Pakistan

Bangladesh’s fugitive ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina has denied accusations that she committed crimes against humanity, her state-appointed defence lawyer said on Tuesday. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August last year, according to the United Nations, when Hasina’s government ordered a crackdown on protesters in a failed bid to cling to power. Hasina fled to India at the culmination of the student-led uprising in August and has defied orders to return to Dhaka, where her trial in absentia opened on June 1. Prosecutors have filed five charges against Hasina — abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy and failure to prevent mass murder — that amount to crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law. Defence lawyer Amir Hossain said Hasina has denied all charges, telling journalists that he would present “arguments to seek her discharge from these allegations”. The ousted leader’s banned Awami League, in a statement issued in London, called it a “show trial” and said that the ...

The federal government has decided to deploy Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel outside the residence of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan city due to security concerns, it emerged on Tuesday. In a letter dated June 29 to the FC commandant in Peshawar, the interior ministry issued orders to deploy “one platoon” of FC personnel at the residence of the JUI-F chief “to avoid any untoward situation”. The decision has been taken on the prime minister’s directives for security purposes and recent incidents involving the JUI-F’s chief son, Asjad Mahmood. Earlier last month, Mahmood’s vehicle was intercepted on the main highway by armed men when he was on his way from DI Khan to Lakki Marwat. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently visited Fazl’s residence in Islamabad and expressed concern over the alleged attack and attempted kidnapping of the JUI-F chief’s son, state-run Radio Pakistan reported. The prime minister expressed deep concern over the assault...

Bullish momentum continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday as the market crossed the 128,000 barrier on the first day of the new fiscal year 2025-26. The KSE-100 index rose by 2,404.51 points, or 1.9 per cent, to stand at 128,031.82 points at 12:15pm, from the previous close of 125,627.31 points. It then closed at 128,199.42 points, recording a gain of 2,572.11 points, or 2.05pc, from yesterday. Yousuf M. Farooq, director of research at Chase Securities, attributed the rise to easing geopolitical tensions and the market “pricing in a gradual decline in interest rates alongside improving economic stability”. “Investors are also anticipating a strong corporate results season and are rerating the market’s price-to-earnings ratio toward more normalised levels,” the analyst said. He added that in his opinion, the market had entered phase two of the bull run, characterised by increasing public participation and a broad-based rally across a wide range of stocks. Awais Ashraf, director of research at ...

Pakistan and India have exchanged updated lists of prisoners held in each other’s custody, in accordance with the 2008 Agreement on Consular Access, which mandates the exchange of such information twice a year—on January 1 and July 1.

The price of 24 karat per tola gold increased by Rs.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday extended his gratitude to the business community and investors who are fully supporting the government in the country’s development and prosperity as the Pakistan Stock Exchange 100 Index crossing the highest level of 127,000 for the first time on the first day of the new fiscal year.

A 4.4-magnitude earthquake jolted Lahore and other parts of Punjab on Tuesday, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD). The earthquake was recorded at 6:39am, with the epicentre 25 kilometres south-southwest of Lahore at a depth of 14 kilometres. According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) spokesperson, tremors were felt in Kasur, Okara, Sheikhupura, Mureed and other districts of Punjab. There have been no immediate reports of casualties. The respective administrations are inspecting buildings across the province for any sign of damage. As per PDMA, the District Emergency Operation Centres across Punjab, including the Provincial Control Room of PDMA, have been placed on alert for the next 24 hours in case of any aftershocks. PDMA has advised people to report damages to the 1129 helpline. On June 30, another earthquake of 3.9 magnitude was recorded at 2:07pm, 35 kilometres west of Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab at a depth of seven kilometres. The same day, Balochistan recorded...

President Donald Trump signed on Monday an executive order terminating a US sanctions programme on Syria, allowing an end to the country’s isolation from the international financial system and building on Washington’s pledge to help it rebuild after a devastating civil war. The move will allow the US to maintain sanctions on Syria’s ousted former president Bashar al-Assad, his associates, human rights abusers, drug traffickers, people linked to chemical weapons activities, the Islamic State and ISIS affiliates and proxies for Iran, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters in a briefing. Assad was toppled in December in a lightning offensive by Islamist-led rebels and Syria has since taken steps to re-establish international ties. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani said Trump’s termination of the Syria sanctions programme would “open door of long-awaited reconstruction and development,” according to a post by the foreign minister on social media platform X. He said the move would “lift the...

