Dawn
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Dawn - 05:38 Aug 08, 2026
Young people applying for entry-level jobs in Sindh’s bureaucracy have been protesting that only 70 out of over 4,300 of them have passed the exam held by the Sindh Public Service Commission. They sat ten written papers for the Combined Competitive Examination (CCE), whose shockingly slim number of successful candidates was announced on May 6. This is how assistant commissioners, assistant directors and section officers at Grades 16 and 17 are hired. Lower than 16 is for drivers and clerks hired in the districts. The highest grade is 22. Think chief secretary level. The SPSC typically passes at least five candidates per seat in its written examinations. However, according to spokesperson Hifzullah Kaka, that doesn’t necessarily apply to the CCE. Nevertheless, the 2024 results still struck protesters as impossible to accept. Alarm bells started ringing when the detailed marks certificates were uploaded after the results were announced. For instance, the 100-mark optional subject Criminology with a single exam ... -
Dawn - 05:35 Aug 08, 2026
The US government will invest $3 billion in critical minerals and battery projects as part of a push to increase domestic production and boost national security and industrial policy, US President Donald Trump said on Friday. “We’re reclaiming America’s rightful place as the minerals superpower of the world,” Trump told more than 200 mining executives, educators, investors and fellow politicians at a roundtable at the State Department aimed at supporting the industry, which he said had not received enough attention from Washington in recent years. He announced a slew of investments during his speech, including a $1.4bn conditional loan from the Defence Department’s Office of Strategic Capital for Sila Nanotechnologies, which makes lithium-ion battery parts. The OSC also extended a $400 million conditional loan to scandium miner Sunrise Energy Metals and a $150m conditional loan to magnet developer Niron Magnetics. The US Export-Import Bank will lend $58m to Westwater Resources, Global Advanced Metals and 5E A... -
Dawn - 04:57 Aug 08, 2026
The military media affairs wing said on Saturday that a captain was martyred while seven terrorists were killed during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Hangu district. In a statement, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said security forces conducted an IBO in Hangu on Friday following reports about the presence of terrorists belonging to Fitna al Khawarij — a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. During the operation, troops effectively engaged the terrorists, it said. “In desperation, the khawarij took refuge inside a mosque, blatantly disregarding the sanctity of the place of worship. In ensuing fire exchange, seven khawarij, belonging to Indian-sponsored Fitna al Khawarij were sent to hell,” it said. The statement went on to say that during the exchange of fire, 27-year-old Captain Hamza Akram, a resident of Punjab’s Narowal district who was “leading his troops from front and relentlessly pursuing” the terrorists, embraced ma... -
Dawn - 03:48 Aug 08, 2026
PAKISTAN’S announcement that it would allocate 2,000 megawatts of electricity for Bitcoin mining and AI data centres has triggered a predictable debate: can the country afford to supply that much power? It is an important question, but not the most useful one. Bitcoin mining, AI training and real-time digital services do not exactly place identical demands on the electricity system. Pakistan’s electricity challenge is about more than the amount of generation capacity available. It is about when and where electricity is needed, whether the network can deliver it reliably, and how that demand is managed during periods of stress. During the hottest months, cooling demand pushes the grid towards its limits. At other times, generation capacity remains underused. But nationally available capacity does not automatically translate into reliable electricity at the location and hour a data centre requires it. Transmission constraints, substation capacity and power quality matter just as much as the headline allocation.... -
Dawn - 03:44 Aug 08, 2026
THE police are a vital pillar of our social fabric, serving not only as guardians of the law but also as protectors of the community, said President Asif Ali Zardari on Police Martyrs Day on Aug 4. “Their exemplary courage, firm dedication and ultimate sacrifice in the service of the nation will always inspire pride and command the deepest respect of every citizen of Pakistan,” he added. The prime minister, too, honoured the bravery of police officers who had laid down their lives in the line of duty, noting that the force displays “exceptional professionalism and unflinching resolve” in the nation’s fight against terrorism, violent extremism and crime. The Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies reported that the first seven months of 2026 witnessed 2,786 deaths linked to terrorist violence and counterterrorism operations — 434 security forces’ personnel lost their lives, including 152 police officials in KP and 89 in Balochistan. So far, July has been the deadliest month of 2026, with 112 secur... -
Dawn - 03:27 Aug 08, 2026
