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  • New air traffic control tower to be built at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport
    Dawn - 13:45 Nov 28, 2025
    A photo of Jinnah International Airport in Karachi from December 26, 2024. — Abyan AmirThe Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) has launched a project to build a new air traffic control (ATC) tower and a modern rescue and firefighting station (RFFS) at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport, a PAA press release said on Friday. According to the press release, the design phase of the project is expected to be completed within six months, with a two-year construction period for the tower and the station. “The facilities will be designed and constructed by MM Pakistan in [a] joint venture with CEMOSA and Fairbanks Architects from Spain, bringing international expertise in airport planning and communication and navigation/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) systems integration,” the press release read. A photo of Jinnah International Airport in Karachi from December 26, 2024. — Abyan Amir It added that senior architect Bruce Fairbanks and CNS/ATM specialist Juan Cruz Canabate participated in a four-day workshop at Jinnah International, where they interacted with local aviation professionals to establish d...
  • Putin to discuss ‘privileged partnership’ with Modi on India visit next week
    Dawn - 13:37 Nov 28, 2025
    Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will discuss all aspects of their countries’ “privileged strategic partnership” when Putin visits New Delhi next week, the Kremlin said. India, a major buyer of Russian oil, has also bought its weapons for decades, though a top defence official said the country had bought US arms worth nearly $30 billion in the past decade and aims to produce more of its own equipment. “They (the Russians) have been our friends through both fair and foul weather, and we are not going to sort of stop our defence cooperation with them anytime soon, but I do want to stress that India follows a policy of strategic autonomy,” Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said in New Delhi on Friday. India was diversifying its suppliers, he told an industry event, adding: “But more than anything else we are trying to ensure that we increasingly do spend the bulk of our money within the country.” Putin last visited India in December 2021, just a few months before Russia...
  • Nov 23 by-polls marred by ‘violations of campaigning restrictions, gaps in results transparency’: Fafen
    Dawn - 13:32 Nov 28, 2025
    The Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) has observed that the November 23 by-elections were marred by “recurring violations” of campaigning restrictions and “gaps” in results transparency. The ruling PML-N secured close to 64 per cent of the total votes polled in the by-elections for six National Assembly constituencies held on Sunday as it emerged victorious on all seats. Five constituencies were located in Punjab and one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These seats, except for one, were vacated due to the disqualification of the opposition PTI MNAs. The PML-N also won six out of seven Punjab Assembly seats in the province by securing 82.41pc of the polled votes. On the seventh seat, it had not fielded its candidate in PP-269, Muzaffargarh, against PPP nominee Alamdar Qureshi. The elections monitor had issued its by-election observation report a day earlier. In an accompanying press release, it noted: “The November 23rd by-elections for 13 National and Punjab Assemblies constituencies, though largely well-managed, ...
    Tags: Fafen
  • Noor Zaman retains CAS squash title in nail-biting comeback over compatriot Hamza Khan
    Dawn - 13:02 Nov 28, 2025
    Noor Zaman staged a stunning 3-2 victory over compatriot Hamza Khan to retain his title at the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Serena Hotel International Squash Championship in a battle of the junior world champions. Hamza dominated the first two sets 11-9, 11-7 before second seed Noor flipped the script and took the next three games 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 to win the final and retain his title at the Mushaf Squash Complex on Friday. Noor kept his cool as he began his comeback in the third game before demolishing Hamza in the fourth. The final remained relatively smooth-sailing as both players accepted the referee’s rulings and kept arguments to a minimum. Noor dominated the fifth set with a massive 6-1 lead over Hamza before he scored another point, only for Noor to switch gears and take the score to 9-2. Hamza was inching his way back to victory at 8-10 when Noor won the game and match, dropping his racket and throwing his hands in the air in celebration. The two embraced in a long hug and exchanged words before walking ...
