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• Summons agency’s chief for briefing on online portal, enforcement timelines
• Senators seek briefing on revised mechanism for registration of blasphemy FIRs

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights expressed concern over the delay in processing of complaints by the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) and the technical issues with its online complaint portal.

In its meeting chaired by Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri, the body reviewed the NCCIA performance, delays in cybercrime complaint redressal, the procedure being followed in blasphemy-related cases and progress in the murder case of Lahore resident Ahmed Javed.

Senator Quratulain Marri informed the meeting that a sustained online campaign had been launched against her and her family on social media, and that no effective action had been taken despite the filing of a formal complaint through legal counsel.

The NCCIA officials told the committee that technical and operational constraints had affected the online complaint system. They said written complaints could also be submitted through legal representatives for immediate processing while remedial work on the portal was underway. The committee was also informed that action regarding blocking or restricting objectionable online content was generally completed within 15 days.

Senator Zehri expressed dissatisfaction over the delay, questioning that whether complainant should be left helpless due to technical excuses. Senator Rana Mahmoodul Hassan, too, echoed the same sentiments.

In view of these concerns, the committee decided to summon the NCCIA director general in its July 17 meeting for a briefing on status of the online complaint portal, delays in complaint processing, enforcement timelines, response protocols, and measures being taken to improve the performance.

Blasphemy cases

The committee also received a briefing from the Punjab home secretary on blasphemy cases. The meeting was apprised that a special committee constituted to examine such cases had met twice. The secretary said an inter-agency coordination mechanism had also been established to strengthen prosecution, improve coordination and streamline legal proceedings.

The committee was told that online blasphemy-related content was being monitored through a dedicated monitoring centre and actionable reports were forwarded to the PTA for action.

Senator Zehri sought a detailed briefing on the revised mechanism for registration of FIRs in blasphemy cases.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2026

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PESHAWAR: As lawmakers from across the aisle in the KP Assembly joined hands to defend the controversial law granting extended powers and privileges to members, Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Wednesday ordered a review of its provisions following media outcry.

It was reported yesterday that the KP government had recently approved the enactment of the KP Provincial Assembly (Powers, Immunities and Privileges) Act, 2026, which was passed on April 30 and signed by the governor on May 6.

The law expands provincial assembly members’ powers and immunities, including the issuance of lifetime official passports to them and their spouses, blanket immunity from preventive detention, and entitlement to licences for up to eight non-prohibited-bore weapons.

The law has faced severe criticism from media persons across Pakistan and the public in the province.

“I hope that the amendments made to the Act will be reviewed. Any future steps will be taken in the public interest,” the chief minister said in a statement issued by his office.

While chairing a cabinet meeting, CM Afridi said that as the amendments made to the law were being criticised, provisions concerning media persons should be reconsidered.

He said that PTI founder Imran Khan had always promoted freedom of expression and wanted journalists to openly criticise wherever they deemed necessary. However, he added that he and his government had also faced criticism and that some “black channels” were running misleading propaganda against the government.

“In other provinces, journalists criticising the government are subjected to disappearances, violence and harassment,” he said, adding that the KP government had not taken any illegal action against anyone and that legal action was taken only if someone spread false propaganda.

“The speaker has been asked to meet parliamentary leaders and review the concerns of the general public and media persons,” he said.

The chief minister also claimed that the KP Assembly was the only one established through a public mandate.

Meanwhile, during a joint press conference, lawmakers from both the treasury and opposition benches said confusion had arisen despite the fact that clauses in the KP Provincial Assembly (Powers, Immunities and Privileges) Act, 2026, were similar to those in an earlier law passed in 1988, including provisions regarding the issuance of blue passports to members of provincial assemblies.

The new act repealed the 1988 law on the same subject.

Information Minister Shafi Jan claimed the draft approved by the cabinet did not include provisions for issuing blue passports to lawmakers and that the amendment was introduced by the opposition.

He also said that the privileges approved by the KP Assembly for lawmakers were fewer compared to those approved by the Sindh and Punjab assemblies.

“Around 57,000 blue passports have been issued by the federal government,” he claimed, adding that the federal government should disclose the identities of the blue passport holders.

