Pakistan

Footage shows suspect being doused with petrol and set ablaze, police register two FIRs and begin investigation

Nawaz Nashra recalls grabbing her three-year-old daughter, wrapping her in a bedsheet and running out of their home in central Sri Lanka as a landslide struck, triggered by a deadly cyclone that killed 410 people in the worst floods in a decade. Nashra and her pregnant sister, who lived with her, spent the next 20 minutes scrambling down the hillside from Alawathugoda village on Friday night, sometimes knee-deep in mud, until they reached a mosque at a lower altitude, where they spent the night. “It was pitch dark…We could only hear a sound like thunder,” she told Reuters. “The house next to ours collapsed as we watched. There was no time to warn anyone.” About 10 houses in the neighbourhood were swept away by Cyclone Ditwah and at least 25 people are feared dead, residents said on Tuesday, when they returned with long poles to dig through the mud and search for bodies. Deadly storms have swept across South and Southeast Asia in recent days, devastating large parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand and clai...

Air Chief Marshal (ACM) Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu on Tuesday noted that Pakistan had emerged as a regional stabiliser after the May conflict with India. The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) chief made the remarks during the passing out parade at PAF Academy Asghar Khan in Risalpur in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Nowshera district. “In the wake of Marka-i-Haq, Pakistan has successfully emerged as a net stabiliser in this part of the world,” ACM Sidhu said. “As a responsible nuclear power, our relations with key global and regional powers have further strengthened, which is a testimony to the untiring effort of our diplomatic strategy and credible military prowess.” The Pakistan Army had named the period of conflict with India, from the April 22 Pahalgam attack to the May 10 conclusion of Operation Bunyanum Marsoos, as Marka-i-Haq in May. “The rising global relevance of Pakistan remains a growing concern for our adversary, and it exploits every opportunity to malign and destabilise Pakistan on the international front,” said the...

The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), which is responsible for appointing judges to the superior judiciary, elevated Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb to a permanent judge of the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday. Presided over by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, the JCP held its first meeting following the passage of the 27th Constitutional Amendment and the establishment of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC). The JCP had appointed Justice Aurangzeb as an acting judge of the Supreme Court in February after elevating him from the Islamabad High Court (IHC), The forum also approved the elevation of Justice Zafara Ahmed Rajput as the chief justice of the Sindh High Court (SHC), and Justice Kamran Mullahkhail as the chief justice of the Balochistan High Court (BHC). During the meeting, held at the conference room of the SC building, the JCP had considered the appointment of the SHC chief justice from among the three senior-most judges of the high court. Those considered for the office included J...

The teenage son of Justice Mohammed Asif of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) was remanded into police custody on Tuesday in a case where two young women lost their lives after being hit by a speeding sports utility vehicle (SUV). Judicial magistrate Shaista Khan Kundi issued the remand order on the police’s request. According to a First Information Report (FIR) registered at the Secretariat Police Station, the accident occurred late on Monday night near the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) in Islamabad, when a black SUV allegedly driven by the judge’s son struck two girls who worked at the PNCA. The victims were riding a scooter when they were hit by the SUV and reportedly died on the spot. Police reported that the vehicle fled the area immediately after the collision. The FIR, lodged on the complaint of Sub-Inspector Muhammad Asghar, states that police traced the vehicle through its registration number and later reached a private hospital where the suspect had reportedly been taken for medical treatmen...

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar has voiced serious concern over Pakistan’s rapidly increasing population, warning that the situation has reached an alarming stage.

A prestigious graduation parade is being held at the Pakistan Air Force’s Asghar Khan Academy in Risalpur, where Air Chief Marshal Zahid Ahmad Babar Sidhu is attending as the chief guest.

The Election Commission of Punjab has released the final schedule for the by-election to fill the Senate seat left vacant after the death of Senator Irfan-ul-Haq Siddiqui.

At least four persons, including two policemen and North Waziristan Assistant Commissioner Shah Waliullah, were martyred on Tuesday after gunmen targeted the latter's vehicle on Miranshah Road in Bannu district, officials said.

The American magazine Forbes has praised the Punjab government’s ‘Suthra Punjab’ (Clean Punjab) program.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited the Lahore airport on Tuesday, where he again asserted that passengers with “complete documents” were not being barred from travelling, state-run PTV News reported. “No passenger with complete travel documents is being stopped from travelling, and they will not be stopped,” he said, adding that, however, passengers in possession of “incomplete or bogus documents will definitely not be allowed to travel”. Naqvi’s assurance and warning follow recent reports of arbitrary offloading at airports of passengers travelling abroad. The reports prompted clarifications by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) that only passengers without complete and correct documents were being stopped from travelling. The interior minister has also issued similar statements, saying that only those lacking genuine and complete documents were not being allowed to travel abroad. During his visit to the Lahore airport today, he reiterated the same. “No passenger who brings disrepute to the country c...

