Pakistan

Leader Pogacar and Vingegaard (4min 15sec behind) finished safely despite a mass

Three matches decided in SSWMB Basketball

Orders razor readers' installations in garbage collection vehicles

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Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has paid glowing tribute to Major Zeeyyad Salim Awal and Sepoy Nazam Hussain, who embraced martyrdom while courageously fighting against terrorists in Mastung, Balochistan.

With slim chances of moon visibility due to monsoon clouds and astronomical conditions, the beginning of Safar 1447 AH is expected to fall on Sunday, July 27, 2025, according to the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO).

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday suspended a single-member bench’s order to the government to constitute a commission to investigate misuse of the blasphemy law. Blasphemy is an incendiary charge in Pakistan, where even unsubstantiated accusations can incite public outrage and lead to lynchings. Last week, the IHC gave the federal government 30 days to constitute a commission to investigate misuse of blasphemy law, giving the order during the hearing of a case seeking such a commission’s formation. IHC Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan ordered that the commission should complete its work within four months, while allowing the possibility for an extension. Rao Abdur Rahim, a lawyer from the Legal Commission on Blasphemy Pakistan, and others had filed an intra-court appeal against Justice Khan’s verdict. The case was heard today by Justices Khadim Hussain Soomro and Azam Khan. Advocate Kamran Murtaza and others appeared before the court on behalf of Rahim. Asked how they felt about the decision, Murtaza ...

The death toll from flash floods in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamer district rose to six on Thursday as a search for missing visitors was underway after heavy rains battered the region, an official said. The devastating impacts of climate change have become more visible in GB as cloudburst-induced floods wreaked havoc across the region. The flood-related death toll in the region rose to five on Tuesday, after four lost their lives and 15 went missing on Monday. GB government spokesperson Faizullah Faraq said that rescue teams recovered another body in Babusar valley, taking the total number of deaths to six. “The search operation to locate the remaining tourists at Babusar is underway,” he added. According to Rescue 1122, GB’s Ghanche district experienced floods in various areas. Flash floods in Kandos villages damaged a dozen homes, a dispensary, mosques, agricultural land and crops, it said. Rescue 1122 also stated that flash floods in Sikarkoi damaged several houses and other infrastructure in Dass Mohallah and ...

Islamabad district and sessions courts on Thursday sentenced 13 PTI supporters to six months in jail in cases pertaining to last year’s November “Final Call” protests, while acquitting one person. Meanwhile, 12 of the convicts, along with one other person, were discharged by an Islamabad anti-terrorism court (ATC) in a separate protest case from October 2024. Ex-premier Imran Khan had called for nationwide protests on November 24, demanding the “restoration” of the PTI’s electoral mandate and the reversal of the 26th Amendment. Following a state crackdown, the party claimed a dozen deaths of its supporters, which the government officially denied, while four Rangers personnel and a cop were martyred during the protests. Judicial Magistrates Ahmad Shahzad Gondal and Mureed Abbas today heard three separate cases filed under the Peaceful Assembly and Public Order (Papo) Act, which had been passed just two months prior to the protests. One first information report (FIR) was registered at Islamabad’s Tarnol police ...

A passenger plane carrying nearly 50 people crashed in a remote area of Russia’s far eastern Amur region on Thursday, killing all on board, authorities said. The plane, a Soviet-made twin-propeller Antonov-24, went down in remote, thickly forested terrain, leaving a column of smoke pouring from the crash site and no signs of survivors, according to state media and videos published by investigators. The Angara Airlines flight was headed to the town of Tynda from the city of Blagoveshchensk when it disappeared from radar at around 1pm local time (0400 GMT). A rescue helicopter later spotted the burning fuselage of the plane on a forested mountain slope about 15 kilometres south of Tynda’s airport. Videos published by Russian investigators showed smoke rising from the crash site and what appeared to be fragments of the plane strewn across the forest floor. A search and rescue team arrived only hours after the crash at the remote, hard-to-reach site and found no evidence of survivors, according to the state news ...

Launching ceremony of PNS Sahiwal (Desig) Gun Boat was held at Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KS&EW).

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday formed a committee under the chairmanship of Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal to develop recommendations for aligning the civil services with modern-day requirements and improving the civil service structure.

Thailand scrambled an F-16 fighter jet to bomb targets in Cambodia on Thursday after artillery volleys from both sides killed at least 11 civilians, as border tension boiled over into rare armed conflict between the Southeast Asian countries. Both blamed each other for starting a morning clash at a disputed area of the border, which quickly escalated from small arms fire to heavy shelling in at least six locations 209 kilometres apart along a frontier where sovereignty has been disputed for more than a century. Thailand positioned six F-16 fighter jets in an uncommon combat deployment, one of which was mobilised to strike a Cambodian military target, among measures Cambodia’s foreign ministry called “reckless and brutal military aggression”. Thailand’s military said the use of air power was to strike with precision. The worst fighting between the countries in 13 years came after Thailand on Wednesday recalled its ambassador to Phnom Penh and expelled Cambodia’s envoy, in response to a second Thai soldier losi...

Eight newly elected Senators from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) were sworn in during a session of the upper house, presided over by Senate Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Thursday that the national team will face England in a three-match Test series next year during the World Test Championship. In a press release, the PCB said that the test matches will be played in August and September 2026. “The first Test will begin at Headingley in Leeds on August 19, while the action will move to the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London for the second Test of the series from August 27. The two teams will lock horns in the third and final Test from September 9 at Edgbaston in Birmingham,” the statement read. “This will be Pakistan’s fourth Test tour of England since 2016 and overall 29th bilateral Test series between both teams since they first faced each other in 1954,” it said. The PCB also said that the team was currently touring England for a three-match 50-over and two-match three-day series. On Sunday, the International Cricket Council announced that England would host the next three World Test Championship finals. “We are absolutely delighted that...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday appreciated the World Bank’s (WB) support for Pakistan’s position in light of India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). In April, India held the IWT in abeyance following the attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 — an incident New Delhi blamed on Islamabad without evidence. Pakistan termed any attempt to suspend its water share an “act of war”, noting that the IWT had no provision for unilateral suspension. In a meeting with the WB’s regional vice president for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MENAAP), Ousmane Dione, in Islamabad, the premier acknowledged the institution’s principled support for Pakistan’s legitimate position on India’s “unilateral and unlawful actions”, which undermined “important international agreements” such as the IWT. He reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to upholding international law, achieving prosperity, maintaining regional peace and reiterated the country’s resolve to resolve all issues throu...

Pakistan’s security forces launched an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Balochistan’s Mastung District on reports of terrorist activity linked to the Indian proxy group Fitna al Hindustan, the military’s media wing confirmed.

Ratings agency S&P Global raised Pakistan’s sovereign credit rating to ‘B-’ from ‘CCC+’ and placed it on a ‘stable’ outlook on Thursday, saying the country’s finances and reserves had been stabilised by International Monetary Fund (IMF) support. “The stable outlook reflects our expectations that continued economic recovery and government efforts to enhance revenue will stabilise fiscal and debt metrics,” S&P said in a statement on the move. “We also expect that sustained official financing will support Pakistan in meeting its external obligations, and that the country will continue to roll over its commercial credit lines over the next 12 months.” Pakistan’s longer-dated international bonds rallied after the upgrade, with the 2051 maturity gaining 1.6 cents to be bid at 84.85 cents on the dollar, according to Tradeweb data. The 2031 and 2036 maturities also gained around 1 cent, while shorter-dated maturities posted smaller gains. Last week, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb urged the leading US rating agen...