Pakistan

Sindh CM says the sacrifice remains a timeless symbol of resistance to oppression

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Mourners take part in 128 processions as security remains on high alert

Mayor Wahab vows equal service across party lines

Man arrested in woman's death case dies at hospital; post-mortem report awaited

Punjab Minister for School Education Rana Sikandar Hayat and Special Assistant to the Chief Minister Salma Butt visited Vehari to assess security and administrative preparations for Muharram-ul-Haram on the directives of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif.

Punjab Police remained on high alert across the province on the 9th of Muharram, deploying more than 70,000 officers and personnel to ensure the peaceful conduct of mourning processions and Majalis.

Pakistan and Iran on Thursday agreed to fully activate the Pakistan-Iran Joint Transport Committee and take coordinated measures to resolve transport and logistics issues on a priority basis to enhance bilateral trade and regional connectivity.

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government has reiterated its willingness to resolve all issues through dialogue and negotiations, while criticizing the outlawed Joint Awami Action Committee for resorting to violence despite repeated invitations for talks.

Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah has indicated that petrol prices in Pakistan could decline further as international oil prices continue to ease following the de-escalation of tensions between the United States and Iran.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs, on Thursday, said that the mandatory online registration process for Hajj 2027 is continuing uninterrupted, allowing prospective pilgrims to complete their registration from the comfort of their homes.

A long-awaited ceasefire has brought relative calm to Lebanon, but it hasn’t brought peace of mind to Hussein Merhi. He is among tens of thousands who remain displaced because their homes were destroyed in Israeli strikes or their hometowns fall within a swathe of the south occupied by Israel’s military or, as in his case, both. “I still can’t go back to my village. It’s still occupied. My house is gone, and my livelihood is gone,” said the former farmer, who was living in the historic Lebanese border town of Kfar Kila, which now lies destroyed. Merhi, 39, spoke to Reuters in a university being used as a shelter in the southern Lebanese port city of Sidon, following a ceasefire that took hold on Saturday between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. “We were displaced, and we’re going to remain displaced. There’s a ceasefire — what did I gain?” Stray dogs walk past the rubble of flattened homes and businesses, destroyed by the Israeli military, in the southern Lebanese village of Tibnin on June 24, 2026. —AFP/File ...

KARACHI’S history is replete with instances of public land being taken over by government agencies for the benefit of the ruling elite or political parties. Gutter Baghicha is a case in point. Originally, it was 1,016 acres, but now only 480 acres are left. It contains housing for members of the political elites. More recently, land at Hill Park and Kidney Hill has been taken over to create plots for the representatives of local bodies. The case of the beautifully designed Jahangir Park is an example of insensitive planning. It had a long association with cricket. Hanif Mohammad and Intekhab Alam, among others, played here. Liaquat Ali Khan and Shaheed Suhrawardy held political rallies here. And the park contained the offices of the Afro-Asian solidarity group, to which leftists, including I.A. Rehman and Nisar Usmani, were regular visitors. All this is not represented in the renovation theme and is lost to history. Now the area comprising Clifton’s adjacent Beach View and Bin Qasim parks is under attack; it ...

Wealthy nations with the highest rate of immigration over the past 35 years reaped a large economic benefit, and many could still absorb more workers, according to research to be presented at a top European Central Bank conference next week. Political tensions over immigration have been on the rise in recent years as far-right, anti-immigrant parties have helped drive the issue to near the top of the political agenda while making headway in countries including the US, Germany and Britain. The study, which looked at data in dozens of rich countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), said growth and productivity were both likely to have been boosted sharply by the influx of immigrants, most of whom were highly skilled, despite any political claims to the contrary. “Receiving countries’ labour productivity grew significantly during and after periods of higher immigration rates,” said the paper, authored by University of California, Davis professor Giovanni Peri. “The predictive...

