Pakistan

Reports reveal alarming levels of pollution in Rawal Dam and other key reservoirs

Community-driven chat groups transform daily commute, long-distance travel

Rising fuel costs, transport fares severely impact citizens

Division bench cites constitutional violations, procedural irregularities in tribunal's ruling

.

.

Residents of various sectors of Islamabad have demanded that authorities intensify efforts to tackle the rising number of stray dogs in the city. Pakistan faces a worsening stray dog crisis marked by rising dog bites and rabies cases. The problem stems from unchecked breeding, poor waste management, and inadequate vaccination or sterilisation efforts. Authorities’ reliance on culling has drawn criticism from animal rights groups, which call for humane, coordinated strategies focused on vaccination, sterilisation, and awareness. According to a report by the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), citizens have reported that several areas — including sectors G-6, G-10, I-8, F-11, and surrounding localities — have been witnessing increased activity of stray dogs, often moving in aggressive packs. It added that multiple dog bite cases have been reported, with children and elderly residents being the most vulnerable. “This is not just a matter of nuisance — it’s a public safety emergency. Authorities must ac...

Mercedes’s George Russell won the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, as McLaren clinched the Formula One constructors’ championship. Oscar Piastri was fourth, which meant his lead over his McLaren teammate Norris in the drivers’ standings was cut to 22 points. The 27 points scored by Piastri and Norris were more than enough for McLaren to equal the record set by Red Bull in 2023 by winning the team title with six races to spare. It was McLaren’s second title in a row and the 10th in the team’s history. Kimi Antonelli crossed the line fifth in a Mercedes, followed by the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. Fernando Alonso, Oliver Bearman and Carlos Sainz rounded out the top 10. Russell’s Mercedes was on pole and got away cleanly from Verstappen’s Red Bull at the start, but the drama all happened behind. Norris, from fifth on the grid, darted past Antonelli and dived up the inside of Piastri, who started third, at turn one. Norris was flying and clipped the back...

Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman has categorically rejected the proposed two-state solution for Palestine, declaring that “there is only one state and that is Palestine.

A 5.0-magnitude earthquake was recorded in Quetta on Sunday evening, the government of Balochistan’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said. According to PDMA, the earthquake was recorded at 06:29pm, approximately 65 kilometres west of Quetta at the geographical coordinates of Latitude 30.19°N and Longitude 66.33°E, with a focal depth of 25 kilometres. The monitoring data were analysed through automatic seismic mode. Tremors of mild to moderate intensity were reportedly felt in Quetta and adjoining areas, it said in a statement. It said that the authority was in coordination with the district disaster management authorities to assess the situation. “As of now, no immediate reports of losses or damages have been received from any district. “The PEOC (Provincial Emergency Operations Centre) [of] PDMA Balochistan is in coordination with DDMAs (District Disaster Management Authorities) to assess the situation,” the authority said in a statement. “As of now, no immediate reports of losses or damages ...

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet has recommended the withdrawal of several “false cases” related to the May 9, 2023 riots against supporters of the PTI, which rules the province, it emerged on Sunday. At the time of the May 9 riots, a caretaker government with Mohammad Azam Khan as the chief minister was in power in KP, after the PTI had dissolved the provincial assembly as rifts with the Centre grew. “For the public’s information, I want to inform that 29 false cases were registered on May 9, 2023 in anti-terrorism courts that were based on political victimisation, lack of evidence and misuse of authority,” said KP Advocate General Shah Faisal Uthmankhel in a video statement seen by Dawn.com. Uthmankhel said KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur took notice of the matter as “courts had already acquitted all suspects in most of the cases”, while some suspects were discharged and some cases were sent to ordinary civil courts. It could not be confirmed whether the cabinet had recommended withdrawing all 29 cases mentioned by t...

Landslides and floods triggered by heavy downpours in Nepal and neighbouring India have killed more than 60 people, officials said on Sunday, as rescue workers raced to reach cut-off communities in remote mountainous terrain. Torrential downpours have lashed Nepal since Friday, leaving rivers in spate and many areas in the Himalayan nation inundated. At least 44 people have died in rain-triggered disasters and five are missing, Shanti Mahat, spokeswoman for Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, told AFP. At least 37 were killed by landslides in the worst-affected eastern district of Ilam. “Heavy rains overnight caused the landslides,” said local district official Sunita Nepal. “With roads blocked, some areas are difficult to reach. Rescue workers are heading there on foot.” Rivers in the capital Kathmandu have also swelled, inundating settlements along their banks. Security personnel were deployed to assist rescue efforts with helicopters and motorboats. “There is some damage, but...

