Pakistan

India on Saturday ended the preventive detention of prominent activist Sonam Wangchuk, freeing him six months after he was arrested over protests in India-held Ladakh. The Buddhist-Muslim enclave was deprived of its autonomy in 2019 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government carved it out of occupied Kashmir, placing the region under New Delhi’s direct control. Wangchuk, 59, an environmental advocate who became a key figure in Ladakh’s movement for greater autonomy, was held in September and later charged under India’s National Security Act (NSA) following protests that left four people dead and dozens wounded. New Delhi had blamed the violence on “provocative speeches” by Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike demanding either full federal statehood for India-held Ladakh or constitutional protections for its tribal communities, land and fragile environment. Authorities in the sparsely populated, high-altitude region bordering China and Pakistan at the time said the order, issued by the district magist...

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday commended the officers and personnel of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) for carrying out a successful operation against militants in the Shagai area of Lakki Marwat.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Afghan counterpart Amir ​Khan Muttaqi in a phone call ‌that disputes between Afghanistan and Pakistan should be resolved through dialogue and consultation, not ​force, the foreign ministry said in ​a statement published on Friday.

The federal government has decided to allocate savings generated through ongoing austerity measures to provide relief to the public.

The Pakistan Airport Authority has released a fresh NOTAM for flights arriving at and departing from Islamabad International Airport, announcing a temporary shutdown of six sectors within the Lahore Flight Information Region on March 16.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Afghan counterpart Amir Khan Muttaqi in a phone call that disputes between Afghanistan and Pakistan should be resolved through dialogue and consultation, not force, the foreign ministry said in a statement published on Friday. Wang urged both sides to remain calm and exercise restraint, hold face-to-face talks as soon as possible, seek an immediate ceasefire and address differences through dialogue, according to the statement. The further use of force would only complicate the situation and intensify tensions, Wang said. “China is willing to continue to make active efforts to help achieve reconciliation and detente between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” said Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong on X, sharing the call’s details. The ministry’s statement came after Pakistan on Friday targeted terror camps and associated infrastructure in Afghanistan. Wang and Muttaqi also exchanged views on the situation in Iran, the statement said. Wang told Muttaqi, according to the sta...

Officials from Punjab and Uzbekistan have started preparations for a joint agreement aimed at strengthening trade, exports, and investment links between the two sides.

Meta is planning sweeping layoffs that could affect 20 per cent or more of the company, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, as Meta seeks to offset costly artificial intelligence infrastructure bets and prepare for greater efficiency brought about by AI-assisted workers. No date has been set for the cuts and the magnitude has not been finalised, the people said. Top executives have recently signalled the plans to other senior leaders at Meta and told them to begin planning how to pare back, two of the people said. The sources spoke anonymously because they were not authorised to disclose the cuts. “This is speculative reporting about theoretical approaches,” Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said in response to questions about the plan. If Meta settles on the 20pc figure, the layoffs will be the company’s most significant since a restructuring in late 2022 and early 2023 that it dubbed the “year of efficiency”. It employed nearly 79,000 people as of December 31, according to its latest filing. The...

Just over two weeks before President Donald Trump is due to meet his counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing, Chinese uncertainty over the US leader’s goals and the impact of the Iran war hangs over the highly anticipated state visit. Trump’s trip, his first to China in his second term, is aimed at sealing a trade war truce the two leaders shook hands on when they met in South Korea in October. But for Beijing, which likes to carefully choreograph such events to avoid any possibility of embarrassment, Trump’s free-wheeling style is proving a challenge. A source familiar with negotiations told AFP that Chinese officials were expecting more ambitious preparations for such a summit between the leaders of the rival superpowers. The White House insisted, however, that preparations were going well for the visit from March 31 to April 2, with regular contacts and interactions with Beijing. “Unlike the autopen Biden administration that prized performance over outcomes, the Trump administration is very comfortable with trip...

At least four people, including two children, were injured when the Afghan Taliban launched a “few rudimentary” drones, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Saturday. On Friday evening, security sources said that two rudimentary drones were intercepted at different locations adjacent to Rawalpindi but were successfully brought down through electronic countermeasures. The military’s media wing said today that the drones were intercepted through “soft and hard kills” and did not reach their intended targets. According to the ISPR, two children were injured in Quetta, a civilian was injured in Kohat and another in Rawalpindi. “These attacks were aimed at inducing fear in the public and remind us of the terrorist mindset which drives the Afghan Taliban.” The military’s media wing added that while the Afghan Taliban “project victimhood to garner global sympathy”, on the other hand, they “actively target civilians through their terrorist proxies and their drones”. “Pakistan’s people and its Armed Forc...

