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Dawn - 09:11 Nov 27, 2025
A court in Bangladesh sentenced ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday to 21 years in prison for corruption, a week after she was given the death penalty for crimes against humanity. Hasina, 78, is currently residing in India and has defied court orders that she return to Bangladesh. She was sentenced in absentia on November 17 to be hanged for crimes against humanity after ordering a deadly crackdown against a student-led uprising last year that eventually ousted her. But three other cases had been brought against the ex-leader by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over land grabs of lucrative plots in a suburb of the capital Dhaka. Hasina received seven years’ imprisonment in each of the three cases, Dhaka Tribune reported. Several other accused were also handed varying prison terms, it added. It is unclear if the sentences will run concurrently. Hasina’s conduct “demonstrates a persistent corruption mindset rooted in entitlement, unchecked power, and a greedy eye for public property”, ruled judg... -
Dawn - 07:38 Nov 27, 2025
Amid reports regarding the arbitrary offloading of passengers travelling abroad, an official from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday clarified that people were only being offloaded or denied boarding if they did not have valid documents or authorities suspected them of working with migrant smugglers. Over the past few months, numerous incidents have been reported of travellers being offloaded from flights at various airports, despite possessing valid travel documents. The actions came after a crack down on migrant smuggling after last year’s Greece boat tragedy that claimed several Pakistani lives. Earlier this month, FIA Director General Riffat Mukhtar acknowledged that incidents of people being offloaded had been reported at Lahore and Karachi airports, and that investigations were underway. In a video statement shared today, FIA Lahore Zone Director Captain (retired) Muhammad Ali Zia addressed the recent issue of “misleading AI-generated videos and false information circulating on social me... -
Dawn - 07:24 Nov 27, 2025
Three police personnel were martyred as law enforcers responded to a terrorist attack on a checkpost in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Hangu on Wednesday night, according to an official statement from the provincial Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD). The statement, issued late last night, said terrorists carried out a “cowardly attack on the Qazi Talab checkpost in the dark of the night”. Responding to the attack, Hangu District Police Officer (DPO) Khan Zeb Mohmand led the operation against the terrorists, the statement said. It added that while the operation was underway, police personnel “surrounded the area and stood firm against the enemy like a wall of lead”. “Eventually, police foiled the attack,” the statement added. However, three policemen, Head Constable Wahid Shah, Head Constable Hikmat Khan and Abdul Samad, were martyred during the operation. The CTD statement detailed that “intense fighting” had continued between police and the terrorists for two hours, and there were reports of several deaths among the ... -
Dawn - 18:58 Nov 26, 2025
At least 36 people were killed and 279 were missing on Wednesday after Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in three decades ripped through high-rise residential towers sheathed in flammable bamboo scaffolding, authorities said. More than 10 hours after the fire started in the northern Tai Po district, flames and thick smoke still engulfed the 32-storey towers as rescue workers swarmed the site and shocked inhabitants watched nearby. The cause of the blaze was not immediately known, but it was fanned by green construction mesh and bamboo scaffolding which the government began phasing out in March for safety reasons. Working through the night, firefighters were struggling to reach upper floors of the Wang Fuk Court housing complex, which has 2,000 apartments in eight blocks, due to the intense heat. One 71-year-old resident surnamed Wong broke down in tears, saying his wife was trapped inside. A firefighter was among the 36 killed, and 29 people were in hospital, Hong Kong leader John Lee told reporters. Some 900 people... -
Dawn - 18:56 Nov 26, 2025
Jurist’s body Lawyers for Lawyers published an open letter on Wednesday condemning the “ongoing judicial harassment” of lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chatta and urging the government to drop the cases against them. The National Cybercrime Investigation Agency (NCIA) had registered a case against Mazari and Chattha, accusing the two of attempting to incite divisions on linguistic grounds through social media posts and of creating the impression that the armed forces were engaged in terrorism within the country. Their lawyer, appointed by the court, refused to cross-examine the prosecution’s witnesses during the most recent hearing on Tuesday, saying that he could not “ask questions dictated” to him. In a press release, Lawyers for Lawyers, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, the Law Society of England and Wales, the International Commission of Jurists and the International Observatory of Lawyers at Risk expressed concern over the case. “We have received credible informa... -
Dawn - 18:53 Nov 26, 2025
