Pakistan

Islamabad - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has appreciated the invaluable role of the Muslim World League in promoting the true and moderate image of Islam.

Actor, who died on Monday aged 78, built career spanning five decades and transcending genres

THE Palestinian woman was breastfeeding her baby in a tattered shelter abutting the ruins of her devastated home. Right then, a direct sniper shot pierced the infant’s semi-formed skull, leaving a limp body without scratching the mother. The child evidently posed a threat to the ancient oracle’s prophecy for a country called Israel, which would prosper from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean Sea but only after vanquishing its enemies, the Amalek. The child Amalek of Gaza would become an adult Amalek and that’s problematic. Pinpointed precision with which the well-planned genocide is being executed in Gaza borrows inevitably from ancient myths. The Egyptian pharaoh ordered all newborn babies to be killed to reverse his oracle’s prediction that one Moses among the children would bring his doom. The CIA reportedly used the legend of the pharaoh’s cruelties as depicted in the Cecil B. DeMille movie to superimpose it on its bête noire, one Joseph Stalin. The precision targeting of the infant’s head in Gaza is docu...

BALOCHISTAN bled again this past week — for the rest of the country. In reality, it is the part of the homeland that has rarely ever stopped bleeding over the past 20 years. But for those of us who live a long way from the province, we only become aware of the festering wound when the sepsis sets in. And that is what happened last week with the incidents in Quetta and Ziarat. The manner in which the events unfolded in Ziarat was heart-breaking and by the time the attack took place in Lasbela, the death toll was far too horrific to even comprehend. But there is a greater tragedy. And that is the inability of those in power to approach the crisis in Balochistan with any empathy and political will to heal. The causes of the ailment have been discussed at length — the alienation of the people; the rise of the middle class youth and the roots of its anger; the absence of a genuine political process. It is a political problem that needs a political solution, along with counter-insurgency operations. The people need...

Beijing urges against spreading war and hurting more innocent people in Middle East, says foreign ministry

AI companies reportedly buy, digitise used books for AI training before destroying originals

FOR some time, the escalating confrontation between the US and Iran has been playing out round the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz. Both states want to manage the international waterway, which has a key role in global trade, particularly in the transport of hydrocarbons. Tensions flared last week when the Iranians attacked ships using a route they had not ‘authorised’. From that point onwards, both the US and Iran have traded regular fire, with hostilities rising, and the Islamabad MoU coming under a cloud. The US has hit Iranian facilities close to the coast, as opposed to the heavier bombing across the country before the April ceasefire. Tehran has responded by hitting US bases and infrastructure from Jordan to the GCC states. On Monday, American President Donald Trump declared, in all caps, that his country would be the “guardian of the Hormuz Strait”, while adding that the blockade of Iran would resume. Tehran, meanwhile, says the strait has been closed. None of this bodes well for peace in the Gulf,...

PPP says meeting took place at Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad

• Minister Ghani briefs Murad about findings of two inquiries conducted in 2025 and 2026 on outbreak at Valika Hospital • Labour dept told to ensure accountability, uninterrupted treatment and long-term rehabilitation of affected children • CM orders Sindh-wide review of infection-control practices to ensure strict compliance of sterilisation, waste management and patient-safety protocols KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah was informed on Monday that two inquiries conducted into the HIV outbreak at the Sindh Employees Social Security Institution (SESSI)-run Valika Hospital found several lapses, including non-adherence to infection-prevention protocols by healthcare staff, non-compliance with personal protective equipment requirements and mishandling of single-use syringes. The CM, who held a meeting with senior government officials to take stock of the HIV cases detected at Valika Hospital, ordered a province-wide review of infection-control practices in all SESSI healthcare facilities. He was ...

