Dawn
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Found 5493 news
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Dawn - 04:43 Aug 12, 2025
KARACHI: A judicial magistrate was on Monday informed that a dumper driver booked and arrested for killing two siblings in an accident on Rashid Minhas Road a day before did not possess a heavy transport vehicle (HTV) licence. The investigating officer of the case brought the suspect before Judicial Magistrate (Central) Farman Ali Tager and sought his custody for 14 days for interrogation. He informed the court that as per initial inquiry the suspect did not possess a licence to drive a heavy vehicle. He said he only had the licence to drive light transport vehicles (LTV) and that too had expired in 2016. The IO asked for more time to get information regarding the owner of the dumper — involved in the accident — as well as need to verify the documents of the suspect. After hearing the IO, the court remanded him in police custody for two days and directed him to submit a progress report at the next hearing. Body formed to probe arson attacks A high-powered committee was formed to investigate arson attacks, whe... -
Dawn - 18:29 Aug 11, 2025
The US State Department on Monday added the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its alias, the Majeed Brigade, to its Foreign Terrorist Organisation list, according to a press release. Last year, Pakistan proscribed the Majeed Brigade, which is the BLA’s dedicated suicide squad. The BLA itself was proscribed in 2006, according to the National Counter-Terrorism Authority’s list of proscribed organisations. Pakistan has previously requested that the Majeed Brigade be listed as an international terrorist organisation. In 2019, the State Department labelled the BLA as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), making it a crime for anyone in the US to assist the militants, but did not designate the Majeed Brigade at that time. FTO designations are made by the Secretary of State, following section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), and “are an effective means of curtailing support for terrorist activities and pressuring groups to get out of the terrorism business”. SDGT designations, meanwhil... -
Dawn - 17:04 Aug 11, 2025
Pakistani leadership, including President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, reaffirmed their commitment to protecting the rights of minorities while hailing their services to the country on Monday, in celebration of National Minorities Day. National Minorities Day is celebrated on August 11 every year. It commemorates the historic speech by Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, made on Aug 11, 1947, where he emphasised equal rights for all citizens regardless of religion. The day aims to highlight the religious and socio-economic rights of minorities in Pakistan. In separate statements today, President Zardari and PM Shehbaz both reaffirmed their commitment to safeguarding and advancing the rights of minorities while acknowledging their contributions to the country. The president reaffirmed his resolve to continue efforts to promote interfaith harmony, brotherhood and unity to build an inclusive and prosperous Pakistan. “This day reflects Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah... -
Dawn - 17:00 Aug 11, 2025
United States President Donald Trump on Monday deployed military and federal law enforcement to curb violent crime in Washington, as he seeks to make good on his campaign pledge to be a “law and order” president. The Republican leader said he would place the city’s Metropolitan Police under federal government control while also sending the National Guard onto the streets of the US capital. The overwhelmingly Democratic city faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged — although violent offences are down. “This is Liberation Day in DC, and we’re going to take our capital back,” Trump said. Trump — a convicted felon who granted blanket clemency to nearly 1,600 people involved in the 2021 US Capitol riot in Washington — has complained that local police and prosecutors aren’t tough enough. He said 800 DC National Guardsmen — “and much more if necessary” — would be deployed to the city of 700,000. As Trump was speaking at the White H... -
Dawn - 16:55 Aug 11, 2025
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Home Department on Monday announced that a three-day curfew was being imposed from today until August 14 (Thursday) amid an operation against militants in the areas. At the end of July, security forces backed by gunship helicopters and artillery launched ‘Operation Sarbakaf’ against terrorists in Lowi Mamund tehsil and imposed a three-day curfew in the region. The operation was paused after both sides agreed to a ceasefire until the conflict was completely resolved through dialogue; however, peace talks between militant commanders and the Bajaur peace jirga fell through. Today’s statement said that the curfew would be imposed from 11am today until 11am on August 14, in order to ensure the safety of the public during the anti-terror operation. “A complete curfew will be imposed … in which movement on the roads and leaving houses will be prohibited,” the statement read. It listed Laghari, Guati, Ghanam Shah, Bad Siya, Kamar, Amanta, Zagai, Gut, Gunde, Gadigal, Niag Kali, Rigi, Daag, Dama... -
Dawn - 16:31 Aug 11, 2025
The federal government on Monday welcomed the decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague to issue an “Award on Issues of General Interpretation of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT)” in the Indus Waters case, stating that India must generally “let flow” the waters of the western rivers for Pakistan’s “unrestricted use”. India in April held the IWT in abeyance following the attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 — an incident New Delhi blamed on Islamabad without evidence. Pakistan termed any attempt to suspend its water share an “act of war”, noting the IWT had no provision for unilateral suspension. It later said it was considering court action, citing a violation of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. A supplemental award by the PCA in June held that India could not unilaterally hold the treaty in abeyance. India, in response, said it did not recognise the court or its decisions. A press release issued today by the PCA said it rendered an award on Friday in an ... -
Dawn - 15:58 Aug 11, 2025
