Pakistan

A special court in Islamabad on Tuesday instructed the Adiala Jail authorities to allow PTI founder Imran Khan to hold a telephone conversation with his sons abroad and also be allowed a medical checkup by his personal physician. Last month, Special Judge Central Shahrukh Arjum­and approved two petitions filed on behalf of Imran related to the requests. The court had sought a response from Adiala authorities to provide the facilities. Today, the judge heard a request by the prison authorities against the court order and dismissed it A report to the judge from the jail superintendent on Monday had called for the court’s orders on January 10 and February 3 to be reviewed and set aside due to “being inconsistent and contrary to the basic rights and principle of recognition of the inherent dignity and equal inalienable rights of inmates”, arguing that extending the two facilities to Imran would be against the spirit of the Constitution, as well as Pakistan Prison Rules. A court order issued today, available with ...

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced resumption of Pakistan Super League Season 10 from May 17.

Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited Holy Family Hospital in Rawalpindi to inquire about Tauqeer Abbas, who was injured in an Indian drone attack near the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

The anti-terrorism courts (ATCs) in Lahore have stepped up the hearing of cases related to the May 9, 2023, riots after directives from the Supreme Court to wind them up within four months. The cases pertain to the arrest of workers belonging to the PTI for their alleged role in attacks on army installations during the riots that followed ex-premier Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9, 2023. The Lahore High Court registrar issued the new amended schedule of the trials of the May 9 cases being conducted at Kot Lakhpat Jail. The hearing of May 9 riot cases will now be heard in jail four days a week — Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The jail trials were earlier being held three days a week but have been extended to speed up their disposal. The ATCs are hearing the jail trials of 14 cases including the Jinnah House attack. In December 2024, the Pakistan Army announced that the remainng 60 PTI activists have been convicted by the Field General Court Martial (FGCM) for their involvement in the May 9 violent pr...

After an 18-year delay, the long-anticipated Safe City Project has finally commenced in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A bomb exploded outside the residence of MNA and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, Mubarak Zeb, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district, late Tuesday night.

Federal Minister for Railways Muhammad Hanif Abbasi Wednesday, met with the Ambassador of Kazakhstan, Yerzhan Kistafen, and discussed enhancing mutual cooperation between the two countries in the railway sector.

As a sign of improving relations, India and Pakistan exchanged one detained personnel each at the Wagah-Attari border post.

The federal government has set the exchange rate at Rs290 per dollar for the upcoming fiscal year’s budget, slightly stronger than the current year’s rate of Rs295.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday visited the frontline areas of Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos, part of the ongoing Maarka-e-Haq (Battle for Truth), to express solidarity with Pakistan’s armed forces.

Speaker National Assembly, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, on Wednesday, visited the Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Rawalpindi, to meet with soldiers and civilians injured during the recent escalations between Pakistan and India.

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Demonstrating extraordinary valor in defense of Pakistan, two more courageous hospitalised soldiers have embraced martyrdom, bringing the total number of martyrs to 13 as 78 brave personnel have sustained injuries while serving the motherland with unwavering resolve.

A couple were burnt to death on Tuesday night as blazing wildfires engulfed the forests of Hasham Khel Dab mountains in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Shangla district in Martung tehsil, according to police. Pakistan has grappled with an unprecedented surge in forest fires in recent years. Provinces, including KP and Balochistan, have seen huge wildfires in the past three years. Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Usman Munir, while speaking to Dawn.com, shared that a man and his wife were burned to death while they were trying to protect the firewood kept near their home from the fire. The SDFO of the forest department in Alpuri, Zahid Hussain told Dawn.com that the victims — identified as Hakim Zada and his wife Hajiroon — set fire to the bushes near their house. The fire then quickly got out of control due to intense and gusty winds, engulfing the forest. The wildfire has now been extinguished, and the bodies of the victims have been recovered from the site. According to Deputy Commissioner Shangla Mohammad Fawad, ...

Pakistan has received the second tranche of special drawing rights (SDR) worth $1.023 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme, the central bank said on Wednesday. The amount will be reflected in its foreign exchange reserves for the week ending on May 16, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said in a post on X. It would raise the reserves to $11.355bn. Last week, the IMF had approved the immediate disbursement of about $1bn to Pakistan under the ongoing EFF and allowed an additional arrangement for the $1.4bn Resilience and Sus­tainability Facility (RSF). In a statement issued last Friday, the IMF had said its Executive Board completed the first review of Pakistan’s economic reform programme supported by the EFF arrangement. “This decision allows for an immediate disbursement of around $1bn (SDR 760 million), bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to about $2.1bn (SDR 1.52bn). In addition, the IMF Executive Board approved the authorities’ re...

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has been operating in profit since March 2024, Parliamentary Secretary Zeb Jaffar informed the National Assembly on Wednesday during the Question Hour session, according to ARY News.

Pakistan’s market has captured the attention of global investors amid its heightened tensions with India, US publication Barron’s reports. Over the past two years, the country has seen a “macroeconomic miracle”. While inflation was down from 40 per cent annually to near zero, Eurobonds maturing in 2031 rose from 40 cents on the dollar to 80 cents. The KSE-100 index has also tripled. The government reached a “stabilisation agreement” with the International Monetary Fund last September with the lender approving a $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF). Over $2bn has already been disbursed. “Pakistan is a good story,” Genna Lozovsky, a chief investment officer at Sandglass Capital Management, was quoted by Barron’s as saying. “So good it’s not risky enough for us anymore.”’ The media outlet further stated that the recent conflict with India “won’t likely knock Pakistan’s recovery off course” but the “country’s own shaky underpinnings might”. “Pakistan has been known for boom-and-bust cycles throughout its histo...

The Ministry of Interior has disclosed that a total of 5,402 Pakistani nationals involved in begging have been deported from various foreign countries since 2024.

The federal government has instructed all provinces, including Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, to prepare a detailed report on the destruction caused by recent Indian aggression.

In their first-ever public appearance, Imran Khan’s sons Sulaiman Isa Khan and Qasim Khan spoke out about their father’s imprisonment in an online interview with X influencer Mario Nawfal.