Daily News Pakistan

European Union High Representative on Foreign Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas will visit Islamabad on June 1 for bilateral engagements and the eighth round of the EU-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue, the EU said in a statement. The eighth EU-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue will be co-chaired by Kallas and Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. The dialogue is expected to review cooperation across a range of areas and discuss the future direction of ties between Pakistan and the European Union. According to the EU, the meeting will provide an opportunity for both sides to assess bilateral relations under the Strategic Engagement Plan, a framework signed in June 2019 aimed at strengthening cooperation in political, economic, security and development fields. The Strategic Dialogue is regarded as the highest-level platform for engagement between the EU and Pakistan, allowing both sides to exchange views on regional and international developme...

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday said that a "true friendship" was growing between his country and Pakistan, hailing Islamabad's efforts to bring a permanent end to the Middle East conflict. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Hegseth heaped praise on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir for their crucial role in Washington's peace negotiations with Tehran, Bloomberg reported. "Pakistan is a true friend of the US," he said, adding that PM Shehbaz and Field Marshal Munir were playing an "outstanding" role in the ongoing peace negotiations. The US defence secretary was referring to Islamabad's ongoing efforts to bring Tehran and Washington back to the table to revive peace talks following six weeks of war. Meanwhile, a peace deal remains elusive as a White House official told AFP that President Donald Trump will only make a peace deal with Iran if it meets all...

Australian researchers have trained lab-grown brain cells on a silicon computer chip to play the nineties shooter game "Doom" and say they are just scratching the surface of what the neurons could be capable of doing. It's the science-fiction work of biotech boffins at Cortical Labs, who researched and developed the technology that harnesses the workings of the brain's networking system. Each so-called "biological computer" contains around 200,000 living human brain cells, grown from stem cells that were harvested from blood donations. Having mastered the simple computer game "Pong", where a paddle is moved up and down to send a ball across a screen, the brain cells have moved on to bigger things. Initially, the neurons were at the "level of a beginner who's never played a video game before," Alon Loeffler, Cortical Labs' senior application scientist, told AFP. "Doom" involves a chaotic 3D game-world where the user ...

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said on Tuesday that regional countries would no longer be shields for US bases, in a written statement carried by state television. "What is certain in this regard is that the hands of time will not turn backwards, and the nations and lands of the region will no longer serve as shields for American bases," said Khamenei, in a Hajj message. He said the United States, "in addition to no longer having any safe haven in the region for aggression and the establishment of military bases, is moving further and further away from its former position with each passing day". The remarks come as Iran and the United States continue exchanges aimed at reaching a deal to end the war, which began on February 28 and spread across the region. A fragile ceasefire has been in place since April 8. Iran's foreign ministry has said Tehran and Washington reached understandings on many issues in exchanges over a deal for ending ...

Muslims were urged to remain patient during hardships and strengthen their devotion to Allah during the Hajj sermon delivered at Namirah Mosque in Arafat on Tuesday. Sheikh Ali Al Hudaify delivered the Hajj Khutbah before millions of pilgrims gathered in the plains of Arafat. Following the sermon, pilgrims offered combined and shortened Zuhr and Asr prayers. Addressing the congregation, Sheikh Al Hudaify called on Muslims to adopt piety and fulfil their commitments. “O people, fear Allah, for by it the servant attains salvation in his Hereafter,” he said during the sermon. He stressed that true preparation for the Hereafter lies in monotheism and sincere worship. “The greatest preparation for the Hereafter is through monotheism and the worship of Allah alone, and abandoning the supplication to anyone other than Him,” he said. The imam also reminded worshippers that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was the final messenger of Allah and urged Muslims to adhere to truthfulness while avoiding fa...

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday appreciated Pakistan's constructive role in efforts to mediate peace in the Middle East as he interacted with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who is on a four-day visit to China, Reuters reported quoting a pool report. During the meeting, Xi said China and Pakistan had forged an "unbreakable traditional friendship" and stressed that Beijing prioritises its ties with Islamabad in neighbourhood diplomacy. He also referred to the PM Shehbaz as an "old friend", underscoring close bilateral relations between the two countries. President Xi conveyed good wishes to the people of Pakistan and welcomed Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Asim Munir on his visit to China, noting that he had recently returned from Iran. "Positive efforts and mediation measures for peace are commendable," he said, while appreciating Pakistan's constructive role in regional affairs. "Despite ...

