


Reform UK's Zia Yusuf pulls up the ladder on Britain's immigrants Soumaya Ghannoushi on Mon, 09/07/2026 - 18:51 In attacking Somali-born Camden Council leader Sagal Abdi-Wali, Reform UK is once again using the children of immigrants to sell its prejudice Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, right, and Zia Yusuf, left, now the party's shadow home secretary, pose after a press conference in London, on 3 August 2026 (Toby Shepheard/AFP) Off There is something almost exquisite about the hypocrisy of Z

Pakistan booked their place in the Women’s Asia Cup semi-finals after spinner Nashra Sandhu’s triggered a 72-run drubbing of Hong Kong, China at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Monday night. Nashra took six wickets as Pakistan defended 143 runs — that included a stand-out contribution by Shawaal Zulfiqaar — to set their last-four date against Sri Lanka on Friday. Pakistan skipper Fatima Sana, for the third match in a row, chose to bat first, looking to undo the damage of Pakistan’s he

The UAE, like the US and Israel, is normalising a permanent state of war David Hearst on Mon, 09/07/2026 - 08:19 Mohammed bin Zayed should read history to learn that soft power will win over hard power every time, especially in today’s world – where legitimacy is key UAE's President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the airport in Abu Dhabi on 12 August 2026 (AFP) On It took the Russian President Vladimir Putin 10 full months after his invasion of Ukraine to call what his country was e

Pakistan captain Fatima Sana has been fined 10 per cent of her match fee for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the team’s Women’s Asia Cup match against India, according to an International Cricket Council media release published on Monday. The offence occurred in the Women’s Asia Cup clash between India and Pakistan on Saturday, where the skipper dismissed Indian opener Shafali Verma and gestured towards the pavilion as a send-off. As per the media release, this gesturing meant Fatima wa

KARACHI: Some of the family members of Pakistani sailors held hostage by Somali pirates aboard the MT Honour 25 for more than four months were briefly detained in the early hours of Monday while they were staging a sit-in near Karachi’s Sharea Faisal. The MT Honour 25, a Palau-flagged oil tanker, was hijacked by armed pirates off the coast of Puntland, Somalia, on April 21. Besides 10 crew members from Pakistan, the hostages include seamen from Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka. During more than fo

Carmaker, which is battling Trump tariffs and fallout from cyber-attack, wants to reduce 34,000-strong UK workforce Business live – latest updates Jaguar Land Rover has announced thousands of job cuts as it grapples with tough conditions in the car market, Donald Trump’s tariff wars and the fallout from a cyber-attack. Britain’s largest carmaker, which is owned by the Indian conglomerate Tata, on Monday confirmed the anticipated cuts, saying it wants to reduce its 34,000-strong UK workforce by

ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday granted post-arrest bail to all 96 people, including former senator Mushtaq Ahmad, arrested in connection with a case registered over a protest held against unrest in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The first information report (FIR) was registered at Islamabad’s Shalimar Police Station with terrorism-related provisions on July 31. It alleged that Ahmad led a crowd of around 400-500 people in Sector F-10. The former senator was also accused of making “i

Nepal held a national day of mourning on Monday for victims of devastating glacial floods, as families of missing hydropower workers feared trapped in tunnels prayed rescuers might yet find them alive. The August 26 glacial and mountain collapse on the China-Nepal border killed at least 1,398 people, with more than 5,500 missing, including around 800 foreigners. Flags flew at half-mast, with candlelight vigils planned later in the day, following traditional Hindu mourning rituals on the 13th day

ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday granted post-arrest bail to all 96 people, including former senator Mushtaq Ahmad, arrested in connection with a protest case over unrest in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The first information report (FIR) was registered at Islamabad’s Shalimar Police Station with terrorism-related provisions on July 31. It alleged that Ahmad led a crowd of around 400-500 people in Sector F-10. The former senator was also accused of making “incendiary” speeches on lou

ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday granted post-arrest bail to all 96 people, including former senator Mushtaq Ahmad, arrested in connection with a protest case over the Kashmir unrest. The first information report (FIR) was registered at Islamabad’s Shalimar Police Station with terrorism-related provisions on July 31. It alleged that Ahmad led a crowd of around 400-500 people in Sector F-10. The former senator was also accused of making “incendiary” speeches on loudspeakers, for

The Foreign Office (FO) on Monday rejected Indian claims about the status of occupied Kashmir, saying that the neighbouring country’s “unilateral claims of sovereignty have no bearing on the internationally recognised disputed status of the territory”. The statement came after the United Nations voted on Friday to back a resolution spearheaded by several African countries aimed at “a more accurate representation” of continental landmasses, making their continent bigger while shrinking North Amer

