Pakistan

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met US Chargé d’Affaires to Pakistan, Natalie Baker, in Islamabad, where the two discussed ongoing diplomatic efforts to hold a second round of US-Iran talks, the interior ministry said. According to the interior ministry’s statement, during their “important meeting”, Naqvi and Baker exchanged detailed views on the latest regional situation and discussed diplomatic efforts regarding the possible second round of US-Iran negotiations in Islamabad. Naqvi commended US President Donald Trump’s initiative to extend the ceasefire, calling it a “welcome development” that made significant progress towards reducing tensions. “We also hope for positive progress from Iran’s side,” the interior minister was quoted as saying. The meeting emphasised the need for continuity in diplomatic channels for a lasting resolution to the conflict. According to the ministry, the minister told Baker that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Asim Munir were making “a...

Cursor, an AI code-generation startup co-founded by Pakistani-born Sualeh Asif, has secured a $60 billion acquisition deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, according to multiple reports on Thursday. Along with OpenAI and Anthropic, Cursor is one of several Silicon Valley startups that have drawn waves of developers by using ​artificial intelligence to automate coding, a business where AI companies ​have found early commercial traction, according to Reuters. SpaceX announced in a post on X that Cursor gave SpaceX the right to acquire the company later this year for $60 billion. If SpaceX doesn’t buy Cursor, it will pay $10 billion for their work together, the company said. “The combination of Cursor’s leading product and distribution to expert software engineers with SpaceX’s million H100 equivalent Colossus training supercomputer will allow us to build the world’s most useful models,” it added. Originally from Karachi, Asif attended Nixor College before attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and r...

Federal health authorities on Thursday ordered strict nationwide enforcement of a ban on conventional disposable syringes and initiated a review of safer alternatives, citing growing concerns over unsafe injection practices linked to the spread of HIV.

ISLAMABAD: After a gap of 28 months, state-run Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) on Thursday floated urgent tenders to import three LNG cargoes for delivery between April 27 and May 8 amid rising temperatures and a power shortfall. PLL has set April 24 (Friday) as the deadline for bids, which will be opened the same day, given the urgent need to meet power demand that fell short by more than 4,500MW at peak, resulting in six to seven hours of loadshedding. The tender was issued following Qatar’s reluctance to dispatch LNG cargoes stranded in the Gulf due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Three LNG cargoes meant for Pakistan had earlier returned from Hormuz for security reasons. All three tenders are for cargoes of 140,000 cubic metres each, to be delivered on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis. Each cargo typically supplies around 100 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) to Pakistan. Last month, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) notified a massive 19–22 per cent increase in the price of regasified liquefi...

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has announced 460 scholarships for students from Balochistan for the academic year 2025–26, in a move aimed at promoting equitable access to higher education.

Voting began on Thursday in two of India’s politically key opposition-held states, with tens of millions casting ballots in West Bengal and the southern Tamil Nadu. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ruling party in the national parliament, is hoping to make inroads in the opposition strongholds. In West Bengal, which has a population of over 100 million, polling opened in the first phase to elect members from 152 constituencies of the 294-seat legislative assembly. The second phase, covering the remaining 142 seats, will be held on April 29. “Nearly 36 million people are eligible to vote,” said Manoj Agarwal, the state’s chief electoral officer, adding that around 8,000 polling stations had been designated “supersensitive”. Modi’s BJP has waged an aggressive bid to dislodge West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the firebrand leader of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), which has been in power in the state since 2011. Banerjee’s party won 213 of the 294 seats in the ...

The Pakistan Meteorological Department on Thursday forecast mainly dry weather across most parts of the country over the next 24 hours, with hot conditions expected to persist in plain areas during daytime.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Wednesday held a meeting with US Chargé d’Affaires to Pakistan Natalie Baker, during which both sides exchanged views on evolving regional developments and ongoing diplomatic efforts.

ISLAMABAD: Road transport of petroleum crude and products to and from Attock Oil Refinery (ARL) was restored late last night with the support and intervention of Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik and the General Headquarters (GHQ), the refinery’s management confirmed. A day earlier, the refinery was forced to shut down due to road closures. The refinery is the only such facility catering to the fuel requirements of almost all of central and northern Punjab, as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. ARL also provides Furnace Fuel Oil to independent power producers (IPPs) to help mitigate power shortages in the country. In a mandatory regulatory filing to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) on Wednesday, ARL reported that its main crude distillation plant with 32,0000 barrels of daily refining capacity has been shut down. It said it could not send out refined products or receive crude oil coming from oil fields. “We wish to...

Manchester City ended Arsenal’s six-month stay on the Premier League summit and condemned Burnley ​to relegation with a laboured 1-0 victory at Turf Moor on Wednesday. Erling Haaland’s clinical finish after five minutes could have ‌paved the way for a boost to City’s goal difference but they lacked a cutting edge as Burnley dug deep. Haaland hit the post and had other chances as City tried to give themselves a safety margin but Pep Guardiola’s side had to make do with a surprisingly narrow victory. After reeling Arsenal in they now lead the ​table on goals scored with both sides on 70 points from 33 games and with an identical goal difference of plus ​37. For Scott Parker’s Burnley the inevitable has now become a reality as they are stuck on 20 points, 13 ⁠points behind the safety zone with only four games remaining. “We played a really good game, unfortunately we missed a lot of chances. We defended ​better in the second half. Second half we had less problems,” Guardiola, whose side face Southampton in the F...

KARACHI: Interpol has issued a red notice for a fugitive Lyari gangster, Wasiullah Lakho, who is reportedly hiding abroad and wanted by Karachi police, South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Syed Asad Raza told Dawn on Wednesday. A red notice is a request to law enforcement agencies by Interpol to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. DIG Raza said the Interpol secretariat in Lyon, France had issued the notice against Lakho on the request of Pakistani authorities. According to the notice, seen by Dawn, Lakho had been involved in murders, extortion and assault on police in Karachi. It said Lakho was wanted for prosecution in more than 60 cases of “heinous nature”. Among them, Interpol issued a red notice for his arrest in a 2014 case registered at Karachi’s Kalri police station under Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of their duty), 324 (attempt to murder) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance o...

ISLAMABAD - The recent detention and subsequent release of influential Taliban figure Mullah Mutasim Agha Jan have highlighted widening internal rifts and power struggles within the Afghan Taliban, exposing deep-seated tensions in the group.

PESHAWAR - A session of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly, held at cricket stadium, was largely boycotted by opposition parties, while members of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) took part in proceedings.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday took strong notice of the sudden increase in crime rate across the province and convened an emergency meeting.

PESHAWAR - Two Pakistani nationals have been arrested at the Torkham Border Crossing while attempting to travel to Afghanistan using fake documents, border officials informed on Wednesday.

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar on Wednesday reiterated that the Pahalgam incident was a false flag operation, stating India has failed to substantiate its allegations against Pakistan even after one year.

ISLAMABAD - A joint meeting of the ministries of interior and defence on Wednesday discussed measures to introduce one-window clearance system, equipped with e-gates and smart scanners, across all airports of the country to ease travelling for passengers.

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Power Division Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari has taken serious notice regarding the off-take of power from Small Power Producers (SPPs)/Captive Power Plants (CPPs) by the DISCOs at the tariffs exceeding the prevailing national merit order.

ISLAMABAD - Ambassador of Iran to Pakistan Reza Amiri Moghadam called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday to discuss the evolving regional situation and ongoing peace efforts.

Peshawar - Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sohail Afridi, while addressing a ceremony for newly-recruited wardens of the Prisons Department, said that merit and transparency have been institutionalized at every level in the province and will continue without compromise.