QUETTA: Forty people were killed and eight others injured when a Peshawar-bound passenger bus fell into a ravine just as it left the Dhanasar area of Balochistan’s Sherani district and crossed the provincial border into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan on Friday, officials said.
The number of casualties was first shared in a statement by the Balochistan chief minister’s aide for media and political affairs, Shahid Rind, who cited initial reports. It was later also confirmed by the KP…
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) leaders gathering for a summit in Ankara on July 7-8 will discuss a host of challenges facing the alliance, from Europe taking on more responsibility for the continent’s security to boosting defence industrial production.
Some officials worry the Middle East conflict could overshadow the gathering, but hope leaders will remain focused on the alliance’s core business: defence and deterrence.
Here is a look at the main challenges Nato is facing.
Keeping…
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has departed for Iran to attend the funeral of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in a US-Israeli strike on February 28, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on Friday.
In a post on social media platform X, the PMO said the premier was accompanied by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, PPP Secretary General…
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Friday urged parents not to leave their children unattended and to ensure their safety when sending them out of the house.
The statement comes after the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Sargodha and a roof collapse incident at a private tuition centre in Lahore, which claimed the lives of 14 children. The chief minister spoke about both incidents in a televised address to the National Paigham-i-Aman Committee on Friday.
Citing the Sargodha…
LAHORE: A court on Friday granted police five-day physical remand of four suspects arrested for the alleged abduction and sexual assault of two foreign women.
On Thursday, police had booked five suspects on charges of kidnapping for ransom and sexually assaulting two foreign women, who were nationals of the Netherlands and Venezuela. Subsequently, four of them were arrested.
According to the FIR, the women were abducted by five suspects, including a close relative of a senior political…
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) announced on Friday that internet services in the country were back to normal after issues with the SEA-ME-WE 5 (SMW5) international submarine cable system were resolved.
In a statement, the authority said that the fault in the cable system, which had led to widespread connectivity issues in the country on Thursday night, had been resolved, adding that internet traffic had returned to normal.
It said Transworld Associates’ (TWA) international…
Source: FBR
THE first year of Pakistan’s unified agriculture income tax regime has exposed a stark gap between policy ambition and revenue collection, with provincial tax authorities collecting barely 2 per cent of the agricultural income declared by taxpayers during fiscal year 2025-26.
The figures raise fresh questions about the effectiveness of the landmark reform introduced last year under a fiscal restructuring programme backed by the International Monetary Fund.
Despite a harmonised…
WASHINGTON/UNITED NATIONS: The United States has reiterated its support for Pakistan’s right to defend itself against terrorist attacks, while the United Nations struggles to maintain consensus on its core global counterterrorism framework.
“The Pakistani people have suffered greatly at the hands of terrorists,” the US State Department said, according to a statement reported by Reuters.
Washington “supports Pakistan’s right to defend itself against terrorist attacks” as an intermittent conflict…
El Niño will quickly develop into a strong event between July and September, fuelling the likelihood of extreme weather, the United Nations weather and climate agency warned on Friday.
The World Meteorological Organisation said El Niño had already set in, and would quickly gain strength, as it warned countries to brace for impact.
El Niño is a natural climate phenomenon that warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific…
MOHMAND: Two cops, including an additional station house officer (SHO), were martyred when Fitna al Khawarij terrorists attacked a police patrol in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mohmand district on Thursday night, according to police.
Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.
A police statement said the attack occurred near the Warsak Lift Canal in the Machni area within the jurisdiction of Ekkaghund police station, where a police…
QUETTA: The Balochistan government has decided to introduce a convoy system on highways across the province to ensure the safety of cargo trucks, passenger coaches and people travelling by road.
The decision was announced by Additional Chief Secretary Home Hamza Shafqaat during a meeting with representatives of the Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI) on Thursday. Quetta Commissioner Shahzeb Khan Kakar also attended the meeting.
