Pakistan

Bundled up in a yellow hat and black puffer jacket, Taylor was one of hundreds of protesters marching after the killing of a second US citizen this month by federal agents carrying out an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. The violence has put new pressure and scrutiny on US President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign, which has drawn demonstrators onto the streets of the Midwestern city. “I think it was completely senseless, it was murder,” said the young woman, who did not want to give her last name. Federal agents shot to death 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti, claiming he intended to harm them during a confrontation on Saturday. However, a video shared widely on social media and verified by US media showed Pretti never drawing a weapon, with agents firing at him seconds after he was sprayed in the face with a chemical irritant and thrown to the ground. “I think the way that the government is bringing ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) in to take away our neighbours and to pull fami...

The European Union (EU) on Monday hit Elon Musk’s social media platform X with an investigation over AI chatbot Grok’s generation of sexualised deepfake images of women and minors, in the latest step of an international backlash against the tool. Grok faces an outcry after it emerged that users could sexualise images of women and children using simple text prompts such as “put her in a bikini” or “remove her clothes”. “In Europe, we will not tolerate unthinkable behaviour, such as digital undressing of women and children,” said European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen. “It is simple — we will not hand over consent and child protection to tech companies to violate and monetise. The harm caused by illegal images is very real,” she said in a statement to AFP. EU tech commissioner Henna Virkkunen said the probe would “determine whether X has met its legal obligations” under the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which is designed to police internet giants. She said the rights of women and children in the EU...

The Punjab government has finalised a massive Rs47 billion relief package for the holy month of Ramazan to provide financial and food assistance to millions of deserving families across the province.

• Diplomats, press divided over New Delhi’s perceived reluctance to join Trump-led body • Given his propensity to paint himself as a global peacemaker, The Hindu warns US president may offer to mediate Kashmir dispute DESPITE being invited to join the ‘Board of Peace’ by President Donald Trump, India has yet to formally get involved in the process. Conspicuous by its absence from the Davos ceremony where 20 world leaders — including Trump and Pakistan’s PM Shehbaz Sharif — signed the board’s charter, some in India are viewing New Delhi’s reluctance through the lens of the Kashmir dispute. President Trump says the board’s goal is to make the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza permanent and oversee an interim government in the Palestinian territory. “This is not just for America, but for the whole world. I think we can spread it to other places. Like we did successfully in Gaza,” he had said at the time. But there seems to be concern among some circles that if India signs up for the board — which Trump ...

The Pakistani rupee remained stable against the US dollar during Monday’s interbank session, marking its fourth consecutive day of stability.

Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon has called on the international community to take notice of what he described as blatant human rights violations in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

A Bangladesh court on Monday sentenced Dhaka’s fugitive former police chief and two senior colleagues to be hanged for crimes against humanity committed during the rule of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina. All three, including the capital’s former police chief, Habibur Rahman, were tried in absentia, and their whereabouts are not known. The verdict comes ahead of elections on February 12, the first in the South Asian country of 170 million people since Hasina’s overthrow in August 2024. Five other ex-police officers were sentenced to varying terms. The case concerned the killing of six protesters in Dhaka on August 5, 2024, the day Hasina fled to India as protesters stormed her palace. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 when Hasina’s government launched a brutal campaign to silence the protesters, according to the United Nations. “The police forces… opened fire with lethal weapons… causing death to the aforesaid six persons,” judge Golam Mortuza Mozumder read to the court in Dhaka....

Gold surged to a record high above $5,100 an ounce on Monday, extending a historic rally as investors piled into the safe-haven asset amid rising geopolitical uncertainties. Spot gold was up 2.2 per cent at $5,089.78 per ounce by 6:56am GMT, after earlier touching an all-time high of $5,110.50. US gold futures for February delivery also gained the same amount to $5,086.30 per ounce. The metal soared 64pc in 2025, its biggest annual gain since 1979, driven by safe-haven demand, US monetary policy easing, robust central bank purchases including China’s fourteenth straight month of buying in December, and record inflows into exchange-traded funds. Prices have set consecutive record peaks over the past week and have already risen more than 18pc this year. The latest catalyst “is effectively this crisis of confidence in the US administration and US assets, that was set off by some of the erratic decision-making from the Trump administration last week”, said Kyle Rodda, a senior market analyst at Capital.com. US Pr...

