Pakistan

Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, the youngest daughter of President Asif Ali Zardari, on Friday visited a flood rehabilitation housing project in Shaheed Benazirabad district of Sindh accompanying a delegation of officials from the World Bank. The WB officials included its managing director Anna Bejerde and country director Najy Benhassine. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah also accompanied them as they visited the flood rehabilitation housing project in Nazar Muhammad Laghari village in Shaheed Benazirabad district. This project, under the Sindh Peoples Housing for Flood Affectees (SPHF) programme, aims at rebuilding homes destroyed by the 2022 devastating floods, said a statement by the CM House. During the visit, Aseefa and Bejerde distributed ownership rights certificates to women homeowners, and interacted with female members of the Village Reconstruction Committee, as the latter showcased their handicraft work. The committee was briefed that 32 homes were destroyed in the village and had now been rebuilt. ...

Three terrorists were killed while six others escaped after the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) conducted an intelligence-based operation (IBO) near Rehmanikhel in Mianwali, according to the specialised police force on Friday. A statement issued by the CTD read that it conducted an IBO to arrest the terrorists. However, the terrorists opened fire on the police. In an exchange of fire, the terrorist killed three of their own while the remaining six escaped. The police found rifles, three hand grenades, bullets and explosives on the slain terrorists. A search operation was underway to arrest the terrorists who had escaped, the statement said, adding that the teams had set up a blockade near Rehmanikhel. The process of identifying the slain terrorists was underway, the statement continued. It added that the terrorists who were targeted had completed their planning for carrying out major attacks on police posts. Separately, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police, in a statement, said that unidentified miscreants carried ou...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar held a phone conversation with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan to review the deep-rooted and fraternal relations between the two countries.

The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) has officially announced summer vacations for all public and private schools and colleges in Islamabad, effective from June 5 to August 1, 2025.

Pakistani mountaineer Naila Kiani has made history once again by summiting Kanchenjunga the world’s third-highest mountain becoming the first Pakistani woman to climb 12 of the world’s 14 peaks towering above 8,000 metres (26,247 feet).

Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, is set to hold a significant press conference today at 2:30 PM, with Federal Interior Secretary Aftab Durrani also in attendance.

Mountaineer Naila Kiani on Friday summited Mount Kanchenjunga (8,586m), the world’s third-highest mountain situated in Nepal, becoming the only Pakistani female mountaineer to summit the world’s 12 highest mountains above eight thousand metres. The summit marked a historic milestone in her pursuit of the world’s 14 peaks above 8,000m. Speaking to Dawn.com today, Mingma G, famous Nepali climber and the owner of Imagine Nepal, said that Kiani stood at top of the peak at 6am local time (5:15 am PKT). Mingma G added that after the successful summit, the expedition team started their descent to camp four and were heading towards basecamp. Secretary Alpine Club of Pakistan, Karrar Haidri, congratulated Kiani for the feat. According to press release issued by Kiani’s team, the achievement cemented her place not only in Pakistan’s mountaineering history but also on the global stage, etching closer to a rare and elite global record: becoming one of fewer than 20 women in history to summit all 14 of the world’s 8,000m ...

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has approved region-specific gas price adjustments across Pakistan, affecting both Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC).

President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday acknowledged the supportive role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in stabilizing Pakistan’s economy, expressing optimism that the ongoing loan programme would further contribute to the country’s economic growth.

Peshawar - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur on Thursday said the provincial government is accelerating efforts to tap its hydropower potential through a mix of small and large-scale energy projects.

Pakistan has strongly rejected the recent remarks made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a public rally in Rajasthan, calling them "baseless, provocative, and irresponsible.

MUZAFFARABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said India would never forget the defeat in the recent briefest yet most effective war against India that also falsified those who thought Pakistan lagged behind in con-ventional war.

The Foreign Office on Friday categorically rejected the “baseless, provocative, and irresponsible allegations” made by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who in a heated speech accused Pakistan of carrying out terrorist attacks in his country. The military confrontation between New Delhi and Islamabad came as tensions over last month’s Pahalgam attack continued to build up, as India —without evidence — blamed Pakistan for the attack. On the night of May 6-7, India launched a series of air strikes in Punjab and Azad Kashmir, 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 and declare a ceasefire. India has since continued its aggressive posturing even as Pakistan has warned against any further military aggression and offered talks. Yesterday, the Indian premier said that Pakistan would not get water f...

The United Nations Security Council on Friday condemned “in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly” terrorist attack on a school bus in Khuzdar earlier this week. At least six people, including three students, were slain while over 40 others — mostly students — sustained injuries after a bomb targeted the bus near Zero Point in Khuzdar on the Quetta-Karachi highway when it was on its way to drop the students at the Army Public School in Khuzdar Cantonment. The condition of at least a dozen is said to be serious due to critical injuries, officials said, adding that at least 15 girl students were among the injured. Security forces vowed to “relentlessly pursue” the culprits of the attack as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir visited the injured in Quetta yesterday. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that two major terrorist groups operating in Pakistan were “Indian proxies”, adding that Islamabad would present “complete evidence” to prove New Delhi’s involvement in the attack ...

