Pakistan News

The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s KSE-100 index climbed by 1,804.59 points during intraday trade on Tuesday after witnessing a meltdown a day earlier. The KSE-100 index climbed by 1,804.59 points, or 1.23 per cent, to stand at 148,647.56 at 12:19pm from the previous close of 146,842.97. On Monday, PSX came under extreme selling pressure, dragging the KSE-100 index below the 145,­000 mil­estone intraday. The benchmark KSE-100 index remained in negative territory from the beginning of trade, hitting an intraday low of 144,656.97, a sharp decline of 7,050.55. It then closed 4,864.54 points lower than the previous session. Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd (AHL), said that since February 9, it has been the seventh consecutive Monday, excluding March 23, during which the market experienced significant sell-offs, mostly driven by adverse geopolitical developments. Investor participation stayed cautious, keeping overall momentum fragile and contributing to incr­eased vola...

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Rizwan Saeed Sheikh has reaffirmed Islamabad’s commitment to facilitating dialogue between the United States and Iran, even as regional tensions intensify. In an interview broadcast on Tuesday, Ambassador Sheikh told Fox News that Pakistan is “committed to providing every possible facilitation for fruitful dialogue”, while stressing that ultimate decisions rest with the conflicting parties. “While Pakistan continues to be the facilitator, it is actually upon the conflicting parties themselves to not only create the prerequisites for negotiations and to be able to conduct them in all earnest, but they will have to take the decisions which make it successful,” Ambassador Sheikh said. He described the situation as “a highly complex issue involving political, economic, and regional factors” and expressed gratitude that both sides have shown confidence in Pakistan’s ability to help mediate. “We are also mindful of the fact that it is not an easy process...

The Vegas Golden Knights ’ coaching change fired up the Vancouver Canucks . With one-time Vancouver coach John Tortorella standing behind the Knights’ bench Monday for the first time since Vegas’ surprise firing of 2023 Stanley Cup winner Bruce Cassidy, the Canucks played with more edge and urgency than they have in most games since the Olympic break. They still lost their sixth straight, 4-2, but forced the Knights to rally from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits as the Canucks bounced back from a 7-3 loss Saturday to the Calgary Flames. In his 1,000 th  National Hockey League game, Evander Kane opened scoring for Vancouver with a pretty finish from Jake DeBrusk on a two-on-one, and Brock Boeser’s deft second-period deflection again put the visitors ahead. But Shea Theodore and Reilly Smith scored goals for Vegas 1:17 apart late in the middle frame, and the Knights clinched just their second win in eight games on Cole Smith’s empty-netter with 70 seconds remaining in the third. Coaching hi...

WASHINTON: Between the steady drumbeat of military escalation and the fragile stirrings of diplomacy, Pakistan has positioned itself as a rare and consequential channel of engagement in a crisis that threatens to widen into a full-scale regional war. By late Monday, speculation in the US capital had shifted toward the possibility of American ground operations in Iran. The shift followed President Donald Trump’s interview with the Financial Times , in which he spoke of “taking the oil” in Iran — remarks widely interpreted here as referring to the possible seizure of Kharg Island, Tehran’s principal crude export hub that also houses a naval facility. “To be honest with you, my favourite thing is to take the oil in Iran,” Trump told the newspaper. He added that Iran had agreed to “most of” a 15-point US proposal conveyed through intermediaries. The rhetoric coincided with mounting reports of military preparations. The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon is preparing fo...

Israel said the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem would regain access to Christianity’s holiest site after the decision to block him from entering the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday triggered international condemnation. Israeli police prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa from entering the church, citing security concerns as Israel enforces a ban on gatherings in synagogues, churches and mosques during the ongoing war with Iran, which has brought missile strikes near holy sites. After widespread backlash, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday the Latin Patriarch would get “full and immediate access”. Members of the clergy attend a prayer service in the Church of All Nations held by Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, to mark Palm Sunday in Jerusalem on March 29, 2026. —AFP The Latin Patriarchate said in a statement that Pizzaballa and the Custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Ielpo, were travelling privately without a ceremonia...

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) on Sunday dismissed reports of price hikes in essential medicines across the country, stating that the rates have not “undergone any upward revision”. The statement comes as stakeholders in recent news reports alleged that an unprecedented increase in medicine prices had been observed since February 2024. Pakistan Drug Lawyers Forum President Noor Muhammad Mehr, a day earlier, told Dawn that the price of the insulin delivery device HumaPen Ergo II had increased by 114 per cent The Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA), however, claimed that the prices of essential medicines had remained unchanged despite a more than 20 per cent rise in fuel prices. In its statement, Drap said that it “strongly refutes the factually incorrect news reports circulating on various media channels regarding the recent increase in prices of medicines”. The regulatory body stated that medicine supply in Pakistan remained “unaffected” by...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the ground test of an upgraded rocket engine, state media reported on Sunday, marking another key step in its weapons programme. Defence experts believe North Korea is planning to use its solid-fuel rocket engines for launching intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The engines enable faster missile launches as they require little preparation before ignition. The latest test was “part of the national defence development plan in the period of the new five-year plan”, Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency ( KCNA ) said, without elaborating on the date or location of the test. It was the first officially confirmed high-thrust solid-fuel engine test since September last year, when state media said an engine generated a maximum thrust of 1,971 kilonewtons. KCNA reported the recent test had achieved a higher thrust of 2,500 kilonewtons. The development demonstrates North Korea’s “resolve to acquire missiles capable of hitting...

