ISLAMABAD: Awami National Party central leader and former senator Afrasiab Khattak has said the state is still running ‘factories of extremism’ in the country, and the phenomenon cannot be ended in society until the process is continuing. He was speaking to BBC Urdu in connection with its special interview series, titled Vision Pakistan, being conducted on completion of 70 years ...

PESHAWAR: Pakistan is exploring the possibility of signing a water treaty with Afghanistan to promote integrated watershed management. Ecological conservation practices in uphill watersheds is part of the plan to safeguard Pakistan’s rights on trans-border water inflows according to international norms. According to a report in The News International, the Climate Change Ministry will focus on efforts to protect the glaciers by declaring them ...

WORLD: Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday alleged a “huge iceberg of misinformation” was distorting the picture of the Rohingya crisis, which has forced 125,000 of the Muslim minority to flee to Bangladesh. In her first comments since Rohingya militant attacks sparked unrest on August 25, Suu Kyi said fake news was “calculated to create a lot ...

ISLAMABAD: Following the BRICS nations’ “regional security concern” over the militant groups allegedly based in Pakistan, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif acknowledged the existence of such organisations, naming Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) among the internationally banned outfits operating from within Pakistan. Asif was talking to senior journalist Shahzeb Khanzada on Geo News’ programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath on Tuesday night. According to ...

KABUL:  The Afghan league for association football clubs (Afghan Premier League-APL) will be kicked off coming Thursday in Kabul, said officials. The ALP is a hope for Afghan among ash and smoke in this war weary country. Eight teams from eight different zone of Afghanistan came together here in Kabul to eat, talk, laugh, sleep and compete with each other, which generate a ...

HEIDELBERG: Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, called for a new hardline approach in Europe’s relations with Turkey on Tuesday, describing developments in the country as “worrying”. “The EU must not be divided on this issue. That would greatly weaken Europe,” she told German MPs. Mrs Merkel used her final speech to parliament before elections in three weeks to demand the release of several ...

KABUL: Kabul on Tuesday welcomed BRICS powers for condemning terrorist attacks and calling for an immediate end to the violence in Afghanistan, but Islamabad rejected the grouping’s claim that militant groups in Pakistan posed a regional security concern. The Afghan government hoped for a collective action against terrorism following the BRICS leaders meeting in the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen and welcomed the ...

CHARSADDA: Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan has said that Afghan President Dr Ashraf Ghani’s negotiation offer to Pakistan is a positive step that will reduce tension between the two countries. Speaking at Ghazi Gul Baba Mosque after Eid prayers, he urged Pakistan to reciprocate positively because peace was prerequisite for stability and economic development. He said that unity ...

RIYADH: Fizzing with boyish exuberance, Saudi programmer Zainalabdin Tawfiq could be mistaken for a college freshman, but the popularity of his “honesty” app has shone a spotlight on the conservative kingdom’s nascent tech scene. Tawfiq catapulted to fame when he took time out of his day job as a business analyst last year to develop an anonymous messaging tool called Sarahah — ...

XIAMEN: The leaders of the five emerging market BRICS powers have for the first time named militant groups allegedly based in Pakistan as a regional security concern and called for their patrons to be held to account. India welcomed the move — which participated at a summit in the Chinese city of Xiamen — as an important step forward in ...