Pakistan

The federal government has officially announced four public holidays in observance of Eidul Azha, according to a notification issued by the Cabinet Division on Monday.

The federal government on Monday announced a four-day public holiday on the festive occasion of Eidul Azha. According to a notification issued by the Cabinet Division, the government has declared a public holiday from June 6-9, 2025 (Friday to Monday). “The prime minister has been pleased to declare the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th (Friday to Monday) as public holidays on the occasion of Eidul Azha,” the statement said. Pakistan would observe Eidul Azha on June 7, the moon sighting Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee (RHC) announced last month after the crescent for the month of Zilhaj was not sighted. The committee’s meeting took place on a roof in Islamabad’s Kohsar Block, where the religious affairs ministry has its office. Addressing a press conference, RHC Chairman Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad said, “No testimony of sighting the moon of the month of Zilhaj was received from any part of Pakistan […]. Therefore, it was decided with consensus that Zilhaj 1, 1446AH would be on May 29, Thursday and Eidul Azha would be obs...

The Karachi police on Monday arrested a main suspect along with his two employees over charges of beating a citizen in the city’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA). The development came after a video of the incident went viral on social media earlier today, prompting authorities to take notice of it. The man, identified as Salman Farooqi, was arrested from DHA and his vehicle was impounded, Karachi South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Syed Asad Raza said in a statement. The man, travelling in a luxury car, allegedly subjected a bike rider, who was accompanied by a woman, to torture on the Khayaban-i-Ittehad road after a minor accident. Earlier today, the police had arrested the suspect’s driver and guard during late-night raids on his home and office in DHA. DIG Raza clarified that the held suspect was not a government employee. Stating that the citizen who was subjected to violence had not approached the police to file a complaint, the DIG said the police were trying to contact his family. Meanwhile, the Gizri...

In a significant crackdown on human trafficking, Iranian authorities have rescued ten Pakistani nationals who were being held hostage by traffickers under false promises of passage to Europe.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) will auction several immovable properties of Bahria Town on Thursday, June 12 at 11:00 AM at its Regional Office near Lal Masjid, Islamabad.

The 46th Steering Committee meeting of the Sustainable Development Goals Achievement Programme was held in Islamabad on Monday with Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar in the chair.

Headline inflation rose 3.5 per cent year-on-year in May 2025, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Monday. On a month-on-month basis, it decreased by 0.2pc in May as compared to a decrease of 0.8pc in the previous month, according to data. This was higher than the finance ministry’s expectations, which had anticipated inflationary outlook to “remain between 1.5-2.0pc in May, with a possible rise to 3.0-4.0pc by June”. The finance ministry had depicted a cautious outlook towards growth in Large-Scale Manufacturing (LSM), presenting a rising trajectory for inflation during May and June. Topline Securities, in a note, said that inflation during 11MFY25 had averaged at 4.61pc compared to 24.52pc in 11MFY24. Year-on-year Urban: Food item prices that increased included: chicken (51.96pc), pulse moong (31.13pc), fresh fruits (29.5pc), butter (26.15pc), milk powder (21.80pc), sugar (21.71pc), honey (21.23pc) and condiments & spices (19.98pc). Non-food items prices that increased: ...

Iran is poised to reject a US proposal to end a decades-long nuclear dispute, an Iranian diplomat said on Monday, slamming it as a “non-starter” that fails to address Tehran’s interests and leaves Washington’s stance on uranium enrichment unchanged. “Iran is drafting a negative response to the US proposal, which could be interpreted as a rejection of the US offer,” the senior diplomat, who is close to Iran’s negotiating team, told Reuters. The US proposal for a new nuclear deal was presented to Iran on Saturday by Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, who was on a short visit to Tehran and has been mediating nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington. But after five rounds of talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to resolve the nuclear standoff, many issues remain unresolved. Among clashing red lines is Iran’s rejection of a US demand that Tehran commit to scrapping uranium enrichment, viewed as a potential pathway to develo...

