Daily News Pakistan

US President Donald Trump said the United States could end its military attacks on Iran within two to three weeks, and ​Tehran did not have to make a deal as a prerequisite for the conflict to wind down. The remarks underscored the shifting and at times contradictory statements from Washington about how the ‌war, now in its fifth week, might end. “We’ll be leaving very soon,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday, saying the exit could take place “within two weeks, maybe two weeks, maybe three.” Asked if successful diplomacy with Iran was a prerequisite for the US to conclude what it has dubbed “Operation Epic Fury”, Trump said it was not. “Iran doesn’t have to make a deal, no,” he said. “No, they don’t have to make a deal with me.” The White House later said Trump would address the nation “to provide an important update on Iran” ​at 9pm EDT on Wednesday (0100 GMT on Thursday). Washington previously threatened to intensify military operations if Tehran did not acce...

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has warned 18 major US companies, including tech giants, that their offices and properties in the region will come under attack as they have assisted US-Israeli terror operations inside Iran by providing espionage services. The IRGC said in a Tuesday statement that these companies should expect Iran's reprisal attacks starting at 20:00 Iran time on April 1, adding that their offices in the region will be “annihilated.” The list released by the IRGC included big tech names such as Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, as well as major hardware suppliers like HP, Intel, IBM, and Cisco. Other major brands included Tesla, Nvidia, Oracle, JP Morgan, and Boeing. The IRGC described those companies as espionage entities associated with the warmongering government of the United States, saying their artificial intelligence (AI) and internet communication technology (ICT) services have been the main elements in designing terror operations and tra...

NASA is preparing to launch the first crew of astronauts toward the moon in over 53 years with its second ​Artemis mission, a critical test flight in humanity’s broader lunar goals as the U.S. races to reassert leadership in space, faced with growing competition from China. Three U.S. and one Canadian astronaut ‌are due for liftoff aboard NASA’s Orion capsule and Space Launch System rocket on Wednesday for a 10-day test mission swinging around the moon and back, a winding journey taking them deeper into space than humans have ever gone before. The mission is the first crewed test flight in NASA’s Artemis program, the flagship U.S. effort to begin regular flights to the moon, at an estimated cost of at least $93 billion since 2012. Not since Apollo 17 in 1972 have humans touched down on the moon’s surface, a tricky ​feat NASA aims to repeat in 2028 at the rugged lunar south pole. The U.S. is the only country to have put humans on another celestial body with its six lunar landings ...

Russia on Monday kicked out a British diplomat over allegations he was working as a spy — charges rejected by London as "complete nonsense". Moscow and London have each expelled multiple embassy staff over the last decade, trading accusations of espionage. Expulsions from one side have typically been followed by a tit-for-tat response from the other. The diplomat, named as 29-year-old embassy secretary Albertus Gerhardus Janse Van Rensburg, was expelled for engaging in "subversive intelligence activities that threaten Russia's security", Russia's FSB security service said. "A decision was made to strip Janse Van Rensburg of his accreditation, and he was ordered to leave Russia within two weeks," it added. The Russian foreign ministry said it had summoned Britain's charge d'affaires over the incident and warned the United Kingdom not to retaliate. Britain accused Russia of waging an "aggressive and coordinated campaign of harass...

China’s popular DeepSeek artificial intelligence chatbot suffered its longest outage on Monday since ​the viral rise of its flagship R1 ‌and V3 models early last year. DeepSeek’s status website showed that the chatbot suffered a “major outage” lasting 7 ​hours and 13 minutes, from the early ​hours of Monday morning until 10:33 a.m. ⁠local time (0233 GMT), when the incident was ​marked as resolved. As per company protocol, no reason ​was given for the outage. Such incidents can be caused by a wide range of issues, from malfunctioning ​servers to bugs stemming from an update ​to the AI chatbot. DeepSeek data shows that its API ‌service, ⁠a function mostly used by developers to integrate the chatbot into custom applications, saw consecutive day-long outages in late January 2025, at the ​height of ​its viral ⁠moment. But its webpage, where ordinary users can ask the chatbot questions ​directly, had not experienced a major outage ​longer ⁠than two hours until Monday, according to the ...

