Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday directed the National Information Technology Board (NITB) officials to ensure digitisation of all necessary stages of Hajj to facilitate pilgrims this year and access to government facilities easier for the masses through technology.

KARACHI - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Monday said that the Constitution and the law are being openly violated in the country.

ISLAMABAD - A new controversy was seen in the Parliament as the main coalition partners [PPP and PML-N] were at odds over the promulgation ordinance related to the ‘Federal Special Economic Zones’.

Info minister Tarar says Sohail Afridi trying to act as spokesperson for Afghan regime Talal Chaudhry urges KP CM to go to Afghanistan if you have so much sympathy for Taliban.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN - Seven police officials including one Station House Officer (SHO) were martyred in a targeted bomb blast on their armoured vehicle on Monday, police in the Tank district said, Images of the attack showed the mangled wreckage of the vehicle overturned on the roadside.

The government on Monday withdrew an ordinance which the PPP alleged was promulgated without the approval of President Asif Ali Zardari, hours after the latter staged a walkout from the National Assembly to express its displeasure. Sources told Dawn that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had forwarded a summary advising President Zardari to withdraw the Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026. In his remarks during the year’s first NA session, PPP’s Naveed Qamar had not specified which ordinance was promulgated without the president’s approval when he led a walkout by the party, saying it would not participate in proceedings until the situation was addressed. Sources in the PPP, however, had confirmed to Dawn he was referring to an ordinance related to special economic zones. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, meanwhile, said that nowadays there was an e-office through which files were approved online. “This ordinance was also approved. Staff to staff, it was considered approved,” he said in a statement. ...

Tech giants Apple and Google on Monday announced a multi-year partnership that will see Apple’s next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) features, including its Siri assistant, be powered by Google’s Gemini technology. The collaboration marks a significant shift for Apple, which has traditionally developed its core technologies in-house. A joint statement said Apple selected Google’s AI technology after a “careful evaluation” determined it provided “the most capable foundation” for the iPhone-maker’s AI ambitions. The announcement represents a rare alliance between two companies that have long competed in the smartphone market, where Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android operating systems dominate globally. However, the two rivals have maintained a lucrative partnership for years, with Google paying Apple billions of dollars annually to remain the default search engine on iPhones and other Apple devices. That arrangement has faced scrutiny from regulators, with the US Justice Department arguing in an antitrust...

Indonesia has expressed its desire to further expand defence ties with Pakistan across multiple domains, the military’s media affairs wing said on Monday. The development came as Indonesian Defence Minister Lieutenant General (retd) Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin called on Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. “The meeting focused on matters of mutual interest, evolving regional and global security dynamics, and exploration of avenues for enhancing bilateral defence cooperation,” it said. “Both sides underscored the importance of strengthening institutional linkages, training collaboration and defence industrial cooperation between Pakistan and Indonesia,” it added. “The visiting dignitary lauded the professionalism of Pakistan’s armed forces and acknowledged their sacrifices in the fight against terrorism. He also expressed Indonesia’s desire to further expand defence ties with Pakistan ...

An Indian rocket carrying 16 loads of equipment and experiments, including an earth surveillance satellite, went off track after lift-off on Monday in a fresh setback to the workhorse launch vehicle of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was a second disappointment for the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle in about eight months, denting its reputation for reliability, with a more than 90 per cent success rate over about 60 past missions. The PSLV-C62 lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on the island of Sriharikota at 10:18am local time, carrying the EOS-N1 observation satellite and 15 other payloads developed by startups and academic institutions in India and abroad. The ISRO’s mission control said the rocket performed normally for most of the flight before an unexpected disturbance and deviation from its path. “The PSLV-C62 mission encountered an anomaly during the end of the PS3 stage. A detailed analysis has been initiated,” ISRO said in a statement, without giving further details on ...

Indonesian Defence Minister Lt Gen (retd) Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin on Monday called on Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Chief of Army Staff and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, where the two sides discussed regional security and ways to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation.

Indonesia seeks deeper bilateral defence ties

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Blast hits APC in Gomal area of Tank district; SHO among martyred police personnel

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Greenland’s government on Monday said it could not accept a US takeover of the Arctic island under “any circumstance”, after US President Donald Trump said that the United States would take the territory “one way or the other”. Trump has repeatedly threatened to bring the island under US control, arguing that the Danish autonomous territory is crucial for national security. He reiterated that the United States must own Greenland, an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark, to prevent Russia or China from occupying the strategically located and minerals-rich territory in the future. “The United States has once again reiterated its desire to take over Greenland. This is something that the governing coalition in Greenland cannot accept under any circumstances,” the Greenlandic government said in a statement. On Sunday, Trump warned that if the United States didn’t take Greenland, “Russia or China will, and I’m not letting that happen”. The US leader said he would be open to making a deal with the Danish self-g...

Water stagnation, broken roads, inaction by civic agencies add to woes of Gulshan-e-Iqbal's residents

Six-year-old's skull was cracked by teacher's blow for 'making mischief'