Pakistan

The Sindh Assembly has approved three point four-five trillion Rupees budget for next financial year along with a supplementary budget of one hundred and fifty-six point zero six billion Rupees for the current financial year.

Minister for Interior Mohsin Naqvi has stressed on foolproof security arrangements during Muharram-ul-Haraam to thwart nefarious designs of anti-state elements.

The Foreign Office on Wednesday dismissed media speculation, confirming that no meeting is scheduled between Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Qingdao, China.

Nato leaders on Wednesday backed a big increase in defence spending and restated their commitment to defend each other from attack after a brief summit tailor-made for United States President Donald Trump. In a short statement, Nato endorsed a higher defence spending goal of 5 per cent of GDP by 2035, a response to a demand by Trump and to Europeans’ fears that Russia poses a growing threat to their security following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. “We reaffirm our ironclad commitment to collective defence as enshrined in Article Five of the Washington Treaty that an attack on one is an attack on all,” the statement said, after Trump had sparked concern on Tuesday by saying there were “numerous definitions” of the clause. But just before the summit opened, Trump had said of fellow Nato members: “We’re with them all the way.” Trump lauded the “tremendous” summit in the Hague as leaders wrapped up a meeting that saw the alliance back his demand to ramp up defence spending. “I think the summit was fantastic. It w...

Prime Minister’s Advisor Rana Sanaullah has reaffirmed the government’s willingness to engage in political dialogue, blaming the opposition—particularly the PTI founder—for the ongoing deadlock.

A Belarusian man on Wednesday was arrested for allegedly picking up a one-year-old Afghan boy and throwing him to the ground in the arrivals hall at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, inflicting spinal and cranial injuries, Britain’s The Daily Mirror newspaper reported. According to the newspaper, 31-year-old construction worker Vladimir Vitkov was arrested and confessed to “trying to murder” the child, who had arrived in Russia with his family after fleeing Iran due to its 12-day war with Israel. “Yazdan, aged 18 months, is now fighting for his life with serious skull fractures and spinal injuries,” The Mirror read, adding that Vitkov was on board the same flight as the child and his mother. Both The Mirror and British newspaper The Daily Mail reported that the boy suffered skull fractures and spinal injuries, with the latter reporting that the boy was “in a coma”. Graphic CCTV showed Vitkov picking up the boy before “hurling him to the ground of Moscow airport’s arrivals hall”. “The attacker — described as a ‘m...

Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on mutual visa exemption during the 12th session of the Pakistan-UAE Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC), the Foreign Office (FO) said on Wednesday. The session was held following a hiatus of 13 years after it was scheduled in October 2024. The last session was held in Islamabad from November 6-7, 2013. The FO said in a statement that the session, held in Abu Dhabi a day ago, was co-chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. “Prior to the formal proceedings, a working group meeting of the JMC was held under the leadership of Special Assistant to the PM Tariq Bajwa and Minister of State of the UAE Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, the statement said. “The JMC reviewed the full scope of bilateral relations and agreed on concrete measures to strengthen cooperation in trade, banking, culture, investment, aviation, railways, energy, food security, climate change, defe...

Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar has firmly stated that parliamentary standing committees are not empowered to terminate legal proceedings, emphasizing that the government will operate strictly within the bounds of the Constitution and the rule of law.

It was a sultry summer morning. Mir Shah Mohammad Talpur was visiting his sprawling mango orchards, located on the outskirts of Hyderabad, to inspect the year’s produce. However, the ruthless sun glaring on his back and mercury rising to 43.2 degrees Celsius were making things difficult for Mir. For the mangoes, though, these climatic conditions were in tandem with their harvest. Mir’s orchard is spread across 450 acres of land. “I have been looking after the bagh for six years … many trees here are around 50 years old,” he told Dawn.com. The 49-year-old wore a black sun cap along with a neck flap to avoid exposure to the intense heat. Like many in the area, Mir too sublets his mango orchard — a practice in vogue, by and large, in Sindh. Only a few growers, including those who believe in progressive farming, manage their own orchards. The province is known for its Sindhri mangoes, harvested in the first week of June. Two workers moving from one part of the orchard to other for picking of fruit. Despite other ...

