LONDON: The UK government on Sunday faced a torrent of criticism after its hurried withdrawal from Afghanistan ended, leaving hundreds eligible for relocation behind. Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed a mission “unlike anything we have seen in our lifetimes” after the UK airlifted over 15,000 people in the last two weeks. Troops landed back at Brize Norton airbase in southern …

KABUL: The Taliban’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada — who has never made a public appearance and whose whereabouts have largely remained unknown — is in Afghanistan, the hardline Islamist group confirmed on Sunday. “He is present in Kandahar. He has been living there from the very beginning,” said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. “He will soon appear in public,” added deputy …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday categorically rejected Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s terrorism-related allegations against Pakistan as completely baseless. The Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement that Pakistan had shared incontrovertible evidence with the international community of India’s state sponsorship of terrorism and subversion against Pakistan. “India uses terrorism as an instrument of state policy. This year alone, India has …

North Korea appears to have restarted a nuclear reactor that is widely believed to have produced plutonium for nuclear weapons, the UN atomic watchdog said in an annual report, highlighting the isolated nation’s efforts to expand its arsenal. The signs of operation at the 5-megawatt (MW) reactor, which is seen as capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium, were the first to …

Hurricane Ida ploughed into the US state of Louisiana from the Gulf of Mexico as a fierce Category 4 storm on Sunday, lashing the coast with 150 mile-per-hour winds, torrential downpours and pounding surf that submerged much of the shoreline under several feet of water. Power was knocked out on Sunday night to the entire New Orleans metropolitan area with the …

Envoys of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) will hold an emergency meeting today (Monday) to discuss the rapidly evolving situation in Afghanistan following the US drawdown and Taliban takeover of the war-ravished country, according to Radio Pakistan. The state broadcaster reported that France and Britain are expected to submit a resolution in the meeting, proposing the establishment of a safe zone in …

RAWALPINDI: The Punjab government is planning to establish the Leh Nullah Development Authority (LNDA) to tackle the issue of flooding in the monsoon season and to improve the catchment areas. On the directives of the provincial government, the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) has prepared the draft of the LNDA Act and sent it to Lahore for approval. A senior official …

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government is still undecided about convening a joint sitting of the parliament for the mandatory presidential address due to unclear situation in Afghanistan and a call by the country’s journalist organisations to stage a sit-in against the proposed law to set up a new media regulatory body in the country, Dawn has learnt. Background interviews with a …

ISLAMABAD: After a gap of around 18 months, a commission formed by the federal cabinet for the revision of Islamabad’s master plan is going to meet on Monday (today) to discuss measures for the speedy completion of the task. The commission was formed in 2018 to revise the master plan. However, after preparing an interim report in October 2019, it …

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry has warned of potential spillovers from the Afghan crisis, saying the world would have to deal with a “huge mess” if Pakistan’s advice on the war-ravaged country was ignored. In an interview with TRT World today, Chaudhry said the world must listen to Pakistan as “in the recent past, Pakistan’s advice had not been paid heed to, and if …