WASHINGTON: White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday said talks have reached a tentative understanding to secure the release of prisoners held by Hamas in exchange for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza. Last week witnessed hectic diplomatic activity as multinational talks were held in Paris and Doha with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani planning to visit …

SHAMBHU: Farmers in East Punjab state demanding higher prices for their crops from the national government are relying on young students to ensure the agitation’s momentum does not fizzle out. Eighteen-year-old Simranjeet Singh Mathada is one of thousands of college students who have been waking up at 3am for almost two weeks to help cook meals at community kitchens, fill …

Trade ministers from around the world gathered in Abu Dhabi on Monday for a World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting that aims to set new global commerce rules, but its ambitious chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and delegates sought to curb expectations. The almost 30-year-old global watchdog, whose rules underpin 75 per cent of global commerce, tries to strike deals by consensus, but …

ISLAMABAD: Reaffir­ming Pakistan’s resolve to protect all children from the disability-causing poliovirus, the health ministry on Sunday launched the second nationwide polio vaccination campaign of the year. The campaign will formally start from today (Monday), aiming to vaccinate over 45.8 million children under the age of five. The campaign, starting from today, will end on March 3 in most of …

QUETTA: A coalition of four Baloch, Pashtoon and Hazara nationalist parties protesting the alleged vote rigging has announced plans to shift their ongoing protest in front of the Balochistan Assembly, where newly elected members are set to be sworn in on Wednesday (Feb 28). The four parties — the Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awa­mi Party (PkMAP), Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), National Party …

ISLAMABAD: With its founder Imran Khan in prison, the leadership role has become a conundrum for PTI, as it has taken a U-turn and once again nominated Barrister Gohar Ali Khan for the party’s top post. Mr Gohar was elected as PTI chairman after securing Mr Khan’s backing in the December 2023 intra-party elections, which led the party to being …

LAHORE: Timely action by police saved a teenage girl wearing a dress with Arabic calligraphy printed on it from attack by a charged mob, alleging she committed blasphemy, in the crowded Ichra Bazaar here on Sunday. The situation turned ugly after someone alleged that the girl’s dress was bearing Quranic verses. However, some shopkeepers defended the girl and sheltered her …

ISLAMABAD: Amid public outcry, the state-run Utility Stores Corporation (USC) has reduced the prices of about 40 essential items by up to 17 per cent with immediate effect to slightly lower than prices in the open retail market. This will be followed by price cuts ahead of Ramazan. Before this reduction, there was a negligible difference between the prices of …

LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has asked those seeking audit of the Feb 8 elections results to first apply this rule on the 2018 polls, and announced initiating a grand dialogue with all parties. Addressing a ceremony on Sunday, senior PML-N leader Saad Rafique said, “Those who allege that the Feb 8 elections have been rigged and desire an audit …

QUETTA: The leadership of future coalition partners in Balochistan, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) could not finalise the names of their candidates for the top slots of the leader of the house, speaker, and deputy speaker, with three days remaining for the first session of the Balochistan Assembly, which has been summoned on Wednesday. According …