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In the light of cartelisation and price fixing of day-old broiler chicks (DOCs), the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) slapped a collective fine of Rs155 million on eight major poultry hatcheries, said a CCP press release on Wednesday. Last week, the National Price Monitoring Committee showed concerns over the rising trend in perishable products, directing the Ministry of Food Security to develop a price control mechanism for poultry. The CCP took suo motu notice of cartelisation in the DOC market, initiating an inquiry which found that eight major hatcheries were engaged in a coordinated effort to fix their prices. The CCP named the following hatcheries: Sadiq Poultry, Hi-Tech Group, Islamabad Group, Olympia Group, Jadeed Group, Supreme Farms (Seasons Group), Big Bird Group, and Sabir’s Group. Detailing the mode of operation of the cartel, the CCP noted that the hatcheries discussed the prices in a WhatsApp group titled “Chick Rate Announcement.” The group was administered...

Four people, including the driver, were killed and several others were injured on Wednesday when a tractor-trolley fell into a deep gorge in the Ghanche district of Gilgit-Baltistan, officials said. According to police spokesperson Ghulam Muhammad, the incident occurred in the morning near the Gulshan Kabir area of Ghanche district when labourers working on a construction project were travelling on the tractor-trolley. The driver lost control of the vehicle and it fell some 150-200 feet into a deep gorge. As a result, four people, including the driver were killed, while 16 labourers were injured. However, Ghanche district Rescue 1122 Media Coordinator Zulfiqar Ali said the number of injured was 12. The injured were administered first aid at a nearby dispensary, and later shifted to a hospital on the recommendation of the medical staff, the spokesperson said. He added that the cause of the incident is being investigated and more details will be shared soon. from The Dawn News - ...

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday said that the Bangladesh men’s team will tour Pakistan in May for a five-match T20I series. Pakistan last played international cricket against New Zealand earlier this month, where the Green Shirts lost both the One-day International series (3-0) and the Twenty20 International series (4-1). The Pakistan Super League is currently ongoing in the country with the final set to take place on May 18. The schedule for the series. — PCB The PCB said in a press release: “The series, which is part of the Future Tour Programme (FTP), originally consisted of three ODIs and three Twenty20 internationals (T20Is). “However, with the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup scheduled for next year, both the boards have mutually agreed to replace the ODIs with two additional T20Is.” The five-match T20I series will be played in Faisalabad and Lahore from May 25 to June 3, the PCB added. Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, which successfully hosted the inaugural Champio...

Bulls bounced back on the trading floor on Tuesday as shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange climbed more than 800 points after a day of volatility. The benchmark KSE-100 index climbed 808.28 points, or 0.71 per cent, to stand at 114,872.18 from the previous close of 114,063.90. Awais Ashraf, director of research at AKD Securities, said, attributed the bull run to the announcement of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board meeting “to approve a tranche of $1.3 billion for Pakistan under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and a new 28-month arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility”. Earlier, the IMF website confirmed that the Fund’s Executive Board will meet on May 9 to discuss the country’s staff-level agreement for a new $1.3bn arrangement under a climate resilience loan programme, along with the first review of Pakistan’s ongoing $7bn bailout programme. According to the IMF, this will be the first “review under the Extended Arrangement Under the Ext...

A restaurant fire in northeastern China killed 22 people and injured three on Tuesday, Beijing’s state media said, with footage posted online showing fierce flames engulfing the building. The blaze erupted at 12:25pm (9:25am PKT) in a restaurant in a residential area of Liaoning Province’s Liaoyang City, state broadcaster CCTV said. “The incident has resulted in 22 deaths and three injuries,” it added. President Xi Jinping said that the blaze had caused “significant casualties” and that the lessons from it were “profoundly serious”, CCTV said. Xi called for “every effort to treat the injured, properly handle the aftermath for the deceased and provide support to their families, swiftly determine the cause of the fire, and pursue accountability in accordance with the law,” the report added. Official news agency Xinhua did not identify the cause of the fire but said President Xi Jinping called it “a deeply sobering lesson”. Footage shared online and verified by AFP showed the inf...

