Pakistan

El Niño will quickly develop into a strong event between July and September, fuelling the likelihood of extreme weather, the United Nations weather and climate agency warned on Friday. The World Meteorological Organisation said El Niño had already set in, and would quickly gain strength, as it warned countries to brace for impact. El Niño is a natural climate phenomenon that warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, bringing worldwide changes in winds, pressure and rainfall patterns. It typically takes place every two to seven years and lasts around nine to 12 months. Conditions oscillate between El Niño and its opposite La Niña, with neutral conditions in between. The WMO’s monthly Global Seasonal Climate Update points towards “a rapid development into a strong El Niño event during July-September”. The UN agency classifies El Niño events as weak, moderate, strong or very strong, meaning it is set to reach the third-highest level out of four. “El Niño conditions have deve...

MOHMAND: Two cops, including an additional station house officer (SHO), were martyred when Fitna al Khawarij terrorists attacked a police patrol in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mohmand district on Thursday night, according to police. Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. A police statement said the attack occurred near the Warsak Lift Canal in the Machni area within the jurisdiction of Ekkaghund police station, where a police mobile patrol came under heavy gunfire from the armed terrorists. It said Additional SHO Zaitullah and Elite Force constable Noor Zeb embraced martyrdom while responding to the onslaught. Meanwhile, the vehicle’s driver, Zahir, sustained serious injuries and was taken to Peshawar for further medical treatment after receiving initial care. The statement said the personnel responded swiftly and effectively, forcing the attackers to retreat. It added that according to verified official sources, several terrorists were reportedl...

• ECC approves 175,000 tonnes from 2026-27 crop • Defines ‘forced labour’ in line with ILO 1930 convention • Passco gets Rs4.188bn severance package ISLAMABAD: The government on Thursday decided to supply 175,000 tonnes of 100 per cent fresh indigenous wheat to Pakistan Army and approved defining ‘forced labour’ in compliance with requirements of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet, which also approved a Rs4.188bn severance package to the erstwhile Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) and auction of 8,198 tonnes of flood-damaged wheat. The Ministry of Defence had sought allocation of 175,000 tonnes of 100pc indigenous wheat only from 2026-27 crop, saying wheat flour was the main staple food in the army and had a direct bearing on the morale of troops deployed in challenging environments ranging from glacial to desert terrains. For the last four years, Passco had been supplying ...

• No reward points under SDRP • TTCIS also discontinued; banks to keep transfers free for users KARACHI: The State Bank has abolished the incentives paid to banks for increasing remittances, after the amount grew to a level that came under the IMF’s radar. The SBP issued a circular on Thursday announcing that the Sohni Dharti Remittance Programme (SDRP) had been discontinued. “No further reward points under SDRP will be awarded from the start of FY27, from July 1, 2026,” the SBP said. Accordingly, eligible transactions processed up to June 30, 2026, will be reported to 1LINK for the awarding of points under the scheme. Reward points already awarded and accumulated till June 30, 2026, will remain redeemable till the end of FY27, or June 30, 2027. “Thereafter, SDRP will become completely non-functional effective from July 1, 2027,” the SBP said. Meanwhile, the State Bank also discontinued the Telegraphic Transfer Charges Incentive Scheme, another incentive for banks. “It is informed that the TTCIS is discontinu...

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has resumed direct flights between Lahore and Manchester after six years, with the first flight from Punjab’s provincial capital taking off on Thursday. According to a statement issued by PIA, PK-709 departed from Lahore with 325 passengers on board. An inaugural ceremony was held at Lahore airport, where PIA Chief Operating Officer Khurram Mushtaq saw off the passengers, the statement said. Hours ago, the first flight destined for Lahore left Manchester on Wednesday night. The PIA statement said the resumption of flights on the Lahore-Manchester route would help strengthen “people-to-people ties” between the two countries. PIA now operates five weekly flights between Pakistan and Manchester, the statement said, adding that these included four flights from Islamabad and one from Lahore. Pakistani flights had been banned from flying to the European Union, the United Kingdom and the US in June 2020, after one of its aircraft crashed in Karachi, killing nearly 100 people on ...

