“They allegedly searched some patrons and took their cellphones before fleeing the scene in two unidentified motor vehicles,” police said, adding that the incident occurred at around 1930 GMT (12am PKT) on Saturday.

The victims included 13 males and four females, police said.

The motive for the shooting was still unknown, police said, adding that the suspects torched two vehicles before fleeing.

“Police have mobilised a team of detectives and other specialised units to trace and apprehend the suspects,” they said.

In a separate shooting at an entertainment venue in a township outside Cape Town early on Sunday, gunmen killed 10 people and wounded 11 more.

South Africa is awash with legal and illegal firearms, and shootings are common, often fuelled by gang rivalry and competition between informal businesses.

The country of around 62 million people has one of the world’s highest murder rates, with about 60 people killed each day.

In March, soldiers moved into violence hotspots in Johannesburg to support police efforts to tackle rampant crime, described by President Cyril Ramaphosa as one of the biggest threats facing the country.

Polling began at 8am and is expected to conclude at 5pm. Spokesperson for the Election Commission of Pakistan Huda Gohar told Dawn that voters present within the boundaries of the polling station will be allowed to cast their vote past 5pm as well.

The constituency fell vacant after the death of Malik Muhammad Iqbal Channar in August, whose son is now the ruling party candidate.

According to data from the provincial Election Commissioner’s office, a total of 483,143 people are registered in the constituency, including 248,259 men and 234,614 women, with a total of 292 polling stations. At the polling stations, 307 presiding officers and 941 polling officers and assistant presiding officers have been deployed.

A day earlier, the Punjab home department requested the interior ministry for deployment of troops of the Pakistan Army and Rangers (Punjab) in the constituency for smooth, peaceful and secure conduct of the by-election.

Leading up to the election, on September 12, in an armed clash, three persons were injured at Baqirpur in connection with the election campaign of Cheema, who is the son of former PML-Q federal minister Tariq Bashir Cheema.

As per Rescue 1122 sources, during Cheema’s election rally, the clash occurred between the supporters of the rival candidates, and some of them resorted to firing, resulting in injuries to three people.

The pandas’ transfer had already been agreed, but the departure was announced on Thursday during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington.

The black and white mammals are immensely popular around the world, and China loans them out as part of a “panda diplomacy” programme to foster foreign ties.

Ping Ping and Fu Shuang departed from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport on a chartered flight at around 3:00 am on Sunday (12am PKT on Saturday), state news agency Xinhua reported.

Steamed corn buns, bamboo shoots and carrots have been prepared to keep the pandas nourished during their 15-hour flight, Chinese state-run media outlet the Global Times reported.

The Boeing 777 operated by FedEx was the top-tracked aircraft on aviation information platform FlightRadar24 as it neared Alaska, roughly halfway into its journey.

The pandas are headed to a zoo in Atlanta, Georgia, where they will be spending the next 10 years.

A farewell ceremony was held for the pair before their departure by the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

Experienced keepers were dispatched by the US side to accompany the duo on their flight, the Global Times reported.

In preparation for their arrival, Zoo Atlanta has renovated its panda facilities and assembled a team of animal caretakers.

It has also ensured a stable and long-term supply of bamboo, grown locally in Atlanta, which has a climate that is very similar to Chengdu.

Zoo Atlanta previously hosted pandas on loan from China for a quarter of a century starting in 1999, but it has not had any since 2024.

Both the expected arrivals were born in 2020. Ping Ping, a male, is now six years old, while Fu Shuang, a female, will turn six next month.

Pandas in captivity typically live for around 30 years.

The furry creatures have been sent across the globe for decades as soft-power ambassadors of Beijing’s diplomatic goodwill.

In 1972, China gifted a pair of pandas to Washington, following US President Richard Nixon’s historic visit.

Beijing recalled two of its pandas from Japan early this year, following a diplomatic spat that began when Japan’s prime minister hinted that Tokyo could intervene militarily in the event of any attack on Taiwan.

According to the reports available with Dawn, the patients, including three women, who had been receiving dialysis at the hospital tested positive for the deadly virus after initial diagnosis.

The hospital administration has referred them to the Nishtar Hospital Multan for further medical evaluation and treatment and they are currently under treatment there.

The Mian Channu hospital officials told the media that more than 60 patients were receiving dialysis at the facility and HIV could not be transmitted through the dialysis process. They said that they were assessing the situation.

Infected patients, including three women, sent to Multan’s Nishtar Hospital

Sources, however, said that more dialysis patients might also have tested positive but the officials did not confirm more cases.

In recent years, several HIV cases were reported in the healthcare facilities in Punjab.

