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The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Report has, unsurprisingly, triggered a strong reaction in the media. Many commentators have rushed to frame it as a harsh judgment on the sitting government. This interpretation misrepresents the very purpose of the report. As the document itself makes clear, the exercise was undertaken at the explicit request of the Government of Pakistan and completed with its full cooperation. It is neither an audit of the current administration nor a verdict on its performance over the past year. Instead, the report examines governance practices that have evolved over decades, across multiple governments, and that now constrain Pakistan’s economic potential. Its purpose is to identify systemic weaknesses and recommend reforms that can help the country unlock long-delayed improvements in governance and economic management. It is meant to support reform, not to assign blame, and to guide IMF monitoring and programme exec...

IT seems unnecessary and ultimately counterproductive for the government to continue imposing such restrictions. Whatever it may think of Imran Khan today, the fact remains that he is a former prime minister and, as such, entitled to basic dignity during his incarceration. Arbitrarily cutting off his access to family and lawyers appears intended to inflict psychological pressure. This is a tactic that should not be countenanced in a just society. To be fair, Mr Khan himself, while in power, demonstrated little concern for the rights of his political opponents. He repeatedly used abusive language against them and even publicly threatened to withdraw basic amenities from the jail cell of his principal rival, Nawaz Sharif . But while there is no denying that his conduct set a poor precedent, it should not now be used as justification for the treatment he is receiving under a government led by Mr Sharif’s party. If anything, this cycle of score-settling only underscores how little separ...

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information Technology (IT) and Telecom Shaza Fatima Khawaja said the Cybersecurity Act 2025 was essential for national security and reflected the government’s whole-of-nation approach to cybersecurity, marking a major reform initiative. She noted that the Act will establish the National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA) to lead nationwide incident response and thr­eat intelligence, while exp­ansion of the Pakistan Computer Emergency Res­ponse Team (PKCERT), and the development of secure digital public infrastructure under the Digital Economy Enhancement Project (Deep) will further strengthen national cyber resilience. Ms Khawaja was add­ressing a gathering at FAST National University, Islam­abad, on the theme ‘Securing Pakistan’s Digi­tal Frontier: CyberShield, Policy & the Future’. The event was hosted by the FAST Public Policy and Res­earch Society (FPPRS). She added that Pakis­tan’s long-term objective is to build a cyber-resilient, innovation-...

An Afghan national accused of shooting two National Guard members will be charged with first-degree murder, a US official said Friday, after one of the soldiers died of her wounds as Donald Trump pledged to suspend migration from “third-world countries.” The announcement marks an escalation in charges facing the assailant, identified as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who the US media said was part of the “Zero Units” — a CIA-backed Afghan paramilitary force. “There are certainly many more charges to come, but we are upgrading the initial charges of assault to murder in the first degree,” Jeanine Pirro, the attorney for Washington, DC, told the Fox News programme ‘Fox & Friends’. “It is a premeditated murder. There was an ambush with a gun toward people who didn’t know what was coming.” Pirro’s announcement comes after Attorney General Pam Bondi pledged on Thursday to “seek the death penalty” against Lakanwal, describing him as a “monster.” Pirro said Lakanwal opened f...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi arrives at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.—Reuters • Clarification follows concerns expressed by Imran’s son Kasim; Rana Sanaullah also dismisses reports of ex-PM’s transfer to another prison • KP CM Afridi stages sit-in outside jail after eighth snub at Adiala ISLAMABAD: As reports about PTI chief Imran Khan’s ill health swirled on social and foreign media, both government and PTI figures dismissed such speculation on Thursday, saying the former prime minister — currently held in isolation — was doing well. The clarification came when PTI activists staged a sit-in outside Adiala jail after authorities did not allow Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi to meet the incarcerated party leader for the eighth time since he assumed office. His sisters and legal team were not allowed to meet Imran, either. The lack of access to Mr Khan also gave rise to unconfirmed reports about his ill health and transfer to a high-security priso...

A high-profile debate at the Oxford Union that was scheduled to feature senior figures from Pakistan and India was cancelled after the Indian delegation withdrew at the last minute, prompting strong reactions from Pakistan’s High Commission in London and triggering speculations about why India pulled out last minute. According to statements issued by the High Commission, the debate centred on the motion “This House Believes India’s Policy Towards Pakistan is a Populist Strategy Sold as Security Policy” had been confirmed weeks in advance. It is scheduled for 12:30am PKT. Pakistan’s delegation, comprising former Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee chairman Lt Gen (R) Zubair Mahmood Hayat, former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar and former diplomat Dr Mohammad Faisal, was already in London for the event. The High Commission claimed that India’s originally announced speakers, General M.M. Naravane, Dr Subramanian Swamy and politician Sachin Pilot, “withdrew at the eleventh hour”, le...

