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  • Lights, camera, action: Minister promises tax relief to stimulate entertainment sector

    Lights, camera, action: Minister promises tax relief to stimulate entertainment sector

    In a move set to ignite the entertainment industry, Punjab Finance Minister Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman has pledged tax concessions to help filmmakers and cinema owners, during a meeting with a star-studded delegation of film producers and the Cinema Association, led by singer Waris Baig.


    The delegation included:
    • Zulfiqar Ahmed, Chairman of the Pakistan Film Producers Association
    • Producer and director Shehzad Rafiq
    • Safdar Malik, General Manager of Q Cinemas
    • Rabia Khan, General Manager of Cinepax Cinemas
    • Azhar Joya, General Manager of Universal Cinemas
    • Nadeem Mandviwala


    Shujaur Rehman emphasized the importance of the entertainment industry and encouraged filmmakers to revive traditional Punjabi cinema. He also urged provinces to become less dependent on federal funds by ensuring that industrialists pay their taxes.


    Additionally, he mentioned ongoing construction in the Nawaz Sharif IT City and plans to lower electricity and gas bills in the next budget.
    The film industry representatives highlighted the need for government support to revive the industry and proposed several initiatives. The minister assured them that he would consider their suggestions.

  • Sri Lankan players unhappy with World Cup schedule and travel

    Sri Lankan players unhappy with World Cup schedule and travel

    Sri Lankan cricket team captain Wanindu Hasaranga and spin bowler Mahesh Thekshana have raised their voices on the difficulties faced by the team and described the World Cup schedule as unfair.

    Sri Lanka and the Netherlands are scheduled to play four opening-round matches at four different venues while India and South Africa are playing three matches at one venue.

    The 15-member squad started the day at the end Brooklyn Hotel at 7 am, but media activities had to end early to allow the team to reach the airport for the next match as soon as the South Africa game ended.

    The spin bowler said, “It’s all very unfair. After every match we have to travel, we have to wait for eight hours for flights. It’s unfair for us and it doesn’t make sense.”

    “Due to travel logistics, we also had to cancel the training session in New York. Our hotel was an hour and 40 minutes away from the venue. We had to get up at 5 in the morning. I won’t name them, but some teams’ hotels are 14 minutes away,” he said.

    The captain said “It’s a tough day for us, four matches at four different venues which is tough, we have no idea about the conditions,”

    In the fourth match of the T20 World Cup, South Africa defeated Sri Lanka by four wickets on Monday.

  • IHC orders CDA to de-seal PTI office in Islamabad

    IHC orders CDA to de-seal PTI office in Islamabad

    Providing yet another relief to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Tuesday has ordered the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to de-seal the party’s Central Secretariat.

    Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz said in a six-page written order, “CDA may take action strictly by the law in case of any non-conformity or violation of the applicable laws.”

    Furthermore, the order stated that the CDA had issued a show-cause notice to the previous owner in 2022 and 2023 but without providing an explanation.

    It also said that the CDA did not issue a prior notice to the PTI before sealing its office, a claim supported by the party leaders.

    PTI moved the IHC seeking its order to de-seal its central secretariat in Islamabad after the CDA had demolished a portion of the building.

  • Court rejects poet Ahmad Farhad’s bail plea

    Court rejects poet Ahmad Farhad’s bail plea

    An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Muzafarabad has rejected the bail petition of Kashmiri poet Ahmed Farhad on Tuesday, one day after the court reserved a verdict after hearing arguments from both sides.

    The poet’s wife Urooj Zainab told journalists that she will challenge the court’s decision.

    “Details of why the bail was rejected were not disclosed,” she said addressing the press.

    The poet came into the spotlight when he went missing amid recent protests in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

    The Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP), Mansoor Usman Awan told Islamabad High Court (IHC) on May 29 that Kashmir police arrested Farhad after he went missing for 15 days.

    The poet’s wife, Urooj Zainab stated in a petition for her husband’s recovery that Farhad was allegedly abducted on May 14 from Islamabad.

  • Mexican mayor killed day after Sheinbaum presidential win: regional govt

    Mexican mayor killed day after Sheinbaum presidential win: regional govt

    The mayor of a town in western Mexico was killed on Monday, the regional government said, barely 24 hours after Claudia Sheinbaum was elected the Latin American country’s first woman president.

