Pakistan News

Mali and Burkina Faso have announced travel restrictions on American nationals in a tit-for-tat move after the US included both African countries on a no-entry list. In statements issued separately by both countries’ foreign ministries and seen on Wednesday by AFP , they said they were imposing “equivalent measures” on US citizens, after US President Donald Trump expanded a travel ban to nearly 40 countries this month, based solely on nationality. That list included Syrian citizens, as well as Palestinian Authority passport holders, and nationals of some of Africa’s poorest countries, including also Niger, Sierra Leone and South Sudan. The White House said it was banning foreigners who “intend to threaten” Americans. Burkina Faso’s foreign ministry said in the statement that it was applying “equivalent visa measures” on Americans, while Mali said it was, “with immediate effect”, applying “the same conditions and requirements on American nationals that the American authorities...

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are set for more world domination in 2026, starting at the Australian Open, while Aryna Sabalenka is bubbling with confidence as she chases further Grand Slam success. The new season gets under way on Friday with the mixed-teams United Cup in Perth and Sydney, headlined by women’s world number two Iga Swiatek and men’s world number three Alexander Zverev. Top-ranked Sabalenka, who is pursuing a third Melbourne Park trophy, starts at the Brisbane International from January 4-11 in a stellar field also boasting Australian Open champion Madison Keys and fourth-ranked Amanda Anisimova. Alcaraz and Sinner, or “Sincaraz” as they have been dubbed, play an exhibition in South Korea on January 10 in their only warm-up before the Australian Open eight days later. While Spanish sensation Alcaraz bumped his Italian rival from the season-ending world number one spot, Sinner had the last laugh by edging him to retain his ATP Finals title in Turin. It capped a ...

VANCOUVER – For the Vancouver Canucks , 2025 feels like the longest decade in franchise history. The year began with the Canucks as a championship contender. It ends with them at the bottom of the National Hockey League standings on points percentage, contending for the top spot in the draft lottery. The last 12 months saw dysfunction in the dressing room reach a critical mass until core player J.T. Miller was traded in January. Amid an avalanche of injuries, the Canucks missed the playoffs for the eighth time in 10 seasons. Then coach-of-the-year Rick Tocchet bolted when given the chance to leave. The injury bugs returned this fall to feast on Vancouver after breeding and multiplying over the summer, and captain Quinn Hughes, the best player in Canucks history, was traded on Dec. 12. The Canucks won 14 home games in 12 months, that almost unfathomable struggle continuing Tuesday with a 6-3 loss to Tocchet’s Philadelphia Flyers at Rogers Arena. There were some positi...

A dozen girls whizzed around an English karting track, part of a pioneering drive to draw women into motorsports and maybe even race to the top in male-dominated Formula 1. A special test day in October in Nottingham aimed to address a major gender gap in F1, one of the flashiest of sports. Italian Lella Lombardi was the last woman to compete in an F1 Grand Prix in 1976, and the absence of women on the circuit is linked to young girls’ limited exposure to motorsports, according to gender parity organisations. More Than Equal, a non-profit that supports women drivers, said girls start karting two years later than boys on average. Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, for example, got into the format aged just eight. “These are the first steps that a girl could take,” Cameron Biggs, coaching and academy pathway manager at Motorsport UK, told AFP . “We’re really trying to join the dots between grassroots and elite.” Formula 1 is one of the world’s few non-segregated sports but is...

In 17 shootout attempts against him this season, Kevin Lankinen has allowed zero goals. Let that sink in for a minute. Seventeen premeditated breakaways by the most skilled players in the National Hockey League, and Lankinen has a save percentage of 100 in the Vancouver Canucks ’ net. It’s stupid. It shouldn’t be possible in the best league in the world. The Canucks goalie unflinchingly stared down three more shootout dreamers from the Seattle Kraken on Monday before Liam Ohgren ’s goal gave Vancouver a 3-2 road win in the Pacific Northwest’s I-5-valry series. Lankinen is unbeatable, and Ohgren is unstoppable.  The 21-year-old rookie, the fourth piece sent to the Canucks by the Minnesota Wild in the Quinn Hughes blockbuster 2 ½ weeks ago, made it two-for-two in career NHL shootout attempts when he powered a shot between Kraken goalie Joey Daccord’s skates to win another game for Vancouver. Ohgren scored on a beautiful, delayed deke in the seventh round of a shootout win in Bo...

ISLAMABAD: Former chief of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Faiz Hameed‘s lawyer confirmed to Dawn on Monday that an appeal had been filed against the ex-spymaster’s sentencing by a military court. “Yes, we have appealed his sentencing,” Hameed’s lawyer, Mian Ali Ashfaq, told Dawn but did not share any details about the appeal. Hameed was sentenced to 14 years rigorous imprisonment by a military court on December 11 after being convicted on four counts related to violating secrecy laws, engaging in political activities, misuse of authority and causing harm to others. He had a 40-day window following his conviction and sentencing to appeal against the Field General Court Martial (FGCM) decision. According to Section 133B of the Army Act , a person to whom a court-martial has handed out a sentence of imprisonment exceeding three months may appeal against their conviction to a court of appeals “consisting of the [chief of the army staff concurrently the chief of the defence forces...

