Pakistan

RAWALPINDI - Federal Minister for Railways, Muhammad Hanif Abbasi has stressed the importance of discipline and sports activities during his address as the chief guest at the concluding ceremony of the Interdepartmental Sports Competitions held at Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU) on Tuesday.

The Indian Army has reportedly raised a white flag at the Chora Complex along the Line of Control (LoC), signalling a retreat in the face of a powerful counteroffensive by the Pakistan Army, security sources revealed on Wednesday.

The British Council Pakistan has announced that all examinations scheduled for today will continue as planned, despite heightened tensions between Pakistan and India following recent military escalations.

India has launched a “cowardly” missile attack on Pakistani territory, firing missiles from its airspace, Director General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry confirmed on Wednesday.

ISLAMABAD - Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Industries and Production Haroon Akhtar Khan on Tuesday reaffirmed the government’s commitment to support local manufacturers, emphasizing the importance of boosting the automotive sector.

US President Donald Trump has said said the escalation between India and Pakistan was a “shame”. He was the first world leader to react to the tense situation after India carried out strikes inside Pakistan which also retaliated and reportedly shot down Indian jets. “It’s a shame. We just heard about it as we were walking in the doors of the Oval [Office],” he said inside the White House after overseeing the swearing-in ceremony for his special envoy, Steve Witkoff. “I guess people knew something was going to happen based on a little bit of the past. They’ve been fighting for a long time,” the US president added. “I hope it ends very quickly.” In a statement, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called for restraint from both countries, Associated Press reported. “The Secretary-General is very concerned about the Indian military operations across the Line of Control and international border. He calls for maximum military restraint from both countries. The world cannot ...

Vehari - The University of Education, Lahore, Vehari Campus organized a solidarity rally in support of the Pakistan Army and to protest against India’s aggressive policies.

Bahawalpur - In line with the Punjab Police’s “Justice at Your Doorstep” initiative, District Police Officer (DPO) Muhammad Hassan Iqbal held an open court at the SDPO office in Circle Hasilpur, where he listened to and addressed public complaints directly.

Vehari - District Police Officer (DPO) Vehari, Muhammad Afzal, conducted a surprise visit to Police Station Karampur.

ISLAMABAD: A Senate panel on Tuesday expressed concern over gas loadshedding in many areas despite excess supplies. The meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum, presided over Senator Umar Farooq, was also told that Sindh was now the largest producer and consumer province in the country — producing about 1,609 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas and consuming about 1,115mmcfd. During the meeting, Senator Kamil Ali Agha raised the issue of unannounced gas loadshedding in Lahore. He reported that consumers had been forced to use LPG cylinders due to gas load shedding, which had become a “persistent hardship for citizens”. He noted that in recent years, the government’s policies seemed to have disproportionately favoured the industrial sector with subsidised gas but domestic users neither get the subsidy nor gas supply. He deplored that a major city like Lahore had gas supply issues and called for a policy shift that prioritised domestic users. Lawmaker says govt prioritising industries over d...

The outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) continues to be a thorn in relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan despite a recent positive trip of Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to Kabul, according to remarks by veteran diplomat Mohammad Sadiq on Tuesday. The increased activity of armed groups within Pakistan since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 remains a common source of tensions between the two neighbours. Pakistan maintains that these armed groups operate from within Afghan soil, a claim that Afghan officials have denied, maintaining that no one can use Afghan soil against any country. Last month, FM Dar had said Pakistan and Afghanistan had assured each other that they would not allow nefarious elements to use their soil to conduct attacks or illicit activities against the other, adding that both countries would be responsible for taking appropriate action in such a case. Dar’s interactions with the Afghan Taliban leadership were quite cordial, with promises from both sides to improve ties and...

The first meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Regulatory Reforms (CCoRR) was held on Tuesday in order to implement the directives of the prime minister to transform the regulatory landscape of the country, for ease of doing business.

