Pakistan

The federal government, in coordination with provincial authorities, is working on a diesel subsidy plan aimed at supporting small farmers and easing agricultural costs amid rising fuel prices.

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Wednesday directed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi to respond within 10 days to a petition seeking to prevent the mobilisation or activation of a “release force” for jailed PTI founder Imran Khan. Headed by FCC Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan, a three-judge bench also issued notices to respondents in the petition, namely the KP government, the PTI, the federal government and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The proposed force was announced by CM Afridi in February after a days-long protest to secure a meeting with Imran failed to budge the government. It aims to continue the party’s struggle for the release of its founder, who has been imprisoned in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail since Aug 5, 2023. In the petition filed before the FCC, Advocate Ali Nawaz Kharal has contended that he was filing the plea in the public interest and seeking the court’s intervention to prevent the formation or mobilisation of any private force or militia in viol...

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has conveyed Beijing’s appreciation for Pakistan’s “active diplomatic role” and efforts towards ending the Middle East conflict, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Wednesday. Wang made the remarks during his meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in Beijing on Tuesday, where the two sides had issued a five-point initiative for restoring peace in the Middle East. Referring to their discussions, the FO said in a statement, “The meeting was marked by traditional warmth and cordiality. Both dignitaries exchanged notes on the regional developments in West Asia as well as bilateral relations.” Dar briefed Wang in detail on Pakistan’s continued efforts towards the cessation of the Middle East conflict and resumption of dialogue, including its recent quadrilateral meeting in Islamabad with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Egypt. According to the FO, both sides “reviewed the regional security environment and expressed deep concern over its seri...

Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban-led administration have resumed talks in China, which is mediating between the two sides in an effort to secure a durable ceasefire after weeks of heightened tensions, officials said on Wednesday.

The Sindh government has established a Public Complaint Cell at the Chief Minister Secretariat in Karachi in an effort to address citizens’ grievances more effectively.

Police in Spain said on Wednesday that they were investigating “Islamophobic and xenophobic” chants heard during the Spain-Egypt international football match in Barcelona. Egypt’s national anthem was jeered ahead of the 0-0 draw in Barcelona on Tuesday in a pre-World Cup friendly and authorities at the RCDE Stadium appealed to fans more than once over the public announcement system to refrain from making offensive comments. It was the latest in a string of similar incidents to overshadow Spanish football in recent years, with Real Madrid’s Brazilian attacker Vinicius Junior in particular repeatedly racially abused. “We are investigating yesterday’s Islamophobic and xenophobic chants at RCDE Stadium during the Spain-Egypt friendly match,” Catalonia’s regional police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, wrote on X. The announcement came shortly after Spain’s Justice Minister Felix Bolanos condemned the incident, saying that “racist insults and chants embarrass us as a society”. “The far right will not leave any space ...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif discussed investment opportunities and the promotion of the digital economy with Kaan Terzioglu, chief executive officer of VEON Group — a telecommunications and digital services company, state-run PTV said on X. During a meeting with the VEON Group CEO at PM House, the prime minister “emphasised the promotion of digital investment in Pakistan”, the broadcaster said. In the meeting, the prime minister outlined the successful auction of the 5G spectrum that was held last month, with 480 megahertz (MHz) sold for $507 million. The three bidders — Zong, Jazz and Ufone — had competed for the 2,600MHz band, a key frequency range for 5G services. Zong acquired 110MHz, Ufone 180MHz and Jazz 190MHz during the auction. During the meeting, PM Shehbaz also shared details of the government’s initiatives to digitise the economy by ensuring transparency and increasing youth participation in the IT sector, PTV added. Terzioglu lauded the investment opportunities in Pakistan and the government’s ...

The Pakistan Meteorological Department has forecast rain and thunderstorms in Karachi and several districts of Sindh from April 2 to 4, as a westerly weather system approaches southwestern Balochistan.

A notable shift in overseas employment patterns has emerged, with a sharp rise in the number of Pakistanis heading to the United Arab Emirates in recent months.

Coach Graham Arnold challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico on Tuesday. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and will play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali Al-Hamadi and Aymen Hussein secured a famous win for Iraq, whose last appearance at the World Cup came at Mexico in 1986. “With everything going on in the Middle East at the moment it made it harder for the players,” said the Australian Arnold, who had initially sought to have the fixture postponed due to the disruption caused by the conflict. “Delighted for the players, very good boys, very happy for the 46 million Iraqis,” he added. “Hopefully, it will help change the perception of Iraq and the football in Iraq. Doing something in the World Cup nobody expects us to do. “Let’s shoc...

