Zainab

The US carried out several strikes on Iranian missile and air defence systems and targeted small speed boats of the IRGC at several locations around the Strait of Hormuz, Axios reported on Sunday, citing a senior US official. Iran's Fars says Revolutionary Guards targeted US rocket launcher systems in Kuwait in drone operation. Trump says Hormuz open to commercial traffic US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the Strait of Hormuz is open to commercial traffic as CENTCOM said US forces are 'prepared' to ensure freedom of navigation. Trump's comments were made during an interview on NBC's Meet the Press. The Strait of Hormuz is open to all vessels and US military forces are "positioned and prepared" to ensure freedom of navigation, US Central Command said, a day after US and Iranian forces exchanged fire and Iran said it had closed the vital waterway. US strikes Iran, Tehran says Strait of Hormuz closed, Gulf states hit The US military lau...

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi has written a detailed letter to Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, strongly urging the federal government to defer its decision to withdraw tax exemptions for the merged districts and Malakand Division. In the letter, the Chief Minister described the move as a clear deviation from the commitments made by the federal government at the time of the merger of the former FATA into K-P. He warned that the step could seriously undermine public confidence in the merger process. Afridi emphasised that the people of K-P are not opposed to taxation. "They fully support a fair, equitable, and sustainable tax system to strengthen Pakistan's economy," he stated. However, he clarified that the core issue is not the imposition of taxes but the premature withdrawal of exemptions that were promised as part of the merger agreement. The Chief Minister reminded the Prime Minister that the merger of the former FATA was carri...

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday proposed that the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) either complete the Lyari Elevated Expressway project on its own or execute it under a public-private partnership (PPP) The committee, which met under the chairmanship of Mirza Ikhtiar Baig, held a detailed discussion on the Lyari Elevated Expressway project and stressed the need for its early completion to ease traffic congestion caused by container movement in Karachi. During the meeting, National Highway Authority (NHA) officials briefed the committee that a South Korean company had estimated the project's cost at Rs164 billion, while the NHA's own estimate stood at Rs88 billion. The officials said the Korean firm had also proposed constructing the expressway using a steel bridge. KPT officials informed the committee that the Korean side had now estimated the total cost of the project at Rs300 billion, while the NHA's latest estimate was approximat...

The Lahore High Court's Rawalpindi Bench has issued its detailed verdict against the proposed cancellation of a no-objection certificate (NOC) and demolition of construction on 102 kanals and 14 marlas of land linked to the controversy over issuance of an NOC for a service area before the inauguration of the Rawalpindi Ring Road. The court held that in a civilised society, citizens must have confidence that promises and approvals given by the government and its institutions will be honoured, and that the government cannot backtrack on its decisions. It also described the conduct of the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) as irresponsible and ordered that the NOC remain valid. Justice Jawad Hassan disposed of a petition filed by citizen Mazhar Rahim Awan. According to the petitioner, he had obtained all required NOCs from the RDA and other relevant authorities for a service area, petrol pump, commercial buildings and right of way on both sides of the Ring Road over 102 kana...

Pakistan urged restraint from both sides on Wednesday after a fresh round of hostilities between the United States and Iran threatened to undo weeks of efforts to achieve peace through the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The interim ceasefire agreement signed between Washington and Tehran — under the mediation of Pakistan — was intended to provide a 60-day window for negotiations on a permanent agreement, but indirect talks in Qatar ended last week with no sign of headway and the US military unleashed a new wave of strikes against Iran on Tuesday. Iran subsequently said it had targeted US military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait and that it had shot down a US MQ-9 drone attempting to interfere in the operation. Bahrain's army ​later said it had thwarted Iranian attacks. Trump has since threatened a new volley of attacks tonight. In a response issued today on the situation, the Foreign Office (FO) said: "Pakistan expresses its deep concern at the escalation in...