Pakistan

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Sunday said the province will supply cheaper electricity to industries through its own power generation projects.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday held meetings with senior Chinese officials in Beijing, focusing on further strengthening bilateral relations, according to the Foreign Office (FO).

Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb has said that development projects in all sectors will be launched across the province under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Yahya Afridi has said that the early disposal of tax cases affecting the national economy will be a top priority for the Supreme Court.

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has expanded the Union Council registration facility through the Pak-ID mobile application to additional cities in Sindh.

PPP Parliamentary Leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman on Saturday strongly condemned Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for failing to stop attacks by Hindu extremist groups against religious minorities, particularly Christians and Muslims.

The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) on Saturday clarified that no announcement has been made regarding a complete gas shutdown for residential consumers in Karachi.

On December 18, 2025, a 25-year-old Hindu garment worker was lynched by a mob of approximately 150 people in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh district. Following accusations of blasphemy, the victim was beaten to death. Mob lynchings in Bangladesh, known locally as gono-pituni, have a long history. But this crisis is not unique to Bangladesh. According to the Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2025, South Asia has emerged as a global epicentre for collective vigilantism, with similar violence frequently reported in India and Pakistan as well. The recent surge in mob violence across India, Bangladesh and Pakistan is propelled by similar drivers: a decaying public confidence in the judiciary and the rapid spread of digital disinformation. This combination allows ‘street justice’ to effectively supersede state authority. As American political scientist Paul Staniland observed in a 2020 analysis for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, these patterns in South Asia are not recent developments. They are historical...

The 94th death anniversary of prominent leader of the Pakistan Movement, renowned journalist and poet Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar is being observed today.

TAXILA: Ophthalmologist Dr Pramila Lall, one of Pakistan’s most revered medical professionals, passed away peacefully on Saturday at the age of 93 at Christian Hospital, Taxila, where she devoted nearly seven decades of her life in service to humanity. Hospital officials confirmed her death, describing it as the end of an era for eye care in Pakistan. Dr Lall served at Christian Hospital, Taxila, for over 50 years, providing low-cost, high-quality eye care to millions, particularly the poor. Widely recognised as Pakistan’s first female ophthalmologist, she is also believed to have conducted the highest number of eye surgeries by any woman ophthalmologist in Asia. Born in Nagpur, India, in 1932, Dr Pramila graduated from the prestigious Christian Medical College, Vellore, in 1957. During her student years, fate introduced her to Dr Ernest Lall, a Pakistani national. Their marriage brought her to Pakistan the same year, where she joined Christian Hospital, Taxila. She earned her Diploma in Ophthalmology from Lo...

Peshawar - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi on Saturday underscored the provincial government’s commitment to healthcare, saying KP is the only province providing free medical treatment to its entire population.

Peshawar - A three-day Youth Social Media Change Makers Summit concluded at the Baragali Campus of the University of Peshawar, bringing together young digital enthusiasts from across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to examine how social media can be harnessed for youth empowerment and social development.

KARACHI: To keep slow-moving freight vehicles from mingling with faster passenger traffic, the city commissioner on Monday announced that heavy transport vehicles (HTVs) would be restricted to a dedicated lane with a maximum speed limit of 30km/h. A meeting, chaired by Commissioner Hasan Naqvi, deliberated on various issues, including the parking problem of goods transporters, the issuance of HTV licences and registration for insurance. The meeting was attended, among others, by Karachi police chief Azad Khan, Transport Secretary Asad Zaman and DIG Traffic Peer Mohammad Shah, and representatives of the Pakistan Goods Transport Alliance, United Goods Transport Alliance and Karachi Goods Carrier Association. After the meeting, the commissioner told Dawn that the lane would be marked with clear “HTV” signage and painted lines, and heavy vehicles would be permitted to travel only within this lane once the markings were completed. He said that the meeting focused on the persistent parking problems faced by goods t...

KARACHI: The partially decomposed bodies of four people discovered in a pit on Mai Kolachi Road on Friday night were identified on Saturday as those of a woman and her three children. Police said the four bodies, which were found at a desolate spot within the jurisdiction of the Docks police station, bore marks of torture and appeared to have been killed with an axe or another sharp-edged object. South DIG Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that the victims were identified as Anila, 35, her two sons, Husain Ali, 12, and Konain Ali, 10, and daughter Kishwara Zehra, 13. He said Anila got divorced from Mukhtar Ali and on Dec 30, 2025 she rented a house in Kharadar. Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said that the victims were killed around four to five days ago. She said the corpses were brought to the Civil Hospital Karachi where medico-legal formalities were completed late on Friday night. The three children suffered multiple injuries in the head, face and neck, while their mother was bludgeoned to death. “All relevant sam...

