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GILGIT: Over 650 candidates have filed their nomination papers for the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly elections scheduled for June 7 in 24 constituencies. A total of 666 candidates have submitted their nomination papers; however, no woman candidate has filed nomination papers for the assembly elections. According to a press release issued by the GB Election Commission Secretariat, polling for the general election will be held on June 7, while the election process is underway in all 24 constituencies. The secretariat has convened a multi-party conference on Thursday (tomorrow) at the Election Commission Secretariat in Gilgit. The aim of the conference is to consult political parties to advance the election process in a fair, transparent and coordinated manner. Nawaz says if elected, PML-N will focus on region’s development The conference will discuss in detail the election process, code of conduct, mutual consultation, coordination in election matters and other related issues so that ...

The Israeli military on Tuesday said two soldiers would receive 30 days of military detention and be removed from combat duty over the destruction of a statue of Jesus in southern Lebanon. The decision comes after widespread condemnation of a photo shared online showing an Israeli soldier using a sledgehammer to strike the head of a statue of the crucifix. The sculpture was located in the Christian village of Debl in south Lebanon, near the border with Israel. Publishing the conclusions of an inquiry into the incident, the military said: “The soldier who damaged the Christian symbol and the soldier who photographed the act will be removed from combat duty and will receive 30 days of military detention”. It said six additional soldiers who “were present at the scene and did not act to stop the incident or report it” had been summoned for “clarification discussions”. Israel has conducted airstrikes across Lebanon and invaded the country’s south after Hezbollah entered the Middle...

BEIRUT: Israel says it has established a “Yellow Line” in south Lebanon near the border, where its forces are operating despite a 10-day ceasefire with Iran-backed Hezbollah group. What is the so-called “Yellow Line”, how does it resemble an Israeli military demarcation in the Gaza Strip and where does it leave Lebanon? What has Israel announced? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel agreed to the truce, which took effect on Friday, but would maintain a 10-kilometre (six-mile) deep “security zone” along the border in southern Lebanon. On Saturday, Israel’s military announced a “Yellow Line” in the country’s south. Hezbollah vows to bring down ‘arbitrary boundary’ through its resistance The following day, it published a map identifying a “forward defence line”, stretching from the Mediterranean in the west up to Lebanon’s border with Syria in the east. It said “five divisions, alongside Israeli navy forces” were operating in the area to dismantle Hezbollah in...

Apple on Monday announced that Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tim Cook will step down in September, handing the job to company veteran John Ternus. The announcement answers long-simmering questions about who would succeed Cook, 65, and comes as Apple strives to show it is not being left behind in the age of artificial intelligence. Ternus, who joined Apple in 2001, has recently overseen the company’s hardware engineering efforts and has played a key role in reigniting sales of products such as Apple’s Mac computers, which have gained market share in recent years. Cook, who has led Apple since 2011, will become the company’s executive chairman, Apple said in a statement. “It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company,” Cook said in a release. In naming Ternus chief executive, Apple is shifting from Cook, a supply chain guru who helped turn Apple into a global brand that churns out hundreds of milli...

BANNU: Two personnel of the Federal Consta­bulary (FC) were martyred in a firing incident carried out by militants in Kuram Garhi on Sunday, in the jurisdiction of the Cantt police station. According to police, the slain officials were shopping at a local market when the attackers, who arrived on a bike, targeted them and managed to flee the scene. FC sources said the deceased were identified as Havaldar Rokhniyaz and sepoy Rehmanullah. Both were posted in the FC Daryoba MI platoon. Soon after the incident, the security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to trace the attackers. Additional police personnel were also deployed for the task. Security officials stated all available resources were being utilised to apprehend the suspects at the earliest. Meanwhile, the Sham­uzai police post in the remit of the Township police station was dest­royed by the militants on Saturday night after they rigged it with explosives. Sources said the intense explosion destroy...

The Israeli military published for the first time a map of its new deployment line inside Lebanon on Sunday, bringing dozens of mostly abandoned Lebanese villages under its control, ​days after a ceasefire with Lebanon took effect. There was no immediate comment from Lebanese officials or ‌from Hezbollah. Israel and Lebanon agreed on Thursday to a US-backed ceasefire in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. The deal, which followed the first direct talks in decades between Israel and Lebanon on April 14, is meant to enable broader US-Iran negotiations, ​but with Israeli forces maintaining positions deep inside southern Lebanon. Stretching east to west, the deployment line ​on the map runs 5-10 kilometres deep from the border into Lebanese territory, ⁠where Israel has said that it plans to create a so-called buffer zone. Israeli forces have destroyed Lebanese ​villages in the area, claiming their aim is to protect northern Israeli towns from Hezbollah attacks. It has ​created buf...

Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon on Sunday dismissed as fake on Sunday a notification announcing that all public and private offices in the federal capital and Rawalpindi would remain closed from April 20 until further notice. In a social media post on X, Memon said, “Citizens are requested to refrain from sharing unverified or fake news. Please rely only on official handles of the district administration, Islamabad, for authentic updates.” The statement comes as several other measures have been taken ahead of a possible second round of talks in Islamabad. Islamabad’s Red Zone was closed for traffic as the capital braced to welcome foreign delegations, police said on Sunday, with alternate traffic plans issued to facilitate citizens. Public and heavy transport are also suspended in Islamabad until further orders. The Rawalpindi district administration also suspended all public and goods transport from Sunday noon till the next directives. Advance teams have ...

• Hezbollah denies allegation, calls for ‘caution in making judgements’ • Macron urges Beirut to ‘guarantee security’ of UNIFIL peacekeepers PARIS / BEIRUT: A French soldier was killed and three others wounded in an attack on Saturday on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon that appeared to have been carried out by Hezbollah, French President Emmanuel Macron said, an accusation the group has denied. “Everything points to Hezbollah being responsible for this attack,” Macron said on X, urging Lebanese authorities to arrest the perpetrators. Macron urged Lebanon’s leaders to “guarantee the security of UNIFIL soldiers” in calls with the country’s president and prime minister, the Elysee presidential palace in Paris said. Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day ceasefire on Thursday in order to negotiate an end to six weeks of war between Israel and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah. The fighting in Lebanon, one of the fronts in the Middle East war, has seen the United Nations Interim Force i...

Rawalpindi police on Saturday denied reports regarding the closure of markets across the city until further notice, terming them baseless. A statement posted on the social media platform X quoted City Police Officer (CPO) Syed Khalid Mahmood Hamdani as saying that no directives had been issued by Rawalpindi police regarding the closure of markets. He said that all markets and businesses were open as usual till 8pm as per the government’s policy . He added that effective security arrangements were being ensured in view of the “movement of foreign delegations”. He said police teams were actively conducting search, sweep, and combing operations in different parts of the city to maintain law and order. He said police were working day and night to ensure foolproof security at all times. Separately, Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner Hassan Waqar Cheema also shared visuals regarding reports of hotels and markets being closed until further notice. “This news is fake and not issued by t...

• Rules govt can limit trade with India, Israel on security, foreign policy grounds • Declares ‘right to read’ fundamental to life under Constitution; warns curbs on knowledge risk intellectual, societal decline • Notes digital access makes book bans increasingly ineffective ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) upheld the government decision regarding the ban on imports of books from certain countries based on national security and foreign policy grounds, while simultaneously affirming that a “right to read” is a fundamental right essential for life. In a landmark decision, the court drew a careful line between a citizen’s fundamental right and the government’s broad authority over foreign trade and national security. While the ruling strongly affirmed access to knowledge as a core constitutional liberty, it stopped short of striking down the government’s trade ban, preserving its power to block commerce with nations like India and Israel. Headed by Justice Aamir Far...

• Duration nearly three times more than what was announced earlier • Minister cites LNG import disruption, Middle East crisis as key factors • Shortfall estimated at 3,400MW • Demand spikes from 9,000MW to 20,000MW in days • Nuclear plant maintenance postponed to boost supply ISLAMABAD: Power Minister Awais Leghari on Thursday confirmed six to seven hours of load management — almost three times higher than the government’s public commitment — citing a sudden surge in demand, non-availability of imported gas and lower water discharges for irrigation. Speaking at a news conference, the minister said power shortfalls had been caused by disruptions to LNG imports due to the Middle East crisis and by lower provincial irrigation water requirements, both of which he said were beyond the government’s control. However, he insisted that the government was making every possible effort to minimise both outages and potential tariff increases arising from the use of expensive alternative fue...

HARIPUR: At least eight people, including children, were killed and 11 others were injured after a Sui Northern Gas supply line located near a factory burst and caught fire in the Hattar Industrial Estate of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Haripur district, officials said. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined. Dr Munawwar Afridi from Haripur district headquarters hospital (DHQ), who is also associated with the rural health centre (RHC) in the Kot Najibullah union council, told Dawn that three of the bodies were brought to the DHQ and five others to the RHC. Haripur Deputy Commissioner (DC) Waseem Ahmed told Dawn it appeared that the deaths were mainly caused by suffocation. He separately told the media that the fire had engulfed three to four nearby houses located within a radius of 200 kilometres of the factory had been affected by the fire. Muhammad Amir, an official of the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL), told Dawn that the affected pipeline had a diameter of 16 inch...

