Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Senate has surrendered Rs1.436 billion to the national exchequer after a year-long austerity drive, exceeding the Finance Division’s target by 500 per cent and setting what officials called a new benchmark for fiscal discipline. The amount makes up 15.9pc of the upper house’s total budget for 2025-26, according to a statement issued by the Senate Secretariat on Monday. Senate Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani ordered the expenditure rationalisation programme within his own office before extending it across the secretariat. Gilani said the Rs1.436bn represented “actual, realised savings” and not projected cuts or deferred liabilities. Among the measures, the Senate suspended 17 of the 18 procurement projects approved by its finance committee. Recruitment and non-essential spending were rationalised, while administrative overheads and operational costs were placed under “strict scrutiny”. The official transport fleet was “substantially grounded”, fuel allocations were capped and monitored, and ref...

Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Chairperson Senator Rubina Khalid on Monday urged those whose words may have hurt BISP beneficiaries’ sentiments to apologise. While she did not specifically name anyone, the senator said this during a press conference in Islamabad after mentioning remarks by Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah. Speaking on Geo News’ programme ‘Capital Talk’ last week, Sanaullah claimed that the BISP data was “not accurate to the extent of Punjab”, alleged it was marred by corruption and remarked that the programme served no purpose other than turning people into beggars. In her press conference, Khalid said it was not right to say that BISP was turning people into beggars, explaining that the programme catered to those who worked to earn a living. But, she continued, when they need financial assistance, it is the state’s responsibility to aid them without compromising their self-respect. “BISP does not turn people into beggars; it prevents people from becoming ...

SWAT: Local transport leader Afzal Gujjar was injured while his son, nephew and guard were killed after unidentified assailants opened fire on his vehicle in the Shakardara area of Matta last night, police said on Monday. Police told local media that the attackers used heavy weapons during the assault that took place on Sunday night. In the ensuing exchange of fire, Gujjar sustained injuries and was shifted to a hospital for treatment. His son, Behram Khan, was among the three people who lost their lives in the incident. Swat District Police Officer Umar Khan told Dawn that heavy police contingents surrounded the area and started a search operation after the attack. “Three persons were arrested while the search operation is underway,” he said, assuring that police would reach the culprits soon. Officials said an investigation was underway to determine the motive behind the attack and establish the exact circumstances of the incident. A spokesperson for Swat Police also confirmed that law enforcement agencies ...

Pakistan Railways has decided to outsource 15 additional trains as part of its ongoing efforts to increase private sector participation in railway operations and improve service efficiency.

Fruit sellers at roadsides and bazaars are bracing for Pakistan’s yearly mango madness. Their baskets are filled with the early Sindhri crop for now as they wait for the Punjab Langra and Dusehri, soon to be followed by the Chaunsa and Anwar Ratol. This year’s season arrives with as much anxiety as anticipation. Fluctuating temperatures, erratic rain and hailstorms early in the year, the period critical for flowering, fruit set and ripening, have damaged orchards across Punjab’s mango belt, covering Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur divisions in the south and Sahiwal, Faisalabad, Sargodha and Lahore in the central and northern parts of the province. The prolonged stagnation after last year’s floods weakened root systems and stressed trees already battered by climatic shocks. These setbacks, coupled with uncertainty in export markets amid tensions surrounding the US-Iran-Israel conflict, have kept growers, contractors and traders on the edge over the season’s fragility. “I can safely say that around 40 pe...

French newspaper Le Monde has described the growing dispute over the Indus Waters Treaty as a dangerous turning point for water security in South Asia, warning that tensions between India and Pakistan could have wider regional consequences.

Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar Chaudhry held a telephone call with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday regarding the release of Pakistani seamen taken hostage by Somali pirates, a statement by Chaudhry’s ministry said. The seamen were taken hostage more than a month ago when armed pirates hijacked the MT Honour 25 off the southeastern coast of Somalia on April 21. There were 11 Pakistanis among the vessel’s crew, who remain in the pirates’ captivity. A statement by the Maritime Affairs Ministry said that Chaudhry had called Dar and also contacted Pakistan’s envoy in Somalia on the matter. “Need to expedite efforts for the fast and safe release of the Pakistani crew was stressed,” the statement read. It quoted Chaudhry as saying that soon after receiving information about the incident in April, efforts for the crew’s release were initiated. “We remain in touch with the Pakistan foreign ministry and the Somalian embassy,” he said, adding that the government was making efforts ...

Four security personnel were martyred and three members of the proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) were killed during violent unrest in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), as law enforcement agencies cleared the siege of Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Rawalakot, police said on Monday.

Israel and Iran traded fire on Monday, seriously testing a fragile truce and threatening hopes for a deal to end the Middle East war. The new attacks, including a strike on an Iranian petrochemical complex, came hours after US President Donald Trump called on Israel to refrain from retaliating against Tehran’s missiles. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Tehran retaliated for the strike on its petrochemical complex by attacking similar industrial targets in Israel’s Haifa. AFP journalists in Jerusalem heard a series of explosions as they took shelter and the Israeli army said it worked to intercept a new wave of Iranian missiles. The retaliation followed Israel saying it fired on western and central Iran, tit-for-tat action against Tehran’s strikes on Sunday of 11 missiles, all of which were intercepted, with no casualties. Israel’s military and Iranian local media said Monday that Israel struck a petrochemical company in Mahshahr in southwestern Iran. Trump had sought to rein in Israeli Pri...

