She was recognised for her professional work through various local and international awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award presented to her by the International Women’s Media Foundation in 2012.
Zubeida Mustafa
A PIONEER in women’s journalism in Pakistan and a dedicated voice for the marginalised, Zubeida Mustafa passed away on Wednesday evening in Karachi. She was 84.
Known to her colleagues at Dawn as ‘Mrs Mustafa’ or ‘ZM’, she spent 33 years at the paper, retiring in 2008 after serving as assistant editor.
During her over three-decade tenure at Dawn, Mrs Mustafa helped bring out numerous supplements and satellite publications such as the education page and Books & Authors, the first dedicated English-language magazine focusing on book reviews and literary matters brought out by a mainstream paper in the country.
ZM was educated at St Joseph’s Convent in Karachi, and later attained a Master’s degree in International Relations from Karachi University. She also attended the London School of Economics, but could not complete her studies at that institution.
She began her professional life at the Karachi-based Pakistan Institute of International Affairs, and was later approached by Dawn‘s editor Ahmad Ali Khan to work at the paper. She considered Khan Sahib a major influence, and in an interview with Newsline termed him “a very progressive man and a champion of women’s rights“.
But as Zohra Yusuf noted in a review of ZM’s autobiography, “in her own quiet way, [she] exercised a significant influence on the newspaper’s journey”. This included bringing the “women’s perspective” to the paper’s editorials. Zubeida Mustafa’s editorials, and later columns, focused on a wide variety of subjects, including international affairs, education and issues of the marginalised and the downtrodden.
As Dawn’s op-ed editor Ayesha Azfar, who worked with Mrs Mustafa noted, “Her last column for op-ed appeared in March this year, after which she was finding it increasingly difficult because of her failing health. She was legally visually impaired, and it is remarkable the way she managed to do her columns, to regularly attend seminars, and keep up her interest in education — she wrote a book on that — women, and health amongst other subjects.”
ZM edited numerous books and wrote two: her aforementioned biography My DAWN Years — Exploring Social Issues and Reforming School Education in Pakistan & the Language Dilemma. She was recognised for her professional work through various local and international awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award presented to her by the International Women’s Media Foundation in 2012.
Pakistan Herald Publications Limited had launched an award named after her in 2013, titled the ZM Award For Journalistic Excellence to recognise her contribution “both to Dawn and to the field of journalism in Pakistan”.
Activist and columnist Naeem Sadiq said he knew Zubeida Mustafa for 30 years. “She was a good friend. She had lunch with us about a month ago and wanted to come again. She was a great woman, it is the nation’s loss. She taught us values and professional ethics. She was a very progressive lady. She wrote on human rights, issues of the handicapped. She set standards in ethics and morality,” he observed.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan mourned her loss and observed that she “championed social, cultural and language rights like few. She was a comrade-in-arms and stood by the disadvantaged and oppressed”.
A condolence statement from the Karachi Press Club noted that she “was not just a journalist; she was an institution”.
“Her work on social issues, education, and health was particularly impactful, demonstrating her deep empathy and dedication to improving the lives of ordinary citizens,” KPC President Fazil Jamili and Secretary Sohail Afzal Khan said, adding that she leaves a “legacy that will continue to inspire generations of journalists”.
PARIS: Western Europe sweltered through its hottest June on record last month, as “extreme” temperatures blasted the region in punishing back-to-back heatwaves, the EU climate monitor Copernicus said on Wednesday.
Globally, this past June was the third warmest on record, continuing a blistering heat streak in recent years as the planet warms as a result of humanity’s emissions of greenhouse gases.
The previous hottest June was in 2024 and the second hottest was in 2023, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said. Sweltering extremes were particularly pronounced in Europe, which is warming several times faster than the global average.
Millions of people were exposed to high heat stress across parts of the continent as daily average temperatures in western Europe climbed to levels rarely seen before — and never so early in the summer.
