GAZA STRIP: Dozens of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been killed in the latest Israeli strikes, the territory’s health ministry said on Saturday, after Israel’s spy chief joined talks in Paris seeking to unblock negotiations on a truce. The talks come after a plan for a post-war Gaza unveiled by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew criticism from key …

India’s Assam state has scrapped an 89-year-old law that allowed marriage involving underage Muslims, against opposition from leaders of the minority community who called the plan an attempt to polarise voters on religious lines ahead of elections. Assam, which has the highest percentage of Muslims among Indian states at 34 per cent, has previously said it wants to implement uniform …

ISLAMABAD: Still coping with the post-poll challenges amid rigging allegations, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is now gearing up to hold the election for the office of the country’s president by March 9, two days before the retirement of half of the senators after completing their six-year term, Dawn has learnt. “The president will be elected by the present senators after …

MANSEHRA: Candidate in Mansehra’s NA-15 constituency Shahzada Gustasab Khan on Saturday said he was hopeful that the Election Commission of Pakistan would reject the objections of his rival candidate and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif about election results to let him take the oath in the National Assembly next week. “Mr Sharif has lost the election by a margin of over 25,000 votes …

LAHORE: A day after more than 300 members took oath as lawmakers in the Punjab Assembly, the provincial assembly lawmakers through a secret ballot on Saturday elected PML-N leader Malik Ahmad Khan as the custodian of the house and Zaheer Iqbal Channar as his deputy. Malik Ahmad Khan, Sharifs’ loyalist from Kasur, and Mr Channar from Bahawalpur defeated the PTI-backed …

ISLAMABAD: Find­ings of a study carried out by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) confirms that women farmers in Pakistan are largely unrecognised for their vital contributions to the country’s agriculture sector, food security and the economy at large. The study, “Protection issues faced by women farmers in Pakistan”, says their labour tends to be undocumented and they are rarely …

QUETTA: The PPP has become the single largest party in Balochistan with 17 seats in the provincial assembly, while the PML-N secured the second position, winning 16 seats in the February 8 elections. In an official notification issued on Saturday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) released the party positions in the Balochistan Assembly, stating that the PPP is the …

ISLAMABAD: Still coping with the post-poll challenges amid rigging allegations, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is now gearing up to hold the election for the office of the country’s president by March 9, two days before the retirement of half of the senators after completing their six-year term, Dawn has learnt. “The president will be elected by the present senators after …

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) formed a special division bench on Saturday to hear the appeals of former prime minister Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi, and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi tomorrow (Monday) against their convictions in the cipher and Toshakhana cases. Mr Khan and Mr Qureshi have challenged the conviction and their 10-year sentence each in the cipher case. Mr …

LAHORE: The Punjab government has decided not to give subsidy on flour bags this Ramazan, besides cutting the number of Ramazan Bazaars in comparison to the last year’s figure. The government has decided that this year, Model bazaars in 25 districts will continue as Ramazan bazaars, while the other 15 districts will have one makeshift Ramazan Bazaar each. The Ramazan …