Pakistan

Pakistan on Saturday convened the Central & South Asia Chiefs of Defence Conference in Islamabad, bringing together senior military leaders from the United States, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Communication services along Babusar Road have been restored with the assistance of the Special Communications Organization (SCO), according to a statement by the provincial government spokesperson.

The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) on Saturday instructed all national sports federations to seek prior consultation and approval before participating in any sporting events held in India due to ’“security concerns”. Political tensions bet­ween the two nations over the years have cast a sha­d­ow over bilateral sporting events, causing major tournaments to hang in the balance. The countries’ teams have previously refused to travel across the border for sporting events, electing to play on neutral ground via a hybrid model instead. A circular issued today by the PSB said the decision was taken during the 34th board meeting held on Wednesday. The circular explicitly urged all national federations to strictly adhere to the directive. “In view of the current security situation, no national federation shall make any commitment or agreement regarding participation in sports events in India without prior permission from PSB,” it said. The PSB cited prevailing security concerns as a reason for the new directive. There ha...

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Saturday apologised to mixed martial arts player Shahzaib Rindh for the “inordinate delay” in the government’s promised financial reward and support. In September, Rindh made history when he won the Karate Combat Championship (KC-49) in Singapore, becoming the first-ever world champion from Pakistan after defeating Brazil’s Bruno Roberto De Assis in the final. Following the win, President Asif Ali Zardari had presented Rindh with a cheque worth Rs100 million, the Balochistan government announced Rs2m as a cash prize, while a former minister had also promised him 25 acres of land. Tarar’s apology today comes after Rindh, in a post on X on Wednesday, had slammed the government for its “fake promises” of Rs5m in cash and an additional Rs80m to support his training and upcoming matches. “Our politicians are corrupt,” Rindh alleged, adding that the last time he won, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had announced rewards for him. “It was all [a] lie; I never got [a] penny from t...

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has reiterated that the development priorities for the Model Villages Project will be aligned with the needs of the people.

At least six people were killed and 22 were injured in an armed attack by the Jaish al-Adl group on a courthouse in Iran’s restive Sistan-Baluchestan province on Saturday, state media reported. Three attackers were killed, according to the report by IRNA. Jaish al-Adl confirmed the deaths of its three members in the clashes with security forces in Zahedan, the capital of the far southeastern province bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan. A toddler and a 60-year-old woman were among those killed, as well as three soldiers and law enforcement personnel assigned to the courthouse, the head of the province’s judiciary told IRNA. He did not identify the sixth dead person. He said the attackers wore explosive vests and carried grenades. It was not clear if they had detonated them. Jaish al-Adl, which claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on its Telegram account, said it had killed at least 30 members of the judiciary and security forces. It said it targeted judges and court personnel, whom it accused o...

Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry on Saturday stated that Pakistan hosted the largest contiguous arid mangrove forest in South Asia, primarily located in the Indus Delta region of Sindh, which has the potential to generate annual revenue of $20–50 million depending on market prices and volume.

Pakistan has called for de-escalation and ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war and stressed that “echoes for peace must be heard” as Ambassador Usman Jadoon addressed a United Nations briefing. “Peace in Ukraine is long overdue,” Ambassador Jadoon, deputy permanent representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, told the UN Council, which debated the situation in Ukraine on Friday after Russia invaded its neighbour in March 2022. “The calls for ending this conflict should not be allowed to go unheard or masked by the continued drums of war,” he added, highlighting that the conflict was now four years old. Pakistan, as a consistent advocate for peace, has called for de-escalation and giving primacy to dialogue over fighting, said Ambassador Jadoon, who at that time was chairing the 15-member meeting. “Only a sincere and meaningful dialogue which addresses mutual security concerns of all sides, is anchored in the principles of UN Charter and international law, and respects the relevant multilateral agreements ...

The Karakoram Highway (KKH) was reopened on Saturday as aid and rescue operations continued in Gilgit-Baltistan after flash floods battered the region. The devastating impacts of climate change have become more visible in GB as unprecedented heat­­waves, erratic weat­her patterns and glacial melting have triggered cloudbursts and intense floods across the region. On Monday, floods swept across GB, causing landslides and leaving many stranded. At least nine people died and more than 500 houses, roads and other infrastructure were damaged as a result. In a statement today, GB government spokesperson Faizullah Faraq said: “The Karakoram Highway is open for all types of traffic.” He recalled that the main artery had been blocked due to landslides and mud flow on Friday, adding that machinery was sent to restore the road. Faraq further said that rescue and search operations were underway across the region. The recent floods have caused severe destruction in the region, particularly in the Kunduz region and the Gha...

