Pakistan

The Supreme Court has dismissed former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry’s request to suspend ongoing trial proceedings in multiple cases, advising him instead to approach the Lahore High Court for relief.

Four people died and 40 were injured in rain-related incidents across Punjab over the past 24 hours as more heavy showers were expected across the province, according to rescue officials and local authorities. Monsoon rains fall across the region from June to September, offering respite from the summer heat. They are crucial to replenishing water supplies and agriculture, and therefore, the livelihoods of millions of farmers and food security. However, they also wreak havoc by triggering deadly floods, landslides and displacement, particularly in vulnerable, poorly drained, or densely populated areas. At least nine people lost their lives and many others sustained injuries as heavy monsoon rains lashed Lahore on Wednesday. The downpours caused widespread flooding and disrupted daily life in several areas. “Over the last 24 hours, four people died and 40 were injured due to rain and winds across the province,” Rescue 1122 Punjab Spokesperson Farooq Ahmed said in a statement. Those who sustained serious injurie...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar on Thursday met Australian Foreign Minister Senator Hon Penny Wong on the sidelines of the 32nd ASEAN Regional Forum Ministerial Meeting here.

Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry — recipient of the Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military) — visited the University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir in Muzaffarabad, where he engaged in a special session with students and faculty, according to an ISPR statement.

Indian election officials have given voters in Bihar state just weeks to prove their citizenship, requiring documents that few possess in a registration revamp set to be applied nationwide, triggering disenfranchisement fears. The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the revision of the voter rolls in June ahead of upcoming polls in the eastern state. It said the exercise will later be replicated across the nation of 1.4 billion people. According to the ECI, the “intensive revision” was needed in part to avoid the “inclusion of the names of foreign illegal immigrants”. Members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have long claimed that large numbers of undocumented Muslim migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh have fraudulently entered India’s electoral rolls. Critics say the overhaul could render vast numbers of Indian citizens unable to vote. “You are being asked to produce documents that very few people have,” said Asaduddin Owaisi, a prominent Muslim lawm...

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk on Thursday said Pakistan and Russia were “natural allies”, stressing that Russian President Vladimir Putin views Islamabad as an important strategic partner in the areas of economy and energy, the Foreign Office said in a statement. In recent years, Russia and Pakistan have engaged in strengthening bilateral ties with each other. On June 3, Russian Foreign Min­ister Sergey Lavrov, in a meeting with Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi, reaffirmed Russia’s desire to expand cooperation with Pakistan. Moscow’s growing engagement with Islamabad — including defe­nce deals, energy cooperation and regular joint military exercises — reflects a strategic shift to diversify partnerships across the region. In a high-level meeting with Ambassador Fatemi and the prime minister’s aide on Industries and Production, Haroon Akhtar Khan, in Moscow, the Russian DPM reaffirmed his country’s commitment towards deepening bilateral cooperation w...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday directed the relevant authorities to formulate a comprehensive plan to transform the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) into a shipping company of international standard.

Pakistan is seeking a valuation of at least $1 billion for the Roosevelt Hotel it owns in New York and is ready to part with a minority stake in the prime Manhattan property as it scouts for a redevelopment partner, a senior government official said. Named after former US President Theodore Roosevelt, the century-old property in midtown Manhattan is seen as one of Pakistan’s most valuable foreign assets, which it acquired in 2000. Faced with mounting losses, the over 1,000-room hotel was shut in 2020, and has also operated briefly as a migrant shelter. As part of its $7bn IMF-backed privatisation push, the government approved a “transaction structure for the Roosevelt Hotel” on Tuesday, saying it won’t do an outright sale but has decided to adopt a joint venture model to maximise long-term value. It gave no further details. The senior official said the government will retain ownership in the project through an equity partnership, but declined to disclose the size of the stake being offered to any potential JV...

