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DUBAI: Israel and Saudi Arabia have agreed to the outline of a historic US-brokered deal to normalise relations, the White House said on Friday, amid reports that the pact would be devoid of “iron-clad defence guarantees” and major concessions to Palestinians in their bid for statehood. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the “basic framework” of the deal has been “hammered out”. “But, as in any complex arrangement, as this will inevitably be, everybody is going to have to do something. And everybody is going to have to compromise on some things.” Three regional sources familiar with the talks told Reuters the pact might fall short of the cast-iron, Nato-style defence guarantees the kingdom initially sought. Kingdom won’t get Nato-style defence guarantees from US; congressional approval remains challenge for Biden The deal could look like treaties Washington has with Asian states or, if that would not win US Congress approval, it could...

Two years since her home was demolished by the authorities, the tide seems to have turned for Fatima — or so she thinks. The 35-year-old, who lives in Thorani Goth in Orangi, is ecstatic because she and her husband, Mohammad Tasleem, have finally received the remaining Rs180,000 from the Sindh government they had been waiting for. This money is part of the interim compensation they were to be given in four tranches last year. The government had also thought that these residents would be provided with another home by 2022. This, however, did not come to pass. The first thing Fatima and Tasleem did with the money they got was to “pay off the Rs80,000 we owe to our relatives.” The remaining amount, narrates the mother of four, will allow them to move to a bigger place. She says they were tired of living in the small, “dark and dingy room” they took refuge in when their home was demolished and they moved in with Tasleem’s three brothers. For the past two years, this one room home has do...

The caretaker government on Saturday slashed the price of petrol by Rs8 per litre and that of high-speed diesel by Rs11 per litre for the next fortnight. According to a notification from the Ministry of Finance, the new price of petrol is Rs323.38 and Rs318.18 for HSD. It said the price revision was due to the variations in the international prices of petroleum products and the improvement in the exchange rate. Previously, the prices of HSD and petrol were estimated to be reduced by about Rs15-19 per litre for the Oct 1-15 period mainly because of the rupee’s appreciation. The Pakistani rupee appreciated throughout the outgoing week, seeing an improvement of 1.4 per cent against the USD in the interbank market, and is on track to be the best-performing currency this month. Last week, Caretaker Commerce and Industries Minister Gohar Ejaz had said he was hopeful that the nation would receive “ good news ” regarding petrol prices on October 1. The prices of the two essential fuels ...

LONDON: The BBC published new guidance on Thursday on how its stars can use social media, after a review over impartiality prompted by former footballer Gary Line-ker criticising the UK government’s asylum policy. The broadcaster’s independent review recommended that while a programme is on air, and for a two-week window before and after, presenters on flagship shows must not endorse or attack a political party. They should also refrain from criticising the character of individual politicians in the UK, or take up an official role in campaigning groups, it said. “High-profile presenters outside of journalism should be able to express views on issues and policies — including matters of political contention — but stop well short of campaigning in party politics or for activist organisations,” the review concluded. The publicly funded broadcaster said the guidance applies to hosts of top shows such as MasterChef, Dragons’ Den, Antiques Roadshow and Strictly Come Dancing, as well as le...

KARACHI: Smooth operation of electric buses, launched in the metropolis in January this year, has become a serious challenge for its management as the half of the total 40-bus fleet is gathering dust for past several weeks after one of the two power stations faced capacity issues and failed to charge all high-tech public transport carriers. Realising the complexity of the challenge, the authorities have decided to rebuild a new power station at the Mehran Depot near the Jinnah International Airport, closing down the one in Malir Cantonment. In this connection the process has been started to install machinery and acquire the required power supply system. A source privy to the current challenges said that the electric buses were plying three different routes. “Two power stations for total 40 buses are in Bahria Town and Malir Cantt. The one in Bahria Town is working fine and 20 electric buses dedicated for its route are operational. However, the one in Malir Cantt is constantly facing...

