Pakistan

Court dismisses father’s plea to recover 15-year-old daughter who married by her own choice

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Security forces on Wednesday killed 13 terrorists in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) carried out in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan district, the military’s media wing said in a statement. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), security forces conducted the operation in the Daraban area, upon the reported presence of terrorists “belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna al Khwarij”. The state uses the term Fitna al Khwarij to refer to terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). It has also designated Balochistan-based groups as Fitna al Hindustan to highlight India’s alleged role in terrorism and destabilisation across Pakistan. “During the conduct of [the] operation, [our] own troops effectively engaged the khwarij location and [as a result], 13 Indian sponsored khwarij were sent to hell,” the statement read. The ISPR added that weapons and ammunition were recovered from the dead terrorists, who were involved in terrorist activity in the area. The statement added...

The Supreme Court (SC) has held that only the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) can investigate allegations of misconduct against judges of the apex court and high courts, it emerged on Wednesday. The observation was made in a detailed verdict, issued on Tuesday, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, in a case pertaining to the contempt proceedings against Additional Registrar (Judicial) Nazar Abbas. Three Sup­reme Court judges had initiated conte­mpt proceedings against the senior staff member in January for not fixing a case regarding the jurisdiction of regular benches. The case pertained to whether regular benches of the Supreme Court could determine the constitutionality of Article 191A of the Constitution, under which the Constitutional Bench was established after the 26th Amendment. The detailed verdict issued today, authored by Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, said that by virtue of holding a constitutional position, sub-article (5) of Article 199 of the Constitution granted immunity to SC and high c...

Diamond sets and a drone light show at a near-million-dollar wedding have become evidence for tax authorities under a new “Lifestyle Monitoring Cell” tasked with scanning social media for lavish spenders, officials said. A team of 40 investigators from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has started scouring Instagram, TikTok and YouTube posts this week, to match influencers, celebrities, realtors and businesspeople with disproportionate filings. “It’s open-source their Instagram accounts are a public declaration,” one senior FBR official said, adding that tax evasion cases can be opened up in a matter of hours. The FBR did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. The monitoring cell has been formed to address the country’s chronic inability to meet revenue collection targets, and to help meet tougher goals set in this year’s International Monetary Fund-backed budget. Pakistan has one of the lowest tax-to-GDP ratios in Asia, a chronic weakness that has forced the country into nearly two dozen IMF programm...

Pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi has declared that the Green Shirts will reach the Asia Cup final and can beat India if the arch-rivals clash again. Pakistan kept their campaign alive with a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka in a Super Four clash in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. Pakistan and India have met twice in this edition of the regional competition, but the two teams have never played against each other in an Asia Cup final. The regional tournament, played this time in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) under the Twenty20 format, started in 1984, and this is its 17th edition. Bangladesh, who face India on Wednesday and Pakistan on Thursday, stand in the way of the great rivals facing off in Sunday’s decider in Dubai. India are the current holders and beat Pakistan in both previous matches, but Shaheen was in a bullish mood after taking 3-28 against Sri Lanka. When asked about Pakistan and India not facing off in any of the finals of the previous editions and the possibility of both rivals meeting in the final, Shaheen s...

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has approved a special relief package to support students in flood-affected areas of the province.

British police said on Wednesday that a man had been arrested as part of an investigation into a ransomware attack against Collins Aerospace, owned by RTX, which knocked check-in systems at airports offline and caused widespread travel disruption across Europe. The National Crime Agency (NCA) said in a statement that the man, in his 40s, was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of offences under the Computer Misuse Act and had since been released on conditional bail. “Although this arrest is a positive step, the investigation into this incident is in its early stages and remains ongoing,” NCA Deputy Director Paul Foster said. It remained unclear which criminal group was behind last week’s hack. An NCA spokesperson declined to provide further details. Ransomware gangs routinely publicise attacks and leak stolen data on dark web “leak sites” but websites that monitor those portals had not, as of Wednesday, detected any group claiming the hack. Ransomware is malicious software used by cybercriminals to encrypt a com...