A new political confrontation has erupted between the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) after Sindh’s Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon criticized Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s government, drawing a sharp response from Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari.

Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah of the Supreme Court (SC) has observed in a recent judgement that an employee’s pension is not a matter of bounty, charity, or benevolence but a right protected under Articles 9 and 14 of the Constitution. Article 9 entails that no person shall be deprived of life or liberty save in accordance with the law, while Article 14 protects the dignity of a person. He made the remarks while hearing a petition filed by Shakeel Ahmed Kayani challenging an Islamabad High Court judgment (IHC) dated February 2, 2022, which had dismissed his plea seeking entitlement to an additional pension. The SC heard the case on Sept 17, 2025, while the order of the judgement was released this week. “[Pension] is inseparably linked with the right to life, dignity and livelihood, for without sustenance in old age, these rights ring hollow,” Justice Shah observed in his judgement. According to the order, a copy of which was made available to Dawn.com today, the petitioner joined the erstwhile Oil and Gas Dev...

Residents of the Korki area in Balochistan thwarted an attack by India-backed militants, reaffirming their resolve against hostile elements.

Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon on Sunday accused the Punjab government of running a targeted campaign against the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and conspiring against the federal government.

The latest accusation in the ongoing rift between the PPP and PML-N came from Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon on Sunday when he alleged that the Punjab government was taking his party’s cover to “target” the federal government. Memon’s PPP and the PML-N, who are coalition partners in the Centre, have been engaged in a war of words for the past many days over issues from flood compensation to water rights in the context of the Cholistan canals project. The PPP, which is in power in Sindh, has been particularly incensed by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s remarks, whose party is also leading the federal government. As the row continues between the two sides, Memon alleged while addressing a press conference in Karachi that on the face of it, the Punjab government was “indirectly targeting” the PPP, but their “actual target is the federal government”. “They are taking our cover to settle their own issues with the prime minister or the federal government. Or they are trying to create an environment ...

The eight Muslim countries that worked with US President Donald Trump’s administration on a plan to end Israel’s genocide and invasion in Gaza have welcomed the “steps taken by Hamas” in this connection, the Foreign Office said on Sunday. On Friday, Hamas said it would agree to some of the terms in Trump’s plan — which was announced on Monday after a meeting between the US president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — and seek further negotiations. While the Trump administration worked with eight Muslim countries last month to bring the Israeli invasion of Gaza to an end, reservations have been expressed from that latter’s side that the plan unveiled by the White House was not the one originally agreed upon. Nevertheless, they see Hamas’s partial agreement to the plan as an opportunity for a ceasefire in Gaza after an onslaught of around two years. “The Foreign Ministers of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, the Republic of Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the R...

A soldier was martyred and another injured when unknown assailants opened fire on them near Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district on Sunday, according to the police. Recently, multiple areas of KP — including Bannu, Peshawar, Karak, Lakki Marwat and Bajaur — have seen a series of terrorist attacks, particularly targeting police personnel. Spokesperson for Bannu Police Kashif Nawaz told Dawn.com, “A security personnel was killed and another was injured when they were attacked by unknown assailants near the Ayub fuel station on Miranshah road.” He added that the body and the injured were rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital in Bannu, while a police team was dispatched to the site of the incident to collect information. Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities over the past year, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022 and vowed to target security forces, the police, and other law enforceme...

Pakistan is considering options for the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, including demolishing the building, as part of its efforts to meet commitments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), US outlet Bloomberg reported on Saturday. Named after former US president Theodore Roosevelt, the century-old property in midtown Manhattan is seen as one of Pakistan’s most valuable foreign assets, which it acquired in 2000. Faced with mounting losses, the over 1,000-room hotel was shut in 2020, and has also operated briefly as a migrant shelter. As part of its $7 billion IMF loan agreement, the government approved a “transaction structure for the Roosevelt Hotel” in July, saying it would not conduct an outright sale but decided to adopt a joint venture model to maximise long-term value. Muhammad Ali, the adviser to the prime minister on privatisation, told Bloomberg that one of the options is to raze the storied landmark and build a skyscraper in its place. “The government is keen on a joint venture where Pakistan w...