Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Sunday that the government would not discourage the solarization boom in the country, as he welcomed the ongoing process, which is regarded as the most inexpensive way of producing electricity in the world.

More than 230,000 Afghans left Iran in June, most of them deported, as returns surge ahead of a Tehran-set deadline, the United Nations migration agency said on Monday. From June 1-28, 233,941 people returned from Iran to Afghanistan, International Organisation for Migration spokesman Avand Azeez Agha told AFP, with 131,912 returns recorded in the week of June 21-28 alone. “In total, from 1 January to 28 June 2025, 691,049 people have returned, 70 percent of whom were forcibly sent back,” he said. The number of returnees surged in recent weeks, as Afghans reported increased deportations and pressure to leave ahead of a July 6 deadline announced by Iran in May for Afghans without documents to leave the country. For several days last week, the number reached 30,000 per day, the IOM said. Figures have remained around 6-7,000 in recent days, Taliban border authorities and the UN said, with the numbers expected to increase ahead of the deadline.

Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb departed from Islamabad on Monday for Seville, Spain to participate in the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) being held from July 1 to 3, 2025, according to a statement issued by his ministry . The global conference will bring together leaders, policymakers, and international development experts to explore innovative and sustainable financing strategies to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly for developing and emerging economies. During the visit, Aurangzeb will represent Pakistan in the main conference sessions and a range of high-level side events. On July 1, he will co-chair the multi-stakeholder roundtable on “Leveraging Private Business and Finance”, and deliver a keynote address at the International Business Forum (IBF) Policy Dialogue on “Accelerating EMDEs (Emerging Market and Developing Economies) Investment: The Role of Credit Ratings”. He is also scheduled to address the gene...

NDMA warns of more heavy rains across country.

LAKKI MARWAT - A devastating blast struck a security forces vehicle in the Wanda Simo area of Lakki Marwat on Sunday, resulting in the martyrdom of two soldiers.

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called on estranged party stalwart and former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan at the latter’s residence in Faizabad area on Sunday, marking the second interaction between the two in eight years.

ISLAMABAD - The country’s political landscape remains in flux, with changing tides bringing both favourable and unfavourable outcomes for various political forces.

LAHORE: A Mepco employee who sustained burns while working on a transformer in Gulberg Sub-Division in Multan died at the Nishtar Hospital on Sunday. Deceased technician Sajawal Khan, colleague Muhammad Khalid, Waqas Ali (12) and Ahsan (17) were also injured when boiling oil fell on them. Sources said technicians were working on the 11kV transformer without safety gear including helmets, gloves or harness belts. They said basic precautions like earthing lines and using protective equipment were routinely violated. The explosion occurred during D-coil installation and boiling oil caused severe burns. Company CEO Jam Gull Muhammad Zahid told Dawn that an inquiry had been initiated and he could not say anything further before completion of the inquiry. He said all the safety gadgets were being provided to the workers and he did not know yet why the incident took place or if any protocol was violated or not. Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2025

BAHAWALNAGAR: Fort Abbas police arrested a man on Sunday for allegedly inviting his friends to his house to rape his wife. In the FIR registered by the police on the complaint of the woman, who stated that her husband, a resident of Thokar Jamil Shah, was a drug addict and would frequently invite his friends home for using drugs. She said that on June 27 her husband came home high on drugs along with three other addicts. She said that the three addicts sexually harassed and attempted to rape her with the consent of her husband but she offered resistance and raised an alarm. On hearing her cries, some neighbours arrived there and her husband and his friends manged to escape, she added. A police spokesperson says that the complainant’s husband and one of his friends have been arrested. MINOR RAPED: A seminary teacher was arrested on Sunday for allegedly trying to sexually assault a minor student at Mandi Sadiq Ganj. As per the FIR registered with Mandi Sadiq Ganj police, a 13-year-old boy of Klanchwala village ...

ISLAMABAD - Two most wanted fugitives have been arrested in Spain as a result of Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry’s diplomatic efforts.

ISLAMABAD - Türkiye President Recep Tayy­ip Erdogan has condemned the heinous terrorist attack against Pakistan on Saturday.

• Reduction to benefit consumers in all categories, except ‘lifeline’ domestic users, using up to 50 units per month • Relief worked out based on Nepra’s tariff determination, power purchase price, reduced subsidies under IMF deal • Regulator to hold public hearing on Tuesday to consider Centre’s application ISLAMABAD: The government wants to reduce the electricity price for consumers across the country starting July 1, it emerged on Sunday. The federal government has filed a petition with the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), requesting a Rs1.15 per unit reduction in the tariff. The change would be applicable to all but lifeline domestic consumers. The power division has advised against any change in electricity rates for the first two lifeline slabs of domestic consumers, as they were already over-subsidised. Nepra has called a public hearing on July 1 to complete the formality before notification and application of the revised tariff. According to the petition, the per unit rate for lif...

SIALKOT - Federal Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said that there are no words to describe the Swat tragedy.

VEHARI - Senior politician, former federal minister, and sitting Member of the National Assembly Begum Tehmina Daultana was urgently admitted to Polyclinic Hospital Islamabad due to severe abdominal pain caused by ap­pendicitis.

MANSEHRA: Chinese engineers working on the Dasu hydropower project are set to complete an alternative section of the Karakoram Highway by next year, significantly reducing travel time between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan. “We are building a state-of-the-art highway that meets all standards of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative. Tunnels and arch bridges will keep it straight and free of dangerous curves,” Amir Shafique, general manager of the Dasu hydropower project, told reporters on Sunday. The construction of the alternative KKH section within the Upper Kohistan district stretching from Kamila Bazaar to Summer Nullah is progressing well and, according to Wapda, is expected to be completed by 2026. “As the existing KKH will be submerged by the Dasu dam reservoir, the new section will meet Chinese standards. Even in case of landslides or flooding, traffic will continue to flow smoothly at full speed,” Mr Shafique said. He said that the 62km alternative section was part of the pr...

ISLAMABAD - The five judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) have filed an intra-court appeal (ICA) against the Supreme Court’s recent verdict that upheld the transfer of three judges from other provincial high courts to the IHC.

Says he will likely need 'China approval' for the sale

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Demands payment of compensation and reparations