ISLAMABAD: PTI has denounced PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s remarks suggesting Pakistan could extradite citizens to India as a confidence-building measure (CBM), accusing him of undermining national security and appeasing a hostile neighbour.
According to reports, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said Pakistan had no objection to handing over “individuals of concern” to India, provided New Delhi showed a willingness to cooperate.
In a hard-hitting statement on Saturday, PTI CIS Sheikh Waqas Akram criticised the PPP chairman’s stance, calling him an “immature political child”. He said the proposal was ill-advised and detrimental to Pakistan’s national security narrative, adding that such statements humiliate the country on international platforms.
Mr Akram accused the “fraudulently imposed” government of bringing Pakistan to its knees.
Accuses PPP chairman of appeasing India, undermining national security
“We fail to understand why Bilawal is so keen on appeasing India,” he asked, alleging that the PPP chairman was proving time and again that he lacked political wisdom, vision and understanding of regional geopolitics.
“Instead of holding India accountable for its continued aggression, water terrorism and cross-border interference, Bilawal was proposing CBMs that compromise Pakistan’s sovereignty and integrity,” he said.
He emphasised that it was imperative to ask Mr Bhutto-Zardari on whose behalf he issued such a statement and what he intended to achieve by offering such concessions to a belligerent India by humiliating Pakistan on an international stage. Mr Akram also criticised the PPP chairman’s inconsistency.
“Bilawal has become a symbol of confusion and contradiction in Pakistan’s foreign policy discourse,” he said. “PPP was founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on the legacy of Kashmir, but today, Bilawal is betraying that legacy by pursuing political gains at the expense of Kashmiri blood.” Mr Akram went on to mock Mr Bhutto-Zardari’s political credentials, stating that leadership is earned, not built through media appearances and styling. “If PPP’s intelligentsia truly cares about Bilawal, they should let him contest local body elections first and appear on regional TV channels instead of being pushed on international media, where he only embarrasses Pakistan,” he stated.
He said the PPP chairman would lead the party to complete elimination, advising that if the party wanted to survive, he must step aside and hand over its leadership to Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, “who, at the very least, shows more promise and sense than him”.
• New regime includes 18pc GST, additional levies for non-filers, mandatory buyer data reporting by banks and intermediaries • Online sellers and courier services waiting for clarity over the future of their businesses
ISLAMABAD: Confusion and fear prevail not only among local and international e-commerce platforms regarding the imposition of new taxation regimes with the advent of the 2025-26 fiscal year, but also among sellers and courier services, who are waiting for clarity over the future of their businesses.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has compiled a list of eight key e-commerce platforms that provide tangible and intangible items, including music, movies, and software.
The largest selling platform was Facebook, with transactions worth more than Rs12.31bn. Others include Apple/Tunes, Google, AliExpress, Netflix, Temu, and Spotify, while the largest transactions are held under the category of others.
The total amount of transactions by these international and local online platforms, such as Daraz, OLX, Zameen, and PakWheels, exceeds Rs317.78bn.
The government has added a new chapter to the income tax regime, and taxes have been imposed on sales tax and other levies.
The overall situation has led to confusion among leading local and international platforms regarding the tax collection mechanism.
Incidentally, international e-commerce platforms have requested that their local partners clarify the tax collection mechanism in Pakistan, effective July 1.
“Our client has tasked us with looking into the outcome and talking to various courier companies to determine the impact on rates and tax filing mechanism,” said a senior executive of a PR company.
Due to a lack of clarity over the situation, neither he nor any executive of Pakistani e-commerce platforms was willing to disclose their identity; however, one executive pointed out that even the upgraded Income Tax law 2025 had not been uploaded to the FBR website.
One of the key stakeholders, the Pakistan E-commerce Association (PEA), has announced a protest against the new taxation regime.
Its Chairman Omer Mubeen warned that the new tax measures would shrink profit margins and put an additional burden on customers.
He added that there are growing concerns over harsh eCommerce taxation policies; the PEA, along with other relevant stakeholders, including the Chainstore Association of Pakistan (CAP), will continue to protest the move on social media and write letters to the concerned authorities.
While the new laws were facilitative for women businesspersons, confusion and a lack of knowledge have created panic among many.
The courier companies have also begun advising e-commerce businesses and individual sellers to complete their tax registrations to continue availing themselves of delivery services.
A local seller from Islamabad stated that e-commerce was still in its early stages in the country. Instead of supporting the industry, the government was making it difficult for entrepreneurs to do business.
