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BEIRUT: Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Sunday killed at least 15 people, including a local official from a Christian political party, a day after Israel threatened to hit Lebanon’s main border crossing with Syria, forcing it to close.

Israel has launched airstrikes across Lebanon as well as a ground invasion in the south since March 2, when Hezbollah entered the Middle East war on the side of its backer Iran.

One of Israel’s strikes in Beirut on Sunday killed at least five people and wounded 52 in the Jnah neighbourhood, the Lebanese health ministry said.

A strike targeting an apartment building in Ain Saadeh town east of Beirut killed three people and injured three others, while a strike in the southern town of Kfar Hatta, far from the border with Israel, killed seven people including a four-year-old girl, the ministry said.

Christian political party official, his wife among deceased

The Lebanese Forces Party identified two of the dead as Pierre Moawad, a local party official, and his wife Flavia.

Hezbollah on Sunday claimed to have fired a cruise missile at an Israeli warship off the coast, but the Israeli military said it was “not aware” of such an incident.

126 children killed

Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the start of the war have killed more than 1,400 people, including 126 children, and displaced over a million, according to Lebanese authorities.

The strike in Beirut’s Jnah neig­h­bourhood landed about 100 metres from the Rafik Har­iri University Hospital, the largest public medical facility in Lebanon.

Zakaria Tawbeh, deputy head of the hospital, said they received “four killed, three Sudanese and a 15-year old girl, and 31 wounded”.

After the first attack, 53-year-old Jnah resident Nancy Hassan thought she was safe at home.

“Shortly after, the Israeli pla­nes were flying overhead, and we heard a huge bang, then ston­es rained down on us,” she said.

Nancy lost her daughter in an Israeli strike on the same area during the 2024 strikes by Israel.

“My daughter was killed; she was 23 years old. Today, her frie­nds were killed. Every time, they bomb us in the neighbourhood without warning,” she added.

Israel also launched several strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon warned that attacks near its positions “could potentially draw return fire”.

A day earlier, Israel had said it would target the Masnaa border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, the main gateway between the two countries.

Syrian border

“Due to Hezbollah’s use of the Masnaa crossing for military pur­poses and smuggling of combat equipment, the (Israeli army) intends to carry out strikes on the crossing in the near future,” said Israeli military’s Arabic-lang­uage spokesman Avichay Adr­a­ee, urging people to leave the area.

The border post was quickly evacuated on the Lebanese side.

In Syria, borders and customs public relations director Mazen Aloush insisted the crossing was exclusively used by civilians but said it would close temporarily due to the threats.

Masnaa is a vital trade route for both countries and a key gateway to the rest of the region for Lebanese people.

Military expert Hassan Jouni said Israel’s threat to strike the crossing “is not based on sound security considerations but rather aims to pressure the Leba­nese government… to disarm Hezbollah”. “We are paying a heavy price for a war into which we have been dragged by the lawless organisation Hezbollah,” Leba­nese Forces parliamentarian Razi El Hage told Lebanese broadcaster MTV.

Israel’s air campaign and ord­ers for people to leave swat­hes of Lebanon’s south, east, and Bei­rut’s southern suburbs have displaced more than a million people, most of them from the Shia Muslim community.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2026

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LAHORE: A high-level committee of the Punjab Assembly has declared that a controversial colonial-era law effectively criminalises poverty and must be abolished, it emerged on Monday.

The Committee on Law Reforms and Delegated Legislation met on Monday at the Punjab Assembly under the chairmanship of Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, taking up critical issues ranging from outdated criminal laws to police accountability.

A major highlight of the sitting was the review of Section 55(1)(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, which allows police to arrest individuals without warrant if they have “no ostensible means of subsistence.”

The committee described the provision as an outdated colonial relic that criminalised poverty instead of criminal conduct, and conflicted with fundamental constitutional rights.

A detailed reform proposal recommends complete omission of this clause, along with related provisions, to prevent misuse.

