LAHORE: The PTI on Monday alleged that the party’s Punjab chapter chief organiser Aaliya Hamza, who is incarcerated in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail, had been subjected to a physical attack by some female inmates.
In March this year, Aaliya was arrested by the Punjab police and shifted to Kot Lakhpat Jail. The police had claimed that she was absconding and organising gatherings of party legislators, ticket-holders and workers outside Adiala Jail.
According to claims made by PTI leaders, a woman inmate, along with around 10 other inmates, attacked Aaliya and attempted to strangle her over a water-related dispute in the jail toilet. “There has been an attempt on Aaliya’s life,” they alleged.
They stated that other jailed PTI members, Sanam Javed and Falak Javed, intervened and rescued Aaliya from the attackers.
Meanwhile, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja stated that disturbing news of an “attempt on Aaliya’s life” had been received from Kot Lakhpat Jail.
In a statement issued on X, Raja said that the Punjab government and the jail administration were responsible for the protection of the PTI leader in jail.
He demanded an immediate and transparent investigation into the attack, the dismissal of negligent staff and the registration of a case against them.
“A petition, in consultation with Aaliya’s family, will also be filed in court for her medical examination and protection,” he added.
However, when contacted, Punjab Inspector General Prisons Mian Salik Jalal rejected the allegation, asserting that there had been no physical clash.
“The women inmates had only exchanged heated words over fetching water from the jail toilet,” he said.
Aaliya was arrested when she was visiting her family members. She was in Lahore to celebrate Eidul Fitr and was preparing to leave when she was arrested. She was reportedly taken to Shadman Police Station before being shifted to the Kot Lakhpat Jail.
The PTI leader had been absconding at the time of her arrest.
PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said the case against Aaliya was fake, the sentence was unlawful and her arrest amounted to “fascism”. He had condemned the arrest.
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and other federal cabinet members received dozens of gifts from foreign dignitaries this year, with the items being deposited in Toshakhana.
The information ministry recently issued details of gifts received by the premier, deputy premier and other officials over the past three months, as the cabinet division also made available on its official website records of gifts received by officeholders since 2002 although the names of foreign dignitaries who presented the gifts were not disclosed.
Following the release of the latest Toshakhana records, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told Dawn that the government periodically publishes details of gifts received by officials and that the latest information covered the previous three months.
Interestingly, the cabinet division’s website, while releasing details of gifts, mentioned that the evaluation [of these gifts] was under process.
A disclaimer issued by the cabinet division said, “This data/list is provided on federal government directions as per the record available and is based on the information/gifts declared or deposited by the persons and departments responsible for it under the policy prevalent at that time. The cabinet division is not responsible for any error or omissions made by those individuals/departments.”
Tarar said the government regularly uploads details of deposited gifts and that the complete information was available on the portal. “We upload [details of gifts] periodically. All deposited gifts are uploaded, and the whole information is on the portal,” he said, adding that the published records included gifts received by the president, prime minister, deputy prime minister, ministers and government officers.
“The only information we do not reveal is the name of the dignitary who has gifted,” he remarked.
According to these records, President Zardari received a tea set and a sword on Jan 2. The president’s other gifts included a golden desert model, a woollen overcoat, a Vacheron Constantin Geneve wristwatch, a decoration piece, a ceremonial sabre set, a chessboard, a decorative serving bowl and an oil painting.
First lady Assefa Bhutto-Zardari and her sister, Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari, each received a necklace on Jan 20 and a jewellery set on Feb 10. The first lady also received a Kumis set.
PM Shehbaz received a shield and a souvenir on Jan 5, as well as a portrait, multiple shields, a tie, frames, swords, and a box containing a necklace, a ring and an earring. Other gifts include a Rolex watch bearing the numbers 55370 and model 126300 and serial number M8R25782; a second Rolex watch with the number 53286; a coin; a traditional dress; a box containing a Patek Philippe watch with the model number 7808546; a clock model; a sugar bowl; a car model; and various cups, models, pens and cufflinks.
