Pakistan

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Girls tell magistrate they did so out of own free will; parents say they are underage

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President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Tuesday, reaffirming their shared commitment to ensuring the country’s stability, development, and prosperity.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali has said that the party’s movement, as announced by its founder, will reach its peak on August 5.

A Gujranwala court on Tuesday dismissed the post-arrest bail petition of an Ahmadiyya community member, who was arrested on blasphemy charges for distributing Niaz (free food and drinks) on the 10th of Muharram (Youm-i-Ashur). The first information report (FIR) against the suspect was lodged with the Satellite Town police station in Punjab’s Gujranwala city on the complaint of a Hafizabad Road resident under Section 298(C) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), which criminalises certain acts by members of the Ahmadi community, including calling themselves Muslims or referring to their faith as Islam. In the FIR, the complainant said the incident took place on July 6 at 4:30pm when he saw the suspect distributing free food and drink during Muharram, “posing as a Muslim”. The Ahmadi man was subsequently arrested and sent on judicial remand. Gujranwala Judicial Magistrate Sidra Gul Nawaz presided over a hearing for the man’s post-arrest bail plea today. The court order, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, sa...

Lack of maintenance has compromised the quality of water

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Self-taught artisan empowers girls, defies industry odds

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Arrested man had injured citizen over personal dispute

CM orders comprehensive checklist for surveillance

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President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday reiterated their commitment to working together with each other for the country’s sake. A statement issued by the Presidency said the two held a meeting today at the President House. “The meeting involved discussions on the country’s political, economic, and security situation. The state of law and order in the country and measures against terrorism were also discussed. “The prime minister briefed the president on the government’s measures to improve the economy. Both leaders reiterated their commitment to work together for the country’s stability, development, and prosperity,” the statement said. The meeting was also attended by Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and PM’s Adviser on Political and Public Affairs Rana Sanaullah. The meeting comes in the wake of growing speculation about the upcoming 27th constitutional amendment and it being ...

Indonesia’s Defence Minister Lt Gen (retired) Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin expressed his country’s desire to boost defence ties and explore possible collaboration in defence production as he met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Tuesday. Pakistan and Indonesia maintain strong bilateral relations rooted in shared religion and culture, with both countries cooperating in trade, education, and health. Gen Sjamsoeddin called on PM Shehbaz at the PM Office today, where he reiterated Indonesia’s desire to “further strengthen defence ties with Pakistan and to explore possible areas for cooperation, especially in defence production”, according to a statement from government-run PID. The Indonesian minister conveyed the best wishes of President Prabowo Subianto for the prime minister and people of Pakistan, the press release added. Meanwhile, PM Shehbaz “reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to explore and expand collaboration with Indonesia in joint ventures of investment in mutually beneficial projects”, the state...

Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday slammed last month’s attacks by Israel and the United States on Iran as “unacceptable” as he attended a ministerial meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in China’s Tianjin. The SCO is a 10-nation Eurasian security and political grouping whose members include China, Russia, Pakistan, India, and Iran. The group’s foreign ministers meet as a precursor to the annual summit of its leaders, which will be hosted by China this autumn in Tianjin. On June 13, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign on Iran that targeted military and nuclear sites as well as residential areas, and killed senior military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. The attacks began days before a planned meeting between Tehran and Washington aimed at reviving nuclear negotiations. The US, which had been in talks with Iran since April 12, joined Israel in carrying out its own strikes on June 22, targeting Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz. Iranian authori...