Dawn
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Found 5493 news
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Dawn - 12:18 Aug 14, 2025
More than 360 people fell ill in Indonesia’s town of Sragen in Central Java after consuming school lunches, an official said on Thursday, in the largest food poisoning case to hit President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship free meals programme. Since its launch in January, the free school meals programme has been marred by mass food poisoning cases across the archipelago, affecting over 1,000 people. Sragen government chief Sigit Pamungkas told Reuters that 365 people fell ill and a food sample was being tested in a lab. The government would pay for any medical treatment if needed. Wizdan Ridho Abimanyu, a ninth grader at Gemolong 1 middle school, told Reuters he was woken at night by sharp pain in his stomach. He had a headache and diarrhoea, which he deduced had been caused by food poisoning after seeing schoolmates’ social media posts complaining of the same. The likely contaminated lunch was turmeric rice, omelette ribbons, fried tempeh, cucumber and lettuce salad, sliced apple and a box of milk, cooked in a c... -
Dawn - 11:54 Aug 14, 2025
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have called for rising beyond divisions and standing united for a Pakistan that is built on justice, equality, and service to all, as the nation celebrates Pakistan’s 79th Independence Day today. They said the day served as a reminder of courage, unity, and sacrifices that led to the creation of Pakistan and paid homage to founding father Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the workers of the Pakistan Movement for their struggle and sacrifices. In his message on the occasion, President Zardari emphasised that the nation had “reaffirmed its strength, resolve, and unity in the face of external aggression”. “Our success in Marka-i-Haq and Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos is a landmark moment in our history,” he said. “It was a demonstration of unshakable national will, professional excellence, and united purpose.” In July, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said this year’s Independence Day would be marked as “Marka-i-Haq” (Battle of Truth). The term is used by... -
Dawn - 10:41 Aug 14, 2025
At least five cops were martyred and another eight left injured as militants attacked police checkpoints at different locations late at night in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, including Peshawar, Upper Dir and Lower Dir, police said on Thursday. Over the past few months, multiple areas of KP — including Bannu, Peshawar, Karak, Lakki Marwat and Bajaur — have seen a series of attacks on police forces. The country has witnessed an uptick in terror activities over the past year, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022. In KP’s Upper Dir, three cops were martyred after their mobile was attacked by terrorists, while another six were injured in the same attack, the police said in a statement. Police have launched a search operation to find the perpetrators, and the injured were rushed to the nearby hospital. Meanwhile, in Lower Dir, “two separate terrorist attacks on police checkpoints in the areas of Maidan, Lajbok and Sha... -
Dawn - 09:11 Aug 14, 2025
India and China are discussing resuming border trade five years after it was halted, foreign ministry officials on both sides have said, as US tariffs disrupt the global trade order. Past trade across the icy and high-altitude Himalayan border passes between the neighbours was usually small in volume, but any resumption is significant for its symbolism. The two major economic powers have long competed for strategic influence across South Asia. But caught in global trade and geopolitical turbulence triggered by US President Donald Trump’s tariff regime, the countries have moved to mend ties. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is expected to hold talks in New Delhi on Monday, according to Indian media, after his counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar visited Beijing in July. That, as well as agreements to resume direct flights and issue tourist visas, has been seen as an effort to rebuild a relationship damaged after a deadly border clash in 2020 between their nations’ troops. “For a long time, China-India border tr... -
Dawn - 08:37 Aug 14, 2025
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is due in London to meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, to take stock ahead of US President Donald Trump’s key talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. Zelensky, who was in Germany on Wednesday, has been working with European leaders to press Trump not to allow Putin to carve up Ukraine’s territory at the Alaska summit. He is due to meet Starmer at 9:30am local time (1:30pm PKT) at the British premier’s official residence, 10 Downing Street. On Wednesday, Trump joined a Germany-hosted virtual meeting with European leaders, including Zelensky, who sought to set red lines ahead of the summit on ending the war in Ukraine. Zelensky said he warned Trump that the Russian leader was “bluffing” about his desire to end the war. Trump later threatened “severe consequences” if Putin does not agree to peace in Ukraine and while he did not specify what the consequences could be, he has warned of economic sanctions if his meeting on Friday pro... -
