ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday welcomed the response of Palestinian group Hamas to US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, saying it “creates a window for a ceasefire and peace that we must not allow to close again.” On Friday night, Trump urged Israel to stop bombing Gaza after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept parts of the US proposal, though issues like disarmament remain unsettled. Following this, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel was preparing for the “immediate implementation” of the first stage of Trump’s plan. In a post on X, Shehbaz Sharif said…
Author: Imran Ali Khan
RIYADH: In a clear sign of strengthening Gulf cooperation, Saudi Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman held a telephone conversation with Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defense Affairs Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan Al Thani. The talks highlighted the depth of bilateral ties between Riyadh and Doha, particularly in the field of defense, and the shared determination to expand them further. According to officials, the ministers reviewed the ongoing collaboration between the two countries’ defense institutions and explored new opportunities to elevate strategic ties. Both sides emphasized that enhanced defense cooperation is central to…
AlUla: Saudi Arabia and France have reaffirmed their commitment to deepening their long-standing strategic partnership during a high-level ministerial meeting in AlUla, pledging stronger collaboration across cultural, educational, environmental, and economic sectors. The meeting of the Saudi-French Joint Ministerial Committee on AlUla was held on Thursday under the co-chairmanship of Saudi Minister of Culture and Governor of the Royal Commission for AlUla Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan and French Minister of Culture Rachida Dati. Senior ministers and officials from both nations took part in the discussions. Both sides reviewed the key milestones of their bilateral cooperation and outlined new…
Muzaffarabad: A second round of negotiations between the federal government’s high-level delegation and the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) was held in the AJK capital on Friday as efforts continued to defuse the unrest that has gripped the region for more than a week. Talks collapsed last week after the JAAC and government teams failed to reach an agreement on issues such as elite privileges and reserved refugee seats. What began as a peaceful protest movement soon turned violent as rival groups clashed with law enforcers. At least ten people have been killed and scores critically injured in fierce confrontations…
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday that the twenty point Gaza peace plan announced by United States President Donald Trump was not prepared by Pakistan. He explained that the draft was altered before it was made public. Dar stressed that there was no space for politics on such a sensitive matter. Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly he recalled his earlier press briefing in Islamabad where he had already clarified the issue. He said that the record of the negotiations is with him and that it proves the plan was changed. Dar shared…
A tragic incident in the rural area of Saddurabad, Taluka Thul, Jacobabad, has sparked grief and alarm as a teenage girl died shortly after receiving the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. The vaccine was administered by a local health department team, reportedly as part of a government campaign to prevent cervical cancer. However, shortly after the vaccination, two sisters Samira and Naseeman fell critically ill. Samira could not survive, while Naseeman remains in critical condition. According to the grieving family, the health department team had initially visited their home a few days earlier but left after the male members of the…
COPENHAGEN: European Union leaders met Wednesday to explore a bold new proposal to leverage hundreds of billions of dollars in frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s financial and military needs through 2027 a move Moscow has condemned as outright “theft.” The plan, still under negotiation, marks a significant step in Europe’s evolving strategy to support Ukraine as U.S. financial and military backing sharply declines under President Donald Trump’s administration, which has ended direct aid and halted major weapons shipments. At the heart of the proposal is a “reparation loan” mechanism a financial instrument backed by frozen Russian central bank assets,…
KYIV, Ukraine: The threat of a nuclear safety crisis looms larger in Ukraine as Russian forces intensify their assault on the country’s critical energy infrastructure. A recent drone attack knocked out electricity for over three hours at the site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster a move Ukrainian officials say highlights the increasing risk of a radiation incident. Both the Chernobyl facility and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Europe’s largest are currently non-operational. However, they remain highly vulnerable as they require constant external power to maintain crucial cooling systems for spent nuclear fuel. Without these systems, the risk of radioactive…
Tehran: A tragic explosion at Tehran University’s engineering and technical college on Thursday claimed the life of one individual and left four others injured, in what authorities believe was a hydrogen gas-related accident. According to Iranian media reports, the incident occurred in the Amirabad neighborhood of the capital. Tehran Fire Department spokesman Jalal Maleki confirmed that the blast originated from a hydrogen gas capsule inside a laboratory at the university. Eyewitnesses in the area reported hearing a deafening blast followed by thick smoke rising from the campus. There was a loud boom, and then chaos. People were running out of…
Washington, D.C.: In a dramatic escalation of the federal government shutdown standoff, the Trump administration has moved to terminate more than 320 clean energy projects and freeze nearly $18 billion in infrastructure funding a move critic are calling politically charged and economically reckless. On Thursday, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced the cancellation of 321 financial awards, which supported 223 clean energy projects across the country. The department claimed the terminations would save taxpayers $7.56 billion and stated that the projects, many overseen by the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, “did…
