Pakistan News

Virat Kohli has tweaked his approach to counter-attack early in his innings and put bowlers under pressure to flip the momentum for India, the batting stalwart said after his match-winning knock in Sunday’s one-day international against New Zealand. The number three batter crafted 93 off 91 balls as India chased down a target of 301 with one over to spare en route to a four-wicket victory in the opener in Vadodara. After opener Rohit Sharma fell for 26 in the ninth over, Kohli refused to retreat into a defensive shell. Instead, he took the initiative in a match-defining 118-run stand with skipper Shubman Gill (56), using controlled aggression to force New Zealand’s attack onto the back foot. “Well, the basic idea is I bat at No.3,” Kohli said after winning the player of the match award. “So if the situation is a bit tricky, I back myself to counterattack now rather than just trying to play the situation in because some ball has your name on it.” Batting great Kohli is active int...

For Komeil Soheili, an Iranian filmmaker, the latest protests in the Islamic Republic did not come as a surprise. “People are exhausted after the 12-day war with Israel,” he said over the phone. “It’s the uncertainty. You can’t even plan for the near future because things keep changing.” Iran is buckling under mounting economic pressure. Inflation has exceeded 36 per cent since March . The rial has lost roughly half its value, trading at around 1,390,000 to the US dollar . Sanctions linked to Iran’s nuclear programme have returned, utilities remain strained, and global financial bodies are forecasting a recession in 2026 . Unrest, at the worst possible time Iran’s most significant protests since 2022 erupted around two weeks ago among traders and shopkeepers in downtown Tehran, triggered by the rapid collapse of the rial, which has driven up prices and left traders unable to restock goods. Isolated market shutdowns in Tehran’s commercial districts quickly escalated into street dem...

US and allied forces carried out “large-scale” strikes against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group in Syria on Saturday, the US military said, the latest response to an attack last month that killed three Americans. US Central Command (Centcom), which oversees American military forces in the region, said multiple strikes “targeted ISIS throughout Syria,” using an acronym for the terrorist group. Centcom’s post on X did not give specifics on where they took place. Grainy aerial video accompanying the post showed several separate explosions, apparently in rural areas. The strikes were part of Operation Hawkeye Strike, which was launched “in direct response to the deadly ISIS attack on US and Syrian forces in Palmyra,” Centcom said. Two US soldiers and a US civilian interpreter were killed on December 13 after a lone gunman — whom Washington described as an IS militant — ambushed them in Palmyra. Syria’s interior ministry later said the gunman was a member of the security f...

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SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: A senior Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader succumbed to his injuries on Saturday morning after being critically wounded in a bomb blast near a madressah in the Wana bazaar area. Police said on Friday that a remote controlled improvised explosive device (IED) was planted in Konra Cheena area near a religious seminary to target Maulana Sultan Muhammad Wazir, who was also the district president of Wafaqul Madaris al Arabia. He was immediately taken to Dera Ismail Khan for medical treatment but breathed his last on the way. South Waziristan (Lower) District Police Officer (DPO) Muhammad Tahir Shah Wazir confirmed that an investigation into the incident was underway. He said law enforcement agencies were examining all aspects of the incident, adding that the evidence collected from the site was being analysed to trace those responsible. The attack on Maulana Sultan is the latest in a series of incidents targeting religious scholars and JUI-F leaders in South W...

The 13th Pakistan-US bilateral joint military exercise — ‘Inspired Gambit 2026’ — kicked off on Friday in Pabbi tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Nowshera district, the military’s media wing said on Saturday. In a statement, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said that the two-week-long exercise — being held at the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) in Pabbi — will focus on the “counterterrorism domain, involving professional contingents from the armies of Pakistan and the US”. Officials from both sides attended the opening ceremony, it added. “The exercise is aimed at enhancing mutual understanding and interoperability through the sharing of counterterrorism experiences, while further refining tactics, techniques, and procedures essential for effective CT operations,” the statement said. “Emphasis is being laid on marksmanship skills during urban warfare, as well as on understanding each other’s operational doctrines and best practices,” it added. The military’s media ...

