KYIV:&nbsp;Several powerful explosions rocked Kyiv on Saturday as authorities warned that the Ukrainian capital was under threat of missile attack. &quot;Explosions in the capital. Air defense forces are operating. Stay in shelters!&quot; Kyiv&#39;s mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram. Ukraine&#39;s air force also announced a countrywide air alert in the early hours of Saturday and said on social media that drones and missiles were moving over several Ukrainian regions, including the capital. AFP journalists in Kyiv heard several loud explosions, some accompanied by bright flashes that lit the horizon orange. The air alert comes as Ukraine&#39;s President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to meet President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday to discuss a proposed plan to end the fighting that has killed tens of thousands since 2022. Russia accused Zelensky and his EU backers on Friday of seeking to &quot;torpedo&quot; the US-brokered plan. The latest plan is a 20-point proposal that would freeze the war on its current front line but open the door for Ukraine to pull back troops from the east, where demilitarised buffer zones could be created, according to details revealed by Zelensky this week.

Europe

City mayor says air "defense forces are operating. Stay in shelters"; air force also announced countrywide air alert in the early hours of Saturday.




Powerful explosions heard in Ukraine's capital

LAGOS:&nbsp;Nigeria on Friday signalled that more strikes against fighter groups were expected after a Christmas Day attack by US forces that President Donald Trump said &quot;decimated&quot; Islamic State-linked camps they targeted in the northwest of the country. Nigeria insisted it was a joint operation, saying that it provided intelligence for Thursday&#39;s attack. The US military said the strikes killed multiple IS fighters. A Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the strikes &quot;were approved by the government of Nigeria,&quot; without saying whether Nigeria&#39;s military had been involved. Trump said in an interview published Friday that the strikes had been scheduled earlier than Thursday, &quot;And I said, &#39;nope, let&#39;s give a Christmas present.&#39; &quot;They didn&#39;t think that was coming, but we hit them hard. Every camp got decimated,&quot; he told Politico. Nigeria, located in West Africa, faces interlinked security crises, with fighter groups waging an insurgency in the northeast since 2009 and armed gangs raiding villages and staging kidnappings in the northwest. The strikes came after Abuja and Washington had been locked in a diplomatic dispute over what Trump has characterised as the mass killing of Christians amid Nigeria&#39;s myriad armed conflicts. Questions remain over which armed group was targeted, and details over the strikes have varied between Nigerian and US accounts. Washington&#39;s framing of the violence as amounting to Christian &quot;persecution&quot; is rejected by the Nigerian government and independent analysts, but has nonetheless resulted in increased security coordination. US defense officials posted a video of what appeared to be a nighttime missile launch from the deck of a battleship flying the US flag. &quot;It&#39;s Nigeria that provided the intelligence,&quot; the country&#39;s foreign minister, Yusuf Tuggar, told broadcaster Channels TV, saying he had been on the phone with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ahead of the strikes. Asked if there would be more strikes, Tuggar said: &quot;It is an ongoing thing,&quot; adding, &quot;it must be made clear that it is a joint operation, and it is not targeting any religion.&quot; Targets unclear&nbsp;Nigerian information minister Mohammed Idris said in a statement that the US strikes used 16 guided munitions launched from medium-altitude MQ-9 Reaper drones &quot;successfully neutralising&quot; IS elements attempting to penetrate Nigeria through the Sahel. Both countries said the strikes targeted militants linked to the Islamic State group, without providing details. The Department of Defense&#39;s US Africa Command said &quot;multiple ISIS terrorists&quot; were killed in an attack in the northwestern state of Sokoto. Residents in Sokoto told AFP they were shocked by the blasts, saying some strikes hit a town that was not a militant stronghold. Nigeria&#39;s armed groups are mostly concentrated in the northeast, but have made inroads into the northwest. Researchers have recently linked some members of an armed group known as Lakurawa &mdash; the main group located in Sokoto State &mdash; to Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), which is mostly active in neighbouring Niger and Mali. Other analysts have disputed those links. &quot;We initially thought it was (an) attack by Lakurawa,&quot; said Haruna Kallah, a resident of Jabo town. That the explosions were in fact the result of a US strike &quot;surprised us because this area has never been a Lakurawa enclave.&quot; Tukur Shehu, a resident of Tangaza, a neighboring district, said two strikes targeted villages known to house Lakurawa camps from where they launch attacks and keep hostages. Public opinion divided While public opinion on the strikes appeared split, the Nigerian government publicly welcomed them. &quot;I think Trump would not have accepted a &#39;No,&#39;&quot; said Malik Samuel, an Abuja-based researcher for Good Governance Africa, an NGO. Nigerian authorities are keen to be seen as cooperating with the US, Samuel told AFP, even though &quot;both the perpetrators and the victims in the northwest are overwhelmingly Muslim.&quot; Security analyst Brant Philip said the results of the strikes were &quot;not significant, but much is expected soon.&quot;