The Israeli military carried out an airstrike on Yemen’s main airport in Sanaa on Tuesday, its second attack in two days on Houthi fighters after a surge in tensions between the group and Israel. Three people were killed in the strike, according to Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV. Israel warned people to leave the area around Sanaa International Airport before Tuesday’s attack, which it said targeted Houthi infrastructure and “fully disabled the airport”. Witnesses later reported four strikes in the capital. Tensions have been high since the Gaza conflict began, but have risen further since a Houthi missile landed near Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday, prompting Israeli airstrikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah port on Monday. “A short while ago, IDF (Israel Defence Forces) fighter jets struck and dismantled Houthi terrorist infrastructure at the main airport in Sanaa, fully disabling the airport,” the Israeli military said. “The strike was carried out in response to the attack launched by the Houthi terrorist regime agai...

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed to convert Karachi-Chaman National Highway (N-25), a critical transport corridor, into a high-quality expressway comparable in standards to Pakistan’s motorways.

Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Faisal Karim Kundi, on Tuesday visited Kalsoom International Hospital in Blue Area, to inquire about the health of former Federal Minister Arbab Alamgir.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Tuesday said that Pakistan’s resolve to fight was for freedom and not for conflict, amid the growing tensions with India in the wake of a militant attack in occupied Kashmir. An attack on April 22 in Pahalgam killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in one of the deadliest assaults since 2000. India has implied cross-border links without evidence. Pakistan has firmly rejected the claim and called for a neutral probe. Tensions have since spiked, with Pakistan reinforcing its forces as it expected an incursion and India’s premier granting “operational freedom” to his military. As temperatures remain high, with the military warning of a “swift” response to any misadventure by New Delhi, diplomatic channels have remained engaged to prevent conflict. Speaking during the National Assembly session today, Bilawal said, “Pakistan had no hand in that crime. We do not export terror, we are the victims of terrorism.” He refuted India’s claims on fighting against terrorism, saying, “How ca...

German conservative leader Friedrich Merz was elected chancellor by parliament on Tuesday in a second round of voting after a humiliating and unprecedented defeat on the first attempt, getting his coalition government off to a weak start. Merz, 69, who led his conservatives to a federal election victory in February and has signed a coalition deal with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), won 325 votes, nine more than needed for an absolute majority, in the secret ballot. He had secured just 310 votes in the first round of voting, meaning at least 18 coalition lawmakers failed to back him. After the vote, he headed to the nearby Bellevue Palace to be formally nominated by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Later, he will return to the historic Reichstag building in the heart of Berlin to take the oath of office to become Germany’s 10th chancellor since the end of World War Two. Merz is under heavy pressure to show German leadership after the implosion last November of outgoing SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s t...

As the constitutional bench (CB) of the Supreme Court on Monday took up a set of review pleas against the top court’s ruling that had declared the PTI eligible for reserved seats, two judges declared the petitions as inadmissible. In its July 12, 2024 short order, eight out of 13 judges ruled that 39 out of a list of 80 MNAs were and are the returned candidates of the PTI, setting it to emerge as the single largest party in the National Assembly. However, the ruling had not been implemented by the National Assembly, while the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had raised some objections. The review petitions against the SC order had been filed by the PML-N, the PPP and the ECP. As the full-strength 13-member CB led by Justice Aminuddin Khan took up the review pleas today, Justices Ayesha A. Malik and Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi objected to them, declaring the applications as inadmissible. The other 10 members of the bench were Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Musarrat Hil...

Federal Minister for Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir Affairs, Amir Muqam, on Tuesday called India’s allegations against Pakistan an “excuse” to further oppress the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

Seven soldiers were martyred in a blast from an improvised explosive device planted by “Indian proxy” terrorists in Balochistan’s Kacchi district, the military’s media wing said on Tuesday. A press release from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said: “On May 6, 2025, terrorists belonging to Indian proxy, so-called ‘Baloch Liberation Army’, targeted security forces’ vehicle with an improvised explosive device in general area Mach.” It said the following seven soldiers were subsequently martyred in the attack: Subedar Umar Farooq, 42, resident of Karachi; Naik Asif Khan, 28, resident of Karak district; Naik Mashkoor Ali, 28, resident of Orakzai district; Sepoy Tariq Nawaz, 26, resident of Lakki Marwat district; Sepoy Wajid Ahmed Faiz, 28, resident of Bagh district; Sepoy Muhammad Asim, 22, resident of Karak district and Sepoy Muhammad Kashif Khan, 28, resident of Kohat district. “Nefarious designs of India and its proxies operating on Pakistani soil will be defeated by the valiant security forces, LEAs...