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ISLAMABAD: Kashf Foundation has won UNDP Pakistan&rsquo;s Insurance Innovation Challenge, paving the way for the launch of a Shariah-compliant micro-pension product for low-income women entrepreneurs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, UNDP Pakistan said on Tuesday.&nbsp; The product, called Khushal Mustaqbil Takaful (KMT), is designed to address a major social protection gap in Pakistan&rsquo;s informal economy, where only around 10-12% of the labor force has pension coverage.&nbsp; According to UNDP, the scheme will offer flexible contribution options, emergency access to funds, and incidental insurance coverage for participants&rsquo; families.&nbsp; &ldquo;KMT will help low-income, women-led businesses in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by strengthening their ability to withstand economic and climate shocks,&rdquo; said Resident Representative, UNDP Pakistan, Samuel Rizk.&nbsp; The initiative will be implemented in partnership with Jubilee Life Insurance and will be launched across 10 districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In 2026, the program plans to reach 39,000 women through financial awareness sessions and enroll 15,000 women in the insurance policy.&nbsp; It will focus on long-term savings, family risk protection, and financial awareness for underserved women working in informal livelihoods.&nbsp; Lessons from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa rollout will be used to assess the model&rsquo;s scalability and possible expansion to other regions. UNDP said the program is being supported through its Insurance and Risk Finance Facility, which backs innovation challenges in 23 countries.&nbsp; This is the first time the agency has convened an innovation challenge in disaster risk finance and insurance in Pakistan.

Culture

Economy

The scheme will offer flexible contribution options, emergency access to funds, and incidental insurance coverage for participants’ families. 


Kashf Foundation wins UNDP Pakistan’s insurance innovation challenge

GILGIT: The harsh days of winter are over in Pakistan&#39;s high north and while snow still tops the towering peaks that dominate the landscape, spring has arrived in the foothills. But this year, visitors who have come to witness the region&#39;s cherry and apricot blossoms see it as the perfect tonic to the war in the Middle East and its knock-on effects. &quot;There&#39;s war going on all over the world right now. It&#39;s a petrol crisis, this and that, everything has become more expensive, everyone is in a depression,&quot; Hatib, 27, from Pakistan&#39;s biggest city, Karachi, told AFP. &quot;But to get out of depression, you need to step outside, go out somewhere for a bit, see places, explore, and relax the mind,&quot; he said. The blossoms that turn bare trees into a vibrant shade of pink carpet the thawing farmland of Gilgit-Baltistan from late March every year, marking renewal and the promise of fruit harvests to come for local people. &quot;The best part is when these flowers are falling. It literally feels like a dream,&quot; Hatib said. The region, home to about 1.7 million people, has some of the world&#39;s highest mountains, including K2, which soars to 8,611 meters (28,251 feet), the second-highest peak after Mount Everest. The jagged mountain ranges, high-altitude lakes and glaciers of Gilgit-Baltistan are a magnet for the daring and adventurous. But more sedate visitors can instead take selfies in the orchards of the flowering deep valleys, under a clear blue sky with only the chirrup of birdsong and the bleat of foraging goats to break the surrounding silence. &quot;No matter how much inflation there is in Pakistan today, no matter how much petrol prices are going up, tourists still don&#39;t want to miss the cherry blossom and apricot blossom season,&quot; said local visitor Maria Akbar, 29. &quot;Even if we have to spend extra money, it&#39;s not a problem, but we&#39;ll enjoy this view.&quot; &quot;Things like cherry blossom and apricot blossom are what make Gilgit-Baltistan unique compared to all other regions,&quot; added Junaid Ahmed, 31. &quot;Tourists from all over the world come to enjoy this season. As you can see around me how beautiful it is, the beautiful view of these cherry and apricot blossoms is right before your eyes.&quot;

A man with a child walks past apricot blossom trees at Ghanche district in Gilgit-Baltistan region on March 30, 2026. (Photo by Manzoor BALTI / AFP)

Climate & Environment

Tourists flock to northern Pakistan’s spring blossoms in Gilgit-Baltistan as a peaceful escape from global and economic pressures.