President Masoud Pezeshkian has declared that Iran will not surrender to US pressures and excessive demands, saying the country’s negotiators will ensure the full restoration of the nation’s rights through the diplomatic process. Speaking at a meeting with members of the Chamber of Commerce on Monday, Pezeshkian noted that after failing on the military front, the enemy has now concentrated its efforts on economic warfare. “The Islamic Republic of Iran will not surrender to excessive pressures and demands under any circumstances,” he said. On February 28, the United States and Israel initiated an unprovoked war against Iran with the assassination of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and several high-ranking military commanders. In response, the Iranian Armed Forces carried out 100 waves of counterattacks over 40 days, targeting US and Israeli military assets, which resulted in significant damage. A Pakistani-mediated two-week ceasefire was brokered on A...

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are in Doha to hold talks with top Qatari officials amid diplomatic efforts to end the unprovoked US-Israeli war against Iran. The Iranian delegation, led by Qalibaf as the top negotiator in the talks with the US, arrived in the Qatari capital on Monday as part of an ongoing diplomatic process that began in recent weeks through Pakistan’s mediation efforts aimed at ending the imposed war and has continued since then, IRNA reported. According to the news agency, the Iranian team is scheduled to hold consultations with senior Qatari officials regarding certain aspects to put an end to the unlawful war of aggression. Meanwhile, Mehr news agency also reported that the delegation plans to meet Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Mutual issues and topics related to the end of the US-Israeli aggression and the removal of sanctions on Iran are on the agenda of the talks, it said. It added that G...

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ismail Baghaei said that Tehran’s current priority is to end the ongoing tensions and conflict through negotiations. Addressing a press conference today, he clarified that there are currently no plans to send an Iranian delegation to Pakistan, while noting that Iran remains in contact with countries cooperating on issues related to the Strait of Hormuz. Baghaei added that recent progress in negotiations has been made possible through the mediation efforts of Pakistan and other countries. Baghaei said that the management of the Strait of Hormuz falls within the jurisdiction of coastal states, adding that Iran will ensure the protection of ships passing through the waterway and will respond to any act of aggression. He further stated that any proposed memorandum of understanding does not include detailed provisions on the management of the strait. He said that most points in the ongoing negotiations have been agreed upon, but stressed that this does...

US President Donald Trump wrote on Saturday that a memorandum of understanding on a peace deal with Iran is "largely negotiated," as both countries and mediators in Pakistan reported progress. Trump posted on social media that the emerging agreement would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the vital shipping passage whose closure upended global energy markets after the conflict started in February when the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran. Trump did not say what else would be included in an agreement. "Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly," Trump said. Iran's Fars news agency reported early on Sunday that the agreement would allow Iran to manage the Strait of Hormuz. It said Trump's assertion that an agreement was nearly final was "inconsistent with reality." Iran had said earlier on Saturday that it was working toward a memorandum of understanding laying out an approach to ending th...

Iran's ambassador to Pakistan says a positive step concerning Islamabad-mediated talks between the Islamic Republic and the United States is possible if the other side displays sufficient commitment. "With cautious optimism, we can hope that, upon realization of such commitment on the part of the opposite party, a positive step is taking shape," Reza Amiri Moghaddam said on Saturday. He said the positions of the Islamic Republic, based on dignity, the steadfastness of its brave Armed Forces, and the resistance of the brave Iranian nation, as well as the initiative and selfless efforts of the Pakistani mediator, are to be credited with this potential step. The envoy made the remarks after being informed by Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi of the developments that took place during the latter's earlier trip to the Iranian capital Tehran as part of Islamabad's mediation efforts. "I hope that the sincere efforts" invested by the Pakistani govern...

Iran and the United States have edged closer to finalizing a 14-point memorandum to end the imposed war, halt American maritime aggression, and secure the release of Iran’s blocked assets, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman says. Speaking in a televised interview on Saturday, Baghaei elaborated on a day-long visit by a Pakistani delegation, led by Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, to Tehran, hailing Islamabad’s “important” mediating role in talks between Iran and the US in recent weeks. “We are now in the finalization stage of this memorandum of understanding. The topics being discussed at this stage focus broadly on ending the war, halting the US naval aggression - what they themselves have labeled a 'naval blockade'-, and issues related to the release of Iran's blocked assets,” he said. He added that the purpose of the Pakistani delegation’s visit was to continue the exchange of messages between Tehran and Washington. He emphasized that Iran's focus at this...

