Pakistan

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has issued an alert for glacial lake outburst floods (Glofs) for Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, predicting that soaring temperatures are likely to persist until the first week of July. “This significant warming will substantially accelerate snow and ice melt in the glaciated valleys of these regions,” the Met Office said in the alert issued late on Friday. It said that consequently, the water level in the river streams was likely to remain high, existing glacial lakes may rapidly expand with an increase in their water levels, and new glacial lakes were likely to form due to the high volume of melted water. Meanwhile, vulnerable downstream locations and low-lying areas adjacent to riverbeds may face a high risk of sudden inundation with chances of flash flooding in vulnerable locations, it added. The Met Office further said that the rapid expansion of glacial lakes could destabilise their natural ice or moraine dams, potentially triggering Glof incidents. ...

Many social media users in Venezuela have reported receiving alerts on Android smartphones moments before Wednesday’s quake that left over 900 confirmed dead. Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS both include the option to display government alerts for emergencies like earthquakes. But the search giant last year also detailed its system that uses the billions of Android smartphones worldwide to detect earthquakes in the first place. How it works Almost all smartphones contain an accelerometer, a movement sensor used for tasks like flipping the screen when users turn it sideways. That same sensor “can also detect the ground shaking from an earthquake,” Google wrote in a July 2025 blog post. Accelerometers can spot potential earthquakes’ fast-moving initial “P” wave, sending information about the tremor to a Google server. By rapidly cross-referencing many such reports, the system can “confirm that an earthquake is happening and estimate its location and magnitude,” Google said. “The goal is to warn as many people ...

Pakistan has recorded steady progress in educational attainment, with the proportion of people aged 10 years and above who have completed at least primary education increasing to 57 percent in 2024-25, according to official data.

A series of moderate earthquakes has rattled several parts of Balochistan over the past two days, prompting authorities and experts to closely monitor seismic activity in the region following another significant tremor on Friday.

ISLAMABAD: Aleema Khan has challenged the alleged solitary confinement of her brother, PTI founder Imran Khan, before the Islamabad High Court (IHC), describing his detention conditions as unlawful and inhumane, it emerged on Saturday. The petition, filed through Barrister Salman Safdar, names the Adiala jail superintendent, the inspector general of prisons, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) director general and the executive director of Pims as respondents. According to the petition, during a lawyers’ meeting held on April 8, it emerged that Imran had been kept in solitary confinement for 22 hours a day, while his wife, Bushra Bibi, was allegedly confined in isolation for 24 hours a day. The petition further contended that no member of Imran’s family or the PTI leadership had been allowed to meet him for the past six months. It also argued that no judicial order had authorised solitary confinement as part of his sentence, making the continued isolation ...

Germany and Italy endured sweltering conditions on Saturday as a heatwave linked to dozens of deaths in Western Europe spread eastwards after temperatures broke records above 40 degrees Celsius. Britain, France, Switzerland and Germany have all experienced record heat in June, and the weather system could test more records as it rolls across Germany towards Poland. Scientists said the heatwave would have been virtually impossible without man-made climate change, which has made this week’s night-time temperatures 100 times more likely than they would have been even two decades ago. On Friday, a new German record of 41.3°C was reached near the city of Saarbruecken close to the French border, a spokesperson for Germany’s National Meteorological Service said, noting the reading was still preliminary. People urged to save water The service issued extreme heat warnings for nearly all of Germany on Saturday as authorities urged people to save water. It said temperatures of 36°C were expected across the board in the ...

The UK interior ministry has announced it will create new legal routes for asylum seekers, including allowing community organisations to sponsor refugees based on a similar system in Canada. The system will come into place later this year, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said late Friday, with organisations and some “trusted” universities able to sponsor refugees and first arrivals expected in autumn 2027. A route for employers to sponsor refugees is also expected to open next year, the Home Office said in a press release. Immigration and asylum are thorny issues in the UK, where the hard-right Reform UK party has rapidly grown in popularity, riding a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment. Keir Starmer, who stepped down as Prime Minister this week but will remain in power until his successor is chosen, has tried to appear tough on immigration since coming into power two years ago. His government will next week introduce legislation in parliament tightening asylum rules, including making it easier to deport failed a...

