Pakistan

Dick Cheney, a driving force behind the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, who was considered by presidential historians as one of the most powerful vice presidents in US history, has died at age 84, his family said in a statement on Tuesday. Cheney died on Monday night from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, his family said. The Republican — a former Wyoming congressman and secretary of defence — was already a major Washington player when then-Texas governor George W Bush chose him to be his running mate in the 2000 presidential race that Bush went on to win. As vice president from 2001 to 2009, Cheney fought vigorously for an expansion of the power of the presidency, having felt that it had been eroding since the Watergate scandal that drove his one-time boss Richard Nixon from office. He also expanded the clout of the vice president’s office by putting together a national security team that often served as a power centre of its own within the administration. Cheney was a strong advocate...

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI) provincial council member Hafiz Maulana Abdul Salam Arif was shot dead by unidentified motorcyclists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Charsadda district on Tuesday, according to a police officer. According to Investigating Officer (IO) Safdar Khan, the JUI member was on his way home after offering prayers at a mosque when he was attacked by two armed suspects on a motorcycle. “The incident is being investigated from all possible angles,” the IO said. “Police have collected evidence from the crime scene and have also called in a team of experts to provide assistance.” The IO added that the victim’s son filed a case with the Mandani police station. In addition to being a provincial council member, the slain Abdul Salam was the head of Madressah Abu Bakar Siddique in Tehsil Tangi and the preacher at a mosque within the area of the Jamalabad Dairy Farm. In July this year, Awami National Party politician Maulana Khan Zeb and a policeman were shot dead by unidentified suspects in KP’s Bajaur distr...

Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf has been suspended for Pakistan’s first two ODI matches against South Africa on November 4 and 6 after the ICC sanctioned several Indian and Pakistani players on Tuesday for breaching the Code of Conduct during matches played at the Asia Cup. Haris and Sahibzada Farhan were reprimanded by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in September for gestures made during the Asia Cup Super Four match against arch-rivals India, ESPNCricinfo reported. “Rauf was seen responding to heckling from Indian fans by signalling 6-0 with his hands and making gestures depicting the downing of aircraft, in apparent reference to the military conflict between India and Pakistan in May this year,” the report read. “Farhan had celebrated his fifty by mimicking a gunshot.” In a press release today, ICC confirmed the outcomes of several Code of Conduct proceedings arising duirng the Asia Cup. “The hearings were conducted by members of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees following incidents in the m...

Pakistan and Iran have signed several Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) aimed at enhancing collaboration in the media and broadcasting sectors.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Tuesday said it has restored flight operations with some alternate arrangements after delays due to what it called a “strike” by the Society of Aircraft Engineers of Pakistan (SAEP). However, the SAEP stated there was no strike from their side and the engineers were only adhering to mandatory safety and certification protocols. PIA’s flight operations were disrupted across the country last night after the engineers’ group refused to issue clearances to aircraft, claiming that they could not compromise on travel safety. The PIA said in a statement today: “A de-recognised entity, SAEP, in order to pressurise the management, tried to halt the operations during late hours of yesterday (Monday) night with their nefarious design to sabotage the privatisation process.“ It asserted that the PIA’s management team, along with key officials of the engineering department, immediately responded to the situation. “By using alternative means and working tirelessly overnight and day, ...

Punjab Assembly lawmakers affiliated with the opposition party PTI filed a petition in the Lahore High Court on Tuesday, seeking the declaration of several provisions related to the recently promulgated Punjab Local Government Act (PLGA) 2025 as ultra vires to the Constitution. Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Muhammad Moeenuddin Riaz, Hafiz Farhat Abbas and Ali Imtiaz filed the petition against the legislation that was bulldozed through the assembly last month amid the opposition’s protest. The Punjab government has been named as a respondent in the plea, and Justice Sultan Tanvir will hear this petition, according to lawyer Abuzar Salman Niazi. The petition, a copy of which is available with Dawn, says that Sections 15, 32, 25, 40, 55, 56 and 57 of the Act are “unconstitutional, unreasonable [and] illegitimate”. These provisions “brazenly and patently contravene” Articles 8 (laws inconsistent with or in derogation of fundamental rights to be void), 9 (security of person), 17 (freedom of association), 32 (p...

Ambassador of the Netherlands, Robert-Jan Siegert, called on Minister for Defence, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, here on Tuesday.

Ticket holders and office bearers of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) from central Punjab and Lahore on Tuesday announced that they were severing ties with the now-banned organisation, stating that they were “standing with the state”. On Friday, all election ticket holders of the TLP from south Punjab announced that they had left the party, accusing it of pursuing an anti-state agenda that “aligns with the country’s enemies”. In a press conference at the Lahore Press Club today, multiple TLP ticket holders and office bearers announced their decision to step away from the religiopolitical group, with lawyer Usman Khizr Mangat saying that one can engage in politics within the state, but not against it. “Violence and mobs cannot create an impact by attacking the state,” he said. “Pakistan saw how these people carried out attacks. The government tried to start a dialogue, but the demands laid out were not accepted. “The state is like a mother, it tried to negotiate for six, seven days constantly with these pe...

A review meeting of the ongoing 10-day modern fractional-does inactivated polio vaccine (FIPV) campaign was held under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner Lahore Syed Musa Raza and Head of Anti-Polio Campaign Adeel Tasawar here on Monday.

