Dawn
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Dawn - 04:21 Sep 21, 2025
LAHORE: Fashion designer Khadija Shah has approached the Lahore High Court (LHC), challenging her conviction in a May 9 case. She claims to have been falsely implicated for political reasons. Through her Advocate Sameer Khosa, Ms Shah argues that she had no involvement in the torching of a Supreme Court judge’s squad vehicle near Jinnah House during the riots. She maintained she was not named in the FIR, nor was she implicated through supplementary statements. No identification parade was conducted to establish her presence at the scene. The trial, held inside Kot Lakhpat jail, resulted in 21 acquittals out of 51 accused, with 12 declared proclaimed offenders. Ms Shah was among the 18 convicted, recently sentenced to five years in prison and fined Rs100,000. The appeal highlights that the prosecution’s case relied solely on her social media activity post-May 9, 2023. However, the trial court scrutinized her entire online data without legal basis, terming the charges “defective, vague, and unsustainable.... -
Dawn - 03:17 Sep 21, 2025
WASHINGTON: The United States has called on Pakistan to subject its defence and intelligence budgets to parliamentary or civilian public oversight, describing it as a key step to improve fiscal accountability and transparency. The recommendation appears in the US Department of State’s 2025 Fiscal Transparency Report, released on Friday. The annual report reviews the openness of budgetary practices worldwide, assessing how governments publish, audit, and manage public funds. “The military and intelligence budgets were not subject to adequate parliamentary or civilian public oversight,” the report stated in its Pakistan section. It added that “steps Pakistan could take to improve fiscal transparency include… subjecting the military and intelligence agencies’ budgets to parliamentary or civilian public oversight”. The report also urged Pakistan to ensure the timely publication of its executive budget proposal. “The government… did not publish its executive budget proposal within a reasonable period,” the assessm... -
Dawn - 03:11 Sep 21, 2025
JERUSALEM: Israel’s military kept up its assault on Gaza City and the wider Gaza Strip on Saturday, dismantling underground shafts and booby-trapped structures in attacks that left 87 Palestinians dead, 70 of them in Gaza City. The civil defence agency said 11 were killed when warplanes struck the Dughmush family in the city’s Al-Sabra neighbourhood. The assault came as 10 countries including Australia, Belgium, Britain and Canada are scheduled to formally recognise an independent Palestinian state on Monday, ahead of the annual gathering at the UN General Assembly. Israel’s intensified military demolition campaign targeting high-rise buildings in Gaza City began this week alongside a ground assault. Its forces, which control Gaza City’s eastern suburbs, have in recent days been pounding the Sheikh Radwan and Tel Al Hawa areas from where they would be positioned to advance on central and western parts of the city, where most of the population is sheltering. Hamas warns lives of Israeli prisoners are in danger... -
Dawn - 03:08 Sep 21, 2025
• Warns of 14.5m excess deaths concentrated mainly in vulnerable regions • Says health, construction and agriculture sectors could lose over $1.5tr ISLAMABAD: The World Economic Forum (WEF) warned in a fresh insight report that climate change, if left unaddressed, could result in 14.5 million excess deaths and trillion of dollars in economic loses by 2050, concentrated in the world’s most disadvantaged regions and populations. The report, “Building Economic Resilience to the Health Impacts of Climate Change,” says deaths from extreme weather events in those regions have been about 15 times higher over the past decade. It also warns that climate-health impacts threaten business resilience and that today, less than 5 per cent of global adaptation funding targets health protection. “This is a dangerous gap that also presents an opportunity for private-sector action,” the report said. The WEF defines a Climate and Health Business Framework and applies it to four highly exposed sectors to identify specific climate... -
Dawn - 03:01 Sep 21, 2025
ISLAMABAD: Amid apparent reluctance by the federal government to use the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) to help the flood survivors, the PPP has once again urged the Centre to disburse stipends among displaced citizens via the “efficient and proven” BISP. Over the past weeks, the PPP chairman and senior leaders have encouraged the use of the flagship income support initiative to provide relief to thousands of citizens affected by the monsoon floods. Earlier this week, its vice president, Sherry Rehman, had “strongly and repeatedly” advocated the use of BISP for the purpose in a Senate committee meeting. On Saturday, another PPP leader Humayun Khan urged the government to do the same. His statement came days after PML-N leader and PM’s aide Rana Sanaullah expressed apprehensions about the BISP, calling it unviable for a cash-strapped government. Rana Sana said the BISP could not be continued in its current form — it either needed to be wrapped up or be completely revamped. The PML-N leader had sugge... -
Dawn - 02:38 Sep 21, 2025
