Pakistan

President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday extended warm greetings to the Hindu community in Pakistan and across the world on the occasion of Diwali, calling it a celebration of “the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil.

The hunt was on Monday for the band of thieves who stole eight priceless royal pieces of jewellery from the Louvre Museum in the heart of Paris in broad daylight. Officials said a team of 60 investigators were working on the theory that the raid was planned and executed by an organised crime group. In France, it reignited a row over the lack of security in France’s museums, which the new Interior Minister Laurent Nunez acknowledged on Sunday was a “major weak spot”. The thieves arrived between 9:30 and 9:40am Sunday, shortly after the museum opened to the public at 9:00am, a source close to the investigation said. They used a furniture hoist to get access to the Apollo Gallery, home to the royal collection, and cutting equipment to get in through a window and open the display cases. A brief clip of the raid, apparently filmed on the phone of a visitor to the museum, was broadcast on French news channels. The masked thieves stole nine 19th-century items of jewellery, one of which — the crown of the Empress Eug...

• Official claims Saad Rizvi, his brother ‘traced to AJK’ • 95 bank accounts identified; parleys continue over fate of seminaries administered by the group LAHORE: Authorities in Punjab claim to have traced the whereabouts of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Saad Rizvi and his brother Anas, saying the absconding leaders fled to Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) after the Muridke crackdown. A senior official told Dawn that law enforcers had shared this information with AJK authorities and sought their help to nab the TLP leaders. The development follows speculation — fuelled by TLP circles — that their party chief was in custody. The official said following the crackdown, several teams comprising senior officers from Punjab police and other law enforcement agencies had been tasked with tracking down the TLP chief and his brother. He said Saad Rizvi and his brother were first spotted walking away from the protest camp in Muridke, and then fleeing on a motorbike. At that time, an emergency message was circulated ...

The National Party (NP) central leader and MPA Rehmat Saleh Baloch’s brother, Waleed Saleh Baloch, was killed in Balochistan’s Panjgur area on Sunday, according to statements by the party and the province’s chief minister. Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti condemned the incident in a statement and ordered the immediate arrest of the suspects. “All resources will be used to provide justice to the affected family,” the CM said, according to a statement issued by his office. According to the statement, the CM had sought a report from police regarding the incident. Dawn.com has reached out to the police for further details. Meanwhile, the NP also strongly condemned the incident in a statement, adding that the party would observe three days of mourning. It added that at the time of the incident, Waleed was celebrating his wedding. It said that the incident was not only “the murder of an ordinary citizen but also the murder of a person belonging to a dignified and political family who has always believed in ...

Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire following high-level negotiations in Doha, where both countries pledged to respect each other’s sovereignty and are expected to meet again on October 25 to further discuss matters, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Sunday. Amid heightened tensions along the Pak-Afghan border, a high-level Pakistani delegation led by Asif travelled to Doha on Saturday for talks with Afghan Taliban officials, aimed at ending cross-border hostilities and addressing Pakistan’s security concerns. Facilitated by Qatar, the talks followed days of clashes and Pakistani strikes on Gul Bahadur group camps in Afghanistan, after a 48-hour ceasefire was extended to allow negotiations. In a post on X, the minister announced, “A ceasefire agreement has been finalised. The terrorist attacks from Afghanistan on Pakistan’s soil will cease immediately. Both neighbouring countries will respect each other’s territory,” adding that delegations will meet again in Istanbul on October...

Law enforcers foiled an attack by terrorists at a police station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district on Sunday, police said. Police said in a statement that terrorists belonging to Fitna-al-Khawarij — a term the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — tried to attack the Baka Khel police station from a distance. However, it added, police personnel opened fire on them after detecting their movement using the “latest technology”. As a result, the statement said, the terrorists couldn’t come near the police station and fled. According to police, “residents from nearby areas also fired at the attackers” and helped law enforcers. The statement did not mention any loss of lives or property in the incident, which was earlier confirmed by Bannu Regional Police Officer (RPO) Sajjad Khan. He told Dawn.com that the attackers had used a hand grenade to target the police station. “Unidentified attackers threw a hand grenade toward the police station, but it fell at a distance, causing no damage,” h...

The government has approved the wheat policy for 2025-26, a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on Sunday, adding there would be no restriction on the inter-provincial movement of wheat to ensure its availability across the country. The development comes against the backdrop of the Punjab government tightening controls on the inter-provincial movement of wheat and flour through a restrictive permit regime to curb price hikes within the province — a move that has particularly been denounced by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa amid soaring prices and wheat shortage there. According to the PMO statement, a high-level meeting was held yesterday (Saturday) to discuss the 2025-26 wheat policy. It was chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and attended by the chief ministers of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan. The statement said a representative of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM was also present at the meeting while the Azad Jammu and Kashmir PM and relevant stakeholders also attended the meeti...

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi briefed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the law and order situation in the country as the two met on Sunday, a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said. The statement added that PM Shehbaz was also briefed on the development projects under way in Islamabad. Today’s meeting between the premier and the interior minister comes a week after they had met ahead of a police operation to dismantle the protest camp of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in Muridke. The TLP planned to march on Islamabad and hold a demonstration outside the US embassy there in “solidarity with Gaza”. Naqvi had briefed PM Shehbaz on the overall law and order situation across the country during last week’s meeting as well and had told him that measures were being undertaken by the Ministry of Interior to strengthen internal security. For his part, the premier had appreciated the efforts of the interior minister and his team, directing that coordinated and effective actions must continue t...

PESHAWAR - The newly elected Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Min­ister Sohail Afridi has called for a grand peace ji­rga on October 25, in the province’s Khyber dis­trict, in a bid to discuss avenues for “establishment of peace” in the province.

ISLAMABAD - The deal was never ruled out and over the weekend, it was sealed.

LAHORE - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Presi-dent Mian Nawaz Sharif at his Raiwind residence on Sunday and briefed him on the coun­try’s internal and external securi­ty situation.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Sun­day chaired a special meeting on revenue collection to review tax targets, expansion plans, and new ini­tia-tives aimed at boosting the province’s income.

LAHORE - Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi met with Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi at his residence in Lahore on Sunday to discuss the over­all law and order situation in the prov­ince and recent incidents of terrorism.

ISLAMABAD - A contingent of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), equipped with cutting-edge JF-17 Thunder Block-III fighter jets and skilled air and ground crew, has arrived in Azerbai­jan to participate in the joint aerial combat exercise Indus Shield Alpha, the Inter-Ser­vices Public Relations (ISPR) reported on Sunday.

PESHAWAR - In light of rising terrorism inci­dents, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police have formed their first-ever sniper squad.

PM says decision taken after consulting all stakeholders ISLAMABAD - The federal government has ap­proved the Wheat Policy 2025-26 under which procurement will be made at the rate of 3,500 rupees per 40 kilograms.

ISLAMABAD - Reacting to the Pak-Afghan ceasefire agreement in Doha, mediated by Qatar and Tur­kiye, to end hostilities and pro­mote regional peace, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has expressed gratitude to Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdo­gan for this.

ISLAMABAD - In a major breakthrough Paki­stan and Afghanistan, after a 13-hour long talks, agreed to an im­mediate ceasefire facilitated and mediated by Qatar and Turkiye in Doha early Sunday morning.

ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) will Monday (today) take up Khyber Pak­htunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s petition seeking permission to meet PTI founder Imran Khan in Adia­la Jail.

Pakistan must achieve overall GDP growth of 6-7%; anything less is stagnation