RjNews

• 41 demands for grants okayed; eight cut motions presented by opposition rejected • Bill to set up autism centre tabled, among others • Treasury MPA slams ‘illegal raid’ by police LAHORE: The Punjab Asse­mbly on Thursday passed a tax-free budget worth Rs5.33tr for the fiscal year 2025-26 with a majority vote. It also passed the Finance Bill 2025-26. No new taxes have been imposed in the budget, and the existing tax structure also remains unchanged. There are no changes to provincial revenues, property tax, or transport tax. No additional taxes have been levied on any sector, including industry, agriculture, health, or education. The focus of the budget, in the words of Finance Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, was on development, with 18 new projects allocated funds across various sectors as the government aimed to stay the course by encouraging economic activity without further tightening the tax net. Prior to this, 41 demands for grants totaling over Rs4,31bn for various depart...

• Court asked to postpone testimony in light of ‘regional and global developments’ • US president’s support for PM draws criticism from Israeli politicians JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked a court on Thursday to postpone his testimony in his long-running corruption trial, after US President Donald Trump called for the case to be cancelled altogether. Trump’s move in support of Netanyahu over the case drew criticism from some Israeli politicians, including a member of the Israeli leader’s own coalition and the leader of the opposition. It came days after Trump and Netanyahu declared victory over Iran in a 12-day conflict that saw Israel bombard the Islamic republic and US planes also drop powerful missiles on its nuclear installations. In a filing to the tribunal, Netanyahu’s lawyer Amit Hadad said the premier’s testimony should be delayed in light of “regional and global developments”. “The court is respectfully requested to order the cancellation of t...

Magazine legend Anna Wintour is stepping down as editor of fashion bible US Vogue after 37 years in the post, US media reported on Thursday. British-born Wintour, 75, has been one of the most influential and formidable figures in fashion and magazine journalism for decades, famous for her ever-present sunglasses and unchanging bob haircut. She was widely seen as the inspiration behind The Devil Wears Prada , a hit 2003 novel and 2006 movie, in which the role of a tyrannical magazine editor was played by Meryl Streep. Wintour, who took the helm at US Vogue in 1988, announced her departure at a staff meeting, but she will stay on as group owner Conde Nast’s global chief content officer and as editorial director at Vogue , People magazine reported. Several other publications also reported this news. Wintour, who held the title of Vogue’s editor-in-chief, was made a British dame in 2017 and in February this year was made a companion of honour, joining a select group never numbering...

THE ceasefire between Iran and Israel may have stopped the conflict from spiralling into a catastrophic regional war. Now, similar diplomatic efforts are needed to end Israel’s brutal slaughter in Gaza. For 12 days, ever since Israel attacked Iran, the world was glued to the battle , as any expansion in hostilities would have had seismic effects on the global geopolitical and economic order. Yet, despite its aggression against Iran, the regime in Tel Aviv continued the bloodshed in Gaza without pause. Between late May and now, over 500 people have been killed in the occupied Palestinian territory, with many of the victims cruelly mowed down as they jostled for food in a Strip that is on the verge of starvation. As the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights put it: “The Israeli military must stop shooting at people trying to get food.” While speaking at the Nato summit in The Hague on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said there was “great progress” on a Gaza...

LAHORE: Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari has claimed that rifts within the PTI ranks have become so deep that the former prime minister Imran Khan has now been sidelined by both his party and the family. “It is divine justice that the man who wanted to sideline PML-N head Nawaz Sharif has himself been abandoned by his party,” the minister said in a statement here on Wednesday. A day earlier, Imran’s sister Aleema Khan told media persons that it seemed that “ minus-Imran ” formula was now in effect. She was referring to the passing of provincial budget by the Khyber Pakht­unkhwa government without the approval of the PTI founder who has been in jail for nearly two years in multiple cases. “Aleema Khan has been continuously conspiring against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, and today, Ali Amin himself openly acknowledged these conspiracies against him,” Ms Bokhari said and added that had Gandapur failed to get the provincial budget passed as the provinc...

LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly on Wednesday approved over Rs636.65 billion in budget demands for grant for the fiscal year 2025-26, covering crucial sectors like police, health, and education. Finance Minister Mian Mujtaba Shuja lauded the budget as “people-friendly” and dismissed all objections from the opposition. The session, presided over by Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan, began with a three-hour and 33-minute delay. The opposition continued their vocal protests, prompting the Speaker to humorously inquire if they were chanting against “Modi” or “Yahoodi” (Jews), which drew laughter from the treasury benches. Summing up the five-day budget debate, the minister emphasised that it was a “progressive and balanced budget” aligning with public aspirations. He highlighted a significant increase in the development budget to Rs1,240bn for the current fiscal year, compared to Rs840bn previously. He also noted substantial reductions in non-development expenditures and the circular debt. ...

