Islamabad lets people pay fines by QR code as it goes cashless
The district administration has put QR codes in all assistant commissioners’ offices and the DC Complex. Codes are being added to its other offices too.
Top stories
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INTERNATIONAL
Gauhati High Court orders Assam to rehabilitate evicted families
The state must say by December 16 how it will compensate families evicted from Hasila Beel and two other areas, many of whom have spent months in makeshift shelters.
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SPORTS
Zverev drawn with Shelton, Fils, and Jodar as ATP Finals groups set
Alcaraz faces Medvedev, Cobolli, and Tiafoe in the other group in Turin, where the round robin starts on Sunday without the injured Jannik Sinner.
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LIFE
Tasmania tells Australians it is not really for tourists
The island state’s new campaign invites travellers to skip queues and bucket lists for slower trips, and launches five “De-Tourist Trails”.
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ECONOMY
Gold drops Rs10,900 to Rs416,536 per tola as world prices slide
The 10-gram rate fell Rs9,345 to Rs357,112, jewellers’ association data show, a day after a Rs3,400 drop. World gold lost $109 an ounce.
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ECONOMY
Oman posts budget surplus as gas revenue jumps 61%
Revenue rose 16% to RO9.83 billion in January to September, finance ministry figures show, reversing a deficit a year earlier. Public debt fell to about RO14.1 billion.
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Featured
Man United sack Michael Carrick with Pochettino lined up
The club says a change was necessary after its worst league start in 40 years. United sit 18th, and USA coach Mauricio Pochettino is expected to take over.
Naqvi says nothing has changed despite rumours, Fazl not singled out
The interior minister said anyone with a legal right would get it, and that land notices had gone to five or six thousand people, not just Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
Corruption exists across Pakistan, even in my ministry, Naqvi says
The interior minister said corrupt officials had been caught despite strict checks, acknowledged corruption in the CDA, and said he and Bilawal were almost on the same page about a reset.
More stories
Naqvi says let a referendum decide on new provinces
Rizwanullah’s five-wicket haul sends Pakistan into U19 Asia Cup final
Woman shot dead as armed groups exchange fire in Manipur
Shehbaz invites Iraqi and Finnish presidents to Pakistan after COP31 talks
Imran Khan’s sisters Noreen and Uzma freed after seven weeks
Rain halts Rawalpindi Test with Pakistan 45 ahead on 57-1
Two supertankers disabled by blasts in Hormuz, Iran’s Guards say
Water must never be weaponised, Shehbaz tells COP31 leaders
Shah waived Make in India rules for Israeli phone-hacking tools, group says
UK tells tanning firms to stop calling sunbeds safe
Zelenskyy says Starshield speed limits are hampering Ukraine’s drones
Provinces promise one-window deals, security to mineral investors
Kuwait now alerts residents on Sahel app each time they enter or leave
Flynas to start Jeddah flights from Sialkot and Faisalabad
Manipur attacks force Ukhrul residents onto broken hill road
James Anderson, 44, signs for Surrey after Lancashire exit
MDCAT 2026 results stand as NA panel seeks one-year validity
Gulf interior ministers approve shared security data on deportees
Radio Pakistan Peshawar has new walls. Now find its lost voices
The trial over the 2023 arson must run its course. The state need not wait for a verdict to search for surviving copies of decades of Pashto and Hindko music, drama and speech.
A rebuilt studio can broadcast tomorrow. A burned recording of a singer who died decades ago cannot be made again.
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Pink buses are a good start. Every bus should be safe for women
The CDA’s 30 women-only electric buses deserve a quick launch. But Peshawar shows that making every bus safe does more for women than a separate fleet, and Islamabad should do both
9 min read
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Give KP’s daughters the cervical cancer jab, and the facts with it
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s drive to protect 2.93 million girls deserves every parent’s support. Its success will depend on trusted women at the door, honest answers on safety and a plan for the girls it misses.
