Pakistan

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The US State Department began firing more than 1,350 local employees on Friday as the administration of President Donald Trump presses ahead with an unprecedented overhaul of its diplomatic corps, a move critics say will undermine Washington’s ability to defend and promote its interests abroad. The layoffs will cover 1,107 civil service and 246 foreign service officers based in the United States, according to an internal State Department notice sent to the workforce and seen by Reuters. “The department is streamlining domestic operations to focus on diplomatic priorities,” the notice said. “Headcount reductions have been carefully tailored to affect non-core functions, duplicative or redundant offices, and offices where considerable efficiencies may be found,” it added. The total reduction in the workforce will be around 3,000, including voluntary departures, out of the 18,000 employees based in the US, according to the notice and a senior State Department official. The move is the first step of a restructuri...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi has signaled that a no-confidence motion against the provincial government may be on the horizon, pending the opposition securing sufficient numbers.

The government is actively engaging private shipping liners to commence transshipment operations between Gwadar and the Persian Gulf.

A court in Lahore on Friday approved PTI leader Parvez Elahi’s request for exemption from appearance in a money laundering case after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) once again failed to submit its challan.

A first information report (FIR) was registered by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur area against unidentified attackers involved in the assassination of Awami National Party (ANP) leader Maulana Khan Zeb, it emerged on Friday. The ANP leader was shot dead on Thursday by unidentified assailants in KP’s Bajaur district, according to the police. Bajaur District Police Officer (DPO) Waqas Rafiq told Dawn.com that the politician was shot dead in Shindai Mor while campaigning for the July 13 peace parade, adding that a policeman was also killed and three other people were injured in the attack. According to a copy of the FIR — dated July 10 and seen by Dawn.com — the unidentified attackers were booked under Sections 302 (murder), 324 (attempted murder) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of Rs50) of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 7 (terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. The FIR states that Khan Zeb was returning home from campaigning for the July 13 peace p...

Pakistan’s Foreign Office has confirmed that Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held a meeting with his Cambodian counterpart on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum.

Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication, Shaza Fatima Khawaja met with Google’s Regional AI Developer Ecosystem & Communities team to explore strategic collaboration in advancing Pakistan’s artificial intelligence landscape.

The chairman of Agence France-Presse (AFP) outlined his plans on Friday to cut costs at the news agency with a retirement incentive scheme and a reduction in spending on expatriate journalists. Fabrice Fries warned last month that the group needed to save 12-14 million euros ($13.8-16.1m) by the end of 2026 due to a fall in revenues. Speaking to employee representatives on today, he said he hoped to save 4-5m euros a year with a retirement incentive plan in which 50-70 employees would leave and not be replaced. Costs linked to AFP’s foreign network of journalists would also be cut by around 3m euros a year, or around 10 per cent of the total, he said. This would be achieved by reducing the number of jobs with expatriate conditions, which typically include housing benefits and school fees. “AFP is committed to expatriation,” Fries said — but “not at any price”. An experienced journalist working in Germany on expatriate conditions costs the same as four locally employed early-career reporters, he added. Funding...

Thousands of mourners on Friday commemorated in Srebrenica the genocide committed 30 years ago by Bosnian Serb forces, one of Europe’s worst atrocities since World War II. The remains of seven victims were laid to rest during the commemorations, which mark the bloodiest episode of Bosnia’s inter-ethnic war in the 1990s. They included those of Sejdalija Alic, one of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys killed by Bosnian Serb forces after they captured the eastern town on July 11, 1995. His granddaughter Anela Alic, whose father was also killed in the massacre and was buried earlier, came to attend the funeral. “I never saw my father … and today, my grandfather is being buried, just some of his bones, next to his son. “It’s a deep sadness… I have no words to describe it,” the 32-year-old added, in tears. She was born in early 1994 after her pregnant mother was evacuated in a Red Cross convoy from the ill-fated town. The victims of Srebrenica, which was at the time a UN-protected enclave, were buried in mass grav...

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that he had “positive and constructive” talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, as the two major powers vied to push their agendas in Asia at a time of tension over Washington’s tariff offensive. The top US diplomat was in Malaysia on his first Asia trip since taking office, seeking to stress US commitment to the region at the East Asia Summit and the Regional Forum of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), where many countries were reeling from a raft of steep US tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump this week. Rubio had his first in-person talks with the Chinese foreign minister, which came after Beijing warned the US against reinstating hefty levies on its goods next month and threatened retaliation against nations that strike deals with the US to cut China out of supply chains. Wang has sharply criticised Washington during talks with Asian counterparts in Malaysia, calling the US tariffs “typical unilateral bullying beh...

