ISLAMABAD: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman praised Saudi Arabia’s strong relations with Pakistan during a meeting with Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, according to a statement circulated by the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), on Wednesday, adding he also assured of the kingdom’s continued support to Pakistan in the future.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have historically maintained close and cordial relations, though both nations have sought to deepen these ties in recent years by setting up the Saudi-Pakistan Supreme Coordination Council in May 2021 to enhance collaboration across various sectors and provide strategic direction to their ties.
The two countries also have long-standing defense ties, characterized by military cooperation, joint exercises and defense agreements. The strategic and security collaborations between them aims at addressing mutual concerns, particularly in the field of counterterrorism and enhancing regional security.
Pakistan’s army chief is currently on an official visit to the kingdom where, according to the Saudi Press Agency, he met the crown prince in Jeddah.
“HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman highlighted that KSA and Pakistan have historic brotherly and strong relations, and both countries have always stood up for each other,” the ISPR said in the statement. “The Crown Prince also expressed desire to further strengthen the bilateral ties and that KSA will always standby with Pakistan in future as well.”
The statement added the meeting focused on wide ranging issues of mutual interest, including regional peace and security and bilateral defense cooperation.
Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Chief of General Staff of Saudi Armed Forces General Fayyadh bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili and other officials were also present at the occasion.
Apart from their strong bilateral defense ties, Saudi Arabia has significantly aided Pakistan in navigating its financial challenges in recent years by providing substantial economic support, including deposits into Pakistan’s central bank, deferred payment facilities for oil imports and direct financial aid.
These measures have alleviated some of the pressure from Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves and contributed to its fiscal stability during a critical economic period.
Saudi crown prince affirms strong ties, continued support in meeting with Pakistan’s army chief
https://arab.news/gd3pe
Saudi crown prince affirms strong ties, continued support in meeting with Pakistan’s army chief
- General Asim Munir is currently visiting Saudi Arabia where he met Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah
- The meeting focused on wide ranging issues, including regional security and bilateral defense cooperation
A year after maiming, Cammie the camel walks again with prosthetic limb in Pakistan
- Cammie lost her leg after a landlord in Sanghar attacked her for straying into his field for food
- A US-based firm built a prosthetic limb for the camel cared for by a Karachi animal shelter
KARACHI: A year after being brutally maimed by a landlord who chopped off her leg in Sanghar district of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province, Cammie the camel walked again Tuesday morning on all four legs with the help of a prosthetic limb, creating a euphoric feeling among her caregivers.
Cammie’s first steps came after a long period of intensive rehabilitation at the Karachi shelter of the CDRS Benji Project for Animal Welfare, which collaborated with a US-based prosthetics firm and received support from the provincial government to provide the young camel with a new limb.
“Today I am ecstatic,” Sarah Jahangir, director of the animal shelter, told Arab News. “I don’t have words for how happy I am seeing Cammie stand up on her prosthetic.”
“I am so proud of my team,” she continued.
Jahangir also expressed gratitude to Senator Qurat-Ul-Ain Marri and her sister, Shazia Marri, a provincial lawmaker in Sindh, for their support.
“I can’t thank both enough for rescuing Cammie, and trusting us and supporting us wholeheartedly.”
Cammie had wandered into a private field in Sanghar last year in search of food when a landlord, enraged by the intrusion, hacked off her front leg with a sharp weapon.
The incident led to public outcry that forced the state to intervene. Authorities filed an animal cruelty case against the landlord, arresting five people under Pakistan’s rarely enforced animal rights laws.
The prosthetic leg, specially designed by Virginia-based Bionic Pets, was delivered two months ago. Cammie’s medical team had waited for both her physical wound to heal and for her mental readiness before fitting the limb.
“She was a very scared, nervous little child,” said Sheema Khan, the shelter manager, who was crying on Tuesday when Cammie took her first steps with the new leg.
To help her emotionally overcome, Cammie was paired with another rescued camel, Callie, who became her emotional companion. Their friendship proved vital: on the night Callie arrived, Cammie stood up on her own for the first time in months.
