Pakistan News

GUJAR KHAN: Scores of teams from across the country participated in the two-day Jhelum Tent-Pegging Championship 2025 — the first in the history of the Jhelum district to be organised by a female tent-pegger. The event was organised by Arooj Azhar Kiyani, the Chief Executive Officer of the Kingsgate Equine and the first female captain of a tent-pegging team in the country, in collaboration with the Punjab government. A large number of people, including families, gathered to watch the cultural sport, while over 70 tent-pegging teams participated in the event. Talking to Dawn during the event, Ms Kiyani said she felt proud to be the first female tent-pegger in Pakistan, adding that it was not easy for her to make her debut in a male-dominated sport. Speaking of the challenges faced by women in becoming horse riders, especially tent-peggers, the KingsGate CEO said that there was a scarcity of good trainers in the field who could coach young girls to pursue their passion. “Luckily, I...

KARACHI: Sidra Amin’s Stars clinched the National Women’s T20 Tournament title with a commanding 42-run victory over Fatima Sana’s Conquerors at the National Bank Stadium on Saturday. After opting to bat first in the decider, Stars posted 135-5 thanks to opener Sana Urooj’s brisk 37-ball 44 before they bundled the Conquerers out for 93 with two balls to spare with Anosha Nasir taking 3-14. Sana and Anosha were jointly awarded the player-of-the-final. Sana set the tone for her side, striking seven fours and being involved in key partnerships: 33 for the first wicket with with Huraina Sajjad (23) and 47 for the third with Kaynat Hafeez (21). Kaynat provided the anchor, striking just one six in her 35-ball knock with their partnership being broken when Nashra Sandhu (2-21) cleaned up Sana. Sidra Amin and Sidra Nawaz provided the late flourish, the skipper striking four four fours in her 13-ball 18 while the latter faced 11 deliveries for 15. The Conquerers lost half their side w...

The spending bill passed by the US House increases a tax the richest private universities pay on their endowment investment gains, a move proponents say reins in “woke” schools but that critics say will wind up hurting the poorest students the most. Tucked within US President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending bill the House narrowly passed on Thursday is a proposal to increase a tax that some universities pay on the investment returns of their endowments from 1.4 per cent to as high as 21pc for some of the most elite colleges in the country. The measure, part of the bill headed to the Republican-controlled Senate, is considered another front in Trump’s attack on elite colleges that he says are overrun by left-wing extremist thought and are cradles of anti-American and antisemitic movements. On Thursday, the Trump administration revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll foreign students , a move the university said was illegal. Representative Jason Smith, a Republican of ...

BOLLYWOOD is predictable; emotions, music, patriotism, villain, repeat. But now and then, Indian alt-cinema breaks through the noise and delivers razor-sharp content. Paatal Lok, a crime thriller on Amazon Prime Video, is one example. It isn’t just a thriller but a masterclass in decoding the machinery of power, propaganda, and manufactured enemies. In Paatal Lok, the assassination plot isn’t really about murder. It’s about getting rid of four petty criminals the political elite want out of the way. So they invent a fake plan to kill a journalist who was never in danger, just useful as a name on paper. The police are tipped off before anything happens, swoop in for a dramatic arrest, and the headlines write themselves: ‘Delhi Police foils plot to kill journalist’. The criminals disappear into the system. The government walks away looking brave. And no one asks why any of it happened in the first place. The plan falls apart when a low-ranking Delhi cop starts asking the wrong questio...

Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, the youngest daughter of President Asif Ali Zardari, on Friday visited a flood rehabilitation housing project in Shaheed Benazirabad district of Sindh accompanying a delegation of officials from the World Bank. The WB officials included its managing director Anna Bejerde and country director Najy Benhassine. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah also accompanied them as they visited the flood rehabilitation housing project in Nazar Muhammad Laghari village in Shaheed Benazirabad district. This project, under the Sindh Peoples Housing for Flood Affectees (SPHF) programme, aims at rebuilding homes destroyed by the 2022 devastating floods, said a statement by the CM House. During the visit, Aseefa and Bejerde distributed ownership rights certificates to women homeowners, and interacted with female members of the Village Reconstruction Committee, as the latter showcased their handicraft work. The committee was briefed that 32 homes were destroyed in the village...

Three terrorists were killed while six others escaped after the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) conducted an intelligence-based operation (IBO) near Rehmanikhel in Mianwali, according to the specialised police force on Friday. A statement issued by the CTD read that it conducted an IBO to arrest the terrorists. However, the terrorists opened fire on the police. In an exchange of fire, the terrorist killed three of their own while the remaining six escaped. The police found rifles, three hand grenades, bullets and explosives on the slain terrorists. A search operation was underway to arrest the terrorists who had escaped, the statement said, adding that the teams had set up a blockade near Rehmanikhel. The process of identifying the slain terrorists was underway, the statement continued. It added that the terrorists who were targeted had completed their planning for carrying out major attacks on police posts. Separately, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police, in a statement, said that un...

