ISLAMABAD (National Times) – Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif says PTI’s disgusting smear campaign against Chief of the Army Staff Gen Asim Munir at the behest of Imran Niazi is deserving of the strongest condemnation. In a tweet, he said Imran Niazi is stooping to unprecedented lows in his desperation for power and going to the extent of damaging the …

ISLAMABAD , March 20, 2023: Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) strongly condemned on Monday the torture on the policemen amid the appearance of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan before the court. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting of the allied parties during which different matters were underscored including the torture on the officers. Apart of that, the purported audio …

BEIJING, March 20 (Xinhua) — A mainland spokesperson on Monday extended a welcome to former Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou, who will visit the mainland on March 27. Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said the mainland is willing to do its part to facilitate Ma Ying-jeou’s visit, and wished him a good journey. …

LONDON, March 20, 2023: Three days after being accused by an international tribunal of war crimes in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin will be looking more than ever for a show of solidarity from his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping when he welcomes him to Moscow on Monday. Xi will be the first world leader to shake Putin’s hand since the …

ISLAMABAD , March 20, 2023: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) seems reluctant to disclose vital information involving tax payments by rich elites, government officers and their families. The data has been sought by Lahore-based tax lawyer Waheed Shahzad Butt from FBR Chairman Asim Ahmed though a letter. The letter seeks information about tax payments made by Politically-Exposed Persons (PEPs) …

LAHORE, March 20, 2023: Caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi has announced formation of a joint investigation team (JIT) to investigate the Zaman Park incident. Addressing a press conference here on Monday, he said the JIT would investigate the incidents took place during the last five to seven days. The JIT would be named by this evening, he continued. The …

WASHINGTON , March 20, 2023: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Sunday denied speculations regarding imposing any conditions related to Pakistan’s nuclear assets for the staff level agreement. The representative of IMF for Pakistan, Esther Perez Ruiz, has said in a statement that there is no truth in the speculations related to Pakistan’s nuclear program and added that negotiations with …

ISLAMABAD , March 20, 2023: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, while criticizing Finance Mini¬ster Ishaq Dar for his utterance on the country’s missile programme on the floor of the house, demanded that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif should issue a policy statement on the matter. Last week, finance minister Dar, while brifing the Senate on talks with …

ISLAMABAD, March 20, 2023: US Central Command (Centcom) Commander General Michael E Kurilla has expressed confidence in the command-and-control structure of Pakistan’s nuclear programme amid political turmoil and fear of an economic meltdown in the South Asian nation. “I am confident in their nuclear security procedures,” the Centcom chief said during his appearance before the US Senate Arms Services Committee. …

LAHORE, March 20, 2023: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced a big relief for low income segment of society by giving a subsidy of Rs50 per liter under petroleum relief package. While chairing a review meeting on Sunday on the relief package here, he said the petroleum relief will be given to low income consumers who have motorcycles, rickshaws, 800 …

ISLAMABAD , March 20, 2023: Islamabad High Court on Monday sought record of all cases registered against PTI Chairman Imran Khan till March 27. The court started hearing of PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s petition seeking record of all cases registered against him. The court issued notices to parties concerned and sought reply till March 27. During the hearing, Imran Khan’s …

PESHAWAR , March 20, 2023: The local administration has imposed Section 144 and banned gatherings of more than five people across the district. A notification was issued from the office of deputy commissioner on Sunday. It said that the ban would come into force forthwith and would remain enforced for five days unless modified or withdrawn. It said that the …

WASHINGTON , March 20, 2023: Actor and comedian Adam Sandler became the 24th recipient of the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Sunday, at an evening event featuring stars Jennifer Aniston, Chris Rock and Conan O’Brien to celebrate his comedy and career. Sandler, whose movies include “Spanglish,” “The Wedding Singer,” and “The Waterboy,” was celebrated for his …

Web Desk , March 20, 2023: Star pacer Shaheen Afridi has come out in defence of his father-in-law Shahid Afridi who has been dragged into “dirty politics” by a fake statement about former prime minister Imran Khan. “I request you all to only think about Pakistan. We should not indulge ourselves into any act which divides us further,” the Pakistani …

Web Desk, March 20, 2023: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has expressed its concerns over the diseases that are caused by excessive salt intake, saying millions of people could die if governments did not take action and spread awareness to keep in check the sodium levels in food. The report, published in Washington Post, said that salty food is the …

  Photo taken on Jan. 1, 2022 shows the sunrise view in Lahore, Pakistan. (Photo by Sajjad/Xinhua) Pakistan and China have further stepped up their cooperation in green energy for the benefit of the region under the CPEC, helping Pakistan mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change. ISLAMABAD, March (Xinhua) — The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project under …

ISLAMABAD: The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, has been promoting the socio-economic growth of Pakistan, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Asad Majeed Khan said. “CPEC is playing a vital role in the country’s national development and Pakistan has been focusing on CPEC and other connectivity-related initiatives in its geo-economic pursuits,” Majeed said while …

LONDON, March 20, 2023: Some of the world’s leading makers of flu vaccines say they could make hundreds of millions of bird flu shots for humans within months if a new strain of avian influenza ever jumps across the species divide. One current outbreak of avian flu known as H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b has killed record numbers of birds and infected …

TAIPEI , March 20, 2023: Financial Supervisory Commission of China’s Taiwan will be the main overseer of crypto currencies on the island, the head of the regulator said on Monday. Huang Tien-mu told lawmakers in parliament that the Financial Supervisory Commission will initially be responsible for the supervision of payments and transactions, but will not cover NFTs, or “non-fungible tokens”. …

ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 18 (PR): Secretary of the Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mukhtar Yerman said on Saturday that said that the parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan being held on Sunday, March 19, 2023, will give the people a choice to choose their leadership. While addressing the international media in the Election Commission office in Astana, Kazakhstan, Mukhtar Yerman …

BEIJING/MOSCOW, March 18 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping’s upcoming state visit to Russia, his first foreign trip since being re-elected as Chinese president, will be a trip of friendship, cooperation and peace. The visit, scheduled for March 20-22, is set to map out the blueprint for the development of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new …

BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) — A recently released report titled “Toward Modernity: The Value of Xi Jinping’s Economic Thought” has explored the origins of Xi’s economic thought from the perspective of local governance. When working in different localities, Xi put forward a series of new ideas, new ways of thinking and new measures concerning economic work. His years of solid …

MEXICO CITY, March 18 (Xinhua) — At the just-concluded 6th International Conference of Chinese Language Teaching held in Mexico, experts said the Chinese language has become more and more popular among language learners and helped them strengthen their professional profiles in an increasingly competitive job market.

This photo taken on March 18, 2023 shows the scene of the 14th China International Seed Expo in north China’s Tianjin. The 14th China International Seed Expo and the 19th National Seed Information Exchange and Commodity Trading Fair kicked off in Tianjin on Saturday, and the China Tianjin Seed Industry Revitalization Conference 2023 and Tianjin International Seed Expo 2023 were …

BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) — China’s property market has seen a strong recovery after a tough year in 2022, as the economy logged palpable expansion at the beginning of 2023 and an array of policies to shore up the sector have taken effect. In the Jan.-Feb. period, encouraging signals indicated rising confidence on both ends of supply and demand of …

ISLAMABAD , March 18, 2023: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan began his journey back home in Lahore after staying outside the judicial complex in the capital city for some time for appearing in a court in the Toshakhana case. PTI’s Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi claimed that the whole process of attendance was completed and Imran Khan was allowed to …

Web Desk, March 18, 2023: Polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — a type of human-made harmful chemicals — have been flowing probably in human veins and can likely be found on furniture, daily food and water causing cancers, liver disease, asthma, allergies and other health complications. This allowed US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to propose a rule to strictly limit …

BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) — Chinese researchers have discovered two new plant species in a giant panda habitat in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said Friday. The new species, including an orchid species and a primrose species, were first found in the Wolong National Nature Reserve by researchers from the Chengdu Institute of Biology under …

Farmers in China have adopted intelligent agricultural technologies to improve farmland management and raise work efficiency during spring farming season.

LAHORE , March 18, 2023: The home side Lahore Qalandars is all set to take on Multan Sultans in the final of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 8, at Gaddafi Stadium today (Saturday). The final game was scheduled to play on Sunday but it was rescheduled due to weather condition in Lahore as the Met Office has predicted rains …

SAN FRANCISCO, March 18, 2023: Twitter owner Elon Musk put out word that he would make public the long-secret algorithm for recommending tweets. The code used for recommending the posts suggested to users will become “open source” at the end of March, Musk said in a tweet of his own. “People will discover many silly things, but we’ll patch issues …

ISLAMABAD, March 18, 2023: The government’s efforts to provide relief to the masses received a jolt when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rejected the proposal to jack up the number of beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). According to a The News report published Saturday, the authorities had suggested enhancing the scope of the social welfare programme for …

LAHORE , March 18, 2023: Actor Iffat Omar is quite vocal about her support for PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif, especially on social media. In a recent interview, the actor objected to people alleging that the politician has done beauty procedures to her face and exclaimed that the trolls are jealous of her “natural beauty.” In conversation with a …

SHANGHAI, March 18, 2023: China will encourage foreign capital to participate in its financial markets and may allow foreign-funded financial institutions to go public in the country when “conditions are ripe”, local media quoted a former finance minister as saying on Saturday. Such moves would be in line with the country’s opening up of its financial industry, Lou Jiwei told …

LAHORE , March 18, 2023: In an unexpected move, police broke into the residence of PTI Chairman Imran Khan at Zaman Park after an operation was launched on Saturday to clear the area as the former premier left for Islamabad to attend hearing in the Toshakhana case. Sources said Canal Road, Dharampura, Mall Road underpass and other areas had been …

NEW YORK, March 18, 2023: Former US President Donald Trump and his family failed to declare foreign gifts worth nearly $300,000 they received from foreign countries during his presidency, according to a report by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released on Friday. They did not report more than 100 foreign gifts received from Chinese President Xi Jinping, Saudi Crown …

LAHORE, March 18, 2023: Police have arrested several PTI workers as they launched an operation at Zaman Park in Lahore, where the residence of PTI Chairman Imran Khan is located, following registration of cases over clashes with police earlier this week over arrest of the former prime minister. Sources said Canal Road, Dharampura, Mall Road underpass and other areas have …

ISLAMABAD , March 18, 2023: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) head Maulana Fazlur Rehman claimed that former US special representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation held a meeting with PTI Chairman Imran Khan during a secret visit to Pakistan. The coalition partner in the federal government made the claims during his address at a gathering in Islamabad days after Mr Khalilzad warned that the …

ISLAMABAD , March 18, 2023: Dr Akbar Nasir Khan, the Inspector General of Police for Islamabad, said best security measures had been taken at the Judicial Complex ahead of the appearance of PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case. He stated this during his visit to the Judicial Complex to review security arrangements, adding that the measures aimed at …

ISLAMABAD, March 18, 2023: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan says the PDM government intends to arrest him despite his bail in all cases registered against him. In a series of tweets, the former prime minister said he was heading to Islamabad to appear before court in the Toshakhana case despite “knowing their [government] mala fide intentions”. Mr Khan said …