The Supreme Court rejected the last legal appeal filed by Zahir Jaffer, the Pakistani-American heir to an industrial fortune who was convicted of the July 2021 killing of Noor Mukadam, 27, and has now exhausted nearly every avenue of appeal available to him under Pakistani law. The three-member bench, led by Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, announced the decision after nearly four hours of oral argument, cementing a death sentence that has survived review at every level of the country’s judiciary.
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Pakistan issues emergency LNG tender on crisis cell orders as spot prices approach $20
KARACHI: Pakistan has issued a spot tender for a liquefied natural gas cargo to be delivered within days, acting on instructions from a prime ministerial crisis body, as the government races to prevent power shortfalls during peak summer demand, and bids are likely to arrive at prices near $20 per million British thermal units.
Islamabad faces Rs1.7 trillion budget hole, seeks provincial rescue
ISLAMABAD: The federal government is struggling to piece together next year’s budget around a roughly Rs1.7 trillion fiscal hole and is pressing the country’s wealthiest provinces to absorb a substantial share of the shortfall, according to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s finance adviser — the latest sign that Islamabad’s annual budget exercise has devolved into open coalition brinksmanship.
Reko Diq partners review security costs as Barrick delegation lands in Islamabad
ISLAMABAD: Barrick Mining Corp. and Pakistan are negotiating a significant upgrade to security arrangements at the Reko Diq copper-gold project in Balochistan, a move that is expected to drive up costs at one of the world’s largest undeveloped mineral deposits, according to senior officials.
Pakistan’s trade gap widens to $34.76 billion as exports slide for most of fiscal year
KARACHI: Pakistan’s trade deficit swelled 17.5% to $34.76 billion in the first eleven months of fiscal year 2025-26, as a persistent slide in export earnings collided with rising import costs, deepening strains on an economy still navigating a fragile external-sector recovery.
Gulf hostilities flare as Trump claims Iran nuclear pledge; Rubio tells Congress offensive campaign is finished
ISLAMABAD: Iranian missiles and drones struck Kuwait’s international airport Wednesday, killing at least one person and injuring dozens, as the United States carried out fresh strikes near the Strait of Hormuz and President Trump claimed, in a morning podcast interview, that Iran had already agreed to abandon its nuclear weapons program — an assertion Tehran’s government flatly contradicted.
Pakistan sets June 10 budget date as PM Sharif courts business elite on tax, exports
ISLAMABAD: The government has settled on June 10 to present its federal budget for fiscal year 2026-27, locking in the date after coalition consultations produced a rare show of cross-party consensus on spending priorities — even as the administration navigates the twin pressures of IMF compliance and the resistance of provinces unwilling to subordinate their development ambitions to national fiscal targets.
Pakistan braces for a punishing summer as El Niño tightens its grip
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is heading into a summer of dangerous heat and diminished rains, the country’s national weather service warned Wednesday, painting a picture of a nation caught between two gathering climate threats: the creeping warmth of El Niño in the Pacific and the accelerating melt of its own glaciers in the north.
PM Sharif pushes for fast-track implementation of China deals after $7 billion investment conference
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif pressed China’s ambassador on Wednesday to accelerate implementation of agreements reached during last month’s state visit to Beijing, singling out the next phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and a $7 billion slate of corporate deals as priorities demanding urgent action.
Pessimism Returns: Economic confidence in Pakistan plummets to pandemic-era lows
KARACHI: Just months after a surprising surge of optimism swept Pakistani public opinion, that confidence has largely dissolved.