Pakistan

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Tuesday approved grants pertaining to Pakistan’s security and defence. In a post on social media platform X, the finance ministry said Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb chaired a meeting of the ECC that was attended by federal ministers, special assistants to the prime minister, secretaries, and senior officials from relevant divisions. It said the ECC approved “several strategic grants and reforms aimed at strengthening Pakistan’s security framework, defence capabilities, food security, and petroleum sector operations”. According to the ministry’s statement, a technical supplementary grant of Rs100.3 million was approved for the maintenance of defence equipment used by the federal civil armed forces. A technical supplementary grant of Rs841.56m was also approved for enhanced border management, internal security and law and order. Further, a technical supplementary grant of Rs50 billion was also approved for defence services projects. The ECC also decided to esta...

In a recent video report, German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle News observed that “more than two decades after 9/11, Al Qaeda hasn’t vanished, it’s adapted.” This assessment is reinforced by recent reports from the world’s leading news outlets, including the Wall Street Journal and Al Jazeera, which indicate that one of Al Qaeda’s regional affiliates, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), is on the verge of capturing the Malian capital, Bamako. Operating across the Sahel region of West Africa, primarily in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, JNIM is imposing an economic siege on the capital by blocking routes used by fuel tankers, effectively bringing the country to a standstill. Despite the elimination or arrest of its top to mid-ranking leadership in the Afghanistan-Pakistan (Af-Pak) region over the last two decades — through extensive US-led counter-terrorism operations across Af-Pak, the Middle East and Africa — Al Qaeda has persisted by adopting a key strategy: evolving from a hierarchical, centralis...

Pakistan’s star batter Babar Azam was fined for a minor ICC Code of Conduct breach during the third One-Day International (ODI) against Sri Lanka on Sunday, according to the International Cricket Council. A brilliant bowling show from Pakistan and a laboured chase later saw the hosts beat Sri Lanka by six wickets to complete a 3-0 series sweep over the visitors in the third and final ODI at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Sunday. Babar was fined 10 per cent of his match fee for a Level 1 ICC Code of Conduct breach, which carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50pc of a player’s match fee, and one or two demerit points. View this post on Instagram “The 31-year-old has been found to have breached Article 2.2 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to ‘abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an international match’,” ICC said in a press release. One demerit point has been added to his dis...

The opposition alliance Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP) on Tuesday staged a march from Parliament House to Supreme Court as part of its nationwide protest movement against the newly enacted 27th Amendment. The 27th Amendment was signed into law on November 13 after passage from the parliament amid strong criticism by the opposition parties. The legislation, which has brought major structural changes to the judiciary and the military, has been assailed by the legal fraternity, even former and sitting judges, as an “attack” on judicial independence. In a meeting on Friday, the TTAP had vowed to vigorously protest to “restore the Constitution to its original form”. Under a plan announced then, members of parties under the TTAP umbrella gathered outside Parliament House today to hold a protest. They then marched to the Supreme Court on Constitution Avenue. TTAP Vice Chairman Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and PTI Senator Faisa...

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has set up a full bench to review several petitions contesting the 27th Constitutional Amendment.

Former federal minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed revealed on Tuesday that he was prevented from travelling for Umrah even though he had secured a court order permitting him to do so.

Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad stressed on Monday the need for ending the occupation of Palestinian territories and paving the way for Palestinian statehood through a credible political process. “We believe that in order to break the cycle of violence, it is absolutely necessary to end the occupation, and to have a political horizon, open the pathway to the Palestinian State through a credible, time-bound political process firmly anchored in the relevant UN resolutions,” he said while speaking at the UN Security Council (UNSC) after it adopt a US-drafted resolution endorsing President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza. The plan also authorises an International Stabilisation Force (ISF) for the Palestinian enclave. Thirteen UNSC members, including Pakistan, voted in favour of the resolution, while Russia and China abstained — notable given earlier signals that Moscow might veto the text. Israel and Hamas agreed last month to the first phase of Trump’s 20-p...

The population of the rare Urial species in Punjab’s Salt Range has shown a significant increase, thanks to the persistent efforts of the Wildlife Department.

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has imposed a combined fine of Rs 57.

As the dust settles after the passage of the 27th Amendment Constitutional Amendment, changes have been made to key constitutional and statutory judicial bodies. Following these changes, Supreme Court’s Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail has been included in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and the Practice and Procedure Committee while Federal Constitutional Court’s (FCC) Justice Aamer Farooq has been made a member of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP). Among the three statutory bodies, the SJC is the the top forum for judicial accountability that probes allegations of misconduct against judges, the Practice and Procedure Committee forms benches and fixes cases, and the JCP is responsible for appointing judges to the superior judiciary. Changes in their composition were required to synchronise them with the latest constitutional amendment. A Supreme Court (SC) press release issued on Tuesday said: “Pursuant to the 27th Constitutional Amendment, [these] key constitutional and statutory judicial bodies […]...

