Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and Japan on Tuesday signed a ¥379 million grant agreement in Islamabad to fund higher educa­tion for young civil officers under the 2025 Human Resource Development Scholarship Programme.

GENEVA: The UN warned on Tuesday that mass displacement in the West Bank had hit levels not seen since the start of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territory nearly 60 years ago. The United Nations said an Israeli military operation launched in the north of the occupied territory in January had displaced tens of thousands of people, raising concerns about possible “ethnic cleansing”. The military operation “has been the longest since … the second Intifada”, in the early 2000s, said Juliette Touma, spokeswoman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. “It is impacting several refugee camps in the area, and it is causing the largest population displacement of the Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967,” she told reporters in Geneva via video from Jordan, referring to the six-day Arab-Israeli war that led to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. The UN rights office meanwhile warned that mass forced displacement by an occupation force could amount to “ethnic cleansing”. Since Israel’s military launche...

LOWER DIR: The court of additional sessions judge in Samarbagh on Monday sentenced three men, including head of a seminary and his son, to life imprisonment in the rape and murder case of a seven-year-old girl in Jandol area. The convicted men include Maulana Ziaul Haq Haidari, his son Abu Bakar, and their bodyguard Sanaullah. The court handed down life terms, as well as additional sentences of 25 years, three years and two years, respectively, and imposed a fine of Rs500,000 on the convicts. The verdict comes more than a year after the tragic incident that sent shockwaves across the region. According to police and prosecution the girl had been living at an orphanage-cum-seminary in the Mandizo area of Jandol when she was reportedly assaulted and murdered. District prosecution office, led by DPP Rafiullah, pursued the case vigorously, while assistant public prosecutor Ubaidullah argued it in court. The FIR was registered at Munda police station on May 23, 2024, under sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape), and 201...

Torrential monsoon rains have caused widespread disruption across Lahore and several cities in Punjab since early Monday, claiming at least 10 lives and injuring 92 people in weather-related incidents.

RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and Indonesia have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation and explore new avenues in economic, strategic, and defence sectors.

Secy Gen Salman Raja takes Punjab PTI chief Aliya Hamza to task for her controversial tweet Rejecting KP CM’s 90-day deadline to govt, Raja says party will announce anti-govt movement only on Imran’s instructions Aleema says PTI founder will take strict action if party leaders do not bury.

ISLAMABAD - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, strongly advocated for regional peace, mutual respect, and multilateralism while warning against rising trends of unilateral aggression, as he addressed the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers in Tianjin, China.

Islamabad - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed authorities concerned to recruit teachers and staff purely on merit in Daanish schools and offer a handsome salary package to the teaching faculty.

ISLAMABAD - President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Tuesday, where both the leaders reiterated their commitment to working together for the country’s stability, development, and prosperity.

ISLAMABAD - The court has extended the interim bails of PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has announced the establishment of the CM Health Vigilance Squad to monitor government hospitals across the province, directing that action be taken within 24 hours on any deficiencies highlighted in inspection reports.

LAHORE: As many as nine people lost their lives and 92 others were injured in rain-related incidents in different areas of Punjab during the last 24 hours. According to Rescue1122, three minors died and 17 others were injured in separate incidents in Bahawalnagar, while two teenagers, including a girl, died and 12 injured in Okara in different rain-related incidents. Meanwhile, three persons died and eight others were injured in Lahore, three were injured in Pakpattan, and four in Sahiwal during the province-wide rains. According to the emergency service, in some other rain-related incidents, a man died and three others were injured in Bhakkar. It says two persons were injured in Faisalabad, while as many others in Muzaffargarh during the last 24 hours. It says four persons were injured in Toba Tek Singh, three in Kasur, two in Dera Ghazi Khan, and one each in Rajanpur, Sialkot and Mianwali in rain-related incidents. More rains forecast for the province Meanwhile, the weather in Lahore turned pleasant after m...