Pakistan's blossom season brings calm in a troubled world

ISLAMABAD: Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa has explained why he chose to play in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) instead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) this season.&nbsp;Speaking on the ARY podcast, Zampa said the money he would earn in the IPL no longer justifies the time the tournament demands.&nbsp;The 34-year-old went unsold in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/phones-stolen-at-ipl-match-leave-spectators-disappointed" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">IPL 2026</a>&nbsp;mini auction after being released by Sunrisers Hyderabad. He soon joined Karachi Kings in the PSL for $170,000, making an immediate impact by helping his team secure a win against Lahore Qalandars.&nbsp;&ldquo;To be brutally honest, for someone with my skill set, the money just isn&rsquo;t there compared to what&rsquo;s available for other skill sets. Considering the amount of time the IPL requires, it didn&rsquo;t seem reasonable to keep playing,&rdquo; Zampa said.&nbsp;He also revealed he had planned to take a break from league cricket before the PSL offer came about a month ago. &ldquo;It all happened pretty quickly, but I&rsquo;m enjoying it,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;Zampa praised Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi for his performance in their recent match. &ldquo;One player I really enjoy watching is Shaheen Afridi. He bowled really well and took four wickets. It always feels like something exciting is happening whenever he&rsquo;s bowling,&rdquo; Zampa said.&nbsp;So far, Zampa has played two matches for Karachi Kings, taking three wickets. He was named Player of the Match for his figures of 2 for 11 against Lahore Qalandars in a low-scoring game.&nbsp;Zampa&rsquo;s IPL career included stints with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Rajasthan Royals, and Rising Pune Supergiant, but he never secured a regular place. Across six IPL seasons, he earned $95,000 in total, far less than players like Cameron Green, who secured a $320,000 deal.&nbsp;Now, Zampa&rsquo;s move to the PSL appears rewarding both on the field and off, giving him consistent playing time and satisfaction.

Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa speaks after a match-winning performance in the PSL 11 match against Lahore Qalandars on Monday, March 30, 2026. 

Cricket

Zampa says the money he would earn in the IPL no longer justifies the time the tournament demands.

Australian leggie Adam Zampa explains why he chose PSL over IPL

LONDON: A 36-year-old man accused of driving a car into several people on a street in a central English city was due to appear in court on Wednesday. Sandhu Ponnachan was charged with six counts over the incident in Derby on Saturday night, police announced late Tuesday. Seven people were injured when a car struck pedestrians around 9:30 p.m. in the city&#39;s Friar Gate area, a popular nightlife spot. India-origin Ponnachan has been charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent, dangerous driving and possession of &quot;a bladed article,&quot; Derbyshire Constabulary said in a statement. Police have not suggested a possible motive. The injured were taken to hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries. Four have since been discharged, according to police. Ponnachan was due to appear at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates Court later on Wednesday. When the suspect was arrested, police said he was originally from India, but is a Derby resident who has lived in the UK &quot;for a number of years.&quot; UK police forces have started to release such details in some high-profile cases, after a 2024 Southport mass stabbing targeting children was initially falsely blamed on a supposed immigrant.

Police forensic officers work amongst a variety of personal items seen covering the road, inside a cordon set up on Friar Gate in central Derby, central England on March 29, 2026, following an incident the night before where a vehicle was driven into pede

United Kingdom

India-origin Sandhu Ponnachan was charged with six counts over the incident in Derby, police announced.

