Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The tally of polio cases for 2025 reached 31 on Tuesday after a sample collected last year in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district tested positive. Pakistan’s Polio Eradication Programme said in a statement that the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, had confirmed a case of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in North Waziristan. “This is the fifth case reported from North Waziristan in 2025, bringing the total number of polio cases in Pakistan for the past year to 31,” it said. Meanwhile, an official from the lab said that the case was included in the list for 2025 as the sample was collected last year. “It takes up to three weeks to confirm that a child has been affected. There are some more samples in the lab which are being analysed and, in case of confirmation, the tally for 2025 may further increase,” he said. He added that wild poliovirus was detected in a four-month-old girl from Union Council Spinwam-2 in North Wazi...

Zakharova slams "illegal" Western sanctions for harming Iranian citizens and blocking development

Hate speech against minorities, including Muslims and Christians, in India rose by 13 per cent in 2025, with most incidents occurring in states governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a Washington-based research group said on Tuesday. India Hate Lab documented 1,318 instances of what it called hate speech in 2025, up from 1,165 in 2024 and 668 in 2023, at events such as political rallies, religious processions, protest marches and cultural gatherings. Of that number, 1,164 incidents occurred in states and union territories governed by the BJP, either directly or with coalition political parties, the group said. The Indian embassy in Washington did not respond immediately to a request for comment. Modi and his party deny being discriminatory and say their policies, including food subsidy programs and electrification drives, benefit all communities. April recorded the highest monthly spike, 158 events, with nearly 100 occurring between April 22, after a deadly ...

Met Office says minimum temperature may stay between 9-11°C

Stay order extended; hearing fixed for January 21

US President Donald Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff on any country doing business with Iran, ramping up pressure as a crackdown on protests continues. Trump, who has repeatedly threatened Iran with military intervention, said in a social media post on Monday that the new levies would “immediately” hit the Islamic republic’s trading partners who also do business with the United States. “This Order is final and conclusive,” he wrote, without specifying who they will affect. Iran’s main trading partners are China, Turkiye, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq, according to economic database Trading Economics. Trump has been mulling his options on Iran, which has been roiled by more than two weeks of demonstrations that have defied a near-total internet blackout and lethal force. Sparked by economic grievances, the nationwide protests have grown into one of the biggest challenges yet to the theocratic system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution ousted the shah. Iranian authorities have blamed f...

Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Memon on Tuesday assailed the PTI for not honouring commitments made in preparation for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s recent Sindh visit. Memon’s comments come a day after the KP CM concluded his visit to the province. On Monday, the chief minister decried the treatment of him and his entourage in Karachi, saying that the provincial government had “desecrated” the honour of the Sindhi ajrak and topi. Addressing a press conference in Karachi, Memon expressed his view that the PTI “did not care for the respect they had been accorded during the visit”. “We do not care about their speeches; however, violations were committed, and all they did was blame the Sindh government.” Addressing the events that transpired during the KP CM’s visit, Memon said that the Sindh government was in contact with representatives from the KP government, and the two had “chalked out” the schedule for the visit. Memon maintained that the PTI “violated every commitment they made earlier...

Bangladesh’s cricket board said on Tuesday it had repeated its refusal to travel to India for next month’s T20 World Cup during talks with the International Cricket Council (ICC). Bangladesh announced on Jan 4 that it would not play its T20 World Cup matches in India after its player Mustafizur Rahman was released by his Indian Premier League (IPL) team amid growing tensions between the two countries. Subsequently, Bangladesh “formally requested” the ICC to shift their games to Sri Lanka. The World Cup begins on February 7, with Bangladesh scheduled to play their four group matches in India. On Tuesday, during a video conference with the ICC, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said it had “reiterated its request for the ICC to consider relocating Bangladesh’s matches outside India”. “The BCB reaffirmed its position regarding the decision not to travel to India, citing security concerns,” the board said in a statement. “While the ICC highlighted that the tournament itinerary has already been announced and requ...

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) announced on Tuesday that it had partnered with rail companies in Canada and the United Kingdom (UK) in a bid to facilitate its passengers. In a press release, the national flag carrier’s spokesperson said that for the convenience of its passengers travelling to Toronto and destinations in the UK, special arrangements had been made to provide access to rail facilities. “PIA has launched an ‘air-to-rail’ partnership with renowned rail services in Canada and the UK, providing passengers with extensive travel facilities,” he said. Under the agreement, PIA passengers can now, after their air travel, reach their final destination by train on a single ticket without the hassle of booking separately, he said. “PIA passengers will now be able to book their rail tickets along with air tickets to reach their final destination via rail, saving time and effort in booking trains separately,” he added. “Passengers arriving in Toronto on PIA can connect to eight major cities in Canada t...

