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Dawn - 18:32 Dec 25, 2025
Torrential rains unleashed flash floods and warnings of debris flow across southern California, particularly in fire-scarred areas, with further downpours forecast for Thursday as authorities declared a state of emergency in several counties. Driven by an atmospheric river known as “the Pineapple Express,” which moves heavy moisture from the tropical climes of Hawaii to the United States’ west coast, the storm was expected to deliver months’ worth of rain over a few days. Early on Thursday, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned about the risk of excessive rainfall over parts of southern California, including in Los Angeles, the second-most populous city in the US. The NWS warned of a “broad plume of moisture” producing heavy rain in California on Christmas Day, adding there was a “moderate risk” of excessive rainfall over the southern parts of the state. A man walks along the Los Angeles river during heavy rainfall in Los angeles, California, the US on December 24. — AFP “Numerous flash flooding events ar... -
Dawn - 18:18 Dec 25, 2025
Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, on Thursday, received a visit from the Chairman of the Jordanian Joint Chiefs of Staff, Major General Yousef Ahmed Al Huneiti, where the pair vowed to enhance military and bilateral cooperation. According to a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the meeting took place at General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, where the pair discussed matters of mutual interest and regional security dynamics. “Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to strengthening defence ties with Jordan and emphasised the importance of collaborative efforts to address evolving security challenges,” the statement read. “The visiting dignitary (Maj Gen Al-Huneiti) appreciated the professionalism of the Pakistan armed forces and lauded their contributions towards regional peace and stability.” The ISPR said that the meeting concluded with a shared resolve between Field Marshal Munir and Maj Gen Al-Huneiti to further deepe... -
Dawn - 17:50 Dec 25, 2025
KARACHI: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto on Thursday inaugurated a new building of the Indus University Hospital (IUH) – a major project being developed with the provincial government’s support, which is designed to become the country’s largest free-of-charge hospital upon completion over the next three years. The Rs72 billion facility will have an admission capacity for 1,350 patients upon construction. “This initiative is designed to meet Karachi’s growing healthcare needs. Upon full completion, the facility will offer comprehensive, free-of-charge healthcare services across a wide range of specialities, benefiting millions of patients annually,” said Bilawal at the inauguration, which was attended by senior government officials, including Chief Secretary Asif Haider Shah, Health Secretary Rehan Iqbal Baloch, several donors and representatives of the Indus Hospital and Health Network (IHHN). The inauguration of this landmark project on Christmas Day carried deep symbolic meaning, he added. “All religions teach ... -
Dawn - 17:49 Dec 25, 2025
The tribunals recently notified by the Punjab government under the property ownership law have yet to become fully operational, as they have not been provided with the requisite staff or designated premises to conduct proceedings. On Monday, Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Aalia Neelum suspended the operation of the newly enacted Punjab Protection of Ownership of Immovable Property Ordinance, 2025, which empowers deputy commissioner-led committees to decide property disputes. In response to the suspension, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz argued that the move would “benefit encroachment and land-grabbing mafias”. During Wednesday’s hearing against the law, Justice Neelum remarked that the notification for the tribunals was recently issued after almost two and a half months, but the tribunals were still not functional, noting that neither staff nor place had been designated to the tribunals. It may be mentioned that the Punjab government had appointed the LHC-nominated judicial officers as members of t... -
Dawn - 16:43 Dec 25, 2025
The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) conducted six operations across the country, arresting four suspects, including a woman, and seizing as many as 304.33 kilogrammes of narcotics valued at over Rs786 million, it emerged on Thursday. According to an ANF spokesperson, the operations were carried out around educational institutions as well as in several cities as part of ongoing efforts to curb drug trafficking and protect students from narcotics abuse. In Islamabad, ANF personnel recovered 70 30-gram psychotropic tablets from a suspect near a hotel in the G-9 sector. In another operation, 1.2kgs of hashish was seized from a woman near Shamkot Toll Plaza in Khanewal district. “The arrested suspects confessed to supplying drugs to students at educational institutions,” the spokesperson said. Under international drug interdiction efforts, ANF officials recovered 300kgs of crystal methamphetamine, concealed in animal feed, from a container at Karachi Port that was bound for Qatar. In separate domestic operations, two k... -
