Pakistan

Pakistan’s benchmark KSE-100 index fell 555.27 points, or 0.36 per cent, to close in the red on Friday, extending the market’s recent volatility. Shortly after opening around 9:20am, the index climbed to an intraday high of 155,002.10 points before sliding to an intraday low of 152,780.79 points by 11am. Trading activity remained on the lower end, with 113,043,219 shares changing hands, while the traded value reached Rs11,734,798,583. Among the most actively traded stocks, Dost Steels Limited led the volumes, rising 3.64pc to Rs5.70 on 27,793,436 shares. It was followed by Hascol Petroleum Limited, which gained 3.04pc to Rs17.99 on 25,429,776 shares, and The Bank of Punjab, which fell 1.66pc to Rs27.26 on a volume of 16,327,842 shares. The top negative contributions to the index came from ENGROH, FFC, LUCK, HUBC, and MEBL, contributing -649 points to the index, according to Topline Securities. The market’s cautious tone comes as global oil prices climbed back above $100 a barrel, while equities came under pre...

Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) on Friday issued a traffic advisory informing citizens about road closures and diversions around the Red Zone due to security arrangements, stating that Margalla Road would remain open as the only route for entry into the high-security area.

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has initiated investigations into what it considers unfair trade practices in 60 economies, including Pakistan, according to a press release issued by the USTR on March 12. According to the statement, the investigations will focus on whether governments have failed to impose and effectively enforce bans on the importation of goods produced with forced labour. The economies subject to the investigations include many major US trading partners inc­l­u­ding the European Uni­on, China, Japan, India, Mexico, South Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Pakistan, and Vietnam. This comes as Pakistan and the US expressed a desire to enhance economic cooperation last month during a meeting in Washington between Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and US Commerce Secretary Howard A. Lutnick. This probe may open the door to potential penalties such as new tariffs as President Donald Trump seeks to replace duties struck down by the Supreme Court. Economists noted that the 29pc...

Oil prices headed for weekly gains as of Friday, despite the US trying to ease supply concerns by issuing a 30-day license for countries to buy Russian oil and petroleum products stranded at sea. Brent futures for May rose $1.02, or 1 per cent, to $101.48 a barrel at 07:30 GMT, heading for a weekly increase of nearly 10pc. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for April was up by 94 cents, or 1.0pc, at $96.67 a barrel, poised for more than a 6pc uptick for the week. The license was issued in what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said was a step to stabilise global energy markets roiled by the US-Israeli war on Iran, but analysts said this has failed to resolve wider supply constraints. “ICE Brent futures have already breached $100 per barrel and are still supported today, despite moves to calm the markets with the Russian oil waiver and the unprecedented release of emergency stockpiles,” said Emril Jamil, senior analyst at LSEG. “The market sees this as a short-term solution that does not address the crux of...

The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has taken steps to resolve issues faced by beneficiaries of the Ramadan Relief Package 2026 following directives from Chief Minister Sohail Afridi.

Traffic police in Karachi have announced the closure of several major roads on Friday due to security arrangements for rallies marking Youm-e-Quds.

Nehal Hashmi is set to take oath on Friday (today) as the 35th governor of Sindh.

The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has decided to reduce the fuel quota for official vehicles by 25 per cent as part of measures aimed at conserving fuel amid pressure on petroleum supplies.

A 41-year-old man was killed on Thursday after ramming his pickup truck into a synagogue on the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan, causing a blaze and triggering a huge police response. US media reported the assailant had recently lost family members in an Israeli strike in Lebanon, as part of the ongoing Middle East war. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security identified the assailant as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, who was born in Lebanon, came to Detroit in 2011 on a visa granted to spouses of US citizens, and became a US citizen himself in 2016. Security guards opened fire on Ghazali after he smashed a truck through the doors of the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told reporters. At a news conference on Thursday evening, Bouchard said no synagogue staff or children were hurt in the attack, but 30 law enforcement officers were “taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation” after the evacuation efforts. Earlier, he said one security guard was injured b...

Pakistan has warned that growing tensions in the Middle East and divisions within the UN Security Council are making the Iranian nuclear dispute increasingly difficult to resolve.

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari has said that crime rates across the province have witnessed a significant decline due to the government’s effective strategy.

Pakistan told the UN Security Council on Thursday that the breakdown of diplomacy in the Middle East has further complicated the Iranian nuclear issue, as Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the escalating crisis poses a “grave threat to international peace and security.” Speaking at a Council briefing on the 1737 Committee, which monitors UN sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear programme, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, highlighted deep divisions within the Council over nuclear-related sanctions on Iran. “The Council remains divided on the 1737 Committee issue,” Ambassador Ahmad said. “Unfortunately, this split is delaying the appointment of Chairs of the Subsidiary Bodies, significantly hindering their work.” He stressed that disagreements over the committee “must not be allowed to obstruct the routine functioning of the Council and its Subsidiary Bodies,” noting that the lack of agreement on a report “should have formed the basis of today’s meeting.” The 1737 Committee, ...

