Infinity Social Updates

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 ...

The first time I stood beneath the ceiling of the Sadequain Gallery at Frere Hall, I could not look away. Arz-o-Samawat [The Earth and the Heavens] was Sadequain’s most ambitious mural and possibly his largest. His demise in 1986 left the mural permanently unfinished, and the empty blue space that remains gives the work a strange, mystic appeal, holding in itself the same intrigue that one might feel for the promised idea of heaven. Sadequain is said to have called it his own Sistine Chapel. I came across the same mural again recently, in miniature, on a postage stamp. On June 30, 2026, Sadequain’s 96th birthday, Pakistan Post unveiled three record-length stamps in the artist’s honour at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA), Islamabad. Each stamp measures 280mm by 40mm, and a set of three stamps — billed as the longest in the world — are available on one perforated sheet. The stamp sheet itself features two panels from the Frere hall ceiling, alongside the entire leng...

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Two policemen were martyred when unidentified armed men ambushed a police patrol in the Shah Alam Mor area of Daraban Kalan in Dera Ismail Khan district on Friday, police said. Regional Police Officer Ghulam Mubashir Mekan said the attack occurred within the limits of the Choudhwan police station when armed men opened fire on a police party returning from the site of a protest. Police said the incident followed the fatal shooting of a civilian on Thursday night. Officials said unidentified gunmen attempted to stop two men travelling on a motorcycle in the Choudhwan area a day earlier. When the riders failed to stop, the attackers opened fire, killing one of the men. The killing prompted residents to block Daraban Road on Friday morning. The road was later reopened after successful negotiations between the protesters and police. Officials said four policemen travelling on two motorcycles after the protest ended were ambushed near Shah Alam Mor by armed men lying i...

Hamas has agreed to a deal to end its conflict with Israel, under which it will give up its weapons in exchange for a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from the devastated Gaza Strip. Below are the reactions of several Gazans, who have endured more than two years of strikes, hunger and mass displacement since the conflict began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. While Hamas has agreed to the plan announced by US President Donald Trump, Israel has yet to comment. ‘Afraid to dream’ For displaced teacher Mohammed Hamdouna, the conflict ushered in an era of horror that he hopes can finally draw to a close. “Finally, the world’s longest nightmare will end,” the 35-year-old told AFP . “I’m afraid to dream or believe it until the crossings are opened and aid and temporary shelters begin to enter Gaza,” said Hamdouna. He is one of thousands of Gazans originally from the northern part of the enclave who remain displaced with their families. “Finally, Hamas has agreed to...