A soldier was martyred while a wanted terrorist was killed in separate military operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram and Mardan districts, according to a press release from the military’s media wing on Friday. The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release said two engagements took place between security forces and terrorists in the province on the night between Thursday and Friday. An intelligence-based operation was conducted in Mardan district’s general area of Katlang, resulting in the killing of a “high-value target, terrorist ringleader Faisal”. The ISPR added he was actively involved in numerous terrorist activities and was “highly wanted by law enforcement agencies”. It said weapons and ammunition were also recovered from him. Separately, 33-year-old Lance Naik Ghairat Khan, resident of Kurram district, was martyred in an encounter with terrorists in the district’s general area Parachinar. “Security forces of Pakistan are determined to eliminate the menace o...

QUETTA: During a full-day meeting in the Iranian border town of Mirjaveh on Thursday, the Pak-Iran Joint Border Trade Committee deliberated on border concerns, the growth of bilateral trade, and improvements in immigration procedures and transportation. Abdul Qadir Memon, the chief collector Customs Balochistan, headed the Pakistani delegation, while the Iranian side was led by Javed Haideri, the director general of Transit and International Transport from the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development. During the meeting, officials addressed several key topics, including the cross-border movement of people, the transportation of essential and export commodities, and the promotion of bilateral trade between Pakistan and Iran. Additionally, discussions encompassed tackling illegal trade, smuggling, and various border-related issues at the Iran-Pakistan border. In the meeting, both sides exchanged various proposals and recommendations aimed at enhancing cooperation in railway, banking, ...

PESHAWAR/LAHORE: After unearthing a “cheating racket” and “massive irregularities”, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa caretaker government has decided to re-conduct the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT). Separately, the caretaker Punjab government has revised the medical college admission policy for 2023 and allowed the University of Health Sciences (UHS) to make centralised admissions to public and private medical and dental colleges. The KP cabinet decided to retake the exam during a meeting on Thursday, chaired by caretaker Chief Minister Muhammad Azam Khan. The test will be conducted within six weeks by Khyber Medical University, and not by Edu­cational Testing and Evaluation Agency, the provincial testing body. Punjab revises admission policy, shuns extra marks for Hafiz-i-Quran Briefing the media after the meeting, caretaker Information Minister Feroze Jamal Shah Kakakhel said the cabinet had cancelled the test conducted on September 10. He added that a committee wo...

• Shamshad says caretaker govt prioritises tax net expansion, targets retail and real estate sectors • Insists subsidies not viable, urges exporters to shift business model • Says economic revival plan to be unveiled soon • BISP to be partially transferred to provinces ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is seeking around $11bn in bilateral support from China and Saudi Arabia as the caretakers push for expanding the tax net effectively to retail, agricultural and real estate sectors while continuing a crackdown on illegal currency movements to fill external and domestic resource gaps so that the IMF programme remains on track to ensure economic stability until an elected government takes power. This was part of a detailed policy statement issued by caretaker Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar before the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, presided over by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla in Islamabad on Thursday. Dr Akhtar also talked about partially transferring the Benazir Income Sup...

LARKANA / SUKKUR: Nine members of a family, including five children, were killed and two others injured when a rocket shell went off inside their house at Bangi Khan village in Kandhkot on Wednesday, police said. According to preliminary reports, some children were out grazing cattle when they found a live rocket shell. They brought it home, where it went off, causing casualties. Varying accounts emerged as to how the device exploded. In a report , SSP Kashmore-Kandhkot Mir Rohal Khan Khoso said children were playing with the shell in the house when it went off with a big bang, shaking the area. On the other hand, villagers claimed the children were trying to break the shell into pieces to sell them when it exploded. While talking to Dawn , Larkana DIG Javed Soonharo Jiskani termed it an accident. The police, accompanied by members of bomb disposal squad and forensic experts, rushed to the scene of the tragedy to collect evidence. Police cordoned off the locality and launched an...