AFTER several days of dangerous escalation in the Middle East, matters seem to be cooling off. The US-Israeli hostilities against Iran have subsided. It appeared that a larger clash was brewing when Iran hit a major US airbase in Qatar on Monday night in retaliation against America’s bombing of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities on Sunday. But this turned out to be a largely symbolic and telegraphed attack, as only a few hours after the Iranian salvo, US President Donald Trump announced that a ceasefire had taken effect. Doubts about the truce dissipated when both Iran and Israel confirmed that the ceasefire had taken effect on Tuesday. However, the fragility of this arrangement was clear to all as Israel claimed Iran had violated the truce, and threatened to hit Tehran. The Iranians denied the violation, and claimed their attacks had been launched before the truce took effect. Later in the day, Mr Trump would return to social media to tell the world that the ceasefire...

• Qatar emerges as dealmaker, helping broker US contacts with Iranian regime • Questions linger over terms of ceasefire, future of Tehran’s nuclear ambitions DOHA / WASHINGTON: Iran’s ‘ strike ’ on the US military base in Qatar was carefully calculated to provide an exit from hostilities with Washington and set up a truce with Israel, according to analysts and officials with knowledge of the matter. The missile launches were signalled well in advance, minimising the risk of injury and giving every opportunity to shoot down the projectiles — resulting in a fireworks display of booms and flashes above Doha. They followed heavy US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities at the weekend, a sudden escalation that raised concerns about how Tehran would respond after more than a week of exchanges with Israel. It would seem that Qatar, located across the Persian Gulf, held the answer in the form of Al Udeid, the Middle East’s biggest US base and headquarters of its regional command. Target...

• Region to receive Rs80bn in federal grant; size of ADP to be Rs22bn • Opposition slams budget as ‘anti-poor’ GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan finance minister on Monday unveiled the region’s Rs148.63 billion budget for fiscal year 2025-26. The budget was presented by Speaker Nazir Ahmed Advocate. Addressing the session, Finance Minister Muhammad Ismail said Rs88.19bn has been allocated for non-development and Rs37bn billion for development expenditures. As per the minister, the region will get Rs80bn in federal grant for the next financial year. Moreover, Rs20bn has been allocated for the purchase of subsidised wheat. The size of Annual Development Plan will be Rs22bn, with Rs11bn allocated for PSDP projects. Moreover, Rs59.60bn has been allocated for the salaries of government employees; Rs28.29bn for service delivery and administrative matters, including health, education, basic facilities, peace and electricity supply; and Rs80 million for regional elections to be held in Novem...

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Senator Kamran Murtaza on Monday submitted a resolution in the Senate against the government’s decision to nominate US President Donald Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, as Washington joined Israel’s war with Iran. The government had decided to nominate Trump for the prestigious award to hail his “decisive diplomatic intervention and pivotal leadership” during last month’s Pak-India conflict , when both neighbours stepped back from the brink of war with US mediation . In a statement , it had highlighted that Trump “demonstrated great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship through robust diplomatic engagement with both Islamabad and New Delhi”, which ultimately secured a ceasefire. However, after the US bombed Iran’s Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites, with Trump saying they were “totally obliterated”, leaders across the political spectrum joined citizens in voicing their reservations. In the resolution dated today, a copy of whi...

TEHRAN: Iranians take part in a protest against the US attack on nuclear sites.—Reuters DUBAI / TEHRAN: Should Iran escalate the conflict through retaliation against US interests, or, as President Donald Trump has called on them to do, negotiate, which in practice means giving up all nuclear enrichment inside Iran? Iran has been exchanging fire with Israel for over 10 days now, but retaliating against the US brings a whole new level of risk, for the whole region. Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at King’s College London, called the US action a “high-risk operation that delivers unpredictable outcomes”, given the facility was deep underground. According to Krieg, Iran will seek a “calibrated response — loud enough to resonate, but measured enough to contain”. According to the BBC ’s Frank Gardner, there are three different strategic courses of action now open to Iran. Iran is confronted with three strategic courses of action: retaliate soon, retaliate later, or not at all N...

At least 20 people were killed and dozens injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighbourhood of the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday, health authorities and security sources said. It was the first suicide bombing in Damascus since Bashar al-Assad was toppled by an Islamist-led rebel insurgency in December. Syria’s interior ministry said the suicide bomber was a member of Islamic State. “He entered the church, opened fire and then detonated his explosive vest,” a ministry statement added. A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two men were involved in the attack, including the one who blew himself up. Islamic State has been behind several attempted attacks on churches in Syria since Assad’s fall, but this was the first to succeed, another security source told Reuters . Syria’s state news agency cited the health ministry as saying that 52 people were also injured in the blast. A livestream from the site by Syria’...