Iranians woke early on Saturday to watch the men’s national football team face Egypt, riding an emotional rollercoaster as Iran fought back to draw but missed the chance to directly qualify for the World Cup’s last 32. But all is not lost for Team Melli after the 1-1 draw. Depending on the results in other groups, the Iranians could still reach the knockout stage for the first time in their history. Iran had a troubled buildup to the World Cup due to the war in the Middle East, which broke out in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Tehran. The team has also faced the strain of considerable visa and travel restrictions in the United States, which is co-hosting the 2026 tournament with Mexico and Canada. “It was a good game, even though they were unable to prepare properly,” said Iranian football fan Amin. “I wish they’d played the whole game like the last five minutes,” when Iran was on the attack, the 33-year-old car dealer told AFP. Fans in Tehran watched a broadcast of the match in a packed hall dotted...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, during which the two leaders discussed regional developments and bilateral cooperation, the Foreign Office said on Saturday.

A petition has been filed in the Federal Shariat Court challenging the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Ordinance 2026, which prohibits marriage below the age of 18 and makes violations a criminal offence.

The Met Office has forecast rainfall with strong winds and thunderstorm in parts of the country as the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued a weather alert.

Samsung Electronics may have an unlikely reason to welcome Apple’s first foldable iPhone: The more Apple charges for it, the less shocking Samsung’s own prices will look. Ahead of Samsung’s expected unveiling of its Galaxy Z Fold 8 series in London in late July, its mobile business is walking into a hard launch. Memory and processor costs are climbing, leaks point to higher Galaxy prices, and Apple, absent from the category for years, is expected to enter in September with what could be the most expensive iPhone ever made. Nabila Popal, senior research director at International Data Corporation (IDC), told The Korea Herald she expects Samsung to raise flagship foldable prices this year by about $100, and still to stay “significantly lower” than Apple’s first foldable, which IDC sees arriving near a “massive sticker price of $2,500”. That hands Samsung something it rarely gets from Apple: pricing cover. But cover is the only thing getting easier. The same cost shock is squeezing Samsung’s margins, and Apple is...

Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik on Saturday dismissed the notion that the government was “giving preference” to one sector or imposing an undue burden on another after it kept petrol and diesel prices unchanged “till further orders”. On Friday night, the government kept petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) prices unchanged at Rs299.50 per litre and Rs311.47 per litre, respectively. In a post on the social media platform X, the petroleum minister shared a table of international oil prices over the past week. According to the number he shared, petrol prices ranged between $90.36 and $98.35 per barrel during June 22-26, while HSD traded between $104.79 and $109.09 per barrel. “The government is neither giving preference to any sector nor imposing any undue burden on the other,” he said. “The government is committed, within the scope of its international obligations, to pass on any benefit to the consumers,” he added. Highlighting the government’s record on fuel prices, Malik said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif...

Seawater is seeping into Italy’s longest river as the waterway starts to run dry in the heatwave, hitting a farming heartland that produces the milk for Parmesan cheese. The Po River has never fallen this low so early in the year, raising fears of a devastating drought in July in this corner of northern Italy. On the bank of one of its branches, farmer Federica Vidali looked anxiously at her sunflower field. The first bloom of the season has appeared, but part of the field is already dry and starting to crack. A local worker harvests clams in the cultivation area in the Po River Delta at Scardovari, Italy, northeast Italy, on June 26, 2026. — AFP One of the two canals that irrigate it has been shut because the seawater would enter and damage the crops. “We’re left with the water that others are willing to leave us. But we’re not second-division farmers!” Vidali told AFP. The Po River’s flow has collapsed in a matter of days, dropping below 300 cubic meters per second, compared with an average of around 1,500 ...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday that India was increasingly resorting to “covert tactics and the use of proxies” in an attempt to undermine peace and stability in Pakistan. “Pakistan is navigating conflicts and multi-faceted security challenges, marked by a dangerous combination of international and internal threats. Our eastern neighbour, having suffered a humiliating defeat in the conflict in May last year, has increasingly resorted to covert tactics and the use of proxies in an attempt to undermine the hard-earned peace and stability in our country,” the premier said while addressing the passing out parade at the Pakistan Naval Academy in Karachi during a one-day visit to the metropolis. “At the same time, our valiant armed forces continue to confront the menace of foreign-sponsored terrorism emanating from our western borders. The entire Pakistani nation stands shoulder-to-shoulder with its brave armed forces. The entire country remains steadfast in its iron resolve to defeat the nefarious ...

