Pakistan

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Special concert aims to promote festive cheer and cultural harmony

Registration of diabetes patients kicks off across district

Fresh snowfall draws tourists to Kaghan Valley's legendary lakes

19 facilitation centres activated, vehicle monitoring begins on all entry routes

The Punjab Assembly’s Standing Committee on Home Affairs on Monday cleared the Punjab Regulation of Kite Flying Bill 2025, proposing a near-total ban on kite-flying, except on specific days and designated locations across the province, with strict penalties to curb fatal accidents and property damage. The development comes after the Punjab government lifted a ban on the Basant festival after 18 years, with the festival slated to be celebrated in February next year. The festival was banned in 2007 because of an increasing number of deaths and serious injuries caused by sharp kite strings, particularly to motorcyclists and pillion riders. Under the bill, flying kites with metallic wires, nylon cord or strings coated with glass or other sharp materials is prohibited, along with the manufacturing, transport, storage and sale of kites and hazardous strings. Violators involved in kite-flying could face three to five years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to Rs2 million, while those manufacturing or selling banned mate...

11 schoolchildren injured in separate road mishap on II Chundrigar Road

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Despite ban, public service vehicle owners continue using LPG, CNG

CCTV footage captures the deadly daylight robbery

Federal health minister highlights mismanaged funds, infrastructure crisis

SHC dismisses plea of 23 claiming journalist status for plots in Journalists Colony

Donations for a Sydney man who wrestled a gun from one of the alleged attackers during a mass shooting at Bondi Beach have surged past Australian dollars (A$)1.1 million ($744,000), as he recovers in hospital after surgery for bullet wounds. Forty-three-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed, a father-of-two, hid behind parked cars before charging at one of the gunmen from behind, seizing his rifle and knocking him to the ground. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Ahmed’s bravery saved lives. “What we’ve seen in the last 24 hours was the worst of humanity in a terrorist act. But we also saw an example of the best of humanity in Ahmed Al Ahmed running towards danger, putting his own life at risk,” Albanese told state broadcaster ABC News. He was shot twice by a second perpetrator, Albanese said. Ahmed’s family said he was hit in the hand and arm. Australian police on Monday said a 50-year-old father and his 24-year-old son carried out the attack at a Jewish celebration on Sunday afternoon, killing 15 people in the country’...

Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry on Monday said the PTI hired “foreign companies” to run paid hashtags and social media trends to disseminate “selective narratives and propaganda”. “The companies create fake accounts in the name of women and news agencies that are being operated from foreign countries,” said the minister while addressing the media in Islamabad. Chaudhry also showed a video, saying all evidence in the video was taken from “documents provided by X” (formerly Twitter). Briefing on the entire mechanism of the operation, he said, “The companies were hired through auction and paid via foreign funding [by PTI]. These companies then create social media accounts, which are mostly operated outside Pakistan in countries that are considered our enemies. The account users [handlers who operate the accounts] are neither PTI members nor people from Pakistan.” The accounts were owned by companies that “frequently change the accounts’ names as per the requirements,” he added. He added that a com...

Punjab is set to raise a separate force for handling “unlawful” protests and mobs, as the Punjab Assembly’s Standing Committee on Home Affairs on Monday cleared a sweeping amendment to the Police Order, 2002, to tighten control over riots, violent protests and unlawful assemblies across the province. The proposed Police Order (Second Amendment) Act, 2025, introduces a dedicated Riot Management Unit (RMU), empowered to manage riots across Punjab with modern gear and training specifically for crowd control. The RMU will operate under an additional inspector general of police (AIG), supervised by the provincial police officer. A key feature of the bill is the formal declaration of “riot zones.” Under the new law, the deputy commissioner and district police officer can jointly declare any affected area a riot zone, allowing authorities to cordon off roads, evacuate civilians and appoint an incident commander to coordinate all departments during operations. The bill grants legal protection to police and RMU person...

Federal Health Minister and Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Mustafa Kamal shared key features of his party’s draft constitutional amendment, proposing the disbursement of districts’ shares through the National Finance Commission (NFC) as the provinces failed to transfer funds to local bodies. He was addressing a gathering held at the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industries on Monday. Kamal said regional autonomy comes when all stakeholders are empowered and autonomous decision-making powers are devolved from the chief minister to union council chairmen. He said that there is a mechanism for disbursing funds from the federal government to the provinces, but no mechanism for transferring funds from provinces to local bodies. “It’s up to a person’s will to either grant Rs1,000 billion to someone or to grant nothing to another.” He highlighted that Article 140a of the Constitution stressed the devolution of political, administrative, and financial powers to elected local representatives. “Ever...

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday reduced its policy rate by 50 basis points to 10.5 per cent, effective from December 16. In a statement, the monetary policy committee (MPC) noted that inflation remained within the 5-7pc target range on average during July-November FY26, though it said that core inflation proved to be “relatively sticky”. “On balance, the inflation outlook remains broadly unchanged, mainly owing to the relatively benign global commodity prices and anchored inflation expectations, amidst [a] prudent monetary policy stance,” the statement read. The MPC further observed that economic activity was increasing based on an improvement in key high-frequency indicators, including a higher-than-anticipated increase in large-scale manufacturing during the first quarter of the 2026 fiscal year. “Nonetheless, the committee noted that the global environment remains challenging, particularly for exports, which may have some implications for the macroeconomic outlook,” the statement read. “In this ...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has taken notice of the frequent offloading of passengers travelling abroad, ordering the constitution of a committee to look into the matter, Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Chaudhry Salik Hussain said on Monday. Over the past few months, numerous incidents have been reported of travellers being offloaded from flights at various airports, despite possessing valid travel documents. The actions came after a crackdown was launched on migrant smuggling following the Greece boat tragedy in 2024, one which claimed several Pakistani lives. In a statement issued today, the minister stated that PM Shehbaz had formed a “special committee” to look into the issue of offloading passengers at airports and to ensure safe migration. “Recently, despite having complete documentation, some passengers have still been offloaded,” the minister said. “People who held valid visas were offloaded as well.” The committee will prepare “recommendations regarding the safe migration of people,” the m...

A soldier was martyred during a counter-insurgency operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan district on Monday, in which seven terrorists were killed, the military’s media wing said in a statement. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), an intelligence-based operation (IBO) was carried out in DI Khan’s Kulachi area on the reported presence of terrorists belonging to the Indian proxy Fitna al Khawarij. Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). “During the conduct of [the] operation, own troops effectively engaged the khwarij location and after an intense fire exchange, seven khwarij were sent to hell,” the statement read. During the battle, Naik Yasir Khan, 34, a resident of Mardan, embraced martyrdom after “having fought gallantly [and] paid the ultimate sacrifice”, the ISPR said. The statement added that weapons and ammunition were seized from the dead terrorists, who were involved in terrorist activity in t...

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb underscored Pakistan’s strategic shift from seeking aid-based support towards trade- and investment-led engagement to ensure long-term economic sustainability and mutually beneficial partnerships, particularly with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. In an interview with CNN Business Arabia, Aurangzeb highlighted the vision of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, which reflected Pakistan’s renewed economic confidence and reform momentum. He said that Pakistan has followed a comprehensive macroeconomic stabilisation program for the past 18 months, which has delivered tangible and measurable results, while inflation has declined to single-digit levels from an unprecedented 38%. On the fiscal front, Pakistan has achieved primary surpluses, while the current account deficit remains well within targeted limits. According to the finance czar, the exchange rate has also stabilised, and foreign exchange reserves have improved to approximately 2.5 months of import cover, reflect...