He further stated that lawmakers were entitled to four arms licences and that the additional four were approved in view of the law and order situation in the province.

“The provincial government will hold a sitting with journalist bodies,” he said. However, the minister claimed that press laws in Sindh and Punjab were “harsher” than those in KP.

He said the KP government took criticism positively and urged journalists to discuss the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act as well.

PPP lawmaker Ahmad Karim Kundi said that penalties for media persons for spreading misinformation were part of the law enacted in 1988. He, however, added that no one had been penalised since 1988 and that the penalties could be reduced.

Awami National Party’s Arbab Usman said that a province which had offered greater sacrifices should be given more perks.

“Unfortunately, some journalists misused their rights. A blue passport is not a big deal, and if others have it, why not us? What does it have to do with the people?” he questioned.

PTI-Parliamentarians’ Arbab Waseem said that lawmakers were public representatives and were answerable to the people. However, he emphasised that lawmakers from other provincial assemblies should also be considered, as they also enjoyed the same facilities.

PML-N’s Sobia Shahid said that she was a member of the committee and a signatory to the act, adding that laws of all other provinces were discussed during the meeting and some clauses were incorporated into the KP Act.

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KARACHI: A missing six-year old boy was found raped and murdered near Karachi’s Lea Market on Wednesday, with the police claiming to have arrested a 20-year old suspect who happened to be a neighbour of the victim.

Napier police said that the body of the boy was found at Punjab Gali near Spencer’s Eye Hospital, and moved to Karachi’s Civil Hospital for legal formalities.

Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said that the body was “decomposed” and there were “multiple bone injuries”.

“All samples have been collected for sexual violence and chemical analysis,” she said, adding that the cause of death was “reserved”.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) South Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that although doctors had collected samples to ascertain sexual assault, the arrested suspect had confessed during the initial probe to kidnapping the boy for that purpose.

After allegedly killing the boy, the suspect kept the body on the rooftop of his house. It was later thrown from the third floor into an empty plot on Tuesday night, wrapped in a gunny bag, according to the DIG. Residents of the area noticed the incident and opened the bag, discovering the body.

The residents informed the police, who rushed to the area. In the meantime, some residents brought the suspect out from his residence and beat him before the police arrived to take him into custody.

According to the DIG, the suspect is a 20-year-old bachelor who works as a carpenter and originally hailed from Phool Nagar in Lahore. He was a neighbour of the victim, whose family also belonged to Punjab.

The victim was the only son of his parents, who also have four daughters.

The city police said in a statement that Napier police received information about the boy’s disappearance on July 6. The police continued searching for him but could not locate him, and a first information report (FIR) was later registered in the case.

Late on Tuesday night, police received information about the recovery of the boy’s body. According to the complainant and information provided by area residents, police arrested a suspect for allegedly throwing the body there, the police statement said.

According to the FIR, the father said he was a rickshaw driver by profession and lived in Muslimabad. He said that when he returned home on Monday at around 3pm, his daughter informed him that the boy had left to visit a shop at around 2:30pm but had not returned.

The father said he searched for his son in the neighbourhood and elsewhere and made announcements from local mosques, but the boy could not be traced.

On the father’s complaint, the Napier police registered the FIR under sections 3 (Trafficking in persons) of the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act of 2018 and 364-A (Kidnapping or abducting a person under the age of fourteen) of the Pakistan Penal Code, and launched an investigation.

Sindh’s Home Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjar also took notice of the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of the boy and sought a detailed report from the DIG South, according to a statement issued by the ministry.

Last month, a three-year-old girl was found murdered at her doorstep in Quaidabad. Initial findings of a post-mortem examination confirmed that she had been subjected to “violent rape” before being murdered.

Described as “one of the most horrific cases” the police surgeon had seen in her career, the incident shocked the entire city, prompting the Sindh police chief to form a special team to investigate the case.

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Switzerland beat Colombia 4-3 on penalties after a goalless draw on Tuesday to set up a quarter-final with defending champions Argentina.

The two teams cancelled each other out in the final game of the last 16 — the last match to be played at the 2026 tournament outside the United States.

Both teams missed spot-kicks before Switzerland goalkeeper Gregor Kobel brilliantly saved Cucho Hernandez’s effort and Ruben Vargas scored the decisive penalty.