QUETTA: Five coal miners were killed in two separate mine accidents that took place in the Bolan and Duki coalfield areas of Balochistan, while another miner was injured, officials said on Wednesday. Officials said several miners had entered a coal mine in the Bolan coal mining field near the Mach area when methane gas accumulated inside the mine, trapping three miners deep underground. Other miners managed to escape from the affected mine and informed the local administration and relevant authorities about the incident. Rescue teams from the Mines and Minerals Department, along with local workers, launched an operation and reached the trapped miners. However, they were found dead due to suffocation caused by inhaling methane gas. The bodies were retrieved from deep inside the mine and shifted to Mach Hospital. “We received three bodies of coal miners who died from inhaling poisonous methane gas,” hospital officials said. The deceased were identified as Murad Bakhsh, Ali Hassan, an...

Wael Sabbagh, whose mother Afaf Sidaoui and brother Hassan were killed in an Israeli strike on an apartment building, stands outside the site of the attack in Beirut.—Reuters BEIRUT: Amid efforts of a ceasefire in Lebanon, Israel continued its attacks and targeted paramedic teams on Wednesday in southern part of the country, killing at least three of them. “The Israeli enemy targeted paramedic teams in the town of Mayfadoun, Nabatiyeh district, three consecutive times,” the Lebanese health ministry said in a statement. “This resulted in the martyrdom of three paramedics and the injury of six others, while one paramedic remains missing,” it said. The Israeli military renewed an order for people to leave a swathe of southern Lebanon as it intensified the attacks on Wednesday, a day after talks with a Lebanese government envoy in Washington, which Hezbollah condemned and termed the Lebanese government move “a national sin” that would widen divisions in a deeply polarised Lebanon. ...

• PA panel approves three bills to permit mining in protected areas • WWF-P says biodiversity loss will be irreparable, move against climate pledges LAHORE: Serious concerns emerged over potential damage to protected forests and wildlife habitats after the Standing Committee on Forests and Wildlife of the Punjab Assembly unanimously approved three similar amendment bills that would permit mining activities in protected areas. The committee approved the Punjab Protected Areas (Amend­ment) Bill 2026, the Forests (Amendment) Bill 2026, and the Punjab Wildlife (Protection and Management) (Amendment) Bill 2026 during a meeting chaired by acting chairperson Chaudhry Akhtar Abbas Bosal. Under the proposed legislation, the Punjab government decided to promote the mining sector by allowing mineral extraction even in protected forests and designated conservation areas. The amendments aim to revise existing laws, including the Forest Act 1927, the Punjab Protected Areas Act 2020 , and the Pu...

Workers and journalists stand in front of a building in Tehran, which was hit by US-Israel air strikes days before a ceasefire took effect last week.—AFP • Says dialogue with Iran may resume within two days as diplomatic efforts intensify • PM Shehbaz set to visit S. Arabia, Turkiye as Dar meets top diplomats • China warns naval blockade of Hormuz to aggravate confrontation • Iranian president praises states for stance against ‘warmongering’ Israel • Macron urges Trump, Pezeshkian to resume talks, include Lebanon in ceasefire • Xi meets UAE leadership, puts forward four-point proposal WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday hinted at a possible second round of talks with Iran in Islamabad within days, even as Washington stepped up military pressure by enforcing a naval blockade on Iranian ports following the failure of weekend negotiations . Speaking to the New York Post in a phone interview, Trump said fresh talks could take place in Pakistan “over the ...

Israel and Lebanon agreed to direct negotiations following talks in Washington on Tuesday that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had hailed as a “historic opportunity” for peace. The two countries have technically been at war for decades, and Tuesday’s talks have been vehemently opposed by Hezbollah, which announced that it had fired rockets at more than a dozen northern Israeli towns just as the meeting was getting under way. The United States is pressing for a halt to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, fearing it could derail the two-week ceasefire in Washington’s war with Iran after talks with Tehran in Pakistan failed to achieve a breakthrough. Tuesday’s meeting in Washington, the first high-level direct talks since 1993, was mediated by Rubio and involved the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States. “This is a historic opportunity,” Rubio said as he welcomed the ambassadors, acknowledging the “decades of history” complicating the process. “The hope toda...

