Pakistan

United States President Donald Trump and officials in his administration were the likely targets of a suspect who fired at a security agent guarding the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, US Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Sunday. The incident occurred at the Washington Hilton — the same hotel where Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded in a 1981 assassination attempt — adding to the gravity of the situation at a venue long associated with high-level political gatherings. Over the years, the hotel has also hosted Pakistani leaders, including Pervez Musharraf, Benazir Bhutto, and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. As the sound of shots rang out in the ballroom hosting the dinner, gala attendees, including members of the press, their family members, and government officials immediately fell silent, CNN reported. It was only when security charged into the room, and people started screaming, “Get down, get down!”, that guests dove under tables to take cover. The suspect — who was armed w...

The Punjab Home Department has extended the enforcement of Section 144 across Punjab, maintaining a ban on the use of drones in open areas for an additional 30 days.

President Asif Ali Zardari has stressed the need to enhance cooperation between Pakistan and China in industrial technology, skills development, and joint ventures to support infrastructure and economic growth.

A gunman fired shots in the hotel hosting the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday, causing United States President Donald Trump and his cabinet to be rushed out before the suspect was taken into custody. Here is a timeline of the incident and its immediate aftermath. Around 8:35pm ET (5:35am PKT on Sunday): Guests at the Washington Hilton dinner took cover when shots were heard, video footage showed. Soon after, Secret Service agents rushed towards Trump, escorting the president and his cabinet from the ballroom. U.S. President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and CBS News senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang attend the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, DC, US, April 25,. — Reuters Guests take cover after US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were rushed out of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner by Secret Service agents when a man opened fire with a shotgun on...

Japan has deployed 1,400 firefighters and 100 Self-Defence Force personnel to battle mountain blazes in ​the northern part of the country, with the fires, ‌now burning on Sunday for a fifth straight day, continuing to threaten a picturesque coastal town. The area consumed by the fires reached 1,373 hectares as of early Sunday morning, up seven per cent from ​a day earlier. A helicopter conducts firefighting operations, as wildfires continue in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan on April 26, 2026. — Reuters The fires threaten residential districts of Otsuchi ⁠on the Pacific Coast — a town that lost nearly a ​tenth of its population in one of Japan’s worst disasters, the ​March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Evacuation orders are in place for 1,541 households or 3,233 residents, roughly a third of Otsuchi’s population. A firefighter works as wildfires continue in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan on April 26, 2026. — Reuters “Although the Self-Defence Forces are ​fighting the fires from the sky (with helicopters), t...

WITH the global order breaking down, wars have erupted in various parts of the world — especially in South Asia, Europe and now the Middle East. Force is being used against adversaries unilaterally with utter disregard for international law. The most recent use of illegal force occurred during the 40-day war waged by the US and Israel against Iran. Resorting to proactive diplomacy, Pakistan’s leadership played a critical role in facilitating a ceasefire and then bringing to the table high-powered delegations from the US and Iran in Islamabad a couple of weeks ago. This was no small feat: for the first time in 47 years, the US and Iran sat face to face, and, as per the Iranian foreign minister, resolved many of the differences between them. Although disagreement persists on some issues, including America’s blockade in the Arabian Sea and Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, there are signs that both sides want to reach a peace settlement. It is encouraging that Pakistan’s leadership, particularly the prim...

The Power Division has formally requested the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to immediately withdraw newly introduced application fees for small-scale solar systems.

The Islamabad Traffic Police has made its driving licence process fully paperless, aiming to improve efficiency and enhance public convenience.

Maryam Nawaz Sharif has announced an ambitious plan to establish a 50-acre Punjab Film City in Lahore, aimed at revitalizing the country’s media and entertainment sector.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s exports to major Western and Northern European markets have recorded negative growth in the first nine months of the current fiscal year compared with a year ago, despite the continuation of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP+) status, raising concerns about weakening demand for Pakistani goods. The development comes against the backdrop of a shifting global trade environment, as the US-Iran conflict sends shockwaves through the Middle East, impacting global goods transport, accelerating the fall in exports to European markets. Additionally, earlier this year, European Union preferential market access was offered to India, one of Pakistan’s key competitors in textiles. Earlier this month, the EU Ambassador to Pakistan Raimundas Karoblis also warned Pakistan that access to the GSP+ — which allows duty-free entry into most European markets — was neither guaranteed nor automatic, signalling a more conditional approach from Brussels reliant on Islamabad’s progress on human rights iss...

The Pakistan Airports Authority has decided to introduce an electric cart service at airports nationwide to improve passenger convenience.

The Pakistan Cricket Board on Sunday released the official schedule for ticket sales for the Pakistan Super League final, detailing both online and physical purchase options for fans.

