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ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: The killing of Ismail Haniyeh , chief political leader of Hamas and former prime minister of Palestine, in Iran attracted strong reaction from almost all political and religious parties on Wednesday which condemned the “barbaric approach” of Israel, denounced the world powers support to Zionist state and questioned the silence of Muslim rulers. As the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) sit-in at Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh entered the sixth day, all activities of the day were suspended to mourn the assassination. The party also suspended its activities in Karachi, including the sit-in planned to be staged outside Governor House. JI emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, led the funeral prayer in absentia of the Hamas leader, on Liaquat Road. It was also attended by the delegation of Palestinian embassy in Pakistan. Funeral prayers for Haniyeh were also offered in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta on the call of the JI chief. Besides, the JUI-F held the funeral of the leader in absent...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday approved a cut in the prices of petrol by Rs6.17 per litre and high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs10.86, respectively, for the next fortnight. State broadcaster PTV posted a statement on X saying that the new petrol price was now Rs269.43 and that of HSD was Rs272.77. It added that the price of kerosene oil was also reduced to Rs177.39 by a Rs6.32 cut while light diesel oil was now Rs160.53 after a Rs5.72 cut. Instead of a notification from the Finance Division, PTV posted the summary of the price changes for the prime minister’s approval. The cuts in petrol and HSD prices are higher than previously estimated . After two consecutive increases, the prices were estimated to decline by about Rs3 and Rs8.50 per litre, respectively, from August 1 for the next fortnight, mainly because of lower international market and import premiums. Informed sources had said the prices of these major products had decreased in the international market by abo...

GAZA STRIP: Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Tuesday that an Israeli operation in and around the territory’s second city of Khan Yunis killed about 300 people since it began last week, while the army claimed it had “eliminated 150 terrorists”. “Since the beginning of the Israeli ground invasion of the eastern part of Khan Yunis province, the civil defence and medical teams have re­cov­ered approximately 300 bodies of martyrs, many of them decomposed,” agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said. The Israeli military launched the assault on July 22 to halt what it called rocket fire from the area, which alre­ady saw heavy fighting earlier this year. Last week, it said troops had retrieved the bodies of five Israelis from the area. They had been killed during the Hamas attacks of October 7 and their bodies taken back to Gaza, the military said. Palestinians begin returning to destroyed homes; Tel Aviv’s forces bulldoze Bani Suhaila cemetery Thousands of Palestinians retu­rned to their...

CARACAS: Streets were largely empty in towns and cities across Ven­ezuela and opposition supporters we­re subdued on Monday after Pres­ident Nicolas Maduro and opposition rival Edmundo Gonzalez both clai­m­ed victory in a tense weekend election. Few businesses were open and public transport was scarce, as governments in Washington and elsewhere cast doubt on official results that kept the incumbent Maduro in power and called for a full tabulation of votes. The national electoral authority said just after midnight that Maduro had won a third term with 51 per cent of the vote — a result that would extend a quarter-century of socialist rule. But independent exit polls pointed to a big opposition win following enthusiastic shows of support for Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. Gonzalez has not called for supporters to take to the streets and has warned against violence, even as reports trickled in of arrests and intimidation of his supporters. US President Joe Biden...

TEHRAN: Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hands the official endorsement letter to Masoud Pezeshkian during a ceremony held on Sunday to endorse the president-elect, ahead of his swearing-in on July 30. —AFP TEHRAN: Iran’s supr­eme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave on Sunday his official endorsement of Dr Masoud Pezeshkian as the country’s ninth president, following snap elections won by the reformist camp’s candidate. In a message read by the director of Khamenei’s office, the supreme leader said: “I endorse the vote (for) the wise, honest, popular and scholarly Mr Pezeshkian, and I am appointing him as the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran.” The new reformist president is due to be sworn in before parliament on Tuesday. The endorsement ceremony was held in the capital Tehran in the presence of senior Iranian officials and foreign diplomats, and broadcast on state TV. Ex-president Hassan Rouhani and Saeed Jalili also attended the Sunday’s ceremony. Follow...

Local businessman Zulfiqar Ahmed, who was abducted in Karachi earlier this week, has returned to his home safely in Lahore, police said on Sunday. Ahmed, who is the managing director of the Paracha Textile Mills and Mezan Group, was allegedly abducted by unknown armed men on July 23 when he, along with a friend Qaiser, was on his way to Clifton from his office. On July 25, a two-judge bench headed by Justice Kausar Sultana Hussain heard the case after Anber Zulfiqar, the abductee’s wife, had petitioned the Sindh High Court (SHC). Subsequently, the SHC had issued notices to the ministry of interior, provincial home department, inspector general of police (IGP) and others on a petition seeking whereabouts of the businessman. In her petition, the petitioner had said that the vehicle of her husband was intercepted by a double cabin vehicle on Mauripur Road near Agra Taj and eight armed men abducted Ahmed and his friend on Tuesday. However, they later set Qaiser free. The petitioner s...