Turkey unveiled dozens of new finds at a major archaeological site in southeast Turkey on Wednesday, giving fresh insight into an area seen as showing humanity’s transition from hunter-gatherers to settled societies more than 11,000 years ago. On a plateau overlooking the fertile plains of what is often called the “cradle of civilisation”, the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Gobeklitepe and nearby Karahantepe are transforming archaeologists’ understanding of prehistoric times. Among the latest finds in Sanliurfa province is a statue with a facial expression reminiscent of a deceased individual. Archaeologists said it was a unique discovery in terms of death rituals and symbolic expression among Neolithic communities. People walk at the Karahantepe excavation site, widely regarded with Gobeklitepe as keys to understanding the birth of symbolic thought, social complexity and monumental architecture thousands of years before cities or states existed, near the southeastern city of Sanliurfa, Turkey. —Reuters It was... -
Dawn - 18:05 Nov 26, 2025
‘Where will the constitution go?’: Occupied Kashmir CM slams college admissions on basis of religion
The Chief Minister of India-occupied Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, on Wednesday assailed the use of religion as a criterion for student admissions at the territory’s Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence, according to Kashmiri media. According to the Kashmir Media Service (KMS), the institute was sanctioned 50 MBBS seats for the current academic year. Of the 50 seats, 42 were allotted to Muslim students based on merit, sparking protests from right-wing Hindu groups and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who said Hindu students should be prioritised as the institution’s funding came from donations to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine. Speaking at the golden jubilee programme of Jamia Ziaul Uloom institute in Poonch, Abdullah said that Constitution Day “should not be reduced to a symbolic observance”. “Today, Constitution Day is being celebrated. The meaning of Constitution Day is not that we remember the Constitution for an hour … its meaning is that every day of the year, we must keep it alive,” A... -
Dawn - 17:52 Nov 26, 2025
A protest and sit-in against the disappearance of a Baloch student entered its third day at Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) on Wednesday, bringing all academic activities to a halt. A protest camp was established by the Baloch Students Council (BSC) against the enforced disappearance of a sixth-semester student, Saeedullah Baloch. The BSC students had earlier reached out to students from other councils and groups to join the camp. However, fearing a larger protest campaign, the administration of QAU suspended all academic activities at the varsity. The BSC students participating in the sit-in remained wary of certain consequences and declined to disclose their names to the media. However, speakers at the protest camp said they had remained firm in their stance for the past three days and refused to remain silent. They added that these three days have shown that students cannot be intimidated when justice is denied. Mohammad Azam, brother of missing Saeedullah, said that the protest camp has become more than a p... -
Dawn - 16:36 Nov 26, 2025
China is ready to work with Pakistan to organically integrate the country’s development plans and the action plan on building a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era, Chinese Ambassador in Islamabad Jiang Zaidong said on Wednesday. Pakistan and China share a longstanding strategic partnership with ties that span various sectors, including trade, energy, defence, and infrastructure. Ambassador Jiang was speaking at the Policy Dialogue on “Redefining Regional Connectivity: Pakistan-China Friendship in the New Geo-Economic Paradigm.” “Guided by the important consensus of our leaders, centered on building a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era, using the advancement of CPEC 2.0 as a platform, and focusing on deepening cooperation in industry, agriculture, and mining, we will continuously consolidate, deepen, and expand our all-round partnership,” the Chinese envoy said while speaking via video link. He said the approach will tangibly serve the modernisa... -
Dawn - 15:49 Nov 26, 2025
While the PTI issued an internal memo to establish a chain of command, some of the party leaders criticised the move as an effort to run the party like an “army unit” and argued that differences of opinion are the “beauty and plus point” of the organisation. The leaders believe that the internal memo is undemocratic and ensures one-man rule instead of decentralisation. They also claimed that the original constitution of PTI had a core committee and nothing like a political one. PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram stated that “the internal memo was the need of the hour and was issued by Additional Secretary General PTI Firdous Shamim Naqvi to streamline recent issues faced by the party.” The memo, available with Dawn, states that in the centre, provincial presidents and general secretaries or equivalent office bearers will report to the party’s secretary general. Similarly, at the provincial level, the regional president and general secretary will report to the secretary general of the party on organi... -
Dawn - 15:38 Nov 26, 2025
