Pakistan

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ISLAMABAD: Power Minister Awais Leghari said on Sunday that there had been “no sufficient outcome” of talks to secure discounts from Chinese power producers thus far, unlike over Rs3.5 trillion in savings secured through revised agreements with other independent power producers (IPPs) and public sector plants. In March, the government had informed a parliamentary panel that about Rs3.5tr in savings had been secured through revisions to power purchase agreements with 29 private and some state-owned power plants, spanning their three to 20-year terms. The move was aimed at reducing electricity rates. When Leghari was asked about negotiations with IPPs set up under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) for tariff rationalisation during a press conference on Sunday, he said, “Sufficient outcome has not come out yet.” The minister explained that CPEC-related IPPs were set up under a framework. Under that framework, “we have been trying for concessions in the form of debt-reprofiling, but sufficient results h...

The Lahore High Court has ruled that Haq Mehr is a legal obligation of the husband and not a discretionary favour, reaffirming it as a lawful and religious right of a wife.

A forced power shutdown by K-Electric at the Dhabeji pumping station has severely disrupted water supply across Karachi, leaving several areas facing shortages.

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas will arrive in Islamabad on June 1 for high-level meetings and to co-chair the eighth round of the EU-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue, according to an EU statement issued on Saturday.

Israel captured the medieval fortress on Beaufort in Lebanon on Sunday as it warned Lebanese civilians to flee a large area of the south of the country ahead of a stepped-up ground offensive. The Associated Press noted that Israel’s capture of the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle and its strategic ridge in southern Lebanon was Israel’s deepest incursion into the country in 26 years. Shelling was audible and smoke rose from the surrounding area as the invading army’s banner was seen by AFP above the castle, which Israeli forces famously used as a base during their previous two-decade-long occupation. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said troops had captured the historic strongpoint, which commands sweeping views of south Lebanon, as they expanded their ground operations, which Lebanon’s prime minister has condemned as a “scorched earth” policy. “Forty-four years after the heroic Battle of Beaufort, and on this day commemorating the soldiers who fell in the First Lebanon War, our troops have returned to the sum...

MNA Ali Musa Gilani on Sunday denied reports of his deportation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), terming them “fake news”. “I was not deported at all, it’s fake news! I travelled as per schedule and returned as per schedule,” Musa, son of Senate Chairperson Yousaf Raza Gilani posted on X in response to a claim of his deportation. It was made in a post shared by former Pakistan Institute of Development Economics vice chancellor Nadeem Haque, who commented: “Seriously. We are so devalued. The Pakistani passport seems to have no value. So much for our valuable democracy.” Reiterating his dismissal of the deportation reports in a second post, Musa said: “Let me assure people with official passports that the government of the UAE is upholding the agreement to the letter and spirit. The fake news circulating regarding deportation is FAKE.” He also posted a photo of himself, which he said was from his “recent trip”. Referring to the post shared by Haque — which has now been deleted — he tagged the National Cyber...

Artificial intelligence is getting expensive — and companies are starting to rethink their embrace of the disruptive technology. Playing by a well-worn Silicon Valley playbook, AI companies charged rock-bottom prices to hook customers after ChatGPT burst onto the scene. Kevin Simback of startup incubator Delphi Labs calls it the era of “subsidised intelligence” — meaning investors were basically footing the bill so companies could offer AI on the cheap. “But the tides are beginning to turn,” Simback warned and an era where the big AI companies actually need to make money has begun — with leaders OpenAI and Anthropic looking to go public and attract main street investors later this year. Prices are rising across the board, and one big reason is AI agents. Unlike a chatbot that just answers questions, agents actually do things — book appointments, write code, manage files. And they’re expensive to run, because one task can spin up dozens of agents all working at once, each racking up charges. Those charges are ...

Dadu police have foiled an underage marriage and arrested the bridegroom and his father during a raid, while also registering a case against multiple individuals.

The Ruet-e-Hilal Research Council has predicted that the crescent moon of Muharram-ul-Haram is unlikely to be visible in Pakistan on June 15.

United States President Donald Trump said he had secured guarantees from Iran that it would not develop nuclear weapons, as reports emerged he had sent a tougher peace proposal back to Tehran. Any tweaks to the proposal could prolong even further an agreement to formally end the Middle East war and open the Strait of Hormuz maritime route after weeks of efforts to secure a deal despite fractious rhetoric and the occasional flare-up of armed conflict. The New York Times and Axios media outlets reported on Saturday that Trump had sent back a new framework to be considered by Iran with “tougher” terms, though it was not immediately clear what that entailed. Trump has said his priorities for any deal include stopping Iran from any nuclear weapon development and re-opening the blockaded Strait of Hormuz. “The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They’ve agreed to that, and it was very interesting,” he told his daughter-in-law Lara Trump in an interview broadcast on her Fox Ne...