Several countries recorded surface temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, with heat of up to 46C in Spain and Portugal, Copernicus said. Samantha Burgess, the EU monitor’s Strategic Lead for Climate, said the impact of the heatwaves in Europe was “exceptional”, intensified by record sea surface temperatures in the western Mediterranean — which hit an all-time daily maximum in June.
“In a warming world, heatwaves are likely to become more frequent, more intense and impact more people across Europe,” she said. The two heatwaves — from June 17 to 22, and again from June 30 to July 2 — were linked to heat domes trapping warm air over affected regions, prolonging the stifling weather, and worsening pollution and wildfire conditions.
Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, and much of the Balkans saw some of the hottest “feels-like” temperatures, which measure the impact on the human body by taking into account factors like humidity. Maximum feels-like temperatures north of Lisbon hit 48C, around 7C above average and associated with “extreme heat stress”, said Copernicus.
• Netanyahu follows Trump’s optimistic line on ceasefire hopes • Rubio announces sanctions against outspoken UN expert Francesca Albanese • Six children among 26 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza
JERUSALEM: As Israel fell in line with US President Donald Trump and his optimism about the prospects for a ceasefire and prisoner-release deal in Gaza, Hamas called the talks difficult due to Israel’s “intransigence”, but said it was working seriously to overcome hurdles.
The Palestinian group announced it would release 10 prisoners amid ongoing peace efforts, but clarified that the agreement still had several sticking points, including the flow of aid, withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and ‘genuine guarantees’ for a permanent ceasefire.
The announcement came after four days of indirect talks brokered by Qatar.
“Despite the difficulty of negotiations over these issues until now due to the intransigence of the occupation, we continue to work seriously and with a positive spirit with the mediators to overcome the hurdles and end the suffering of our people and ensure their aspirations to freedom, safety and a dignified life,” the group said.
Hamas has vowed “Gaza will not surrender” and a Palestinian official close to the ceasefire talks indicated that Israel was still holding back a deal by refusing to allow free entry of aid in Gaza.
One Palestinian source familiar with the negotiations in Doha said the Israeli delegation was “mostly listening rather than negotiating, which reflects Israel’s ongoing policy of obstruction and sabotaging any potential agreement”.
Meanwhile, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu – who met with top officials in Washington – struck a more upbeat note, in line with President Trump’s hopes for a ceasefire in Gaza this week or the next.
“I think we’re getting closer to a deal,” Netanyahu told Fox Business Network. “There’s a good chance that we’ll have it.”
Sanctions on UN expert
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctioning of UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, following her criticism of Washington’s policy on Gaza.
The action was supposedly taken over the outspoken UN rapporteur’s “efforts to prompt (International Criminal Court) action against US and Israeli officials, companies, and executives”, Rubio claimed..
The Italy-born expert, who has consistently been a leading voice speaking for Palestinians, released a damning report earlier this month denouncing companies she said “profited from the Israeli economy of illegal occupation, apartheid, and now genocide” in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Rubio also attacked her for “biased and malicious activities,” and accused her of having “spewed unabashed antisemitism (and) support for terrorism.”
He said she escalated her contempt for the US by writing “threatening letters” to several US companies, making what Rubio called unfounded accusations and recommending the ICC pursue prosecutions of the companies and their executives.
Gaza strikes
Meanwhile, Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Wednesday that 26 people were killed in Israeli strikes, at least six of them children.
“The explosion was massive, like an earthquake,” said Zuhair Judeh, 40, who witnessed one of the strikes, which prompted frantic scenes as people scrabbled in the rubble for survivors.
“The bodies and remains of the martyrs were scattered,” he added, calling it “a horrific massacre”.
The Enforcement Directorate in India has opened a money laundering investigation into nearly 30 actors, social media influencers, and YouTubers accused of promoting illegal online betting platforms, deepening a government crackdown on digital gambling operations that have surged in popularity.
