Pakistan

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Thirteen security personnel were martyred in a suicide bombing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district on Saturday, carried out by Indian proxy Fitna-al-Khawarij, according to a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). According to the military’s media wing, a vehicle-borne suicide attacker targeted a security convoy in the district’s Mir Ali area, before being intercepted by the convoy’s lead vehicle. In July last year, the government designated the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as Fitna-al-Khawarij, while mandating all institutions to use the term khariji (outcast) when referring to the perpetrators of terrorist attacks on Pakistan. “In their desperation, an explosive-laden vehicle was rammed by the Indian sponsored kharijis into one of the vehicles of the leading group,” the ISPR stated. “Thirteen brave sons of [the] soil, embraced shahadat (martyrdom) [and] in this tragic and barbaric incident, two children and a woman [were also] severely injured.” The martyred perso...

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The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Saturday warned that there is a risk of urban flooding across the southern district of Sindh, as rains lash Karachi and are forecast to continue tomorrow. Karachi has been experiencing moderate to heavy rainfall since Thursday night, bringing on reprieve from the scorching summer heat. Monsoon rains continue to lash many parts of the country, prompting authorities to release an urban flooding warning for several cities. Monsoon rains fall across the region from June to September every year. According to an NDMA alert on X, there is a risk of urban flooding within the next 48 hours in the districts of Sujawal, Thatta, Badin, Karachi, Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas. The authority also issued an urban flood warning for “the low-lying areas of Pothohar/northeast Punjab”, including Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sialkot and Lahore. Meanwhile, two people died in rain-related incidents in Karachi, according to police, hospital and rescue officials. Police su...

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday ordered the government to dissolve the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and transfer its powers to the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (MCI), according to a court order seen by Dawn.com. Established in 1960, the CDA is a civic organisation tasked with the development of the federal capital. The authority’s official website said that it plays a “pivotal role in the sustainable development and management” of the city. A day earlier, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani heard two writ petitions challenging a Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) issued by the CDA in 2015 imposing Direct Access and Right of Way (ROW) charges on petrol pump/CNG stations located on major roads in Islamabad. Today’s judgment said that the CDA charged the petitioners an amount of Rs337,442,856 for payment “under ROW charges”. It said that the “issuance of SRO constitutes an illegal act and is unconstitutional” under Article 77 of the Constitution, which directs that taxation powers must be exercise...

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Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan has ordered the suspension of 26 opposition MPAs for 15 sittings of the provincial legislature after their protests disrupted the proceedings, it emerged on Saturday. The members raised slogans and protested during Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s speech in the assembly yesterday, when she responded to PTI leadership’s comments that ex-premier Nawaz Sharif — also an MNA — had been removed from the political arena. According to an order issued by Malik on Friday, the suspended MPAs “became disorderly, beyond all parliamentary reasoning and practices”, including tearing the agenda papers and hurling torn pieces towards the treasury benches as well as using “offensive, abusive, and unparliamentary language and slogans”. The order was issued under Rule 210 of the Punjab Assembly Rules of Procedure 1997 (power to order withdrawal or suspension of member) and stated that the 26 MPAs violated four provisions of Rule 223. These were (c) (shall not interrupt any member wh...

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Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi paid a surprise visit to the 24/7 NADRA Mega Center located in the Blue Area here Saturday and reviewed the facilities being provided to citizens at the center.

Both leaders paid tribute to the martyred soldiers and lauded security forces for killing 14 terrorists in exchange

Pakistan is leading the Global Emerging Markets (EM) Rankings, indicating improvement in default risk, Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad said on Saturday. The current government has reassured that the country has moved onto a path of economic recovery and growth, witnessing “economic stabilisation” after a period of turbulence and uncertainty. Some assessments by global rating agencies have signalled gradual improvements in key economic indicators. In a statement on X, Schehzad said, “As per the latest data posted by Bloomberg Intelligence, Pakistan stands out globally as the most improved economy in terms of reduction in sovereign default risk, as measured by CDS-implied probability.” He said that the country has topped the Global Emerging Markets rankings with the “largest drop in sovereign default risk globally over the last 12 months”. The statement said, “[The] default probability [went] down from 59 per cent to 47pc, a massive 1,100 basis points improvement.” “This marks the sharpest decl...

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday ordered the federal government to dissolve the Capital Development Authority (CDA), declaring its recent actions under a specific statutory regulatory order (SRO) unlawful.

PMD warns initial monsoon spell bringing heavy rain from Islamabad to Karachi, with more expected in coming days