Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Less than a week after the government hiked the prices of petroleum products by a whopping Rs55, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) on Thursday notified a massive 19-22 per cent increase in the price of regasified liquified natural gas (RLNG) for sales at the distribution stage by the two Sui gas companies for the month of March. The increase was mainly because of increase in terminal charges amid lower import molecules and minor increase in import price, the dataset from the authority showed. The rare increase (19-22pc) in RLNG price for March has come following a minor 0.5pc increase in February and two consecutive monthly reductions in December (6pc) and January (5pc). The prices had cumulatively increased by 4.4pc in October and November. The Karachi-based Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) serves consumers in Sindh and Balochistan and its system losses at the distribution stage stand at 12.55pc, compared to 10.6pc a couple of months earlier. On the other hand, the Lahore-based S...

Chief Minister of Sindh Murad Ali Shah on Thursday said that crossing Rs300 billion in revenue collection is a major milestone for the province.

The speed limits for vehicles on motorways and national highways were reduced on Thursday “in order to promote austerity measures and fuel conservation”, according to a handout issued by the National Highways and Motorway Police (NHMP). The development comes as the government in recent days announced a host of austerity measures to conserve fuel in view of the global fuel crisis triggered by the US-Israel war on Iran. The press release said that the step “was taken in light of the instructions of the prime minister of Pakistan to ensure efficient use of energy and to encourage fuel savings”. The speed limit for cars and light transport vehicles (LTV) has been reduced to 100 kilometres per hour from 120km/h on motorways. Meanwhile, the speed limit for passenger service vehicles (PSV) and heavy transport vehicles (HTV) on motorways has been reduced from 110 km/h to 90 km/h, the press release said. On national highways, the speed limit for cars and LTVs was reduced from 100km/h to 80km/h. For PSVs and HTVs, the ...

Silver prices in Pakistan continued their upward trend on Thursday, with the rate of silver (chandi) reaching Rs.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday ordered the formation of a medical board while announcing its verdict on a petition seeking the transfer of Imran Khan to Shifa International Hospital for medical treatment.

A foreign hacker compromised files relating to the FBI’s investigation of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a break-in at the bureau’s New York Field Office three years ago, according to ​a source familiar with the matter and recently published Justice Department documents reviewed by Reuters. The details of who accessed a server at the FBI’s New York Field Office, ‌including the allegation that a foreign hacker was involved, are being reported here for the first time. In a statement, the FBI said what it described as a “cyber incident” was “an isolated one”. “The FBI restricted access to the malicious actor and rectified the network. The investigation remains ongoing, so we do not have further comments to provide at this time.” Although the source said the intrusion appeared to have been carried out by a cybercriminal rather than a foreign government, ​the incident underscores the files’ potential intelligence value, one academic said. The legally mandated publication of US Justice Department docu...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif departed for Saudi Arabia on Thursday to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and discuss escalating tensions in the Middle East following the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran.

The repatriation of Pakistanis from Iran continued on Wednesday as 228 more people arrived in the country through the Taftan Border Crossing, officials said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has forwarded a summary to President Asif Ali Zardari seeking approval for the appointment of Nehal Hashmi, a senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, as the governor of Sindh.

Pakistan has completed the visa process for 90 per cent of pilgrims set to perform Hajj in 2026, citing the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

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...