The Punjab Assembly has initiated legal proceedings that could lead to the de-seating of 26 suspended opposition members belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), following their alleged disruptive behaviour during recent assembly sessions, according to sources.

Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) has offered students to resit exams in the November session free of charge if they were affected by any of the three exam papers leaked in the recent May/June session. The CIE board, which conducts O- and A-level exams, admitted last month that parts of its question papers for examinations in June had been leaked, and that said students will be given extra marks for those questions. Just days prior to CIE’s admission of the leaks, a parliamentary panel was assured on that findings of the inquiry report over the issue of alleged paper leaks of O/A level would be shared after June 16. In a post on its Facebook page on Monday, CIE shared an update for students who sat one or more of the three affected papers in the June 2025 exam series: Cambridge International AS and A Level Mathematics Paper 12, Cambridge International AS and A Level Mathematics Paper 42, and Cambridge International AS and A Level Computer Science Paper 22. “The results for these syllabuses will be re...

ISLAMABAD - ISLAMABAD: Speaker Balochistan Assembly Captain (Retd) Abdul Khaliq Khan Achakzai on Monday called on Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.

At least one person was killed and eight others injured on Tuesday when unidentified assailants launched a brazen attack on the Tehsil Office in Mastung district of Balochistan, prompting a swift security response.

Two traffic policemen were martyred as unidentified gunmen opened fire on them in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat district on Tuesday, according to police. “The traffic cops were on their way to Tajazai Adda for duty on motorcycles when they were fired at on Longkhel Road near Gulbaz Dehqan village,” read a statement by Lakki Marwat police spokesperson Shahid Hameed. “The martyrs include Israel and Sanaullah, both of whom hailed from the Longkhel [area],” it added. The police cordoned off the area and initiated an investigation. Lakki Marwat District Police Officer (DPO) Mohammad Jawad Ishaq specified that the four attackers were riding on two motorcycles and stole the policemen’s submachine guns. DPO Ishaq further said, “The traffic personnel were dressed in civilian clothes when they were targeted.” Lakki Marwat has seen a rise in attacks in recent months that reflect an increasing militant presence in the area, although unrest dates back to the early 2000s. Militant activity has resurged in recent years,...

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday temporarily barred the oath-taking of members elected on reserved seats in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly following a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians (PTI-P), challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) seat allocation.

RAWALPINDI - Punjab Food Authority (PFA) Rawalpindi has shared its monthly report about the quality of milk being sold in the city on shops.

ISLAMABAD - Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Monday reviewed security arrangements in Islamabad for religious gatherings and processions during Muharram.

ISLAMABAD - The existing Rs3.

Tremors from an earthquake were felt in Lahore and several other cities across Punjab on Tuesday, causing panic among residents.

At least 39 people died in a factory fire in India’s southern state of Telangana, a senior fire department official said on Tuesday, after an explosion at Sigachi Industries, a day earlier. The explosion also injured 34, according to officials. The government of Telangana, where the facility is located, has formed a five-member committee to probe the incident, the cause of which is yet to be disclosed by the company. “We are still clearing the debris […] The building has collapsed and fabricated completely,” GV Narayana Rao, director of Telangana fire disaster response emergency, told Reuters. “Once we are all done with the clearing, only then we will be able to assess if any other body is still remaining under the debris or if it is all clear,” he said. On Monday, an explosion occurred at a chemical facility of Sigachi Industries leading to a fire, the police said. Police officials said more than 140 people were working in the plant when the incident occurred. Twenty-five of the deceased were yet to be ident...

ISLAMABAD - Defence Minister Khawaja Mu­hammad Asif on Monday said that Pakistan’s stance was rec­ognized and upheld during the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, where India was unable to as­sert its position.