“Providing safe journeys and the smooth movement of…
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday reviewed the law and order situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and reaffirmed his commitment to utilising all available resources for the welfare and prosperity of the people of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The prime minister expressed these views during a meeting with Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Amir Muqam, who called on him at the PM House.
The premier was briefed that the intensity of the…
• Chief ministers commit to reducing unnecessary incarceration, improving infrastructure• CJP terms reforms ‘shared institutional responsibility’• Maryam says prisons should be reflective of values, effectiveness of justice system• Afridi calls for reforms to ‘start from Adiala’
ISLAMABAD: The provinces on Thursday reaffirmed their commitment to sustained prison reforms, with all the chief ministers acknowledging that these reforms were not just an administrative necessity, but a constitutional…
Matteo Della Bordella, Mirco Grasso, Luca Ducoli and Giacomo Mauri at the K7 base camp.—Dawn
• Six-member rope-fixing group establishes route to peak• Expedition includes climbers from China, Ukraine, Lithuania, Nepal and Pakistan• Italian team opens a new route on K7’s Southeast Face, but turns back 350 metres below the summit due to dangerous conditions
GILGIT: A seven-member international expedition, along with a six-member rope-fixing team, successfully summited Nanga Parbat (8,126…
• Defends Israel talks as ‘diplomatic war’, not betrayal• Syrian FM rules out any military action in Beirut
BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Thursday defended a recently signed US-backed framework agreement with Israel, arguing the negotiations are not a betrayal and vowing he will not surrender “a single inch of Lebanese territory”.
The statements came as Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani visited Beirut to assure Aoun that Damascus has no intention of intervening militarily in…
MUZAFFARABAD: In a widely anticipated move, the PTI on Thursday announced its decision to boycott the upcoming Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) general election, stating it would instead stand by the people amid the prevailing political and social unrest.
The announcement was made by PTI regional president and former AJK prime minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi through a statement shared with Dawn by his press secretary.
“Expressing unwavering solidarity with the aspirations, right to…
FLANKED by local PTI leaders, Salman Akram Raja addresses a press conference in Lahore.—PPI
• Salman Akram Raja says critics are ‘hard of hearing’, claims party has emerged as largest social force in the country• Junaid Akbar Khan terms Balochistan ‘guarantor of country’s stability’, assails govt over law and order situation
LAHORE / QUETTA: Deflecting criticism that the party has lost its way in the face of government intransigence, leaders of the main opposition PTI maintained that…
• ECC approves 175,000 tonnes from 2026-27 crop
• Defines ‘forced labour’ in line with ILO 1930 convention
• Passco gets Rs4.188bn severance package
ISLAMABAD: The government on Thursday decided to supply 175,000 tonnes of 100 per cent fresh indigenous wheat to Pakistan Army and approved defining ‘forced labour’ in compliance with requirements of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet,…
• No reward points under SDRP
• TTCIS also discontinued; banks to keep transfers free for users
KARACHI: The State Bank has abolished the incentives paid to banks for increasing remittances, after the amount grew to a level that came under the IMF’s radar.
The SBP issued a circular on Thursday announcing that the Sohni Dharti Remittance Programme (SDRP) had been discontinued.
“No further reward points under SDRP will be awarded from the start of FY27, from July 1, 2026,” the SBP…
• Decision taken unanimously by Senate Standing Committee on EAD• Division says it cannot directly order FIA, NAB inquiry into another ministry’s projects• Senators criticise EAD letter questioning committee’s jurisdiction
ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Division on Thursday decided to brief the prime minister on irregularities and alleged corruption in foreign-funded projects in the power sector and directly ask the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the…
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit Iran and Turkiye from July 3 to July 5, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Tahir Andrabi confirmed on Thursday.
Addressing a weekly briefing, Andrabi said that during his visit to Iran, the premier would participate in the funeral of late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in US-Israeli strikes on February 28.
