Pakistan

A sea of purple posters at the Narita Airport announces the World Athletics Championships — in both English and Japanese. Banners of Haruka Kitaguchi, Japan’s javelin star, are plastered on the walls of the mazy metro stations in the Japanese capital. On the buildings in Ginza, digital billboards have the Japanese athletics team on display. After a spectator-less Olympics four years ago during the Covid-19 pandemic, Tokyo is geared up to host a global athletics extravaganza beginning on Saturday. It was an emotional memory for Japanese athletics chief Yuko Arimori, who teared up when asked at the opening press conference on Friday what it meant to finally have fans in attendance at the championships. “Sports aren’t just for athletes but for everyone to enjoy,” the former marathon runner said as she recalled being cheered on by fans at her international debut at the 1991 Tokyo World Championships. A poster of Haruka Kitaguchi at the Sendagaya metro station in Tokyo. — Photo by Anushe Engineer The stadium is so...

President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday underscored the importance of expanding cooperation between Pakistan and China in the political, economic, and cultural domains, during his official visit to China.

RAWALPINDI: The Military Lands and Cantonment on Friday unveiled a new policy for internal audit in the cantonment boards across the country. Military Lands and Cantonment Director General Maj Gen Irfan Ahmad Malik unveiled a new initiative of Internal Audit Framework for Cantonment Boards across the country to ensure enhancing transparency, accountability and operational excellence. According to a press release, external audits are already being conducted by the Directorate General Audit Defence Services (ADS), the need for an internal mechanism had long been felt to ensure corrective measures are taken in time and to reduce the number of audit observations during external reviews. The newly-instituted system has been designed with clear objectives: Transparency and Uniformity in auditing practices, accountability at all levels of field offices, preventive and remedial action to identify irregularities or unwarranted practices at their earliest stage. A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) devised by Director ...

The federal government has decided to relocate the Federal Constabulary (FC) Headquarters from Peshawar to the federal capital, in line with its plan to transform the force into a modern and active security institution.

PDMA says 4,500 villages washed away n Over 2.

NEW DELHI: Protesters in Nepal ousted the prime minister and set parliament ablaze over the government’s ban on social media and corruption allegations, but in India the violence is being misrepresented online as something else entirely: a religious uprising. While some claim that the demonstrations are a demand for a “Hindu state”, others say the opposite — that they are an attack on the faith. Fuelling the narrative are allegations from Indian broadcasters and politicians that rioters vandalised Nepal’s Pash­u­pa­ti­nath temple, a revered Hindu site. “Some rioters, hiding within the crowd of protesters, attempted to vandalise the temple, and it was only after this incident that the army was deployed,” an anchor for the right-wing Zee News channel said in a report featuring a clip of people climbing onto the temple’s gate and violently shaking it. Jivesh Mishra, a member of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar state, which shares a border with Nepal, told reporters on Wednesday: “An attack on...

RAWALPINDI: PM Shehbaz Sharif addresses ground breaking ceremony of T-Chowk Flyover.

Foreign Office Spokesperson says Israeli attacks against sovereign states threaten regional peace Pakistan ready to counter any external threat.

ISLAMABAD - Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, NI (M), HJ, Chief of Army Staff; General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, NI, NI (M), Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee; Admiral Naveed Ashraf, NI, NI (M), Chief of the Naval Staff; and Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, NI (M), HJ, Chief of the Air Staff, on behalf of the Armed Forces of.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Navy continues relief and rescue operations in flood-affected areas of Punjab and Sindh Province.

ISLAMABAD - A delegation from the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad, led by Chargé d’Affaires Shi Yuanqiang, visited the National Emergencies Operation Centre (NEOC) at National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) headquarters on Friday and attended a briefing on flood relief and response efforts.

ISLAMABAD - Guided by the direction of Secretary Defence, Lt-General (retired) Muhammad Ali, HI (M), and the forward-looking vision of DG ML&C, Major General Irfan Ahmad Malik, HI (M), the Military Lands & Cantonments Department (MLCG) has unveiled a landmark initiative, a Comprehensive Internal Audit Framework for Cantonment.

KARACHI: The residents of Saadi Town and surrounding gated communities in Scheme 33 of District East deserve all praise for their resilience and positive attitude during the recent flooding in their localities as most of the water receded on Friday. A rug hangs out to dry from a balcony of a home. Grey clouds still cover the sky but life carries on as usual in Saadi Town. Just a couple of days ago, the houses here looked like water-locked islands. “The water did not enter our houses. Since this is not that old a town, the houses are built quite above the roads so we were fine, despite being marooned,” Babar Mirza, resident of Saadi Town, Block 7, told Dawn. Even though the water has receded, it has left the roads in bad shape with an uneven surface, cracks and potholes. But the wild grass and weeds in vacant plots are lush green from the rain. They provide distraction from the moisture stains on brick walls. Communities in Scheme 33 say their expensive residential town ‘turns into a katchi abadi’ when it rain...

LAHORE - An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Friday extended the pre-arrest interim bail of Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan, sisters of PTI founder, until October 12 in a case related to violence against police during the October 5, 2024 protest.

RAWALPINDI - The security forces killed four Indian sponsored terrorists in an intelligence-based operation in Mastung District of Balochistan.

ISLAMABAD: Representatives of key journalist bodies on Friday expressed serious concerns over the continued trial of a senior journalist in a local court, without meeting fair trial requirements. The concerns came from office-bearers of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists during an emergency meeting at the National Press Club. According to a statement, the participants expressed their dismay over the indictment of senior journalist Shahbaz Rana by a local court, despite the fact that he had filed the report based on official records. They announced that the journalist community would hold a protest against what they called a biased trial. The case against Rana is based upon a complaint of an FBR official, who alleged that the journalist’s report was defamatory and scandalous. However, the meeting reviewed the report and noted that not only was the information available in the official record, the report had proven to be true based on factual evidence. Published...

• PDMA puts Punjab death toll at 97; 2.45m displaced from 4,500 villages along Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej • Evacuations continue as overflowing Indus submerges 30 villages in Dadu • 19 controlled breaches made to save Jalalpur and Alipur; efforts on to plug Shujabad breach • Flood-hit areas without electricity, cellular coverage; drones used to deliver food to the stranded LAHORE: Evacuation eff­orts continued across central and south Punjab as exceptionally high flood levels persist between the Panjnad confluence of Chenab-Ravi-Sutlej and Guddu Barrage in Sindh, creating a severe humanitarian crisis, inundating low-lying areas, displacing large populations, and destroying hundreds of acres of standing crops. The overflowing Indus has also inundated parts of Sindh, with areas in Dadu and Lar­kana witnessing widespread displacement in riverine areas. Residents of flood-hit areas are also facing widespread electricity and mobile service outages, leaving them cut off from authorities and relatives, while trapped by...

LAHORE/RAHIM YAR KHAN - Punjab Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Friday reached flood-affected area of Taj Muhammad Langah in Rahim Yar Khan to review flood relief operations.

QUETTA - Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti on Friday said that the decisions of the provincial cabinet were guarantee of the public interest and long-term development of Balochistan.

OKARA - Okara District Police Officer (DPO) Rashid Hidayat on Friday held an open court in Azhar Residence area of Police Station B-Division, which was attended by a large number of citizens, traders, journalists and civil society members.