Colombia, once again backed by thousands of passionate fans in Vancouver, had conceded just once in their four games before Tuesday’s match and the Swiss had also proved difficult to break down.

The first action of note came in the 21st minute when Kobel was forced into a flying save to keep out Gustavo Puerta’s curling effort from the edge of the penalty area.

The Swiss stepped up a gear immediately after the first hydration break, with Camilo Vargas beating away a shot from Fabian Rieder before denying Dan Ndoye.

But the match was goalless at half-time, with two well-matched teams struggling for inspiration.

Switzerland started the second half on the front foot but Colombia also had their moments, with Luis Suarez lashing wastefully wide.

Both coaches made multiple changes in the second half but again struggled to create meaningful openings, with Colombia’s star winger Luis Diaz kept quiet.

Ndoye flashed a shot across goal in stoppage time but nobody was able to get on the end of it and the match was 0-0 at the end of normal time.

The game belatedly burst into life in the first period of extra time.

Colombia defender Jhon Lucumi headed against the bar from a corner in the ninth minute and Kobel kept out a fierce effort from Jaminton Campaz as the South Americans upped the tempo.

At the other end, Vargas dived to his left to beat away an effort from substitute Zeki Amdouni.

Campaz missed a glorious chance to win the game with five minutes of time left on the clock.

With nothing to separate the teams, the game went to penalties.

Switzerland will face Argentina in Kansas City on Saturday after Lionel Messi’s team earlier beat Egypt 3-2 in Atlanta.

Switzerland last reached the quarter-finals when they hosted the World Cup in 1954.

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RAWALPINDI: A K2 Airways Boeing 737-400 cargo aircraft en route from Sharjah to Karachi disappeared from radar over the Arabian Sea, about 300 kilometres west of Karachi, on Tuesday.

According to reports, the aircraft lost contact about 300 kilometres west of Karachi while approaching Pakistani airspace. The pilot reported a navigation problem during the flight and requested assistance from the area control centre.

K2 Airways is a private airline based in Karachi. The carrier was established in May 2018 after being granted an airline charter licence by the government.

There were five crew members on board the aircraft, the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said.

The PAA said in a statement that a K2 Airways B737 Pakistan Cargo flight en route from Sharjah to Karachi reported a navigational system issue at 9:18pm and was promptly guided by the Karachi Area Control Centre (ACC).

However, at 9:21pm, the aircraft was observed on radar rapidly descending and making a sharp change in heading. Subsequently, radar contact and communication were lost approximately 287 kilometres west of Karachi.

“Preliminary ADS-B data indicate a loss of altitude, followed by a climb, and then a second, sudden and dramatic loss of altitude,” said flight-tracking service FlightRadar.

It added that the final received data point from the aircraft placed at 1,100 ft AMSL (Above Mean Sea Level) with a “reported vertical rate of -22,400 feet per minute”.

According to flight tracking serving, the aircraft experienced GNSS interference shortly after take-off, along with other aircraft in the region, resulting in degraded navigation data near Sharjah. “Once the the aircraft exited the area subject to GNSS interference, ADS-B data was once again received by Flightradar24.”

Following the incident, the Rescue Coordination Centre was activated and a coordinated search and rescue operation at sea was launched involving various agencies to locate the missing aircraft.

The Bureau of Air Safety Investigation will investigate the cause of the crash.

According to FlightRadar, the aircraft, registered as AP-BOI, is a Boeing 737-4M0(BDSF) that entered service with K2 Airways in 2024. It was originally delivered to Aeroflot as a passenger aircraft in 1999 before joining Garuda Indonesia in 2004. The aircraft was converted into a freighter in 2012 and later operated by TNT Airways and ASL Airlines.

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Holders Argentina survived a massive scare and staged an amazing comeback with three late goals to earn a 3-2 win over Egypt on Tuesday that sent them through to the World Cup quarter-finals.

Enzo Fernandez headed the winning goal three minutes into stoppage time from a Lautaro Martinez cross to stun Egypt who thought they had at least taken the champions to extra time

Cristian Romero pulled one back for Argentina with 11 minutes remaining from a free header and Lionel Messi levelled the tie four minutes later with a blistering strike from inside the area.