Africa

Details in official communications between Nigeria and the United States have at times differed, possibly due to Washington apparently backing out of issuing a joint statement with Abuja, according to Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar.



Nigeria signals more strikes likely in 'joint' US operations

AGADIR, Morocco: Mohamed Salah scored as 10-man Egypt beat South Africa 1-0 in Agadir on Friday to become the first qualifiers for the knockout stage of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.&nbsp;The Liverpool star converted a penalty on 45 minutes, and South Africa were denied a spot-kick late in the second half when Yasser Ibrahim appeared to handle the ball inside the box.&nbsp;Salah came to Morocco after not starting in five Liverpool matches -- his omission leading to an outburst against manager Arne Slot.&nbsp;Egypt were reduced to 10 men in first-half added time when right-back Mohamed Hany was shown a second yellow card for a stamp, followed by a red.&nbsp;After two rounds in Group B, record seven-time champions Egypt have six points and are guaranteed a top-two finish and a place in the round of 16.&nbsp;South Africa have three points, and Angola and Zimbabwe one each after they drew 1-1 in Marrakesh earlier.&nbsp;&quot;I&#39;m very happy for the result, for sure. It was a tough game, they dominated most of the time. It&#39;s a team that can keep the ball for a long time so I think we had a good gameplan, it worked,&quot; said Salah.&nbsp;&quot;We walked away with the three points, it&#39;s the most important thing. The atmosphere is incredible. Hopefully we can carry on like this.&quot;&nbsp;The first chance fell to Salah after 11 minutes, but he could not move forward quickly enough to connect with a low cross from Hany.&nbsp;That the majority of the crowd were supporting the Pharaohs became obvious soon after when the Burundi referee ignored Zizo appeals for a free-kick, and loud whistling enveloped the stadium.&nbsp;When Salah delivered a free-kick into the heart of the South African area, three Egyptians darted forward, but none could connect with the ball.&nbsp;Salah closely policed&nbsp;Midway through the opening half a pattern had developed -- Egypt were pushing forward regularly while South Africa defended with calmness and solid tackling.&nbsp;When Teboho Mokoena fouled Omar Marmoush just outside the D, he was yellow carded. However, the Manchester City striker fired the resultant free-kick wide.&nbsp;As the first half progressed the sun broke out in the southern coastal city -- a welcome sight for players and spectators with many earlier group matches staged in torrential rain.&nbsp;A rare South Africa attack ended disappointingly as Lyle Foster struck a weak shot that was comfortably saved by 37-year-old Mohamed El Shenawy.&nbsp;Awarded a free-kick close to the touchline, South Africa performed an intricate, multi-pass move that ended tamely as El Shenawy clutched a cross.&nbsp;Salah was being closely policed by Aubrey Modiba and as half-time drew near the Liverpool star retreated into the Egyptian half in order to retain possession.&nbsp;Then, as the Egypt captain chased a loose ball with Khuliso Mudau, the South African right-back raised his left arm, striking an eye of Salah.&nbsp;Amid Egyptian protests, the Burundian referee viewed the incident on a VAR monitor and pointed to the penalty spot.&nbsp;A lengthy delay before the kick was taken could not have eased the nerves of Salah, but he comfortably converted the penalty as Ronwen Williams dived in the wrong direction.&nbsp;More drama erupted in added time when Hany stamped on Mokoena, leading to a second yellow card for the defender.&nbsp;South Africa, with a numerical advantage, attacked more as the second half progressed, but Egypt came close to a second goal with Williams foiling substitute Emam Ashour after a quick free-kick.&nbsp;El Shenawy displayed his agility with 15 minutes remaining, using his right hand to tip to safety a low shot from Foster. It was one of several saves that kept Egypt ahead.

