Pakistan

The federal government has officially assigned the responsibility of electricity bill distribution to Pakistan Post, marking a significant shift in utility service operations.

The business community in Karachi observed a partial strike on Saturday against the tax measures and arrest powers of the federal tax authority under the Finance Act FY26. The call for a countrywide strike was issued last week by the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), backed by trade bodies, industrial area associations, petroleum dealers, transporters, and chain store operators. The KCCI protested against what they described as anti-business measures and proposed provincial labour policies. “A partial strike was observed in Karachi on the call of industrialists and supported by traders of markets against enhancing FBR’s powers to conduct raids and arrests of businessmen,” All Karachi Tajir Ittehad Chairman Atiq Mir told Dawn.com. All Karachi Tajir Ittehad is an association of markets and shopkeepers in the metropolis. Mir said that the markets at Gul Plaza, Teen Talwar in Clifton and Nursery remained open. However, the majority of traders have supported the strike, though some of the traders ha...

The body of local mountaineer Iftikhar Hussain who lost his life when his four-member international expedition team was caught in an avalanche on the K2 peak was brought to his hometown of Gilgit-Baltistan’s Skardu on Saturday, officials said. K2, standing at 8,611 metres above sea level, is the second-highest peak in the world, attracting a host of local and foreign tourists. Last summer, GB authorities issued a total of 175 permits to climbers aspiring to conquer the mountain, despite the treacherous climb and harsh weather conditions. The senior vice president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP), Karrar Haidri, told Dawn.com that at approximately 12:30pm on Friday, an avalanche struck Camp 1 on K2, located about 500m above the base camp. Four climbers were caught in the avalanche. “A foreign climber sustained minor injuries, while two others successfully returned to the Advance Base Camp,” Haidri said in a statement. However, high-altitude porter Iftikhar Hussain from Sadpara in Skardu lost his life in th...

Syria’s interim government said its security forces were deploying in the predominantly-Druze southern city of Sweida on Saturday and urged all parties to respect a ceasefire, after days of factional bloodshed that has left hundreds dead. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, in a separate speech, said that “Arab and American” mediation had helped bring calm, and criticised Israel for airstrikes against Syrian government forces in the south and Damascus during the week. Sweida province has been engulfed by nearly a week of violence, which began with clashes between Bedouin fighters and Druze factions, before Damascus sent in government security forces. Israel has carried out airstrikes in southern Syria and on the defence ministry in Damascus, saying it is protecting the Druze minority, of whom there are a significant number in Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. In a statement on Saturday, the Syrian presidency announced an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire and urged all parties to end hostilitie...

President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday commended the police force for killing four Khwarij terrorists during the Hangu operation.

An avalanche struck Camp 1 on K2— the world’s second-highest peak—on Friday, July 18, at approximately 2:30 PM, resulting in the death of a Pakistani climber and injuries to a foreign mountaineer, according to the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP).

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has said the government aims to follow the ongoing trade talks with the United States by discussing investment, terming it a potential “game-changer” for economic ties between the two countries. He made the remarks after meeting with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer on Friday as part of a critical round of trade talks aimed at securing tariff relief and expanding bilateral economic cooperation. “One thing we discussed was that we have to move beyond the immediate trade imperative, which is obviously very critical, but besides that, for the Pakistan-US relationship to be brought to the next level and bring in a real step change, [there is] an investment imperative that will hopefully emerge,” Aurangzeb said in a video statement. “Areas [for investment] have already been identified,” the minister said, mentioning minerals and mining, artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure and cryptocurrency. “We feel this will...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar held a series of high-level diplomatic engagements this week, reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to strengthening ties with key regional partners.

Trade relations between Pakistan and the United States have gained positive momentum following the recent visit of Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir to Washington, according to a Bloomberg report.

All candidates contesting the Senate elections from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been elected unopposed following a mutual understanding between the provincial government and the opposition parties.