Posts from several Indian accounts on social media platform X on Sunday shared alleged documents claiming en masse resignations of Pakistan Army personnel and low morale in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack. However, the letters are fake. An attack took place in Pahalgam, a tourist hotspot in India-occupied Kashmir that draws thousands of visitors every summer, on April 22. Gunmen opened fire on visitors, killing at least 26 people — all men from across India except one from Nepal — and injuring 17 others. It was the region’s deadliest attack on civilians since 2000. A hitherto unknown group, named by several Indian outlets as ‘The Resistance Front’, is said to have claimed responsibility for the attack. India followed suit by announcing a series of actions against Pakistan. Responding in kind, Pakistan also announced a series of measures , including the closure of its airspace to all India-owned or Indian-operated airlines with immediate effect. As diplomatic channels dry up a...

Firefighters have brought under control a blaze at Iran’s main port, following a deadly explosion blamed on negligence, authorities in the Islamic republic said. The explosion, heard dozens of kilometres away, hit a dock at the southern port of Shahid Rajaee on Saturday. At least 70 people were killed and more than 1,000 others suffered injuries in the blast and ensuing the fire, which also caused extensive damage, state media reported. Red Crescent official Mokhtar Salahshour told the channel late on Monday that the fire had been “contained” and a clean-up was underway. State television aired live footage on Tuesday showing thick smoke rising from stacked containers. Iran’s IRNA news agency quoted Hossein Zafari, spokesman for the country’s crisis management organisation, as saying the situation had improved significantly since Monday. However, “the operation and complete extinguishing process may take around 15 to 20 days”, Zafari added. Iran’s customs authority said port o...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a surprise three-day ceasefire from May 8-10, coinciding with Moscow’s World War II Victory Day commemorations, the Kremlin said on Monday. Moscow said it expected Kyiv to issue a similar order, and that it stood ready to respond to any violations of the possible halt in fighting. Putin made a similar order to stop combat over Easter — a truce that both sides accused the other of violating hundreds of times, but did lead to a temporary reduction in fighting. “The Russian side is declaring a ceasefire during the 80th anniversary of Victory Day, from midnight on May 7-8 to midnight on May 10-11. All combat operations will be suspended during this period,” the Kremlin said in a statement. eople walk past Moscow’s Triumphal Gate decorated with a large-scale composition featuring a replica of the “Motherland Calls” monument ahead of celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, in Sain...

India has signed a contract to purchase 26 Rafale fighter jets from France for its navy, New Delhi’s defence ministry said on Monday, with the multi-billion-dollar deal to include both single and twin-seat planes. “We have signed the deal for 26 Rafale jets,” a spokesperson for India’s defence ministry told AFP . When delivered, the jets would join 36 French-made Rafale fighters already acquired by New Delhi as part of its efforts to rapidly modernise its military hardware. The Indian government first announced its intention to procure 26 Rafales in 2023, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited France for the Bastille Day celebrations. The jets made by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation are expected to operate from Indian-made aircraft carriers, replacing the Russian MiG-29K jets. “The Rafale-Marine is a carrier-borne combat-ready aircraft with proven operational capabilities in a maritime environment. The delivery of these aircraft would be completed by 2030, wi...

Security forces killed 54 terrorists attempting to infiltrate through the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district, the military’s media wing said in a statement on Sunday. Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities over the past year, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), “On night 25/26 and 26/27 April 2025, [the] movement of a large group of khwarij , who were trying to infiltrate through Pakistan-Afghanistan border, was detected by the security forces in [the] general area [of] Hassan Khel, North Waziristan District. “[Our] own troops effectively engaged and thwarted their attempt to infiltrate. As a result of precise and skilful engagement, all fifty-four khawarij have been sent to hell”, the statement added. According to the statement, this is the highest-ever nu...

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi assured foreign investors that Pakistan was a safe country to invest in and that the government would “fulfil [its] responsibility of protecting them at all costs”, a press release from the ministry said on Sunday. While Pakistan has made efforts to exploit its natural resources and has invited foreign investment in different projects, the security situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa often poses challenges, with foreign nationals being attacked over the past couple of years. According to the press release, the interior minister met with a delegation of foreign investors in Lahore and discussed steps to ensure their security, noting the delegation’s input and assuring them that steps would be taken. “Pakistan is a safe country for all kinds of investments,” Naqvi was quoted as saying. “The protection of investors is our government’s top priority and we will fulfil our responsibility of protecting investors at all costs.” The press release...