In November 2024, around 30 kidney patients at the Nishtar Hospital were reported to have contracted HIV during dialysis, while one patient died after developing complications. A Punjab government fact-finding committee subsequently confirmed an HIV/AIDS outbreak in the hospital’s nephrology unit and identified violations of dialysis guidelines and standard operating procedures.

A scientific study published in 2026, involving researchers from the Aga Khan University and the Punjab AIDS Control Programme, found that the Multan dialysis cases were closely linked and provided evidence that the infections originated within the healthcare setting. The Punjab government ordered proceedings under the PEEDA Act against senior officials and medical staff over alleged negligence and mismanagement related to the outbreak in Nishtar Hospital Multan in January 2025.

Another major HIV-related crisis had emerged in Taunsa where 106 children tested HIV positive and they were registered with the AIDS Control Programme in March 2025. The government had established a screening and treatment centre at the THQ hospital and ordered action against senior local health officials. Later, a joint mission involving WHO, Unicef, UNAIDS and other partners carried out door-to-door screening of around 50,000 people in the affected area. It also said auto-disable syringes were supplied to government hospitals and that hundreds of clinics allegedly being run by quacks were sealed.

The Punjab AIDS Control Programme says it provides free HIV testing, counselling, treatment, diagnostic services and follow-up care and treatment centres were established in districts, including Lahore, Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan, and more than 14,000 patients were receiving free treatment.

At the federal level, the National AIDS Control Programme says 84,421 HIV cases were registered in Pakistan by December 2025, of whom 60,785 were receiving antiretroviral therapy at 98 centres.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2026

The polling on the constituency is scheduled for Sept 27 in which sympathy following the death of sitting PML-N MNA Malik Muhammad Iqbal Channar, demands for a separate province and the PTI’s decision to boycott the election have emerged as key features of the by-election. Whereas, the PPP had also withdrawn its candidate and announced support for Mr Channar, while other political and religious groups have also extended support to him.

PPP leader Syed Ali Haider Gillani, while addressing the media, said that they were supporting PML-N under the coalition agreement. He said that PML-N had also not fielded its candidate on the seat won by the PPP in the 2024 election. On the other hand, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan had said the party would not participate in any electoral process under the current circumstances. The decision has left the party without a candidate in the constituency despite its candidate Samiullah Chaudhry being the runner-up to the late Mr Channar in the 2024 general elections.

Independent candidate Wali Dad Cheema has been openly appealing to PTI supporters and sympathisers to vote for him. Addressing a gathering, Mr Cheema said he had entered the contest because of the PTI boycott, otherwise the PML-N candidate would have won without an election. He said that he needed PTI supporters’ backing to win the contest.

PTI has announced boycott of elections, while PPP has withdrawn its candidate in support of PML-N

However, PTI leaders from different areas of Punjab have subsequently posted videos on social media rejecting claims that the party or its supporters were backing the Cheema group. They have urged their supporters to abstain from voting. Several voters interviewed by Dawn said the death of Mr Channar has generated sympathy for his family and could translate into support for his son.

A voter, Mustafa Khan, said the Channar clan appeared united behind the PML-N candidate following the death of his father.

“Although the candidate was not very popular among the masses and his father had not given him a provincial assembly ticket, his position is still good,” he said.

Mr Khan said Mr Tariq Bashir Cheema had not contested an election for around 18 years in this constituency and could therefore find it difficult to mobilise substantial support. He also referred to controversies surrounding Wali Dad Cheema.

Another voter, Khadim Hussain, said the demand for a Seraiki province could benefit the Channar candidate because the Cheema camp was campaigning for the restoration of the Bahawalpur province. He said he would personally vote for a candidate who supported the demand for a Seraiki province.

Social activist Salman Bhadera also described Mr Channar’s position as favourable, saying PML-N local leaders and a group of around 15 MPAs were holding gatherings to mobilise support for the candidate.

He said people in Bahawalpur generally supported candidates who visited them and sought votes respectfully. He alleged that Mr Cheema and his supporters had adopted a confrontational approach and were issuing threats and challenging local political norms, which, he argued, could work against them. When asked about the possible disposition of PTI supporters, he said they were not fully prepared to support any particular candidate.

According to Mr Bhadera, PML-N was seeking to mobilise its workers while Mr Cheema was attempting to consolidate support through his personal contacts and political groups.

He said that only PTI was popular and the candidate who managed to get their support could win easily.

On the other hand, Wali Dad Cheema and his father have repeatedly campaigned for restoring the Bahawalpur province and have maintained that Bahawalpur should be made a province regardless of whether the government created other provinces.

The issue has gained significance because the PPP, while supporting the PML-N candidate, has also publicly expressed support for the creation of new provinces, including a Seraiki province. For voters, however, the campaign remains centred on a combination of local representation, political alliances, provincial status and constituency-level concerns.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2026