Pakistan

Exiled ex-premier, sentenced to death in absentia, says she will face death on own soil

From remote-controlled trucks delivering life-saving aid in dangerous settings to mobile phone data analysis flagging mass displacement, humanitarians are eyeing ways in which artificial intelligence (AI) can speed up and improve their operations. There have been plenty of warnings about the dangers of AI for aid agencies, who face growing challenges of securing often extremely sensitive data and swelling misinformation about their operations and beneficiaries. But at the ‘AI for Good’ summit in Geneva this week, a handful of humanitarian-focused displays emphasised the technology’s positive potential. Parked in one corner of a vast hall at the Palexpo conference centre was a giant white Sherp vehicle, resembling a hulking Martian rover, decked out with cameras and sensors and a drone landing-pad on the roof. Made in Ukraine, Sherps are amphibious vehicles that can float on water, drive through swamps and flooded rivers with their giant wheels, and climb over obstacles up to one metre high. The UN’s World Foo...

Nearly nine in 10 women's organisations can no longer meet growing demand amid steepest aid drop on record

Actor reacts after city placed 170th out of 173 in global liveability index

Net-based system aims to challenge US dominance in reusable rocket technology

'Further updates will be shared as the search and rescue (SAR) operation continues,' PAA says

LAHORE: Human rights defenders and activists gathered at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan on Thursday to discuss the Punjab Control of Habitual Offenders and Anti-Social Behaviour Bill, 2026, raising concerns that, if implemented, the proposed law would turn the whole Punjab into an open jail. “The objective of the Bill is to stop any statements against the security forces, followed by a hierarchy of sensitivity. Azma Bokhari and Marriyum Aurangzeb had complaints written to the NCCIA, they went to high court, directions were issued to the NCCIA but they were not satisfied. The objectives they wanted to achieve against those who had made their memes or defamed them were not achieved,” says lawyer Asad Jamal. Those people, he said, were not punished by the NCCIA because it had its own limitations and objectives. “Now they want to establish a parallel institution in Punjab and they are moving towards it,” Jamal declared. Secondly, he added, the Crime Control Department (CCD) had brought a bad name to the ...

Indian singer credits conversation with Muslim friend for perspective on compatibility

Fauzia warns anyone found guilty will be held accountable under harassment law

ISLAMABAD / KARACHI: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Thursday recalled expansive Supreme Court orders from 2018 and 2019, which had authorised the Sindh government to demolish a number of illegally constructed buildings in Karachi, including the infamous 15-storey Nasla Tower on Sharae Faisal. In a judgement billed as redefining the boundaries of exercising judicial authority, the FCC ruled that though the objective behind the SC directions to demolish illegal buildings were well-intentioned and aimed at improvement of the city, the enforcement of building laws remained primarily within the domain of the provincial government, not the judiciary. Justice Aamer Farooq, who authored the judgement, was heading a two-judge FCC bench that had taken up a set of appeals initially moved before the Supreme Court, but later transferred to FCC after the passage of the 27th Constitutional Amendment. The ruling emphasised that it was for the government and its agencies to take all necessary legal measures to ensu...

56 inmates returned from Lanka may secure early release

Over 50 major productions, from 'Mission: Impossible' to 'Dune', have used UAE as backdrop

KSE-100 climbs 0.95% to near 183,000 as market pauses for prayers

Project is first phase of 10-year programme to modernise electricity transmission network, reduce power outages

AS someone who has practised international law for years, I have come to appreciate how infrequently genuine diplomatic openings appear. Countries often wait decades for such moments, and even fewer manage to convert them into an opportunity. Pakistan is now standing at one of those rare junctures. For decades, Islamabad has been at the receiving end of international opprobrium and has complained that its opinion carries little weight. Recently, Pakistan’s role in helping defuse tensions between the US and Iran has changed perceptions in global capitals. As a result, Pakistan’s diplomatic stature has risen significantly. The more important question is what comes next. Diplomatic goodwill has a short shelf life. The time has arrived to think differently about Kashmir. Pakistan has not pursued a sustained lawfare strategy through international institutions with sufficient seriousness. Put simply, lawfare is the deliberate use of legal institutions to achieve political objectives. For example, legal proceedings ...

THE national discourse on the budget has been dominated by what is in the document for the business community, exporters and salaried employees. And the theme is to celebrate the 10 to 15 per cent tax relief given to salaried employees — taken as proxies for common Pakistanis. These beneficiaries earn more than Rs200,000 a month. But 80pc of Pakistani households spend less than Rs100,000 a month, according to last year’s Household Integrated Economic Survey. This is the entire household which may have multiple earners, and not just one salaried employee. It is true that there are no taxes on salaried employees with an annual income of less than Rs600,000, which roughly translates to Rs50,000 a month. The majority live in rural areas where one-third of the country’s workers earn their living from farming. The agricultural income tax laws passed across Pakistan last year also peg the minimum annual taxable income at the same level. According to the calculations of the Pakistan Agricultural Coalition, 95pc of fa...

THE security situation in Balochistan remains alarming, with a recent uptick in terrorist violence resulting in a large number of casualties amongst security forces. The seriousness of the situation can be gauged from the fact that the country’s top civilian and military leaders — led by the prime minister and chief of defence forces — were in Quetta yesterday to take stock of matters. On Tuesday, the ISPR chief, while addressing the media, discussed law and order issues in the province, mentioning that a large number of security personnel and civilians had lost their lives in separate attacks since July 5. The martyred included four civilians in Hanna Urak, at least 27 policemen in Ziarat, and 11 soldiers in Bela-Winder. A number of terrorists were also eliminated in retaliatory operations. The military says the banned TTP was responsible for the Ziarat outrage while the proscribed BLA was behind the Bela ambush. The ISPR chief, while indicating the state would give no quarter to terrorists, also pointed out...

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the ultimate purpose of procedural law was to give voice to human suffering and not to silence it. The observation came while setting aside rulings of lower courts in a criminal appeal moved by Nayab Umrani before the Supreme Court regarding the murder trial of her sister Sanam Umrani. Advocate Sanam Umrani, who used to fight for women’s rights, was killed on May 31, 2018, in Jacobabad, Sindh. A two-member bench headed by Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and comprising Justice Salahuddin Panwhar had taken up the criminal appeal in which the petitioner had approached the Supreme Court after her application to correct inaccuracies in her recorded testimony was dismissed by the trial court and the Sindh High Court (SHC). The Supreme Court, however, ordered the trial court to carefully re-examine the video recording of the petitioner’s statement and compare it with her written statement available on the record, in the presence of the accused and counsel for the par...

• Raja Pervez Ashraf confident of party’s victory in coming polls • Warns India will ‘pay a heavy price’ if it attempts to stop Pakistan’s share of water LAHORE: The issue of refugee seats is constitutional in nature and would be decided by the upcoming Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly, former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said on Thursday. Addressing a press conference, the PPP central Punjab president expressed the confidence that his party would secure a convincing victory in the upcoming AJK elections, adding that only free, fair and transparent elections could help address the region’s issues. He also announced that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari would soon visit the region. Ashraf reiterated that the PPP believed in peaceful political struggle and said the current situation demanded comprehensive political dialogue involving all political forces. He said the PPP leadership, including Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and President Asif Ali Zardari, had a deep historical connect...

Recommendations to be presented to prime minister for consideration, says the ministry