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong warned against a recent spate of racist comments being made online, saying prejudice should not be allowed to become normalised in the multiracial city state. Wong said in a social media post on Sunday that an “uglier side” had emerged in recent online discussions, including remarks about Singaporeans caught in deadly floods in Nepal and debate over Singapore Airlines’ potential investment in Air India. “We can and should have robust debates,” he said. “But

IN its recent press release on ‘The Indus Waters Western Rivers Arbitration (Pakistan vs India), PCA Case No. 2023-01’, the Permanent Court of Arbitration has delivered an award in favour of Pakistan. The award, issued on Aug 31, 2026, strongly vindicates Pakistan’s position, which it has consistently maintained in diplomatic forums and in the international media. It illustrates that the principles of international law firmly support Pakistan’s case. Established in 1899, The Hague-based PCA is o

HYDERABAD: Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has reiterated its stance that new administrative units will become the ‘destiny of Pakistan’, where such restructuring has now been inevitable to make external successes, achieved last year, sustainable. Speaking at a Defence Day programme organised by the party’s local chapter at Koh-i-Noor Chowk on Sunday evening, MQM-P Chairman Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Mustafa Kamal, Dr Farooq Sattar and other senior leaders explained their party’s po

• Afridi asks Punjab CM to ‘apologise’ over controversial remarks against other provinces • PTI shifts rally venue from Mazar-i-Quaid to Toll Plaza amid restrictions; youth asked to join Sept 27 campaign • Karachi mayor says PTI free to come to city if it follows the law KARACHI/HYDERABAD: After a journey of more than six hours, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi finally reached the Karachi Toll Plaza in the early hours of Monday, with his convoy negotiating blockades, dug-up roads,

Gwadar could have played a critical economic role for Pakistan through its association with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which the Chinese President Xi Jinping had announced during his state visit to Pakistan in 2015. The multibillion-dollar project aimed to build transportation and other infrastructure connecting the Gwadar port to Kashgar in the Xinjiang region of China. CPEC gave a great boost to bilateral relations, particularly after a Chinese state-run company won the right

For most of Pakistan’s history, space and connectivity were kind of separate. Satellite was largely a business-to-business affair, with local players running VSAT [Very Small Aperture Terminal] links, while the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco) handled orbital assets under a security chain and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) policed the terrestrial market. The two worlds intersected only at the margins: no consumer satellite market and no foreign constellati

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Sunday said he would not leave Sindh without holding a planned PTI gathering in Karachi, as his convoy made its way to the city. The KP CM, accompanied by PTI’s provincial President Junaid Akbar, has been on a five-day public mobilisation campaign in Sindh for the party’s September 27 nationwide protest for the release of its founder Imran Khan and his immediate medical treatment at Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital. Earlier in the day, t

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Sunday said he would not leave Sindh without holding a planned PTI gathering in Karachi, as his convoy made its way to the city from Hyderabad. The KP CM, accompanied by PTI’s provincial President Junaid Akbar, has been on a five-day public mobilisation campaign in Sindh for the party’s September 27 nationwide protest for the release of its founder Imran Khan and his immediate medical treatment at Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital. Speaki

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was en route to Karachi from Hyderabad on Sunday after he voiced his determination to hold his planned rally despite alleged hurdles in his convoy’s journey. The KP CM, accompanied by PTI’s provincial President Junaid Akbar, has been on a five-day public mobilisation campaign in Sindh for the party’s September 27 nationwide protest for the release of its founder Imran Khan and his immediate medical treatment at Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospi

Pakistan on Sunday condemned the demolition of a century-old mosque in India’s Uttar Pradesh, describing it as part of an “Islamophobic and Hindutva-driven campaign to erase the Islamic heritage” in the country. Responding to media queries regarding the demolition, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan condemned the move and described it as “a reprehensible action against a historic Islamic place of worship”. He recalled that the demolition of the Babri Mosque in 1992 was an “endur

The envoy's comments come amid intensifying Western sanctions and possible secondary tariffs targeting countries that continue to import Russian oil.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi reached Hyderabad on Sunday and voiced his determination to hold his planned rally in Karachi as he alleged hurdles were being created in his convoy’s journey. The KP CM, accompanied by PTI’s provincial President Junaid Akbar, has been on a five-day public mobilisation campaign in Sindh for the party’s September 27 nationwide protest for the release of its founder Imran Khan and his immediate medical treatment at Islamabad’s Shifa International Hos

A building collapse in the Indian capital New Delhi killed at least three people on Sunday, local media reports said, as authorities worked to rescue those trapped in the rubble. The building, housing mostly students, came crashing down about midday in the southwestern Satya Niketan area of the city, with police and disaster response personnel cautiously lifting the rubble using heavy machinery. Three people died in the accident, according to The Hindu newspaper and other local media reports,...

