Pakistani government will incentivize citizens who would pay their dues for the upcoming Hajj in U.S. dollars, local reports said. The Ministry of Religious Affairs has also allocated a 25 percent special quota for pilgrims who will deposit the amount in dollars. The move comes as the government scrambles to shore up fast-dwindling foreign reserves. The pilgrims who would pay …

ISLAMABAD, Feb. 24 (Internews): Saudi Embassy in Pakistan on Friday announced a short video competition on  the 70th anniversary of the ‘Pak-Saudi Relations’ for the talented youth across the country. According to the Saudi embassy’s official Twitter handle account, it is organizing this healthy competition to mark the 70th anniversary of the visit of first President of Pakistan Ghulam Muhammad …

China on Thursday sent a new communications satellite into orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province. The “ChinaSat 26” satellite was launched at 7:49 p.m. (Beijing Time) by a Long March-3B carrier rocket. The satellite will mainly provide high-speed broadband access services for fixed terminals as well as vehicle-mounted, shipborne and airborne terminals. It is …

Ukrainians had hoped to lean toward Europe and the U.S. for development. However, industrial decay, economic recession, loss of talent and East-West confrontation in the country were what followed ensuingly.

The United States has transferred two brothers from the Guantanamo Bay U.S. detention facility in Cuba to Pakistan, bringing the total number of people held at Guantanamo down to 32, the Pentagon said on Thursday. The Guantanamo camp was established by Republican President George W. Bush in 2002 to house foreign terrorism suspects following the 2001 hijacked plane attacks on …

Shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) slid on Thursday on fears that the central bank may raise the policy rate, which is already at a 25-year-high of 17 per cent, in an off-cycle review. The benchmark KSE-100 index lost 329.09 points, or 0.8pc, to close at 40,838.51 points. It reached an intraday low of 395.08 points, or 0.95pc, around …

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Wednesday took suo motu notice of the delay in holding polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying that there appeared to be a “lack of clarity” on the matter. Elections are to take place in both provinces after previous PTI governments had dissolved their assemblies before the expiry of their five-year …

Digital technology company 10Pearls announced that registrations have now opened for its Artificial Intelligence conference set to be held at the Pak-China Friendship Centre in Islamabad on Feb 25. The AI summit, which was first held in 2019, aims to share the latest developments in AI, recognise innovations by emerging entrepreneurs and have conversations with leading international and local experts, …

Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) said on Wednesday that a Pakistani delegation has arrived in Kabul for talks with officials of the interim Afghan government on security-related matters. “A high-ranking delegation led by the minister for defence is in Kabul today to meet with officials of the Afghan interim government to discuss security-related matters including counter-terrorism measures,” it said in a …

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected all three pleas seeking an investigation into a cipher — presented by PTI Chairman Imran Khan in March 2022 as evidence of a “foreign conspiracy” to oust him. Justice Qazi Faez Isa pronounced the verdict today after conducting an in-chamber hearing on pleas filed by Advocate Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Syed Tariq Badar and Advocate …

BEIJING, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) — Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 14.5 percent year on year to 127.69 billion yuan in January, the Ministry of Commerce said Monday. In U.S. dollar terms, the FDI inflow went up 10 percent year on year to 19.02 billion U.S. dollars. High-tech industries saw a rapid FDI increase …

The National Assembly (NA) on Monday passed the Finance (Supplementary) Bill, 2023, aimed to amend certain laws relating to taxes and duties to raise an additional Rs170 billion in the next four and half months to meet the last prior actions agreed upon with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The government is in a race against time to implement the …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 30 (ABC): Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Wednesday said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan should not use the name of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah to achieve his “nefarious agenda”. “Whether Quaid-e-Azam has said that the (wrist)watch with the image of Mecca should be sold from Toshakhana, or did he say to offer a lifetime …

LAHORE, Nov 30(ABC): Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday castigated Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan after he quoted Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah while congratulating the newly appointed Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Sahir Shamshad Mirza. In a series of …

