Pakistan

QUETTA - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed authorities to deploy the Frontier Corps (FC) in Balochistan’s Rakhshan Division to establish a dedicated security corridor aimed at protecting the province’s mineral resources and related economic activities.

ISLAMABAD - The federal government through the Privatisation Commission has formally invited Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from local and international investors for the privatisation of three major electricity distribution companies (DISCOs) including Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO), Gujranwala Electric Power Company (GEPCO), and.

Islamabad - Security Forces eliminated 22 khwarij terrorists belonging to Indian sponsored Fitna al Khwarij in intelligence-based operation in general area Shewa in North Waziristan district.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday inaugurated the Punjab Pavilion at the World Urban Forum being held in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Lahore - Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari spent a busy day in the provincial capital on Tuesday.

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday ruled that a confession which is not voluntary, truthful, and recorded strictly in accordance with the law cannot serve as the basis for convicting an accused person, particularly when the statement has later been retracted and lacks independent corroboration.

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for National Heritage and Culture, Aurangzeb Khan Khichi Tuesday declared Pakistan a proud custodian of one of humanity’s most significant Buddhist civilizations, stressing that the preservation of Gandhara heritage is not merely a national responsibility but a global obligation.

Opening batters Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub have been ruled out of the upcoming one-day international (ODI) series against Australia, scheduled to begin on May 30, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Wednesday. According to a press release issued by the cricket board, both players are “currently recovering from injuries and have been advised to continue their rehabilitation programmes under the supervision of the PCB medical panel”. “Consequently, they have been ruled out of selection for the ODI series,” it added. The cricket board wished both players a speedy recovery and said it looked forward to seeing them return to competitive cricket at the earliest opportunity. It added that further updates regarding the squad and player fitness would be shared in due course. The Australian men’s cricket team is scheduled to tour Pakistan for a three-match ODI series. According to the schedule announced, the visitors will arrive in Islamabad on May 23 and face the Green Shirts in the first ODI at the Rawalpindi Cr...

INDIAN PM Narendra Modi’s penchant for not taking questions during interactions with the press did not go down well with journalists in Norway, who wanted to quiz the visiting dignitary. Mr Modi is on a six-day, five-nation tour, and landed in Oslo on Monday to attend the third India-Nordic Summit. According to The Hindustan Times, the episode unfolded at a joint press statement by PM Modi and his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Støre. As the two leaders were leaving the venue after their briefing, which did not include a Q&A, a voice rang out across the room: “Prime Minister Modi, why don’t you take some questions from the freest press in the world?” The voice belonged to Helle Lyng, a journalist with the local newspaper Dagsavisen, who was part of the media contingent covering the visit. “Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, would not take my question, I was not expecting him to,” she subsequently posted on X. She later also attended the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) briefing on PM Modi’s Norway vi...

WASHINGTON: Pakistan is among the countries that could benefit from a new United States temporary licence allowing selected energy-importing nations to access Russian oil, diplomatic sources told Dawn. The US has introduced a 30-day general licence issued by the US Department of the Treasury to ease immediate supply pressures in global crude markets and provide relief to energy-vulnerable countries. Diplomatic sources said the arrangement may also apply to Pakistan, though they cautioned that Islamabad might not be able to fully take advantage of the concession due to limited technical capacity. US offers 30-day relief to energy-vulnerable countries They noted that Pakistan has not previously imported Russian crude at scale and may lack the refining infrastructure required to process such shipments. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on a social media post released on Monday that his department is issuing a temporary 30-day general licence to “provide the most vulnerable nations with the ability to temp...