• Price control secretary says geotagging, verification of wheat stock decided for proactive planning; defends inter-provincial curbs to ensure ample supply • Mills barred from using wheat for manufacturing poultry feed LAHORE: The Punjab government has stepped up measures, including geotagging of stocks, to avert a potential wheat crisis in the province after floods in the eastern rivers washed away farmlands and destroyed stockpiles in its central districts. The move comes amid restrictions on the interprovincial movement of the commodity by the provincial government, which has raised prices in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by up to 68 per cent, also prompting protests by Sindh and KP. Sources told Dawn that the decision to restrict the wheat trade was taken to ensure an ample supply of the grain in the province and to avert a looming crisis. Besides this measure, the Punjab Price Control and Commodities Management also decided to start geotagging and physically verifying wheat stocks in warehouses across the province... -
Dawn - 01:00 Sep 21, 2025
A female camel, tortured allegedly by a landowner in Sukkur, was handed over to a private animal shelter in Karachi on Saturday, officials said. A first information report (FIR) of the incident was registered at Sukkur’s Kandhra police station under sections 114 (abettor present), 428 (mischief by killing or maiming animal with value of Rs10 or more), 429 (killing or maiming cattle, etc, of any value), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the complaint of Ghulam Mustafa. The incident took place at 2pm yesterday, according to the FIR, wherein three suspects were nominated. According to the complainant, when his camels were returning after drinking water from a pond on the land, one of the suspects hit one of them with an axe, breaking its leg. Then he dragged the camel with his tractor. The complainant said he kept pleading with the suspects to spare the camel, but they did not listen. According to the... -
Dawn - 19:07 Sep 20, 2025
Pakistan on Saturday cancelled their pre-match press conference ahead of their second encounter with India in the men’s Asia Cup tomorrow, according to a statement by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). “Pakistan will not be holding their pre-match press conference today,” ACC said in a short statement. Andy Pycroft will be officiating the match as the referee again after last week’s controversy. A senior Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official confirmed to Dawn.com that the board had moved on after Pycroft’s ‘apology’ and had no issue with his appointment for the Pakistan-India match. The Group A clash between the fierce rivals last Sunday ended on a bitter note when Indian players refused to shake hands with their opponents. It was the first meeting between the regional neighbours since a four-day conflict in May left more than 70 people dead. While the match itself passed without incident, there was no shaking of hands between the captains at the toss or among the players at the end. Then, at the post-match cer... -
Dawn - 19:05 Sep 20, 2025
Iran’s top security body said on Saturday that action by Britain, France and Germany to reimpose United Nations sanctions will “effectively suspend” its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog. “Despite the foreign ministry’s cooperation with the [International Atomic Energy] Agency and the presentation of plans to resolve the issue, the actions of European countries will effectively suspend the path of cooperation with the agency,” the Supreme National Security Council said in a televised statement. Britain, France and Germany were among the parties to a 2015 deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that gave Iran relief from UN sanctions in return for UN-monitored restrictions on its nuclear activities. The three governments say Iran has reneged on its commitments under the deal which has been effectively moribund since Washington pulled out in 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term. The UN Security Council voted on Friday, after European pressure, to reimpose the UN sanctions ... -
Dawn - 18:57 Sep 20, 2025
US President Donald Trump on Friday ordered an annual $100,000 fee be added to H-1B skilled worker visas, creating potentially major repercussions for the tech industry where such permits are prolific. The new measure, which could likely face legal challenges, was announced alongside the introduction of a $1 million “gold card“ residency programme that Trump had previewed months earlier. “The main thing is, we’re going to have great people coming in, and they’re going to be paying,” Trump told reporters as he signed the orders in the Oval Office. Later, the White House issued a major clarification to the new visa policy, saying the $100,000 fee will be a “one-time” payment imposed on new applicants. “This is a one-time fee that applies only to the petition. It only applies to new visas, not renewals or current visa holders,” a White House official said on condition of anonymity. H-1B visas allow companies to sponsor foreign workers with specialised skills — such as scientists, engineers, and computer programm... -
Dawn - 18:55 Sep 20, 2025