Heavy users of artificial intelligence report being overwhelmed by trying to keep up with and on top of the technology designed to make their lives easier. Too many lines of code to analyze, armies of AI assistants to wrangle, and lengthy prompts to draft are among the laments by hard-core AI adopters. Consultants at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) have dubbed the phenomenon "AI brain fry," a state of mental exhaustion stemming "from the excessive use or supervision of artificial intelligence tools, pushed beyond our cognitive limits." The rise of AI agents that tend to computer tasks on demand has put users in the position of managing smart, fast digital workers rather than having to grind through jobs themselves. "It's a brand-new kind of cognitive load," said Ben Wigler, co-founder of the start-up LoveMind AI. "You have to really babysit these models." People experiencing AI burnout are not casually dabbling with the technology -- The...

US President Donald Trump has said that the US-Israel war against Iran has achieved regime change and a deal could be reached "soon" with Tehran. Iran launched strikes on Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, meanwhile after Iranian electrical facilities came under attack, cutting power to parts of Tehran and surrounding areas. As Israel continued to press its offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the UN Force in Lebanon said a peacekeeper had been killed on Sunday and another critically injured by a projectile that hit a UNIFIL position. UNIFIL said they did not know the origin of the projectile but were investigating. Trump, citing the number of Iranian leaders who have been killed in the month-long US-Israeli war against Iran, said regime change has already been achieved and the new leadership is "much more reasonable". "We've had regime change," he told reporters aboard Air Force One. "We're dealing with different people th...

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has announced targeting two industries connected to US military and aerospace sectors in a combined missile and drone operation. In a statement on Saturday, the Corps said the strikes were carried out jointly by its Aerospace Force and Navy in response to "the malicious actions of the US-Zionist enemy targeting the industrial infrastructure of our beloved country from the Persian Gulf's littoral states." The two targeted facilities were identified as the Emirates Aluminum (EMAL) plant and the Aluminum Bahrain (ALBA) plant. The statement highlighted their strategic significance, noting that EMAL houses the world’s longest aluminum production line with a capacity of 1.3 million tons, while ALBA operates with American investment and shareholding. The latter, it added, "plays a significant role in supplying the military-industrial production of the US terrorist army." Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA) says its key produc...

Ukraine and Saudi Arabia have signed an air defence agreement during President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the kingdom, which is facing Iranian drone attacks, two senior officials told AFP on Friday. Kyiv has sought to leverage its expertise in downing Russian drones to help Gulf nations, which are being attacked with the same kind of Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia fires on Ukraine. “The point of the agreement is that Ukraine will support them in developing all the necessary components of air defence, which they currently lack,” one official said of the document which, according to another was signed on Thursday. Both spoke to AFP on the condition of anonymity. Kyiv has been using a mix of cheap drone interceptors, electronic jamming tools and anti-aircraft guns to down Russian drones fired at its cities on a nightly basis for four years. It touts its anti-drone defences as the best in the world. Ukraine has proposed swapping its interceptors for vastly more expen...

The Iranian foreign minister has called on the United Nations to condemn the US and the Israeli regime for waging an illegal war on the Islamic Republic and hold the regimes accountable for their crimes. Abbas Araghchi made the remarks in a phone conversation on Thursday with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as the sides discussed the latest developments and the atrocities that the invading coalition is committing against Iran. Araghchi urged the UN to take serious action and adopt decisive and clear positions towards honoring its inherent duty to protect international peace and security by denouncing the aggressors and bringing them to account. Referring to the brutal US-Israeli attacks on civilian sites, including schools, hospitals, cultural and historical monuments, public places and residential areas, the top Iranian diplomat reminded the UN of its responsibility to pursue the flagrant violation of the UN Charter and international law, including human rights law and inte...

Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said that US soldiers have abandoned their bases in the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries since the very beginning of the war, seeking shelter in civilian hotels and offices while turning local populations into human shields. In a post on X on Thursday, Araghchi stated: “From outset of this war, U.S. soldiers fled military bases in GCC to hide in hotels and offices. They use GCC citizens as human shield.” Araghchi drew a comparison to practices inside the United States, noting that American hotels routinely deny bookings to military officers whose presence could endanger civilian guests. “Hotels in U.S. deny bookings to officers who may endanger customers. GCC hotels should do same,” the top Iranian diplomat urged. Despite Washington’s aggressive posturing and a war of aggression on Iranian territory that began on February 28 — which targeted civilian sites including schools, hospitals, and sports facilities — American...

Indian External Minister for Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar came under heavy criticism from politicians for issuing spiteful remarks about Pakistan over the latter's mediation role in the ongoing US-Israel war against Iran. During an all-party meeting in India, Jaishankar said that India does not view itself as a "dalaal" (broker) like Pakistan, dismissing Pakistan’s efforts as a mediator between Iran and the US, The News reported on Thursday. "There is nothing new in Pakistan’s mediation efforts, as that country has been ‘used’ by the US since 1981,” Jaishankar said during the all-party meeting convened by the government to discuss the ongoing West Asia crisis. The development comes days after reports suggested that Pakistan is positioning itself as a key mediator to help broker an end to the US-Israel war against Iran through active back-channel diplomacy. According to international media reports, Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces Fiel...

Pakistan and China have decided to enhance cooperation in artificial intelligence. In this regard, Higher Education Commission (HEC) scholarships will be linked to artificial intelligence and advanced technology. Pakistani youth will be provided training opportunities in robotics, space technology and Industry 4.0. Youth will be equipped with advanced skills of the future under China-Pakistan Strategic Human Resource Program. In this regard, a high-level meeting of Federal Planning Ministry was held. The HEC tasked with strengthening economy through advanced knowledge in meeting.

A Los Angeles jury found Alphabet's Google and Meta liable for $3m in damages on Wednesday in a landmark social media addiction lawsuit that will influence thousands of similar cases against the tech companies. Punitive damages for the companies will be decided next. The jury may consider whether Google or Meta's products caused the plaintiff physical harm or whether the companies disregarded the health of other users, Judge Carolyn Kuhl said in court. The case involves a 20-year-old woman who said she became addicted to Google's YouTube and Meta's Instagram at a young age because of their attention-grabbing design. The jury found Google and Meta were negligent in the design of both apps and failed to warn about their dangers. "Today’s verdict is a referendum — from a jury, to an entire industry — that accountability has arrived," the plaintiff's lead counsel said in a statement. Shares of Meta were up 1% and Alphabet shares were up 0.2%, little cha...

Iranian Army’s Navy has said that the movements of the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group are being closely and constantly monitored and will be targeted if it comes within the range of Iranian missiles. Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, the commander of the Iranian Navy, warned that should the hostile carrier group enter the range of Iranian missile systems, it would be targeted with crushing strikes. "Like Mount Dena, we stand firm for the dignity and glory of Iran and Iranians, to be a hope for the oppressed and a thorn in the eyes of enemies," he said in remarks on Wednesday. USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) is the fifth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier in the US Navy. Rear Admiral Irani honored the memory of the martyrs of the destroyer Dena and outlined the Navy's posture in the strategic waters of the Persian Gulf. "The Navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with resolute will and the absolute maritime dominance of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Persian Gulf, int...

