Pakistan

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister Meena Khan Afridi was prevented from travelling abroad at Bacha Khan International Airport on Sunday, according to media reports.

Punjab has introduced a QR-based Panic Button system to enhance passenger safety and strengthen emergency response across the province’s public transport network.

Peshawar - Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Muhammad Sohail Afridi on Saturday said the provincial government was pursuing a comprehensive strategy to achieve food self-sufficiency and would enhance funding for the food sector in the upcoming budget.

The enormous costs of Israel’s multi-front war and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s determination to turn his country into a “super-Sparta” of the Middle East are driving up the defence budget and raising fears of cutbacks in education and healthcare. The total cost of the series of interconnected regional conflicts that began with Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 stood at 405 billion shekels ($138bn) as of late April, according to the governor of the Bank of Israel, Amir Yaron. “That’s a huge figure, more than 17 per cent of GDP,” he said during a recent economic conference in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv. Just the military campaign against Iran, which began with a wave of US-Israeli strikes on February 28, incurred an additional cost of 35bn shekels ($12bn) for the state up until a ceasefire took effect on April 8, according to an initial estimate by the finance ministry. Following the adoption of the 2026 budget in late March, the government noted the defence ministry’s budget had more than do...

A top White House artificial intelligence policy adviser on Saturday said he will leave his position at the end of June, marking the exit of a leading figure helping craft policies for frontier technologies. “This journey has been the privilege of a lifetime,” the adviser, Sriram Krishnan, posted on social media platform X. Krishnan did not give a reason for leaving, but wrote in the post he intends to help “tackle some of the large challenges facing America” related to AI. Krishnan has been involved in the Trump administration’s efforts to create a national framework for regulating developments in AI. His departure comes as the president looks at the possibility of the US government acquiring stakes in AI firms. “There’s something very interesting about it, where it almost becomes a partnership with the American public,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, adding that he planned to meet with AI executives as soon as next week. Trump’s embrace of AI has at times been complicated by security c...

WASHINGTON: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation in the United States, has filed a federal lawsuit against one of America’s largest public school systems, alleging that four Muslim students were unlawfully disciplined because of their religion and ethnic background. The lawsuit accuses Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), a school district serving nearly 180,000 students in the suburbs of Washington, DC, of discriminating against students at the prestigious Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, one of the nation’s top-ranked public schools. Filed in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, the suit claims that school officials violated the students’ constitutional rights and federal civil rights laws by suspending them over a social media video while allowing similar conduct by other student groups to go unpunished. The case stems from a video posted in October 2025 by members of the school’s Muslim Student Association (M...

Pakistan is expected to face a spell of intense heat from June 7 to June 12, with temperatures likely to rise sharply in several parts of the country, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).

Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has said that he delivered a letter and an important message from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Ali Khamenei during a meeting.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said on Sunday that its Lahore unit has arrested four suspects during separate raids for their alleged involvement in hawala/hundi operations and violations of the Copyright Act. An FIA spokesperson told the media that the raids were conducted by the agency’s Lahore Corporate Crime Circle at different locations in the provincial capital. Two suspects were arrested for allegedly running illegal currency exchange and hawala/hundi businesses. During the operation, FIA said it recovered cash worth Rs20.4 million from the suspects, as well as foreign currency, including $1,080, AU$320, AED4,015, £85 and 160 Saudi riyals. Documentary records and digital evidence related to hawala/hundi transactions were also recovered from the suspects’ possession. In separate actions, FIA arrested two other suspects for their alleged involvement in violations of the Copyright Act, 1962. The suspects were found to be in possession of a large quantity of counterfeit products of well-known regis...

North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme is “absolutely non-negotiable”, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un said in a statement carried by state media on Sunday, ahead of a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Pyongyang has long insisted on its right to a nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programmes although they are forbidden under the terms of UN Security Council sanctions. It enshrined its nuclear status in its constitution in 2023. “Our status as a nuclear power is absolutely non-negotiable,” Kim’s sister Kim Yo Jong said in a statement published by North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun, adding that the North “will not tolerate any threats”. A key player in the country’s communications and foreign policy, Kim Yo Jong’s statement came on the eve of Xi’s visit to North Korea, scheduled to take place from Monday to Tuesday, according to state media. Beijing is a vital source of political and economic support to North Korea, which is one of the most diplomatically isolated countries in the world and...

In a Tehran neighbourhood dotted with shops selling football jerseys and sporting goods, 10-year-old Helma was already feeling World Cup fever. “I’m supporting Iran because it’s always the champion!” she said, sporting a bracelet in the green, white and red of the national flag. “This year, it will be number one out of all the countries!” Holding a shopping bag containing a national team jersey, her mother explained that Helma was set to appear in a video clip supporting Iran’s side, adding: “We came to buy Team Melli outfits for the shoot.” But after weeks of war with Israel and the United States — one of the co-hosts of this year’s tournament — not to mention persistent economic hardship and stuttering efforts to bring the conflict to a final close, not every Iranian shares the grade-schooler’s excitement. This handout photograph taken and released by Iran Football Federation Press Office on June 6, 2026 shows Iran’s national football team posing at Antalya Airport in Turkiye before boarding a plane ahead o...

