PAKISTAN’S commitment to the SDGs is routinely reaffirmed, but the gap between promises and progress continues to widen. A meeting between First Lady Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari and the UN country team highlighted priorities such as public health, nutrition, education, climate resilience and women’s empowerment — areas where progress is urgently needed.
Yet, with fewer than four years remaining until the 2030 deadline, Pakistan is off-track on many of the goals it pledged to achieve. Cooperation with the UN is valuable, but Pakistan cannot rely on international partners to compensate for weak governance and inconsistent implementation at home. The SDGs are benchmarks for improving lives, not just global commitments.
Polio is the clearest example. Despite decades of vaccination campaigns, billions of rupees in spending and sustained foreign aid, we remain one of only two countries where the disease is still endemic. The UN has warned that the coming year will be decisive, but technology alone will not suffice. AI may improve outreach, but it cannot replace routine immunisation, effective local administration, community trust or political resolve.
Similar shortcomings persist elsewhere. Around 41pc of Pakistani children suffer from stunting, maternal anaemia remains widespread, adolescent pregnancies continue to endanger mothers and infants, and millions still lack access to quality education and healthcare.
These failures reflect a broader inability to translate policy into results. Climate change is placing pressure on strained public services, while poverty, gender inequality and poor sanitation continue to undermine development. Pakistan should therefore treat the SDGs as the foundation of national policymaking rather than as commitments revisited during high-level meetings. Federal and provincial governments must coordinate more effectively, strengthen local institutions and ensure that development spending produces measurable outcomes instead of political dividends. Reliable data, monitoring and sustained investment in health, education and nutrition are essential.
International agencies can provide expertise and support, but they cannot substitute for domestic leadership. Missing the SDG targets would mean condemning another generation of Pakistanis to preventable disease, chronic malnutrition and persistent inequality. Can the state deliver the essentials? Pakistan still has time to answer that question in the affirmative, but only if urgency replaces complacency.
OpenAI on Friday launched a US-only preview of its latest powerful AI model series to a limited group of partners at the request of the United States government, the company said.
The release comes two weeks after the US government took Silicon Valley by surprise in ordering OpenAI’s rival Anthropic to ban all foreign nationals from accessing its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models, citing national security concerns.
The release marks the debut of OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 series, which comprises three new models: Sol, OpenAI’s new flagship; Terra, a mid-range model for everyday work; and Luna, a fast, low-cost option.
The company said Terra would be priced at half the cost of its predecessor GPT-5.5, as it seeks to lock in customers amid fierce competition from Anthropic and Google.
OpenAI said it briefed the US government on its new models’ capabilities ahead of the launch and, at the government’s request, is beginning with a limited preview for a select group of trusted partners whose identities have been shared with authorities.
The partners are US-based, but OpenAI said overseas employees at those companies or entities would also have access to the new models.
Both Anthropic’s Mythos models and OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 have drawn major concerns over their reportedly unprecedented ability to identify software vulnerabilities — weaknesses in code that hackers can exploit.
The intervention against Anthropic was striking for a White House that has otherwise pushed to loosen AI oversight — even moving to block states from writing their own rules.
Under pressure over the novel capabilities of Mythos, Trump earlier month signed an executive order setting up a voluntary federal review of national security risks in advanced AI models before their release.
ISLAMABAD: On the eve of International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan’s unwavering commitment to combating drug abuse and illicit trafficking, stressing that protecting the country’s youth from the menace of narcotics remains a national priority.
In his message on the occasion, President Zardari said Pakistan stood with the international community in renewing its collective resolve to address the grave social challenge posed by drug abuse and trafficking.
Referring to this year’s theme, World Drug Problem: Persisting Issues, New Challenges, Innovative Responses, the president said it highlighted the evolving and complex nature of the global drug problem and underscored the need for coordinated and innovative action.
He said Pakistan remained steadfast in addressing all threats associated with narcotic drugs, including the emergence of new substances, expanding illicit trafficking networks, and the growing accessibility of drugs, particularly among young people.
On eve of International Day Against Drug Abuse, PM calls for united action to build drug-free generation
Meanwhile, PM Shehbaz urged a comprehensive national response to combat the growing threat of drug abuse and illicit trafficking, stressing the need for prevention, awareness, rehabilitation and collective action to protect the youth from narcotics-related challenges.
