Pakistan

The Punjab government has decided to launch a province-wide public awareness campaign aimed at preventing deadly diseases, with Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif set to personally lead the initiative.

Japan on Tuesday unveiled its biggest overhaul of defence export rules in decades, scrapping restrictions on overseas arms sales and opening the way for exports of warships, missiles and other weapons. The move aimed at strengthening Japan’s defence industrial base marks another step away from the pacifist restraints that have shaped its postwar security policy. It has been made in tandem with efforts to deepen ties with other nations in Asia to counter China’s growing regional influence. Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are also straining US weapons production, expanding opportunities for Japan. At the same time, US allies in Europe and Asia are looking to diversify suppliers as Washington’s long-held security commitments look less certain under President Donald Trump. “No single country can now protect its own peace and security alone, and partner countries that support each other in terms of defence equipment are necessary,” Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in a post on X. While countries suc...

A major development has surfaced in the case of two minor sisters from Sadiqabad who were found abandoned in Karachi, as the initial post-mortem report has ruled out any signs of sexual assault.

A total of 5,250 government-sponsored Pakistani pilgrims have arrived in Madinah so far on 21 flights, according to the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

The Pakistan Airport Authority (PAA) on Tuesday extended its airspace ban for Indian aircraft for another month until May 24, marking a year of flight restrictions on India’s airlines. “Pakistani airspace will remain closed to Indian-registered aircraft, or Indian airlines/operators (including military flights),” a PAA Notice to Airmen (Notam) said. “This ban will now be effective till May 24, 2026 at 4:59am.” Pakistan’s airspace is divided into two flight information regions (FIRs) — Karachi and Lahore, according to a Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) document from 2022. The Notam applies to both the Karachi (OPKR) and Lahore (OPLR) FIRs. The Notam issued by Pakistan for barring Indian flights in its airspace till May 24, 2026. — PAA website The previous extension was set to expire on April 24. India and Pakistan have closed their airspaces to each other’s airlines since late April 2025, when tensions between them escalated in the wake of a deadly attack in Indian-occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam. On April...

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has received $1 billion from Saudi Arabia as the second tranche of a recently agreed $3 billion financial support package, the central bank said on Tuesday.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has set 11 new conditions for Pakistan to secure the next $1.

Punjab Secretary for Mines and Minerals, Pervaiz Iqbal, visited Chiniot on Monday to review progress on land acquisition for a proposed steel mill project aimed at utilising the district’s iron ore reserves.

The closure of Pakistan’s airspace to Indian aircraft has entered its second year, with authorities extending the restriction for a further period.

Federal and provincial health authorities have confirmed the presence of the mpox clade 1b variant in parts of Sindh and southern Punjab, raising concerns due to its higher transmissibility and potential severity.

Reports in the United States media have suggested that a second round of negotiations between the US and Iran is expected to take place in Islamabad on Wednesday, though uncertainty persists amid conflicting signals from Tehran.

The nation on Tuesday observed the 86th death anniversary of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, paying tribute to his intellectual legacy and his role in shaping the idea of a separate homeland for Muslims of the Subcontinent.

KARACHI: State Minister for Finance Bilal Azhar Kiani has said that proposals for relief to the salaried class and measures to broaden the tax base by bringing retail and wholesale sectors into the tax net would be considered in the upcoming budget formulation process. He said the government values constructive input from chambers of commerce and industry stakeholders during ongoing budget consultations. While reviewing proposals submitted by the Overseas Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) during a meeting on April 19, the minister acknowledged the importance of maintaining an investment-friendly fiscal environment. He assured foreign investors that the government recognises the need to streamline the tax structure to support economic growth. OICCI emphasised the need for a more equitable tax framework in which all segments of the economy — including agriculture, retail and wholesale trade, real estate, and services — contribute proportionately to national revenues. The chamber recommended reducing the ...

ISLAMABAD: The year 2025 saw 358 natural hazard-related disasters, resulting in over 16,000 fatalities, affecting 110.2 million people and causing $169.68 billion in economic losses, according to Emergency Events Database maintained by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (Cred) at one of the oldest universities in Europe. The Cred at the University of Louvain in Belgium provides data on significant disasters to support research, humanitarian action, evidence-based decision-making in disaster preparedness and response, and disaster risk reduction. The database also helps assess community vulnerability and inform policy priorities. Asia accounted for a disproportionately large share of disaster-related deaths, due largely to major earthquakes in Myanmar and Afghanistan. The year was also marked by a record-breaking drought in Syria, which left 80 per cent of the population in need of assistance; and by the Palisades and Eaton Fires, which ranked among the costliest wildfires ever recorded, ...

