kidnapped two months ago along with his father, has been safely recovered, police officials said. However, his father, Assistant Commissioner Ziarat Muhammad Afzal Baqi, is still missing, and authorities are making all-out efforts for his safe recovery. Police officials said that after his recovery, Mustansar Bilal, the son of assistant commissioner, reached the Zardalo area of Harnai, from where he was taken into protective custody and handed over to the Deputy Commissioner Harnai. It may be recalled that the assistant commissioner and his son were abducted about two months ago by unidentified armed men while returning to Ziarat after a picnic along with their family. The kidnappers allowed the family members, security guard and driver to go home after setting the official vehicle on fire. On Sept 21, reports circulated that the kidnappers had killed AC Ziarat and dumped his body in a mountainous area of Harnai district. An official of Ziarat...

Afghanistan mourns the loss of young talents as the nation’s cricket community reels from tragedy

• Ahsan says govt to self-fund recovery, rejected ‘external crutches’ after fresh deluge • Preliminary damage of this year’s floods put at $2.9bn across sectors • 1,039 dead, 1,067 injured; surveys to conclude in two weeks ISLAMABAD: Pakistan suffered more than $30 billion in damages and losses in the 2022 floods but received only $600 million in foreign assistance, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said on Friday. Apart from that, all international commitments were loans, most of them repurposed from previous facilities, he said while releasing preliminary estimates for flood-related damages at Rs822bn (about $2.9bn). “This is an irony,” he said, adding that the global community had pledged a $100bn climate-finance fund but “did not provide even $1bn”. Therefore, after consultations, the government decided to meet the latest losses through domestic resources rather than “external crutches” despite the around $3bn damages to agriculture and infrastructure on top of human lives following the recent “apocalyptic fl...

ROME: Adviser to the Prime Minister Dr Syed Tauqir Hussain Shah has strongly cautioned against the unilateral manipulation of shared water resources, accusing India of undermining a critical water-sharing treaty and posing a threat to regional peace and development. Speaking at the Rome Water Dialogue convened by the Food and Agric­ulture Organisation, he warned that any nation attempting to control transboundary water flows violates international law. “Any attempt to unilaterally alter transboundary water flows or weaponise water access is not only dangerous but contrary to international norms and sustainable development goals,” Mr Shah said. Representing Pakistan at the global forum, Mr Shah raised serious concerns about India’s conduct regarding the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), long seen as a successful example of bilateral cooperation. “The Indus Waters Treaty has long been considered a model of cooperation, even during times of conflict between Pakistan and India,” he said. “However, India’s recent unilate...