Pakistan

HYDERABAD (INDIA)/MANILA - Indian police on Tuesday confirmed that one of the two gunmen behind Australia’s Bondi Beach mass shootings, Sajid Akram, was an Indian citizen who had left the country 27 years ago.

Mountaineer Samina Baig has completed an expedition where she skied to the last degree of the South Pole, according to her brother. Mahboob Ali told Dawn that she was part of an international expedition organised by Elite Exped, which departed from Pakistan on December 2. It reached Union Glacier on December 6 and she completed her journey on December 14. In a post on her Facebook page, Baig said she was “deeply grateful and humbled” to have successfully skied to the last degree of the South Pole, part of her pursuit of the Explorer’s Grand Slam. “This ski journey has never been accomplished by any Pakistani in the past. It has been one of the most challenging and meaningful experiences of my life, and it is still difficult to put into words,” she wrote. “From standing on the summit of Mount Everest in 2013 to completing the Seven Summits, the highest mountains on each continent, from climbing K2 and Nanga Parbat to now reaching the South Pole, this journey has taken me across the highest mountains and the mo...

Indian police said on Tuesday that one of the gunmen in Australia’s Bondi Beach shooting, Sajid Akram, was originally from the southern Indian city of Hyderabad but had limited contact with his family in India. The death toll in one of Australia’s worst mass shootings stands at 16, including 50-year-old Akram, who was shot by police. The man’s 24-year-old son and alleged accomplice, identified by local media as Naveed Akram, was in critical condition in hospital after also being shot. Hyderabad is the capital of Telangana state. Australian police said both men had travelled to the Philippines last month, the father on an Indian passport and the son on an Australian one. “The family members have expressed no knowledge of his radical mindset or activities, nor of the circumstances that led to his radicalisation,” Telangana state police said in a statement. The purpose of the trip is under investigation, officials said, adding it was not conclusive whether they were linked to any terrorist group or whether they ...

Donald Trump’s top national security officials faced a grilling from lawmakers Tuesday on US strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific — operations that have raised alarms about escalating military force near Venezuela. The House and Senate briefings, led by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, came amid mounting unease in Congress over the president’s widening campaign in waters off Latin America, and as lawmakers weigh measures to curb Trump’s authority to act without their approval. US officials say the operations target narcotics bound for American shores. Critics counter that the campaign — which has destroyed at least 26 boats and killed at least 95 people, according to US military figures — is legally ambiguous and strategically unclear. The classified sessions preceded a possible Senate vote on resolutions aimed at restricting Trump from launching military action against Venezuela without congressional consent. But Senate Democratic Minority Leader C...

Aurangzeb says current Pak-Azerbaijan trade at $50m is not meeting potential

75% stake up for bidding next week, balance offered later at 12% premium

CPPA seeks NEPRA approval for Nov fuel charge refund; hearing scheduled for Dec 31

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New platform offers secure, efficient and reliable communication across state institutions

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FBR puts Islamabad property rates SRO on hold after up to 1,250% increase

New policy proposes minimum export price to curb under-invoicing

Morgan Stanley projects price to reach $4,800 by Q4 2026, highlights China demand

Early optimism fades; selling in heavyweights drags index down by 294 points

A police official and his brother were martyred in a gun attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat district on Tuesday. The constable had completed his polio duty and was travelling to his village with his brother when motorcycle-riding terrorists opened fire near the Chwar Khel area, said a spokesperson for Lakki Marwat police. The bodies of Amir Nawaz and Ameer Mohammad, siblings of former district councilor Ali Gul, were transferred to the district headquarters hospital. Immediately after the incident, a heavy police contingent reached the scene and launched a search operation in the area to arrest the culprits. The funeral prayers of the martyred constable and his brother were offered later in the evening District Police Officer Nazir Khan, Deputy Commissioner Hamidullah Khan, SP Investigation Murad Ali Khan, along with other senior police and district administration officials, police personnel, and a large number of relatives of the martyrs, attended the funeral. In another attack on a polio team in KP...

The 18th meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology & Telecommunication, chaired by Chairman, MNA Syed Amin ul Haq, on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and observed that complaints were raised regarding the quality of internet services in.

Afghanistan’s Minister for Public Health Noor Jalal Jalali on Tuesday reached the Indian capital of New Delhi on an official visit, the country’s health ministry said. The visit marks the third by an Afghan official in the last three months, after Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Industry Minister Nooruddin Azizi visited New Delhi. “The multi-day visit aims to strengthen bilateral health cooperation, promote the exchange of experience, and coordinate joint efforts,” said the Afghan health ministry. According to the statement, Jalali is to hold separate meetings with Indian officials, particularly health authorities, and take part in several organised programmes. “Discussions will also focus on capacity-building opportunities for Afghan health workers, the import of quality medicines into Afghanistan, medical equipment, and other related issues,” it said. The visit comes after the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan barred the traders from importing pharmaceutical goods from Pakistan. Ran...

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday suspended the schedule for re-polling at 22 polling stations of NA-251 (Sherani-cum-Zhob-cum-Qila Saifullah), which was to take place on December 18. A notification to this effect was issued a day after a two-member bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Shehzad Ahmad Khan, suspended the election tribunal’s order of re-polling at the polling stations. JUI-F’s candidate Syed Samiullah had won the seat in the 2024 general elections with a thin margin of less than 100 votes. After hearing a petition filed by Pashtoonkhwa National Awami Party Chairman Khushhal Khan Kakar, who challenged the 2024 general election results, the election tribunal, headed by Justice Aamir Nawaz Rana, ordered re-polling at 22 polling stations on the grounds that Form-45s from the stations were missing. The tribunal’s decision was challenged before the SC by JUI-F legislator Samiullah. The SC bench issued the stay order against the re-polling, s...

All 20 passengers abducted from a bus by Katcha area dacoits near Ubauro in Sindh’s Ghotki district have been recovered unharmed, the Sukkur Range Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) said later on Tuesday. Around 25 dacoits had attacked the bus in Sadiqabad on Monday night and kidnapped several passengers after injuring the driver. DIG Sukkur Range, Captain (retired) Faisal Abdullah Chachar, told Dawn that he reached Ghotki and led a large contingent of police personnel from different stations in Ghotki, Sukkur, Khairpur and Kashmore, along with Rangers officials. DIG Chachar led the joint operation with other senior officers, including Ghotki Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Muhammad Anwar Khetran, Sukkur SSP Azhar Khan Mughal and Khairpur SSP Samiullah Soomro. “We rescued all hostages unharmed from the clutches of the dacoits, with whom we engaged in a gunfight,” the DIG said. All routes leading to the Katcha area were blocked in time by police, preventing the dacoits from taking the hostages deep...

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