Deputy PM Dar received a decoration piece and a traditional Chinese stamp on Jan 12. His other gifts included a Burmese string puppet, a traditional Myanmar culture frame, a Rolex watch with the model number 9G16J077, a vase, a medal, a Chinese leather belt, an Egyptian statue, a pen and a cufflink set.
Federal Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Khan Cheema received a book titled “Uzbekistan” and a T-shirt on Jan 12, while Economic Affairs Secretary M. Humair Karim received a superior ballpoint pen the same day. Tarar received a Rolex watch with the serial number 21E53170.
Among the presidential staff, Zardari’s military secretary received a Rolex watch with the model number F99254CO on Jan 20, the chief security officer received an IWC wristwatch, and the ADC (Air) received an Omega wristwatch. The principal staff officer and the spokesperson for the president also received a wristwatch each.
National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq received a large ceramic jar, while Senator Saleem Mandviwalla received a Bvlgari watch.
NAB Chairman retired Lt Gen Nazir Ahmed received a wristwatch and an INTERPOL commemorative centenary book. Deputy Chief of State Protocol Hafeezullah received a Tag Heuer watch. Other officials receiving gifts included Special Assistant to PM on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi, who received a Rolex watch with the serial number 52984286 and a hand-chased tea set on March 5. Mosharraf Ali Zaidi, the prime minister’s spokesperson on foreign media, received a Tag Heuer watch on March 9, while Special Assistant to PM on Industries and Production Haroon Akhter received a hand-chased tea set plated with 24-karat gold mixed in Uzbekistan.
Israel will allow a multinational security force to enter Gaza as proposed under US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan for the enclave, an Israeli official said on Sunday, a day before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Washington.
Netanyahu’s security cabinet on Sunday approved the legal framework that would allow the force’s entry to Gaza, the official said. Netanyahu is scheduled to depart for Washington on Monday and is expected to meet Trump on Tuesday.
The official said that the mission, called the International Stabilisation Force (ISF), will include 200 members from “friendly countries such as Uganda and Morocco” deploying in areas that are not under Israeli control. Each contingent requires individual Israeli approval to enter Gaza.
After a ceasefire deal was struck in October, Trump set out a 20-point peace plan for Gaza that provided for a surge in humanitarian aid, civilian administration by Palestinian technocrats, Hamas laying down its arms and Israeli forces withdrawing.
But the plan has stalled and the group of technocrats — known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza — has remained outside Gaza.
Israel effectively controls an estimated 64 per cent of Gaza while nearly all of its 2 million people live on a sliver of land on the coast, mainly in makeshift tents or damaged buildings and facing dire conditions.
Hamas has so far refused to disarm, and Israel has said it will expand its area of control in Gaza to 70pc of the enclave, where it has continued almost daily military strikes.
Trump’s plan included a Board of Peace as an overarching international authority responsible for implementing the peace framework. It would oversee the security force, among other functions.
The board is planning a pilot humanitarian zone for Gazans as a way to kickstart the US president’s stalled plan, a board official said this month.
Nickolay Mladenov, Trump’s Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, welcomed the Israeli decision.
“It is a critical part of the agreed framework for stabilising Gaza, supporting demilitarisation, and enabling the transition to effective Palestinian transitional administration under the NCAG,” he said on X, referring to the Palestinian civilian administration body.
A known suspect in the driving of a minivan into a crowd near a major LGBTQ Pride gathering in Berlin was shot dead by law enforcement officers in the city’s Spandau district, police said on Sunday.
The ramming attack happened in the Tiergarten park near the Brandenburg Gate at about 10pm (2000 GMT) on Saturday, not far from one of Europe’s biggest annual LGBTQ celebrations, Christopher Street Day. One person was killed, and 29 were injured, authorities said.
“Around 6pm (1600 GMT), the suspect involved in yesterday’s attack in Tiergarten was located at an allotment garden complex in Spandau,” Berlin police wrote on X.
“According to initial findings, he ran towards officers while armed with a bladed weapon; police… subsequently opened fire. Despite immediate resuscitation efforts by the Berlin Fire Department, he died at the scene.”
A federal prosecutor’s spokesperson confirmed one person had been shot and declared dead.
