Pakistan

Two Democrats from the US House of Representatives visited Cuba last week, the first such delegation to go to the island this year since US President Donald Trump imposed a de facto oil blockade in a bid to bring Cuba’s communist-run government to its knees. Congressional representatives Pramila Jayapal, a leading member of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, and Jonathan Jackson, a Democrat with a long interest in Cuba, said they had come to “see the suffering that is happening on the ground” as a result of Trump’s fuel embargo, which they called “an illegal blockade of energy supplies”. The lawmakers’ visit comes at a time of unprecedented tension in the decades-long frosty relationship between the US and Cuba. The Trump administration has closed the tap on remittances to Cuba, threatened to slap tariffs on countries that provide oil to the island and placed it on a list of nations that sponsor terrorism. “This is the most sanctioned part of Planet Earth right now, just 90 miles off our shores,” J...

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan International Airlines has ended all discounts being provided to passengers, with concessions remaining in place only for children and infants, and has also cut its flight operations due to the continuous rise in the prices of jet fuel, the carrier’s spokesperson said on Monday. In recent weeks, jet fuel (JP-1) rates have soared amid global supply chain uncertainty spurred by the US-Israel war on Iran. “The PIA has made a principled decision to end all discounts, with concessions remaining only for children and infants,” the spokesperson said. He added that a strategy was formulated in a high-level meeting to address the rising prices of fuel and potential losses to the airline. The spokesperson said PIA would also restrict its flight operation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to 16 flights per week. “The carrier is also going to suspend flight to Gulf countries, with the exception of the UAE and Saudi Arabia, until the end of April,” he added. Further, he said that the PIA would also...

ISLAMABAD: The country’s fan industry on Monday sought policy interventions to reduce the export of its raw materials for balanced value addition, greater quality exports and energy-efficient fans in the country. They also recommended interventions that could enable financing and energy efficiency initiatives during a virtual meeting with Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb. The group of representatives from the electric fan industry was led by members of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and the Pakistan Electric Fan Manufacturers Association (PEFMA). The group highlighted sectoral challenges, export potential, and avenues for policy support. According to an official statement from the finance ministry, Aurangzeb reiterated the government’s commitment to undertaking focused consultations with individual sectors to better understand their operational landscape and support their growth. The group provided an overview of the structure and economic significance of the fan indus...

The Government of Balochistan has officially set the price of Iranian petrol at Rs280 per litre across the province, warning of strict legal action against overcharging.

The four astronauts of Nasa’s Artemis II mission entered the moon’s gravitational sphere of influence early Monday morning as they cruised along a path that will soon take them over the shadowed, lunar far side to become the farthest-flying humans in history. The Artemis II crew, flying in their Orion capsule since launching from Florida last week, are due to awake around 10:50am ET (7:50pm PKT) on Monday for their sixth flight day. By 7:05pm ET (4:05am PKT), they will reach the mission’s maximum distance from Earth of roughly 252,757 miles, 4,102 miles beyond the record held by the Apollo 13 crew for 56 years. As Nasa astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen approach the distance record, they will be sailing around the moon’s far side, witnessing it from roughly 4,000 miles above its darkened surface as it eclipses a basketball-sized Earth in the distant background. The milestone is a climactic point in the nearly 10-day Artemis II mission, the first crew...

A criminal case against Myanmar’s newly-elected President Min Aung Hlaing was filed in Indonesia on Monday by a group of civil society organisations, accusing the leader of acts of genocide against the Rohingya ethnic group. Myanmar is a member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), but relations have come under strain since a 2021 coup led by Min Aung Hlaing, leading to civil war and a humanitarian crisis, with large numbers of Rohingya Muslims displaced and forced into refugee settlements. Indonesia, which hosts ASEAN’s headquarters, is the biggest Muslim-majority country in the world, and is among the destinations for Rohingya people fleeing Myanmar or the refugee camps by boat. Myanmar’s armed forces, under thenjunta chief Min Aung Hlaing, launched an offensive in 2017 that forced at least 730,000 Rohingya from their homes and into neighbouring Bangladesh, where they recounted killings, mass rape and arson. The complaint to Indonesia’s Attorney General’s office was filed by Yasmin Ullah, ...

President Asif Ali Zardari, on Monday, expressed his deep grief and sorrow over the death of the mother of Amir of Bahawalpur Nawab Salahuddin Abbasi.