Chairman Senate Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday said Pakistan’s pharmaceutical exports had reached a record USD 457 million in the last fiscal year, registering 34 percent growth — the highest in over two decades.

Federal Minister for Water Resources Moeen Wattoo has announced that the flood threat across the country has ended, with conditions steadily improving.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday stated that Pakistan was steadily meeting its International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme commitments, but urged the lender to take into account the recent flood damage in its upcoming review for the country. The prime minister made the remarks during a meeting with Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF, on the sidelines of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. According to a Topline Securities’ report, Pakistan is on track to meet all seven Quantitative Performance Criteria (QPC) set by the IMF ahead of the September 25 review of its $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF), which was approved in May this year. The review will assess Pakistan’s performance for the March–June quarter of 2025. However, massive floods in the country have struck both the rural heartland and industrial centres for the first time in decades, causing billions of dollars in damage while straining food supplies, exports and a fragile economic recove...

PPP’s Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, the first lady and a member of the National Assembly, on Wednesday asserted that the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) was the “most effective way” to distribute aid to flood-affected people, adding that it would be “irresponsible to not utilise it”. Her statement comes a day after Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said that the provincial government would issue relief cards to the flood victims in their personal names using its own resources instead of using BISP to assist them. Over the past month, the PPP has repeatedly urged the Centre to disburse stipends among displaced citizens via the “efficient and proven” BISP. BISP is a national safety net programme in Pakistan that provides cash assistance to poor and vulnerable families, particularly targeting women. In a post on X, Aseefa said that over four million people had been impacted by the “unprecedented floods” in Punjab. She termed the BISP as the “fastest and most effective way” to distribute aid to those affe...

Eight people were arrested on Tuesday night after a gun battle broke out between two groups of people at a call centre in Karachi’s Gulshan-i-Iqbal neighbourhood, it emerged on Wednesday. The first information report (FIR) of the incident was filed at the Gulshan-i-Iqbal Police Station a day ago against the eight suspects under Sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 337A (punishment for assault), 337H(ii) (punishment for hurt by rash or negligent act), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 25 (use of a firearm to commit a criminal offence) of the 2013 Sindh Arms Act. The incident occurred because workers at the call centre took the complainant’s daughter, another employee, hostage, according to the FIR. ...

Tech companies, including WhatsApp and Reddit, as well as streaming giant Twitch and gaming firm Roblox, could be among more than a dozen sites added to Australia’s social media ban for under-16s, the country’s regulator said Wednesday. Platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube were already included in the ban — a world-first. But the head of Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has written to 16 more companies to “self-assess” whether they fall under the ban’s remit. The list also included Pinterest as well as Lego Play, streaming company Kick and gaming platform Steam. Companies will need to make a case if they believe their platform should be exempt from the ban, the national broadcaster ABC said. Inman Grant told the network that while some cases were “pretty clear”, the regulator would “give them the due diligence process”. “We need to hear them all out,” she said. The regulator said it will initially focus on platforms with the greatest number of users, where there are hig...

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Dr Farooq Sattar on Wednesday took aim at the Sindh government and Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab over the delay in development projects in the metropolis. Karachi’s key development projects —from the long-delayed K-IV water supply scheme and Red Line bus corridor to stalled roadworks like the Karimabad underpass and Malir Expressway—remain stuck due to chronic funding gaps, utility relocation issues, regulatory hurdles, and weak inter-agency coordination, leaving the city’s residents waiting years for essential infrastructure. Addressing a press conference in Karachi, Sattar said, “They cannot conceive a development project, nor can they deliver it.” During the presser, the MQM leader talked about the Green Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. Recently, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), backed by the PPP-led Sindh government, halted the federally funded Rs6 billion project of the Green Line Bus extension, citing the PIDCL’s failure to obtain a no-objec...