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has taken a strong and principled stance against the illegal joint military aggression by the United States and the Israeli regime on the Islamic Republic of Iran, describing the conflict as a “truly avoidable, unnecessary war.” Steinmeier on Thursday highlighted how the unilateral destruction by the Trump administration of the 2015 nuclear agreement paved the way for the current escalation and instability in the West Asian region. According to German media, Steinmeier made the remarks during a major address to German diplomats and at an event marking the 75th anniversary of the German Foreign Office. He directly addressed the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), stating it would have been better if that agreement had been preserved, and emphasized: “If the 2015 agreement with Iran had been preserved, it would have been possible to prevent the consequences we are currently witnessing.” Steinmeier, who was personally involved in n...

Iran has lashed out at German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier for downplaying the unlawful attacks by the United States and the Israeli regime against the Islamic Republic as merely an “unnecessary war”, saying they were a “blatant” act of aggression against a sovereign state. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei made the comment in a post on his X account on Friday after the German president on Thursday described the illegal joint military aggression by the US and Israel on Iran as a “truly avoidable, unnecessary war.” “The American-Israeli attack on Iran cannot be downplayed or reframed as merely an ‘unnecessary war.’ It was a flagrant violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter — a blatant act of aggression against a sovereign State,” Baghaei said. He added that the US-Israel imposed war on Iran “could and should have been avoided”. “The UN Charter does not recognize any notion of a ‘necessary war’ that would grant States the right to use force against another so...

Iran's Supreme Leader has issued a directive that the country's near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad, two senior Iranian sources said, hardening Tehran's stance on one of the main US demands at peace talks. Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei's order could further frustrate US President Donald Trump and complicate talks on ending the US-Israeli war on Iran. Israeli officials have told Reuters that Trump has assured Israel that Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, needed to make an atomic weapon, will be sent out of Iran and that any peace deal must include a clause on this. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will not consider the war over until enriched uranium is removed from Iran, Tehran ends its support for proxy militias, and its ballistic missile capabilities are eliminated. "The Supreme Leader’s directive, and the consensus within the establishment, is that the stockpile of enriched uranium should not leave the countr...

President Xi Jinping hailed China and Russia's "unyielding" ties in talks with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, as the pair met to underscore their alliance days after Donald Trump's visit to the Asian superpower economy. After the US president was received with pomp last week but left without major breakthroughs, including on help with reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Putin's visit will be scrutinised for tangible takeaways. Putin is, however, weakened by years of Russia's war on Ukraine, as sanctions by Western powers put the squeeze on energy revenues and increased Moscow's dependence on China, the main buyer of Russian oil. The US war on Iran has however hampered crude and gas flows, giving an opportunity to Putin to offer Russian energy sources as an alternative. Analysts believe that Putin could use the visit to push for progress on the major "Power of Siberia 2" natural gas pipeline from Russia to China through Mongolia — a land alternative...

Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs has rejected any notion of surrender, saying the Islamic Republic is united and decisively ready to confront any military aggression. Kazem Gharibabadi was responding to recent statements from US President Donald Trump about a “temporary” halt to attacks on Iran to give diplomacy a chance. “The United States says it has ‘temporarily’ stopped the attacks on Iran to give negotiations a chance, but at the same time speaks of readiness for a massive offensive at any moment. This means calling ‘threat’ a ‘peace opportunity',” he said. “Iran stands united and decisively ready to confront any military aggression. For us, surrender has no meaning; either we win, or we become martyrs.” The Iranian diplomat invoked the words of Martyr Rajab Beigi: “We are a great nation, record our name in history; among all colors we have chosen red, and among all deaths we have chosen martyrdom.” On February 28, the United States and I...

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has urged fundamental reforms to the United Nations and international governance structures, noting that current systems have lost legitimacy and serve only the interests of a limited group of powers. Speaking Friday at the BRICS foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi, Araghchi said that the world is experiencing "a period of structural instability and a deep crisis of trust." "The structures governing the international order, designed in the post-World War II era, no longer have the capacity to respond to the realities of the 21st century," he told fellow foreign ministers. "The gap between emerging powers and traditional decision-making structures not only threatens global stability but has fueled widespread injustice in the distribution of power, wealth, and development opportunities." The Iranian foreign minister criticized what he described as multilateralism in name only. "What we witness today i...

