Latest news with #Islamabad
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Climate
- Arab News
Retired colonel's body swept away in flood recovered as Pakistan monsoon toll hits 260
ISLAMABAD: The body of a retired army officer swept away in a flash flood in Rawalpindi earlier this week was recovered on Thursday, as Pakistan continued to battle a deadly monsoon season that has killed at least 260 people and injured 617 since June 26, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The incident, which occurred during a cloudburst in the upscale Defense Housing Authority (DHA), has drawn widespread public attention. The flood swept away Col. (retd) Qazi Ishaq, 65, and his 35-year-old daughter, Muneeba, as they got caught in a rain-swollen seasonal stream on Tuesday. Video footage showing their car being carried away by the surging waters quickly went viral on social media, highlighting the vulnerability of even affluent areas to urban flooding. 'Retired Col. Qazi Ishaq's body was recovered from the bank of the Soan River, between DHA and Bahria Town,' Rawalpindi Assistant Commissioner Sadar Hakim Khan told Independent Urdu. 'However, his daughter and the vehicle are still being searched for.' Tuesday's incident occurred after intense rainfall triggered flooding in parts of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. While flash floods are a recurring monsoon phenomenon in Pakistan — especially in vulnerable areas of Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and peri-urban parts of Islamabad — fatalities in upper-income neighborhoods are rare. Pakistan's monsoon season began in late June, with torrential rains and glacial melt causing landslides and river flooding. The NDMA has warned of continued risk in mountainous regions, where several tourists remain stranded in parts of Gilgit-Baltistan due to blocked roads and disrupted communications. The Pakistan Meteorological Department said on Thursday that 'moderate monsoon activity is likely to continue,' with rainfall gradually subsiding over the next three days. The 2025 season follows years of increasingly erratic weather patterns across Pakistan, which ranks among the world's most climate-vulnerable nations. Three years ago, the country was battered by unprecedented monsoon rains, killing about 1,700 people and destroying farmlands and public infrastructure, with estimated damages totaling $35 billion.
Arab News
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Pakistan's deputy PM scheduled to chair Security Council meeting on UN-OIC cooperation today
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is expected to chair a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting today, Thursday, on ties between the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), according to Security Council Report, an independent entity that closely monitors the Council's work. The meeting is among the signature events of Pakistan's UNSC presidency this month and falls under the broader agenda of UN cooperation with regional and subregional entities. A presidential statement, initiated by Pakistan, is expected to be adopted unanimously during the session. 'The agreed text of the draft presidential statement notes the interest of utilising the existing and potential capabilities of the OIC, including through encouraging its member countries to resolve differences peacefully through dialogue, reconciliation, consultation, negotiation, good offices, mediation, and judicial settlement of disputes,' Security Council Report said. 'Among other issues, it recognizes the importance of OIC interaction with the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) in support of nationally owned peacebuilding efforts and commends OIC member states for their commitment to international peacekeeping and peacebuilding, including through the contribution of troops to UN peacekeeping operations,' it added. Founded in 1969, OIC includes 57 member states across four continents and serves as a platform for collaboration on political, economic and social issues affecting Muslim communities. Presidential statements are formal expressions of the Council's consensus but are not legally binding. They require unanimous approval and are often preceded by complex negotiations. In a concept note circulated earlier this month, Pakistan said the meeting aimed to take stock of UN-OIC collaboration and identify ways to deepen cooperation on peacekeeping, conflict prevention, counter-terrorism and institutional dialogue. The note also posed questions about how the UN could help enhance the OIC's conflict resolution capacity and better align institutional efforts on global peace and security.
Arab News
11 hours ago
- Business
- Arab News
TikTok says removed nearly 25 million videos in Pakistan during first quarter of 2025
ISLAMABAD: Video-sharing platform TikTok said this week it removed nearly 25 million videos in Pakistan during the first quarter of 2025 for violating its community guidelines, underscoring its efforts to ensure a safe digital space for everyone. TikTok shared the information in its Community Guidelines Enforcement Report, which covers data from January to March 2025. 'In Q1 2025, TikTok removed a total of 24,954,128 videos in Pakistan,' the video-sharing platform said in a press release on Wednesday. 'Proactive removal rates in Pakistan remained high at 99.4 percent, with 95.8 percent of these videos removed within 24 hours.' TikTok said globally it removed around 211 million videos worldwide during the quarter, which represents about 0.9 percent of all content uploaded to the platform. The platform said that of the total globally removed videos, 184,378,987 were detected and taken down using automated detection technologies, while 7,525,184 videos were reinstated after further review. 'The report also indicates that a significant portion of total removed videos— 30.1 percent— contained sensitive or mature themes that did not align with TikTok's content policies,' the statement said. The platform said that an additional 11.5 percent of the videos removed globally breached the platform's safety and civility standards, while 15.6 percent violated privacy and security guidelines. 'Additionally, 45.5 percent of the removed videos were flagged as misinformation, and 13.8 percent of the videos removed were flagged as edited media and AI-generated content,' it added. This is not the first time that TikTok has removed videos from Pakistan. It took down millions of videos in Pakistan last year also for violating community guidelines. In the past, Pakistani authorities have banned the video-sharing service several times, with the first ban instituted in October 2020 over what was described as widespread complaints about allegedly 'immoral, obscene, and vulgar' content on the app. The service has been prohibited from operating in the country thrice for more than 15 months since then. In November 2021, a Pakistani court finally reversed the ban after TikTok assured the government it would control the spread of objectionable content.