Football

Mohamed Salah’s first-half penalty earned 10-man Egypt a 1-0 win over South Africa in Agadir, sending the seven-time champions into the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations knockout stage after a hard-fought Group B encounter match.

Salah helps 10-man Egypt beat South Africa and book last-16 place

KYIV:&nbsp;Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that he would meet US President Donald Trump this weekend to discuss efforts to end Russia&#39;s invasion. &quot;Over the weekend, I think on Sunday, in Florida, we will have a meeting with President Trump,&quot; Zelensky said in a message to journalists. The latest round of US-Ukraine negotiations produced a 20-point plan to end the war, which has been sent to Moscow. &quot;We will discuss these documents, security guarantees,&quot; Zelensky said. &quot;As for sensitive issues, we will discuss Donbas and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and we will certainly discuss other issues,&quot; he added. Zelensky said this week there was still disagreements between Kyiv and Washington over the two issues. Despite that, Ukraine won some concessions in the latest plan, which would freeze the frontline and remove a requirement for Kyiv to legally renounce its bid to join NATO, Zelensky said. The Ukrainian leader also indicated the plan opened the way to eventually pulling his troops back in the eastern Donetsk region and establishing a demilitarised zone -- positions Kyiv has previously been reluctant to accept. The Kremlin said Friday that foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov had held a telephone call with US officials to discuss the negotiations. It did not elaborate and has not indicated its position on the latest plan. Moscow has up to now shown little inclination to abandon its hardline territorial demands that Ukraine fully withdraw from the eastern region of Donbas and end efforts to join NATO. It also wants a ban on Western countries deploying peacekeeping troops in Ukraine and sweeping political and military restrictions that Kyiv says are tantamount to capitulation. Zelensky said Ukrainian negotiators were not directly in touch with Moscow, but that the United States acted as intermediary and was awaiting Moscow&#39;s response to the latest proposal.&quot;I think we will know their official response in the coming days,&quot; Zelensky said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would meet US President Donald Trump this weekend to discuss efforts to end Russia's invasion

