Pakistan

The founder of India’s satirical online “Cockroach People’s Party” said he was flying back to New Delhi on Friday, to take the viral social media campaign to the streets. Abhijeet Dipke, the 30-year-old Boston University graduate behind the online movement, said he was flying back from the United States to seek police permission for a peaceful protest on Saturday against the education minister. The parody “Cockroach Janta Party” (CJP) — echoing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — has won millions of online followers on social media since its launch last month. CJP was set up after India’s Chief Justice Surya Kant reportedly called young people who criticised the government “cockroaches” and “parasites” during a hearing. Kant later said his comments were taken out of context. Dipke, a political communications strategist who formerly worked with the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), created the fictional party online on May 16. Its popularity has soared, using the slo...

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Thursday reaffirmed her government's commitment to environmental protection, calling for greater public participation in reducing plastic pollution and supporting tree plantation efforts across the province.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime MInister Shehbaz Sharif on World Environment Day highlighted the growing threat posed by climate change, calling for stronger efforts to protect the environment and address its impact on public health, economic stability and food security.

LAHORE: A day after the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) registered a case against PML-N MPA Saqib Chadhar for allegedly harassing television actor Momina Iqbal, the lawmaker secured interim pre-arrest bail from a Lahore court on Friday. Additional District and Sessions Judge Irfan Ahmad Sheikh approved the bail after hearing Chadhar’s plea. During the hearing, Chadhar appeared before the court along with his counsel, Mian Ali Ashfaq. The judge barred the NCCIA from arresting Chadhar till June 24 and directed the NCCIA to submit the case record at the next hearing. On Thursday, the NCCIA registered a case against Chadhar on Iqbal’s complaint under Sections 3 (unauthorised access to information system or data), 4 (unauthorised copying or transmission of data), 21 (offences against modesty of a natural person and minor) and 24 (cyber stalking) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, read with Sections 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offe...

MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Election Commission announced on Friday that general elections in the region would be held on July 27. The notification, a copy of which is available with Dawn, said that candidates could file their nomination papers with returning officers from June 9 to 4pm on June 19. It said that the scrutiny of nomination papers would be carried out from June 20, while the list of the eligible candidates would be submitted on the same day. It stated that the candidates will have between June 21 and June 24 to file appeals against rejection/acceptance of nomination papers, and the appeals will be heard on June 26 and 27 between 9am and 4pm. According to the notification, the last date for decisions on appeals will be June 28 to June 29, and candidates can withdraw their nomiation papers until June 30 before 2pm. The list of contesting candidates will be published on July 1, and symbols will be allotted along with the final list the next day on July 2. July 27 was notified as the po...

Security forces killed six militants during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Balochistan’s Panjgur district, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

Election authorities have finalized all preparations for the upcoming elections in Gilgit-Baltistan, where voting will take place across 10 districts spread over the region’s three divisions.

US President Donald Trump’s legal team has refused to hand over financial information sought by BBC lawyers in his $10 billion defamation case against the broadcaster, the Financial Times (FT) said on Friday, citing court filings. Trump has accused the publicly funded broadcaster of defaming him by splicing together parts of a January 6, 2021, speech to make it appear that he directed supporters to storm the US Capitol. The impetus for Trump’s request to delay “appears to be the flat refusal by the Donald J Trump Revocable Trust … to provide any financial information under subpoena”, the newspaper cited the BBC as saying in a court filing. That action came despite Trump’s claims that the BBC injured “the value of his brand, properties, and businesses” and the president’s “own refusal to date to provide any financial information in discovery”, the paper added. Trump’s lawsuit, filed in Florida in December, says the BBC violated a state law that bars deceptive and unfair trade practices. He is seeking damages o...

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea from June 8 to 9, state news agency Xinhua said on Friday, his first trip in nearly seven years as Beijing looks to reassert ties with Pyongyang. The announcement follows separate summits Xi hosted in Beijing for US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin last month. Trump, who met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times in his first term, previously said he would be open to meeting the North Korean leader again. Xi would be visiting on an invitation from Kim, North Korean state media KCNA said. Kim was a guest at a massive military parade in Beijing last September, travelling to the Chinese capital on his signature green armoured train. Beijing has worked to draw Pyongyang — its only formal treaty ally — back into its fold, after the Covid-19 pandemic froze exchanges and the North Korean leader deepened relations with Moscow by sending troops and weapons to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “The message implicit from the Chinese ...

Shehbaz Sharif addresses ceremony to mark 250th Independence Anniversary of the US Says Pakistan-US ties moving toward broader relationship PM meets high-powered Saudi business delegation.

ISLAMABAD - Foreign Office on Thursday reiterated that its position on the Abraham Accords remains unchanged and is intrinsically linked to the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian state.

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar on Thursday reiterated the government’s commitment to the protection of minority rights, saying consultations with representatives of minority and other communities play a vital role in ensuring that the views and needs of all citizens are effectively.

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday turned down a review petition of Zahir Jaffer against the SC’s decision to award him death sentence in Noor Muqadam murder case.

• Field officers to lose powers to issue notices, conduct audits • Reforms aim to curb collusion, harassment • Phased rollout planned from October ISLAMABAD: The government has approved in principle a plan to introduce a centralised digital tax operating model, under which audits and assessments would be handled by “faceless” wings in Islamabad to reduce official discretion and direct contact between tax officials and taxpayers. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved Pakistan’s New Tax Operating Model on Thursday and commended the tax officials who developed the plan. The model is scheduled for a three-phase rollout beginning in October this year. The centralised and faceless tax model is similar to systems used in the UK, Australia, the Netherlands, Singapore and India. It is designed to eliminate physical contact between tax authorities and taxpayers to prevent corruption. The reforms have been driven by systemic leakages and widespread under-reporting detected by Pakistan Revenue Automation Limited (PRAL)....

ISLAMABAD - Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon met with Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in Islamabad.

ISLAMABAD - Chairman Senate of Pakistan, Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, attended the reception hosted to commemorate the 250th Independence Day of the United States of America and conveyed warm felicitations and best wishes to President Donald Trump, the Government, and the people of the United States on this historic occasion.

ISLAMABAD - A delegation of the Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC), led by its Chief Executive Officer Chuan Wee Meng, called on the Chief Justice of Pakistan at the Supreme Court on Thursday and discussed measures to strengthen the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) system in Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD - Adviser to the Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah on Thursday expressed confidence that the upcoming Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) elections would be conducted in a free, fair, and transparent manner.

ISLAMABAD - Members of the National Assembly Gul Asghar Khan and Raja Osama Sarwar on Thursday called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif here.

LAHORE - Punjab has expanded its agricultural mechanisation programme through a series of initiatives aimed at increasing farmers’ access to modern machinery, including subsidised tractors, combined harvesters and interest-free financing for advanced farm equipment.