Pakistan

President Asif Ali Zardari has officially declared Justice Sarfraz Dogar as the senior most judge of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), and made permanent the transfer of Justice Sarfraz Dogar along with two other judges.

On the directives of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, an anti-encroachment operation has been launched along the banks of the Swat River.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated “Apna Meter, Apni Reading” Power Smart Mobile Application to bring more transparency in the electricity billing process.

Pakistan thrashed hosts South Korea 91-6 at the Asian Youth Netball Championship on Sunday to mark their third consecutive win of the tournament. The green shirts had a strong first quarter to lead 23-2 and extended their lead to 45-3 by halftime. The score was 70-4 in the third quarter, and the women managed to end the game 91-6 to sit at the top of the rankings of Pool B. According to details, Leya Raza Shah, Alisha Naveed, Haleema, Sarina Hussain, Jasmine Farooq, Farah Rasheed , Amani, Parisa , Sumayya Ahmed and Alina were recognised as outstanding players in the match. Senior officials of the Pakistan Netball Federation congratulated the team on their victory. Pakistan now faces Japan on Monday and the Maldives a day later. In a post on Instagram, the netball federation extended its gratitude to coach Amanda Newton “for her exceptional coaching, technical expertise, and unwavering dedication to the Pakistan Youth Girls Netball Team.” “Under her guidance, our team has shown incredible skill and determinati...

The body of a child who was swept away in the Swat River on Friday has been recovered from Charsadda, rescue officials said on Sunday, making this the 12th body recovered from the incident. At least 19 people have been killed and six others injured in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa amid heavy rains and the consequent flash floods and landslides, according to data from the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA). KP Rescue 1122 Spokesperson Bilal Faizi said the child’s body was recovered from Charsadda and shifted to a hospital. “He will be shifted to his native area in an ambulance,” Faizi said. “One person remains missing and a search operation is underway.” According to Faizi, a total of 17 people were reported missing on Friday when torrential flash floods triggered by heavy rains affected several areas in Swat and Malakand divisions. Four people were rescued, while 11 bodies had been recovered. Today, a 12th body was recovered, leaving one person who remains missing. Separately, the body of a young man who dr...

ISLAMABAD: Five judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) have challenged the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the transfer of three judges from other high courts to the federal capital. The appeal was filed on Saturday, two days before the Judicial Commission of Pakistan’s (JCP) meeting to appoint chief justices to at least three high courts on July 1. In its judgement anno­unced on June 19, the Supreme Court’s Const­itutional Bench, had held by a majority of 3-2 that the transfer of three judges to IHC from Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan high cou­rts was within the framework of the Constitution. The Constitutional Ben­ch had also partially sent the matter to the president to determine seniority amongst judges, based on their service records. Now, IHC’s justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ijaz Ishaq Khan and Saman Rafat Imtiaz, who originally challenged the transfers, have filed an intra-court appeal (ICA) against the June 19 judgement. The ICA, jointly moved by senio...

Three people were killed and six injured in a stampede during a festival in Bhubaneswar, eastern India on Sunday, officials said. “Three people have died and six sustained injuries; none of them are serious and all are out of danger,” YB Khurania, director general of police in the state of Odisha, told Reuters. The incident occurred at dawn as thousands of Hindu devotees gathered at an annual chariot festival in Puri, said a senior administrative officer told Reuters. He asked not to be identified as he is not authorised to speak to the media. Stampedes occur routinely during large Hindu gatherings in the world’s most-populous country, as huge crowds gather in tight spaces, often ignoring safety protocols. In January, at least 39 people were killed in a pre-dawn stampede during the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, northern India.

A magnitude-5.3 earthquake struck Balochistan on Sunday morning, according to the United States Geological Survey. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the shallow quake, which USGS reported had occurred at around 3:30am with the epicentre almost 60 kilometres north-northeast of Barkhan city of Balochistan. Senior levies officer Tuqeer Shah told Dawn.com that the Earthquake hit vast areas of Rara Shaim, Kingri and others. According to initial reports, at least three people, including a couple, were injured in the Rara Shaim area of Barkhan after the roof of their house sustained damage. Over half a dozen houses have been damaged, while cracks have appeared in many others in Rara Shaim. Shah added that the injured have been admitted to the hospital, while teams have been sent to the impacted areas to see the scope of the damage. Pakistan straddles the boundary where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet, making the country susceptible to earthquakes. The region can be challenging to naviga...