Nigeria’s military on Tuesday said that joint airstrikes with the United States had killed 175 Islamic State (IS) fighters in the country’s northeast, including the militant group’s global second-in-command. The remote region has been gripped by an extremist insurgency since 2009, first by Boko Haram, then its offshoot and rival, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). According to the United Nations, more than 40,000 people have been killed and two million others displaced. US and Nigerian forces killed Abu Bilal al-Minuki, an IS leader described as the “most active terrorist” in the world, at a remote village in the northeast last weekend. The Nigerian military said on Tuesday that 175 IS militants had so far been “eliminated from the battlefield”. “The joint strikes have resulted in the destruction of ISIS checkpoints, weapons caches, logistical hubs, military equipment and financial networks used to sustain terrorist operations,” it added. As director of global operations for IS, al-Minuki provide...

KARACHI: An individual involved in a fatal hit-and-run incident on a major Karachi thoroughfare remains on the run days after his vehicle hit another, killing one person and injuring two teenagers. On Thursday, a video of the incident went viral on social media. It showed a speeding double-cabin vehicle ploughing into a small car on Karachi’s Abdul Sattar Edhi Avenue in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) area. The double-cabin vehicle hit the other car with such force that it spun around multiple times before coming to a stop on the side of the busy road. The speeding vehicle did not stop, and the individual fled the scene. South Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that Darakhshan police had lodged a first information report (FIR) against the absconding driver of the speeding SUV, and further legal proceedings were underway. According to the FIR, seen by Dawn, at around 12:05am on May 14, 2026, a speeding Revo vehicle collided with a car at the crossing of main Sea View road and...

Federal Minister for Petroleum Ali Pervaiz Malik met with the Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, Akamatsu Shuichi, during his visit to the Geoscience Advanced Research Laboratories (GARL) of the Geological Survey of Pakistan on Tuesday.

Security forces killed 22 India-sponsored terrorists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district, the military’s media affairs wing said on Tuesday. In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said an area sanitisation operation has been underway since May 17 in North Waziristan’s Shewa general area, “based on credible intelligence leads with respect to the presence of khwarij.” Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). During the operation, troops “effectively engaged khwarij location and after [an] intense exchange of fire, 22 khwarij belonging to Indian sponsored Fitna-al-Khwarij have [been] sent to hell” in the last 24 hours, the ISPR said. It added that weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorists, who “remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area”. The ISPR revealed that “evidence further confirms that khwarij coerced and intimidated the local population, for...

ISLAMABAD: Capital police on Tuesday stopped Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi from reaching Adiala jail in Rawalpindi to meet incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan. Imran — imprisoned since Aug 5, 2023, for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts — is serving a 14-year sentence at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail in a £190 million corruption case, also known as the Al-Qadir Trust case. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) allowed the ex-premier to have twice-a-week meetings — on Tuesdays and Thursdays — with his family, lawyers and other associates. Despite the order, the former premier has been restricted from meeting visitors for several months. Afridi set off for the Rawalpindi jail earlier today. He was accompanied by Imran’s sisters and a number of PTI workers and leaders. However, police stopped the delegation at Islamabad’s Chungi No. 26 from proceeding towards Adiala Jail, despite heated arguments. Police personnel form a line to stop PTI workers and leaders from proceeding towards the prison. — Mohamma...

Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) Nasir Iqbal Bosal and Azhar Qayyum Nahra, on Tuesday, called on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.

ISLAMABAD: The Privatisation Commission on Tuesday invited expressions of interest (EOIs) from local and international investors for the much-delayed sale of three of the country’s most viable electricity distribution companies (Discos). The deadline for submitting EOIs for the partial or full sale of the Discos falls in the first quarter of the next fiscal year. The three companies are Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco), Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco), and Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco). The three are considered the most viable Discos among the 11 electricity distribution companies originally carved out of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) in 1998. The divestment aimed to improve service quality through private-sector management practices. The plan was supposed to be completed within five years but failed to take off over the following three decades. The transaction offers investors an opportunity to acquire between 51pc and 100pc shareholding, along with managem...

Vows to deepen cooperation with Japan in geosciences, mineral research

Says several 'credible names' have surfaced in high-profile case; warns of cyber shift in narcotics trade

Report sent to IG, city police chief; action against certain officers recommended