KARACHI: Mayor Murtaza Wahab on Sunday said construction work around Karachi’s Hill Park had been halted, while the opposition Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) demanded that the PPP-led Sindh government investigate the matter. Spread over 62 acres and located in PECHS, Hill Park was built in the early 1960s and is one of the largest parks in the city. In a statement issued on Saturday night, a Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) spokesperson said that the construction work was halted a week ago following a public complaint. Confirming this during his media talk on Sunday, Wahab clarified that the KMC had not “auctioned or allotted any land to anyone”. He recalled that a week before Eidul Azha, he received a complaint, following which he sent a KMC team to the area. “I instructed them that if the construction is taking place within the KMC land, then proceed with demolition,” he said. “Not even an inch of KMC land has been allotted,” the mayor reiterated, dismissing MQM-P’s claims of granting permi...

Punjab government has finalized budget proposals for fiscal year 2026-27 and is likely to present the provincial budget in the second week of June, according to sources in the provincial finance ministry.

Faisal Karim Kundi has said multiple steps are being taken to improve public services and infrastructure in Dera Ismail Khan for the convenience of residents.

The district authorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Naran have issued a travel advisory for Babusar Top, urging tourists, travellers, and transport operators to exercise caution and avoid unnecessary travel due to persistent snowfall and hazardous road conditions. The district administration, with a special travel advisory on media platforms, stated that ongoing snowfall across the region is expected to create severe difficulties for travellers. It urged all visitors to verify weather updates before planning any movement towards the mountain pass. According to the advisory, traffic on the Babusar Top route and adjoining areas has been significantly disrupted by continuous snow accumulation, with certain stretches currently restricted to one-way passage only. Officials cautioned that travel along the route becomes extremely hazardous after 6pm due to rapidly worsening snowfall intensity and sharply reduced visibility conditions. They further highlighted that icy surfaces, mechanical brake failures, glacial moveme...

A meteor crashing toward Earth exploded over the northeastern United States on Saturday, Nasa said, setting off booms that echoed over the region with a blast equivalent to 300 tonnes of TNT. The fireball broke up over northeastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire at 2:06pm (11:06pm PKT), the US space agency’s deputy news chief Jennifer Dooren told AFP in a statement. “This fireball was not associated with any currently active meteor shower, but it was a natural object and not a re-entry of space debris or a satellite,” she said. “The energy released at breakup is estimated to be equivalent to about 300 tonnes of TNT, which accounts for the loud booms.” The meteor was travelling at 75,000 mph (more than 120,000 kph) at an altitude of 40 miles when it broke apart, Dooren said. Area residents were alarmed by the unexpected loud booms, with social media users reporting they were so powerful that houses were shaking. In 2013, a fireball streaked above Chelyabinsk, Russia. The house-sized space rock bl...

Pakistan Railways has restored train operations across Balochistan after a three-day suspension, with services resuming under the regular schedule on Saturday.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has begun its post-Hajj flight operation to transport Pakistani pilgrims back home from Saudi Arabia following the completion of Hajj rituals.

Rising fuel prices triggered by the Middle East war are driving a sharp increase in carpooling, with a ride-sharing platform reporting a surge in new users seeking cheaper ways to travel. The world’s largest carpooling platform BlaBlaCar said soaring energy costs have pushed 600,000 additional drivers onto the app this year — 20 per cent more than initially projected — as commuters look to offset the rising cost of fuel. In India, its single biggest market with more than 20 million users in 2025, the number of passengers has increased by 40pc since the start of the US-Israeli airstrikes against Iran on February 28. Last year, the global carpooling leader posted record-breaking figures in the world’s most populous country India — outpacing Brazil with 19m users and France with 7m, according to Benjamin Retourne, the platform’s product director. This trend has been more pronounced in countries where fuel price increases driven by the war have been sudden and significant, combined with limited government support...

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) offloaded 39,786 passengers in 2025 under a “lawful, intelligence-driven and risk-based system” to curb irregular migration and human smuggling, a top official said on Sunday. Speaking to a select group of senior journalists, Immigration Additional Director General Nouman Siddiqui said passenger offloading, often criticised publicly, was primarily a preventive step aimed at saving lives, protecting citizens from exploitation abroad and safeguarding Pakistan’s international image. “Offloading decisions are not arbitrary,” he asserted. They are based on immigration concerns, suspicious travel patterns, document verification, destination-country requirements and established standard operating procedures. The primary objective, he said, was “the protection of human life and prevention of exploitation at the hands of human traffickers”. At least 132 passengers were offloaded from their scheduled flights at various airports across the country in the past year by FIA...