Pakistan

Reporters Without Borders said on Tuesday that Israel was responsible for nearly half of all journalists killed this year worldwide, with 29 Palestinian reporters slain by its forces in Gaza. In its annual report, the Paris-based media freedom group said the total number of journalists killed reached 67 globally this year, slightly up from the 66 killed in 2024. Israeli forces accounted for 43 per cent of the total, making them “the worst enemy of journalists”, RSF said in its report, which documented deaths over 12 months from December 2024. The most deadly single attack was a so-called “double-tap” strike on a hospital in south Gaza on August 25, which killed five journalists, including two contributors to international news agencies Reuters and the Associated Press. In total, since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza in October 2023, nearly 220 journalists have died, making Israel the biggest killer of journalists worldwide for three years running, RSF data shows. Foreign reporters are still un...

Thailand said it was taking action to expel Cambodian forces from its territory on Tuesday, as renewed fighting between the two Southeast Asian neighbours spread along the disputed border. Each side has blamed the other for the clashes, which have derailed a fragile ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump that ended five days of fighting in July. Cambodia’s Defence Ministry said two civilians had been killed overnight, taking its death toll to six. One Thai soldier has died in the fighting. In a statement on Tuesday morning, the Thai Navy said Cambodian forces had been detected inside Thai territory in the coastal province of Trat and military operations were launched to expel them, without providing further details. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said late on Monday that Thailand “must not use military force to attack civilian villages under the pretext of reclaiming its sovereignty”. Earlier, Cambodia said it had not retaliated even after its forces came under sustained attack. The Thai Navy sai...

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations and its partners on Monday launched their 2026 global humanitarian appeal, with $64.9 million specifically earmarked to support 1.9m vulnerable people in Pakistan as part of the $33bn plan aimed at saving lives threatened by wars, climate disasters, epidemics, earthquakes and crop failures worldwide. The humanitarian appeals’ immediate priority is to save 87 million lives with $23bn in funding, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said. Ultimately, in 2026, the aim is to raise a total of $33bn to support 135m people through 23 country operations and six plans for refugees and migrants. The appeal, titled ‘2026 Response Plan’ earmarks $64.9m to provide assistance to 1.9m people in Pakist­­an. The aim of the appeal, called ‘Life by Life’, is to reach 135m in 50 countries in 2026, the UN agency said. UNOCHA noted that in 2025, 98m people received help despite funding cuts and attacks on aid workers. Occupied Palestinian Territory gets the largest individu...

ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commi­ssion (HEC), in its detailed report submitted to the Islamabad High Court (IHC), has endorsed Kara­chi University’s (KU) findings that the LLB degree of Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri was obtained through unfair means. However, the HEC claimed, it had never verified Justice Jahangiri’s law degree at any stage, nor had the judge ever approached the commission for verification. The report was filed after a bench comprising IHC Chief Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Mohammad Azam Khan directed the HEC to provide complete academic record of Justice Jahangiri in a case pertaining to his eligibility to hold judicial office. During the hearing, the court was requested to summon the original academic record directly from Karachi University, which had cancelled the LLB degree awarded to the judge though the university decision was later suspended by the Sindh High Court. Chief Justice Dogar obs­e­rved that the matter invo­lved a serious allegation and must be exa...

• Ayaz Sadiq feels dialogue the only way forward, says he is still ready to play his role • Barrister Gohar calls for defusing tensions, indicates all party lawmakers will resign if ‘minus-one formula’ is implemented ISLAMABAD: With the main opposition PTI threatening to boycott parliamentary proceedings if the government continued to push it against the wall, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Monday reiterated his offer to mediate between the government and the party. Responding to the points raised by PTI interim Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, the NA speaker noted that dialogue was the only way forward. He asked the opposition to consult on his offer and said he would also make a request to the government. “What can be achieved by criticising the institutions. The army not only defends the borders but also fights terrorism in the country,” Mr Sadiq rema­rked. He added that while his previous efforts to resolve issu­es between the between government and the opposition had not succeeded, he w...

THE Sindh government has announced that the Premarital and Marital Counselling Bill is in the works, an important attempt to address a long-ignored public health gap. At a press briefing last week, provincial ministers said the bill would make counselling mandatory before a marriage is registered. Couples would receive guidance on family planning, reproductive health, mental well-being, newborn care and basic communication within marriage. These are simple goals, yet their absence has cost women and families far too much. Pakistan’s maternal health indicators remain among the worst in the region. Many women face repeated, closely spaced pregnancies because they lack information or support. Others undergo multiple C-sections without understanding the risks. Unsafe abortions continue because access to reliable contraceptive advice is scarce. Too many women still do not know how to protect themselves or their babies, and too many couples make life-altering decisions without proper knowledge. The proposed bill se...