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has started discussions with provinces on a proposal to slash federal funding for provincial development projects and devolved subjects, in order to comply with commitments made to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) amid growing interest payments. Pakistan has to achieve a primary surplus — the difference between total revenues and expenditures except interest payments — at 0.4pc of GDP (about Rs400 billion) on the basis of Rs600bn cash surpluses, which are to be returned to the federal government by the provinces. International lending agencies, particularly the World Bank, have been asking the federal government to stop providing funds to provincial projects and devolved subjects, involving fiscal savings of more than Rs700bn. Besides development schemes, the federal government is also financing devolved responsibilities, for instance vertical health projects. Federal govt to cut PSDP by Rs200-250bn At a meeting presided over by a provinci...

The city police on Wednesday said they were trying to locate a 16-year-old maid who was allegedly abducted from an apartment near Karachi’s Seaview. South Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Syed Asad Raza told Dawn.com that the girl was allegedly kidnapped by an unidentified person from the apartment on August 15 and a complaint was subsequently registered by her father. The month-old incident came to public attention when the victim’s father brought it to the local media’s notice, subsequently drawing significant attention on social media. Darakhshan police had lodged a first information report (FIR) under Section 365-B (Kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel for marriage etc.) of the Pakistan Penal Code on Aug 17. The FIR said the daughter had ventured out at 11pm on Aug 15 to buy something but did not return, adding that the family searched for her but could not find anything. The father said he suspected that some “unknown person” had abducted her for “unknown...

BEIRUT: Fighters loyal to the Syrian government clashed with Kurdish-led forces in a mainly Arab district of eastern Syria, leaving 25 people dead in two days, a war monitor said on Tuesday. The Kurdish-led Syrian Demo­cratic Forces (SDF), who are backed by Washington, said they had “driven out the regime gunmen who had infiltrated the Dheiban area” of Deir Ezzor province in the gun battles which erupted on Monday. Earlier this month, the same area saw 10 days of fighting between the SDF and armed Arab tribesmen in which 90 people were killed. Britain-based monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the latest clashes erupted when pro-government fighters crossed the Euphrates river, which separates pro-government forces in south-western Deir Ezzor from the SDF in the northeast. It said 21 of the dead were Damascus loyalists and three were SDF fighters. A woman was also killed. The SDF said the loyalist fighters had crossed the Euphrates “under cover of an indiscriminate b...

LONDON / ISLAMABAD: There would not be any organisational or institutional involvement, either in favour of one political group or the other in the upcoming elections, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has said, as his remarks regarding the possibility of elections without PTI chief Imran Khan drew widespread criticism. On Tuesday, the prime minister was in the UK, where he addressed the Oxford Union and held a presser at the Pakistan High Commission where he fielded several questions from journalists; key amongst which were queries about the treatment of the PTI chief, whether he will be allowed to participate in elections, and whether his transfer from Attock Jail to Adiala has any deeper meaning. He said his words about Imran Khan’s prospects of contesting the next election were being twisted, and that the law will decide whether he will contest or not. “What people aren’t understanding is that it is not political. Whatever happens will be under law and due process. I ...

ISLAMABAD: On the back of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) stimulus, Pakistan’s foreign financing inflows rose over six times to $5.41 billion in the first two months (July-August) of the current fiscal year, against just $439 million during the same period last year. In its monthly report on Foreign Economic Assistance (FEA), the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) said on Tuesday the total FEA in July and August amounted to $3.2bn, compared to $439m during the same period last year, sho­w­ing an increase of 630 per cent. Total inflows in August stood at $316m, while the maximum $2.89bn assistance came in July. This is in addition to the $1.2bn released by the IMF on July 13 as first tranche of the $3bn Standby Arrangement and $1bn by the UAE separately accou­nted for by the State Bank of Pakistan. Bulk of loans came from Riyadh The bulk — $2bn — of foreign loans reported by the EAD came from Saudi Arabia as time de­­p­o­sit, followed by $508m guaranteed loan to Pakistan Air...

