Pakistan

The National Economic Council (NEC) on Wednesday began its session under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to review and approve the development programme and economic targets for the next fiscal year, 2026-27.

The committee for monitoring austerity measures and fuel conservation on Wednesday decided to extend the closing time for standalone grocery and kiryana stores by an hour to 10pm. Pakistan had initially announced austerity measures on March 9 to deal with the impacts of the ongoing war in the Middle East. Last month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had approved the extension of the austerity measures till June 13. In a meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, the committee also recommended extending the application of these austerity measures till June 30, according to a statement by the DPM’s office. The measures include a 50 per cent reduction in fuel allowance for official vehicles, with the exemption of operational vehicles such as ambulances and public buses. Other steps include the grounding 60pc of official vehicles and a complete ban on foreign visits by ministers and government officials, excluding those deemed essential for the country’s interests, as specified th...

Alphabet’s Google Cloud said that some customers in India experienced intermittent network disruptions on Wednesday after a fire at a third-party data centre triggered an emergency shutdown of networking equipment. The cloud-computing unit said the fire led to an emergency power shutdown at the facility, isolating a local point of presence in Delhi and reducing network capacity across the metropolitan area. Google Cloud did not say when the fire occurred or whether it caused property damage or injuries. Such disruptions can cascade across businesses and users, slowing apps, websites, and internal company systems. The incident affected network traffic from Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and nearby regions, causing periods of elevated latency, the company said on its status page. Google Cloud, one of the world’s largest cloud providers, competes with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure and is widely used to process large data volumes and run artificial intelligence tools. There was no workaround while restoration e...

Anthropic is rolling out a public version of its Mythos AI model, but with guardrails barring its use in ​risky areas such as cybersecurity, after an earlier preview this year sent shockwaves globally for its ability to find software flaws. The new Claude Fable 5 is the most powerful model Anthropic has ever made for wider use, the startup said on ​Tuesday, touting its performance in software engineering and analytics. Anthropic has so far ​limited its access to a group of about 200 organisations, including ⁠the US government under the Glasswing program, after announcing in April that ​Mythos had uncovered thousands of software vulnerabilities. Offering its capabilities more widely may allow the $965 ​billion company to extend the momentum that has powered its valuation above rival OpenAI just as the two startups at the centre of the AI industry race to go public. The ​company said it had done extensive testing to ensure that users could not ​manipulate the new model to bypass its guidelines and perform restr...

• Clashes with law enforcers reported as rallies from various parts of region attempt to converge on Muzaffarabad • Several feared dead, two cops among scores injured • PM Rathore urges a return to talks • Five held from Muzaffarabad on suspicion of ‘links to foreign agencies’ MUZAFFARABAD: Parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) remained in the throes of a crippling shutter-down strike on Tuesday, which was punctuated by clashes between law enforcers and supporters of the recently-proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC). The AJK government has issued orders to initiate sedition proceedings against two JAAC figures, and also announced a Rs10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of four of the group leaders. At the same time, AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore urged a return to the negotiating table in a bid to end the tensions that have gripped the region over the past few days. The clashes occurred when protesters from different areas of Mirpur division, comprising Mirpur, Bhimber ...

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had carried out attacks against a US base in Jordan and 21 other targets in the Gulf on Wednesday in retaliation for American strikes around ​the Strait of Hormuz. The clashes mark one of the biggest exchanges in hostilities since the two countries agreed to a ceasefire in April. The Iranian strikes, which included attacks in ‌Kuwait and Bahrain, came after the US military said on X it had targeted Iranian air defence, ground control stations and surveillance radar sites near the strait in response to what US President Donald Trump said was the downing of a US Apache helicopter on Tuesday. “I believe the response should be very strong, very powerful, and that’s what this one is,” Trump told ABC News on Tuesday. The escalation in violence deepens doubts about the prospects for a deal to end the war that started on February 28 with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Tehran ​responded by firing on US bases and assets in Gulf countries and all but choked off the Strait of Horm...

Peshawar - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information and Public Relations Shafi Jan visited Central Prison Peshawar, where he conducted a detailed inspection of various barracks, sections and rehabilitation facilities.

Peshawar - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information and Public Relations Shafi Jan has strongly condemned denial of meetings between PTI founder former prime minister Imran Khan and his family members, lawyers, stating that Punjab government is continuously violating court orders.

