Pakistan

Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir chaired the 271st Corps Commanders’ Conference (CCC) at General Headquarters (GHQ), where the Forum pledged decisive action against Indian-backed proxies, reviewed regional security, and lauded the Pakistan Navy and Air Force for enhancing tri-services synergy.

Afghan taxi drivers have cobbled together a creative solution to spare them and their passengers from the sweltering heat. In southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar city, where temperatures easily exceed 40 degrees Celsius, blue taxis can be spotted with an air conditioning (AC) unit strapped to the roof with an exhaust hose delivering the cool air through the passenger window. “It started getting extremely hot three or four years ago. These cars’ AC systems didn’t work and repairs were too expensive. So I went to a technician, [and] had a custom cooler made,” said driver Gul Mohammad. The 32-year-old spent 3,000 Afghanis ($43) for the system, which he connects to his taxi’s battery and regularly refills with water. “This works better than [built-in] AC. ACs only cool the front — this cooler spreads air throughout,” said fellow driver Abdul Bari. Other devices are connected to solar panels, also mounted on the taxi’s roof. An Afghan taxi is pictured with a swamp air-cooler system installed atop the vehicle at a mark...

An ice-cream seller in Turkiye was arrested and his shop was sealed earlier this week for allegedly sexually harassing a woman tourist, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported. According to the newspaper, the incident was caught on camera, following which the ice cream shop in Istanbul’s Beyoglu municipality was sealed by local authorities. “An ice cream vendor in Beyoglu started playing a cone trick on a female tourist and allegedly harassed the woman as she tried to take the cone,” Hurriyet reported. “After the images surfaced on social media, the ice cream shop drew widespread criticism. Beyoglu Municipality teams subsequently sealed the business.” Beyoglu Mayor Inan Guney took to X and posted a video of police removing equipment from the shop, writing, “Our municipal police teams have sealed the relevant establishment. “Beyoglu is a district where all women can walk safely, and we will take every measure to ensure it remains so,” the post added.

The principal and attendant of a school in India’s Maharashtra state were arrested, while four teachers and two trustees were taken into custody for allegedly stripping around 10 girls to check if they were menstruating, Indian Express reported on Thursday. In a statement released on Wednesday, police said that school staff informed the teachers and principal of bloodstains in the toilets. To find who was responsible, girls of classes 5-10 were called into the convention hall, where they were shown photos of bloodstains in the toilet and on the tiles. The students were then asked to reveal who was on their periods. The teachers took down details, including thumb impressions, of the girls who raised their hands, and took the rest of the girls to washrooms where they were stripped and checked by attendants, the statement added. According to Thane rural police personnel, the accused principal asked the daughter of one of the complainant parents why she was using a sanitary pad when she was not menstruating, accu...

Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir said on Thursday that India was doubling down on its “nefarious agenda” against Pakistan through the use of proxies after facing a “manifest defeat” in the recent military conflict between the two countries. India blamed Pakistan for the April 22 Pahalgam attack without evidence, triggering a military escalation. On May 6–7, New Delhi launched air strikes that killed civilians, followed by a week-long missile exchange. A US-brokered ceasefire ended the war. A day earlier, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry accused Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval of masterminding terrorism in Pakistan, alleging Indian support for terrorist groups. Echoing similar sentiments, Field Marshal Munir said, while chairing the 271st Corps Commanders’ Conference (CCC) at the General Headquarters (GHQ), said today: “Following its manifest defeat in direct aggression against Pakistan, post-Pahalgam incident, India is now doubling do...

PML-N leaders have issued differing statements on whether PTI founder Imran Khan’s sons would be allowed entry into Pakistan to run a political movement for their father’s release, with Senator Irfan Siddiqui saying they “can stage protests but within legal limitations”. Imran’s sons — Suleman Khan (28) and Kasim Khan (26) — had called attention to their father’s incarceration for the first time publicly in May. Earlier this week, Imran’s sister Aleema Khan said the two brothers would come to Pakistan as part of an upcoming PTI protest movement. Imran, imprisoned since August 2023 in a case related to state gifts, is serving a sentence at the Adiala Jail in the £190 million graft case and and faces pending trials related to the May 9, 2023 riots. Speaking on Geo News’ programme ‘Geo Pakistan’ today, Irfan Siddiqui said: “In my personal opinion — as the government has so far not taken any official stance — they should be allowed to come. They should come and carry out their activities.” He noted that the sons ...

Jemima Goldsmith, former wife of PTI founder Imran Khan, has claimed that their sons, Qasim and Sulaiman, are being threatened with arrest if they travel to Pakistan to visit their father.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has given in-principle approval to launch phase II of projects of Agriculture Department.

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari on Wednesday criticised what she described as a “fitna group” for spreading propaganda and fake news, firmly denying that any audit report had raised concerns about Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s tenure.

The Supreme Court has dismissed former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry’s request to suspend ongoing trial proceedings in multiple cases, advising him instead to approach the Lahore High Court for relief.