• Says cybercrime, anti-terror laws are weaponised to silence voices; authorities pull ads from critical newspapers • Warns world faces unprecedented rights crisis; cites use of AI, tech to expand surveillance, curb online dissent LONDON: Global rights watchdog Amnesty Inter­national released its annual report on Tuesday, delivering a stark warning that the world is confronting its “most challenging moment” as fundamental human rights are under a direct and escalating assault globally. Amnesty’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard said the report, The State of the World’s Human Rights 2026, marks a moment that is fundamentally different, reflecting not a gradual erosion but a deep global crisis. “What marks this moment as fundamentally different is that we’re no longer documenting erosion around the system’s edges,” Callamard said. “This is a direct assault on the foundations of human rights and the international rules-based order by the most powerful actors for the purpose of control, impunity and profit.” The...

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) confirmed on Tuesday that Pakistan has received $1 billion from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. “State Bank of Pakistan has received funds of US$1 billion from Ministry of Finance, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the value date of 20April2026.” The central bank said this is the second tranche of the $3bn deposit recently agreed by Saudi Arabia. The first tranche of $2bn was transferred last week. The development came following Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Saudi Arabia to push diplomatic efforts to promote peace in the Middle East. On Friday, the kingdom pledged an additional $3bn in deposits for Pakistan and extended its existing $5bn facility for a further three years. Pakistan will reportedly return a $3.5bn loan to the UAE this month, putting pressure on its reserves and risking breaches of its International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme targets. The development comes at a sensitive time for the country’s external account position, which is already under strain from ris...

• Some roads, markets closed, transport suspended • Many varsities start online classes and others remain open RAWALPINDI: The residents of Rawalpindi are in a state of confusion as some roads have been closed while others remain open, many universities and schools have been shut while others continue to operate. Moreover, both goods and public transport are off the roads. These disruptions come as the second round of US-Iran peace talks has yet to begin in Islamabad, prompting the government to implement heightened security measures in this regard. The roads around Nur Khan Airbase and the area between Rawalpindi and Islamabad were closed. Markets in Raja Bazaar, Saddar and other areas were opened, but those in residential streets around the old airport as well on Murree Road from Shamsabad to Faizabad were closed.‎ Moreover, the Metro Bus Service between Rawalpindi and Islamabad and the electric buses remained suspended while the district administration directed to also suspend all public and goods transpor...

KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Monday sent a man to prison on judicial remand in a case pertaining to extending alleged threats to bomb the US consulate general in Karachi. Suspect Sharjeel Akbar was on Sunday arrested and booked in a case registered under Sections 506-B (criminal intimidation) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 25-D (Penalty for causing annoyance) of the Telegraph Act. The FIR was lodged at the Docks police station on the complaint of an inspector of the Foreign Security Cell, who said he was deputed at the US consulate and on April 15, the consulate’s staff informed him that they had received a threatening phone call from a man, who identified himself as Sharjeel Akbar, claiming that he had planted a bomb near the consulate. The complainant stated that he immediately informed his superiors and he, along with bomb disposable unit, searched the area for the explosives but did not find anything near the consul...

TWELVE British universities paid a private firm run by former military intelligence officials to “spy” on student protesters and academics, including those who have expressed solidarity with Palestine, according to a report published by Al Jazeera. The report says that a joint investigation by Al Jazeera English and Liberty Investigates has uncovered evidence that Horus Security Consultancy Limi­ted trawled through student social me­­dia feeds and conducted secret counter-terror threat assessments on behalf of some of Britain’s most elite institutions. Horus, which describes itself as a “leading intelligence” firm, has been paid at least £440,000 by universities since 2022. Among those monitored were a Pal­estinian academic invited to give a gue­st lecture at Manchester Metropo­litan University and a pro-Gaza PhD student at the London School of Econ­omics, according to internal documents. At least £440,000 spent to monitor social media accounts, run background checks on guest speaker In October 2024, the Univ...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has decided that it would continue its diplomatic outreach to ensure Iran’s participation in the next round of talks.