SHIGAR: In a pointed pre-election address that blended constitutional grievance with campaign theater, Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari called on Monday for Gilgit-Baltistan to be granted enforceable rights under any future constitutional amendment, and demanded the abolition of the federal ministry that oversees the territory.
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Pakistan faces days of violent weather as westerly wave bears down on region
ISLAMABAD: A powerful westerly weather system is expected to sweep across much of Pakistan beginning on Tuesday, bringing with it days of dust storms, thunderstorms, hailstorms and heavy rain to nearly every province in the country, the Pakistan Meteorological Department warned on Monday.
Pakistan says May 2025 war with India proved South Asia has no room for limited conflict
ISLAMABAD: A senior Pakistani military commander told one of Asia’s most prominent security gatherings on Saturday that his country’s conduct during a four-day war with India last year had settled, once and for all, a question that has haunted South Asian strategic thinking for decades: whether a limited conventional conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours was ever truly possible.
FBR is nearly on tax target — once you use the right number
The tax authorities are on track to meet their annual revenue goal after the government and the IMF revised the target downward by more than Rs1,100 billion earlier this year — a recalibration that renders the “Rs864 billion shortfall” dominating domestic headlines a comparison against figures that no longer govern fiscal policy.
Opposition PTI cries foul as authorities flood Gilgit-Baltistan with 6,000 Punjab police ahead of vote
ISLAMABAD: In the days before a closely watched regional election in Pakistan’s mountainous north, the government has dispatched 6,000 police officers from Punjab province to Gilgit-Baltistan — a deployment the opposition says is less about security than about silencing dissent.
EU foreign policy chief Kallas to visit Pakistan on Monday for high-level bilateral talks
ISLAMABAD: European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas travels to Islamabad on Monday for a high-level bilateral visit that will see her co-chair the eighth round of the EU-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue alongside Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.
Lawmaker Gilani denies UAE deportation, demands probe into social media claim
ISLAMABAD: Lawmaker Ali Musa Gilani spent much of Sunday on social media batting back claims that he had been expelled from the United Arab Emirates, calling the reports fabricated and demanding that authorities investigate the account that first circulated them.
Power minister Leghari says 86 percent of Pakistani households still on subsidised electricity
ISLAMABAD: Power minister Awais Leghari pushed back on Sunday against what he called a weeks-long misinformation campaign over electricity subsidies, insisting the government was expanding its protected consumer base rather than retreating from it, even as separate negotiations with Chinese power producers under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor framework remained deadlocked.
FIA blocks nearly 40,000 passengers in crackdown on human smuggling last year
ISLAMABAD: The federal immigration authority blocked nearly 40,000 passengers from boarding scheduled flights last year, part of an aggressive and expanding enforcement campaign that officials say has disrupted criminal smuggling networks and reduced the number of Pakistanis dying on illegal migration routes to Europe and the Middle East.
Trump seeks tougher terms on Iran’s uranium stockpile, sending negotiators back to table
ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump has sent his negotiators back to the table with Iran after rejecting the draft terms of a potential ceasefire deal, demanding stronger language on the disposal of Tehran’s enriched uranium stockpile and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz — in a move that risks prolonging one of the most dangerous standoffs the Middle East has seen in years.