Pakistan

Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs Engineer Amir Muqam Saturday said that the ongoing protests, sit-ins and disruption of normal life in Azad Jammu and Kashmir can only be resolved through dialogue and the democratic process.

Police in Scotland said on Saturday that counter-terrorism officers were investigating several “violent attacks” the previous evening in Edinburgh that injured five men in suspected anti-Muslim incidents. Police Scotland said a 36-year-old white Scottish man had been arrested and that there was no further threat to the public. Footage posted online showed a bare-chested man — purportedly the suspect — roaming streets of the Scottish capital with a large weapon. “Counter Terrorism Policing Scotland is investigating, supported by other specialist colleagues and local policing officers,” police said in a statement. It added officers had received multiple emergency calls late Friday from people reporting “violent attacks including threats, robbery and vandalism across Edinburgh, with five men injured”. The victims — two aged 22, and others aged 24, 27, and 39 — sustained various injuries and three required hospital treatment, but none of the injuries were life-threatening, according to police. Scotland’s First Mi...

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni fired back at US President Donald Trump on Saturday, saying his “constant, unprovoked attacks are senseless” after he escalated a diplomatic row by accusing her of repeatedly seeking a photograph with him. The clash has opened an unusually personal rift between Trump and one of Europe’s most prominent right-wing leaders, who had sought to cast herself as a bridge between Washington and the continent during Trump’s return to power. Trump had initially told Italian broadcaster La7 that Meloni “begged” him for a picture at this week’s G7 summit in France, saying he agreed only because he “felt sorry for her.” Meloni angrily denied the claim, calling it “made up,” but Trump doubled down in a post on Truth Social, saying Meloni had asked “over and over” for a photograph during the summit. He also accused her of trying to repair relations with Washington for domestic political reasons after Italy failed to support US action against Iran. “Now, after the United States defeated I...

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Secretariat has terminated all “Fuel Conservation and Additional Austerity Measures” with immediate effect and will return to a regular five-day work week with full staff strength from June 22 (Monday). The rollback comes following a US-Iran deal and a subsequent reduction in fuel prices. According to a notification issued on Saturday, and signed by Deputy Secretary HRM-I Qasim Omer, the measures introduced since March 12, 2026, have been withdrawn. The notification, issued with the approval of the chairman Senate, says that the secretariat will work Monday to Friday with full staff strength. The office hours will be 9am to 5pm on non-session days and until the conclusion of a session when it is underway. The notification has been marked for “immediate publication in the Gazette of Pakistan (Extraordinary)”. Copies have been sent to all senators, Senate office-bearers, the Cabinet Division, and senior officials. The government imposed fuel conservation and austerity measures in mid-March...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday arrived in Cairo to participate in a meeting bringing together the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye. The Foreign Office (FO) said he would also hold bilateral meetings with the participating foreign ministers and call on Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on the sidelines of the meeting. In a statement on X, the FO announced Dar’s arrival and that he was received by Nazih El Naggary, Assistant Foreign Minister for Policy Planning, Research, Crisis Management and Assessments, and Pakistan’s Ambassador to Egypt, Ambassador Aamir Shouket. In a statement issued on Friday, the FO said the meeting — which is scheduled to be held on June 21 (Sunday) and the fourth of its kind — will bring together the foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and Pakistan to “discuss regional developments and exchange views on issues related to peace, security, and stability”. “Building on the outcomes of previous R-4 meetings...

GILGIT: PPP supporters blocked the Karakoram Highway (KKH) in Diamer in protest after the Election Commission notified independent candidate Imam Malik on Friday night, allegedly without preparing Form 49 or counting postal votes in the constituency. Supporters of PPP candidate Attaullah Khan, who contested the GBA-16 Diamer-II election, blocked the KKH at multiple locations in Chilas. The blockade began around 10am on Saturday and remained ongoing as of Saturday evening. PPP Secretary General Nayyar Bukhari claimed that the party had a clear majority of 17–19 seats, including reserved and technocratic seats. “An attempt is being made to block the path of the PPP,” Bukhari alleged, adding that the GB electoral process is not being carried out in accordance with the Constitution and law. Due to the road blockade, traffic between Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and other parts of Pakistan was disrupted, stranding thousands of passengers. Long queues of vehicles were seen on both sides of the highway. The protesters alleg...

As a follow-up to the signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, technical-level talks between the United States and Iran will be held in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, on Sunday.

