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Hamas studying US-backed ‘final ceasefire’ offer

• Trump says Israel has agreed to necessary conditions for 60-day truce • Firing, strikes by Israeli forces claim lives of 139 Palestinians in 24 hours CAIRO: After US President Donald Trump announced that Israel had agreed to the “necessary conditions” to finalise a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, Hamas said on Wednesday it was studying the so-called “final ceasefire proposal”. But while the group wants Israel to completely pull out of the enclave, Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu has set his sights on the elimination of Hamas. A day earlier, Trump had said that after a “long and productive” meeting between his representatives and Israeli officials, Tel Aviv had agreed to the conditions needed to finalise a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza. In its statement, Hamas said it was studying new ceasefire offers it received from the mediators Egypt and Qatar, but stressed it aimed to reach an agreement that would ensure an end to the war and an Israeli pullout from Gaza. In a statement, Hamas s...
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Air chief meets senior military, political leadership in landmark US visit

Pakis­tan Air Force (PAF) Chief Air Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu held a series of high-level meetings with senior military and political leadership of the United States in a landmark visit to the country, it emerged on Wednesday. Last month, Field Marshal Asim Munir became the first serving chief of army staff to have a face-to-face meeting with a sitting US president when he met Donald Trump for talks at the White House. The occasion also marked the first time a serving Pakistani army chief had been formally received at this level, without holding political office or governing under martial law. The two had discussed joint counter-terrorism efforts and expanding bilateral trade during their “cordial” meeting in Washington. Today, PAF’s Directorate General of Public Relations (DGPR) said that in a “significant development” aimed at strengthening bilateral defence cooperation and advancing mutual interests, the air chief undertook an official visit to the US, adding that it was ...
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SBP’s foreign exchange reserves climb to $14.51bn

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Wednesday that its foreign exchange reserves rose to $14.51 billion by June 30. Last month, the central bank’s reserves increased by $167 million to $11.675bn during the week ending June 6, though it failed to reach its target of $14bn by the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year. A press release issued by the SBP today said its reserves rose by $5.12bn to reach $14.51bn, as compared to $9.39bn on June 30 last year. “This reflects a noticeable improvement in the country’s current account balance and realisation of planned inflows during the year,” the SBP said. Earlier this week, China rolled over $3.4bn in loans, two senior Pakistani government officials told Reuters , in a move that was expected to help boost the country’s foreign exchange reserves, a requirement of the International Monetary Fund. Beijing rolled over $2.1bn, which has been in the SBP’s reserves for the last three years, and refinanced another $1.3bn commercial loan, which ...
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Respite for Karachiites as water supply resumes gradually

KARACHI: The city’s water supply began gradually returning to normal on Tuesday after power was restored to the Dhabeji pumping station, bringing relief to residents who had faced severe shortages during a four-day outage. The outage had resulted in a significant shortfall of over 360 million gallons of water during the past four days, exacerbating the city’s existing water crisis. Though the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) started pumping water from the Dhabeji pumping station after the restoration of electricity, the crisis will persist for at least another day as it takes over 18 hours to fully charge the main pipelines of the distribution network. According to a KWSC spokesman, the power was restored in the morning and the water supply to the city had resumed as usual. Due to the power outage, the city faced a shortage of 360 million gallons of water, he added. The power breakdown at the pumping station had occurred on June 26 at 10 pm. Published in Dawn, July 2n...
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Making a misogynist

AS news of Sana Yousaf’s murder by a man she had rejected spread, many noticed disturbing comments among condolences on social media. “Laugh now. You’ll answer later,” one commented, imagining the inquisition in the grave over the perceived sin of online visibility. “Happy to see these things happening,” read another . Others moralised: “Encou­raging young women to seek attention or expose themselves can have serious negative consequences.” That some believe a teen’s online presence justifies murder is horrifying. Worse: it’s not surprising. Sana’s murder is not an isolated tragedy. In April, another student, Eman Afroz, was killed in her hostel. These femicides, and the celebratory social media responses, are symptoms of a deeper crisis, as UN Women warns: the radicalisation of boys and men through the ‘manosphere’, online networks promoting anti-feminist, misogynistic, and often violent ideologies. From Andrew Tate to Jordan Peterson, these men offer a seductive narrative: men...
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ECP reshuffle

THE present Election Commission is at the centre of so many storms that it seems prudent to reconstitute it without further delay. A vital institution, the ECP is responsible for protecting Pakistan’s democracy and upholding democratic principles, mainly through the conduct of free and fair polls. Over the past three years, however, it seems to have done anything but that. It has not only disregarded constitutional edicts — for example, regarding election timelines — and issued illegal decisions — such as denying a major political party its right to contest elections — but has also failed to conduct a free and fair general election or ensure that democratic principles were upheld during the many controversies that followed. Of course, it is not that past commissions were free of controversy. Rigging and manipulation disputes followed the two elections preceding 2024 as well, particularly in 2018. But what is complicating matters now is a technical roadblock preventing the ECP fr...
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US Senate approves divisive Trump spending bill

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The Republican-led US Senate approved President Donald Trump’s mammoth domestic policy bill on Tuesday by the narrowest of margins, despite misgivings over delivering deep welfare cuts and another $3 trillion in national debt. Republican leaders had struggled to corral support during a record 24-hour “vote-a-rama” amendment session on the Senate floor, as Democrats offered dozens of challenges to the most divisive aspects of the package. But Senate Majority Leader John Thune was able to turn around wavering moderates to deliver a 50-50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie. The sprawling text now heads to the House of Representatives, where it faces unified Democratic opposition and multiple Republicans baulking at the budget-busting costs, as well as slashed health care and food aid programmes for poor Americans. Trump’s bill proposes a $4.5tr extension of his first-term tax cuts, contentiously offset with $1.2tr in savings mainly targeting the Medicaid health insur...
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