Pakistan

From dangerous diet tips to disinformation, cyberbullying to hate speech, the glut of online content harmful to children grows every day. But several European countries have had enough and now want to limit minors’ access to social media. The European Union already has some of the world’s most stringent digital rules to rein in Big Tech, with multiple probes ongoing into how platforms protect children — or not. There are now demands for the EU to go further as a rising body of evidence shows the negative effects of social media on children’s mental and physical health. Backed by France and Spain, Greece has spearheaded a proposal for how the EU should limit children’s use of online platforms as fears mount over their addictive nature. They were to discuss the plan on Friday with EU counterparts in Luxembourg. The proposal includes setting an age of digital adulthood across the 27-country EU, meaning children will not be able to access social media without parental consent. France, Greece and Denmark believe t...

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Muhammad Jawad Tariq on Friday visited the Faisal Mosque during the Friday prayer along with Chief Traffic Officer Captain (R) Zeeshan Haider and SSP Operations Muhammad Shoaib Khan to inspect the security arrangements.

China called on Friday for steps to improve bilateral ties with Canada, saying there were no deepseated conflicts of interest, following a spike in trade tensions with many of Beijing’s Western trade partners this year. China is willing to work with Canada to put ties on a healthy and stable path and find solutions to address each other’s concerns through enhanced dialogue, Premier Li Qiang told Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in a phone call on Friday, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. “There is no fundamental conflict of interests between the two countries,” Li said. Li’s talks with Carney followed a highly-anticipated phone call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, which Trump said led to “a very positive conclusion” and offered hope the trade war between the world’s two largest economies might start to de-escalate. As the effects of trade frictions start to make their way into the already soft Chinese economy, Beijing has stepped up engagement wi...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government's Information Adviser, Muzammil Aslam, stated on Friday that no new taxes will be introduced in the province’s upcoming budget.

Pakistan has unequivocally condemned the airstrikes of Israeli forces on Beirut, Lebanon.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has directed foolproof security arrangements for Eid-ul-Azha.

Following its success last year, facilitating the most widespread interoperable RAAST QR digital payments campaign and contributing over one-third of all QR transactions in the industry, JazzCash is once again enabling secure, efficient, and cashless transactions during this Eid al-Azha season.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday expressed deep grief and sorrow over the death of Senator and Federal Minister Abbas Afridi.

Pakistan’s Minister of State for Crypto and Blockchain, Bilal Bin Saqib, met with top U.

Former federal minister and Senator Abbas Afridi on Friday succumbed to burn injuries sustained in a gas leak explosion a day earlier, while three others were wounded. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rescue 1122 spokesperson Bilal Ahmad Faizi told Dawn.com that their team had rushed Afridi and three others to Kohat Combined Military Hospital, from where Afridi was taken to a burn centre in Kharian, Punjab, in a helicopter. Nouman Ali, spokesperson for the Kohat police, told Dawn.com, “Afridi was in a critical condition and succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. His body was brought to Kohat today.” He said the three others had been transported to a divisional headquarters hospital. The police spokesperson said Afridi and his friends, Dilnawaz, Javed Afridi and Nadeem, were in the Hujra when a gas leak caused an explosion. The intensity of the blast damaged the walls of the Hujra. Afridi’s funeral will be held today at 5pm at Babri Banda, Kohat. KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi expressed deep sorrow and grief over Afridi...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, accompanied by a high-level delegation, performed Umrah on Friday during his two-day official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman and head of a high-level Pakistani parliamentary delegation, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, has called on U.

The Bohra community in Karachi observed Eidul Azha on Friday with religious devotion, joining Muslims around the world in marking the occasion with prayers and animal sacrifices.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Indian-held Kashmir on Friday, his first visit to the contested Himalayan region since a conflict with arch-rival Pakistan last month, and opened a strategic railway line. Modi is launching a string of projects worth billions of dollars for the occupied Muslim-majority territory. India and Pakistan fought an intense four-day conflict last month over an attack in Occupied Kashmir’s Pehalgam, with New Delhi blaming Islamabad without evidence. This was the two countries’ worst standoff since 1999, before a ceasefire was agreed on May 10. His office broadcast images of Modi at a viewing point for the Chenab Bridge, a 1,315-metre-long (4,314-foot-long) steel and concrete span that connects two mountains with an arch 359 metres above the river below. “In addition to being an extraordinary feat of architecture, the Chenab Rail Bridge will improve connectivity,” the Hindu nationalist leader said in a social media post ahead of his visit. Modi strode across the bridge wav...

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In a significant operation, Pakistan’s intelligence agencies, in coordination with the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency (NCCI) Multan, have dismantled an international cybercrime syndicate operating within the country.

“It’s brought me some closure,” said Shafaq Zaidi, a school friend of Noor Mukadam, reacting to the Supreme Court’s May 20 verdict upholding both the life sentence and death penalty for Noor’s killer, Zahir Jaffer. “Nothing can bring Noor back, but this decision offers a sense of justice — not just for her, but for every woman in Pakistan who’s been told her life doesn’t matter,” Zaidi told Inter Press Service (IPS) over the phone from Islamabad. “It’s been a long and painful journey — four years of fighting through the sessions court, high court, and finally, the Supreme Court.” Echoing a similar sentiment, rights activist Zohra Yusuf said, “It’s satisfying that the SC upheld the verdict,” but added that the crime’s brutality left little room for relief. “It was so horrific that one can’t even celebrate the judgment,” she said, referring to the “extreme” sadism Noor endured — tortured with a knuckleduster, raped, and beheaded with a sharp weapon on July 20, 2021. Yusuf also pointed out that the “background” ...

• Judge says police assigned no specific role to any suspect • Inmates tell court they temporarily left jail premises due to chaos caused by earthquake, returned once situation normalised KARACHI: As many as 115 prisoners escaped from District Jail Malir have been rearrested and booked in a terrorism case along with remaining fugitives, a police officer informed an anti-terrorism court on Thursday. Officials said that the Shah Latif Town police station registered a case pertaining to the jailbreak and escape of 216 inmates under different sections of the Pakistan Penal Code and the Anti-Terrorism Act on the complaint of prison official Zulfiqar Ali Peerzada. On Thursday, the investigating officer of the case produced 115 prisoners recaptured following the jailbreak before the administrative judge of the ATCs at the judicial complex inside the central prison. He informed the court that 115 fugitives were apprehended outside the prison and sought their physical remand for 14 days to arrest remaining 101 inmates...

• Chairs high-level meeting on water resources • Provinces, AJK and GB stand with Centre on water security • PM heads to Saudi Arabia for two-day visit on MBS’ invitation ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday condemned India’s unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), describing it as a “blatant violation and act of water aggression”, and warned that Pakistan would give a befitting response in line with decisions made at the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting held on April 24. Chairing a high-level meeting on water resources at the Prime Minister’s House prior to departing for a two-day official visit to Saudi Arabia, the premier vowed that Pakistan would prevail on the water front just as it had recently “achieved victory in war”. The high-level meeting brought together Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, federal ministers, chief ministers of all four provinces, the prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmi...

Former Senator Abbas Afridi has passed away from injuries sustained in a gas leakage explosion in Kharian.