Pakistan

The Utility Stores Corporation (USC) has officially ceased operations nationwide, bringing an end to its decades-old subsidized retail system.

The Utility Stores Corporation (USC) on Thursday formally ceased operations, in compliance with the July 31 deadline established earlier this month to close the state-owned enterprise (SOE). Established in 1971, USC was an SOE tasked with supplying essential commodities at subsidised rates, primarily targeting low-income households. It operated over 4,000 retail outlets nationwide. According to a USC notification from the Ministry of Industries and Production, available with Dawn.com, the decision was taken in compliance with directives issued by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on June 28 and a meeting of the board of directors earlier this month. “All the sales and purchases at utility stores have been closed with effect from July 31, except shifting of stock from stores to warehouses and returned to vendors and handing-taking of stores’ inventories,” the notification reads, instructing strict compliance with the order. Additionally, sales through the business-management suite Odoo have been permanently discon...

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Faisalabad on Thursday sentenced PTI leaders, including Omar Ayub Khan, Shibli Faraz, Hamid Raza, and Zartaj Gul Wazir, to 10 years of imprisonment for their involvement in the May 9 riots. On May 9, 2023, PTI supporters, protesting the party founder Imran Khan’s arrest, staged violent protests throughout the country, vandalising military installations and state-owned buildings, while also attacking the Lahore corps commander’s residence. Following the riots, thousands of protesters, including party leaders, were arrested. Out of 185 PTI workers accused, 108 have been sentenced by the court today. PTI’s Member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA), Junaid Afzal Sahi, was sentenced to three years in prison. Meanwhile, MPA Khayal Ahmad Kastro, Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Zain Qureshi, and former PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry have been acquitted in the cases. Reacting to the development, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said the party will challenge the decision in the high...

A former US Air Force sergeant who killed his wife and two young children is to be executed by lethal injection in the southern state of Florida on Thursday. Edward Zakrzewski, 60, pleaded guilty to the June 1994 murders of his wife, Sylvia, son Edward, 7, and daughter, Anna, 5. His wife was beaten with a crowbar, strangled with a rope and struck with a machete. The two children were hacked to death with the machete, which Zakrzewski had purchased during his lunch break after being informed that his wife planned to divorce him. Zakrzewski fled to Hawaii and changed his name following the murders, but turned himself in four months later after being identified by friends on a television show called “Unsolved Mysteries.” Zakrzewski is to be executed at 6:00pm (3:00am PKT) at the Florida State Prison in Raiford. There have been 26 executions in the United States this year, the most since the 28 executions of 2015. Twenty-one have been carried out by lethal injection, two have been by firing squad and three by nit...

At least 23 people were injured when a fairground attraction in Saudi Arabia snapped mid-ride, sending its full carousel plunging to the ground, local media reported on Thursday. Footage circulating online showed the “360 Degrees” ride breaking in half, with the circular carousel crashing down from a height of several metres. The Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV channel reported 23 injured, four of them seriously, in the accident on Wednesday. The amusement park in Taif, southwest Saudi Arabia, has been closed and an investigation is underway, Al Arabiya added. Saudi Arabia has been building multiple leisure and entertainment attractions as the long-cloistered desert country seeks to diversify its oil-reliant economy. Among its so-called giga-projects is Qiddiya near Riyadh, billed as an “entertainment city” of theme parks and a motorsports racetrack.

Four members of a family were injured when a mortar shell fell on a house in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district on Thursday, according to the police. Bajaur police spokesperson Israr Salarzai told Dawn.com: “The house of a citizen in Gohati Mamond was struck by a mortar shell, due to which four men were injured. “They were taken to the Lar Khalazo Tehsil Headquarters Hospital for medical assistance,” he said, adding that the condition of one of the injured people was critical. Earlier in the week, the Bajaur administration imposed a three-day curfew at 16 places in the district and initiated an operation against militants in the areas. Salarzai added that the curfew was lifted in the district after a two-day operation against the militants. KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur announced on Wednesday that a series of jirgas will be convened from August 2 to decide on future steps on a wide array of concerns among the province’s residents. Bajaur district, previously a hotspot during the peak of the Tehreek-i-...

Indian opposition parties criticised the government on Thursday, describing US President Donald Trump’s threat of a 25 per cent tariff as a diplomatic failure for New Delhi, while the rupee currency tumbled and equity indexes slid in response to the news. The 25pc rate would single out India more harshly than other major trading partners, and threatens to unravel months of talks, undermining one of Washington’s strategic partners in the region, viewed as a counterbalance to China. Trump said the tariff on imports from India would start from Friday, in addition to an unspecified penalty for Russian dealings and involvement in the BRICS grouping of nations. In response, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it was studying the implications of Trump’s remarks and was dedicated to securing a fair trade deal. “This development reflects a broader collapse of foreign policy under the Modi government,” a lawmaker of the main opposition Congress party said in a notice to the lower house of parliament, as...

