Pakistan

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday expressed deep concern over the situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and appealed to the public to remain peaceful while exercising their constitutional right to protest.

Peshawar - Special Assistant to the Chief Minister (SACM) on Environment, Forests, Wildlife, and Climate Change, Pir Musavir Khan, met with the newly appointed Director General of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Iqbal Hussain, at his office.

Peshawar - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Law, Aftab Alam Advocate, has said that reorganization and restructuring of the Civil Defence Department would enhance the institution’s capacity and ensure a timely and effective response to both natural and man-made disasters.

Peshawar - Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Faisal Karim Kundi, on Wednesday emphasized the critical importance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and women empowerment during a special training session held at the Governor House in Peshawar.

LONDON: Scientist and global activist Jane Goodall, who turned her childhood love of primates into a lifelong quest for protecting the env­ironment, died on Wed­n­esday at the age of 91, the institute she founded said. Goodall died of natural causes, the Jane Goodall Institute said in a social media post. “Dr Goodall’s discoveries as an ethologist revolutionised science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world,” it said. View this post on Instagram The primatologist-turned-conservationist spun her love of wildlife into a life-long campaign that took her from a seaside English village to Africa and then across the globe in a quest to better understand chimpanzees, as well as the role that humans play in safeguarding their habitat and the planet’s health overall. Goodall was a pioneer in her field, both as a female scientist in the 1960s and for her work studying the behavior of primates. She created a path for a string of other women to follow suit, including the...

Pakistan has strongly condemned the deadly assault by Israeli forces on the Global Sumud Flotilla, a humanitarian mission comprising more than 40 civilian vessels carrying over 450 aid workers from 44 countries.

At least five people were killed in an armed clash between two groups in Mangocher area of Kalat, on Thursday.

ISLAMABAD, LAHORE - As the PPP openly threatened to withdraw its support from the PML-N-led fed-eral government over alleged disrespect of its leadership, the latter rushed to save the federal ruling alliance by making efforts to woo its important ally.

Quetta/Kech - Security forces killed 13 India-backed terrorists in two intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in Balochistan’s Quetta and Kech districts, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Wednesday.

ISLAMABAD - Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Wednesday expressed satisfaction with the pace of the government’s talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), saying the negotiations were progressing ‘positively’.

ISLAMABAD - Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman yesterday cautioned the Pakistani leadership to adopt a measured stance on the new peace initiative announced by US President Donald Trump, arguing that both the United States and Israel have a proven record of disregarding international agreements and violating.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s total public debt rose by 13 per cent to Rs80.6 trillion by the end of FY25, driven mainly by a fiscal deficit of Rs7.1tr and slower-than-expected GDP growth, according to the Ministry of Finance (MoF). In its Annual Debt Review 2025, the MoF said the debt-to-GDP ratio increased to 70pc, up from 68pc a year earlier. This was attributed to a lower nominal GDP growth rate, resulting from reduced inflation, which limited economic expansion and pushed the ratio higher despite efforts at fiscal consolidation. The MoF noted that while interest expenses rose by 9pc year-on-year, this increase was significantly lower than the 43pc recorded in the previous fiscal year. Total domestic debt stood at Rs54.5tr, and external debt at Rs26tr — both reflecting a 13pc annual increase. The average time to maturity (ATM) for domestic debt improved from 2.8 years in FY24 to 3.8 years in FY25. External debt ATM remained above six years, consistent with the government’s Medium-Term Debt Strategy 2026–28. The e...

ISLAMABAD - The Ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Dr Jemal Beker Abdula, paid a farewell call on Acting President Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani at Aiwan-e-Sadr today.

ISLAMABAD - First Lady Bibi Aseefa Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday highlighted the alarming rise of breast cancer cases in Pakistan, urging the nation to prioritize early detection and awareness.

ISLAMABAD - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar chaired a meeting here yesterday to review avenues for enhancing cooperation with regional countries.

ISLAMABAD - UK’s Baroness Nosheena Mobarik called on Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad yesterday.

ISLAMABAD: While security forces put militants on the back foot in September, the first three quarters of 2025 saw nearly as much violence as witnessed in all of 2024. If this trend continues, the current year may turn out to be one of the deadliest in decades. This is the crux of two reports, issued by Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) and the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), about militant violence in the country over the past month. According to PICSS, militant violence dropped significantly in Sept 2025, with both the number of attacks and militant capacity showing sharp declines compared to the record levels seen in Aug. The PICSS Militancy Database recorded 69 militant attacks in Sept — a 52 per cent reduction from August’s 143. These attacks resulted in 135 deaths and 173 injuries, whilst militants abducted at least 27 people. The fatalities included 61 security personnel, 20 militants, and 54 civilians. Amongst the injured were 74 security personnel and 99 ci...

• Plan announced by White House differs from terms agreed between Trump and heads of Muslim countries • Distrust remains over proposed International Stabilisation Force • Hamas seeks changes to ‘disarmament’ clause DESPITE their misgivings with the ‘pro-Israel’ draft of US President Donald Trump’s plan to bring peace to war-ravaged Gaza, countries from the eight-member Muslim bloc may yet push for it to be accepted. Officials from Qatar and Pakis­tan have already implied — albeit diplomatically — that the plan announced by the White House was quite different from the one they signed up to in New York. But some countries — especially those in Gaza’s immediate neighbourhood — also believe they have secured key concessions, such as Trump’s refusal to recognise Israeli annexation of the West Bank and a US commitment that Palestinians will be allowed to remain in Gaza. Israel has also agreed, under the plan, not to permanently occupy the Gaza Strip. “Gaza’s reconstruction represents a major economic opportunity fo...

• Meeting to end acrimony decides to take up the matter with Punjab CM, her father Nawaz • Kaira calls BISP ‘transparent aid method’, asks CM not to peddle ‘narrow nationalism’ • Azma hits back, says PPP cannot ‘steady itself’ by targeting PML-N LAHORE: As PPP and PML-N bigwigs met in Islamabad to find a way out of the row sparked by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s recent outburst against the coalition partner, the former has asked the Punjab CM to “rethink her tone” while speaking about water rights and Sindh’s ruling party. During the meeting between Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Law Minister Azam Nazir, Senator Rana Sanaullah and PPP’s Navid Qamar and Ijaz Jakhrani at the NA speaker’s office, it was agreed that the matter would be taken up with PML-N President Nawaz Sharif and CM Maryam Nawaz. The war of words, which began over flood compensation, expanded to water rights on the Indus River, as the Punjab’s chief minister told the PPP leadership to keep its advice to itself. In response, the PPP la...

Three policemen slain, scores injured in clashes; JAAC strike cripples towns, blocks road links; Govt urges calm