Pakistan

Canadian PM Mark Carney shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the People’s Great Hall in Beijing.—Reuters BEIJING: Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on a raft of measures from trade to tourism on Friday at the first meeting between the countries’ leaders in Beijing in eight years. The Canadian premier hailed a “landmark deal” under a “new strategic partnership” with China, turning the page on years of diplomatic spats, retaliatory arrests of each other’s citizens and tariff disputes. Carney has sought to reduce his country’s reliance on the United States, its key economic partner and traditional ally, as President Donald Trump has aggressively raised tariffs on Canadian products. “Canada and China have reached a preliminary but landmark trade agreement to remove trade barriers and reduce tariffs,” Carney told a news conference after meeting with Xi. Under the deal, China — which used to be Canada’s largest market for canola seed — is expected to reduce tar...

• PTI senators slam ban on meetings with Imran • Law minister says jail superintendent responsible for meetings, denies solitary confinement claim ISLAMABAD: Senators on Fri­day called for keeping tabs on the use of social media platforms by children under 18, with the chair proposing a special committee to develop safeguards in consultation with relevant ministries. The issue was raised through a calling-attention notice moved by Senators Falak Naz, Fawzia Arshad, Aimal Wali Khan, Saadia Abbasi and Dilawar Khan. Presiding over the sitting, Senator Sherry Rehman said some checks were needed and suggested forming a special committee comprising representatives of the ministries of information technology, interior, education and law, along with parliamentary parties and provincial governments. She said the final decision would rest with Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani. Speaking on the notice, Senator Naz said most platforms were designed for adults and warned that children’s exposure to inappropriate content ...

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Friday took up the issue of increasing cybercrimes in the country, which are badly affecting the masses. Members highlighted the problem of fake driving challans, as well as fraudulent messages from educational institutions, banks, mobile phone companies and other entities. It was also informed that in some cases people responded to such fake messages and later faced charges of blasphemy and anti-state activities, resulting in imprisonment. On the other hand, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry claimed that necessary steps were being taken to introduce reforms in the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) in order to effectively tackle cybercrimes. PTI leader Sheryar Afridi informed the House that a large number of young people were facing cases and imprisonment after being declared guilty of committing blasphemy and anti-state activities. House told NCCIA received over 150,000 cybercrime complaints in a year “A number of people told me outside Adiala j...

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed that pension is a vested constitutional right and not a bounty or something given out of generosity by the employer. The employee earns these benefits through long, continuous, faithful and unblemished service, observed Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui in a six-page judgement that upheld the right of a former civil servant to receive pension benefits despite the fact that he had applied for pension 13 years after his resignation. Justice Siddiqui was a member of a three-judge SC bench headed by Justice Naeem Akhter Afghan, which also comprised Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb. The bench had taken up an appeal filed by Muhammad Usman against the July 3, 2024 rejection of his plea by the Federal Service Tribunal (FST). Sets aside ruling of service tribunal on plea by ex-auditor The appellant was a former senior auditor (BS-11) in the office of the Military Accountant General, Rawalpindi. He was held disentitled to pension benefits on the grounds that he had tendere...

ISLAMABAD: Despite over 35 years of ‘reforms’ and policy interventions, Pakistan’s power sector remains incapable of instilling confidence in the country’s economic growth and in consumers’ trust, leading to gains secured from power producers through renegotiations evaporating amid unending inefficiencies. This charge sheet has been framed by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) against the policymakers and power sector managers in its flagship ‘State of the Industry Report 2025’, while conceding that regulatory powers for correction had been diluted through administrative and legal challenges. It said the inefficiencies of the distribution companies (Discos) contributed around Rs400 billion to the circular debt, while law-abiding consumers paid around Rs235bn in debt servicing surcharge (DSS) in 2024-25, not due to normal business practices but to inefficiencies. It said that despite some structural and policy-level interventions, “overall progress remained limited and insufficient to ins...

Pakistan’s ICC U19 Cricket World Cup campaign got off to a disappointing start on Tuesday as England dismantled the Green Shirts’ top order, taking six wickets for 86 runs to seal a 37-run victory. Winning the toss at the Takashinga Sports Club in Harare, Pakistan U19 team captain Farhan Yousuf elected to field first — a decision that turned out to be in the team’s favour as it bowled out England for just 210 in a fifty-over match. English batter Caleb Falconer scored 66 runs, for which he also got the Man of the Match award later, aided by Ben Dawkins’ 33 and Ralphie Albert’s 25. With the help of the commanding spells by Pakistani bowler Ahmed Hussain, who took three wickets, and Ali Raza, Abdul Subhan, and Moshin Qamar, who grabbed two wickets each, Pakistan established their position, booming in the first innings. While chasing the target, howeve, Pakistan’s top order could not stand England’s Alex Green and James Minto’s bowling attack, as both took a couple of wickets each. Six of Pakistan’s batters were...

Six power distribution companies remain in losses despite over Rs1tr subsidies

CPPA-G requests increase of 48 paisa per unit under fuel cost adjustment

Rises 0.25% WoW; middle and lower-income households face higher inflation

Think tank urges clean lending, risk coverage to expand bank credit to small businesses

Revised tariffs apply to consumers of both Sui gas companies

Stable rupee, flat gold marked Friday's market close

NEPRA report reveals fiscal fixes cut circular debt, but utility performance remains poor

Fisheries sector rebounds from pandemic-era disruptions

KSE-100 crosses 185,000 on institutional buying as Trump recedes on Middle East

Central bank, ADB begin national action plan to expand credit for women-led enterprises

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication, Shaza Fatima Khawaja on Friday announced the launch of Indus AI Week 2026, a flagship national initiative on artificial intelligence, scheduled to take place from 9 to 15 February 2026.

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for National Heritage and Culture Division Aurangzeb Khan Khichi, has assured that the Ministry would extend full cooperation to literary organizations across the country.

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday ruled that pension is neither a concession nor charity but a constitutional and legal right of a government employee, which cannot be denied merely on the grounds of delayed application or resignation.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Friday expressed deep grief over the martyrdom of SHO Sub-Inspector Aamir Rizwan, who was martyred during an alleged police encounter in Sargodha.