Pakistan

Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister (DPM/FM), Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, and Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates, Dr.

PPP chief accuses Sharifs' party of pursuing anti-Kashmir agenda

Price of petrol has been fixed at Rs327.12 per litre, while HSD will now cost Rs375.04 per litre

The government on Wednesday increased the price of petrol by Rs6.39 and that of high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs7.83 per litre to pass on the impact of fluctuating global prices following renewed regional hostilities in the Persian Gulf. Following the changes, the price of petrol stands at Rs327.12 per litre and that of HSD at Rs375.04. The Petroleum Division’s notification said the new prices would be applicable on July 23 (Thursday). Earlier today, the All Pakistan Petroleum Pump Owners Association (APPPOA) deferred its nationwide strike call for two weeks after negotiations with the petroleum minister. A day earlier, the association announced a nationwide strike after negotiations with the government over daily petroleum pricing failed. The diesel price has come down from a peak of Rs520.35 recorded on April 3. Its price had started rising from Rs281 per litre after the US-Iran war broke out on February 28. The petrol price had peaked at Rs458.41 on April 3 after beginning its upward trajectory from Rs266 in ...

Flood conditions remained in place at several major rivers and barrages across Pakistan on Wednesday as continuous monsoon rains kept water levels elevated, prompting authorities to maintain heightened monitoring.

OpenAI models 'go rogue'

Security forces kill 10 terrorists

• FO condemns militia's actions against Saudi Arabia • Trump threatens Iranian infrastructure • Houthis block Red

South Korean technology giant Samsung unveiled new, sleeker smartphone models on Wednesday, priced more than previous models as artificial intelligence raises component costs. One of the models resembles a miniature tablet when unfolded. Samsung, which launched the high-end products in London, aims to reaffirm its dominance in the foldable smartphone market, where it has operated since 2019, ahead of a potential move by US rival Apple this year. “By setting a new standard for foldables, we are once again advancing the premium mobile experience,” said TM Roh, head of Samsung’s mobile division. The most innovative device unveiled Wednesday is the Galaxy Z Fold8. Measuring 4.5 millimetres thick when unfolded, it features a 7.6-inch, 4:3 aspect ratio screen optimised for video viewing. Its starting price is set at $1,900. “Galaxy Z Fold8 is the clear star of the show,” said Paolo Pescatore, a technology analyst for PP Foresight. “It underscores Samsung’s dominance of the foldable category and its determination to...

The All Pakistan Petroleum Pump Owners Association (APPPOA) on Wednesday deferred its nationwide strike call for two weeks after negotiations with the petroleum minister. A day earlier, the association announced a nationwide strike from Wednesday night after negotiations with the government over daily petroleum pricing failed. Addressing the media, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said that after another round of negotiations with the APPPOA, it was decided to defer the strike call after the government assured stakeholders that their grievances would be addressed within the next two weeks. “From February 28 till today, the government has used around Rs100 billion to mitigate the impact of rising fuel prices and initiated a subsidy scheme for the most vulnerable section of the society,” said Malik while referring to the actions taken by the government following the outbreak of the Iran-US war. “The clouds of war are again building in the region and fuel prices are rising,” said Malik, adding that he discus...

Member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) will vote on Friday on whether to fire chief prosecutor Karim Khan for alleged sexual misconduct in a case ‌that has damaged the tribunal’s credibility at a time when the US has ramped up its attacks on the court. Khan, 56, denies any wrongdoing. The vote on his fate comes just a week after Washington announced a renewed diplomatic campaign to dismantle the ICC, which it says is a threat to US sovereignty. “The court is already in a precarious state,” Mark Ellis, the executive director of the International Bar Association and a longtime ​ICC observer, told Reuters. “The Khan situation is a separate but very significant part of the overall perception of the court’s credibility,” he added. The US has said no diplomatic ​options are off the table in its campaign against the ICC, which has already seen 11 of the ICC’s top officials facing sanctions. Accuser points to power disparity, Khan denies wrongdoing The Khan vote also lays bare internal divisions amon...

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) will sell Anthropic tens of billions of dollars’ worth of AI servers and invest as much as $5bn in the Claude maker, in a deal that would strengthen its foothold in a market dominated by rival Nvidia. The announcement on Wednesday marks the latest so-called circular deal in the AI industry, where chipmakers invest in AI firms that are among their biggest customers. Nvidia has been in talks to invest $30bn in ChatGPT creator OpenAI. Buying AMD chips would secure Anthropic much-needed AI computing capacity. The startup has emerged as one of the leaders in Silicon Valley’s artificial intelligence race, thanks to strong adoption of its enterprise tools such as Claude Code. Anthropic will buy up to two gigawatts of AMD’s latest-generation Instinct MI450 chips, starting in the first half of 2027, the companies said. AMD’s investment in Anthropic will be tied achieving certain deployment milestones. AMD executives have said 1 gigawatt of computing power, enough to power roughly 750,000 U...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday hosted the sixth meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Science Foundation, with Federal Minister for Science and Technology Khalid Hussain Magsi calling for stronger regional collaboration in science, technology and innovation.

ISLAMABAD: Belgium continues to offer permanent residency (PR) to eligible foreign nationals, including Pakistanis, providing an opportunity to live and work in the country on a long-term basis after fulfilling specific residency requirements.

ISLAMABAD: Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni on Wednesday visited the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) headquarters in Islamabad, where he was briefed on the authority's modern identity management system and digital public service initiatives.

A steady stream of food delivery riders carrying meals, snacks and bottled water is helping sustain a youth-led protest movement that has sprung up in the heart of India’s capital. Motorcycles weave through traffic before pulling up beside clusters of volunteers, ferrying donations from supporters across India and abroad unable to join a rare display of public dissent against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. “From Kerala to the USA, orders are coming from everywhere,” said rider Suraj Kumar, 25, sitting atop his motorcycle with a bag of kachoris, a popular deep-fried snack, as some volunteers climbed over police barricades to take delivery of the packages. A volunteer took the packet and passed it hand-to-hand towards the centre of the protest site a few hundred metres away around Delhi’s Jantar Mantar observatory, where hundreds of people gathered around a raised platform. There, leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a movement that began as online satire in May, demanded the resignation of E...

MANILA: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday met European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas on the sidelines of the 33rd ASEAN Regional Forum, reaffirming their commitment to strengthening Pakistan-EU cooperation.

LAHORE: The Punjab government has launched a Free Livestock Scheme aimed at improving the financial well-being of rural women by providing eligible beneficiaries with free livestock.

A US missile struck the Iranian island of Larak on Wednesday, the Tasnim news agency reported, in the latest attack to target the Islamic republic’s islands in and around the Strait of Hormuz. The islands have been hit multiple times as the two sides fight over the strategic waterway, which Iran has sealed following the collapse of a preliminary deal aimed at ending the war. Here AFP looks at the significance of the Iranian islands in the strait and the nearby Gulf: Larak This small island occupies a particularly strategic position at the narrowest point of the Strait of Hormuz, the key shipping route that Iran has choked shut. A site for Iranian oil exports since 1987, it also hosts a military base. It came to prominence recently as “Tehran’s tollbooth” — a stopping-off point for the handful of vessels that Iran approved to exit or enter the Gulf during its initial blockade earlier in the war. Ships that used this route had to pay a substantial fee, according to maritime data company Lloyd’s List Intelligenc...

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