Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Qatar are in an advanced stage of discussions for the supply of at least four cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which could pass through the Strait of Hormuz, sources told Dawn on Sunday. They also said that after facing criticism over loadshedding even before the start of summer, the Power Division had already placed an order to the Petroleum Division for arranging around 400 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for power generation. LNG imports to Pakistan were disrupted early last month after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid a war in the Middle East, which began with US-Israel attacks on Iran. In retaliatory action, Iran targeted fuel installations in some of the Gulf countries that had US assets and bases. It was against this backdrop that Qatar declared force majeure early last month in all its global LNG contracts, including those with Pakistan. Sources told Dawn that due to the resultant fuel and electricity shortfall, the Power Divisio...

Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal has said that if the Iran conflict had continued, oil prices could have surged beyond Rs 600 per litre, potentially causing economic instability in 193 countries.

Dozens of Chinese-made humanoid robots showed off their fast-improving athleticism and autonomous navigation skills as they whizzed past ​human runners in a half-marathon race in Beijing on Sunday, highlighting the sector’s rapid technical advances. The race’s inaugural edition last year was riddled with ‌mishaps, and most robots were unable to finish. Last year’s champion robot recorded a time of 2 hours 40 minutes, more than double the time of the human winner of the conventional race. This year’s contrast was stark. Not only had the number of participating teams increased from 20 to more than 100, but several robot frontrunners were noticeably faster than professional athletes, beating the ​human winners by more than 10 minutes. Unlike last year, nearly half of the robot entrants navigated the tougher terrain autonomously instead of being directed by ​remote control during the 21-km (13-mile) race. The robots and 12,000 men and women ran on parallel tracks to avoid collisions. The winning ⁠robot, developed...

Religious scholar and lecturer Muhammad Ali Mirza narrowly escaped a gun attack on Sunday after an unidentified assailant opened fire outside his academy in Jhelum.

Senior Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique has said that Pakistan is gaining recognition at the international level and its strength and capabilities are being acknowledged by the world.

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held a telephone conversation with Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski on Saturday, during which both sides agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation across multiple sectors.

A special meeting chaired by President Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif in Lahore reviewed progress on the Murree Protection and Rehabilitation Plan on Sunday.

GILGIT: The Karakoram Highway (KKH) was reopened for traffic on Sunday while the Astore Valley road remained blocked as heavy rainfall lashed parts of Gilgit-Baltistan, triggering landslides across the region. The KKH was blocked after a landslide near the Lachi area in Kohistan late Saturday night. According to local police, light traffic was restored to the KKH after nearly 20 hours. Due to the blockage, thousands of passengers travelling to and from GB to other areas remained stranded for several hours, police said. District administration has urged the public to take precautionary measures in light of the weather. As per the police, landslides have also blocked the Shounter Road in the Astore Valley. Last week, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) had predicted rain, wind, and thunderstorms — with isolated heavy falls and hailstorms — in the upper parts of the country from April 16-19. A westerly wave was expected to enter the nort­h­western parts of Pakistan on April 16 and is likely to persist i...

Security in Islamabad has been further tightened ahead of a potential second round of talks between the United States and Iran, according to reports citing official sources.

Police in Austria said late on Saturday that rat poison was found inside a jar of HiPP baby food, following a recall of the product from more than 1,000 SPAR supermarkets in the country over safety fears. Police in Burgenland, Austria, said in a statement that a sample from one of the 190-gram jars of “Carrots and Potatoes” baby food reported by a customer had tested positive for rat poison. HIPP had said on Saturday that it could not be ruled out that a dangerous substance was introduced into the product and that its HiPP Vegetable Carrot with Potato jars may have been tampered with. Consuming the contents of jars could be life-threatening, HiPP said. The police statement said the affected jars had a sticker with a red circle on the bottom of the jar and a lid that had already been opened, damaged, or missing a safety seal, or had an unusual smell. They said initial lab tests on similar jars seized by police in the Czech Republic and Slovakia showed the presence of a toxic substance. The statement gave no fu...

The first Hajj flight under the Road to Makkah project departed from Islamabad International Airport on Sunday, marking the start of this year’s Hajj operations from Pakistan.

A growing number of Pakistanis are seeking employment opportunities in Germany, but experts stress the importance of understanding the country’s structured hiring and qualification recognition system before applying.

In a significant development for Pakistan’s healthcare sector, the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Oncology Lahore (INMOL) has been designated as a collaborating centre by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), becoming part of its global network.

A fresh spell of rain and hailstorms affected several parts of the country on Sunday, including Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Kashmir, with authorities warning of further wet weather in the coming hours.

The National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) said on Sunday that more than 44.

Britain’s government is set to announce legislation next month to move the country closer to the European Union, as the Iran war sours the United Kingdom’s so-called special relationship with the United States. US President Donald Trump’s unpredictability and stream of insults towards America’s historic ally are adding impetus to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s bid to deepen ties with the 27-nation bloc, a decade after Britons narrowly voted to leave the EU. “We have a government that is already eager to move closer towards the EU, and the events in Iran provide an opportunity to speed up that process,” Evie Aspinall, director of the British Foreign Policy Group think-tank, told AFP. Starmer’s administration is preparing an EU “reset” bill that will give ministers powers to align UK standards with EU single market rules as they evolve — something called “dynamic alignment”. King Charles III will announce the legislation on May 13 when he reads out Starmer’s legislative plans for the coming months, a government ...

KARACHI: In light of continuing regional conflict and vigorous peace promotion efforts in Isla­mabad, DawnMedia, the organisers of the Breathe Pakistan Inter­na­tional Cli­mate Change Confe­re­nce, announced the temporary postponement of its second conference, which was ori­ginally scheduled to be held on April 22-23. The conference is now scheduled to be held on May 6-7 at the Jinnah Con­vention Center in Islam­abad. The organisers reg­ret any inconvenience cau­sed to national and international speakers, partn-ers, and participants. Further details on the updated agenda will be shared by the organisers over the next few days. Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2026

The Punjab Government has made online attendance compulsory for all public schools, requiring both students and teachers to record their presence digitally in a move aimed at promoting transparency and improving governance in the education sector.

Health authorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have issued a province-wide advisory to prevent the spread of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), urging heightened vigilance ahead of Eidul Azha.

North Korea fired ballistic missiles into the sea on Sunday, accelerating its missile launches amid Iran war tensions and talk of possible meetings with the US and South Korea. Pyongyang’s intense missile activity — this was the fourth such launch this month and the seventh of the year — is meant to display its self-defence capabilities while gaining international leverage, some experts said. “The missile launches may be a way of showing that — unlike Iran — we have self-defence capabilities,” said South Korean former presidential security adviser Kim Ki-jung. “The North also appears to be exerting pressure preemptively and make a show of force before engaging in dialogue with the United States and South Korea,” he said. Iran war, Trump visit loom over launches The seven-week-old US-Israeli war against Iran, which Washington says aims to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme, could reinforce Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions, experts and former South Korean officials say. US President Donald Trump, preparing for a summ...