Flight operations between Pakistan and the Middle East are gradually stabilising after being severely disrupted by the ongoing conflict involving Iran, the United States and Israel, aviation sources said on Friday.

Senior leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Waseem Akhtar on Friday called on the federal government to clarify the reasons behind the removal of Kamran Tessori as the governor of Sindh.

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Jeddah on Thursday for a brief official visit as tensions across the Middle East intensify following the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran.

ISLAMABAD: IT Minister Shaza Fatima on Thursday announced that 4G services are set to improve, and work on launching 5G has begun. She was speaking at a ceremony where 480 MHz spectrum was released to three operators, boosting the country’s total spectrum to over 7,500 MHz. “Our capacity has now increased three times from today,” she said, adding “5G pilot launch will start in major cities from next week. The allocation of frequency slots was held in the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) attended by the top management of Jazz, Ufone and Zong. The telcos acknowledged the fairness and transparency of the spectrum auction process and announced that they have already started tests of 5G services in several areas. The minister added that government is working to establish an AI Council to bring experienced professionals on board to guide the country’s AI policy and its development. “The council would help formulate policies and guide the responsible use and development of artificial intelligence in Pakist...

ISLAMABAD: The opposition on Thursday blocked the passage of a bill seeking the transformation of the Frontier Constabulary (FC) — a border security force — into the Federal Constabulary due to a lack of quorum in the National Assembly. The development coincided with the lapse of an ordinance promulgated by the president in July last year, empowering the federal government to transform the FC into the Federal Constabulary to maintain law and order, supplement the law enforcement agencies and address the diverse security needs in a coordinated manner. Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry, who moved the bill in the House today, separately told Dawn that the ordinance was extended for 120 days in November and lapsed today. The minister, however, expressed optimism that the bill will be passed by both Houses of Parliament in the upcoming sessions, which he said would most likely be convened after Eid. Earlier, he moved the bill in the House through a supplementary agenda amid a protest from the oppositi...

The Israeli military said on Thursday that it had dropped charges against five soldiers accused of sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee at the high-security Sde Teiman prison, a case that had sparked widespread outrage. “In light of significant developments since the filing of the indictment in the Sde Teiman case, the military advocate general decided today to order the cancellation of the indictment against the five defendants,” the military said. In February 2025, the military announced that five reservists had been charged over the alleged abuse of a Palestinian detainee in July 2024 at the Sde Teiman detention centre near the Gaza Strip. At the time, the army said the soldiers were accused of “acting against the detainee with severe violence, including stabbing the detainee’s buttocks with a sharp object, which had penetrated near the detainee’s rectum”. A video of the soldiers sexually assaulting the Palestinian detainee had also surfaced. Explaining the decision to drop the charges, the military sai...

An American KC-135 aerial refuelling aircraft crashed in western Iraq while a second plane involved in the incident landed safely, the US military said onThursday. “One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely. This was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire,” US Central Command (Centcom), which is responsible for American forces in the Middle East, said in a statement. The KC-135 is at least the fourth US military aircraft lost during the war in the Middle East, after three F-15s were shot down by friendly fire over Kuwait. KC-135s, which have been in operation for more than 60 years, generally have a crew of three, a pilot, a copilot and a third who operates the boom used to refuel other aircraft, according to the US Air Force. But some KC-135 missions require a navigator, and the aircraft can carry up to 37 passengers, an Air Force factsheet said. Early in the war, which began on February 28, Kuwaiti forces mistakenly downed three American F-15E fighters, but all six crewme...

Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba ‌Khamenei delivered his first public address on Thursday in the form of a statement read out on state television. Below is a translated transcript of his speech. “Peace be upon you, O you who invite to God and are the divinely guided interpreter of His signs. “Peace be upon you, O you who are a gate leading to God and the guardian of His religion. “Peace be upon you, O vicegerent of God and supporter of His truth. “Peace be upon you, O proof of God and guide to His will. “Peace be upon you, O you who has been brought forward and in whom hope is placed. “Peace be upon you with an all-encompassing greeting. “Peace be upon you, O my master, the master of the Time. “I would like to offer my condolences to my master, Imam Mehdi, on the heart-rending martyrdom of the illustrious leader of the revolution, the wise and beloved Khamenei. “I beseech his holy presence to offer prayers of grace for every member of the great Iranian nation — indeed, for all Muslims of the world,...