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Israeli strikes leave 15 more dead in Lebanon

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BEIRUT: Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Sunday killed at least 15 people, including a local official from a Christian political party, a day after Israel threatened to hit Lebanon’s main border crossing with Syria, forcing it to close. Israel has launched airstrikes across Lebanon as well as a ground invasion in the south since March 2, when Hezbollah entered the Middle East war on the side of its backer Iran. One of Israel’s strikes in Beirut on Sunday killed at least five people and wounded 52 in the Jnah neighbourhood, the Lebanese health ministry said. A strike targeting an apartment building in Ain Saadeh town east of Beirut killed three people and injured three others, while a strike in the southern town of Kfar Hatta, far from the border with Israel, killed seven people including a four-year-old girl, the ministry said. Christian political party official, his wife among deceased The Lebanese Forces Party identified two of the dead as Pierre Moawad, a local party official, a...
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Punjab Assembly committee calls for abolishing colonial-era law that ‘criminalises poverty’

LAHORE: A high-level committee of the Punjab Assembly has declared that a controversial colonial-era law effectively criminalises poverty and must be abolished, it emerged on Monday. The Committee on Law Reforms and Delegated Legislation met on Monday at the Punjab Assembly under the chairmanship of Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, taking up critical issues ranging from outdated criminal laws to police accountability. A major highlight of the sitting was the review of Section 55(1)(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, which allows police to arrest individuals without warrant if they have “no ostensible means of subsistence.” The committee described the provision as an outdated colonial relic that criminalised poverty instead of criminal conduct, and conflicted with fundamental constitutional rights. A detailed reform proposal recommends complete omission of this clause, along with related provisions, to prevent misuse. The proposed reforms also suggest tightening another ...
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Trump says Vance, Witkoff, Kushner talking with intermediaries in Pakistan; could ‘take down Iran tomorrow’

US President Donald Trump asserted on Monday that Iran could be taken out in one night, “and that night might be tomorrow night”, even as he said shortly afterwards that US officials, including Vice President JD Vance, was talking to intermediaries in Pakistan. His statements from two different events came ahead of a looming Tuesday night deadline he gave to Tehran to agree to a ceasefire deal with Washington, warning of wider bombing on power plants and other critical infrastructure. Trump is demanding Iran forswear nuclear weapons and reopen the Strait of Hormuz oil transit waterway. Iranian media reported on Monday that Tehran had rejected the US ceasefire proposal through intermediary Pakistan, and had instead shared a 10-point proposal, demanding an end to conflicts in the region, a protocol for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, lifting of sanctions and reconstruction. Addressing a White House press conference on Monday, Trump told reporters that Iran could be taken ...
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Iran conveys to Pakistan its rejection of US ceasefire proposal: report

Iran has conveyed its ​response to the ‌US proposal for ending the war ​to intermediary Pakistan, rejecting ​a ceasefire and emphasising ⁠the necessity ​of a permanent end ​to the war, the official IRNA news ​agency said on ​Monday. The Iranian response consisted of 10 clauses, including an end to conflicts in the region, a protocol for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, lifting of sanctions, and reconstruction, the agency added. US President Donald Trump, who has threatened to rain “hell” on Tehran if it did not make a deal by 8pm EDT Tuesday (midnight GMT) to open the vital route for global energy supplies, rejected the Iranian proposal on Monday and said his deadline was final. “They made a proposal, and it’s a significant proposal. It’s a significant step. It’s not good enough,” Trump told reporters at an annual White House Easter event, referring to Iran. Iran responded to US and Israeli attacks in February by effectively closing Hormuz, a conduit for about a fifth o...
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Unsustainable rise

PAKISTAN’S population debate has seen moments of concern, followed by long stretches of inaction. The health minister has recently warned that the country could become the world’s fourth most populous nation within five years. This projection has huge implications and should dispel any remaining complacency. Already home to over 255m people, Pakistan is adding roughly 6.2m individuals every year, a figure larger than the entire population of some countries. It is not simply a question of size, it is also a question of pace, planning and political will. The consequences of unchecked growth are plain to see. Hospitals are stretched thin, struggling to meet rising demand with limited resources. Schools are overcrowded, while millions of children remain out of education. Urban centres expand in an unplanned sprawl, straining water supplies, sanitation systems and transport networks. Meanwhile, the economy fails to generate enough jobs for a rapidly expanding youth population. These pr...
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Pakistan breaching temperature thresholds set for 2030

ISLAMABAD: While the international community strives to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030, Pakistan appears to already be breaching some extreme temperature thresholds despite its minimal contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report. The Pakistan Meteo­rol­o­gical Depar­tment (PMD), in a special summary of observations, reported that the nation experien­ced several temperature extremes during the rece­ntly concluded month of March. The report noted that the country’s average nighttime minimum temperature was the second-highest on record. “The country-level nig­ht­time (minimum) temperature of 14.7 C was warmer by +2.7°C than the countrywide average of 12.0°C and ranked 2nd highest,” the PMD stated. The highest record of 15.0°C was reported in 2022. Furthermore, the natio­nal mean temperature for the month was the fifth highest ever recorded. “The national mean temperature of 21.6°C was warmer than the country-average of 19.3°C with an ano...
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Karachi board postpones matric exams to April 10

The Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) on Sunday announced that Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams in Karachi were being rescheduled and would now commence on April 10. The BSEK had earlier announced that SSC annual examinations would be held from April 7 to May 2 in the Karachi Division. A press release issued by the BSEK on Sunday said citing the board’s controller of examinations that the board was currently transitioning from a manual to a digital system. “Therefore, the software application was overloaded and faced temporary disruption. The IT team is working to resolve the issue,” the press release said. In view of the situation, the SSC examinations were being rescheduled to begin on April 10, 2026 to ensure that they were conducted in an “organised … and transparent manner,” the press release said. It further said that a revised examination schedule would be issued soon, while students were to sit their exams at centres already allotted to them. from Dawn...
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