Beijing on Saturday said it would allow primary and secondary schools to resume in-person classes and Shanghai’s top party boss declared victory over Covid after the city reported zero new local cases for the first time in two months. The two major cities were among several places in China that implemented curbs to stop the spread of the Omicron wave …

GWADAR: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged the people of Gwadar to ensure security of foreign investors who were making huge investment for the development of Balochistan. “China, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey, Qatar and other countries have been extending financial and diplomatic help and cooperation to Pakistan for 75 years and bailing the country out in difficult times. If …

PESHAWAR: Terming the ruling coalition in the centre a ‘mafia’, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Friday said the policies of the ‘imported’ government were creating hurdles to the launching of hydel power projects in the province. “Until this mafia is in power [in the centre], no one will be able to promote clean and green energy in KP,” …

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah’s indictment in a drugs case was delayed on Saturday as he failed to appear before a special court for the control of narcotic substances in Lahore, owing to the ongoing budget session in Islamabad. The court has now summoned him on July 23. Sanaullah was arrested in the case in July 2019 under the previous government by the …

A Karachi court on Saturday instructed the provincial health secretary to constitute a medical board to determine the age of Dua Zehra — the girl who went missing from Karachi in April and was recovered from Punjab earlier this month. Dua has in previous court hearings said she is 18 years of age, and a medical test ordered by the Sindh High …

The Islamabad High Court has directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to facilitate the family of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving a jail sentence in an American prison, in getting a US visa so that they could visit her. Aafia — a US citizen of Pakistani origin — was convicted by a US court in 2010 on charges of …

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has drawn criticism from the PTI over his suggestion that the army appoints its own chief, with Fawad Chaudhry calling him a “danger to Pakistan” and demanding the election of a new government that could make important appointments. Asif made the suggestion in a Neo TV programme, Bolo Talat Hussain Kay Saath on Thursday, when he was responding to a …

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said Pakistan’s economic future was linked to the success of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with Gwadar port as its “main component” and to achieve that end, the role of the Pakistan Navy was key. At the passing out parade of the 117th Midshipman and 25th Short Service Commission course at Pakistan Naval Academy …

Pakistan on Saturday strongly rejected and opposed the Indian government’s reported plan to hold a G20 summit — an influential gathering that brings together the world’s major economies — in India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJK) next year. According to a report published in The Indian Express on Friday, India has decided to host the meetings of G20 in the disputed region next year and …

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Saturday promised that the government was working on bringing restaurants, builders and real estate brokers into the tax net “with consultation” within the next few months. In response to a tweet over letting small traders and retailers go with a fixed monthly tax, Ismail said that he could only “fight so many battles”. “We are …