Berlin police had identified the suspect as Abdul B, 21, and published his picture, asking the public for information on his whereabouts.
The suspect had “attracted attention in the past through a high number of criminal offences, through radicalisation, through membership of the Islamist scene”, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said earlier, adding that he was a German citizen of Lebanese heritage, born in Germany in 2005.
It was the latest in a series of vehicle attacks on crowds in Germany in recent years that have intensified debate around security and immigration amid a surge in support for the far-right.
Ahead of a memorial service at St Mary’s Church in Berlin, centre-right Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Germans to protect liberal values.
“We will defend the freedom, openness, and liberal spirit of our lives and our society with everything we can do,” he said.
Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa receives UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres at presidential palace.—AFP
• Guterres pledges support for Syria’s reconstruction; backs Syria’s request for EU support; calls situation in Golan Heights ‘totally unacceptable’ • Damascus demands Israeli withdrawal from ‘buffer zone’
DAMASCUS: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres pledged help for Syrian reconstruction on Saturday during the first visit to Damascus by a serving United Nations chief since 2009, before the start of a civil war that killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa received Guterres at the presidential palace in Damascus, state news agency SANA said, without providing further details.
“No country emerges from a very severe conflict and rebuilds itself on its own,” Guterres said after the talks with Sharaa at a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani.
“We must help Syria in its determination and resolve to do so,” Guterres added.
Shaibani reiterated Syria’s request for more support from the international community, especially the European Union.
He said Guterres’ talks with Sharaa which Shaibani also attended had focused on increasing UN support for reconstruction and a government plan to close displacement camps.
Guterres also said the situation around Syria’s Golan Heights was unacceptable, as the Syrian foreign minister urged Israeli forces to withdraw from a UN-patrolled buffer zone where they deployed in 2024.
“What is happening in the region around the Golan Heights is totally unacceptable,” Guterres added. Shaibani called for an “immediate and unconditional Israeli withdrawal” from the area where they had advanced.
Guterres’ visit is another milestone for Syria since rebels ousted President Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, ending the war that began in 2011 and launching a transitional period.
At the time, Guterres described “the end of the Syrian dictatorship” under Assad as a sign of hope for the region. In a post on X on Saturday for what he described as a “visit of solidarity”, Guterres said: “The United Nations stands with Syria at this pivotal moment.” Guterres will also meet other government officials and representatives of Syrian civil society and is expected to address the country’s parliament on Monday, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said earlier this week.
He will underline that the country has an opportunity “not only to recover from conflict, but also to lay the foundations for a future for Syria that will be more stable, more inclusive, and more prosperous for all Syrians”, Dujarric said.
Return to global stage
Guterres is expected to be in Damascus for several days, but the full schedule of his visit has not been released by his office. He is visiting just weeks after two bombs exploded near a hotel in Damascus where French President Emmanuel Macron spent the night, overshadowing the first visit to Syria by a European Union head of state since Assad was toppled.
Sharaa’s government is seeking to rebuild Syria’s international ties and economy after nearly 14 years of war and decades of isolation under the Assad family’s rule.
Sharaa, who broke ties with al Qaeda in 2016, led an alliance of rebel factions that ousted Assad in a lightning offensive in December 2024. Since taking power, his government has sought to re-establish Syria’s diplomatic ties to expand beyond Assad’s longtime allies, Russia and Iran.
Last year, Sharaa became the first Syrian president since 1967 to take part in the UN General Assembly in New York. The US has lifted most sanctions on Syria and President Donald Trump informed Sharaa earlier this month that he intended to remove Syria from Washington’s list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Guterres is also expected during his trip to visit a UN peacekeeping force that has maintained a buffer zone between Israeli and Syrian forces for decades, Dujarric said.
Israeli troops have occupied new areas in southern Syria after Assad was ousted. Damascus has demanded they withdraw and return to a 1974 disengagement agreement.
The government on Saturday kept the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel unchanged for July 26 and 27 due to the non-publication of “Platts prices on weekends”.
A day earlier, the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) were increased by Rs3.66 and Rs4.80 per litre, respectively.