The capture by US forces of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and the killing in the operation of 32 Cubans assigned to protect him represent a major blow for the island’s revered intelligence services, experts say. Fearful of betrayal by dissenters within Venezuela’s ranks, the leftist Maduro — like his late mentor Hugo Chavez — sourced his security detail in communist-ruled Cuba. But the Cubans proved little match for the US special forces sent by helicopter to snatch Maduro from a military compound after US jets had pummelled Venezuela’s air defences. Of the 32 Cubans killed — along with 23 Venezuelan troops — 21 were from the Cuban interior ministry, which oversees the intelligence services, officials said. The remaining 11 were from Cuba’s military. Experts consulted by AFP agreed that the key to the seamless execution of the US operation — meticulously prepared for months, in complete secrecy — was the element of surprise. But former Venezuelan military officer Jose Gusta...

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday told US President Donald Trump to focus on the problems in his own country. The US president had stated earlier that the US was watching the situation in Iran “very closely”. “If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the United States,” Trump had said. Iranians staged their biggest protests yet of an almost two-week movement sparked by anger over the rising cost of living, chanting slogans including “death to the dictator” and setting fire to official buildings, videos showed on Friday. Internet monitor Netblocks said authorities had imposed a total connectivity blackout late on Thursday and added early on Friday that the country has “now been offline for 12 hours … in an attempt to suppress sweeping protests”. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency has reported at least 34 protesters and four security personnel killed, and 2,200 arrested during the unrest...

PTI leader Barrister Ali Zafar on Thursday said that no dialogue could be held with the government until it allowed meetings with incarcerated party founder Imran Khan. He made the remarks while speaking alongside a delegation of the opposition alliance Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) in Lahore, which is on a three-day visit to the city as part of the opposition’s “ street movement ” to hold political and social gatherings. The alliance posted on X that TTAP chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas arrived on Friday at a gathering held at the residence of Advocate Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas, where a large number of journalists, political leaders and PTI workers were present. Speaking during the gathering, PTI leader Barrister Ali Zafar welcomed the TTAP delegation to Lahore. He urged the TTAP to use its platform to push for a meeting with Imran, who has not been allowed visitors in recent weeks. “No talks or dialogue can start until meetings are allowed with Imra...

Despite Denmark’s repeated insistence that Greenland is not for sale, US President Donald Trump and his team are “talking about what a potential purchase would look like”, according to a White House spokeswoman this week. But even as a thought experiment that assumes the presence of a willing seller, discussion of the hypothetical sale of an autonomous territory such as Greenland rapidly encounters imponderables such as how a meaningful price tag could even be established. “There’s not a market for buying and selling countries,” said Nick Kounis, chief economist of Dutch ABN AMRO bank, noting there was no accepted framework for valuing countries. Attempts to find historical benchmarks for fair value also run into difficulties. In 1946, the US offered to buy the vast, mineral-rich Arctic island from Denmark for $100 million — an offer that was rejected back then. In today’s money, that is around $1.6 billion. But that figure, already paltry, is of no use as a baseline because of ...

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) announced on Thursday that it would be resuming direct Lahore-London flights on March 30. According to a statement issued by the PIA spokesperson, the airline was enhancing its flights to the United Kingdom. “After the resumption of flights to Manchester and the announcement of flights from Islamabad to London from March 29, the airline has also finalised arrangements for the launch of a direct flight from Lahore to London from March 30,” the spokesperson said. He added it would operate up to seven flights to the UK by the end of March. He added that flights were being increased in light of the high demand and long-standing requests of Pakistanis and expatriates residing in the UK. “All flights to the UK are operating on full loads,” he added. The relaunch dates of Islamabad-London and Lahore-London flights were arranged for consecutive dates driven by demand and the airline’s readiness, the spokesperson said. The airline will operate flight...

When people stop taking the new generation of weight-loss drugs, they pile back on the kilos four times faster than they would after ending diet and exercise regimes, new research found Thursday. But this was mostly because they lost so much weight in the first place, according to the British researchers who conducted the largest and most up-to-date review of the subject. A new generation of appetite-suppressing, injectable drugs called GLP-1 agonists have become immensely popular in the last few years, transforming the treatment for obesity and diabetes in many countries. They have been found to help people lose between 15-20 per cent of their body weight. “This all appears to be a good news story,” said Susan Jebb, a public health nutrition scientist at Oxford University and co-author of a new BMJ study. However, recent data has suggested that “around half of people discontinue these medications within a year,” she told a press conference. This might be because of common side ...

Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar on Wednesday announced a “massive” operation against dacoits in the Katcha areas of the province. Speaking to reporters in Sukkur, Lanjar said a meeting was held wherein it was decided that “we are definitely heading towards a massive operation”. “We will use whatever resources we have, with specific targets and take ruthless action against the infamous dacoits that you see on social media,” he added. Asked when the operation against the riverine dacoits was expected to begin, the minister replied, “You may consider that the operation has begun from today”. Lanjar said dacoits would be “given a chance” to surrender before the courts. “But the absconders or criminals who consider themselves big champions, strict action will be taken against them, there will be a fight, and they will get their just deserts,” he warned. As per the Surrender Policy for Dacoits in Katcha Area of Sukkur and Larkana Divisions, approved by the Sindh cabinet in Octo...

Karachi in the 1950s was not only a city under construction; it was a city learning how to read. The years following Partition brought millions of migrants, anxieties and uncertainties to the port city. Together, they produced something: a wide public hungry for entertainment — gripping stories and dramatic narratives that could momentarily release readers from the grind of everyday survival. Thus came about cheap print, serialised fiction, and an expanding entertainment economy, which created larger-than-life worlds for people struggling through daily precarity. It was in this environment that Asrar Ahmad — better known as Ibne Safi — emerged as one of the most widely read writers in the Urdu language. His popularity is often described as a matter of talent alone. Certainly, he was a gifted stylist and storyteller. But literary brilliance does not, by itself, create a readership measured in the millions. Ibne Safi’s success partially rested on a deeper foundation: a whole publi...

Pakistan and Bangladesh’s air chiefs held detailed discussions on the “potential procurement” of JF-17 Thunder aircraft, Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Tuesday. The JF-17 Thunder multi-role fighter was jointly developed by China and Pakistan. The fighter has proved its combat capabilities during two military conflicts with India in 2019 and 2025. The press release issued by ISPR said Bangladesh Air Force Air Chief Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan called on Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhu in Islamabad. The Bangladeshi air chief led a high-level defence delegation during the visit, it said. “The meeting focused on strengthening operational cooperation and institutional synergy, with emphasis on training, capacity building, and collaboration in aerospace advancements,” it said. According to the press release, the visiting air chief was accorded a guard of honour. Air Chief Marshal Sidhu briefed his Bangladeshi counterpart on PAF’...

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It shouldn’t be shocking and yet it still is. Images of the leader of a sovereign, oil-rich nation humiliated and handcuffed by the world’s superpower using tactics as crude as the resource it seeks to control. We have seen this before, after all. Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi, Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, Congo’s Patrick Lumumba, Iran’s Mohammad Mosaddegh, Chile’s Salvador Allende and Panama’s Manuel Noriega all met the same fate (a full list would take up the entire article). Regime change, rinse, repeat. ‘He effed around and he found out’ By most accounts, Maduro seems to have gotten off lightly. In 2019, US Senator Marco Rubio threatened that the Venezuelan leader would meet the same fate as Qaddafi, tweeting a photo of the bloodied Libyan general before he was reportedly sodomised and killed by US supported rebels. The CIA has long preferred assassination as the policy option for stubborn leaders using underhanded tactics like poisoned cigars, turning lovers into honeypots, planting a B...

Given all that transpired the last time these two teams met, and all that’s transpired over the past two years at the world juniors, Sunday night’s semifinal tilt between Canada and Czechia was only ever going to end in fireworks. It finished as explosive as expected, the two squads battling through a wild, five-goal, third-period rollercoaster that saw Canada twice pull out a pivotal tying goal, and twice see the Czechs respond with a lead-restoring heartbreaker, before a bit of netfront chaos delivered Czechia the pivotal go-ahead tally with just 1:14 left on the clock. When all was said and done, it was the Czech national anthem ringing out through Saint Paul, Minnesota’s Grand Casino Arena, the squad earning a 6-4 victory Sunday, and a date with Sweden in Monday’s gold-medal game. For Canada, it’s yet another humbling moment on the world stage.  After defeating Czechia for the gold back in 2023, the Canadians have now been served a cold plate of reve...