Pakistan

Despite fear of rigging, the PTI decided on Wednesday to participate in the Islamabad local government elections, which will be held on February 15 across the federal capital. In line with party policy, workers who have remained loyal to the party and its ideology and have made sacrifices during the last three years will be given priority in nominations. The decision was made during a meeting chaired by PTI Islamabad Region President Aamir Mughal and attended by Regional Secretary and Chairman of the Local Government Committee Malik Aamir Ali Awan, ticket holder Advocate Shoaib Shaheen, Senator Fauzia Arshad, Senate ticket holder Syed Farzand Shah, ticket holder Ali Bukhari, and other senior office-bearers. After consultations, it was unanimously decided that PTI’s Islamabad wing would take part in the local government elections. However, participants feared that there could be “rigging,” as happened in the recent National Assembly elections in Haripur. Participants were also of the view that the government h...

PTI founder Imran Khan’s sisters — Aleema Khan, Uzma Khan and Noreen Khan Niazi — are among 400 people booked on Wednesday after police dispersed a sit-in near Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail, where the party founder and former prime minister is currently incarcerated. Moreover, 14 PTI workers were arrested and produced before an anti-terrorism court (ATC) today, which approved three days of physical remand and returned the suspects to police custody. Imran’s sisters, party workers and supporters had staged a sit-in at Factory Naka a day prior, demanding their court-mandated Tuesday meeting with the PTI founder. Police used water cannons and baton charges to disperse the protesters, with police starting their operation at 2am. According to a copy of the first information report (FIR) — dated December 17 and available with Dawn — 400 suspects, including 35 nominated persons, were booked under various provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 (ATA) and Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), including the use of petrol bombs and ...

Critics ponder over the possibility of the government decentralising power

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Orders Layyah AC's transfer over child's death

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DG Khan unit to cover Muzaffargarh, Layyah, Rajanpur

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PTI man sent on 14-day remand

PPP Vice President Senator Sherry Rehman on Wednesday suggested that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) investigate “growing support” from India for terrorist groups, after an Indian national was identified as a suspect in a recent mass shooting at Australia’s Bondi Beach. Alleged father-and-son perpetrators, Sajid and Naveed Akram, opened fire on a Jewish holiday celebration at Sydney’s famed Bondi Beach on Sunday, killing 15 in an attack that shook the nation and intensified fears of rising anti-Semitism and violent extremism. Sajid, 50, was shot dead by police at the scene, while his 24-year-old son, Naveed, emerged from a coma on Tuesday afternoon after also being shot by police. On Tuesday, it emerged that Sajid was originally from the Indian city of Hyderabad, with police saying his family did not know about his “radical mindset”. In a post on X, Senator Rehman noted that the attack raised questions about links to New Delhi as Indian and Israeli allegations of Pakistani involvement “were backfiring ...

Amnesty International on Wednesday condemned the “repeated” use of high-pressure water cannons by authorities to disperse a sit-in outside Adiala prison in Rawalpindi, after incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan’s family was denied a meeting with the former prime minister. “The repeated use of high-pressure water cannons by authorities against peaceful protesters outside Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi is a flagrant violation of their right to peaceful assembly.” Amnesty added that Pakistan authorities “must respect people’s right to peacefully protest and end the disproportionate and punitive use of force”. After authorities again barred Imran’s sisters from meeting the incarcerated former prime minister, a sit-in was staged outside the prison. A court order issued by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on March 24 this year mandated that meetings with Imran would be permitted twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, the PTI maintains that the order is not being honoured. Despite the IHC’s order, Imran’s sisters...

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has revised the Judicial Service Rules, abolishing the requirement of two years of legal practice for appointment as a civil judge.

A case has been registered against PTI founder Imran Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, and more than 400 others for holding a sit-in outside Adiala Jail, police said.

The Pakistan Navy’s fourth Hangor-class submarine, named Ghazi, was launched at Shuangliu Base in Wuhan, China, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) announced on Wednesday. With the Ghazi’s launch, the ISPR hailed “another significant milestone” by the navy, where all four submarines being built in China are currently undergoing “rigorous sea trials and are in the final stages of being handed over to Pakistan”. “The Government of Pakistan signed an agreement with China for [the] acquisition of eight Hangor-class submarines. Under this contract, four submarines are being built in China and [the] remaining four will be constructed in Pakistan by Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works Ltd (KS&EW), under Transfer of Technology (ToT),” the ISPR said in a statement. The military’s media wing added that the submarines will be fitted with advanced weaponry and sensors capable of engaging targets at standoff ranges. “Hangor-class submarines will be pivotal in maintaining peace and stability in the region,” the s...