ISLAMABAD: Around 55 per cent of the polling stations to be established for the upcoming general polls, planned to be conducted in the last week of January next year, have been identified as ‘sensitive’, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Secretary Omar Hamid Khan told a Senate panel on Tuesday. Moreover, the ECP secretary said the preliminary delimitation would be published on Sept 27. However, a period of approximately 60 days would be required for filing and disposal of representations. Appearing before the Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, the ECP secretary said that some 91,809 polling stations are to be established out of which 49,919 have been designated as ‘sensitive’ or ‘highly sensitive’. He said 17,411 of these have been categorised as highly sensitive and another 32,508 as sensitive while 41,809 (around 45pc) are designated as ‘normal’. Election commission to publish preliminary delimitation today; secretary says no ban on uplift schemes approved ...

LAHORE: With the PML-N seemingly undecided what its narrative would be in the upcoming elections, a close aide of PML-N sup­remo Nawaz Sharif has claimed the party was not “demanding accountability of former army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and former ISI head Gen Faiz Hamid.” His statement coincided with reports from London that Mr Nawaz was having second thoughts to his stated position on his demand for accountability of ex-generals and judges. Addressing a press conference at the party’s office in Model Town on Tuesday, Javed Latif said, “We [PML-N] do not demand accountability of Gen Bajwa and Gen Hamid but only those characters and facilitators involved in May 9 events and mutiny against the head of the institution.” He was referring to attacks on military installations in the wake of PTI chief Imran Khan’s arrest. Mr Latif’s remarks have raised more questions over the party’s narrative as he is considered close to the elder Sharif and had been quite vocal in his demand to mak...

ISLAMABAD: The Int­el­ligence Bureau (IB) on Tuesday expressed before the Supreme Court its int­ention to withdraw a petition asking the top court to revisit the 2019 verdict against the sit-in by the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakis­tan (TLP) in Faizabad, Islamabad, which lasted 20 days in 2017. “The petitioner intends to withdraw the titled civil review petition and does not want to pursue the matter in the case,” said a single-page request filed on behalf of the IB director general, two days ahead of the scheduled hearing. Headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, a three-judge bench, which inc­lu­des Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Athar Minallah, is due to take up the review petitions on Sep­t­ember 28. The pleas were moved by the Mini­stry of Defence, IB, the PTI, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, and Pemra. The IB, however, requested the apex court to accept its plea for the withdrawal of the case. Likewise, Sheikh Rashid, also requested the apex court to postpone its hearing for Sept 28 sin...

• Imran Khan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s remand in cipher case extended until October 10 • IHC rejects FIA plea seeking in-camera proceedings • Lawyer says ex-PM was averse to move to Rawalpindi prison because of inordinate delay in decision TAXILA / ISLAMABAD: Hours after a special court extended his judicial remand till Oct 10, former prime minister Imran Khan who is imprisoned for his alleged involvement in the cipher case under the Official Secrets Act, was moved to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi from Attock Jail by a large contingent of Islamabad police, amid strict security on Tuesday. The decision to move the PTI chairman from Attock to Rawalpindi came a day after the Islamabad High Court had directed the police to transfer Imran Khan to Adiala Jail, in response to a petition he had moved earlier. In the written order on shifting Mr Khan to Adiala Jail, IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq said the petitioner should be granted better class facilities as per his entitlement as provided in ...

QUETTA: Haq Do Tehreek Chairman Maulana Hidayatur Rehman has warned if Gwadar’s issues are not addressed, they would not hesitate to initiate an armed struggle. Addressing a press conference on Monday, he said the demands for which they held extended sit-ins in Gwadar remain unresolved. He claimed the “trawler mafia” continued to operate in the province’s waters, resulting in a loss of livelihood for local fishermen. Mr Rehman, who is also the Jamat-i-Islami Balochistan general secretary, emphasised that this situation continues despite the presence of fisheries and other relevant officials. He cautioned that they would resort to “an armed struggle” if their peaceful efforts were overlooked. “We have organised extended sit-in demonstrations at approximately nine areas of Gwadar and various other cities. These protests aim to prevent the intrusion of the trawler mafia into Balochistan waters, address the issue of drug smugglers, eliminate unnecessary checkpoints, and address va...