If you’re going to lose by four goals to the fourth-worst team in the National Hockey League, you may as well have your fourth-liner bust a slump a few seconds after throwing the biggest hit of the game on the referee. Please, just allow us a little mirth.  We are 72 games into what has a chance to be the Vancouver Canucks ’ worst season in 50 years, the final stretch of which has become as bleak as Minsk in winter, and we can all use a little laugh. So thank goodness for Nils Hoglander . The struggling Canuck, in and out of his last-place team’s lineup and with just one goal in 3 ½ months since returning from ankle surgery, beautifully redirected Victor Mancini’s shot-pass at 12:40 of the third period in Calgary after running over referee Graham Skilliter when the official got in the way of a forecheck. The goal didn’t help the Canucks much, cutting their deficit to three in a game they lost 7-3 to the Calgary Flames, but it could help Hoglander, whose confidence has been shre...

Seafarers’ helplines say they are overwhelmed with messages from crews stuck in the Gulf by the Middle East war, desperately seeking repatriation, compensation and onboard supplies. “Writing to urgently inform you that our vessel is currently facing a critical situation regarding provisions and one crew health conditions,” read an email from one seafarer on March 24 to the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF)’s Seafarer Support team. “Immediate supply of food, drinking water, basic necessities is required to sustain the crew,” said the message to the team’s helpline. The ITF said it had received more than 1,000 emails and messages from seafarers stuck around the Strait of Hormuz and the wider region since the war erupted with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. Bomb strikes Some sought to clarify what their rights are while navigating a war zone, while others sent videos of bombings striking next to their ship and asked the federation for help to get off board...

The federal government has formed a task force to revamp the legal wings of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). The purpose of the task force is to reform, revamp, and strengthen FBR’s revenue litigation framework at all levels, including initial adjudication by the tax department, commissioner/collector appeals, Appellate Tribunals Inland Revenue and Customs, high courts, Supreme Court, and the Federal Constitutional Court. The high-level task force was constituted by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and is aimed at examining and overhauling FBR’s legal wings. The task force was set up after the federal government’s recognition of growing concerns over persistent gaps in litigation management that have hindered effective representation and enforcement of tax and customs laws. The task force will be presided over by Shad Mohammad and includes senior legal and operational officials from FBR, the CEO of Pakistan Single Window, technical advisors, representatives of the Attorney Gene...

With global energy prices up and his job approval ratings down, Donald Trump faces stark choices after a month of war against Iran : cut a potentially flawed deal and get out, or escalate militarily and risk a prolonged conflict that could consume his presidency. Despite a flurry of diplomatic activity, Trump ends another week of the joint US-Israeli campaign struggling to contain a widening Middle East crisis as a defiant Iran maintains a chokehold on Gulf oil and gas shipments and continues missile and drone strikes across the region. The central question now, say analysts, is whether Trump is ready to wind down or ramp up what critics have called a war of choice, one that has ignited the worst global energy supply shock in history and spread far beyond the region. Trump has told aides he wants to avoid a forever war and find a negotiated exit, urging them to stress the four-to-six-week duration of hostilities he has outlined publicly, a senior White House official said, adding th...

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast chances of rain and thunderstorms in Karachi and across Sindh on Saturday, as a westerly wave continues to affect the country. According to its three-day weather outlook issued on Friday, the PMD said that Saturday would likely bring thunderstorms or rain “of light to moderate intensity” to the province due to a westerly wave entering the country from southwestern Balochistan. Mostly sunny weather is expected in Karachi today, with a maximum temperature of 32-34 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 24°C. Humidity will reach 76 per cent before dropping to 45-55pc in the evening as a northwesterly wind is expected to turn west/southwesterly. On Saturday, the PMD forecast “partly cloudy” weather with “chances of isolated wind [or] thunderstorms/rain”. Temperatures will stay similar, at around 31-33°C highs and 22-24°C lows. Humidity is predicted between 75-85pc in the daytime and 55-65pc in the evenings. Sunday is not expected to b...

PESHAWAR: Repatriation of undocumented Afghan nationals was abruptly suspended on Friday after a border security official was injured in a late evening cross-border attack from the Afghan side on Thursday. The Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan was reopened on Thursday for the return of stranded and illegal Afghan nationals, after having remained closed since February 26 with the launch of Operation Ghazab lil-Haq. However, security officials at Torkham said local paramilitary forces went on high alert due to the injury of an FC official at the Awal Khan post near the border. The incident took place around 9:30pm on Thursday evening. Sources at Torkham and the Hamza Baba transit point said that although the entire staff of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), National Logistics Corporation (NLC), police and other government departments was present at the transit point and Torkham, they were directed...

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Politicians, bureaucrats and journalists from both sides of the border took to social media on Thursday to criticise crude comments by India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar about Pakistan’s foreign diplomacy. India Today reported on Wednesday that the foreign minister had said India “cannot act as a ‘dalal nation’ in global geopolitics”, in reference to concerns raised by the opposition over Pakistan mediating talks between the United States and Iran amid the ongoing Middle East conflict. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that Jaishankar thought of himself as “a hi-fi dalal”, adding that the remarks “reflect personal frustration”. President’s Spokesperson Murtaza Solangi ripped into the Indian foreign minister’s lack of diplomacy, saying, “He seems to be infected with a self-destructive virus besides a diplomatic dementia, losing everything he had learnt in the diplomatic school.” “Fact is that he is a Dalal of Modi who is a Dalal of Netanyahu,” he said, adding ...