Blaze News - Pakistan

Pakistan People's Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari spent Monday afternoon denying he was engaged to anyone named "Princess Gloria". The viral engagement reports originated from online claims asserting that he was set to marry into a prominent Austrian royal family in Vienna later this year. Social media users speculated that President Asif Ali Zardari and other family members had personally travelled to Austria to finalise the arrangements and set a wedding date, linking the politician to Liechtenstein and Austrian lineage. Addressing the flurry of memes and viral chatter, Bilawal took to X (formerly Twitter) to set the record straight: ایک تو سوشل میڈیا نے میری بات پکی کروادی، منگنی اور شادی بھی کروادی ہے میں واضح کروں کہ ایسا کچھ نہیں ہوا ہے اور نہ ہی میں کسی پرنسز گلوریا کو جانتا ہوں سوشل میڈیا پر یہ تماشے حقیقی ایشوز پر سے توجہ ہٹانے کے لئے ہوتے ہیں۔ pic.twitter.com/zI6OljDC3r — Bilawal Bhutto Zardari (@BBhuttoZardari) August 31, 2026 Whereas X...

Germany retained the men's Hockey World Cup title on Sunday with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Spain, becoming the first team to win back-to-back titles on two separate occasions and claiming their fourth world crown. The Germans, who also lifted the trophy in 2002, 2006 and 2023, produced a disciplined defensive performance to withstand sustained pressure from Spain and preserve their unbeaten run to the title. Germany started the final with greater authority and looked the more dangerous side during a closely contested opening quarter. Spain, however, raised the tempo in the second period and began to create openings around the German circle. Borja Lacalle came closest to breaking the deadlock when he unleashed an angled reverse-stick effort midway through the quarter, but Germany goalkeeper Jean-Paul Danneberg reacted superbly to keep the shot out with his glove. Danneberg was called upon several more times before the interval, but the German defence held firm and the ...

The Green Caps’ run of humiliations abroad continued unabated as Pakistan suffered their ninth defeat in their last 10 matches overseas. The team surrendered by 194 runs on the fourth day of the second Test, while England secured their first Test series victory in two years. Saud Shakeel fought bravely and scored 97, but missed a golden opportunity to have his name written in the Lord’s Honours Board. Babar Azam once again failed with the bat, while Mohammad Rizwan continued his disappointing habit of throwing away his wicket irresponsibly. Injured Imam-ul-Haq once again did not come out to bat. Earlier, England were bowled out for 208 in their second innings, with Dan Lawrence scoring 54. Mohammad Abbas claimed five wickets, finishing with nine wickets in the match. Pakistan were set an extremely difficult target of 389 runs to win the second Test at Lord’s. Their chase got off to a disastrous start. Shan Masood and debutant Azan Awais could add only seven ru...

At least ​seven people died and 23 were missing after a ferry carrying around 270 passengers and crew capsized ‌off North Cyprus on Sunday, leaving survivors clinging to its overturned hull. The privately owned ferry left the port of Kyrenia at 12:30pm (0930 GMT) and immediately started taking on water for an unknown reason, authorities said. It was heading for the Turkish port of Tasucu in Mersin province ​in the eastern Mediterranean. The disaster occurred just off the coast of Kyrenia, a popular holiday resort for both ​locals and tourists. The ferry involved, a catamaran, was one of several shuttle sea services that ⁠link North Cyprus with Turkey daily. Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman said 237 people had been rescued alive, while seven people ​had died and 23 people were still being sought. “We have reached 237 people alive. However, we have also recovered seven ​people who lost their lives. We are deeply saddened by this,” Erhurman told CNN Turk in a...

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Saturday vowed to give exemplary punishment to those involved in the rape and murder of five-year-old Ayat Noor in Haripur and said the upcoming Child Protection Bill would be named after the victim, which would impose stricter punishments in such cases. According to the police, five-year-old Ayat Noor’s father reported her missing on August 10. A case was registered under Sections 361 (kidnapping from lawful guardianship) and 364-A (kidnapping or abducting a person under the age of fourteen) of the Pakistan Penal Code. The child’s body was recovered from an abandoned well, following the arrest of four suspects on August 25. “We will give the harshest punishment to the perpetrators, and I promise you we will name the Child Protection bill after Ayat Noor. It will impose even stricter punishments [related to child abuse],” the chief minister said during a press briefing alongside the family members of the s...

The federal government on Friday reduced the price of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) by 58 paisas and 17 paisas per litre, respectively, for the next three days, effective from August 29. According to a notification issued by the Petroleum Division, the price of petrol was fixed at Rs342.02 per litre, while HSD would cost Rs371.44 per litre from August 29 till August 31. The latest revision comes a day after the government reduced the prices of petrol and HSD by 50 paisas and 19 paisas per litre, respectively, for August 28. Read: Govt decreases petrol price by 50 paisas, high-speed diesel by 19 paisas for August 28 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 Eco...

As many as 540 foreigners from 31 countries are among the 667 tourists missing in Nepal after a catastrophic flood devastated the Himalayan nation and China's Tibet, tourism officials said on Thursday. The tally of foreigners missing in Tibet's Gyirong county was 260 out of a total of 558, state broadcaster CCTV said, but nationality details were not immediately available. Here are nations whose tourists are missing in Nepal: India: Neighbouring India had the highest number of missing people after the flood, with at least 288 unaccounted for in Nepal and another 200 stranded in China, its foreign ministry said on Thursday. China: Nearly 100 Chinese nationals were missing in Nepal in the area affected by a massive mudslide and flooding, China's foreign ministry said. Read More: How a glacier collapse may have caused Nepal-Tibet disaster United States: At least 65 US citizens are missing, the Nepal tourism board said. Malaysia: At least 55 nationals reported to Ma...

