Islamabad: President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday summoned the session of the Senate on Tuesday (May 21) at 05:00 pm.

The president summoned the session of Upper House in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 54(1) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Earlier in the day, President Asif Ali Zardari visited he family home of Shaheed Major Babar Khan in Mianwali and expressed condolences to the family members of the martyr.

During the visit, the president offered Fateha for Major Babar Khan who was martyred in Zhob. He prayed to Allah Almighty to elevate the rank of the martyr in paradise and grant courage to the bereaved family to bear this loss with patience.

He also paid tribute to martyred Major Babar Khan for sacrificing his life for the sake of the country, a statement issued by the President House Press Wing said.

The president said the entire nation was proud of its martyrs and salutes them. He also appreciated Shaheed’s devotion to duty, patriotism and his services for the country.

Multan: Polling for by-election in NA-148 Multan-1 will be held today. Polling will start at 8am and continue till 5pm without any interval.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the district administration have completed all the arrangements for free, fair and transparent elections in this constituency.

The seat had fallen vacant after the election of PPP leader and former prime minister Syed Yusouf Raza Gilani as Senator. Mr Gilani is now the Senate Chairman.

Yousaf Raza Gillani's son Ali Qasim Gilani and Barrister Malik Taimur, who is backed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s support, will contest for the National Assembly seat.

(Reuters): Israel's forces also took over some ground in Rafah, a southern city by the Egyptian border that is packed with displaced people and where the launch this month of a long-threatened incursion to crush hold-outs of Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas has alarmed Cairo and Washington.

Exposing further cracks in Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government, Benny Gantz, a centrist member of the war cabinet, threatened to resign if the right-wing leader does not agree by June 8 to a day-after plan that would include how Gaza might be ruled after the war with Hamas.

In what Israeli media said was the result of intelligence gleaned during the latest incursions, the military announced the recovery of the body of a man who was among more than 250 hostages seized by Hamas in a cross-border rampage on October 7 that triggered the war.

Ron Binyamin's remains were located along with those of three other slain hostages whose repatriation was announced on Friday, the military said without providing further details.

Israel has conducted renewed military sweeps this month of parts of northern Gaza where it had declared the end of major operations in January. At the time, it also predicted its forces would return to prevent a regrouping by the Palestinian Islamist group that rules Gaza.

One site has been Jabalia, the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps. On Saturday, troops and tanks edged into streets so far spared the ground offensive, residents said. In one strike, medics said 15 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded.

The Gaza health ministry and the Civil Emergency Service said teams received dozens of calls about possible casualties but were unable to carry out any searches because of the ongoing ground offensive and aerial bombardment.

"Today is the most difficult in terms of the occupation bombardment, air strikes and tank shelling have going on almost non-stop," said one resident in Jabalia, Ibrahim Khaled, via a chat app.

"We know of dozens of people, martyrs (killed) and wounded, but no ambulance vehicle can get into the area," he told Reuters. The Israeli military said its forces have continued to operate in areas across Gaza including Jabalia and Rafah, carrying out what it called "precise operations against terrorists and infrastructure".

"The IAF (air force) continues to operate in the Gaza Strip, and struck over 70 terror targets during the past day, including weapons storage facilities, military infrastructure sites, terrorists who posed a threat to IDF troops, and military compounds," the military said in a statement.