A 4.4-magnitude earthquake struck Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swat and its adjoining localities on Sunday afternoon, sending tremors across the area. Pakistan falls on three major tectonic plates — the Arabian, Euro-Asian and Indian — according to geological engineer Muhammad Rehan, creating five seismic zones within the country. Today, a 4.4-magnitude earthquake jolted Swat and adjoining areas with a depth of 185 kilometres and epicentre in Hindukush, a private news channel reported, citing the National Seismic Monitoring Centre. People came out of their homes in panic and started reciting verses from the Holy Quran. No loss of life or property was reported from any part of Swat, according to the report. On April 19, tremors were felt in parts of KP and Punjab — including Peshawar, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore — for the second time in as many weeks as a 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck near the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border region. Pakistan witnessed around 20 low-intensity earthq...

GOOD sense seems to have finally prevailed, with the federal government deferring the planned canal projects, including the controversial Cholistan canal, for now. Following a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday, the government said it will undertake the projects only if a consensus among the provinces is achieved. A meeting of the Council of Common Interests will be convened next week regarding the issue. “…[W]e unanimously decided that no new canal will be constructed till the decision of the CCI,” Mr Sharif told a joint press conference along with Mr Bhutto-Zardari. Given the sensitivities of interprovincial water distribution, a wiser political leadership would have pre-empted the public outcry over the canal projects by taking the contentious Cholistan scheme to the CCI for a consensus decision even before initiating the work on its feasibility. That it took months of protests across Sindh against the Cholistan canal,...

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari on Saturday said the provincial government had approved the launch of its own airline named Air Punjab and that it would begin its operations within a year. The Punjab government had floated the idea of Air Punjab in November 2024 after the federal government’s failed attempt to sell the national carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). Addressing a press conference in Lahore, Bokhari said: “Pakistan is ready to operate its first provincial airline, Air Punjab. “The approval for it was given by [Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz] sahiba in a meeting a few days ago,” she added. “This service would begin in a minimum of eight months and at the most, a year.” Sharing further details, the information minister said four aircraft will be acquired on lease immediately for Air Punjab. Noting that airlines in Pakistan were required to operate domestically for a year before initiating international routes, Bokhari said Air Punjab would be “ready ...

Hamas is open to an agreement to end the Gaza conflict that would include the one-time release of all remaining hostages and a five-year cessation of hostilities, an official from the Palestinian group said on Saturday. “Hamas is ready for an exchange of prisoners in a single batch and a truce for five years,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, as a delegation from his group was set to meet mediators in Cairo later in the day. On April 17, Hamas, which opposes a “partial” ceasefire agreement, rejected an Israeli proposal that included a 45-day truce in exchange for the return of 10 living hostages. The group has consistently demanded that a truce agreement must lead to the end of the conflict, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a prisoner exchange, and the immediate and sufficient entry of humanitarian aid into the war-battered Palestinian territory. Israel, for its part, demands the return of all hostages and the disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in ...

The Investigative Committee on Friday said that an explosive device ripped through a parked car near Moscow and killed a senior Russian general, adding it had launched a murder probe. Authorities named General-lieutenant Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the main operational directorate of the military’s General Staff, as the victim. Investigators said they had opened a probe into murder and smuggling explosives after the Volkswagen Golf blew up outside a block of flats in the town of Balashikha, east of Moscow. Images from the scene posted on social media showed a blaze that gutted a car. The Agentstvo investigative news site, citing leaked information, said Moskalik lived in Balashikha, but the Volkswagen was not registered to him. Security camera footage posted by the Izvestia newspaper showed a massive explosion, sending fragments flying into the air. The blast happens just as someone can be seen walking towards the car. The “blast was caused by the triggering of an improvis...

Posts from multiple users on social media on Wednesday shared a screenshot from an Indian news outlet, claiming it showed a sketch of one of the suspects in the Pahalgam attack resembling Pakistani cricketer Babar Azam. However, the viral image was edited and the original sketch did not resemble the athlete. Twenty-six lost their lives in an attack in occupied Kashmir on Tuesday. The attack took place in Pahalgam, a popular destination in the scenic Muslim-majority territory that draws thousands of visitors every summer. The assault has been claimed by ‘The Resistance Front’, a hitherto unknown entity; media reports have quoted the outfit as claiming the attack to protest against demographic changes in the disputed region. On Wednesday, a Facebook user shared a screenshot of an alleged social media post by Indian media outlet India Today , featuring sketches of the suspects involved in the Pahalgam attack, one of which resembled Babar. The post racked up more than 2,000 reactions...