Hong Kong’s leader said on Tuesday an independent committee would be established to investigate the cause of the city’s deadliest fire in decades, including oversight of renovations blamed for the disaster that has claimed 151 lives. Police have arrested 13 people for suspected manslaughter in a criminal investigation into last week’s disaster, and the anti-corruption body has also arrested 12 people in a probe into possible graft. It is unclear if any of those people were arrested on both counts. Authorities have pointed to substandard plastic mesh and insulation foam used during renovation works at Wang Fuk Court as fuelling a blaze that quickly spread to seven high-rise towers, home to more than 4,000 people. “In order to avoid similar tragedies again, I will set up a judge-led independent committee to examine the reason behind the cause and rapid spreading (of the fire) and related issues,” John Lee, Hong Kong’s chief executive, told a news conference. Investigators have combed all but two of the seven bu...

Samsung launched its first triple-folding phone on Tuesday, a special-edition product with an eyewatering price tag placing it out of the reach of the average consumer. The Galaxy Z TriFold will go on sale on December 12 and costs more than twice as much as the new iPhone 17 at $2,443. Super thin, it unfolds to a 10-inch (25.4 centimetre) display, offering “increased possibilities for creating and working”, the South Korean tech giant said. The triple fold function is not world-first — China’s Huawei beat Samsung to the punch last year with a phone at a similarly exorbitant price. Growth has been patchy in the competitive smartphone market, pushing makers to find new, eye-catching ways to differentiate their products. Offered solely in a black design, Samsung’s new device comes in at 309 grammes (10.9 ounces) and at its thinnest point measures less than 0.2 inches. Generative artificial intelligence features are integrated into the phone, which can give real-time help through screen or camera sharing. Samsung...

QUETTA: The Frontier Corps headquarters in Nokundi, a town in Chagai district, which came under attack on Sunday night, was targeted by a woman suicide bomber, officials said on Monday. According to officials, a woman “launched the suicide bombing” at 8:40pm, targeting the paramilitary force’s headquarters. The banned Balochistan Liberation Front issued the bomber’s picture and identified her as Zinat Rafiq. Officials said that three militants were killed as soon as they entered the FC fort, while others managed to enter the compound, adding that they had cleared the compound. Locals, however, said intermittent firing continued till Monday evening. Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2025

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has said the IMF’s Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment (GCDA) report was a step towards much-needed institutional reforms, adding that the government had itself initiated and facilitated the process. Winding up the debate on a motion moved by JUI-F’s Kamran Murtaza in the Senate on Monday, the finance minister said the report covered seven areas, including judicial oversight and corruption, and identifies structural deficiencies — which he termed a positive development. He said it provided 15 recommendations for institutional reforms. He assured the Senate that work on these recommendations was underway, citing the recent law passed by parliament requiring public servants to declare their assets. “We will share our action plan on institutional reforms with the public and parliament,” he said, adding that such diagnostic reports had been released for many countries and represented best practices to assess governance in other jurisdictions. He dismissed...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Afghanistan held a brief but high-stakes round of unannounced talks in Riyadh, but the engagement ended swiftly and without progress as both sides stuck rigidly to their positions, multiple diplomatic sources told Dawn. The meeting, mediated by Saudi Arabia late on Sunday evening, was aimed at addressing tensions between the two countries following border clashes in October and Pakistan’s demand for action against terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil. According to officials, the Afghan Taliban delegation was led by Anas Haqqani and Rahmatullah Najib. The Pakistani side included officials who had participated in earlier rounds in Istanbul under the Turkiye-Qatar track. A diplomat from the Foreign Office (FO) was added to the Pakistani delegation. However, unlike the lengthier sessions held in Doha and Qatar, the Riyadh conversation wrapped up quickly, with one source describing it as “a short exchange rather than extended negotiations”. Saudi authorities facilitate talks quietly;...

• Speaker slams ‘irresponsible’ remarks by opposition lawmaker, warns against attempts to disrupt proceedings • Blocks voting on resolution seeking Achakzai’s disqualification • PTI links talks to meetings with Imran, but minister says categorical ‘no’ to such demands ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq on Monday took a strong exception to reported anti-parliament statements made by Pakhtunkhwa Mili Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai — nominated as opposition leader by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) but not notified by the custodian of the house so far — declaring that he would firmly defend it. Without naming Mr Achakzai or giving specifics, Mr Sadiq said the MNA entered the Parliament House and announced in the opposition lobby that he planned to approach the [speaker’s] chair in order to disrupt the proceedings when Deputy Speaker Ghulam Mustafa Shah was presiding. He added that the same member later issued another “irresponsible and provocative statement”, declaring he would u...

Peshawar - PESHAWAR: World AIDS Day is observed every year on 1st December with the resolve to spread the message that AIDS is not an incurable disease; rather, through timely diagnosis and proper treatment, individuals can live a healthy life.

Peshawar - Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sohail Afridi has formally launched the province-wide Ehsaas Umeed Programme, an initiative designed to support individuals with severe disabilities across the province.

Peshawar - Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi on Monday held a meeting with delegation of traders from the province’s border districts, who apprised him of the severe economic impacts caused by the closure of the Pakistan–Afghanistan border.