Meanwhile, responding to the query, a senior official of the FBR said that the process would materialise after Ashura, which falls on Sunday, and most of the activities in this regard will commence from Monday.
He added that there were three main objectives of the new tax regime on e-commerce: registration of businesses, enhancement of tax collection, and streamlining the process for future regulations.
“There is a need for regulation of e-commerce too for the protection of buyers from frauds or deceptions by any unknown seller and that is not possible without registration of the businesses,” FBR official added.
Under the new regime, without proper registration, courier companies and online marketplaces will not be authorised to process or ship such orders.
Similar to physical retail outlets, an 18pc general sales tax (GST) has been imposed on all goods and services bought online, while additional taxes apply to non-filer purchasers and the platforms as well.
However, banks and online payment intermediaries will be required to maintain records of buyers for quarterly filing. The new tax regime also imposes penalties on intermediaries for failing to collect the due taxes or file the necessary documents with the FBR.
KARACHI: Security has been beefed up across the province and more than 50,000 policemen and Rangers personnel have been deployed to provide security for the main Ashura processions in all major cities and towns of Sindh, particularly Karachi, on Sunday (today).
The government has decided to partially suspend cellular services in the areas that fall on the route of the Ashura processions.
On Saturday, 9th Muharram mourning processions culminated peacefully in various cities amid tightened security and deep religious devotion to commemorate the martyrs of Karbala.
In Karachi, the main mourning procession was taken out from Nishtar Park after the main majlis. It proceeded along designated routes under heavy police presence. Other processions emerged from various imambargahs, including Bab-i-Fatima Imambargah.
Cellular services were suspended along the procession routes and certain roads and streets were blocked or diverted to manage traffic flow.
The Sindh government also imposed a ban on pillion riding in major cities of the province.
MA Jinnah Road in Karachi was closed to traffic and markets and shops in areas like Saddar, Empress Market and Regal Market were sealed as the main mourning procession passed through the major artery and culminated at Hussainiya Iranian Imambargah in Kharadar.
Over 49,600 police personnel have been deployed across major cities in the province.
TAXILA: At least 34 people, including women and children, trapped in the heavily flooded waters of the River Indus were rescued in two separate operations in different parts of Attock on Saturday.
In the first incident, four people, including a 14-year-old boy who were herding livestock in a greenbelt, were trapped near Bagh Neelab when the water level suddenly rose after the release of water from the Tarbela Dam.
The helpless shepherds made an SOS call to the District Emergency Office, Attock, at around 2am on Saturday. Upon receiving the alert, teams from Rescue 1122 reached the site. The rescue workers managed to safely extract the four individuals from the powerful current.
Separately, two nomad families comprising women and children were trapped in floodwaters in a basin near Shadi Khan in
Hazro village after the water level rose following the release of water from the nearby Tarbela Dam.
Seeing the families in a helpless condition, some people present there made an SOS call to the District Emergency Office, Attock. Upon receiving the alert, Rescue 1122 teams reached the site and rescued 30 people from the area submerged in water.
The rescue and evacuation operation was supervised by Deputy Commissioner Atif Raza, while Assistant Commissioner Hazro Ayesha Badar was also present on the occasion.
Meanwhile, legal action was taken against as many as 14 people for bathing in the River Indus near Attock Khurd Bridge in violation of Section 144 imposed by the district administration, which prohibits bathing and swimming at water spots due to persistent weather conditions.
• Deputy PM says PML-N won’t abandon PPP despite having better strength in parliament now • Interior minister dismisses reports about president’s removal, says two parties, army ‘on same page’ • PPP leader claims party in no mood to join federal or Punjab cabinet
LAHORE: Two key federal ministers on Saturday dismissed speculations regarding the disintegration of the PML-N-PPP alliance, saying the two parties, and even the army were “on the same page”.
However, the enthusiasm regarding the coalition was a bit more diminished among PPP leaders who accepted having differences with the ruling party and also stressed the party has no desire to take ministries in the federal government.
While talking to the media in Lahore, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said that the PML-N’s total seats in the National Assembly have increased after the distribution of reserved seats in light of the Supreme Court’s order but the party was in no mood to shun PPP.
“The Bilawal-led party stood by the government during difficult times and we have instructions from Nawaz Sharif that in the times of stability, we must not abandon those who had supported us in challenging times.”
He said the PPP was a key ally of the federal government and would remain so. “We have an ideal working relationship. We [the PML-N] had formed the government with the help of the PPP,” he said while talking to reporters.
