Pakistan

Mega projects, investor-friendly policies to spur growth and jobs

.

Robbers take away Rs2.5m; family stages protest

.

.

ATC Hyderabad convicted Khaskheli to life in jail

.

.

Much-awaited film is tipped to be one of this year's biggest hits

Children should have “phased and gradual access” to social media, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday, as experts recommended under 13s only use online platforms under supervision. The European Union has been mulling a social media ban since a push by EU states, including Greece and France, for limiting access, with pressure intensifying for a bloc-wide ban like Australia. To help the EU take decisions based on evidence, von der Leyen tasked an expert panel of doctors, academics, youth representatives and parents to give their advice. They delivered their recommendations on Monday. “What we already have is a consensus that there needs to be a start date for the age children can join social media,” von der Leyen said, calling for “age-appropriate restrictions”. “This is not about whether children can access social media. It is about whether and when social media can access our children.” A legal proposal will come in the second half of the year, von der Leyen added, but she is expected to give an indi...

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Monday set aside a Supreme Court (SC) judgment from August 2024 that had paved the way for the demolition of infrastructure developed by the Monal Group of Companies, La Montana and Gloria Jeans inside the picturesque Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP). The SC had ordered the closure of Monal and the adjacent La Montana restaurant on August 21, 2024, and they were closed the next month to protect the park’s biodiversity. A bench headed by Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Syed Arshad Hussain Shah had taken up review petitions filed by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI). The petitions challenged the SC’s directions to the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) to take possession of the restaurants — namely Monal, La Montana and Gloria Jeans — located inside the park. The CDA and the Islamabad Capital Territory Police were also directed to assist the wildli...

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan and his spouse, Bushra Bibi, challenged in the Supreme Court on Monday the registrar’s decision to return a set of petitions that contested the high court’s refusal to suspend their sentences in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case. Imran and Bushra Bibi were convicted and sentenced in January 2025 in the corruption case, in which an accountability court found them guilty of obtaining billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from a real estate firm for legalising Rs50bn that was identified and returned to the country by the UK during the previous PTI government. The court verdict had said that funds from foreign bank accounts, previously frozen by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), were repatriated to settle the liabilities of Bahria Town instead of being added to the national kitty. The court had found that Imran, when he was the prime minister, gave a nod to a confidential deed for the illegal transfer of funds to settle Bahria Town’s liability. Imr...

Last week, the European Parliament, after a five-year lull, adopted a resolution on Pakistan — this time condemning alleged abductions, forced conversions, and child marriages among Hindu and Christian minority communities. Citing the case of 13-year-old Maria Shahbaz, the text warns that human rights violations could endanger Pakistan’s preferential market access to the EU, known as GSP+ (General System of Preferences). It may make for strong headlines, but a closer look at how this resolution came to be — and who actually holds the authority over trade sanctions — reveals a process far more performative than substantive. Procedural perplexities First, the legal reality. The European Parliament has no authority over GSP+. That power rests exclusively with the European Commission, the bloc’s executive power. The resolution is non-binding — a political statement, not a policy instrument. Its real purpose is to signal displeasure and influence Commission thinking, but it carries no immediate consequences. Secon...

KARACHI: A young doctor practicing at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) was shot dead during a robbery near Clifton on Monday, according to police. South Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that the incident occurred near Teen Talwar, where a young doctor, identified as Akash Kumar, lost his life. He said Dr Kumar was present outside a bank along with his father and cousin when armed suspects attempted to rob them. “During the course of the incident, firing took place, resulting in fatal injuries to the doctor. It is reported that the bank security guard also opened fire, leading to a crossfire.” “The suspects fled the scene following the incident after looting approximately Rs2.5 million,” the South DIG said. He further said that Dr Kumar was unmarried and had been serving at JPMC for the past two years. His body was shifted from JPMC to the Chhippa morgue after completion of legal formalities. The senior police official added that CCTV footage from the vicinity had ...

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast hot and humid weather in most parts of the country on Tuesday, with rain accompanied by wind and thunderstorms expected at isolated places in Kashmir, upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northeast Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be jailed if she returns from self-imposed exile in India, a senior official said on Monday, days after Hasina told Reuters she planned to go back in December and surrender to a court. Hasina faces a death sentence in Bangladesh and her party is banned following a popular uprising against her long rule in 2024, which the United Nations said killed 1,400 people. She has been living in New Delhi since August of that year. “Sheikh Hasina is a convicted criminal. If she surrenders, action will be taken against her as per the laws of Bangladesh,” Shama Obaed Islam, Bangladesh’s state minister for foreign affairs, told reporters. “She will have to go to jail and further proceedings will follow as per the provisions of the law.” The country’s war-crimes court sentenced Hasina in November to death in absentia for ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising. She has denied the charges from exile. Bangladesh is now governed by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’...

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), on the directions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, on Monday reviewed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s preparedness for the ongoing Monsoon 2026 during a high-level virtual meeting, assessing contingency plans, resource deployment, emergency coordination and district-level response measures to strengthen.

Oil prices surged more than three per cent on Monday after renewed military strikes between the United States and Iran reignited concerns over energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude futures were up $2.47, or 3.25pc, to $78.48 at 4:45pm PKT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was up $2.35, or 3.29pc, to $73.76 a barrel. “The focus will remain on the number of inbound tankers as a lower number could impact production, so currently we see a risk premium but as well a disruption risk supporting prices,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. Fresh US and Iranian strikes over the weekend fueled fears of a renewed escalation. Tehran targeted US facilities across the Gulf on Sunday and said it had again closed the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Monday they had attacked US military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. Some 20pc of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas transited the strait before the war began at the end of February. “Shipping operators are adopting a cautious a...

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Monday said the 'Apna Rozgar Programme' was envisioned to help women achieve economic independence, describing the initiative as a key step towards strengthening their role in society.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, on Monday, strongly condemned a terrorist attack targeting police personnel in District Tank, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.