MANSEHRA: The district administration of Mansehra has imposed a complete ban on travelling between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan via the Kaghan Valley until next summer. “We have now completely restricted passenger vehicles, motorists and tourists from travelling to neighbouring GB for their safety,” Assistant Commissioner Balakot Hasrat Khan told reporters on Wednesday. He said the decision to impose a travel ban between KP and GB was taken in a meeting attended by the heads of all relevant departments. The AC said that the Chilas (GB) district administration and police were in contact with Mansehra’s administration, and they too had imposed a ban on travel along Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road. “ We have decided to allow tourists to travel only up to Battakundi and Saiful Muluk between 11am and 3pm, and only with chained tyres, as vehicles cannot move safely on icy roads before or after the four-hour period,” Mr Khan said. He clarified that no restrictions had been placed o...

Jurist’s body Lawyers for Lawyers published an open letter on Wednesday condemning the “ongoing judicial harassment” of lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chatta and urging the government to drop the cases against them. The National Cybercrime Investigation Agency (NCIA) had registered a case against Mazari and Chattha, accusing the two of attempting to incite divisions on linguistic grounds through social media posts and of creating the impression that the armed forces were engaged in terrorism within the country. Their lawyer, appointed by the court, refused to cross-examine the prosecution’s witnesses during the most recent hearing on Tuesday, saying that he could not “ask questions dictated” to him. In a press release, Lawyers for Lawyers, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, the Law Society of England and Wales, the International Commission of Jurists and the International Observatory of Lawyers at Risk expressed concern over the case. “We...

The PTI has decided to release a white paper which will “disclose” evidence of the government’s alleged role in rigging the recent by-elections, corruption , the poor law and order situation in the country, malintent in recent legislation and the economic meltdown in Pakistan. Party stalwart and former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser told Dawn he was hopeful that the white paper would be released next month, as different teams would be working on it and all the findings would be compiled. He alleged that the recent rigging in the by-elections, especially in Haripur, once again proved that the incumbent government had failed and become unpopular. “The white paper will cover all issues, including economic conditions, corruption, election rigging, law and order situation, etc,” Qaiser said. “Moreover, we will also give the comparison of the performance of the incumbent government with the tenure of PTI.” Replying to a question, Qaiser said that the legal team headed by PTI Se...

THE proscribed Jamaatul Ahrar (JuA) has reared its head again in Peshawar, two years after perpetrating a major attack on the city’s police headquarters. Though Monday’s attack hasn’t been claimed by the terror outfit so far, observers point to social media chatter that indicates JuA was involved. A similar suicide attack targeting Peshawar police in January 2023, which claimed more than 80 lives, was also claimed by the JuA. These recent attacks show that the militant outfit has retained its deadly reach, despite the mysterious killing of its leader, Abdul Wali aka Omar Khalid Khorasani, in a car bomb attack in August 2022 in Afghanistan. Khorasani had formed this outfit in 2014 after his split from the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, but both groups joined hands in 2024. Sweden-based security researcher Abdul Sayed, who studies armed groups in South and Central Asia, told Dawn that the JuA founder belonged to the Safi tribe of Mohmand district and had previously been invol...

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitu­tional Court’s (FCC) jurisdiction to hear intra-court appeals (ICAs) came under question on Monday when a senior counsel objected to the court taking up appeals that had earlier been filed under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023. “If the FCC hears and decides ICAs that were moved against decisions of the Supreme Court, it will create the impression that the court is sitting as an appellate forum over Supreme Court judgements, whereas the 27th Constitutional Amend­ment contains no such provision,” argued senior counsel Ibad-ur-Rehman Lodhi. Consequently, Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan, who was heading a six-member FCC bench, adjourned the proceedings to allow the counsel to file an appropriate petition on the matter. The counsel later told Dawn that he would file a miscellaneous application within the present ICA instead of submitting a separate petition. The issue arose when the FCC bench, also comprising Justices Syed Hasan Azhar...