Suspect charged after car hit pedestrians in English city

ISLAMABAD: A mosque in India&rsquo;s Uttar Pradesh Sitapur district was demolished in a pre-dawn operation on March 30 over alleged encroachment, with rights group Hindutva Watch highlighting the incident on Wednesday. The demolished structure was identified in local reporting as the Syed Hazrat Umar Farooq mosque in Laharpur. Local authorities alleged that the structure stood on government land recorded as a pond and cemetery. District officials said the action followed legal procedure. According to local reports, the administration said notices had been issued and that the demolition was carried out under provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Revenue Code after a tehsil court order. The Sitapur case comes amid a series of similar actions involving Muslim religious structures in Uttar Pradesh. In Sambhal, another mosque was demolished in 2025 after authorities said it had been built on government pond land, with reports describing it as the second mosque demolition in the district within four months. A separate case in Uttarakhand drew national attention in February 2024. In Haldwani, authorities moved to demolish a mosque and seminary they said were built on government land, triggering unrest in which at least five people were killed, according to the Associated Press. Rights groups and opposition voices have said such demolitions reflect a broader pattern in which anti-encroachment drives and punitive demolitions disproportionately affect Muslims.&nbsp; Amnesty International described demolitions of Muslim properties in India as discriminatory and unlawful in a 2024 statement cited in international reporting. The issue has also reached India&rsquo;s Supreme Court. In November 2024, the court condemned arbitrary demolitions, laid down due-process safeguards, and responded to petitions arguing that such actions had disproportionately affected Muslim communities. The Sitapur demolition is likely to add to that debate. While authorities maintain the action was a land-recovery measure, critics say repeated demolitions of mosques and other Muslim properties are increasing scrutiny of how India&rsquo;s secular and constitutional commitments are being applied on the ground.

India

The demolition has renewed scrutiny of similar actions against Muslim religious structures in India, with rights groups and courts raising concerns over selective enforcement and due process.

Demolition of India’s Sitapur Mosque sparks wider concern over pattern

ISLAMABAD: Tensions have emerged between India and France after Paris reportedly refused to give New Delhi access to key source codes for the Dassault Rafale fighter jet. The move is seen as a major setback to India&rsquo;s goals for greater airpower independence. According to Defence Security Asia, the restriction applies to key systems, including the Thales RBE2 AESA radar that spots enemies, the Modular Data Processing Unit, which processes all the information and helps make decisions, and the SPECTRA electronic warfare suite components that form the technological backbone of the Rafale&rsquo;s combat capabilities.&nbsp; French authorities have classified these software systems as highly sensitive intellectual property, developed over decades and central to national defense interests. The move limits India&rsquo;s ability to independently upgrade or customize the aircraft, particularly when integrating indigenous weapons such as the Astra beyond-visual-range missile or other domestically developed systems.&nbsp; Without access to the underlying source codes, any modifications would require ongoing coordination and approval from French manufacturers, including Dassault Aviation and associated defense firms. The issue comes at a critical time, as India evaluates a potential acquisition of up to 114 additional Rafale jets under its Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft program.&nbsp; Valued at approximately $36 billion, the deal would rank among the largest fighter jet procurements globally. However, the lack of full technological transfer could complicate negotiations and influence India&rsquo;s final decision. Strategically, the development highlights India&rsquo;s ongoing challenge in balancing foreign procurement with its long-term goal of defense self-reliance. The Indian Air Force currently operates well below its sanctioned strength, intensifying the urgency to modernize its fleet while maintaining operational independence. The situation also revives memories of the earlier Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft deal, which collapsed due to disagreements over cost, liability, and technology transfer. Now, alternative offers, such as Russia&rsquo;s proposal for its fifth-generation fighter jet, the Sukhoi Su-57, with broader access to source code, may gain renewed attention in New Delhi&rsquo;s strategic calculations. As India weighs its options, the Rafale source code dispute underscores a broader reality in global defense partnerships: while hardware may be shared, control over software remains a decisive and often contested domain.

Dafault Rafale - (File Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Europe

The refusal limits India’s ability to independently upgrade and control its airpower systems.

France denies Rafale source code access to India

WASHINGTON: Anthropic accidentally released part of the internal source code for its AI-powered coding assistant, Claude Code, due to &quot;human error,&quot; the company said Tuesday. An internal-use file mistakenly included in a software update pointed to an archive containing nearly 2,000 files and 500,000 lines of code, which were quickly copied to the developer platform GitHub. &quot;Earlier today, a Claude Code release included some internal source code. No sensitive customer data or credentials were involved or exposed,&quot; an Anthropic spokesperson said. &quot;This was a release packaging issue caused by human error, not a security breach.&quot; A post on X sharing a link to the leaked code had more than 29 million views early on Wednesday. The exposed code related to the tool&#39;s internal architecture but does not contain confidential data from Claude, the underlying AI model by Anthropic. Claude Code&#39;s source code was partially known, as the tool had been reverse-engineered by independent developers. An earlier version of the assistant had its source code exposed in Feb&nbsp;2025.