Four people died and 40 were injured in rain-related incidents across Punjab over the past 24 hours as more heavy showers were expected across the province, according to rescue officials and local authorities. Monsoon rains fall across the region from June to September, offering respite from the summer heat. They are crucial to replenishing water supplies and agriculture, and therefore, the livelihoods of millions of farmers and food security. However, they also wreak havoc by triggering deadly floods, landslides and displacement, particularly in vulnerable, poorly drained, or densely populated areas. At least nine people lost their lives and many others sustained injuries as heavy monsoon rains lashed Lahore on Wednesday. The downpours caused widespread flooding and disrupted daily life in several areas. “Over the last 24 hours, four people died and 40 were injured due to rain and winds across the province,” Rescue 1122 Punjab Spokesperson Farooq Ahmed said in a statement. Those who sustained serious injurie...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar on Thursday met Australian Foreign Minister Senator Hon Penny Wong on the sidelines of the 32nd ASEAN Regional Forum Ministerial Meeting here.

Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry — recipient of the Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military) — visited the University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir in Muzaffarabad, where he engaged in a special session with students and faculty, according to an ISPR statement.

Indian election officials have given voters in Bihar state just weeks to prove their citizenship, requiring documents that few possess in a registration revamp set to be applied nationwide, triggering disenfranchisement fears. The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the revision of the voter rolls in June ahead of upcoming polls in the eastern state. It said the exercise will later be replicated across the nation of 1.4 billion people. According to the ECI, the “intensive revision” was needed in part to avoid the “inclusion of the names of foreign illegal immigrants”. Members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have long claimed that large numbers of undocumented Muslim migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh have fraudulently entered India’s electoral rolls. Critics say the overhaul could render vast numbers of Indian citizens unable to vote. “You are being asked to produce documents that very few people have,” said Asaduddin Owaisi, a prominent Muslim lawm...

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk on Thursday said Pakistan and Russia were “natural allies”, stressing that Russian President Vladimir Putin views Islamabad as an important strategic partner in the areas of economy and energy, the Foreign Office said in a statement. In recent years, Russia and Pakistan have engaged in strengthening bilateral ties with each other. On June 3, Russian Foreign Min­ister Sergey Lavrov, in a meeting with Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi, reaffirmed Russia’s desire to expand cooperation with Pakistan. Moscow’s growing engagement with Islamabad — including defe­nce deals, energy cooperation and regular joint military exercises — reflects a strategic shift to diversify partnerships across the region. In a high-level meeting with Ambassador Fatemi and the prime minister’s aide on Industries and Production, Haroon Akhtar Khan, in Moscow, the Russian DPM reaffirmed his country’s commitment towards deepening bilateral cooperation w...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday directed the relevant authorities to formulate a comprehensive plan to transform the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) into a shipping company of international standard.

Pakistan is seeking a valuation of at least $1 billion for the Roosevelt Hotel it owns in New York and is ready to part with a minority stake in the prime Manhattan property as it scouts for a redevelopment partner, a senior government official said. Named after former US President Theodore Roosevelt, the century-old property in midtown Manhattan is seen as one of Pakistan’s most valuable foreign assets, which it acquired in 2000. Faced with mounting losses, the over 1,000-room hotel was shut in 2020, and has also operated briefly as a migrant shelter. As part of its $7bn IMF-backed privatisation push, the government approved a “transaction structure for the Roosevelt Hotel” on Tuesday, saying it won’t do an outright sale but has decided to adopt a joint venture model to maximise long-term value. It gave no further details. The senior official said the government will retain ownership in the project through an equity partnership, but declined to disclose the size of the stake being offered to any potential JV...

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Thursday rebutted rumours of President Asif Ali Zardari being asked to resign, terming it a “malicious campaign”. “We are fully aware of who is behind the malicious campaign targeting President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and the chief of army staff,” Naqvi wrote on X. “I have categorically stated that there has been no discussion, nor does any such idea exist about the president being asked to resign or the COAS aspiring to assume the presidency,” he asserted. “The president of Pakistan enjoys a strong and respectful relationship with the leadership of the armed forces,” the minister said. He quoted President Zardari as having “clearly” stated: “I know who is spreading these falsehoods, why they are doing so, and who stands to benefit from this propaganda.” Naqvi stressed that the “sole focus” of Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir was Pakistan’s strength and stability, and “nothing else”. “To those involved in this narrative, do whatever you wi...

Four people from two different groups were killed while two others were injured in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mardan district over a personal dispute, police said on Thursday. Mardan police spokesperson Muhammad Faheem Khan told Dawn.com, “There was a clash between two groups over a personal dispute, resulting in the killing of four people — three from one group and one from the other group — while two people sustained injuries.” “The motive behind the clash was a personal dispute between them,” he added. One of the injured filed a first information report (FIR) at the Garhi Kapura police station on Wednesday night. According to the FIR, seen by Dawn.com, the complainant said that the incident occurred around 10pm when he was returning home with his brothers and cousins, saying that they were attacked by armed assailants who were already present there. The FIR was registered under Sections 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 302 (intentional murder) and 324 (attempted mu­r­der) of the ...

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Rawalpindi has extended the interim bail of Bushra Bibi, wife of PTI founder Imran Khan, in 31 cases until August 12.