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  • Aurangzeb reaffirms govt’s commitment to consultative policy framework
    Dawn - 10:04 Jul 09, 2025
    Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Wednesday reaffirmed the government’s commitment to maintaining a consultative policy framework as the Pakistan Business Council (PBC) transitioned its leadership. Aurangzeb met with a delegation of the PBC led by outgoing Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ehsan Malik and incoming CEO Javed Kureishi at the Finance Division, the division said in a press release. The minister welcomed the PBC’s transition in leadership and extended his full support to the incoming team, reaffirming the government’s commitment to maintaining an inclusive and ongoing consultative process with key stakeholders in the business community. During the meeting, Aurangzeb appreciated the constructive role played by the PBC, particularly acknowledging the value of its policy input, research, and the extensive sectoral data regularly shared with the government. He underscored the importance of evidence-based policymaking and informed the delegation that the Tax Policy Office had been relocated from the F...
    Tags: Aurangzeb
  • Chinese air chief commends PAF’s ‘exemplary performance’ during Pak-India conflict
    Dawn - 09:48 Jul 09, 2025
    Chinese air force chief Lieutenant General Wang Gang has lauded the “exemplary performance” of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) during the Pakistan-India conflict in May. As New Delhi launched deadly air strikes on Pakistan in early May over allegations about the Pahalgam attack, which Islamabad denied, PAF downed six Indian jets in retaliation. 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. The praise from Lt Gen Gang came as a high-level defence delegation led by him called on PAF’s Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu at Air Headquarters in Islamabad, the military’s media affairs wing said in a press release on Tuesday. “Lauding the professional acumen and strategic foresight of PAF’s leadership, the visiting dignitary paid rich tribute to the exemplary performance of Pakistan Air Force during the recent conflict with India,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) stated. Gen Wang, chief of the People’s Liberati...
    Tags: Chinese
  • Armed attackers kill 3 in KP’s Tank: police
    Dawn - 08:08 Jul 09, 2025
    Three people, including two brothers, were killed inside their house by armed attackers in the Mulazai area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district in the early hours of Wednesday, police said. Public Relations Officer (PRO) to the Tank District Police Officer Ahmad Khan told Dawn.com, “The incident took place in the Mulazai village where armed men entered the victims’ house and opened indiscriminate fire on them. As a result, three people, including two brothers, were killed.” According to Khan, initial reports suggested that the incident was related to old enmity. A first information report (FIR) was lodged under sections 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 302 (punishment of murder) and 324 (attempt to commit murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code against six suspects and further interrogation into the case has begun. The FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, was registered on the complaint of the...
    Tags: Tank
  • Saudi Arabia and Iran hold talks after Tehran’s truce with Israel
    Dawn - 07:34 Jul 09, 2025
    Iran’s foreign minister has held talks with Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, the Saudi foreign ministry said, two weeks after a ceasefire between regional rivals Iran and Israel began. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said his country hoped the truce would contribute to regional stability, and emphasised Riyadh’s position “in supporting dialogue through diplomatic means as a path to resolving disputes,” the ministry said in a post on X early on Wednesday. According to the Saudi ministry, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi “expressed his gratitude” to Riyadh for its condemnation of Israel’s attacks on Iran last month. Israel launched its unprecedented bombing campaign on Iran on June 13, targeting military and nuclear facilities as well as residential areas. The strikes killed more than 1,000 people in Iran, including senior military commanders and nuclear scientists, according to Tehran. Israel, in turn, was hit by waves of drone and missile fire from Iran, which Israeli authorities said left at lea...
    Tags: Saudi Arabia Iran Israel Tehran
  • UAE denies granting lifetime Golden Visas to certain nationalities
    Dawn - 06:54 Jul 09, 2025
    The United Arab Emirates (UAE) late on Tuesday night denied widespread media reports that claimed it had begun granting lifetime Golden Visas to select nationalities under a “new nomination-based” scheme, according to the Emirates News Agency (WAM). The Golden Visa is a long-term residence visa that enables foreign talent to live, work, or study in the UAE while enjoying a range of exclusive benefits. According to the UAE government’s official portal, eligible categories include investors, entrepreneurs, scientists, outstanding students and graduates, humanitarian pioneers, and frontline heroes. This week, several Indian media outlets, including The Press Trust of India and The Hindu, reported that the UAE government had initiated a “new nomination-based visa policy”, allowing Indians to “enjoy the UAE’s Golden Visa for life by paying a fee of AED100,000”. Meanwhile, Times of India reported that the newly launched scheme was in its pilot phase and was currently available to applicants from both India and Bang...