LAHORE: Following another disappointing Test series defeat to Bangladesh last month, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appears set to make fresh changes to the national team’s setup, with key decisions expected by the end of this week. A crucial meeting is likely to be held at Gaddafi Stadium on Friday, where PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi will receive a detailed briefing from the team management, including captain Shan Masood, the coaching staff and high-performance director Aaqib Javed on Pakistan’s latest Test series loss. According to several reports, Shan is likely to be replaced as Test captain by T20 International skipper Salman Ali Agha. Former captain and all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez is also being considered for a key role in the PCB’s cricket structure, most likely as director of international cricket. Although Pakistan won 27 of the 46 matches and lost 17 under Salman’s leadership, his individual performances as an all-rounder have remained below expectations. The additional responsibility of Test captain...

TOBA TEK SINGH: Jhang police arrested three suspects allegedly involved in the kidnap and death of a first-year college student in the city. Jhang District Police Officer Sajid Hussain had taken notice of the incident and formed a special team that arrested the suspects. On June 7, information was received on 15 that a young girl had been admitted to a private hospital in a critical condition while the people who brought her to the hospital fled the scene. The 17-year-old girl was later identified. Police arrested the suspects and also confiscated the vehicle in which they had dropped the victim to hospital. A kidnap case was already registered with the Satellite Town Police Station. According to the statement of the main suspect, the girl’s health suddenly deteriorated and she was shifted to the hospital for treatment. However, the investigation is underway to find out all the facts of the incident. DPO Sajid Hussain said every aspect of the case was being examined carefully and the evidence was being collec...

ISLAMABAD - The Chief Minister of Balochistan, Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti, and the Governor of Balochistan, Jaffar Khan Mandokhail, called on the Speaker National Assembly, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.

ISLAMABAD - Commander Bahrain National Guard, General Shaikh Mohammed Bin Isa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, called on Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force, during his visit to Air Headquarters, Islamabad.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and Russia are well positioned to expand cooperation across a broad spectrum of sectors and contribute to regional stability, economic integration, and a more balanced international order, participants at a high-level webinar observed on yesterday.

• Budget likely on Friday after president summons NA, Senate sessions today • National Economic Council finally set to meet today; KP still weighing participation • Federal, provincial govts to jointly cover Rs800bn shortfall • Extra FBR revenue to stay with Centre; ‘strategic needs’ may require Rs1.3-1.7tr • Sindh, Punjab agree to cut ADPs; KP, Balochistan not yet on board • Uplift plans worth Rs4.715tr likely to be revised down ISLAMABAD: Signs that the federal budget may be presented later this week emerged on Tuesday after the government finally called a meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) on the same day that sessions of the National Assembly and Senate were summoned by President Asif Ali Zardari. A source in the NA Secretariat told Dawn that both sessions have been called budget sessions for 2026–27; however, it is expected that the budget will be presented in parliament on June 12. This echoed Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry’s words, who said on Tuesday that the budget fo...

KARACHI: Tea prices in Pakistan may rise if the Kenyan government proceeds with a 0.8 per cent levy on tea exports announced in May, traders warned, adding that importers may be compelled to explore alternative markets. A meeting was held at the Kenya High Commission in the last week of May, attended by members of the Pakistan Tea Association (PTA), officials of the Tea Board of Kenya and representatives of Kenya’s Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry. Participants urged the Kenyan authorities to withdraw the levy. PTA Chairman Muhammad Altaf said Pakistan was one of the most important markets for Kenyan tea, importing around 36pc of Kenya’s annual tea production of an estimated 550 million kilogrammes, in addition to volumes routed indirectly through regional trading hubs. He said the levy could have significant commercial repercussions at a time when Pakistan was already facing economic challenges stemming from regional geopolitical developments, rising freight charges, higher packaging costs and impo...

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ruled that a co-owner of a property is legally entitled to file an eviction petition against a tenant on behalf of other co-owners, clarifying that it is not mandatory for all co-owners to be impleaded as parties in such proceedings.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan is actively engaging with all stakeholders in an effort to secure a breakthrough agreement aimed at ending the months-long Iran-US conflict, with diplomatic sources indicating that intensive consultations are underway and a possible deal could emerge in the coming days.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday approved the procurement of one million metric tonnes of wheat from Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) to help stabilize wheat and flour prices across the province.

UNITED NATIONS - A senior Pakistani diplomat Monday strongly rejected Indian and Afghan allegations that Pakistan recently conducted military strikes against Afghanistan and caused “huge” civilian casualties, saying those hits were solely directed at terrorist and military support infrastructure used by the Taliban regime to carry out.

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ruled that an air crash caused by negligence or a technical malfunction, resulting in loss of life, falls within the category of culpable homicide rather than murder, as such incidents lack the intention or knowledge (mens rea) required for a charge of murder.