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1,000 days of genocide: A tally of devastation in Gaza

More than 90pc of the Gaza Strip has been destroyed and more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in the 1,000 days since Israel started bombarding the besieged enclave following the retaliatory Hamas attack of Oct 7, 2023, according to the local government’s media office. The Palestinian government’s media office released key statistics on the destruction and death toll on Thursday, marking 1,000 days since the start of the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza. As of July 2, Israel has seized control of more than 80pc of the Gaza Strip, while 2.4 million people in the territory were being subjected to genocide, starvation and ethnic cleansing, the statement said. A plume of smoke rises above buildings in Gaza City on October 7, 2023 during an Israeli air strike. — AFP/File Of those killed by the Israeli military, more than 21,500 were children and more than 12,500 were women. More than 1,000 of the children killed were under the age of one, the state...
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The king without a crown: Mohamed Salah's quest for global recognition

Egypt have reached the FIFA World Cup knockout stage for the first time in their history, with Mohamed Salah once again at the heart of their success. But while the Pharaohs have long embraced him as their greatest modern footballer, can this campaign persuade the rest of the world to view him the same way? There was once an Egyptian king who ruled on the banks of the River Mersey. For nine years, Liverpool’s faithful sang his name as Mohamed Salah cemented his place among the club’s greatest players. Back home, however, Salah never wore a crown. He carried something heavier — the hopes of a nation that had spent decades searching for a place among football’s elite. On Friday, in the city of Dallas, Texas, those hopes will accompany Egypt into unfamiliar territory. For the first time in their history, the Pharaohs will play a FIFA World Cup knockout match, with the man who conquered Anfield now attempting to add another defining chapter to a career that has already transformed Egypt...
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As World Cup fever swirls, war-torn Yemen gets its own football miracle

Thousands of miles from North America, where the FIFA World Cup is bringing together football fans from countries that are otherwise at odds, one of football’s least heralded nations is experiencing its own moment of unity. In a stadium in the ancient city of Sanaa, hundreds have turned out to watch a match between two teams from areas controlled by different factions in Yemen’s 12-year-old civil war. Since May, a truce signed in 2022 has seemed firm enough to allow a resumption of the professional Yemen National League for the first time since 2014. Fans cheer during a football match in Sanaa, Yemen on June 28, 2026. — Reuters Photos are taken and pennants are exchanged between the captains of Wahda Sanaa, whose city is under the control of the Houthi militia, and Shaab Hadramout, whose province is controlled by a regional coalition and separatists. The referee starts the match. A Wahda Sanaa player grabs his head in frustration at missing a chance — ...
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SHC seeks Sindh health secretary, police chief's response on reports of HIV outbreak at Karachi hospital

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) sought on Thursday a detailed report from the provincial health secretary and police chief after a citizen filed a petition, citing reports of an HIV outbreak allegedly resulting from the reuse of contaminated syringes and medical negligence at a Karachi hospital. The petition, filed by Tariq Mansoor, was taken up by a two-member Sindh High Court bench comprising Justice Adnanul Karim Memon and Justice Adnan Iqbal Chaudhry. In its written order, seen by Dawn , the bench noted that the plea arose from “the reported HIV outbreak at Kulsum Bai Valika SESSI Hospital, SITE, Karachi, allegedly caused by the reuse of contaminated syringes and gross medical negligence, resulting in the infection of approximately 84 to over 200 children, with several reported fatalities”. The petitioner contended that “despite repeated reports in the national media regarding the HIV outbreak, no transparent, independent or time-bound inquiry has been conducted to fix respo...
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Blood, iron and water: India's riparian hypocrisy

South Asia teeters precariously upon a powder keg of existential volatility, ironically fuelled by water itself. This dangerous moment has been propelled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagitious and untenable proclamation that the waters of the Indus basin belong exclusively to India. One reaches this sombre conclusion after reading the incisive column by Ahmar Bilal Soofi, titled “Dams on Chenab — a target?”. A leading jurist, Soofi has consistently advocated rigorous legal remedies against Modi’s malevolent suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) of 1960 — an act tantamount to de facto abrogation, devoid of legitimacy under the principle of pacta sunt servanda . This assertion by New Delhi not only repudiates solemn treaty obligations but weaponises a vital shared resource, imperilling the agrarian lifelines of downstream Pakistan. India’s hypocrisy Indian policy discourse seeks to cloak accelerated projects on the Chenab, including the coloss...
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Pakistan calls for release, repatriation of 97 prisoners who have completed sentences in Indian jails

India urged Pakistan on Wednesday to release and repatriate 97 Pakistani prisoners who have completed their sentences, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office (FO). These prisoners include 64 civilians and 33 fishermen, the FO said, as it detailed the exchange of prisoner lists between India and Pakistan — a biannual practice that takes place in pursuance of the Agreement on Consular Access, 2008. The agreement requires both sides to share the lists of prisoners in each other’s custody on January 1 and July 1 every year . The FO said the “government of Pakistan handed over a list of 250 Indian prisoners in Pakistan (52 civilians and 198 fishermen) to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad”. It added that the Indian government shared a list of 439 prisoners who were “Pakistani or believed to be Pakistani”, including 386 civilian prisoners and 53 fishermen. It added that India was also urged to ensure the safety, securit...
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NCCIA to set up special cell in Punjab for swift probe into cases involving women, children

LAHORE: The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) will establish a dedicated special cell in Punjab to ensure the prompt registration, investigation, and prosecution of cybercrime cases involving women and children, an official said on Tuesday. NCCIA Punjab Director Muhammad Ali Wasim said the initiative was aimed at providing the victim women and children with expedited legal assistance, protection and institutional support while ensuring that complaints were investigated without delay. “Cases involving online harassment, cyberstalking, blackmail, digital exploitation, identity theft, misuse or circulation of private photographs and videos, as well as other technology-enabled offences against women and minors will be processed through the newly established specialised unit,” he said. The official added that all such cases would remain under the direct supervision of the relevant deputy director to ensure close monitoring, swift investigations, and effective coordination...
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