Zelensky to meet Trump this weekend in Florida

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan marks a significant literary milestone on Friday with the 19th death anniversary of Munir Niazi and the 31st of Parveen Shakir. Though separated by generation and gender, these two poets fundamentally reshaped Pakistani literature, each giving voice to experiences that defined the nation&#39;s soul. Munir Niazi: Poetry of displacement and longing Born in Hoshiarpur, Eastern Punjab, in 1923, Munir Niazi&#39;s journey reflected that of millions who crossed borders during partition. This upheaval became the invisible thread running through his entire body of work, creating a sense of being perpetually late, perpetually elsewhere, perpetually longing for what was lost. What set Niazi apart was his rare mastery of both Urdu and Punjabi poetry, bringing philosophical depth to both traditions. While many poets specialized in one language, Niazi moved fluidly between them, proving that profound existential questions transcended linguistic boundaries. His collections &quot;Taiz Hawa Aur Tanha Phool&quot; and &quot;Jungle Mein Dhanak&quot; in Urdu, and &quot;Safar Di Raat&quot; in Punjabi, established a new aesthetic where ordinary moments concealed deeper metaphysical truths. Consider his most celebrated couplet: &quot;Duniya jise kehte hain jaadu kaa khilona hai Mil jaaye to mitti hai, kho jaaye to sona hai&quot; (What we call the world is a magic toy If you get it, it&#39;s just dirt; if you lose it, it&#39;s gold) This verse captures the cruel irony at the heart of human desire: that we only truly value what we&#39;ve lost. For a nation built on partition&#39;s losses, this resonated deeply. Niazi articulated what an entire generation felt but couldn&#39;t express, that displacement had taught them the difference between possession and longing. His autobiographical masterpiece &quot;Hamesha Der Kar Deta Hoon Main&quot; (I Am Always Too Late) became even more culturally significant: &quot;Hamesha der kar deta hun main Zaroori baat kehni ho, koi vaada nibhaana ho&quot; (I am always too late When I have to say something important, or keep a promise) This poem articulated a distinctly Pakistani middle-class experience: the paralysis between intention and action, the weight of words left unspoken in a culture governed by honor and restraint. Niazi transformed personal regret into collective confession, giving millions permission to acknowledge their own procrastination, their own failures to speak when it mattered most. Beyond pure literature, Niazi composed memorable film songs for Radio Pakistan, bringing his existential sensibility to mass audiences. The government honored him with the Pride of Performance in 1992 and Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 1998. He passed away on December 26, 2006, in Lahore. Parveen Shakir: The female voice If Niazi gave Pakistan the poetry of displacement, Parveen Shakir, born in Karachi in 1952, gave it the poetry of female assertion. Her revolutionary act was deceptively simple: she consistently used the female first-person pronoun in romantic poetry. In the male-dominated tradition of Urdu ghazal, this grammatical shift represented a seismic cultural change. Her debut collection &quot;Khushbu&quot; (1976) brought immediate recognition, but it was the depth of her social critique that secured her lasting legacy. Shakir embedded feminist consciousness within traditional forms, making her work both accessible and subversive. Her most famous couplet demonstrates this perfectly: &quot;Woh tou khushbu hai, hawaon main bikhar jaye ga Masla phool ka hai, phool kidhar jaye ga?&quot; (He is just a fragrance, he will scatter in the winds The problem lies with the flower; where will the flower go?) On the surface, this addresses male infidelity: the man as fleeting fragrance, free to dissipate, while the woman bears the social consequences. But the metaphor cuts deeper, interrogating why reputation is gendered, why the visible must answer for what the invisible escapes. This is social commentary disguised as romantic lament. Shakir constantly challenged prescribed roles. In her poem &quot;Obstinate,&quot; she wrote: &quot;Main kyun usko phone karun! Us ke bhi to ilm mein hoga Kal shab mausam ki pehli baarish thi!&quot; (Why should I be the first to phone him! He also knows, surely, that last night came the first rain of the monsoon!) The first rain is traditionally a romantic, sensual moment in South Asian poetry. By refusing to wait passively, Shakir claimed equal agency in desire, a radical act in society. Her later collections &quot;Sad-barg,&quot; &quot;Khud-Kalami,&quot; and &quot;Inkaar&quot; grew even bolder. She maintained this literary output while serving in the Pakistan Administrative Service from 1982, embodying the professional woman her poetry championed. She received the Pride of Performance before her death in a traffic accident on December 26, 1994, aged just 42. The Islamabad road where she died now bears her name. A shared legacy That both poets share a death anniversary seems fitting. Together, they represent complementary dimensions of Pakistani identity: Niazi articulating the trauma of displacement and the philosophy of loss, Shakir asserting women&#39;s right to speak, desire and occupy public space. They proved that Pakistani poetry could honor classical forms while making them speak contemporary truths. Their verses continue to define what it means to write honestly in Pakistan, to carry history&#39;s weight while insisting on personal voice, to use inherited traditions while bending them toward new realities. In their different ways, both gave Pakistan permission to feel what it had been feeling all along.

Entertainment

Though separated by generation and gender, these two poets fundamentally reshaped Pakistani literature, each giving voice to experiences that defined the nation's soul.

