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Illustration by Sarah Durrani Pakistan made global headlines this June when Islamic scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani, along with five others, issued a fatwa [religious edict] arguing that it was “impermissible” to use cryptocurrencies to purchase goods.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said rising terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa “must be stopped” at any cost.

Security forces eliminated thirteen terrorists in an intelligence-based operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan, state media reported on Wednesday, citing security sources.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) is on the verge of another crisis as supplies of free medicines for inpatients and other items might be discontinued due to procurement issues.

THE talks between the government and the opposition were doomed from the outset, even though the fact that the two sides sat face to face at the negotiating table was a positive sign.

WITH confirmation that members of the Makkah Defence Alliance will be deploying their forces to Saudi Arabia, it appears that the kingdom is preparing for a full-scale war with the pro-Iran Houthi Ansarallah movement.

US Vice President JD Vance has said in an exclusive interview with Reuters that Iran must make a meaningful reduction in its nuclear enrichment capacity to satisfy US demands and end the country’s seven-month war, even as Washington was unsure how Tehran…

ISLAMABAD: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) adjourned the indictment proceedings against lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her spouse, Hadi Ali Chattha, until Wednesday (today) after they could not be produced due to a power outage.

A roughly two-hour drive east from Peshawar brings us to Attock, on the banks of the Indus.

• Ben Gvir ‘gleefully’ drives bulldozer at demolition site; residents not even allowed to gather belongings • Settlers attack photojournalists in occupied West Bank JERUSALEM: Israeli bulldozers on Tuesday demolished a five-storey residential building in…

Lionel Messi delivered one last master class in blue and white on Tuesday as Argentina’s captain brought the curtain down on his extraordinary 21-year international career by scoring one goal and setting up two others in a 3-0 friendly win over Benin.

ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman on Tuesday advised the government not to obstruct the PTI long march heading towards Islamabad, as protests were a democratic right enjoyed by all political parties.

• 115 govt troops, 160 Houthi fighters killed in 24 hours • Rebels claim attack on Riyadh airport, deny losing territory • Riyadh claims intercepting missile • Over 184,000 people displaced by fighting • Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia urged to avoid sharing s…

Power looms are displayed for sale after closure of businesses in Faisalabad.

ISLAMABAD: Projecting Pakistan’s economic growth at 3.8 per cent and fiscal deficit at 3.5pc for the current fiscal year, the World Bank on Tuesday said the country was home to almost half of the extremely poor population in the entire Middle East, North…

ISLAMABAD: Large-scale commercial use of Jammu & Kashmir State land, including construction and operation of marriage halls and other businesses by illegal occupants came under scrutiny on Tuesday as a Senate subcommittee ordered sealing of unauthorised s…

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has begun extending the use of artificial intelligence to scrutinise individual tax returns, enabling its automated system to detect factual and legal mistakes and discrepancies before initiating legal or penal

IT was a Friday afternoon in May 2019.

Attempts to deprive Pakistan of its rightful share of water would have “serious implications” for regional peace and security, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Tuesday while speaking about the Indus Waters Treaty.

The government on Tuesday increased the price of petrol by Rs1.19 per litre and reduced that of high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs1.91 per litre.

ISLAMABAD: PTI founder Imran Khan’s cousin, Qasim Zaman, was taken into custody by the authorities when he went to the Adiala jail in the hopes of meeting the ex-prime minister on Tuesday, the party said after the Rawalpindi deputy commissioner (DC) order…

Pakistan conducted a successful test launch of the indigenously developed extended version of the Fatah-IV ground-launched cruise missile, the military’s media wing said in a statement on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday expressed dismay over the “unfortunate events” in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) in recent months, adding that, however, the law took its course.

A former German spy chief was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of passing sensitive information to foreign powers, an embarrassing case that comes as the country is seeking to bolster its intelligence agencies.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed the relevant authorities to prepare a comprehensive plan for gas load management and take all necessary measures to ensure uninterrupted gas imports during the winter season, given the regional situation.

