15-05-2026 By SJA Jafri + Agencies KARACHI/ KABUL: On a rainy, cold morning Masooda makes her way to a hillside cemetery in north-west Kabul to visit the grave of her younger brother Mirwais but she doesn’t know exactly where he was buried after he was killed in a Pakistani airstrike …

14-05-2026 By SJA Jafri KARACHI: Farhat Qureshi had been cooking most of her life without watching the clock. Now, at 60, her mornings begin with one question; how much can she finish before the gas in her kitchen disappears once again? The cooking gas at her Karachi home comes in …

06-05-2026 By SJA Jafri + Agencies ISLAMABAD/ TEHRAN/ WASHINGTON: More than two months into a conflict that has failed to deliver a decisive military or diplomatic win, President Donald Trump faces the risk that a standoff with Iran will drag on indefinitely and leave an even bigger problem for the …

05-05-2026 By SJA Jafri ISLAMABAD/ KARACHI: The most serious fuel price shock to hit Pakistan in more than half a century threatens to unleash a flood of cascading crises that could batter all aspects of the economy and undermine the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Earlier this week, Sharif …

28-04-2026 By SJA Jafri KARACHI: At Karachi port, the largest in Pakistan, over 3,000 stranded containers hold cargo that was meant to be shipped to Iran. What’s in them is not known but the vessels that were supposed to collect them have not arrived and with tensions in the Strait …

22-04-2026 By SJA Jafri + Agencies WASHINGTON/ TEHRAN/ ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would indefinitely ​extend the ceasefire with Iran, hours before it was set to expire, to allow the two countries to continue peace talks ‌to end a war that has killed thousands of people …

20-04-2026 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies Warning: This story contains distressing content CANBERRA/ MELBOURNE: Beaming into a small Sydney courtroom on Friday via video link, Ben Roberts-Smith sat silently as he appeared on war crimes charges for the first time. The country’s most-decorated living soldier was earlier …

19-04-2026 By SJA Jafri ISLAMABAD/ TEHRAN/ WASHINGTON: Standing on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding his helicopter for Las Vegas on Thursday, United States President Donald Trump offered his most optimistic assessment yet of the war with Iran. “We’re very close to making a deal with Iran,” …

17-04-2026 By SJA Jafri + Agencies ISLAMABAD/ WASHINGTON: Talks to end the Iran war could resume in Pakistan over the next two days, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, after the collapse of weekend negotiations prompted Washington to impose a blockade on Iranian ports. Officials from Pakistan, Iran and …

14-04-2026 By SJA Jafri + Agencies ISLAMABAD/ RIYADH: Pakistan has deployed fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, its first visible military move under a mutual defence pact between the two countries, as it hosts ceasefire talks aimed at ending weeks of regional fighting between the US, Israel and Iran. The aircraft, …