The FO spokesperson said PM Shehbaz will travel to Iran first for Khamenei’s funeral. Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq…
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said on Thursday it was closely monitoring internet traffic disruptions caused by a fault in the SEA-ME-WE 5 (SMW5) international submarine cable system, which was likely to cause intermittent degradation in service quality and connectivity.
The telecom authority added that Transworld Associates (TWA) is coordinating with the SMW5 consortium to “identify the root cause of the fault” and determine the estimated time for…
India’s Adani Group and Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Company (IHC) are looking to invest $11.5 billion in a massive aluminum project in the eastern state of Odisha, the Indian conglomerate said on Thursday.
The two parties signed a memorandum of understanding with the Odisha state government, Adani said in a statement, with the proposed investment set to be India’s “largest foreign direct investment in the metallurgy sector”.
The statement said the Odisha project will see Adani Enterprises…
Hundreds of rescuers in Venezuela cheered and embraced Thursday after pulling a 43-year-old man alive from the ruins of a collapsed building eight days after deadly twin earthquakes, AFP journalists witnessed.
With the official death toll nearing 2,300 and huge numbers of people still missing, the rescue of security guard Hernan Gil after so long under the rubble was greeted as a miracle.
Gil was brought out on a stretcher after a painstaking operation to extract him from the collapsed…
MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Supreme Court on Thursday deferred hearing on the Election Commission’s application seeking ex parte ad interim relief against a high court order directing the provisional registration of PTI as a political party.
A full court comprising Chief Justice Raja Saeed Akram, Justice Raza Ali Khan and Justice Khalid Yousaf Chaudhary ruled that the application would be heard along with the Election Commission’s petition for leave to appeal (PLA) after the…
LAHORE: A child was killed and at least five people were injured after the roof of an under-construction building collapsed in Lahore’s Baghbanpura neighbourhood on Thursday, police said.
An update issued by the Baghbanpura police said an eight-year-old boy died, while four men and a child were injured.
Speaking to the media, Baghbanpura Station House Officer (SHO) Rizwan Khan said the school administration was expanding its 14-marla building by constructing a two-marla structure.
“During the…
QUETTA: Forty people were killed and eight others injured when a Peshawar-bound passenger bus fell into a ravine just as it left the Dhanasar area of Balochistan’s Sherani district and crossed the provincial border into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan on Friday, officials said.
The number of casualties was first shared in a statement by the Balochistan chief minister’s aide for media and political affairs, Shahid Rind, who cited initial reports. It was later also confirmed by the KP…
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) leaders gathering for a summit in Ankara on July 7-8 will discuss a host of challenges facing the alliance, from Europe taking on more responsibility for the continent’s security to boosting defence industrial production.
Some officials worry the Middle East conflict could overshadow the gathering, but hope leaders will remain focused on the alliance’s core business: defence and deterrence.
Here is a look at the main challenges Nato is facing.
Keeping…
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has departed for Iran to attend the funeral of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in a US-Israeli strike on February 28, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on Friday.
In a post on social media platform X, the PMO said the premier was accompanied by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, PPP Secretary General…
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Friday urged parents not to leave their children unattended and to ensure their safety when sending them out of the house.
The statement comes after the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Sargodha and a roof collapse incident at a private tuition centre in Lahore, which claimed the lives of 14 children. The chief minister spoke about both incidents in a televised address to the National Paigham-i-Aman Committee on Friday.
Citing the Sargodha…
LAHORE: A court on Friday granted police five-day physical remand of four suspects arrested for the alleged abduction and sexual assault of two foreign women.
On Thursday, police had booked five suspects on charges of kidnapping for ransom and sexually assaulting two foreign women, who were nationals of the Netherlands and Venezuela. Subsequently, four of them were arrested.
According to the FIR, the women were abducted by five suspects, including a close relative of a senior political…
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) announced on Friday that internet services in the country were back to normal after issues with the SEA-ME-WE 5 (SMW5) international submarine cable system were resolved.
In a statement, the authority said that the fault in the cable system, which had led to widespread connectivity issues in the country on Thursday night, had been resolved, adding that internet traffic had returned to normal.