China’s premier Li Qiang warned on Saturday that artificial intelligence development must be weighed against the security risks, saying a global consensus was urgently needed even as the tech race between Beijing and Washington shows no sign of abating. His remarks came just days after United States President Donald Trump unveiled an aggressive low-regulation strategy aimed at cementing US dominance in the fast-moving field, promising to “remove red tape and onerous regulation” that could hinder private sector AI development. Opening the World AI Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai on Saturday, Li emphasised the need for governance and open-source development, announcing the establishment of a Chinese-led body for international AI cooperation. “The risks and challenges brought by artificial intelligence have drawn widespread attention […] How to find a balance between development and security urgently requires further consensus from the entire society,” the premier said. Li said China would “actively promote” the d...

• Foreign minister says Pakistan-US mineral deal to be finalised soon • Ex-State Dept official Elizabeth Horst made acting envoy to Pakistan WASHINGTON: Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday and discussed trade, investment, counterterrorism cooperation and the clash between India and Pakistan in May, according to officials from both countries. The meeting — the first such engagement between the foreign ministers of the two countries in three years — is being considered a breakthrough in diplomacy between Pakistan and the US. On the same day, the US named an acting ambassador in Islamabad. In Washington, Mr Dar and Secretary Rubio held their first meeting since working together in May to negotiate a ceasefire that ended a dangerous military standoff between India and Pakistan. In a post shared after the meeting, Mr Dar said he discussed bilateral relations with Secretary Rubio. “We reaffirmed our commitment to the long-term Pakistan-US partnership, with renewed focus on eco...

Amir Markazi Jamiat-e-Ahle Hadees Senator Hafiz Abdul Kareem Saturday called on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.

The World Mangroves Day is being observed across the world today.

A medium-level flood in the Indus River at Taunsa has submerged over 20 villages, causing severe damage to homes and standing crops, as the flood situation across southern Punjab continues to worsen.

In a series of intelligence-based operations, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) killed 12 terrorists, including an Afghan national, during separate raids in Swat and Hangu districts on Friday.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday approved the formation of a modern, globally-standard digital ecosystem within the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and directed the hiring of internationally renowned experts to lead the initiative.

KARACHI: The Sindh government on Friday officially abolished all roadside charged parking across Karachi — a practice that had long been seen by Karachiites as a gross exploitation of taxpayers, carried out on city roads for the past 25 years. The decision comes into effect at once. The Sindh local government department, acting on the directives of the chief minister of Sindh, issued a notification announcing the end of parking fees on public roads throughout the city’s 25 Town Municipal Corporations (TMCs). As per the new policy, no municipal body or private entity is allowed to collect any parking fee from vehicles parked on roads anywhere in Karachi. However, the move also granted the councils of the TMCs the authority to designate any ‘specified area’ within their remit as a charged parking space. According to the notification, the Sindh chief minister “imposed a ban on charged parking fees from roads. The charged parking fees can be collected only on plots / plazas / areas specifically maintained by the ...

Police in India have arrested a man accused of running a fake embassy from a rented house near New Delhi and duping job seekers out of money with promises of overseas employment. Harsh Vardhan Jain, 47, was operating an “illegal West Arctic embassy by renting a house” in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, which neighbours the capital, local police said. Jain, according to police, claimed to be the ambassador of fictional nations “like West Arctica, Saborga, Poulvia, Lodonia”. He allegedly used vehicles with fake diplomatic plates and shared doctored photos of himself with Indian leaders to bolster his claims. “His main activities involved acting as a broker to secure work in foreign countries for companies and private individuals, as well as operating a hawala (money transfer) racket through shell companies,” the police said in a statement following his arrest earlier this week. He is also accused of money laundering. During a raid on Jain’s property, police said they recovered $53,500 in cash in addition to doctored ...

Health Minister Mustafa Kamal urged international stakeholders to explore partnerships in Pakistan’s rapidly evolving health landscape, highlighting the country’s “immense” potential for investment, state-run Radio Pakistan reported on Saturday. Representing Pakistan at Boao Forum for Asia’s (BFA) Global Health Forum in Beijing yesterday, the health minister underscored that Pakistan presents “immense opportunities for collaboration, innovation and investment”. Established in 2001, the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) is a non-profit international organisation promoting regional cooperation in Asia. It focuses on health issues related to economic development and wellbeing. The roundtable featured health ministers from all over the world, who discussed equal access to healthcare and sustainable reforms. “Pakistan is ready for partnerships in global health,” Kamal said, highlighting the country’s 250 million population, nursing cooperation and digital reforms. He pointed out that there were “significant opportunities ...

Pakistan Customs has seized over 303 kilograms of smuggled gold during various operations conducted over the past decade, official documents have revealed.