Israel’s attack on the Evin prison in Iran’s capital, Tehran on June 23 killed 71 people, Iranian judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said on Sunday. At the end of an air war with Iran, Israel struck Tehran’s jail for political prisoners, in a demonstration that it was expanding its targets beyond military, civilian and nuclear sites to aim at symbols of Iran’s ruling system. According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the 12-day war, 13 of them children and 49 women, before a ceasefire went into effect last week. “In the attack on Evin prison, 71 people were martyred, including administrative staff, youth doing their military service, detainees, family members of detainees who were visiting them and neighbours who lived in the prison’s vicinity,” Jahangir said in remarks carried on the judiciary’s news outlet Mizan. Jahangir had previously said that part of Evin prison’s administrative building had been damaged in the attack, and people were killed and injur...

Widespread rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms is expected across much of the country on Sunday, prompting flood warnings in several cities of Punjab, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation in technology, with plans to jointly advance regional digital connectivity and innovation.

In a major relief for electricity consumers, the federal government has decided to abolish the Pakistan Television (PTV) license fee currently charged through electricity bills.

The Republican-controlled US Senate narrowly advanced President Donald Trump’s, sweeping tax-cut and spending bill on Saturday, during a marathon weekend session marked by political drama, division and lengthy delays as Democrats sought to slow the legislation’s path to passage. Lawmakers voted 51-49 to open debate on the 940-page megabill, with two of Trump’s fellow Republicans joining Democrats to oppose the legislation that would fund the president’s top immigration, border, tax-cut and military priorities. Trump on social media hailed the “great victory” for his “great, big, beautiful bill”. After hours of delay, during which Republican leaders and Vice President JD Vance worked behind closed doors to persuade last-minute holdouts to support the measure, Democrats demanded that the megabill first be read aloud in the chamber — a task that could delay the start of the debate until Sunday afternoon. Democrats say the bill’s tax cuts would disproportionately benefit the wealthy at the expense of social progr...

Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif Saturday telephoned Chairman National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik and discussed with him aspects related to disaster management.

SAHIWAL: The Okanwala Bangla police has booked two individuals in separate cases for allegedly spreading sectarian hatred and sharing blasphemous content on social media under the newly-amended Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016. The FIRs were lodged on the complaint of Sub-Inspector Riaz Ahmed of Okanwala police and the suspects were booked under sections 295-A and 298-C of the PPC and section 11 of Peca. According to reports, a resident of Haseeb Town allegedly posted blasphemous content from his social media account, which subsequently went viral within the local community. The content reportedly contained inflammatory sectarian comments, inciting discord among the residents of surrounding rural areas. In the other incident, a resident of village 105/12-L was accused of sharing a video containing sectarian content and using hate speech against religious sects. Police claimed his mobile phone contained a video attacking revered religious figures. Police started investigation but so far no arres...

KARACHI: The provincial health department on Saturday reported fourth death from Naegleria fowleri in Sindh. According to officials, a 17-year-old student reportedly suddenly developed fever, body aches and vomiting on June 25. A day later, he was admitted to the Aga Khan University Hospital where he tested positive for the deadly infection. On June 27, his condition deteriorated and he was shifted to ventilator support. The patient had no history of swimming, the officials said and added that apparently he contracted the infection through the contaminated, or non-chlorinated, tap water. According to experts, lack of filtration and chlorination of potable water is a major source of Naegleria’s infection. Besides, city’s water distribution system is faulty, allowing seepage of sewage in the domestic water supply lines, which in turn gets contaminated and causes harmful diseases. Karachi recorded this year’s first death from Naegleria fowleri in March. The woman victim was a resident of Gulshan-i-Iqbal and died...

PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD - Heavy rain and flash flooding across Pakistan have killed 32 people including 16 children since the start of the monsoon season this week, disaster management officials said.

KHYBER: A rapid increase in use of ecstasy pills and ice (crystal meth) by majority of youth has alarmed parents, health professionals and civil society activists in Khyber tribal district. Information collected by this scribe about the excessive use of ecstasy pills and ice by local youth unfolds a horrifying situation as the drug is now considered an essential ‘ingredient’ in social gatherings like weddings, engagements and other festive or recreational ceremonies owing to its easy availability throughout Khyber. Locals said that a majority of youth had gone out of the control of their parents or other family members as those two ‘lethal’ drugs were easily available in designated shops, kiosks, private houses and hujras and even outside educational institutions and sports grounds where those could be supplied through motorcycles or young carriers by using mobile phone service in all the three tehsils of Khyber. Ghafoor Shah, a social activist in Landi Kotal, said that local drug addicts invented their own n...

Says this is not death of tourists but death of PTI’s governance system.

ISLAMABAD - Chief Executive Officer of ACE Money Transfer, Rashid Ashraf, conducted a series of strategic meetings in Islamabad with Finance Minister, Muhammad Aurangzeb, and other senior government officials to discuss collaborative efforts aimed at strengthening Pakistan’s Financial infrastructure and enhancing formal.