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has proposed a 50 per cent increase in salaries and pensions for government employees ahead of the federal budget for 2026-27, according to sources.

ISLAMABAD - Anne-Sophie has been re-elected in the 2026 Consular Elections representing French communities across Central Asia and adjoining regions, securing a decisive 77.

World Ocean Day is being observed across the world on Monday, including in Pakistan, to raise awareness about the importance of oceans and encourage collective efforts to protect marine ecosystems.

United States President Donald Trump lasted through probing questions about his Iran war strategy and repeated weather disruptions during an interview with US broadcaster NBC — but angrily stormed out when confronted over his unfounded claims of election fraud. “You’re a one-sided, crooked network. Sorry. Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time,” Trump told ‘Meet the Press’ host Kristen Welker before standing up and walking out of the interview that aired on Sunday. The interview, filmed on Friday, was conducted on a farm in Wisconsin, where Trump was addressing farmers. A tractor and hay bales served as a backdrop. The interview was interrupted several times by weather and audio issues as torrential rain pounded the roof, making it difficult to continue the conversation. “Is that wind or what?” Trump asked at one point according to a transcript. “Hear that sound?” he said later. “That sound of thunder, lightning, rain” Welker asked her technical crew if they should s...

MUZAFFARABAD: At least seven civilians were killed during Sunday’s clash between police and the newly proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) protesters in Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s (AJK) Rawalakot, an official told Dawn on Monday. Poonch Commissioner Sardar Waheed Khan confirmed the civilian death toll to Dawn a day after the clash in which four law enforcement personnel were martyred. The commissioner and AJK Inspector General (IG) Liaqat Ali Malik also told Dawn 30 people had been taken into custody late on Sunday. The officials also said that 23 policemen were injured during the clash. The clash broke out after tensions flared over the death of a trader, who was allegedly shot during a confrontation with law enforcers on Friday night. Officials have accused the demonstrators of attacking the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Rawalakot on Sunday. Initially, his family had ann­ounced his funeral would be held on Saturday, but they later changed their mind and brought the body back to CMH, apparently...

Official results from several constituencies in the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly elections have confirmed victories for candidates across multiple districts, with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) emerging as a leading political force.

KARACHI: The investigating officer (IO) in a narcotics case has approached a court, seeking permission to record the voice samples of alleged drug baroness Anmol Pinky and her three accomplices in prison. Pinky was arrested last month in connection with two cases registered at the Garden police station pertaining to the possession of drugs and an unlicensed weapon. She had already been booked in multiple other criminal cases prior to her arrest. Following her arrest, the police also held Pinky’s three accomplices — Zeeshan-ur-Rehman, Sohail-ur-Rehman and Muhammad Sameer — who are also in prison on judicial remand in the drug case. The IO of the Garden police station has filed an application before a judicial magistrate (South), seeking directions for the jail authorities to allow the recording of voice samples of Pinky and her three accomplices in prison for voice-matching evaluation. Explaining the need to obtain the suspects’ voice samples, the IO stated in the application that during the investigation, the...

China’s President Xi Jinping hailed an “invincible friendship” with Pyongyang as he arrived in North Korea on Monday, his first trip abroad this year after hosting back-to-back summits in Beijing. China, Washington’s chief geopolitical rival, has been North Korea’s main trading partner by far for decades and a key source of diplomatic and economic support for the country hit by multiple international sanctions. Military officers lined a red carpet as an Air China plane carrying Xi arrived for his first visit since 2019, video from Xinhua showed. A banner that read “We warmly welcome Comrade Xi Jinping” and hailing the two countries’ “unbreakable friendship” hung below Chinese and North Korean flags at the airport. Xi made the trip after hosting US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin separately in Beijing, and as North Korea’s nuclear talks with Washington remain deadlocked. The White House said last month that Xi and Trump “confirmed their shared goal to denuclearise North Korea” during their s...

HYDERABAD: Water crisis in Sindh and Balochistan continues to deepen with each passing day as the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) remains indifferent to their hue and cry constantly being raised over the last few weeks. The two smaller provinces have been expressing their strong reservations over “unfair” deduction in their share of the Indus water while Punjab continues to draw in excess of its allocated quantum. Kotri Barrage reported 57pc reduction in flows on June 7 as Sindh’s overall deficit in flows rose from 22pc to 39pc within the last fortnight while Punjab, through its controversial Chashma-Jhelum (CJ) link canal keeps withdrawing more water than Kotri. Balochistan has also come up with 71pc reduction in its share from Sukkur Barrage’s right bank canal on Saturday. Shortage in Sindh worsens to 39pc while Balochistan gets 71pc less flows The Balochistan irrigation department has taken up the issue with Irsa, pressing it to settle it with Sindh authorities in order to ensure its required share of ...

GILGIT - The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) emerged as the leading party in the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly elections, securing four seats in unofficial and preliminary results as vote counting continued late Sunday night.

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) has endorsed the government’s position on refugee seats, ruling that the 12 reserved seats are constitutionally protected and cannot be altered through administrative measures.