Half-centuries by Towhid Hridoy (58) and Saif Hassan (61) powered Bangladesh to an exciting four-wicket win in the Super Four stage of the men’s Asia Cup against former champions Sri Lanka in Dubai on Saturday. Having been rolled over by Sri Lanka in the first round, Bangladesh got their act together after winning the toss and choosing to bowl first. Bangladesh required 10 runs off 10 balls with seven wickets in hand but the dismissal of Hridoy spiced things up. He was trapped leg before by Dushmantha Chameera in the 19th over, and Dasun Shanaka then struck twice in the last over to keep the contest alive. In the end, tail-ender Nasum Ahmed scampered a cheeky single to cover off the penultimate ball to see Bangladesh home. Their bowlers had set it up by limiting Sri Lanka to 168 for seven on a belter of a track and thanks to Hridoy and Hassan, Bangladesh crossed the line with one delivery to spare. Sri Lanka could have been bundled out for much less, but three spilt catches let them off the hook. In the end, ... -
Dawn - 17:45 Sep 20, 2025
The Pentagon has unveiled new restrictions on United States’s media covering American military, requiring them to pledge not to disclose anything not formally authorised for publication and limiting their movements within the Department of War. The new guidelines, laid out in a lengthy memo distributed to reporters on Friday, require them to sign an affidavit promising to comply, or risk losing their media credentials. The move is the latest by the administration of President Donald Trump to control media coverage of his policies, after he suggested that negative stories could be “illegal.” The Pentagon “remains committed to transparency to promote accountability and public trust,” the memo says. But it adds: “Information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorising official before it is released, even if it is unclassified”, effectively barring material sourced to unnamed officials. This new restriction would apply to both classified and “controlled unclassified information.” The memo al... -
Dawn - 17:12 Sep 20, 2025
The country’s nuclear programme has received recognition from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in addition to Pakistan’s steady progress and close cooperation with the agency. In a post on X following his meeting with Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) Chairman Raja Ali Raza Anwar on the sidelines of the 69th IAEA General Conference in Vienna, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi highlighted Pakistan’s achievements in expanding its civil nuclear energy capacity. He observed that Pakistan’s nuclear power programme was advancing “at a good pace”, particularly with the ongoing construction of Chashma Nuclear Power Plant Unit-5 (C-5). Grossi recalled witnessing the first concrete pouring at the site in February, which he described as a “major milestone in Pakistan’s efforts to strengthen energy security through clean and sustainable nuclear power”. The IAEA DG and PAEC chairman reviewed areas of cooperation under various agency initiatives. These included Atoms4Food, which applies nucle... -
Dawn - 16:22 Sep 20, 2025
Former minister Shireen Mazari said on Saturday that a “heavily armed raiding party” of the Islamabad police had surrounded her house at 1am and enquired about her daughter, Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, and son-in-law, Hadi Ali Chattha. “At 1am this morning, a heavily armed raiding party of ICT police from Secretariat thana (police station) surrounded my home and asked for Imaan and Hadi. They were not there, and we informed them of the same. Cops said they had an FIR (first information report) against them and they should report to the thana. Eventually they left,” she posted on X. In a subsequent post, she referred to a protest at the Islamabad High Court yesterday, where Imaan — who is a lawyer and rights activist — and others had raised slogans in support of judicial independence. The lawyers had staged a protest on the premises of the IHC to oppose the suspension of Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri from judicial work. Islamabad Bar Council member Aleem Abbasi, ex-president of the Islamabad High Court Ba... -
Dawn - 15:47 Sep 20, 2025
A deal for the Chinese parent company of popular video-sharing app TikTok to sell its US operations would see the creation of a board dominated by Americans, the White House said on Saturday. “There will be seven seats on the board that controls the app in the United States, and six of those seats will be Americans,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News. She said a deal could be signed “in the coming days.” The United States has forcefully sought to take TikTok’s US operations out of the hands of Chinese parent company ByteDance for national security reasons. Under President Donald Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, the US Congress passed a law to force ByteDance to sell its US operations or face a ban on the app. US policymakers, including in Trump’s first term, have warned that China could use TikTok to mine data from Americans or exert influence on what they see on social media. But Trump turned to the platform, which is hugely popular with young Americans, to garner support during his ul... -
Dawn - 15:04 Sep 20, 2025