Dawn - 07:40 Aug 14, 2025
A minor girl was among three people killed while more than 100 people were injured by aerial firing in Karachi on the eve of Independence Day, according to hospital officials. Incidents of aerial firing are a routine occurrence on occasions such as Independence Day and New Year’s Eve despite bans imposed in the past, often leaving dozens injured. According to a statement issued by police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed, a total of 109 people with bullet injuries from aerial firing were brought in from different areas across the metropolis to three major hospitals. Three people were said to be in critical condition. However, police put the injury toll as 67, according to a statement from the office of the Karachi Additional Inspector General (AIG) Javed Alam Odho. Azizabad Station House Officer (SHO) Waqar Kaiser told Dawn.com, “A seven-year-old girl was watching Independence Day fireworks from the second floor gallery of her house in Azizabad Block-8 when a bullet struck her in the head. “A while later, her mother s... -
Dawn - 07:38 Aug 14, 2025
LAHORE: Police attempted to arrest Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Advocate Haider Majeed, who was convicted by a military court, when he was finally released from Kot Lakhpat Jail after completing the two-year term, on Wednesday. PTI leaders Shayan Bashir and Rai Muhammad Ali Kharl, along with party workers, accorded a warm welcome to Advocate Majeed. The workers passionately chanted slogans in favour of the PTI founder Imran Khan and Majeed. Soon after Mr Majeed came out of jail, police pounced and arrested his father and brother. However, Mr Majeed managed to slip away on a motorcycle and reached Model Town courts. Reacting to the police action, Mr Bashir wondered that the Punjab police have become so confused as it did not want to let the PTI leader remain free despite completing his two-year “illegal confinement.” “We strongly condemn the illegal detention of Advocate Majeed’s father and brother,” Mr Bashir added. Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2025 -
Dawn - 07:36 Aug 14, 2025
GILGIT / LAHORE: Hundreds of travellers and tourists were stranded in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) on Wendesday after a glacial lake outburst flood (Glof) swept away part of the Karakoram Highway (KKH), while authorities in Punjab ordered communities along the Sutlej River to evacuate amid forecasts of heavy monsoon rains and floods. In Gulmit, Gojal, Hunza, a powerful torrent surged through the Juchar nullah on Tuesday evening, triggered by accelerated glacier melt. The floodwaters destroyed a women-owned restaurant, a government tourist facilitation centre, orchards, farmland, and critical infrastructure including electricity and internet poles, according to Rescue 1122 officials. A bridge and sections of the KKH were swept away, leaving no alternative route for locals and tourists travelling to and from China via the Khunjerab Pass. “Never experienced such intensity of floods in the nullah,” Saeed Jan, a local resident, told Dawn. The destruction of a fibre optic line has left the area without mobile and interne...
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Dawn - 06:31 Aug 14, 2025
KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Wednesday remanded 12 men held for their alleged involvement in setting seven dumpers on fire following the death of two siblings in a fatal accident. On Aug 10, a fast-moving dumper hit a motorcycle and crushed to death Mahnoor, 22, and her brother Ahmed Raza, 14, on main Rashid Minhas Road near the UBL Sports Complex. Enraged people took to the streets and set to fire seven dumpers within the remit of the Federal B Industrial Area and Yousuf Plaza police stations. On Wednesday, the investigation officers of the two cases produced the suspects before the administrative judge of the ATCs at the Judicial Complex inside the central prison. They requested the court to grant their 14-day police remand for interrogation and to arrest other absconding suspects. The court remanded all 12 suspects in police custody for seven days and directed the IOs to submit progress reports at the next hearing. Remand of dumper driver extended A judicial magistrate on Wednesday extended th... -
Dawn - 05:32 Aug 14, 2025
ISLAMABAD: The price of high-speed diesel (HSD) is likely to fall by about Rs11.50 per litre, while petrol may see an increase of Rs1.40 per litre for the next fortnight beginning Aug 16, driven by shifts in the global market and exchange rate movements. Based on current tax rates, informed sources said the ex-depot price of HSD is estimated to decline by around 4pc, depending on final calculations, while petrol could rise by about 0.5pc. International petrol prices inched up by 15 cents per barrel over the past fortnight, while diesel rates fell by about $4.5 per barrel. The rupee also appreciated slightly against the dollar. The current ex-depot petrol price stands at Rs264.61 per litre, following a Rs7.54 per litre cut on August 1. This came after cumulative hikes of Rs20 per litre in the previous four fortnights since May 15. Petrol, used mainly in private cars, small vehicles, rickshaws and two-wheelers, directly impacts the budgets of middle- and lower-middle-income groups. HSD is presently priced at Rs... -
