Pakistan

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Information Technology Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja on Sunday stressed the need for the proposed changes to telecommunication laws, as the existing legal framework did not meet the demands of modern technologies such as 5G. The proposed Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organisation) (Amendment) Bill 2026 had been approved by the National Assembly on June 11, but amid controversy over its multiple clauses, a special committee has suggested major changes to its language. Addressing a press conference alongside Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar in Islamabad today, Khawaja noted the proposed bill sought to amend the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organisation) Act of 1996, which she said no longer adequately addressed the requirements of modern digital technologies. Highlighting the rationale behind the proposed amendments, Khawaja said the existing telecommunications law was enacted when 2G technology was in use and was no longer sufficient to meet the demands of modern technologies such as 5G and next-generation di...

QUETTA: Eight tribesmen and a young girl were killed in separate incidents in Balochistan on Sunday, including an armed attack in Qila Abdullah and a clash in Dera Bugti, officials said. In the first incident, a senior police official said that a group of armed men entered the Killi Badawan area and began firing on their opponents, which resulted in the death of four tribesmen and a young girl. The four tribesmen died on the spot after receiving multiple bullet injuries, while the young girl succumbed to her wounds when taken to Quetta for treatment. The official added that before fleeing the area, the armed men fired “hundreds” of bullets in the air. A heavy contingent of police and law enforcement agencies reached the site of the incident and launched an operation to trace the perpetrators. Police said the armed attack stemmed from an old enmity as the aggrieved party had killed six persons of the attackers some time ago. One of the attackers was also quoted as declaring on the spot, “We have taken revenge ...

Opec+ has agreed a further increase in output targets from August, the group said in a statement on Sunday, adding to global supply at a time when oil prices are falling due to the gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz for oil exports. The oil-producing group agreed during an online meeting to increase quotas by 188,000 barrels per day from August, on top of similar increases for June and July. The seven core members of Opec+, which groups Opec and allied producers including Russia, have hiked their output quotas from April through July by almost 800,000 bpd. Yet the increase has remained largely on paper because of the US-Israeli war on Iran, which closed the Strait of Hormuz to tanker traffic for some of the most important Opec+ members, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq. Production begins to recover Opec+ output fell to 33.13 million bpd in May, according to Opec data, from 42.77m bpd in February. It began to recover in June thanks to US efforts to help the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other Op...

Babar Azam has been named captain of the Test squads for the tours of both West Indies and England, the Pakistan Men’s National Selection Committee announced on Sunday. A 16-member squad has been named for the West Indies series, while a 17-member squad has been announced for the England series. The announcement was made during a press conference at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Sunday, while the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the squad lineup in a press release. Pakistan will play a two-match Test series against the West Indies from July 25 to August 6, followed by a three-match Test series in England from August 19 to September 13. The PCB statement added that left-arm spinner Ali Usman, right-handed batter Muhammad Awais Zafar, right-arm fast bowler Ubaid Shah and wicket-keeper batter Muhammad Ghazi Ghori are the uncapped players in the squad. Previously, sources had reported that several key decision-makers were not in favour of either reinstating Azam as captain or handing the additional r...

As part of its plans to strengthen weather forecasting and disaster preparedness, the government has allocated Rs1.6 billion to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) for the fiscal year 2026-27. The government plans to do so through a series of projects and policy initiatives detailed in the Annual Plan 2026-27 released last month. The Rs1.6bn allocation includes Rs344 million for the proposed National Centre for Rainfall Enhancement to support water security, climate adaptation and agricultural productivity. Weather surveillance radar projects in Multan and Sukkur have been earmarked Rs195m and Rs5m, respectively, to improve real-time weather monitoring and early warning capabilities. Another Rs1bn has been allocated for the modernisation of Hydromet Services in Pakistan project, which aims to upgrade hydrometeorological infrastructure, improve forecasting accuracy and strengthen climate-related data systems. The Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination was to receive Rs2.48bn under t...

A Pakistan Air Force officer was shot dead after intervening to rescue a woman during an alleged abduction attempt on Islamabad's Ninth Avenue, police and initial reports said.

KHANEWAL: A coach of the Lahore-to-Karachi Shalimar Express derailed near Khanewal Railway Station on Sunday, causing a delay of around one hour, while all passengers remained safe, according to Pakistan Railways.

Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes killed nearly 3,000, updated official figures showed on Saturday, as international rescue teams began winding down search operations for survivors in the rubble of the disaster. Fatalities jumped by more than 300 from Friday to 2,954, following the June 24 disaster that has left thousands homeless in the streets and sheltering in camps. Tens of thousands more are still reported missing. The government has not given any estimates, but the United Nations has estimated as many as 50,000 are unaccounted for following the 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude shocks. One of Latin America’s worst earthquake disasters hit hardest in the coastal La Guaira area north of the capital, Caracas, where scores of residential complexes were flattened. Ten days after the double shocks, which came just 38 seconds apart, rescue teams are starting to wrap up searches for survivors while families still try to recover bodies of loved ones from the wreckage. The critical window for rescues in disasters like...

Federal Minister for Information Technology Shaza Fatima Khawaja has clarified that the proposed Telecom Bill will not permit the forced occupation of private land or property, rejecting allegations surrounding the legislation as baseless.

Police have arrested another suspect in the murder of a man in Karachi's Ibrahim Hyderi area, revealing that he is also the victim's son and allegedly helped plan the killing.

LAHORE: The Punjab government has decided to suspend the driving licences of motorists operating smoke-emitting vehicles as part of an intensified campaign to curb air pollution and reduce smog in Lahore.