Sabahat Khan says character building has always been and will always remain responsibility of teachers Lahore - Rashid Latif Khan University (RLKU), through its Department of Media and Communication Studies, established the Majid Nizami Chair to pay tribute to the outstanding journalistic, intellectual, and national contributions of.

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday reaffirmed his commitment to utilizing all available resources for the welfare and prosperity of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit Iran and Turkiye from July 3 to July 5, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Tahir Andrabi confirmed on Thursday. Addressing a weekly briefing, Andrabi said that during his visit to Iran, the premier would participate in the funeral of late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in US-Israeli strikes on February 28. The FO spokesperson said PM Shehbaz will travel to Iran first for Khamenei’s funeral. Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, cabinet members and senior officials will accompany the premier on his visit. “The prime minister will convey condolences on behalf of the people and government of Pakistan to the Iranian leadership and the bereaved families while reaffirming solidarity with the brotherly nation in their hour of profound grief,” he said. PM Shehbaz will then visit Istanbul at the invitation of Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Andrabi said. He added that the premier will “hold discussions on the entire gamut of bilateral re...

LAHORE: Police in the provincial capital on Thursday registered a case against five suspects on charges of kidnapping for ransom and sexually assaulting two foreign women. The Police Emergency Helpline 15 received a call from Spain, made by the father of one of the women, reporting the incident. The alleged victims, who are nationals of the Netherlands and Venezuela, had come to Pakistan to visit their ‘friends’. DIG Faisal Kamran told Dawn that police acted accordingly, dispatched a team of senior officials, recovered the women, arrested four suspects and lodged an FIR. He said the suspects had been tracked and apprehended with the help of the Punjab Safe City Authority’s cameras installed in the city. The recovered foreign women were later produced before a judicial magistrate at Cantonment Courts to record their statements under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. A women’s counsel for the victims was also present in the courtroom during the recording of their statements. The victims narrated th...

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said on Thursday it was closely monitoring internet traffic disruptions caused by a fault in the SEA-ME-WE 5 (SMW5) international submarine cable system, which was likely to cause intermittent degradation in service quality and connectivity. The telecom authority added that Transworld Associates (TWA) is coordinating with the SMW5 consortium to “identify the root cause of the fault” and determine the estimated time for restoration. According to its website, TWA is the only private-sector operator with exclusive ownership of submarine fibre-optic cable systems. “In the meantime, internet traffic is being rerouted through alternate international links to minimise the impact and ensure service continuity to the greatest extent possible,” the statement added. Meanwhile, TWA customers received an SMS apologising for the inconvenience and stating that there was a “technical fault” in one of its submarine cables. “Our technical teams are effectively working a...

Deputy Prime Minister/ Foreign Minister (DPM/FM), Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, on Thursday, while reviewing preparations for the 2027 SAARC Games in Pakistan, highlighted that the government has made a resolve to promote games and sports activities across the country, as such events would further strengthen the country’s soft image in the.

Germany’s ruling coalition has agreed on sweeping tax, labour and pension reforms, including scrapping the right to obtain sick notes by telephone to reduce worker absenteeism in the country. “We are working to increase the flexibility of our businesses,” Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday during a press conference in Berlin after lengthy talks between his centre-right CDU/CSU alliance and their coalition partners, the centre-left SPD. “We are working to cut red tape. We are working to protect our welfare state, and we are working to ease the burden on employees and companies by lowering taxes,” said Merz, who had promised a “great leap forward” for German growth. The package includes income tax cuts worth 10 billion euros ($11.4bn), to be financed by higher taxes on those earning more than 250,000 euros a year. And changes to the pension system will eventually see the retirement age rise past 67. “The highest earners in this country will take on a larger share” of the tax burden, said Finance Minister a...

Scaloni warns Argentina ahead of round of 32 clash

ISLAMABAD: Shehbaz Sharif will embark on official visits to Iran and Türkiye beginning Friday, according to an official statement.

Maryam, Afridi recount separate jail ordeals Four provinces back reform plan Supreme Court adopts Islamabad Decl

Demands dialogue with banned JAAC, review of election schedule

Islamabad may host next Iran-US talks

Says revenue collector exceeded Rs12.957tr target

WhatsApp admins not liable for every post

IED also injures 22; attack underscores Syria's fragile post-war security