Pakistan

Bangladesh’s former prime minister Sheikh Hasina masterminded a deadly crackdown on mass protests that prompted her ouster last year, prosecutors at a domestic war crimes tribunal said on Monday. Up to 1,400 people died in July 2024 when Hasina’s government launched a brutal campaign to silence the opposition, according to the United Nations. Hasina lives in self-imposed exile in India, where she fled by helicopter, and has defied an arrest warrant from Dhaka over charges of crimes against humanity. “The investigation team has found Sheikh Hasina culpable in at least five charges,” Mohammad Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor at Bangladesh’s domestic International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), told reporters. “They have brought charges of abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy, and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising.” Tajul Islam said the prosecution had submitted its first report to be presented at the court set to try Hasina and two of her aides — former home minister Asaduzzaman...

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced on Monday its dissolution and the end of more than four decades of armed struggle against the Turkish state, the pro-Kurd ANF news agency reported. “The 12th PKK Congress has decided to dissolve the PKK’s organisational structure and end its method of armed struggle,” the group announced in a statement after holding its congress last week. The PKK’s announcement to dissolve itself heeds a call by its founder Abdullah Ocalan, jailed on an island off Istanbul since 1999, who urged his fighters in February to disarm and disband. In a letter, Ocalan urged the PKK to hold a congress to formalise the decision. Days later, the PKK’s leadership accepted Ocalan’s call, declaring a ceasefire. In a speech on Saturday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted that news about a dissolution could come at any moment, adding that his government was determined to “save our country from the scourge of terrorism”. “We are advancing with firm steps on the path to the goal of a terror-fre...

Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar Monday informed Foreign Minister of Australia Senator Penny Wong that Pakistan had shown restraint throughout the recent crisis and only exercised its right to self-defense in line with the UN Charter and international law.

Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has expressed strong support for Pakistan’s armed forces, declaring that the entire nation stands united in defending the homeland.

Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited the residence of Shaheed Ali Haider at Kacha Jail Road area here on Monday and expressed condolence to the grieving family.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) gained a record nine per cent on Monday — the restored calm in the market mirroring that in the region after the recent Pakistan-India ceasefire that boosted investor mood. Saturday’s ceasefire, announced by US President Donald Trump, followed four days of tit-for-tat strikes between the nuclear-armed neighbours, as well as diplomacy and pressure from Washington. The KSE-100 index opened with a gain of 9,929.48 points, or 9.26pc, to stand at 117,104.11 points from the previous close of 107,174.63 at 9:30am. Due to the massive gains, the PSX was suspended for an hour after opening to control excessive volatility. Later in the day, the benchmark index reached as many as 117,327.78 points — 10,153.15 points (9.47pc) higher than yesterday’s close, at 3:15pm. This marked the highest intraday gain (points-wise) — more than double the 4,700 points surge in November 2024. Finally, the KSE-100 closed at 117,297.73 points, with a gain of 10,123.10 points (9.45pc) compared to the previo...

Flight operations across Pakistan and India began returning to normal on Monday following the recent ceasefire between the two countries.

Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, and United Kingdom Foreign Secretary David Lammy discussed the latest developments in the region.

Federal Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Monday that any future dialogue with India must revolve around three core issues: Kashmir, water disputes, and terrorism.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif visited the residence of Amir-e-Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith Professor Sajid Mir in Sialkot to offer condolences upon his demise.

In a powerful display of national solidarity, Parliamentary Secretary for Information and Broadcasting Barrister Danyal Chaudhry participated in the “Pakistan Zindabad Rally” yesterday, underscoring the nation’s unwavering support for the Pakistan Armed Forces.

Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan, Nawaf bin Saeed Al-Malkiy, met with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Monday to discuss matters of mutual interest and reaffirm the commitment to deepening bilateral cooperation across all sectors, according to a statement from the Foreign Office.

The workers of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vandalised Karachi Bakery in India’s Hyderabad over its name on Saturday, prior to the ceasefire announcement between the two neighbouring countries amid heightened tensions, Indian media outlet The Wire reported. The vandals wore saffron shawls, stepped on Pakistani flags and chanted anti-Pakistan slogans, The Wire said, adding that there was footage of them striking the bakery’s sign with sticks, to target the word ‘Karachi’. The escalation between the nuclear-armed neighbours began following the April 22 attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which killed 26 people. India, without investigation or evidence, implied “cross-border linkages” of the att­a­­­c­kers. Pakistan firmly rejected the claim and called for a neutral probe. Following the allegations, India launched a series of drone strikes on Pakistan, resulting in civilian casualties. Both sides then launched missiles at each other, which stretched over the week befo...

Peshawar - Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi formally inaugurated a free emergency ambulance service for the citizens of Peshawar on Saturday.

The United States and China announced on Monday an agreement to drastically reduce tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days, de-escalating a trade war that has roiled financial markets and raised fears of a global economic downturn. After their first talks since US President Donald Trump launched his trade war, the world’s two biggest economies agreed in a joint statement to bring their triple-digit tariffs down to two figures and continue negotiations. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the weekend talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and international trade representative Li Chenggang as “productive” and “robust”. “Both sides showed a great respect,” Bessent told reporters. US President Donald Trump had imposed duties of 145 per cent on imports for China last month — compared to 10pc for other countries in the global tariff blitz he launched last month. Beijing hit back with duties of 125pc on US goods. Bessent said the two sides agreed to reduce those tariffs by 115pc, taking US tariffs to 30pc and ...

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and former prime minister Imran Khan has directed Junaid Akbar to resign from his position as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), sources revealed.

Senior military officials from India and Pakistan are set to hold talks on Monday to determine the way forward following a US-brokered ceasefire that brought calm to the Line of Control after days of the heaviest cross-border shelling in nearly three decades.

ISLAMABAD: The government only managed to spend around 41 per cent of the development funds allocated for the fiscal year despite the passage of 10 months, the planning ministry has said. The development spending stood at Rs448.6bn in the first 10 months (July-April) of fiscal year 2025, accounting for less than 41pc of Rs1.1 trillion revised budget allocation for the whole year. The lack of spending suggests a large part of the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) — revised down from Rs1.4tr to Rs1.1tr — would remain unspent at the end of the fiscal year in June. The ministry’s monthly data released on Sunday showed funds given to parliamentarians were the only exception to the otherwise paltry spending. Finance ministry pushes back date to surrender unspent funds by a month The utilisation of funds at Rs35bn was even higher than the first revised allocation of Rs25bn for the current year. A mechanism devised by the finance ministry for the current fiscal year dictated the government should release 15p...

Lahore - Pakistan People’s Party Central Punjab President and former PM Raja Pervez Ashraf praised the armed forces and termed the recent ceasefire agreement between Pakistan and India a “victory for peace.

Peshawar - Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, on Sunday took serious notice of alleged irregularities in the Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency (ETEA) screening test held in Bannu on May 10.