United Nations experts on Monday sounded the alarm over “serious human rights violations” in Indian-occupied Kashmir by the Indian government, issuing the warning in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack. Pahalgam is the site where gunmen on April 22 killed 26 mostly Hindu tourists. New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan, which strongly denied the allegations while calling for a neutral investigation, triggering a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic measures that escalated into a four-day conflict . In the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack, Indian forces arrested more than 2,000 Kashmiris and demolished several homes in a sweeping crackdown . The arrests were carried out across multiple districts, including Srinagar, Ganderbal, Bandipora, Kupwara, Baramulla, Budgam, Islamabad, Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam. “We unequivocally condemn the brutal terrorist attack on a tourist area and extend our condolences to the victims, their families, and the Government of India. However, all governm...

Written several decades ago in a time much different from today, Kishwar Naheed’s feminist poem ‘ Hum gunahgar aurtain ’ (We sinful women) still rang true at the 10th edition of the Adab Festival held in Karachi, where conversation at a panel discussion centred around the rage, anger, and hope that fuels Pakistani women in their personal and professional lives. Opening the conversation at the panel titled ‘Power women of Pakistan: her story, our future’, classical dancer, social activist and founder of the cultural action group Tehrik-i-Niswan, Sheema Kermani read out loud a poem by famed feminist poet Fahmida Riaz, ‘ Ek ladki se ’, which recounts the tale of a “captive princess”. The panel also included MNA Sharmila Faruqui, TCS Group President Saira Awan Malik and was moderated by journalist Zarrar Khuhro. Female rage As Kermani finished reciting Riaz’s work, Khuhro asked, “There is as much hope in these words as there is anger. Would you be here today if you did not have this ra...

• Warns of fiduciary risks to Rs40tr in public funds • Questions why auditor general’s office remains attached to federal secretariat • Audit process bogged down by over 6,000 reports a year, minimal PAC follow-up ISLAMABAD: The Inter­national Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed serious concern over the absence of an internal audit mechanism and weak constitutional and parliamentary audit supervision in Pakistan, warning that these gaps pose major fiduciary risks to public funds estimated at about Rs40 trillion at the federal level and even higher in the provinces. It has called for a fully independent Office of the Auditor Gen­eral of Pakistan (AGP) to ensure better value for taxpayers’ money. In a detailed section in its Governance & Corruption Diagnosis Assessment (GCDA), the IMF has identified a series of weaknesses in Pakistan’s internal financial controls, internal and external audit systems and practical subservience of the AGP to the executive despite its constitutio...

Pakistan Shaheens defended a modest 125 to beat Bangladesh ‘A’ in a nerve-shredding Super Over thriller and successfully defend their Asia Cup Rising Stars title at the West End Park International Cricket Stadium in Doha on Sunday night. In a final that swung wildly in the space of 40 minutes, Pakistan were bowled out for 125 after yet another top-order meltdown, only for their spinners to rip through Bangladesh ‘A’ and leave them reeling at 53 for 7. A gritty 43-run eighth-wicket stand between Rakibul Hasan and SM Meherob threatened the unthinkable, before three huge sixes in the 19th over from Abdul Gaffar Saqlain took the game to a Super Over. Ahmed Daniyal lean-bowled both batters in the first four balls of the Super Over to restrict Bangladesh to just six. Ripon Mondol, Bangladesh’s hero with the ball in the main game, started superbly with two yorkers but Saad Masood’s flicked four off the third legitimate delivery sealed a famous victory for Pakistan Shaheens. Earlier, Shah...

KARACHI: Shield’s baby feeders are a common household essential for many families. Considering Pakistan’s high population growth rate, one might expect the business to be thriving. However, recently, Shield Corporation has decided to delist , joining the ranks of companies like Gillette and Philip Morris . In the 1980s, Pakistan offered a 5 per cent tax advantage to firms that listed on the stock exchange, explains Ali Farid Khwaja, CEO of Oxford Frontier Capital and Co-founder and Chairman of KTrade. That incentive drew dozens of family-owned textile mills and others to the PSX. That incentive no longer exists. Once the tax break went away, many firms had little interest in public shareholders. They quietly bought back shares, shrank the free float, and continued operating like private family businesses. This explains why many listed companies today have negligible trading volumes. Some delist simply because public ownership is insignificant. Philip Morris fits partly into this ca...