VIENTIANE: The top diplomats of China and the US sparred on Saturday over the South China Sea, where Beijing is locked in a territorial dispute with US treaty ally the Philippines. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met on the sidelines of a foreign ministers meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in Laos. The US hailed the meeting as “open and productive,” after Blinken had criticised Beijing’s “escalatory and unlawful actions” in the South China Sea. Chinese and Filipino ships have clashed in the waterway, fuelling fears of a conflict that could drag in the US due to its mutual defence treaty with Manila. The US should “refrain from fanning the flames, stirring up trouble and undermining stability at sea,” Wang said at the meeting, according to a foreign ministry statement. During the meeting, which a State Department official said lasted one hour and twenty minutes, Blinken also raised US concerns over China’s support fo...

LAKKI MARWAT/ ISLAM­ABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has announced that no military operation will be allowed in any part of the province, though he asked police to go after armed groups across the province. However, the PML-N-led federal government slammed the KP chief minister for what it called “misguiding” the people on the issue of Azm-i-Istehkam campaign against terrorism. While addressing a public rally in Bannu on Friday, CM Gandapur said: “From past experiences we have learnt that the operations were of no benefit and added to the sufferings of people by vacating their homes.” He said the KP residents offered sacrifices in the war on terror, faced displacements from their native areas, adding that people had reservations over the treatment meted out to them. Centre slams CM for ‘misguiding’ people over Azm-i-Istehkam The chief minister thanked the Bannu people, especially the elders, who held successful talks with the local administration after...

IT is again that time of the year when we start talking about how bad things are, how irreversibly corrupt and inept our system is, and how we need to entirely substitute the old with the new. A new judiciary, a new security apparatus, a new people, perhaps, and as is the mantra every decade or so, a new political party. Sadly, however, it is always the same story. The system has failed us, so it needs to be changed. Those benefiting from it are bad, but we are not. They are corrupt, but not us. They are disingenuous, but we are not. They represent the status quo, and we are the change you want to see in society. In a nutshell, they promise immediate change, and instant results. But is such a change sustainable or permanent? The history of Pakistan teaches us that it is not. In fact, if anything, change tends to be incremental. It envisions a step-by-step approach to making things better. The goal is not to craft a perfect solution, but to acknowledge the deficiencies in the existing...

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has rejected the petition of a private housing society’s builders against the orders of the regional ombudsperson for them to hand over plots to 12 women applicants or return with interest their money received for plots. A single-member bench headed by Justice Syed Mohammad Attique Shah rejected 12 appeals jointly filed by three builders of the Canal View Housing Scheme Peshawar, including Said Arif, Salman Fida and Shehzad Ali Khan, against the May 20 orders of Rukhshanda Naz, the ombudsperson for protection against harassment of women at the workplace. The ombudsperson had issued the orders over 12 complaints filed by women applicants claiming that around 350 persons, including themselves, had invested their lifelong savings in the scheme by booking or purchasing plots through a private marketing company. However, the builder, Citi Builders, had been delaying handing over plots to them. She ordered builders to allot plots to the complainants as pe...

CHARSADDA: The workers of Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) staged a demonstration to protest inflation, law and order situation, power loadshedding and a hike in the tariff of electricity. The protesters blocked roads in Tangi tehsil and chanted slogans against the provincial and federal governments. They said that both provincial and federal governments failed to provide relief to people. The demonstration was led by QWP provincial chairman Sikander Hayat Khan Sherpao, who said that the government was following the dictation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and made the lives of people miserable. He said that contracts with independent power producers should be re-examined and terminated . He said that growing inflation and agreements with IMF had made it impossible for people to live a modest life. Sikandar Sherpao said that worsening law and order and poor state of peace were failures of the central and provincial governments. He said that their party would continue to hig...