However, the wounded camel couldn’t walk until the moment arrived on Tuesday morning.
“Seeing Cammie stand on her own is vindication of months of dedicated hard work,” Senator Qurat-Ul-Ain Marri told Arab News.
“When this tragic incident first occurred, my sister, the elected MNA from Sanghar, was appalled… With the help of the Sindh Government and the selfless volunteers at CDRS Benji, we resolved to bring her back on her feet, and today we have managed that. Allah has been most kind.”
Pakistan monsoon death toll rises to 116 after five more killed in last 24 hours
- The development comes as authorities warn of more downpours, flooding over the next two days
- At least 253 people have been injured in rain-related incidents since monsoon began in late June
ISLAMABAD: At least five more people were killed in rain-related incidents in Pakistan in the last 24 hours, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Tuesday, taking the overall monsoon death toll to 116 since late June.
In Punjab, two children died after being struck by lightning in Okara, while two others were killed in a house collapse in Bahawalnagar. A man was killed in a house collapse in Sindh’s Hyderabad. At least 253 people have been injured in rain-related incidents since monsoon began in late June.
In its latest report on Tuesday, the NDMA said monsoon currents from the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal were penetrating into central parts of Pakistan and were likely to cause thunderstorm and heavy rains.
“Scattered to widespread thunderstorm/rain with isolated heavy falls and torrential rains at few places is expected over Bahawalpur, Multan, DG Khan, Sahiwal, Lahore, Gujranwala and Faisalabad Divisions,” it said.
“Scattered thunderstorm/rain with isolated heavy falls is expected over the upper catchments of all rivers along with Islamabad, upper Sindh, east Balochistan, Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, DI Khan, Rawalpindi and Sargodha Divisions.”
The authority said flash flooding due to hill torrents is expected in DG Khan and east Balochistan on July 15-16, while urban flooding is expected in major Punjab cities over the next two days.
The NDMA earlier directed authorities to ensure deployment of emergency teams, improve drainage systems and coordinate closely with local administration. It advised public to stay away from weak structures and electricity poles, avoid unnecessary travel and relocate vehicles and livestock to safer locations.
Monsoon season brings South Asia 70 to 80 percent of its annual rainfall, arriving in early June in India and late June in Pakistan, and lasting through until September.
The annual rains are vital for agriculture and food security, and the livelihoods of millions of farmers. But increasingly erratic and extreme weather patterns are turning the rains into a destructive force.
Pakistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change, and its 240 million residents are facing extreme weather events with increasing frequency.
In 2022, unprecedented monsoon floods submerged a third of Pakistan and killed 1,700 people, with some areas yet to recover from the damage. In May, at least 32 people were killed in severe storms, including strong hailstorms.
Pakistan regulator unveils gender policy to boost women’s role in corporate, finance sectors
- SECP releases draft Women EquiSmart Policy 2025–2028 for public consultation on its official website
- It focuses on women’s leadership on boards, inclusive workplaces and gender-smart financial products
KARACHI: Pakistan’s top financial regulator on Tuesday launched a draft policy aimed at tackling gender inequality in the country’s corporate and financial sectors, seeking to improve women’s representation on company boards, expand access to finance for women entrepreneurs and make workplaces more inclusive.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) published its Women EquiSmart Policy 2025–2028 for public consultation on its website, calling it the first comprehensive gender framework for regulated sectors such as capital markets, insurance and non-banking finance.
“The draft framework reflects the SECP’s strategic shift from fragmented diversity efforts to a structured, cohesive regulatory approach to gender inclusion, aligned with national priorities and global frameworks,” the regulator said in a statement.
The draft policy is built around six pillars, including women’s leadership on boards, gender-disaggregated reporting, women’s entrepreneurship, gender-smart financial products, inclusive workplace practices and institutional capacity building.
The statement said it identifies policy gaps, proposes timelines and regulatory actions and assigns roles to key stakeholders across the public and private sectors.
While Pakistan has seen efforts in recent years to promote workplace equality — such as corporate codes encouraging gender diversity — these have largely remained voluntary and inconsistently implemented.