On Sunday, President Donald Trump stepped in to raise the stakes of an already volatile standoff, announcing that the United States Navy would begin “BLOCKADING” the Strait of Hormuz — delivered, in classic Trump fashion, the emphatic all-caps. The deadline passed at 7pm (PST) on Monday. The developments came after a night of diplomacy in Islamabad that promised more than it delivered, with inconclusive takeaways and very little to show for 21 hours of deliberations. The negotiations ended with a terse briefing from JD Vance, confirming what everyone had been hoping to avoid: nothing had been agreed. Judging from the string of off-the-cuff, rhetorically charged posts on Trump’s Truth Social feed, he appears to have revived what once again looks like the ‘madman theory’ — using brinkmanship and unpredictability as a strategic bargaining chip. He seems to be signalling that if Iran can rattle markets by blocking one of the world’s primary energy arteries, Washington can rattle t...

The Pakistan Customs said on Monday that two of its preventive officers had been arrested on charges of “swapping 400 kilogrammes of seized silver bullion with lead”. In a statement on X, the Pakistan Customs said the alleged replacement of silver with lead was carried out “during official transportation from Quetta to Pakistan Mint Lahore”. A first information report had been registered and both officers were in custody, the statement said. It added, “The officers were officially deputed to transport 688 kg of confiscated silver in 36 sealed boxes via Pakistan International Airlines from Quetta to Lahore. Upon unpacking at Pakistan Mint, 400 kg of silver was found to have been replaced with fake lead bricks of identical weight and packaging.” According to the statement, CCTV footage from Safe City in Quetta “confirmed the deliberate swapping of the transportation vehicle carrying the original silver”. from Dawn - Home https://ift.tt/46MxBnl https://ift.tt/VGft0Pe

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday set aside a ruling that had struck down a federal government policy introduced in 2022 to regulate foreign funding of non-governmental and non-profit organisations. The policy was set aside by a single bench in September 2024, with Justice Asim Hafeez observing the constitutional scheme did not envisage the exercise of legislative powers by the federal cabinet unless such power or authority was exercised under the authority of the legislature. He had declared the policy unlawful, invalid and of no legal effect. But a two-member bench comprising Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal and Justice Syed Ahsan Raza Kazmi observed today that such policy-making squarely fell within the executive domain and was protected from “undue judicial interference”. The bench restored the Policy for Local NGOs/NPOs Receiving Foreign Contributions 2022. Multiple intra-court appeals were filed by the federation in the wake of a Sept 6, 2024 judgment. Advocate Saqib...

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Sunday stormed the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem under heavy police protection. Citing the Jerusalem Governorate, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa said the incursion came amid an ongoing escalation of violations against Islamic and Christian holy sites in East Jerusalem, as well as continued restrictions on worshippers’ access to the mosque. Such incursions by Ben-Gvir are typically carried out without prior public announcement. Israeli ministers are only permitted to enter the Al Aqsa compound with advance approval from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The minister has continued these provocations despite repeated Arab, Islamic, and international condemnations. Al Aqsa Mosque is the world’s third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area Temple Mount, claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times. Sunday’s raid comes after Israeli forces turned part...

Nationalist Viktor Orban, who has ruled Hungary for 16 years, on Sunday conceded defeat to conservative Peter Magyar in parliamentary elections. With votes in almost 67 per cent of precincts counted, Magyar’s party stood to have gained 137 seats, or more than two-thirds of all 199 parliamentary seats, according to official election results. The vote on Sunday was being closely watched across Europe and in the United States, with US President Donald Trump endorsing Orban, a self-described “thorn” in the European Union’s side and a defender of “illiberal democracy” who is also close to  Russian President Vladimir Putin. “The election results, though not yet final, are clear and understandable; for us, they are painful but unambiguous,” Orban, 62, told reporters. “We have not been entrusted with the responsibility and opportunity to govern. I congratulated the winning party,” he said. Magyar, 45, a political newcomer and former government insider, posed on social media that Orban...

A historic meeting, 21 hours of negotiations, and one “final” offer. Yet, the high-level ‘ Islamabad Talks ’ between the United States and Iran ended inconclusively early Sunday morning. Although commentators and analysts say the dialogue was unlikely to end any other way, the heart wants what it wants, and the entire world sat on the edge of their seats, hoping for nothing short of a miracle. After a day and an entire night of talks, US Vice President JD Vance finally addressed journalists at a press briefing at 6:30am, where he announced the “bad news”. “We have not reached an agreement, and I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America,” he said, elaborating that Iran had chosen “not to accept our terms”. “We need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon,” Vance added. Shortly after, he flew back to the US...