    The Michoacan state government condemned “the murder of the municipal president (mayor) of Cotija, Yolanda Sanchez Figueroa”, the regional interior ministry said in a post on the social media platform X.

    The murder of the woman mayor comes after Sheinbaum’s landslide victory injected hope for change in a country riven by rampant gender-based violence.

    Sanchez, who was elected mayor in 2021 elections, was gunned down on a public road, according to local media.

    Authorities have not given details on the murder, but said a security operation had been launched to arrest the killers.

    The politician was previously kidnapped in September last year while leaving a shopping mall in the city of Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco, which neighbors Michoacan.

    Three days later the federal government said she had been found alive.

    According to local media reports at the time, the kidnappers belonged to the powerful Jalisco Cartel – New Generation (CJNG), who allegedly threatened the mayor for opposing the criminal group’s takeover of her municipality’s police force.

    Michoacan is renowned for its tourist destinations and a thriving agro-export industry, but is also one of the most violent states in the country due to the presence of extortion and drug trafficking gangs.

  • Major cases against Imran Khan and how they turned out

    Major cases against Imran Khan and how they turned out

    What are the major cases against Imran Khan and how did they turn out?

    Khan was collectively given sentences of 30 years in the Cypher Case, Toshakhana reference case and the Iddat case.

    CYPHER CASE

    In January 2024, Imran Khan was sentenced to ten years by a special court, established under the Official Secrets Act, in the cypher case. On June 3, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) reversed the decision and found PTI founder Imran Khan not guilty in the cypher case.

    The allegation against Khan in the case was that he had not returned the cypher to the relevant ministry.

    TOSHAKHANA REFERENCE

    On 31 January 2024, the court convicted and sentenced Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to 14 years in prison in the Toshakhana case and ordered them to pay a fine of about 1.5 billion rupees. In April 2024, IHC suspended this sentence however they were not released as they were convicted in other cases as well.

    The Toshakhaana case was about selling gifts he was given in his capacity as prime minister without declaring proceeds for tax purposes.

    IDDAT CASE

    On 3 February 2024, a trial court sentenced Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi to seven years in prison for marrying during Bushra Bibi’s Iddat period. The court also imposed a fine of Rs0.5 million on each of them. However, an appeal was filed and is ongoing.

    AL-QADIR TRUST CASE

    Khan was also implicated in the Al-Qadir Trust case when he was arrested on May 9, 2023. An Islamabad accountability court on May 29 granted PTI Chairman Imran Khan bail in the Al-Qadir Trust case till June 19 against surety bonds worth Rs500,000.

    The Al-Qadir Trust case alleges that the PTI chief and his wife, Bushra Bibi, obtained billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from real estate tycoon Malik Riaz. This was given in return for Khan legalising Rs50 billion that was returned to the country by the UK during the previous PTI government.

  • Behroze Sabzwari still thinks of Syra as ‘daughter’

    Behroze Sabzwari still thinks of Syra as ‘daughter’

     Veteran actors Behroze Sabzwari and Javed Sheikh appeared as guests on Madeha Naqvi’s show ‘Subh Ka Samma Madeha Kay Sath’ where they talked about their family dynamics.

    Sabzwari particularly talked about his ex-daughter-in-law Syra Yousaf, who went through a public divorce with his son Shehroze in 2020. “I never pressured my son when it came to choosing a life partner. I also praised Syra, calling her a great woman and she is still like a daughter to me.”

    Javed Sheikh also spoke up, saying, “Behroze went to pick Syra up from the airport when she returned from Umrah, accompanied by Zahra, who is very close to both Nooreh and Syra and spends hours with her ‘Mimi’ (the affectionate name she has for Syra).”

    Syra recently returned from Umrah with her daughter after Eid.

    Since their secret wedding in 2020, Shehroz Sabzwari and Sadaf Kanwal’s marriage has been under public attention. Social media users began spreading rumours about the relationship in 2019, with some claiming that Sadaf was the reason behind Shehroz’s divorce from his ex-wife, Syra Yousuf.