Arab News
21 hours ago
- Business
- Arab News
Pakistan says nationwide crackdown against sugar hoarders, profiteers underway
KARACHI: Pakistan's Food Security Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain announced on Wednesday that a nationwide crackdown against those attempting to disrupt the sugar supply in the country through hoarding and profiteering was underway, amid Islamabad's attempts to stabilize the commodity's price. Market analysts have said retail sugar prices in several parts of the country have risen sharply since January, surging to Rs200 [$0.70] per kilogram. In Pakistan, high sugar prices have triggered public outcry and become flashpoints for opposition criticism in the past, with allegations of hoarding and cartelization frequently surfacing in election years or periods of economic volatility. Hussain chaired a meeting with representatives of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) and other key stakeholders from all provinces on Wednesday, the national food security ministry said in a press release. It said the meeting aimed to review the current sugar market situation, pricing trends, and supply chain dynamics. 'During the meeting, the Federal Minister expressed serious concern over the artificial hike in sugar prices and warned of strict action against all those who are involved in hoarding and market manipulation,' the statement said. 'He announced that a nationwide crackdown is currently underway against those disrupting the sugar supply chain.' Hussain noted that due to the government's 'decisive actions,' sugar prices have started to decline significantly from Rs200 per kg to Rs. 175–180 [$0.61-0.63] per kg in various markets. The minister warned sugar mills that were not releasing their existing stocks that the government would not tolerate hoarding, directing all provincial governments to ensure the timely lifting of sugar from mills and facilitate its smooth transportation to markets. Hussain noted the 'exploitative role' of certain middlemen and market intermediaries, saying they were capitalizing on the market's volatility. 'The federal and provincial authorities are now actively pursuing legal and administrative actions against such elements to curb unjust profiteering,' the ministry said. The minister later chaired a high-level meeting of the Steering Committee on Sugar Imports, where all technical, procedural, and operational challenges related to sugar importation were reviewed and resolved, the food security ministry said. Earlier this month, Pakistan announced it would import sugar in two phases. In the first phase, a tender for 200,000 metric tons of sugar would be issued, followed by another tender for 150,000 metric tons after one week, the ministry said. The ministry also announced it had decided to waive all duties and taxes on sugar imports to ensure the product is available at affordable prices.
Arab News
a day ago
- Business
- Arab News
Deputy PM Dar invites New York investors to leverage Pakistan's youth, consumer base
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday urged investors in New York to leverage Pakistan's young population and large consumer base for diverse investment opportunities, Pakistan's foreign ministry said. Pakistan has increasingly eyed foreign investment from regional allies and partners, particularly since it formed the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) in 2023, to escape a prolonged macroeconomic crisis. The SIFC aims to attract investment in key economic sectors such as minerals, IT, tourism, agriculture and livestock. Dar, who also serves as Pakistan's foreign minister, arrived in the United States on July 21 and is scheduled to lead high-level signature events at the UN headquarters till July 28. The deputy premier met a group of businessmen and investors in New York to share his perspective on Pakistan's improving economic landscape, the foreign ministry said. 'He encouraged the participants to explore diverse investment opportunities in Pakistan with a view to leveraging the large consumer base, young population, growing digital economy, and advantageous geographic positioning toward mutually rewarding outcomes,' the statement said. Pakistan has a sizable population of over 240 million people, where nearly 64 percent are under the age of 30. Islamabad has recently taken several measures to adopt digital financial assets to ensure economic growth as the world embraces new forms of currency. Dar stressed the critical role of the Pakistani diaspora toward realizing the trade, investment and economic ties between Pakistan and the US, the statement added. He informed investors about the SIFC's streamlined processes for investors across priority sectors such as agriculture, IT, minerals, energy and tourism. 'The participants expressed their commitment to fostering deeper economic collaboration and long-term investment engagement between the two countries,' the ministry concluded. Pakistan considers the US an important trade ally as it is the South Asian country's top export destination. Pakistan's exports to the US totaled $5.44 billion in FY2024, as per official data. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government has linked Pakistan's economic revival to an export-driven growth and partnerships based on what the premier describes as 'mutually beneficial' with allies.
