Pakistan

Five victims injured in four incidents, activists call for stronger laws

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Use of firearms in populated areas of Khanewal condemned

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The Cabinet Division of the Government of Pakistan has officially notified a public holiday on December 26 within the jurisdiction of Islamabad, while withdrawing the earlier announced holiday scheduled for December 24.

Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed two major initiatives — a power transmission strengthening project and an accelerating state-owned enterprise (SOE) transformation programme — totalling $730 million that would relieve overloading of existing transmission lines and improve operational efficiency. At the beginning of this year, Pakistan and ADB signed an agreement to provide $200 million in support to the country’s ailing power distribution system through network improvement. In the recent agreement, the second power transmission strengthening project amounts to $330m, while the accelerating SOE transformation programme is worth $400m, according to a statement issued on Thursday. Ministry of Economic Affairs Secretary Muhammad Humair Karim appreciated the Manila-based lending agency’s role and its continued support in advancing critical infrastructure and governance reforms, the statement said. He highlighted that the transmission project would “enable reliable evacuation of 2,300 megawatt f...

LONDON: Former special assistant to the prime minister (SAPM) Mirza Shahzad Akbar was attacked in the United Kingdom, where he has been living in self-imposed exile since April 2022, leaving him sustaining facial injuries, including “bruising and a fractured nose”, it emerged on Thursday. “I have been attacked and been in the hospital and with the police. Bruised and fractured [sic],” the ex-SAPM said in text messages after Dawn reached out to him, seeking confirmation of a post about the incident on PTI’s X account. The PTI’s post at 9:50pm PKT on Wednesday said Akbar was attacked at his house in Cambridge in the morning. “The attacker punched him repeatedly in the face, as a result of which his nose and jaw were fractured,” it said. “Local police have collected all details, and an investigation is underway,” the party said. Later, taking to the X platform, Akbar denounced the attack as “cowardly” and expressed “full faith in the rule of law and in British law enforcement” in ensuring justice. “Yesterday at ...

Syrian authorities on Thursday said they killed a senior leader in the Islamic State group in coordination with the US-led coalition, hours after the arrest near Damascus of another leader. Syrian security and intelligence forces, working in coordination with the international coalition, conducted what the interior ministry described as a “precise security operation”. “The operation resulted in neutralising the terrorist Mohammad Shahada, known as Abu Omar Shaddad, who is considered one of the prominent IS leaders in Syria,” it added. “This operation comes as confirmation of the effectiveness of joint coordination between the national security agencies and international partners.” Hours earlier, authorities said they captured Taha al-Zoubi, also known as Abu Omar Tabiya, an IS leader in Damascus, along with several of his men on Wednesday. A December 13 attack killed two US soldiers and an American civilian. Washington blamed the attack on a lone IS gunman in Syria’s Palmyra. In retaliation, US forces conduct...

A heady aroma of malt and brewing yeast drifts through Pakistan’s oldest and, by far, largest brewery, which is gearing up for expansion after receiving approval to sell abroad after a nearly 50-year ban. Bottles and cans clatter along the production lines at Murree Brewery, founded in 1860 to quench the thirst of British soldiers and the colonial community during the Raj. It has survived opposition and strict regulations to become one of Pakistan’s most well-known companies. “It’s a journey of a roller-coaster and resilience,” Isphanyar Bhandara, the third generation of his family to run the business, told AFP in an interview. “Getting permission to export is another happy milestone,” he added. “My grandfather and late father tried to get the export licence, but couldn’t get it. Just because, you know, we are an Islamic country.” This photograph taken on December 17 shows Isphanyar Bhandara, Murree Brewery’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) speaking during an interview with AFP in Rawalpindi. — AFP However, Bha...

There have been multiple incidents of mobs vandalising Christmas decorations in India ahead of the festival, according to local media. The Indian Express has reported that a mob, armed with wooden sticks, vandalised Christmas decorations and installations at a mall in the Raipur city of India’s Chhattisgarh state. View this post on Instagram The report also mentioned that the incident took place on the same day when a Hindu organisation, Sarva Hindu Samaj, had called a Chhattisgarh bandh — a form of protest — against alleged religious conversions. According to The Hindu, the protest was also called following clashes over the “burial of a person from a converted family” in the Kanker district. The Indian Express carried an account of the incident as narrated by an employee of the mall, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Around 80-90 people barged in […] we were supporting the protest. For the last 16 years, since we began operations here, we have always supported bandh calls. But I have never seen such beha...

