Pakistan

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan was continuing its efforts to maintain peace and stability in the region through active diplomatic engagement.

The Iranian Rial continued to trade at a significant premium in Pakistan’s informal currency markets, with one crore Iranian rials currently exchanging between PKR 8,000 and PKR 10,000 in Karachi, Quetta and Lahore.

MANDI BAHAUDDIN: A suspect wanted in the kidnapping and murder of a six-year-old boy was killed on Wednesday after allegedly coming under fire from his own accomplice during an “encounter” with police in Chak Sabu, Pindi Bhattian tehsil of Hafizabad district, officials said. Hafizabad police spokesperson Head Constable Waqar Yousaf told Dawn that the body of the missing child was recovered from nearby fields during a search operation. It was taken into custody and shifted to a hospital for post-mortem examination, while legal proceedings were initiated. Pindi Bhattian Saddar police registered a first information report (FIR), dated April 28, a copy of which was seen by Dawn, on the complaint of the victim’s father. It invoked Sections 363 (punishment for kidnapping) and 302 (intentional murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The spokesperson further stated that initial investigations identified the suspect as 40-year-old Zafar Hashmat, a resident of Faisalabad who had recently arrived in Pindi Bhattian and...

BANNU: At least six terrorists were killed early on Wednesday when Bannu police successfully repelled a major attack on the Mazanga police post, officials said. According to police, heavily armed terrorists attacked the post in the early hours of Wednesday, but personnel responded promptly and foiled the assault. An intense exchange of fire continued for some time, during which one terrorist was killed on the spot, while the bodies of five other terrorists were taken away by their accomplices. Following the incident, Bannu District Police Officer (DPO) Yasir Afridi, along with Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Arshad Khan and teams from the Rapid Response Force and Quick Response Force, reached the scene immediately. They cordoned off the area and initiated a search operation. Police recovered weapons and other equipment from the site, including magazines, hand grenades, bandoliers and other material. During the incident, a constable sustained minor injuries and was shifted to a hospital, where he was rep...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said that the country’s weekly oil bill has reached $800 million due to the ongoing oil crisis arising from the Middle East conflict. Global fuel prices have skyrocketed over the past two months as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains paralysed since the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on February 28. Addressing a meeting of the federal cabinet today, PM Shehbaz commended the efforts of Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik for tackling the fuel crisis resulting from the Iran war, stating that the situation now appeared “satisfactory”. On that note, the prime minister remarked that fuel prices in the global markets had risen sharply, noting that “our weekly pre-war oil bill was around $300m, and today it is up to $800m”. He further shared that the country’s fuel consumption “had lessened compared to previous weeks”, stressing that the situation was being monitored regularly. “Consultations are also being held with provinces to extend fuel subsidi...

The Government of Sindh has announced the complete digitalisation of route permits and vehicle fitness certificates across the province, making online documentation mandatory for all transporters and vehicle owners by 30 June 2026.

Forces have destroyed several Afghan Taliban posts and vehicles in Balochistan’s Chaman sector, security sources said on Wednesday. The operations, part of the ongoing ‘Operation Ghazab lil-Haq’, were a response to the “unprovoked aggression” by Afghan Taliban forces and terrorists on the Pak-Afghan border, according to the sources. Security sources said that the army destroyed several Afghan Taliban posts and vehicles in Chaman “with precision”. “The Pakistan Army’s effective operations have forced the Afghan Taliban and the Fitna al Khawarij to retreat”. Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). “Security forces’ unwavering resolve to defend the homeland is ensuring the country’s territorial integrity,” sources added. The sources also stated that the operations will continue until “all set targets are achieved”. Security forces also destroyed multiple Afghan Taliban posts in the Chaman sector on Tuesday, according to security sources....

Pakistan Army continued effective and precision strikes under Operation Ghazab lil-Haq along the Pak-Afghan border in response to what security sources described as unprovoked aggression by the Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij.

In a move aimed at facilitating small-scale renewable energy adoption, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has abolished the licensing requirement for solar consumers with systems of up to 25 kilowatts.

An Indian man dug up his sister’s body and carried it to a bank branch to prove she was dead after being refused access to her account without a death certificate, the lender has said. Jitu Munda, from a constitutionally recognised tribal community in the eastern state of Odisha, went to an Indian Overseas Bank branch on Monday to withdraw money from his deceased sister’s account. But bank staff told him that “withdrawals by a third party are not permitted without proper authorisation”, the lender said Tuesday. Angered by being turned away because he did not have her death certificate, Munda returned to the branch carrying the “human remains” of his sister, who had been buried days earlier, the bank said. Television networks broadcast footage of Munda carrying what appeared to be a corpse partially wrapped in plastic, with skeletal legs visible and slung over his shoulder. “This created a highly distressing situation at the premises,” the bank said. It added that the incident stemmed from a “lack of awareness...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed Pakistan Railways to prioritise public convenience and ensure safe travel across its network, while also strengthening freight operations to support economic activity.

The UNESCO has inscribed the Kalash valleys in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Chitral district on its World Heritage Tentative List, recognising the region’s unique cultural and environmental significance.