PESHAWAR: Renowned urologist Dr Asif Malik was seriously injured after unidentified assailants opened fire at him in the city’s University Town area last night, hospital and police officials said on Wednesday. Asif, a pioneer of kidney transplants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was shifted to Peshawar General Hospital (PGH) and was under treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU). A statement issued by city police stated that an investigation team recovered three empty bullet shells of a pistol from the spot near Asif’s home, adding that a case had been registered on the urologist’s behalf. “CCTV footage is being obtained, and teams have been assigned the task to arrest those behind the attack,” City Police spokesperson Alam Khan told Dawn. “Dr Asif Malik is stable,” the PGH, where he offers his services, confirmed in a statement on Facebook. “The matter is being handled by the relevant authorities, and we are fully cooperating with them,” the hospital said. It requested the public to respect the privacy of Dr Asif a...

Pakistan has received another petrol shipment as fuel supply lines show signs of stabilisation amid the ongoing Iran war.

ISLAMABAD - The Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), through its Centre for Strategic Perspectives (CSP), in collaboration with the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Islamabad, hosted a roundtable discussion titled “Remembering Ambassador Sarvar Azimov: Diplomacy and Pakistan–Soviet Relations.

A Russian An-26 military transport plane crashed into a cliff in Crimea, killing 29 people on board, due to a possible technical malfunction, Russia’s defence ministry said early on Wednesday, according to news agencies. TASS news agency, quoting the ministry, said communication with the aircraft was lost at about 6pm local time (8pm PKT) on Tuesday on a planned flight over Crimea. “The defence ministry reported that a search team found the site of the catastrophe,” TASS reported. “According to a report from the site, six crew members and 23 passengers on board were killed.” The ministry report made no mention of any survivors on the An-26, a light tactical military transport that has for decades been a mainstay that can carry cargo and up to 40 passengers over short and medium distances. “There was no impact on the aircraft,” TASS quoted the ministry as saying, implying that objects like missiles, drones and birds were not involved. “The preliminary cause of the crash is a technical malfunction. A commission...

The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Wednesday directed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi to submit a response within 10 days regarding the formation of the “Imran Khan Release Force,” raising concerns over its legal status.

Anthropic accidentally released part of the internal source code for its AI-powered coding assistant Claude Code due to “human error”, the company said on Tuesday. An internal-use file mistakenly included in a software update pointed to an archive containing nearly 2,000 files and 500,000 lines of code, which were quickly copied to developer platform GitHub. “Earlier today, a Claude Code release included some internal source code. No sensitive customer data or credentials were involved or exposed,” an Anthropic spokesperson said. “This was a release packaging issue caused by human error, not a security breach.” A post on X sharing a link to the leaked code had more than 29 million views early on Wednesday. The exposed code related to the tool’s internal architecture but does not contain confidential data from Claude, the underlying AI model by Anthropic. Claude Code’s source code was partially known, as the tool had been reverse-engineered by independent developers. An earlier version of the assistant had its...

ISLAMABAD: Government officials said during a public hearing on Tuesday that liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies were under force majeure and not available for power generation. Force majeure is a clause included in contracts that allows a party to be excused from its obligations due to circumstances that are beyond its control. The officials’ revelation during the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) hearing thus means that LNG supplies were unavailable due to circumstances that were beyond the relevant parties’ control. Responding to questions, Central Power Purchasing Agency (CCPA) Chief Executive Officer Rehan Akhtar said LNG supplies were currently under force majeure, but he assured that coal supplies — another source for power generation — through imports were not facing any problems as they mostly came from South Africa and Indonesia, and were unaffected by disruptions in the Middle East. LNG-based power plants have a generation capacity of more than 4,500 megawatts. An almost a month...

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan has upheld the death sentence of a man convicted of murdering his wife, mother-in-law, and aunt-in-law, dismissing his appeal.

ISLAMABAD - Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi Tuesday chaired the 10th interactive progress review meeting at the Supreme Court of Pakistan to assess monthly progress under the Reform Action Plan (RAP) and to issue directions on key milestones aimed at modernizing judicial processes, enhancing institutional efficiency, and.

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting to review the petroleum products supply chain and assess ongoing austerity and conservation measures in view of the evolving regional situation, directing authorities to finalize proposals aimed at providing further relief to low-income segments of.