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Thursday rebutted rumours of President Asif Ali Zardari being asked to resign, terming it a “malicious campaign”. “We are fully aware of who is behind the malicious campaign targeting President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and the chief of army staff,” Naqvi wrote on X. “I have categorically stated that there has been no discussion, nor does any such idea exist about the president being asked to resign or the COAS aspiring to assume the presidency,” he asserted. “The president of Pakistan enjoys a strong and respectful relationship with the leadership of the armed forces,” the minister said. He quoted President Zardari as having “clearly” stated: “I know who is spreading these falsehoods, why they are doing so, and who stands to benefit from this propaganda.” Naqvi stressed that the “sole focus” of Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir was Pakistan’s strength and stability, and “nothing else”. “To those involved in this narrative, do whatever you wi...

Four people from two different groups were killed while two others were injured in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mardan district over a personal dispute, police said on Thursday. Mardan police spokesperson Muhammad Faheem Khan told Dawn.com, “There was a clash between two groups over a personal dispute, resulting in the killing of four people — three from one group and one from the other group — while two people sustained injuries.” “The motive behind the clash was a personal dispute between them,” he added. One of the injured filed a first information report (FIR) at the Garhi Kapura police station on Wednesday night. According to the FIR, seen by Dawn.com, the complainant said that the incident occurred around 10pm when he was returning home with his brothers and cousins, saying that they were attacked by armed assailants who were already present there. The FIR was registered under Sections 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 302 (intentional murder) and 324 (attempted mu­r­der) of the ...

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Rawalpindi has extended the interim bail of Bushra Bibi, wife of PTI founder Imran Khan, in 31 cases until August 12.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar met with Cao Shumin, Deputy Head of the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) Publicity Department and Minister of China’s National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), to advance Pakistan-China media collaboration through joint productions, combating disinformation,.

At least five people were killed in a collision between a car and a truck on Chashma Road in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan district on Thursday morning, Rescue 1122 said. Rescue 1122 Spokesperson for DI Khan Aizaz Mehmood told Dawn.com, “The collision took place near the Jholy Hotel within the limits of the Khari Khaisoor police station. “A family was heading towards DI Khan when their car collided with a truck that was on its way to Punjab.” He said the Rescue 1122 team had “reached the scene soon after the incident, where it found all five people in the car dead”. “The bodies have been taken to the Paharpur Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, while the heirs of the deceased are being contacted to claim the bodies,” Mehmood said. The deceased were identified as Rawda Munir, Muhammad Mutasim, Muhammad Talha, Muhammad Tufail and the driver Wasimullah. All were residents of DI Khan’s Zafar Abad Colony, he said. Meanwhile, DI Khan police spokesperson Yaqoob Khan said that an investigation into the incident is ...

Sindh’s Minister for Culture and Tourism, Syed Zulfiqar Shah, announced on Thursday that the provincial government is prepared to take responsibility for the burial of actress Humaira Asghar if her family continues to refuse to claim her body.

At least 11 people, including women and children, have lost their lives in rain-related incidents across Balochistan since June 28, according to a report released by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) on Thursday.

The Federal Anti-Corruption Court in Karachi on Thursday acquitted Senate Chairman and former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in nine additional cases linked to the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) mega corruption scandal.

Pakistan and China on Thursday agreed to further enhance ties and joint broadcasting projects between their state broadcasters to tackle fake news and disinformation, Radio Pakistan reported. Pakistan and China share a longstanding strategic partnership rooted in mutual trust, economic cooperation, and regional connectivity. Over the decades, ties have expanded across different sectors, including trade, energy, infrastructure, and media collaboration, with initiatives like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) symbolising a shared vision for development. The government, as well as the military, have previously warned about “fake news and propaganda” proliferating on social media, with Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry saying that not enough was being done against “digital terrorism” under the law. The decision was made during a meeting in Beijing between Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar and Cao Shumin, Deputy Head of the Pu...

Pakistan has issued a stern warning against the weaponisation of water by India, cautioning that turning water into a tool of political conflict could have grave regional and global implications.

Severe rainstorms accompanied by strong winds wreaked havoc across Punjab in the past 24 hours, claiming at least three lives and injuring 22 others in rain-related incidents.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has issued a high-alert warning as a powerful monsoon system is expected to bring torrential rains across large parts of the country from tonight through July 10.