Dawn - 15:34 Dec 25, 2025
Oxford University Press has declared “rage bait” as its 2025 Word of the Year, while Dictionary.com cast its vote for “6 7” and Collins’ Dictionary chose “vibe coding”. These selections offer a compelling snapshot of prevailing cultural and social trends, particularly among the young digital-native generation, over the past year. You may have overheard your children saying these very words, perhaps leaving you with a momentary sense of frustration as you struggled to follow their conversation. Navigating the rapidly evolving vocabulary of youth can feel like deciphering an entirely new language. But do not worry, the following chat has been decoded to help you “gain aura” (slang for boost one’s cool factor) with your children. Lucas: Bruh, Jennie just posted that “I study only two hours a day” video again. Zoey: That’s 100 per cent rage bait. (Rage bait: Posting online content just to make people mad and argue in the comments, thereby driving up engagement and traffic.) Lucas: Exactly. She’s just trying to au... -
Dawn - 15:15 Dec 25, 2025
MIRANSHAH: Security situation turned tense in the Mir Ali subdivision of North Waziristan on Thursday after an hour-long exchange of heavy fire between security forces and militants, leaving three security personnel and at least 20 civilians injured. According to security sources, Fitna al Khawarij militants attempted to attack a convoy on the main highway. Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). According to local sources, the clashes erupted around noon in adjoining areas of Mir Ali. During the exchange, three security personnel sustained injuries, while mortar shells landed on residential houses in different localities of Hasokhel, Muski and Ippi areas, injuring 20 civilians, including women and children. Security forces cordoned off Mir Ali Bazaar and surrounding areas, while intermittent aerial firing was reported, triggering panic among residents. All commercial activities were suspended as people remained confined to their home... -
Dawn - 14:52 Dec 25, 2025
The PTI on Thursday approached the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) with a request for a three-day extension to the submission deadline for nomination papers in local body elections in Islamabad. According to the application, submitted to the ECP’s Diary Branchand available with Dawn, Baldiat Committee Secretary Anjum Shahzad Tanoli requested that the chief election commissioner extend the deadline to December 27. “With due respect, this is to draw your kind attention towards the schedule of local body elections in Islamabad, wherein the last date for submission of nomination papers has been fixed as 27th December,“ the application read. It noted that the government announced a local holiday on December 26, stating that it would significantly affect the process of filing nomination papers. “Islamabad comprises 125 union councils (UCs), and in each union council, at least nine councillors are required to submit their nomination papers,“ the application stated. “The announced holiday will create serious ad... -
Dawn - 14:31 Dec 25, 2025
Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed two major initiatives — a power transmission strengthening project and an accelerating state-owned enterprise (SOE) transformation programme — totalling $730 million that would relieve overloading of existing transmission lines and improve operational efficiency. At the beginning of this year, Pakistan and ADB signed an agreement to provide $200 million in support to the country’s ailing power distribution system through network improvement. In the recent agreement, the second power transmission strengthening project amounts to $330m, while the accelerating SOE transformation programme is worth $400m, according to a statement issued on Thursday. Ministry of Economic Affairs Secretary Muhammad Humair Karim appreciated the Manila-based lending agency’s role and its continued support in advancing critical infrastructure and governance reforms, the statement said. He highlighted that the transmission project would “enable reliable evacuation of 2,300 megawatt f... -
Dawn - 14:24 Dec 25, 2025
LONDON: Former special assistant to the prime minister (SAPM) Mirza Shahzad Akbar was attacked in the United Kingdom, where he has been living in self-imposed exile since April 2022, leaving him sustaining facial injuries, including “bruising and a fractured nose”, it emerged on Thursday. “I have been attacked and been in the hospital and with the police. Bruised and fractured [sic],” the ex-SAPM said in text messages after Dawn reached out to him, seeking confirmation of a post about the incident on PTI’s X account. The PTI’s post at 9:50pm PKT on Wednesday said Akbar was attacked at his house in Cambridge in the morning. “The attacker punched him repeatedly in the face, as a result of which his nose and jaw were fractured,” it said. “Local police have collected all details, and an investigation is underway,” the party said. Later, taking to the X platform, Akbar denounced the attack as “cowardly” and expressed “full faith in the rule of law and in British law enforcement” in ensuring justice. “Yesterday at ... -
Dawn - 13:53 Dec 25, 2025