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi said Beijing will “firmly support” Myanmar in safeguarding its national sovereignty and security, in a meeting with junta chief-turned-president, Min Aung Hlaing. Wang has been on a three-country visit to Southeast Asia this week, travelling to Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar, seeking to strengthen ties in the face of “risks” and present Beijing as a more stable alternative to the United States. Beijing supports Myanmar “in forging a successful development path that aligns with its national conditions and enjoys the support of its people”, Wang told Min Aung Hlaing during a visit to capital Naypyidaw, according to a Chinese foreign ministry readout published late on Saturday. “As this year marks the first year of the new Myanmar government’s tenure, both sides should seize this opportunity to carry forward and promote their traditional friendship, [and] open up new prospects for bilateral relations,” Wang said. Min Aung Hlaing was sworn in as president this month, continuing his ru...

Swiss International said that a flight from Delhi to Zurich had to abort its takeoff early on Sunday after an engine issue, adding that four passengers and one crew member were injured. The airline did not elaborate, but the Economic Times reported that one of the engines had caught on fire as the plane was accelerating down a runway and that the passengers were injured during an emergency evacuation. “Shortly after 1am local time on April 26, an issue occurred with one of the engines during the takeoff of flight LX147 in Delhi. The crew aborted the takeoff and, after assessing the situation, decided as a precaution to evacuate the aircraft,” Swiss International said in a statement. Pathway tracing the aborted takeoff of Swiss International’s flight LX147 at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on April 26, 2026. — screengrab via FlightRadar24 It said that it had set up a task force to look into the incident, adding that the injured passengers were taken to a hospital, while the crew member had sustain...

KARACHI: The body of a boy who drowned after being swept away while swimming in a major water line in Scheme 33 was recovered on the third day of the search operation, rescue services said. The boy, Zahid Mohammed Khan, was swept away around 2pm on Friday while swimming in the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC)’s line in Scheme-33 near Al-Azhar Garden. Rescue 1122 and the Edhi service issued separate statements, confirming that the boy’s body has been recovered. The Edhi statement said the deceased child was 12 years old. The body was shifted to Edhi’s morgue in Sohrab Goth. Lifeguards from Rescue 1122 and the Edhi Foundation searched until Friday night, but were unable to recover the boy. Subsequently, the operation was paused due to a lack of visibility. With the help of the district administration, rescuers had resumed their search efforts on Saturday at two separate locations, near Samama Shopping Mall and Continental Bakery in Gulistan-i-Jauhar. Last year, the drowning of a three-year-old boy ...

Acting President Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has stressed the need for continued global efforts to ensure peace, urging nations to address emerging challenges through cooperation and dialogue.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has reiterated that Pakistan will continue its sincere efforts to promote regional peace and security during a telephone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

The suspect arrested in the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner shooting on Saturday was identified by a law enforcement official as Cole Tomas Allen, a Los Angeles-area man who appears from social media sites to be a Caltech graduate working as a part-time teacher and game developer. The official said Allen, approximately 31 years of age, is a resident of Torrance, California, a coastal town that is part of the South Bay area adjacent to Los Angeles abutting Santa Monica Bay. The chief of the District of Columbia Police Department said investigators believe the suspect was a guest at the Washington Hilton hotel, where the annual dinner was taking place, but that no motive had been determined. Meanwhile, Facebook posts appearing to relate to Allen show that he had been designated Teacher of the Month in December 2024 by the Torrance office of C2 Education, a nationwide private test-preparation and tutoring service for college-bound students. A LinkedIn profile in the suspect’s name described him as...

The tickets for this year’s HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) are set to go on sale from April 27, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Sunday. The final — with teams yet to be decided — would take place at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on May 3 (Sunday). The final would also have a reserve day, which is May 4. In a press release, PCB said the tickets will be up for grabs online at pcb.tcs.com.pk from 4pm on Monday, while physical tickets will be available at 18 designated TCS Express Centres in Lahore from 10am on Tuesday. Fans can buy tickets for VIP enclosures (Fazal Mahmood and Imran Khan) for Rs6,000, while the premium enclosures (Rajas and Saeed Anwar) will be available for Rs4,000. First-class enclosures, which comprise Abdul Hafeez Kardar, Abdul Qadir, Javed Miandad and Sarfaraz Nawaz, are priced at Rs2,000. Seats in Hanif Mohammad, Imtiaz Ahmed, Saeed Ahmed and Inzamam-ul-Haq, which are categorised as general enclosures, will be available for a minimum of Rs1,500. The PCB noted that the “thrilling”...

Facing severe public criticism for “taxing sunlight”, the Power Division on Sunday directed the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to abolish the requirement of a licence and licence fee for solar prosumers below 25 kilowatt capacity. In a statement issued on Sunday — a weekly holiday — the Power Division said that on the directives of Power Minister Awais Leghari, it has “formally asked Nepra for a review to abolish the application fee and remove the license requirement for solar consumers of 25 kilowatts and below”. The Power Division recalled that it had previously alerted Nepra about the adverse effects of this decision and requested that it be aligned with the old regulations. Announcing the decision on X, Leghari said, “Our government is pro-solar, pro-consumer, and committed to clean energy. We want to remove unnecessary barriers, reduce costs, and provide as much relief as possible to the people of Pakistan.” Under the previous 2015 regulations, distributed generation facilities of 2...