PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has formally approved recruitment of 2,800 watchmen for government schools in 28 districts of the province. According to a statement issued by finance department on Monday, the recruitment process to fill vacant positions in schools will be carried out with complete transparency. All appointments will be made through advertisements, competitive procedures and strictly on merit, so that eligible and capable candidates can be given opportunities. It said that 377
Child Rights in Focus
PESHAWAR: A sharp and sustained rise in dog bite incidents across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has turned a long-ignored municipal issue into a serious public health challenge. The official data shows more than 87,000 cases reported in 2025, over 27,000 more than the previous year, raising concerns over unchecked stray dog populations, weak urban management and gaps in disease prevention. Figures compiled by the KP Health Department show that 87,364 dog bite cases were reported across
LAHORE: To the embarrassment of the treasury, the Punjab Assembly session was adjourned due to a lack of quorum on December 29. The proceedings were marred by protests, heated exchanges between treasury and opposition members, and a boycott by press gallery members over, what they termed, anti-media and derogatory remarks by an opposition lawmaker. The session, presided over by the Panel of Chairmen Samiullah Khan, began amid strong protests from both government and opposition
RAWALPINDI: As super flu spreads across the globe, four confirmed cases have been reported in the garrison city and Murree, prompting the administration to take precautionary measures, including the establishment of a 10-bed isolation ward at Holy Family Hospital. “As many as 22 suspected cases of acute respiratory illness were screened during December, out of which only four were confirmed, and all the patients recovered completely after treatment,” a spokesman for the District Health
An eight-year-old boy, Dilbar Ali, lost his life after he accidentally fell into a manhole in Mehran Town, Sector 6-G of Korangi Industrial Area. The sad incident is one more tragedy, highlighting administrative negligence and the persistent danger posed by uncovered sewerage infrastructure in Karachi. According to police and residents, the incident occurred at around 5pm when children were playing in the street. Dilbar accidentally fell into an uncovered manhole located adjacent to his
The newly proposed initiative has opened a deeper debate about accountability, maturity, enforcement and whether the state is regulating reality or retreating from responsibility. LAHORE: In early December 2025, a province-wide traffic enforcement drive in Punjab created a controversy after police registered over 4,600 cases and arrested around 3,100 people in 72 hours, with officials later stating that a “large number of schoolchildren” were among those detained. Videos circulated online of minors being stopped, motorcycles impounded, and students
MUZAFFARABAD: Police in the Jhelum Valley district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) arrested a mosque imam (prayer leader) and Quran teacher in the early hours of December 28 on charges of raping a nine-year-old girl. Station House Officer (SHO) Hattian Bala Manzar Hussain Chughtai told Dawn that at around 1am, women from the nearby village of Butt Khaitar, which requires travelling part of the way on foot, called the police and asked them
HYDERABAD: In a second incident of its kind in the city within a week, a young girl died after falling into a sewerage drain on December 27. Mariam, 5, had accompanied her father, Sohbat Brohi, and other relatives who had come to the Hatri area to condole the death of his (Sohbat’s) sister-in-law. Mariam went outside the hosts’ home and fell into the drain within the neighbourhood. Sohbat and his relatives mounted a long
BAHAWALNAGAR: Two youth were arrested on December 27 for allegedly gang-raping a minor girl in Chishtian. The FIR registered with the Saddar Police claimed that two youth of basti 106/F lured a three-year-old girl to a deserted place when her father sent her to get some food from a wedding function. It claimed when she did not return home after a long time, her relatives started looking for her and found the duo gang-raping
KASUR: A six-year-old girl was injured by a kite string on December 27 near Adda Maan on Ganda Singh Road, within the jurisdiction of the Saddar Police Station. The victim, identified as Zainab Fatima of Bhadian village, was riding on the front of a motorcycle with her brother, Abdul Rehman, when a chemical-coated twine slit her throat. She was immediately rushed to the DHQ Hospital for medical treatment. Following the incident, police arrested the
Rawalpindi: The biological mother sold her eleven-year-old daughter in Rawalpindi to a woman, who decided to handover the underage girl to a brothel house to make her source of income where she kept molesting for five months. However, the sold-out girl managed to escape from the brothel house and reached Kahuta police station where the police registered first information report and arrested people involved in sexual trade. Published in The NEWS on December 28,
KARACHI: A woman and three children were found hanging inside their home near Gunah Mandi in Karachi’s Sohrab Goth area on December 27, police said. The woman’s husband was taken into custody for questioning. Police identified the deceased as 35-year-old Fatima, 11-year-old Sonam, 3-year-old Arzoo and 2-year-old Arman. Fatima and Sonam were found hanging together in the centre of the house. Arzoo and Arman were found separately suspended from the ceiling on either side