Pakistan

Worshippers prayed on Mount Arafat during the high point of Haj on Thursday as authorities urged them to avoid the hottest hours of the day after tragedy struck last year. Thousands of white-robed pilgrims recited verses from the Holy Quran from dawn on the 70-metre rocky rise near Makkah, where the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) gave his last sermon. But numbers thinned by midday following official warnings for pilgrims to stay inside between 10am and 4pm, a year after 1,301 people died in temperatures that hit 51.8 degree Celsius. “I came here early to [avoid] the sun and later I will pray inside my tent,” said 54-year-old Adel Ismail, from Syria. Saudi authorities have taken several steps to reduce the risk from heat at Haj, which has drawn more than 1.6 million pilgrims to one of the world’s hottest regions, according to fresh figures published on Thursday. A surveillance drone flies past a Muslim pilgrim as he prays at dawn on Saudi Arabia’s Mount Arafat, also known as Jabal al-Rahma or Mount of Mercy,...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said that Pakistan’s recent appointment to key UN committees reaffirmed the international community’s trust in the country’s counterterrorism credentials. A day ago, Pakistan was appointed chair of the committee established under Resolution 1988 (2011), which oversees the implementation of sanctions against the Afghan Taliban. Pakistan was also named vice chair of the Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC), which monitors implementation of Resolution 1373 (2001), a core component of the UN’s global counterterrorism architecture. Additionally, Pakistan will serve as co-chair of two important subsidiary bodies: the Informal Working Group on Documentation and the newly formed Working Group on Sanctions. In a post on X, the prime minister said the appointments were a “matter of great pride”. He added: “These key appointments validate the international community’s confidence and trust in Pakistan’s counterterrorism credentials as well as an acknowledgement of...

A high-level defence delegation from Belarus, led by Major General Andrei Yevgenyevich Lukyanovich, Commander of the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defence, visited the Air Headquarters in Islamabad, according to a statement from Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Thursday.

The National Elec­t­ric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Thursday notified a negative fuel cost adjustment (FCA) of Rs2.98 per unit for K-Electric (KE) consumers in June’s bills for power consumed in March. According to a notification issued by Nepra today, the authority “decided to allow a negative FCA of Rs2.9898/kWh (negative Rs4.045 billion) for March 2025, to be passed on to the consumers in the billing month of June 2025”. Nepra said the negative FCA would apply to “all the consumer categories except lifeline consumers, domestic protected consumers, Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCS) and prepaid electricity consumers of all categories who opted for pre-paid tariff”. The adjustment would be shown separately in the consumers’ bills on the basis of units billed to the consumers in the respective month to which the adjustment pertains, it said. “In case any bills of June 2025 are issued before the notification of this decision, the same may be applied in the subsequent month,” the notification s...

A petition has been lodged with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) seeking the disqualification of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur over the allocation of Rs 50 million in public funds to the Lahore Bar Association — a legal body based in Punjab.

A Japanese startup will attempt a tricky lunar touchdown on Friday with an unmanned lander named Resilience, two years after its first try which crashed onto the moon’s surface. If successful, it will be only the third private mission to the Earth’s rocky natural satellite ever completed, and the first by a company based outside of the United States. The startup, ispace, says touchdown is expected at 4:17am Japan time on Friday (1917 GMT on Thursday) with the potentially nail-biting attempt streamed on its website. Resilience is “ready to attempt a historic landing on the moon” and “we are confident in our preparations for success”, ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada said last week. “We have leveraged the operational experience gained in Mission 1 and during this current voyage to the moon,” he said in a statement. Only five nations have soft-landed spacecraft on the moon: the Soviet Union, the US, China, India and Japan. Companies are vying to offer cheaper and more frequent space exploration opportunities than gov...

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered an investigation into what Republicans claim was a “conspiracy” to cover up Joe Biden’s declining cognitive health during his time in the White House. The move, which was slammed by Biden, is the latest in a long-running campaign by Trump — with the backing of Republican Party politicians and their cheerleaders in the conservative media — to discredit his predecessor. But it also comes as a growing chorus of Democrats begin to acknowledge the former president appeared to have been slipping in recent years. Those concerns were thrown into stark relief by a disastrous debate performance against Trump during last year’s presidential campaign, in which the then-81-year-old stumbled over his words and repeatedly lost his train of thought. “In recent months, it has become increasingly apparent that former president Biden’s aides abused the power of presidential signatures through the use of an autopen to conceal Biden’s cognitive decline,” a presidential memorandum iss...

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti on Thursday said Pakistan was fighting a full-fledged “intelligence-driven war” funded by India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and carried out through “Indian proxies”. The security situation in Balochistan has deteriorated, with militants escalating attacks as part of a long-running insurgency. Last month, Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry accused India of activating its “assets” post-Pahalgam to intensify terrorism in Pakistan, citing “irrefutable evidence” of state-sponsored attacks directed by Indian military personnel. He said “credible intelligence” showed India tasked groups such as the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban and other militant cells to ramp up activity. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad today, Bugti referred to the attacks in his province and said: “This is a completely Raw-funded intelligence-driven war against the state of Pakistan.” He said India changed its narrative after suffering a crushing blow...

Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to “help resolve” the standoff between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s nuclear programme, the Kremlin said on Thursday. “We have a close partnership with Tehran. And President Putin said that he was ready to use this partnership to help resolve the Iranian nuclear issue,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. After a call between the leaders on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said Putin had offered to “participate” in talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, as Trump accused Iran of “slow-walking” its response to Washington’s offer of a deal. Washington and Tehran have held five rounds of talks since April to thrash out a new accord to replace the nuclear deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018. Trump said on Monday that his administration would not allow “any” enrichment of uranium, despite Tehran’s insistence that it has the right under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said earlier...

Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan on Thursday submitted a request to National Assembly (NA) Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq to constitute a committee to appoint a new chief election commissioner (CEC) and two new members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The constitutional deadline for the appointment of a new chief election commis­sioner and two members of the ECP exp­ired on March 12, with no action from the government. On Wednesday, it emerged that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote a letter to Ayub inviting him to join consultations to appoint a new CEC. No exact date for a meeting was given, nor were any names released about prospective CECs in the letter, dated May 16. In today’s letter to the NA speaker — seen by Dawn.com — Ayub recalled a previous letter written on January 15 in which he requested that the parliamentary process to appoint a new CEC be initiated. “I am writing once again to remind you that a considerable period has passed since the expiry of the Chief Ele...

Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader and head of Senate parliamentary party Senator Irfan Siddiqui has asserted that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has lost its ability to mobilize any movement following the events of May 9, 2023, adding that any attempt by PTI to launch a movement would only lead to further difficulties and yield no.

Director General Information Service Academy (ISA) Mubashir Tauqir Shah on Thursday held a farewell meeting with Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said the construction of new dams will be made with the consensus of all provinces.

Head of Parliamentary delegation and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has urged the international community to support Pakistan in its efforts to achieve peace through dialogue and diplomacy.

The man charged with fire-bombing a Colorado march by people who wanted to raise awareness of Israeli hostages in Gaza is scheduled to be formally charged in state court on Thursday, as those he targeted vowed to carry on their efforts. State prosecutors say Mohamed Soliman, 45, faces nearly 400 years in prison on attempted murder charges in state court. He also faces other state charges. Prosecutors on Wednesday said the number of people injured in the attack rose to 15 ranging in age from 25 to 88. A dog also was injured. Soliman also faces federal hate crimes charges that carry a life sentence. A federal court appearance is scheduled for Friday. The Boulder public defenders office, listed in court documents as representing Soliman, did not respond to a request for comment. Prosecutors say that Soliman, an Egyptian national, on Sunday tossed Molotov cocktails and yelled “Free Palestine” at people taking part in an event organised by Run for Their Lives, an organisation devoted to drawing attention to the ho...

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday termed India’s unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) as “a blatant violation and act of water aggression” and warned that Pakistan will give a befitting response under the decisions taken in the April 24 National Security Committee (NSC) meeting.

With the heatwave in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa likely to intensify from June 7 to 12, the provincial disaster management authority (PDMA) on Thursday issued an advisory cautioning the public. Day temperatures are likely to remain 5 to 7°C above normal from June 7-12 in Peshawar, Swabi, Mardan, Charsadda, Nowshera, Kohat, Hangu, Bannu, Karak, Lakki Marwat, Khyber, Kurram, Orakzai, Waziristan, Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, Chitral, Dir, Swat, Kohistan, Shangla, Battagram, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Haripur, Buner, Malakand, Bajaur and Mohmand, according to a PDMA advisory dated June 5, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com. “Additionally, dust storm/rain-thunderstorm associated with gusty winds are expected over the province,” PDMA said. It noted that rising temperatures in upper areas may enhance the snowmelt rate during the forecasted period, and advised precautionary measures be taken to avoid any loss of life, damages to crops/ infrastructure and livestock. The general public, especially senior citizens and children, sh...

In a powerful and emotional sermon delivered during Hajj 2025 from Masjid al-Namirah, Sheikh Dr.

In celebration of Eidul Azha, the Punjab government has granted a 90-day special remission in prison sentences across the province.

A Karachi resident who was assaulted in the Defence Housing Authority earlier this week says he has forgiven the suspect and does not want to take the case to court, even as a judge rejected the suspect’s bail in a separate hearing. On Monday, Karachi police arrested a main suspect along with two of his employees over charges of beating a citizen named Dheeraj. The suspect, identified as Salman Farooqi, was arrested from DHA and his vehicle was impounded. Farooqi, who was travelling in a luxury car, allegedly assaulted a motorcyclist accompanied by a woman on the Khayaban-i-Ittehad Road following a minor accident. A judicial magistrate on Tuesday remanded Farooqi and his guard, Owais Hashmi in police custody in the case. They were produced in court today by the police following the completion of their two-day remand. Today, Dheeraj appeared in court and identified the suspect. “I was not aware that the court had summoned me,” he said. “The lawyer told me today, so I appeared.” The judicial magistrate asked Dh...