Pakistan

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, on Monday, said that Pakistan had been blessed with abundant natural resources, including precious stones, and stressed that the sector offered strong potential to increase exports using local resources.

QUETTA: A police head constable was martyred in a terrorist attack on a checkpost in the Huramzai area of Balochistan’s Pishin district on Monday. According to police, armed militants on a motorcycle opened fire on a police checkpost using automatic weapons, following which police personnel retaliated. “The exchange of fire, which continued for some time, resulted in the martyrdom of a head constable,” a police official who wished to remain anonymous told Dawn, adding that the assailants then fled from the scene. The official said that security forces rushed to the site of the incident and shifted the body to the district hospital, where the deceased was identified as Naimatullah. He termed the incident a terrorist attack, saying a search operation had been launched in the area to trace those involved in the attack. No one group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. Last week, a policeman was martyred and four others were injured in attacks on two police stations by unidentified men in the Dhadar ...

Pakistan and China on Monday signed three memoranda of understanding (MoUs) to strengthen bilateral cooperation in water desalination, agricultural technology, and the tea industry. President Asif Ali Zardari, who is on a week-long visit to China until May 1, witnessed the signing of the MoUs between Pakistani and Chinese entities. The MoUs reflect a focused effort to advance practical collaboration in key sectors. The first MoU was concluded between the Sindh local government and Lucion Environmental Technology Group for collaboration on a seawater desalination project in Karachi, aimed at increasing the city’s water supply. The MoU was signed by Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon and Lucion Group’s Chairman Yuhui, also the secretary of the Party Branch. Memon also signed an MoU between the Sindh local government and Long Ping Hi-tech Information Company for cooperation in agricultural technology with the firm’s chairman, Chen Zhixin. The third MoU was signed between Meskay & Femtee Trading Company, H...

Pakistan and China have signed three Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) to enhance cooperation in desalination, agricultural technology and the tea industry.

Azma Bokhari has said that the Punjab government’s “Apna Khet Apna Rozgar” programme is a major step toward strengthening both agriculture and the provincial economy.

Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla will arrive in the United States later on Monday for a four-day trip, a tour which has taken on even greater prominence after the White House Correspondents’ dinner shooting and amid acrimony between the close allies. The state visit, by far the most high-profile and consequential of Charles’s reign, marks the 250th anniversary of the US declaration of independence from British rule, and is the first visit to the country by a British monarch for two decades. It begins with a private meeting with self-proclaimed royal fan US President Donald Trump, and includes an address to Congress and a lavish dinner at the White House. Press dinner shooting just days before visit But the long-planned trip has become enmeshed in the political spat between the two countries over the US-Israeli war on Iran, which led Trump to voice deep displeasure with the British government for failing to support the offensive. The shooting on Saturday at the White House Correspondents’ Association d...

Tremors were felt in Islamabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday as an earthquake of 5.7 magnitude struck the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border region, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said. In a statement, the PMD said the quake was recorded at 11:46am. It added that the epicentre was located near Afghanistan’s border with Tajikistan and had a depth of 170 kilometres. According to PMD, jolts from the earthquake were felt in Islamabad, Swat, Shangla and Buner. However, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) recorded the earthquake’s magnitude as 5.1 on the Richter scale, with its epicentre having a depth of 105.1km. Residents of Islamabad and KP had last felt earthquake tremors on April 3, when an earthquake of 6.1 magnitude hit the Hindu Kush Region in Afghanistan. Earlier this month, Balochistan also witnessed two quakes. Pakistan falls on three major tectonic plates — the Arabian, Euro-Asian and Indian — which create five seismic zones under the country. The intersection of multiple fault lines ...

Parachinar Airport in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district has been reopened after a prolonged period of inactivity, authorities confirmed on Monday.

• Acknowledges hardships faced by Karachiites due to delay in completion of ADB-funded Red Line along the key arterial link • Mayor Wahab says Sindh govt will finance rehabilitation of University Road as a separate project while Red Line construction continues • Murad says stalled BRT work to resume in two to three days KARACHI: In view of growing criticism and widespread inconvenience to hundreds of thousands of commuters on a daily basis, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, while “apologising” to the people of Karachi, has announced that the deteriorated University Road will be reconstructed within 90 days. While the under-construction Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Red Line is an Asian Development Bank-funded scheme, the reconstruction of the University Road will be undertaken as a separate project funded through the provincial government’s own resources. The move came days after the chief minister had himself expressed “embarrassment” over the inconvenience caused to road users due to delays in the complet...

PESHAWAR: Parachinar Airport in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram District has been reactivated and made operational through the efforts of the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) and the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA), after remaining inactive for an extended period. The renovation and repair of the airport mark a significant step toward restoring air transport in the region. On April 26, Pakistan Army Aviation conducted trials at Parachinar Airport to assess the quality of construction and upgradation work, as well as runway functionality and overall operational readiness. Pakistan Army Aviation completed six successful landing and takeoff trials, after which the airport runways were declared compliant with professional standards and safety protocols. During the trials, the performance of the airport and runways was evaluated under various operational scenarios. Following the success of these trials, Parachinar Airport’s operational capacity is expected to be further strengthened, significantly enhancing regiona...

An anti-terrorism court on Monday extended Bushra Bibi’s interim bail in 29 cases related to the November 26 protest until May 18.

