Pakistan

.

Strike called off as clear, transparent process ensures parents' dignity

Court halts FIA action in cotton exchange ownership dispute

For 39 years, Abbas Anda Wala has been serving flavour, tradition, and community — one egg at a time

.

Lahore, Faisalabad to benefit initially from clean energy initiative

Facility offered at 30 locations across the city

.

.

Population along all rivers in Punjab to be surveyed

.

.

.

.

Farmers seek lifting of hunting ban amid rising crop losses

The Israeli foreign minister arrived in Somaliland on Tuesday in a high-profile visit, condemned by Somalia as an “unauthorised incursion”, after Israel recognised the breakaway region in the Horn of Africa. Israel announced last month it was officially recognising Somaliland, a first for the self-proclaimed republic since it declared independence from Somalia in 1991. Somaliland enjoys a strategic position on the Gulf of Aden and has its own currency, passport and army, but has struggled to win international recognition, amid fears of provoking Somalia and encouraging other separatist movements in Africa. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, whose delegation was welcomed at the airport by senior government officials, said recognising Somaliland had been “the moral thing to do”. Somaliland President Abdirahman Abdullahi Mohamed praised Israel’s “courageous” decision, and said it would open up great economic and development opportunities. “It promotes the strategic interest partnership of the two countries,” ...

QUETTA: Balochistan’s Home Ministry has merged the Levies Force into the police and abolished all ‘B’ areas across the province, converting them into ‘A’ areas. The two areas defined the territorial jurisdiction of law enforcement agencies within the province. The Balochistan Police acted as the law enforcement agency in ‘A’ areas, while the Levies Force operated in ‘B’ areas, functioning under the command of division and district officials. The government of Balochistan declared Sibi and Loralai divisions as ‘A-Areas’ for the territorial jurisdiction of the Balochistan Police, according to a notification issued on Monday. The decision was taken in a meeting of the Balochistan cabinet. All members of the Levies Force, including provincial and ex-Federal Levies serving in the converted areas, as well as members of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Wing, have been merged into the Balochistan Police in their existing nomenclature, ranks, pay scales, and benefits, corresponding to those applicable to me...

In late December 2025, a controversy erupted on X after users were found exploiting the platform’s artificial intelligence tool, Grok, to edit and manipulate photographs, including digitally undressing people — among them children — or portraying them in minimal clothing such as bikinis. Last week, Reuters and other news outlets documented numerous cases where Grok had generated sexualised images of women and minors. Per Reuters, X initially did not respond to a message seeking comment on its findings. In an earlier statement to the news agency about reports that sexualised images of children were circulating on the platform, X’s owner xAI said: “Legacy Media Lies.” Reuters, however, said it could not determine the full scale of the surge. Recently, the tool was also used to manipulate an image of 14-year-old British-Kiwi actress, Nell Fisher (the one who played Holly Wheeler in Season 5 of Netflix hit, Stranger Things), depicting her in a bikini, prompting widespread outrage and government scrutiny. ‘Full co...

Squash ace Noor Zaman clawed his way back to a thrilling 3-2 victory over his French competitor to advance to the next round and round out Pakistan’s performance at the Rich Venus Karachi Open on Tuesday. Zaman took the first game 11-9, every point greeted by applause from the home crowd packed in the corridor between the courts at the Creek Club in the port city. France’s Melvil Scianimanico got his revenge in the second set with a 12-10 win. He then gave an 11-3 thrashing to Zaman, who looked visibly tired in the third set as the crowd of adolescent squash players and global icons like Jahangir Khan watched on, mumbling their own predictions in between shouting praise for the home favourite. Zaman is no stranger to comebacks, having been crowned the U23 world champion at the same venue in April. He won the fourth set 11-6 and proceeded to demolish the Frenchman 11-6 to win the fifth set and game to cheers from the crowd. Eleventh seed Zaman will play Egypt’s Fares Dessouky on Wednesday in the Round of 16. D...

London Zoo on Tuesday arranged a photocall for its annual stocktake in central London, where a pair of newcomer capybaras, a huddle of penguins and a pride of lions were among the animals counted by zoo staff. The photocall is a media-friendly photo opportunity that the zoo organises for journalists and photographers at the start of its yearly animal count. During this event, keepers pose with animals, so that news agencies can capture images illustrating the zoo’s annual stocktake — the formal process of counting every animal on site as part of its licensing and conservation reporting obligations. The annual stocktake itself is a complete headcount of the zoo’s animals — from mammals and birds to reptiles and invertebrates — required under the zoo’s zoological licence and used to update global conservation databases that help manage breeding programmes worldwide. Here are a few glimpses from the 2026 stocktake for all animal lovers, featuring lions, penguins, capybaras, and other species. A lion is pictured ...