Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif Monday reaffirmed that Pakistan had always desired peace in South Asia but would never accept any violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Islamabad - The Director Generals of Military Operations of Pakistan and India contacted over hotline, Radio Pakistan reported on Monday.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Senator Irfan Siddiqui on Monday said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech was nothing but admission of shameful defeat.

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court will hear review petitions, challenging the verdict on reserved seats on Tuesday (today).

On the special directive of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, schools across the province observed ‘Youm-e-Tashakur’ (Thanksgiving Day) in solidarity with the Pakistan Army, celebrating the success of Operation Bunyān-e-Marsūs with patriotic fervor.

ISLAMABAD - Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan is likely to get the coveted position of the parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) by replacing his party MNA Junaid Akbar Khan, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) spokesperson said on Monday.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari yesterday said May 12 martyrs’ sacrifices will not go in waste.

| Resolution urges authorities to actively engage international community in efforts to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute | House calls for ensuring full implementation of Indus Water Treaty.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Monday visited Combined Military Hospital (CMH) to inquire after the officers and soldiers who were injured while courageously repelling Indian aggression.

ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Monday directed the authorities to immediately halt the couriers and food deliveries to students at educational institutions to curb narcotics.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Tuesday announced that the remaining eight matches of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) — postponed due to the conflict with India — would resume from May 17, with the final scheduled for May 25. The PSL was first moved to the UAE and subsequently postponed after an Indian drone crashed close to the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium last week. In a post on X today, Naqvi stated that the league will pick up from where it left. “Let the aura take over as we unite and celebrate the spirit of cricket,” he wrote. Earlier, it was reported that the six PSL franchises have reached out to players, who were flown from the country on a charter flight over the weekend as the cross-border skirmishes with India intensified last week, to return after a ceasefire agreement was reached. “The franchises are in negotiations with their foreign players regarding the tentative dates of May 17 to 25 with Raw­a­lpindi proposed to be the ve­nue for the remaining matc­hes,” sour­ces tol...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Adviser Barrister Dr.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has approved a wheat support subsidy of Rs.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has summoned an All-Party Conference (APC) to be held on Tuesday at 12:00 PM at the Prime Minister House.

ISLAMABAD: The government is finalising a plan to introduce a subsidised housing scheme for the lower-income class and mortgage facilities for the middle class with the involvement of commercial banks, starting with government-sponsored 200,000 low-cost housing units. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to formally announce the scheme to revive the housing and construction sector, which is passing through challenging times along with purportedly 72 associated industries, an informed source told Dawn. The sources said the government would initially provide about 200,000 low-cost 3-5 marla housing units after their construction in the public sector at 50pc subsidy on financing and then expand it. A draft plan was shared with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and commercial banks on Monday. A meeting on affordable housing finance schemes was presided over by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Monday to address the critical challenges faced in long-term housing finance and explore viable policy models for low-...

• Resolution adopted unanimously praises forces for ‘befitting response’ to Indian hostility • House apprised of govt’s five-year privatisation plan ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution commending the armed forces for giving a befitting response to the Indian aggression last week before US President Trump announced that a “full and immediate ceasefire” was reached between the two countries. The resolution in the National Assembly, moved by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, said the long-term stability in South Asia can only be achieved through “sincere and structured negotiations”. Reiterating Pakistan’s pledge to regional and global peace with dignity and honour, the resolution underscored that “democracies are committed to dialogue not conflict”. It urged the authorities to actively engage the international community to resolve the issue of Indian occupied Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspirations of locals and the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolu...

GENEVA: Countries are meeting at the United Nations on Monday to revive efforts to regulate the kinds of AI-controlled autonomous weapons increasingly used in modern warfare, as experts warn time is running out to put guardrails on new lethal technology. Autonomous and artificial intelligence-assisted weapons systems are already playing a greater role in conflicts from Ukraine to Gaza. And rising defence spending worldwide promises to provide a further boost for burgeoning AI-assisted military technology. Progress towards establishing global rules governing their development and use, however, has not kept pace. And internationally binding standards remain virtually non-existent. Since 2014, countries that are part of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) have been meeting in Geneva to discuss a potential ban fully autonomous systems that operate without meaningful human control and regulate others. Autonomous and AI-assisted weapons systems are playing a bigger role in conflicts UN Secretary-General An...

NEW DELHI: Indian anchor Arnab Goswami was reporting the decimation of Pakistan when suddenly, out of the blue, the ceasefire was announced. His colleagues from various pro-Modi TV channels were reporting about a “regime change” in Pak­istan when not mentioning the firing of Russian-made Bra­hmos missiles into densely populated parts of Karachi. Their audiences were beg­inning to doubt the rav­ings but had nowhere to verify the facts. Prac­tically every foreign channel or newspaper was made inaccessible in India by overt or covert means. “Who authorised Presi­dent Trump to interv­ene?” Goswami was frothing at the mouth. In his dream world, there couldn’t be Pakis­tani pilots outfoxing their Ind­ian counterparts, or Pakis­tan having better planes. The political leadership has usually been defended by its TV channels. That nexus could be coming to a head. The brunt of the attack, however, was borne not by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who would have been the obvious interlocutor with President Trump. Mr Modi’s ...

BEIRUT: Half a million people in the Gaza Strip face starvation, a global hunger monitor said on Monday, warning the Israeli-blockaded enclave faces a high risk of famine by the end of September. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report cited a significant deterioration since October. It forecast that 2.1 million people across Gaza — roughly the entire population — will likely experience high levels of acute food insecurity, with 469,500 projected at “catastrophic” levels — the most severe stage. The previous IPC analysis in October found 133,000 people in that category. Israel sealed off Gaza in early March when it resumed military action against Hamas after a ceasefire collapsed. Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said the IPC had “constantly talked about famine; famine has never happened because of Israel’s efforts to get more aid in.” He blamed Hamas for causing hunger by allegedly stealing aid. Hamas denies this, accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon. Warns half ...

• Death toll from unprovoked shelling across LoC jumps to 32 • Educational institutions to reopen today • AJK premier hails army’s response as president wants immediate relief for affected families MUZAFFARABAD: Indian troops violated the ceasefire agreement late Sunday night by resorting to ‘unprovoked’ shelling across the Line of Control (LoC), resulting in the death of a young man in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), officials said on Monday. According to Sardar Waheed Khan, Director General of the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), Indian forces targeted several villages in the Nakyal sector of southern Kotli district shortly after 11pm, using both small and heavy arms during a 40-minute barrage. In Bari Dhara Mathrani, one of the affected villages, 32-year-old Muhammad Shahid, son of Muhammad Taj, sustained critical abdominal injuries when shrapnel from a mortar shell struck him. He was initially treated at the THQ Hospital in Nakyal and later referred to the DHQ Hospital in Kotli, where he succumbe...