PAKISTAN has already paid a heavy human price this monsoon, even as another dangerous spell approaches. NDMA figures covering June 26 to Aug 7 record 151 deaths — 73 of them children — and 448 injuries, besides damage to more than 1,200 houses and dozens of bridges and kilometres of roads. Chitral shows how quickly such destruction multiplies into other emergencies. Glofs, cloudbursts and flash floods have washed away bridges and severed roads, leaving communities unable to reach healthcare. Attendance at Lower Chitral’s district headquarters hospital has fallen by around 55pc, while patients from some isolated villages have stopped arriving altogether. Doctors are already reporting gastroenteritis and dysentery and fear outbreaks of typhoid and malaria. Pregnant women unable to reach hospitals face particular danger, while post-traumatic stress is emerging among disaster-hit communities. The situation shows us how extreme weather kills not only through torrents and collapsing homes, but also by cutting peopl... -
Dawn - 03:22 Aug 08, 2026
• Corpse of IBA graduate to be dug up for fresh autopsy today • Exhumation planned for Friday postponed after family objected to abrupt reconstitution of board KARACHI: After a day of uncertainty over the exhumation of the body of IBA graduate and businessman Mir Raza Ali, the Sindh government on Friday evening restored the original medical board, which is set to exhume the body on Saturday (today). The exhumation, which was scheduled for Friday morning, was postponed after Raza’s family objected to the abrupt reconstitution of a medical board and inclusion of members from outside Karachi division. Raza’s body was found in bushes in Gulistan-i-Jauhar last month, a day after he went missing on July 28. On Thursday, a judicial magistrate had allowed the exhumation of the body on an application filed by Raza’s father, Mir Hussain Ali, directing the police surgeon and the Sindh health secretary to constitute a medical board for the exhumation. The Sindh health department then constituted an eight-member board, wi... -
Dawn - 03:02 Aug 08, 2026
• Tells Senate panel bureau’s hands are tied under amended law to act against govt officials • Says private sector accounts for 45pc of corruption ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Friday urged the government to withdraw a restriction that prevents it from taking action against government officials accused of corruption involving less than Rs500 million. “Untie our hands and withdraw the Rs500m restriction; otherwise, people [government officials] will become addicted to committing corruption,” NAB Chairman retired Lt Gen Nazir Ahmed said during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice. Under the amended NAB law, the anti-graft watchdog cannot take up cases involving amounts below Rs500m. As a result, a large number of cases it had been pursuing were transferred to other departments, such as the Federal Investigation Agency. Mr Ahmed said that because of the restriction, a station house officer (SHO) of the police enjoyed more powers than a NAB investigation officer... -
Dawn - 02:56 Aug 08, 2026
• Mission to resume once weather improves • Bodies of Nirmal Purja, four other foreign climbers flown to Islamabad for repatriation to their respective countries GILGIT: The search operation to recover the remains of Pakistani mountaineer Sohail Sakhi and two foreign climbers missing after the deadly Broad Peak avalanche has been suspended due to the continuing risk of fresh avalanches, rescue officials said on Friday. Search teams spent eight days trying to locate the remains of Sohail Sakhi, American climber Sarah Mallory Geis, and Nepalese climber Nawang Thindu Sherpa before deteriorating conditions forced authorities to halt the mission. Ayaz Shigri, General Secretary of the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP), said a leg believed to belong to Geis had earlier been recovered. He added that Nawang Thindu Sherpa’s body has been located but cannot be retrieved because it lies in a highly dangerous, avalanche-prone area. He said rescue efforts would resume once weather conditions improve and the area is safe. ... -
Dawn - 02:45 Aug 08, 2026
KARACHI: As concern grows over recent restrictions imposed on foreign media outlets operating in the country, global human rights watchdogs have termed the fresh guidelines issued by the government “an attack on press freedom”. Until the new government restrictions were first circulated widely over the weekend, only foreign citizens working as journalists were routinely subject to controls on movement outside Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. Now, Pakistani journalists, fixers and others working for foreign media will need government permission to travel and report outside those three major cities and must register with the government – even for leisure travel. The controls mark “an alarming step” in Pakistan’s “narrowing space for press freedom,” said Patricia Gossman of Human Rights Watch, calling for them to be “immediately reversed”. Meanwhile, Amnesty International said on Friday that the restrictions on foreign news outlets, extending to local staff of these organisations, under the new Foreign Media Facil... -
Dawn - 02:28 Aug 08, 2026