The probe, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, was launched after local police in several cities, including Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam, filed complaints linking celebrity endorsements to illegal gambling activities. Those under investigation include prominent actors such as Vijay Deverakonda, Rana Daggubati and Prakash Raj, as well as television personalities and online content creators with large followings on YouTube and Instagram. Among them are Nidhi Agarwal, Pranitha Subhash, Manchu Lakshmi, and TV hosts Sreemukhi and Shyamala, and YouTubers like Harsha Sai, Bayya Sunny Yadav, and Local Boi Nani are also under scrutiny.
Authorities allege that the celebrities promoted platforms such as JeetWin, Parimatch and Lotus365, which are suspected of laundering significant sums of money through paid promotional campaigns. The Enforcement Directorate is expected to issue summonses in the coming weeks.
Several of the celebrities have denied wrongdoing, stating that they terminated contracts with these platforms over ethical concerns. But the case has drawn attention to the influence of celebrity marketing in the growing digital gambling sector, where online betting apps are often promoted under the guise of gaming or philanthropy.
Complaints from individuals, including one who reported losing more than ₹3 crore, claim that the celebrity-backed promotions encouraged gambling habits and led to substantial financial losses. The investigation underscores the challenges regulators face in policing online gambling in India, where laws dating back to the 19th century are being tested by the rise of digital platforms and influencer marketing.
DHAKA: Audio recordings analysed by the BBC suggest Bangladesh’s fugitive ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina ordered a deadly crackdown on protests last year, allegations for which she is on trial.
Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024, according to the United Nations, when Hasina’s government ordered a crackdown on protesters in a failed bid to cling to power.
Hasina, 77, fled to India at the culmination of the student-led uprising and has defied orders to return to Dhaka, where her trial in absentia for charges amounting to crimes against humanity opened on June 1.
The BBC Eye Investigations team analysed audio alleged to be of Hasina — and which forms a key plank of the evidence for the prosecution — which was leaked online.
In the recording, dated July 18, 2024, a voice alleged to be Hasina is heard authorising security forces to “use lethal weapons” against protesters and that “wherever they find (them), they will shoot”.
The BBC said audio forensics experts had found no evidence that the speech had been edited or manipulated, and that it was “highly unlikely to have been synthetically generated”.
Bangladesh police have also matched the audio with verified recordings of Hasina.
‘Denies the charges’
Protests began on July 1, 2024 with university students calling for reforms to a quota system for public sector jobs.
Student ambitions to topple Hasina’s iron-fisted rule seemed a fantasy, just months after she won her fourth consecutive election in a vote without genuine opposition.
But protests gathered pace, and a fuse was lit when police launched a deadly crackdown on July 16.
Hasina’s state-appointed lawyer — who says they have not been in contact with her — have sought to throw out the charges. Her now-banned Awami League party said it “categorically denies the charges that its senior leaders, and the prime minister personally, directed the use of lethal force against crowds during the protests of last summer”.
It instead said that “breakdowns in discipline among some members of the security forces on the ground in response to instances of violence led to (a) regrettable loss of life”.
Hasina was already convicted of contempt of court in a separate case on July 2, receiving a six-month sentence. She remains in India.
• Heavy rainfall exposes Lahore’s drainage system; city struggles with flooding, power outages • KKH reopens for traffic but heatwave persists in GB; glacial melting, floods cause severe damage
LAHORE / GILGIT: At least 11 people lost their lives and many others sustained injuries as heavy monsoon rains lashed Lahore, its surrounding districts and some parts of Balochistan on Wednesday. The downpours caused widespread flooding and disrupted daily life in several areas.
In Lahore, the heavy rainfall submerged low-lying areas and major roads, exposing the city’s inadequate drainage infrastructure.