Russian authorities denied Tuesday that they were imposing special anti-plague measures after a laboratory technician reportedly died of the disease, as the UN’s health agency said the risk to the country was low.

THE new National Cybercrime Investigation Agency chief, Ali Nasir Rizvi, has adopted a “zero-tolerance policy against fake news and anti-state propaganda”, according to the agency.

ISLAMABAD: Senior members of the PTI legal team on Tuesday approached the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) seeking early fixation of a criminal appeal filed by former first lady Bushra Bibi in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case.

Belgian physicist Francis Halzen on Tuesday won the Nobel Prize in Physics for work on subatomic particles at the South Pole, the award jury said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday urged PTI to end its long march and invited the opposition to sit with the government to resolve contentious issues through political dialogue.

Kenya has recorded its first confirmed Ebola case, a Kenyan citizen who has been living in Democratic Republic of Congo and arrived in Nairobi on Saturday, Health Minister Aden Duale said.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Four Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officials were martyred in firing by unidentified assailants near Qureshi Mor in Dera Ismail Khan, while a separate attack on a highway traffic police mobile near the Mufti Mahmood Chowk bypass left a…

LAHORE: The Punjab government on Tuesday extended Section 144 across the province for ten days amid threats of terrorist activities until October 15, a notification issued by the provincial home department said.

BANNU: The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Bannu has postponed the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Annual-II/Oriental Languages Examination 2026 papers scheduled for October 7, 8, 9 and 10 due to the security situation in the regio…

Security forces on Tuesday killed five terrorists in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in North Waziristan, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators are expected on the streets of Paris on Tuesday as France’s powerful trade unions join high school students rallying for better conditions in a wave of protests marked by clashes with police.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Tuesday vowed that PTI’s long march will not be allowed to proceed past Punjab’s Attock.

Dozens of Indian opposition lawmakers began a march on Tuesday seeking the resignation of the election chief over a controversial revision of voter lists, as hundreds of security personnel kept vigil in the heart of the Indian capital and barricades were…

Research in particle physics, astrophysics or the invention of an “invisibility cloak” are some of the achievements that could be honoured when the Nobel physics prize is awarded Tuesday.

KARACHI: Residents of Clifton and Defence, who rely on water tankers, have been facing difficulty in getting a bowser from the Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC) as its tanker service is facing delays due to an acute shortage.

UNITED NATIONS: Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad leaves New York this week to take up his new responsibilities as Pakistan’s foreign secretary, ending his two-year assignment as the country’s permanent representative to the United Nations (UN).

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Islamabad in the early hours of Tuesday for a two-day official visit, the Foreign Office (FO) said.

SUKKUR: Mir Ali Murad Khan Talpur, the last ruler of the former princely state of Khairpur, passed away here on Monday.

LAHORE: Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz received the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour Award for the ‘Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar’ project at a ceremony held at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Muscat.

ISLAMABAD: After almost six weeks having passed since the fire incident, the capital’s largest hospital Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) got a new executive director (ED) and joint executive director (JED).

IT may not be inaccurate to say that Manmohan Singh created India’s middle class, and the middle class created Narendra Modi.

LAST night, I dreamt of Hogwarts again.

THE Kissan Board Pakistan has demanded that agriculture receive at least 10pc of the federal and provincial budgets to lower input costs and address recurring deficits.

• Asim Iftikhar says Islamabad backs more elected seats on UNSC • Foreign secretary-designate highlights country’s role in peaceful dispute settlement • Notes Islamabad presses for peaceful settlement of Kashmir dispute WASHINGTON: Pakistan opposes adding…

• Pakistan-Afghanistan disagreement cited as main reason • Islamabad maintains cross-border terror attacks rose despite peace talks with Taliban • ICC unseals warrants for Afghan ministers over anti-women actions ISLAMABAD: The eighth edition of the Moscow