Pakistan

LAHORE: Responding to traders’ protests and appeals by the shopping malls association and general public to revise 8pm business closure timings, the Punjab government has granted partial relief and lifted the restriction on market timings until June 1. The implementation and coordination wing of the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD), the Punjab government on Friday notified that “all the shops, markets, shopping malls, hotels, restaurants and food outlets are exempted from the prescribed closure timings till June 1, 2026”. On April 6, the federal government had announced that all markets across the country, barring Sindh, would close by 8pm throughout the week as part of energy conservation measures amid a global fuel crisis triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran. Complying with the federal government’s decision, Punjab notified that all shops, markets and shopping malls shall be closed at 8pm, including Saturday and Sunday. However, the government had exempted pharmacies, medical stores...

A rodent-borne virus with a scary name. A mid-ocean cruise ship in quarantine. Several people dead and more falling sick. It is no wonder that an outbreak of the Andes strain of hantavirus on a luxury liner in the Atlantic has revived some Covid-era trauma and panic online. That has presented a dilemma to health officials: how to communicate quickly and clearly about a virus which is not new and unlikely to cause a pandemic, but where knowledge gaps remain — without inadvertently fomenting fear. “Hantavirus thread incoming,” posted the health department of Illinois state in the US earlier this week about a risk-free case unrelated to the MV Hondius cruise ship outbreak. “But you have to promise to read this whole thread before panic-texting your group chat. Deal?” In interviews with Reuters, half a dozen health officials said they were trying to learn from mistakes around Covid, providing information on hantavirus with more empathy while addressing uncertainties and tackling falsehoods. “We spend half of our ...

The Private Hajj Monitoring Cell of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, while taking decisive action to protect the rights of Pakistani pilgrims, has recovered 65,665 Saudi Riyals (approximately 4.

Jet Green Private Limited has entered the phase of operational preparedness following successful facilitation by the Special Investment Facilitation Council, marking significant progress in a long-delayed aviation investment project.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Communications Abdul Aleem Khan on Friday blamed provincial governments for delays in the completion of various highway projects. Presiding over a National Highway Authority (NHA) review meeting, the minister issued a decisive mandate to accelerate the completion of critical infrastructure, signalling a shift toward federal intervention where provincial commitments have faltered. Expressing formal dissatisfaction with the progress of projects involving the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments, Khan noted that delays would no longer be tolerated, as these delays were impeding progress on many vital projects. He specifically highlighted that after waiting for over five months for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to fund the Peshawar Northern Bypass, the NHA decided to complete the project independently if provincial funds were not released. Khan also observed that the Punjab government had remained unable to deliver its promised share for the Rawalpindi-Kahuta project, prom...

Shazia Marri has defended Bilawal Bhutto Zardari after a brief exchange between the two during a press conference triggered widespread discussion on social media.

Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority has issued a weather alert predicting thunderstorms, strong winds, and isolated hailstorms in different parts of the country during the next 12 to 24 hours.

US Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry, and the Federal Secretary for Interior attended a meeting where Pakistan-US relations and regional issues came under discussion.

PPP MNA and spokesperson Shazia Marri said on Friday that one instance of interaction between two people who had worked closely for several years “cannot be viewed in isolation”, after a video clip of PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari curtness with her went viral on social. The incident took place at a press conference after the PPP’s parliamentary party meeting at the Parliament House in Islamabad on Thursday. During the press briefing, a journalist asked Bilawal for his views on ministers in the federal government suggesting that education, health and other subjects, particularly the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) be given back to the Centre under a proposed 28th constitutional amendment. Several subjects, including education and health, were devolved to the provinces under the 18th Constitutional Amendment in 2010. Bilawal began his reply by stating that he was not aware which federal minister the journalist was referring to. At that point, Marri, who was also present at the press conference,...

Indian billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani has agreed to pay a multi-million-dollar settlement in a US civil court case linked to corruption without admitting guilt, his company said on Friday. The November 2024 indictment in New York accused the industrialist and multiple subordinates of deliberately misleading international investors as part of a vast bribery scheme. Adani was accused of having participated in an estimated $250 million scheme to bribe Indian officials for lucrative solar energy supply contracts. Adani, along with his nephew Sagar Adani, agreed to the “payment of a civil penalty” totalling $18 million, while noting that it came “without admitting or denying the allegations made in the civil complaint,” a letter from Adani Green Energy to the Mumbai stock exchange read. The penalty payment comes as US prosecutors are reported to be set to drop charges against Adani, The New York Times reported on Thursday. The Adani letter, which noted that the final judgement of the US court is still awai...