National Food Security and Research Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain asserted on Thursday that Pakistan continued to hold a surplus of sugar and categorically dismissed reports of a shortage due to exports as a misleading perception. Pakistan is once again in the grip of a familiar affliction: the annual sugar crisis. In 2025, retail sugar prices have surged past Rs200 per kilogramme in many urban and peri-urban markets, despite official statements insisting on sufficient stocks. In the 2024-25 season, Pakistan’s sugar production is estimated to be 6.8 million tonnes, while consumption is expected to be 6.6m tonnes, leaving a very little surplus and minimal opportunity for market swings. Rather than a problem of genuine scarcity, this crisis appears to be largely manufactured, fuelled by a toxic combination of speculative hoarding, market manipulation, weak governance, and poor regulatory oversight. The result is that consumers are burdened, farmers are shortchanged, and trust in public institutions continues to...

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has approached the Lahore High Court, seeking permission to hold a political rally at Minar-e-Pakistan on August 5.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar has said Hindutva ideology propagated by the Indian leadership poses the greatest threat to peace in South Asia.

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari has welcomed the recent court verdict against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, calling it a significant step toward discouraging those with harmful intentions against the state.

Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Saeed Al-Malki met with PML-N President Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Thursday to discuss bilateral cooperation and regional matters.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has said the digital proceeds tax on digitally ordered goods and services supplied from outside Pakistan will no longer apply with retrospective effect from July 1. Last month, the government introduced new taxes on local and foreign e-commerce marketplaces, which made online shopping costlier for Pakistani customers. The government has also introduced new taxes on goods purchased online from outside Pakistan through the Digital Presence Proceeds Tax Act, 2025. A notification issued by the FBR on Wednesday, and seen by Dawn.com, said: “The Digital Presence Proceed Tax shall not apply to digitally ordered goods and services supplied from outside Pakistan, by any person, which are chargeable to tax under the said act.” In a post on X, Information Technology Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja said: “We have removed the tax imposed on international companies doing e-commerce in Pakistan! Pakistan is open for business!” Pakistan and the US finalised a trade deal on Wednesday night, ex...

Pakistan and the US finalised a trade deal on Wednesday night, expected to lower tariffs — although no figure was announced — while US President Donald Trump cited a pact aimed at helping develop Pakistan’s oil reserves. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb is currently in Washington for negotiations on a tariff deal and also began meetings with senior US officials on Wednesday. “In a landmark development, Pakistan and the United States finalised a trade agreement today aimed at boosting bilateral trade, expanding market access, attracting investment, and fostering cooperation in areas of mutual interest,” the Pakistani embassy in the US posted on X on Thursday morning. Trump announced the deal on his platform Truth Social early Thursday morning. “We have just concluded a deal with the country of Pakistan, whereby Pakistan and the United States will work together on developing their massive oil reserves,” Trump wrote. “We are in the process of choosing the oil company that will lead this partnership. Who knows...

Mishal Yousafzai has been elected to the Senate from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, securing 86 votes in a by-election held to fill the seat vacated by former PTI Senator Dr Sania Nishtar.

The provincial ombudsman for protection against harassment of women at workplaces on Thursday ordered the removal of K-Electric (KE) Chief Executive Officer Moonis Alvi after finding him guilty of workplace harassment. Alvi, along with other KE employees, was accused of workplace harassment by the company’s former chief marketing and communication officer, Mahreen Aziz Khan, said the order issued by provincial ombudsman Justice (R) Shahnawaz Tariq. In her application, Khan had accused Alvi, Chief People Officer Rizwan Dallia, Chief of Security Col (R) Wahid Asghar, and Member of the Board of Directors and Chairman Board HR Committee Khalid Rafi, of “causing harassment, intimidation and mental agony”. The ombudsman’s order said that Alvi had “committed harassment, created a hostile environment and caused mental agony at the workplace to [Khan] and her team”. Consequently, Alvi was penalised under Section 4(4)(ii)(c) of the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010, and ordered removed f...

Pakistan successfully launched a remote sensing satellite from a launch centre in China on Thursday that aims to strengthen Pakistan’s agricultural monitoring and disaster management, among other capabilities, according to a Foreign Office statement. Pakistan has held strong bilateral relations with China which has supported it through many investments and development projects such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), termed as a “lifeline” for the country’s economy. “In a major milestone for space exploration and technological progress, Pakistan today successfully launched its Remote Sensing Satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre (XSLC) in China,” a statement by the foreign ministry said. The satellite was launched by Pakistan’s national space agency, the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco), in collaboration with the China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) and Microsat China, according to the ministry. According to the statement, the satellit...

A special anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Faisalabad on Thursday sentenced several senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, including Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz, and Zartaj Gul, to 10 years in prison over their involvement in the May 9, 2023, riots.

United States President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the sweeping tariffs he has imposed on nations around the world were making the country “great and rich again”, as governments raced to strike deals with Washington less than 24 hours before an August 1 deadline. “Tariffs are making America great and rich again,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. “One year ago, America was a dead country, now it is the ‘hottest’ country anywhere in the world,” he added. A day earlier, the US president imposed new tariffs to punish or favour several major trading partners — the latest round of sweeping measures that have roiled markets around the world. South Korea squeezed in at the last moment, securing agreement on a 15 per cent tariff for exports to the US — significantly below the 25pc that Trump had earlier threatened to introduce. But Trump also announced crippling 50pc tariffs on Brazil and a 25pc levy on Indian exports, while warning Canada it would face trade repercussions for planning to recognise a Pal...

Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kiyani Thursday praised the strengthening of the bilateral partnership between Pakistan and the United States, describing it as a historic trade deal that will not only boost exports but also mark a diplomatic triumph for the Pakistani government.