Pakistan, where press freedom has perpetually remained under curbs and the media landscape faces multiple challenges, has once again been excluded from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s (RISJ) annual report — a North Star for insights on the state of the media industry. The Digital News Report by RSIJ, a research centre at the University of Oxford, sheds light on trends in global digital news media and offers the most comprehensive snapshot of how news is consumed, trusted, paid for and shaped by technology globally. The latest report, published last week, included data from six continents and 48 markets. The 14th report found that the dependence on social media and video platforms is growing and that in some countries, influencers are playing a significant role in shaping debates. Experts say challenges like media curbs, lack of innovation make it all more important for insight from nation to be studied It revealed news podcasts are reaching more younger and ...

ISLAMABAD: The pre­sence of poliovirus has been confirmed in seven distri­cts across all four provinces. The Regional Refer­ence Laboratory for Polio Era­dication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) tested sewage samples from nine districts, of which seven were found positive for the presence of poliovirus. A sewage sample from an area is the basic parameter used to identify the presence of the virus in an area. It determines if polio vaccination campaigns were resulting in the desired immunity among children. An NIH official said wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) was detected in sewage samples collected from Gwadar, Quetta, South Waziristan Lower, South Waziristan Upper, Rawalpindi, Larkana and Mirpurkhas. The two negative samples were collected from Pishin and Lahore. The official explained that if the virus is found in sewage, it is called a positive sample and whenever a child is paralysed with the virus, it is called a positive case. After the virus is detected in sew...

At least eight people were killed on Saturday when a hot air balloon with 21 passengers caught fire in southern Brazil, said the governor of Santa Catarina state, where the incident occurred. “Eight fatalities and 13 survivors,” Governor Jorginho Mello said on X. Videos taken by bystanders and carried on Brazilian television showed the moment when the balloon erupted in flames above the coastal town of Praia Grande. The weather conditions were clear. The basket carrying the passengers plummeted dozens of meters to the ground in flames. “We still have no information” about the condition of the survivors, a spokeswoman for Santa Catarina firefighters told AFP . Praia Grande, on the Atlantic coast, is a popular destination for hot-air ballooning in Brazil. View this post on Instagram The survivors were being treated in area hospitals, firefighters said. An investigation was launched to determine the cause of the accident. “I wa...

The Pakistani government has decided to formally recommend US President Donald Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his “decisive diplomatic intervention and pivotal leadership” during the recent India-Pakistan crisis . In a post shared on X, the government said the international community had “bore witness to unprovoked and unlawful Indian aggression, which constituted a grave violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, resulting in the tragic loss of innocent lives, including women, children, and the elderly”. Following the Indian aggression, Pakistan “launched Operation Bunyanum Marsoos — a measured, resolute, and precise military response”, the post read. It noted that the response was executed to exercise the country’s “fundamental right to self-defence” and “carefully to re-establish deterrence”, defending its “territorial integrity while consciously avoiding civilian harm”. The post further read that “at a moment of heightened regional t...

A child was killed and five others were injured after a suspected drone hit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s ​South Waziristan District on Friday. Wana Police Spokesperson Habib Islam told Dawn.com : “The attack took place after 11am, as a result of which one child was killed while five people were injured.” Makin Station House Officer Abdul Qadir Mehsud also confirmed the drone attack and told Dawn.com locals have set a date for June 23 to hold a jirga with the higher authorities regarding law and order, in which they have invited people belonging to every school of thought. KP MPA Asif Khan Mehsood told Dawn.com that the alleged incident involved a drone which “targeted school children,” although it was not known whether the drone was Pakistani or from another country. PTI MNA Zubair Khan Wazir strongly condemned the incident. “Targeting innocent schoolchildren is a deeply distressing and unforgivable act,” he said in a statement on social media. “This is a grave incident that warrants a...

Afghanistan is in discussions with Russia to import certain foodstuffs as the conflict between Israel and Iran, one of its largest trading partners, risked cutting off supplies, its agriculture minister told Reuters . As relations between Russia and the Taliban government have been improving , an Afghan delegation is visiting Russia’s main economic conference in St Petersburg this week, meeting Russian agriculture officials. “Afghanistan is definitely aiming for self-sufficiency in its agricultural products. However, we still rely on some food items that come from Iran, and if problems arise there, it will undoubtedly have its effects,” Ataullah Omari said on the sidelines of the conference. Iran supplies Afghanistan with some dairy products, among other commodities, and there is widespread concern that the week-old war between Israel and Iran could disrupt trade flows. Russia — the world’s largest wheat exporter — and Kazakhstan are the main suppliers of wheat and flour to Afghan...

