Pakistan

Gilgit - Former Director General of the Strategic Plans Division (SPD), Lt Gen (Retd) Mazhar Jamil, on Thursday called for the institution of robust Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs) and a comprehensive Strategic Restraint Regime (SRR) between Pakistan and India for promoting regional stability.

Bulls regained control of the trading floor as shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) climbed nearly 1,600 points at the close of the first session on Friday, a day after the passage of the federal budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The KSE-100 index climbed 1581.77 points, or 1.3 per cent, to stand at 123,628.23 at the close of the first session, from the last close of 122,046.46 points. Awais Ashraf, director research at AKD Securities, said, “[The] passage of [the] federal budget with the absence of aggressive incremental revenue measures and slight relief for salaried and business is also well received by the investors.” The National Assembly on Thursday passed the federal budget for the FY25-26, with an outlay of Rs17.57 trillion, despite opposition calls for the budgetary proposals to be made public and for the passage to be delayed until public input had been sought. “The ceasefire between Iran and Israel has redirected investor focus toward improving macroeconomic fundamentals. Lower inflation ...

The Ministry of Religious Affairs has announced the commencement of advance registration for Hajj 2026, urging intending pilgrims to complete the mandatory process by July 9.

India has deported without trial to Bangladesh hundreds of people, officials from both sides said, drawing condemnation from activists and lawyers who call the recent expulsions illegal and based on ethnic profiling. New Delhi says the people deported are undocumented migrants. The Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has long taken a hardline stance on immigration — particularly those from neighbouring Muslim-majority Bangladesh — with top officials referring to them as “termites” and “infiltrators”. It has also sparked fear among India’s estimated 200 million Muslims, especially among speakers of Bengali, a widely spoken language in both eastern India and Bangladesh. “Muslims, particularly from the eastern part of the country, are terrified,” said veteran Indian rights activist Harsh Mander. “You have thrown millions into this existential fear.” Bangladesh, largely encircled by land by India, has seen relations with New Delhi turn icy since a mass uprising in 2024 toppled Dhaka’s gov...

Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir on Friday stressed the “indispensable” role of the civil bureaucracy within governance to probationary civil officers — as part of an initiative aimed at strengthening understanding between Pakistan’s civil and military leadership, according to the military’s media wing. In the wake of recent Indian aggression, Field Marshal Asim Munir has repeatedly appreciated the strategic foresight of the country’s political leadership, and vice versa. On June 18, Field Marshal Asim Munir met with US President Donald Trump in a high-level meeting — marking the first time a US president has hosted top Pakistani military leadership. Today’s engagement is part of a broader initiative to strengthen “institutional synergy and mutual understanding” between Pakistan’s civil and military leadership, according to a statement by Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR). Field Marshal Asim Munir, while speaking to probationary officers of the 52nd common training program (CTP) of the Civil ...

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif received a telephone call from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio Thursday evening and discussed bilateral and regional issues.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI)’s lawyer Thursday concluded his arguments in the review petitions filed against the Supreme Court judgment on PTI reserved seats.

Islamabad - Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has appreciated NAB’s historic record direct and indirect recovery amounting to Rs.

QUETTA - Balochistan Polio’s concerned officials on Thursday said that no polio case was reported in the province till now during 2025 owing to positive efforts of polio representative and workers.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke on Thursday with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif about recent developments in the Middle East, underlining a shared commitment to regional stability and non-proliferation amid renewed efforts to engage Iran. “Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke today with Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif regarding events in the Middle East. Secretary Rubio emphasised that Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon,” US State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement. “The two leaders acknowledged the importance of working together to promote a durable peace between Israel and Iran and to maintain regional stability,” she added. The call highlights Washington’s growing engagement with Islamabad at a time when the Trump administration is reportedly exploring a new diplomatic initiative with Tehran, possibly “as early as next week”. Rubio’s statement that “Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon” will be interpreted in various ways in both Pa...

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry, in a telephonic call on Thursday, directed the Transition Management Committee of Karachi Port Trust (KPT) to extend facilitation and briefing to the visiting delegation from Uzbekistan, emphasizing the potential for collaborative ventures in the.

ISLAMABAD - The National Assembly on Thursday approved the finance bill 2025-26 with a total outlay of Rs17.

ISLAMABAD - Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Yahya Afridi while emphasising the importance of synergy has urged bar representatives to sensitize their respective bar associations about developments in national judiciary and to proactively engage in the reform initiatives.

Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told his Chinese counterpart that the two countries should seek a “permanent solution” to their decades-old border dispute, India’s defence ministry said on Friday. Singh met China’s Dong Jun on the sidelines of the meeting of the defence ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Qingdao on Thursday and stressed on solving issues between the two countries through a structured roadmap, the ministry said in a statement. The world’s two most populous nations — both nuclear powers — share a 3,800-km, largely undemarcated and disputed border in the Himalayas and have gone to war over it. Although the frontier has been mostly peaceful in recent decades, a deadly clash between their troops in 2020 resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers. The clash led to a four-year military standoff with both armies deploying tens of thousands of troops in the mountains until they reached a pact in October to step back, leading to a thaw in ties. During h...

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, Dr Musadik Malik, on Thursday said that India destabilized the region by launching a war against Pakistan without presenting any evidence.

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir has stressed the importance of inter-institutional cohesion, mutual respect, and a unified national purpose to advance Pakistan’s strategic and developmental goals.

Heavy rainfall in Karachi late Thursday night triggered massive power outages across the city, with more than 340 K-Electric feeders tripping due to the downpour, disrupting electricity in several areas.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif have extended heartfelt greetings to the nation and the Muslim Ummah on the advent of the new Islamic year 1447 Hijri.

Japan executed a man on Friday who killed nine people after contacting them on social media, the first use of capital punishment in the country in nearly three years. Takahiro Shiraishi had been sentenced to death for his 2017 strangling and dismembering of eight women and one man in his apartment in Zama city in Kanagawa near Tokyo. He was dubbed the “Twitter killer” as he contacted victims via the social media platform. Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki, who authorised Shiraishi’s hanging, said he made the decision after careful examination, taking into account the convict’s “extremely selfish” motive for crimes that “caused great shock andunrest to society.” It followed the execution in July 2022 of a man who went on a stabbing rampage in Tokyo’s shopping district Akihabara in 2008. It was also the first time a death penalty was carried out since Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s government was inaugurated last October. In September last year, a Japanese court acquitted Iwao Hakamada, who had spent the world’s...

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei • In first appearance since truce with Israel, supreme leader hails ‘slap’ on the face of America • Hegseth insists strikes on N-facilities were successful • Iran’s legislature clears bill to suspend cooperation with IAEA TEHRAN / WASHIN­GTON: Even after Iran’s supreme leader accused President Donald Trump of exaggerating the impact of US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, Washington continued to insist on the success of its actions, claiming that there was no evidence Tehran had been able to move any of its highly enriched uranium. In his first public appearance since a ceasefire in the war with Israel took hold, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed what he termed a “victory” over Israel, vowing never to yield to US pressure and insisting that the US had been dealt a humiliating “slap”. “The American president exaggerated events in unusual ways, and it turned out that he needed this exaggeration,” Khamenei said, rejecting US claims Iran’s nuclear programme had been set back by decades. The str...