Pakistan

Pakistan women’s left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal reclaimed her position at the top of the ICC Women’s Twenty-20 International (T20I) Bowler Rankings, Cricket’s governing body announced on Tuesday. Sadia was also pivotal to Pakistan’s win in the recently concluded ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers in Lahore and was named in the team of the tournament for her nine scalps for an average of 16. Her economy, like her spin twin Nashra Sandhu, was under four, and this meant that the duo provided the hosts the stranglehold during the middle overs and helped them maintain an unbeaten run throughout the tournament. “[Sadia] was one of the leading performers at last year’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and rises one spot on the rankings for T20I bowlers to claim top billing”, the ICC statement said. She replaces England spinner Sophie Ecclestone at the top spot who sat out her side’s recent T20I series at home against the West Indies. Her team-mate Lauren Bell however, rose 13 places to jump to sixth overall on the back of her ...

India’s defence minister has approved a framework for building the country’s most advanced stealth fighter jet, the defence ministry said on Tuesday, amid a new arms race with Pakistan weeks after a military conflict between the neighbours. Indian state-run Aeronautical Development Agency, which is executing the programme, will shortly invite initial interest from defence firms for developing a prototype of the warplane, envisaged as a twin-engine 5th generation fighter, the ministry said. The project is crucial for the Indian Air Force, whose squadrons of French, Russian and ex-Soviet aircraft have fallen to 31 from an approved strength of 42 at a time when rival China is expanding its air force rapidly. Pakistan has one of China’s advanced warplanes, the J-10, in its arsenal, which it claims to have used to shoot down India’s latest French Rafale jets in the recent fighting. Militaries of nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan faced-off in four days of fighting this month, which saw use of fighter jets...

A policeman guarding a polio vaccination team was gunned down on Tuesday by unknown attackers in Balochistan’s Noshki district, according to an official. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries where polio remains endemic, and vaccination teams are frequently targeted by militants waging a campaign against security forces. Noshki Deputy Commissioner (DC) Amjad Hussain Soomro confirmed the “unfortunate incident” to Dawn.com, in which Waheed Ahmed was gunned down in Noshki’s Killi Muhammad Hassni district. He said that police have set up checkpoints at various places to search for the attackers, who will be arrested soon. DC Soomro noted that security of the health department staff working on the anti-polio campaign has been further beefed up. He added that the anti-polio campaign is continuing even after the terrorist incident and the targets given to the anti-polio teams in Noshki district for this national cause will be completed soon. Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind confirmed that th...

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting on Monday to review and reform the province’s traffic management system.

The deadline for submitting Expressions of Interest (EoIs) for the privatization of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has been extended to June 19, 2025.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed concerned authorities to accelerate the privatization process of power distribution companies (DISCOs), either through complete privatization or by transferring their management to provincial governments.

A woman and her three-year-old daughter were killed in Mansehra district on Tuesday on the pretext of an “honour killing” for conducting a freewill marriage in 2021, officials said. The incident occurred in the Phulra area of Mansehra district where the woman and her minor daughter were killed inside their home. The woman had reportedly tied the knot against her family’s will through court marriage in 2021. Mansehra District Police Officer (DPO) Shafiullah Gandapur confirmed the incident to Dawn.com and said efforts were underway to apprehend the suspects. He said their bodies had been shifted to a nearby hospital where an autopsy was being conducted, while police teams have been dispatched to the area where the incident occurred to track down the suspects. The DPO said that according to initial reports, the victim tied the knot with Roshan of Bagal tribe, which triggered a clash between the two families. Police have lodged an FIR on the complaint of the victim’s mother. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Nasir M...

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The government on Tuesday extended the deadline for expressions of interest in purchasing Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to June 13, the privatisation ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The government’s failed first attempt to privatise PIA cost the national exchequer $4.3 million, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Privatisation was informed on February 26. In March, Privatisation and Investment Minister Abdul Aleem Khan said that the government would complete all the steps to privatise PIA by May, while the pri­vatisation commission approved a transaction structure for the second attempt to privatise the national carrier based on a divestment of 51 to 100 per cent of its shares of capital. The earlier deadline was June 3, with the bidding process expected to take place between October and December. According to a statement from the ministry, the deadline for submission on expressions of interest till 4pm on June 19. Last month, a PIA spokesperson said that the carrier’s bo­­ard of dire...

The son of a government officer has gone missing under suspicious circumstances from Karachi’s upscale Defence Housing Authority (DHA) area.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Information Adviser, Barrister Saif, on Tuesday called for breaking the constraints of the 26th Constitutional Amendment to allow court proceedings in the cases against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, in her message on the occasion of World Marketing Day, emphasized the critical role of marketing in today’s global economy.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has issued a weather advisory forecasting thunderstorms, strong winds, and rainfall in multiple regions of the country from Tuesday through May 31.

The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee will convene in Islamabad today to sight the moon for Zillhajj 1446 Hijri, which will determine the date of Eidul Azha in Pakistan.

The Foreign Office on Tuesday condemned the recent remarks towards Pakistan by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a speech in Gujarat, calling it a “reckless provocation”. The developments follow a recent military confrontation between India and Pakistan over New Delhi’s allegations against Islamabad, without evidence, about a deadly attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam. On the night of May 6-7, New Delhi launched a series of air strikes in Pakistan, resulting in civilian casualties. Islamabad responded by downing five Indian jets. After intercepting drones sent by India and tit-for-tat strikes on each other’s airbases, it took American intervention on May 10 for both sides to finally drop their guns as a ceasefire was reached. In a video shared by Indian news outlet ANI, Modi says: “The people of Pakistan must come forward to rid their country of terrorism. Their youth will have to come forward.” He went on to say: “Live a life of peace, eat your bread or [choose my] bullet,” to applause from the cr...

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, Dr Musadik Malik on Monday held a high-level meeting with Bruno Carrasco, Director General of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), to discuss Pakistan’s climate resilience and environmental sustainability agenda.

In a significant diplomatic breakthrough, Kuwait has lifted its 19-year-long visa ban on Pakistani citizens, the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis’ Focal Person, Mustafa Malik, announced on Monday.

A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered at the Sharqi Police Station following an arson attack on a camp set up to support the release of former prime minister Imran Khan.

Peshawar - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has officially launched two flagship welfare initiatives aimed at supporting orphans and widows — the Roshan Mustaqbil Card and the Sahara Card.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s Deputy Head of Mission at Pakistan Embassy in Beijing, Bilal Mahmood Chaudhary, emphasized the transformative role of mining cooperation under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).