Artificial Intelligence

The exposed code related to the tool's internal architecture but does not contain confidential data from Claude, the underlying AI model by Anthropic.

Anthropic releases part of AI tool source code in 'error'

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces killed 13 terrorists during two intelligence-based operations in the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military announced on Wednesday.&nbsp;According to a statement issued by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the operations were conducted on Monday, March 30, in Khyber and Bannu districts.&nbsp; In the first operation in Khyber&#39;s&nbsp;Bara area, 10 terrorists were killed after an intense exchange of fire. Three more terrorists were neutralized in a separate operation in Bannu, the statement added.&nbsp;Security forces have launched sanitization operations to clear the areas of any remaining terrorists.&nbsp;The military said the operations are part of an ongoing counter-terrorism campaign aimed at eliminating <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/operation-ghazab-lilhaq-435-killed-as-pakistan-strikes-afghan-targets" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">foreign-sponsored terrorism</a> from the country. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised security for the successful operations. &ldquo;Our security forces are like a solid wall against terrorism to protect the country.&rdquo;&nbsp;He said the government is determined to eliminate terrorism from the country.

A Pakistani soldier stands guard in a bunker at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Chaman on February 27, 2026, following overnight cross-border firing between the two countries. (Photo: AFP/File)

Security

According to the military's media wing, the operations were conducted in Khyber and Bannu districts.

13 terrorists killed in northwest Pakistan operations: Military

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump will watch the US Supreme Court hear a landmark case Wednesday weighing the constitutionality of his contentious bid to end birthright citizenship an extraordinary and possibly unprecedented move for the nation&#39;s highest office. Trump signed an executive order on his return to the White House decreeing that children born to parents in the United States illegally or on temporary visas would not automatically become US citizens. Lower courts blocked the move as unconstitutional, ruling that under the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment nearly everyone born on US soil is an American citizen. &quot;All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States,&quot; the amendment states. It does not apply to persons who are not subject to US jurisdiction foreign diplomats, for example, and sovereign Native American tribes. &quot;I&#39;m going,&quot; Trump told reporters Tuesday when asked about the Supreme Court hearing. He had attended the investiture ceremony of his first Supreme Court justice nominee, Neil Gorsuch, in 2017, months into Trump&#39;s first term. But it would be an exceptional milestone for a sitting president to be present for oral arguments in a case their administration is actively arguing. The Trump administration argues that the 14th Amendment, passed in the wake of the 1861-1865 Civil War, addresses the rights to citizenship of former slaves and not the children of undocumented migrants or temporary visitors. Trump&#39;s executive order is premised on the notion that anyone in the United States illegally, or on a visa, is not &quot;subject to the jurisdiction&quot; of the country and therefore excluded from automatic citizenship. The Supreme Court rejected such a narrow definition in an 1898 case involving a man named Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco in 1873 to parents who had come to the United States from China. After a visit to China, Wong Kim Ark was denied reentry into the United States in 1895 under the Chinese Exclusion Acts. The Supreme Court ruled, however, that he was a US citizen by virtue of being born in the United States. &#39;History and tradition&#39;&nbsp; Steven Schwinn, a law professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, said the court is likely to reject the challenge to birthright citizenship. &quot;This is a court that has looked to history and tradition as a significant guide in understanding the Constitution,&quot; Schwinn told AFP. &quot;And it would be a little surprising if, after 150 years, we suddenly discovered we were applying the Citizenship Clause all wrong.&quot; Conservatives have a 6-3 supermajority on the high court and three of the justices were appointed by Trump. Trump&#39;s solicitor general, John Sauer, said that in order to be eligible for citizenship &quot;a person must be both born &#39;in the United States&#39; and &#39;subject to the jurisdiction thereof.&#39;&quot; &quot;Children of temporarily present aliens or illegal aliens are not &#39;subject to&#39; the United States&#39; &#39;jurisdiction,&#39;&quot; Sauer said in a brief with the court. &quot;A person is subject to the United States&#39; &#39;jurisdiction&#39; only if he owes sufficient allegiance to, and may claim protection from, the United States.&quot; Automatic citizenship for children of undocumented migrants is a &quot;powerful incentive for illegal migration,&quot; Sauer said, claiming it encourages &quot;birth tourists.&quot; &#39;Dumb judges and justices&#39;&nbsp; If the Supreme Court does reject ending birthright citizenship, it would be the second major loss for Trump this term the justices struck down most of his global tariffs in February. Trump reacted furiously to that ruling and called birthright citizenship one of the &quot;great scams of our time&quot; on Tuesday, a day after he took to Truth Social to denounce &quot;dumb judges and justices.&quot; The American Civil Liberties Union, which is defending birthright citizenship before the court, said the Trump administration &quot;is asking for nothing less than a remaking of our Nation&#39;s constitutional foundations.&quot; &quot;The government&#39;s baseless arguments if accepted would cast a shadow over the citizenship of millions upon millions of Americans, going back generations.&quot; A decision in the case is expected by late June or early July.&nbsp;

