Pakistan

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Sunday described tobacco use as a silent epidemic that poses a serious threat to public health, society and the economy, warning that smoking can prove more dangerous than many fatal diseases.

ISLAMABAD: The capital’s administration has re-imposed restrictions on market timings, once again mandating their closure by 8pm throughout the week. According to a late-night notification, issued by the Islamabad Capital Territory’s district magistrate, all shops, markets and shopping malls will close at 8pm, while restaurants, tandoors, grocery stores, bakeries, meat, fruit and vegetable vendors are to close shop at 10pm. The notification said that marriage halls, marquees and all other commercial places where festive events are held shall be closed at 10pm. This restriction also applies to events held on private premises. The new timings will come into effect from today (Monday) and remain in force until further orders, the notification said. Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2026

ISLAMABAD - Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Islamabad Qazi Ali Raza visited various churches in the federal capital and reviewed security arrangements to ensure safety of worshipers and religious gatherings.

DUTCH police have found themselves in the middle of an online furore after footage of personnel assaulting a pregnant woman went viral on social media. The incident, which took place on May 19 in the town of Zeist, came to light over the weekend after videos circulated online of an officer violently pulling a heavily pregnant woman by the arm, causing her to fall to the ground, according to Dutch outlet RTV Utrecht. The video was filmed inside an asylum seekers’ centre. After she is dragged to the ground, the officer is seen being attacked by a man, who is said to be the woman’s husband. Media reports indicated that the couple was speaking to police after they were called in over a disturbance complaint. According to Al Jazeera, the woman’s husband was detained for smashing a television after learning of the death of his relative in Gaza. The woman said her husband was very respectful to the officers, adding that she was grabbed and forced to the ground after simply asking to accompany her husband to detentio...

Rawalpindi - Punjab Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar visited the Tehsil Sports Complex Dhobi Ghat Murree and reviewed available sports facilities, ongoing administrative affairs, and existing infrastructure on Sunday.

• OCAC demands urgent meeting with PM, seeks his intervention • Calls for release of Rs66bn in withheld PDCs; urges Ogra to settle all claims by June 8 • Labels Level-3 EV charger mandates impractical without wide adoption ISLAMABAD: The country’s oil industry has protested the slow disbursement of their price differential claims (PDCs) against cheaper petroleum product supplies to consumers in early days of US-Iran war and proposed tax on windfall inventory gains in the coming budget. In a letter to the prime minister, Oil Companies’ Advisory Council (OCAC) — a cartel representing around three dozen oil marketing companies and refineries — demanded an urgent meeting on oil industry’s pressing challenges. OCAC Chairman Asif Iqbal said the meeting of leadership of top 10 oil industry players with the prime minister was crucial to discuss the critical issues that are adversely impacting the financial sustainability of the downstream petroleum sector. “The oil industry is currently facing acute liquidity constra...

A military official from Pakistan has said that the country’s “resolute response” to India during the May 2025 conflict had effectively debunked the notion of space for war in South Asia. Commander I Corps Lieutenant General Nauman Zakria made these remarks during a special session at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday. In May 2025, a four-day conflict between Pakistan and India was sparked by an attack on tourists in occupied Kashmir, which New Delhi, without evidence, linked with Pakistan. Islamabad strongly denied responsibility while calling for a neutral investigation. After New Delhi launched deadly air strikes in Punjab and Azad Kashmir on May 7, Pakistan said it downed five Indian planes in air-to-air combat, later raising the tally to eight. After tit-for-tat strikes on each other’s airbases, it took American intervention on May 10 for both sides to finally reach a ceasefire. Speaking at the Shangri-La conference, Lieutenant General Zakria said strategic stability in South Asia remained...

Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon on Sunday urged the federal government to take notice of Indus River Systems Authority’s (Irsa) “unjust reduction of Sindh’s share” and ensure that Sindh received its rightful share of water. A 22 per cent water shortage has been persisting in Sindh for around the last 10 days as Irsa continues its efforts to “equalise shortages between Punjab and Sindh”. “We are adjusting excessive use [of water] by Sindh and trying to equalise shortages between the two provinces by June 10. Secondly, water position is not satisfactory in rivers. Now with the increase in temperature, it is hoped that we will be able to increase water releases shortly afterwards,” Irsa Director Operations Khalid Idrees Rana earlier told Dawn. But Sindh Senior Minister Memon posted on X that Irsa’s “continued disregard for Sindh’s legitimate concerns and the unjust reduction of Sindh’s share under the guise of ‘shortage equalisation’ is unacceptable and contrary to the spirit of the 1991 Water Apportionment ...

Power Minister Awais Leghari on Sunday said that “strict action” had been taken against a Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) line superintendent after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif complained of financial corruption. In an X post on Saturday, Asif said he had sought a former official’s help for the repair of a transformer in his domestic employee’s village. The minister alleged, “[Lesco] employees took Rs80,000 to repair the transformer. The villagers collected donations to pay the Lesco employees, but they were not given a receipt. “You can imagine the rest. This happens even when a former power minister, who is currently a cabinet member, intervenes. What will be a common consumer facing?” He reiterated that while the villagers had paid the amount, “Lesco refuses to give them a receipt”. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad today, Leghari referred to Asif’s statement and said, “The tweet is a source of pride for us as we believe in self-accountability.” He added that “strict action” has been taken...

The Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) said on Sunday that the city was facing a shortfall of 54 million gallons per day (MGD) after electricity supply to North East Karachi Pumping Station was disrupted due to a fault in K-Electric’s main cable. It also warned that this shortfall could increase if the cable was not repaired. The KWSC’s latest announcement came a day after an emergency power shutdown at the Dhabeji Pumping Station disrupted the water supply to several parts of the city. “Electricity supply by K-Electric (KE) to North East Karachi (NEK) Pumping Station was abruptly suspended at 3:27am on May 31, 2026. As a result, K-II pumping station’s operations were affected, and the water supply system was also partly affected,” KWSC said in a statement. The statement added that KE sent a technical team after being contacted by the KWSC. “KE officials confirmed that the power supply was cut off due to a fault in the main cable supplying electricity to the K-II pumping station,” it said, adding t...

RAWALPINDI/ ISLAMABAD: Six thousand Punjab police personnel are being deployed in Gilgit-Baltistan ahead of the June 7 election, it emerged on Sunday as the PTI reiterated its allegations of pre-poll rigging. Punjab authorities had initially approved the deployment of 5,000 personnel to GB and later gave the nod for the deployment of 1,000 more police personnel. The approval for the first 5,000 was notified in a memo by the Punjab assistant inspector general (operations), which stated: “5,000 police personnel have been placed at the disposal of Gilgit-Baltistan police for election security duty. According to the memo, the Punjab police personnel will be equipped with anti-riot gear, and each bus used for their travel to GB will be escorted by four armed police personnel. It said the motor transport department’s senior superintendent of police would make transport arrangements and select buses in good condition with fitness certificates for the purpose. The drivers deputed to transport the police personnel to ...

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Tehran insists no agreement is possible without guarantees of rights

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