Seven people, including five children, died when the roof of a room in a house collapsed in the Farooq Azam neighbourhood of Punjab’s Hafizabad district on Saturday, according to police. Hafizabad District Police Officer (DPO) Atif Nazir Kadhar said in a statement that a woman and her son were holding tuition classes in the affected house when the room’s roof collapsed. “As a result, the woman, her son and five children who were taking tuition classes died.” The statement said DPO Kadhar reached the site after receiving information about the incident and oversaw the rescue work. According to data shared by the Rescue 1122, one child also suffered a critical head injury in the incident. Last month, three members of a family died after the roof of their under-construction house caved-in in the Islampura locality of Nankana Sahib in Punjab. Earlier in July, two children had died and two other were injured when the roof of a house collapsed in Lahore’s Badami Bagh. The incident had taken place reportedly due to t... -
Dawn - 14:41 Sep 20, 2025
With millions displaced and close to a thousand people dead, the Pakistan floods that have been ongoing since June are worryingly reminiscent of the floods that devastated the country in 2022. As the country fights to keep its head above the rising floodwaters, many questions abound. Could the damage so far have been contained? How has climate change contributed? Has India’s release of floodwater — which it had warned about — exacerbated the loss and damage of its lower riparian neighbour? Have the floods been down to bad governance, or a lack of preparedness? To understand these matters, Dialogue Earth spoke to Muhammad Ehsan Leghari, an expert on water resource management and member for the Sindh province at the Pakistani water regulator, the Indus River System Authority. He discussed the factors that have contributed to the unprecedented floods in Pakistan, what has and hasn’t worked for flood control, and how the country can manage future floods effectively. This conversation has been edited for length an...
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Dawn - 13:33 Sep 20, 2025
Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav sidestepped the no-handshake issue ahead of the Asia Cup rematch against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday, choosing to focus instead on the cricket. The Group A clash between the fierce rivals last Sunday ended on a bitter note when Indian players refused to shake hands with their opponents. It was the first meeting between the regional neighbours since a four-day conflict in May left more than 70 people dead. While the match itself passed without incident, there was no shaking of hands between the captains at the toss or among the players at the end. Then, at the post-match ceremony, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav seemingly ‘politicised’ the victory by bringing up the Pahalgam terrorist attack in India-occupied Kashmir, over which the two countries fought a four-day military conflict in May, saying the victory was “a perfect gift” for his country. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) called for match referee Andy Pycroft’s immediate removal for a code of conduct “violation” and consid... -
Dawn - 12:26 Sep 20, 2025
History has a strange way of rhyming. Sometimes it repeats as farce, sometimes as tragedy — and sometimes, in Pakistan, it comes back wearing the same last name. The last time a Justice Dogar was in the news, the country was under military rule. When Musharraf imposed an emergency in November 2007, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar took oath under a Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) and validated his actions. After the judiciary was restored, contempt proceedings were initiated against Justice Dogar for endorsing the dictator’s actions and violating an order of the court. In Abdul Hameed Dogar vs Federation (2011), Justice Dogar claimed that his actions were, “under confusion, misconception and misunderstanding” He pleaded that he was “really sorry”. Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, who had supported a military dictator, was ultimately required to place himself at the mercy of the post-restoration judiciary. Nearly a decade later, the judiciary faces another crisis. This time, with Justice Sarfraz Dogar at the centr... -
Dawn - 11:36 Sep 20, 2025
An Islamabad court indicted accused Umar Hayat in the murder case of 17-year-old social media influencer Sana Yousaf on Saturday. The accused pled not guilty to murdering Yousaf, who was shot dead at her house in June. During the hearing, Additional District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Afzal Majoka enquired whether Hayat had killed Sana. “I did not commit any such crime,” the accused replied. The judge then asked him whether he was falsely accused in the case. “Is this all a lie?” the judge remarked. He also pointed out that Hayat had also been accused of snatching Yousaf’s mobile phone. At that, the accused maintained that all allegations levelled against him were “based on falsehood”. The court then adjourned the hearing until September 25. Islamabad police had arrested Hayat on June 3, a day after Yousaf was killed at her house in Islamabad. Preceding his arrest, a first information report (FIR) of the murder was registered at Islamabad’s Sumbal police station against an unidentified man on the complaint o...
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