TOBA TEK SINGH: Thikriwala police on Thursday arrested a cleric for allegedly torturing his student at a seminary in Saifabad locality of Faisalabad. The arrest followed a viral video on social media showing a minor Quran learner being brutally tortured by a teacher. The suspect, Qari Rizwan Liaqat, was taken into custody by Thikriwala police. Complainant Rashid Bashir stated in his first information report registered under sections 328A and 506 of the Pakistan Penal Code that his 14-year-old son Saqlain had been severely beaten by Qari Rizwan at Jamia Ghousia Rizwia. Iqbal Division SP Imran Munir Saifi visited the victim’s house and assured the father of justice for his son. FOUND MURDERED: A young man was found mysteriously murdered in his house in Muhammadpura locality of Toba early in the morning on Thursday. According to Toba City police and Rescue 1122 officials, a bullet had crossed from one side to other into the head of Ahmad Raza (25). His wife said the incident took pla...

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Thursday removed Fazal Hakeem Khan as provincial minister for climate change and environment and assigned him the portfolio of livestock after a barrage of social media criticism over deforestation in the province. A notification issued by the administration department stated, “[…] in exercise of powers conferred by the sub-rule 1 of Rule 3 of KP Government Rules of Business 1985, the KP chief minister was pleased to assign the portfolio of livestock, fisheries and cooperatives department to Fazal Hakeem Khan Yousafzai by relieving him from the portfolio of climate change, forestry, environment and wildlife department with immediate effect”. Sources told Dawn that Mr Hakeem’s portfolio was changed after some videos of deforestation and widespread logging were widely circulated on social media platforms. On the other hand, a ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf insider told Dawn that Mr Hakeem himself had requested to change his portfolio d...

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday asked the prosecution to justify the need for PTI founding chairman Imran Khan’s physical remand in cases related to the May 9 riots, including an attack on the Lahore corps commander’s residence. A division bench comprising Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh and Justice Anwarul Haq Pannun resumed the hearing of a petition filed by the former premier challenging his physical remand in 12 criminal cases of last year’s violent attacks on military facilities and other properties. Asked by the bench, Prosecutor General of Punjab Syed Farhad Ali Shah said as many as 37 cases were registered in wake of May 9 riots in Punjab, of which 18 were registered in Lahore. The bench asked the prosecutor how many cases the PTI founder had been nominated or arrested in. ATC extends Qureshi’s remand in seven May 9 cases Mr Khan’s counsel Barrister Salman Safdar said to his knowledge, there were 20 cases against the petitioner involving a common allegation of ab...

For the fourth straight year, the Pakistani passport has been ranked the fourth worst by this year’s Henley Passport Index , a ranking of the world’s 199 passports according to the number of destinations their owners can access without a prior visa. In the latest ranking issued on Tuesday, Pa­­kistan’s travel docum­ent (100th place — tied with Yemen) is only ranked higher than those of Iraq (101), Syria (102) and Afghanistan (103) — same as last year . Pakistan and Yemen’s passports permit visa-free access to 33 states, Iraq’s allows travel to 31, Syria’s gives access to 28 destinations and Afghanistan’s travel document only affords the bearer access to 26 destinations. “Afghanistan remains firmly entrenched as the world’s weakest passport, losing access to yet another destination over the past six months, leaving its citizens with access to only 26 countries visa-free — the lowest score ever recorded in history of the 19-year-old index,” a press release said. The top spot yet aga...

LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has reportedly finalised the list of its candidates for the seats reserved for women in the Punjab Assembly. The list has been prepared after the recent Supreme Court verdict in favour of the party for getting the reserved seats on the basis of the general seats won by the candidates with its support in the Feb 8 vote. It is learnt that the PTI has prepared a list of 35 women candidates, including recently released social media activist Sanam Javaid and incarcerated central Punjab chapter president Dr Yasmin Rashid. However, it may claim only 24 women reserved seats in the provincial house. The final approval of the list will be given by the founder chairman Imran Khan. Yasmin, Sanam among candidates Other women leaders included in the Punjab Assembly list are: Tayyaba Ambreen, Naheed Niaz (Okara), Abida Raja (north Punjab women wing head); Saira Raza (north Punjab general secretary), Azra Naseem (west Punjab general secretary), Qurban...

An image shared on social media platform X on July 19 showed a pride flag displayed above an office of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), claiming that it showed the national carrier supporting the LGBTQ community. However, the office is long shut down and the flag was placed by the local Amsterdam government. An account shared the picture with the caption: “PIA supports pride.” The user did not share other details of the picture such as the location of the office or the time and date the image was taken. The post gained over 38,000 views. A fact check was initiated to determine the veracity of a claim due to its virality and the contradictory nature of a Pakistan-associated institution openly displaying the pride flag since the country has strict laws against homosexual conduct which is penalised by Section 377 of the Pakistan Penal Code . Contacting PIA spokesperson Abdullah Khan for a comment on the image, he said the office was located in Amsterdam and shut down in 2018. ...

