Dawn
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Dawn - 09:32 Sep 12, 2025
The European Union (EU) has appointed a new ambassador to Pakistan, a statement from the EU said on Friday. Incoming ambassador Raimundas Karoblis presented his credentials to President Asif Ali Zardari on September 10, according to the Foreign Office. He will be replacing the outgoing envoy, Dr Riina Kionka. “With over 30 years of experience in diplomacy, international trade, and security, he (Karoblis) previously served as Ambassador of the European Union to Tajikistan from 2022 to 2025,” the statement read. “Ambassador Karoblis had a distinguished career in Lithuania’s diplomatic service, holding senior positions, including Deputy Minister responsible for EU affairs, foreign trade, and sanctions, as well as Lithuania’s Permanent Representative to the European Union from 2010 to 2015.” Karoblis also served as the minister of national defence from 2016 to 2020, according to the statement. The incoming ambassador holds a law degree from Vilnius University and is fluent in Lithuanian and English, but also spea... -
Dawn - 08:50 Sep 12, 2025
Pakistan and Israel engaged in a heated debate at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Thursday, with Islamabad condemning Tel Aviv’s recent attack in Qatar targeting Hamas leaders as “illegal, unprovoked, and a threat to regional stability”. The sharp exchange took place at an emergency UNSC meeting convened under the agenda item ‘Situation in the Middle East’. The session had been requested by Algeria, Pakistan, and Somalia and was supported by France and the United Kingdom. Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, opened his address at the UNSC with a strong condemnation of Israel’s strike, calling it a “brazen and illegal assault” and a violation of Qatar’s sovereignty. “The brazen and illegal assault is not an isolated incident, rather it is part of a broader and consistent pattern of aggression and violation of international law by Israel that undermines regional peace and stability.” Ahmad further highlighted that the “Israeli strikes targeted a residentia... -
Dawn - 07:53 Sep 12, 2025
Pakistan has been removed from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (Wada) watchlist, a spokesperson of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) said on Friday. The country was placed on Wada’s watchlist in September 2024 over outstanding non-conformities to the agency’s updated anti-doping code. According to the spokesperson, WADA confirmed that the compliance procedure against Pakistan’s Anti-Doping Organisation (Adop) was closed after all pending corrective actions were completed. “A follow-up confirmation from Wada in September reiterated that Pakistan was no longer under enhanced monitoring, ending speculation over possible sanctions,” the statement said. PSB Deputy Director General (DG) Shahid Islam was informed of the decision by Wada via email, the PSB spokesperson told Dawn.com. The statement also said that corrective measures were put under PSB DG Yasir Pirzada’s leadership, including policy alignment and procedural reforms, ensuring that Pakistan met the stringent global standards in time. “This is not just a bur... -
Dawn - 07:44 Sep 12, 2025
France will deploy three Rafale fighter jets to help Poland protect its airspace after this week’s drone incursions into its airspace, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday on X. “The security of the European continent is our top priority. We will not give in to Russia’s increasing intimidation,” he said. A French military official said the warplanes had already been deployed to Poland prior to Tuesday’s incursions. On Tuesday, Poland said it had scrambled aircraft alongside allies to shoot down “hostile objects” violating its airspace during a Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine, a first for a NATO country during the war. The incursion came as Russia unleashed a barrage of strikes across Ukraine, including in the western city of Lviv, around 50 miles (80 kilometres) from the Polish border. Responding to the accusation, Russia’s foreign ministry claimed that its drones had carried out a major attack on military facilities in western Ukraine but stressed that there were no plans to hit any targe... -
Dawn - 06:02 Sep 12, 2025
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau on Thursday warned that Washington may take action against foreigners “praising, rationalising, or making light” of the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, adding he had directed consular officials to take appropriate action. “In light of yesterday’s horrific assassination of a leading political figure, I want to underscore that foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,” Landau said in a post on social media platform X. “I have been disgusted to see some on social media praising, rationalising, or making light of the event, and have directed our consular officials to undertake appropriate action.” Landau did not elaborate on what such action would mean. Some users replied to Landau’s post with screenshots of accounts and posts, though it was unclear if the accounts they flagged were US visa holders. The State Department’s number two then replied to some of those comments, saying he would direct consular offici... -
Dawn - 05:19 Sep 12, 2025
