Pakistan | News

In response to escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, Pakistan has successfully evacuated 450 pilgrims from Iran, with additional evacuations planned from both Iran and Iraq in the coming days.

India’s latest attempt to diplomatically isolate Pakistan suffered a setback after it failed to convince the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to place Pakistan back on the grey list.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday expressed “complete solidarity” with Iran amid heavy exchanges of missiles and airstrikes between Tehran and arch-foe Israel, while former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that Pakistan cannot afford the conflict in Iran turning into Iraq 2.0 or World War III. There were reports of new Israeli strikes in Iran earlier today as Tel Aviv warned “Tehran will burn” after the Islamic Republic continued its barrage of overnight missiles in response to Israeli onslaught on its nuclear facilities that killed its top generals. The missile exchange comes a day after nearly 80 people, including top army officers, were killed while civilians were among over 300 wounded in Iran as a result of Israel’s strikes on military sites and private residences, according to the country’s UN envoy Amir Saeid Iravani. According to PTV News, the PM spoke over the phone to Iranian President Dr Masoud Pezeshkian, informing him that Pakistan stands in complete solidarity with the “broth...

Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear and military facilities constitute a “grave danger and a serious threat” to the peace, security, and stability of the entire region and beyond, Pakistan told the United Nations Security Council during an emergency session convened on Friday, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. Israel on Friday launched widescale strikes on Iran, claiming that it targeted nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories, and military commanders. Iran’s ambassador told the UN that 78 people had been killed and 320 wounded in the first wave of strikes by Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacks were the beginning of a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon. Iranian media and witnesses reported explosions, including at the country’s main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, Reuters reported. Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards corps said its top commander, Hossein Salami, was killed, and state media reported the unit’s headquarters i...

Pakistan has called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to immediately halt Israel’s military strikes on Iran and hold Tel Aviv accountable for what it termed “unjustified and illegitimate aggression.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan yesterday strongly condemns unjustified and illegitimate aggression by Israel against Iran.

KARACHI: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has rejected the recent Budget 2025-26, stating that imposing multiple taxes does not make a budget admirable, ARY News reported. Maulana Fazlur Rehman disapproved of the unnecessary taxation policies. He emphasised the need for economic reforms in Pakistan, highlighting that the country must learn from the GDP […]

Pakistan has condemned the shooting incident in the Austrian city of Graz earlier this week, where a gunman shot dead 10 people at his former high school before killing himself. A former student killed ten people and himself at a secondary school in Graz on Tuesday in the worst school shooting in Austria’s modern history, sending shockwaves through the country which declared three days of national mourning. In a statement, the Foreign Office said it was “deeply saddened by the tragic shooting at the secondary school in Graz that resulted in several casualties with many injured.” The foreign office extended “deepest condolences to the families and loved ones and wish a swift and full recovery for the injured.” “Pakistan stands with the people and government of Austria in this hour,” the statement added. Introvert, online shooting games Austrian police described the shooter as an introvert who had largely withdrawn from the outside world before he carefully planned the attack, Reuters reported. Police found dis...

Pakistan was bottom-ranked among 148 countries in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report 2025 — with 56.7 per cent gender parity — the highest since 2006, it emerged on Thursday. The annual report benchmarked the current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. In the latest report, Pakistan has been ranked below Sudan, (57pc, 147th), Chad (57.1pc, 146th), Iran (58.3pc,145th), Guinea (59.5pc, 144th), Democratic Republic of the Congo (60.1pc, 143rd), Niger (61.3pc,142nd), Algeria (61.4pc, 141st), and Mali (61.7pc, 140th). Occupying the bottom rank of the index, Pakistan saw its overall parity score decline from last year’s edition, from 57pc to 56.7pc, the report said. Overall Pakistan has closed +2.3 of its gender gap since 2006. However, this year’s results were a second consecutive drop from the economy’s best score of 57.7pc, achieved in 2023. Pakistan’s...

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday organized a colorful Mango Festival here, bringing together members of the diplomatic corps and their families in a celebration of Pakistan’s national fruit.

Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif has taken a landmark step in child protection by launching Pakistan’s first Virtual Centre for Child Safety under the Safe City Authority in Punjab.

A relentless heatwave continues to grip parts of Pakistan, with the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) reporting felt temperatures as high as 50°C and heat intensity peaking at an extreme 60°C in Lahore on Thursday.

Can Bitcoin solve the energy crisis in Pakistan? 2,000 MW Mining Plan As of March 2025, Pakistan boasted an installed power capacity of 46,600 MW, a slight increase from the previous year. Almost 14% of this capacity remains idle, especially during off-peak winter months when demand can drop as low as 12,000 MW. The core issue here lies in capacity payments, fixed fees paid to power plants regardless of whether they produce electricity, which have soared as high as 2.1 trillion Pakistan rupees($7.45 billion) annually. Read more

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan yesterday strongly rejected recent remarks made by India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar during his engagements with the media in Brussels, labelling them as “irresponsible” and “bellicose.

LAHORE:  On the directives of Chief Minister Punjab, Maryam Nawaz, Pakistan’s first Virtual Blood Bank Centre has been launched, aiming at ensuring instant blood availability in emergencies. One who requires immediate blood may call Emergency Helpline 15 and press button 4 to instantly get connected with the Virtual Blood Bank Centre, where essential details are […]

Pakistan has long been struggling with the gradual disappearance of its rare wildlife species due to a lethal mix of environmental and human-induced factors, including habitat destruction, dwindling water resources, pollution and poaching. Among these vanishing species is the endangered Indus fishing cat, found mostly in the Indus River Delta and surrounding buffer areas, where its numbers have dropped dramatically over recent decades. Habitat loss, food scarcity, hunting and growing human populations have significantly impacted this rare feline, which plays a vital role in maintaining the balance of aquatic ecosystems, according to experts. “The past two decades have appeared to be disastrous for this environment-friendly animal, mainly because of the destruction of wetlands and killings by local people,” Saeedul Islam, a senior wildlife expert, told Anadolu. Although official surveys have yet to determine precise figures, Islam explained that conservative estimates suggest the cat’s population in the countr...

Pakistan on Wednesday categorically rejected the irresponsible remarks of the Indian External Affairs Minister made during different media engagements in Brussels, advising him to refrain from concocting misleading narratives to justify their recent aggressive actions.

United States Central Command (Centcom) commander Army General Michael Kurilla on Wednesday praised Pakistan as a “phenomenal partner in the world of counter-terrorism”, citing the nation’s struggle against terrorism in Balochistan and against terrorist groups like the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K). Pakistan and the US reaffirmed the continuation of counter-terrorism cooperation during a dialogue in Washington on May 10. The dialogue underscored the cooperation between the two countries in addressing the most pressing challenges to regional and global security, including the threats posed by terrorist outfits such as the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and IS-K. The two nations are slated to have another counter-terrorism dialogue this month. During a House Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington on Tuesday, the general was asked about the situation on the Afghan border with Pakistan, where he outlined that Pakistan has apprehended several “high-value” IS-K operatives. View this post on Instagram Hail...

The Government of Pakistan has introduced a new digital tax law aimed at bringing online earnings and services under the national tax net.

LONDON/ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s high level delegation in London has urged the United Kingdom to support the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu & Kashmir.