According to data from the Water and Sanitation Agency’s (Wasa) Monsoon Control Room, Lahore received an average of 58.8mm of rain, with some areas like Nishtar Town recording the highest 84mm, followed by Lakshmi Chowk (78mm) and Paniwala Talab (74mm).
The first spell of rain lashed the city from 2:45am to 5:40am, with a second, more intense downpour hitting between 10:45am and 12:11pm.
The heavy showers exposed the weaknesses in Lahore’s drainage system, with key areas such as Jail Road (63mm), Qurtaba Chowk (68mm) and Wasa Head Office in Gulberg (69mm) experiencing severe water accumulation. The rainwater mixed with sewage, creating a public health crisis as residents struggled to navigate flooded streets.
At Yakki Gate, a child was electrocuted by exposed wiring, while multiple Lesco feeders tripped across the city, leaving thousands without electricity for hours.
“We’ve been without power since the morning and the stagnant water is making it impossible to leave our homes,” said Rukhsana Bibi, a resident of Mughalpura, which received 60mm of rain.
Residents of Barki Road also faced immense difficulties in travelling. They complained that no machinery was sent to clear the water from the roads and streets until evening, with the Wasa and district administration focusing efforts on draining water only from “elite” areas.
Despite claims from the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) about deploying cleaning teams and clearing over 6,000 waste containers, citizens reported minimal improvements on the ground.
“The main roads are still submerged, and no one from the administration is here to help,” said Asif Mahmood, a shopkeeper at Lakshmi Chowk.
The situation was particularly dire in low-lying areas like Farrukhabad (49mm) and Johar Town (39mm), where drainage systems were virtually non-existent.
Monsoon rains also affected several other districts across Punjab in the last 24 hours. Khanewal recorded 51mm, Rawalpindi 42mm, Sahiwal 44mm, Murree 41mm, Okara 30mm, Mandi Bahauddin 27mm, Mangla 24mm, and Toba Tek Singh 13mm.
Other regions like Gujranwala, Bahawalpur, Gujrat, Kasur, Bahawalnagar, Sargodha, Multan and Jhang also experienced downpours.
Deaths and injuries
According to Rescue 1122, nine people lost their lives and many others were injured in rain-related incidents across the province.
Two children died when the roof of their house collapsed due to the rain in Sheikhupura. Rescue teams also retrieved four people trapped under the rubble of a collapsed house in Pakpattan. In Jhelum valley, a cloudburst caused severe damage to houses and vehicles, while roads were destroyed.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast more intense rainfall over the next 24 hours in Lahore and much of Punjab.
Irfan Ali Kathia, director general of Punjab’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), said the rains are expected to continue until July 13. Thunderstorms are likely on Thursday in Jhelum, Mandi Bahauddin, Sialkot, Narowal, Gujarat, Lahore and Hafizabad. The Punjab government has also imposed Section 144 around rivers and canals.
According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), water levels are expected to rise in the Kabul, Indus, Chenab and Jhelum rivers, with low-level flooding likely at Tarbela, Kalabagh, Chashma and Taunsa along the Indus.
Low-level flooding is also feared in Marala and Khanki on the Chenab River, and at Mangla on the Jhelum River. Tributaries of the Swat and Panjkora rivers may also experience flooding.
Heavy rainfall is expected to cause a significant rise in water flow in the hill torrents of Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur, as well as in local streams in Jhal Magsi, Kachhi, Sibi, Qila Saifullah, Zhob and Musakhel districts in Balochistan.
Two people were killed and another injured in separate rain-related incidents in Balochistan’s Khuzdar and Mastung districts on Wednesday. Heavy rainfall and strong winds caused a wall to collapse in Khuzdar, resulting in the death of a man named Muhammad Arif and injuring Ehsanullah.
In Bolan Colony in the Kanak area of Mastung, a tanker carrying LPG overturned on a person due to slippery roads caused by the rain. The victim, identified as Muhammad Yaqoob, was killed on the spot.