ISLAMABAD: In a reference filed by the Natio­nal Assembly Speaker, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tues­day disqualified member of the National Assembly (MNA) Jamshed Dasti for holding a fake intermediate degree. The three-member ben­ch was headed by Nisar Ahmad Durra­­ni, with Shah Mohammad Jatoi and Justice (retd) Ik­­ram Ullah Khan as members. However, PTI has criticised the election watchdog alleging that it did not de-seat the PML-N president for submitting a “fake” consent affidavit, claiming that PTI MNA Adil Khan Bazai had joined the PML-N. The party claimed that a genuinely elected public representative and a staunch supporter of Imran Khan had been disqualified unjustly. A three-member ECP bench declared Mr Dasti’s seat vacant after finding him guilty of submitting a fake degree. The bench ruled that the MNA had committed an offence pu­­nishable under the Elec­tion Act, recommending legal action against him. It is worth mentioning that Mr Dasti, elected from NA-175 during the current te...

ISLAMABAD - The federal government has announced yet another hike in fuel prices, raising the rates of petrol by Rs 5.

ISLAMABAD - Jamshed Dasti, the opposition MNA famous for his bombastic statements and rowdy behaviour in and outside the parliament, was disqualified was as MNA for holding a fake degree.

KARACHI: A man was killed over so-called honour in Sharifabad on Tuesday evening, police said. Central SSP Zeeshan Shafiq Siddiqi told Dawn that Ahmed Afzal, 30, was stabbed to death inside an apartment at Al-Karam Square, Block-4. The police have arrested the suspect, Farrukh, and recovered the knife used in the incident. The SSP said that as per an initial probe, the held suspect killed Afzal for having alleged illicit relations with his wife. The suspect’s wife was also taken into custody for interrogation. The body was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities. Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2025

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday gave the federal government 30 days to constitute a commission to investigate misuse of blasphemy law. The order came during the hearing of a case seeking the formation of such a commission Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, while hearing the case, ordered that the commission should complete its work within four months. However, he allowed the commission to seek an extension from the court, if required. While concluding the hearing, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan said the court’s primary task was to determine whether there were sufficient grounds to form a commission. Satisfied with the arguments, he ordered the government to form the commission within 30 days and instructed that it must submit its findings within four months. Any request for an extension must be brought before the court. IHC judge concerned by ‘disappearance’ of woman believed to be a central figure in a number of related cases The judge also expressed concern over the disappearance of a woma...

• Party now has the same number of seats as JUI-F, making it eligible for another reserved seat • ECP allows PML-N to count independent ‘notified’ later among its tally, rejects similar plea from PTI-P • ANP also denied relief, told allocation is calculated on basis of general seats, not by-election ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan has decided to allow the PML-N to retain a general assembly seat while rejecting a similar request by the PTI-Parliamentarians, saying it was not supported by the law. In its decision on a case about the allocation of reserved seats in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, announced on Tuesday, the commission provided relief to the ruling party that had sought a greater share in the KP Assembly reserved seats on the basis of the additional general seat handed to the PML-N, which was initially declared to be held by an independent candidate. The announcement followed a Peshawar High Court order, asking the ECP to redistribute reserved seats in the provincial assembly. With ...

SUKKUR: Five unidentified bodies, which after rise in water level came with the flow, were taken out at Sukkur Barrage the other day. According to details, in a single day, five bodies were spotted stuck in different gates of Sukkur Barrage. The Rohri police, with the help of Rescue 1122 divers, could only retrieve one body due to a jurisdictional dispute between Sukkur and Rohri police. The body, which was retrieved from Gate No. 62, was transferred to Rohri Taluka Hospital. Due to the dispute, two bodies remained trapped in Gate No-35 and one each in Gate No.27 and Gate No.46. Later, those bodies were taken out when the district administration, along with the Rescue 1122 divers, arrived at Sukkur Barrage. The bodies had started decomposing. Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2025

ISLAMABAD: The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has introduced an extensive awareness initiative across Pakistan to educate citizens on the registration process for its dynamic survey, a pivotal passage to access financial assistance under the Benazir Kafalat Program, ARY News reported. The Benazir Kafalat Program was launched in 2008 and has been a top initiative […]