The proposed reforms also suggest tightening another clause, Section 55(1)(c), that empowers a station house officer to arrest a suspect.

The committee proposed replacing vague standards for arrests, such as the “repute” of a suspect, with objective criteria, such as prior convictions within five years and reasonable grounds of intent to commit a crime.

The committee noted that the existing law violated multiple constitutional protections, including the right to liberty, dignity, equality, and freedom of movement. Past court rulings also termed such arrests as abuses of authority, it noted.

Comparative legal examples were cited, highlighting that similar vagrancy laws had already been abolished or struck down in several jurisdictions worldwide, including neighbouring India.

The committee also expressed concern over delays in framing rules under various laws, noting that many statutes lack clear timelines for implementation. Members stressed the need for binding deadlines to ensure laws were operationalised effectively.

Public safety commission

The meeting also focused on the long-pending establishment of the Public Safety Commission at both provincial and district levels – an oversight body envisioned under the Police Order 2002 but never constituted.

Officials informed the committee that a summary for forming the selection committee had been forwarded, and the commission would be notified soon after its constitution.

The speaker stressed that police, as the primary law enforcement agency interacting with citizens, must be subject to independent oversight and accountability.

He emphasised that creating a citizen- or parliament-centric complaint mechanism was not only a legal requirement but a constitutional obligation, noting that international bodies – including the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), the European Union, and United Nations human rights mechanisms – had repeatedly flagged the absence of such systems in Pakistan.

Addressing earlier disagreements among departments, the committee cited findings of a subcommittee led by MPA Amjad Ali Javed, which – after consultation with the advocate general’s office – concluded that no legal barrier existed to establishing the Public Safety Commission under the existing law.

The speaker underscored that the absence of local government representatives could not be used as a reason to delay this critical reform.

Review of assembly procedure reforms

The committee also reviewed recent amendments to the Punjab Assembly’s Rules of Procedure, including 77 changes made in September 2024 and seven more in November.

Key reforms include: allowing speeches in any language; preventing rejection of private members’ bills on technical grounds; removing the five-hour limit on assembly sittings; introducing post-budget discussions as a formal rule.

The speaker directed the Finance Department to make post-budget reports more comprehensive and called for better implementation and awareness of these procedural reforms across institutions.

Home Department Secretary Dr Ahmad Javed Qazi acknowledged delays in progress and assured the committee of weekly updates going forward.

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US President Donald Trump asserted on Monday that Iran could be taken out in one night, “and that night might be tomorrow night”, even as he said shortly afterwards that US officials, including Vice President JD Vance, was talking to intermediaries in Pakistan.

His statements from two different events came ahead of a looming Tuesday night deadline he gave to Tehran to agree to a ceasefire deal with Washington, warning of wider bombing on power plants and other critical infrastructure.

Trump is demanding Iran forswear nuclear weapons and reopen the Strait of Hormuz oil transit waterway.

Iranian media reported on Monday that Tehran had rejected the US ceasefire proposal through intermediary Pakistan, and had instead shared a 10-point proposal, demanding an end to conflicts in the region, a protocol for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, lifting of sanctions and reconstruction.

Addressing a White House press conference on Monday, Trump told reporters that Iran could be taken out in one night, warning Tehran it had to make a deal by Tuesday night or face wider bombing raids.

“The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” he said. “I hope I don’t have to do it.”

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth told the briefing that the largest volume of strikes since day one of the operation against Iran would take place on Monday and warned Tuesday would have even more.

Critics have said Trump would be committing war crimes if the US attacked civilian power plants, a point that Trump dismissed on Monday.

“I’m not worried about it. You know what’s a war crime? Having a nuclear weapon,” Trump said earlier on Monday during an Easter egg event for children on the White House South Lawn.

He said the Tuesday deadline he had set for Iran to make a deal was final.

Under the gaze of First Lady Melania Trump and a mascot dressed as a giant Easter bunny, Trump doubled down on the threats of wider bombing.

