Pakistan

• Proposes raising purchase limit for filers from 130pc to 400pc of declared wealth • Tax approved on previously exempt luxury private clubs • Proposed e-commerce tax rejected; tax on online academies approved ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary committee has recommended raising the threshold limit for purchases made by “eligible individuals” — a new term for people who file their tax returns — and approved a measure to tax luxury clubs nationwide. The development came as the Senate and National Assembly Standing Com­mittees on Finance and Revenue held simultaneous sessions at Parliament House to conduct a clause-by-clause review of the Finance Bill 2025-26. Chaired by Senator Saleem Man­dviwalla and MNA Naveed Qamar respectively, both panels proposed several amendments and rejected some measures outright. The Senate standing committee expressed concern over the newly inserted clause in the Finance Bill, which restricts the “eligible person” from making any purchase exceeding 130 per cent of the wealth reflected in th...

https://www.dawn.com/news/1918017#:~:text=PML%2DN%20lawmaker%20Afnan%20Ullah%20Khan%20revealed%20that%202%2C500%20bureaucrats%20of%20the%20country%20including%20four%20federal%20secretaries%20were%20holding%20dual%20nationality

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday called on the international community to act to bring about an "immediate" ceasefire between Iran and Israel, warning that further escalations would be detrimental not only to the region but also to global peace.

LAHORE: The PIA has resumed Lahore-Paris flight five years after the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) lifted ban on its operations in Europe. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and UK authorities had suspended permission for PIA to operate in the region in June 2020 after Pakistan began investigating the validity of pilots’ licences following a deadly plane crash in Karachi that killed 97 people. Following the ban lift on PIA by the EASA in November last year, the national flag carrier had resumed Islamabad-Paris flights early this year. “We can operate for any destination in Europe now (except the UK) after the lifting of ban by the EASA. However, it depends upon traffic on specific routes in Europe,” a senior official of PIA told Dawn on Wednesday. He said the PIA was also hopeful that its operation for the UK would resume in a couple of months as well. “Talks with the UK authorities concerned are underway and hopefully the PIA will be operating flights there in a couple of months,” he said. A...

TRIPOLI/BERLIN: At least 60 migrants are feared dead after a pair of shipwrecks off the coast of Libya over the past week, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). The first ship went down on June 12 near a Libyan port in Tripoli, with 21 people, including women and children, reported missing and only five survivors found, the IOM said in a statement on Tuesday. Those lost at sea included Eritrean, Pakistani, Egyptian and Sudanese nationals. The second wreck took place about 35 kilometres off the port city of Tobruk, with the sole survivor reporting 39 people lost at sea, according to the UN body. “With dozens feared dead and entire families left in anguish, IOM is once again urging the international community to scale up search and rescue operations and guarantee safe, predictable disembarkation for survivors,” said Othman Belbeisi, the IOM’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa. According to the statement, at least 743 people have died so far this year trying to cro...

SUKKUR: A powerful explosion of a remotely-controlled explosive device fitted to rail tracks caused four bogies of the Jaffer Express to derail near cattle market in Jacobabad on Wednesday. Luckily, no one was hurt in the incident. The responsibility of the terror act was claimed reportedly by the banned Baloch Repu­blican Guards (BRG) through a statement, which started circulating on social media soon after the blast. Witnesses said that the bomb ripped through the train, when it was en route to Quetta, leading to shouts and cries of passengers. The blast caused floor of a bogie to crumble to pieces, left a three to four foot crater at the site and damaged 20-30 feet of the rail track, said officials. Jacobabad SSP Saddam Hussain Khaskheli, accompanied by officials of police and Pakistan Railway, reached the site and gathered details of the incident. The Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) officials had begun probe to determine the type of the bomb and the amount of explosive material used in the blast, he said. He sa...

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday termed the regional situation very alarming due to escalated armed conflict between Iran and Israel and said it posed threat not only to the regional but also to the global peace.

ISLAMABAD - President Asif Ali Zardari, visited Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) Wah on Wednesday.

ISLAMABAD - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar yesterday informed the National Assembly that it has been decided to reduce 18 percent Sales Tax proposed in the federal budget on imported components of solar panels to 10 per cent.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has called on the international community to hold accountable those who spread hatred under the guise of freedom of expression.

ISLAMABAD - Vice Chairperson, Punjab Social Protection Authority (PSPA), Jahan Ara Manzoor Wattoo, attended the National Kick-Off Workshop of the “Lead the Change for Social Protection” initiative, organized in collaboration with GIZ in Islamabad.

ISLAMABAD - On the special directives of Federal Minister for Communications, Abdul Aleem Khan the National Highway Authority (NHA) for the first time will conduct an open auction of its toll plazas on Thursday (today).

ISLAMABAD - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar yesterday said that nearly two dozen member nations of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have strongly condemned the recent Israeli aggression against Iran in a joint statement issued last day.

RAWALPINDI - Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) on Wednesday swiftly evacuated an injured seafarer from MT HIGH LEADER and transferred him to a local hospital in Karachi for emergency medical treatment.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) lawyer Salman Akram Raja Wednesday resumed arguments on review petitions against the Supreme Court judgment in reserved seats case.

LAHORE - The scheduled departure of Pakistan’s first freight train to Russia has been cancelled due to regional instability, triggered by the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict, Pakistan Railways sources confirmed on Wednesday.

• Govt agrees to reduce GST on solar panels from 18pc to 10pc • Collection of tax on digital services handed over to provinces • PIDCL to oversee federal projects in all provinces • Funds for Sindh varsities to be maintained ISLAMABAD: In a significant development, the ruling PML-N has finally agreed to four major demands of its key ally PPP, thus paving the way for the federal budget’s smooth passage in the National Assembly. Taking the floor during the budget debate in the lower house of parliament on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar revealed that after extensive consultations with PPP leaders, including Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, as well as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the government had accepted the PPP’s key demands, including reduction in the proposed General Sales Tax (GST) on solar panels. The assurance came in the wake of constant criticism from the members, mostly from the PPP, on a number of budgetary proposals during the ongoing...

ISLAMABAD: The Global Peace Index 2025 has put the disputed region of Kashmir at the forefront of the critical escalation hotspots in the world, where tensions between India and Pakistan remain ‘perilously high’. The index released by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) with headquarters in Sydney, says the situation in Kashmir exemplifies the fragility of ceasefire agreements in volatile geographic settings and underscores the dangers posed by non-state actors capable of triggering international crises. The index, a snapshot of the global state of peace, ranked Pakistan at 144, showing ‘low state of peace’ while India ranked 115 position with ‘medium state of peace’. Ukraine and Russia have been placed at the bottom of the rankings of 163 countries. Global Peace Index ranks Pakistan at 144, India at 115; says South Asia tensions remain perilously high About conflict history and escalation hotspots in India, the index report says the conflict is highly likely in the Kashmir region over the next year. ...

R. Kelly cries during prison call and pleads for release as health worsens and fear for his life grows, lawyer says.

Cassie allegedly threatened to kill a man who claimed he saw her in a freak-off video, says Diddy’s legal team.