Nawaz calls for accountability for ‘those who brought Imran’ to power, terms them bigger ‘criminals’
PML-N president and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday called for accountability for “those who brought Imran” into power, claiming that they were bigger “criminals” than the PTI founder. “Imran Khan was not the only criminal; the ones who brought him to power were the bigger criminals, and they should be held fully accountable,” said the PML-N supremo while addressing a gathering of newly elected lawmakers today. Nawaz has generally maintained a low profile since the PML-N, following the formation of a coalition with the PPP, came into power after the 2024 elections. In 2018, according to figures provided by the Election Commission of Pakistan, PTI had emerged as the largest political party in the country, winning 115 of the 270 National Assembly seats on which the elections were held. During a session in parliament following the election of then-PM Imran, PML-N leader Shehbaz brought up allegations of rigging in the July 25 polls. Alleging that 1.6 million votes were rejected, he questioned the... -
Dawn - 15:25 Nov 26, 2025
The joint counter-terror drills between troops of the Pakistan Army and the Royal Saudi Land Forces concluded on Wednesday, said a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). “Troops from both brotherly countries demonstrated exceptional standards of professionalism, operational skill, and interoperability throughout the exercise,” said the military’s media wing. The exercise, Al Battar-II, focused on enhancing joint proficiency in counter-terrorism operations, with an emphasis on fighting in urban terrain, countering improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and refining tactical drills and procedures through integrated training. “The exercise also served to further strengthen the deep-rooted and historic military-to-military ties between Pakistan and the KSA,” said the ISPR. The military’s media wing further stated that all “objectives were successfully achieved, reinforcing the commitment of both nations to regional peace, security, and collaborative defence preparedness”. The closing ceremony of... -
Dawn - 14:47 Nov 26, 2025
Karachi is among the nine densely built megacities in Asia and the Pacific which are particularly vulnerable to heat and are projected to become substantially hotter in the years ahead, a report released by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) on Wednesday said. The report, titled Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2025: Rising Heat, Rising Risk, stated that urban areas are already at high risk for extreme heat due to the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Densely built surfaces trap heat and raise city temperatures above those of surrounding rural areas. It added that this challenge is being exacerbated by rapid and often unplanned urbanisation and insufficient green spaces, further warning that UHI would raise temperatures by 2 to 7°C, on top of global warming. As access to cooling, water and healthcare comes under increased strain, children, the elderly and outdoor workers in densely populated urban areas are disproportionately affected. Higher-income areas usually lie in cooler... -
Dawn - 14:39 Nov 26, 2025
Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, who is now part of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), has observed that the Noor Mukadam case is the direct result of a “vice” spreading in society known as “living relationship”, it emerged on Wednesday. It appeared the judge was referring to a live-in relationship, where two unmarried individuals in a romantic relationship cohabitate. Noor, aged 27 years, was found murdered at the Islamabad residence of Zahir Zakir Jaffer in July 2021. In May, a three-judge Supreme Court bench, led by Justice Hashim Kakar and including Justices Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Najafi, had upheld the death sentence awarded to Zahir, who was convicted by an Islamabad trial court in 2022. Last month, the apex court had taken up Zakir’s review petition challenging the capital punishment awarded to him. During the hearing, Justice Najafi told senior counsel Khawaja Haris Ahmed, representing the convict, that it would be more appropriate for him to start arguments after going through the additional note he had n... -
Dawn - 14:27 Nov 26, 2025
Comments from judges part of the Supreme Court’s bench that upheld Zahir Jaffer’s death sentence in the Noor Mukadam murder case once again stirred strong reactions on Wednesday. Noor, aged 27 years, was found murdered at Zahir’s Islamabad residence in July 2021, with the probe revealing she was brutally tortured before being beheaded. Not only had Zahir’s death sentence been upheld by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in 2023, but by a three-member bench of the SC as well on May 20 this year. In an additional note released today, one of those judges, Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, stood by the SC judgment but remarked that the “case is a direct result of a vice spreading in the upper society” known as a live-in relationship. He went on to say that such ties “defy not only the law of the land but also the personal law” under Sharia, and termed them a “direct revolt” against God. The judge even cautioned the younger generation about “horrible consequences”, specifically noting that the case was a “topic for the social... -