The Sindh government on Tuesday announced that all public and private educational institutions will remain closed on January 17 (Saturday) on account of Shab-i-Meraj. Shab-i-Meraj is observed on the 27th of Rajab to commemorate the Holy Prophet’s (Peace Be Upon Him) Night of Ascent. The notification, a copy of which is available with Dawn, said, “In pursuance of the decision taken in the sub-committee meeting of the Steering Committee on Education held on November 28, 2024, all public and private educational institutions under the administrative control of Sindh School Education and Literacy Department, Government on Sindh, shall remain closed on Saturday, January 17 on account of Shab-i-Meraj.” Earlier this week, the Sindh government had decided to change school opening timings across the province for a period of two weeks. The decision was made after Education Minister Sardar Ali Shah consulted with Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, keeping in view the intensity of the cold spell in various parts of the provin...

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has stated that unity and consensus on matters of national security and narrative is the need of the hour, Radio Pakistan reported on Tuesday. According to the report, he made the remarks as a delegation of the National Paigham-i-Aman Committee (NPAC), led by its Chairman Hafiz Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, met with the DG ISPR in Rawalpindi. “Speaking on the occasion, the DG ISPR emphasised that unity and consensus on matters of national security and narrative were the need of the hour,” it said. He said a comprehensive discussion was held on internal security challenges in the context of Fitna al Khawarij, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and Tehreek-i-Taliban Afghanistan, which further strengthened the shared stance of all stakeholders, it said. “Reiterating Islamabad’s principled position on Kashmir and Gaza, DG ISPR said supporting oppressed peoples is Pakistan’s moral responsibility, ” it added. He stressed that public a...

Pakistan and Japan have formalized a grant agreement to enhance pediatric healthcare facilities in South Punjab, with the Japanese government committing $18.

Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry on Tuesday informed irked lawmakers in the National Assembly that 29,115 trees had been removed from the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), but that more than this number would be planted in the coming months. In the past few days, there has been widespread criticism over the cutting of thousands of mature trees in various locations of the federal capital, including the levelling of acres of tree cover around Shakarparian. PTI MNA Riaz Fatyana moved a calling attention notice on the tree-cutting in the federal capital and the public concern it was causing. Responding to him, Chaudhry said 29,115 trees have been removed, while “40,000 trees of more than 8-10 feet have been planted”. He added that another 60,000 trees will be planted in the same areas on March 30, when the weather will be more suitable for planting. The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has maintained that only paper mulberry trees were removed, as they had been causing pollen allergy. However, s...

Armed assailants killed four members of a peace committee in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district on Tuesday, confirmed police. The incident took place in the Gulbadin Landi Dak area of Bannu district. According to a senior official of the district police, the victims were all travelling in the same vehicle when armed men opened “indiscriminate fire” on them. Of the four victims, two were identified as a father and son. They all died on the spot, the official added. Local sources said that the peace committee in the area has taken up arms in self-defense to resist militants, leading to an extremely tense situation in the area. The police official further said that an investigation into the attack has been initiated, but added that it was too early to declare it an act of terrorism. Attacks on peace committee members in KP have been on the rise in recent months. In November 2025, seven people were killed when a peace committee office was attacked in Bannu. Meanwhile, in October, a member of a tribal peace commi...

An anti-corruption court in Lahore on Monday granted former Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi a one-day exemption from appearing in an alleged illegal recruitment case.

A bipartisan group of United States lawmakers will visit Denmark this week as President Donald Trump threatens a takeover of Greenland, an autonomous part of the kingdom of Denmark that houses a US airbase. The delegation will be led by Democratic US Senator Chris Coons and will include Republican US Senator Thom Tillis and Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Dick Durbin along with some members of the House of Representatives, Coons’ office said in a statement on Monday. Why it’s important Democratic and Republican US lawmakers said last week they expected the US Senate would eventually vote on legislation seeking to rein in Trump’s ability to attempt to seize Greenland from Denmark, a long-time US ally. Trump has repeatedly said Washington must own Greenland to prevent Russia or China from occupying the strategically located and minerals-rich Arctic territory. He says a US military presence there is not enough. “One way or the other we are going to take Greenland,” Trump has said while adding he would pre...

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Pakistan on Tuesday agreed to sign a formal agreement on “pre-immigration clearance” for Pakistani nationals visiting the Gulf country, said a statement by the Ministry of Interior. The agreement, when signed, will enable Pakistani nationals to bypass lengthy immigration processes upon arrival in the UAE. The decision was made in a meeting between Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and a delegation from the UAE, led by Director General of Customs and Port Security Ahmed Bin Lahij Al Falasi, the press release said. “The immigration process for the passengers will be completed in Pakistan before travel,” Naqvi was quoted as saying. He added that with the implementation of the system, Pakistani nationals will be able to bypass lengthy immigration processes upon arrival in the UAE. “They will be able to exit the airport directly like domestic passengers,” said Naqvi. The interior minister detailed that the system will be launched as a pilot project, with the first phase set to begin...

Four members of a local peace committee were shot dead by unidentified assailants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district on Tuesday, police said, in the latest incident in a renewed wave of militant violence in the province.

Jamaat-e-Islami’s Deputy Amir Liaquat Baloch on Monday reiterated that his party would not become part of any electoral alliance and would continue its political struggle independently.

Pakistan on Monday called on Russia and Ukraine to enter into a “sustained, meaningful and structured dialogue” to end their protracted conflict, warning that the nearly four-year-old war continues to inflict enormous human and economic costs and poses growing risks to regional and global stability.