Munir Niazi and Parveen Shakir: The poets who transformed Pakistan’s poetry

DAMASCUS: A deadly explosion hit a mosque in a predominantly Alawite area of Syria&#39;s Homs on Friday, said authorities who reported at least six people killed. &quot;A terrorist explosion targeted the Ali Bin Abi Talib Mosque during Friday prayers in Al-Khadri Street in the Wadi al-Dahab neighbourhood of Homs,&quot; the interior ministry said in a statement, adding that six people were killed and 21 others wounded. Homs was the scene of heavy sectarian violence during Syria&#39;s civil war. Syria&#39;s state news agency SANA, which also reported the blast, said its cause and nature were being investigated. According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, it was not immediately clear whether the blast &quot;was caused by a suicide attack or an explosive device. A local security source in Homs told AFP on condition of anonymity that the explosion may have been caused by &quot;an explosive device placed inside the mosque. A resident of the area, requesting anonymity out of fear for his safety, told AFP people &quot;heard a loud explosion, followed by chaos and panic in the neighbourhood&quot;. &quot;No one dares to leave their house, and we are hearing ambulance sirens,&quot; he added. SANA published photos from inside the mosque, one of which showed a hole in a wall. Black smoke covered part of the mosque, with carpets and books scattered nearby. Homs city is home to a Sunni Muslim majority but also has several predominantly Alawite areas. While most Syrians are Sunni, the ousted ruler, Bashar al-Assad, belongs to the Alawite community, whose faith stems from Shiite Islam. Since Assad&#39;s ouster in 2024, the Observatory and ordinary Syrians in Homs have reported kidnappings and killings targeting members of the minority community. Syria&#39;s coastal areas saw the massacre of Alawite civilians in March, with authorities accusing armed Assad supporters of sparking the violence by attacking security forces. A national commission of inquiry said at least 1,426 members of the minority community were killed at the time, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor put the toll at more than 1,700.

FILE: Pro-Turkish Syrian fighters carry away the victim of a car-bomb explosion last November in Tal Abyad (AFP)

Australasia

A deadly explosion hit a mosque in a predominantly Alawite area of Syria's Homs on Friday, said authorities who reported at least six people killed.

Deadly blast hits mosque in Alawite area of Syria's Homs

ISLAMABAD: 14&nbsp;people were injured in a stabbing attack in a factory in central Japan during which an unspecified liquid was also sprayed, an emergency services official said on Friday. &quot;14&nbsp;people are subject to transportation by emergency services,&quot; Tomoharu Sugiyama, a firefighting department official in the city of Mishima, in Shizuoka region, told AFP. He said a call was received at about 4.30 pm local time from a nearby rubber factory saying &quot;five or six people were stabbed by someone&quot; and that a &quot;spray-like liquid&quot; had also been used. Japanese media, including public broadcaster NHK, reported that police had arrested a man on suspicion of attempted murder. The Asahi Shimbun daily quoted investigative sources as saying that the man in his 30s was someone connected to the factory.&nbsp;He was wearing what appeared to be a gas mask, the newspaper and other media said.&nbsp;Asahi also said that he was apparently armed with what it described as a survival knife. NHK said the man told police that he was 38 years old. The seriousness of the injuries was unknown, although NHK said all victims remained conscious. Sugiyama said at least six of the 14 victims had been sent to hospital in a fleet of ambulances. The exact nature of the injuries was also unclear. The factory in Mishima is run by Yokohama Rubber Co, whose business includes manufacturing tyres for trucks and buses, according to its corporate website. Violent crime is relatively rare in Japan, which has a low murder rate and some of the world&#39;s toughest gun laws. However, there are occasional stabbing attacks and even shootings, including the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2022. A Japanese man was sentenced to death in October for a shooting and stabbing rampage that killed four people, including two police officers, in 2023. A 43-year-old man was also charged with attempted murder in May over a knife attack at Tokyo&#39;s Toda-mae metro station. Japan remains shaken by the memory of a major subway attack in 1995 when members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult released sarin gas on trains, killing 14 people and making more than 5,800 ill. On March 20, 1995, five members of the Aum cult dropped bags of Nazi-developed sarin nerve agent inside morning commuter trains on March 20, 1995, piercing the pouches with sharpened umbrella tips before fleeing.

Asia

Japanese media reported that police had arrested a man on suspicion of attempted murder.

