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Iran’s post-war gamble on the young

Tehran is red and black when I arrive. Millions of people in black mourning attire carried red flags, the stark emblem of blood and martyrdom, seeking revenge for their leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated on February 28. “We Must Rise,” declare the banners. War songs ricochet off the walls in streets punctuated by elegies on the martyrdom of Imam Husayn and his Companions at Karbala. This is collective grief channelled as state resilience. An elderly supporter I meet, Akbar Ali Jafari, puts it like this: “The war has given the Revolution a new lease on life.” The founding purpose is resurrected and its leadership cast as embattled defenders of the nation rather than an ageing, contested regime. A vehicle carrying coffins of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his family members, makes its way as people attend a funeral procession for Khamenei. — Reuters In early July, a towering fist was constructed a few days before the f...
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Rain-related fatalities during ongoing monsoon spell rise to 18 in KP

LOWER SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: The death toll from rain-related incidents during the ongoing monsoon spell and flash floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has risen to 18. According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, the current rain spell, which began on July 19, is expected to last till July 23 in KP. The latest rain-related fatalities in the province were reported from Upper South Waziristan, where four people were killed in a roof collapse incident, Additional Deputy Commissioner Fazal Wadood told Dawn . He said the incident occurred in the Bangiwala village on the outskirts of Sararogha tehsil during heavy rainfall. The victims belonged to the same family, including a couple and their son and daughter, he added. Separately, a report released by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) this morning said that 14 people had died and 19 had been injured in rain-related incidents across the province since July 19. The report did not mention the South Waziristan fatalities, whi...
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Exam paper leaks, protests and Gandhi siblings' arrest — India's 'cockroach' youth movement explained

Thousands of supporters of India’s youth-led “cockroach” movement have been camping in the capital, New Delhi, to demand the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, in the biggest public challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his third term. Here is a look at what sparked the protests and the situation now. Why do protesters want Pradhan to quit? The immediate trigger for the demonstrations was the cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), India’s undergraduate medical school entrance exam, after its question papers were found to have been leaked. About two million students across India took the exam on May 3, but it was later scrapped, with about a dozen student suicides linked to its cancellation. A re-test was held in June. Why is NEET important? The exam is the sole gateway to undergraduate medical courses across India, and millions of aspirants sit for it every year, competing for fewer than 150,000 seats, making it one of India...
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DIGITISING A NATIONAL HERITAGE

Digitising a museum collection is often framed as a technical challenge. Procure high-resolution cameras and scanners, hire trained photographers and scanning technicians, build databases and upload images to the cloud. In Pakistan, however, museum, archive and heritage digitisation is as much about navigating governance structures, institutional histories and professional anxieties as it is about the technology being used. For more than two decades, the Lahore Museum has not been led by a museum professional. For the past 16 years, the Taxila Museum has lacked authority over the majority of its reserve collection. During those same periods, specialised expertise in collections management, conservation and museum documentation have steadily eroded across much of the country’s cultural sector. The result is that projects that should primarily be about technology have become exercises in navigating institutional uncertainty. The recent digitisation o...
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5 questions that continue to linger after the FIFA World Cup

The curtain has fallen on the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the grandest and most expansive edition yet, hosted across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Spain emerged triumphant in a tense final against Argentina, etching their name on the trophy in a display of technical brilliance. Yet as the echoes of the stadiums fade, the tournament departs with more than memories of footballing excellence. It leaves behind a trail of controversies and unanswered questions that may linger long after the final whistle. Sport, like politics, often mirrors the contradictions of its time. The 2026 World Cup was no different. Here are five questions that football must now confront. Did political interference undermine the integrity of the game? The most glaring shadow over the tournament was the alleged involvement of political figures in sporting matters, most notably US President Donald Trump’s intervention following the red card awarded to American forward Folarin Balogun. After receiving a red ca...
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Foreign women's abduction, rape case: 3 suspects remanded in judicial custody

LAHORE: A judicial magistrate on Monday sent three suspects on 14-day judicial remand in a case pertaining to the kidnapping and rape of two foreign women. Defence C police produced the three suspects before the court on the expiry of their physical remand. The police asked the court to remand the suspects in judicial custody. The magistrate accepted the request and sent the suspects to the judicial lockup, directing police to submit their investigation report at the next hearing. A duty magistrate on Sunday had allowed the police five-day physical remand of a suspect identified as “Boss” by the complainant in the first information report (FIR). Separately, a Lahore High Court judge on Monday disposed of a habeas corpus petition filed by the mother of the aforementioned suspect seeking recovery of her son from police custody. A law officer told the court that the petitioner’s son was on physical remand, after which the LHC disposed of the petition. Four other suspects, including...
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Andy Burnham set to take over as new British PM

Andy Burnham will on Monday become Britain’s sixth prime minister to move into Downing Street since 2016, with an in-tray overflowing with challenges and little time to make his mark. The new leader takes over from the unpopular Keir Starmer just two years after the outgoing prime minister led Labour party to power in a landslide election victory after 14 years of Conservative rule. After being asked by King Charles III to form the next government, Burnham, 56, is due to make his first speech Monday outside 10 Downing Street shortly after Starmer has said his farewells. In an interview with The Times published late on Sunday, Burnham set out his ambition for change, saying he wanted to draw a line under a decade of political turmoil. “What we’ve been doing hasn’t been working. That’s the way I see it,” he said. “I am going to try and do things in a different way.” In his first speech, he will acknowledge he feels “acutely conscious” of the need for a more stable brand of poli...
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