• MBS, Shehbaz, Erdogan sign Makkah Joint Defence Agreement to boost ‘collective deterrence against any aggression’ • PM hopes accord will serve as ‘shield of peace’; Erdogan says alliance is open to other friendly nations • Saudi minister insists new bloc no threat to ‘any country’ ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye on Friday signed a joint defence pact in the holy city of Makkah, which empowers member states to treat an attack against one of them as an attack against all. The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, which seeks to strengthen the collective security of the three states, was signed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince and PM Mohammad bin Salman, and Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Al-Safa Palace. The signing of the agreement was announced by three countries through a joint statement, which was published by Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) and Saudi Arabia’s official SPA press agency. It said the pact reflected the three countries’ “shared commitment to further... -
Dawn - 02:28 Aug 08, 2026
• Provisions for lifetime blue passport scrapped; number of lifetime arms licences for MPAs reduced to four • Assembly resolves to resist ‘proposed takeover’ of Hazara areas by federal government PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly on Friday withdrew controversial provisions from the recently enacted KP Provincial Assembly (Powers, Immunities and Privileges) Act, 2026, including the issuance of official passports to lawmakers and their spouses for life. The provincial assembly had earlier in April passed the KP Provincial Assembly (Powers, Immunities and Privileges) Act, 2026, granting blue passports to members and their spouses, arms licences, blanket immunity from preventive detention, and making the speaker’s permission mandatory before arresting members on criminal charges. However, the law faced harsh criticism from the media and the general public, prompting KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi to order a review of the legislation last week. KP Information Minister Shafi Jan also announced that the g... -
Dawn - 02:15 Aug 08, 2026
• Govt’s legal team set to meet Presidency officials as summary remains pending with Zardari • Officials say matter now sub judice after petition filed in IHC ISLAMABAD: In a last-ditch effort to break the deadlock over judicial appointments, the government’s legal team has scheduled a meeting with its counterparts at the Presidency on Sunday, as authorities explore the possibility of unilaterally notifying the confirmation and appointment of high court judges. The development comes as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has yet to issue its ruling on the maintainability of a petition challenging President Asif Ali Zardari’s alleged failure to assent to the recommendations of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan. The JCP, during its meetings on July 20 and 21, recommended the confirmation of four additional judges of the Peshawar High Court, a six-month extension for an additional judge of the Sindh High Court, and the appointment of 19 additional judges to the Lahore, Islamabad, Sindh and Balochistan high courts. ... -
Dawn - 19:08 Aug 07, 2026
The government on Friday reduced the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs2.20 and Rs1.50 per litre, respectively. Following the revision, petrol will retail at Rs327.62 per litre while HSD will cost Rs380.86 per litre. The government continues to levy Rs114 per litre in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs100 per litre on HSD. According to the Petroleum Division’s notification, the new prices will apply from August 8 to 10. The diesel price has come down from a peak of Rs520.35 recorded on April 3. Its price had started rising from Rs281 per litre after the US-Iran war broke out on February 28. The petrol price had peaked at Rs458.41 on April 3 after beginning its upward trajectory from Rs266 in the first week of March. Earlier, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik announced that fuel prices would now be fixed on a daily basis due to fluctuations in international market prices following renewed hostilities between Iran and the US. The government had been announcing weekly revisions to fuel prices s... -
Dawn - 18:18 Aug 07, 2026
Goods transporters and oil tanker operators began suspending their services on Friday night after negotiations with the government failed, ahead of their nationwide wheel-jam strike scheduled for Saturday. All Pakistan Goods Transport Itehad spokesman and All Pakistan Goods Transport Owners Association President Mohammad Owais Chaudhry Advocate told Dawn that talks with Federal Minister for Communications Aleem Khan and other government officials had failed. He said the negotiations ended without a breakthrough, prompting transporters, including edible oil tanker operators, petroleum oil tanker operators, truckers, trailer operators and other intercity transporters, to proceed with their previously announced strike. “We have informed the government side about the problems we are facing and our concerns,” Chaudhry said, adding that the strike would continue until their demands were accepted. However, the minister has assured the transporters that he would discuss their demands, and the next round of talks woul... -