KARACHI, Nov 30 (ABC): Federal Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir Khan on Wednesday said the PTI’s resignations from assemblies would not make any difference and the situation would be dealt in accordance with the constitution and legal provisions.  The federal minister while talking to media persons at the inaugural ceremony of two wind power projects at Jhimpir district Thatta said …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 30 (ABC): Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhamamd Asif on Wednesday said that there was a split in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) camp as their MPAs were in contact with the federal government. Talking to a private news channel, the minister said that the majority of PTI lawmakers opposed dissolving the Punjab Assembly. Imran Khan, who claimed to bring two …

Nov 30(ABC): Vivo X90 Pro Plus is the first smartphone featuring the latest Snapdragon SoC. The Chinese tech company is delivering a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 phone before the new year. It is equipped with a 6.78-inch, 32001440, 120Hz OLED display, 12 GB of RAM, 256 GB of storage, 4700 mAh battery with 80 W fast charger, and Qualcomm’s super-sized 3D Sonic …

Nov 30(ABC): Twitter owner Elon Musk on Monday opened fire against Apple over its tight control of what is allowed on the App Store, saying the iPhone maker has threatened to oust his recently acquired social media platform. Musk also joined the chorus crying foul over a 30% fee Apple collects on transactions via its App Store – the sole …

SODERTALJE, Nov 30(ABC): Barrelling down a motorway south of Stockholm in a 40-tonne lorry and trailer, the driver keeps a careful eye on the road but, jarringly, no hands on the wheel. Instead, the truck drives itself, and veteran driver Roger Nordqvist is at the ready only in case of unexpected problems. Swedish truck maker Scania is not the only …

Nov 30(ABC): Elon Musk’s declaration of war on Apple in a series of tweets on Monday gives Spotify and Fortnite maker Epic Games a powerful ally in taking the tech giant to task over its 30% App Store fees. Musk criticized the fee Apple charges software developers for in-app purchases, and posted a meme suggesting he was willing to “go …

Nov 30(ABC): Apple Inc’s iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max model shipments could miss market expectations by up to 20 million units in the holiday quarter due to labor unrest at a major Chinese factory, TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said. Kuo is the latest to flag a hit to the world’s most valuable company from protests over pay and strict Covid19 curbs at the world’s …

Nov 30(ABC): DeepMind, owned by Alphabet, has unveiled a new AI chatbot called Sparrow, trained on DeepMind’s large language model Chinchilla. The bot can talk to humans and answer questions using Google Search for information, which is rated by humans on usefulness and accuracy. Sparrow is then trained using a reinforcement learning algorithm to achieve a specific object through trial …

Nov 30(ABC): Sony launched PlayStation Tournaments on the PS5 on Wednesday after three months of beta testing. Through the launch of the new feature on PS5, users will easily find competition suitable for them. The feature will allow players to participate in short tournaments at regular intervals. Other features include signing up through consoles only, a bracket capping feature to ensure a …

RAWALPINDI, Nov 30(ABC): Security forces Wednesday killed a terrorist in an exchange of fire in North Waziristan District, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. In a statement, the military’s media wing said that the incident took place in the district’s Shewa area. The troops recovered weapons and ammunition from the slain terrorist, it added. “Own troops fought bravely and engaged …

PESHAWAR, Nov 30(ABC): A gas blast at a coal mine killed nine workers, while four others sustained critical injuries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Orakzai area on Wednesday. There were 13 workers in the mine at the time and nine bodies were recovered, said Adnan Farid, the area deputy commissioner. The remaining four miners were rescued from the rubble and have suffered …

LONDON, Nov 30(ABC): PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, have returned to the British capital after concluding their tour of Europe, Geo News reported Wednesday. Along with their family members, they returned from Geneva and landed at Heathrow Airport. They left the British capital for the tour on November 20. During the trip, the family …

