ISLAMABAD: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed cautious optimism on Thursday that Pakistani mediators could break the deadlock in negotiations to end the US-Iran war, as Pakistan’s powerful army chief prepared to travel to Tehran for high-level consultations and President Trump warned that the talks were teetering on the edge of collapse.
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SBP reserves rise $1.214 billion to $17.081 billion on IMF inflows, Panda bond sale
KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan’s foreign-exchange reserves increased by $1.214 billion in the week ended May 15, reaching $17.081 billion, the central bank said on Thursday.
Two schoolboys killed in drone strike in Bajaur
BAJAUR: Two schoolboys were killed Thursday when a quadcopter drone struck a hilly area of Bajaur district in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local residents and officials said.
PTI warns of street protests after fresh denial of access to Imran Khan in jail
ISLAMABAD: Leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf were turned away from Adiala jail in Rawalpindi for the second straight day on Thursday, after prison officials once again refused to let them meet party founder Imran Khan.
Israel deports all foreign activists from Gaza-bound flotilla after global condemnation of their treatment in custody
ISLAMABAD: Israel deported all the foreign activists it seized from a Gaza-bound aid flotilla on Thursday, hours after an international outcry over images of the detainees kneeling bound and hooded on the ground and reports of rough treatment in custody.
Pakistan pledges ‘highest-level’ security for Chinese workers as leaders celebrate 75 years of ironclad friendship
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday pledged to provide Chinese nationals in Pakistan with security equivalent to that afforded the country’s own president and prime minister, as Islamabad and Beijing marked the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic relations with ceremonies that blended celebration and pointed assurances amid persistent militant threats.
Security forces kill 23 militants in northwest operations, including key TTP commander
ISLAMABAD: Security forces killed 23 militants in a series of intelligence-based operations conducted over the past 48 hours in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the military said Thursday.
Iran reviews US responses to peace proposal as Pakistan intensifies mediation in bid to end war
ISLAMABAD: Iran said on Thursday it was reviewing the latest American responses to its proposal for ending the war with the United States and Israel, even as Pakistani officials pressed forward with a burst of shuttle diplomacy aimed at salvaging negotiations that President Donald Trump described as teetering on the “borderline” between a deal and renewed U.S. strikes.
PM Sharif hosts Aga Khan V on first visit since ascension, pledges deeper cooperation on climate and development
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed Prince Rahim al-Hussaini Aga Khan V to a breakfast meeting in Islamabad on Thursday, the new spiritual leader’s first trip to Pakistan since he became the 50th hereditary Imam of the global Ismaili Muslim community earlier this year.
Security forces kill wanted TTP ringleader and four militants in North Waziristan intelligence operation
ISLAMABAD: Security forces have killed a high-value terrorist commander and four other militants on Thursday in an intelligence-based operation in the Spinwam area of North Waziristan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, officials said.