Dawn - 18:17 Aug 07, 2026
After withdrawing its two earlier notifications, the Sindh government on Friday notified a newly constituted eight-member medical board to carry out the exhumation of 25-year-old business owner Mir Ali Raza’s body on Saturday. The exhumation, which was originally scheduled for Friday, was deferred after the deceased’s family objected to the abrupt reconstitution of the medical board, just hours after the notification of the first one. A notification issued by the Sindh Health Department on Friday named police surgeon Dr Sumaiyya Syed as the convener of the board and Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) Pathology Department head Professor Dr Naseem Ahmed as the pathologist. The eight-member board also includes Jinnah Sindh Medical University’s (JSMU) Dr Farah Waseem as a forensic expert, Shanakht Project’s Amir Hassan Khan as a forensic identification expert, Additional Police Surgeon Dr Srichand, Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) medicolegal officers Dr Kamran Khan and Dr Daniyal Mirza, and Offic... -
Dawn - 17:51 Aug 07, 2026
Goods transporters and oil tanker operators began suspending their services on Friday night after negotiations with the government failed, ahead of their nationwide wheel-jam strike scheduled for Saturday. All Pakistan Goods Transport Itehad spokesman and All Pakistan Goods Transport Owners Association President Mohammad Owais Chaudhry Advocate told Dawn that talks with Federal Minister for Communications Aleem Khan and other government officials had failed. He said the negotiations ended without a breakthrough, prompting transporters, including edible oil tanker operators, petroleum oil tanker operators, truckers, trailer operators and other intercity transporters, to proceed with their previously announced strike. “We have informed the government side about the problems we are facing and our concerns,” Chaudhry said, adding that the strike would continue until their demands were accepted. However, the minister has assured the transporters that he would discuss their demands, and the next round of talks woul... -
Dawn - 17:24 Aug 07, 2026
Several major thoroughfares in Karachi were blocked or affected by traffic disruptions on Friday as Jamaat-i-Islami held protest sit-ins in the city as part of a nationwide demonstration against the petroleum levy. A day earlier, the party announced that it would stage sit-ins at 510 locations across the country by blocking major roads. In a traffic advisory issued, the Karachi traffic police warned that traffic flow could be affected due to the protests and sit-ins, with slow-moving traffic, temporary diversions and partial road closures expected on several major thoroughfares. The affected areas included Mazar-i-Quaid, Numaish Chowrangi, Saddar, Sharea Faisal, Sharae Pakistan, UP Mor, Power House Chowrangi, Defence Housing Authority, Sea View, Shahrah-i-Orangi, Hub River Road, Super Highway and National Highway. The traffic police advised citizens to avoid travelling to the affected areas unless necessary, and urged them to select alternative routes and allow extra travel time before setting out. Meanwhile,... -
Dawn - 17:23 Aug 07, 2026
First used in the 1991 Gulf War, the US Patriot air defence system has seen demand spike sharply this year, with supplies of interceptor missiles depleted by Ukraine’s war against the Russian invasion and the widening war in the Middle East. Ukraine is urgently seeking more Patriot interceptors to defend against a nightly barrage of Russian ballistic missile strikes. But the Iran war has drained arsenals in the US and the Gulf, and some European countries are holding onto missiles they may need for their own defence. The following are some details about the Patriot air defence system, one of the most advanced weapons in the US arsenal. What is the Patriot system? Patriot, short for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target, is a mobile surface-to-air missile defence system built by US weapons maker Raytheon Technologies that can be used in all kinds of weather and at long range. Developed in the 1980s, the Patriot system has been modernised over the past decades, expanding its capabilities and reach... -
Dawn - 16:16 Aug 07, 2026
Spain threatened on Friday to impose restrictions on travellers from Italy unless Rome lifts by Sunday the border controls it introduced last week following a mass influx of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Italy swiftly responded, saying it would not accept “ultimatums or impositions” from Madrid, adding that it would keep in place its suspension of Schengen rules for non-EU nationals arriving from Spain until at least August 15. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s conservative government had previously said the more robust travel checks would remain in force until the end of the month. The Spanish government said Italy’s decision to reintroduce controls on arrivals from Spain was “unjustified, contrary to the interests of the European Union and discriminatory against the Spanish population”. It promised to adopt “proportionate measures” against Italy unless Meloni rolled back the new constraints by Sunday. However, in a toughly worded statement, Meloni’s office said Spanish authorities had th...
12385 items