Alongside traditional narcotics, a new range of highly dangerous synthetic and illicit drugs had emerged in recent years. He warned that criminal networks were increasingly exploiting modern communication technologies and digital platforms to expand their operations, connect buyers and sellers, and evade law enforcement agencies.
The prime minister also expressed concern over the growing use of cryptocurrencies and other digital payment channels to finance illicit drug activities beyond conventional financial systems.
Highlighting the influence of social media and mobile applications, he said harmful substances were often portrayed as fashionable, harmless or linked with success and social acceptance. Such narratives, he added, were deliberately designed to target young people during a critical stage of their personal and social development.
The prime minister observed that the consequences of drug abuse extended far beyond individuals, affecting families, communities and society at large.
Apple said on Thursday that it was raising prices for its MacBook computers, iPad tablets and other products, citing spiralling memory and storage costs sparked by the rise of artificial intelligence.
The price hikes — the first concrete change stemming from outgoing CEO Tim Cook’s repeated warnings about rising costs — sent Apple shares plummeting more than 4.7 per cent in morning trade.
On its US website, price increases ranged from $30 to $300. The 14-inch MacBook Pro, which once sold for $1,700, now retails for $2,000, while the iPad Air increased from $600 to $750.
The Apple TV streaming device rose from $130 to $200.
For now, the price of the iPhone — the company’s main source of revenue — remained unchanged.
“The rapid expansion of AI data centres has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement sent to multiple media outlets.
“We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly.”
Apple did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment.
The Cupertino, California-based tech giant — which notched an all-time revenue record of $416 billion in the last fiscal year — insisted it had “shielded our customers from these increases so far” but could no longer do so.
Last week, Cook set the stage when he told The Wall Street Journal that price increases were “unavoidable”.
“There’s less supply at a time when consumers want devices and the memory guys are passing along huge price increases,” Cook said, deeming the spike in prices a “hundred-year flood”.
The rapid buildout of AI data centres has sent the cost of memory chips and RAM skyrocketing — as the components are found in nearly all electronic devices — with the chips undergoing quarterly price increases of at least 50pc since late 2025.
It will fall to John Ternus to handle the fallout at Apple — he will succeed Cook as CEO on September 1, just days before the new generation of iPhones is unveiled.
ISLAMABAD: A recently released report by the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) has identified irregularities worth Rs3.41 billion in various ancillary departments of the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS), it emerged on Thursday.
The report, available with Dawn, found fraud, embezzlement and misappropriation amounting to Rs28.41 million, procurement-related irregularities worth Rs1.779bn, and irregularities in the management of accounts maintained with commercial banks involving about Rs1.484bn. However, Rs127.27m was recovered following the intervention of the audit department.
Pakistan Nursing Council
According to the report, the Pakistan Nursing and Midwifery Council (PNMC) refused to have its accounts audited, in violation of orders issued by the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) in its July 8, 2013 judgment.
In response to the audit intimations, the PNMC, referring to letters dated March 31, 2023, May 15, 2024, and May 21, 2025, stated that it was an autonomous body that generated its own revenue through various activities and services and did not receive financial grants from the government.
The matter was reported to the secretary of the Ministry of NHS, who directed the PNMC to provide all auditable records. However, according to the report, the records were not provided by the management
The audit took the view that “the stance taken by the management is in violation of the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and attracts Section 14(3) of the AGP Ordinance, 2001”. It added that, as the PNMC was established and controlled by the federal government, it fell within the audit jurisdiction of the AGP.
The audit recommended that disciplinary action be taken against the officers involved in obstructing the AGP’s audit functions and defying the SC’s order, and that the auditable record be provided.
Federal Directorate of Immunisation
The audit also identified the procurement of vaccines at higher rates due to non-compliance with the federal cabinet’s decision, which had an impact of Rs1.109bn.
Under Section 21 of the PPRA Ordinance, 2002, the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) granted an exemption for the procurement of EPI vaccines from the applicability of the Public Procurement Rules, 2004, in line with a federal cabinet decision dated November 23, 2016, according to the report.
“Rule 38 B(2) of the Public Procurement Rules, 2004, states that the procuring agency shall make a decision with due diligence and in compliance with general principles of procurement such as economy, efficiency and value for money,” the audit said.
