Infinity Social Updates

“And worse I may be yet. The worst is not So long as we can say, ‘This is the worst.’” — William Shakespeare, *King Lear* PROLOGUE The United States’ on-again, off-again war against Iran continues. While we are witnessing another lull at the time of writing, after a brief escalation following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the structural logic of the conflict remains unchanged. If anything, Ukraine’s sinking of Iran’s merchant ship in the Caspian Sea threatens to imbricate the European and Asian theatres, especially if Kyiv attacks more Iranian ships and Iran retaliates. The war imposed on Iran by the US and its Zionist partner already involves 12 active state actors, a number that makes untangling the entanglement into a nightmare. Notwithstanding, many people in Pakistan have raised a number of questions regarding Iran’s policy and continue to fuss over why Iran can’t just cut a deal with the United States, get sanctions relief and get on with li...

Bodies of five more international climbers, including world-renowned British-Nepali Nirmal Purja, have been airlifted to Skardu after they were killed in an avalanche on Broad Peak, the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) said on Thursday. The avalanche struck on July 30, cutting off contact with the 10-member international expedition led by 43-year-old Purja on Broad Peak, one of the world’s highest mountains. His company confirmed there were no survivors . “Following one of the most technically demanding recovery operations on Broad Peak, the Alpine Club of Pakistan confirms that the bodies of Nirmal Purja, Wang Zhong, Nima Sherpa, Gyalu Sherpa, and Killi Pemba “Kilu” Sherpa have been transported to Skardu CMH Hospital by helicopter,” ACP said in its statement on Thursday. “Following necessary procedures and documentation, they will be transferred to Islamabad,” it said, adding that they have been prepared for repatriation to their respective home countries under special arrangements...

The sons of ex-prime minister Imran Khan, Kasim and Sulaiman, have reiterated concerns about their incarcerated father’s health in a fresh interview with CNN published on Thursday. Their interview comes as the PTI marked three years since Imran was imprisoned on Aug 5, 2023 for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts. After his eye ailment came to light in January, the PTI founder’s family and party leaders have repeatedly voiced concerns over a lack of access to him. In the CNN interview, Kasim and Sulaiman said they had “no updates because his (Imran’s) family, doctors [and] lawyers haven’t been allowed to see him for seven months”. “Been more in the dark than we’ve ever been through his incarceration,” Kasim said, noting the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) order for a phone call between them every two weeks. Speaking to CNN from London, the duo claimed that each time they speak to the media about their father, Pakistani authorities made it harder for them to see him by alle...

ISLAMABAD: The National Dialogue Committee (NDC) has approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC), seeking directives for jail authorities to facilitate a meeting with incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan and his spouse, Bushra Bibi , arguing that the denial of visitation rights violates fundamental constitutional guarantees and prison regulations. The petition, filed under Article 199 of the Constitution, read with Section 561 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Pakistan Prison Rules, 1978, was submitted by NDC Chairman Mahmood Baqi Molvi along with fellow committee members Imran Ismail, Barrister Muhammad Ali Khan Saif and Fawad Ahmed. The petitioners, all former federal ministers and senior PTI leaders, contend that the jail administration has imposed an “illegal and arbitrary ban” on meetings with the imprisoned couple since their incarceration on August 5, 2023. The petition asserts that the respondent authorities, including the Federation of Pakistan through the...

A SpaceX rocket piece floating in space since last year was expected to have smashed into the moon at high speed early on Wednesday morning, though the impact was unlikely to be confirmed for at least several hours. The school-bus-size object is the second stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that had launched a lunar lander from Firefly Aerospace toward the moon in January 2025. Weighing four metric tons, the rocket body had been due to hit the moon around 2:35am ET (11:35am PKT), travelling at 5,400 miles per hour, but none of the spacecraft orbiting the moon were expected to be in a position to capture images of the impact live. The space junk would have kicked up a plume of lunar dust that would likely be illuminated by sunlight but difficult to spot with the naked eye from Earth. It was likely to be at least several hours before scientists would be able to confirm the crash by studying images from telescopes in the Americas, the BBC ...

India’s aggressive drive to expand ethanol-blended petrol is facing growing resistance, with a protest march on Tuesday demanding the government rethink its decision to make E20 fuel the national standard. Opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal marched towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence carrying petitions signed by more than 200,000 people, but was stopped by police before reaching his destination. India, the world’s third-largest auto market, says the biofuel move is helping curb dependence on imported crude and boost farm incomes. But motorists have voiced concerns over vehicle performance, and the government’s campaign has upset India’s vast middle class — a key voter base for Modi, who worry that they are being forced to shoulder the costs of the transition. AFP breaks down the speed bumps on India’s fuel blending road. What’s ethanol-blended petrol? E20, the fuel at the centre of the controversy, is essentially petrol mixed with 20 per cent ethanol — which is produ...

LAHORE: The entire staff of Lahore’s Ghaziabad police station was suspended on Tuesday after it emerged that an assistant sub-inspector had allegedly raped a woman in the presence of senior officials on the premises on Sunday. Lahore DIG (Operations) Faisal Kamran confirmed the development to Dawn , saying that the woman was allegedly raped by an assistant sub-inspector inside a room at the police station. He said the woman had identified the exact room where she was allegedly raped in the presence of senior police officials. “The room was located on the upper floor of the police station,” he said. The DIG said he suspended the entire staff of the police station because, according to police rules, all of them were responsible for keeping a check on any wrongdoing at the station. “No one bothered to enquire why the ASI had brought the woman to the police station in the absence of any female personnel,” he said. Over 70 personnel and officials deployed at the police station have bee...