A newlywed 18-year-old girl was found dead in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA) area while the police detained her relatives for their suspected involvement for interrogation, officials said on Tuesday. “The girl was married to a government employee deputed at Malir Cantonment; she was found dead at the rooftop of a building in Badar Commercial in Phase 5,” South Deputy Inspector General Syed Asad Raza told Dawn. The senior officer added that a dupatta was knotted around her neck twice. She was immediately taken to a private clinic in DHA and later to a hospital in Clifton, where doctors pronounced her dead. Subsequently, DIG Raza detailed, her body was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for legal proceedings. The couple had arrived in Karachi from Sialkot two weeks ago and was residing at an aunt’s house in the Badar Commercial area. According to details shared by the DIG, the girl reportedly went to the rooftop on Monday evening and did not return. When her aunt went upstairs, she found...

Pakistan has dispatched its 25th humanitarian consignment to Gaza—a 100-ton cargo—raising its total relief assistance to 2,427 tons, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) confirmed on Tuesday.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday barred the police from harassing an Indian woman who had filed a petition against them. The woman, formerly Sikh, had come to Pakistan for religious purposes but had converted to Islam to marry the second petitioner, her now-husband. She complained that the police had conducted an “illegal raid on their house in Farooqabad, Sheikhupura district, and pressured her to end the marriage.” The petition was heard by Justice Farooq Haider, who ordered the police to stop harassing the petitioners. The petition, a copy of which is available with Dawn, was filed on November 12 under Article 199 (jurisdiction of High Court) of the Constitution. It named both the woman and her husband as the petitioners and Punjab’s inspector general of police (IGP), the regional police officer of Sheikhupura, the district police officers (DPOs) of Sheikhupura and Nankana Sahib, the station house officers (SHOs) of the same, and another resident of Farooq Abad as respondents. The petition alleged th...

Pakistan’s plan to issue Panda Bonds in 2025 has been shelved, pushing the launch into early next year, according to official sources.

The United States is the biggest recipient of China’s lending activities globally, according to a study that tracked Beijing’s credit activities and found it is increasingly lending to higher-income countries over developing countries. The report, published on Tuesday by AidData, a research lab at US university William & Mary, said China’s lending and grant giving totalled $2.2 trillion across 200 countries in every region of the world from 2000 to 2023. During this period, Pakistan received $74 billion, the report shows, ranking it as the fifth largest recipient. China has long been seen as a creditor to developing countries through its Belt and Road initiative, but is shifting toward lending to advanced economies — backing strategic infrastructure and high‑tech supply chains in areas such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence and clean energy. Beijing’s portfolio size is two-to-four times larger than previous estimates suggest, AidData said, adding that China remains the world’s largest official credit...

Terrorists’ bid to blow up a bridge in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district failed on Tuesday when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated prematurely while it was being installed, police said. Amir Khan, the spokesperson for the District Police Office in Bannu, told Dawn that two terrorists intended to blow up Doghoda Bridge. He said that one of them died on the spot when the IED detonated prematurely while it was being installed. The other terrorist was injured and escaped the scene, he added. The spokesperson said police had reached the spot and were collecting evidence. Meanwhile, the process for the identification of the dead terrorist had also been initiated, he said. A search operation was also under way to track down the other terrorist, he added. Today’s incident comes around a month after law enforcers foiled an attack by terrorists at a police station in Bannu. According to police, terrorists belonging to Fitna-al-Khawarij — a term the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP...

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has issued a warning to overseas Pakistanis—particularly those residing in the United Kingdom—about a fraudulent website impersonating its services.

Vitol and Cnergyico, Pakistan’s largest oil refiner, have delivered the country’s biggest single shipment of very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) for ship refuelling, the global trading firm said in a statement late Monday. The move will enable large vessels refuelling in Pakistan to now sail longer routes from east to west without needing to stop elsewhere, while also giving the country a stronger local supply of environmentally compliant marine fuel. This shipment came from Cnergyico’s first large-scale batch of fuel that meets International Maritime Organisation (IMO) low-sulphur rules. The company began producing it after importing its first US crude oil cargoes earlier this year. Vitol delivered the VLSFO to a vessel owned and operated by shipping major MSC at Port Qasim, using a Singapore-flagged bunker barge Marine Ista that has the capacity to supply 6,800 metric tons of marine fuel in a single delivery. It was also the first barge to load fuel directly from the Karachi Port Trust’s Oil Pier rather than ...

Pakistan’s security forces have killed at least 15 suspected Fitna-al-Khawarij militants in two intelligence-based operations conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

MUZAFFARABAD - The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Assem­bly on Monday voted to remove Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq from his post, replacing him with Pakistan Peo­ples Party’s (PPP) Raja Faisal Rathore.