Mountaineer Naila Kiani on Friday summited Mount Kanchenjunga (8,586m), the world’s third-highest mountain situated in Nepal, becoming the only Pakistani female mountaineer to summit the world’s 12 highest mountains above eight thousand metres. The summit marked a historic milestone in her pursuit of the world’s 14 peaks above 8,000m. Speaking to Dawn.com today, Mingma G, famous Nepali climber and the owner of Imagine Nepal, said that Kiani stood at top of the peak at 6am local time (5:15 am PKT). Mingma G added that after the successful summit, the expedition team started their descent to camp four and were heading towards basecamp. Secretary Alpine Club of Pakistan, Karrar Haidri, congratulated Kiani for the feat. According to press release issued by Kiani’s team, the achievement cemented her place not only in Pakistan’s mountaineering history but also on the global stage, etching closer to a rare and elite global record: becoming one of fewer than 20 women in history to summi...

ISLAMABAD: Renowned mountaineer Naila Kiani, only Pakistani woman climber to have summited 11 of the world’s 14 eight-thousander peaks, on Wednesday began her summit push to ascend Kanchenjunga (8,586 metres), the world’s third-highest mountain located in Nepal. She arrived at Kanchenjunga Base Camp on May 5, completed her acclimatisation rotation, and had been waiting for a suitable weather window. According to a statement from her team, Ms Kiani left Camp 2 on Wednesday and was headed toward Camp 3, targeting to reach the summit by Thursday or Friday, depending on conditions. “Climbing Kanchenjunga has been an incredibly difficult expedition and a harsh reminder of how hard it is to climb mountains over 8,000m,” Ms Kiani said in a message to her team before resuming her ascent. “I’m now at Camp 2 and need every ounce of physical strength and mental determination to make it through. I’m praying … it’s been very tough so far.” Ms Kiani is part of the Imagine Nepal expedition. Her t...

ISLAMABAD: Senator Sherry Rehman on Wednesday called for immediate national action to protect the Indus River, warning of escalating threats from climate change, glacial retreat and India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) during the National Disaster Management Authority’s (NDMA) Summer Contingency Plan briefing. Ms Rehman, chair of the Senate’s Standing Com­mittee on Climate Change and Environmental Coor­dination, issued the warning at a high-level session led by NDMA Chairman Lt-Gen Inam Haider Malik. Calling the Indus River the country’s lifeline, she said over 90 per cent of Pakistan’s agriculture depends on it. “The Indus is already under climate stress, and now we are facing upstream aggression,” Senator Rehman said. “Over 240 million Pakistanis are effectively being held hostage by these escalating pressures.” India’s suspension of the IWT termed ‘climate weaponisation’ She called for a coordinated national response involving the NDMA, the Ministry of Climate...

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LOS ANGELES — Brandon Pfaadt became the first seven-game winner in the majors, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Gabriel Moreno and Geraldo Perdomo each hit a two-run homer, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-5 on Monday night. Coming off a three-game sweep by the last-place Los Angeles Angels, the NL West-leading Dodgers dropped their fourth in a row at home for the first time since May 2018, when they lost five straight. They’ve allowed six or more runs in five of seven games to begin the homestand. Fans booed when Landon Knack gave up two-run shots to Gurriel and Moreno that made it 7-0 in the third inning. Dodgers opener Jack Dreyer (2-2) let the D-backs build a 3-0 lead on Eugenio Suárez’s RBI double, Josh Naylor’s RBI groundout and Perdomo’s sacrifice fly. Dodgers rookie Hyeseong Kim in center signaled too late to right fielder Teoscar Hernández that he couldn’t see the ball hit by Suárez and it dropped instead of being the second out of the first inning. ...

SAHIWAL: Additional District and Sessions Judge Farrukh Hameed acquitted all seven accused in the murder cases of three members of the Ahmadiyya community, which occurred in 2019 and 2021. The accused included former Union Council chairman Husnain Ali and district office-bearers of the Khatm-i-Nabuwwat organization: Naseeb Ali, Naseer Ali, Muhammad Manasif, Shujaat Ali, and Amjad Asger. Another accused Muhammad Hasan Ramay died of natural causes during court proceedings. According to the report, on Dec 8, 2019, Basharat Ahmed, a village lumberdar, and his brother Mubarik Ahmed were shot dead in broad daylight by nine unidentified assailants on motorcycles in village 99A/6-R, Sahiwal. The incident was suspected to be a sectarian killing. The attackers, whose faces were covered, managed to flee the scene. Farid Town Police registered an FIR against Husnain Ali, Abdul Ghaffar, Naseeb Ali, Naseer Ali, Manasib Ali, Mukhtar Ali, Amjad Ali, Shujat Ali, and two unknown suspects based on a c...