Dawn - 14:10 Nov 26, 2025
Sogogi jeongol is a comforting and hearty Korean hot pot dish traditionally shared at the table, making it a perfect choice for gatherings with family or friends. Featuring marinated beef, vegetables, tofu and sweet potato noodles simmered in a savoury broth, this dish offers a well-balanced combination of textures and flavours. While commonly prepared by layering all ingredients in a pot and boiling with seasoned broth, starting with beef tallow and salt is also popular. This flexible dish highlights the communal spirit of Korean cuisine and is especially enjoyable during colder months. Ingredients 450 grams beef (sirloin or top round) 150 grams firm dubu (tofu) 150 grams kimchi cabbage 90 grams saesongi mushroom 45 grams green onion 60 grams sweet potato noodles Marinade for beef 3 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon minced green onion 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon sesame oil 1 tablespoon sesame seeds Pinch of ground black pepper Broth 6 cups water 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 table... -
Dawn - 13:46 Nov 26, 2025
Lawyers held a protest march in Karachi on Wednesday, demanding “immediate” steps for the protection and preservation of the Karoonjhar Mountain range. They also called for the withdrawal of an appeal by the Sindh government, challenging a two-judge Sindh High Court bench judgement on the preservation of Karoonjhar hills in Tharparkar. The appeal was filed in the Supreme Court, but it has now landed in the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), which was established under the 27th Amendment. The Sindh High Court Bar Association had announced a protest today, calling for the preservation of the Karoonjhar Mountain range, and planned to march from the Sindh High Court to the Chief Minister House. View this post on Instagram However, the protesters were barred from reaching the CM House due to the placement of containers to block the routes leading to the building. The measure also created inconvenience for the commuters who were asked by the traffic police in multiple advisories to travel on alternative routes. Po... -
Dawn - 13:38 Nov 26, 2025
Thousands of trade union workers across India protested on Wednesday against the government’s rollout of new labour codes, saying they would lead to corporate exploitation and erode their hard-won rights. The world’s fifth-largest economy last week implemented long-awaited labour laws that will replace colonial-era legislation and simplify a maze of confusing regulations. The overhaul consolidates 29 existing labour laws into four key codes, with the number of rules being cut from more than 1,400 to about 350, but unions say the reforms will hurt workers’ rights. Gautam Mody from the New Trade Union Initiative said workers from across all sectors were protesting on Wednesday outside factories and in many city centres. “Workers have been blindsided by the government,” he told AFP. “We want fairness, justice and equity before the law, which are being denied under the new codes.” Workers cut wooden logs using a machine at a warehouse in Varanasi, India on November 26. — AFP While the new regulations boost safety... -
Dawn - 13:00 Nov 26, 2025
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held delegation-level talks with Bahrain’s leadership at Al Qudaibiya Palace in Manama on Wednesday, according to state broadcaster PTV News. The PM reached Bahrain’s capital Manama earlier today for a two-day visit. According to PTV, the premier received a warm welcome at the Manama airport by Bahrain’s Crown Prince and PM Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Deputy PM Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Foreign Minister Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, and senior members of the Bahraini leadership. The delegation also includes Deputy PM and FM Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Attaullah Tarar, Minister of State for Railways Bilal Azhar Kayani, and other senior officials. According to a post on the Government of Pakistan’s X account, the PM also received a guard of honour at the Al Qudaibiya Palace. During his visit to Bahrain from November 26 to 27, PM Shehbaz will also hold “high-level” meetings with the Bahraini leadership. These meetings... -
Dawn - 12:47 Nov 26, 2025
The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) on Wednesday announced that 15 animals from different species were born at the metropolis’s Safari Park, hailing the arrivals as a “significant and heartening development”. According to a statement from the municipal body, the park saw the birth of a mouflon, four Sindh ibex, four blackbucks, two chitals (spotted deer), one horse, two fallow deer and one white fallow deer. “The newly born animals underwent thorough medical examinations by the veterinary team. The doctors confirmed that all animals are in excellent health, and special care arrangements have been made to ensure their continued well-being,” the statement read, quoting KMC spokesperson Daniyal Siyal. The statement added that Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab expressed his delight at the births and directed the relevant departments to provide enhanced care and maintain a sustainable habitat for the newborns. “I am pleased to announce the birth of 15 wildlife species at Safari Park. Their arrival not only enhanc...
8038 items