8 min read
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Terrorists who turn mosques into bomb stores have told us who they are
Security forces found explosives and torture cells inside two mosques in Mir Ali. The terrorists who did it have no claim on Islam. Pakistan should back the soldiers who cleared them, restore the mosques quickly and make every pulpit part of the fight
8 min read
Sixteen memorandums later, what Pakistan’s minerals forum must show
Last year’s forum produced 16 memorandums. Since then Reko Diq has slowed and its financing is unfinished, while security and a railway have moved up the agenda. PMIF26 will be judged on whether signatures are turning into mines
An estimate of what lies underground says little about what can be extracted at a profit.
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The KSE-100 is back at 180,000. Staying there is the hard part
Pakistani shares have regained the level where they ended the last fiscal year. Cheaper oil, record reserves and remittances drove the rebound; rising interest rates, foreign selling and the Strait of Hormuz will decide what comes next.
8 min read
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Abu Dhabi talks put Europe’s security, not just Ukraine’s, on the table
The first three-way talks in nine months moved from the front lines to security guarantees and Europe’s future order. Territory still blocks a deal, and the Gulf keeps becoming the place where wars are negotiated.
9 min read
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What it would take to give Pakistan 12 provinces
Ministers keep floating new provinces. The Constitution sets the bar at two-thirds in Parliament and in the province being divided, and the Senate and NFC sums turn every map into a fight
9 min read
Words by
Justice Markandey Katju
Great injustice to Urdu in India
“This great language, which has produced perhaps the best poetry in modern India … and which is a shining gem in the treasury of Indian culture, is today neglected, and by some people even looked at with suspicion,” writes former Supreme Court of India Justice Markandey Katju.
Words by
Abdullah Esquire
The tailor’s son who dreamed of another age: the life of Allama Iqbal
From Sialkot to Cambridge, Heidelberg and the mosque at Cordoba: how a poet who argued with God came to imagine Pakistan. A Big Read in eleven chapters
Words by
Justice Markandey Katju
The significance of Abdul El-Sayed’s victory
“Dr El-Sayed’s victory is a message not only for America but also for India and the whole world,” writes former Supreme Court of India Justice Markandey Katju.
Words by
Dr Yasir Arafat
Pakistan’s mineral ambitions need more than mines
As global investors gather for PMIF26, Pakistan must look beyond mineral extraction and invest in the infrastructure, skills and industries that can turn its geological wealth into lasting prosperity
Pakistan in Numbers
The prices and figures behind your bills and savings, kept up to date.
See all the numbers- InflationHow fast prices are rising, over a year10.3%Down from 11.1%Sep 2026
- PetrolPrice of a litreRs 335.00Down from Rs 338.0012 Nov 2026
- Foreign reservesDollars the State Bank holds$21.52bnUp from $21.49bn23 Oct 2026
- Dollar rateRupees for one US dollarRs 276.72Up from Rs 276.6611 Nov 2026
- Stock marketThe KSE-100 index179,084Down from 179,33511 Nov 2026
- Load-sheddingPower shortfall, as reported4,000 MWUp from 3,600 MW6 Oct 2026
How Pakistan lives.
Westline
How markets and wars dictate society.
Read Westline
The backlog Britain built
Ministers of both parties have spent a decade blaming the people in the queue. The numbers point at the people running it.
Abdullah Esquire
The Tories edge past Reform, but credibility is the real fight
Abdullah Esquire
Trump’s infatuation with Munir is a love letter to charisma
The Editorial Desk
Every Starmer stumble brings Kemi closer
TT Monitoring Desk
Several killed as lorry hits vehicles in Fujairah, police say
Fujairah Police gave no toll and urged the public not to spread rumours. An Indian family says it lost three members in a crash near the city the same night.
Ras Al Khaimah reopens seven beaches after supertanker oil spill
A stretch of UAE coast from Sharjah to RAK was shut for nearly three weeks. A fresh spill has now reached Khor Fakkan on the east coast.
