Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah on Saturday warned those spreading baseless rumors and misinformation, saying such elements were attempting to create instability and confusion in the country through fabricated narratives.

ISLAMABAD - As lawmakers from both sides of the aisle shared their input in budgetary proposals, Minister for Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb in Saturday’s National Assembly sitting claimed that the proposed finance bill 206-27 would provide maximum relief to the all segment of the society in the current resources.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Mohammad Ishaq Dar, arrived in Cairo on Saturday to participate in the 4th meeting of the R-4 Group of Foreign Ministers, which will be held on June 21 amid ongoing efforts to promote peace, stability and regional cooperation in the Middle East.

• Energy, PDMA and BSDI receive major allocations • Rs28.35bn earmarked for energy sector; development spending exceeds Rs58bn QUETTA: The Balochis­tan Assembly on Saturday approved the province’s supplementary budget of over Rs119 billion for the fiscal year 2025-26, without debate and without any cut motions being moved against the demands for grants. Soon after the session began, with Speaker retired Cap­tain Abdul Khaliq Achakzai in the chair, op­­position members sought to debate the supplementary budget. However, Chief Minister Mir Sarf­r­­az Bugti asked members to first approve the budget, saying discussion could take place later. The speaker then direc­ted Finance Minister Mir Shoaib Nosherwani to move the demands for grants. Mr Nosherwani presented 46 demands for grants one by one, including 21 related to non-development expenditure and 25 concerning development expenditure. No opposition member moved a cut motion aga­inst either development or non-development expenditure as the finance minister tabl...

ISLAMABAD: The PTI on Saturday slammed the government for its “anti-farmer” and “anti-poor” policies, accusing the ruling coalition of weakening the economy and burdening the underprivileged with over-taxation. At a press conference, PTI MNAs Usama Mela, Khawaja Sheraz Mehmood, Mubeen Arif Jutt, and Shandana Gulzar presented a grim picture of the nation’s agriculture, economy, and law and order, exposing the “disconnect” between the government’s statistics and the ground realities. They claimed the rulers were directly responsible for the worsening economic situation, as they continued to increase their own lavish expenditures while ordinary citizens bore the burden of economic hardship. MNA Usama claimed that the agriculture sector was facing a “total collapse” under the PML-N government. He noted that cotton cultivation declined significantly, and that the agriculture sector failed to achieve even 0.6pc growth against a target of 6pc. “Due to crippling taxation policies, the total cultivable area for cotton...

ISLAMABAD - At least seven people were martyred and three others injured in two roadside bomb blasts in Bannu district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday, police and rescue workers said.

GAZA CITY: Gaza health officials said Israeli strikes on Saturday killed at least 11 people, including four members of the same family, in the latest violence to rock the Palestinian territory despite a ceasefire. Hamas accuses Israel of daily truce violations and the Gaza Strip continues to suffer severe bloodshed, with efforts to permanently halt the destructive assault on the enclave still at a standstill. An overnight Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City killed four members of the Al-Safadi family, including the husband, wife and their two daughters, according to the civil defence agency, a rescue service that operates under Hamas authority. It said the strike also injured 12 others. Apartment bombing leaves four family members dead Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital confirmed receiving the bodies of four members of the Safadi family, including two children. “Around 2 o’clock, my cousins were asleep when a missile struck them. They have no connection to Hamas, nor ...

• Truce under strain as Tel Aviv kills family of four, Lebanese soldier • Israel refuses to withdraw its troops from southern territory • Hezbollah warns unprovoked aggression will not pass without a response BEIRUT: Israeli strikes in Lebanon killed at least 20 people on Saturday, Lebanon’s state news agency said, one day after a ceasefire with Hezbollah took effect, underscoring the fragility of a truce aimed at halting months of escalating violence. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israeli warplanes and drones struck multiple civilian and structural locations in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah accused Israel of committing hundreds of blatant ceasefire violations and warned that the continued Israeli aggression “will not pass without a response”. The group noted that responsibility for the dangerous escalation lay solely with Israel and urged the US to place intense pressure on the Israeli regime to implement diplomatic agreements and halt its devastating attacks The Israeli mil...

• Allocations in all climate heads face cuts, except for disaster management • Experts call for transparency in climate spending, structural reforms ISLAMABAD: Climate allocations in the next fiscal year’s federal budget again fall short of putting Pakistan on a path towards a climate-smart future and inclusive growth despite the immediate risks it poses to the country. Except for disaster management finance, allocations in almost all climate categories have decreased compared to the outgoing financial year. The mitigation funds have been reduced from Rs603 billion to Rs124 billion, while adaptation money has been slashed from Rs85bn to Rs70bn. The “green component” of subsidies also experienced budget cuts, with the energy sector’s allocation declining to Rs423 billion from Rs529 billion. Similarly, the food, industry, transport, and agriculture sectors also faced cuts in the proposed budget presented by the government on June 12. Giovanni Maurice Pradipta, who is a policy adviser at global NGO Germa­nwatch,...

QUETTA: An additional district and sessions court on Saturday sentenced the father and maternal uncle of 14-year-old Pakistani-American girl Hira Anwar to life imprisonment for her murder. Additional District and Sessions Judge Shahid Javed announced the verdict after completing the trial and hearing arguments from both sides. According to the judgement, the court convicted Hira’s father, Anwar-ul-Haq Rajput, and her maternal uncle, Muhammad Tayyab Bhatti, and sentenced both men to life imprisonment. The court also imposed a fine of Rs200,000 on each convict. According to the prosecution, the two men shot and killed Hira on Jan 27, 2025, in Quetta’s Balochi Street area. The case was investigated by the Serious Crime Investigation Wing. Initially, Hira’s father had lodged an FIR at the Gawalmandi Police Station against unidentified assailants, claiming that his daughter had been shot by unknown gunmen. However, police investigations, witness statements and forensic evidence later pointed to the involvement of ...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir departed early on Sunday morning for Switzerland to attend technical-level talks between Iran and the United States in Burgenstock on June 21. The development comes after the long-awaited peace deal was signed on Thursday, heralding an end to months of bitter animosity that had gripped the Middle East and plunged the world into an economic crisis. Under the agreement, the US and Iran have agreed on a framework to end the war, lift the US blockade of Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. “Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and COAS & CDF Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir will participate in these talks,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a post on X, adding that the two are accompanied by a “high-level delegation”. FO announces talks in Switzerland Earlier on Saturday, the Foreign Office (FO) announced that technical-level talks will be held in Buergenstock, Switzerland, on Sunday. “Representatives of the United States and Ira...

WASHINGTON - As the diplomatic efforts seemed to move forward, reports also emerged of potential economic relief for Tehran.

GILGIT - The Gilgit Baltistan Assembly Secretariat has forwarded a summary for convening the inaugural session of the newly elected Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly.

GILGIT - Pakistan People Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have announced a political understanding and cooperation framework in the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly during a joint press conference held in Gilgit Saturday night.

GAZA - Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least six people, including a child, in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, health officials in the Palestinian enclave said.

TEL AVIV - Some 500 people rally at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

SYRIA - Islamic State claims responsibility for an attack near the city of Manbij in Syria’s northeastern Aleppo province that the Syrian Defense Ministry said killed two soldiers.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has set June 30 as the deadline for completion of all sewerage and drainage projects across the province and imposed a ban on leaving excavation work incomplete or roads open after digging.

ISLAMABAD - The government has withdrawn its earlier decision regarding the temporary reduction in speed limits on motorways and national highways and restored the previous speed limits for all categories of vehicles.

Solar greenhouse technology set to boost arid land productivity by up to 35%