Pakistan

Pakistan’s Men’s Hockey U-18 Asia Cup dream came to an end as Japan won the final 3-0 on Sunday in Dazhou, China. The final score of the match was 3-0, with Japan’s Yuma Fujiwara scoring goals in the 22nd and 38th minutes of the game and Tatsuaki Yasui converting a penalty corner to score in the 49th minute. Pakistan had secured their place in the finals of the U-18 Asia Cup with a penalty shootout victory over Malaysia, maintaining an unbeaten streak in the tournament till the final. View this post on Instagram Both teams drew 3-3 in regular time, forcing the game to a penalty shootout, which Pakistan clinched 4-3. Before beating Malaysia, Pakistan had beaten hosts China 2-1 to qualify for the semi-final. They also defeated Bangladesh (6-3), Sri Lanka (9-0) and Hong Kong (8-0) during their campaign. Last month, New Zealand beat Pakistan 6-2 in the final of the FIH Nations Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, retaining their title. Pakistan is also reviewing the security situation in India before taking a call on s...

The succession of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is a thorn in China-India relations, the Chinese embassy in New Delhi said on Sunday, as India’s foreign minister prepares to visit China for the first time since deadly border clashes in 2020. Ahead of celebrations this month for his 90th birthday that were attended by senior Indian ministers, the head of Tibetan Buddhists riled China again by saying it had no role in his succession. Tibetans believe the soul of any senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated after his death, but China says the Dalai Lama’s succession will also have to be approved by its leaders. The Dalai Lama has been living in exile in India since 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet, and Indian foreign relations experts say his presence gives New Delhi leverage against China. Yu Jing, a Chinese embassy spokesperson, said on X that some people from strategic and academic communities in India had made “improper remarks” on the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Yu...

Police have formed a special investigation team to probe the death of actor Humaira Asghar Ali, whose body was found in a Karachi apartment earlier this week, it emerged on Sunday. Humaira was laid to rest in the Model Town Q Block graveyard in Lahore on Friday following a sparsely-attended funeral, days after her body was discovered at her apartment in Karachi. An autopsy report by police surgeon Summaiya Syed, seen by Dawn.com, confirmed that the body was in an “advanced stage of decomposition” and at least eight months old. According to the notification dated July 11th, available with Dawn.com issued by South Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Mahzoor Ali, “A special team comprising of the following officers/officials is hereby constituted under the supervision of Deputy Superintendent of Police Imran Ali Jagrani (Clifton Division Acting Superintendent of Police)”, to investigate Humaira’s death. The team will be headed by Defence Sub-Divisional Police Officer Aurangzaib Khattak with South Assistant Sup...

Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has been discharged from hospital, his office said on Sunday, after being admitted for fatigue following a picnic celebration for his 100th birthday. Mahathir, leader of the Southeast Asian nation for more than two decades, has a history of heart problems and has undergone bypass surgeries. He has been hospitalised repeatedly in recent years, most recently in October for a respiratory infection. He was under observation at the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur for fatigue-related issues on Sunday, his office said. “Mahathir has been allowed home as of 4:45pm (1:45pm PKT),” it said in a statement. A physician who was a member of parliament until 2022, Mahathir drove himself on Sunday to the celebration, which also marked the 99th birthday of his wife, Hasmah Mohd Ali, a day earlier, local media reported. The reports said he cycled for an hour before appearing tired. His birthday was on Thursday. Mahathir was prime minister for 22 years until 2003. He ret...