“If they don’t, they’ll have no bridges, no power plants, no anything. I won’t go further because there are other things that are worse than those two,” Trump told reporters.

He said that if it were up to him, he would seize Iran’s oil, but that “unfortunately, the American people would like to see us come home” and end the war.

“I’d keep the oil, and I would make plenty of money,” Trump said.

The US president added that Americans who opposed the Iran war were “foolish.” “Because the war is about one thing. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.

Moreover, he said the US attempted to arm Iranian protesters but the weapons were diverted and never passed to the right people.

Trump said the armaments were meant to help anti-government protesters fight back against the authorities.

“We sent guns, a lot of guns, they were supposed to go to the people so they could fight back against these thugs.”

“You know what happened? The people that they sent them to kept them,” Trump went on, adding: “So I’m very upset with a certain group of people, and they’re going to pay a big price for that.”

Trump did not give details about who he was accusing of taking the US weapons.

However, on Sunday, Trump was quoted as saying by a Fox News reporter that he blamed Kurdish intermediaries for having taken weapons destined for Iranian dissidents.

He claimed, without providing evidence, that the United States had “numerous intercepts” from Iranian civilians urging the US not to let up in trying to dislodge the Iranian government from power.

“They would be willing to suffer that in order to have freedom,” Trump said.

Trump said the proposal offered by Iran was inadequate.

“They made a proposal, and it’s a significant proposal. It’s a significant step. It’s not good enough,” Trump told reporters.

Trump said the five-week conflict could end quickly if Iran does “what they have to do.” “They have to do certain things. They know that, they’ve been negotiating I think in good faith,” he said.

On the sidelines of an Easter Egg Roll event at the White House, he told reporters that Vance, US Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were talking with intermediaries in Pakistan.

Asked by a reporter whether he expected Vance to continue talks with intermediaries in Pakistan, Trump replied: “Well, he is, and we have Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner talking. They’re all unified and they’re all talking.“

Asked about the possibility of Vance being part of an in-person meeting, Trump said, “could be.

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Iran has conveyed its ​response to the ‌US proposal for ending the war ​to intermediary Pakistan, rejecting ​a ceasefire and emphasising ⁠the necessity ​of a permanent end ​to the war, the official IRNA news ​agency said on ​Monday.

The Iranian response consisted of 10 clauses, including an end to conflicts in the region, a protocol for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, lifting of sanctions, and reconstruction, the agency added.

US President Donald Trump, who has threatened to rain “hell” on Tehran if it did not make a deal by 8pm EDT Tuesday (midnight GMT) to open the vital route for global energy supplies, rejected the Iranian proposal on Monday and said his deadline was final.

“They made a proposal, and it’s a significant proposal. It’s a significant step. It’s not good enough,” Trump told reporters at an annual White House Easter event, referring to Iran.

Iran responded to US and Israeli attacks in February by effectively closing Hormuz, a conduit for about a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supply. The waterway’s stranglehold on the global economy has proved a powerful Iranian bargaining chip, and on Monday, it showed reluctance to relinquish it too easily.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that Tehran’s demands “should not be interpreted as a sign of compromise, but rather as a reflection of its confidence in defending its positions.” He added that earlier US demands, such as a 15-point plan, were rejected as “excessive”.

Ceasefire proposal ‘one of many ideas’

A White House official told Reuters that Washington’s ceasefire proposal was “one of many ideas, and (Trump) has not signed off on it. Operation Epic Fury continues”.

In a post laden with expletives on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump threatened further strikes on Iranian energy and transport infrastructure if Iran failed to make a deal and reopen the Strait by Tuesday.

Anwar Gargash, an adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates, said any settlement must guarantee access through Hormuz. He warned that a deal that failed to rein in Iran’s nuclear programme and its missiles and drones would pave the way for “a more dangerous, more volatile Middle East”.

Fresh aerial strikes were reported across the region on Monday, more than five weeks since the US and Israel began pounding Iran in a war that has killed thousands and damaged economies by sending oil prices surging.