An image of United States President Donald Trump will soon appear in some US passports, officials said on Tuesday, shattering another norm as the president aggressively puts his personal stamp on government institutions. There are few precedents anywhere in the world, let alone in a democracy, of displaying sitting leaders’ pictures in passports, and Trump would be the first sitting US president featured in Americans’ travel documents. The State Department said it would offer the limited-edition passport to mark this year’s 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence. The department — which has historically viewed itself as outside US partisan politics — posted on social media a sample of the passport, which features a stern-looking Trump superimposed over the Declaration of July 4, 1776. Trump’s signature — in gold — lies underneath. A second limited-edition passport showed a historic painting of the US Founding Fathers. “As the United States celebrates America’s 250th anniversary in July, the St...

King Charles III gave US President Donald Trump a taste of his own medicine at a White House state dinner on Tuesday when he joked that without the British, Americans would be speaking French. As the heads of state traded jokes during their dinner toasts, Charles referenced previous comments by Trump aimed at European allies he accuses of freeloading on defense since World War II. “You recently commented, Mr President, that if it were not for the United States, European countries would be speaking German. Dare I say that, if it wasn’t for us, you’d be speaking French,” Charles quipped. The king was talking about places with British and French origins in North America, where the rival colonial powers battled for control of the continent before US independence 250 years ago. At the Davos summit in January, Trump said that without US help in World War II, “you’d be speaking German and a little Japanese.” But the king’s lighthearted remark reflected the warm tone as he and Trump bonded over the “special relations...

Britain’s King Charles and Donald Trump hailed their countries’ longstanding ties at a White House state dinner Tuesday – despite the US president claiming the monarch agreed with him on Iran’s nuclear weapons. Over a lavish meal, Charles echoed the tone of his earlier speech to Congress in which he urged London and Washington to stick together, without directly mentioning the tensions over the US-Israeli war with Tehran. But in his toast to a gala dinner attended by tech titans and golfer Rory McIlroy, Trump made his first public comments on the sensitive topic during the four-day visit by the British royals. US President Donald Trump and Britain’s King Charles III raise a toast during a State Dinner in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 28, 2026. — AFP “We have militarily defeated that particular opponent,” Trump said at the White House dinner. “Charles agrees with me even more than I do — we’re never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon.” Trump has repeatedly lambasted...

ISLAMABAD: Hours before his imminent transfer from the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani warned that the high court would summon Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a case concerning the non-appointment of the finance member of the PTA tribunal. During the hearing, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani warned that if the official was not appointed by May 18, the PM would be required to appear in person and explain the delay. The court also directed the cabinet secretary and the law secretary to ensure their presence at the next hearing on May 18. However, Justice Kayani was transferred by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan a couple of hours after issuing the said order. At the previous hearing, the assistant attorney general informed the court that a retired judge had been appointed as a tribunal member. However, Justice Kayani criticised the trend of appointing retired judges to tribunals, remarking that such practices had not been beneficial and that retired judges frequently seek positions in v...

TECH giant Microsoft has removed misleading Israeli designations used in the occupied West Bank and included Palestinian geographical names in its digital maps in accordance with international law, Anadolu Agency reported quoting an Arab rights organisation. In a statement, the Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media (7amleh) said the changes included location-based services, including the search engine ‘Bing’, where labels that previously listed locations in the West Bank under ‘Judea and Samaria, Israel’ were replaced with the term ‘West Bank’. ‘Judea and Samaria’ is an Israeli term to designate the occupied West Bank, which is in contrast to international law that dictates that the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, must be recognised as a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel. The West Bank is a key component of the future Palestinian state. The changes represent a “necessary correction,” said Lama Nazeeh, 7amleh’s advocacy manager, calling on technology companies to comply with international...

• Iranian envoy lauds Pakistan for ‘persistent labour’ to pave way for dialogue • Trump claims Tehran asked him to lift Hormuz blockade • Spy agencies studying ‘likely response’ to US declaring victory • Iran’s military says ‘still in state of war’ • Vance questions Pentagon assessment of conflict with Iran • UAE tanker evades Hormuz blockade WASHINGTON: Even as US President Donald Trump appeared reluctant to accept an Iranian offer to end the Middle East war, reports suggested Tehran would share a fresh proposal with Pakistan “in the next few days”, despite a public show of defiance. According to CNN, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will consult Iranian leaders upon his return from Russia for the new proposal, but “process is slow” due to “difficulty in communicating with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, whose location is being kept secret”. The development came as President Trump reviewed the Iranian proposals amid concerns over the Pentagon’s assessment of the ongoing war with Iran. Senior Iranian official...

LAHORE: Nine suspects were killed, while two police officials were injured in separate encounters with the Crime Control Department (CCD) in various parts of the province on Tuesday. In Lahore, six suspects were allegedly killed while two police officials were injured during separate ‘encounters’ with the CCD. A police official claimed that CCD officials conducted a raid in the Sundar area to arrest suspects following reports that wanted robbers were present there. He claimed the armed men hiding there suddenly opened fire on the raiding team, leaving two police personnel wounded. The police also returned the fire and two suspected robbers were found dead. They were later identified as Alam Sher and Hashim, wanted in over 60 cases in various police stations of the city, the official claimed. Six of them killed in Lahore Constables Taswar and Namdar were injured in the encounter and were shifted to a local hospital. In another encounter with the Iqbal Town CCD, the official said that suspects Bilal alias Mota ...

Islamabad - Pakistan Army’s Army Rocket Force Command on Tuesday conducted a successful training launch of indigenously developed Fateh-II Missile System, equipped with advanced avionics and state of the art navigational aids.