Pakistan

Foreign nationals convicted of a sexual offence will be blocked from seeking refugee status in Britain as part of government efforts to tighten rules ahead of local elections and counter the charge from opponents that it cannot protect its borders. Immigration has long been a major issue in Britain, with voters questioning why successive governments were unable to control arrivals, particularly those coming in small boats across the Channel. Since being elected last July, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government has sought to restrict access to the asylum system and speed up removal of those denied refugee status. It is also reviewing how courts interpret a migrant’s right to a family life after the rule which guarantees it, Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, was used in multiple asylum appeals, with the details regularly reported by British newspapers. “We are reviewing that because we do believe that the way in which it’s being interpreted in the courts is an issue,” interior minis...

Singer Beyonce launched her ‘Cowboy Carter’ stadium tour on Monday, rolling through ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ and other country-inspired hits and sharing the stage with her two daughters. To Read Lifestyle Stories in Urdu – Click Here Beyonce opened the nearly three-hour show at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles with ‘Ameriican Requiem’, appearing in an all-white […]

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Rupee on Tuesday appreciated by 04 paisa against the US Dollar in the interbank trading and closed at Rs 281.02 against the previous day’s closing of Rs 281.06. However, according to the Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP), the buying and selling rates of the dollar in the open market stood at Rs 281.40 […]

Showbiz starlet Hina Tariq has shared her behind-the-scenes pictures as Emaan Saleem from the sets of her on-air serial ‘Naqaab’. To Read Lifestyle Stories in Urdu – Click Here Currently basking in the success of her new serial ‘Naqaab’, rising actor Hina Tariq aka Assistant Commissioner Emaan Saleem turned to her official Instagram handle on Tuesday […]

Pakistan is preparing to launch international legal action against India following its unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, a move Islamabad views as a violation of international law.

TEHRAN: Firefighters have brought under control a blaze at Iran’s main port, following a deadly explosion blamed on negligence, authorities in the Islamic republic said. The explosion, heard dozens of kilometres (miles) away, hit a dock at the southern port of Shahid Rajaee on Saturday. At least 70 people were killed and more than 1,000 […]

MUMBAI, April 29, 2025: The Indian Rupee (INR) swung sharply before ending lower on Tuesday as the possibility of rising tensions between India and Pakistan remained front and centre for traders, pushing the currency’s near-dated implied volatility to an over two-year high. The Indian rupee jumped out of the blocks to touch its year-to-date high […]

Prime Minister Mark Carney won Canada’s election on Monday, local media projected, leading his Liberal Party to a new term in power after convincing voters his experience managing economic crises prepared him to confront United States President Donald Trump. The public broadcaster CBC and other outlets projected the Liberals would form Canada’s next government, but it was not yet clear if they would hold a majority in parliament. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre fell short of becoming prime minister, but his party was on track to form a strong opposition in parliament Trump’s trade war and threats to annex Canada — which he renewed in an election day social media post — outraged Canadians and made dealing with the US a top campaign issue. Carney, who had never held elected office and only replaced Justin Trudeau as prime minister last month, anchored his campaign on an anti-Trump message. He previously served as central bank governor in both Britain and Canada and persuaded voters his global financial exp...

Posts from several Indian accounts on social media platform X on Sunday shared alleged documents claiming en masse resignations of Pakistan Army personnel and low morale in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack. However, the letters are fake. An attack took place in Pahalgam, a tourist hotspot in India-occupied Kashmir that draws thousands of visitors every summer, on April 22. Gunmen opened fire on visitors, killing at least 26 people — all men from across India except one from Nepal — and injuring 17 others. It was the region’s deadliest attack on civilians since 2000. A hitherto unknown group, named by several Indian outlets as ‘The Resistance Front’, is said to have claimed responsibility for the attack. India followed suit by announcing a series of actions against Pakistan. Responding in kind, Pakistan also announced a series of measures, including the closure of its airspace to all India-owned or Indian-operated airlines with immediate effect. As diplomatic channels dry up and treaty frameworks teeter, a...

LONDON, April 29, 2025: The English Premier League is expanding its global footprint with the opening of a new office in Mumbai, strengthening its commitment to one of football’s most passionate fan bases. The Mumbai hub will build on nearly two decades of Premier League engagement in India, where the League has run grassroots initiatives […]

The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has officially finalized a directive to cap fees for medical and dental education, aiming to make private medical education more affordable.

