Mourners and leaders from around the world, including Pakistan, gathered at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla to pay tribute to Iran’s former Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in a US-Israeli strike on Iran in February 2026.
The funeral ceremonies will pass through a series of locations — from the seat of power in Tehran to the holy cities of Qom, Karbala, Najaf and finally Mashhad — reflecting the religious, political and ideological pillars of the Islamic republic.
His funeral, initially delayed at the height of the Middle East war, is taking place as Iran and the US observe a fragile ceasefire following the signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding to halt the conflict.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir offering prayers during the state funeral of Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran. — AFP
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif writing in the condolence book during the state funeral of Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran. — AFP
Iranians walk past a billboard bearing a picture of Iran’s assassinated supreme leader Ali Khamenei ahead of his funeral in Tehran on July 3, 2026. — AFP
This photo shows a general view of a statue of Iran’s assassinated supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s hand installed at the Enghelab Square, ahead of his funeral in Tehran on July 3, 2026. — AFP
Motorists drive past a billboard bearing a picture of Iran’s assassinated supreme leader Ali Khamenei, ahead of his funeral in Tehran on July 3, 2026. — AFP
Mourners carry the coffin of Zahra Haddad Adel, wife of Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, during her funeral in Tehran. — AFP
Men ride a scooter past a billboard featuring the images of the late founder of the Islamic Revolution supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (L), Iran’s assassinated supreme leader Ali Khamenei (C) and his son, the current supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, along the street in Tehran on July 3, 2026. — AFP
Mourners carry the coffin of Iran’s assassinated supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the Grand Mosalla in Tehran on July 3, 2026. — AFP
Women take pictures in front of the Grand Mosalla in Tehran on July 3, 2026, ahead of Iran’s assassinated supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s funeral. — AFP
The Grand Mosalla is pictured in Tehran on July 3, 2026, ahead of Iran’s assassinated supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s funeral. — AFP
This handout photograph provided by the Iranian supreme leader office (Khamenei.IR) shows the chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Ahmad Vahidi (C) paying respect at the coffin of Iran’s slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei during a ceremony ahead of his funeral in Tehran on July 3, 2026. — AFP
MUZAFFARABAD: In a widely anticipated move, the PTI on Thursday announced its decision to boycott the upcoming Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) general election, stating it would instead stand by the people amid the prevailing political and social unrest.
The announcement was made by PTI regional president and former AJK prime minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi through a statement shared with Dawn by his press secretary.
“Expressing unwavering solidarity with the aspirations, right to self-determination, and democratic rights of the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the PTI has decided not to participate in the elections under the current circumstances,” Niazi said.
He said that the decision was not a political strategy, but a principled stance aimed at aligning with the public.
Regional president says party will stand with people amid prevailing political, social unrest
Pointing to the ongoing turmoil across the AJK, the former premier noted that thousands of citizens were staging sit-ins in Rawalakot and various other areas in pursuit of their demands. He lamented that several precious lives had already been lost due to the high-handedness and use of force by the government.
Furthermore, Niazi said that the suspension of food supply lines from Punjab to AJK had plunged the populace into severe economic distress.
“In such circumstances, instead of pushing the Kashmiri people towards further political instability, an immediate and just solution to their problems must be found,” he urged.
The PTI regional chief warned that the government’s current administrative measures were eroding AJK’s constitutional, democratic, and political identity. He cautioned that an environment was being engineered to blur the fundamental distinction between liberated and occupied territories of Jammu and Kashmir, a trajectory he described as deeply damaging to Pakistan’s Kashmir policy.
He said the electoral process completely loses its credibility and meaning when the public is out on the streets, representative voices are being muzzled, political workers and leaders face arrests, and strict curbs are placed on the media and freedom of expression.
“The PTI will not engage in the politics of power by ignoring the voice of the Kashmiri people,” he said, adding that his party’s topmost priority remained the protection of basic human rights and a justice-based political process.
Spelling out the party’s prerequisites for returning to the democratic process, Niazi said that the PTI would stay away from the polls until normalcy is restored, grievances of all political and public forces are genuinely addressed, and the issues raised by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) are resolved through mutual understanding.