The current price of petrol stands at Rs335.18 per litre, while HSD is priced at Rs383.46 per litre. The government is charging a total of Rs110 per litre in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs96 on diesel.
The Petroleum Division’s notification said the price increase announced for July 25 would also remain applicable on July 26 and 27.
The diesel price has come down from a peak of Rs520.35 recorded on April 3. Its price had started rising from Rs281 per litre after the US-Iran war broke out on February 28.
Earlier, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik announced that fuel prices would now be fixed on a daily basis due to fluctuations in international market prices following renewed hostilities between Iran and the US.
The government had been announcing weekly revisions to fuel prices since early March, alongside measures for the conservation of fuel amid possible oil supply disruptions due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The federal government in April also announced targeted relief measures to provide subsidised fuel.
The petroleum minister stated that the cabinet and the prime minister had decided to give the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) the responsibility of deciding fuel prices on a daily basis based on international market trends.
The daily pricing decision was rejected by the All Pakistan Dealers Association, which said it would consider a protest plan this week.
Petrol is mainly used in private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws and two-wheelers, and changes in its price affect the middle and lower-middle classes.
Similarly, changes in diesel prices also impact the public at large, as it is mainly used in the heavy transport sector, power plants and large generators.
Petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) are the major revenue earners, with monthly sales of about 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes, compared to just 10,000 tonnes of monthly demand for kerosene.
Light to moderate rainfall accompanied by high winds was reported in multiple areas across Karachi on Saturday evening, marking the second consecutive day of rain in the current monsoon spell.
A brief but relatively heavy spell of rain was reported at 4K Chowrangi in Surjani Town and Lyari.
Rain was reported in Scheme 33, Gulshan-i-Maymar and adjoining areas, while Hassan Square received light drizzle.
Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Airport, Sachal Goth, Mausamiyat and surrounding areas also received a brief spell of rain.
Saddar and adjoining areas received light rainfall, while Sea View and Defence Housing Authority (DHA) experienced only light drizzle.
Following the PMD’s forecast of rain in Karachi, Additional Inspector General Karachi Azad Khan placed the city police on alert, said a statement.
According to the statement, field commanders were directed to remain present in their respective areas, while traffic police were instructed to ensure smooth traffic flow and provide alternative routes in waterlogged areas.
In a meeting held today, the provincial chief secretary directed provincial and district authorities to activate the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and district control rooms immediately, while ordering the submission of 24-hour situation reports every morning throughout the monsoon season for continuous monitoring.
Chairing the meeting on monsoon preparedness, the chief secretary stressed that contingency plans must include the identification of relief camp sites, availability of rescue boats, dewatering pumps, water bowsers, generators and other emergency machinery.
He also called for resource mapping, arrangements for food and drinking water, and adequate stocks of medicines for the health and livestock departments.
The chief secretary instructed municipal authorities to remove bottlenecks, complete cleaning of storm-water drains and ensure uninterrupted drainage arrangements ahead of heavy rains.
The meeting was informed that, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), moderate to isolated heavy rainfall was expected until July 27 in Tharparkar, Umerkot, Mirpurkhas, Badin, Sanghar, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tando Allahyar, Hyderabad, Matiari, Jamshoro and Shaheed Benazirabad.
Light to moderate rainfall was also forecast for several districts including Ghotki, Kashmore, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Sukkur, Kambar Shahdadkot, Larkana, Khairpur, Naushahro Feroze and Thatta, while Karachi was likely to experience mostly cloudy weather with chances of light rain and drizzle.
Yesterday, the metropolis received this season’s first spell of rain after multiple localities reported light to moderate rain.
Earlier this week, on the directives of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, the PDMA placed district administrations across Sindh on high alert and directed all relevant departments to take precautionary and emergency response measures as strong monsoon currents from the Arabian Sea continue to affect the province.
The CM directed all deputy commissioners, district administrations, municipal authorities, irrigation officials, health services, rescue agencies and local government institutions to remain fully vigilant, ensure preparedness of emergency response teams, maintain drainage systems and take all necessary steps to protect lives and property.