It said Transworld Associates’ (TWA) international…
Source: FBR
THE first year of Pakistan’s unified agriculture income tax regime has exposed a stark gap between policy ambition and revenue collection, with provincial tax authorities collecting barely 2 per cent of the agricultural income declared by taxpayers during fiscal year 2025-26.
The figures raise fresh questions about the effectiveness of the landmark reform introduced last year under a fiscal restructuring programme backed by the International Monetary Fund.
Despite a harmonised…
WASHINGTON/UNITED NATIONS: The United States has reiterated its support for Pakistan’s right to defend itself against terrorist attacks, while the United Nations struggles to maintain consensus on its core global counterterrorism framework.
“The Pakistani people have suffered greatly at the hands of terrorists,” the US State Department said, according to a statement reported by Reuters.
Washington “supports Pakistan’s right to defend itself against terrorist attacks” as an intermittent conflict…
El Niño will quickly develop into a strong event between July and September, fuelling the likelihood of extreme weather, the United Nations weather and climate agency warned on Friday.
The World Meteorological Organisation said El Niño had already set in, and would quickly gain strength, as it warned countries to brace for impact.
El Niño is a natural climate phenomenon that warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific…
MOHMAND: Two cops, including an additional station house officer (SHO), were martyred when Fitna al Khawarij terrorists attacked a police patrol in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mohmand district on Thursday night, according to police.
Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.
A police statement said the attack occurred near the Warsak Lift Canal in the Machni area within the jurisdiction of Ekkaghund police station, where a police…
QUETTA: The Balochistan government has decided to introduce a convoy system on highways across the province to ensure the safety of cargo trucks, passenger coaches and people travelling by road.
The decision was announced by Additional Chief Secretary Home Hamza Shafqaat during a meeting with representatives of the Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI) on Thursday. Quetta Commissioner Shahzeb Khan Kakar also attended the meeting.
“Providing safe journeys and the smooth movement of…
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday reviewed the law and order situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and reaffirmed his commitment to utilising all available resources for the welfare and prosperity of the people of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The prime minister expressed these views during a meeting with Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Amir Muqam, who called on him at the PM House.
The premier was briefed that the intensity of the…
• Chief ministers commit to reducing unnecessary incarceration, improving infrastructure• CJP terms reforms ‘shared institutional responsibility’• Maryam says prisons should be reflective of values, effectiveness of justice system• Afridi calls for reforms to ‘start from Adiala’
ISLAMABAD: The provinces on Thursday reaffirmed their commitment to sustained prison reforms, with all the chief ministers acknowledging that these reforms were not just an administrative necessity, but a constitutional…
Matteo Della Bordella, Mirco Grasso, Luca Ducoli and Giacomo Mauri at the K7 base camp.—Dawn
• Six-member rope-fixing group establishes route to peak• Expedition includes climbers from China, Ukraine, Lithuania, Nepal and Pakistan• Italian team opens a new route on K7’s Southeast Face, but turns back 350 metres below the summit due to dangerous conditions
GILGIT: A seven-member international expedition, along with a six-member rope-fixing team, successfully summited Nanga Parbat (8,126…
• Defends Israel talks as ‘diplomatic war’, not betrayal• Syrian FM rules out any military action in Beirut
BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Thursday defended a recently signed US-backed framework agreement with Israel, arguing the negotiations are not a betrayal and vowing he will not surrender “a single inch of Lebanese territory”.
The statements came as Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani visited Beirut to assure Aoun that Damascus has no intention of intervening militarily in…
MUZAFFARABAD: In a widely anticipated move, the PTI on Thursday announced its decision to boycott the upcoming Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) general election, stating it would instead stand by the people amid the prevailing political and social unrest.
The announcement was made by PTI regional president and former AJK prime minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi through a statement shared with Dawn by his press secretary.