  • FCC to hear Arshad Sharif murder case on Dec 3
    Dawn - 13:01 Nov 28, 2025
    The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Friday fixed a date for the Arshad Sharif murder case, where the request for an independent probe into the killing would be heard. Prominent journalist Sharif was shot in the head when Kenyan police opened fire on his car in October 2022. He had left Pakistan in August 2022 after multiple cases of sedition were registered against him in different cities. The suo motu case was taken up by a six-member constitutional bench headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan in the Supreme Court. However, after the passage of the 27th Amendment and the formation of the FCC, it was granted jurisdiction over both constitutional and suo motu cases. On Friday, the FCC cause list showed that a hearing had been scheduled for December 3, with the attorney general, the Islamabad inspector general of police (IG), and the foreign secretary among other respondents. It will be heard by a two-member bench comprising Justices Aamir Farooq and Rozi Khan Barrech, regarding an “independent and transparent ...
  • ’Bond of respect is greater than politics’: NA speaker again stresses need for dialogue with opposition
    Dawn - 12:49 Nov 28, 2025
    National Assembly (NA) Speaker Ayaz Sadiq again ostensibly made an offer of talks to the opposition, telling a group of parliamentarians visiting him on Friday that dialogue was the way to resolve issues. He made similar offers to facilitate dialogue between the government and the opposition, the PTI, in the past as well. But, no substantial headway has been made so far, and differences between the two sides largely remain unresolved. A handout issued by the NA Secretariat today said Sadiq met with opposition members of both houses of Parliament in his chamber in Parliament House soon after the adjournment of the NA session due to lack of quorum. The visiting opposition members included Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, Senator Faisal Javed, former NA speaker Asad Qaiser and PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan. MNAs Iqbal Afridi, Atif Khan, Sardar Latif Khosa and Jamal Ahsan Khan. “Our bond of brotherhood and mutual respect is greater than politics. I have been in contact with you brothers since 2014. Politi...
  • Aleema files contempt plea against Adiala jail superintendent after repeatedly being denied meeting with Imran
    Dawn - 11:50 Nov 28, 2025
    Aleema Khan, the sister of PTI founder Imran Khan, has filed a contempt of court petition against the Adiala jail superintendent and others over their failure to comply with an earlier Islamabad High Court (IHC) order that reinstated a twice-a-week meeting schedule for the incarcerated former premier. The petition was filed after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, along with several other PTI members, staged an overnight sit-in outside Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, where Imran has been imprisoned since 2023. The sit-in was staged as CM Afridi was denied a meeting with Imran for the eighth time on Thursday. Previously, Imran’s sisters, including Aleema, had also staged sit-ins outside the prison in Rawalpindi on multiple occasions after they were barred from meeting the former premier. The PTI ended its latest sit-in on Friday morning, with the KP CM announcing that they would be approaching the IHC, where Aleema has now filed a contempt plea. View this post on Instagram Apart from Adiala Jail Super...
  • Bahria Town Lahore residents left stumbling in the dark as power supply cut over non-payment of Rs682m in dues
    Dawn - 10:00 Nov 28, 2025
    The power supply of four housing projects in Bahria Town Lahore has been cut over the non-payment of bills amounting to more than Rs682 million, it emerged on Friday. The move has prompted an outcry from residents, who have planned a demonstration in front of the Bahria Town offices after Friday prayers. Muhammad Ramzan Butt, the chief executive officer of the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco), said that Bahria Town had defaulted on its payments. “They have failed to pay a total of Rs682m on four bulk power supply connections,” he told Dawn. “We will not restore the power supply till the bills have been paid,” he asserted. According to him, the initial deadline for paying the bills was November 21, which was then extended to November 23 at the request of the Bahria Town officials. However, they continued to file for extensions till November 26 (Wednesday), he said. The Lesco official said that the last deadline was November 27. “Instead of paying the bills, they have reportedly approached the court,” he ...