Egypt went in front in the 15th minute, Yasser Ibrahim getting ahead of his marker Lisandro Martinez to power a header into the far corner Messi’s penalty was saved by keeper Mostafa Shobeir, the Argentina captain’s second miss from the spot in the tournament Mostafa Zico had a goal ruled out but went on to double Egypt’s lead with 23 minutes left.

Argentina will meet Switzerland or Colombia in Saturday’s quarter-final in Kansas.

More to follow

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Using NASA’s Perseverance rover, scientists are getting a greater understanding of the nature of some of the organic carbon — the molecular backbone for all known ​living organisms — detected on Mars as they explore the question of whether Earth’s planetary neighbour ever harboured life.

New research describes the structure of the organic carbon ‌found last year by the rover in sedimentary rock that contained a potential biosignature — a possible sign of past microbial life. This mudstone formed perhaps between 3.2 and 3.8 billion years ago beneath a now-vanished body of water in Jezero Crater in the Martian northern hemisphere.

Organic carbon can be a clue as to whether Mars ever harboured life because it serves as the chemical underpinning for the molecules that build DNA, cells ​and proteins. But its presence is not proof of life because it also can arise in nonbiological processes such as chemical interaction between rock and water.

The detection of ​organic carbon in two rocks in Jezero Crater — given the names Cheyava Falls and Walhalla Glades — was disclosed last year when the researchers ⁠announced the discovery of a potential biosignature in one of them.

The two rocks were sampled by the rover at locations about 330 feet (100 meters) apart, according to planetary scientist Ashley ​Murphy of the Planetary Science Institute in Arizona, co-leader of the new research published in the journal Science Advances

Following last year’s discovery, NASA released an image of the Cheyava Falls rock showing a ​very fine-grained and rusty-red-colored mudstone bearing ring-shaped features resembling leopard spots as well as dark marks resembling poppy seeds.

Such features on Earth can be associated with microbial activity. A potential biosignature is defined as a substance or structure that may have a biological origin but needs more data or further study before a conclusion can be made about the absence or presence of life.

A closer look for signs of life

Using ​Perseverance’s SHERLOC instrument, the researchers in the new study took a closer look at the complex carbon, called macromolecular carbon, present in the two rocks. They said this carbon bears ​similarities to carbon formed either through biotic or abiotic processes on Earth and to carbon formed through abiotic processes found in meteorites.

This marks the first instance of macromolecular carbon being discovered in mudstones in ‌Jezero Crater, ⁠where Perseverance landed in 2021. NASA’s other rover operating on Mars, called Curiosity, previously found macromolecular carbon at another site called Gale Crater, located about 2,300 miles (3,700 km) away.

“These findings indicate that the habitability of Mars and the availability of organic materials may have been widespread across the planet billions of years ago,” said planetary scientist Kyle Uckert of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and a co-leader of the study.

“This strengthens evidence that ancient Mars had chemical ingredients and environmental conditions that could have supported life, but does not provide proof of life, nor ​does it push the needle any further towards ​biotic or abiotic origins,” Uckert said.

The ⁠rover’s instruments do not have the capability to determine whether this carbon arose through biological processes possibly involving microbial activity.

“We need the return of these samples to Earth for more rigorous testing with higher sensitivity and higher resolution laboratory instruments,” Uckert said.

Now cold and desolate, Mars, during ​perhaps the first third of its existence, possessed a thicker atmosphere and warmer climate, allowing for liquid water on its surface. ​Like Earth and the solar ⁠system’s other planets, Mars formed roughly 4.5 billion years ago.

Water is considered a key ingredient for life — an important reason why Perseverance has been exploring Jezero Crater since 2021. This area of Mars once was flooded with water and home to an ancient lake basin. Scientists believe river channels spilt over the crater wall and created a lake. These bodies of water potentially could have ⁠been habitats for ​microbes.

“The only place in the universe where we know life has emerged is Earth,” Uckert said. “If life is ​discovered on Mars, it could indicate that the emergence of life is not restricted to Earth, assuming the right conditions and ingredients are available, which would be a profound discovery.”

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