Pakistan

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collected Rs 966 billion in tax revenues during May 2026, marking a 7% year-on-year increase, but falling short of its monthly target of Rs 1,150 billion by Rs 184 billion.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif held separate meetings with Members of the National Assembly Chaudhry Iftikhar Nazir and Muhammad Afzal Khokhar in Islamabad on Monday, during which matters related to their respective constituencies were discussed.

Israel’s attorney general warned on Monday of the country’s democratic backsliding under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, specifically regarding the judiciary’s independence and the executive’s disregard for court rulings. Gali Baharav-Miara, who also serves as the government’s legal adviser, has clashed with Netanyahu’s government since it took office in late 2022. “Given the approach of the end of the current Knesset’s term, a race has begun to eliminate democratic institutions,” Baharav-Miara said at a conference of the Israeli Bar Association on Monday. She pointed specifically to two bills currently travelling through Israel’s parliament. The first aims to split the attorney general’s powers by creating a “prosecutor general” position appointed by the justice minister. The second bill aims to grant far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir more powers over the police. Speaking at the conference in the southern Israeli city of Eilat, Baharav-Miara also denounced what she said was...

A delegation of South Air, headed by Kanwar Muhammad Tariq, met Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi to discuss the airline’s expansion strategy and future flight operations across the province.

Federal Minister for National Health Services Syed Mustafa Kamal on Monday called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and briefed him on ongoing and upcoming projects in the health sector.

The City Traffic Police have launched a crackdown against unregistered Qingqi rickshaws and loaders, banning their entry on model roads, including Canal Road, in a move aimed at ensuring public safety and maintaining smooth traffic flow.

Mohsin Naqvi called on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in Lahore on Monday and discussed the overall law and order situation in the country, with a focus on security arrangements for Eid-ul-Adha and the upcoming elections in Gilgit-Baltistan.

The US said it struck Iranian military sites at the weekend and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Monday it had targeted a US base in response, the latest in a series of exchanges amid negotiations to end the three-month-old war. The strikes on Iran’s Gulf coast were in response to “aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a US MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters,” the US Central Command said in a post on X. “US fighter aircraft swiftly responded by eliminating Iranian air defences, a ground control station, and two one-way attack drones that posed clear threats to ships transiting regional waters,” Centcom said, adding it will continue to protect US assets and interests during the ongoing ceasefire. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Monday it had targeted an air base used by the US for an attack on southern Iran, without identifying which base. Air defences in Kuwait, where a major US base is located, were intercepting missile and drone attacks on Monday ...

Kaja Kallas arrived in Pakistan on Monday to participate in the eighth session of the Pakistan-European Union Strategic Dialogue, the highest-level forum for structured engagement between the two sides.

Malaysia has begun barring those aged under 16 from registering accounts on social media platforms, its communications regulator said on Monday, as it boosts efforts to protect minors from exposure to harmful content online. The Southeast Asian nation joins a growing number of countries introducing measures to regulate access to online platforms, amid mounting concerns over the impact of social media on children’s health and safety. Starting Monday, social media platforms, including Meta Platforms’ Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, and Alphabet’s YouTube, must conduct age verification against government-issued records, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said. Fines up to 10 million ringgit ($2.5 million) may be levied against social media platforms that fail to comply. “The measure is not intended to prohibit child users from the internet or to deny them access to technology,” it said, rather it aims to boost responsibility among social media platforms, parents and guardians in protecting mi...

KARACHI: The Karachi Traffic Police have announced that an e-challan system for lane violations on Sharea Faisal will take effect from June 1 (today) under the Traffic Regulation and Citation System (TRACS). In a statement, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Traffic Pir Mohammed Shah said that under the notified lane management plan, commercial vehicles and motorcycles are required to use the two leftmost lanes, which have been reserved for their movement. He said fast-moving private vehicles, including cars, jeeps, and double-cabin vehicles, are not permitted to use the leftmost and second-left lanes, as these remain reserved for commercial and slow-moving traffic. Shah further said that the fast lane and the second lane from the right are designated exclusively for fast-moving private vehicles. He added that Sharea Faisal operates as a three-lane carriageway in some stretches and a four-lane carriageway in others, stating that in three-lane sections, the middle lane may be used interchangeably by both commercia...

