Train Driver Tests Positive For Drugs In Deadly Bangkok Level Crossing Crash

The Child Protection Court in Peshawar has issued a ruling on a petition concerning the alleged forced marriage of a 13-year-old girl in the Phando area. According to the written order, the girl will not be married off or sent to her husband’s home until she reaches the age of 16. The girl’s father also agreed to the court’s direction. The petition was filed by an officer of the Child Protection Commission in Peshawar, who approached the court over allegations that the minor had been forcibly married in Phando. During the proceedings, the girl was produced before the court in the presence of a social worker and a psychologist from the Child Protection Unit. The court reviewed the circumstances surrounding the alleged marriage and issued its written decision. The girl’s father, grandfather and grandmother denied that she had been married. They told the court that no marriage ceremony had taken place and that the family had only held an engagement ceremony. The court directed the Child Protection Officer to closely monitor the girl’s safety and submit a follow-up report every three months. The ruling effectively prevents the girl’s marriage or departure to a marital home until she turns 16, while authorities will continue monitoring her welfare and protection.

Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal has said that nearly 300 children die every day in Pakistan because of inadequate healthcare facilities, stressing the need for urgent reforms and greater investment in the country’s health sector. Speaking at a ceremony held at a private hospital in Karachi, the health minister said Pakistan is moving in the right direction but acknowledged that significant challenges remain in improving healthcare services across the country. Mustafa Kamal said the nursing curriculum must be updated to meet modern healthcare standards and international requirements. He added that strengthening the skills of healthcare professionals is essential to improving the quality of medical services. Highlighting demographic challenges, the minister said Pakistan’s population is growing at an annual rate of 2.55 percent, placing increasing pressure on education, healthcare and other public services. He noted that the rapidly expanding population has left millions of children without access to education. The minister said the government’s primary focus is to prevent diseases through vaccination and public awareness rather than relying solely on treatment. He added that Pakistan spends millions of dollars every year on vaccination programmes and warned that the cost could rise to $1.2 billion by 2030 if current trends continue. Mustafa Kamal said a lack of public awareness remains one of the biggest obstacles to successful immunisation campaigns. He noted that vaccination teams often face resistance, with some families refusing to cooperate by not allowing health workers into their homes. He said the government is working to improve awareness about the importance of vaccines and strengthen preventive healthcare programmes to reduce the burden of infectious diseases. The health minister also announced that the government is expected to sign agreements within the next few weeks to begin local vaccine production. He expressed hope that Pakistan would start manufacturing vaccines domestically before 2030, reducing dependence on imports and strengthening the country’s public health system.

Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas has said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) could return to parliamentary standing committees if a meeting is arranged with the party’s founder, Imran Khan. Speaking to journalists in Islamabad, Raja Nasir Abbas said that if the government wanted Parliament to continue functioning, it should facilitate a meeting between PTI leaders and Imran Khan. He alleged that deliberate ambiguity was being created about Imran Khan’s health, saying the situation was also aimed at creating divisions within the party. Raja Nasir Abbas recalled that before the passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment, a meeting with Imran Khan had taken place on the orders of the court. He said his party wanted a government that genuinely represented the people. Commenting on Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s remarks about a possible collapse of the system, he said he agreed with the assessment. He added that the problem identified by Naqvi was real, but the proposed “medicine” to address it was illegal. The Senate opposition leader also claimed that he knew why negotiations between the government and PTI had failed. He said a complete plan for negotiations had been taken to Imran Khan at Adiala Jail, adding that the opposition had held a meeting at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House before approaching the PTI founder. “We took several proposals to the founder,” he said, explaining that they did not want to visit the Prime Minister’s House and provide legal legitimacy to the government’s position. He said the same principle was behind their decision not to hold negotiations in the Speaker’s Office, as they did not recognise the arrangements as legally legitimate. Raja Nasir Abbas stressed that he distinguished between Imran Khan and the PTI as a political party, adding that he would stand by the former prime minister “until the last moment.” He reiterated that PTI could return to the standing committees if a meeting with Imran Khan was arranged. “If the government is serious about negotiations, it should come forward and talk,” he said, adding that the opposition was ready to hold talks in the Constitution Room of Parliament House.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has announced plans to visit Peshawar and Quetta to engage directly with business leaders and provincial authorities as the government steps up efforts to address security challenges affecting trade and investment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The announcement came during a meeting with a delegation of traders, industrialists, and representatives of chambers of commerce from both provinces. The delegation briefed the minister on the law and order situation and highlighted the security issues that continue to disrupt commercial and industrial activities. Naqvi said the government recognizes the difficulties faced by the business community and is committed to creating a safer environment for investment and economic growth. He assured participants that all available resources would be utilized to improve security and resolve issues affecting businesses. The interior minister said his upcoming visits to Peshawar and Quetta would include meetings with senior provincial officials, law enforcement agencies, and business representatives to develop practical and long-term solutions to security concerns. He emphasized that a secure business environment is essential for economic stability, adding that the success of traders and industrialists is closely linked to the country’s overall development. “The progress of the business community is the progress of Pakistan,” Naqvi said, reaffirming the government’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurs and protecting commercial activities. The meeting followed a high-level discussion held a day earlier between Naqvi and President Asif Ali Zardari, during which they reviewed the country’s overall security situation, with particular focus on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Pakistan has witnessed a rise in militant violence in recent months, particularly in the two provinces. Security forces have intensified intelligence-based operations to counter militant groups responsible for attacks on civilians, security personnel, and public infrastructure. The deteriorating security environment has also affected workers and businesses. Earlier this week, six labourers who had been abducted in Balochistan’s Kech district were found dead, while several other attacks in recent weeks targeted police officers, judges, transport routes, and public facilities. The government believes improving security is essential not only for protecting citizens but also for restoring investor confidence and advancing major regional connectivity and infrastructure projects that have been affected by instability.

The Supreme Court has issued a landmark ruling concerning women’s rights, declaring that a woman’s right to seek khula (judicial divorce) is a constitutional right and that violence against a woman exercising this right amounts to an attack on the Constitution. A three-member bench of the Supreme Court dismissed the jail petition filed by convict Waseem Abbas and upheld his death sentence. Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar authored the four-page detailed judgment. According to the judgment, women are fully protected under Articles 9, 14 and 25 of the Constitution, which guarantee their security, dignity and equal rights. The court said that anyone who uses violence against a woman seeking khula would face the full force of the law. It observed that killing a woman for exercising her legal right is an act of brutality and open defiance of the law. The Supreme Court further ruled that a convict involved in a cold-blooded and planned murder does not deserve any concession. The judgment also clarified that the testimony of relatives cannot automatically be rejected in cases involving crimes committed within the privacy of a home. The court said forensic evidence recovered from the crime scene provided conclusive evidence against the accused. The forensic examination established a match between the recovered bullet casings and the pistol linked to the crime. The Supreme Court found no legal or factual flaw in the decisions of the lower courts and upheld the death sentence awarded to Waseem Abbas. According to the case record, Waseem Abbas shot and killed his former wife, Shehnaz Bibi, on October 11, 2020. She had obtained a legal khula decree from a family court before the incident. The convict allegedly entered the woman’s home and killed her around 48 hours after she obtained the decree. A trial court subsequently sentenced Abbas to death and awarded him 10 years in prison. The Lahore High Court later upheld the death sentence.