Pakistan

Federal capital's fading greenery tells grim story of neglect and exploitation

New system will improve consumer protection and streamline service delivery

Downpour causes flooding, power outages; Babusar Top receives one foot of snow

'Intensified snowfall could disrupt energy access and strain food security'

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Winter delicacies become luxury items amid unprecedented inflation, new taxes

Expert warns excessive use of sweeteners may alter food preferences

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Pakistan has constituted an 18-member committee to carry out bilateral economic engagements and negotiations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), a notification issued on Sunday by the Prime Minister’s Office said. According to the notification, made available to Dawn.com today, the committee will be co-chaired by Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik and the national coordinator for Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), Lieutenant General Sarfraz Ahmad. The notification, dated October 5, said that the co-chairs “shall constitute core/negotiation teams for negotiations with the Saudi counterparts”. These teams, per the notification, shall be responsible for implementing and executing the assigned tasks on a fast-track basis. “The prime minister has directed that the SIFC shall submit proposals for the travel of members of the committee from Pakistan to KSA and back, and the PMO will ensure that these are processed/approved within one hour of the same working day,” the notification further said. P...

American scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi from Japan won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for work shedding light on how the immune system spares healthy cells, creating openings for possible new autoimmune disease and cancer treatments. This year’s prize relates to peripheral immune tolerance, or “how we keep our immune system under control so we can fight all imaginable microbes and still avoid autoimmune disease”, said Marie Wahren-Herlenius, a rheumatology professor at the Karolinska Institute. Sakaguchi told reporters outside his university laboratory that “I feel it is a tremendous honour”, Kyodo news agency reported. Regulatory T cells: the immune system’s ‘security guards’ The winners for medicine are selected by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute medical university and receive a prize sum of 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.2m), as well as a gold medal presented by Sweden’s king. Brunkow is senior programme manager at the Institute ...

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday disposed of the contempt case against former Gilgit-Baltistan chief judge Rana Shamim. The case pertained to an alleged affidavit by Shamim, which stated that he witnessed former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar relaying instructions to a high court judge not to release PML-N President Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz, in the corruption references against them. IHC Chief Justice Sardar Sarfaraz Dogar heard the contempt case against Shamim and others. Lawyer Aamir Abdullah stated that the former GB judge had submitted an apology letter, after which the case was not scheduled. Speaking in court, the deputy attorney general said that the case had been fixed after a long time and only Shamim was indicted. During the last hearing in 2022, the GB judge disowned his controversial affidavit. In 2021, Shamim partially backtracked from the contents of his affidavit, stating that not a single sitting judge of the IHC was involved in the controversy and submi...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday termed his Malaysian counterpart’s announcement of the import of Halal meat worth $200 million from Pakistan a “welcome step”, which he said would further augment engagement in this sector between the countries. The PM’s remarks came in a post on X after he addressed a joint press conference alongside Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Putrajaya following bilateral talks between the two leaders. PM Shehbaz had also mentioned during the press conference that the Malaysian premier had indicated interest in meat exports from Pakistan. PM Shehbaz, who reached Malaysia yesterday on a state visit, further shared in his post that he had a “most productive exchange of views with my dear brother Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Putrajaya today”. “We held wide-ranging discussions on ways to further strengthen our historic partnership — focusing on trade and investment, climate, defence, education, and tourism.” The prime minister added that the two leaders also had an in-de...

Top batter Sidra Amin was reprimanded for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during their ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 match against India in Colombo. India won Sunday’s match against Pakistan by 88 runs, with Sidra Amin scoring 81 runs during the encounter. She also become the first Pakistani batter to hit a six against India in a women’s ODI match. The right-handed batter was found guilty of breaching Article 2.2 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an international match.” The incident occurred during the 40th over of Pakistan’s chase, when Sidra forcefully hit her bat onto the pitch after being dismissed. In addition to the reprimand, one demerit point has been added to Sidra’s disciplinary record. This is her first offence in a 24-month period, ICC reports. “Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50 per ...

Pakistani-origin British lawmaker Shabana Mahmood has come under fire after announcing on Sunday that she would grant the police new powers to impose restrictions and conditions on repeat protests, amid a rise in pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the UK. UK police would be given greater powers to restrict protests as Mahmood said repeated large-scale pro-Palestinian demonstrations had caused “considerable fear” for the Jewish community. The government initiative follows last week’s deadly knife and car-ramming attack on a synagogue in the northwestern city of Manchester. “The strengthening of the legislation that I am going to bring about is based on the ability of the police to place conditions and restrictions on protests,” she said in a video posted on her X account. “What I will be making explicit is that cumulative disruption … the frequency of particular protests in particular places is in and of itself a reason for police to restrict or place conditions.” In an interview with the BBC, she further m...

South Africa captain Aiden Markram says his side can expect to have a target on their back when they begin a new cycle of the World Test Championship as defending champions. South Africa play a two-test series in Pakistan, starting on Sunday, and two games in India in November as they bid to retain the trophy they won in June by beating Australia by five wickets at Lord’s. The World Test Championship is decided at the end of a two-year cycle, with the top two teams competing in a one-off five-day match. “I suppose you create a bit of a target on your back if youve won (the WTC), and if thats the case, its fair. We want to chase a place in the final again and lift that trophy once again but realise each team will be coming for us,” said Markram, who stands in as skipper for Temba Bavuma who has been ruled out of the tour with a calf strain. “We, as a team, have to keep getting better and improving and playing well in all different types of conditions. It starts for us in Pakistan, and its a challenge the boys ...

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman has expressed serious concern over what she termed the government’s apathy toward flood victims, saying millions remain without relief while authorities stay silent.

Former Senate Chairperson Raza Rabbani has urged the federal government to immediately brief parliament on its evolving relationship with the United States, raising alarm over reports of rare mineral sales and a possible offer to hand over Pasni Port to Washington.

Chairman Senate, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, is leading Pakistan’s parliamentary delegation to the 68th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) being held in Barbados.