• ‘Great privilege and honour’: PM Shehbaz on PhD degree.
• Premier reaffirms resolve to serve the nation with sincerity.
• Leadership a sacred trust, to be exercised with honesty: PM.
  

KUALA LUMPUR: The International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) on Tuesday conferred an Honourary Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership and Governance on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in recognition of his outstanding leadership and contributions to nation-building.

The conferment of the honourary degree took place at a Special Convocation Ceremony held at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation of IIUM’s Kuala Lumpur Campus, which was officiated by the university’s Constitutional Head, Tengku Ampuan Pahang Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah.

At the invitation of his Malaysian counterpart, PM Shehbaz is on a three-day official visit to Malaysia, wherein he met Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and held delegation-level talks, besides addressing an investment conference.

A day earlier, the two countries had signed six accords to strengthen bilateral cooperation covering different areas, including education, Halal certification, tourism and combating corruption.

In his acceptance address today, PM Shehbaz described the conferment as a “great privilege and honour,” emphasising his delight in being associated with IIUM, an institution renowned for championing the integration of knowledge, faith, and ethics.

Recalling his stints as Punjab chief minister, he highlighted his four-decade-long service as a “public servant” and noted that, now as the prime minister, he remained committed to serving the nation with sincerity and unwavering resolve.

Acknowledging the honour with “heartfelt gratitude,” he expressed the hope that his presence at IIUM would further strengthen academic partnerships and collaboration between the university and Pakistan’s leading institutions of higher learning.

The prime minister said that leadership was a sacred trust which should be exercised with honesty, sincerity, justice, and transparent accountability.

Highlighting the challenges facing the Muslim Ummah, he called for unity, compassion, and moral integrity and stressed the need to hold steadfastly to Islamic values and ethics to reclaim their rightful place in the comity of nations.

He called Pakistan’s youthful population a blessing and underscored the responsibility to provide them with platforms to serve suffering humanity with compassion and commitment.

In her address, Tunku Azizah said that for over four decades, [Shehbaz] Sharif had demonstrated visionary leadership, discipline, and compassion, dedicated to transforming lives and uplifting communities through advancements in education, healthcare, and opportunity creation.

“His initiatives, such as the Punjab Education Endowment Fund, have opened the doors of higher learning to thousands who might never have dreamed of university education.

“That is leadership that touches hearts and transforms futures [.…] At a time when the world often prizes image over integrity, His Excellency [Shehbaz Sharif] reminds us that good governance is about sincerity, service, and steadfastness,” she said.

Commending Pakistan’s longstanding friendship with Malaysia, she said the bilateral ties had further strengthened under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

“Today, our Pakistani students, academics, and alumni continue to enrich the university and uphold our shared mission of serving the Ummah. This conferment is more than a recognition of achievement. It is a celebration of the values we hold dear: justice, service, and excellence guided by faith,” she added.

• Case registered at Shaqri police station.
• FIR filed by Sanam’s friend in Peshawar.
• Incident happened on busy road in Peshawar: FIR.
  

A case has been registered at Peshawar’s Sharqi Police Station over the alleged abduction of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) activist Sanam Javed.

According to the first information report (FIR) filed by her friend on Tuesday, who is a female lawyer, Sanam Javed was reportedly stopped by five unidentified individuals on a busy road in Peshawar and forced into a vehicle before being taken away.

The complaint, in the FIR, termed the incident a serious breach of law and order, stating that such an act raises questions about the enforcement of the law in the city.

She called for an immediate investigation into the matter and the arrest of those involved in the alleged abduction, reads the FIR.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary Information Sheikh Waqas Akram claimed on Monday that party leader Sanam Javed has been picked up from Peshawar, The News reported.

According to Sheikh Waqas, the incident took place on one of Peshawar’s busy roads, where two vehicles intercepted Sanam Javed’s car, adding the individuals reportedly dragged her out of the vehicle in front of her companions and forced her into their own cars before speeding away.

Waqas termed the incident an act of abduction and demanded her immediate release.

He said such actions are part of a continuing campaign of political victimisation against PTI leaders and workers.

On the other hand, PTI leadership and supporters on social media asked how such an incident could happen under a PTI-led government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with many demanding Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur personally intervene to ensure her safe recovery and bring those responsible to justice.

One of this year’s Nobel laureates is not just a brilliant medical researcher but also a master of balance — between the lab and life. In fact, he might be so good at it that he doesn’t even know he’s won.

Fred Ramsdell was among those honoured Monday with a 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine, but he’s currently “living his best life” on an “off the grid” hiking foray, a spokesperson from his San Francisco-based lab, Sonoma Biotherapeutics, told AFP.

Ramsdell shared the prestigious prize with Mary Brunkow of Seattle, Washington and Shimon Sakaguchi of Osaka University in Japan for their discoveries related to the functioning of the immune system.

But the laureate’s digital detox means the Nobel committee has been unable to reach him and break the news.

Jeffrey Bluestone, a friend of Ramsdell’s and co-founder of the lab, said the researcher deserves credit, but he can’t reach him, either.

“I have been trying to get a hold of him myself. I think he may be backpacking in the backcountry in Idaho,” Bluestone told AFP.

The Nobel committee also hit a roadblock trying to reach Brunkow — both researchers are based on the US West Coast, which is nine hours behind Stockholm — but eventually got hold of her.

“I asked them to, if they have a chance, call me back,” said Thomas Perlmann, secretary-general of the Nobel committee, at the press conference announcing the winners.

The three won the prize for research that identified the immune system´s “security guards”, called regulatory T-cells.

Their work concerns “peripheral immune tolerance” that prevents the immune system from harming the body, and has led to a new field of research and the development of potential medical treatments now being evaluated in clinical trials.

Sakaguchi, 74, made the first key find in 1995, discovering a previously unknown class of immune cells that protect the body from autoimmune diseases.

Brunkow, born in 1961 and now a senior project manager at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Ramsdell, a 64-year-old senior advisor at Sonoma Biotherapeutics, made the other key discovery in 2001.