Dawn - 03:38 Aug 14, 2025
PESHAWAR: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of police on Wednesday claimed to have successfully dismantled Daesh Khorasan network in Peshawar and has achieved major operational successes in several cases, including the killing of religious scholar Mufti Munir Shakir. Mufti Munir Shakir, founder of the banned Lashkar-i-Islam, was killed in a blast outside his seminary in Urmar area on the outskirts of the provincial capital on March 15 this year. They said the department identified the gang involved in this heinous act while efforts were under way to apprehend the culprits in the near future. The CTD officials, while briefing media-persons said that it busted a group of militants responsible for no fewer than 18 terrorist incidents in the settled areas of the provincial capital, adding that those attacks include the martyrdom of deputy superintendent of police Sardar Hussain Khan and 14 other police officials of various ranks. Officials reveal terrorists using digital currency for extortion; propose semin... -
Dawn - 20:07 Aug 13, 2025
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday invited all political parties of the country to become part of the ‘Misaq-i-Istehkam-i-Pakistan’ (Charter for Stability of Pakistan) on the occasion of festivities organised to mark Marka-i-Haq and Independence Day. A special ceremony was held in Islamabad’s Jinnah Sports Stadium with senior civil and military leadership in attendance. Among the senior dignitaries present at the event were President Asif Ali Zardari, Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, First Lady Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Inter-Services Public Relations Director-General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, federal and state ministers, and foreign officials. Addressing the event, PM Shehbaz said: “The time has come for us to move beyond political division, personal interest and empty slogans to adopt collective thinking for Pakistan. On this great day today, I once again, with an open he... -
Dawn - 17:06 Aug 13, 2025
United States President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that if his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin goes well, he would like to have a quick second meeting between Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and himself. “If the first one goes okay, we’ll have a quick second one,” Trump told reporters. “I would like to do it almost immediately, and we’ll have a quick second meeting between President Putin and President Zelensky and myself, if they’d like to have me there.” Trump did not provide a timeframe for a second meeting. He is to meet Putin in Anchorage, Alaska on Friday. Trump also said Russia would face consequences if Putin did not agree to stop the war. “Yes, they will,” he said. He did not spell out the consequences, but he has warned of stiff economic sanctions if no breakthrough can be achieved. Trump spoke after holding talks via telephone with European leaders and Zelenskiy about his meeting with Putin. “We had a very good call. He was on the call. President Zelensky was on the ... -
Dawn - 16:50 Aug 13, 2025
The National Assembly on Wednesday passed an amendment to the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997, which reinserted powers granted to law enforcement authorities and the armed forces to detain “suspicious” individuals for up to three months. Section 11EEEE (preventive detention for inquiry) of the ATA was amended in 2014, providing the government and authorised armed forces and civil armed forces with the authority to conduct preventive detention of individuals suspected of involvement in terrorism-related activities. However, this amendment was subject to a sunset clause, limiting its validity to two years, which expired in 2016. In November 2024, the government quietly introduced the bill in the NA, seeking to grant military and civil armed forces the authority to keep individuals facing terrorism charges in ‘preventive’ detention for up to three months. The bill to amend the act was moved in parliament by Minister of State for Interior and Narcotics Control Tallal Chaudhry. In its statement of objectives and re... -
Dawn - 16:27 Aug 13, 2025
A Chinese mountaineer, Guan Jing, died on Tuesday night after being hit by falling rocks while descending from the summit of K2, the world’s second-highest peak (8,611 metres). Karrar Haidri, Vice President of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, said in a statement that the Chinese mountaineer died on Tuesday night after being hit by falling rocks while climbing down from the peak. “The incident occurred on the Abruzzi Spur route between Camp I and Advanced Base Camp — a section notorious for frequent rockfalls,” the statement read. “Guan had reached the summit on Monday with a group of climbers before beginning her descent.” According to the statement, recovery efforts for her body are ongoing, while other climbers who also summited K2 that day are now returning safely to base camp. In total, 32 climbers summited the peak on Monday. Teams with elite Exped, Imagine Nepal, Seven Summit Treks and Alpinist Climber Expedition successfully summited K2 on Monday morning, according to Haidri. “The strong teams stood on the... -
Dawn - 14:42 Aug 13, 2025