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), in a weather advisory issued on Monday, asked authorities to ensure all necessary preparations and response measures ahead of an expected cold wave in the country. The NDMA said that a “westerly wave” is likely to approach the western parts of the country from December 29 (today), resulting in rain and snowfall in various areas from tonight till January 2. It said that the system was expected to grip “most upper and central parts of the country on Dec 31 and persist in the upper regions till the morning of Jan 2“. According to the NDMA, “snowfall may lead to road closures and slippery conditions in Naran, Kaghan, Dir, Swat, Kohistan, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Shangla, Astore, Hunza, Skardu, Murree, Galiyat, Neelum Valley, Bagh, Poonch and Haveli from the night of Dec 30 till the morning of Jan 2.” It also projected a likelihood of “landslides and avalanches in the hilly areas of upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jamm...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump will meet in Florida on Sunday to hammer out a plan to end the war in Ukraine, but face major differences on crucial issues and provocations from Russian air attacks. Russia struck Kyiv and other parts of war-torn Ukraine with hundreds of missiles and drones on Saturday, knocking out power and heat in parts of the capital. Zelensky called it Russia’s response to the ongoing US-brokered peace efforts. Zelensky has told journalists that he plans to discuss the fate of eastern Ukraine’s contested Donbas region during the meeting at Trump’s Florida residence, as well as the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and other topics. The Ukrainian president and his delegation arrived in Florida late on Saturday, Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsya said on X. “Good evening, Florida!” Kyslytsya wrote, accompanying the post with a photo of an aircraft bearing the US president’s surname on the fuselag...

ISLAMABAD: The government has declared YouTuber Adil Farooq Raja, who is also a former Pakistan Army officer and currently resides in the United Kingdom, a proscribed person under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. “The federal government has reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Adil Farooq Raja has been demonstrating his sustained involvement in activities posing a serious threat to the security, integrity, and public order of Pakistan. “He has consistently misused online platforms to promote, facilitate, and amplify anti-state narratives and propaganda associated with proscribed terrorist organisations, thereby acting in a manner prejudicial to the sovereignty and defence of Pakistan,” read the notification declaring the YouTuber a proscribed person. The notification was issued by the interior ministry and is dated December 27. It said, “In exercise of powers conferred by Section 11ee of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, the federal government is pleased to direct to list Mr Adil Farooq ...

VANCOUVER — “Come out to the Coast, we’ll get together, have a few laughs.” It’s easy to imagine the Vancouver Canucks sounding sarcastically like John McClane, Bruce Willis’ besieged and bloodied character from the movie Die Hard . Every time the Canucks come home to Vancouver, it’s like, “Sure, get the fans behind us, use home ice to our advantage, have a few wins.” In their final home game of 2025, the Canucks were beaten 6-3 Saturday by the San Jose Sharks, one of the teams that still looks catchable for Vancouver in the National Hockey League standings. Nearly three months since this season began, the Canucks have won four times at Rogers Arena. They are 4-11-1 on home ice this season. It’s like they’re playing in Nakatomi Plaza. After going 4-1 on their pre-Christmas road trip, improving their away record to a commendable 11-8-2 (only three teams had more road wins coming out of the holiday break), the Canucks lost in Vancouver for the sixth time in seven games. And althou...

This piece was originally published on Dec 27, 2023. SIXTEEN years ago this day, Benazir Bhutto became the highest-profile victim of terrorism. The wound inflicted by the assassination of one of Pakistan’s most charismatic leaders has not yet healed. With the country facing what is perhaps the most difficult and testing time in its history, the loss of Benazir Bhutto is felt more than ever. The long shadow of despotism is hanging over the country yet again. Benazir galvanised a people wary of a long period of authoritarian rule and gave voice to the dispossessed and disenfranchised masses. Even her bitterest political opponents gave her credit for her courage and defiance, which may have ultimately cost her her life. The controversy over how Benazir was killed exposed the chasm of trust between the Pakistani state and its people. It is still not known who plotted her assassination. Benazir undoubtedly had her weak points but her sincerity to the cause of democracy was beyond...

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Aalia Neelum on Friday overturned the decisions of deputy commissioner-led committees that granted the possession of properties to people in 10 districts of Punjab, deciding cases of land disputes. Justice Neelum reversed the decisions after hearing petitions against the Punjab Protection of Ownership of Immovable Property Act 2025, which empowers deputy commissioner-led committees to decide property disputes. During the hearing, the chief justice remarked that had the “patwaris” (revenue officials) performed their duties promptly, such issues would not have arisen. Rejecting a notion of prolonged pendency of civil litigation, Neelum observed, “I am well aware of how many old cases are pending before courts.” She asserted that commissioners and deputy commissioners had no authority to remove or restore possessions of properties on their own, and questioned how many laws the government would throw aside. The chief justice regretted tha...

Kashmir has long occupied a curious space in the European imagination. For centuries, travellers, merchants, and colonial administrators produced narratives that constructed this Himalayan valley as a mythical ‘Paradise of the Indies’ — a land of extraordinary beauty whose inhabitants, strangely, were deemed unworthy of it. This paradox, celebrating the land while denigrating its people, did not die with colonialism. It found new life in the ideological project of Hindu nationalism, which has weaponised these orientalist tropes to justify the ongoing colonisation of India-Kashmir and the systematic othering of its Muslim majority. The question of who belongs in Kashmir, and who gets to define it, has never been merely academic. It is a question written in blood, displacement, and the language of competing nationalisms. Annexed by India in 1947 through the contested Instrument of Accession, Jammu and Kashmir was granted ‘special status’ under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, ...