US President Donald Trump’s summit with China’s leader Xi Jinping in Beijing this week was the latest in decades of high-level diplomatic encounters between the two countries marked by drama, tension and surprising breakthroughs. Here are some of the most notable visits by US presidents to China: Cold War summit The US cut ties with China when the Communist Party (CCP) took over the country in 1949. Over two decades later, in February 1972, then-US president Richard Nixon flew to China to break the ice. Nixon met with Chairman Mao Zedong as well as premier Zhou Enlai, with whom he famously raised glasses of the fiery Chinese spirit baijiu. At a banquet in the Great Hall of the People, Nixon declared “there is no reason for us to be enemies”. A secret visit by national security adviser Henry Kissinger the year before laid the groundwork for the presidential trip, alongside reciprocal visits of table tennis teams termed “ping-pong diplomacy”. Nixon’s visit kicked off formal contacts that led to full diplomatic ...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday welcomed the decision of Chinese technology firm IBI Group to establish its digital economy headquarters in Pakistan, saying the move would help strengthen economic cooperation and investment ties between Islamabad and Beijing.

United States President Donald Trump on Friday concluded his visit China, where he said he made “fantastic trade deals” with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump had arrived in Beijing seeking to seal deals in sectors including agriculture, aviation and artificial intelligence, as well as to contain differences between the two sides in a number of tense geostrategic areas — not least the Middle East war. Trump’s overtures to Xi, whom he described as a “great leader” and “friend”, have so far been met with more muted tones by the Chinese leader. But the US leader said “a lot of good” has come out of the visit. “We’ve made some fantastic trade deals, great for both countries,” he said, as Xi accompanied him through the gardens of Zhongnanhai, a central leadership compound next to Beijing’s Forbidden City. “We’ve settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to solve,” Trump added, without providing details. Xi said it was a “milestone visit”, and that the two sides had to date est...

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Friday said that Pak-US ties had strengthened during United States President Donald Trump’s tenure. He made the remarks during a meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Paul Kapur, the interior ministry said in a post on the social media platform X. The meeting was also attended by US Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker, Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry, and other officials. “During the meeting, discussions took place on Pakistan-US relations and the latest situation in the Middle East,” the ministry said. It added that views were also exchanged on increasing cooperation in the fields of security, counter-terrorism, and combating narcotics. “Pakistan-US relations have strengthened during Trump’s tenure,” the ministry quoted Naqvi as saying. “Pak-US relations are based on mutual trust and bilateral cooperation,” Naqvi said, adding foolproof security had been ensured for American companies working on the Reko Diq project. Accor...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday lauded the “historic” ties between Pakistan and China during a meeting with a Chinese business delegation. According to a handout from the Prime Minister’s Office, a high-level 11-member Chinese business delegation led by Qian Xiaojun, the founder, president and controlling shareholder of IBI Beijing United Technology, called on the premier. “While welcoming the delegation to Pakistan, the prime minister said Pakistan and China enjoyed historic ties and the two countries were all-weather strategic cooperative partners,” the handout said. He lauded the remarkable progress made by China under the visionary leadership of President Xi Jinping and said that he was looking forward to his visit to China later this month, it added. The prime minister welcomed the growing business-to-business engagement between the two countries and said it was particularly encouraging that IBI would promote digital economy cooperation, investment facilitation and industrial collaboration, it sa...

India’s state-run fuel retailers have raised petrol and diesel prices for the first time in four years by 3 Indian rupees ($0.03) per litre, or more than three per cent, according to dealers, to recoup some of the losses incurred due to higher global crude oil prices. India — the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer — is one of the last major economies to raise retail fuel prices following the disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz by the war started by US-Israeli attacks on Iran. State-run Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp, which together control more than 90pc of India’s 103,000 fuel stations, tend to set diesel and petrol prices in tandem. A BPCL spokesperson confirmed the price increase at its retail outlets. Indian Oil and HPCL did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Diesel in Delhi will cost 90.67 Indian rupees a litre and petrol 97.77 Indian rupees, reflecting increases of 3.4pc and 3.2pc, respectively, from 87.67 Indian rupees and...

ISLAMABAD - Honorable First Lady of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Ms.

Rawalpindi - Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Pakistan on Thursday visited Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital to explore a potential partnership in eye care, including telemedicine, medical training, and institutional referrals for Uzbek patients.

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Railways Muhammad Hanif Abbasi on Thursday announced a major Eid gift for the people of Peshawar, saying that the upgraded Awam Express train equipped with modern facilities will be inaugurated before Eid-ul-Azha.

Israel on Thursday threatened to take The New York Times to court over a piece it published denouncing allegedly widespread sexual abuse against Palestinian detainees. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar have ordered the “initiation of a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times”, according to a joint statement issued by their offices. The offices said that the piece by Nicholas Kristof, a prominent opinion columnist, was “one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel in the modern press, which also received the backing of the newspaper”. Kristof’s investigation is based on testimonies gathered in the Israeli-occupied West Bank from 14 men and women who said that they had been sexually assaulted by Israeli settlers or members of the security forces. The report described “a pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children — by soldiers, settlers, interrogators in the Shin Bet internal security agency an...