The United States and Iran traded military strikes after Washington on Friday accused Tehran of attacking a cargo ship, jeopardising a fragile ceasefire as diplomats struggle to contain the Middle East war. US Central Command said the American strikes, against Iranian missile and drone storage sites and coastal radar positions, were a response to “unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces” that “clearly violated the ceasefire”. It described the operation as “a powerful response to yesterday’s attack on a commercial ship that was transiting the Strait of Hormuz”. Iranian state television, citing a reporter in Sirik, said an explosion was heard late on Friday at Taherouyeh pier in the southern port city. It quoted an informed military source as saying the blast was caused by a projectile impact in the area. US President Donald Trump had earlier denounced what he described as an Iranian drone strike on the vessel, saying: “Obviously, this is a foolish violation of our ceasefire agreeme...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday lauded the Pakistan Navy’s professionalism and its role in safeguarding the country’s maritime frontiers as he addressed the passing-out parade at the Pakistan Naval Academy PNS Rahbar.

The military’s media affairs wing said on Saturday that eight terrorists were killed in two “high-tempo” intelligence operations in Balochistan’s Kharan and Mastung districts. In a statement, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the “intelligence-driven” operations were conducted on June 25 and 26 as part of the counter terrorism campaign aimed at eliminating Fitna al Hindustan. The state has designated Balochistan-based terrorist groups as Fitna al Hindustan to highlight India’s alleged role in terrorism and destabilisation across Pakistan. The statement said that on June 25, the movement of a group of terrorists was picked up by security forces in Balochistan’s Kharan district. “As a result of precise and skillful engagement, three terrorists belonging to Indian proxy Fitna al Hindustan were sent to hell while several were injured,” it said. It added that on June 26, a pre-emptive intelligence-based operation was conducted in Balochistan’s Mastung district against the “possible presence of a sui...

LAHORE: Police have arrested two suspects who allegedly buried a teenage boy alive after the latter informed his family about the sexual abuse inflicted on him by the former in Jhaal Chakian area of Sargodha, it emerged on Saturday. The harrowing crime was discovered when a passerby spotted the boy’s hand sticking up from the ground, prompting locals to gather at the scene. They then proceeded to dig up the soil, finding the teenager in critical condition. Locals alerted the police and the teenager was shifted to the hospital in critical condition. “The 14-year-old boy was allegedly sodomised by three suspects some 20 days back in Jhaal Chakian area,” Sargodha District Police Officer (DPO) Sohaib Ashraf told Dawn. He said that the suspects had threatened the boy that he would face dire consequences if he told anyone about what had happened. They also told him to pretend that nothing had happened, he added. According to initial reports, the DPO said the suspects later came to know that the boy had informed his...

Iran face an anxious wait to see if they will progress to the World Cup knockout stage after they came from behind to hold Egypt to a 1-1 draw, which ended in dramatic fashion with an apparent last-ditch winner ruled out for offside. Egypt, whose qualification for the last-32 was already guaranteed, took the lead inside five minutes through Mahmoud Saber, before Ramin Rezaeian equalised from a tight angle in the 14th minute of a frantic start. The early action fizzled out as the game became scrappy until a remarkable finale in which Iran hit the woodwork before snatching what seemed a famous win, only to have VAR intervene. Iran’s Mehdi Taremi who had a penalty saved in the first half hit the crossbar with a late header before Shoja Khalilzadeh fired home in the 93rd minute, sparking wild celebrations as the Iran bench streamed onto the pitch. But Khalilzadeh had strayed just offside and Egypt clung on for a draw, which means they finish second with five points, behind Belgium on goal difference, and will pla...