Pakistan

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif both extended greetings to the Hindu community in Pakistan to mark Diwali on Monday and reiterated their commitment to minority rights. Diwali is a colourful festival involving lighting candles, worship, celebrations and prayers. It is celebrated to mark the day when Lord Rama returned home after his 14-year exile. It is a five-day festival and during this time, houses are cleaned and windows are opened to welcome Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. According to Radio Pakistan, the president said that the festival of Diwali “reminds us of the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil”. He noted that the Constitution guaranteed equal rights and complete freedom of religion to all citizens. “Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah envisioned a Pakistan where minorities would enjoy equal rights and opportunities,” he added. Zardari also lauded the services of Hindu community in education, commerce, and public service. In his message, Prime Minister Shehba...

Pakistan and Afghanistan have reached a ceasefire agreement aimed at ending cross-border terrorism, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif announced in an interview with Al Jazeera Arabia.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has directed the Power Division to prepare a comprehensive reform package aimed at ensuring the efficient use of electricity to boost industrial and agricultural productivity across the country.

Two terrorists belonging to the outlawed group “Fitna-ul-Khawarij” were killed in a joint intelligence-based operation carried out by Swabi Police and the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in the Manei Ajmeer mountain area.

There was anger on Monday in Israel after police banned the Israeli Premier League’s Tel Aviv derby amid chaotic scenes, triggering complaints from the clubs and political opposition. The crowd trouble at Sunday’s abandoned match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv comes amid tensions over a ban preventing Israeli fans from attending an upcoming Europa League away game against English side Aston Villa. The match in Tel Aviv was called off after what a police spokesman described as “disorderly conduct, riots, the hurling of objects, smoke grenades, fireworks, injured officers and damage to the stadium infrastructure”. Speaking to public broadcaster KAN, he said: “This is not a soccer game: this is severe disorder and violence.” After the police order, the Bloomfield Stadium, the home ground for both teams, was evacuated, with police on horseback intervening to control the 30,000 fans. Hapoel’s management was infuriated by the police decision and tactics. “From the preliminary discussions before the ga...

The Punjab government has initiated a province-wide crackdown on smoke-emitting vehicles as part of its intensified efforts to curb rising smog levels.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday removed the registrar’s objections on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s plea seeking a meeting with incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan and issued notices to the Adiala jail superintendent and others for October 23. Afridi had filed the plea on Oct 17, two days after he was sworn in as the provincial chief executive on Oct 15. He had gone to Adiala jail — where Imran has been imprisoned since September 2023 — after getting protective bail from the Peshawar High Court on Oct 16. However, he was denied the meeting; Afridi has stated that he would announce his cabinet after consulting Imran. He had then filed a plea with the IHC, however, the registrar’s office had objected to the maintainability of the plea. Today, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir took up the matter and overruled the objections of the registrar office. Afridi’s lawyer Advocate Ali Bukhari said that the registrar’s office had raised the objection that the petition was filed “without the provin...

The Director General Parks on Monday informed the Sindh High Court (SHC) that a detailed reply regarding the cutting of trees along Karachi’s Shara-e-Faisal will be submitted in court later today.

Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has said Pakistan will “breathe easy only after eliminating the menace of Fitna al-Hindustan,” vowing that the designs of Indian-backed terrorists will not be allowed to succeed.

The Punjab government has made it mandatory for all motorcycle riders to wear face masks as smog levels continue to worsen across major cities, particularly Lahore.

National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) on Sunday said that during the first six days of the nationwide campaign, more than 43.

US President Donald Trump reiterated on Sunday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told him India will stop buying Russian oil, while warning that New Delhi would continue paying “massive” tariffs if it did not do so. “I spoke with Prime Minister Modi of India, and he said he’s not going to be doing the Russian oil thing,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. Asked about India’s assertion that it was not aware of any conversation between Modi and Trump, Trump replied: “But if they want to say that, then they’ll just continue to pay massive tariffs, and they don’t want to do that.” Russian oil has been one of the main irritants for Trump in prolonged trade talks with India — half of his 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods are in retaliation for those purchases. The US government has said that petroleum revenue funds Russia’s war in Ukraine. India has become the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian oil sold at a discount after Western nations shunned purchases and imposed sanctions on Moscow for its 202...

