Pakistan

Chinese authorities have banned entombing cremated remains in cheap apartments, a practice that had gained popularity as mourners took advantage of the subdued housing market to dodge rising funeral costs. “Bone-ash apartments” are units in often barely occupied residential complexes used by some families as resting places for their loved ones’ remains. They can be cheaper than a public cemetery plot, according to local media, as well as giving families more control over the site. Acquiring one “kills two birds with one stone”, Carsten Herrmann-Pillath from Germany’s Erfurt University told AFP. “It’s an investment and eases the (process of carrying out) ritual practices.” But regulations that came into force on Monday explicitly ban “the use of residential dwellings specifically for the interment of ashes”. Bone-ash apartments are often identifiable by sealed-off windows or closed curtains, according to Chinese media reports. A resident quoted by the Communist Party-run Legal Daily newspaper described peeking...

An unusual legal situation emerged at the District and Sessions Courts in Islamabad when police submitted a fresh challan in a case involving Imran Khan, despite his earlier acquittal in the same matter.

The Sindh government has announced a province-wide public holiday on April 4 in remembrance of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Flight operations across Pakistan faced major disruption on Tuesday, with 62 flights cancelled due to the escalating crisis in the Middle East.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar on Tuesday departed here for China to pay a day-long visit, at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast chances of rain and thunderstorms in Karachi on Thursday, as well as other areas of Sindh from April 2-4, as a result of a new westerly wave from Balochistan. A westerly wave is likely to approach the southwestern parts of Balochistan on April 1 and likely to persist till April 4, the Met Office said in its daily weather outlook issued on Tuesday. In its three-day weather forecast, it said that Tuesday and Wednesday would both bring partly cloudy weather in the Karachi division. The maximum temperature on Tuesday is expected to be between 29 and 31 degrees Celsius, with a minimum temperature of 22.7°C. The humidity is forecast to reach 54 per cent in the daytime, remaining around 40-50pc in the evening. A west/southwesterly wind is expected to prevail. Wednesday’s temperatures will reach highs of 30-32°C and lows of 22-24°C, according to the forecast. While the evening humidity is similar to Tuesday, a higher daytime humidity of 65-75pc is predicted, a...

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Rizwan Saeed Sheikh has reaffirmed Islamabad’s commitment to facilitating dialogue between the United States and Iran, even as regional tensions intensify. In an interview broadcast on Tuesday, Ambassador Sheikh told Fox News that Pakistan is “committed to providing every possible facilitation for fruitful dialogue”, while stressing that ultimate decisions rest with the conflicting parties. “While Pakistan continues to be the facilitator, it is actually upon the conflicting parties themselves to not only create the prerequisites for negotiations and to be able to conduct them in all earnest, but they will have to take the decisions which make it successful,” Ambassador Sheikh said. He described the situation as “a highly complex issue involving political, economic, and regional factors” and expressed gratitude that both sides have shown confidence in Pakistan’s ability to help mediate. “We are also mindful of the fact that it is not an easy process. It’s a very complicated matt...

Israel’s parliament approved a bill on Monday that would allow the execution of Palestinians convicted on terror charges for deadly attacks, a move that has been criticised as discriminatory and immediately drew a court challenge. Sixty-two lawmakers, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, voted in favour and 48 against the bill, championed by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. There was one abstention and the rest of the lawmakers were not present. The legislation would make the death penalty the default punishment for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank found guilty of intentionally carrying out deadly attacks deemed “acts of terrorism” by an Israeli military court. The legislation says that the sentence may be reduced to life imprisonment under “special circumstances”. Palestinians in the West Bank are automatically tried in Israeli military courts. Meanwhile, under the legislation, in Israeli criminal courts anyone “who intentionally causes the death of a person with th...

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday slapped a Rs20 million fine on fast bowler Naseem Shah for breaching several clauses of his central contract. Last week, the cricketer was issued a show-cause notice for “violating the terms of [his] central contract as well as the media policy and regulations”, requiring him to respond within the stipulated time. The notice was ostensibly issued in response to a social media post in which Naseem had expressed a critical opinion about Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, who was the chief guest during the opening match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) played at the Gaddafi Stadium. According to ESPNcricinfo, Naseem had Naseem’s account responded to a post from the PCB media account, saying, “Why is she treated like the Queen at Lord’s?” It should be mentioned that PSL matches are being played behind closed doors in line with the government’s austerity drive amid the oil crisis triggered by the US-Israel war on Iran. Minutes later, the post was taken down and...

Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Lahore Qalandars on Monday imposed a Rs1 million fine on pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi over his involvement in an incident of security protocol breach but clarified that the “matter arose from a misunderstanding rather than any deliberate attempt to violate established procedures”. On Sunday, a police official had detailed the alleged incident in a letter to the PSL chief executive officer, claiming that Afridi — who is also the captain of Lahore Qalandars — and his teammate Sikandar Raza had “disregarded the directives and forcefully escorted” four visitors to the latter’s room at the hotel where the players were staying “despite resistance from on-duty security personnel”. Subsequently, a press release by Lahore Qalandars said that the franchise had taken “strong notice of the recently reported incident dated March 28 concerning an alleged breach of security protocol involving its players”. “The franchise promptly initiated a comprehensive internal review to establish the f...

Peshawar - Special Assistant to the Chief Minister (SACM) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Information and Public Relations, Shafi Jan has expressed deep sorrow and grief over the loss of precious human lives in roof collapse incidents in various districts of the province following recent rains.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has urged citizens to take a collective pledge to eliminate the use of plastic, emphasizing shared responsibility for environmental protection on the International Day of Zero Waste.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan is facing a huge diplomatic challenge to bridge trust deficit among stakeholders as it champions dialogue to bring peace in the Middle East.

President directs to reduce burden of rising prices on common man PM says govt will provide relief to middle class PM Shehbaz, European Council President express concerns over ongoing hostilities in Gulf countries.

Security sources warned on Monday that India was preparing for a false flag operation against Pakistan, which reportedly entails exploiting Pakistani citizens captured after inadvertently crossing the border. Dozens of Pakistanis, including Kashmiris, are currently imprisoned in Indian jails. It is believed that these prisoners are now being shifted to execute a false flag operation, according to security sources. The sources said that the move appeared to be aimed at covering up India’s diplomatic humiliation and to divert attention away from Pakistan. Last year in May, an attack on tourists in India-occupied Kashmir, which New Delhi, without evidence, had linked to Pakistan led to a brief military escalation between the two countries. Islamabad had strongly denied responsibility while calling for a neutral investigation. New Delhi then launched deadly air strikes in Punjab and Azad Kashmir. After tit-for-tat strikes on each other’s airbases during the four-day escalation, it took American intervention on Ma...

On the 31st day of the US-Israeli war on Iran, the economic dimension of the war continued to become more pronounced as the conflict remained locked in a high-intensity, multi-domain phase, with exchanges continuing across Iran, Israel, and the wider region. Inside Iran, US and Israeli strikes continued to target the civilian infrastructure besides military and strategic targets, including hits on research facilities and air defence systems. The goal seems to be to degrade both Iran’s operational military capability and technological depth. Moreover, there have been attacks on energy sites, leading to power outages in major urban centres such as Tehran and Karaj. Despite these pressures, Iran’s retaliatory capacity remained intact, with continued missile and drone launches targeting Israeli industrial zones and infrastructure, as well as assets in Gulf countries. In Israel, the impact of these strikes has become more visible with a second confirmed hit on the Haifa Bazan oil refinery — one of the country’s mo...

ISLAMABAD: A prominent businessman succumbed to his injuries after being shot by armed robbers during a dacoity at his farmhouse located in Orchard Scheme during the early hours of Monday. The deceased has been identified as Amir Awan, the owner of a car showroom at Aabpara. Political figures, VIPs and big-shots, including an adviser to the prime minister, own property in the neighbourhood where the incident took place. Speaking to Dawn on the condition of anonymity, police officers said that CCTV footage of the incident showed five persons armed with submachine guns and wearing bulletproof jackets entering the farmhouse. They said that the crime scene suggested that the deceased had put up resistance. They said that he was initially shifted to a state-run hospital and then moved to a private hospital, where he died during an operation. Meanwhile, a first information report (FIR) of the incident has been registered at Shahzad Town police station under Section 397 (robbery or dacoity with attempt to cause deat...

Nationwide hailstorm, rain forecast until April 4

Fuel supply stays steady, reserves adequate Coordinated strategy to tackle economic pressures President, PM to p

Shaheen fined Rs1m over security breach