Pakistan

The planned deployment of Islamabad Police personnel to Gilgit-Baltistan for election duties has been cancelled due to manpower commitments in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), official sources said.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has released its latest mark-to-market currency rates, showing the Pakistani rupee maintaining relative stability against major international currencies.

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Friday reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to the “Shanghai spirit” and called for a joint strategy among SCO member states to counter terrorism, organised crime, drug trafficking, cybercrime and terror financing. Naqvi said this at a special meeting of the Ministers of Interior and Public Security of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. He said the region faced “serious and complex security challenges” that were interconnected, noting that criminal and terrorist networks were rapidly adapting to technological advancements, exploiting artificial intelligence, digital platforms, online networks and cryptocurrency transactions to expand their activities. The interior minister emphasised the importance of modernising institutional coordination and enhancing intelligence-sharing mechanisms across the region to tackle these threats. Shared threats demanded shared solutions, Naqvi told the delegates, further calling for a comprehensive regional stra...

Pakistan and the United States have made notable progress in bilateral relations, with Pakistan emerging as an important partner of the administration of Donald Trump, according to a report by Vox.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has urged citizens to immediately block any mobile SIM card registered in their name but being used by another person, warning that such cases could lead to legal and security issues.

LOWER SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: Two sons of a prominent tribal elder, Malik Jamil Wazir, were killed after unidentified armed men opened fire near Kari Kot Bazaar in Wana tehsil, police said on Friday. Wana Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Asghar Ali Shah said the deceased were identified as Naveed Wazir and Moeenuddin Wazir. He said the two brothers were travelling on a motorcycle from their home towards Kari Kot Bazaar when they were targeted by the unidentified gunmen. Both died on the spot, while a passerby sustained injuries during the attack and was taken to the hospital for medical treatment, he said. He added that the attackers fled the scene immediately after the incident. The injured passerby and the bodies of the deceased were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital in Wana. Police recorded the incident in the daily register at the City Police Station Wana and launched an investigation. The tribal elder and his family have been targeted previously. One of his sons was killed, while two other ind...

Security forces killed six terrorists in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Balochistan’s Panjgur district, the military’s media affairs wing said on Friday. In a statement, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that on the night of June 3/4, security forces conducted an IBO on the reported presence of terrorists belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna al Hindustan. The state has designated Balochistan-based terrorist groups as Fitna al Hindustan to highlight India’s alleged role in terrorism and destabilisation across Pakistan. “During the conduct of [the] operation, own forces effectively engaged multiple terrorist locations, and after intense fire exchanges, six Indian sponsored terrorists were sent to hell,” it said. “Weapons, ammunition, improvised explosive devices and [a] vehicle have also been recovered from the killed Indian-sponsored terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area,” it said. “Sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any ot...

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will resume its direct flight operations between Islamabad and Beijing from July 3, 2026, the national carrier announced on Friday.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has constituted an eight-member committee to develop a framework for the establishment of commercial courts in the country, according to a notification issued by the Prime Minister’s Office.

The founder of India’s satirical online “Cockroach People’s Party” said he was flying back to New Delhi on Friday, to take the viral social media campaign to the streets. Abhijeet Dipke, the 30-year-old Boston University graduate behind the online movement, said he was flying back from the United States to seek police permission for a peaceful protest on Saturday against the education minister. The parody “Cockroach Janta Party” (CJP) — echoing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — has won millions of online followers on social media since its launch last month. CJP was set up after India’s Chief Justice Surya Kant reportedly called young people who criticised the government “cockroaches” and “parasites” during a hearing. Kant later said his comments were taken out of context. Dipke, a political communications strategist who formerly worked with the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), created the fictional party online on May 16. Its popularity has soared, using the slo...

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Thursday reaffirmed her government's commitment to environmental protection, calling for greater public participation in reducing plastic pollution and supporting tree plantation efforts across the province.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime MInister Shehbaz Sharif on World Environment Day highlighted the growing threat posed by climate change, calling for stronger efforts to protect the environment and address its impact on public health, economic stability and food security.

LAHORE: A day after the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) registered a case against PML-N MPA Saqib Chadhar for allegedly harassing television actor Momina Iqbal, the lawmaker secured interim pre-arrest bail from a Lahore court on Friday. Additional District and Sessions Judge Irfan Ahmad Sheikh approved the bail after hearing Chadhar’s plea. During the hearing, Chadhar appeared before the court along with his counsel, Mian Ali Ashfaq. The judge barred the NCCIA from arresting Chadhar till June 24 and directed the NCCIA to submit the case record at the next hearing. On Thursday, the NCCIA registered a case against Chadhar on Iqbal’s complaint under Sections 3 (unauthorised access to information system or data), 4 (unauthorised copying or transmission of data), 21 (offences against modesty of a natural person and minor) and 24 (cyber stalking) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, read with Sections 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offe...

MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Election Commission announced on Friday that general elections in the region would be held on July 27. The notification, a copy of which is available with Dawn, said that candidates could file their nomination papers with returning officers from June 9 to 4pm on June 19. It said that the scrutiny of nomination papers would be carried out from June 20, while the list of the eligible candidates would be submitted on the same day. It stated that the candidates will have between June 21 and June 24 to file appeals against rejection/acceptance of nomination papers, and the appeals will be heard on June 26 and 27 between 9am and 4pm. According to the notification, the last date for decisions on appeals will be June 28 to June 29, and candidates can withdraw their nomiation papers until June 30 before 2pm. The list of contesting candidates will be published on July 1, and symbols will be allotted along with the final list the next day on July 2. July 27 was notified as the po...

Security forces killed six militants during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Balochistan’s Panjgur district, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

Election authorities have finalized all preparations for the upcoming elections in Gilgit-Baltistan, where voting will take place across 10 districts spread over the region’s three divisions.

US President Donald Trump’s legal team has refused to hand over financial information sought by BBC lawyers in his $10 billion defamation case against the broadcaster, the Financial Times (FT) said on Friday, citing court filings. Trump has accused the publicly funded broadcaster of defaming him by splicing together parts of a January 6, 2021, speech to make it appear that he directed supporters to storm the US Capitol. The impetus for Trump’s request to delay “appears to be the flat refusal by the Donald J Trump Revocable Trust … to provide any financial information under subpoena”, the newspaper cited the BBC as saying in a court filing. That action came despite Trump’s claims that the BBC injured “the value of his brand, properties, and businesses” and the president’s “own refusal to date to provide any financial information in discovery”, the paper added. Trump’s lawsuit, filed in Florida in December, says the BBC violated a state law that bars deceptive and unfair trade practices. He is seeking damages o...

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea from June 8 to 9, state news agency Xinhua said on Friday, his first trip in nearly seven years as Beijing looks to reassert ties with Pyongyang. The announcement follows separate summits Xi hosted in Beijing for US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin last month. Trump, who met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times in his first term, previously said he would be open to meeting the North Korean leader again. Xi would be visiting on an invitation from Kim, North Korean state media KCNA said. Kim was a guest at a massive military parade in Beijing last September, travelling to the Chinese capital on his signature green armoured train. Beijing has worked to draw Pyongyang — its only formal treaty ally — back into its fold, after the Covid-19 pandemic froze exchanges and the North Korean leader deepened relations with Moscow by sending troops and weapons to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “The message implicit from the Chinese ...

Shehbaz Sharif addresses ceremony to mark 250th Independence Anniversary of the US Says Pakistan-US ties moving toward broader relationship PM meets high-powered Saudi business delegation.

ISLAMABAD - Foreign Office on Thursday reiterated that its position on the Abraham Accords remains unchanged and is intrinsically linked to the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian state.