The Pakistan men’s team will travel to Bangladesh next month to play three Twenty20 internationals as part of the build-up to next year’s T20 World Cup. Pakistan’s tour will be a reciprocal one after they hosted Bangladesh for three T20Is over the last two months, all won by the home team and played in Lahore. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said it has arranged various series to build for the T20 World Cup to be co-hosted in India and Sri Lanka next year. “Pakistan will arrive in Dhaka on 16 July before taking on the home side in the matches on July 20, 22 and 24 as part of the build-up for the World Cup,” the PCB said in a statement. All three T20Is will be held at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka. From Bangladesh, Pakistan will fly to the West Indies to play three T20Is and as many one-day internationals, the schedule of which will be announced later.

Different federal cabinet members and Members of the National Assembly from various constituencies on Wednesday called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Parliament House.

Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates have signed Memorandums of Understanding and a Protocol to further deepening bilateral ties in diverse fields including investment, digital economy and artificial intelligence.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Muhammad Shoaib Khan visited the proposed routes of Muharram processions in the federal capital.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti has declared that the province will no longer tolerate instability, reaffirming peace, prosperity, and development as the government’s foremost priorities.

Pakistan and the United States have decided to conclude trade talks focused on reciprocal tariffs next week after a virtual meeting between Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The negotiations are part of a broader push to reset economic ties at a time of shifting geopolitical alignments and Pakistan’s efforts to avoid steep US duties on exports. “Both sides showed satisfaction on the ongoing negotiations and resolved to conclude the trade negotiations next week,” the finance ministry said in a statement, adding that a longer-term strategic and investment partnership is also under discussion. “The discussion focused on meaningful engagement in trade, investment and deepening economic ties mutually beneficial to both sides, with technical-level trade-related discussions to be concluded next week,” it added. Pakistan faces a 29 per cent tariff on exports to the US under President Donald Trump’s measures to target countries with large trade surpluses with the US. Pakista...

Posts from users on multiple social media platforms on Wednesday shared a video, claiming that it showed people in Qatar protesting against a United States air base. However, the video is from May, when people in Libya were protesting against their government. Today, Iran’s National Security Council confirmed that it carried out a retaliatory missile strike on the US military base at Al Udeid in Qatar. The attack came in response to American airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. In its official statement, Iran emphasised that the number of missiles launched matched the number of bombs used by the US, framing it as a proportional response. The council also clarified that the strike did not pose any threat to Qatar, describing the Gulf nation as a “friendly and brotherly country”. A video was shared today on X by a pro-military account, based on its bio, past posts and profile picture, showing people protesting. The caption of the post said: “For the first time in history, the Qatari people are protesting, a...

Life-saving childhood vaccination coverage has stalled in recent decades, leaving millions of children at risk for deadly diseases with Pakistan having the highest number of children with zero doses in South Asia after India, according to a new study by British medical journal Lancet. The Lancet is a 200-year-old peer-reviewed weekly medical journal from the United Kingdom. Since its launch, the journal has expanded into a family of more than 20 speciality journals and has set up several global Lancet Commissions on various important issues in medicine and healthcare. In a press release issued a day ago, the journal said that since its inception in 1974, the World Health Organisation’s Essential Programme on Immunisation (EPI) achieved “unprecedented progress”, averting the deaths of an estimated 154 million children worldwide through routine childhood vaccination. However, it said that as per a major new analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study Vaccine Coverage Collaborators, “Despite the progress of...

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari has claimed that PTI founder Imran Khan has been sidelined by his own party and family.

A delegation from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), led by former AJK Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, on Wednesday officially joined the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in a meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari at Zardari House, Karachi.

Top-ranked Pakistani duo Nasir Iqbal and Noor Zaman stormed into the men’s final of the 2nd Asian Doubles Squash Championship after beating hosts Malaysia 2-1 in the semi-finals on Wednesday. The Malaysian duo of Duncan Lee and Syafiq Kamal took the first set 11-10 at the Jalan Stadium in Sarawak. But Zaman and Iqbal made a strong comeback to win the next two sets 11-9 in a thrilling 69-minute game. The duo will face India in the finals tomorrow. In Tuesday’s quarter-final, Pakistan defeated Korea 2-1 in a quick 37-minute game. Earlier this month, Zaman and Iqbal were in Malaysia for the 23rd Asian Individual Squash Championships, where Iqbal outclassed Lai Cheuk Nam of Hong Kong to advance to the quarter-finals while Zaman lost to Joachim Chuah of Malaysia 3-2 in their pre-quarterfinal. Zaman was crowned men’s champion at the U23 World Squash Championships in April after a stellar comeback against Egypt’s Karim El Torkey.