Shehbaz Sharif

Pakistani authorities have arrested 14 people in connection with the alleged trafficking of several migrants who drowned last week after their overloaded boat capsized in the sea off Greece, police said.

Hundreds of people, including from Pakistan, are thought to have died when the vessel capsized and sank in one of Europe's deadliest shipping disasters in recent years.

Pakistan's new Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi began his first full day in office on Wednesday by meeting his ousted former boss Nawaz Sharif, a signal the ex-premier would continue to wield influence after the Supreme Court disqualified him.

Pakistan's ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif named his brother Shahbaz, the chief minister of Punjab province, as his successor and nominated ex-oil minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as an interim premier in a defiant speech on July 29.

Pakistan's Punjab provincial government will send nurses to Turkey for training as part of a program being launched in collaboration with Turkey's Health Ministry to upgrade the province's healthcare system.

Turkey and political figures across the globe have strongly condemned the deadly attack in Pakistan's Lahore, which targeted Christians celebrating Easter, killed more than 70 people and was claimed by a fraction of the Taliban, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar. 

Turkey's president and prime minister have condemned the Lahore blast claimed by the Pakistani Taliban that killed at least 72, while extending their condolences to the Pakistani government and stressing their support in the country's fight against terror.