US-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is allowing users in India to make trades using the rupee, marking a key expansion of its services in Asia’s third-largest economy. Customers can deposit and withdraw rupees through the so-called immediate payment service channel, the company said on Monday. They will also have access to spot trading across a range of assets, alongside perpetual futures contracts covering major crypto assets, the company said. Coinbase, which had discontinued its services in India in 2023, resumed crypto trading last year after registering with the Financial Intelligence Unit. “India has long been one of the most important markets in crypto: in terms of developer talent, trading activity, and the broader adoption of blockchain technology,” said John OLoghlen, Coinbase’s regional managing director for Asia Pacific. India requires crypto exchanges to comply with its anti-money laundering rules. The country levies a 30 per cent tax on crypto trading gains, among the highest globally, bu...

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari arrived in Skardu on Monday to launch his party’s election campaign in Gilgit-Baltistan ahead of the upcoming polls.

Aleema Khan, the sister of PTI founder Imran Khan, on Monday dismissed reports about the former premier’s meeting with an ex-army chief at Adiala jail as “totally fake”. “All the news circulating on social media that a former army chief met Imran Khan in Adiala jail [is] fake,” she said in a post on the social media platform X. She said the claims had been verified with PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, who also confirmed that “this is totally fake”. “It is disinformation, especially spread to distract from the fact that Imran is being tortured through total isolation,” she said. She added that the claims were an attempt to distract from Imran not being provided proper treatment for his eye condition, not being allowed to speak to his sons, not being provided books for the past six months and not having access to television in his cell. “He has not been allowed contact with anyone from the outside world in the past 6 months, except two visits by his lawyer on the orders of the court,” she said. “There is...

• Fee structure is on par with private universities but facilities are nowhere near the same standard, laments a student • Kuts admits students are suffering, holds ‘bad administration’ responsible for their woes • Students wonder why CM, Sindh govt remain silent spectators to crisis at country’s largest university KARACHI: Nearly 50,000 students at the country’s largest university have been left in limbo as the teachers’ boycott of semester examinations over what they claimed unpaid dues enters its fourth week, disrupting academic plans and causing growing anxiety among students and their parents. With no clear timeline for the resumption of exams, many students are fearing further delays to the academic calendar, shortened semesters and the loss of their semester break. Lack of response from the provincial government, especially from the chief minister who is the controlling authority of all public sector universities across Sindh, to resolve the dispute has also been criticised. The KU teachers have been b...

Power minister says govt not ending electricity subsidy being given to protected consumers Circular debt fell by Rs780 billion during FY2024-25 Neelum-Jhelum hydro project will take one more year to go operational.

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan has reaffirmed that the doctrine of “complete justice” empowers courts to rise above procedural technicalities to ensure fairness and prevent injustice, observing that laws are made for people and not the other way around.

Islamabad - The recent remarks by the Indian Army Chief regarding “Sindoor 2.

WASHINGTON: A provision tucked into the US House of Representatives’ version of the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2027 could significantly deepen military cooperation between the United States and Israel, potentially creating Washington’s closest defence partnership with any foreign country. The NDAA is the annual legislation through which Congress authorises defence spending and sets policy priorities for the Pentagon. Before becoming law, the bill must be approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and then signed by the president. At the centre of the current debate is Section 224, titled the “United States–Israel Defence Technology Cooperation Initiative,” which requires the US Secretary of Defence to “designate an executive agent responsible for synchronising cooperative efforts between the United States and Israel, including bilateral defence technology research, development, testing, evaluation, integration, and industrial cooperation.” It outlines expanded...

Lahore - Federal Minister for Interior Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi called on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif here on Sunday.