  • WHO issues unprecedented global guidelines to combat infertility
    Dawn - 09:34 Nov 28, 2025
    The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday published for the first time directives to improve the prevention, detection and treatment of infertility, which affects millions across the globe. “One in six people worldwide experience infertility during their lifetime,” said Pascale Allotey, the global health body’s head of sexual and reproductive health. “The condition affects individuals and couples across all regions and income levels. “And yet access to safe and affordable care remains highly inequitable.” Allotey told reporters that the issue of infertility had been neglected “for far too long”. The new guide would provide a “unified, evidence-based foundation” to ensure care is safe, effective and accessible for all, she added. According to the WHO, infertility is a condition of the male and female reproductive system, defined as the inability to achieve pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual relations. The situation can lead to major distress, stigmatisation and financial diffic...
  • NCSW strongly condemns Justice Najafi’s ‘misogynistic, irresponsible’ remarks on Noor Mukadam case
    Dawn - 09:27 Nov 28, 2025
    The National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW), a statutory body working for women rights, on Friday condemned the “misogynistic and irresponsible remarks” made by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi on the Noor Mukadam case, saying that they reflected a “harmful mindset that shifts responsibility away from the perpetrators of violence and onto women themselves”. Justice Najafi — a member of the three-judge bench of the Supreme Court that had upheld the death penalty awarded to Noor’s murderer — attributed the ghastly 2021 murder to what he described as a vice prevalent in society. In his additional note, which surfaced on Wednesday, Justice Najafi upheld the sentence handed to Zahir and observed that “the present case is a direct result of a vice spreading in the upper society which we know as ‘living relationship’ [sic]”. It appeared the judge was referring to a live-in relationship, where two unmarried individuals in a romantic relationship cohabitate. The jud­ge also observed that societal compulsions in such...
  • PTI MPA Anwar Zeb Khan says one injured after his Bajaur home targeted in ‘drone attack’
    Dawn - 07:54 Nov 28, 2025
    PTI MPA Anwar Zeb Khan has said that one person has been injured after his home in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district was targeted in a “drone attack” last night, it emerged on Friday. In a video statement posted on his social media account on Thursday, the provincial lawmaker said, “My house in Raghagan, Khar tehsil, was targeted by a drone (quadcopter) attack by unknown individuals tonight, injuring one of my security guards.” Khan, who said he was in Peshawar at the time of the incident, strongly condemned the incident. He also identified the injured as Zair Muhammad, saying he was rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital in Khar. Following the incident, police personnel arrived at the scene and initiated an investigation. However, local police have not yet released any official statement regarding the nature of the incident and those responsible. Meanwhile, KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, in a statement, condemned the incident, terming it an act by “anti-peace elements”. As per the statement, CM Af...
  • Shooting of National Guard soldiers in Washington heralds ‘troubling’ resurgence of terrorism globally: FO
    Dawn - 07:54 Nov 28, 2025
    The Foreign Office (FO) on Friday strongly condemned the shooting of two soldiers of the United States’ National Guard in Washington, DC, saying that the incident “heralds a troubling resurgence of terrorism on a global scale”. Two National Guard soldiers were critically wounded on Wednesday after being shot a few blocks from the White House, with US President Donald Trump terming the incident an “act of terror”. Trump has since announced that one of the soldiers had died. In a press release, the FO said, “Pakistan strongly condemns the shooting incident in Washington DC, reportedly involving an Afghan national. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the departed soldier, and (we) wish the injured a swift and complete recovery,” it said. It also extended sympathies to the families affected, as well as to the government and people of the US. The FO said the attack was “undoubtedly an act of terrorism and a heinous assault on US soil”. “For the past two decades, Pakistan has endured countless similar terrorist inci...
  • Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades kills at least 128, scores missing
    Dawn - 07:53 Nov 28, 2025
    The death toll in a fire that ripped through a Hong Kong residential estate this week has risen to 128, the city’s security chief said on Friday. Dozens were still missing, Secretary for Security Chris Tang told a press conference, adding that he sent his condolences to those affected. Flames had moved quickly through the Wang Fuk Court housing estate in Tai Po district on Wednesday afternoon, spreading through the eight high-rises and transforming the densely packed complex into an inferno. After burning for over 40 hours, the blaze was “largely extinguished” by 10:18am local time on Friday, the fire services said, announcing the end of its operations. Authorities are investigating what sparked the fire, including examining the bamboo scaffolding and plastic mesh wrapped around the complex as part of a major renovation. At the charred apartment blocks, workers searched for survivors and pulled out bodies in black bags, with an AFP reporter counting four in one 15-minute period. Vehicles unloaded corpses at a...
  • Trump says US will ‘permanently pause’ migration from ‘all third world countries’
    Dawn - 06:45 Nov 28, 2025
    US President Donald Trump on Thursday unleashed a series of posts on Truth Social that could dramatically reshape US immigration policy, declaring that he will “permanently pause” migration from “all third world countries” and calling for “reverse migration” to remove certain immigrants. “I will permanently pause migration from all third world countries to allow the US system to fully recover. This is necessary because unchecked migration has weakened American society and strained its resources. Until the system stabilises, no new immigrants from these countries will be allowed entry,” Trump wrote. He did not identify any countries by name or give any specifics about what he meant by “permanently pause”. However, his posts signal a sweeping crackdown that could affect millions of residents from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean, and which could also alter refugee, Green Card, and other immigration programmes. The development comes a day after the US government abruptly halted the processing of al...
    Tags: Trump
  • FO says use of drones in attack on Chinese workers in Tajikistan underlines ‘gravity of threat emanating from Afghanistan’
    Dawn - 02:45 Nov 28, 2025
    The Foreign Office (FO) has condemned the attack which claimed the lives of three Chinese workers in Tajikistan, saying that the use of armed drones in the incident underlined the “gravity of the threat emanating from Afghanistan and the brazenness of those behind it”. Tajik authorities said on Thursday that three Chinese workers in Tajikistan were killed in an attack launched from Afghanistan near the border. The foreign ministry said a drone and firearm attack hit workers of a Chinese company in the country’s south. “The attack, carried out with firearms and a drone loaded with grenades, claimed the lives of three employees of Chinese nationality,” it said in a statement. Dushanbe rarely comments officially on such incidents, and it did not say who it suspects carried out the attack. Subsequently, the FO, in a statement issued early on Friday, expressed Pakistan’s condolences and solidarity with China and Tajikistan over the lives lost in a “heinous terrorist attack in Tajikistan near its border with Afghan...
  • Plea seeks return of military trial appeals to Supreme Court
    Dawn - 02:25 Nov 28, 2025
    • LHCBA petition wants ICAs ‘restored to their original forum’ • Says 27th Amendment ‘unlawful, undermining judiciary’ • Fears parliament can ‘abolish or replace forum for constitutional adjudication at will’ if permitted ISLAMABAD: The Lah­ore High Court Bar Asso­ciation (LHCBA) on Thur­sday filed an application before the Federal Consti­tution Court (FCC), requ­esting that the pending intra-court appeals (ICAs) against the May 7, 2025 judgement on military trials of civilians be returned to the Supreme Court. The application has been moved under Order 35, Rule 6 of the Supreme Court Rules, 2025, which the FCC has adopted for the time being until it frames its own rules. On June 13, the LHCBA and the Lahore Bar Asso­ciation filed ICAs before the SC, seeking to revisit and set aside the May 7, 2025 judgement on the military trials of civilians. These appeals were filed through senior counsel Hamid Khan. In addition, former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Jawwad S. Khawaja and senior lawyer Barr­ister Aitzaz A...