Emmy Award-winning actor Katherine Heigl, who moved to Utah with her family, opened up on the possibility of returning to Hollywood. To Read Lifestyle Stories in Urdu – Click Here Hollywood star Katherine Heigl, best remembered for playing Dr. Izzie Stevens in the medical drama ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, the role which brought her both accolades and […]

ISLAMABAD: The rates of gold witnessed an increase in Pakistan, All Pakistan Sarafa Gems and Jewelers Association reported on Tuesday. The price of 24 karat per tola gold witnessed an increase of Rs2,100 and was sold at Rs349,200 against its sale at Rs347,100 on the last trading day. The prices of 10 grams of 24 […]

The United States Food and Drug Administration approved Abeona Therapeutics’ gene therapy for a rare skin disorder on Tuesday. Shares of the Cleveland-based drugmaker rose 13 per cent in premarket trading. The gene therapy, called Zevaskyn, is approved to treat adult and pediatric patients with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. Patients with the disorder have extremely fragile skin, with blisters and tears forming large wounds all over the body that are difficult to heal and can remain open for years. The disorder results from a defect in the COL7A1 gene, which prevents the production of a crucial type of collagen responsible for anchoring the upper and lower layers of the skin. The current standard of care treatment is daily wound care and protective bandaging. The treatment is expected to be available in the third quarter of 2025 at specific treatment sites, Abeona said. Zevaskyn, chemically known as pz-cel, works by adding healthy COL7A1 genes to the patient’s skin cells and transplanting them ba...

Bulls bounced back on the trading floor on Tuesday as shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange climbed more than 800 points after a day of volatility. The benchmark KSE-100 index climbed 808.28 points, or 0.71 per cent, to stand at 114,872.18 from the previous close of 114,063.90. Awais Ashraf, director of research at AKD Securities, said, attributed the bull run to the announcement of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board meeting “to approve a tranche of $1.3 billion for Pakistan under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and a new 28-month arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility”. Earlier, the IMF website confirmed that the Fund’s Executive Board will meet on May 9 to discuss the country’s staff-level agreement for a new $1.3bn arrangement under a climate resilience loan programme, along with the first review of Pakistan’s ongoing $7bn bailout programme. According to the IMF, this will be the first “review under the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility”, along ...

• Defence minister says military briefed govt on possible conflict with India, next few days ‘crucial’ • Beijing, Washington, Ankara and Doha urge measures to calm tensions as neighbours trade fire across Line of Control ISLAMABAD: As friends in foreign capitals continue to advocate for a de-escalation of tensions in South Asia, Pakistan’s defence min­ister said the country was ready for any incursion by India. The two neighbours have been trading fire across the Line of Control (LoC) for four days now, with each blaming the other for provocation. “We have reinforced our forces because it is something which is imminent now. So in that situation some strategic decisions have to be taken, so those decisions have been taken,” Khawaja Asif told Reuters on Monday. He said the military had briefed the government on the possibility of an Indian attack, but did not go into further details on his reasons for thinking an incursion was imminent. His remarks follow New Delhi’s increasingly aggressive posturing following ...

A restaurant fire in northeastern China killed 22 people and injured three on Tuesday, Beijing’s state media said, with footage posted online showing fierce flames engulfing the building. The blaze erupted at 12:25pm (9:25am PKT) in a restaurant in a residential area of Liaoning Province’s Liaoyang City, state broadcaster CCTV said. “The incident has resulted in 22 deaths and three injuries,” it added. President Xi Jinping said that the blaze had caused “significant casualties” and that the lessons from it were “profoundly serious”, CCTV said. Xi called for “every effort to treat the injured, properly handle the aftermath for the deceased and provide support to their families, swiftly determine the cause of the fire, and pursue accountability in accordance with the law,” the report added. Official news agency Xinhua did not identify the cause of the fire but said President Xi Jinping called it “a deeply sobering lesson”. Footage shared online and verified by AFP showed the inferno engulfing the two-storey res...

Firefighters have brought under control a blaze at Iran’s main port, following a deadly explosion blamed on negligence, authorities in the Islamic republic said. The explosion, heard dozens of kilometres away, hit a dock at the southern port of Shahid Rajaee on Saturday. At least 70 people were killed and more than 1,000 others suffered injuries in the blast and ensuing the fire, which also caused extensive damage, state media reported. Red Crescent official Mokhtar Salahshour told the channel late on Monday that the fire had been “contained” and a clean-up was underway. State television aired live footage on Tuesday showing thick smoke rising from stacked containers. Iran’s IRNA news agency quoted Hossein Zafari, spokesman for the country’s crisis management organisation, as saying the situation had improved significantly since Monday. However, “the operation and complete extinguishing process may take around 15 to 20 days”, Zafari added. Iran’s customs authority said port operations had returned to normal, ...

The Pakistan Army on Tuesday shot down an Indian quadcopter drone near the Line of Control (LoC) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), state media reported, as tensions between the two countries linger on in the wake of the Pahalgam attack. The April 22 attack killed 26 men, mostly tourists, and was one of the deadliest armed attacks in the disputed Himalayan region since 2000. Kashmir Resistance, also known as The Resistance Front, said it “unequivocally” denied involvement in the attack, after an initial message that claimed responsibility. India, without offering any evidence, has implied cross-border linkages of the attackers, while Pakistan has strongly denied any involvement. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called for a neutral probe into the incident. “Pakistan has successfully shot down an Indian quadcopter along the Line of Control, thwarting a violation of its airspace,” state-run Radio Pakistan and PTV News reported, citing security sources. Specifying the location, security sources said the “enemy at...

The financial closure of the Reko Diq copper-gold mining project is expected next month, with major international institutions likely to be part of the deal, sources revealed on Tuesday.