ISLAMABAD: While rabies remains one of the deadliest yet most preventable diseases in the world, claiming nearly 59,000 lives annually, mostly in Asia and Africa. In Pakistan alone, an estimated 1,000 people, mostly children, die every year from rabies, despite the availability of life-saving treatment. World Rabies Day is being observed today (Sept 28), and this year’s theme, “Act Now: You, Me, Community,” underscores the urgent need for awareness and action. “Rabies does not
Child Rights in Focus
KARACHI: A teenage girl was allegedly killed in celebratory gunfire by her uncle during a wedding ceremony in Shah Latif Town on September 27, police and hospital officials said. Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told Dawn that the girl, Fatima, aged 17 or 18, was brought dead on arrival at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) in the early hours of the morning, with a single gunshot wound to her neck. She said the victim’s post-mortem
MUZAFFARABAD: At least five police personnel, including an SHO and a woman constable, and one demonstrator were injured on September 27 when a protest against the murder of a six-year-old girl turned violent in Khuiratta, in the southern Kotli district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The clash erupted after protesters, staging a two-day sit-in at a busy roundabout on the call of Tehreek-i-Labbaik leader and former assembly candidate Arslan Ghazi, blocked all entry and
RAWALPINDI: In a bid to address the ongoing financial and economic crisis, the Punjab Education Department has resolved to privatise a further 10,000 primary, middle, and high schools by the end of the current fiscal year, June 30, 2026. Preparations are already underway, with lists of the schools earmarked for privatisation currently being compiled. Notably, this marks the first time that high schools will also be included in the privatisation drive. Over the past
RAWALPINDI: The Matriculation Second Annual Examinations 2025, organised by the Rawalpindi Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (RBISE), are scheduled to commence on September 29. All necessary preparations have been finalised, and candidates have been issued their roll number slips. Regular candidates can obtain their slips through their respective institutions’ portals, while private candidates have received theirs at the addresses provided on their admission forms. In a joint statement, Board Chairman Muhammad Adnan Khan
FAISALABAD: Police recovered two abducted newborns and arrested four suspects, including a couple, in separate operations at Lari Adda and Kohistan Adda. The rescued infants were reunited with their families. Police records show that 186 abduction cases of minors were reported across Faisalabad district between January and September 25, 2025. City Police Officer (CPO) Sahibzada Bilal Umar handed over one baby at Police Lines and the other at the child’s residence in Chak 215-RB.
LAHORE: A World Obesity Federation report has raised the alarm over the rapid increase of obesity among schoolchildren in Punjab, warning that the province is on course for a severe diabetes crisis if swift action is not taken. The international study places Pakistan fifth worldwide for childhood obesity, with Punjab showing the fastest rise in both overweight students and related health complications. It highlights that nearly 28 per cent of Pakistani children are overweight,
ISLAMABAD: During proceedings on a case concerning the proliferation of narcotics in educational institutions, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) was presented with a performance report from the federal police, detailing operations conducted between January 1 and August 31, 2025. The report was submitted in compliance with an earlier directive issued by Justice Raja Inam Ameen Minhas, who had instructed the police to provide a comprehensive account of anti-narcotics efforts undertaken during the year. The
FAISALABAD: Police claimed to have arrested one suspect and are conducting raids to apprehend others following a series of separate sexual assault incidents targeting women and a minor child across various districts of the city, according to official reports. The incidents, detailed in First Information Reports (FIRs), outline a disturbing pattern of crimes occurring over recent days. In the first case, reported in the Balochni police precinct, Waqas and Awais, allegedly abducted a 17-year-old
• PM doubles compensation for families of victims to Rs2m • 161,000 houses, 395 health facilities damaged in Punjab, UNOCHA says • Senate panel told deluges left 1,000 dead, millions displaced ISLAMABAD: As millions of people have been affected and hundreds of casualties reported across the country during the recent floods and monsoon rains, the prime minister has raised the ex-gratia assistance for the next of kin of those who lost their lives from Rs1 million to
ISLAMABAD: The education ministry on September 26 directed timely completion of the ongoing missing facilities project of educational institutions in the capital. “Federal education secretary reviewed the progress on renovation and construction of basic educational facilities across schools in Islamabad Capital Territory under the project titled missing facilities,” read a press release issued by the education ministry on Friday. Chairing a meeting, Federal Education Secretary Nadeem Mahbub directed the completion of the project on
KARACHI: Two men confessed before magistrates on September 26 to raping a seven-year-old boy and murdering him by strangling him with a shoelace and striking him in the head with a brick. The investigating officer (IO) produced both suspects before the judicial magistrate (East) and moved an application seeking to record their confessional statements. As per Police Rules, Section 25.29, “When more than one person confesses or turns approver in a case, their confessions