Pakistan

The Ministry of Finance said on Thursday that a media report claiming Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar had been handed the budget-making process was “misleading” and “factually incorrect”. The clarification came after a report published by The Express Tribune said the government had “handed over the responsibility of making the new budget to Dar after it found the initial work below par”. According to the report, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had constituted a Dar-led committee to “review, analyse and present tax policy proposals” formulated by the Tax Policy Office working under the Finance Division. Citing a notification, it added: “With the formation of the committee, the final responsibility to finalise roughly Rs215 billion to Rs230bn in new taxes and to grant any tax relief has been handed over to Dar.” Moreover, the report said, the responsibility for finalising the enforcement measures had been handed over to a committee led by Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema. It men...

They come in blister packs of 10 like any normal painkiller and you can buy them easily in roadside kiosks and street pharmacies across west Africa. Millions of tapentadol tablets from India are helping drive a deadly opioid epidemic ravaging the region, with officials and researchers telling AFP that they are also being added to the “zombie drug” kush. The cheap pills are so strong that no regulatory authority in the world has approved them. Yet an AFP investigation found Indian pharmaceutical firms were flooding west Africa with the pills despite New Delhi vowing to crack down on the trade. Some shipments were even labelled “Harmless Medicines for Human Consumption”. Customs records show millions of dollars’ worth of the high-strength synthetic opioid being shipped from India every month to Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Ghana, where even low doses of the drug are not permitted. With opioids now heavily regulated in wealthier nations after being linked to one million deaths in the United States alone, some manuf...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday just as Pakistan had emerged as a nuclear power, efforts were now needed to turn it into an economic power. The premier expressed these views while addressing a federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad, where he also spoke about May 28. On May 28, 1998, Pakistan joined the ranks of nuclear powers after atomic tests in the hills of Chagai, Balochistan. In his address, PM Shehbaz said on that day, Pakistan gained a power that would remain a “defensive asset” of the country. “It is our national narrative that this asset is for defence, not offence. And this is the reason that the world knows Pakistan as a responsible nuclear power,” he added. The premier then paid tribute to all “heroes” who contributed to efforts for making Pakistan a nuclear power, particularly mentioning late prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and former prime minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif. “[The initiative’s] founder was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and my leader, Nawaz Sharif, saw it to completion...

Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry on Thursday said that Pakistan’s relationship with the United Arab Emirates was “absolutely fine”. Chaudhry made the remarks while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly in response to concerns raised by lawmakers regarding the deportation of Pakistanis from the Gulf country. Several media outlets in recent days have reported that the Gulf country had begun a “large-scale expulsion” of Pakistani workers, particularly Shia workers, signalling a shift in Pakistan-UAE ties. The Interior Ministry has denied the claims. “I don’t know why people are intent on building a narrative against a country; that people from there are being deported based on sectarian differences,” the state minister said on Thursday. “There is no such thing. The government has categorically denied this. Our ties with the UAE are absolutely fine,” he said. He went on to say that for this month, the highest amount of remittances was received from Saudi Arabia, followed by the UAE. “We sho...

Maryam Nawaz has sought a detailed report on the arrest and investigation of alleged drug dealer Anmol alias “Pinky”, officials said on Thursday.

Investigation sources have disclosed fresh details regarding an alleged drug trafficking network linked to accused Anmol alias “Pinky”, shedding light on the methods allegedly used for the sale and distribution of narcotics.

Sardar Saleem Haider Khan has said that Pakistan and Bangladesh share deep-rooted commonalities, including religion, culture, and values.

The interior ministry on Thursday directed the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) to investigate, in coordination with Cambridge International Education (CIE), the leaking of the latter’s exam papers. According to a handout issued by the interior ministry, the development came as Interior Secretary Muhammad Khurram Agha chaired a high-level meeting regarding the “alleged leakage of Cambridge examination papers” at the Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control. A day earlier, CIE confirmed the leak of an AS-level Mathematics exam paper held on Tuesday and announced the postponement of another Mathematics paper scheduled for Friday (tomorrow). This was the second such incident it had confirmed during the ongoing session. However, the statement issued by the ministry mentioned the “alleged leakage of Cambridge O Level Mathematics examination papers”. Thursday’s meeting was attended by the Education Secretary Nadeem Mahbub, representatives from CIE, NCCIA Director General Syed Khurram Ali, represe...

The Election Commission of Pakistan has released the final list of candidates for the 2026 Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly elections 2026, with a total of 403 candidates set to contest the polls.