SECP’s proposed framework seeks to introduce a more enforceable and measurable approach to gender inclusion.
Pakistan court orders probe into online blasphemy spike
- There has been a spike in cases of mostly young men being arrested for committing blasphemy in WhatsApp groups since 2022
- Rights groups, police say many are brought to trial by private law firms, who use volunteers to scour Internet for offenders
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan court ordered a government probe on Tuesday into allegations that young people are being entrapped in online blasphemy cases, following appeals from hundreds of families.
There has been a spike in cases of mostly young men being arrested for committing blasphemy in WhatsApp groups since 2022.
Rights groups and police have said that many are brought to trial by private law firms, who use volunteers to scour the Internet for offenders.
“The government will constitute a commission within a 30-day timeframe,” said Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan at Islamabad High Court, adding that the commission is required to submit its findings within four months.
Blasphemy is an incendiary charge in Muslim-majority Pakistan punishable by death, and even unsubstantiated accusations can incite public outrage, lead to lynchings and to families being shunned by society.
A report published by the government-run National Commission for Human Rights in October last year said there were 767 people, mostly young men, in jail awaiting trial over blasphemy allegations.
“This is a huge ray of hope and it’s the first time that the families have felt heard,” said lawyer Imaan Mazari, who represents the families of arrested men and women, of the court order.
“Youngsters have been falsely roped into cases of such a sensitive nature that the stigma will last forever even if they are acquitted,” she added.
A 2024 report by Punjab police into the sudden spike in cases, that was leaked to the media, found that “a suspicious gang was trapping youth in blasphemy cases” and may be motivated by financial gain.
The Legal Commission on Blasphemy Pakistan (LCBP) is the most active of lawyers groups prosecuting young men in Pakistan.
Sheraz Ahmad Farooqi, one of the group’s leaders, told AFP in October that “God has chosen them for this noble cause.”
In recent years, several youngsters have been convicted and handed death sentences, although no execution has ever been carried out for blasphemy in Pakistan.
“We will fully support the probe commission and are confident that our voices will finally be listened to, our concerns will be heard, and the truth will come out,” the relative of one of the accused, who asked not to be named because of the backlash, told AFP.
‘World’s oldest marathon runner’ dies aged 114 in road accident
- Fauja Singh gained global fame after taking up long-distance running at 89, completing marathons past 100
- Tributes pour in for Sikh athlete who inspired generations with message of resilience, fitness and faith
NEW DELHI: India’s Fauja Singh, believed to be the world’s oldest distance runner, has died in a road accident aged 114, his biographer said Tuesday.
Singh, an Indian-born British national, nicknamed the “Turbaned Tornado,” died after being hit by a vehicle in Punjab state’s Jalandhar district on Monday.
“My Turbaned Tornado is no more,” Fauja’s biographer Khushwant Singh wrote on X.
“He was struck by an unidentified vehicle... in his village, Bias, while crossing the road. Rest in peace, my dear Fauja.”
Singh did not have a birth certificate but his family said he was born on April 1, 1911.
He ran full marathons (42 kilometer) till the age of 100.
His last race was a 10-kilometer (six-mile) event at the 2013 Hong Kong Marathon when 101, where he finished in one hour, 32 minutes and 28 seconds.
He became an international sensation after taking up distance running at the ripe old age of 89, after the death of his wife and one of his sons, inspired by seeing marathons on television.
Although widely regarded as the world’s oldest marathon runner, he was not certified by Guinness World Records as he could not prove his age, saying that birth certificates did not exist when he was born under British colonial rule in 2011.
Singh was a torchbearer for the Olympics at Athens 2004 and London 2012, and appeared in advertisements with sports stars such as David Beckham and Muhammad Ali.
His strength and vitality were credited to a routine of farm walks and a diet including Indian sweet “laddu” packed with dry fruits and home-churned curd.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute on social media.
“Fauja Singh was extraordinary because of his unique persona and the manner in which he inspired the youth of India on a very important topic of fitness,” said Modi on X
“He was an exceptional athlete with incredible determination. Pained by his passing away. My thoughts are with his family and countless admirers around the world.”