KSE-100 comes under heavy pressure as geopolitical risks dent investor confidence

• Sets aside SHC orders allowing contractor to claim price escalation beyond agreed terms • Orders completion of remaining work under original contract ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Monday set aside a series of Sindh High Court (SHC) orders in the long-delayed Nai Gaj Dam dispute and directed the contractor to complete the remaining work strictly in accordance with the original contract, the arbitral award and the Sept 21, 2021 memorandum of understanding (MoU). The SHC judgements had allowed the contractor, NEIE SMADB-LILLEY-RMS Karachi, to claim price escalation beyond the agreed terms. A two-judge FCC bench, headed by Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan and also comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, heard a set of appeals and expressed the expectation that all parties, including the contractor and Wapda, would honour their commitments and complete the project in accordance with the original contract. To ensure uninterrupted execution of the project, the FCC also ordered that no judicial proc...

Police probe blocked exits, use of flammable materials, say short circuit may have triggered blaze

ISLAMABAD: Even though the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has decided to support Aleema Khan’s call for a “long march”, the party fears the protest may end up in another “false-flag operation”, like the May 9, 2023, disorder, or in a “massacre” similar to the one at D Chowk in Nov 2024. A senior leader of the opposition party said Aleema Khan’s “language” had thrown the PTI into a ‘state of panic’. “There is no doubt that leaders, workers and people love and respect Imran’s family and will support her (Aleema’s) call for protest and march. “But Aleema has been trying to instigate people against MNAs and MPAs, ignoring the fact that a large number of workers go to Adiala jail thanks to persuasion by parliamentarians. Duties are assigned to different wings of the party every week to ensure workers turn up at Adiala jail. “However, there is no doubt that many people turn up at the jail to express solidarity with the chairman’s family,” he explained. “However, Aleema’s statements may incite people to violence as ...

Medical experts say aortic dissection mimics heart attack with chest pain, breathlessness, fainting

LONDON: UK Home Minister Shabana Mahmood announced plans on Monday to change British law to allow a convicted paedophile, who led a so-called grooming gang, to be deported following his release from prison. Shabir Ahmed was jailed in 2012 for 22 years for multiple child sexual offences including rape when he was the ringleader of a gang of similarly predatory men targeting girls in Rochdale, northern England. He left prison on licence earlier this month under the country’s early release programme. Calls have mounted for the deportation of Shabir Ahmed, who held dual British-Pakistani citizenship before being stripped of the former following his 2012 conviction for multiple counts of child sexual offences. Immigration laws had prevented the deportation of Commonwealth nationals who arrived in UK before 1973 But a 1971 immigration law has prevented his deportation, as it prohibits the removal of Commonwealth nationals who, like Ahmed, arrived in Britain before 1973. Announcing the law would be changed through a...

• Rapporteurs say Muslims were disproportionately targeted in voter purge • Seek explanation over alleged deletion of 52m voters • Warn exercise may violate international human rights law • Criticise rhetoric linking purge to ‘illegal Bangladeshi immigrants’ KARACHI: Three United Nations special rapporteurs have sought clarification from the government of India over allegations that millions of voters, particularly Muslims, were wrongfully removed from electoral rolls ahead of recent state elections. In a formal communication dated May 1, 2026, the independent UN experts expressed grave concerns regarding a massive voter-deletion exercise that reportedly stripped approximately 52 million names from registers across 12 Indian states and union territories. While the voter purge reportedly affected some other linguistic and religious minorities, the independent experts highlighted that Muslim citizens bore the brunt of the administrative exclusions. The letter highlighted West Bengal, where 9.1m names were delet...

Since July 5, total of 121 Kharjis have been killed in operations and other IBOs

GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) government on Monday presented a Rs20.478 billion interim budget for the first quarter of the 2026-27 fiscal year, while urging the federal government to allocate Rs258.95 billion for the full fiscal year to address the region’s growing development and infrastructure needs. The three-month budget was presented in the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmaker Mohammad Ali Akhtar during a session chaired by Speaker Imran Nadeem Shigri. Presenting the interim budget, Mr Akhtar said the federal government had earmarked Rs158.54 billion for Gilgit-Baltistan in the current fiscal year, an amount he described as insufficient to meet the region’s pressing requirements. He explained that the interim budget had been prepared to ensure the continuity of government operations until the presentation of the full annual budget for 2026-27. According to the budget proposals, Rs88bn has been allocated for non-development expenditures, while the government has set a ta...

SSP CTD says the entire planning of the attack took place in Afghanistan

Actor says she doesn't believe in women paying family bills