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Man awarded death sentence for 2019 killing of anchorperson Mureed Abbas in Karachi

KARACHI: A sessions court on Thursday sentenced a man to death on two counts in a case pertaining to the 2019 murder of TV anchor Mureed Abbas and his friend. Prime suspect Atif Zaman and his brother, Adil Zaman, were arrested and booked by the police for killing Abbas and Khizer Hayat, who were their business partners, in Karachi’s Khayaban-i-Bukhari area on the night of July 9, 2019, exactly seven years ago. Daniyal Muhammad Hussain, who was part of the legal team that represented Abbas’s wife, said that Adil had been declared an absconder in the case after escaping following the cancellation of his bail by the Supreme Court’s Karachi registry. Abbas was a Bol News anchorperson. In the incident — which at the time was said to be a “personal dispute” — he was gunned down while Hayat also received two bullet wounds. Hayat was shifted to a private hospital but he succumbed to his wounds, according to the police. In October 2019, the case was transferred from an anti-terrorism cou...
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WHAT NEXT FOR THE GULF?

An illustration showing (top, left to right) the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Sultan and Prime Minister of Oman Haitham bin Tariq Al-Said, Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, (and bottom) the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian over a map of the Gulf with pre-war ship locator markings showing ships travelling via the Strait of Hormuz FOREWORD The United States-Zionist war of aggression on Iran has been partially halted by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Given the rising cost-exchange ratio because of Iran’s response, US President Donald Trump was looking for a deal. He admitted to the media at the G-7 summit that he “did not want to be the late, great Herbert Hoover”, the president historically blamed for the onset of the Great Depression. Trump ...
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Oil rises as US strikes on Iran raise fears over shaky truce

Oil prices gained more than 2 per cent on Wednesday after the US military launched airstrikes against Iran and reimposed crude sales sanctions, raising fears their fragile truce was unravelling and Middle East supplies could be disrupted again. Brent crude futures gained $1.92, or 2.6pc, at $76.08 a barrel at 0400 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude climbed $1.82, or 2.6pc, to $72.26 a barrel. Both benchmarks rose about 3pc on Tuesday after the US revoked the general licence authorising the sale of Iranian crude following the Iranian attacks. “While the revocation doesn’t fundamentally change oil market dynamics, it’s important from a sentiment perspective. It heightens the risk of a breakdown in the temporary deal between the US and Iran,” ING commodity strategists said on Wednesday. The US airstrikes were in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz, US Central Command said on Tuesday. “The current conflagration is a re...
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Hamas’s move

THE decision taken by Hamas to relinquish governance of Gaza appears to be designed to put the onus on the US and Israel to take the peace process forward. Having ruled the Strip for about two decades, the Palestinian group announced on Monday that it was ready to hand over governance duties to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, the technocratic body set up under Donald Trump’s Board of Peace . As per a Hamas spokesman, the move is supposed to “remove any pretexts for the [Israeli] occupation” which, he rightly said, “continues its … war of extermination”. Since the ceasefire took effect in October 2025, Gaza has hardly turned into a cradle of peace. Over 1,000 people have been murdered by Israel, including children, during what is supposed to be a truce. Since the Zionist state commenced its genocidal attacks on the Strip after the Oct 7, 2023, Hamas operation, over 73,000 people have been butchered, with nearly 2m displaced and denied adequate shelter, food and h...
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PM Shehbaz calls for comprehensive strategy to boost SMEs’ access to financing

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed that a comprehensive strategy be formulated to improve small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) access to financing. He made these remarks while chairing a review meeting of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda) in Islamabad. According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the premier directed the authority to formulate a comprehensive strategy, in coordination with the State Bank of Pakistan and commercial banks, to improve SMEs’ access to financing. He stressed that greater facilitation should be provided for extending loans to SMEs to boost the country’s exports. He also directed that they be supported in enhancing their productive capacity, particularly by providing awareness and access to financing for farmers processing agricultural produce. The prime minister further directed that commercial banks be encouraged to develop dedicated financia...
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Indonesia to buy BrahMos missiles, Indian govt official says as Modi kicks off 2-day Jakarta visit

India will supply BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and Astra air-to-air missiles to Indonesia, an Indian government official said on Tuesday, as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi started a two-day visit to Jakarta. Indian sources earlier told Reuters that the deal, worth around $630 million, would likely be signed during Modi’s visit. Indonesia would be the third country to sign an agreement to buy the missiles, which are manufactured by BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited. The deal would mark a major expansion of India’s defence exports and deepen strategic ties with Southeast Asia’s largest economy at a time of growing competition with China for influence in the Indo-Pacific. BrahMos missiles, jointly developed by India and Russia, are among the world’s fastest cruise missiles and can be launched from land, sea and air platforms. The Astra beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles can be integrated on Russian-made Sukhoi fighter...
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China says test fired missile in Pacific Ocean, alarming regional powers

A Chinese submarine test fired a missile in the Pacific Ocean on Monday, Beijing said, after nations in the region warned that China was planning to test an intercontinental ballistic missile. It was a rare show of Beijing’s military might in the strategically important South Pacific region, where the US, Australia and New Zealand have long been the security partners of choice. The launch drew immediate condemnation from nations in the region, including Japan, which said it had urged China to reconsider proceeding with the launch. “At 12:01 pm on July 6, a strategic nuclear submarine of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy successfully launched a … strategic missile carrying a training simulation warhead into the relevant high seas of the Pacific Ocean, accurately landing in the designated sea area,” spokesperson Wang Xuemeng said in a statement posted on a Chinese navy WeChat account. “This missile test launch is a routine arrangement of China’s annual military training, and rele...
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