Apple will roll out a hypertension detection feature on its smartwatch next week after receiving US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance on Thursday, Bloomberg News reported. Apple and the FDA did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. The company unveiled a blood pressure monitor in its latest Apple Watch at the September 9 event, where it also introduced a refreshed iPhone lineup, including a slimmer iPhone Air. The feature, pending regulatory approval, will not detect every case of high blood pressure, but could alert about a million people, Apple said. Available in 150 countries, the tool will use data from the watch’s optical heart sensor to track how a user’s blood vessels respond to heartbeats over 30 days, the report said, citing Apple. The feature will be available on the Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, Series 11, and its more expensive Ultra 2 and Ultra 3 smartwatches, Bloomberg News said. -
Dawn - 04:56 Sep 12, 2025
KARACHI: In an explosive revelation, police on Thursday claimed to have apprehended one of the suspected members of a ring of child abusers, who have allegedly perpetrated heinous acts against minor girls and boys for at least a decade. One suspect is currently in custody, while another of his alleged accomplices have been identified and efforts are underway to arrest him, DIG South Syed Asad Raza told Dawn. The suspect, a fruit vendor, was apprehended by Defence police from Qayyumabad with the help of locals, the officer said. Investigations are underway, and police are said to have obtained video evidence of multiple incidents of sexual assault against minor boys and girls. Although it is too early to say just how many victims the suspects have assaulted, investigators think they could number over a hundred. “Police have recovered a mobile phone from his custody containing hundreds of videos filmed in his room that show graphic scenes involving children,” DIG Raza said, adding that he was being interrogated... -
Dawn - 03:27 Sep 12, 2025
• Security forces repel assault on police post in Lajbook; Section 144 imposed • 19 militants killed in separate operations across KP • President, PM laud successful operations • Tribal elders vow to expel militants from South Waziristan, announce strict penalties LOWER DIR / PESHAWAR: At least seven Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were martyred and 13 others injured during a search and strike operation against militants in the Sar Banda area of Maidan in Lower Dir on Thursday. According to official sources, one FC soldier was also reported missing after a fierce gun battle with militants in the mountainous terrain within the jurisdiction of Lal Qila police station. The militants had taken positions and opened fire on a security convoy. The wounded were shifted to Lal Qila Hospital, and later referred to District Headquarters Hospital Timergara. Police officials said a heavy contingent of police, Elite Force and Dir Scouts remained in the area as the operation continued. Security forces also claimed to have i... -
Dawn - 03:18 Sep 12, 2025
SUKKUR: A fisherman navigates one of the meanders of the Indus, near the Lansdowne Bridge. While Panjnad is recording flows over 0.6m cusecs, Guddu and Sukkur are steady at around 0.4m.—Umair Ali • Panjnad crosses 668,000 cusecs; mass evacuations underway in Alipur • Guddu, Sukkur barrages record over 400,000 cusecs, remain in ‘medium flood’ • Children among the missing after boats capsize in Jalalpur Pirwala • NDMA chairman says Pakistan facing ‘last monsoon spell’ • Preparations in place at Nasirabad as Balochistan braces for floodwaters LAHORE: Punjab is facing a relentless flood emergency as the Sutlej, Ravi and Chenab rivers continue to swell, inundating thousands of villages and displacing millions across the province. The situation intensified after Indian authorities issued alerts regarding rising water levels at Ganda Singh Wala and Ferozepur two days ago, prompting renewed evacuations along the Sutlej River. Despite some areas witnessing a slight recession in water levels, the overall flood threat r... -
Dawn - 02:53 Sep 12, 2025
ISLAMABAD: In a landmark judgement with far-reaching implications for women’s rights under Islamic family laws, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a woman’s right to maintenance (Nafaqa) was neither contingent upon consummation or ‘Rukhsati’ (bridal departure) nor is it subject to her husband’s discretion. “It flows unconditionally from the solemnisation of a valid marriage and constitutes a binding legal duty,” observed Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah in his decision on an appeal by Ambreen Akram. She had challenged the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) verdict of April 28, 2015, which turned down her plea for maintenance because the marriage was not consummated. “In essence, the only legitimate ground for suspending this obligation (maintenance) arises where the husband discharges a high burden of proof to establish that his wife has wholly and without justification withdrawn from marital relationship, not merely as physical access but encompassing the full spectrum of emotional, residential and relational life... -
Dawn - 02:38 Sep 12, 2025