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to ban conventional disposable syringes nationwide as part of efforts to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases caused by the reuse of syringes.

The leadership of the Pakistan armed forces paid tribute to Captain Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed for his “unmatched courage, unwavering devotion, and supreme sacrifice” on the 27th anniversary of his martyrdom, the military’s media wing said on Sunday. Khan was martyred on July 5, 1999, while fighting against Indian forces in the snow-capped mountains in Kargil. The Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) said that Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf, and Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu and the armed forces of Pakistan paid “profound tribute” to Khan to his “unmatched courage, unwavering devotion, and supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation”. Khan had displayed “extraordinary gallantry and resolute leadership while defending the motherland against overwhelming odds” during the 1999 Kargil conflict, the ISPR statement said. “Leading from the front with exceptional determination, he embraced martyrdom in the finest trad...

Hit by the biggest energy supply shock in decades during the Middle East war, import-dependent India is expanding domestic crude exploration, its oil minister says. India, the world’s third-largest importer of oil and the second-largest buyer of liquefied petroleum gas, faced major disruptions due to restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz during the conflict between the United States and Iran. With a temporary US-Iran deal in place to pause hostilities, oil and gas shipments are flowing through the Gulf waterway again, and restrictions and price hikes in India are being rolled back. But Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said the energy crunch provided fresh impetus for India’s expansion of domestic supplies. “We are currently in the process… to bid out about 250,000 square kilometres (96,500 square miles) of unexplored area,” Puri told AFP. India is a modest producer in global terms. Domestic crude production in 2025-2026 was 25.98 million metric tonnes, according to the oil ministry. Tha...

US President Donald Trump’s visit to Ankara for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) summit could help secure Turkiye’s acquisition of dozens of fighter jet engines, but won’t resolve the F-35 dispute that has soured ties, analysts say. The July 7-8 summit, which is being hosted by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will bring together leaders from the military alliance’s 32 member states. Last month, Trump promised to make Erdogan “very happy” when asked about Turkiye looking to secure F110 jet engines and being readmitted to the F-35 fighter jet programme. Analysts said it would likely mean freeing up fighter jet engines Turkiye wants to use in its flagship KAAN stealth fighter project. “It’s likely to be the green light for the F110 GE engines for the KAAN fighter plane, about 40 of them. There had been obstacles to that supply and very possibly those are now being removed,” Sinan Ulgen, director of the Istanbul-based Edam think tank, told AFP. “Turkey has produced a couple of prototypes which are fl...

SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: Three girls were killed and four other members of the same family were injured in a suspected quadcopter attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lower South Waziristan early on Sunday morning, according to local sources. Munitions were suspected to have been dropped by a quadcopter drone on the house in the Nargasi area of Birmal tehsil, the sources said. The incident reportedly occurred at the residence of a member of the Dinor subtribe. The deceased were identified as three girls aged between six and 15, while the injured include one woman and three young boys who sustained varying degrees of injuries. Residents rushed to the scene immediately after the incident and launched rescue efforts before shifting the injured to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital in Wana for medical treatment. Hospital sources said the victims were receiving treatment, while medical staff continued to monitor their condition. No official statement has been issued by the relevant authorities as yet. Officials have also...

The lion at the animal sanctuary after rescue.—Dawn KARACHI: A lion whose distress image went viral on social media after being discovered in a private zoo in Nazimabad has been rescued and safely moved to an animal sanctuary, it emerged on Saturday. “The lion was in bad shape so we had to get him out of the private zoo first in an emergency. There are still other animals that are in line to also be moved out of the place,” animal activist Jude Allen told Dawn. He said that the lion was lucky to have a chain of events take place in his favour, the most important of which was the arrival of Sana Raja, a highly experienced wildlife rescuer and behaviourist with extensive fieldwork and training including exposure to advanced conservation practices in South Africa, in Karachi. Allen got to know her during her previous mission of the rescue and rehabilitation of Rano, a Himalayan bear. “This time she was back in the city after successfully rescuing another two bears from abusive captivity in Islamabad who, on the ...

United States President Donald Trump hailed America on its 250th birthday on Saturday as the “crowning achievement” of human history, even as he used the event to renew his attack on domestic opponents he branded communists. In a speech delayed by several hours when storms forced the temporary evacuation of crowds in Washington, Trump claimed that under his presidency the United States was “prouder than ever before”. While Trump had promised a huge political rally to stamp his brand on the national celebrations, the 80-year-old Republican largely stuck to a more traditionally patriotic script. “For two and a half centuries, our American republic has stood as the crowning achievement of human history,” Trump told tens of thousands of people on the National Mall. On stage, he hailed also veterans from World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars. But he then hailed the latter two as examples of the battle against “communists” — reprising his message from his speech on Friday night at the iconic Mount Rushmore m...

• Another prosecutor greenlights IO to file charge sheet in court without including judicial commission’s report • Four members of shopping plaza’s management committee and owner of artificial flower shop will also face trial KARACHI: An 11-year-old boy is set to be tried in a court of law for igniting a fire at the Gul Plaza Shopping Centre on Jan 17 that resulted in the deaths of 72 persons. This was stated in a charge sheet filed in court by the investigating officer of the Gul Plaza fire case through in charge district prosecutor Abdul Razzaq Gujjar on Saturday. Only on Friday, another prosecutor had returned the charge sheet to the IO, asking him to remove certain defects he pointed out and include the report of a judicial commission. However, prosecutor Gujjar gave the go-ahead to the IO to file the charge sheet as the judicial commission’s report can be filed at a later stage. According to the charge sheet, 72 people had lost their lives, eight sustained injuries and 1,153 shops were gutted in the deva...