India is ramping up aid to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and branding itself as the region’s “first responder” after Monday’s deadly earthquake, seeking to counter China’s efforts to fill the void left by the West, officials and analysts said. Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was among the first to call his Taliban counterpart Amir Khan Muttaqi on Monday, pledging more support after New Delhi shipped 15 tonnes of food. Medical supplies would follow soon, he said, as his ministry promoted the hashtag #IndiaFirstResponder on X. China on Tuesday said it too was ready to assist after the quake near Mazar-i-Sharif killed at least 20 people and injured more than 900. India wields soft power Both Asian giants are keen to deepen engagement with the Taliban, said Harsh Pant, head of foreign policy studies at the Observer Research Foundation think tank in New Delhi. India’s ties with Afghanistan have warmed in recent weeks, even as relations between both countries and Pakistan have soured. “Behind India’s ou...

Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has launched Pakistan's first Google Chromebook Assembly line.

PPP stalwart and former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani has warned that the government’s proposed constitutional changes could effectively undo the landmark 18th Amendment.

India launched a revision of its voter rolls on Tuesday, expanding a contentious exercise that activists warn could fuel disenfranchisement in the world’s largest democracy. The three-month voter registration overhaul — known as the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) — kicked off in 12 states and territories, many of which are slated to hold local elections next year. Tens of thousands of election officials and nearly half a million volunteers will go door-to-door to help residents complete voter enumeration forms. Officials “will help the elector fill the enumeration form, collect it and submit it”, Election Commission of India (ECI) chief Gyanesh Kumar told reporters while announcing the exercise. Earlier this year, the ECI conducted a similar revision in the eastern state of Bihar, home to more than 130 million people, ahead of its state elections beginning November 6. The process led to the exclusion of around 6.5m names, which the ECI said was necessary to prevent the inclusion of “foreign illegal immigran...

President Asif Ali Zardari said on Tuesday that the violation of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) by India could not and would not succeed, and warned against the weaponisation of water. India in April held the IWT in abeyance following the attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 — an incident New Delhi blamed on Islamabad without evidence. Pakistan termed any attempt to suspend its water share an “act of war”, noting the IWT had no provision for unilateral suspension. It later said it was considering court action, citing a violation of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. President Zardari addressed the issue while speaking at the Second World Summit for Social Development in Doha, Qatar today, saying: “We in Pakistan, on one hand, face the brunt of the impact of climate change, which has caused devastation for our people in the form of large-scale floods … on the other hand, we face a new threat in the form of water weaponisation. Water, which all the world knows, is an equal right o...

David Beckham, one of Britain’s most celebrated soccer players, was knighted by King Charles at Windsor Castle on Tuesday, recognising his decades-long contribution to sport and charitable causes. The 50-year-old former England soccer captain received the honour at the royal residence, more than 20 years after he was awarded a separate royal honour recognising his contribution to football. Beckham, a lifelong admirer of the royal family, was dressed in a suit designed by his wife, Victoria Beckham, a fashion designer and former member of the Spice Girls pop band. ‘Doesn’t get any better’ He and King Charles shared a brief but warm exchange during the ceremony, with the king seen smiling and laughing as they spoke. Coming out of the ceremony, Beckham said he cried when he first found out he was being awarded the knighthood. “It’s such a big moment for our family and it’s so special,” Beckham told reporters, joking that he would not mind if his kids called him “sir dad”. “I’m very proud to have such a special h...

President Asif Ali Zardari has underscored the importance of building a socially integrated world founded on equality, solidarity, and respect for human rights.

Pakistan on Tuesday welcomed dozens of Sikh pilgrims from India, AFP journalists saw, in the first major crossing since deadly clashes in May closed the Wagah-Attari border in Punjab between the nuclear-armed neighbours. More than 2,100 pilgrims were granted visas to attend a 10-day festival marking the 556th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh faith, Pakistan’s High Commission (embassy) in New Delhi said last week. Indian Sikh pilgrims gesture upon their arrival in Pakistan after crossing the India-Pakistan Wagah border in Wagah on November 4, 2025, on the eve of celebrations marking the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism. — AFP/ Narinder Nanu Tensions remain high between Islamabad and New Delhi after the worst fighting since 1999 took place in May. The Wagah-Attari border — the only active land crossing between the two countries — was closed to general traffic following the conflict. Pilgrims queued up on the Indian side of the border on Tuesday morning, some carrying their...

Twelve people were injured in a “gas” explosion at the Supreme Court building in Islamabad on Tuesday, police said. “A gas blast occurred at a canteen in the basement of the Supreme Court building at around 10:55am,” Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IG) Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi said while speaking to the media after the incident. He added that of the 12 injured, nine were taken to the Polyclinic hospital and three to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims). IG Rizvi further told the reporters that the condition of two of the injured was “serious” who had sustained 80 per cent and 30pc burns. “The rest suffered minor injuries, most of which are burn injuries.” In multiple videos received by Dawn following the incident, the damaged interior of parts of the SC building is visible with blood stains on the floor. In other videos recorded outside, people, including lawyers, could be seen spilling out of the building. The IG said police, including special branch and along with bomb disposal squad and Res...

PPP stalwart and former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani on Tuesday said the recently proposed changes to the Constitution, if passed, would amount to a rollback of the much-touted 18th Amendment. Yesterday, the ruling party PML-N’s coalition partner PPP revealed it had been approached by the government for its support in passing a 27th Constitutional Amendment. The key features were heavily criticised by lawyers and politicians, who termed them an attempt to revoke provincial rights granted in the 18th Amendment. “The proposed constitutional amendments of the federal government, with reference to provincial autonomy, amount to a rollback of the 18th Amendment,” Rabbani said in a statement. The 18th Amendment, passed in 2010, had allayed provinces’ concerns by devolving several ministries and departments from the Centre to them, including education and population. “In the brittle internal political situation, playing with provincial autonomy will cast deep shadows over the federation,” the veteran politician warn...

As November begins, skywatchers around the globe are gearing up for a spectacular celestial display — the Full Beaver Moon, set to shine as the brightest supermoon of 2025.