Security forces killed over 20 terrorists during multiple engagements in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa between September 3 and 5, the military’s media affairs wing said on Sunday. According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the slain terrorists were sponsored by India and belonged to Fitna-al-Khawarij — a term the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The ISPR statement mentioned an engagement in KP’s North Waziristan on the night between August 31 and September 1. Security f

Security forces killed over 20 terrorists during multiple engagements in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa between September 3 and 5, the military’s media affairs wing said on Sunday. According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the slain terrorists were sponsored by India and belonged to Fitna-al-Khawarij — a term the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The ISPR statement mentioned an engagement in KP’s North Waziristan on the night between August 31 and September 1. Security f

THE collective memory of Muslim societies, particularly in the West and South Asia, is based on the persistent idea that since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire they have been in need of a joint response to challenges ranging from politics to defence. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia may be seen as something of a pioneer on this front with the creation of the Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism in 2015, which was partly the basis for the recently concluded Makkah Joint

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Zardari highlighted Pakistan’s growing role in regional security on Sunday as the nation observed on 61st Defence and Martyrs’ Day. The day began with thirty-one gun salute in Islamabad and twenty-one gun salute at provincial capitals, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. A change of guards was also held at the Quaid’s mausoleum in Karachi. The Defence Day is observed every year on September 6 to commemorate the legacy of the 1965 war, which

India brushed Pakistan aside in an emphatic seven-wicket win when the two sides met during the Women’s Asia Cup in Dubai on Saturday, marking India’s seventh Asia Cup triumph against Pakistan in eight matches. Captain Fatima Sana won the toss and chose to bat first, trying to replicate the successful template of Pakistan’s win against Thailand on Tuesday. India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who became the first player, man or woman to hit the 150-match mark in T20 internationals, said that this was

Nearly 130 countries on Saturday agreed on a text defining lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) — “killer robots” to their critics — a first step towards talks on a possible international treaty to regulate them. The text agreed upon has not yet been made public — but campaign groups following the talks have already criticised leading countries for dragging their feet on the issue. Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen announced the agreement, by 128 countries, on Saturday. The Netherlands ha

Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir on Saturday visited Quetta Garrison, where he reaffirmed that the peace, prosperity and well-being of the people of Balochistan remained paramount for the state. The visit came amid a recent surge in terrorist activity in the province, including attacks in Pishin and Chagai and major counterterrorism operations in Mastung, Kalat and Sibi over the past week. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), CDF Munir

Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir on Saturday visited Quetta Garrison, where he reaffirmed that the peace, prosperity and well-being of the people of Balochistan remained paramount for the state. The visit came amid a recent surge in terrorist activity in the province, including attacks in Pishin and Chagai and major counterterrorism operations in Mastung, Kalat and Sibi over the past week. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), CDF Munir

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Saturday said the province faced a greater security threat from “neighbouring provinces than from neighbouring countries”, stressing that terrorism entered Punjab through its provincial borders. Speaking at the launch ceremony of an AI technology in Lahore, the chief minister said, “The unfortunate thing is that the threat I (Punjab) face comes less from my neighbouring countries and more from my neighbouring provinces.” “Terrorism enters Punjab from there.

To sustain global influence, Gulf economies recalibrate foreign investments as war drains revenues Gaspard Rouffin on Fri, 09/04/2026 - 11:46 Closure of Hormuz is forcing GCC states to balance domestic infrastructure and overseas economic ambitions for political influence to maintain soft power A general view shows Abu Dhabi's skyline across the Gulf waters in the Emirati capital (Karim Sahib/AFP) Off Economies across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qata

Rescuers in Nepal pulled a Chinese national alive on Saturday from a tunnel buried by debris, as emergency response teams dug with new vigour in the search for missing people 10 days after catastrophic flooding. A joint rescue team comprising personnel from the Nepal Army and foreign experts rescued the man from 225 metres inside the tunnel of the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project in Rasuwa district, a military statement said. A picture of the rescue published on the army’s Facebook page shows

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party on Friday blocked parliamentary proceedings on two government bills dealing with natural gas-related revenue adjustments amid the latest political bickering in the ruling coalition over recent elections in Azad Kashmir and discourse on the proposed creation of new provinces. At a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Petroleum, presided over by PPP’s Syed Mustafa Mehmood, lawmaker and former federal minister for petroleum and finance Sy