    Tags: Golden Visas
  • Govt announces Independence Day to be celebrated under theme of ‘Marka-i-Haq’
    Dawn - 19:05 Jul 08, 2025
    Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday said that this year’s Independence Day would be celebrated under the banner of “Marka-i-Haq” (Battle of Truth) to demonstrate the nation’s resilience, progress, and pride. The Pakistan Army had named the period of conflict with India since the April 22 Pahalgam attack to the May 10 conclusion of Operation Bunyanum Marsoos as “Marka-i-Haq” in May. The military confrontation between India and Pakistan came as the former blamed Islamabad for the April 22 Pahalgam attack without evidence. On the night of May 6-7, New Delhi launched a series of air strikes on Pakistan, resulting in civilian casualties. Both sides then exchanged missiles, which stretched over the week. It took a US-brokered ceasefire for both sides to finally drop their guns. Iqbal presided over a preliminary meeting today under the prime minister’s directions to celebrate this year’s Independence Day with “full national spirit and renewed resolve”. Senior representatives from the Inter-Services Public Relat...
    Tags: Marka-i-Haq Independence
  • Iran says it has not requested US talks since war
    Dawn - 18:00 Jul 08, 2025
    Iran said on Tuesday it has not made any request for talks with the United States, after President Donald Trump said Tehran was seeking negotiations following last month’s war with Israel. “No request for a meeting has been made on our side to the American side,” said Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei, according to Tasnim news agency. Trump said on Monday that Iran was seeking talks with the US and that they had been scheduled, without specifying the time or the location. “We have scheduled Iran talks. They want to talk,” Trump told reporters in the White House, where he was meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “They want to meet. They want to work something out. They’re very different now than they were two weeks ago.” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also reiterated Tehran’s position, rejecting talks at this stage. “Although Iran has in recent days received messages indicating that the US may be ready to return to negotiations, how can we trust further engagement...
    Tags: Iran
  • ICC seeks arrest of Taliban supremo, Afghan chief justice over persecution of women
    Dawn - 17:45 Jul 08, 2025
    The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for senior Taliban leaders in Afghanistan over the persecution of women, a crime against humanity. ICC judges said in a statement there were “reasonable grounds” to suspect Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and chief justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani “have committed … the crime against humanity of persecution … on gender grounds”. “While the Taliban have imposed certain rules and prohibitions on the population as a whole, they have specifically targeted girls and women by reason of their gender, depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms,” the court said. The court said the alleged crimes had been committed between August 15, 2021, when the Taliban seized power and continued until at least January 20, 2025. The Taliban had “severely deprived” girls and women of the rights to education, privacy and family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion, ICC judges said. “In addition, other persons were...
    Tags: Taliban
  • Trump faces MAGA meltdown over Epstein reversal after govt says sex offender did not have ‘client list’
    Dawn - 17:40 Jul 08, 2025
    United States President Donald Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) base is up in arms after his administration effectively shut down conspiracy theories related to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that had become an obsession for the US president’s diehard supporters. Trump’s Justice Department and the FBI said in a memo made public on Sunday that there was no evidence that the disgraced financier kept a “client list” or was blackmailing powerful figures. They also dismissed the claim that Epstein was murdered in jail, confirming his death by suicide, and said they would not be releasing any more information on the probe. It marked the first time Trump’s officials had publicly scotched the stories, pushed by numerous right-wing figures, notably including the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) top two officials, before Trump hired them. The backlash was swift and brutal from his “Make America Great Again” movement — who have long held as an article of faith that “Deep State” elites were protecti...
    Tags: Epstein MAGA Trump
  • Fact check: Rana Sanaullah said Pakistan should follow the Muslim world’s position on the Abraham Accords
    Dawn - 17:10 Jul 08, 2025
    Posts from users on social media platform X on July 3 shared a post from digital media outlet Siasat.pk that attributed a statement to Adviser to the Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah that Pakistan should follow the Arab position on the Abraham Accords. However, the PML-N leader actually said that Pakistan should follow the position of the Muslim world on the issue. The Israeli offensive, which began in response to Hamas’s unprecedented attack on October 7, 2023, has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians and destroyed much of the housing and hospital infrastructure in the enclave. The Abraham Accords, brokered by the United States in 2020, are landmark agreements for diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab nations, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. These accords paved the way for formal ties, such as embassies and trade deals, underpinned by mutual interests in security, economic collaboration, and technology exchange. While celebrated as a diplomatic shift in the Middle ...
