Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar on Thursday said that a coordinated negative information campaign initiated from outside Pakistan was aimed at creating deliberate confusion and misinformation in an attempt to discredit Pakistan’s role for sustainable peace in the region.

LAHORE: After the arrest of drug dealer Anmol alias Pinky by Sindh Police, her appearance in a Karachi court whose video went viral on mainstream as well as social media and her revelations during the investigation, Punjab police have also woken up to three old cases allegedly registered against her and her brothers in Lahore several years ago and are reportedly planning to seek custody of the woman from Sindh. On the other hand, the arrest and investigation have put the Punjab Police under the scanner as it transpired that officers in the CIA (now the Crime Control Department) had taken bribes and avoided arresting Anmol, who was nominated in three cases. The FIRs were registered with Liaqatabad Police Station in 2019, Iqbal Town Police Station in 2020 and Kot Lakhpat Police in 2022, nominating Anmol and her two brothers, Nasir and Riaz Baloch. The 2022 FIR clearly stated that the police, during a raid on Jan 6, rounded up a black SUV at Shadab Colony, following the intelligence reports that it was smuggling...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday warned that Pakistan continued to face serious economic difficulties and stressed the need for coordinated efforts by the federal and provincial governments to provide relief to the public amid rising inflation and growing financial pressure.

RAWALPINDI - The Army Rocket Force Command on Thursday conduced a successful training fire of indigenously developed Fatah-4, Ground Launched Cruise Missile.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has successfully completed its inaugural Panda Bond issuance today in China’s onshore capital market - marking the country’s first-ever entry into the world’s second-largest and deepest capital market.

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday approved formation of a task force on waste-to-energy production.

ISLAMABAD - President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday conferred 47 military awards upon distinguished officers and soldiers to recognise their exceptional bravery, leadership and meritorious services rendered for the defence of the country.

ISLAMABAD - President Asif Ali Zardari has conferred the Sitara-i-Imtiaz upon Muhammad Yaseen Khan, Founder and President of Sundas Foundation in recognition of his outstanding services in the fields of humanitarian work, social welfare, thalassemia prevention and care for patients suffering from blood-related disorders.

KARACHI - Renowned autism specialist Irum Rizwan on Wednesday was awarded prestigious Tamgha-i-Imtiaz for her exceptional services, excellence, and commitment to reshape the landscape of autism care in the country.

ISLAMABAD - Minister of Justice of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Farid Ahmadov Thursday called on the Chief Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court of Pakistan (FCCP), Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan and discussed prospects for judicial cooperation, legal assistance and modernization of court systems between the two countries Federal law.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Thursday ordered the installation of safety nets beneath manhole covers across Punjab as part of a province-wide drive to improve public safety and urban infrastructure.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Thursday welcomed ongoing engagement between the United States and China, reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to the one-China policy and underscored support for dialogue in regional conflicts.

ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday reserved its verdict on a petition seeking family meetings with former prime minister Imran Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi,access to her personal doctor and the provision of essential items.

• MNAs complain poor connectivity affecting parliament’s paperless mechanism • Minister assures them spectrum auction will address problem • Concerns raised over digital harassment, online fraud ISLAMABAD: Several members of the National Assembly on Thursday raised the issue of slow internet speed in the House as well as across the country, in the context of recent efforts to switch to a paperless working environment in parliament to enhance efficiency and reduce costs. Despite repeated requests by the NA chair, the majority of MNAs from all sides paid no attention to the implementation of the paperless system in parliament. Deputy Speaker Ghulam Mustafa Shah reminded members that parliamentary proceedings were being automated as part of efforts to modernise the functioning of the House and the physical distribution of bills and other documents would soon be eradicated. “All the members have been provided with tablets to facilitate paperless proceedings and improve efficiency. We want to minimise paper usage,...

ISLAMABAD: Infor­m­ation Minister Attaullah Tarar on Thursday lashed out at “coordinated negative information campaign… initiated from outside Pakistan” that was trying to discredit Pakistan’s role for sustainable peace in the region. In a post on his X handle, the minister said that “detractors of peace, who are unable to come to terms with Pakistan’s role for peace in the region” were running a malicious campaign to discredit Pakistan, adding that facts and verification by credible domestic media sources as well as multiple fact check forums have already called out the propaganda. “We understand quite clearly that behind such stories are certain elements,” he said, adding that Pakistan and its responsible media will continue to expose the nefarious designs of those behind this coordinated campaign. While the information minister did not specifically mention any particular reports, he was ostensibly referring to reports such as the one recently carried by US network CBS News, falsely claiming that Pakistan h...

