Pakistan

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday issued the schedule for the by-election in NA-18 Haripur, the seat left vacant after the disqualification of Omar Ayub Khan.

What started as a difference in opinion over how to aid flood-affected people has now spiralled into a full-blown feud between the PML-N and the PPP, the two main partners in the ruling coalition. The spat, termed a ghar ka mamla by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar on Sept 30, has devolved into a public spectacle threatening the alliance between the two parties. The bad blood has escalated to the point that leaders from both sides hold daily press conferences to take potshots at the other side. And now, President Asif Ali Zardari appears to be making overtures to smooth over the situation. But how did the whole thing begin? Here’s what we know. How to help flood victims? It appears that differences developed between the PML-N and the PPP last month as the two bickered on how to help flood victims. Several PPP leaders, including Sherry Rehman, called for the utilisation of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) to aid flood victims in Punjab, while the provincial government insisted it would use its own res...

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday reserved its verdict on PTI leader and former senator Ejaz Chaudhary’s bail petitions in three May 9-related cases after concluding arguments from both sides.

A local journalist, Tufail Rind, was shot dead by unidentified armed men in the Mirpur Mathelo area of Sindh’s Ghotki district on Wednesday morning, according to the police. The attack took place when he was on his way to drop his children off at school. According to a police press release, the shooting occurred on the Jerwar Road near Maso Wah, where the assailants riding a motorcycle opened indiscriminate fire at his car. “Rind died on the spot, while his children miraculously escaped unharmed,” the police said. Witnesses added that the attackers fled the scene after the assault, spreading panic across the area. The police later transported the body to the District Headquarters Hospital of Mirpur Mathelo for medico-legal formalities. The police statement said that upon receiving the information, Ghotki’s Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Anwar Khetran immediately reached the crime scene, inspected the site, and met with the victim’s family, issuing “strict orders to the concerned officers for prompt act...

No casualties were reported after a fire erupted in a plastic factory in Karachi’s Liaquatabad area early on Wednesday and was extinguished after hectic efforts, according to a rescue official. Rescue 1122 Spokesperson Hassaanul Haseeb Khan told Dawn.com, “The fire erupted in the plastic factory located in a market near Sindhi Hotel in Liaquatabad at around 7:30am.” He said three fire tenders managed to control it, and no casualties were reported. Liaquatabad Station House Officer Ghulam Yasin told Dawn.com that the fire appeared to have been caused by a short circuit. Fires frequently erupt in buildings across Pakistan due to a mix of poor infrastructure, weak enforcement of safety regulations, and widespread negligence. Many structures lack proper fire exits, alarms, and emergency protocols, while faulty wiring and overloaded power systems increase the risk of electrical short circuits. According to city planners and engineers, 70 per cent of residential, commercial and industrial buildings in Karachi lacke...

The World Bank has cautioned that Pakistan’s economy is likely to face slower growth and higher inflation in the wake of recent devastating floods that have severely disrupted agricultural activity and food supply chains.

The Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Wednesday issued a bailable arrest warrant for PTI founder Imran Khan’s sister, Aleema Khanum, in connection with the party’s November 26 case, dismissing an exemption plea filed by her to appear for a hearing. More than 10,000 PTI supporters surged into the city on Nov 26 last year, defying a ban on public gatherings and a lockdown to skirmish with 20,000 security forces enlisted to turn them back. As the demonstrators inched towards the heavily barricaded D-Chowk, the police and security troops employed intense teargas shelling to disperse them. Aleema was to be indicted in the November 26 protest case registered at Sadiqabad Police Station during today’s hearing, but she did not appear before the court. During the hearing, the prosecutor objected that the person applying on Aleema’s behalf was not her lawyer, and therefore was not authorised to file an application without a power of attorney. On this basis, ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah dismissed Aleema’s application...

Balochistan Governor Jaffar Khan Mandokhail has said that the government is taking concrete measures to promote business activities in the province, with a particular focus on strengthening border trade.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced that local government (LG) elections in Punjab will be held in the last week of December 2025.

