Pakistan Today

ISLAMABAD: While the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) stopped the results of a by-election to a National Assembly seat in a Sialkot constituency after it suspected that results of some polling stations had been compromised, the government on Saturday prematurely declared victory. In Twitter statements, federal ministers Asad Umar, Shibli Faraz and Fawad Chaudhry congratulated Ali Asjad Malhi for securing...

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Zoo, once home to what was dubbed the “world’s loneliest elephant” and notorious for housing animals in cramped concrete enclosures, has launched an ambitious $7.5 million makeover plan. Animal rights activists had campaigned against the plight of the zoo’s biggest attraction — a 35-year-old bull named Kaavan, the last remaining Asian elephant in the country — who had...

JAKARTA: Severe flooding across several areas in the Indonesian capital forced more than a thousand people to flee their homes on Saturday, with the country’s meteorology agency warning the conditions were set to continue for the next week. Some 1,380 Jakarta residents were evacuated from southern and eastern areas of the city, home to 10 million people, after floodwaters reached...

ISLAMABAD: With talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban stalled and the new administration in Washington mulling its options, Russia is stepping up efforts to try and find a way forward in the peace process. Moscow’s emissaries have been making the rounds, visiting regional players and meeting officials and senior Taliban figures — even as a North Atlantic Treaty...

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE: The United States plans to take no additional actions in response to pressure from Iran before talks with Tehran and major powers about returning to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the White House said on Friday. Tehran and Washington have been at odds over who should make the first step to revive the accord. Iran says...

YANGON: Members of Myanmar ethnic groups protested on Saturday in a show of opposition to the coup that ousted the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, despite some misgivings about her commitment to their aspirations for autonomy, community representatives said. Protests against the February 1 coup that overthrew the elected government of the veteran democracy campaigner have taken place across...

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet has directed the interior and communication ministries to devise a plan to operationalise Islamabad Metro bus service on priority basis, Pakistan Today learnt on Friday. According to sources, the federal cabinet directed the ministries to devise a plan to operationalise the Metro bus service from Peshawar Morr to New International Islamabad Airport (NIIA) to provide smooth bus...

RAWALPINDI: US Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Gen Kenneth F McKenzie Jr has acknowledged Pakistan's commendable efforts in fight against terrorism and ensuring regional stability. According to a press statement issued by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Friday, General McKenzie called on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa at General Headquarters (GHQ) on Friday. Matters of mutual interest, regional security...

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) hearing Osama Satti murder case on Friday decided to indict the five accused policemen in the case on March 3. Osama Satti was killed by Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) personnel after they claimed that the boy refused to stop his vehicle at a checkpoint following a robbery report on the wireless in Islamabad. The postmortem report later...

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Friday ordered to block computerised national identity cards (CNICs) of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leaders Manzoor Pashteen and Mohsin Dawar in a case related to provocative speech and treason. Both Pashteen and Dawar were declared fugitives in the case, after their continued non-appearance before the court. The ATC has ordered authorities concerned to block CNICs of...

ISLAMABAD: Tributes poured in for climber Muhammad Ali Sadpara on Friday, a day after his son announced the end of a search operation for his father and two other missing climbers who had been attempting a winter ascent of the K2 mountain. Pakistan’s Sadpara, Iceland’s John Snorri and Chile’s JP Mohr were last sighted on February 5, at around 10:00 am,...

ISLAMABAD: The World Health Organisation (WHO) is seeking nearly $2 billion to fund its 2021 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) for COVID-19 response which was launched on Thursday in Geneva. The strategy follows the initial plan last year that outlined the path countries should take to suppress transmission of the new coronavirus, said a statement issued on Friday. “Fully funding the...