WASHINGTON: “I have been a Democrat all along, but no more,” said Gibran Syed, who voted for Joe Biden in 2020. “Too much money spent on welfare and LGBTQ issues, incompetent leadership, and illegal immigration,” he explained when asked why he switched to the Republicans. “I wouldn’t even mention Gaza, as both parties would react similarly on that issue.” He was speaking at an event organised to emphasise the importance of Pakistani and Muslim votes in Virginia, a crucial swing state. Here, many attendees pledged their support for Donald Trump in the upcoming November elections. “There are more than 350,000 registered Muslim voters in Northern Virginia, with a majority being Pakistani,” said Mansoor Qureshi, the event’s organiser. “If they all go out to vote, they would become a significant and influential political force.” Rubina Wadhwa, a repeat Trump voter since 2018, attributed the low turnout to a specific demographic: ‘Pakistani and Muslim women don’t vote,’ she observed. H...

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Sunday scrapped most quotas on government jobs after nationwide action led by students spiralled into clashes that killed at least 139 people, but some organisers said the protests would continue. Dismissing a lower court order, the Supreme Court’s appellate division directed that 93pc of government jobs should be open to candidates on merit, Attorney General A.M. Amin Uddin said. A Bangladeshi student group whose demonstrations against civil service hiring rules precipitated serious nationwide unrest said on Sunday it would not abandon protests despite the SC ruling partially meeting their demands. “We won’t call off our protests until the government issues an order reflecting our demands,” a spokesman for Students Against Discrimination told AFP , on condition of anonymity. Student groups say ruling is unclear; Dhaka remains under ‘indefinite’ curfew There was no immediate reaction from groups affected by reduced quotas following Sunday’s...

US President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign on Sunday after fellow Democrats lost faith in his mental acuity and ability to beat Donald Trump, leaving the presidential race in uncharted territory. Biden, in a post on X, said he will remain in his role as president and commander-in-chief until his term ends in January 2025 and will address the nation this week. “It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote. By dropping his re-election bid, he clears the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to run at the top of the ticket, the first Black woman to do so in the country’s history. Later, in a separate post, Biden nominated Harris as the nominee of the Democrat party this year. “My fellow Democrats, I hav...

ISLAMABAD: Wha­ts­App users across Pakistan faced issues in sending media files through the messaging app while connected to mobile data, on Saturday. The telecom regulator, Pakistan Telecomm­unication Authority (PTA), issued no statement on the issue, while cellular mobile operators (CMOs) also claimed they had not received any complaints. There were reports that users were unable to upload media files while connected to mobile data, but voice messages and video files could be sent and viewed through Wi-Fi connections. Experts linked the issue to the suspected installation and testing of the firewall to keep a check on the internet. Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2024 from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/jaLeQsP

• Week-long violence has left at least 115 dead • 150 cops hospitalised • Hasina cancels foreign trips DHAKA: Soldiers patrolled Bang­la­deshi cities on Saturday to quell gro­wing civil unrest sparked by student demonstrations, with riot police firing on protesters who defied a curfew. This week’s violence has killed at least 115 people so far, according to a count of victims reported by police and hospitals, and poses a monumental challenge to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s autocratic government after 15 years in office. A curfew went into effect at Friday midnight and the premier’s office asked the military to deploy troops after police again failed to subdue widespread mayhem. “The army has been deployed nation­wide to control the law and order situation,” an armed forces spokesman said. Streets of the capital Dhaka were almost deserted at daybreak, with troops on foot and in armoured personnel carriers patrolling the sprawling megacity of 20 million. Thousands returned to ...

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman claimed late on Saturday that the PTI was ready to dissolve its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and resign from all assemblies for fresh elections. “This is a positive approach and we welcome it,” Fazl told reporters at his residence in Islamabad. The PTI or any leader did not address or comment on the claim on social media as of Saturday night. He also reported progress in contacts with the PTI and said his party formed a committee for formal negotiations to bury the hatchet. “PTI and JUI had a bitter past and normalisation is a priority for future cooperation. This will lay the foundation for moving ahead,” he said. He detailed that senior leader Kamran Murtaza would lead the committee while other members would be Maulana Lutfur Rehman, Fazal Ghafoor, Maulana Amjad and Fazal Ghafoor. Fazl blasted the government for keeping PTI founder Imran Khan and other party leaders in prison. He also reiterated his opposi...