At least 20 migrants died after a boat overturned in the Mediterranean on Wednesday, with many more still missing, the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) said. “Deep anguish for the umpteenth shipwreck off the coast of Lampedusa, where UNHCR is now assisting the survivors. It looks to be 20 bodies found and as many missing,” wrote the agency’s spokesman, Filippo Ungaro, on social media. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi confirmed the disaster, saying the shipwreck had occurred 14 nautical miles from Lampedusa. The boat had been carrying 97 people when it turned over, Radio Radicale reported. Details remained limited but Save the Children Italy said that a baby girl, aged one-and-a-half, appeared to be lost in the shipwreck. RaiRadio1 reported between 12 and 17 migrants missing, and said that 60 survivors had been transported to safety on the island. The boat, which had already overturned, was spotted from the air by a plane from Italy’s financial police, it said. Migrants heading to Italy from North Africa often c... -
Dawn - 14:38 Aug 13, 2025
The Balochistan High Court (BHC) on Wednesday ordered Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan and Balochistan Advocate General (AG) Adnan Basharat to file their replies on the shutdown of internet services in the province. Last week, mobile data services in the province were announced to be suspended until August 31 over “security reasons”. At the same time, a shutdown of internet services was also reported as former Balochistan chief minister Dr Abdul Malik on Saturday expressed concern over the law and order situation, adding that internet services had not been available in the province for more than a month. A notification issued by the Balochistan Home Department on August 6 cited the “peculiar law and order situation” in the province as a cause for the suspension. A constitutional petition was filed against the internet shutdown by Khair Muhammad Shaheen, chairman of Balochistan’s Consumer Civil Society, against the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). A two-member bench comprising BHC Chi... -
Dawn - 13:43 Aug 13, 2025
Global rating agency Moody’s on Wednesday upgraded Pakistan’s credit rating by one notch to Caa1 from Caa2, citing Islamabad’s improving external position, and changed its outlook from positive to stable. Moody’s Ratings is a credit rating system that evaluates the creditworthiness of borrowers, such as governments, corporations, or financial instruments. According to its website, the agency uses letter grades (Aaa, Aa, A, Baa, etc) to indicate the likelihood of timely repayment, with Aaa being the highest quality and C the lowest. These ratings help investors assess risk before lending or investing. Within this scale, Caa1, Caa2, and Caa3 all fall into the “Caa” category, signalling very high credit risk and poor standing. Caa1 is the highest within this group (slightly less risky), Caa2 is one notch lower, and Caa3 is the last, meaning the greatest vulnerability to default among the three. “Moody’s Ratings (Moody’s) has today upgraded the Government of Pakistan’s local and foreign currency issuer and senior... -
Dawn - 13:11 Aug 13, 2025
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday criticised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif over the inordinate delay in the K-IV water project, saying he had expected the premier to demonstrate the same speed and efficiency in Karachi as he does in Lahore. Launched in the early 2000s to ease Karachi’s water woes, the K-IV project has faced repeated delays and cost hikes. With just Rs3.2 billion allocated against the Rs40bn needed, officials fear completion could be pushed back another decade. Addressing an inauguration ceremony of a new canal for Karachi from Hub Dam, Bilawal said: “The K4 project, we had hoped for Shehbaz speed, but Karachi got Shehbaz slow. This cannot happen that Lahore gets Shehbaz speed and Karachi gets Shehbaz slow, so I will especially request the prime minister to complete the promises as quickly as possible regarding the K4 and this city.” Bilawal was referring to the famed ‘Punjab speed’, a term coined to describe PM Shehbaz’s swift and efficient governance as chief minister of Punja... -
Dawn - 13:04 Aug 13, 2025
British police have been told they can release details of a suspect’s ethnicity and nationality in high-profile and sensitive cases to prevent false information being spread on social media. Last year, Britain was rocked by days of rioting after the murder of three young girls in Southport after misinformation spread online that the teenage suspect was a migrant. The issue has remained highly contentious since, with the populist Reform UK party, which is leading in opinion polls, last week accusing police of covering up the immigration status of suspects involved in the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl in central England. That incident had led to anti-immigration protests after the Reform leader of the local council said the suspects were asylum seekers, while police said they could not give out such information because of existing guidance which limited details that could be shared to ensure people received a fair trial. Under new guidelines from the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and the College of...
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