Glacial melting intensifies in GB
The current heatwaves have accelerated glacial melting across Gilgit-Baltistan, leading to widespread flooding and soil erosion that have disconnected roads, damaged homes, agriculture and disrupted power and water supplies in various areas.
Rising water levels in rivers and streams have put downstream communities at significant risk. According to the local administration, river erosion has severed links to the Hoper, Hisper and Nagar Khas areas on Thursday, with access roads submerged or washed away.
Flooding from the Supultar Nallah has once again damaged the RCC bridge and agricultural land in Tokorkot, while water from the Hamari Nallah and Supultar Nallah has cut off drinking and irrigation water supplies to most residents in Nagar Khas and Hoper.
The surge of glacial water near the Hamorkhay area has led to continued erosion, endangering homes in nearby villages. In Upper Hunza, rising water levels in the Khunjerab River have caused the destruction of power infrastructure, with two electricity poles submerged, cutting off the electricity supply to several villages in Gojal.
The situation has also affected irrigation and drinking water systems, crops and bridges, leaving the residents of Nagar and Hunza districts without essential services like water, electricity and road access.
In Gilgit, the increasing water levels in the Shigar River have damaged the K2 Road, leaving hundreds of residents and foreign tourists stranded. Officials said the melting Baltoro Glacier had rapidly increased the volume of water in nearby rivers and streams, further exacerbating the situation.
Flash floods in Babusar Valley, Chilas, also caused significant damage, with 10 homes destroyed and crops damaged. The Karakoram Highway, which had been blocked in Chilas, was reopened for traffic on Thursday, allowing thousands of stranded passengers, including tourists, to continue their journeys.
Rising water levels in the Jutal area in Gilgit have damaged homes and farmland, with many people living near rivers facing the imminent threat of flooding. Local officials have warned that the situation remains precarious, with many areas still without power, water and proper access routes.
The Gilgit-Baltistan Environmental Protection Agency (GBEPA) expressed fears of a major water crisis in the region due to climate change, which is causing a decrease in snowfall and rapid melting of glaciers.
Geo-fenced SMS alerts
Meanwhile, Jazz and the NDMA have partnered to deliver geo-fenced SMS alerts to millions of citizens in flood-risk areas. The alerts, part of the Disaster Early Warning System (DEW-3), are designed to enhance public awareness and enable timely evacuations or precautionary measures in flood-prone areas.
Under the agreement, more than 23 million Jazz users residing in regions identified as vulnerable by the NDMA will receive location-based alerts, ensuring that citizens are informed of impending flood risks.
Kalbe Ali in Islamabad and Abdul Wahid Shahwani in Khuzdar also contributed to this report
RIYADH: Iran’s foreign minister has held talks with Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, the Saudi foreign ministry said, two weeks after a ceasefire between regional rivals Iran and Israel began.
Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman said his country hoped the truce would contribute to regional stability, and emphasised Riyadh’s position “in supporting dialogue through diplomatic means as a path to resolving disputes,” the ministry said in a post on X on Wednesday.
According to the Saudi ministry, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi “expressed his gratitude” to Riyadh for its condemnation of Israel’s attacks on Iran last month.
Israel launched its unprecedented bombing campaign on Iran on June 13, targeting military and nuclear facilities as well as residential areas. The Israeli strikes killed more than 1,000 people, including senior military commanders and nuclear scientists, according to Tehran.
US imposes more sanctions on Tehran
Israel, in turn, was hit by waves of drone and missile fire from Iran, which Israeli authorities said left at least 28 people dead.
The United States, which had been in talks with Iran about its nuclear programme since April, carried out its own strikes on Iran on June 22, targeting several nuclear sites.
The talks between Tehran and Washington have since stalled, but the ceasefire between Iran and Israel has been in place since June 24. Iran and Saudi Arabia have often been on opposing sides of regional conflicts, including in Syria and Yemen.