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) representative hailed Pakistan’s “strong” economic reforms carried out under the lender’s $7 billion loan programme, the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) said on Sunday. Pakis­tan had secured a three-year aid package deal in July 2024. The programme, approved by the IMF two months later, is set to allow the country to “cement macroeconomic stability and create conditions for stronger, more inclusive and resilient growth”. IMF’s Resident Representative for Pakistan Mahir Binici noted that the country’s performance under the 2024 Extended Fund Facility (EFF) had been “strong so far”, according to a press release issued by the SDPI on its guest lecture in Islamabad. Binici termed the EFF’s successful first review — also encompassing agreement on the federal budget blueprint — by the IMF Executive Board in May as a key milestone. “Early policy measures have helped restore macroeconomic stability and rebuild investor confidence, despite persistent external challe...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Saturday called on state institutions to engage in dialogue with the PTI, but demanded that they hold themselves accountable. Gandapur and the PTI’s top leadership are on a visit to Lahore to formally launch a movement to seek the release of party founder Imran Khan and devise a strategy for its nationwide protest, which will reach its crescendo on August 5 — marking two years since the ex-premier was imprisoned. Since Imran’s incarceration in several cases, which he claims are politically motivated, his party’s relationship with the government and the establishment has turned exceedingly sour. The PTI has held several protests over the last year, most of which escalated into violence after facing state repression. Addressing a press conference flanked by PTI’s Punjab leadership, CM Gandapur said: “We have to correct our institutions ourselves. Come, sit together, own your mistakes and move forward.” He recalled that Imran, despite his wife also being imp...

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian sustained minor leg injuries during an Israeli strike that targeted a meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council during the war between both countries last month, the Fars News Agency reported. According to the report on Saturday, the missile attack occurred on June 17 as top Iranian leaders, including the heads of the three branches of government, were meeting in a secure lower level of a building in western Tehran. The strike involved six projectiles that hit the entrances and exits of the building, an approach similar to an assassination operation on Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Fars said. Officials managed to evacuate using a pre-planned emergency hatch, the agency reported, noting that Pezeshkian was “injured during the evacuation but was able to exit safely”. The report also said Iranian authorities suspect a possible internal leak, citing the accuracy of the strike. Fars criticised Western and Israeli-affiliated media outlets for ignoring a “blatant ac...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority ((PDMA) on Sunday issued a warning for people downstream to stay away from the banks of the Indus River ahead of the Tarbela Dam’s spillways being opened. A PDMA alert issued today said the spillways would be opened at 2:30pm on Sunday, with the water level likely to reach 160,000 to 260,000 cusecs due to the release of water from the dam. It cautioned that flooding is likely in the Indus River and its tributaries and canals. “The PDMA directs the district administration to keep the local population alert,” the notification said, urging the public to avoid going near rivers and canals. It also cautioned parents that children should not go near canals. “Fishermen and livestock keepers should move to safer places,” the advisory said. Tourists and locals were urged to heed the advisory. “In case of any untoward situation, the public should call 1700,” the PDMA said. A similar warning was issued earlier this month, with sources telling Dawn that the sp...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un offered Moscow his full support for its war in Ukraine during talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Pyongyang state media said on Sunday. Lavrov’s visit to North Korea was the latest in a series of high-profile trips by top Moscow officials as both countries deepen military and political ties amid Russia’s offensive against Kyiv. Pyongyang sent thousands of troops to Russia’s Kursk region to oust Ukrainian forces and has also provided the Russian army with artillery shells and missiles. Moscow said Lavrov’s talks with Kim were held in a “warm comradely atmosphere”. Lavrov expressed “sincere gratitude to Pyongyang” for its role in Kursk and support of Russia’s operation, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. Moscow also said the two sides “agreed” that the West was to blame for “the growing tension” on the Korean peninsula. The ministry earlier posted a video on Telegram of the two men shaking hands and greeting each other with a hug. It said the talks w...

Four members of a woman’s family were shot dead a day ago in the Tatara area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Nowshera district, allegedly by her husband and in-laws over a domestic dispute, police said on Sunday. Nowshera police spokesperson, Turk Ali Shah, told Dawn.com that a first information report (FIR) has been lodged at the Akbarpura police station under section 302 (intentional murder) and section 324 (attempt to commit murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the woman, whose parents, brother, and uncle were killed in the attack allegedly by her husband, his two brothers and father. According to the FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the complainant, a mother of two, said she married her husband a few years ago, but since then had been facing domestic issues and was living with her parents for the last four months. She stated that she had been pursuing a court case seeking a separate residence from her husband, refusing to continue living with her in-laws. “The court recently aske...

