Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The tally of deaths from dengue rose to five in the capital as one more patient died of the disease on Thursday. District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Zaeem Zia said the deceased was a resident of Itefaq Colony, Tarnol, and admitted to Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) Rawalpindi. During the last 24 hours, 96 dengue cases emerged in the capital, …

ISLAMABAD: The presidential ordinance about the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has served to “disrupt” the otherwise smooth proceedings on references and bail petitions relating to the anti-graft watchdog, it emerged on Thursday. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has sought assistance of NAB’s prosecutors and senior lawyer Farooq H. Naek to decide the fate of pending bail petitions in cases pertaining …

A meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) discussed matters of national security, the situation in Afghanistan and other important issues on Friday. The meeting held at PM House was chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan and attended by senior cabinet members, the national security adviser and the services and intelligence chiefs. It was convened to discuss the ongoing situation …

An earthquake of magnitude 5.9 struck parts of Balochistan early on Thursday morning, killing at least 20 people and injuring over 300 others, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said. According to the National Seismic Monitoring Centre, the earthquake was centred near the province’s Harnai district and had a depth of 15 kilometres. It added the quake had a longitude of …

KARACHI: Photo­journa­list Hassan ul Huq, popularly known as Sangrami, passed away in Vaughan, a northern municipality of greater Toronto, on Monday night, according to information that reached here on Wednesday. He was 66. Mr Sangrami had an open heart surgery some eight weeks ago, but developed complications afterwards. He was again rushed to hospital, where he died. He was a …

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja has hinted at “good news” in the coming week, saying the New Zealand cricket board was working on a new schedule to tour Pakistan after it abandoned the series last month citing “security threats”. The New Zealand cricket team had arrived in Pakistan on September 11 for the first time in 18 years to play …

QUETTA: Political crisis in Balo­ch­istan deepened on Wednesday when a group of disgruntled ministers, advisers and parliamentary secretaries submitted their resignations to the provincial governor after an embattled Jam Kamal Khan Alyani ignored the 24-hour deadline set by his opponents for him to step down as chief minister. Official sources said the angry group met Governor Syed Zahoor Ahmed Agha …

ISLAMABD: The outpatient department (OPDs) of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) remained closed and over 300 elective surgeries were postponed on Wednesday as a protest against police baton charge and arrest of young doctors a day earlier. The OPDs in Polyclinic also remained partially closed. Young doctors were protesting against the National Licensing Exam (NLE) outside the Pakistan Medical …

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser has said that a new legislation to increase the number of seats in the assembly for the merged districts of erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) will be introduced in parliament after a political consensus on the issue. The speaker was presiding over a meeting of parliamentary committee on development of former Fata areas …

A sessions court in Islamabad on Thursday fixed Oct 14 for the indictment of suspects in the murder case of Noor Mukadam — daughter of a former diplomat. A total of 12 people will be indicted in the case, including Zahir Zakir Jaffer— the key suspect in Noor’s murder — his parents Zakir Jaffer and Asmat Adamjee, their three household …