Posts from multiple users on social media platform X on Thursday shared a video clip, claiming it showed journalist Absar Alam urging Pakistan to explore the benefits of recognising Israel. However, the viral clip is incomplete and he is actually questioning whether recognising Israel would bring any real benefits to Pakistan. The Abraham Accords, brokered by the United States in 2020, are landmark agreements for diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab nations, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. These accords paved the way for formal ties, such as embassies and trade deals, underpinned by mutual interests in security, economic collaboration, and technology exchange. While celebrated as a diplomatic shift in the Middle East, the accords also sparked debate and resistance in Pakistan. Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif have both affirmed that Pakistan will not join, asserting that any recognition of Israel would contradict its longstanding supp...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday that the defeat inflicted by Pakistan has been difficult for the Indian political leadership to digest, state-run Radio Pakistan reported. As New Delhi launched deadly air strikes on Pakistan in early May over allegations about the Pahalgam attack, which Islamabad denied, PAF downed six Indian jets in its response. After tit-for-tat strikes on each other’s airbases, it took American intervention on May 10 for both sides to finally reach a ceasefire. According to the Foreign Office, Deputy PM Dar is leading the Pakistan delegation at the 32nd ministerial meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Regional Forum (ARF), being held today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Addressing the Pakistani community in Kuala Lumpur, Dar said on the military side of matters, there was no issue between Pakistan and India as the armed forces had gone back to the mutually decided positions. However, he added that the defeat inflicted by Pakistan has...

The Saudi Riyal (SAR) has strengthened further against the Pakistani Rupee (PKR) in the open market, reaching Rs75.

A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Planning and Development took an unexpected turn when it was revealed that a newly proposed motorway between Lahore and Raiwind would span just 16 kilometres — a detail that sparked tough questions from lawmakers.

The National Emer­gencies Operation Centre (NEOC) of the National Disa­ster Management Authority (NDMA) on Friday issued a weather alert warning that moderate to heavy monsoon rains are expected to affect multiple regions of the country for a three-day period commencing from July 13 (Sunday). Monsoon rains fall across the region from June to September, offering respite from the summer heat and replenishing water supplies and agriculture. They are crucial to the livelihoods of millions of farmers and food security. However, they also trigger deadly floods, landslides and displacement, particularly in vulnerable, poorly drained, or densely populated areas. The NEOC advised the public to take precautionary measures in anticipation of rains. The forecast indicates moderate to heavy monsoon rainfall across various regions of Pakistan due to intensified moisture inflow from the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, coupled with an active westerly wave system. As a result, substantial rises in river flows are expected ...

An Islamabad district and sessions court on Friday admitted two revision petitions — submitted by journalists Matiuallah Jan and Asad Ali Toor — against the judicial magistrate’s order blocking 27 YouTube channels, suspending the ban for the two petitioners. An Islamabad court recently ordered YouTube to block 27 channels for disseminating “fake, misleading, and defamatory” content against the government and armed forces. The sanctioned accounts were being run by journalists, political commentators and social media in­­fluencers in Pakistan and overseas. On Wednesday, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry said that the owners of these channels would face criminal action. Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka heard the two revision appeals and ordered the suspension in a one-page written order for each petition. According to the order dated today, seen by Dawn.com, the petitioners contended that they were not even given a prior notice and that the ban violated Article 10-A of the...

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain is currently hospitalised in London due to “severe illness”, according to party officials. Previously known as the Mohajir Qaumi Movement, Hussain founded his party in 1984 to represent the Urdu-speaking community, which had migrated to Pakistan amid Partition. Hussain currently lives in London, where he has been in self-imposed exile since 1992. He was later granted British citizenship. From London, Hussain played an active role in politics, regularly broadcasting political speeches to his followers in Karachi. “The founder and leader of MQM, Altaf Hussain, has been admitted to a hospital in London due to severe illness, where various tests have been conducted on him,” said senior London-based MQM leader Mustafa Azizabadi. He appealed to people to pray for the MQM founder. In a subsequent video message, he said Hussain’s health deteriorated last night and he was hospitalised upon a doctor’s inspection and recommendation. “Doctors have conducted various tes...

Pakistan on Friday secured their place in the finals of the U-18 Asia Cup in Dazhou, China with a penalty shootout victory over Malaysia, extending their unbeaten streak in the tournament. According to a post by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) on Instagram, both teams drew 3-3 in regular time, forcing the game to a penalty shootout, which Pakistan clinched 4-3. “Phenomenal goalkeeping and nerves of steel in the shootout — the boys in green are through to the final against Japan this Sunday!” the PHF wrote. “Let’s bring the trophy home.” View this post on Instagram It said the national team was “charging into the final” with “unstoppable spirit and fierce determination”. View this post on Instagram On Wednesday, Pakistan beat hosts China 2-1 to qualify for the semi-final. They also defeated Bangladesh (6-3), Sri Lanka (9-0) and Hong Kong (8-0) during their campaign. Squad: Mohammad Usman, Atif Ali, Asam Junaid, Mohammad Abdullah Farooq, Abdullah Awan, Zubair Lateef, Mohammad Yaseen, Mohammad Ali Taj, Ghul...

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday declared the former employees of PTCL as fully entitled to the pension and directed PTCL to prepare a payment schedule within 90 days.