After months of trading insults, US President Donald Trump and incoming New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani smiled at each other, swapped compliments and pledged to collaborate on tackling crime and affordability in the nation’s biggest city at an unexpectedly friendly meeting at the White House on Friday. The political opposites, a Republican billionaire and a young democratic socialist, have clashed over everything from immigration to economic policy. But it was clear the two forged a rapport in their first encounter. Mamdani, a 34-year-old state lawmaker, stood by Trump’s desk as the 79-year-old president smiled up at him and patted him warmly on the arm, having only recently falsely caricatured Mamdani as an anti-Semitic communist, among other jibes. “We agree on a lot more than I would have thought,” Trump said after letting journalists and cameras into the Oval Office at the end of a private meeting with the mayor-elect. “We have one thing in common: We want this city of...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s top security official denied on Friday that he had agreed to a Trump administration peace plan , and European leaders hastily sought a response to a draft that endorses most of Russia’s key wartime demands. Washington has presented Kyiv with a 28-point plan that would require Kyiv to give up additional territory, scale back the size of its military and forever abandon hope of joining the Nato alliance. Ukraine’s European allies said they had not been consulted over the plan and scheduled an urgent phone call to discuss the situation. Britain and Germany said their leaders would take part. Zelensky’s office did not say whether he would join in. US officials said the plan was drafted after consultations with Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, a close Zelensky ally who served as defence minister until July. “This plan was drawn up immediately following discussions with one of the most senior members of...

Security forces killed 23 terrorists in separate operations launched in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district, the military’s media affairs wing said on Thursday. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), two intelligence-based operations (IBO) were conducted and the terrorists belonged to Fitna al Khawarij . Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). “On [the] reported presence of khawarij , a targeted operation was conducted by the security forces,” the statement read, without elaborating on the exact location. “During the conduct of [the] operation, own troops effectively engaged the khawarij location and after an intense fire exchange, 12 khawarij were sent to hell,” it added. The ISPR further said that security forces, “capitalising on intelligence with respect to [the] presence of another group of khawarij ” , killed 11 terrorists in another IBO. “Sanitisation operations are being con...

• NA Secretariat sticks to its stance that disqualification is ‘sub judice’ before Peshawar High Court • Omar Ayub’s seat among 13 up for grabs on November 23 ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Secretariat maintains that the disqualification of Leader of the Opposition Omar Ayub is a sub-judice matter, even as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced by-elections in 13 constituencies, including Mr Ayub’s, on Nov 23. The NA stance came in response to PTI leader Amir Dogar’s request, drawing the NA speaker’s attention to rules 39 and 9-B of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the NA, 2007, which outline the procedure for the submission of names and the declaration of the opposition leader. As stipulated under Rule 39(2), the speaker announces the date, time, and place for members of the National Assembly to submit their duly signed proposals for the appointment of opposition leader. According to a response released by the NA Secretariat on Wednesday, Spea...

Pakistan dominated the men’s javelin throw final at the 6th Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh as Arshad Nadeem expectedly defended his gold medal and Muhammad Yasir won silver. Arshad was in a league of his own headed into the seven-man event ; his personal best of 92.97m — which won him gold and the games record at the Paris 2024 Olympics, was head and shoulders above the rest of the field. Predictably, he had the lead from the start and was the only competitor to throw more than 80m, though he looked disappointed after most of his throws. The 28-year-old took home gold with a modest 83.05m throw on his second attempt, while Yasir shifted gears in the sixth and final throw to win silver in 76.04m after overtaking Nigeria’s Samuel Adams Kure, who bronze in 76.01m. A sparse audience at the Prince Faisal Bin Stadium was seen clustered behind the javelin throwing sector, waving Pakistani flags and holding up their mobile phones to get a picture of the javelin superstars in action. A...

At least 25 Palestinians were killed in four Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday in Gaza since a shaky ceasefire took effect in October, health authorities said. Medics said 10 people were killed in the Gaza City suburb of Zeitoun, two in the Shujaiya suburb to the east and the rest in two separate attacks in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military claimed its forces struck Hamas targets across Gaza after members of the Palestinian group fired on its troops in violation of the nearly six-week-old ceasefire. No Israeli forces were injured. Multiple air strikes have pointed to the fragility of the ceasefire. Israel and Hamas have traded blame for what both call violations of the US-brokered truce, the first stage of President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for a post-war Gaza. All three attacks were far beyond an agreed-upon imaginary “yellow line” separating the areas under Israeli and Palestinian control, according to medics, witnesses and Palestinian media. The Z...