Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the distribution of 100,000 free laptops among talented students across the country on merit, during an International Youth Day event in Islamabad on Tuesday. Premier stated that the distribution of these laptops will cover all four provinces, the federal capital Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Kashmir, and will be based purely on merit, without any nepotism. He added that these laptops would be separate from the scheme for laptops through interest-based loans. Referring to Operation Bunyanum Marsoos, the prime minister mentioned that Pakistan’s victory on May 10 against a numerically larger and more boastful enemy had instilled a new vigour in the entire nation. He urged the youth to build on the spirit of this achievement and work hard to bring honour to the country. Earlier, during the ceremony, Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Youth Program, Rana Mashhood, said the government’s merit-based programs for youth had enabled talented and des...
Warm welcome for Russia’s Putin at meeting with US President Donald Trump in Alaska, but no deal on ending Ukraine war. A highly anticipated summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, has ended without a deal on ending Moscow’s war in Ukraine, but the United States president said “great progress” has been made in the talks in Alaska . Observers say the meeting gave the Russian president a “diplomatic win” after years of being shunned by the West following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Putin was greeted with a red carpet and a warm handshake from Trump on arrival at a US airbase in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday as both leaders arrived for talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine . marked Putin’s first time stepping on Western soil since he ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and was notable in its welcoming atmosphere compared with the frosty reception a hostile Trump laid on for Ukrainian...