The heat intensity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is likely to increase from April 27 to 30 with daytime temperatures expected to go up to 4 to 6 degrees higher than usual, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said in a statement on Friday. Climate change is a pressing reality for Pakistan, directly impacting millions of lives. Heatwaves , intensified by climate change, are becoming more frequent, prolonged and severe, disproportionately affecting communities with limited resources to adapt. “Heat intensity likely to increase in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from April 27 to 30,” the letter by the KP PDMA said, adding that due to the extremely hot weather, daytime temperatures are likely to be 4 to 6 degrees Celsius higher than normal. “From April 30, a western system will enter the upper areas of the province, due to which rain and hail are also likely,” the letter added. Due to the heat, there are chances of heatstroke and pressure on water reservoirs, the PDMA said. The letter a...

Four Frontier Constabulary personnel were martyred and three other suffered injuries in an explosion near a security vehicle in Quetta’s Margate area, police said on Friday. Faced with increasing attacks by militants, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan , security forces have also intensified counterterrorism operations. Hanna Urak Station House Officer Naveed Akhtar told Dawn.com that the bomb disposal squad of the security forces was targeted with an improvised explosive device in a Quetta suburb. “As a result of the explosion, four FC personnel were martyred and three others were injured,” he said. The injured were immediately shifted to Combined Military Hospital (CMH). The martyred included Subedar Shahzad Amin, Naib Subedar Abbas and Sepoy Khalil and Sepoy Zahid. Among the injured were Lance Naik Zafar, Lines Naik Farooq and Sepoy Khurram Saleem. Security forces have cordoned off the area and started a search operation for the suspects. Militant violence an...

Pakistan and India’s relations on most fronts, from diplomatic ties to cultural projects, have yo-yoed from on and off to on (then off) again since Partition. Bilateral agreements have been no exception. Following a deadly attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22, New Delhi, while pointing the finger at Pakistan sans proof, suspended the India-Pakistan Indus Water Treaty with immediate effect along with other measures. In retaliation, in its top security body meeting today, Pakistan decided that it would exercise the right to hold all bilateral agreements with India, including but not limited to the Simla Agreement, in abeyance. It also announced the closure of the Wagah border and suspension of all trade with New Delhi, among other measures. The full text of the statement can be read here . Here, Dawn.com overviews the major treaties and agreements reached between India and Pakistan since 1947 and their status. The Nehru-Liaquat Agreement The agreement was reached ...

Full text of PMO Press Release following National Security Committee (NSC) — the top security body — meeting on Thursday following India’s aggressive measures against Pakistan in the wake of an attack in India-held Kashmir’s Pahalgam. Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC), today. The participants discussed the national security environment and the regional situation, particularly in the wake of Pahalgam attack in the Anantnag District of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) on 22 April 2025. Expressing concern over the loss of tourists’ lives, the Committee reviewed the Indian measures announced on 23 April 2025 and termed them unilateral, unjust, politically motivated, extremely irresponsible and devoid of legal merit. The National Security Committee made the following observations: Kashmir remains an unresolved dispute between Pakistan and India as recognized through multiple UN resolutions. Pakistan con...

The European Union on Wednesday slapped Apple and Meta with €700 million in fines for breaking digital competition rules, risking the wrath of US President Donald Trump. The penalties threaten to cause more tension in the already fraught relationship between the bloc and Trump, as the two sides discuss a deal to avoid his sweeping tariffs on the EU. The European Commission fined Apple €500m ($570m) after concluding the company prevented developers from steering customers outside its App Store to access cheaper deals. The EU also fined Meta €200m over its “pay or consent” system after it violated rules on the use of personal data on Facebook and Instagram. The fines are the first under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which came into effect last year, forcing the world’s biggest tech firms to open up to competition in the EU. They could rise further if Meta and Apple fail to comply within 60 days, the commission said, threatening the US giants with “periodic penalty payments”. T...