Pakistan

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held separate telephone conversations with the Foreign Ministers of Iran, Abbas Araghchi, and Egypt, Badr Abdelatty, to discuss the evolving regional situation and ongoing diplomatic efforts.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced that fuel relief payments for public and freight transport operators are being distributed through digital wallets to cushion the impact of rising petroleum prices.

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) based system to track down criminals by visualising their appearance in real time, it emerged on Sunday. Speaking to Dawn, FIA Director General (DG) Dr Usmar Anwar said that the agency’s red book, containing details of most wanted criminals, was being updated with features, employing AI-based tools to generate a set of fresh visuals of their appearance based on old photographs. Even if the criminal has gone bald by now or sports a beard, the agency will now be able to track their identity. DG Anwar told Dawn that under the new system, it would be “impossible” for criminals to hide their identity by changing physical appearance. The other features of the modern red book to be available online to all FIA officers concerned — as well as the general public — also include details about family members and known associates of the accused; CNIC, passport and cellular phone numbers; distinguishing marks, bank account detail...

The Federal Investigation Agency said on Sunday it has arrested an official of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) for his alleged “involvement” in issuing fake identity cards to Afghan nationals in Karachi. As per a statement by an FIA spokesperson, the agency’s officials conducted a raid in the Metroville SITE area, where two Afghan nationals were arrested and found to be possessing “illegal Pakistani identity documents”. The statement added that upon further investigation, it surfaced that a Nadra official, identified as Furqan Ahmed Khan Durrani, was “involved” in approving Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) issued to the two Afghan nationals. Durrani was arrested in a subsequent raid carried out in Karachi’s Nursery area. The FIA statement said that action has been taken against the suspects under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947. It added that FIA has obtained a three-day physical remand of the “arrested suspects” and further investigation wa...

Widespread rain and stormy weather continue to batter Pakistan, triggering flood-like conditions in several regions and resulting in multiple casualties.

Taiwan’s main opposition leader will make a rare trip to China on Tuesday, weeks before US President Donald Trump, with Beijing expected to use the visit to increase its influence over the democratic island. Cheng Li-wun, who will become the first sitting chairperson of the Kuomintang (KMT) to travel to China in a decade, said she wants to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping to build cross-strait “peace”. Taiwanese officials and experts, however, say Xi sees an opportunity to reinforce Cheng’s standing in the KMT and stymie further US weapons sales to Taiwan. The KMT has long advocated for closer relations with China, which considers Taiwan part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it. But Cheng, whose unexpected rise to the top of the KMT drew congratulations from Xi in October, has been accused by critics, including inside the party, of being too pro-China. Cheng’s visit comes as the United States — Taiwan’s most important security backer — intensifies pressure on Taiwanese opposition law...

Residents in Karachi reacted angrily after a government-announced reduction in petrol prices was not implemented at some fuel stations, leading to a violent incident in the city’s Surjani Town area.

KARACHI: Police have launched an investigation after registering a terrorism case when a civil judge, who has also served as a judge of an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in the past, received an envelope containing a bullet in his chamber on Friday, officials said on Saturday. South DIG Syed Asad Raza said that Aram Bagh police have registered an FIR on a complaint of the private secretary of Judge Suhail Jabbar Malik, chairman of the Appellate Tribunal, Local Council Secretariat Karachi. According to the complainant, Javed Iqbal, on April 3 he found an envelope on the table inside the judge’s chamber. The envelope contained a 9mm pistol bullet and a note stating: “Suhail judge, your gift.” The FIR said the judge had also served in the ATC for over five years. The police have invoked Section 506-B (criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code and relevant sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997. The investigation has been tasked to the in-charge of the Crime Investigation Cell (CIC), Preedy Division. As p...

Christians in Pakistan and around the world marked the joyous occasion of Easter on Sunday, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ with religious devotion and festive spirit.

Rana Sanaullah, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political and Public Affairs, has called on political parties, business leaders, and civil society to stand united with the government during the ongoing global crisis, urging them to offer constructive solutions.