North Korea fired about 10 unidentified ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan Saturday, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over South Korea-US military drills. Pyongyang recently dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with South Korea, Washington’s security ally, describing its latest peace efforts as a “clumsy, deceptive farce”. Seoul’s military detected “around ten unidentified ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea at around 1:20 pm (0420 GMT),” the JCS said in a statement. Japan’s defence ministry also confirmed the launch, saying on its official X account that “what is possibly a ballistic missile was launched from North Korea”. The announcement came hours after South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said that US President Donald Trump thinks a meeting with Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong Un would be “good”. Washington has for decades led efforts to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear programme, but summit...

Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon on Saturday demanded that Pakistan Customs in Karachi release a vehicle belonging to the provincial government that the authority had wrongly confiscated and apologise over the matter. In a post on X, Memon said, “Pakistan Customs Karachi confiscated a Sindh government vehicle on 12 March, claiming it was non-custom paid. “Despite being shown all official documents confirming that the vehicle belongs to the Information Department and was purchased through official outlets of Indus Motor Company, the vehicle was still taken into custody,” he added. The minister lashed out at Customs, saying: “Such incompetency and unacceptable behaviour towards a provincial government department cannot be tolerated.” He demanded that Pakistan Customs immediately release the vehicle and issue a written apology. Memon, also the information minister, shared pictures of what seemed to be the original stamped sales certificate issued by Indus Motor Company Limited on Feb 12, 2026, in Hydera...

Pakistan and Germany have signed a grant agreement worth €18 million aimed at promoting hydropower and renewable energy projects in the country’s northern areas.

The president of the Gul Plaza Association, Tanveer Pasta, has submitted his response to the judicial commission investigating the Gul Plaza fire tragedy, attributing the high number of casualties to delays and inadequate arrangements in the rescue operation.

Flight operations from Pakistan to several Middle Eastern destinations remained disrupted on Saturday, with at least 25 additional flights cancelled amid ongoing regional tensions.

LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court on Friday extended the interim pre-arrest bail of several leaders and relatives of incarcerated PTI founding chairman Imran Khan in different cases, including those related to the May 9 riots. The court extended the bail of former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry in five cases till April 16. During the hearing, Fawad Chaudhry appeared before the court on the expiry of his bail period. The court extended the bail and directed the prosecution to present arguments on the next hearing. The court also extended the interim bail of former federal minister Azam Swati till April 3 in multiple cases of May 9 riots. Swati also appeared before the court on expiry of his interim bail. Separately, the court extended the pre-arrest bail of Jamshed Iqbal Cheema and his wife Musarrat Jamshed Cheema till April 3. In a separate case, the ATC extended the bail of Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan, sisters of Imran Khan, till April 16 in a case registered over an alleged attack on police during the party’s ...

LAHORE - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday decided not to increase the prices of petroleum products this time, honouring the promise made to the public despite a further rise in oil prices in the international market.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah on Saturday said Pakistan had engaged in diplomatic outreach amid rising regional tensions, expressing hope that the situation would improve through dialogue and restraint.

• Says lack of fire safety measures, disconnection of electricity and blocking of exits caused fatalities • Forensic investigation can determine exact origin of fire, commission told KARACHI: Chief Fire Officer Muhammad Humayun Khan has blamed the Gul Plaza administration for the loss of life due to lack of implementation of fire safety protocols, failure to make a prompt announcement about the fire, blocked emergency exits and disconnection of electricity without evacuating people trapped inside. He said this in response to a questionnaire from the single-judge commission, headed by Justice Agha Faisal of the Sindh High Court. In his reply / statement, Mr Khan submitted that information about Jan 17 Gul Plaza fire was received at the central fire station at 10:26pm, first fire tender was dispatched at 10:27pm and it was arrived at the site in around 10 minutes. He maintained that the one-minute response time was consistent with internationally recognised performance benchmarks while travel time was influence...

KARACHI: Petroleum dealers have threatened to stop petrol and diesel sales after Eidul Fitr, in case the government does not revise their profit margins. Addressing a news conference at the Karachi Press Club on Friday, the leadership of Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) gave the government until March 26 to revise petroleum dealers’ margin from 2.59 per cent to 8pc in the wake of a Rs55 per litre hike in diesel and petrol rates. Currently, the dealers’ margin comes to around Rs8.64 per litre on diesel and petrol. The PPDA leaders, including Abdul Sami Khan, Tariq Hasan and Ameer Khan Masood, said the petroleum levy and hike in petroleum prices have severely affected dealers as well as consumers. They blamed oil-marketing companies (OMCs) for capping oil supplies. As a result, retail outlets are facing problems in obtaining the required quantity of oil products, drying up many pumps. They said the petroleum dealers have been urging the government for the last two years to raise their profit margin...