Punjab police have arrested an elderly man after a video went viral on social media, showing him using offensive language against Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and senior government officials.

The Sindh Irrigation Department reported on Sunday that water levels in the Indus River have continued to rise, particularly at Guddu Barrage, where an increase of 24,000 cusecs was recorded over the past 24 hours.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has said that former US President Donald Trump’s offer to mediate the Kashmir dispute opened a window for peace, but India shut it by refusing to engage.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has strongly condemned the involvement of state institutions in political affairs, asserting that their role is not to make or break governments.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, has clarified that there is no pressure from Washington for Islamabad to recognize Israel.

LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s five senior leaders incarcerated in Kot Lakhpat Jail have demanded fresh, free and fair general elections in the country, while learning lessons from the 1970 debacle, otherwise India will go ahead with its nefarious designs. In an open letter on Saturday, PTI vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Senator Ejaz Chaudhry, former governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema, Dr Yasmin Rashid and Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed stated that Pakistan’s two provinces, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, were undergoing the worst kind of terrorism, turmoil and instability. They said both provinces were geologically important for having natural and mineral reserves, and the world was also eyeing those resources. “Those rare earth materials had become significantly important for the outside world,” they highlighted. The PTI leaders said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been a peaceful province during the PTI’s rule owing to former premier Imran Khan’s balanced policy but before and after Khan, the province remained a...

DERA GHAZI KHAN: In a pleasantly surprising turn of events following the tragic incident near Loralai, Balochistan, one of the nine individuals initially declared dead has been confirmed to be alive. The individual, identified as Irfan from Dera Ghazi Khan, was mistakenly presumed dead due to a mix-up in the identification of bodies. Commandant Border Military Police Dera Ghazi Khan Asad Chandia (who had supervised transportation of bodies from Balochistan border to their native areas in Punjab) told that Irfan was among the 12 passengers who were forcibly offloaded from the bus by armed assailants. However, Irfan managed to escape execution. The commandant said following his escape, Irfan did not return to the passenger coach but instead took an alternative vehicle to reach his native village, Wasti Buzdar, tehsil Taunsa Sharif. At present he is in a state of shock according to his family, Chandia said. One Kashif, who is an employee of 1122 and hails from the same village, told Dawn that Irfan successfully ...

LAHORE: A judicial magistrate on Saturday denied police further physical remand of an underage car driver and sent him to jail on judicial remand in a case involving death of a young man and injuries to several others in Shahdara Town. The police produced suspect Hashir Umar before the court on completion of his four-day physical remand. The investigating officer informed the court that the process of determining the suspect’s exact age was still underway and that a co-suspect was yet to be arrested. He sought remand of the suspect for further investigation. However, the magistrate turned down the request, sending the suspect on judicial remand. The magistrate noted that no significant progress had been made in the investigation during the previous remand of the suspect. He said a mere claim of requiring more time for age determination or arresting a co-suspect was insufficient to justify extending physical remand. He further noted that the report regarding the suspect’s age can be submitted at the time of fi...

QUETTA: Iran Air plans to launch direct weekly passenger and cargo flights from Quetta to the Iranian cities of Zahidan and Mashhad in a move aimed at boosting trade and travel between the neighbouring countries, an Iranian diplomat announced on Saturday. The new air service will help facilitate commerce, reduce travel time and costs for traders, and strengthen bilateral ties, said Ali Reza Rajai, Iran’s acting consul general in Quetta. The announcement was made at a ceremony organised by the Pak-Iran Joint Chamber of Commerce. The flights are intended “to facilitate trade and travel between Pakistan and Iran,” Rajai said, stressing the need for stronger cooperation. Top officials from the airline, including Iran Air Chief Agha Karimi and Deputy Chief Agha Ismail, were also in attendance. Mr Rajai said the new service would be critical for enhancing port-to-port cooperation between Pakistan’s Gwadar Port and Iran’s Chabahar Port. He called for bureaucratic hurdles to be removed to improve bilateral business, ...

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif said the government of Pakistan will continue to extend its political, diplomatic and moral support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir who are waging struggle to gain their right to self-determination and freedom.