LAHORE: The Punjab Enforcement Regulatory Authority (Pera) teams are allegedly harassing and forcing the people, involved in sports activities and the businesses exempt from the 10pm closure time restrictions, to close businesses till 10pm in the wake of ongoing fuel crisis lockdown. In recent raids, the Pera teams working under command of the assistant commissioners (ACs) threatened the young people with dire consequences in case of not stopping playing at a locality near Pine Avenue. In another raid, a team led by a female assistant commissioner visited a bakery at 10pm or so, advising its management to close business. The team returned when the [bakery] staff told the officials that the bakeries and some other businesses are exempt from the closure time. On the other hand, the Lahore administration has allegedly failed to explain about restrictions and exemptions to ACs and Pera teams through any fresh notification, as it continues to implement an earlier notification related to businesses’ closure timings...

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has expressed serious resentment over the police for killing a suspect in a suspicious encounter and said that if police were allowed to continue with such actions, the very purpose of the courts would be undermined and public confidence in the judicial system would be eroded. The SHC also noted that the police, being a responsible force, were required to exercise reasonable restraint and discipline, as they were saddled with a responsibility rather than a sacred duty to the prosecution of offenders, and were expected to discharge that duty in accordance with law. A two-judge constitutional bench of the SHC, headed by Justice Mohammad Saleem Jessar, further observed that the suspect in question was said to be a proclaimed offender with a heavy criminal record, yet such stigma against an alleged offender will not grant an open license to the police to kill him in such a manner. It ruled that custodial killings are tantamount to perturbing the judicial system and cannot be al...

• Health dept confirms four of seven children who died last month in Khairpur hospitals had mpox • Claims deaths not directly linked to zoonotic viral infection • Sukkur commissioner asks DHO to initiate ‘comprehensive contact tracing’ • Babies seemed to have infected from unsterilized hospital equipment: sources • Many ‘chickenpox-like’ cases reported from other districts KARACHI / SUKKUR: An outbreak of mpox, the first local outbreak of the zoonotic viral infection in the country, has claimed the lives of at least four newborns in Khairpur, it emerged on Saturday. The worrisome child health situation involving death of seven newborns in two Khairpur hospitals took an alarming turn when the provincial health department confirmed that “initial findings showed that four of the seven children [who died] were affected by mpox”. Sources said the seven babies affected by mpox were under treatment in intensive care units at public and private hospitals in Khairpur and seemed to have acquired the infection from unst...

KARACHI: The Gulf War has begun to affect the Pakistani economy as hopes for an early recovery diminish with the conflict’s increasing intensity each day. The latest data from the State Bank showed that 90 per cent of foreign investment in domestic bonds had been withdrawn. Local investments in treasury bills are increasing as returns have risen to 11.5 per cent compared to the SBP’s policy rate of 10.5pc. This makes them very attractive to foreign investors, but a war ongoing for more than 35 days has undermined their confidence. The data showed total inflows in the first nine months of FY26 were Rs886.7 million, while the outflows were $794m (almost 90pc), leaving a meagre $93m invested. Analysts said that outflows from domestic bonds would have limited impact, but the withdrawal of deposits from the State Bank account by friendly countries could pose a serious threat to Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves. Reports indicate that the UAE government is hesitant to rollover $2 billion maturing this month. Chi...

• UN official says Israeli forces destroy 17 surveillance cameras linked agency’s office in Naqura • Indonesia receives bodies of three peacekeepers slain by Israel BEIRUT: Israel’s military renewed its strikes on the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on Saturday, severely damaging buildings and a major hospital, as international tensions escalated over the safety of United Nations peacekeepers caught in the crossfire. As Indonesia received the bodies of three of its UN peacekeepers killed while deployed in Lebanon, a UN security official told AFP that Israeli forces destroyed 17 surveillance cameras linked to the UNIFIL main headquarters in Naqura. The bodies of the three Indonesian men arrived in Jakarta on Saturday. Their flag-draped coffins were carried into an airport hall on the shoulders of uniformed comrades for a ceremony attended by President Prabowo Subianto. Family members wept over the coffins, each fronted by a photograph of the dead soldier in a gold frame. The fatalities occurred in two separate ...