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Friday allowed the government to require mandatory Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) as part of an upcoming auction for 800 megawatts of renewable power capacity from wind and solar projects, aimed at helping stabilise an electricity supply facing serious duck curve challenges. After a delay of more than 30 years, the government has announced the auction process for a notional 800MW of capacity as part of its efforts to g

MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Iftikhar Gillani on Friday constituted a relatively small cabinet, appointing seven directly elected and one indirectly elected lawmakers as ministers without portfolios. The newly appointed ministers took oath at a ceremony held at the Presidency, with acting President Chaudhry Tariq Farooq administering the oath in the presence of Prime Minister Gillani. PML-N’s regional president Shah Ghulam Qadir was also in attendance. Qadir, who had

An Air India flight that injured passengers when it plunged midair last month suffered a temporary loss of hydraulic systems, investigators said on Friday, as the airline fired the captain who tested positive for psychoactive substances. The Airbus A320, carrying 137 passengers and eight crew, suddenly lost altitude on August 4 while flying from Phuket, Thailand, to New Delhi, injuring 24 people before stabilising and landing safely. India’s civil aviation ministry classified it as a “serious in

Security forces have killed 48 terrorists in multiple “high-tempo” anti-terror operations across Balochistan over the past three days, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Friday. According to the military’s media wing, the operations were carried out in Mastung, Quetta, Kalat and Sibi districts against “Indian proxies, Fitna-al-Hindustan and Fitna-al-Khawarij”. The state uses the term Fitna-al-Khawarij for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and has designated Balochistan-

Top Reform officials filmed allegedly plotting to break law on foreign donations Imran Mulla on Fri, 09/04/2026 - 11:49 Two senior Reform officials have stepped down pending an investigation, while party leader Nigel Farage says no rules were broken Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaks during a tribute to the late Ann Widdecombe on the second day of the annual Reform UK party conference at the NEC in Birmingham, central England, on 4 September 2026 (AFP) Off Reform UK has suspended two senio

TURKIYE is Muslim. We know that. What kind? Ottoman? Do today’s Turks not stand de-Ottomanised? Ataturk had forced all royal Ottomans out of the country. And such was the power of Ataturk’s secularisation of state and society that Ottoman became a bad word. The problem is history. It began in Central Asia when Changez Khan’s depredations made the Oghuz tribesmen — the harassed ancestors of today’s Turks — move to western Anatolia for safety. Little would they know what glory awaited them in (one

MUZAFFARABAD: The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) on Friday strongly condemned what it described as an attempt by Indian authorities to falsely implicate its incarcerated chairman, Muhammad Yasin Malik, in a 36-year-old murder case involving a Kashmiri Pandit woman. Malik was named in June by India’s State Investigation Agency (SIA) as one of five men charged for the killing of Sarla Bhat, who was killed in 1990. According to a press release issued by the JKLF’s central information office,

China and South Korea have exchanged formal protests over the highly sensitive Taiwan question and Korean unity. The two countries have been trying to improve relations in recent months, but South Korea’s national security adviser Wi Sung-lac said he had issued “a serious objection” after an official Chinese statement welcomed moves “towards the peaceful coexistence of the two states of South and North Korea”. Meanwhile, Beijing “lodged serious representations” with Seoul over an art event that.

Clashes between Yemen’s Houthis and government forces have killed 81, military and medical sources said on Friday, as the rebels push towards territory bordering a chokepoint in the strategic Red Sea. Fighting erupted on Thursday, after the Houthis launched a ground assault along with rocket and drone attacks near coastal areas, vying for control of the narrow Bab al-Mandeb strait at the Red Sea’s southern entrance. The Houthis have repeatedly attacked Saudi ships in recent weeks in the Red Sea,

The agency claims that their trip to Myanmar was part of a "pre-scheduled training on drone warfare, drone operations, assembly, and jamming technology for Myanmar-based Ethnic Armed Groups (EAGs) targeting the Myanmar Military Junta."

Security forces killed 12 terrorists in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Balochistan’s Kalat district, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Friday. The IBO was conducted on Wednesday on the reported presence of terrorists belonging to the Indian proxy Fitna al Hindustan, the military’s media wing said in a press release. The state has designated Balochistan-based terrorist groups as Fitna al Hindustan to highlight India’s alleged role in terrorism and destabilisation across Pak

When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, the encounter was short and carefully choreographed while the message was warm. Modi had earlier said that stable and predictable ties between the two largest nations on Earth matter for a multipolar Asia and world. The larger moment will come on September 12 and 13, when Xi is expected to visit New Delhi for the first time in seven years. He is...

A fighter jet deal with China, interest in Pakistan's military bloc, and a 'stalled' visit to India - all in a month. Bangladesh's drift is getting harder to ignore.