Quetta: Re-polling of local government elections in thirteen wards of eight districts of Balochistan is underway.

According to a notification of Provincial Election Commissioner Office Balochistan, polling will continue till 5:00 pm without any break.

Election Commission of Pakistan has established a Central Control Room in Islamabad and Provincial Election Commissioner’s office in Quetta for monitoring and registering complaints related to re-polling of local government elections.  

Re-polling will be held in eight districts including Dakki, Qila Abdullah, Ziarat, Loralai, Panjgor, Sibbi, Noshki and Kech.

Local government elections were postponed in the aforementioned districts on May 29, 2022, due to law and order and other incidents.   

Islamabad: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb says a special committee has been formed to finalize the Journalist and Media Professionals Protection (Amendment) Bill 2022.

Talking to a delegation of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalist (Dastoor) in Islamabad, she said the committee comprises of representatives from the ministries and media organizations concerned.

Marriyum Aurangzeb said the amendment bill will be finalized after further consultation with the journalists and media organizations.

She said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, soon after coming into power, initiated the process of abolishing all the anti-media laws and regulations.

She said it is the foremost priority of the coalition government to protect journalists and ensure provision of conducive working environment for them.

The Information Minister urged media organizations and journalists to play a proactive role in curbing fake news and propaganda.

The delegation apprised the minister of the problems and professional issues faced by the journalists.

Tehran: At least five people have been killed while 44 others sustained injuries after a magnitude-6.3 earthquake jolted southern Iran on Saturday, state media reported. 

At least five people were killed by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake, with the area also hit by two later strong quakes of up to 6.3 magnitudes. 

There were more than a dozen aftershocks.

The quake was relatively shallow at a depth of roughly 10 kilometers and its epicenter was in a comparatively sparsely populated area.

Rescue teams were deployed near the epicenter, Sayeh Khosh village, which is home to around 300 people in Hormozgan province. 

People went into the streets as aftershocks continued to jolt the area after the early morning quake, which also damaged buildings and infrastructure. 

Iran's deadliest quake was a 7.4-magnitude tremor that struck in 1990, killing 40,000 people in the north of the country.