He acknowledged the critical support by PPP, without which the ruling coalition wouldn’t have come to power after the 2024 general elections.
‘No change in top office’
Also, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi during an interaction with the media in Sukkur said that there were no plans to remove President Asif Zardari and dismissed the reports about any such move.
He said the government, army, and the president were “fully aligned and on the same page”.
“Those who don’t want to see them united are spreading such rumours.”
Speculations about widening gap emerged as both parties, allies in the Centre, started jostling to strengthen their ranks by wooing disgruntled PTI leaders in Azad Jammu and Kashmir while the PTI leadership addressed pressers to declare that they would foil attempts to dislodge KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur amid political wrangling over reserved seats.
In AJK, the PML-N formally inducted a PTI defector into its parliamentary party, raising its strength in the 53-member Legislative Assembly to nine. Chaudhry Akmal Sargala, who was elected in 2021 from LA-37 (Jammu-IV), a Kashmiri refugees’ constituency in Punjab, announced his switch to PML-N on Friday.
Mr Sargala’s decision comes just days after the PPP pulled off a similar move, managing to break away four lawmakers elected on PTI tickets in 2021. These lawmakers included Ali Shan Soni, Shahida Sagheer, Chaudhry Rafique Nayyar and Javed Butt.
Following these inclusions, the strength of the PPP parliamentary party in AJK Assembly has risen to 17.
Earlier, speculations that the PPP might join the cabinet in Centre and Punjab started making rounds after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif claimed, “There is a growing possibility of an arrangement between the PML-N and PPP that will allow both parties to jointly pursue a national agenda.”
When Deputy PM Dar was asked about the move, he told reporters in Lahore that the PPP had not demanded any ministries from the PML-N.
While PPP, over the past year, publicly shunned the idea of joining the federal and provincial cabinets, some of its leaders proposed taking the ministries as all the party has supported the PML-N on every other matter.
‘Take ministries or quit’
Senate chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani, a PPP leader, also recently proposed to the party leadership that they either join the government or leave the coalition and go to the public.
Some party leaders believe that after 17 months of robust support for the PML-N in the Centre, the time has now arrived for the PPP to consider whether it should take ministries in both the federal and Punjab governments.
One issue where PPP leaders think the party went above and beyond its role as a “silent coalition partner” to support the government was in the aftermath of the conflict with India.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari travelled to different countries “playing the role of a foreign minister” to fight Pakistan’s case against India in the world, a PPP leader from Punjab told Dawn on Saturday.
The PPP called Foreign Minister Dar’s portfolio “ceremonious” and added that it would be better if his party joined the government and Mr Bhutto-Zardari became the foreign minister officially.
Amid this jostling, Mr Dar said the PML-N would work with all parties, including those in the opposition.
‘Wishful thinking’
However, he ruled out any meeting between PML-N president Nawaz Sharif and PTI patron-in-chief Imran Khan at Adiala Jail in the coming days, calling it “wishful thinking”.
“We don’t need to go to someone … However, [with regard to Imran Khan], the law will take its own course.
Meanwhile, PPP Secretary General Humayun Khan said his party had been offered ministries by the PML-N in the Centre and Punjab, but it was not interested in joining the cabinets.
“The PML-N has offered cabinet positions to us, but the party is not interested in joining the cabinet as it has reservations on some issues,” said Mr Khan
He said the two parties have “different ideologies and stances” on various issues.
Waseem Shamsi in Sukkur and Tariq Naqash in Muzaffarabad also contributed to this report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Poland have agreed to enhance collaboration through the exchange of high-level visits, parliamentary interactions and dialogue.
The agreement was reached during the 9th round of Bilateral Political Consultations (BPC) between Pakistan and Poland held in Warsaw.
According to the Foreign Office, Pakistani delegation was led by Ambassador Muhammad Ayub, Additional Foreign Secretary (Europe), while the Polish delegation was headed by Secretary of State at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Wadysaw Teofil Bartoszewski.
The Ambassador of Pakistan to Poland, Muhammad Sami-ur-Rehman, and the Polish Ambassador to Pakistan, Maciej Pisarski, were also present during the consultations. The two sides reviewed the entire spectrum of bilateral relations.
The additional foreign secretary reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to further broadening and deepening its ties with Poland in various fields, including trade, investment, energy, security and defence cooperation, science and technology, agriculture, migration and mobility and higher education. Regional and global issues of mutual interest, including developments in South Asia, the Middle East, and Europe were also discussed in depth.