ISLAMABAD: The PPP renewed its allegations of rigging on Tuesday while polling was under way in two constituencies of Muzaffarabad, where it could not be held on the scheduled date of August 2 in the second phase of Azad Jammu and Kashmir elections. Authorities had postponed polling in LA-27 Muzaffarabad-I (Kutla) and at 71 of the 174 polling stations in LA-28 Muzaffarabad-II (Lachhrat) due to landslides and bad weather, which had resulted in blocked roads. Elections in AJK are being held in three phases due to security concerns, with polling having been held on seven seats of Muzaffarabad division and 12 refugee seats — reserved seats for refugees from India-occupied Kashmir — on Sunday. In the third phase, elections will be held in 11 constituencies of Poonch division on August 10. The first phase of polling was held in AJK’s Mirpur division on July 27, in which the PML-N had secured nine of the 13 seats while the PPP won the remaining four. The two parties, which are allies in ...

Palestinians in Gaza said on Monday that US President Donald Trump’s touting of a deal aimed at disarming Hamas and ending the war was out of touch with their worsening reality, after Israel killed 18 people in one of the deadliest days since a ceasefire last year. Trump on Thursday declared “a major milestone” towards implementing the Gaza peace plan agreed last October, saying that Hamas would disarm and Israel would withdraw in phases. But complications have swiftly emerged: Israel’s defence minister said on Sunday that Israeli troops in Gaza would not move before Hamas disarms and its tunnels are destroyed, while Hamas insisted Israel halt attacks before it begins implementing the part of the agreement dealing with its arms. On the ground in Gaza, still in ruins as a result of the Israeli offensive launched in retaliation for Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attacks, Palestinians say intensifying Israeli strikes in recent days have shattered any hope of progr...

LOWER SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: A cleric was killed following an explosion, suspected to have been caused by a pressure bomb, at a supermarket in Lower South Waziristan’s Wana on Monday, police said. Wana Circle Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Asghar Ali Shah told Dawn that the explosion occurred on the ground floor of a supermarket located in Rustam Bazaar. He said Mufti Jana Mir Masti Khel sustained critical injuries in the explosion and was immediately shifted to Wana district headquarters hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. The DSP added that he and Wana City Police Station House Officer Usman Wazir, along with a large contingent of police, reached the site of the incident after the explosion, and the area was cordoned off while investigators collected forensic evidence. DSP Shah said initial investigation suggested the bomb was planted to target the cleric. He said police had filed an initial complaint and further investigation was under way to identify the perpetrat...

A court in New Delhi acquitted the former head of the Indian wrestling federation on Monday of charges of sexual harassment and stalking brought by medal-winning athletes, his lawyer said. Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, 69, a former lawmaker from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had been accused by some women wrestlers of groping and demanding sexual favours, allegations that he denied. The case triggered weeks of demonstrations in 2023 led by top wrestlers, including world championship winner Vinesh Phogat and Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, who demanded Singh’s removal as the head of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). Singh’s lawyer, Rajiv Mohan, said on Monday he had been “honourably acquitted”. The court reached its verdict after finding “inconsistencies” in witness statements and “contradiction on major issues”, he told reporters. Singh’s supporters set off firecrackers and showered him with flower petals while chanting slogans afte...

Security forces have killed the mastermind behind the July 30 attack on a police checkpost in Hangu, which claimed the lives of nine police officials, a senior security official told Dawn on Sunday. Security sources identified the slain terrorist as Amir Mauviya, who they said was killed during an intelligence-based operation in Hangu’s Chapri Naryab. According to the sources, the slain terrorist held an important position among Fitna-al-Khawarij in Kurram, and was wanted in several other terrorism cases. Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. The sources added that under Operation 11 Garaj, operations against terrorists had been intensified. The attack on the Khazina Banda checkpost had claimed the lives of nine police personnel, including a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) and left 28 injured. A statement issued by KP Inspector General (IG) Zulfiqar Hameed at the time said that the checkpost was attacked by Fitna al Khawar...

When European lawmakers talk about labour abuse in the garment trade, Pakistan is too often cast as the defendant before any evidence is heard. A serious child-labour problem in one corner of the economy becomes, in the retelling, a verdict on an entire export industry. That is not regulation. It is collective punishment by reputation. Europe is right to insist that the clothes, towels and bed linen entering its market are not produced through child labour, forced labour, unsafe workplaces or environmental abuse. Pakistan should not seek exemption from those standards. It should, however, challenge the habit of turning legitimate concerns into sweeping judgments about an entire industry. Regulation must follow evidence, not inherited stereotypes about manufacturing in the developing world. That distinction matters more now, not less. The European Parliament’s June 2026 briefing on textile trade placed labour and sustainability conditions in supplier countries under renewed scrutiny....

GILGIT: The Alpine Club (ACP) of Pakistan said on Sunday that a rescue team had found celebrated Nepali climber Nirmal Purja’s body at approximately 5,700 metres on the Broad Peak mountain — three days after he and other members of his team were reported missing after an avalanche. On Saturday, his expedition organising company Elite Exped announced that all members of the expedition, which also included Pakistani climber Sohail Sakhi, had died. The bodies of three climbers were recovered by then, as well as the remains believed to be of a climber from the United States, Naila Kiani of the ACP told Dawn on Sunday. Meanwhile, the ACP announced in a statement that Purja’s body had been found. “The Alpine Club of Pakistan shares this update with profound sorrow. The ground rescue team has reached Nirmal Purja ‘Nims Dai’ at approximately 5,700m on Broad Peak, where three additional bodies have also been sighted, though their identities remain unconfirmed. The ground team will bring ...