Pakistan

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that nuclear talks with the United States were unlikely to yield any results, amid a diplomatic standoff over the Islamic republic’s enrichment activities. “We don’t think it will lead to any outcome. We don’t know what will happen,” said Khamenei during a speech, adding that denying Iran’s right to enrich uranium was “a big mistake”. Iran and the US have held four rounds of Omani-mediated nuclear talks since April 12, the highest-level contact between the two foes since Washington abandoned the 2015 nuclear accord. The two sides had confirmed plans to hold another round of discussions during the latest meeting on May 11, which Tehran described as “difficult but useful”, while a US official said Washington was “encouraged”. Iran currently enriches uranium to 60per cent, far above the 3.67pc limit set in the 2015 deal but below the 90pc needed for a nuclear warhead. Western countries, including the US, have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire ato...

The federal government has officially declared May 28 a public holiday in observance of Youm-e-Takbeer, commemorating Pakistan’s historic nuclear tests conducted in 1998 at Chagai, Balochistan.

The Government of Pakistan is working on a plan to raise $4.

Excavation work has resumed at the ancient archaeological site of Mohenjo Daro, a UNESCO World Heritage site located near Larkana in Sindh, after a gap of 18 years.

The Foreign Office (FO) on Tuesday rejected the claim made by India that Pakistan had attempted to attack the Golden Temple in Amritsar — one of the holiest sites in Sikhism — during the recent tensions with the neighbouring country. New Delhi had accused Islamabad, without evidence, of orchestrating last month’s deadly attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam. Pakistan had strongly denied the allegations and called for a neutral probe. As the situation turned into a military confrontation between the nuclear powers, it took American intervention for both sides to agree to a ceasefire. A day earlier, the Indian army claimed that Pakistan had attempted to target the Golden Temple and the attacks were “successfully thwarted”, The Hindu reported. The management of the temple was allowed to deploy guns to “counter potential drone and missile threats from Pakistan”, a senior army official told ANI. He was quoted as saying, “Fortunately, we visualised what they [Pakistan] were capable of doing … They were more interes...

Punjab Minister for Education Rana Sikandar Hayat has announced summer vacation for all schools across the province from May 28 amid an intense heatwave. In a statement issued by the education ministry, Hayat also announced revised school timings due to the rising temperatures. The new school timings will be observed from 7:30am to 11:30am effective from May 21 (tomorrow) until the start of the summer vacations. The Punjab government has decided to give the summer vacation just a few days earlier than the scheduled date of June 1 due to the extreme heatwave prevalent in the province like elsewhere in the country. The minister earlier said that consultations are underway regarding the announcement of the summer vacation and the decision will be made in a few days. He said efforts are being made to overcome the academic losses due to the closure of schools while ensuring the safety and well-being of students. Hayat said safety instructions have been issued by the concerned departments amid the severity of the h...

ISLAMABAD: The government got an apathetic response to its auction for three inefficient power plants, compelling it to go for a second round of bidding by the end of this month. Only a single bidder — Siddiqsons from Karachi — came up with a bid for Jamshoro Power Company Ltd (JPCL). Two other plants — Muzaffargarh and Faisalabad — did not fetch even a single offer. The government set a combined reserve price of Rs26.625 billion for the three plants with 2,362MW of cumulative generation capacity. The auction was called through a ‘single-stage two envelop’ bid to ensure transparency, said the Ministry of Energy (Power Division), adding the bidding date was set for May 19. “Only one company, Siddiqsons, submitted a bid for JPCL. No company submitted any bid for Muzaffargarh and Faisalabad Power plants”, the Power Division said. The date for opening bids has been extended till May 30, it said in a statement. The government held open bidding for the disposal of three old and defunct power plants on an “as-is, wh...

Pakistan has categorically denied Indian allegations that it attempted to target the Golden Temple in Amritsar through drone and missile attacks during the night of May 7-8.

Fareeha, 43, who lives in Karachi’s Ibrahim Hyderi with her family, remembers all too well what it feels like to walk on water, or wade through it. For generations, her family relied on Badin’s salty waters for fishing, but seawater intrusion turned freshwater ponds brackish and fertile lands barren. This change, steady but not slow, left Fareeha in dire financial straits, forcing her husband and sons to work at brick kilns. But this wasn’t a permanent solution, she says. “The sea took our nets, then our dignity … we were eventually forced to move out.” Fareeha’s plight resonates with almost 80 per cent of other fishing families in Badin, where, without compensation or adaptation, climate poverty has pushed hundreds into a chaotic storm of displacement. While climate change is a global issue, its impacts, unfortunately, are spread disproportionately across the world. Despite having minimal contributions towards global greenhouse gas emissions, low-income countries tend to be extremely vulnerable to the disast...

Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has said that Pakistan and China are working together to promote regional peace and remain united in combating terrorism.

Peshawar - Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi on Monday emphasized that progress is not possible without reforms in the education sector and accused the provincial government of playing a significant role in its deterioration.

Peshawar - In a significant step toward strengthening the digital economy of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Technology Board (KPITB) and Sybrid have officially signed an agreement to expand Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) operations in the region.

Peshawar - The 10th meeting of the Senate of the University of Swat was held on Monday, with Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur, in the chair.

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court was informed on Monday that no medical board was constituted to evaluate Zahir Jaffer’s mental health during his trial for the murder of Noor Mukadam, despite the defence’s repeated claims that he was unfit to stand trial.

ISLAMABAD - The Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs paying tribute to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) for its “exceptionally tremendous” role during the recent Pakistan-India conflict.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and China have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation in the health sector during a high-level meeting on the sidelines of the 77th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva.

PESHAWAR - Advisor to the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Information and Public Relations, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, has said that peace has been restored in District Kurram due to the prudent efforts of Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is seeking loans totalling up to $350 million from commercial banks in the United Arab Emirates to meet its external financing needs. According to informed banking sources, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has been in discussions with these banks to revive their loan portfolio with Pakistan, and the finalisation of the loan is expected to occur very soon. In the first three quarters of the current fiscal year, the government received about $504m from foreign lenders (mostly UAE-based), showing a minor recovery from commercial banks that had stayed away from financing Pakistan last year. The government has budgeted $3.8bn in financing from foreign banks for the current fiscal year, but the actual realisation has been sluggish in the first nine months. The government had also targeted $1bn in international bonds for FY25. Another projection of $9bn inflows from bilateral partners — China and Saudi Arabia — was targeted for the current fiscal year. These projections include a $5bn time dep...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar met with Liu Jianchao, Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC), during his ongoing three-day official visit to Beijing, state-run APP reported on Tuesday.

RAWALPINDI: Having lost four matches in a row following five wins on the trot to open their HBL Pakistan Super League campaign, Islamabad United arrived here at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Monday night with the intent to stamp their authority as the defending champions. To Karachi Kings’ horror, the holders went on to post a mammoth total before bundling Kings out cheaply as Shadab Khan led from the front, contributing both with the bat and the ball. The all-rounder’s batting effort — 42 off 19 with the help of three fours and as many sixes — was a cameo in the bigger scheme of things, which saw Sahibzada Farhan and Alex Hales smash blistering half centuries to help United to 251-5. But Shadab’s leg-spin accounted for four wickets at the expense of 45 runs, and that performance eventually defined the match, choking Kings batters through the middle of their chase as United won by 79 runs eventually. The result saw United replace Kings in the second spot in the PSL standings as the tournament’s league sta...