ISLAMABAD: Following the release of a $1.1 billion tranche for Pakistan, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has identified Pakistan’s economic exposure to the Gulf Coope­ration Council (GCC) as its most acute external vulnerability. In its staff report, the lender warned that “the war weighs on the near-term outlook as Pakistan is highly exposed to energy imports and remittances from the Gulf countries as well as to global financial conditions”. According to the report, 81 per cent of Pakistan’s fuel imports originate in the GCC region, while 55pc of remittances — equivalent to about nine percent of the GDP — flow from these economies. The IMF noted: “A significant disruption to the GCC economies and/or return of migrant workers could weigh on these flows, a major source of financing for consumption and the balance of payments”. According to the Fund, the Iran war’s impact has been formally embedded in Pakistan’s macroeconomic projections. Under the IMF’s baseline scenario, GDP growth is expected to slow b...

• Most compromised passwords either begin or end with digits • Common symbols like ‘@’ and ‘.’ are heavily overused ISLAMABAD: An analysis of 231 million unique passwords leaked between 2023 and 2026 has revealed several alarming patterns, according to a report by cybersecurity company Kaspersky. Firstly, 68 per cent of modern passwords can be cracked within a day. Secondly, the vast majority of compromised passwords either begin or end with a digit — a common habit that makes them vulnerable to brute-force attacks. Thirdly, users often rely on positive or trending words in their passwords. For example, the use of the word “Skibidi” in analysed passwords increased 36-fold over the past few years, reflecting the rise of the internet trend. “In recent years, secure password rules have become a widely discussed topic. More and more services now require passwords that are at least 10 characters long, include an uppercase letter, and contain a number or symbol. Yet a comparative analysis of leaked passwords from r...

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of direct involvement in military operations against his country during a Brics meeting in New Delhi on Thursday, Iranian state media reported. The spat comes a day after the UAE denied a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he visited the Gulf country during the Iran war, to which Araghchi already reacted by saying that “those colluding with Israel to sow division will be held to account”. “I didn’t name the UAE in my [Brics] statement for the sake of unity. But the truth is that the UAE was directly involved in the aggression against my country. When the attacks started, they didn’t even issue a condemnation,” state media quoted Araghchi as saying on Thursday, in response to comments made by the Emirati representative. Iranian state media did not specify what the Emirati representative said. According to the reports, Araghchi argued that neither US bases nor an alliance with Israel provided the UAE with secu...

US President Donald Trump hailed “extremely positive” talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday, in remarks made at an opulent banquet in Beijing attended by top leaders and American business figures, including Elon Musk and Tim Cook. His trip to Beijing is the first by a US president in nearly a decade, with the grand reception belying a host of unresolved trade and geopolitical tensions between the two countries. The two leaders rounded off the first full day of a closely watched summit in the Chinese capital with the banquet in a red-carpeted dining room in the lavish Great Hall of the People, abutting Tiananmen Square. “There are those who say this may be the biggest summit ever,” Trump told Xi after a ceremony that featured an honour guard and throngs of children waving flowers and flags at the Great Hall. Trump also said he had invited Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, to visit the White House on September 24. Live images streamed before the leaders arrived showed a jovial atmosphere, with s...

ISLAMABAD, May 14: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday said that the government had not contacted him or his father, President Asif Ali Zardari, regarding a constitutional amendment. His remarks came amid media reports about the government’s intention to have the 28th constitutional amendment passed by parliament. “President Zardari and I remain in contact with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, but the government has not contacted the PPP regarding any constitutional amendment,” the PPP chief said at a press conference after chairing the parliamentary party meeting at the Parliament House in Islamabad. Responding to questions, Bilawal said that without the PPP, the passage of constitutional amendments and the federal budget would not be possible. “The PPP’s role in the 26th and 27th constitutional amendments is evident to everyone. We did not allow the rights of the provinces to be reduced; instead, we expanded them. Through our amendments, Balochistan’s representation in the Senate increased,” he ad...