Syrian authorities on Thursday said they killed a senior leader in the Islamic State group in coordination with the US-led coalition, hours after the arrest near Damascus of another leader. Syrian security and intelligence forces, working in coordination with the international coalition, conducted what the interior ministry described as a “precise security operation”. “The operation resulted in neutralising the terrorist Mohammad Shahada, known as Abu Omar Shaddad, who is considered one of the prominent IS leaders in Syria,” it added. “This operation comes as confirmation of the effectiveness of joint coordination between the national security agencies and international partners.” Hours earlier, authorities said they captured Taha al-Zoubi, also known as Abu Omar Tabiya, an IS leader in Damascus, along with several of his men on Wednesday. A December 13 attack killed two US soldiers and an American civilian. Washington blamed the attack on a lone IS gunman in Syria’s Palmyra. In retaliation, US forces conduct... -
Dawn - 13:30 Dec 25, 2025
A heady aroma of malt and brewing yeast drifts through Pakistan’s oldest and, by far, largest brewery, which is gearing up for expansion after receiving approval to sell abroad after a nearly 50-year ban. Bottles and cans clatter along the production lines at Murree Brewery, founded in 1860 to quench the thirst of British soldiers and the colonial community during the Raj. It has survived opposition and strict regulations to become one of Pakistan’s most well-known companies. “It’s a journey of a roller-coaster and resilience,” Isphanyar Bhandara, the third generation of his family to run the business, told AFP in an interview. “Getting permission to export is another happy milestone,” he added. “My grandfather and late father tried to get the export licence, but couldn’t get it. Just because, you know, we are an Islamic country.” This photograph taken on December 17 shows Isphanyar Bhandara, Murree Brewery’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) speaking during an interview with AFP in Rawalpindi. — AFP However, Bha... -
Dawn - 13:21 Dec 25, 2025
There have been multiple incidents of mobs vandalising Christmas decorations in India ahead of the festival, according to local media. The Indian Express has reported that a mob, armed with wooden sticks, vandalised Christmas decorations and installations at a mall in the Raipur city of India’s Chhattisgarh state. View this post on Instagram The report also mentioned that the incident took place on the same day when a Hindu organisation, Sarva Hindu Samaj, had called a Chhattisgarh bandh — a form of protest — against alleged religious conversions. According to The Hindu, the protest was also called following clashes over the “burial of a person from a converted family” in the Kanker district. The Indian Express carried an account of the incident as narrated by an employee of the mall, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Around 80-90 people barged in […] we were supporting the protest. For the last 16 years, since we began operations here, we have always supported bandh calls. But I have never seen such beha... -
Dawn - 12:56 Dec 25, 2025
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a nuclear submarine factory and received a message from Russia’s Vladimir Putin hailing the countries’ “invincible friendship”, Pyongyang’s state media said Thursday. North Korea and Russia have drawn closer since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago, and Pyongyang has sent troops to fight for Russia. In return, Russia is sending North Korea financial aid, military technology and food and energy supplies, analysts say. The “heroic” efforts of North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk region “clearly proved the invincible friendship” between Moscow and Pyongyang, Putin said in a message to Kim, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Their work demonstrated the nations’ “militant fraternity”, Putin said in the message received by Pyongyang last week. The provisions of the “historic treaty” the two leaders signed last year, which includes a mutual defence clause, had been fulfilled “thanks to our joint efforts”, Putin wrote. S... -
Dawn - 12:52 Dec 25, 2025
KARACHI: The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has busted an “international cartel” involved in cyber fraud amounting to $60 million, arresting 15 foreign nationals and recovering 10,000 international SIMs during a raid in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA), Sindh home minister revealed on Thursday. Addressing a press conference in Karachi along with NCCIA Additional Director Tariq Nawaz, Sindh Home Minister Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar shared the details of the investigations, saying the held scammers were “operating online investment scam, where criminals build trust over weeks/months via social media platforms by tricking the victims into investment in cryptocurrency, forex with promise of large profit returns”. “The victims were lured into investment by creating a login on fake investment platforms (which the victims considered as legitimate due to the fake conversation and activity in telegraph groups) which were controlled and managed by these scammers where the victims were made to belie... -