Four people, including the Vice Chancellor and Pro Vice Chancellor of University of Gwadar, reportedly went missing while travelling from Gwadar to Quetta, officials said on Wednesday.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Thursday expressed alarm at the continued captivity of Pakistanis aboard an oil tanker seized by Somali pirates, demanding urgent action by the government and the relevant authorities. The MT Honour 25, a Palau-flagged product tanker, was seized on April 21, approximately 30 nautical miles off Somalia’s Puntland region with 17 crew members aboard, 10 of them Pakistani. In a post on X, the HRCP said that it was “deeply alarmed by the continued captivity of the Pakistan crew members aboard the MT Honour 25 by Somali pirates and demands urgent action by the Pakistan government and all relevant international authorities”. The commission also expressed concern at reports over the living conditions of the hostages. “Reports that hostages are surviving on contaminated water and minimal food while their families endure severe psychological distress are unacceptable,” HRCP said. The human rights body stated that it stood in solidarity with “the families in Karachi prot...

Former Indian army chief Gen (retired) Manoj Naravane has supported the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) secretary general’s remarks calling for keeping the window for dialogue between Islamabad and New Delhi open. In an interview with Press Trust of India aired on Tuesday, RSS Secretary General Dattatreya Hosabale said there “should always be a window for dialogue” between Pakistan and India, terming people-to-people contacts as key to breaking the deadlock in ties. Responding to a query about how India should deal with Pakistan, Hosabale said, “If Pakistan is like a pinprick trying to create incidents like Pulwama, etc, we have to answer appropriately according to the situation because the security and self-respect of a country and nation have to be protected.” Over 40 Indian paramilitary troops were killed in the Pulwama attack in occupied Kashmir in 2019. India alleged that those who planned the attacks had links with the Pakistani state — a charge that Pakistan has vigorously denied. The RSS secretary g...

India, one of the world’s largest sugar producers, has banned exports of the key commodity until the end of September to ensure enough domestic supplies and prevent prices from rising. The government prohibited exports “with immediate effect”, according to an order issued late on Wednesday, other than limited exceptions, including consignments already in the pipeline. Exports under government deals for food security with other countries would also be allowed, the order said. The ban will stay in place until September 30. The move comes amid concerns that the country’s next sugar harvest, which starts around October, could be affected by a lower-than-average monsoon because of the El Nino weather pattern. The US-Iran war has strained India’s economy, heavily reliant on Middle Eastern energy supplies and fertiliser imports, and has cast uncertainty over New Delhi’s growth outlook. India’s sugar exports have fallen sharply since their peak in 2021-22, government data shows. Shipments reached a record 11 million ...

CHARSADDA: A constable, who was critically injured in an attack on a checkpost in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Charsadda last month, succumbed to his wounds, police said on Thursday. Charsadda police spokesperson Safiullah said Constable Sajjad Khan was injured when unidentified militants targeted the Azizabad checkpost with explosive material on April 22. He said the constable was taken to the hospital in a critical condition, where he remained under treatment before embracing martyrdom late on Wednesday night. Saifullah said that the constable’s funeral prayers were offered on Thursday morning with official honours at Police Lines Charsadda. A smartly turned-out police contingent saluted the martyr, while floral wreaths were laid on the coffin, he added. District Police Officer (DPO) Mohammad Waqas Khan, Superintendent Police Investigation Alamzeb Khan, Deputy Superintendent Police (DSP) Headquarters Anwar Khan, Counter Terrorism Department DSP Jamshed Khan, the relatives of the deceased and a large number of resid...

The United Arab Emirates said Thursday it “denies reports” that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly visited the country, after Netanyahu’s office said he had met with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) president during the war with Iran. Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday he had “paid a secret visit to the United Arab Emirates” during the war, “where he met with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan”. The announcement came a day after US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee announced that Israel had sent its Iron Dome air-defence systems, plus personnel to operate them, to the UAE during the war with Iran. While stopping short of confirming Huckabee’s comments, Netanyahu’s office said the visit “marked a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates”. The UAE did not directly deny any such visit, referring to “reports” of a visit. “The United Arab Emirates denies reports circulating regarding an alleged visit by Netanyahu to the UAE, or receiving any Isr...

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed government’s commitment to providing better opportunities to youth in education, skill development, employment and entrepreneurship.

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb on Wednesday briefed the visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission on Pakistan’s macroeconomic outlook, fiscal strategy, reform priorities, and the government’s ongoing efforts to ensure sustainable economic stability and long-term.

ISLAMABAD - The National Assembly (NA) saw a scuffle between opposition members from PTI over disagreement to suspend the running proceedings by pointing out lack of quorum in the House.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has predicted mainly hot and dry weather across most parts of the country during the next 24 hours, with very hot conditions expected in Sindh.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday will chair the federal cabinet meeting.