SAHIWAL: A woman and her daughter suffered severe burn injuries after her husband and brother-in-law allegedly doused them with petrol and set them ablaze in Shadman Colony on Friday afternoon. Rescue 1122 shifted the injured mother and daughter to Sahiwal Teaching Hospital for treatment. Eyewitnesses said the fire also destroyed household furniture and utensils before the suspects fled the scene. Reports said Sobia Parveen, sister of complainant Muhammad Bilal and a resident of Vehari City, married Shaban Bhatti of Chak 65/5-L, Tehsil Sahiwal, around 15 years ago. The couple has five children. Police said domestic violence had reportedly persisted throughout the marriage, with Sobia allegedly subjected to frequent abuse and severe beatings by her husband and brother-in-law. A few months ago, she left her husband’s home due to the continued violence and started living in a rented house near Shadman Chowk along with her children. She had been working as a domestic help to support the family. On Friday, Shaban ...

US strikes Iranian sites after Iran launches drones Trump claims Iran retains 21pc to 22pc of missiles stockpiles after regional strikes Kuwait denounces ‘Dangerous Escalation’ by Iran after overnight attacks on Gulf States Iran calls overnight US attack on radar site ‘flagrant’ violation.

396 candidates are in race for 24 general seats of Gilgit Assembly 23 PPP’s candidates and 22 candidates from PML-N are contesting elections n GB Elections: 551 Polling Stations declared highly sensitive.

ISLAMABAD/MUZAFFARABAD - The police in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) said on Saturday they had arrested 72 people linked to a banned protest group, the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), during a security crackdown, alleging some detainees possessed weapons, suspicious documents and material aimed at disrupting public order in the.

ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has warned that heatwave conditions are likely to develop across the country from June 07 to 12 as a high-pressure system is expected to form in the upper atmosphere on June 8 and persist until June 11.

LARKANA: The Right Bank Canal System of Sukkur Barrage is currently experiencing a critical irrigation water shortage, severely impacting the command areas of Larkana an Qambar-Shahdadkot districts, as well as the lands in Balochistan, fed through the North West Canal (NWC) during the peak Kharif crop season. The impact is also affecting Dadu Canal, Rice Canal and those irrigating the Sukkur district. Sources privy to the situation told Dawn on Saturday that the prevailing shortfall across the canal network has reached an alarming level — North West Canal (-) 64.1%, Rice Canal (-) 38.0% and Dadu Canal (-) 82.0%. Credible data obtained from sources in Sindh’s irrigation department indicates that Punjab is currently drawing 53,394 cusecs against its allocated share of 44,000 cusecs — an excess withdrawal of around 21.35%. Similarly, Taunsa Barrage is lifting 25,694 cusecs against its entitled share of 24,000 cusecs, reflecting an over-withdrawal of approximately 9.3%. Meanwhile, the pond level at Chashma Barrag...

• Prices stay high despite export disruptions • Beef hits Rs1,500-1,800 per kg, mutton Rs2,700-2,900 KARACHI: Amid disease outbreaks, export suspensions, volatile market conditions and rising feed and production costs, the poultry sector has continued to grow by eight per cent annually over the past 10 years. Higher prices for poultry might cause a slowdown in the purchasing patterns of low- and middle-income people, but they still rely on poultry as it costs much less than beef and mutton. As per the Economic Survey FY25, rural poultry had shown modest gains, but commercial production remained the main growth driver. After remaining on the higher side, poultry live bird prices have fallen by an average Rs100 per kg to Rs370-420 per kg in Karachi after Eidul Azha. Consumers were expecting a further price drop in the wake of the closure of borders with Afghanistan, but the prices of poultry continued to show an upward trend. In October 2025, when the Afghan border was closed, the live-bird price had fallen to ...

• Police arrest at least 72 people, recover ‘weapons, suspicious documents’ • Situation tense in Poonch after trader gunned down in ‘clash with police’ MUZAFFARABAD: Auth­or­it­ies in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Saturday launched a crackdown on the proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), arresting scores of its leaders and activists from different areas. “In fulfilment of its responsibility to maintain public order and protect the lives and properties of citizens, police have arrested around 72 people affiliated with the proscribed JAAC over the past 18 hours,” said a handout issued by a spokesperson for police chief Liaqat Ali Malik. “During initial action, weapons, communication gadgets, suspicious documents, material related to plans that could adversely affect public order and organised mechanisms for violent agitational activities had been found, in addition to indications of questionable contacts with patrons and foreigners which are being investigated under law,” it added. The police spokes...

KHUZDAR: Balochistan Natio­nal Party (BNP-M) chief Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal on Saturday announced a shutter-down strike across Balochistan on June 10, condemning the June 2 incident in Zehri in which the party’s district vice-president was shot dead. Speaking at a press conference here alongside senior BNP-M leaders, Mr Mengal said the killing of the party’s district vice-president, Sardarzada Khalil Ahmed Musiani, and the arrest of several members of the Musiani family represented a grave violation of both political and tribal traditions. He alleged that security personnel raided the residence of tribal elder and BNP-M leader Sardar Nasir Ahmed Musiani, violated the sanctity of the home, assaulted family members, and shot his son in front of him. He later died after allegedly being denied timely medical treatment. “Authorities claim that peace prevails in Balochistan. Is this their idea of peace… that a son is killed in front of his father and family members are not even allowed to attend his funeral?” Mr Me...