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ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Karachi Zone on Tuesday suspended two officers and registered a case against a private individual over a recent raid on a jewellery shop in the metropolis’s Sarafa Bazaar. The development came days after FIA Director General Dr Usman Anwar took notice of the incident and demanded a full inquiry, with the report to be submitted within 48 hours. According to an FIA spokesperson, FIA Karachi Zone Director Muntazir Mehdi ordered immediate legal and departmental action. Two FIA officers present at the scene were suspended, while a case was registered against a private individual for allegedly slapping a citizen. Assistant Director Syed Ali Mardan Shah, in charge of the FIA’s Karachi Anti-Corruption Circle (ACC), was removed from his post and attached to headquarters, while Assistant Director Rabab Qazi was transferred from FIA ACC to the Human Trafficking and Smuggling Wing. A departmental inquiry was also initiated against all officers and officials present during...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the ongoing operation against terrorists is continuing with full force during his visit to the Command and Staff College in Quetta.

Security forces have killed 22 militants during an intelligence-based operation in the Shewa area of North Waziristan, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations.

A ban on Indian civilian and military aircraft using Pakistani airspace has been extended for another month, until June 24, according to a Notice to Airmen (Notam) issued by the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) on Tuesday. The previous extension was set to expire on May 24. The ban extension took effect on May 19 at 10:40am and the restriction was extended until 4:59am on June 24, according to the Notam. “Pakistan airspace not available for Indian registered aircraft and aircraft operated/owned or leased by Indian airlines/operators, including military flights,” the Notam, available with Dawn, read. Pakistan’s airspace is divided into two flight information regions (FIRs) — Karachi and Lahore, according to a Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) document from 2022. The Notam applies to both the Karachi (OPKR) and Lahore (OPLR) FIRs. India and Pakistan closed their airspaces to each other’s airlines since late April 2025, when tensions between them escalated in the wake of a deadly attack in Indian-occupie...

The Pakistan Airports Authority has extended restrictions on Indian aircraft using Pakistani airspace until June 23, 2026, through a newly issued Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) released on Tuesday.

Putin's visit is not expected to receive the same pomp as Trump's

Bangladesh are three wickets away from a famous Test series win at home after spinner Taijul Islam took 4-113 to rattle Pakistan despite a rearguard by the opposition batters on Tuesday. Pakistan ended day four on 316-7, needing another 121 runs for victory in what would be a record chase of 437 on the fifth and final day in Sylhet. Mohammad Rizwan, on 75, and Sajid Khan, on eight, were unbeaten at the close of play. Left-arm spinner Taijul struck key blows, including Babar Azam for 47 and Salman Agha on 71, to keep Bangladesh in the hunt for their first-ever Test series win over Pakistan at home. Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan plays a shot during the fourth day of the second Test cricket match between Bangladesh and Pakistan at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Sylhet on May 19, 2026. — AFP Bangladesh, who won the opener of the two-match series, also closed in on back-to-back Test series victories over Pakistan —having whitewashed them 2-0 on Pakistani soil in 2024. Pakistan slumped to 162-5 and were h...

Iranian authorities held mass public weddings in Tehran for couples who signed up to a state-sponsored scheme declaring their readiness to sacrifice their lives in the war against the US and Israel. The ceremonies conducted late on Monday involved hundreds of couples in several major squares in the capital, including more than 100 in the vast Imam Hossein square in central Tehran, according to reports in Iranian media. They were broadcast on state TV in a bid to boost wartime morale, with US President Donald Trump repeatedly threatening new military action against Iran amid a shaky ceasefire which halted the fighting that began on February 28. Those involved had signed up, according to Iranian media, for the so-called “self-sacrifice” scheme (janfada in Persian) where people pledged to put their lives on the line in the war by, for example, forming human chains outside power stations. Iranian authorities say millions of people, including top figures such as Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Pres...

PESHAWAR: Two people lost their lives and 11 were injured in rain-related incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA). The Met Office has forecast dust-thunderstorm and rain with occasional gaps in upper parts of the country till May 23. According to the PDMA’s report, two deaths were reported in rain-related incidents last night from Mardan. Meanwhile, four people were injured in Battagram, one in Mardan and six in Swat. Four houses — one in Battagram and three in Shangla — were fully damaged. Twenty-seven houses were partially damaged in Shangla, two in Swat, five in Torghar and one each in Upper Dir and Mardan, according to the report. A school also suffered damage due to adverse weather in Shangla, the data showed. According to the PDMA’s daily weather report, the highest amount of rainfall in KP over the past 24 hours was recorded in Kalam at 12mm, followed by 11 in Chitral, 8mm in Malam Jabba, 7mm in Saidu Sharif and Balakot, and 4mm each i...

The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday expressed concern at the speed and scale of the Ebola outbreak in central Africa — declared a “continental” emergency — as the number of deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) jumped to 131. The toll from the Ebola outbreak in the DRC has risen to an estimated 131 deaths from 513 suspected cases, health minister Samuel Roger Kamba said. There has also been one death in neighbouring Uganda. However, speaking to Congolese national television overnight, Kamba cautioned that the toll was an estimate and further research was needed to confirm whether all 131 suspected deaths were indeed linked to Ebola. No vaccine or treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola behind the latest outbreak of the deadly disease, which has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa in the past half century. The outbreak’s epicentre is in the northeastern Ituri province on the border with Uganda and South Sudan, whose status as a gold-mining hub leads to people ...

The project will upgrade key N-5 highway sections across Sindh, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Tuesday inaugurated the Punjab Pavilion at the World Urban Forum in Baku, highlighting Punjab’s development and urban planning initiatives on an international platform.

ISLAMABAD: Opposition alliance Tehreek Tahaffuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP) and PTI on Tuesday announced countrywide protests on Friday against Imran Khan’s imprisonment, rising inflation and other issues. The announcement was made by senior PTI leaders during a press conference held out the Parliament House after a parliamentary party meeting. The press conference was addressed by former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser and PTI parliamentary leader Shahid Khattak. Addressing the media, Qaiser said the entire party and the people of Pakistan were deeply concerned about the health of former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi. He said that the parliamentary party had unanimously endorsed the decisions taken at yesterday’s summit of the TTAP. “Protests will be held across the country on Friday against inflation, the increase in petroleum prices, concerns over the health of PTI founder Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, demands for their transfer to hospital, the release of political pr...