India will never be the same again. Or at least not like what it has been since Narendra Modi came to power in 2014. On May 7 and 10, Indian forces were rather confidently subdued by the Pakistani army and air force. On May 7, when the wreckages of India’s highly-touted Rafale fighter jets were discovered, the tone of the Indian government suddenly lowered. That’s when one felt that the May 7 battle was not turning out the way India had hoped.  This war was initiated by India on the assumption that Pakistan was a highly polarised society with an “unpopular army” and an equally unpopular government. Indian strategists were convinced that Pakistan would not be able to withstand an attack by its much larger neighbour with a ‘very popular’ government and superior war machine.  But during the conflict, India — figuratively speaking — was first served a black-eye, and then, on May 10, a bloody nose. It eventually called for a ceasefire mediated by the US. This was first reported ...

A bomb exploded on Saturday outside a California fertility clinic, killing one person in what the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) labelled a terror attack. The blast tore through downtown Palm Springs, ripping a hole in the clinic and blowing out the windows and doors of nearby buildings, an AFP journalist on the scene reported. “Make no mistake, this is an intentional act of terrorism,” Akil Davis, the head of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, told reporters near the site of the fatal explosion. “This is probably one of the largest bombing investigations that we’ve had in southern California,” he added. He confirmed that one person near the clinic at the time of the blast had been killed and that four others were wounded. Work was ongoing to identify the deceased, he added. Asked whether the clinic was deliberately targeted, Davis answered: “We believe so, yes.” The city’s mayor, Ron deHarte had earlier told AFP that investigators confirmed a bomb explod...

“The point of modern propaganda isn’t only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.” — Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion and rights activist, in a conversation with Columbia Journalism Review in 2017 Those unfortunate enough to be following Indian television ‘news’ channels on the night of May 7 — a day after India launched missiles on civilian targets in mainland Pakistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir — could be forgiven for being thoroughly confused. While the Indian media was in a state of frenzy over alleged Pakistani strikes in “15 locations”, including in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Indian Punjab, Pakistan was officially denying any such operation. In fact, the Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lt Gen Arshad Sharif claimed that the sound and fury coming from India signified nothing other than an attempt to create war hysteria among its own populace. He referred to it as India’s “phantom ...

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Friday unanimously passed a significant bill seeking stringent laws and penalties to curb child marriages and protect girls from becoming mothers in their teens. The bill, tabled by MNA Sharmila Faruqui, was not on the agenda of the proceedings but was introduced by suspending relevant rules. Once the bill becomes an act, it will be implemented in the federal capital and no court other than that of the district and sessions judge shall take cognizance of or try any offence under it. When the bill becomes a law, the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 will stand repealed to the extent of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). However, all orders made, decisions taken, judgements passed by any court shall be deemed to have been validly made, taken and passed under this act. The bill was introduced with the object to curb, discourage and eventually eradicate the concept and phenomenon of child marriages. No nikah khwan shall register a marriage where...

A new methane-powered rocket developed by China’s LandSpace Technology launched six satellites into orbit on Saturday, doubling down on a cheap, cleaner fuel that the private startup hopes will help it develop reusable rockets. The Zhuque-2E Y2 carrier rocket blasted off at 12:12pm (09:12am PKT) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China, marking the fifth flight for the Zhuque-2 series, according to a company statement. Beijing-based LandSpace became the world’s first company to launch a methane-liquid oxygen rocket in July 2023, ahead of US rivals including Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin . Interest has grown in recent years in launching carrier vehicles fuelled by methane, which is deemed less polluting, safer and cheaper than more commonly used hydrocarbon fuels and a suitable propellant in a reusable rocket. LandSpace has increased the rocket’s payload, reflecting increasing demand in China’s expanding commercial space industry amid growing com...

LAHORE: Former Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan and Sri Lankan batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa have signed up for Lahore Qalandars for the remainder of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) season, the franchise announced on Thursday. Meanwhile, Karachi Kings have secured the services of Scotland opener George Munsey. The tenth edition of the PSL is set to resume from Saturday — with Kings taking on Peshawar Zalmi at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium — after the league was postponed as a result of cross-border tensions between Pakistan and India, which started May 7 before culminating in a ceasefire three days later. View this post on Instagram The disruption had seen the franchises release their respective players, with the overseas contingent flying out of Pakistan as military action escalated between the neighbours. Although the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) later released a revised schedule for the PSL, not all overseas players originally...