14 injured in Japan after stabbing, liquid spray attack: officials 

<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ISLAMABAD: China is using arms exports to expand its global influence, with Pakistan featuring prominently in overseas deliveries of Chinese combat aircraft and drones, according to a Pentagon report sent to the US Congress this week.The annual Pentagon assessment said that as of December 2024, China remained the world&rsquo;s fourth-largest arms supplier, primarily using state-run defense firms, including the Aviation Industry Corporation of China and North Industries Corporation, for exports.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The report said &ldquo;arms transfers are a component of China&rsquo;s foreign policy&rdquo; and complement assistance linked to the Belt and Road Initiative, and how China&rsquo;s arms exports are attractive for developing countries due to affordability and flexible terms.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The report claims that China offers three combat aircraft for export, including the FC-31, the J-10C multirole combat aircraft, and the &ldquo;China-Pakistan co-produced JF-17 light combat aircraft.&rdquo;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pakistan is the only country listed as a recipient of the J-10C. The report said that as of May 2025, China had &ldquo;delivered 20 units &mdash; their only J-10C exports &mdash; to Pakistan&rdquo; under two orders totaling 36 aircraft since 2020.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At sea, the report states that China is likely to grow its naval export market over the next five years.&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The report also points to expanding space engagement, noting that China increased outreach &ldquo;worldwide&rdquo; in 2024, as Senegal joined other countries that signed agreements on cooperation related to the China-led International Lunar Research Station.&nbsp;

Foreign Affairs

Security

China is using arms exports to expand its global influence, with Pakistan featuring prominently in overseas deliveries of Chinese combat aircraft and drones, according to a Pentagon report sent to US Congress this week.

Pakistan sole recipient of China J-10C exports: Pentagon report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&rsquo;s Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives, Ahsan Iqbal, said on Friday that the country is being transformed into a AI, technology-driven, globally competitive nation under the Uraan Pakistan vision, reports the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP). Speaking at the AI Rise Expo-2025 in Islamabad, the minister positioned digital innovation and artificial intelligence as central pillars of future economic growth.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2004474187679936518&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=37a0b8654d0fc2d83ea355efde9db7eb46c07543&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 672px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>&quot;Artificial intelligence is the new engine of Pakistan&#39;s economic power, and nations that lead in technology will ultimately lead the global economy,&quot; Iqbal stated, stressing that sustained investment in digital infrastructure and emerging technologies has become essential rather than optional. The minister outlined the E-Pakistan framework, which focuses on exports, the expansion of the digital economy, and technological innovation as interconnected drivers of sustainable development.&nbsp; The government aims to build a knowledge-based economy where technology empowers industries, creates high-value jobs, and enhances Pakistan&#39;s competitive position in international markets. Addressing industrial modernization, Iqbal highlighted the critical importance of robotics and automation for upgrading Pakistan&#39;s manufacturing sector. He warned that without embracing advanced manufacturing technologies, Pakistani industries would struggle to compete effectively in global supply chains and export markets. The planning minister also discussed the growing role of satellite technology in strengthening multiple economic sectors. He noted that satellite applications are improving food security, enhancing trade logistics, and expanding communication networks, enabling more informed decision-making across the economy. A key component of the vision involves bridging the gap between academic research and practical industry applications. Iqbal stressed the government&#39;s commitment to connecting university innovation with real-world business needs, ensuring that research translates into commercial products, export opportunities, and meaningful employment for Pakistan&#39;s youth. The minister concluded by reaffirming that Pakistan&#39;s economic future depends on embracing technology-led growth strategies. Through Uraan Pakistan and its E-Pakistan pillar, the government is establishing foundations for a resilient, digitally empowered economy capable of competing with leading nations worldwide, APP reported.

 Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal inaugurated AI Rise Expo 2025 on Friday, Dec 26, 2025. (X/@PlanComPakistan)

Economy

Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives, Ahsan Iqbal, says the country is being transformed into an AI, technology-driven, globally competitive nation under the Uraan Pakistan vision.

Pakistan to build AI, tech-driven economy: Planning minister

Pakistan’s diplomacy in 2025 featured an active UN role, UNSC presidency, Pakistan-sponsored UNGA resolution, strengthened strategic partnerships, parliamentary outreach, regional engagement, and extensive high-level international visits, reinforcing its global presence and regional cooperation.

Powerful explosions heard in Ukraine's capital

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Powerful explosions heard in Ukraine's capital

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Zelensky to meet Trump this weekend in Florida

Munir Niazi and Parveen Shakir: The poets who transformed Pakistan’s poetry