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump is considering a bro­ader cabinet shake-up in the wake of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s removal this week, as he grows increasingly frustrated with the political fallout from the war with Iran, five people familiar with internal White House discussions said. Any potential reshuffling could serve as a reset for the White House as it confronts a politically challenging stretch: The five-week-old war has driven up gas prices, dragged down Trump’s approval ratings and intensified anxiety about the consequences for Republicans heading into November’s midterm elections. Some allies said his televised speech, which one senior White House official described as an attempt to project a sense of control and confidence about the direction of the war, fell flat, adding to the sense that changes in messaging or personnel were needed. National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick among those potentially on ‘the chopping block’ “A shake-up to show action ...

• Araghchi denies rejecting Pakistan as venue for talks • Dar discusses UN resolution with Bahrain FM, calls Egyptian counterpart • Ghalibaf says sustainable security in region Iran’s priority, offers bilateral arrangements ISLAMABAD: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday pushed back at reports that Iran was unwilling to travel to Islamabad for future talks with the US, underscoring that Tehran’s position hinged on the terms and conditions of any negotiations. “Iran’s position is being misrepresented by the US media. We are deeply grateful to Pakistan for its efforts and have never refused to go to Islamabad,” Mr Araghchi said in a post on X. “What we care about are the terms of a conclusive and lasting END to the illegal war that is imposed on us,” he further said. His remarks came a day after a report by The Wall Street Journal said Iran had declined to participate in talks in Islamabad, citing objections to US demands and suggesting Pakistan’s efforts had stalled. Responding to Mr Araghchi, P...

Iran’s top security official and Supreme National Security Council secretary, Ali Larijani was killed in an Israeli airstrike on March 17, 2026: the latest round of US-Israel military strikes against Iran began when Tehran was engaged in negotiations with the Washington on its nuclear programme | AFP Operation Epic Fury — the latest round of military strikes against Iran — began when Iran was engaged in negotiations with the United States to renew restrictions on its nuclear programme. This is not the first time the United States has bombed Iran during nuclear negotiations. In June 2025, while its representatives were in talks with Iran over that country’s ability to produce nuclear weapons, Washington launched Operation Midnight Hammer, targeting three Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Washington has been broader in its selection of targets in Iran this time around, even though one stated US goal has been to ensure that Iran does not gain nuclear weapons capability. By launching strik...

QUETTA: The Balochistan government on Saturday fixed the price of Iranian smuggled petrol at Rs280 per litre and announced that strict action would be taken against those charging more than this rate. Officials said that a meeting presided over by Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti decided that Iranian petrol would be sold in Balochistan at a fixed price announced by the provincial government. “The Iranian petrol will be sold only in Balochistan, and it will not be allowed to be sent out of the province,” said Kalat Deputy Commissioner Munir Ahmed Durrani, adding that nobody would be allowed to charge more than the fixed rate. He said there was no justification for selling Iranian petrol at the rate announced by the federal government for imported petroleum products. “The authorities will start strict checks and will take legal action against those found selling Iranian petrol at higher prices.” People involved in the Iranian petrol business had increased prices soon after the federal government announced highe...

ISLAMABAD: While rain and windstorms kill­ed at least six people across Punjab and Khyber Pakht­unkhwa, authorities have war­ned that the impact may worsen, with a fresh spell of rains forecast in the coming days across the country. The Met office forecast further rain, windstorms and thunderstorms across much of the country over the coming week due to a new western disturbance entering Balochistan and KP on Sunday evening and persisting until April 9. There are concerns about urban flooding, infrastructure damage and crop losses as well. In KP, four people died in Khyber district, while 12 others were injured in rain-related incidents, including six in Mohmand and three members of a family in Bannu after a roof collapse. Additional injuries were reported in Karak and Bajaur. Authorities issued a flood advisory for low-lying areas along the Kabul and Budhni rivers, where water levels reached a mid-level flood stage with a discharge of 12,729 cusecs. Rescue 1122 urged residents near streams and canals in areas...