Pakistan

Pakistan’s benchmark KSE-100 Index closed lower on Thursday, shedding 1,437.04 points, 0.92 per cent, after a highly volatile trading session. The decline followed a turbulent start to the day. At the open, the market had dropped more than 1,700 points by 9:55am before staging a brief recovery, rising 968.93 points later in the morning. During the session, the index recorded an intraday high of 157,080.28 points and a low of 153,503.70 points, highlighting sharp swings in investor sentiment. Trading volume stood at 202,928,283 shares at a value of 20,373,653,824. The top active stocks were led by Hascol Petroleum Limited, which gained 7.71pc to Rs17.46 with a volume of 38,337,773 shares. It was followed by K-Electric Limited, which rose 1.34pc to Rs7.59 on a volume of 38,053,693 shares, and Dost Steels Limited, which fell 2.48pc to Rs5.50 on 25,149,001 shares. The volatility comes as global oil prices surged more than 9 per cent, pushing crude back above $100 a barrel after fresh Iranian strikes on energy sup...

An individual was arrested after an attempt on the life of senior Kashmiri politician Farooq Abdullah, Indian media reported on Thursday. Abdullah, a former chief minister of India-occupied Kashmir, was at a wedding ceremony in occupied Jammu’s Greater Kailash area when the attacker brandished a pistol and tried to approach the politician, The Hindu reported, citing initial reports. The suspect was overpowered by the security personnel guarding Abdullah, president of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) party and father of CM Omar Abdullah. “Eyewitnesses said he opened fire. However, the police have not confirmed it,” stated The Hindu. Occupied Kashmir’s Deputy CM Surinder Choudhary and adviser to CM Nasir Aslam Wani were also present at the event. The police, in a statement carried by The Hindu, said there was “an attempt made on the life of Dr Farooq Abdullah when he was attending a marriage ceremony at Royal Park, Greater Kailash”. “The security personnel of J&K Police and NSG (National Securit...

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed its registrar’s office to assign numbers to the appeals filed by Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the Toshakhana-II case after resolving objections raised over the late filing of the petitions.

The United States has announced that it will permanently close its consulate in Peshawar, The Independent reported on Thursday. According to the British publication, the consulate is the US’ closest diplomatic mission to the Afghan border and was a primary operations and logistics point at the time of its invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. The US State Department notified Congress of its intent to close the consulate, saying that it would save $7.5 million per year without undermining the advancement of US national interests in Pakistan. According to The Independent, a copy of the notification was obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday. “The move has been under consideration for more than a year since the Trump administration began downsizing nearly all federal agencies and is not related to the Iran war,” The Independent said. The joint US-Israeli war against Iran, launched on Feb 28, sparked protests in various cities, and caused the US Consulate in Karachi to suspend its operations after an incident w...

The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) has introduced a new facility to enhance passenger services at Islamabad International Airport with the launch of a currency exchange counter in the international arrivals lounge.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Central Secretary Information Nadeem Afzal Chan hosted an Iftar dinner in honour of the children of Pakistan Sweet Home, attended by prominent political, social and business personalities.

ISLAMABAD - The Government of Pakistan has appointed Zia Hussain Shah as Chairman of the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA) for a four-year term effective from February 16, 2026.

Residents of Azad Kashmir have strongly condemned what they described as the extremist policies of the Afghan Taliban regime.

The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s continued closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque and Al-Haram Al-Sharif to Muslim worshippers, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Thursday. During the holy month of Ramazan, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians traditionally attend prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque — Islam’s third-holiest site, located in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967 and later annexed. The FO statement posted to X, dated March 11, said, “Security restrictions on access to the Old City of Jerusalem and its places of worship coupled with discriminatory and arbitrary access restrictions to the other places of worship in the old city constitute a flagrant violation to international law, including international humanitarian law, the historical and legal status quo, and the principle of unrestricted access to places of worship.” According to the statement, the ministers affirmed their “absolut...

WASHINGTON: Pakistan has outlined the rationale behind its votes on two competing draft resolutions at the United Nations Security Council, stating that both were aimed at curbing regional escalation and promoting an immediate return to dialogue. On March 11, the Security Council adopted a Bahrain-led resolution condemning recent missile and drone attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran on several Gulf states — including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan — and demanding an immediate cessation of all such attacks. Russia also presented a draft resolution on the military escalation in the Middle East at the meeting, but it was vetoed by the US. The resolution received four votes in favour — from Russia, China, Somalia, and Pakistan — while the United States and Latvia voted against it. Nine members abstained Explaining Pakistan’s vote at a Security Council meeting on the “Situation in the Middle East,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s Permanent Representa...

Moderate to heavy rainfall lashed the provincial metropolis and several districts of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday night, bringing pleasant weather and relief from the recent spell of heat.

ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday confirmed that its mission could not reach a staff level agreement (SLA) on the third review of the country’s $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the second review of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) despite considerable progress, and that negotiations would continue. In its “End of Mission” statement, the IMF said its team, headed by Iva Petrova, held discussions with Pakistani authorities on the EFF’s third review and the second review of the 28-month RSF arrangement in Karachi and Islamabad, as well as virtually, from February 25 to March 11 (Wednesday). “While considerable progress was made in the discussions, these will continue in the coming days, including to more fully assess the impact of recent global developments on Pakistan’s economy and the EFF-supported programme,” Petrova said. It said that programme implementation under the EFF remained broadly aligned with the authorities’ commitments through the end of Febru...

WASHINGTON: The UN Security Council on Wednesday adopted a Bahrain-led resolution condemning Iran’s recent missile and drone attacks on Gulf countries. The attacks, targeting US assets and bases in Gulf countries, have been carried out in retaliation of America and Israel’s strikes on Iran, which began on February 28 and also resulted in the assassination of Ayotallah Ali Khamenei, who was Iran’s supreme leader. The resolution at UNSC, drafted on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), set a record with 135 co-sponsors — surpassing the previous high of 134 for Resolution 2177 (2014) on Ebola. Pakistan was among the co-sponsors and voted in favour, noting that it is “not immune from these attacks” and stating that it supports the resolution. The Bahrain-led resolution was adopted with 13 votes in favour; China and Russia abstained. Its text “condemns in the strongest terms the egregious attacks” carried out by Iran against Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, ...

.

Citizens swarm pakora, samosa vendors right before maghrib

Girl tries to resist despite gunfire; CCTV footage surfaces

.

Says this can create 'Terminator' world

.

.