At least 30 people have died since the start of May in one camp for displaced civilians in northeastern Congo, a death rate that camp officials said was unprecedented, with some confirmed to have died from Ebola in a sign the disease could be spreading fast there. It was not possible to confirm the causes of all the deaths because patients or their relatives in Kigonze camp in Bunia — the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — had until Thursday refused testing, a camp spokesperson and aid organisation Caritas said. However, all had symptoms including headaches, fever and vomiting, which are associated with Ebola, a camp spokesperson, a bereaved father, three aid sources and a civil society leader told Reuters. People didn’t just die like this before, camp spokesperson Desire Grodya Bapi told Reuters. The deaths in Kigonze, which has more than 15,000 residents, raise fears that Ebola may be circulating undetected among eastern Congo’s over five million displaced people, with r...

They came from behind to beat Ivory Coast 2-1

This is their third successive defeat in the Women’s T20 World Cup

He scored a brace in 5-1 victory in Houston

The hosts were 182-5 at stumps on the fourth day

A strike by public transport operators in Karachi will continue after talks with police broke down, the head of a transporters’ union said on Saturday. The wheel-jam strike has been observed in the metropolis since Thursday against electronic traffic challans, “heavy fines and other regulatory measures”. Haji Tawab Khan, president of the Karachi Transport Ittehad (KTI), told Dawn on Saturday that the strike would continue. “We held a meeting with the DIG Traffic, who said reversing the e-challans was not under his authority,” he said. “He, however, assured us that he would review the challans which transporters said were unjustified.” Tawab added that none of the transporters’ demands had been met and that, despite repeated requests to government officials, no meeting had been called. Earlier, Muhammad Ilyas, vice president of KTI, said that no breakthrough had been achieved on the transporters’ four key demands. “We have objected to heavy fines imposed under the e-challan system,” said Ilyas. “We believe tha...

PPP to get CM seat; PML-N to get governor, opposition leader, deputy speaker

Health officials have probed the plant since May after farmer complaints about the factory's operations

Deputy Prime Minister / Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Saturday, received a telephone call from Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov who appreciated Pakistan’s efforts as a mediator and acknowledged its significant contribution to advancing international peace efforts, as well as promoting regional peace and.

Nine people remain in a critical condition following a train crash on Friday near Bedford, about 100 kilometres north of London, in which the driver of one of the services was killed. Two passenger trains bound for London collided at around 5:15pm local time (9:15pm PKT) on Friday. The driver of one of the trains died at the scene. Peter Knapp, a doctor who said on a social media site he was on board one of the trains, described a “sudden crash” with one carriage off the rails and said he had sustained minor injuries. Sky News cited him as telling the Press Association that some passengers were unable to speak and had injuries, including broken legs. Providing an update on those injured in the crash on Saturday, British Transport Police Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi said more than 80 people had received hospital treatment on Friday night. A crime scene manager from the British Transport Police photographs the inside of an electrical box at the side of a train track near to where two East Midlands Railway (EMR) ...

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Saturday asserted that the proposed budget for the next fiscal year (FY27) would set the foundation for “accelerating the sustainable growth” recorded in the past two years. He made the remarks on the floor of the National Assembly as he wound up the debate on the budget FY27, which was presented on June 12. The finance czar recalled that MNAs presented their opinions on the proposed budget during the debate, adding that reservations were also voiced in some proposals. “But, we have gotten very clear feedback from within and outside the House that this is overall a positive and pro-growth budget, which sets the foundation to accelerate the sustainable growth witnessed over the last two years,” he declared. Speaking on the budget proposals, Aurangzeb stated that a “sustainable and inclusive export-led growth that increases productivity” was the fundamental objective of the government and the budget. “We often hear and see that the documented corporate sector and salaried ...

Two passenger trains heading to London collided Friday at 5:15pm local time

LAHORE: In another case of May 9 riots, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Saturday acquitted former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi while sentencing senior PTI leaders Dr Yasmin Rashid, Omar Sarfraz Cheema, Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed and former senator Ejaz Chaudhry to 10-year imprisonment each. ATC-I Judge Manzer Ali Gill announced the verdict, which was reserved on Thursday. In the case registered at Mughalpura Police Station, the leaders were accused of attacking and burning police vehicles in the Mughalpura area during the 2023 riots. The suspects were presented in the makeshift court established inside Kot Lakhpat Jail. Besides Qureshi, the court also acquitted 11 party workers. A total of 22 PTI leaders and workers were nominated in the case, while two accused had been declared proclaimed offenders after allegedly evading arrest. However, a few other workers were sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment each. The prosecution alleged that the PTI leaders and other accused persons had planned the May 9 incide...