Warner Bros Discovery’s board rejected Paramount Skydance’s $108.4 billion hostile bid on Wednesday, saying it failed to provide adequate financing assurances. In a letter to shareholders, disclosed in a regulatory filing, the board wrote that Paramount had “consistently misled” Warner Bros shareholders that its $30-per-share cash offer was fully guaranteed, or “backstopped,” by the Ellison family, led by billionaire and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. “It does not, and never has,” the board wrote of the guarantee of Paramount’s offer, noting that the offer posed “numerous, significant risks.” Warner Bros’ board said it found Paramount’s offer “inferior” to the merger agreement with Netflix’s. The streaming giant’s $27.75 per share offer for Warner Bros’ film and television studios, its library and the HBO Max streaming service is a binding agreement that requires no equity financing and has robust debt commitments, the board wrote. Warner Bros has not yet set a date for a shareholder vote on the deal but it is exp...

Men’s tennis world number one Carlos Alcaraz announced on Wednesday he is splitting from his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero after seven hugely successful years together. Alcaraz has won six Grand Slams among his 24 tour level titles under the guidance of fellow Spaniad Ferrero, including this year’s French and US Opens. Alcaraz, 22, ends this year as world number one having claimed eight tournaments during the season including his dramatic victory over Jannik Sinner in Paris. “It is very difficult to write this post,” Alcaraz said on social media with photos of the pair hugging. View this post on Instagram “After more than seven years together, ‘Juanki’ and I have decided to end our story together as coach and player. “Thank you for making the dreams of a child become reality,” Alcaraz added. Alcaraz began working with 45-year-old Ferrero, a former world number one, in August 2018, when he was a teenager. As a player, Ferrero won the 2003 French Open and was runner-up in New York later in the year before becoming ...

Authorities in India’s capital Delhi rolled out strict measures on Wednesday in an attempt to curb pollution, including a ban on vehicles not compliant with latest emission control norms and regulating attendance in private and government offices. The air quality index in the Delhi region, home to 30 million people, has been in the “severe” category for the past few days, often crossing the 450-mark. In addition, shallow fog in parts of the city worsened visibility that affected flights and trains. This prompted the Commission for Air Quality Management to invoke stage four, the highest level, of the graded response action plan for Delhi and surrounding areas on Saturday. The curbs ban the entry of older diesel trucks into the city, suspend construction, including on public projects, and impose hybrid schooling. Schoolchildren walk through a field on a smoggy winter morning in New Delhi on December 17. —AFP Kapil Mishra, a minister in the local government, announced on Wednesday that all private and governmen...

A meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis, chaired by Aga Rafiullah, was informed on Wednesday that 51,000 passengers were offloaded at Pakistani airports this year after failing immigration checks, with a large number of them being offloaded at Lahore and Karachi airports. Over the past few months, numerous incidents have been reported of travellers being offloaded from flights at various airports, despite possessing valid travel documents. These actions followed a crackdown on migrant smuggling launched after the 2024 Greece boat tragedy, which claimed several Pakistani lives. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the frequent offloading of passengers from international flights, an issue that has reportedly affected numerous travellers despite them holding valid documents. Director General of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Riffat Mukhtar Raja informed the committee that, “Passengers are offloaded on the basis of ...

The Philippines’ national security adviser on Wednesday said that the father and son who allegedly opened fire on a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s famed Bondi Beach did not receive any form of military training while in the country last month. The alleged father-and-son perpetrators opened fire on the celebration at Sydney’s famed Bondi Beach on Sunday, killing 15 in an attack that shook the nation and intensified fears of rising anti-Semitism and violent extremism. Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead by police at the scene, while his 24-year-old son, Naveed Akram, emerged from a coma on Tuesday afternoon after also being shot by police. On Tuesday, it emerged that Sajid was originally from the Indian city of Hyderabad, with police saying his family did not know about his “radical mindset”. In a statement, Philippine National Security Advisor Eduardo Ao said that a mere visit to the country does not substantiate allegations of terrorist training and the duration of their stay would not have permitted any ...