Nov 30(ABC): The price of petrol in Pakistan will remain unchanged at Rs224.80 per litre for the next fortnight, December 1 to 15, Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Ishaq Dar announced on Wednesday. In a video address, Dar said the price of high-speed diesel will also remain the same at Rs235.30 per litre. He announced that the price of …

Nov 30(ABC): In an apparent jibe at PTI Chairman Imran Khan, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said Wednesday institution’s apolitical stance has got “puppet” politicians worrying about their future. “The institution has accepted its mistake. But now, they [‘puppet politicians’] are worried that if the institution has become neutral, then what will become of their politics,” Bilawal told a charged crowd …

QUETTA, Nov 30(ABC): The death toll from the targeted suicide attack on a police truck in Quetta rose further as another child died during treatment hours after the bombing on Wednesday, taking the number of casualties to four. A suicide bomber targeted a truck transporting policemen for the security of polio workers during the ongoing drive, in Quetta’s Baleli area …

Nov 30(ABC): PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday felicitated Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir and Chairman Joint Chief of Army Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Sahir Shamshad Mirza on assuming charge of their office. Former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa handed over the command of the Pakistan Army to his successor Gen Munir in a change of command ceremony on …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 30(ABC): The power tariff for K-Electric (KE) consumers has eased by 2.15/unit for October under the fuel cost adjustment (FCA); however, it will not apply to lifeline consumers, users of under 300 units, and vehicle charging stations. The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) notified the change in FCA Wednesday after a public hearing to study KE’s proposed reduction. The …

Nov 30(ABC): Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar on Wednesday took charge of as law minister on Wednesday. The PML-N senator has assumed the responsibility as law minister at the request of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, after stepping down from the post last month citing “personal reasons”. The federal government appointed Sardar Ayaz Sadiq in Tarar’s place, handing him an additional portfolio apart from economic …

WASHINGTON, Nov 30(ABC): Washington has said that it has no objections to Pakistan importing Russian crude oil, saying the US does not currently have sanctions in place against Russian energy exports to other countries. “We recognise the pressure that governments are facing to secure affordable fuel supplies,” the department said, adding, “We have been very clear that each country will …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 30(ABC): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Tuesday heaped praise on the newly elected Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir. During the telephonic conversation with the new COAS, Prime Minister Shehbaz expressed his best wishes for Asim Munir and said, “It is a blessing from Allah Almighty to have a chief like you”. The Prime Minister added that he …

ISLAMABAD, Nov 30(ABC): The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday approved the closure of investigations in two cases against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, following amendments to the NAB Act. The NAB Executive Board’s recommendations stated that despite a three-year investigation, no evidence of corruption was found, after which NAB Chairman Aftab Sultan approved the closure of the probe. The NAB …

LAHORE , Nov 30(ABC): akistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President and former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said that economic woes threaten national security. A high-level delegation from Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) under the leadership of Chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas visited former Prime Minister Imran Khan. During the meeting, the political situation, cooperation between the two parties and matters of …

Nov 30(ABC): Twitter Inc has rolled back a policy that was aimed at tackling misinformation related to COVID-19 on the social media platform, lending itself to the risk of a potential surge in false claims even as cases rise in China and some parts of the world. The move also comes amid concerns of Twitter’s ability to fight misinformation after it let …

Nov 30(ABC): WhatsApp, the Meta-owned social messaging application, is rolling out a feature most users have been waiting for. Users will no longer have to form a group to send messages to themselves as WhatsApp is introducing its “Message Yourself” feature for its iOS and Android users. The feature was initially rolled out for beta testers, but will now be available for …

Nov 30(ABC): PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chauhdry Tuesday met US Ambassador Donald Blome at the US embassy in Islamabad, sources told. Both sides discussed the country’s prevailing political situation in detail in an hour-long meeting held between 3-4pm, the sources said. This was Fawad Chaudhry’s second meeting with the US diplomat this month. After the first meeting, the PTI …