Pakistan

KARACHI: The Sindh government has issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) to Aurat March for their gathering on Sunday near Sea View, but with 28 conditions, including restrictions on the content of slogans raised, it emerged on Saturday. The march is planned for Mother’s Day (May 10, 2026), which is observed on the second Sunday of every May. Last Sunday, Aurat March organisers in Karachi said they had sent a letter to First Lady Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, whose party governs the province, after there had been “no response” to their request to the relevant offices for an NOC. A press conference Aurat March had planned on Wednesday was also hindered by the detentions of multiple organisers. Subsequently, South Deputy Commissioner (DC) Javed Nabi Khoso granted an NOC, dated May 8, to Aurat March Karachi to organise “Aurat March in commemoration of Mother’s Day” from 3:30pm to 7:30pm on Sunday at Beach View Park. The NOC cited a letter of no objection written by the South senior superintendent of police (SSP) to DC...

Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland, and the Netherlands will send planes to evacuate their citizens from a cruise ship bound for Tenerife, which was hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak, Spain’s interior minister said in Madrid on Saturday. The European Union is sending two further planes for the remaining European citizens, Fernando Grande-Marlaska added. Earlier, the World Health Organisation (WHO) chief said he had arrived in Spain and would join government officials to oversee the disembarkation of a hantavirus-hit cruise ship in the Canary Islands. “I arrived in Spain, where I will join senior government officials in a mission to Tenerife to oversee safe disembarkation of the passengers, crew members and health experts from MV Hondius cruise ship,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, stressing, “at this stage, there are no additional people on board showing symptoms of hantavirus.” He noted that the risk to the Canary Islands and the rest of the world “remains low”. Three passengers from the MV Hondius —...

Israel will release two foreign activists taken off a Gaza-bound flotilla from detention on Saturday before handing them to immigration authorities ahead of their deportation, the rights group representing them said. Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national of Palestinian origin, and Brazilian Thiago Avila were among dozens of activists aboard a flotilla that was intercepted by the Israeli navy in international waters off the coast of Greece on April 30. The pair were seized by Israeli forces and brought to Israel for questioning, while the others were taken to the Greek island of Crete and released. “Today, the Shabak Israeli intelligence agency informed Adalah’s legal team that Global Sumud Flotilla activists and leaders Thiago Avila and Saif Abukeshek would be released from Israeli detention today, Saturday,” the rights group Adalah said in a statement. “They will be handed to Israel’s immigration authorities later today and kept in custody pending their deportation,” it added. Adalah said it was closely monito...

KARACHI: The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) on Saturday claimed to have arrested an alleged supplier of crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as ice, and an extortionist in separate actions in the metropolis. The SIU and a federal civilian intelligence agency, acting on a tip-off, jointly carried out an operation at the Lyari riverbed and arrested the narcotics dealer in an injured condition after an “encounter”. “The arrested suspect is a notorious dealer of heroin and crystal meth in the city,” claimed SIU Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dr Samiullah Soomro. “He has been in the narcotics business since 2019 along with his two brothers,” he said. In 2019, the suspect was arrested by the Site Superhighway Industrial Area police and sent to jail in connection with a robbery case. After being released from jail, he, along with his brothers, started selling drugs in New Karachi, near 4-K Chowrangi, Allah Wali Chowrangi, Power House, and the surrounding areas. Separately, the SIU also arrested an allege...

Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met his Bangladeshi counterpart Salahuddin Ahmed in Dhaka on Saturday, where the two sides signed an agreement aimed at enhancing cooperation against drug trafficking and narcotics abuse.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is scheduled to visit China from May 23 to 25 for talks aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and enhancing cooperation in key sectors, sources said.