• Manufacturing sector leads recovery, followed by retail and wholesale sectors, survey shows • Respondents highlight inflation, taxation, inconsistent policies, rupee devaluation as key threats ISLAMABAD: The latest survey conducted by the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) has shown marked improvement in business confidence over the country’s economic and business outlook. The OICCI released the results of its Business Confidence Index (BCI) Wave 27 survey that depicted a significant improvement in the overall business confidence, which improved by 16 percentage points to positive 11 per cent from negative 5pc in the previous wave conducted in October-November 2024. This is the first time in nearly three years that business confidence has ente­red positive territory. The last time the index was in the green was in May 2022, when it stood at 17pc. Since then, it had remained negative, registering -4pc, -25pc, -18pc, -14pc, and -5pc in subsequent waves. The survey was conducted by the...

ISLAMABAD: There appears to be a split in the PTI over Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir’s promotion to the rank of field marshal, as its interim chairman Gohar Ali Khan felicitated the newly appointed field marshal as opposed to the incarcerated party founder, Imran Khan, who criticised the government’s move. If a message posted on his X handle is to be believed, Imran Khan criticised the promotion in his interaction with lawyers, family members, and journalists during a hearing in the Adiala Jail courtroom on Wednesday. The tweet was posted on Thursday morning, however. It may be noted that the PTI leader had also met his sisters and lawyers, including Salman Safdar and Usman Gill, on the jail premises on Wednesday. The former premier doesn’t have access to his X account and someone else posts on his behalf, but the PTI has never revealed the identity of Mr Khan’s social media handler. The PTI founder said it would have been more app­ropriate if Gen Asim Munir had been declared ‘king’ as Pakistan was being run...

• Meets IMF delegation, says country on road to economic progress • Govt seeks relief measures in budget; Fund reviewing proposals ISLAMABAD: Amid week-long talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on next fiscal year’s budget, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to fast-track institutional reforms and maintain macroeconomic stability. During a meeting with an IMF delegation led by Regional Director for the Middle East and South Asia, Jihad Azour, the prime minister said the country was now firmly on the path of economic development after a period of recovery and stability. “By the grace of Allah, Pakistan is now moving from economic stability towards sustainable growth,” PM Shehbaz said in an official statement. He said the government’s top priority was to sustain macroeconomic gains and expedite comprehensive institutional reforms, crucial for long-term resilience. The high-level meeting took place at the last leg of negotiations between an IMF staff mission an...

• Lawmakers pass the bill without debate • House passes resolution urging govt to condemn India for suspending Indus Waters Treaty ISLAMABAD: Days before presentation of the federal budget for the next fiscal year, the National Assembly on Thursday passed an IMF-dictated money bill through a supplementary agenda and without any debate. The Off the Grid (Captive Power Plants) Levy Bill, 2025, aimed at providing legal justification for the grid levy imposed on the supply of natural gas or imported liquefied natural gas to industrial captive power plants (CPPs) as of March 7, was tabled by Minister for Petroleum Division Ali Pervaiz after the house suspended the rules. The minister moved the motion for the passage of the bill soon after presentation of the report of the standing committee on petroleum by its chairman Mustafa Mehmood. The bill cleared all the required stages in just one day as the committee had also approved it in a meeting held minutes before start of the NA session. The opposition challenged th...

• AGP Awan says Islamabad willing to discuss water sharing deal • Senate panel slams India’s ‘provocative action’ NEW DELHI: Pakistan will not get water from rivers over which India has rights, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday, a month after a deadly attack in India-held Kashmir led New Delhi to suspend a key river water-sharing treaty between the neighbours. The attorney general for Pakistan, in an interview with Reuters, responded that Islam­abad remained willing to discuss water sharing between the neighbours but said India must stick to the decades-old treaty. The suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), negotiated by the World Bank in 1960, was among a slew of measures announced by India against Pakistan last month after the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 people. New Delhi had said the attack was backed by Pakistan, an accusation Islamabad den­ied and the nuclear-armed neig­hbours were involved in their worst military fighting in nearly three decades before agreeing to a ...

RAWALPINDI: Pakis­tan International Airlines (PIA) announced on Thursday the launch of direct flights from Lahore to Paris, with the first flight scheduled to take off on June 18, as part of its strategy to further expand flight operations “PIA has decided to operate a weekly flight from Lahore to Paris every Wednesday,” a spokesman for PIA said. “With the launch of this flight, three direct flights per week will become part of PIA’s operations.” The new route is part of the airline’s broader strategy to extend its network to Europe and meet growing demand from the Pakistani diaspora in France and Pakistan, the spokesman said. “This direct route to Paris addresses a long-standing demand from the Pakistani community, offering affordable fares and time savings,” the spokesman added. Earlier this year, to mark the relaunch of PIA flights from Islamabad to Paris, the airline decorated a Boeing 777 aircraft with a model of the Eiffel Tower on its tail and the slogan “I Love Paris” on the nose. The aircraft was mod...