ISLAMABAD: World military expenditure reached $2,887 billion in 2025, an increase of 2.9 per cent in real terms over 2024, according to new data published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on Monday. Military spending declined in the United States but rose by 14pc in Europe and by 8.1pc in Asia and Oceania. The top three military spenders — the USA, China and Russia — spent a combined total of $1,480bn, or 51pc of the global total. Spending in Middle East stable despite ongoing conflicts and regional rivalries Military expenditure in the Middle East reached an estimated $218bn in 2025, just 0.1pc higher than in 2024. Besides Israel, most other major spenders in the region for which data is available increased their spending. Israel’s military expenditure decreased by 4.9pc to $48.3bn, reflecting a reduction in the intensity of the Gaza conflict during 2025 following the ceasefire agreement with Hamas. Israel’s spending remained 97pc higher than in 2022. Military spending by Turki...

The conflict in the Middle East has disrupted supplies of crucial raw materials and pushed up prices of the printed circuit boards (PCB) used in almost all electronic devices, from smartphones and computers to AI servers, industry sources and executives said. The disruption is a fresh blow to electronics manufacturers which are already grappling with soaring memory chip costs and highlights the broadening impact of the Iran war that has wreaked havoc on supply chains, plastics, and oil supplies. Iran struck Saudi Arabia’s Jubail petrochemical complex in early April, forcing a halt in production of high-purity polyphenylene ether (PPE) resin a critical base material used to manufacture PCB laminates. SABIC, which accounts for approximately 70 per cent of the world’s high-purity PPE supply and operates in the Jubail complex on the Gulf coast, has been unable to resume output, severely tightening the availability of the material worldwide, according to one source. Shipping in and out of the Gulf has also been se...

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: A fire broke out in a cargo truck at Maahra in Dera Ismail Khan district on the Indus Highway, prompting authorities to shut the road and causing long queues of vehicles on both sides. According to rescue sources, the incident occurred near Dhora Solahn Adda in the district’s Paroa tehsil, where a trailer loaded with cloth suddenly caught fire, and the blaze intensified within moments. Thick plumes of smoke spread across the area, creating panic among commuters and nearby residents. Officials said traffic on the highway remained fully suspended due to the fire, while rescue teams reached the site and launched efforts to extinguish the flames. Rescue authorities confirmed that no loss of life had been reported so far, though significant financial losses were feared. Commuters have been advised to use alternate routes and avoid the affected area until the situation is brought under control. Accidents are common on highways and motorways across Pakistan, caused by reckless driving, speeding, dr...

US President Donald Trump on Sunday lauded Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces Asim Munir for their efforts in facilitating dialogue between Washington and Tehran.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has said that temperatures will stay much higher than normal in many parts of the country.

HYDERABAD: In the wake of a recent visit to the Liaquat University Hospital by Commissioner Fayyaz Abbasi and Deputy Commissioner Zain Ul Abiden Memon, the provincial health secretary has been informed that no fewer than 45 machineries and equipment are lying dysfunctional at the institution — Sindh’s second largest tertiary care hospital. A report submitted to the health secretary on April 17 highlighted the deficiencies that have been impacting the ‘economically disadvantaged’ patients coming to the hospital from across the district and many other parts of the interior of Sindh. “The report has been submitted with the approval of the divisional commissioner,” said an administrative source. The report clearly mentions that 45 machines, in all, are lying dysfunctional. They included three MRI, four CT Scan, six digital X-ray, 10 ultrasound and 17 anesthesia machines. Each MRI machines involves a repair cost of Rs30m that would cumulatively take the cost to Rs90m, if the report’s figures are anything to go by....

US President Donald Trump reiterated on Sunday that talks with Iran would be held remotely and commended Pakistan, which has been playing a mediatory role between Washington and Tehran, saying that Islamabad would “stay involved” in the process. The US president’s remarks came during a phone interview with Fox News, where he said: “If they (Iran) want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us; you know, there is a telephone … If they want they can talk, but we are not sending people to travel 18 hours to meet.” His remarks come a day after he called off a planned visit of US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner to travel to Islamabad for a second round of talks with Iran. The first round of historic direct US-Iran talks was held in Islamabad on April 11 and 12, following a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire on April 8. It had ended without an agreement, but also without a breakdown. Acknowledging Pakistan’s role in the process, Trump said, “Great respect for Pakistan because they have been t...

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was to head to Moscow on Sunday after a short stay in Pakistan, where he landed for a second time in two days following a trip to Oman as part of his tri-nation tour, a diplomatic source told Dawn. He is undertaking the trip against the backdrop of ongoing diplomatic efforts, notably by Pakistan, to bring Tehran and Washington to the table to talks aimed at ending the conflict that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. The source said Araghchi arrived at the Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi after completing a day-long visit to Oman, adding that he would meet with senior Pakistani officials during his short stay in Islamabad. The Iranian foreign minister would then depart for Moscow, the source added. In a late-night post on X, Iranian envoy to Pakistan Reza Amiri Moghadam confirmed the end of Araghchi’s second trip to Pakistan. “At the end of this round of the visit of the Iranian delegation, Abbas Araghchi, the minister of foreign affairs, to Pakistan … ...

RAWALPINDI: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Sunday that traffic restrictions around Islamabad’s Red Zone and Serena Hotel, which was expected to be the venue for the now cancelled US-Iran talks, had been lifted. “Traffic restrictions around the Serena Hotel and the Red Zone in Islamabad have been lifted today. I extend my heartfelt thanks to the people of Pakistan — especially the residents of Islamabad and Rawalpindi — for their patience and cooperation. “Your support enables us to ensure the safety of our guests and to continue our efforts for peace in the region. We remain committed to these goals and are grateful for, and in need of, your prayers and wishes,” Dar posted on X. The restrictions were placed on April 19, with Red Zone being closed to the public as the federal capital braced to welcome foreign delegations for expected talks between the US and Iran. Entry of heavy transport had also been suspended in Islamabad, but authorities later relaxed the restriction for vehic...