The two delegations found convergence on key issues and agreed to continue cooperation at multilateral forums, including the United Nations. It was mutually agreed that the next round of consultations will be held in Islamabad in 2026.
KARACHI: A new research study published in The Lancet Regional Health – Southeast Asia highlights the urgent need for a unified national cancer registry in Pakistan to improve cancer surveillance, policymaking and resource allocation.
Titled ‘Cancer Registries in Pakistan: A Scoping Review’, the study was co-authored by experts from the Aga Khan University (AKU), the University of Wisconsin and Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital.
According to these experts, Pakistan faces a substantial cancer burden, with an estimated 185,748 new cancer cases and over 118,631 cancer-related deaths recorded in 2022. Yet, the absence of a national cancer registry means that cancer data collection remains fragmented, inconsistent and incomplete, making it harder to plan and implement effective public health efforts.
“Cancer registries are crucial. They provide population-based data on cancer trends and treatment efficacy, and enable health authorities to monitor disease patterns, guide policymaking, and allocate resources to establish an effective national cancer control programme,” said Dr Zehra Fadoo, Chair of AKU’s department of oncology.
Year 2022 saw over 118,000 cancer-related deaths in country; lack of unified data hampers effective cancer control
The research study identifies 17 cancer registries in Pakistan, with wide variations in scope and geographical coverage. Currently, only 19 of Pakistan’s 129 cities contribute data to at least one registry.
Many registries face operational challenges, limited funding and inconsistent data collection methods. The study has identified strengths and weaknesses of different registries, providing information that can be used to plan for cancer data aggregation and future research studies.
“Building a national cancer registry isn’t something one institution can do alone,” explained Sehar Salim Virani, from AKU’s department of surgery and the University of Wisconsin.
“It will require coordinated action, government leadership, and institutional collaboration. This paper is a first step towards that goal. By mapping what exists, we can now move towards what is needed. It’s time to turn fragmented efforts into a unified national response.”
One of the registries profiled in the study is the Aga Khan University Cancer Registry (AKU-CR), a hospital-based registry established in 2009. AKU-CR has an inbuilt international coding manual that serves as the foundation for measuring the cancer burden at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) in Pakistan.
The purpose and goal of AKU-CR is to collect, maintain and disseminate the highest quality cancer data that will contribute towards cancer prevention and control — improving diagnoses, patient care, treatment, survival, quality of life and establishing a foundation for research.
So far, using the USA-based CNExT software, the registry has documented over 71,900 cases.
At AKUH, the clinical aspects of the cancer registry are overseen by the AKUH Cancer Committee with trained registrars, ensuring high standards in data quality and clinical relevance.
Pakistan has a National Action Plan for Non-Communicable Diseases, control and health promotion (NAP-NCD), which includes cancer prevention and control.
The Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination nominated the Pakistan Health Research Council (PHRC) as the focal point for cancer registry in Pakistan, and in 2020, a National Steering Committee was notified, with members from all major cancer registries and data centres. Despite these efforts, challenges remain in achieving complete, consistent and uniform data collection.
“Pakistan has long struggled with adopting national cancer registration,” noted Syed Nabeel Zafar from the department of surgery and the Carbone Cancer Center at the University of Wisconsin.
“With the rising incidence of cancers in Pakistan, a national cancer registry is essential to be able to address this growing problem. While this requires effort and resources, it is not very expensive, and would be very feasible to do in Pakistan,” he said.
• Declares America is ‘winning, winning, winning like never before’ • Democrats worry ‘big beautiful bill’ will slash health, welfare support • New legislation poised to add $3.4tr to US deficit over 10 years
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump signed his flagship tax and spending bill into law, capping a grandiose White House Independence Day ceremony featuring a stealth bomber fly-by.
“America is winning, winning, winning like never before,” Trump said before signing the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” on Friday, flanked by Republican lawmakers who helped push it through Congress.
Trump also played down criticism by Democrats that the unpopular legislation will slash social welfare programmes, saying: “You won’t even notice it.”
With First Lady Melania Trump at his side, Trump watched from the White House balcony as two B-2 bombers — the same type that recently struck Iranian nuclear sites — roared overhead, accompanied by F-35 and F-22 fighter jets.
The 79-year-old’s victory lap came a day after Republicans fell into line and passed the sprawling mega-bill, allowing him to sign it as he had hoped on the Fourth of July holiday.
The bill honours many of Trump’s campaign promises: extending tax cuts from his first term, boosting military spending and providing massive new funding for Trump’s migrant deportation drive.