United States President Donald Trump sued media magnate Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal for at least $10 billion on Friday over the publication of a bombshell article on his friendship with the infamous alleged sex trafficker of underage girls, Jeffrey Epstein. The defamation lawsuit, filed in federal court in Miami, saw the 79-year-old Republican hitting back at a scandal threatening to cause serious political damage. “We have just filed a powerhouse lawsuit against everyone involved in publishing the false, malicious, defamatory, fake news ‘article’ in the useless ‘rag’ that is The Wall Street Journal,” Trump posted on Truth Social late on Friday. The Journal reported on Thursday that in 2003, the then-real estate magnate wrote a suggestive birthday letter to Epstein, illustrated with a naked woman and alluding to a shared “secret”. The lawsuit, which also names two reporters, the Dow Jones corporation and Murdoch’s parent company News Corp as defendants, claims that no such letter exists and tha...

The fourth spell of monsoon rains is set to begin across Pakistan from tomorrow, with heavy rainfall and thunderstorms forecast for Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Balochistan, according to the Meteorological Department.

The Pakistan Airports Authority has extended its airspace ban on Indian aircraft for another month, now effective until August 23, 2025.

The Pakistani government has announced a five-year ban on the construction of new hotels around scenic lakes in Gilgit-Baltistan, aiming to curb environmental degradation in the ecologically fragile region.

ISLAMABAD: Five senior judges of Islamabad High Court (IHC), who challenged the transfer of the incumbent Chief Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar from the Lahore High Court (LHC), have been sidelined in the recent reshuffling of key committees. The IHC has constituted a new administrative committee, comprising four judges, in the light of amendments to the High Court Rules that have significantly reshaped the court’s internal power structure. According to a notification issued by the registrar’s office with the approval of the chief justice, the newly-formed committee will be headed by Justice Dogar himself, while Justice Arbab Mohammad Tahir, Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro and Justice Azam Khan will serve as members. The formation of the new committee follows a major administrative reshuffle at the IHC which has notably curtailed the powers of senior puisne judge Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani. Previously considered one of the most influential judges in the court, Justice Kayani has been excluded from the a...

Karachi - Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, while addressing the inauguration ceremony of newly constructed buildings at NED University and the distribution of Chromebooks to top performers of the People’s Information Technology Programme (PITP), emphasized his government’s dedication to higher education, digital.

ISLAMABAD - Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan on Friday filed an Intra-Court Appeal in the Supreme Court, challenging the ruling of a constitutional bench that upheld the transfer of high court judges under Article 200 of the Constitution.

WASHINGTON: The United States said on Thursday that it opposed Israel’s strikes in Syria, a day after Washington helped broker a deal to end violence. “The United States did not support recent Israeli strikes,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters. “We are engaging diplomatically with Israel and Syria at the highest levels, both to address the present crisis and reach a lasting agreement between the two sovereign states,” she said. She declined to say if the United States had expressed its displeasure with Israel or whether it would oppose future strikes on Syria. Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced concern when asked about the Israeli strikes, which included attacking the defence ministry in Damascus. Fresh clashes rock Druze heartland He later issued a statement that did not directly address the Israeli strikes, but voiced broader concern about the violence. Israel said it was intervening on behalf of the Druze community after communal clashes. Fresh clashes Meanwhile, Bedouin tribes an...

SUKKUR: A bunch of unarmed women fought off a gang of dacoits armed to the teeth merely with sticks and bricks when the criminals stormed two houses in Sheikh locality near Pir Zahir Zakria in Bagarji town, Sukkur district, late on Wednesday night. Shocked and frustrated at the unexpected resistance, the dacoits’ associates standing outside vented their anger at the walls and fired indiscriminately at all houses in the locality, wounding a passer-by, said local sources. The sources said that over 15 members of notorious Rajab alias Rajjo Jatoi gang barged into the houses of Mohammad Ali Sheikh and his brothers and tried to rob the inmates when the men were at work. However, to their utter surprise, the unarmed women bravely resisted them by using sticks, bricks and anything they could lay their hands on. Finally, they succeeded to push back the intruders and lock themselves up in their houses, they said. During the ensuing commotion, the other dacoits standing outside fired indiscriminately at all the houses ...

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif said a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council was the only guarantee of the rights of the Kashmiris and peace in the region.