He also demanded a revision of the election schedule to ensure a level playing field for all political parties.
He said the decision was entirely divorced from any calculations of political gain or loss. Rather, the focus of the PTI’s political campaign would be to struggle for the democratic rights of Kashmiris and advocate for a just settlement of the JAAC’s demands, he said.
LAHORE: Police in the provincial capital on Thursday registered a case against five suspects on charges of kidnapping for ransom and sexually assaulting two foreign women.
The Police Emergency Helpline 15 received a call from Spain, made by the father of one of the women, reporting the incident.
The alleged victims, who are nationals of the Netherlands and Venezuela, had come to Pakistan to visit their ‘friends’.
DIG Faisal Kamran told Dawn that police acted accordingly, dispatched a team of senior officials, recovered the women, arrested four suspects and lodged an FIR.
He said the suspects had been tracked and apprehended with the help of the Punjab Safe City Authority’s cameras installed in the city.
The recovered foreign women were later produced before a judicial magistrate at Cantonment Courts to record their statements under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
A women’s counsel for the victims was also present in the courtroom during the recording of their statements. The victims narrated the incident before the magistrate in a closed-door hearing.
“We took into confidence the Dutch Embassy officials and updated them about the criminal proceedings of the case, recovery of the victims”, the DIG said, adding that the travel documents were completed and the women would fly at the earliest from Pakistan.
He said a security guard had escaped from the scene, and police teams were trying to trace his location.
DIG Kamran said investigations were underway, adding that those who committed crimes against the women must be brought before a court of law and punished under the law of the land.
According to the FIR, the women were abducted by five suspects, including a close relative of a senior political personality, who demanded ransom and subjected them to sexual assault during their captivity.
The suspects allegedly demanded $1.5 million in ransom before sexually assaulting them.
The Punjab government said Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz took immediate notice of the abduction of foreign women, following which Lahore police launched a swift operation and rescued the victims within two hours, arresting four suspects.
According to a handout, the chief minister directed the police to recover the women within two hours of being informed about the incident.
It said police immediately launched a rescue operation after receiving a report from the victim’s father.
It said the suspects were traced with the assistance of the Safe City Authority, leading to the recovery of the abducted women.
The rescued women underwent medical examinations, and further legal proceedings are under way in light of the available evidence, it added.
THE recent appeal endorsed by civil society members from Pakistan and India, urging the prime ministers of both states to take “meaningful and sustained” steps for peace is well-intentioned.
No rational mind will disagree with the need for peace in the subcontinent, and an end to the toxicity that has marked bilateral ties for nearly eight decades. Yet it takes two to tango, and while Pakistan has on numerous occasions tried to restart the dialogue process in the last few years, India has shown little enthusiasm for talks.
Over 100 individuals have now signed the appeal, coordinated by a New Delhi think tank. It includes former diplomats, academics, politicians and peaceniks from both states. The signatories have called for taking CBMs, and restoring full diplomatic relations. Ties were first downgraded by Pakistan after India’s 2019 revocation of occupied Kashmir’s special constitutional status, while diplomatic relations went further south after India blamed Pakistan for last year’s Pahalgam episode — without any evidence. Last May’s brief armed conflict, initiated by India, further added to frigid bilateral ties.
While some well-meaning quarters in India appear genuine in their desire for peace, the BJP-led government seems intent on rejecting all dialogue that may lead to normalisation with Pakistan. In such a scenario, peace will remain a distant dream. After all, India has shown stubbornness where the unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty is concerned.
As Pakistan’s Indus commissioner told a seminar in Islamabad the other day, his communications with officials in India have not received a response. At the same event, the deputy PM said India was “sowing the seeds of war”. Indian ministers have on record said their intention is to stop all water to Pakistan. And as the Foreign Office said yesterday, India is “actively aiding” terrorist groups “operating from Afghan soil against Pakistan”. These are certainly not the actions of a regime that wants to see peace flourish in South Asia.
Apart from the belligerence of the Indian state, significant sections of the Indian population have also been radicalised against Pakistan and Muslims. The shrill jingoism of Indian media’s leading lights has contributed significantly to this. Therefore, the question is: is the Indian body politic ready for peace with Pakistan?
