Blaze News - Pakistan

Gaza Peace Board’s high representative, Nikolay Mladenov, said on Wednesday that Hamas and other armed factions in Gaza agreed for the first time to surrender their weapons and transfer full civilian and security authority to a UN-recognised transitional administration. Mladenov made the remarks at a UN Security Council briefing on the implementation of the US-backed Gaza peace plan, according to statements made by the board on X. “For the first time, Hamas and the armed factions in Gaza have agreed to hand over their weapons and to transfer full governing authority, civilian and security, to a transitional administration recognised by the United Nations,” he said. Mladenov claimed the move would “dramatically improve life in a sustainable way for Palestinians in Gaza; to provide durable security for Israelis”. Read: Trump announces deal to disarm Hamas The Board of Peace unveiled a 15-point roadmap in late July calling fo...

A constitutional bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) issued a written order on Tuesday in a petition seeking the formation of a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the disappearance and death of Mir Raza Ali. Ali, owner of dessert brand Wafflix, went missing on July 28 and his body was found in Gulistan-e-Jauhar the following day. Police initially described the death as suicide, but a subsequent post-mortem examination indicated that he had been murdered. The development came a day after the Sindh Home Department notified the formation of a judicial commission to probe the death of the 25-year-old. Justice Umar Sial was appointed its head following his nomination by the chief justice of the SHC. In its order, the constitutional bench raised several questions, including whether it could directly order the formation of a JIT and whether it had the authority to interfere in, alter or supervise an investigation and the submission of its report. Read: Judicial commission formed...

The death toll from a firing incident targeting labourers in the Saranan area of Balochistan's Pishin rose to six after an injured worker succumbed to his wounds on Tuesday, police said. According to police, five labourers were killed and another injured when armed men opened fire on them in Saranan a day earlier. The injured worker was taken to hospital for treatment but later died, bringing the total number of fatalities to six. The bodies were sent to Fort Munro, where they will be handed over to the relevant district administration in Punjab. In a separate incident in Chagai district, armed men intercepted a vehicle at the Barta Gizi area and abducted five people travelling in it, police said. The attackers later shot dead two of the abducted men and took the remaining three to an undisclosed location. Police reached the scene after receiving information about the incident and moved the bodies to a hospital. Read More: 13 killed in Balochistan accidents, shootings...

The global artificial intelligence (AI) economy is generating more than $175 billion in revenue annually, with the generative AI sector alone recording around $110 billion in sales over the past 12 months. The global AI market is currently valued at more than $610 billion, while private and corporate investment in the sector soared to $252.3 billion, driven primarily by massive capital spending by tech giants. The AI sector is likely to expand rapidly in the coming years, with Statista projecting the global AI market to reach $1.42 trillion by 2032, while the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates that it could surge to $4.8 trillion by 2033. As the AI economy rapidly develops, the more relevant unit is increasingly the token — the tiny fragment of text or data that AI models process to generate answers, predictions and decisions. As governments, businesses and individuals increasingly rely on AI services, countries are beginning to face a basic question: what does it ...

The federal government on Monday increased the price of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) by 39 paisas and Rs2.40 per litre, respectively, for August 25. According to a notification issued by the Petroleum Division, the price of petrol has been fixed at Rs341.98 per litre, while HSD will cost Rs370.69 per litre for Tuesday. The latest revision comes three days after last week’s increase, when the government increased the price of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs3.81 and Rs3.59 per litre, respectively, for the next three days. Read: Govt hikes petrol by Rs3.81, HSD by Rs3.59 till August 24 Last month, the government announced a new pricing mechanism under which petroleum product prices would be reviewed and notified on a daily basis, replacing the weekly pricing mechanism, as renewed tensions between the United States and Iran continued to drive volatility in global oil markets and raise concerns over fuel supplies. According to the Pakistan Economic Survey ...

PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said on Monday that Form-47 assemblies lacked the legitimacy to change the country’s structure or alter the system of government. “We have to sit with everyone and move forward with everyone. The Form-47 assemblies do not have the legitimacy to change the structure of the country or alter the system of government. If there is agreement on our principled position on this, then we can move forward together,” said Raja while speaking to a private television programme, Capital Talk. Raja said his party was ready to work on principled grounds with all political parties, including the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F). He invited them to join its Sept 27 protest to strengthen the democratic and federal system. He said his party’s meeting with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman at his residence had resulted in an agreement on matters of principle. “There was agreement on matters of principle. In the current situation...