Leading US journal The Diplomat has termed 2025 a decisive year for Pakistan, highlighting a strategic resurgence marked by renewed military confidence and a notable improvement in the country’s international standing.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a nuclear submarine factory and received a message from Russia’s Vladimir Putin hailing the countries’ “invincible friendship”, Pyongyang’s state media said Thursday. North Korea and Russia have drawn closer since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago, and Pyongyang has sent troops to fight for Russia. In return, Russia is sending North Korea financial aid, military technology and food and energy supplies, analysts say. The “heroic” efforts of North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk region “clearly proved the invincible friendship” between Moscow and Pyongyang, Putin said in a message to Kim, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Their work demonstrated the nations’ “militant fraternity”, Putin said in the message received by Pyongyang last week. The provisions of the “historic treaty” the two leaders signed last year, which includes a mutual defence clause, had been fulfilled “thanks to our joint efforts”, Putin wrote. S...

KARACHI: The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has busted an “international cartel” involved in cyber fraud amounting to $60 million, arresting 15 foreign nationals and recovering 10,000 international SIMs during a raid in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA), Sindh home minister revealed on Thursday. Addressing a press conference in Karachi along with NCCIA Additional Director Tariq Nawaz, Sindh Home Minister Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar shared the details of the investigations, saying the held scammers were “operating online investment scam, where criminals build trust over weeks/months via social media platforms by tricking the victims into investment in cryptocurrency, forex with promise of large profit returns”. “The victims were lured into investment by creating a login on fake investment platforms (which the victims considered as legitimate due to the fake conversation and activity in telegraph groups) which were controlled and managed by these scammers where the victims were made to belie...

Security forces neutralised 10 terrorists, including a high-value target, in separate intelligence-based operations (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan district and Balochistan‘s Kalat district, the military’s media affairs wing said in separate statements on Thursday. On December 24, (yesterday) two khawarij were killed in an IBO in DI Khan‘s Kulachi area, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in Thursday’s statement, using the term designating members of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. “During the conduct of [the] operation, own troops effectively engaged the khawarij location. Resultantly, two khawarij, including kharji ring leader Dilawar, were sent to hell,” the statement read. According to the ISPR, Dilawar was wanted by law enforcement agencies due to his involvement in terrorist activity and the government had put an Rs4 million bounty on him. The statement added that weapons and ammunition were recovered from the dead terrorists, who remained actively involved in terrorist activi...

The Lahore Ring Road Authority has announced a 16.

Pope Leo decried conditions for Palestinians in Gaza in his Christmas sermon on Thursday, in an unusually direct appeal during what is normally a solemn, spiritual service on the day Christians across the globe celebrate the birth of Jesus. Leo, the first US pope, said the story of Jesus being born in a stable showed that God had “pitched his fragile tent” among the people of the world. “How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold?” he asked. Leo, celebrating his first Christmas after being elected in May by the world’s cardinals to succeed the late Pope Francis, has a more quiet, diplomatic style than his predecessor and usually refrains from making political references in his sermons. But the new pope has also lamented the conditions for Palestinians in Gaza several times recently and told journalists last month that the only solution in the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people must include a Palestinian state. Israel and Hamas agreed...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said that Pakistan’s Christian community, which is celebrating Christmas today, is an integral part of the country’s national fabric. “Pakistan’s Christian community forms an integral part of our national fabric. Their enduring contributions to education, healthcare, and social welfare, and their sacrifices alongside the nation in the fight against terrorism, are deeply valued and a source of collective pride,” the premier said in his Christmas message on the social media platform X. He extended his “warmest greetings” to the Christian community across the world, and “especially to our Christian brothers and sisters in Pakistan”. “May this festive season fill hearts with joy, strengthen bonds of harmony, and bring peace, hope, and prosperity to all,” the premier said. Separately, a statement carried by state-run APP quoted him as saying that Christmas “conveys a universal message of love, peace, tolerance, and goodwill for all humanity”. He highlighted the role of the...

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Thursday reaffirmed her commitment to protecting minority communities, stating that she will stand “like a wall of steel” against any injustice as long as she remains in office.

Leading US publication The Diplomat has described 2025 as a pivotal year for Pakistan, citing a strategic comeback, renewed military confidence, and a marked improvement in the country’s international standing.