It noted that the management of Islamabad’s Federal Directorate of Immunisation (FDI) purchased Pentavalent and Tetanus Diphtheria (TD) vaccines through open competition and incurred expenditure of Rs3.233m during the financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Human Organ Transplant Authority
The audit further revealed that Islamabad’s Human Organ Transplant Authority (HOTA) had kept Rs38.782m in public funds in a current bank account after the close of the financial year.
The report cited Clause 37 (1) of the Public Financial Management Act, 2019, stating that the “revenues collected by an autonomous entity, which arise from any Act or statutory instruments of the Federal Government, shall be deposited in the treasury single account (TSA)”.
It also highlighted Clause 4(3) of the Cash Management and Treasury Single Account (TSA) Rules, 2024 as saying that bank accounts opened before the rules took effect were to be jointly reviewed by the finance division and division concerned, with accounts found non-essential for functioning to be closed. The balance in those accounts was to be transferred to the Federal Consolidated Fund or the Public Account as prescribed in the Federal Treasury Rules, it stated.
The audit observed that the HOTA retained an amount of money in a current account at the National Bank of Pakistan as of June 30, 2024.
“The account has not been reviewed or closed in accordance with Clause 4(3) of the Cash Management and TSA Rules, 2024, nor has the balance been surrendered to the Federal Consolidated Fund,” it pointed out.
It stated that the unauthorised retention of public funds outside the TSA “undermines the principles of centralised cash management and fiscal transparency … and violates statutory requirements, and increases the risk of mismanagement or misuse of public money”.
According to the report, HOTA replied that the account had been maintained with the approval of the Finance Division since 2013. The audit, however, termed the reply “not tenable”, stating that with the promulgation of the Public Financial Management Act and the Cash Management and TSA Rules, earlier administrative practices had been superseded.
The audit recommended that HOTA immediately initiate a joint review of the current account with the Finance Division in line with the TSA Rules, and take prompt action to transfer the retained balance to the Federal Consolidated Fund or the Public Account.
Polyclinic Hospital
Irregularities worth Rs508.4m were also found in the procurement of drugs and medicines by Polyclinic Hospital.
“Para 11 of GFR, Vol-I states that each head of a department is responsible for enforcing financial order and strict economy at every step. He is responsible for observance of all the relevant financial rules and regulations both by his own office and by subordinate disbursing officers,” it stated.
The management of Polyclinic Hospital incurred expenditure on the procurement of drugs and medicines (including tablets, syrups, injections and surgical consumable items) on a “local purchase” basis from an Islamabad pharmacy during FY24–25. The audit observed that there was no government-approved policy for the procurement of drugs, medicines and surgical items on a local purchase basis.
The report said that records of requisition and demand slips from different hospital wards for the procurement of these items were not maintained by the FGPC, and that patient-wise records of receipt and issuance of drugs, medicines and surgical consumables procured on a local purchase basis were not available with the hospital management.
Other irregularities
The report also identified irregularities worth Rs15.174m and the unauthorised procurement of MRI software worth $0.35m at the National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicines.
At Lahore’s Sheikh Zayed Medical Complex, it identified “fraudulent” payment of the consultant’s share amounting to Rs28.41m and the irregular transfer of Rs1.445bn from the assignment account to commercial bank accounts.
Health Ministry spokesperson Sajid Shah, while talking to Dawn, said that it was routine for a number of objections to be raised during every audit.
“However, the ministry responds to them and most of the paras are settled. The ministry and its ancillary departments will submit replies at appropriate forums,” he said.
The biggest casualty of the US-Iran deal may not be Israel’s Iran strategy, but the political brand Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent decades constructing as the Israeli leader who could uniquely bend Washington to his will on Iran, analysts, former US officials and diplomats say.
Netanyahu built his political identity on an audacious assertion: that he alone could keep the US and Israel in strategic lockstep on Iran.
Cultivating Republican support, he cast himself as the only Israeli leader capable of influencing successive US presidents and insisted that only sustained military pressure could contain Tehran.
At the height of his power, he was described by diplomats as the “American whisperer”, the Israeli leader who could pick up the phone and ensure Washington’s strategic calculus aligned with that of Israel.
US President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the entrance of the White House in Washington, DC, the US on April 7, 2025. — Reuters/File
No other Israeli prime minister, they note, addressed Congress as often or built such enduring political capital across the American political system.
But analysts say Washington and Tehran’s interim pact to end the war that the US and Israel launched in February shows how that narrative has been reversed. Rather than shaping Washington’s Iran policy, Netanyahu is now forced to accept it, as US President Donald Trump pursues a settlement that increasingly treats Israeli objections as constraints.