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has announced carrying out the 80th wave of its decisive retaliatory Operation True Promise 4, this time striking strategic points and military centers on the occupied territories' northern side, besides pummeling American outposts across the region. In a statement on Wednesday, the IRGC said the latest phase was staged by the Corps' Aerospace Force in support of the "proud offensives," carried out by Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance movement against Israeli targets, and the residents of southern Lebanon, who have been bearing the brunt of Israeli aggression. "Strategic points and military centers located in the northern occupied territories were smashed under the heavy and sustained missile attacks of the IRGC's Aerospace Force," the statement read. The IRGC said the military command of the Zionist army in the northern city of Safed, responsible for coordinating attacks and defenses along the territories...

A New Mexico jury on Tuesday found Meta Platforms violated state law in a lawsuit brought by the state attorney general, who accused the company ​of misleading users about the safety of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp and of enabling child sexual exploitation on those platforms. After deliberating for less than a day, the jury found that Meta violated New Mexico’s ‌consumer protection law and ordered the company to pay $375 million in civil penalties. The verdict marks the first time a jury has ruled on such claims against Meta, as the company faces a wave of lawsuits over how its platforms affect young people’s mental health. “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and will appeal,“ a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. “We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and are clear about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors or harmful content.” In a statement, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, a ​Democrat, called the verdict “a historic victory ...

Veteran military commander and strategist Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr has been officially appointed as the new Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC). Seyyed Mehdi Tabatabai, the Deputy for Communications and Information at the Iranian President's Office, announced it in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday. Zolqadr has been appointed to the top security chair by a direct presidential decree and with the endorsement of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei. He replaces Ali Larijani, who was assassinated in the Israeli-American terrorist strike last week. Larijani had served in the position since August 2025. The appointment of Zolqadr, a veteran commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and former senior security official, comes as the war imposed on Iran enters the fifth week. According to insiders, he brings decades of experience across Iran's military, security, and judicial institutions to the post at a...

In a fresh wave of retaliatory strikes, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) targeted the Israeli regime’s “secure” intelligence facilities in Tel Aviv. The IRGC’s Public Relations Department said in a statement on Tuesday that it had carried out the 79th wave of its ongoing retaliatory Operation True Promise 4 against the Israeli and American targets. Deploying powerful Kheybar Shekan, Emad, and Sejjil missiles alongside IRGC Aerospace Force kamikaze drones, the operation successfully breached the regime's multi-layered air defense systems, the statement said. The missiles, it stated, targeted Israel’s intelligence facilities in northern and central Tel Aviv, as well as military commercial and support centers in Ramat Gan and the Negev. The missiles also hit Israel’s southern military logistics and command headquarters in Beersheba. The missile strikes triggered widespread panic across Israel and forced the suspension of a Knesset (parliament) session on Tuesday. ...

The UN secretary-general has affirmed Iran's undeniable right to self-defense against foreign aggression, amid the latest unprovoked US-Israeli aggression against the Islamic Republic. Antonio Guterres made the remarks during a telephone conversation with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday. The UN chief stressed the need to prevent the escalation of tensions and to reduce their humanitarian and security consequences in the region. The comments came more than three weeks into the unlawful attacks that have targeted Iran's military and civilian infrastructures alike, leading to the martyrdom of numerous people, including the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and senior commanders as well as hundreds of women and children. According to Iran's Red Crescent Society, the atrocities have damaged more than 70,000 civilian targets such as residential areas, business centers, schools, and vital infrastructures. The Islamic Republic has retal...

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei has issued a message on the occasion of the Persian calendar New Year. In a message on Friday, Ayatollah Khamenei congratulated both the Eid of Nowruz and Eid al-Fitr, which have coincided this year, to the Iranian nation and to the Muslims worldwide. "It is also necessary to congratulate everyone regarding the remarkable victories of Islam’s fighters," he said, also expressing condolences to all the families and survivors of the honorable martyrs of the US-Israeli aggression, as well as those of the January foreign-backed unrests. Three wars in one year In the first section of the message, he provided an overview of the important events of the past year. "In the past year, our dear people have experienced three military and security wars," he said. "The first war was the June war, when the Zionist enemy, with the special help of the United States and in the midst of negotiations, martyr...

