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KHYBER: Preparations for a decisive action against terrorist groups in the restive Tirah valley have entered the final phase as security officials verbally agreed on a possible timeframe for the operation and facilitation of the departing families. Sources in the valley told Dawn that hectic deliberations had been taking place between the Tirah Bagh Brigade Headquarters and local elders since Wednesday (Dec 10) to develop a mechanism for the ‘willful’ relocation of families from the valley and an acceptable package for the new internally displaced persons (IDPs). They said that while expressing satisfaction with the voluntary repatriation of families from different areas of Tirah in the last few weeks, officials posted to the Bagh Brigade Headquarters made it clear to local elders that those unwilling to vacate their houses would face “utter difficulties” after the launch of the operation. A Malakdinkhel elder, who was part of the negotiating team, told Dawn on condition of anonymity that the launch of the mi...

The director of Israel’s National Economic Council, Avi Simhon, called Israel’s participation in Pax Silica “a badge of honor for the State of Israel and the Israeli high-tech industry.”

LAHORE: Sundar police on Saturday arrested four suspects allegedly involved in gang-raping two sisters. The mother of the victims, a resident of Theme Park, had submitted a complaint against five suspects for raping her two daughters. She said that her daughters had left home for work to Umar Block of Theme Park the other day. When they returned the same day, they told their mother about their ordeal. The complainant added that her daughters went to meet their two acquaintances, identified in the FIR, who called another armed suspect to the location. The armed suspect called his accomplices to the site and they all raped both the sisters. All suspects were identified by the rape survivors. Their mother demanded registration of a case and provision of justice. Sundar police registered a case against the five suspects on rape charges and arrested four of them. They are conducting raids to arrest the fifth suspect. Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2025

LAHORE: Punjab’s air quality has plunged to alarming levels this week, with Lahore emerging as one of the most polluted cities in the world, according to real-time data from IQAir. The situation looks bad even in the coming days with no rain prediction that may bring some respite. On Saturday, the city recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 527 at 8pm, classified as hazardous, following Delhi (710). Lahore’s three-day average AQI hovered above 300. Some hotspots in the city such as Allama Iqbal Town (802), Bedian Road (674) and CERP Office (672) performed worst. The air pollution crisis in the country extends beyond Lahore. Cities across Punjab reported AQI readings well above safe thresholds between December 11 and 13, prompting widespread health warnings. Khurrianwala registered an AQI of 558, Faisalabad 547, Kahna Nau 350, Gujranwala 284, Gujrat 254, Islamabad 246, and both Bahawalpur and Sialkot at 244. Health experts warned that such high concentrations of PM2.5 particulate matter that penetrates deep in...

Мишель де Нострадам (Нострадамус) — французский врач, астролог и автор знаменитых "Центурий" — сборника из 942 четверостиший-пророчеств. Сегодня, 14 декабря, день его рождения.

Солнечная энергетика иногда сталкивается с серьезными, но на первый взгляд простыми проблемами. Обычная тень, упавшая на угол панели, может снизить ее эффективность наполовину. Исследователи из Мичиганского университета заявили, что нашли способ исправить это.

Displaced residents rest at an evacuation centre in the Thai border province of Buriram.—AFP BANGKOK: Cambodia shut its border crossings with Thailand on Saturday, after Bangkok denied US President Donald Trump’s claim that a truce had been agreed to end days of deadly fighting. Violence between the Southeast Asian neighbours, which stems from a long-running dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800-kilometre (500-mile) border, has displaced around half a million people on both sides. At least 25 people have died this week, including four Thai soldiers, the defence ministry said were killed in the border area on Saturday. The latest fatalities were followed by Phnom Penh announcing it would immediately “suspend all entry and exit movements at all Cambodia-Thailand border crossings”, the interior ministry said. Each side blamed the other for reigniting the conflict, before Trump said a truce had been agreed. Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Trump “didn’t mention whether we should make ...

Spot XRP exchange-traded funds continued a streak of positive flows, with over $20.1 million recorded on Friday, marking 19 consecutive days of net inflows. Trader sentiment toward XRP has been shifting into bullish territory on social media this week, according to market intelligence platform Santiment, and at the same time, the streak of inflows into the token’s exchange-traded funds has continued. Retail traders are staying optimistic toward XRP (XRP) as it hovers around the $2 mark, with the week recording the seventh highest number of bullish comments for the year, Santiment said on Friday, citing data from its analytics platform Sanbase, which monitors social interest across cryptocurrency social channels, including Telegram, Discord, subreddits, and X. “XRP’s bulls and bears continue to battle, and the asset is hanging on to a $2.00 market value for now. Sentiment is showing bullishness across social media,” Santiment said. Read more

Het UWV voorziet minder banen in Zuid-Limburg, Zeeland, de Achterhoek en Drenthe. Vier regio’s met veel industrie. Toch is voor somberheid weinig ruimte.