    Tags: Abraham Accords Pakistan Muslim
  • Two drown in KP as flash floods hit province, GB
    Dawn - 16:47 Jul 08, 2025
    Two boys drowned in the Indus River in the Torghar district and Jabba nullah of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mansehra, while the Karakoram Highway was blocked due to heavy landsliding in the Gligit-Baltistan’s Gonar farm and Mola Dad Pari area on Tuesday. Due to a significant rise in temperature, accelerating snow and glacier melt have triggered flash floods and landslides in various areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan. Amid heavy monsoon rains, the National Emergencies Operation Centre on Monday issued an alert for heavy rainfall and a flood-like situation in various parts of the country over the next two days, while 19 people lost their lives in Balochistan, KP and the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi due to the extreme weather. Mansehra Rescue 1122 Spokesperson Amir Khadam told Dawn.com, “An eight-year-old boy, Ibrahim, drowned in the Jabba nullah due to a sudden surge in the water flow in a dried stream.” He said the search for the drowned boy continued, and Rescue 1122 teams were making effor...
  • Govt approves four potential bidders for struggling PIA
    Dawn - 16:32 Jul 08, 2025
    The government said on Tuesday it had approved four parties, including business groups and a military-backed firm, to potentially bid for a stake in debt-ridden Pakistan International Airlines. The government has been seeking to sell a 51-100 per cent stake in the struggling national airline to raise funds and reform cash-draining, state-owned enterprises as envisaged under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund programme. It would be the country’s first major privatisation in nearly two decades. Among the bidding groups, one is a consortium of major industrial firms Lucky Cement, Hub Power Holdings, Kohat Cement and Metro Ventures. Another is led by investment firm Arif Habib Corp and includes fertiliser producer Fatima Fertiliser, private education operator The City School, and real estate firm Lake City Holdings. Additionally, Fauji Fertiliser Company, a military-backed conglomerate, and Pakistani airline Airblue have been approved to bid for PIA. “The pre-qualified parties will now proceed to the buy-si...
  • German court rules at-risk Afghan family must be given visas
    Dawn - 15:54 Jul 08, 2025
    A German court ruled on Tuesday that the government must issue visas to an Afghan family previously accepted under a programme for those at risk after the Taliban seized power in 2021. The new government under conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz has frozen the programme, but Berlin’s administrative court said the family had been given a “legally binding” commitment and must be allowed to travel to Germany. About 2,500 Afghans with similar approvals are estimated to be in Pakistan waiting to be able to travel to Germany. The programme was set up for those who worked with Germany’s army or other institutions in Afghanistan, as well as journalists and activists judged to be threatened by the Taliban. However, the new government under Merz — who made a crackdown on immigration one of his key election pledges — has said in its coalition agreement it wants to end the programme “as far as possible”. The family concerned by Tuesday’s decision is currently in Pakistan and had lodged an urgent appeal, telling the co...
    Tags: German Afghan
  • Govt approves sugar import of upto 500,000 tonnes to maintain ‘affordable prices’
    Dawn - 15:27 Jul 08, 2025
    The federal government on Tuesday approved the import of half a million tonnes of sugar in a bid to maintain affordable prices of the commodity. A day earlier, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar had emphasised the need for a coordinated policy approach to ensure market stability for essential commodities and food items. He chaired a committee meeting today to assess the sugar situation in the country and evaluate import requirements. “The committee approved the import of up to 500,000 metric tonnes of sugar to ensure a stable supply and maintain affordable prices nationwide,” said a statement posted on X. Dar stressed the government’s commitment towards “price stability and safeguarding consumer interests”, the statement said. The meeting was attended by the food minister, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Tariq Bajwa, the secretary of the food ministry, senior officials from the Ministry of Industries and Production, and industry representatives. The Ministry of National Food Security...
  • Justice Dogar, 3 others take oath as regular high court CJs
    Dawn - 14:54 Jul 08, 2025
    Justice Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and the three acting chief justices of the high courts took their oaths on Tuesday as the regular top judges. The oath-taking ceremonies were held a day after President Asif Ali Zardari appointed them, based on the nominations by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP). President Zardari administered the oath of office to Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar, who has been serving in an acting capacity since February, during a ceremony held at Aiwan-i-Sadr in Islamabad. The ceremony was attended by IHC judges, Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, ministers, parliamentarians and the legal fraternity, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. View this post on Instagram The development comes less than a month after the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench, by a majority of 3-2, upheld the constitutionality of transferring three judges from other provincial high courts to the IHC and referred the matter of seniority determinati...