The Foreign Office said on Monday that the peace process is “ongoing” but declined to confirm or deny reports that Pakistan has proposed a framework to end the US-Israel war on Iran, according to state broadcaster Pakistan TV. “There have been several reports of a 45-day ceasefire offer, or 15-point exchange. We do not comment on these individual, specific incidents,” said FO Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi. The comments by the FO spokesperson follow a Reuters report that claimed Iran and the United States have received a plan to end hostilities, which was put together by Pakistan. The Reuters report, which cited a “source aware of the proposals”, claimed the framework was exchanged with the two sides overnight. Axios, citing US, Israeli and regional sources, first reported on Sunday that the US, Iran and regional mediators were discussing a potential 45-day ceasefire as part of a two-phase deal that could lead to a permanent end to the war. Separately, Iran said it has formulated its positions and demands in resp...

Authorities in Khairpur have confirmed that four children died of Monkeypox amid a wider outbreak of skin-related illnesses that has claimed seven young lives in total.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has successfully conducted a test flight of its previously grounded Boeing 777 aircraft, marking its return to service after being out of operation since May 2025.

The Supreme Court on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on judicial cooperation with Turkiye’s Constitutional Court. On Sunday, the SC said it will be hosting a high-level delegation from Turkiye’s Constitutional Court from April 6 to 9, led by its president Kadir Özkaya, for the signing of an MoU. The agreement was signed at a ceremony held at the Supreme Court in Islamabad attended by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi and Özkaya. Addressing the ceremony before the signing, CJP Afridi expressed hope that the agreement will “provide a forward-looking framework for collaboration between the two judiciaries”. “One that emphasises the exchange of judicial knowledge and best practices, the promotion of comparative constitutional jurisprudence, strengthening of institutional linkages and the advancement of capacity building through joint programmes, research, and judicial exchanges,” CJP Afridi said. He noted that under the MoU, a joint working group comprising judges from the Federal Con...

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday sought a report from the Capital Development Authority (CDA) chairman and other respondents on a contempt of court petition alleging violation of its restraining order against tree felling in the federal capital. Justice Raja Inaam Ameen Minhas heard the petition filed by Muhammad Naveed Ahmed, sought a detailed report from the civic authority, and adjourned the hearing indefinitely. During the proceedings, the petitioner’s counsel argued that technically, the matter should have been listed before Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro, who had previously been hearing the main case. However, Justice Minhas observed that the court would take notice of the matter and called for a report. Advocate Mudassar Latif Abbasi and Umair Asad appeared on behalf of the petitioner, contending that despite a clear order issued on January 15, 2026, restraining the CDA from cutting trees, the authority had initiated work on the expansion of Ataturk Avenue from D-Chowk to Ayub Chowk. ...

Authorities in Punjab have continued the process of deporting illegal foreign residents, officials said on Friday, adding that tens of thousands have been repatriated so far.

The National Disaster Management Authority on Monday issued a countrywide weather alert, warning of rain, thunderstorms and strong winds in multiple regions over the next 12 to 24 hours.

South Korea’s spy agency now believes North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s teenage daughter has been positioned as his successor, lawmakers said on Monday, citing a recent public display of her driving a tank that was likely intended to dispel any doubts. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) told lawmakers its assessment was not based on circumstantial inference but on what it described as “credible intelligence” collected by the agency, according to briefings by ruling and opposition party members after a closed-door parliamentary meeting. The NIS said the imagery of the daughter driving a tank was intended to highlight her supposed military aptitude and dispel doubts over a female heir, lawmakers said. North Korea’s state-run media KCNA last month published photos of Kim and his daughter driving a new tank, following earlier images showing her firing a rifle at a shooting range and using a handgun. Such scenes are intended to pay “homage” to Kim’s own public military appearances during the early 2010s when ...

Sardar Saleem Haider Khan has said that every moment of his tenure is dedicated to the people of Punjab, as he chaired a meeting to review progress on the establishment of a new Nara Tehsil in Attock.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday directed authorities to accelerate reforms in Pakistan Railways, emphasising the need to transform it into a modern, safe and reliable transport system.

ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked Pakistan to eliminate distortions in petroleum pricing at the earliest, even though it had tacitly accepted the Rs152 billion subsidy cap extended by the federal government to consumers amid a historic global price surge following the US-Israel attacks on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Senior officials told Dawn that the staff-level agreement (SLA) announced by the IMF on March 29 remains intact, and that the Rs152 billion federal petroleum subsidy had been introduced with the Fund’s prior knowledge. Sources said Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and his team will update IMF management on provincial contributions to the petroleum subsidy during the upcoming spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank next week. However, the IMF continues to oppose across-the-board subsidies on major petroleum products. Initially, the government attempted to balance finances by adjusting the petroleum development levy (PDL) between petrol and diesel....

A meeting chaired by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in Islamabad has decided to transform the existing Safe City project into a Capital Smart City initiative.

The Lahore High Court Bar Association and Lahore Bar Association have announced a judicial boycott in protest against the recent increase in petroleum product prices.