North Korea launched ballistic missiles on Sunday, the day the leader of rival South Korea starts a state visit to China, Pyongyang’s chief ally, and just hours after the US attacked Venezuela. The firings of at least two missiles, the country’s first in two months, further heighten global tensions after US President Donald Trump launched the attack that captured President Nicolas Maduro. South Korea said peace on the Korean peninsula would be on the agenda during President Lee Jae Myung’s visit to Beijing, which will include a summit with his counterpart, Xi Jinping. The launches from the capital Pyongyang into the sea between the Koreas and Japan represent “a message to China to deter closer ties with South Korea and to counter China’s stance on denuclearisation”, said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. North Korea signals ‘we are different from Venezuela’ Eul-chul said North Korea also wanted to send a message that “we are different from Venezuela” — as a nuclear a...

NEW DELHI: Police in India-occupied Kashmir summoned a local cricketer for questioning on Friday after a video showing him wearing a helmet bearing a Palestinian flag sparked online outrage. According to the Indian Express newspaper, police initiated a 14-day preliminary inquiry after the video circulated on social media, purportedly showing Furqanul Haq, a resident of Pulwama, wearing the helmet during a local league match in Jammu. Police said the inquiry was ordered in view of the “sensitivity of the matter and its potential public order implications” and would examine the facts, the cricketer’s intent, and any possible linkages. Under the law, police can conduct preliminary inquiries with prior permission from a deputy superintendent of police for cognisable offences punishable by three to seven years of imprisonment. The controversy occurred during a match of the Jammu and Kashmir Champions League at Muthi, 10 kilometres from Jammu, after Furqan walked in to bat for his team, JK Eleven Kings, against Jam...

KARACHI: Growth in remittances could face a decline or may not show any significant growth particularly from the Middle Eastern countries, said multiple sources. While securing visas for Arab countries is getting tough, local authorities have also adopted strict rules to check the exodus of skilled and unskilled workers. A recruiting agent said getting a visa has become very difficult while double checking for a job seeker on a work visa has made success almost impossible. “For even lowest paid jobs, delegations come to Pakistan for personal verification and they carry out detailed scrutiny, reducing the chance for overseas jobs,” according to an official working for a recruiting agency. The country received record inflows of $38 billion in remittances in FY25, a definitive indicator that most of the 1.5 million Pakistanis who have left the country over the last three years, found jobs in Middle Eastern countries. Growth in remittances is already much lower this year (FY26) than the figures for last year (FY2...

The power of the press has always been a significant force, perceived as a tool that shapes public opinion and that can set changes in motion. For the longest time, in entertainment industries around the world, members of the media were looked at to deliver authentic reviews, to authoritatively certify ‘hits’ and ‘misses’, and to applaud excellence and critique mediocrity. Then the balance of power shifted — or seemed to do so — about a decade ago, with the rise of social media. THE RISE OF SOCIAL MEDIA Consequently, journalists’ interviews with celebrities were no longer the only way fans could get to know more about their favourite actors. They could connect with stars directly via their social media accounts. Danish Nawaz Thus, stars no longer needed a newspaper or any other form of media to announce their upcoming projects. They could do so themselves via their personal social media pages. Journalists — be they print journalists, bloggers or TV reporters — were no longer essential for the promotion of the...

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders plan to convene a multi-party conference (MPC) in Islamabad next week in an attempt to reduce political tensions in the country. The conference is being organised under the banner of a recently formed National Dialogue Committee (NDC) set up by ex-PTI leaders, including Fawad Chaudhry, Dr Shahzad Waseem and former Sindh governor Imran Ismail. Organisers said the event would bring together political leaders as well as lawyers, intellectuals and technocrats from across the country. Invitations will be sent to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), PTI, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI). The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Awami National Party (ANP) and other parties will also be invited. The NDC will also extend a special invitation to Tehreek Tahaffuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP). Fawad Chaudhry, Imran Ismail and Mahmood Mo...

• UAE issues call for restraint; Saudi Arabia summons factions to Riyadh for ‘comprehensive’ talks • FM Dar speaks with Saudi counterpart about regional situation MUKALLA : Yemen’s Saudi-backed and internationally recognised government said on Saturday it had retaken control of Mukalla, the key eastern port in Yemen and capital of Hadramaut province, from separatists who seized it last month. The rapid government gains since Friday have reversed many of the advances made by the Southern Transitional Council (STC) and cast doubt on viability of its intention to hold a referendum on “independence”. As the fighting threatened to upend the regional order, the United Arab Emirates urged de-escalation, saying it was “deeply concerned” by the violence. Saudi Arabia appealed for factions to convene for talks in Riyadh. Saudi-backed forces said on Friday they had made advances and taken control of key locations in Hadramaut, a large province with stretches of desert along the Saudi border. By Saturday, military offici...