Demonstrators holds up an anti-Trump sign outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on June 27, 2025.

Americas

Trump signed an executive order on his return to the White House decreeing that children born to parents in the United States illegally or on temporary visas would not automatically become US citizens.

Trump to watch Supreme Court weigh challenge to birthright citizenship 

KINSHASSA: Delirious football fans took to the soaked streets of the capital, Kinshasa and danced into the night in the rain after the Democratic Republic of Congo reached the World Cup for the first time in 52 years. Defender Axel Tuanzebe, who plays in the Premier League for Burnley, was the hero with the only goal in a 1-0 win over Jamaica after extra time in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico on Tuesday. The central African nation will face Portugal, Colombia and Uzbekistan in Group K at the finals in North America this summer. At the 1974 finals in West Germany, the team competed as Zaire and were beaten by Scotland, Yugoslavia and Brazil. &quot;We gave it our all, right here in the rain!&quot; shouted Beni Ile, a fan in Kinshasa whose shoulders were draped in a soaked DRC flag. &quot;We won&#39;t be working on Wednesday! It&#39;s going to be a national holiday. We&#39;re going to celebrate and party all night long. &quot;We&#39;ve been waiting 50 years for this. We&#39;re staying out until dawn.&quot; It was a scene replicated across the city of 17 million people, where the final whistle in Guadalajara was greeted by a cacophony of banging pots, car horns and whistles. The win completed a dramatic qualification campaign for the team nicknamed the Leopards, who eliminated African football giants Nigeria and Cameroon on their way to Tuesday&#39;s playoff. As early as the morning of the big match, many residents of the DRC capital were already sporting the sky-blue jersey of their beloved national side. By evening, several hundred fans had gathered in a square in the city centre in anticipation of watching the game. Even as the rain bucketed down, the conclusion of the match after 120 nervy minutes was met with an outpouring of national pride and relief. It was also a rare moment of national unity in a country scarred by 30 years of conflict and the resurgence of the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group. &quot;It&#39;s truly exceptional, we are very proud of the Leopards today for this feat,&quot; said Merou, who comes from Goma, a major city in eastern DRC that fell into M23 hands in January 2025. &quot;This victory will unify the Congo. &quot;We hope the whole country will benefit from it,&quot; he added, standing in the pouring rain. Another overjoyed supporter, Maclain, said: &quot;We deserve a moment of happiness, away from the gunfire. &quot;We need to come together too.&quot;

Richard King of Jamaica is challenged by Axel Tuanzebe of Congo DR during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Play-Off tournament final match between Congo DR v Jamaica at Estadio Guadalajara on March 31, 2026, in Zapopan, Mexico. (Photo: AFP)

Football

The central African nation will face Portugal, Colombia and Uzbekistan in Group K at the finals in North America this summer.