PML-N’s Hina Arshad Warraich secured a Punjab Assembly seat (PP-52) in Sialkot by a wide margin amid rigging allegations by the PTI, according to preliminary results issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday. The by-election for PP-52 (Sambrial) took place yesterday, two months after the seat had fallen vacant following the demise of PML-N MPA Arshad Javed Warraich — father of the winning candidate. Analysts had expected a tough one-on-one contest between the ruling PML-N and the PTI-backed aspirants, whereas the PPP had also been running an aggressive campaign in Sambrial to perform better in the race. According to Form-47 issued by the ECP today and signed by Returning Officer Muhammad Iqbal, Warraich clinched the seat by winning 78,702 votes. Warraich’s main opponent, Fakhir Nashat Ghumman, who was an independent candidate backed by the PTI, was the runner-up with 39,018 votes. PPP’s Raheel Kamran Cheema ranked third with 6,832 ballots cast in his favour, followed by Tehreek-i-Labbaik P...

Petrol and diesel prices may rise in the upcoming Budget 2025–26 as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called on Pakistan to impose a carbon levy on fossil fuels and internal combustion engine vehicles, according to informed sources.

The UAE Dirham (AED) is currently trading at 76.

No casualties were reported when unknown men opened fire on a polio vaccination team in Diamer district, where Gilgit-Baltistan recorded its first case of the year. Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic. Despite global efforts to eradicate the virus, challenges such as security issues, vaccine hesitancy and misinformation have slowed progress. According to a first information report (FIR) registered at the local police station, the incident occurred on Sunday when unknown armed men opened fire on a polio team in the village of Sheikho in Tangir Valley, the constituency of GB’s Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan. However, the polio team remained safe. According to the FIR, as soon as the polio vaccination team returned to Sheikho village after completing their duties, two unknown armed men stopped the team’s vehicle at the RCC bridge. “You all are ruining the environment here by bringing [unveiled] women from Gilgit in the name of the polio camp...

Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has said that fiscal space will be provided in the next PSDP for the projects of strategic importance envisioned under Uraan Pakistan.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Hina Arshad Warraich has secured a resounding victory in the PP-52 Sambrial by-election, according to unofficial results from all 185 polling stations.

On the final Sunday before Eidul Azha, cattle markets across Pakistan witnessed a surge in crowds, as families took advantage of the public holiday to purchase sacrificial animals.

In a significant development ahead of the upcoming hearing on appeals filed by former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has constituted a special prosecution team to represent the bureau in the £190 million corruption case.

A highly successful fundraising event for Indus Hospital & Health Network was organized in Paris under the banner of the Pakistan Public Help Foundation (PPHF).

Pakistan has strongly condemned recent inflammatory remarks made by Indian leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statements at a rally in Bihar, calling them indicative of a "deeply troubling mindset" that favors confrontation over peace.

Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has retired from one-day internationals to focus on next year’s T20 World Cup, the country’s cricket board said on Monday. Maxwell took the decision to prioritise his preparation for the T20 World Cup, to be held in India and Sri Lanka, and his commitment to franchise leagues, Cricket Australia (CA) said in a statement. “I think back to right at the start I was picked ahead of my time and out of the blue. I was just proud just to be playing a couple of games for Australia. I thought I was just going to have that,” the two-time World Cup winner said in the statement. “Since then, I have been able to go through the up and downs of being dropped, being brought back, playing in a few World Cups and being a part of some great teams.” View this post on Instagram The 36-year-old has played 149 ODIs for Australia, scoring 3,990 runs at a strike rate of 126.7 — second only to Andre Russell’s 130.22. Maxwell’s 201 not out from 128 balls while battling cramps in a 2023 World Cup match...

French authorities detained 79 people in the second such wave of arrests during celebrations following Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League win, a police chief said on Monday. The PSG thrashed Inter Milan by a record 5-0 in Saturday evening’s final in Munich, flying back to Paris on Sunday for a triumphal parade along the Champs-Élysées, then celebrations in a packed Parc des Princes stadium on the edge of the French capital. The PSG winning the biggest prize in European club football for the first time sparked delirious festivities in France, but was marred by violence. On Sunday, “we saw a resurgence of individuals driven by malicious intent who were not really PSG supporters”, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told RTL radio. “We arrested 79 people, some of them in the night,” he said, adding that order had been restored before dawn. Some were detained for taking barriers and briefly blocking the ring road around Paris, while others had tried to vandalise businesses or light fireworks on the Champs-Élysée...