“Expressing unwavering solidarity with the aspirations, right to…
FLANKED by local PTI leaders, Salman Akram Raja addresses a press conference in Lahore.—PPI
• Salman Akram Raja says critics are ‘hard of hearing’, claims party has emerged as largest social force in the country• Junaid Akbar Khan terms Balochistan ‘guarantor of country’s stability’, assails govt over law and order situation
LAHORE / QUETTA: Deflecting criticism that the party has lost its way in the face of government intransigence, leaders of the main opposition PTI maintained that…
• ECC approves 175,000 tonnes from 2026-27 crop
• Defines ‘forced labour’ in line with ILO 1930 convention
• Passco gets Rs4.188bn severance package
ISLAMABAD: The government on Thursday decided to supply 175,000 tonnes of 100 per cent fresh indigenous wheat to Pakistan Army and approved defining ‘forced labour’ in compliance with requirements of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet,…
• No reward points under SDRP
• TTCIS also discontinued; banks to keep transfers free for users
KARACHI: The State Bank has abolished the incentives paid to banks for increasing remittances, after the amount grew to a level that came under the IMF’s radar.
The SBP issued a circular on Thursday announcing that the Sohni Dharti Remittance Programme (SDRP) had been discontinued.
“No further reward points under SDRP will be awarded from the start of FY27, from July 1, 2026,” the SBP…
• Decision taken unanimously by Senate Standing Committee on EAD• Division says it cannot directly order FIA, NAB inquiry into another ministry’s projects• Senators criticise EAD letter questioning committee’s jurisdiction
ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Division on Thursday decided to brief the prime minister on irregularities and alleged corruption in foreign-funded projects in the power sector and directly ask the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the…
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit Iran and Turkiye from July 3 to July 5, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Tahir Andrabi confirmed on Thursday.
Addressing a weekly briefing, Andrabi said that during his visit to Iran, the premier would participate in the funeral of late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in US-Israeli strikes on February 28.
The FO spokesperson said PM Shehbaz will travel to Iran first for Khamenei’s funeral. Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq…
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said on Thursday it was closely monitoring internet traffic disruptions caused by a fault in the SEA-ME-WE 5 (SMW5) international submarine cable system, which was likely to cause intermittent degradation in service quality and connectivity.
The telecom authority added that Transworld Associates (TWA) is coordinating with the SMW5 consortium to “identify the root cause of the fault” and determine the estimated time for…
India’s Adani Group and Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Company (IHC) are looking to invest $11.5 billion in a massive aluminum project in the eastern state of Odisha, the Indian conglomerate said on Thursday.
The two parties signed a memorandum of understanding with the Odisha state government, Adani said in a statement, with the proposed investment set to be India’s “largest foreign direct investment in the metallurgy sector”.
The statement said the Odisha project will see Adani Enterprises…
Hundreds of rescuers in Venezuela cheered and embraced Thursday after pulling a 43-year-old man alive from the ruins of a collapsed building eight days after deadly twin earthquakes, AFP journalists witnessed.
With the official death toll nearing 2,300 and huge numbers of people still missing, the rescue of security guard Hernan Gil after so long under the rubble was greeted as a miracle.
Gil was brought out on a stretcher after a painstaking operation to extract him from the collapsed…
MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Supreme Court on Thursday deferred hearing on the Election Commission’s application seeking ex parte ad interim relief against a high court order directing the provisional registration of PTI as a political party.
A full court comprising Chief Justice Raja Saeed Akram, Justice Raza Ali Khan and Justice Khalid Yousaf Chaudhary ruled that the application would be heard along with the Election Commission’s petition for leave to appeal (PLA) after the…
LAHORE: A child was killed and at least five people were injured after the roof of an under-construction building collapsed in Lahore’s Baghbanpura neighbourhood on Thursday, police said.
An update issued by the Baghbanpura police said an eight-year-old boy died, while four men and a child were injured.
Speaking to the media, Baghbanpura Station House Officer (SHO) Rizwan Khan said the school administration was expanding its 14-marla building by constructing a two-marla structure.
“During the…