Pakistan

Two people were killed and three others injured in a collision between a motorcycle and a mini bus in village Machi Khail on Saturday.

ISLAMABAD: The government has announced a set of measures aimed at enhancing the global recognition of Pakistani kinno, a variety of citrus fruit, with a focus on improving its export potential and value-added products. National Food Security and Research Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain, in a statement on Saturday, highlighted that the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) has accredited the Citrus Research Institute’s post-entry quarantine facilities. This accreditation paves the way for the introduction of new, disease-resistant, and seedless kinno varieties that offer higher yields and greater consumer appeal. Mr Tanveer emphasised that citrus, especially kinno, is a symbol of Pakistan’s agricultural strength. He noted that the government’s efforts are not limited to expanding fresh fruit exports; equal emphasis is also being placed on promoting seedless kinno and value-added citrus products such as juices, concentrates, and essential oils, which have higher market value internationally. The government is als...

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly on Sunday appreciated the signing of the historic defense agreement between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, terming it a significant milestone in bilateral relations.

LAHORE: Fashion de­­signer Khadija Shah has approached the Lahore High Court (LHC), challenging her conviction in a May 9 case. She claims to have been falsely implicated for political reasons. Through her Advocate Sameer Khosa, Ms Shah argues that she had no involvement in the torching of a Supreme Court judge’s squad vehicle near Jinnah House during the riots. She maintained she was not named in the FIR, nor was she implicated throu­­gh supplementary statements. No identification para­­de was conducted to establish her presence at the scene. The trial, held inside Kot Lakhpat jail, resulted in 21 acquittals out of 51 accused, with 12 declared proclaimed offenders. Ms Shah was among the 18 convicted, recently sentenced to five years in prison and fined Rs100,000. The appeal highlights that the prosecution’s case relied solely on her social media activity post-May 9, 2023. However, the trial court scrutinized her entire online data without legal basis, terming the charges “defective, vague, and unsustainable....

ISLAMABAD - The International Atomic Energy Agency has recognised Pakistan’s steady progress in developing its civil nuclear technology capabilities.

LAHORE/ MUZAFARGARH - Another portion of the M-5 Motorway at Jalalpur Peerwala near Multan was swept away by floodwaters, further disrupting travel in the region.

ISLAMABAD - Terrorist belonging to Fitna al-Hindustan, Gul Rehman alias Ustad Mureed has been mysteriously killed in Afghanistan’s Helmand province “Gul Rehman alias Ustad Mureed was the mastermind of the Jafar Express attack,” sources said.

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif said sustainable peace was not possible unless the causes of conflict, including poverty, denial of human rights and growing intolerance were eliminated.

Lahore - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Saturday launched Phase-II of the Green Tractor Program by announcing the results of a ballot for 9,500 high-power tractors to be distributed among farmers across the province.

ISLAMABAD - Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) minister Shireen Mazari Saturday said that a “heavily armed raiding party” of the Islamabad police had surrounded her house at 1am and enquired about her daughter, Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, and son-in-law, Hadi Ali Chattha.

LAHORE - Pakistan Muslim League (Q) chief and former Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has been elected as the Chairman of the Pakistan Bodybuilding Federation.

WASHINGTON: The United States has called on Pakistan to subject its defence and intelligence budgets to parliamentary or civilian public oversight, describing it as a key step to improve fiscal accountability and transparency. The recommendation appears in the US Department of State’s 2025 Fiscal Transparency Report, released on Friday. The annual report reviews the openness of budgetary practices worldwide, assessing how governments publish, audit, and manage public funds. “The military and intelligence budgets were not subject to adequate parliamentary or civilian public oversight,” the report stated in its Pakistan section. It added that “steps Pakistan could take to improve fiscal transparency include… subjecting the military and intelligence agencies’ budgets to parliamentary or civilian public oversight”. The report also urged Pakistan to ensure the timely publication of its executive budget proposal. “The government… did not publish its executive budget proposal within a reasonable period,” the assessm...