• Allows Islamabad to draw $1bn under EFF and $200m under RSF after successful review • Says country maintained stability despite severe floods and a difficult global environment • Calls for continuing tight monetary policy, strengthening tax base, improving governance, focusing on SOE reforms and privatisation WASHINGTON: The Internat­ional Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a fresh disbursement of around $1.2 billion to Pakistan under its dual-track bailout — the 37-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the climate-focused Res­i­l­ience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). The decision came on Monday, after the IMF Exec­utive Board convened in Washington. The board’s statement highlighted that “Pakistan’s strong programme implementation, despite the recent devastating floods, has maintained stability and improved financing and external conditions”. It stressed that the country’s policy priorities remain centred on maintaining macroeconomic stability and advancing reforms to strengthen public finances, enhance ...

LAHORE: The Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA) has lodged a complaint with the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) to track down and take legal action against unknown suspects who cloned the authority’s official website and sent fraudulent alerts to citizens, urging them to pay fines for pending e-challans. Separately, it wrote to the Punjab Police to trace the mobile phone numbers of the suspects, who had created the fake website and disseminated the fraudulent link. The PSCA took action when the link, containing fraudulent pending e-challans, was sent to citizens. The link urged recipients to visit the fake website and follow the steps to pay fines. The authority said that the website and link were not legitimate and confirmed that it was a phishing scheme. A collage of fraudulent text messages sent to citizens, urging them to pay traffic fines. PSCA Managing Director Ahsan Younas told Dawn that scammers use the internet for online fraud and apply various tactics to deceive citizens for finan...

He scored twice in 10 minutes to beat Torino 3-2

Maresca choosing not to risk the forward as he continues his comeback from injury

Head coach also insisted he is not ‘weak’ amid row

It would perhaps be sacreligious, but not amiss, to call Arshad Nadeem Pakistan’s sporting messiah. He was the saviour the country had pinned all their Olympic aspirations on when he flew to Paris last year, ultimately creating history for a nation facing a medal drought at the most spectacular sporting show on Earth. No sooner had the Olympic champion emerged in the PNS Karsaz ground that he was greeted by the dusty Karachi winter heat and pockets of fans swarming him for selfies every two metres. He obliged, as he always has to his fans. Read: Man of the people. Athletes abandoned their warmup to snap a photo with him, cramming into a single frame lest they miss the historic opportunity. Young women squealed in delight and adjusted their hair before posing for the camera, while older technical officials — the vanguard of Pakistan athletics well before Arshad was born — took his hand in both of theirs as they blessed with him a long life and more prosperity for the nation. One boy even pinched his kameez awa...

On a scorching day of fainting veterans and rifle-shot starts, a girl named Kainat Khalil from Sindh rewrote the meaning of endurance at the 35th National Games. Athletics at the Games began not with a traditional pistol’s pop, but with the sharp, unexpected report of a rifle cutting through the cool Monday morning at the NPT&SC. It was an omen. This would be a day of raw, unvarnished struggle, where the starting command itself felt like a call to battle. The dust from the inaugural men’s 5,000m had barely settled before the December sun perched mercilessly over the open field. It transformed the arena into a kiln, making the very air an opponent. In the women’s 10,000 metres, the drama was medical: Athletes wilted, fainted and were stretchered away — vanquished not by rivals, but by the searing haze. Wapda’s Maria Bibi, who would emerge the quickest in 44 minutes and 21 seconds ahead of Navy’s Mumtaz (47:10.11), later stated the obvious with exhausted clarity. “The heat felt extreme during the race and that’...

Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Monday signed a deal to construct a high-speed rail connecting the Gulf countries’ capitals, marking the latest sign of improved ties between the two nations that were once deeply at odds. According to a statement in the official Saudi press, the “high-speed electric passenger railway” would connect Riyadh and Doha. The Saudi cities of Al-Hofuf and Dammam are also expected to be on the network. The train would reach speeds exceeding 300 kilometres per hour and the trip would take roughly two hours between the two capitals. A direct flight between the cities clocks in at around 90 minutes. The project, set to be completed in six years, expects to serve 10 million passengers per year, the statement said. The agreement was signed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani during the latter’s visit to Riyadh. The deal is just the latest in a series of moves marking the dramatic improvement in ties between the Gulf countries in recent years....

ISLAMABAD - National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Monday inaugurated the “Kashmir Corner” at the National Assembly Library, a dedicated space designed to provide credible research material on the Kashmir dispute.

ISLAMABAD - Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi Monday administered the oath of office to Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb upon his elevation as judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in a simple yet dignified ceremony.

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday accorded approval for electricity supply projects for port city Gwadar and Gilgit-Baltistan, and directed for immediate implementation.

ISLAMABAD - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar yesterday chaired a high-level meeting on Monday to review Pakistan’s preparations for hosting the 9th OIC Ministerial Conference on Women scheduled for 2026.

ISLAMABAD - A joint meeting of the Parliamentary Party of opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday said that the military spokesperson overstepped its constitutional mandate by levelling allegations against former prime minister Imran Khan in his last week’s presser.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Monday directed a sweeping enhancement of security and digital monitoring across the province, ordering the installation of surveillance cameras outside all schools and educational institutions.