GAZA: A massive cloud of smoke rises after an Israeli strike in the Jabalia area in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.—AFP • 21 of them killed trying to reach aid distribution points • Military resorts to gunfire, tank shelling and bombs GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 72 people on Thursday, including 21 who had gathered near aid distribution sites as famine looms after more than 20 months of war. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that six people were killed while waiting for aid in the southern Gaza Strip and 15 others in a central area known as the Netzarim corridor, where thousands of Palestinians have gathered daily in the hope of receiving food rations. The Israeli army told AFP that its troops in Netzarim corridor — a strip of land militarised by Israel that bisects the Palestinian territory — had fired “warning shots” at “suspects” approaching them, but that it was “not aware of any injured individuals”. The ar...

QUETTA: Amid tight security, Pakistani pilgrims, students and business people returning from Iran continued to pour into the provincial metropolis. Officials said that Pakistanis were returning from different cities of Iran, starting from the first batch that reached Taftan via passenger coaches on Monday night. Over the past three days, around 1,400 Pakistani pilgrim and some 400 students have crossed back, of whom 481 people who crossed via Taftan, reached Quetta on Thursday night. “We are providing all facilities to the Pakistanis coming back to the country on their arrival at Taftan and shifting them in Pakistan House,” Assistant Commissioner Taftan Naeem Qasim Shahwani said. The official said that on Wednesday, a convoy of five coaches carrying around 200 people arrived in Quetta from Taftan. Among them were 80 pilgrims and 120 students who had earlier reached Taftan by bus from Iran. In Gwadar, the return of Pakistani citizens also continued through the Gabad-Rimdan cross...

Roughly one month ago, from the stage at an investment forum in Saudi Arabia, US President Donald Trump issued a warning to Iran that would prove prophetic. “We’ll never allow America and its allies to be threatened with terrorism or nuclear attack,” Trump told the crowd, sending a message to the leadership in Tehran. “The time is right now for them to choose. Right now. We don’t have a lot of time to wait. Things are happening at a very fast pace.” That May 13 ultimatum received little attention at the time. But behind the scenes, the president already knew an attack on Iran could be imminent — and that there might be little he could do to stop it, according to two US officials. By mid-May, the Pentagon had begun drawing up detailed contingency plans to aid Israel if it followed through on its long-held ambition to strike Iran’s nuclear programme, the officials said. And the US had already diverted thousands of defensive weapons away from war-torn Ukraine toward the Middle East ...

ISLAMABAD: Pointing out that Pakistan was now the most vulnerable country to climate change impacts, PPP parliamentary leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman on Wednesday raised alarm over the cut in the budget of the climate change ministry. Taking part in budget discussion in the House, she regretted that the budget had been slashed from Rs3.5 billion to Rs2.7 billion, warning that the move will weaken the national coordination, mitigation and adaptation, as well as access to global climate finance. The remarks came as a tirade against budgetary proposals from both sides of the aisle continued in the House. “The climate ministry will barely get its job done of representing Pakistan in 27 international treaty commitments. Where will it now carve out space for transformational financing?” Senator Rehman asked. She said that Pakistan has to also take the climate crisis as a real emergency, not just a talking point. PML-N lawmaker reveals 2,500 bureaucrats hold dual nationality Dual...

GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defence agency said 55 people were killed by Israeli fire and air strikes in the Palestinian territory on Wednesday, including 11 who were seeking aid. The conflict has ravaged the Gaza Strip and resulted in severe shortages of food, fuel and clean water. Civil defence spokesman Mah­mud Bassal told AFP that 11 people were killed and more than 100 wounded “after the occupation forces opened fire and launched several shells… at thousands of citizens” who had gathered to queue for food in central Gaza. The civil defence agency said an­­other 19 people were killed in three Israeli strikes, which it said targe­ted houses and a tent for displaced people. Three more people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a neighbourhood northeast of Gaza City on Wednesday, Bassal said. Israel military raids refugee camps in occupied West Bank In early March, Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza, amid a deadlock in truce negotiations, only partially easing restriction...

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan on Tuesday suggested increasing the minimum taxable income to Rs2.2 million per annum from the current Rs0.6m to provide relief to the salaried class . The government has proposed a new income tax structure in the federal budget . The revised rates offer tax cuts of up to 80 per cent for low-income salaried individuals, while limiting relief for higher earners to just 3pc. The tax exemption limit has remained unc­h­anged at Rs50,000 per month. Speaking in the National Assembly on Tuesday during ongoing budget discussions, Gohar proposed that employees earning up to Rs2.2m annually should be exempted from income tax. “In the income tax slabs, there is no tax on earnings up to Rs600,000 per year. This should be increased to Rs 2.2m or it will be an injustice,” the PTI leader asserted. Taxpayers earning between Rs600,000 to Rs1.2m annually will now face a 1pc tax rate, down from 5pc, offering up to 80pc tax reduction. For annual incomes between Rs...