US President Donald Trump departed China on Friday touting business deals that gave markets little to cheer, while Beijing warned Washington about mishandling Taiwan and said its war with Iran should never have started. Trump's visit to America's main strategic and economic rival, the first by a US president since his last trip in 2017, had aimed for tangible results to beef up his dented approval ratings ahead of crucial midterm elections. The summit was filled with pageantry, from grand receptions with goose-stepping soldiers to lavish banquets and private tours of a secret garden, while Trump repeatedly heaped praise on his host, commenting on his warmth and stature. "It's been an incredible visit. I think a lot of good has come of it," Trump told Xi at their final meeting at the Zhongnanhai complex, a former imperial garden housing the offices of Chinese leaders, before they dined on a menu of lobster balls and Kung Pao scallops. But just before Friday...

China's President Xi Jinping hailed on Thursday a "new positioning" of ties with the United States (US) that envisages cooperation with measured competition, following his summit with President Donald Trump. Trump's Beijing visit, the first by a US president in nearly a decade, runs until Friday, at a time when his Iran war is denting domestic approval ratings ahead of mid-term elections. Xi said both leaders agreed that building a "constructive, strategically stable relationship" would guide ties in the next three years and beyond, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement. Xi described such ties as based primarily on cooperation but with measured competition for "a normal stability in which differences are controllable, and a lasting stability in which peace can be expected", the ministry added. Analysts said the reference to "constructive strategic stability" showed China was following gradations in relations that yield a f...

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng started talks in South Korea on Wednesday to lay the groundwork ahead of this week's summit of the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies in Beijing. Bessent and He began the talks at Incheon airport after each met South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the presidential Blue House, Reuters witnesses said. The discussions are expected to cover a range of issues to prepare for talks in Beijing between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping that are set to run from Thursday to Friday. The talks between Bessent and He were likely to be exploratory with limited immediate outcomes, said Kim Tae-hwang, a professor of international trade at Myongji University in Seoul. "Both sides are essentially in a holding pattern ahead of the summit, sounding each other out, rather than seeking breakthroughs," he said. China's lead trade negotiator, Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang, a...

President Donald Trump landed in Beijing accompanied by an entourage that included Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Elon Musk on Wednesday after pledging to urge China's Xi Jinping to "open up" to US business at the start of their two-day summit. Trump embarks on the first visit by a US president to China in nearly a decade eager to snag some deals, maintain a fragile trade truce with the world's second economy, and prop up public approval ratings bruised by his war with Iran. The CEOs accompanying Trump are drawn mainly from companies seeking to resolve business issues with China, such as Nvidia, which has struggled to get regulatory permission to sell its powerful H200 artificial intelligence chips there. Trump asked Huang at the last minute to join the trip, said a source familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity, and he was spotted boarding Air Force One during a refuelling stop in Alaska en route to Beijing. "I will be asking President Xi...

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon, while praising Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir as “incredible people” amid progress in US-Iran peace talks. President Trump earlier in the day said that the Iran issue is “not urgent,” urging patience and caution in ongoing negotiations during a telephonic interview with American media. He said there was no need to rush into decisions or diplomatic steps, stressing that Washington should take its time in dealing with the matter. Trump also said the US has imposed restrictions aimed at cutting off Iran’s access to funds, adding that Tehran must not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons, which he warned it could potentially use. When asked whether Iran could be prevented from enriching uranium, Trump responded: “100 per cent, they are going to stop.” He further claimed that Iran would have to deal with nuclear contamination at damaged facilities, s...

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy has announced a major strategic expansion of Iran’s defensive perimeter in the Strait of Hormuz, warning that it will not allow any violation of the country’s territorial waters or national interests. Rear Admiral Mohammad Akbarzadeh, the political deputy of the IRGC Navy, said on Tuesday that Iran has fundamentally redefined the operational boundaries of the strategic waterway. “In the past, the Strait of Hormuz was defined as a limited area around islands such as Hormuz and Hengam, but today this has changed,” Akbarzadeh said. What Iran considers the scope of the strait has been expanded, stretching from the coasts of Jask and Sirik to beyond the Greater Tunb Island, redefined as a strategic zone, he explained. “In other words, the Strait of Hormuz has grown larger and has turned into a vast operational area,” Akbarzadeh said. “It has expanded from a width of 20 to 30 miles in the past to over 200 to 300 miles, that is, 500 kilomet...