ISLAMABAD: PTI founder Imran Khan has demanded an immediate end to the ongoing military operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and called on his party’s lawmakers to “resist operations and drone strikes against our own people”. A series of posts shared on his personal X (formerly Twitter) account on Thursday, which were supposedly based on his conversation with his sisters in Adiala Jail, recalled that the former ruling ANP had become unpopular in the province due to its support for such military action. Although Mr Khan does not have access to his X account while in prison, it is not clear who operates it in his stead. “Killing one’s own always leads to an increase in terrorism,” the post on the ex-PM’s official account said. The message instructed all members of provincial and national assemblies and the Senate who are from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa “to come together and resist these operations and drone strikes against our own people, and to work for peace so that issues can be resolved through dialogue”. Continuing ... -
Dawn - 19:06 Sep 11, 2025
Pakistan’s first-ever all-woman mountaineering expedition has summited Gilgit-Baltistan’s 5,400-metre Bari La peak, it emerged on Thursday. The 10-member expedition comprised Bibi Afzon and Zeeba Batool from GB, Bismah Hasan and Iqra Jillani from Punjab, Madeeha Syed from Sindh, Mona Khan from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Marya Bangash from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Shahreen Khan and Amina Shabbir from Islamabad and Laraib Batool from Balochistan. According to a statement issued today by Alpine Club of Pakistan Vice President Karrar Haidri, history was “written in the high mountains of Pakistan”. He said the first-ever all-woman expedition, organised and sponsored by the Alpine Club, successfully summited Bari La Peak on Wednesday. “With equal representation from all four provinces, GB and AJK, these courageous women came together not just to climb, but to break barriers and prove that Pakistan’s daughters can rise to any peak,” Haidri said. He added that before embarking on their journey, the expedition received traini... -
Dawn - 18:44 Sep 11, 2025
Skipper Litton Das top-scored with 59 as Bangladesh beat a spirited Hong Kong by seven wickets in their first match of the Asia Cup on Thursday. Hong Kong posted 143-7 after Nizakat Khan made 42 in the T20 meeting in Abu Dhabi, where the minnows were invited to bat first. Bangladesh lost two early wickets in their chase to raise Hong Kong’s hopes of an upset, but Litton put on a stand of 95 with Towhid Hridoy, who made an unbeaten 35, to reach 144-3 in 17.4 overs. Litton reached his 50 in 33 balls but fell to medium-pace bowler Ateeq Iqbal before Towhid hit the winning run. It was Hong Kong’s second straight defeat in Group B, which includes Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan beat Hong Kong by 94 runs in the tournament opener. Hong Kong lost two early wickets before Nizakat paired up with Zeeshan Ali, who made 30, in a third-wicket stand of 41. Nizakat then got into another partnership of 46 with skipper Yasim Murtaza, who hit 28 off 19 balls, as the two counter-attacked. Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman bo... -
Dawn - 18:07 Sep 11, 2025
Hamas accused the United States on Thursday of complicity in Israel’s deadly attack on its negotiators in Qatar, lambasting Israel for seeking to kill off Gaza truce talks as Doha buried the dead. Tuesday’s unprecedented Israeli strikes on a Gulf state sent shockwaves through a region long shielded from conflicts and halted already floundering Gaza talks. “This crime was … an assassination of the entire negotiation process and a deliberate targeting of the role of our mediating brothers in Qatar and Egypt,” Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum said in a televised statement. In Doha, tight security surrounded the mosque where prayers were held as the Gulf state’s ruler joined mourners. One coffin bearing a Qatari flag and five others bearing Palestinian flags were brought into the mosque, live footage from Qatar television showed. Facing the coffins, Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, prayed alongside dozens of mourners, some wearing traditional white robes, others wearing military uniforms. The interior m... -
Dawn - 17:56 Sep 11, 2025
Republican President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the United States ambassador to India said on Thursday that Washington and New Delhi were “not that far apart” on tariffs. “We’re not that far apart on a deal on these tariffs,” Sergio Gor, a close Trump aide who is currently director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, said at his Senate confirmation hearing. “I do think it will get resolved in the next few weeks,” Gor said. US-India ties have been strained by Trump’s trade war, with talks on lower tariff rates collapsing after India, the world’s fifth-largest economy, resisted opening its vast agricultural and dairy sectors. Bilateral trade between the two countries is worth more than $190 billion each year. Trump first imposed additional tariffs of 25 per cent on imports from India, then said they would double to 50pc from August 27 as punishment for New Delhi’s increased purchases of Russian oil, as Washington works to end the war in Ukraine. Trump said on Tuesday his administration is contin... -
Dawn - 17:12 Sep 11, 2025
Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar on Thursday warned renowned rights activist and lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir of a contempt of court case for allegedly calling him a “dictator”. A heated exchange between the two took place during the hearing of a plea filed on behalf of rights activist Dr Mahrang Baloch, who has been in custody since March. The petitioner had sought the removal of Mahrang’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL), which restricts a person’s travel abroad. Mazari was representing her in the court, when, at one point, the IHC chief justice remarked, “If I issue any order in this case, then Miss Mazari would go downstairs and hold a programme, [saying] that a dictator is sitting [here].” At this, Mazari maintained she had said “no such thing that could be considered outside the boundaries of the law”. “You should also remain within the boundaries of respect,” Justice Dogar then told Mazari. At that, Mazari clarified that “whatever I have said was in a pers... -
Dawn - 17:07 Sep 11, 2025
In a meeting with the Qatari emir on Thursday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged unity in the Muslim world to confront Israeli provocations following Tel Aviv’s recent airstrikes targeting residential areas in Doha. PM Shehbaz reached Doha today on a one-day visit, where he met Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani to express solidarity and regional unity after the attacks, state media reported. “The prime minister emphasised that Israel’s ongoing aggression in the Middle East must be stopped and the Muslim world needs unity in its ranks to confront Israeli provocations,” according to a statement by state broadcaster PTV on X. The statement said the prime minister strongly condemned the Israeli attack as a “blatant violation” of Qatar’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. He stated that the leadership and people of Pakistan were deeply concerned about the attack, which was contrary to international laws. “Reaffirming the historical and brotherly relations between Pakistan and Qatar, the prime min... -
Dawn - 16:37 Sep 11, 2025
United States investigators said on Thursday they had found the bolt-action rifle they believed was used to kill influential conservative activist Charlie Kirk as he gave a talk at a university in Utah, but were still searching for the shooter. Kirk, an influential ally of President Donald Trump, was fatally shot on Wednesday while speaking at Utah University, sparking a manhunt for a lone sniper who the governor said had carried out a political assassination. Authorities said they still had no suspect in custody as of Wednesday night, some eight hours after the midday shooting at Utah Valley University campus in Orem, Utah, during an event attended by 3,000 people. Cellphone video clips of the killing posted online showed Kirk addressing a large outdoor crowd on the campus, about 64 kilometres south of Salt Lake City, around 12:20pm MT (18:20 GMT or 23:20 PKT), when a gunshot rang out. Kirk, a staunch defender of gun rights, was answering an audience question about mass shootings when the bullet struck his n... -
Dawn - 16:31 Sep 11, 2025
Peter Mandelson, Britain’s ambassador to the United States, was sacked by Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday after a trove of emails revealed the depth of his ties with the late convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Known for his behind-the-scenes manoeuvring during a career lasting over three decades, Mandelson was forced from Britain’s most desirable diplomatic post after some of his letters and emails to Epstein were revealed this week. Starmer, struggling in opinion polls after numerous setbacks, had strongly backed his ambassador on Wednesday as a state visit by US President Donald Trump, with whom Mandelson had developed strong ties, looms next week. Trump has also faced questions about his links with Epstein, with the White House denying that an alleged birthday letter from him to the late financier is authentic. Mandelson called Epstein ‘my best pal’ Mandelson, who was key to the Labour Party’s success when Tony Blair was prime minister, had come under scrutiny after US lawmakers released do... -
Dawn - 15:38 Sep 11, 2025
Pakistan’s white-ball head coach Mike Hesson dismissed concerns about the national squad’s batting performance on Thursday ahead of the upcoming Asia Clup clash with India. The arch-rivals will clash in a geopolitically-charged men’s Asia Cup contest in Dubai on Sunday. It will be the first cricket match between the sides since four days of military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May. While reigning T20 world champions India are the firm favourites to retain their title, Pakistan are on a high, having convincingly beaten Afghanistan in the final of a tri-series, also involving hosts United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Sunday. Pakistan play against Oman tomorrow. Questioned during a pre-match press conference in Dubai about the team’s batting performance and judgement, Hesson said he was “not quite sure” where the concerns were arising from, saying the team had played against the “best wrist spin attack” in the world and won by over 70 runs against Afghanistan in the tri-series final. “It’s very m...
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