‘Never been anything like it’
The legislation’s signing caps two weeks of significant wins for Trump that have seen him tighten his grip on power and his party alike. The successes include the recent Iran-Israel ceasefire that was sealed after what he called the “flawless” US air strikes on Iran.
Pilots who carried out the bombing on Iran were among those invited to the White House event, which included a picnic for military families on the South Lawn.
“The last two weeks, there has never been anything like it, as far as winning,” said Trump.
Trump had however forced through the tax bill despite deep misgivings in the Republican Party that it would balloon the national debt. The legislation is expected to pile an extra $3.4 trillion over a decade onto the US deficit.
It squeezed past a final vote in the House of Representatives 218-214 after Republican Speaker Mike Johnson worked through the night to corral the final group of dissenters. Trump thanked Johnson at the White House event, saying: “What a job.”
Democrats and many voters have meanwhile expressed concerns that the “big beautiful bill” will slash health and welfare support.
The bill will force through the largest cuts to the Medicaid health insurance programme for low-income Americans since its 1960s launch, while also shrinking federal food assistance programs.
KABUL: Russia’s decision to formally recognise the Taliban government has been seen as an opening for a stronger economy by some Afghans, while others were sceptical that it would improve their lot.
Russia became the first country to acknowledge the Taliban authorities on Thursday, after a gradual building of ties that included removing their “terrorist organisation” designation and accepting an ambassador in recent months.
The Taliban authorities had not been recognised by any state in the nearly four years since sweeping to power in 2021, ousting the foreign-backed government as US-led troops withdrew after a two-decade war. Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world and in a fragile recovery from four decades of conflict.
“With the current situation in Afghanistan, with all the challenges, everyone is worried. If the world recognises Afghanistan, we will be happy, currently, even the tiniest thing matters,” Gul Mohammad, 58, said on Friday in the capital Kabul.
Despite having bitter memories of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, when he “lost everything” and became a refugee in Pakistan, he acknowledges that “the priorities are different now”.
Jamaluddin Sayar, 67, predicted that “trade and economic prosperity will now blossom”. The retired pilot said other countries, “both western and eastern”, should recognise the government and “stop spreading propaganda against the Islamic Emirate”, using the Taliban authorities’ name for their administration.
Won’t ‘lead to anything’
Russian and Afghan officials praised the move as an opening for deeper cooperation, notably in economic and security arenas. Security concerns have been a key avenue for coordination between the Taliban authorities and the international community, amid fears Afghanistan would become fertile ground for increased militant activity.
The authorities have prioritised security and made repeated assurances that Afghan soil would not be used by any group to plan attacks on other nations. However, Pakistan’s ties with the Taliban authorities have been strained over a surge in militant activity since their takeover and last year, an attack claimed by the militant Islamic State group’s branch in Afghanistan killed 137 people in a Moscow concert hall.
In a country where dissent and protest is tightly controlled, some Kabul residents were afraid to openly criticise the Taliban authorities. Atef, not his real name, was unconvinced better relations between Afghanistan and Russia would improve the livelihoods of ordinary Afghans.
“I think Afghanistan will fall into the traps of the Russians again, the issues and challenges will increase, and there is nothing that can help ordinary people,” the unemployed 25-year-old said. “People are struggling, and they will still struggle with or without the recognition.”
For Afghan women’s rights activists, particularly those who have advocated for isolating the Taliban government, the recognition was seen as a setback that “legitimises” restrictions on women.
Norway-based Afghan women’s rights activist Hoda Khamosh was defiant against the impact of the Russian move. “Human rights organisations right now are trying to recognise gender apartheid in Afghanistan because the Taliban are a repressive regime against women,” she said. “Therefore, these recognitions will not lead to anything.”
BEIRUT: Lebanon said one person was killed and six wounded on Saturday in a series of Israeli strikes in the south despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
An “Israeli enemy drone strike on a vehicle” in the town of Bint Jbeil “killed one person and wounded two”, Lebanon’s health ministry said in a statement carried by the official National News Agency (NNA).
The Israeli military said in a statement that its forces “struck and eliminated” an operative from Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force in the area. The health ministry also reported one person wounded in a drone strike on another car in the same town, and two others seriously wounded in a similar raid on a vehicle in nearby Shaqra.
Also on Saturday, the ministry reported that a separate Israeli drone strike wounded one person in Shebaa, elsewhere in the south, with NNA reporting that a house was targeted.
Israel has kept up its bombardment of Lebanon since a Nov 27 ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah including two months of all-out war that left the Iran-backed group severely weakened.
