ISLAAMABAD: Pakistan’s information minister has accused a protest movement in Azad Kashmir of receiving funding and direction from India, unveiling what he described as “irrefutable evidence” linking the banned group to a cross-border disinformation network days before elections are due to be held in the territory.
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Pakistan rate hold near-certain as war-driven oil surge derails easing bets
KARACHI: Pakistan’s central bank is all but certain to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged next week, as a resurgence in global oil prices tied to the widening conflict between the United States and Iran forces policymakers to shelve any near-term plans for further easing.
US halts Iran strikes after 13 nights as conflict threatens to spread to Red Sea
ISLAMABAD: Fears that the war between the United States and Iran could widen into a broader regional conflagration intensified this weekend, after Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck Saudi Arabian oil facilities on the Red Sea coast and Tehran accused Ukraine of attacking one of its vessels in the Caspian Sea.
Pakistan holds fuel prices steady as weekend freezes Iran war-driven rally
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan left retail fuel prices unchanged through the weekend, a technical pause built into a new daily pricing mechanism the government adopted just weeks ago to keep pace with oil markets roiled by the conflict between Iran and the United States.
Pakistan troops foil suicide attack in Waziristan, kill four TTP militants
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces repelled a suicide bombing in the country’s northwest on Saturday, killing four militants including the bomber himself, in an operation that came less than 24 hours after a separate attack left 15 people dead in the same province.
Pakistan flood toll hits 97 as 400 sq km of Punjab lies underwater, Gilgit-Baltistan cut off
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s monsoon death toll has climbed to 97 after 11 more people died in rain-related incidents over the past 24 hours, disaster management officials said on Saturday, as forecasters warned that widespread rain and pockets of heavy downpours would persist across much of the country for at least another two days.
Electric bus ‘gift’ sparks bribery row as over 18,000 troops deployed for Kashmir election
MUZAFFARABAD: A fleet of green electric buses presented as a “gift” from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has become the focal point of a bitter dispute with the rival Pakistan Peoples Party, after the vehicles arrived in Muzaffarabad on Saturday, just two days before voters in Azad Jammu and Kashmir go to the polls in the territory’s 2026 general election.
Nawaz and Maryam Sharif promise the earth to Kashmir voters; their allies call it a bribe
MIRPUR: Nawaz Sharif’s coalition partner has accused his party of political bribery, after the former prime minister used the final hours of campaigning in Azad Kashmir to hand out gifts of electric buses and take a pointed swipe at the Pakistan Peoples Party’s chairman.
Pakistan pushes through fifth straight fuel hike under new daily pricing rules
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan raised pump prices for gasoline and diesel for a fifth consecutive session on Friday, the latest increase under a newly installed daily pricing mechanism that has left the government managing both a volatile Gulf oil market and an increasingly restive network of fuel retailers.
Pakistan to import 1 million tons of wheat as prices surge, shortages spread
KARACHI: Pakistan will import one million tons of wheat and release existing government stockpiles to its provinces, as the South Asian nation grapples with a supply shortfall that has driven up flour prices and squeezed household budgets.