Visa issues surrounding Afghanistan’s football team being able to play in Pakistan have been sorted out, allowing the team to travel to Islamabad for Thursday’s AFC Asian Cup qualifier at the Jinnah Stadium, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Pakistan Football Federation president Mohsen Gilani said that its Afghanistan counterpart had failed to ensure the presence of its full travelling squad at the Pakistan Embassy in Kabul for biometric verification, as most of the players were not living in the country. The Afghanistan Football Federation was quoted by the Afghan Voice Agency as stating that it had sent the initial list of team members to the Pakistan Embassy on September 18, but “despite repeated follow-ups and official contacts, visas have not been issued to the players and officials”. Today, Minister Naqvi took to X to announce the issue had been sorted out. “Issued now,” he said in response to journalist Faizan Lakhani’s post saying the minister has ordered to sort out the v...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has summoned a high-level meeting of senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders to discuss the ongoing political row between Sindh and Punjab, sources confirmed on Wednesday.

The water level in the Sutlej River continues to rise after India released additional water into the river, officials confirmed on Wednesday.

Chipmaker Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang said that the company will continue to sponsor H-1B visas and cover all associated costs following US President Donald Trump’s executive order last month that imposed a $100,000 fee on each new application, Business Insider reported on Tuesday. Huang’s reported message, aimed at reassuring employees, comes after panic and confusion had ensued among tech workers on H-1B visas, a large chunk of whom are from India and China. Akin to the wider chip and tech industry, Nvidia has a significant number of employees from overseas. Huang has repeatedly asserted that about half the AI researchers in the world are Chinese. “As one of many immigrants at Nvidia, I know that the opportunities we’ve found in America have profoundly shaped our lives,” Huang wrote in a message to staff, cited by Business Insider. “And the miracle of Nvidia — built by all of you, and by brilliant colleagues around the world — would not be possible without immigration,” Huang added, according to the report. N...

Gold prices broke $4,000 for the first time on Wednesday as investors piled into the safe haven over expectations for United States interest rate cuts and worries over the US government shutdown. In Pakistan, 24-karat gold price was recorded at Rs425,178 per tola and Rs365,421 per 10 grammes, according the All Pakistan Sarafa Gems and Jewellers Association. The prices were based on the exchange rate in the interbank market. The global rally in the precious metal also came after concerns that a tech-fuelled rally that has sent some equity markets to record highs may have gone too far, fanning talk of an asset bubble. Traders have been piling into gold all year, pushing it up more than 50 per cent since the turn of the year, on the back of a range of issues including global economic uncertainty, Donald Trump’s trade war and geopolitical crises. Its allure was increased further this week by political turmoil in France, where the country’s prime minister resigned and President Emmanuel Macron’s former premier urg...

Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Aimal Wali Khan has said he has apologised to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after the latter provided him with a clarification on the questions he had earlier raised during a Senate speech regarding a presumed rare earth minerals deal with the US. In a post on X on Tuesday, he said the PM had invited him for a meeting after his speech in the upper House of Parliament, and during the conversation, he told the premier: “If I can criticise openly, I also have the courage to apologise if I make a mistake”. He added that he had told the PM that if he was wrong in his presumptions about the deal, “I apologise”. In his Senate speech, Khan had referred to a photograph circulating on social media that showed PM Shehbaz, US President Donald Trump and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir, who was holding an open briefcase that appeared to contain minerals. The photograph was released by the White House, after a September meeting of the three in the US, and showed Field M...

In a major intelligence-based operation conducted in the Orakzai district on the night of October 7–8, 2025, Pakistan’s security forces eliminated 19 Indian-sponsored terrorists affiliated with the group Fitna al Khwarij, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) reported on Tuesday.

The Punjab government and the private sector have reached an agreement to purchase wheat from farmers at Rs3,500 per maund.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in India on Wednesday, months after London and New Delhi signed a landmark free trade agreement, capping years of intense negotiations. Starmer’s first official trip to India, which he hopes will boost economic ties between the two nations, sees him accompanied by a 125-member delegation that includes top business leaders including British Airways chief executive Sean Doyle. The two-day visit follows his July meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in London, where the pair signed the trade accord. Starmer is due to meet Modi tomorrow, and address a fintech conference in Mumbai alongside him. “With India set to be the third biggest economy in the world by 2028, and trade with them about to become quicker and cheaper, the opportunities waiting to be seized are unparalleled,” Starmer said in a statement. India and its former colonial ruler are the world’s fifth- and sixth-largest economies, with bilateral trade worth around $54.8 billion and investments suppo...

The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has established new counters in Pakistani embassies across several countries to facilitate overseas Pakistanis in obtaining identity and other essential documents.

The National Resilience Day is being observed across Pakistan today to express solidarity with the victims and survivors of the devastating 2005 earthquake that claimed thousands of lives and caused widespread destruction, particularly in Azad Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.