Dawn - 12:46 Dec 25, 2025
Security forces neutralised 10 terrorists, including a high-value target, in separate intelligence-based operations (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan district and Balochistan‘s Kalat district, the military’s media affairs wing said in separate statements on Thursday. On December 24, (yesterday) two khawarij were killed in an IBO in DI Khan‘s Kulachi area, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in Thursday’s statement, using the term designating members of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. “During the conduct of [the] operation, own troops effectively engaged the khawarij location. Resultantly, two khawarij, including kharji ring leader Dilawar, were sent to hell,” the statement read. According to the ISPR, Dilawar was wanted by law enforcement agencies due to his involvement in terrorist activity and the government had put an Rs4 million bounty on him. The statement added that weapons and ammunition were recovered from the dead terrorists, who remained actively involved in terrorist activi... -
Dawn - 11:51 Dec 25, 2025
Pope Leo decried conditions for Palestinians in Gaza in his Christmas sermon on Thursday, in an unusually direct appeal during what is normally a solemn, spiritual service on the day Christians across the globe celebrate the birth of Jesus. Leo, the first US pope, said the story of Jesus being born in a stable showed that God had “pitched his fragile tent” among the people of the world. “How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold?” he asked. Leo, celebrating his first Christmas after being elected in May by the world’s cardinals to succeed the late Pope Francis, has a more quiet, diplomatic style than his predecessor and usually refrains from making political references in his sermons. But the new pope has also lamented the conditions for Palestinians in Gaza several times recently and told journalists last month that the only solution in the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people must include a Palestinian state. Israel and Hamas agreed... -
Dawn - 11:48 Dec 25, 2025
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said that Pakistan’s Christian community, which is celebrating Christmas today, is an integral part of the country’s national fabric. “Pakistan’s Christian community forms an integral part of our national fabric. Their enduring contributions to education, healthcare, and social welfare, and their sacrifices alongside the nation in the fight against terrorism, are deeply valued and a source of collective pride,” the premier said in his Christmas message on the social media platform X. He extended his “warmest greetings” to the Christian community across the world, and “especially to our Christian brothers and sisters in Pakistan”. “May this festive season fill hearts with joy, strengthen bonds of harmony, and bring peace, hope, and prosperity to all,” the premier said. Separately, a statement carried by state-run APP quoted him as saying that Christmas “conveys a universal message of love, peace, tolerance, and goodwill for all humanity”. He highlighted the role of the... -
Dawn - 09:36 Dec 25, 2025
Pakistan’s civil and military leadership highlighted Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s vision of a sovereign, democratic and inclusive nation as the country celebrated his 149th birth anniversary on Thursday. According to state-broadcaster Radio Pakistan, the day began with a 31-gun salute in Islamabad and 21-gun salutes in provincial capitals. Special prayers were offered at mosques after Fajr for the Quaid, as well as for the peace, prosperity and development of the country, the Radio Pakistan report said. A change of guard ceremony was also held at Mazar-i-Quaid in Karachi. ‘A visionary leader and a statesman of global stature’ In his message on the Quaid’s birth anniversary, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said: “This day offers an opportunity for collective reflection and renewal of our commitment to the Quaid’s guiding principles — democracy, constitutionalism, social justice, religious harmony, and the vision of a welfare state grounded in equality and the rule of law.” He said the Quaid’s enduring idea... -
Dawn - 08:48 Dec 25, 2025
Fourteen countries including Britain, Canada, France and others have condemned the Israeli security cabinet’s approval of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, prompting strong criticism from Tel Aviv. On Sunday, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that authorities had greenlit the settlements, saying the move was aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state. “On the ground, we are blocking the establishment of a Palestinian terror state,” said Smotrich, a vocal proponent of settlement expansion and a settler himself. Subsequently, fourteen countries, including Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Canada, issued a statement late on Wednesday urging Israel to reverse its decision. “We call on Israel to reverse this decision, as well as the expansion of settlements,” said a joint statement released by Britain, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Denmark, France, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain. Such unilateral actions, they said, “...
9116 items