The two regional heavyweights broke off diplomatic relations in 2016 before re-establishing them in 2023 under a rapprochement deal brokered by China.
It amounted to a diplomatic achievement for Prince Mohammed, who has taken a more conciliatory approach to regional diplomacy in recent years. Saudi Arabia condemned the Israeli strikes on Iran last month, calling them “aggressions” and a “clear violation of international laws”.
Riyad also expressed its “great concern” following the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Araghchi held “fruitful conversations” with Prince Mohammed, as well as Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Defence Minister Prince Khaled bin Salman about bilateral relations and developments in the region.
US sanctions
The United States imposed sanctions on 22 companies in Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Turkiye on Wednesday for their roles in helping sell Iranian oil, the Treasury Department said.
KARACHI: As India continues its attempts to paint Pakistan as a sponsor of terrorism, two prominent Pakistani voices hit back, assuring the world that unlike India, Pakistan is not a “reckless and irresponsible state”, and assailing New Delhi for lying to its people about the Pahalgam attack.
In interviews broadcast on Wednesday, the country’s former foreign minister and the military’s chief spokesperson took the Indian claims head on, with the former even offering to work with New Delhi against the group that claimed the Pahalgam attack, if India was prepared to extend similar cooperation on the proscribed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and Majeed Brigade.
Speaking to Indian journalist Karan Thapar for The Wire, former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that had Pakistan been involved in the Pahalgam attack, evidence would have surfaced and the perpetrators identified.
“As far as the Pahalgam terrorist attack is concerned, Pakistan has been willing to be part of an impartial international investigation; your government refused that,” he said.
ISPR chief accuses Ajit Doval of orchestrating terror attacks in Pakistan
“To this day, the Indian government has not shared with Pakistan, with the international community, with the Indian public… who exactly are these individuals that were involved in this terrorist attack that are from Pakistan?”
“It’s very uncomfortable for you that I point out the truth to the Indian public, that they have been lied to… that Pakistan was involved in this attack when we were not,” he asserted.
“The government has been unable to provide the evidence. That’s why during this war, the Indian media and the Indian government launched a campaign of disinformation to continue to bamboozle the people of India,” he added.
Thapar claimed that The Resistance Front — the group that supposedly claimed the Pahalgam attack — could not be proscribed by the UN due to resistance from China, at Pakistan’s behest.
To this, Mr Bhutto-Zardari responded that Pakistan was ready for any cooperation against this group, but reminded the interviewer that India had also blocked Islamabad’s attempts to have groups such as the BLA and Majeed Brigade outlawed by the UN.
The interview was quite combative – ‘quarrelsome’ by Thapar’s own admission – as Mr Bhutto-Zardari was frequently interrupted by the interviewer, even threatening to walk out if he was not allowed to respond.
Last week, Mr Bhutto-Zardari had told Al Jazeera that Pakistan had no objection to extraditing “individuals of concern” — namely Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar — to India as a confidence-building measure, as long as New Delhi showed willingness to cooperate in the process.
Asked about Saeed and the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Bilawal highlighted that the LeT chief was in prison and that the Mumbai attack case was still ongoing.
“The frustration that the courts and the Pakistani government and legal system are having with achieving a conviction is that India is refusing to participate in the trial and produce the witnesses necessary to record their statements,” the PPP chairman said.
He also spoke about Cold War roots of these banned organisations, saying that the fabric of such groups was connected to the Afghan jihad. Recalling his mother’s assassination, Mr Bhutto-Zardari told Thapar that he had personally been affected by terrorism.
When Thapar tried some ‘gotcha’ tactics by quoting Pervez Musharraf, Mr Bhutto-Zardari wryly reminded him that his party did not endorse the former military ruler’s policies.
Doval ‘chief architect’ of terror
Separately, speaking to Al Jazeera, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry accused Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval of being the “chief architect” of terrorism in Pakistan and the region, as well as orchestrating transnational killings.