  • Govt, PTI leaders dismiss reports of Imran’s ill health and transfer to high-security prison facility
    Dawn - 20:11 Nov 27, 2025
    Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah and senior PTI leaders on Thursday dismissed reports of former premier Imran Khan’s ill health, with both sides stating that the PTI founder is ‘fine and nothing is wrong with him’. The PTI demanded a meeting with the incarcerated leader earlier today, saying the party was worried about his health as he has been barred from seeing his family and lawyers for over three weeks. Imran has been in jail since August 2023, serving a 14-year sentence on corruption charges. His family and party members have protested outside Adiala Jail in recent days, demanding a meeting. A party delegation visited the prison to see Imran today, but authorities again denied access. Amid media reports that the 73-year-old former international cricketer might be moved to a high-security prison to make meeting him more challenging, international media outlets such as Japan’s Nikkei and the BBC also covered the concern over his status. His well-being became a talking point...
    Tags: Imran
  • Death toll from massive Hong Kong blaze rises to 65, with over 250 missing; police blame construction firm
    Dawn - 20:08 Nov 27, 2025
     A fire burns amidst bamboo scaffolding at Wang Fuk Court housing estate, in Tai Po, Hong Kong, on Nov 26, 2025, in this still image obtained from a social media video. — Threads/@striking_biking via ReutersThe death toll from a massive blaze in a Hong Kong apartment complex rose to 65 on Thursday, with over 250 still missing, as police said the fire may have been caused by a “grossly negligent” construction firm using unsafe materials. Almost a full day after the fire began, firefighters were struggling to reach residents potentially trapped on the upper floors of the Wang Fuk Court housing complex due to intense heat and thick smoke from the blaze that erupted on Wednesday afternoon. Hong Kong’s government said the death toll from the fire had risen to 65. The fire had “claimed 65 lives and injured 70 people” by 8pm local time (5pm PKT), a government spokesperson told AFP, citing fire service figures, adding that 10 firefighters had been injured since the blaze broke out yesterday. The tightly packed complex in the northern Tai Po district has 2,000 apartments in eight blocks that are home to more than 4,600 people in a city struggling with chronic shortages of affordable housing. “We bought [a place] in this ...
  • CJCSC post abolished; chief of defence forces yet to be notified
    Dawn - 19:09 Nov 27, 2025
    Outgoing CJCSC General Sahir Shamshad Mirza addresses a farewell ceremony at Joint Staff Headquarters on November 26. —Screengrab via ISPRThe most sweeping transformation of the higher defence organisation took effect at midnight on Thursday with the abolition of the post of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) under the 27th Constitutional Amendment, even as the government had yet to notify the appointment of the country’s first chief of defence forces under the new structure. The operationalisation of the amendment to Article 243 of the Constitution, passed by parliament on November 13 and signed into law by President Asif Ali Zardari, was timed to coincide with the retirement of the last CJCSC, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza. With his departure, the tri-service coordinating post created in 1976 stood dissolved, ending nearly five decades of institutional representation for the navy and air force at the apex of military decision-making. Gen Mirza retired as the 18th and final occupant of the CJCSC office, a position which critics argued never fully realised its intended role of ensuring robust coordination among the three ser...
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  • What we know about the US National Guard shooting suspect
    Dawn - 18:54 Nov 27, 2025
    The man suspected of shooting two National Guard soldiers near the White House on Wednesday was an Afghan national who worked alongside US forces in Afghanistan, US media reported. Washington has labeled the violence an “act of terror” and announced increased oversight of foreigners who entered the United States from Afghanistan in recent years. What we know about the suspected shooter Multiple media outlets, including CNN, The New York Times, CBS and NBC identified the man as 29-year old Rahmanullah Lakanwal and say he arrived in America in 2021. A relative of Lakanwal told NBC that he arrived after serving in the Afghan army for 10 years in support of US Special Forces. The relative told NBC that Lakanwal originally came from Afghanistan’s southeastern Khost province and had spent some of his military service at a base in the southern province of Kandahar. Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban and was the center of heavy fighting during the 20-year war between the then-insurgents and foreign-backed forc...

8038 items