Author: i2wtc

Listen to article Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev took a friendly stroll together in Khankendi, Azerbaijan, following the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) summit. The Azerbaijani president briefed the prime minister and the Turkish president about Khankendi and its historic buildings, the Prime Minister’s Office Media Wing said in a statement on Saturday. The three leaders engaged in an informal and pleasant conversation during the walk. As a symbolic gesture of unity, the leaders held hands to express the exemplary fraternal relations and solidarity among Pakistan, Türkiye, and Azerbaijan. Later, President Aliyev personally drove…

Listen to article Major cities across the country, including Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar, observed Muharram 9 processions on Saturday under tight security, with mobile phone services suspended in some areas and key locations sealed amid fears of unrest. Authorities in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar deployed tens of thousands of police personnel, sealed sensitive areas, and partially suspended mobile phone services in efforts to prevent any untoward incidents, Express News reported. In Karachi, the main Muharram 9 procession began at 1:00 PM from Nishtar Park. Prior to the procession, a majlis was held at Nishtar Park, where Allama Shahenshah Hussain Naqvi delivered a…

Pakistan were knocked out of the qualifiers for the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup on Saturday despite a 2-1 victory over Kyrgyzstan, as Chinese Taipei scored the most points in their group. The national squad was drawn in Group ‘D’ of the qualifiers in Jakarta alongside Chinese Taipei, Indonesia and Kyrgyzstan. Pakistan lost their first match of the campaign to Chinese Taipei 8-0 on June 29, but beat hosts Indonesia 2-0 in their second group match this week. Mariam Mahmood scored her first international goal in the very first minute of the match. “Layla Aliya won possession…

PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has filed a writ petition in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) challenging the allocation of reserved seats in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. The party has requested the court to restrain the newly selected members on reserved seats from taking oath until a final decision is made. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has been named as a respondent in the petition. Following the Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians (PTIP), PML-N has also turned to the court over what it terms as unfair distribution of reserved seats. Filed through Barrister Saqib Raza, the…

MIRANSHAH: A powerful and unprecedented protest unfolded in North Waziristan tribal district on Friday as thousands of tribesmen took to the streets to oppose a potential military operation in the region. The protest reached its peak in Mir Ali, one of the area’s most important towns, where demonstrators offered Friday prayers in congregation on a two-kilometer stretch of the main highway, effectively shutting down commercial activity and sending a strong political message. The protest, far more than a religious gathering, served as a peaceful but forceful public referendum against what locals see as government’s destructive policies. With shops closed and…

PAKPATTAN: The chief executive officer of Pakpattan district health authority and medical superintendent of DHQ hospital were arrested for criminal negligence on Friday after patients and attendants complained to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif during her surprise visit to the healthcare facility about mismanagement, negligence and lack of basic facilities. The chief minister inspected various wards of the district headquarters hospital and interacted with patients and their families. According to an official statement, the patients and attendants voiced serious complaints about mismanagement, negligence and lack of basic facilities. Despite the availability of medicines in the hospital store, patients were…

India’s six‑match white‑ball cricket tour of Bangladesh next month has been postponed to 2026, both cricket boards said on Saturday. The series, including three one-day and three T20 matches, had been due to start on August 17 in Dhaka. Political relations between India and Bangladesh have turned frosty since a mass uprising last year in Dhaka toppled the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have “mutually agreed to defer” the series, the statement read. It said the decision was made “taking into account the international cricketing commitments…

* China’s first LEGOLAND resort opened on Saturday in Shanghai.* Spanning 318,000 square meters, LEGOLAND Shanghai Resort is the 11th LEGOLAND Resort globally and the largest LEGOLAND park at the time of its opening.* China currently has over 4,400 large-scale amusement parks and attractions. The industry is projected to maintain rapid growth over the next three years.SHANGHAI, July 5 (Xinhua) — In a burst of colorful creativity and boundless imagination, LEGOLAND Shanghai Resort threw open its doors to the first wave of excited visitors on Saturday, heralding the arrival of China’s first LEGOLAND resort.A grand opening ceremony, held at around…

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has raised serious concerns over the systemic failure of law enforcement in tackling the narcotics trade beyond its most vulnerable participants, observing that prosecutions overwhelmingly target only drug “carriers” – mostly from underprivileged backgrounds – while major perpetrators remain untouched. The observations came in a 17-page written judgment authored by Justice Athar Minallah, in which the court acquitted two individuals who had earlier been sentenced to life imprisonment in a narcotics case. The ruling was issued by a three-member bench headed by Justice Minallah, and comprising Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan.…

Listen to article KARACHI: The Sensitive Price Index (SPI) for the week ending July 3, 2025, posted a week-on-week (WoW) increase of 0.73%, driven largely by a surge in food and fuel prices. However, on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, SPI recorded a decline of 2.06%, reflecting a mixed trend of inflation across essential consumer goods. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) and Arif Habib Limited (AHL), significant weekly increases were observed in the prices of chicken (13.05%), onions (11.62%), tomatoes (11.09%), garlic (5.40%), diesel (3.94%), potatoes (3.58%), petrol (3.22%), and sugar (1.27%). Smaller hikes were also noted in cooked daal,…