BANNU: Five people including a police constable were safely returned to their homes on Thursday after having been abducted in separate incidents across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu and its surrounding areas. According to police sources, the abducted Constable Zareen Khan — posted at Utmankhel Police Station — as well as two residents of Pathona Mamandkhel, were released and returned home safely. Their release was reportedly secured through the efforts of local elders and a tribal jirga. Separately, a resident of Sathi Khel Sorani, who had been taken away by unidentified individuals several days earlier, also returned home safely. His family members and local residents expressed relief and happiness upon his return. Additionally, Nisar Khan, the headmaster of Government High School Sardar Khan Mandev in Miryan tehsil, also safely returned home after being abducted from the school premises on Wednesday. Police sources confirmed his return, stating that he was in good health and reunited with his family. The headm...

It is a pecularity of Pakistan’s criminal justice system that it has treated children as miniature adults, not just in the way their crimes are prosecuted but in how the victims themselves are perceived. “We handle a four-year-old child through the same protocols used for an 18-year-old boy, a 16-year-old girl, or even a 30-year-old man,” said Police Surgeon Dr Sumaiyya Syed. She is part of the government effort to open the country’s pilot Child-Friendly Medicolegal Clinic at the Office of the Police Surgeon as part of the Anti-Rape Crisis Cell. It was inaugurated last week and fulfils a requirement of the Sindh Medico-Legal Act. In the case of bodily harm, a medico-legal certificate or report needs to be prepared as evidence. The child has to be brought to a government facility where one of its doctors will examine the child and document injuries, their severity and probable cause. The ML certificate is the bridge between medicine and the courts. Every year, Sahil, a nonprofit organisation working on child p...

In the city of Catia La Mar on Venezuela’s coast, Yilsmaris Blanco stared in shock at the scenes of devastation early Thursday after powerful twin earthquakes levelled dozens of buildings. “It was terrible. Everything, everything collapsed,” the 39-year-old woman told AFP. “We thank God because… we’re alive, but there are people right now suffering with their relatives buried, with their relatives crushed and they can’t get them out.” A man walks past a fire outside a building following an earthquake in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, some 30kms north-west of Caracas, early on June 25, 2026. —AFP Two massive earthquakes, of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, struck areas west of the capital Caracas on Wednesday evening, killing at least 164 people and injuring nearly 1,000, according to interim leader Delcy Rodriguez. Authorities have yet to provide a figure for those missing, as reports flooded in from across the country of people trapped under rubble. The northern region of La Guaira, facing the Caribbean, was hit harde...

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, fresh from a spat with US leader Donald Trump, was set to meet French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday to tighten ties. One of Europe’s most prominent right-wing leaders will arrive in the resort of Antibes on the French Riviera for her first bilateral summit with Macron. The talks, set to begin Tuesday afternoon, mark the first Franco-Italian summit since a treaty on a strategic alliance came into force in 2021, elevating relations to a level comparable to that between France and Germany. “This summit will provide an opportunity to deepen Franco-Italian cooperation in several strategic sectors, notably defence, nuclear energy, and space,” the French presidency said. “We need each other,” it said ahead of the talks at the Villa Eilenroc, a dazzling 19th-century residence overlooking the Mediterranean. Relations have often been strained between Macron, a pro-European centrist, and Meloni, who leads a coalition of right and far-right parties. While the leaders of the ...

E-commerce giant Amazon announced on Thursday an additional $13 billion investment by 2030 to expand its artificial intelligence footprint in India, months after declaring plans to invest more than $35bn. The announcement was made following a meeting between company CEO Andy Jassy and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The $13bn will target AI and cloud infrastructure in Mumbai and Hyderabad, the company said in a statement. “Amazon’s cumulative investments in India from 2010-2030 stand at over $88bn,” the company said. Jassy said he was “excited” about the future. “Still early days for what we can build,” he said in a post on X. “By 2030, we plan to support 3.8 million jobs, enable $80bn in ecomm exports, and bring benefits of AI to 15m small businesses and 4m government school students,” he added. Modi welcomed the investment, adding that it would increase opportunities for the country’s youth. “It shows the growing interest across the world to invest in India!” he said on X. Several global corporations h...

Pakistan on Thursday extended its condolences and support to Venezuela after powerful earthquakes struck the South American country, resulting in heavy loss of life and widespread damage.