RECENTLY, I was invited to speak at a conference on artificial intelligence, where a familiar and increasingly urgent question resurfaced: as AI becomes extraordinarily efficient at sourcing, processing, and delivering information, will journalists eventually become irrelevant? At first glance, the idea feels compelling. If machines can scrape information across multiple feeds in real time, summarise parliamentary proceedings, monitor political developments, crunch data, and respond to user queries in conversational language, why would end users still need traditional journalism outlets, or even digital platforms as intermediaries for news? The argument implies a future where individuals bypass traditional journalism outlets entirely and receive information directly from intelligent systems in a conversational, real-time format. Those who make this argument often point to changing audience behaviour, especially among younger users. Consumers are steadily turning away from conventional news platforms and gravi...

De wereldvermaarde architect Francine Houben werkte zes jaar aan haar plan voor de verbouwing van Museum Boijmans. Nu vallen eindelijk alle stukjes op hun plaats.

Als vrijmetselaars een informatieavond organiseren, zetten zij gewoon een advertentie in de krant. Een gewone vereniging eigenlijk. Maar toch niet helemaal.

Украинец Ярослав Амосов победил в дебютном поединке UFC против американца Нила Магни. Представитель США капитулировал уже в первом раунде.

KARACHI: Both domestic and foreign investment are at their lowest levels and could set an unwanted record by falling below a 13 per cent investment-to-GDP ratio during the current fiscal year (FY26), analysts and bankers warn. Trade and industry have repeatedly urged the government to improve the investment climate by addressing political uncertainty and terrorism. “How is it possible to invest in a country where uncertainty has a strong grip and is clearly reflected in declining foreign investment?” asked Aamir Aziz, a textile finishing manufacturer and exporter. He said domestic textile groups have begun investing abroad, citing Interloop and Artistic Milliners as examples. As a result, jobs are effectively being outsourced. For the first time in the country’s recent history, domestic investors are actively securing their investments outside Pakistan. Experts cite political uncertainty, terrorism as main barriers A senior banker described the situation as grim for both the economy and the public, saying job...

ISLAMABAD: The country’s top tax machinery is confronted with a big dilemma of nil-filers, which has reached an alarming level of nearly 39 per cent of total income tax returns in the tax year 2025, Dawn has learned from official sources. This presents a big challenge for the government in identifying individuals not paying their taxes, with 2.262 million out of 5.912 million filed up to Oct 31, potentially concealing their taxable income. This means that only 3.650m taxpayers declared incomes in their returns for tax year 2025 (TY25). The pattern of nil-filers are across the three main categories — individuals, associations of persons (AoPs) and the corporate sector. The nil returns are submitted for one-time financial transactions or to take advantage of lower tax rates for placement on the Active Taxpayers List (ATL). Concerns are mounting within the FBR that Pakistan’s income tax system is failing to capture the true wealth of its citizens, as approximately half of taxpayers continue to declare nil income...

В университете Брауна в Провиденсе американского штата Род-Айленд произошел массовый расстрел студентов, которые как раз сдавали выпускные экзамены.

Deze week hoor je wat er misging bij de grootste windmolenfunderingenfabriek ter wereld in Rotterdam.

Police in Rhode Island were searching for a suspect late on Saturday after a shooting at Brown University in Providence left two students dead and eight others critically wounded at the Ivy League school, officials said. A ninth person was hurt by bullet fragments, the mayor said. Streets around campus remained blocked and packed with emergency vehicles hours after the shooting and law enforcement officials heightened security around the city as police continued their manhunt. “The individual responsible is still at large,” Mayor Brett Smiley told reporters at a 9:30pm (7:30am PKT) press conference. Deputy Police Chief Timothy O’Hara said the suspect had not been identified. Officials said they are looking for a male dressed in black and were releasing a video of the suspect, who O’Hara said may have been wearing a mask. He said officials had retrieved shell casings from the scene of the shooting, but that police were not prepared to release details. Officials said the gunman escaped after shooting students i...

Бойцы 429-го отдельного полка беспилотных систем "АХИЛЛЕС" уничтожили трубу, по которой российские оккупанты безопасно проникали в северную часть города Купянск Харьковской области