BAKU: Azerbaijan has announced a $1bn fund to invest in climate action projects in the developing world, to help vulnerable nations build resilience to climate change risks, including floods and droughts. This was announced as a prelude to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) – being held in November this year – by COP29 President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev at a news conference on Friday. The Climate Finance Action Fund (CFAF) will be capitalised with contributions from fossil fuel-producing countries and companies across oil, gas and coal, and Azerbaijan will be a founding contributor, he said. Members will commit to transfer annual contributions as a fixed-sum or based on volume of production. COP29 host Azerbaijan founding contributor; CFAF to be funded by fossil fuel producing nations and companies CFAF is one initiative within a package of 14 announced by Mr Babayev as part of the COP29 action agenda to enhance ambition and enable action. CFAF will be a catalytic public...

ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Friday approved the appointment of two former judges of the Supreme Court — Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood — as ad hoc members of the apex court for a one-year period. However, these appointments were not without opposition, as the nomination of Justice Masood was approved with a majority vote of 8-1, with Justice Munib Akhtar, a member of the commission, dissenting on technical grounds. Similarly, the recommendation of Justice Miankhel, although approved, was also met with opposition from senior puisne judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, and Justice Yahya Afridi. Justice Akhtar was of the view that these retired judges were senior judges of the top judiciary and, therefore, it did not look well to see a senior judge sitting alongside junior judges in a junior position on the bench. Justice Masood’s appointment okayed by eight of nine JCP members; Justice Miankhel has alrea...

The Punjab police have arrested the primary suspect of an alleged incident of animal cruelty and maiming of a donkey in Chiniot district, it emerged on Friday. A first information report (FIR), a copy of which is available with Dawn.com , of the incident was registered on Thursday at the Langrana police station under Pakistan Penal Code Section 429 (mischief by killing or maiming cattle) against the complaint of Mansab Dar. According to the FIR, Dar was a poor man whose female donkey was grazing outside his house on Thursday when the suspects forcibly took her inside a mansion and began beating her with sticks and rods. The report said the first named suspect attacked and injured her in the stomach with a pointed weapon, adding that the complainant was wandering around looking around for his donkey when he was informed about her being taken away. He retrieved the donkey from the mansion. A statement from the police spokesperson said that District Police Officer (DPO) Abdullah Ahmed...

US President Joe Biden gestures while greeting buyers inside a grocery store in Las Vegas.—Reuters • Hints at stepping aside if diagnosed with serious medical condition • Doctor says US president still has mild Covid symptoms WASHINGTON: Joe Biden still has mild Covid symptoms but is continuing to work, his White House doctor said on Thursday, a day after the US president tested positive for the disease shortly after conceding he would consider dropping his re-election bid if doctors diagnosed him with a serious medical condition. “The president is still experiencing mild upper respiratory symptoms associated with his recent Covid-19 infection,” doctor Kevin O’Connor said in a letter. “He does not have a fever and his vital signs remain normal”. The 81-year-old Democ­rat gave reporters the thumbs up and said “I feel good” as he cut short a trip to Las Vegas and flew to his beach home in Delaw­are to go into isolation, which will take him off the campaign trail for days. The i...

The Sindh government on Thursday reappointed grade-21 police officer Javed Akhtar Odho as the new Karachi additional inspector general of police (AIG). According to a notification issued by Sindh Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, “Allah Bux alias Javed Akhtar Odho, an officer of police service of Pakistan (BS-21), awaiting posting is posted with immediate effect and until further orders as additional inspector general of police/Karachi Range.” It added that Odho relieved Imran Yaqoob Minhas, a BS-21 officer of PSP who is currently heading the Counter Terrorism Department, of the additional charge. Minhas replaced Khadim Hussain Rind in March while the latter took charge of the city in September last year from Odho. This would be the second time Odho has been appointed as the city police chief. He served as the top cop of the metropolis from July 2022 till September 5, 2023, and was removed by the caretaker government as per the directions of the Election Commission of Pakist...

Flipping his flailing judo sparring partner to the mat, Afghanistan’s Mohammad Samim Faizad is the only Olympic athlete training for the Games inside his Taliban-controlled homeland. Six Afghans — including three women who are not acknowledged by the Taliban government — will compete at the Paris Olympics this month in cycling, athletics, swimming and judo. Faizad is the only member of the team still living in Afghanistan and follows a rigorous regime whilst competing with the challenges of living in a country mired in poverty, recovering from war and governed by the Taliban. “Physical fatigue subsides after 10 to 20 minutes, but mental and psychological exhaustion is much harder to overcome,” the 22 year-old, who works odd jobs to fund four hours of training in the Japanese martial art each day, told AFP . “Judo means a lot to me,” he said while other fighters sparred at the run-down gym of the Afghanistan Judo Federation in Kabul. “One of my biggest dreams has been to someday p...