  • Japan’s Nagasaki holds off inviting Israel to peace ceremony

    Japan’s Nagasaki holds off inviting Israel to peace ceremony

    The Israeli ambassador to Japan has not yet been invited to Nagasaki’s annual peace ceremony, said city officials who instead sent the embassy a letter calling for a Gaza ceasefire.

    The city in southern Japan this week invited dozens of countries and territories to the August 9 event on the anniversary of the US nuclear attack in 1945 that killed 74,000 people.

    But “as for Israel, the situation is changing day by day… so we have put sending an invitation letter on hold,” mayor Shiro Suzuki told reporters on Monday.

    Israel launched a blistering military offensive in Gaza nearly eight months ago, following an attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on the country.

    Worries that protests could disrupt the memorial for atomic bomb victims are partly behind the decision, said Suzuki.

    “Given the critical humanitarian situation in Gaza, and public opinion in the international community, there are concerns about the risk of unexpected incidents during the ceremony,” which should be “safe and smooth”.

    “As the Ukraine situation has not changed, we are not inviting Russia or Belarus” either, Suzuki added.

    The Hamas attack on October 7 resulted in the death of 1,194 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

    More than 36,470 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war broke out, according to data provided by the health ministry of Hamas-run Gaza.

    The Palestinian envoy has been invited to the ceremony in Nagasaki, local officials told AFP on Tuesday. Japanese media said that both sides are usually invited.

    Nagasaki, Hiroshima ceasefire push

    Nagasaki has instead sent a letter to the Israeli embassy in which “we call for an immediate ceasefire”, Suzuki said.

    Its letter said that if city officials decide in the coming months that there is no problem in inviting Israel, “we will issue an invitation swiftly”, according to the mayor.

    The Israeli embassy did not immediately issue a comment.

    The sombre memorial at Nagasaki’s Peace Park has in the past included ringing bells, a release of doves, and a prayer ceremony for the bombing victims.

    Hiroshima also holds a yearly ceremony in memory of the 140,000 people killed there after the United States dropped the first nuclear bomb on August 6, 1945.

    The two strikes led to the end of World War II, and to this day Japan remains the only country to be hit by atomic weapons in wartime.

    Hiroshima has invited Israel to this year’s ceremony, but in its letter called for a “ceasefire as soon as possible and resolution through dialogue”, a city official said.

    According to local media, Hiroshima has never invited a Palestinian representative to its ceremony.

  • 11 killed inside Balochistan coal mine after inhaling methane gas 

    11 killed inside Balochistan coal mine after inhaling methane gas 

    11 people, including miners, have been killed after inhaling methane gas inside a coal mine in Balochistan’s Sanjdi area, approximately 50 kilometres from Quetta. 

    Chief Inspector of Mines in Balochistan, Abdul Ghani Shahwani told Dawn that nine mine workers along with a contractor and a manager went inside at around 5 pm. After one and a half hour, they lost contact with the workers inside the mine.

    “The coal miners were working around 1,500 feet deep in the mine when the gas eruption started and quickly spread. All the coal miners fell unconscious,” said the Chief Inspector. 

    As the rescue teams reached the site, no body was found alive. All the miners who lost their lives belonged to Swat. 

    The mine is owned by the United Coal mining company. The company has launched an investigation into the incident

  • Islamabad policeman hit by British diplomat 

    Islamabad policeman hit by British diplomat 

    A woman who hit a policeman while driving on Dastur Highway in Islamabad has been identified as a British diplomat.

    The Islamabad Police have registered a case against Stacey Joanne Sutoki, the third secretary of the British High Commission, in Secretariat Station following a government complaint.

    The lawsuit accuses her of negligence and signal violation. The FIR details that she collided with a motorcycle while driving at high speed, seriously injuring the policeman. The injured officer, Ameer Dad, is assigned to the Kakar security division.

    The accident took place at the time when Constable Ameer Dad was returning home on his motorcycle after his shift, near the Radio Pakistan building in Islamabad.

    The British High Commission in Pakistan has acknowledged the accident involving one of their officials and expressed their commitment to following all necessary procedures and cooperating with the local authorities.