July | Pakistan

The US consulates in Lahore and Karachi are set to resume regular consular services from July 20, 2026, the US Embassy in Islamabad said in a statement on Wednesday. The consulates will provide services to US citizens as well as process non-immigrant visa applications. US consular services in Lahore and Karachi were suspended in March after protests turned deadly at the onset of the US-Israel war with Iran. On March 1, 10 people were killed in Karachi when protesters clashed with law enforcement personnel near the US Consulate on Mai Kolachi Road. Law enforcement personnel resorted to teargas shelling and baton-charge to control the situation, and US Marines were reported to have opened fire on the protestors. Protest against the attacks on Iran also took place in Islamabad, where at least two protesters died and over 30 were injured during clashes with law enforcement personnel near the Diplomatic Enclave. Following the protests, on March 4, the US State Department ordered non-emergency personnel from US con...

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has forecast a fresh spell of rain in several parts of the country from July 7 to 10, with showers and thunderstorms expected in Kashmir, upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad, the Potohar region and northeastern Punjab.

A dangerous heat wave upended fourth of July celebrations across swaths of the central and eastern US on Friday, forcing officials in the nation’s capital and elsewhere to cancel or postpone dozens of parades, concerts and fireworks displays. Among the events disrupted by the sweltering heat was the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington, a centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s efforts to mark the nation’s 250th birthday. The fair, designed to showcase all 50 states, was temporarily closed on Friday afternoon as temperatures reached 38 degrees Celsius. Visitors wait to enter after a temporary closure of The Great American State Fair due to heat on the National Mall in Washington, DC, US, July 3, 2026. —AFP Late on Friday, organisers of the National Park Service’s Independence Day Parade in Washington announced they had canceled the annual event due to safety concerns. The parade had been scheduled to start on Saturday, with the Weather Service projecting heat index values to reach as h...

El Niño will quickly develop into a strong event between July and September, fuelling the likelihood of extreme weather, the United Nations weather and climate agency warned on Friday. The World Meteorological Organisation said El Niño had already set in, and would quickly gain strength, as it warned countries to brace for impact. El Niño is a natural climate phenomenon that warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, bringing worldwide changes in winds, pressure and rainfall patterns. It typically takes place every two to seven years and lasts around nine to 12 months. Conditions oscillate between El Niño and its opposite La Niña, with neutral conditions in between. The WMO’s monthly Global Seasonal Climate Update points towards “a rapid development into a strong El Niño event during July-September”. The UN agency classifies El Niño events as weak, moderate, strong or very strong, meaning it is set to reach the third-highest level out of four. “El Niño conditions have deve...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit Iran and Turkiye from July 3 to July 5, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Tahir Andrabi confirmed on Thursday. Addressing a weekly briefing, Andrabi said that during his visit to Iran, the premier would participate in the funeral of late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in US-Israeli strikes on February 28. The FO spokesperson said PM Shehbaz will travel to Iran first for Khamenei’s funeral. Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, cabinet members and senior officials will accompany the premier on his visit. “The prime minister will convey condolences on behalf of the people and government of Pakistan to the Iranian leadership and the bereaved families while reaffirming solidarity with the brotherly nation in their hour of profound grief,” he said. PM Shehbaz will then visit Istanbul at the invitation of Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Andrabi said. He added that the premier will “hold discussions on the entire gamut of bilateral re...

LAHORE: Both runways of Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport will remain closed for three hours daily for 70 days, from July 5 to September 15, for commercial flights during the upcoming monsoon season, the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said on Wednesday, citing precautionary measures owing to increased risk of bird activity. “During the monsoon season, bird activity in and around the airport, particularly below 3,000 feet, increases significantly. Accordingly, pilots have been advised to exercise heightened caution during the aircraft’s approach and departure,” the authority said. It added that airlines had also been advised to carry adequate fuel for any anticipated ground or airborne holding. “As part of these precautionary safety measures, both runways [of the Lahore airport] will remain unavailable daily from 5am to 8am, from 5 July to 15 September 2026, when bird activity is at its peak. Scheduled commercial flights will continue to operate outside these hours,“ the PAA said, adding that in c...

The Pakistan Meteorological Department has released its seasonal outlook for July to September, forecasting above-average temperatures across much of the country while warning of increased risks of flooding, landslides and heat-related hazards.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast widespread monsoon rainfall across much of the country during the first week of July, warning of possible urban flooding, flash floods and landslides in vulnerable areas.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said on Monday that a fresh monsoon spell was set to begin in the country from the first week of July. Monsoon rains fall across the region from June to September, offering respite from the summer heat and are crucial to replenishing water supplies. However, heavy downpours also trigger deadly floods, landslides and displacement, particularly in vulnerable, poorly drained, or densely populated areas. In an advisory, the department said that a westerly wave was likely to enter the upper parts of the country from June 30. At the same time, “moist currents from the Arabian Sea are continuously penetrating the eastern and central parts of the country”. It added that moist currents from the Bay of Bengal were expected to reach the upper parts from July 2. Under the influence of this system, the PMD predicted that scattered rain, windstorm/thundershower, accompanied by isolated heavy falls, were expected in Neelum valley, Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot, Poonch, Hattian, Bagh, H...

MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Supreme Court on Monday suspended, until July 2, the operation of an AJK High Court order granting interim relief to the PTI in its dispute with the Election Commission over the party’s registration. On June 23, the AJK High Court had directed the Election Commission to provisionally register PTI as a political party, effectively suspending the commission’s May 16 decision rejecting the party’s registration application. The short order was announced by a three-member bench headed by senior puisne judge Syed Shahid Bahar and comprising Justices Sardar Muhammad Ejaz and Khalid Rasheed Chaudhry. The interim order was passed by Chief Justice Raja Saeed Akram on an application filed by the Election Commission under Rules 1 and 2 of Order VI of the Supreme Court Rules, 1978, seeking ex parte ad interim relief during the pendency of its petition for leave to appeal (PLA) against the high court’s June 23 order. PTI counsel Yasir Safeer Mughal appeared before the court an...

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Monday forecast the onset of monsoon rains during the first week of July, with widespread rain, windstorms, and thunderstorms expected across most parts of the country under the influence of a westerly wave and strong moisture inflows from the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.

The Ministry of Interior on Sunday issued a directive to immediately arrest any Afghan national “found residing in Pakistan without a valid visa” from July 10, 2026. In a notification addressing the chief secretaries of all provinces, as well as those of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and the chief commissioner of Islamabad Capital Territory, the ministry said that the directive referred to the decisions taken during a review meeting on the Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan (IFRP) on June 1, 2026. It said that during the meeting, “all provincial governments, special area governments and the ICT Administration were directed to expedite the repatriation/deportation of Afghan nationals, including visa overstay cases, and to ensure strict implementation of the IFRP”. “With effect from July 10, 2026, any Afghan national found residing in Pakistan without a valid visa shall be arrested immediately,” the notification said. It added that the necessary directions might, therefore, be issued to all de...

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has set July 1 as the deadline for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad authorities to submit pending maps and data needed for local government (LG) elections. The tenure of LGs in KP ended on March 15 this year. According to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act, 2013, local representatives are elected for a four-year term. The term of the last LG in Islamabad expired in February 2021, and since then, elections have been delayed under various pretexts. As a result, around 2.5 million residents of Islamabad continue to face issues ranging from water shortages to unpaved streets. Chairing a key meeting at the ECP Secretariat on Tuesday, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, along with ECP members, the ECP secretary and senior officials, reviewed preparations for LG polls in the federal capital, Punjab and KP. The ECP expressed concern over the KP government’s failure to provide the requisite maps and other data for 15 districts despite re...

The Directorate General of Immigration and Passports has announced that all passport offices across the country will discontinue cash-based fee collection from July 1, 2026, replacing it with a fully digital payment system.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has extended its airspace ban on Indian civilian and military aircraft for another month, until July 24, 2026, according to a Notice to Airmen (Notam) issued by the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) on Wednesday. The previous extension of the airspace ban was set to expire on June 24. “Pakistan has extended the air ban on Indian-registered aircraft till the morning of July 24,” the PAA Notam said. “The ban on Indian aircraft (both civil and military) will remain in effect from 5:50pm on June 16 to 4:59am on July 24,” the Notam added. The country’s airspace is divided into two flight information regions (FIRs) — Karachi and Lahore, according to a Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) document from 2022. The Notam applies to both the Karachi (OPKR) and Lahore (OPLR) FIRs. India and Pakistan closed their airspaces to each other’s airlines since late April 2025, when tensions between them escalated in the wake of a deadly attack in Indian-occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam. On April 24, Pakistan’s...

Pakistan has extended its ban on Indian civilian and military aircraft from using its airspace for another month, until July 24, according to a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) issued by the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) on Wednesday.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will resume its direct flight operations between Islamabad and Beijing from July 3, 2026, the national carrier announced on Friday.

MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Election Commission announced on Friday that general elections in the region would be held on July 27. The notification, a copy of which is available with Dawn, said that candidates could file their nomination papers with returning officers from June 9 to 4pm on June 19. It said that the scrutiny of nomination papers would be carried out from June 20, while the list of the eligible candidates would be submitted on the same day. It stated that the candidates will have between June 21 and June 24 to file appeals against rejection/acceptance of nomination papers, and the appeals will be heard on June 26 and 27 between 9am and 4pm. According to the notification, the last date for decisions on appeals will be June 28 to June 29, and candidates can withdraw their nomiation papers until June 30 before 2pm. The list of contesting candidates will be published on July 1, and symbols will be allotted along with the final list the next day on July 2. July 27 was notified as the po...

Ireland aims to pass a law curbing goods trade with settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank by mid-July, with Israel, some US lawmakers and business groups opposing the move, Foreign Minister Helen McEntee said on Tuesday. Ireland’s government, one of the most outspoken critics of Israel’s war on Gaza, first promised to sanction Israeli settlements in October 2024. The legislation has since been held up by pressure from opposition politicians who aimed to extend the ban also to the services trade, on one side, and international company lobbyists seeking to scrap the bill, on the other. Sources told Reuters last October that the bill was set to be limited to goods. Prime Minister Micheal Martin confirmed that last week and said widening the scope to services was neither “implementable” nor “viable”. Limiting the bill to goods only will impact just a handful of products imported from Israeli-occupied territories, such as fruit that are worth just €200,000 ($234,660) a year, Ireland’s Central Statistics Of...

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has recorded a tax revenue shortfall of Rs429 billion during the July–February period of the current fiscal year, including an Rs85 billion gap in February alone, according to official documents.