JERUSALEM: Israel’s military kept up its assault on Gaza City and the wider Gaza Strip on Saturday, dismantling underground shafts and booby-trapped structures in attacks that left 87 Palestinians dead, 70 of them in Gaza City. The civil defence agency said 11 were killed when warplanes struck the Dughmush family in the city’s Al-Sabra neighbourhood. The assault came as 10 countries including Australia, Belgium, Britain and Canada are scheduled to formally recognise an independent Palestinian state on Monday, ahead of the annual gathering at the UN General Assembly. Israel’s intensified military demolition campaign targeting high-rise buildings in Gaza City began this week alongside a ground assault. Its forces, which control Gaza City’s eastern suburbs, have in recent days been pounding the Sheikh Radwan and Tel Al Hawa areas from where they would be positioned to advance on central and western parts of the city, where most of the population is sheltering. Hamas warns lives of Israeli prisoners are in danger...

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Maryam Nawaz Sharif met with a high-level delegation of Germany’s Hope Children’s Cancer Centre, led by renowned pediatric oncologist and neuro-oncologist Dr Stefan Michael, to discuss enhanced cooperation in pediatric cancer treatment.

• Warns of 14.5m excess deaths concentrated mainly in vulnerable regions • Says health, construction and agriculture sectors could lose over $1.5tr ISLAMABAD: The World Economic Forum (WEF) warned in a fresh insight report that climate change, if left unaddressed, could result in 14.5 million excess deaths and trillion of dollars in economic loses by 2050, concentrated in the world’s most disadvantaged regions and populations. The report, “Building Economic Resilience to the Health Impacts of Climate Change,” says deaths from extreme weather events in those regions have been about 15 times higher over the past decade. It also warns that climate-health impacts threaten business resilience and that today, less than 5 per cent of global adaptation funding targets health protection. “This is a dangerous gap that also presents an opportunity for private-sector action,” the report said. The WEF defines a Climate and Health Business Framework and applies it to four highly exposed sectors to identify specific climate...

HAFIZABAD - A tuition centre roof collapsed in Hafizabad district on Saturday, leaving seven people dead, among them five children.

ISLAMABAD: Amid app­arent reluctance by the federal government to use the Benazir Income Support Pro­gramme (BISP) to help the flood survivors, the PPP has once again urged the Centre to disburse stipends among displaced citizens via the “efficient and proven” BISP. Over the past weeks, the PPP chairman and senior leaders have encouraged the use of the flagship income support initiative to provide relief to thousands of citizens affected by the monsoon floods. Earlier this week, its vice president, Sherry Rehman, had “strongly and repeatedly” advocated the use of BISP for the purpose in a Senate committee meeting. On Saturday, another PPP leader Humayun Khan urged the government to do the same. His statement came days after PML-N leader and PM’s aide Rana Sanaullah expressed apprehensions about the BISP, calling it unviable for a cash-strapped government. Rana Sana said the BISP could not be continued in its current form — it either needed to be wrapped up or be completely revamped. The PML-N leader had sugge...

• Price control secretary says geotagging, verification of wheat stock decided for proactive planning; defends inter-provincial curbs to ensure ample supply • Mills barred from using wheat for manufacturing poultry feed LAHORE: The Punjab government has stepped up measures, including geotagging of stocks, to avert a potential wheat crisis in the province after floods in the eastern rivers washed away farmlands and destroyed stockpiles in its central districts. The move comes amid restrictions on the interprovincial movement of the commodity by the provincial government, which has raised prices in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by up to 68 per cent, also prompting protests by Sindh and KP. Sources told Dawn that the decision to restrict the wheat trade was taken to ensure an ample supply of the grain in the province and to avert a looming crisis. Besides this measure, the Punjab Price Control and Commodities Management also decided to start geotagging and physically verifying wheat stocks in warehouses across the province...

ISLAMABAD - The China-Pakistan Study Centre (CPSC) at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) organised the launch of its latest book titled “Pakistan and China: Connecting at People’s Level” here.

Rawalpindi - The number of dengue patients continues to rise in the garrison city as 23 new cases were reported in last 24 hours on Saturday and 20 cases on Friday.