At home, the reckoning is equally stark, said former US official Dennis Ross.
“Netanyahu is increasingly boxed in between a US president intent on ending the conflict and a domestic base resistant to concessions, particularly in Lebanon,” he said.
Withdrawal risks political backlash, while escalation risks confrontation with Washington.
The war Netanyahu hoped would cement his legacy as the leader who confronted Iran may instead be remembered as the conflict that dismantled a central source of his power.
Iranian flags fly as fire and smoke from an Israeli attack on Sharan Oil depot rise, following Israeli strikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 15, 2025. — Reuters/File
Isolated abroad, constrained by his closest ally and vulnerable ahead of an autumn election, he now finds the political asset on which he built his career has become his greatest liability.
At the outset of the war with Iran, Netanyahu promised ultimate victory. He delivered neither the collapse of Iran’s ruling system, nor the defeat of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, nor a safe return for residents of northern Israel.
“The US-Iran deal is a decisive blow to Netanyahu,” said Aviv Bushinsky, a former Netanyahu adviser. “Not only did he lose the war with Iran, he has also lost Trump as a friend.
“He is now isolated not only internationally, but locked in a major dispute with Trump,” he added.
Netanyahu’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
In a press conference this month, the Israeli premier described his relationship with Trump as one between partners who “agree many times and sometimes disagree”.
There had been a systematic campaign to diminish Israel’s “huge achievements” against Iran, he said.
A White House official said Trump and Netanyahu had a strong relationship and that Israel’s military forces had been “incredible partners” in a war that had “decimated the Iranian regime’s military capabilities”.
Public rebukes
The disagreement between the US and Israeli leaders, analysts say, extends beyond personal ties to a growing divergence in goals: Trump seeks to disengage from another Middle East war, while Netanyahu views continued pressure on Iran and its ally Hezbollah as essential to Israel’s security.
Washington has negotiated directly with Tehran, folded Lebanon’s conflict between Israel and Hezbollah into a broader framework, and created mechanisms to manage ceasefire disputes, moves that, according to three regional diplomatic sources, have increasingly sidelined Israel from key decisions.
The country that once viewed Netanyahu as an indispensable interlocutor is now, the regional sources say, treating him as an obstacle to an agreement it is determined to protect.
Trump has publicly rebuked Israel’s military conduct in Lebanon, while US Vice President JD Vance has underscored the conditional nature of the relationship, warning Israeli critics of the deal against attacking the only powerful ally they have left in the world.
Two Israeli officials familiar with Netanyahu’s thinking said he was not concerned that public remarks by Trump and Vance would translate into meaningful shifts in US policy toward Israel, such as delays in arms deliveries, even if Israel continues military operations in Lebanon.
Trump has signalled that he is prepared to override Israeli priorities in pursuit of US interests. In a TV interview this month, he said that if he tells Netanyahu to do something, “he does it”.
A resident flashes the V-sign for Victory as he stands on the roof of a collapsed home, destroyed in Israeli military strikes, in the southern Lebanese village of Srifa on June 24, 2026. — AFP
Loss of Republican safety net
Iran will seek to widen the emerging gap between the US and Israel by portraying any Israeli military action in Lebanon as an attempt to sabotage Trump’s diplomacy, forcing the White House to choose between backing its ally or preserving the deal, said Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group.
What makes Netanyahu’s position so precarious, US analysts say, is the loss of his safety net.
For years, he cultivated Republican backing, using it as a counterweight to offset tensions with Democratic administrations, and openly denouncing former President Barack Obama’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal from a congressional podium.
But Republicans will not break with Trump for Netanyahu, they said.
Against this backdrop, the implications of the US-Iran deal also extend to Netanyahu’s core strategic bets. He staked his political future on two objectives: weakening, if not toppling, Iran’s leadership and securing normalised relations with Saudi Arabia by expanding the Abraham Accords.
Neither has materialised.
Iranian leaders have emerged from the conflict entrenched, while the Saudi handshake remains out of reach.
Across the region, a recalibration is already visible. Countries Netanyahu once hoped to draw closer, with Saudi Arabia as the crown jewel, are now hedging, cautiously reopening channels with Tehran.