The membership of 41 Punjab Assembly members has been restored after they submitted their asset declarations, while nine members who failed to comply with the requirement remain suspended.

The country remained in the grip of a cold wave on Monday, with the National Weather Forecasting Centre (NWFC) saying that a new western disturbance is likely to persist in upper Pakistan until Tuesday. The NWFC, in its daily forecast, warned of traffic disruption due to heavy snowfall, causing road closures and slippery conditions in Naran, Kaghan, Dir, Swat, Kalam, Chitral, Kohistan, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Shangla, Astore, Hunza, Skardu, Murree, Galiyat, Neelum Valley, Bagh, Poonch, Haveli, Quetta, Ziarat, Chaman, Pishin, Qila Abdullah, Qila Saifullah, Noshki, Harnai and Zhob. It added that there was a risk of landslides and avalanches in the mountainous areas of upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. “Tourists are advised to remain extra cautious and avoid unnecessary travelling during the forecast period,” it said. The NWFC forecast rain, wind, thunderstorms and snowfall in Balochistan, KP, Kashmir and GB on Monday. According to the forecast, heavy rain and moderate-to-heavy snowfall is al...

Israel said on Monday it would only allow pedestrians to travel through the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt as part of its “limited reopening” once it has recovered the remains of the last captive in the Palestinian territory. Reopening Rafah, a vital entry point for aid into Gaza, forms part of a truce framework announced by US President Donald Trump in October, but the crossing has remained closed since Israeli forces took control of it during the conflict in the besieged Palestinian territory. Visiting US envoys had reportedly pressed Israeli officials to reopen the crossing during talks in Jerusalem over the weekend. World leaders and aid agencies have repeatedly pushed for more humanitarian convoys to be able to access Gaza, which has been left devastated by more than two years of bombardment and depends on the inflow of essential medical equipment, food and other supplies. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Monday that Israel had agreed to a reopening “for pedestrian passage only, ...

Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah will inaugurate the new Korangi Causeway Bridge on Monday.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar has congratulated the newly elected office bearers of Lahore Press Club.

ISLAMABAD: Lawyers staged a protest on Monday at the main gate of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the arrest and sentencing of lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, in the controversial social media posts case. The protest was led by IHC Bar President Syed Wajid Ali Gilani. Senior lawyer Babar Awan and a large number of advocates from the Islamabad Bar Council (IBC), High Court Bar and District Bar also participated in the protest. They carried banners reading “Justice for Lawyers” and raised slogans against the police. Addressing the gathering, Awan said that “state and police terrorism” was being carried out against lawyers, adding that such actions were harmful for society. Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA), IBC and Islamabad District Bar jointly announced a strike. However, lawyers appeared in the high court only in urgent matters. Due to the protest, strict security arrangements were made in and around the IHC, with a heavy police contingent...

Karachi is expected to have moderate weather during Ramazan with temperatures around 30°C, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said.

Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Monday inaugurated a state-of-the-art monitoring system, Secure Hybrid Intelligence for Knowledge Band Response Analytics (SHIKRA), at the Directorate General of Immigration & Passports, aimed at modernising passport application processing, printing and overall operational monitoring.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to establish crematoriums and graveyards for minority communities in various districts of the province, according to official documents of the provincial Auqaf Department.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Monday issued a weather alert for parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, warning of rain and snowfall in various areas over the next 12 hours.

President Asif Ali Zardari will pay an official visit to the United Arab Emirates from January 26 to 29, 2026, the Foreign Office said in a press release on Monday.

China’s President Xi Jinping said Beijing and New Delhi were “good neighbours, friends and partners” as he wished Indian President Droupadi Murmu congratulations on the South Asian nation’s Republic Day, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday. Xi said that over the past year, China-India relations have continued to improve and develop and are of “great significance for maintaining and promoting world peace and prosperity,” according to Xinhua. Xi said China has always believed that being “good neighbours, friends and partners” is the right choice for both China and India. He referred to China and India as the “dragon and the elephant dancing together,” Xinhua said. Xi said he hoped that both sides would expand exchanges and cooperation and address each other’s concerns to promote healthy and stable relations. The nuclear-armed Asian neighbours share a 3,800 km border that is poorly demarcated and has been disputed since the 1950s. Ties between the countries were shaken by a 2020 clash in which 20 ...