According to the ISPR chief, India provided funding, planning, intelligence and technical support to terrorist groups within Pakistan, such as Fitna al-Khawarij and Fitna al-Hindustan – the state’s terminology for the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and BLA.
“Do you think it’s happening on its own? This terror enterprise cannot be sustained without the sponsorship of India,” he said. “Who is the chief architect? Mr Ajit Doval.”
“The strategy of India is to keep Pakistan embroiled in this menace of terrorism, so that its true power … potential is not realised,” Lt Gen Chaudhry said. “The power differential between the two countries keeps increasing, so that India can act as a regional hegemon, a bully and can dictate its own terms.”
The military’s spokesperson then added that terrorist commanders who had surrendered or been captured confessed that they received support from New Delhi, citing press conferences by captured Fitna al-Hindustan commanders and the case of captured Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav.
“This evidence is all public. It is RAW,” he said.
“We must understand that terrorism is an internal problem of India as a result of the continuous oppression which India does to its minorities as part of its policy,” he said.
“Rather than addressing these grave injustices, inequalities, and doing soul searching, it (India) is very quick to put all the blame on Pakistan. Because of this senseless blame game that the Indians are resorting to, it is bringing the thresholds between India and Pakistan to dangerously low levels, to such levels that where one incident of terrorism or an act of violence can be turned into an act of war,” Lt-Gen Chaudhry said.
Based on the clinical trial results, the drugs could particularly benefit tuberculosis patients requiring extended therapeutic intervention.
New research has found two novel antibiotics that could provide safer treatment options for drug-resistant tuberculosis.
Sutezolid and delpazolid are part of a class of medicines called oxazolidinones. When compared to linezolid, these drugs have demonstrated strong antimicrobial activity and an improved safety profile.
Linezolid was introduced as part of the BPaLM regimen (bedaquiline, pretomanid, and moxifloxacin) in 2022. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended it as a standard six-month treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, the researchers highlighted.
However, ”despite its effectiveness, linezolid is simply too toxic for many patients. We urgently need safer alternatives in this antibiotic class,” stated PD Dr Norbert Heinrich, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, LMU University Hospital Munich.
Working to improve outcomes in tuberculosis – potential of the novel antibiotics
Two Phase IIb clinical trials evaluated sutezolid and delpazolid in combination with bedaquiline, delamanid, and moxifloxacin, making them the first trials to use these specific four-drug combinations. In patients with drug-sensitive pulmonary tuberculosis, the antibiotics were reportedly safer and more tolerable compared to linezolid.
“These findings suggest that [sutezolid and delpazolid] may offer safer treatment options for [tuberculosis] patients, particularly those requiring longer courses of therapy”
Specifically, sutezolid demonstrated strong antibacterial activity and was well tolerated across all tested doses. On the other hand, delpazolid improved the effectiveness of the combination therapy with bedaquiline, delamanid, and moxifloxacin. A once-daily 1200mg dose achieved the desired drug levels for maximum efficacy. This was well tolerated over a 16-week period, the team shared.
“These findings suggest that both drugs may offer safer treatment options for [tuberculosis] patients, particularly those requiring longer courses of therapy,” explained Dr Tina Minja, National PI for the DECODE study at NIMR-Mbeya Medical Research Centre in Tanzania.
Future tuberculosis treatment landscape
“Seeing fewer side effects with sutezolid and delpazolid is a significant step forward—it brings us closer to [tuberculosis] therapies that are both effective and easier for patients to tolerate,” commented Dr Ivan Norena, Medical Team Lead at the Institute of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at LMU University Hospital Munich.
Going forward, the research team plan to evaluate sutezolid and delpazolid in larger cohorts. Notably, subject to further development of these drugs as a new treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis, the antibiotics could play a key role in reducing treatment-related side effects while maintaining efficacy as next generation medicines for the disease.
These new findings were published in two peer-reviewed articles in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