According to Gulf sources, the logic that underpinned the Abraham Accords has been eroded by the Gaza war, the unresolved question of West Bank annexation, and a growing perception that Netanyahu’s Israel may be more of a liability than an asset in any emerging regional order.
An Iranian official said Netanyahu’s push to expand the Abraham Accords has been blunted, with several countries now seeking a place in an emerging Iran-aligned framework.
“This is not just a victory for Iran. It’s a failure for Netanyahu,” the official said. “The Islamic Republic has not just survived, it has emerged as a more influential regional player.”
Pakistan used a high-level diplomatic gathering at the United Nations on Wednesday to build international support for stronger global action against viral hepatitis, while new World Health Organisation (WHO) data underscored the scale of the challenge facing the country.
The Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN and the Secretariat of the UN Group of Friends to Eliminate Hepatitis co-hosted a strategic briefing on the sidelines of the UN High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS under the theme, “Advancing Hepatitis Elimination: Building Momentum toward High-Level Political Action”.
The meeting brought together health ministry officials, diplomats and global health experts to discuss viral hepatitis, a disease that claims approximately 1.3 million lives annually worldwide. Participants also explored pathways toward securing a standalone UN High-Level Meeting on Viral Hepatitis by 2028.
Opening the event, Pakistan’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Usman Jadoon highlighted Islamabad’s commitment to tackling one of the country’s most serious public health challenges.
“The government has launched the Prime Minister’s Programme for the Elimination of Hepatitis C, allocating $250 million in collaboration with the World Health Organisation to eliminate Hepatitis C as a public health threat by 2030,” Ambassador Jadoon said.
He stressed that the initiative provides “entirely free screening, diagnosis, and treatment” to patients across the country.
“To ensure effective oversight and accountability, the prime minister himself is leading the National Task Force, which oversees the program’s progress and provides strategic direction,” the ambassador added.
Ambassador Jadoon noted that the task force included “a distinguished group of international and national experts, including leading public health experts, clinicians, researchers, and government officials”, reflecting the government’s determination to pursue a science-based approach to hepatitis elimination.
The briefing included a presentation by Dr John Ward, director of the Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination, who reviewed the global burden of viral hepatitis, recent political developments and opportunities for strengthening international cooperation.
The discussions followed the recent release of the WHO Global Hepatitis Report 2026, which identifies Pakistan as the largest contributor to the global population living with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and one of the world’s ten countries with the highest numbers of HCV-related deaths.
According to the report, Pakistan had an estimated 9m people living with hepatitis C as of 2024.
The country was also among 10 nations that together accounted for 58 per cent of all hepatitis C infections worldwide, alongside China, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nigeria, the Russian Federation, South Africa, the United States and Vietnam.
The WHO report further noted that Pakistan carries a disproportionate share of the hepatitis burden in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. The region is estimated to have 12m people living with hepatitis C — about one quarter of the global total — and remains the only WHO region where more than 1pc of the general population is chronically infected.
Within Pakistan, hepatitis C prevalence remains particularly high in the provinces targeted under the national elimination plan. Punjab has the highest prevalence rate at 8.9pc, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 6.5pc, Sindh at 6.2pc and Balochistan at 5.2pc.
The WHO report also highlighted Pakistan’s ambitious national response. In July 2024, the government launched a prime ministerial plan aimed at treating 50pc of people living with hepatitis C by 2027 and achieving WHO elimination targets by 2030, with the federal government financing half of the programme’s costs.
Participants at the UN meeting reviewed both the WHO report and the Ministerial Statement on Hepatitis Elimination adopted at the 79th World Health Assembly. While effective tools for prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure are widely available, speakers noted that viral hepatitis continues to receive insufficient political attention and funding relative to its health and economic impact.
Delegates exchanged views on how to elevate hepatitis within the broader UN agenda and discussed the procedural, political and financial considerations involved in convening a future UN High-Level Meeting dedicated to the disease.
The consultation concluded with broad support for continued coalition-building, wider geographic representation and stronger international engagement to accelerate progress toward the 2030 hepatitis elimination goals.
Representatives from Pakistan, France, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Peru, Türkiye, Mongolia, China, Brazil, Malaysia, Spain and the Philippines attended the meeting.
The gathering built on momentum generated at the 79th World Health Assembly, where ministers and senior government representatives endorsed a cross-regional Ministerial Statement calling for stronger leadership, increased financing and enhanced international cooperation to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat.