Iranian state media said the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence chief, Majid Khademi, had been assassinated. Israel on Monday claimed responsibility for his assassination.

A US-Israeli attack hit the data centre at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, damaging infrastructure underpinning the country’s national artificial intelligence platform and thousands of other services, Fars News Agency said on Sunday.

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ISLAMABAD: While the international community strives to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030, Pakistan appears to already be breaching some extreme temperature thresholds despite its minimal contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report.

The Pakistan Meteo­rol­o­gical Depar­tment (PMD), in a special summary of observations, reported that the nation experien­ced several temperature extremes during the rece­ntly concluded month of March.

The report noted that the country’s average nighttime minimum temperature was the second-highest on record.

“The country-level nig­ht­time (minimum) temperature of 14.7 C was warmer by +2.7°C than the countrywide average of 12.0°C and ranked 2nd highest,” the PMD stated. The highest record of 15.0°C was reported in 2022.

Furthermore, the natio­nal mean temperature for the month was the fifth highest ever recorded.

“The national mean temperature of 21.6°C was warmer than the country-average of 19.3°C with an anomaly of +2.3°C and ranked 5th highest,” the report said.

Daytime temperatures were also significantly warmer. “The daytime (maximum) temperature of 28.5°C at country-level was also warmer with a positive anomaly of +2.0°C,” it said.

The PMD reported specific regional extremes, noting that the hottest day of the month was observed in Mithi and Shaheed Benazirabad in Sindh on March 10, when the temperature reached 40.5°C.

Mithi also proved to be the warmest place overall, with a mean monthly maximum temperature of 36.8°C.

In contrast, the coldest temperature of the month was recorded in Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan, at -2.0°C on March 3.

The hill station of Kalam in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the coldest place on average, with a mean monthly minimum temperature of 2.5°C.

The weather patterns also included above-average rainfall.

The national area-weighted rainfall was 38.9 millimetres, a positive departure of 24 per cent for March. Malam Jabba in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa experienced the heaviest single-day rainfall of 74mm on March 31 and was also the wettest place for the month with a total of 315 mm.

The PMD added that climatic indicators showed a neutral condition, with neither a La Nina nor an El Nino weather pattern currently active.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2026

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The Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) on Sunday announced that Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams in Karachi were being rescheduled and would now commence on April 10.

The BSEK had earlier announced that SSC annual examinations would be held from April 7 to May 2 in the Karachi Division.

A press release issued by the BSEK on Sunday said citing the board’s controller of examinations that the board was currently transitioning from a manual to a digital system. “Therefore, the software application was overloaded and faced temporary disruption. The IT team is working to resolve the issue,” the press release said.

In view of the situation, the SSC examinations were being rescheduled to begin on April 10, 2026 to ensure that they were conducted in an “organised … and transparent manner,” the press release said.

It further said that a revised examination schedule would be issued soon, while students were to sit their exams at centres already allotted to them.

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LAKKI MARWAT: Police registered on Sunday a first information report (FIR) against unidentified suspects for the rape and murder of a three-year-old girl in the Langerkhel Hathi Khan area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat district.

The FIR, registered on behalf of the girl’s father at the Lakki city police station, invokes Sections 302 (intentional murder), 364-A (kidnapping/abducting a minor) and 376 (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

According to the FIR, the girl had gone missing on April 3 (Friday), following which her family began searching for her. It said that the girl’s body was found in a reed forest located around two kilometres away from her village.

It quoted the complainant as saying that the girl’s “half-naked body was found on Sunday”.

Aliullah, 32, father of the victim, told police in his preliminary report that during a search, they found the half-naked body of his daughter in the nearby forest on Sunday. The body was taken to the Government City Hospital where a lady doctor confirmed that she was raped, he stated.

The FIR said Additional Station House Officer Fatehullah Khan reached the hospital after receiving information about the arrival of the girl’s body. It also quoted him as saying that a lady doctor confirmed after medical examination that the girl was raped before she was murdered.

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