At one time the hard right in Pakistan was dead against all normalisation with India. Today, radical elements, fed on the Hindutva ideology, within the Indian system are opposed to friendship with Pakistan. Unless this situation changes, chances of peace appear dim. The single biggest CBM India can take is to restore the IWT, and assure Pakistan it will abide by its commitments. Without solid diplomatic and political moves by both governments, particularly New Delhi, to support normalisation, calls for peace by idealists will remain unrealisable.
ISLAMABAD: In a significant development signaling a marked departure from the established judicial hierarchy, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) has formally notified separate interview committees to vet candidates for appointment as additional judges in four high courts, with not a single Supreme Court judge included in any of the panels.
The notification, issued on Wednesday and obtained by Dawn, invokes Rule 10A of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (Appointment of Judges) Rules, 2024, and bears the approval of the JCP chairperson — the chief justice of Pakistan.
The committees have been tasked with interviewing candidates nominated until July 4, 2026, for the Lahore High Court (LHC), Islamabad High Court (IHC), Sindh High Court (SHC), and Balochistan High Court (BHC).
Interestingly, the composition of the four committees, while varying slightly in their judicial members, uniformly draws its judicial strength from either the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) or the respective high courts, conspicuously bypassing the Supreme Court.
For the LHC and the IHC, the same seven-member panel has been constituted. FCC Judge Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi will chair both committees. The other members include LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum, IHC Chief Justice Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan, Senators Farooq Hamid Naek and Syed Ali Zafar, and Supreme Court Bar Association representative Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon.
For the SHC, the chairmanship has been assigned to FCC Judge Aamer Farooq. The panel includes LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum, SHC Chief Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput, along with the attorney general, the two senators, and Bhoon.
A similar composition has been notified for the BHC, with Justice Aamer Farooq again serving as chairperson and BHC Chief Justice Muhammad Kamran Khan Malakhail replacing the Sindh chief justice as a member. The remaining members are identical across all panels.
The notification comes against the backdrop of stalled judicial appointments in various high courts, which had remained in limbo due to the absence of revised rules following the 27th Constitutional Amendment.
The amendment had empowered the commission to frame rules regulating its procedures, including the “procedure and criteria for assessment, interview, evaluation and fitness for appointment of judges”.
Sources told Dawn that the JCP’s Rule-Making Committee had met on May 6 to deliberate on the criteria and procedure for appointments. The committee, comprising Justice Aamer Farooq, Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan, Senators Naek and Zafar, and bar representative Bhoon, had discussed multiple proposals.
It is learnt that Senator Zafar had proposed that the entire JCP interview each candidate when his or her nomination came before the commission. Senator Naek, however, had suggested that a seven-member committee conduct interviews prior to the JCP meeting and submit recommendations to the commission. The final notification reflects that Senator Naek’s proposal was ultimately adopted.
Sources further disclosed that Bhoon had proposed a five-member committee comprising two judges from the FCC or the SC, one parliamentarian, the attorney general, and a representative of the Pakistan Bar Council. That proposal was not accepted in its original form.
Harry Kane rescued England from a seismic World Cup shock with two late goals to beat the Democratic Republic of Congo 2-1 in Atlanta and secure a place in the last 16.
Aiming to end a 60-year wait to win a major tournament, Thomas Tuchel’s men escaped humilation and one of England’s worst ever World Cup exits thanks to their talismanic captain after Brian Cipenga’s early goal gave Congo an early lead.
But the Three Lions will need to improve for the daunting task of facing co-hosts Mexico at the Estadio Azteca in the last 16 on Sunday.
Already England’s all-time top goalscorer in the competition, Kane now has 13 World Cup goals and moves onto five for the tournament to remain in the the star-studded battle for the Golden Boot.
Defeat ended Congo’s fairytale run on their return to the World Cup for the first time in 52 years.
The Leopards had never even won a point or scored a goal at the World Cup until a few weeks ago, but had one of the tournament favourites teetering on the brink of elimination.
Tuchel made two changes from victory over Panama as Declan Rice return in midfield, while Djed Spence came in at right-back with Reece James and Jarell Quansah both ruled out through injury.