Islamabad police on Monday arrested 17 Afghan nationals residing illegally in the federal capital during an operation conducted in the Bari Imam area.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Rana Sanaullah has said that the party, under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif, has always pursued the politics of service and national development rather than hatred and division.

President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday extended warm greetings to the Hindu community in Pakistan and across the world on the occasion of Diwali, calling it a celebration of “the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil.

The hunt was on Monday for the band of thieves who stole eight priceless royal pieces of jewellery from the Louvre Museum in the heart of Paris in broad daylight. Officials said a team of 60 investigators were working on the theory that the raid was planned and executed by an organised crime group. In France, it reignited a row over the lack of security in France’s museums, which the new Interior Minister Laurent Nunez acknowledged on Sunday was a “major weak spot”. The thieves arrived between 9:30 and 9:40am Sunday, shortly after the museum opened to the public at 9:00am, a source close to the investigation said. They used a furniture hoist to get access to the Apollo Gallery, home to the royal collection, and cutting equipment to get in through a window and open the display cases. A brief clip of the raid, apparently filmed on the phone of a visitor to the museum, was broadcast on French news channels. The masked thieves stole nine 19th-century items of jewellery, one of which — the crown of the Empress Eug...

• Official claims Saad Rizvi, his brother ‘traced to AJK’ • 95 bank accounts identified; parleys continue over fate of seminaries administered by the group LAHORE: Authorities in Punjab claim to have traced the whereabouts of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Saad Rizvi and his brother Anas, saying the absconding leaders fled to Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) after the Muridke crackdown. A senior official told Dawn that law enforcers had shared this information with AJK authorities and sought their help to nab the TLP leaders. The development follows speculation — fuelled by TLP circles — that their party chief was in custody. The official said following the crackdown, several teams comprising senior officers from Punjab police and other law enforcement agencies had been tasked with tracking down the TLP chief and his brother. He said Saad Rizvi and his brother were first spotted walking away from the protest camp in Muridke, and then fleeing on a motorbike. At that time, an emergency message was circulated ...

The National Party (NP) central leader and MPA Rehmat Saleh Baloch’s brother, Waleed Saleh Baloch, was killed in Balochistan’s Panjgur area on Sunday, according to statements by the party and the province’s chief minister. Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti condemned the incident in a statement and ordered the immediate arrest of the suspects. “All resources will be used to provide justice to the affected family,” the CM said, according to a statement issued by his office. According to the statement, the CM had sought a report from police regarding the incident. Dawn.com has reached out to the police for further details. Meanwhile, the NP also strongly condemned the incident in a statement, adding that the party would observe three days of mourning. It added that at the time of the incident, Waleed was celebrating his wedding. It said that the incident was not only “the murder of an ordinary citizen but also the murder of a person belonging to a dignified and political family who has always believed in ...

Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire following high-level negotiations in Doha, where both countries pledged to respect each other’s sovereignty and are expected to meet again on October 25 to further discuss matters, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Sunday. Amid heightened tensions along the Pak-Afghan border, a high-level Pakistani delegation led by Asif travelled to Doha on Saturday for talks with Afghan Taliban officials, aimed at ending cross-border hostilities and addressing Pakistan’s security concerns. Facilitated by Qatar, the talks followed days of clashes and Pakistani strikes on Gul Bahadur group camps in Afghanistan, after a 48-hour ceasefire was extended to allow negotiations. In a post on X, the minister announced, “A ceasefire agreement has been finalised. The terrorist attacks from Afghanistan on Pakistan’s soil will cease immediately. Both neighbouring countries will respect each other’s territory,” adding that delegations will meet again in Istanbul on October...

Law enforcers foiled an attack by terrorists at a police station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district on Sunday, police said. Police said in a statement that terrorists belonging to Fitna-al-Khawarij — a term the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — tried to attack the Baka Khel police station from a distance. However, it added, police personnel opened fire on them after detecting their movement using the “latest technology”. As a result, the statement said, the terrorists couldn’t come near the police station and fled. According to police, “residents from nearby areas also fired at the attackers” and helped law enforcers. The statement did not mention any loss of lives or property in the incident, which was earlier confirmed by Bannu Regional Police Officer (RPO) Sajjad Khan. He told Dawn.com that the attackers had used a hand grenade to target the police station. “Unidentified attackers threw a hand grenade toward the police station, but it fell at a distance, causing no damage,” h...