Pakistan

CHITRAL: Four persons, including three women, have reportedly died by suicide during the last two days with two incidents occurring on Friday. In the first incident, a girl in her teens reportedly jumped into the river in the Chew Bazaar area. Her body was later fished out and handed over to her parents after a postmortem at the District Headquarters Hospital. Any eyewitness, Inamullah, who runs a medical store in Chew Bazaar, told Dawn that the girl was seen buying mantoo (Afghani snack) from a vendor in front of his shop, from there she proceeded to the centre of the bridge and jumped into the river in front of many passersby. Sub-divisional police officer, city circle, Sajjad Hussain told Dawn that the parents of the deceased had migrated to Singoor village of Chitral town from the Mulkhow tehsil of Upper Chitral. They all ended their life by jumping into river, say police He said the immediate reason for her suicide could not be known, while the police had started an inquiry under section 174 of Criminal ...

The White House is seeking fines from several universities it says failed to stop antisemitism on campus, including Harvard University, in exchange for restoring federal funding, an official of US President Donald Trump’s administration said on Friday. The administration is in talks with several universities, including Cornell, Duke, Northwestern and Brown, the source said, confirming a report in the Wall Street Journal. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the administration is close to striking deals with Northwestern and Brown and potentially Cornell. A deal with Harvard, the country’s oldest and richest university, is a key target for the White House, the official added. A spokesperson for Cornell declined to comment. Other universities did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Trump and his team have undertaken a broad campaign to leverage federal funding to force change at US universities, which the Republican president says are gripped by antisemitic and “radical left” ideo...

• Expresses concern over unjustified edible oil pricing despite global drop • Approves Rs72bn housing subsidy for 50,000 low-income families ISLAMABAD: The government raised serious concerns on Friday over 29 per cent illegitimate profiteering in the edible oil and ghee market and approved a subsidised housing scheme for 50,000 low-income families during the current fiscal year. Presiding over a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb was informed that international prices of edible oil and ghee had declined by 24pc in recent weeks, yet the local industry had failed to pass on the relief to consumers. In some cases, prices were increased by 4-5pc due to weak market oversight. Officials said the local industry routinely engaged in unfair practices due to a lack of regulation. While the Ministry of Industries and Production assured the ECC of adequate national stock levels, it acknowledged the limited pass-through of international price declines t...

RAWALPINDI: The scope of the investigation into the murder of a newlywed woman has been expanded, as the gravedigger, the secretary of the graveyard and relatives from both her family and her in-laws have been arrested. Police have sought court orders for the exhumation of the deceased’s body to ascertain the cause of her death. According to sources close to the investigation, as many as eight people, including the gravedigger, the graveyard secretary, the rickshaw driver who transported her body to the graveyard, her husband and family members including her brother, have been detained by police in connection with the case. However, the police will charge them with murder and honour killing only in light of the postmortem report, which is expected after the exhumation of Ms Sidra’s body. The victim, 19, was married in February this year. Seek court orders for exhumation of the deceased’s body to ascertain cause of death after making multiple arrests Police initiated the investigation based on information that...

• Fifth monsoon spell to hit Punjab; urban flooding feared • Landslides may block roads in Murree, Galiyat, GB, AJK • Karakoram Highway blocked again; tourists evacuated via C-130 flights RAWALPINDI / LAHORE / GILGIT: The Pakistan Meteo­rological Department (PMD) has forecast another spell of monsoon rains across the country from July 29 to 31, urging provincial and district administrations to take precautionary measures. According to the Met Office, weak monsoon currents are continuously penetrating the upper and central parts of the country and are likely to intensify next week. A westerly wave is expected to approach on July 29. Rain accompanied by wind and isolated heavy showers is expected in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (including Neelum Valley, Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot, Poonch, Hattian, Bagh, Haveli, Sudhanoti, Kotli, Bhimber, Mirpur) and Gilgit-Baltistan (Diamer, Astore, Ghizer, Skardu, Hunza, Gilgit, Ghanche, Shigar) from July 27 to 31 with occasional gaps. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, rain and thundershowers are...

• Calls institutional reform ‘top priority’; 15 technical experts appointed, 47 additional positions to be filled • Approves Skill Impact Bond project to provide funds to educational and skill development institutes ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said the government is fully committed to implementing the agenda of economic digitisation, rightsizing public institutions, and ensuring merit-based appointments of experts in government departments. The premier expressed this resolve while presiding over a mee­ting to assess progress on the appoi­ntment of technical experts across federal ministries and departments, and to discuss measures for enhancing foreign investment. At the meeting, the Publ­ic-Private Part­nership Authority presented a detailed briefing on current initiatives and future plans aimed at streamlining exp­ert appointments and increasing investor confidence. The prime minister highlighted institutional reforms as a top priority of the federal government. While asserting that there w...

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that the government is pursuing the agenda of digitizing the economy, rightsizing of public institutions and merit-based appointment of experts in public sector organizations.

Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir holds meetings in Beijing with civil, military leadership Both sides reiterate shared commitment to long-term regional stability Beijing terms Pak armed forces vital contributor to peace in South Asia.

ISLAMABAD - Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Pakistan, Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki, called on President Asif Ali Zardari at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

ISLAMABAD - The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has notified the names of the eleven successful candidates from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Senate elections.

ISLAMABAD - Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal, addressing the Global Health Conference in Beijing on Friday, stated that Pakistan is firmly committed to global partnerships in the health sector.

ISLAMABAD - Marking the International Day for Judicial Well-being, a National Symposium was Friday held at the Federal Judicial Academy under the theme “The Human Dimension of Responsive Justice.

ISLAMABAD - The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Pakistan on Friday agreed on the parliamentary exchanges for further enhancing bilateral cooperation in diverse areas such as trade, investment, aviation, science and technology and climate change.

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio lauded Pakistan’s role in “global and regional peace” in his first meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday, the Foreign Office (FO) said. The deputy prime minister arrived in Washington, DC, on Thursday night, on the second leg of his eight-day visit to the US. He had arrived in New York on Monday to attend “high-level signature events” of Pakistan’s United Nations Security Council (UNSC) presidency, including a conference on Palestine. A statement issued by the FO today said that Dar held his first meeting with Rubio. The two have previously talked over the telephone. The FO said Rubio acknowledged Pakistan’s “everlasting sacrifices in the war on terror”. “Pakistan has always played a positive role in global and regional peace,” the FO quoted the US secretary of state as saying. The FO said that detailed discussions were held on bilateral relations and potential cooperation in various sectors. “Discussions were held on promoting...

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KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has ordered NEPRA to conduct a technical survey of K-Electric’s infrastructure amid the ongoing electricity crisis in the city. The order was made during a hearing on a petition filed against continuous and unannounced load-shedding across the city. K-Electric, the only power distribution utility in Karachi, argued in the court […]