Under the bleachers of a West Bank stadium, a dozen men from Gaza live in a former changing room, blocked from returning home by the war that erupted more than two-and-a-half years ago. Among those stranded is Sameer Abu Salah, 54, who had been working odd jobs in Israel’s commercial hub of Tel Aviv, where wages are far higher than in his home city of Khan Yunis in Gaza. He had then gone to Nablus, in the north of the occupied West Bank, where he is now trapped. “I entered (Israel) only four days before the war,” he said from the little space he had set up under the stands of Nablus city stadium. “I was respected and honoured. Then the war happened,” he added, referring to Israel’s relentless military campaign in the Palestinian enclave following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack. Abu Salah now makes a living collecting and reselling recyclables, sending money to his family after losing two sons to Israeli airstrikes. A Palestinian man sits inside a damaged building, a day after of an Israeli strike at the Shati...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that his soldiers in Ukraine were fighting an “aggressive force” backed by all of Nato and described his war goals as “just”, in a combative address to the annual Victory Day parade on Red Square. Putin has made the memory of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II a central narrative of his 25-year rule, and authorities typically mark the parade with pomp and grandeur. But a spate of Ukrainian long-range attacks in recent weeks prompted the Kremlin to ramp up security measures and downsize this year’s celebrations. The parade was vastly scaled back compared to previous years, with no military hardware on display for the first time in nearly two decades and only a handful of foreign dignitaries in attendance — most of them leaders of Russia’s close allies. Both Moscow and Kyiv agreed to observe a three-day ceasefire over the event, following a last-minute appeal from United States President Donald Trump. Moscow had threatened a “massive” strike on...

Rallies were organised in several cities of Balochistan on the completion of one year of the success of Marka-e-Haq, with participants expressing solidarity with the Pakistan Army.

President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday extended greetings to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the people of Russia on the occasion of Victory Day.

The Senate has referred six proposed bills to the relevant standing committees for further discussion and examination.

Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhary on Friday said prisoners in jails are treated strictly under existing prison laws and regulations.

A Pakistani pilgrim who lost a large amount of cash during his arrival in Saudi Arabia was reunited with his belongings by officials of the Pakistan Hajj Mission.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui on Friday said Pakistan had demonstrated resilience and unity in the face of multiple challenges, adding that the country’s role was now being acknowledged globally.

Some schools and universities whose students’ data was stolen by a cybercriminal hacking group as part of an April breach of the educational tool Canvas have reached out to the hackers to prevent their data from being released, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday. ShinyHunters, a hacking group with a string of data theft and extortion campaigns targeting major global companies, said in a May 3 post on its website that it had stolen roughly 6.65 terabytes of Canvas data related to nearly 9,000 schools worldwide that included student names, email addresses and private messages between students, teachers, and other staff. Student newspapers across the country reported this week that the hack was causing widespread disruption as students prepare for end-of-year tasks and assignments. The software is used by schools for class assignments and information sharing, as well as messages between students and school faculty. The FBI said on Friday it was aware of a breach disrupting the U.S. education system...

Pakistan has raised alarm at the systematic annexation of the occupied West Bank, expansion of illegal settlements and the forced displacement of Palestinians, calling for the intervention of the global community. The stance was expressed by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad at the Arria-formula meeting on the situation in the occupied territory. “While international attention is consumed by multiple crises across the region, the systematic annexation of the occupied West Bank, expansion of illegal settlements, demolitions, land seizures and forced displacement of Palestinians continue unabated, and this requires our attention,” he said, according to the statement shared by Pakistan’s UN mission on X. “Israeli policies and illegal actions, unprecedented in scale and impact, are undermining the prospects for a viable Palestinian state,” he said. The ambassador said that Pakistan condemned Israel’s ongoing legislative and administrative measures aimed at en...

Pakistan and Bangladesh have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen bilateral cooperation against drug trafficking and narcotics abuse, the Ministry of Interior said on Saturday. The development came during Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s visit to Dhaka, where he met his Bangladeshi counterpart Salahuddin Ahmed, according to the ministry. It said that Naqvi and Ahmed signed the MoU on behalf of their respective governments, adding that both also agreed to set up a secretary-level joint working group between their ministries. Under the MoU, both countries will fully cooperate to prevent the illegal transportation and smuggling of narcotics, while joint efforts will be made to “curb the growing trend of drug abuse and eliminate its negative impacts”, the ministry said. It was also agreed that a joint strategy will be formulated to dismantle narcotics sale and supply networks. The relevant agencies of both countries will exchange timely intelligence and information regarding drug traffickers a...

ISLAMABAD - The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday approved $1.

LAHORE - Former Prime Minister and PML-N President Mian Nawaz Sharif on Friday chaired a meeting of the parliamentary board to finalise party candidates for the upcoming elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

ISLAMABAD - The federal government on Friday once again raised petrol and high-speed diesel prices by Rs 14.