Pakistan

Ice cream chain Mixue plans $590m investment, while meal delivery firm Meituan to invest $1b by 2030

US inflation surge rattles voters, White House

Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Abdolnasser Hemmati, called on Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on the sidelines of the Islamabad Talks on Sunday.

They came from around the world: hundreds of journalists rushed to Islamabad’s flagship convention centre — converted into a media hub by Pakistani authorities for landmark talks between the United States and Iran to end the war in the Middle East. But as negotiations began behind closed doors half a kilometre away, all the world’s media could do was wait — and sip on an expertly brewed coffee while listening to live eastern folk music. Even the lattes had a tagline: “Brewed for Peace.” Branding was a big part of the event, with Pakistan dubbing the process the “Islamabad Talks”, and plastering a logo combining the Pakistani, US and Iranian flags all over the city. Early on Saturday, an overcast Islamabad felt like a ghost town, with almost no civilian traffic on its wide avenues. The few vehicles that moved were driven by armed, uniformed personnel who patrolled the city. Some journalists, accredited by the information ministry, were nonetheless held up for about an hour at a checkpoint outside the venue as ...

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif credited the country’s top leadership, including the prime minister, deputy prime minister, and the field marshal, for restoring Pakistan’s national prestige and dignity.

As the Islamabad Talks commenced, Shehbaz Sharif held a key meeting with JD Vance, the Prime Minister’s Office stated on Saturday.

GILGIT: General elections in Gilgit Baltistan will be held on June 7, the GB Election Commission announced on Saturday after a four-month delay. General elections for the GB Assembly were scheduled for Jan 24, 2026. However, days after the announcement, the elections were postponed indefinitely due to harsh weather conditions in the region. The GB Election Commission Secretariat, in a notification available with Dawn, announced June 7 as the poll day for the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly general elections. The GB Chief Election Commissioner Raja Shahbaz Khan also confirmed the development. As for the local government election, Khan said a schedule will be issued later, and it will be held after the general election. He added that preparations were ready for both. LG polls in GB, announced after a gap of 20 years, were initially set for Feb 14, 2026. Earlier this month, Khan said the GB Election Commission was preparing to conduct the elections but had not yet decided on a date. Fourteen political parties had stoo...

The Iranian side was led by the Honorable Speaker of the Iranian Consultative Assembly, Mr.

The Election Commission of Gilgit-Baltistan has officially declared June 7, a Sunday, as the date for the upcoming regional elections.

US President Donald Trump’s administration plans to crack down on networks it says help pregnant women lie on visa applications in order to secure US citizenship for their US-born babies, an issue that Trump has highlighted to justify his attempts to restrict birthright citizenship. In an internal email sent on Thursday and reviewed by Reuters, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement ordered investigative agents around the country to focus on a new Birth Tourism Initiative. The operation will seek to root out networks that help pregnant foreign nationals come to the US to give birth so their children can receive citizenship, it said. Trump, a Republican, has kicked off an aggressive push to reduce both legal and illegal immigration after taking office in January 2025. His administration has used the threat of birth tourism as a rationale for attempting to restrict the practice of granting automatic citizenship to children born on US soil. “Uninhibited birth tourism poses a tremendous cost to taxpayers and thre...

The Artemis II capsule and its four-member crew streaked through Earth’s atmosphere and safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Friday after nearly 10 days in space, capping the first voyage by humans to the vicinity of the moon in over half a century. Nasa’s gumdrop-shaped Orion capsule, dubbed Integrity, parachuted gently into calm seas off the Southern California coast shortly after 5:07pm Pacific Time (12:07am GMT on Saturday), concluding a mission that four days prior took the astronauts 252,756 miles away from Earth, deeper into space than anyone had flown before. The Artemis II flight, travelling a total of 694,392 miles (1,117,515km) in two Earth orbits and a climactic lunar flyby some 4,000 miles from its surface, was the debut crewed test flight in a series of Artemis missions that aim to return astronauts to the lunar surface starting in 2028. ‘Perfect bull’s splashdown The splashdown under partly cloudy skies was carried by live video feed in a Nasa webcast. “A perfect bull’s eye splashdown f...

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz warmly received Sikh pilgrims arriving to take part in the vibrant festival of Baisakhi, extending heartfelt wishes to the community.

Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Prime Minister’s House during his one-day visit to Islamabad, as Pakistan hosts high-level diplomatic engagements in the capital.

The United States and Iran have been sworn enemies since the 1979 Islamic revolution and the hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran. On Saturday, the arch-foes are set to hold talks in Islamabad to end more than a month of war in the Middle East, as a fragile ceasefire holds despite deep mutual mistrust. 1979: Hostage crisis On November 4, 1979, student activists demanding the extradition of Iran’s deposed monarch —Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was undergoing medical treatment in the US — take staff hostage at the US embassy in Tehran. The move comes seven months after the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Some 52 hostages are held for 444 days. In April 1980, Washington breaks off diplomatic relations with Iran and imposes restrictions on commerce and travel. Nine months later, the last hostages are released. 2002: ‘Axis of evil’ On April 30, 1995, US president Bill Clinton announces a complete ban on trade and investment with Iran, accusing it of supporting terrorism. The US cites Iran’s backi...

San Francisco police arrested a person for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home and for making threats outside the artificial intelligence startup’s headquarters, the company said on Friday. In a post on X, the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) said an unknown male threw an incendiary device at a North Beach residence at 4:12am and then escaped on foot. The 20-year-old suspect was detained about an hour later after police received a call about a man threatening to burn down another building. Police did not immediately comment on the suspect’s potential motive. “Thankfully, no one was hurt. We deeply appreciate how quickly SFPD responded and the support from the city in helping keep our employees safe,” an OpenAI spokesperson said. The company is assisting law enforcement agencies with their investigation, the spokesperson added. The incident came as OpenAI faces intense pressure. The company recently faced backlash over its move to strike a deal with the US government to ...

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Saturday departed for the US to participate in the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings 2026, during which he is expected to participate in over 50 high-level engagements, the Ministry of Finance said. The Spring Meetings, set for April 13–18 in Washington, DC, will bring together finance ministers, central bank governors, policymakers and development experts from across the globe at a time of heightened economic uncertainty. As per the press statement, during his visit, the finance minister will “represent Pakistan at important events organised by the IMF and the World Bank Group”. It said that Aurganzeb is set to “participate in a wide range of multilateral and bilateral engagements with global financial leaders, development partners, and policymakers” during the course of his visit. The statement said that before the meetings, the finance minister will visit Boston to participate in the “Pakistan Conference at Harvard University”. At the co...

Temperatures continued to rise across Sindh on Saturday, with the mercury climbing to 40°C in Chhor and Mithi, while Tando Jam and Thatta recorded highs of 38°C.

Ishaq Dar on Saturday expressed hope that the United States and Iran would engage constructively during the “Islamabad Talks” to achieve a peaceful resolution to the ongoing Middle East conflict.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf on Saturday said Tehran was prepared to reach an agreement with Washington, provided it offered what he termed a “genuine” deal and recognised Iran’s rights.

US Vice President JD Vance arrived in Pakistan on Saturday to participate in the Islamabad Talks with Iran, as diplomatic efforts intensify to resolve the ongoing regional conflict.