Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Robbers looted up to millions of rupees along with valuables and injured two persons in separate incidents, police said on Thursday. In the first incident, a gang of three gunmen looted Rs 8 million from a man at D-17, they said. Sohail Ahmed, a resident of Lower Dir, along with Najeeb Ullah, came over to Islamabad to pay for …

ISLAMABAD: The Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) on Thursday showed concerns over the alarming number of out of school children (OOSC) in the country and called for urgent steps to formulate a comprehensive framework and strategy to address the challenge. A meeting was hosted by SIFC which was jointly chaired by the minister for federal education and the minister for …

RAWALPINDI: Eight suspects allegedly involved in the May 9 violence were detained on Thursday immediately after being released from Adiala jail on bail. The suspects have been held for 15 days after the Rawalpindi deputy commissioner issued their detention orders under Section 3(1) of the Maintenance of Public Order. The said section empowered the government to arrest any individual over fears that …

LAHORE: After the success of its initial experiment, Pakistan Railways (PR) is planning to introduce premium lounge dining cars in more trains to improve the travelling experience, according to its chief executive officer. While speaking to passengers at an open e-court at PR’s headquarters on Thursday, Amir Ali Baloch said the passengers “widely admired” the service which will now be …

ISLAMABAD: In an apparent bid to avoid a retrial in the cipher case, the counsel for former prime minister Imran Khan and foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday endorsed the cross-examination of key witnesses by state-appointed counsel. The move comes as a surprise, as it contradicts the stance earlier adopted by the PTI legal team, which has maintained that the …

Pakistan and Afghanistan reached certain agreements during trade talks in Kabul, including beginning negotiations on a revised transit trade agreement and implementing a temporary admission document (TAD) for trade vehicle drivers, officials said on Friday. Talks were held amid tensions following Pakistan’s March 18 airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Patika and Khost provinces in “intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations”, which Afghan authorities said killed eight people. The Foreign …

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has informed a UN environment meeting that it plans to establish zero plastic waste cities along the Indus River to combat the pervasive issue of plastic pollution. Revealing details of the plan to the world body, Pakistan’s UN envoy Munir Akram stated that it forms a crucial component of the broader ‘Living Indus Initiative,’ which seeks to …

PESHAWAR: Reflecting the emergence of a working relationship between the political rivals who rule in the Centre and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, against the backdrop of surging terrorist attacks in the region, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur received Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi here on Thursday. During the meeting, CM Gandapur said KP had suffered the most during the war against …

RAWALPINDI: The Regional Police Officer Rawalpindi Region Babar Sarfraz Alpa has ordered the security audit of foreigners, especially the Chinese nationals to ensure their safety. Chairing a meeting to review security, crime and law and order situation here at the regional office on Wednesday, he said the audit should be carried out jointly by all law enforcement agencies. A spokesman …

LAHORE / KARACHI: All seven candidates vying for the upper house of parliament on general seats from Punjab were elected unopposed following the withdrawal of nominations by five other candidates, apparently following a behind-the-scenes understanding among the country’s three major parties — the PML-N, PPP and PTI. The development came on Wednesday, which was the last day for the withdrawal …