Chinese tech giant Xiaomi will invest at least $8.7 million in artificial intelligence over the next three years, its founder said as he stressed the "need" for all companies to adapt to a "new era". The company, one of the world's largest smartphone makers, has rapidly expanded since its launch in 2011 to produce electric vehicles, tablets and home appliances, and is now eyeing the AI market. "In the field of AI, our plan for the next three years is to invest at least 60 billion yuan," founder Lei Jun said late Thursday at the launch event for its latest SU7 EV model, without specifying what the investment would target. "There's no doubt that we are entering a new era," he said later that evening, adding that "individuals and companies all need to actively embrace this AI era." Xiaomi unveiled three new AI models earlier in the day, two of which had previously been tested anonymously on a third-party developer platform. ...

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says it has successfully hit a US Air Force F-35 stealth fighter jet in central Iran's airspace. According to a statement released by the IRGC on its official news website on Thursday, the jet was struck at 2:50 a.m. local time by the IRGC’s advanced, modern air defense systems. "The fate of the fighter jet is unclear and under investigation, and the likelihood of its crash is very high," it said. The IRGC noted that the interception follows the successful downing of more than 125 US-Israeli drones by Iran’s defense systems, signaling significant and purposeful upgrades in the country’s integrated air defense network. Further details on the incident are still under investigation. CNN cited sources familiar with the incident as confirming that a US F-35 fighter jet made an emergency landing at a US airbase in West Asia after being struck by what is believed to have been Iranian fire. Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U...

Pakistan has moved a step closer to the launch of 5G services, with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) issuing licences to three telecom companies, paving the way for the rollout of next-generation mobile connectivity in the country. The licences were formally awarded during a ceremony held at the Prime Minister's House on Thursday, attended by Federal Minister for IT Shaza Fatima Khawaja, the PTA chairman, chief executives of telecom companies and members of the federal cabinet. Licences have been granted simultaneously to all three major telecom operators, enabling them to begin preparations for launching 5G services. PTA officials said the initial rollout is expected as early as Eid-ul-Fitr, with limited areas of Islamabad likely to experience high-speed connectivity during the festive period. The development marks a significant step in Pakistan’s digital transformation, as the government aims to enhance connectivity, support emerging technologies and improve o...

US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has identified Pakistan among countries posing a growing strategic concern, warning that Islamabad’s evolving long-range missile capabilities could potentially bring the American homeland within range. Presenting the 2026 Annual Threat Assessment before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Gabbard also named Iran, China, Russia, and North Korea as nations actively developing new missile delivery systems, including both nuclear and conventional warheads, which put the US within range. “The US secure nuclear deterrent continues to ensure safety in the homeland against strategic threats. However, Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and Pakistan have been researching and developing an array of novel, advanced, or traditional missile delivery systems with nuclear and conventional payloads that put our homeland within range,” Gabbard said. She noted that Pakistan’s ballistic missile development “potentially could include intercontinental bal...

X (formerly Twitter) has reportedly grappled with a severe outage today, affecting tens of thousands of users around the world. As per Downdetector, a web outage tracking site, Elon Musk's owned platform experienced a major outage, with more than 40,000 reports of issues as of 11:53 a.m. ET on March 18, 2026. The X outage hit during morning hours in the US, a high-traffic time for the platform. Users from all across the globe, including the United States and United Kingdom reported that their feeds weren't updating, while some are facing trouble logging in, and other issues as well. In the US, nearly 46% of users are unable to access the app, 30% reported feed/ timeline related issues, and the remaining 15% are unable to use the website. This major X outage marks the fourth outage this year, which is followed by three previous disruptions on January 13, January 16, and February 16, 2026, which caused problems for thousands of users worldwide. Notably, X has yet to offic...