The German coach’s decision not to select more specialist right-back cover in a 26-man squad will face more scrutiny after Congo took the lead down that flank.
Spence was caught under Chancel Mbemba’s cross as the ball fell for Cipenga. The Almeria winger’s shot was low and hard but Jordan Pickford should still have kept it out at his near post.
The vast majority of the nearly 70,000 crowd decked out in England red and white were silenced, while Tuchel’s players were visibly rattled.
Jude Bellingham was shown a yellow card for a lunge lunge and was then involved in a heated exchange with his coach during the mid-half hydration break.
The stoppage in play at least allowed Tuchel the chance to restore order.
Bellingham’s powerful header from Declan Rice’s cross finally forced DR Congo ’keeper Lionel Mpasi into action.
Moments later Marcus Rashford’s powerful effort was blocked on the line by London-born Aaron Wan Bissaka after Noni Madueke’s jinking run opened up the Congo defence.
Yet it could have been even worse for England at the break.
Yoane Wissa’s three goals in the group stage fired his country to the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time and the Newcastle striker had a golden chance to double the DR Congo lead but hit the outside of the post from point-blank range.
At the other end, Kane was furious when he went down as he tried to round Mpasi but the referee refused to point to the spot.
Le Harve stopper Mpasi’s inspired afternoon continued as he flew to his right to parry another bullet header from Bellingham and then denied Kane from a corner with the last action of the first half.
After a bright start to the second period, England were beginning to run out of ideas until Tuchel unloaded his offensive weapons off the bench.
Bukayo Saka, Anthony Gordon and Eberechi Eze were sent on by Tuchel in search of an equaliser.
And it was new Barcelona signing Gordon who provided the cross as Kane finally found a way past Mpasi with a downward header 15 minutes from time.
Gordon also got the assist for the 86th minute winner, but Kane did the hard work as he rifled a powerful drive into the roof of the net for his 84th international goal.
THE management control of PIA has finally been transferred to a consortium comprising private investors and the Fauji Foundation. The development marks a new chapter in the history of the airline whose fortunes declined over the past two decades.
According to an official statement, the transfer follows the completion of all local and international regulatory approvals, including permissions from global lenders and specialised tax concessions. The privatisation authorities believe the takeover will breathe new life into the airline. The consortium has paid the government Rs10bn upfront and committed to injecting another Rs125bn as fresh equity to fund restructuring, fleet renewal, route expansion and service improvement. PIA has long suffered massive financial losses, political interference and years of managerial drift. The promised capital injection could provide it with the resources it has lacked.
The new PIA chairman’s emphasis on heritage, trust and restoring PIA’s image is standard messaging. Passengers will judge the airline by performance. The real test will be improvements in safety, punctuality, customer satisfaction and financial performance. Privatisation removes the state’s ownership label. It does not automatically remove the structural constraints that have weighed down the airline for years. An ageing and shrunken fleet, inconsistent service standards, stiff competition from Gulf carriers, etc, remain the consortium’s real inheritance and challenges.
The biggest advantage of privatisation is that PIA now has owners with a direct financial stake in making the airline commercially viable. Even so, ownership alone guarantees nothing. The financial structure of the transaction deserves close attention. The consortium has pledged substantial fresh equity, but the airline’s long-term recovery will depend on how effectively that capital is deployed. Fleet expansion without better route planning, stronger cost controls and improved operational discipline will do little to restore profitability. Likewise, service improvements must be backed by stronger corporate governance and greater managerial accountability.
Rebuilding confidence will take time. Years of decline have damaged PIA’s reputation. Public trust cannot be restored through rebranding campaigns. It will require consistent operational improvements delivered over years. Any early setback will attract intense scrutiny because, despite privatisation, PIA remains a national symbol. Nor can the government completely step aside.
Regulators still have a duty to ensure effective safety oversight and fair competition. The next 12 months will be decisive. Progress should be measured through fleet expansion, operational efficiency and customer satisfaction rather than promises. The second financial closing will provide the first meaningful indication of whether the consortium intends to follow through on its pledges or whether the call option is more optional than its name suggests. If this transaction truly signifies the beginning of a ‘new era’ will soon be known.