  • 29 schoolchildren, driver injured after van skids off road in AJK
    Dawn - 14:31 Jul 08, 2025
    At least 29 schoolchildren and their driver were injured after a van plunged off a treacherous hilly road in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Tuesday, police said. Fatal accidents are common on roads in the mountainous regions of the country due to traffic rule violations, treacherous terrain and poor infrastructure. The van, carrying boys and girls from the private Islamia Public School in Chikar, was returning students to their homes when it met with the accident near a spot known as Tambrial Mor, Jhelum Superintendent of Police (SP) Mirza Zahid Hussain told Dawn.com. Chikar, a town and hill station in AJK’s Jhelum Valley district, is situated at an altitude of 5,272 feet above sea level and lies about 46 kilometres from Muzaffarabad, the state capital. As a winter resort, Chikar’s educational institutions do not observe extended summer vacations, unlike other areas. “It is assumed that after negotiating a bend, the vehicle went out of the driver’s control and fell down the road, causing injuries to almost e...
  • Implementation of CM’s orders: Punjab to set up health vigilance squad
    Dawn - 13:16 Jul 08, 2025
    LAHORE: The Punjab government has decided to set up ‘Chief Minister Health Vigilance Squad’ in the province, besides banning the use of mobile phones by nurses and paramedics. Presiding over a meeting here on Monday, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz also directed implementation of ‘Red & Blue Code Emergency System’ in the hospitals across the province. She ordered that doctors at the public hospitals should be trained in the use of the code system. “The CM Health Vigilance Squad will visit the hospitals and review implementation of the directives of Ms Nawaz,” the meeting was told. The chief minister also directed provision of ventilators for children and adults in every teaching and district headquarters hospital. She reviewed the plan to deploy trained doctors in the districts in a phased manner, besides setting up catheterisation laboratories in the hospitals. Nurses, paramedics barred from using mobile phones She underscored the presence of consultants and heart surgeons in the district headquarters hospitals ...
  • Islamabad court orders blocking of 27 YouTube channels on NCCIA’s request
    Dawn - 13:01 Jul 08, 2025
    An Islamabad court ordered the blocking of 27 YouTube channels for allegedly airing anti-state content and spreading “false, misleading and fake” information, it emerged on Tuesday. The federal government established the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) to probe illegal activities on social med­ia. The NCCIA, operating under the Interior Divi­sion, has a key role in combatting cybercrime in Pakistan. Sub-Inspector (SI) Waseem Khan of the NCCIA’s Cyber Crime Circle informed the Islamabad judicial magistrate on June 24 that under Section 37 (unlawful online content) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, the department was conducting an inquiry regarding 27 “Youtube channels who are involved in disseminating and propagating fake and misleading information against the state Institutions which is likely to cause fear, panic, disorder or unrest in the general public or society along with defamatory and fake remarks/information, which violates the privacy and harms the dignity of the off...
    Tags: NCCIA Islamabad YouTube
  • Heavy rain expected countrywide over next two days: PMD
    Dawn - 12:11 Jul 08, 2025
    The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Tuesday issued an alert for heavy rainfall in several parts of the country, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northeast Punjab, Azad Kashmir and parts of Balochistan, for the next two days. Monsoon rains fall across the region from June to September, offering respite from the summer heat. They are crucial to replenishing water supplies and agriculture, and therefore the livelihoods of millions of farmers and food security. However, they also wreak havoc by triggering deadly floods, landslides and displacement, particularly in vulnerable, poorly drained, or densely populated areas. At least 19 people lost their lives in Balochistan, KP, and the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi due to rain-related incidents in the past two days. An alert by the National Emergencies Operation Centre (NEOC) about a possible flood-like situation in various parts of the country has prompted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to order the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to ...
  • PM appoints Qatari princess as brand ambassador after she scales Nanga Parbat
    Dawn - 11:59 Jul 08, 2025
    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday appointed Qatari mountaineer and royal family member Sheikha Asma Al Thani as the brand ambassador for Pakistan’s mountains and tourism after she recently successfully summited Nanga Parbat, the ninth-highest mountain on Earth located in Gilgit-Baltistan region. Known as the “Killer Mountain,” the 8,126-metre-high peak is considered one of the world’s most dangerous climbs due to its severe weather conditions and rough terrain. In a post on X, the premier felicitated Sheikha Asma on the achievement. “I am pleased to appoint Her Highness Sheikha Asma Al Thani as the Brand Ambassador for Pakistan’s mountains and tourism. “My heartfelt felicitations to Her Highness on her recent feat of scaling Nanga Parbat. It is truly inspiring,” he wrote. “Her achievement sends a powerful message of courage and determination, and stands as a testament to the enduring friendship between Pakistan and Qatar,” he added. In a post on Instagram, Sheikha Asma described the relentless challeng...
    Tags: Qatari Nanga Parbat

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