Security forces killed 11 terrorists in separate intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Balochistan, targeting suspected members of Fitna al-Khawarij and Fitna al-Hindustan, security sources said on Thursday. According to the sources, the operations, which were carried out in South Waziristan and Bannu in K-P and Khuzdar district in Balochistan, also resulted in the recovery of weapons and ammunition and the destruction of a terrorists’ hideout. The federal government last year officially designated all terrorist groups operating in Balochistan as Fitna al-Hindustan, accusing India of sponsoring a proxy war through these outfits. Fitna al-Khawarij is the state-designated term for the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. The high-tempo intelligence-driven operations were conducted as part of the ongoing Rad-ul-Fitna-3 campaign, which the military's media wing has described as a counterterrorism operation aimed at eliminating Indian proxies. ...

Oil prices fell on Thursday, extending a streak of losses, on expectations that talks between Iran and Qatar might open the Strait of Hormuz and reduce supply disruptions from the ​war in the Middle East. Brent crude futures were down 41 cents, or 0.5%, to $87.43 a barrel, in line for a fourth day of declines. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 37 cents, or 0.5%, to $81.86, in line for a fifth day of losses. Iran and Oman are working on finalising details of an agreement to control the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian source said on Wednesday, after ​Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the two countries had agreed how to share the waterway that connects major Gulf oil ​producers to markets and its revenues. The strait carried oil and natural gas shipments equal to about one-fifth ⁠of global consumption of the fuels before the US-Israeli war on Iran started on February 28. Since Iran worked to shut ​the waterway in response, oil flows have dropped to about on...

The United States designated Palestine Action on Wednesday as a terrorist group, as President ‌Donald Trump's administration seeks to crack down on left-wing groups in its counterterrorism efforts. The action comes after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month told officials from more than 60 countries that Washington would seek to refocus international counterterrorism efforts on what he ​called "far-left terror". The conference sparked Democratic concerns that the Trump administration is politicizing counterterrorism efforts and diverting ​resources from other extremist threats. Trump singled out the anti-fascist antifa movement on the campaign trail ⁠in 2024 and vowed to take action against left-wing groups he accuses of fomenting violence after the ​killing of conservative activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk last year. Economic tools "Far-left extremists, their fronts, and their enablers ​should be on notice: We will bring the full weight of o...

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...

The Pakistan-US ties have rarely been short of complications, but the latest diplomatic friction between the two sides is rooted in a subject that carries a heavy political charge: Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan's decision to summon the US Charge d'Affaires in Islamabad after US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor described Jammu and Kashmir as an "important part of India" is more than a diplomatic protest. It reflects Islamabad's concern that Washington may be sending mixed signals on an issue where Pakistan remains extremely sensitive to any perceived shift in the US position. Gor made the remarks on his maiden visit to Srinagar, where he met IIOJK Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. His visit came years after India's 2019 decision to revoke the region's special constitutional status and was closely watched in both Islamabad and New Delhi. The ambassador also spoke positively about the security situation and indicated that Washington could reassess its travel a...

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday condemned what it called the continued failure of authorities to conduct a CT Coronary Angiography on former prime minister and founder Imran Khan, demanding immediate and independent cardiac care for him at Shifa International Hospital. In a statement, Central Secretary Information, Sheikh Waqas Akram, said a government medical board had examined Imran on Aug 10 following complaints of heart palpitations and severe headaches. He said a cardiologist at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) had already recommended a CT Coronary Angiography on Aug 1 due to fluctuating blood pressure, restlessness and potential risks of cardiac complications, given Imran’s age and prolonged isolation. PRESS RELEASE PTI Demands Immediate and Independent Cardiac Care for Imran Khan Following Denied Diagnostic Tests ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Central Secretary Information Sheikh Waqas Akram has strongly condemned the continu...

The murder investigation into 28-year-old TikToker Shamsu Bibi, also known as Ayesha Gilamana, in Taxila took a dramatic turn on Saturday, with police alleging that her father, biological brother and close relatives were involved in the conspiracy to kill her. Police have arrested five suspects, including her father and brother, while the two alleged shooters are also in custody. Rawalpindi Operations SSP Malik Tariq Mehboob told a presser that preliminary investigations suggested Ayesha’s family disapproved of her TikTok and other social media activities, which had become a major source of conflict within the family. He said evidence gathered so far indicated that Ayesha had allegedly been killed in the name of honour and that her father, brother and other close relatives were allegedly involved in planning the murder. According to the SSP, an attempt was initially made to portray the killing as a blind murder and mislead the police by creating the impression that outsid...

Eight members of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) on Saturday strongly condemned “the government’s blatant, willful and deliberate violation” of a Supreme Court (SC) August 18 order concerning the medical examination of former prime minister Imran Khan. Three days ago, the SC ordered the government to transfer Imran to Shifa Inte­rn­ati­onal Hospital for examination and treatment by a multidisciplinary medical board. The government instead sent him to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for treatment, drawing the ire of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership and eventually leading to the filing of a contempt of court petition in the apex court today. A press release signed and released by the group under the Pakistan Bar Council Member letterhead said, “We, the undersigned, strongly condemn the blatant, willful and deliberate violation by the government and authorities of the order of the Supreme Court of Pakis...

The federal government on Friday increased the price of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs3.81 and Rs3.59 per litre, respectively, for the next three days. According to a notification issued by the Petroleum Division, the price of petrol has been fixed at Rs341.59 per litre, while HSD will cost Rs368.29 per litre from Aug 22 to Aug 24. The latest revision comes a day after the government increased the price of petrol and HSD by 27 paisas and Rs1.64, respectively, for August 21. Read: Govt increases petrol by 27 paisas, HSD by Rs1.64 for Aug 21 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 2024-25, petroleum products constitute one of the country...