Iran war to cost Gulf economies $790bn by 2030, Allianz Trade says
The credit insurer says the six GCC economies will shrink 4% this year, with Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain hit hardest and more than 80 energy sites struck.
Gulf interior ministers approve shared security data on deportees
Meeting in Manama, they also backed a cybercrime and AI-crime strategy. Saudi Arabia’s interior minister said Houthi attacks threaten the whole Gulf.
Saudi-led coalition downs drone over Riyadh as Yemen fighting spreads
The coalition gave no details of the drone. In Yemen, government forces say they have hit Houthi positions on several fronts, while Houthi shelling of Aden goes on.
Yemen war toll nears 12,000, WHO says, as missile debris falls near Mecca
Saudi civil defence says debris from two intercepted Houthi missiles fell in a Mecca-region village. More than 320,000 Yemenis have fled their homes since August.
Gold drops Rs10,900 to Rs416,536 per tola as world prices slide
The 10-gram rate fell Rs9,345 to Rs357,112, jewellers’ association data show, a day after a Rs3,400 drop. World gold lost $109 an ounce.
Naqvi says let a referendum decide on new provinces
The interior minister said all parties call the people supreme, so the public should settle the question. A referendum alone cannot create a province under the Constitution.
Shehbaz invites Iraqi and Finnish presidents to Pakistan after COP31 talks
He discussed trade, defence, and pilgrims with Iraq’s Nizar Amedi, and flood forecasting and glacier monitoring with Finland’s Alexander Stubb, his office said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards unveil new underground missile city
Footage released on Tuesday shows ballistic and cruise missiles and their launchers in a tunnel complex. Iran has not said where it is, and the claims cannot be independently checked
Why Afghanistan is called a global hub of terrorism
UN monitors, US intelligence and Russia all warn of terrorist groups operating from Afghanistan, as Pakistan becomes the country most affected by terrorism.
Through the Maldives, Pakistan stakes a claim to a bigger Indian Ocean role
A maritime security pact signed during President Muizzu’s visit gives Islamabad a foothold in waters New Delhi has long treated as its own backyard.
Zverev drawn with Shelton, Fils, and Jodar as ATP Finals groups set
Alcaraz faces Medvedev, Cobolli, and Tiafoe in the other group in Turin, where the round robin starts on Sunday without the injured Jannik Sinner.
Rizwanullah’s five-wicket haul sends Pakistan into U19 Asia Cup final
Bangladesh were bowled out for 138 before openers Usman Khan and Hayam Khan made half-centuries in a nine-wicket win. The final is on Saturday.
Rain halts Rawalpindi Test with Pakistan 45 ahead on 57-1
Bad light and rain stopped play early on day four after Saqib Khan’s 7-130 on debut bowled Sri Lanka out for 446. One day remains.
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The names and the hits
The people who have written for The Thursday Times, and the stories readers came for most.
Written for The Thursday Times
Reham KhanBroadcaster, formerly of the BBCCelebrity sufferings
Mohammad Ishaq DarDeputy Prime Minister and Foreign MinisterPurchasing power is being squeezed from the common man
Mian Javed LatifPML-N member of the National Assemblyعمران خان کا ایجنڈا
Absar AlamFormer PEMRA chairmanجنرل باجوہ کا بیٹا اور میرا بیٹا
Hina Parvez ButtPML-N, Punjab Assemblyلوٹ کے بدھو گھر کو آ رہے ہیں
Ahmad JawadFormer PTI information secretaryقیامت سے قیامت تک
Ammar MasoodChief editor, WE Newsاک نئی قرداد پاکستان
Hammad HassanColumnist, Jangثاقب نثار کے جرائم
Most read, all time
- World Bank places Pakistan in MENA, ending South Asia classification
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- COMMENTARYThe Superstar Playboy Politicians
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- TORQUEPlanning a motorway trip? Here’s how to get your M-Tag, and what happens if you don’t
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