The Foreign Office (FO) on Monday castigated India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for “distorting” and “twisting” remarks made by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir during his recent visit to the United States. Field Marshal Munir on Sunday completed his second high-profile trip to the US in less than two months. Like his previous visit, he engaged with both political and military leadership in the host country. In Tampa, Florida, the army chief attended the US Central Command’s (Centcom) change of command ceremony. His most closely watched appearance came later at a black-tie dinner hosted by Adnan Asad, Pakistan’s honorary consul in Tampa. The event was attended by about 150 guests, including Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Ambassador Rizwan Shaikh, embassy officials, and prominent members of the diaspora. Comments Field Marshal Munir reportedly made at the event were later picked up and, according to the FO, distorted by Indian media outlets. Responding to Indian media reports, the M... -
Dawn - 15:50 Aug 11, 2025
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Monday acquitted PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi in two more cases related to the May 9 riots, while sentencing Dr Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudry, Omar Sarfraz Cheema and Mian Mehmoodur Rashid to 10 years in prison. On May 9, 2023, PTI supporters, protesting party founder Imran Khan’s arrest, staged violent protests throughout the country, following which thousands were arrested. The ATC had reserved its verdict in the two cases on Saturday related to the May 9 riots — the Shadman police station attack and burning of police vehicles near Jinnah House — after completing proceedings at Kot Lakhpat jail. The judge concluded the hearings inside the jail in two sessions during the whole day. ATC-I Judge Manzer Ali Gill announced the judgments today and convicted Dr Yasmin, Chaudhry, Cheema and Rashid in both cases. PTI leaders Aliya Hamza and Sanam Javed were also sentenced to five years in prison in the Shadman case. Advocate Rana Mudassar confirmed today’s sentencing to Da... -
Dawn - 14:59 Aug 11, 2025
The Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) on Monday received offers in its international tender to buy 100,000 tonnes of white sugar, European traders said in initial assessments. On July 8, the government had approved plans to import 500,000 tonnes of sugar to help maintain price stability. Market analysts said that retail sugar prices in the country have risen sharply since January. TCP had last week issued a fresh international tender to purchase 100,000 tonnes of white refined sugar, after a previous one for 50,000 tonnes of sugar in July reportedly received no offers. The lowest price offered in the tender was believed to be $539.00 a tonne, cost and freight (c&f) included, according to traders. They said offers were still being considered and no purchase had been reported yet. The lowest offer was said to have been submitted by trading house ED&F Man for 50,000 tonnes of fine-grade sugar sourced from any origin. There were reportedly three other participants in the tender. Dreyfus was said to have offer... -
Dawn - 14:58 Aug 11, 2025
A court in Bangladesh on Monday heard cases brought by the anti-corruption organisation against ex-leader Sheikh Hasina and her family, including her daughter who has served as a top UN official. Three officials from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) read out testimonies in three separate cases over an alleged land grab of lucrative plots in a suburb of the capital Dhaka. Hasina, 77, fled Bangladesh by helicopter on August 5, 2024, after weeks of student-led protests against her autocratic rule. She has defied orders to return from India, including to attend her separate and ongoing trial on charges amounting to crimes against humanity, over the deadly crackdown on the uprising. Hasina has been named in six corruption cases, along with her US-based son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and her daughter Saima Wazed, who has been serving as the World Health Organisation’s Southeast Asia chief in New Delhi. “If found guilty, Sheikh Hasina, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and Saima Wazed could face up to 14 years in prison,” ACC la... -
Dawn - 13:45 Aug 11, 2025
Dozens of people in Gaza gathered on Monday for the funeral of five Al Jazeera staff members and a sixth reporter killed in an Israeli strike, in an attack which drew widespread condemnations from across the world. Israel has been facing growing international criticism over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza caused by its offensive since October 2023, with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and experts already declaring its actions in Gaza as a “genocide”, which Tel Aviv rejects. Anas Al Sharif, aged 28, was among a group of four Al Jazeera journalists and an assistant who were killed in a “directed assault” on a tent opposite Shifa Hospital in eastern Gaza City, Gaza officials and Al Jazeera said. An official at the hospital said two other people were also killed in the strike. A sixth journalist, Mohammad Al-Khaldi, a local freelance reporter, was also killed in the airstrike, according to medics at Al Shifa Hospital. Mourners stood amid bombed-out buildings in the courtyard of Al Shifa hospital to pay ... -
Dawn - 13:19 Aug 11, 2025
New Delhi police briefly detained Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other opposition members on Monday as they protested a controversial revised electoral roll in Bihar and alleged “vote theft” by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The credibility of elections has rarely been questioned in recent decades in the world’s most populous democracy. Some analysts say the opposition accusations could damage Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he navigates one of the toughest periods of his 11 years in office. The opposition members were taken into custody midway while marching from the parliament to the Election Commission of India (ECI) headquarters in New Delhi as they protested the roll revision, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. Nearly two hours later, Congress lawmaker Kishori Lal Sharma said Gandhi and other opposition leaders had been released. “The police detained us but now we have been released,” he told the media, adding that the police had not allowed them to go to the ECI as promised, and instea... -
Dawn - 13:15 Aug 11, 2025
Police have arrested a suspect from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in connection with the recent killing of senior lawyer Khawaja Shamsul Islam, Karachi South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Syed Asad Raza said on Monday. Islam was shot dead while his son was injured as they were leaving a mosque in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA) on August 1. Darakshan Police registered a case the next day against eight nominated suspects under terrorism and murder charges. DIG Raza told Dawn.com that the vehicle in which the suspect fled the scene of the murder was also recovered by police. “Investigators have mapped the suspect,” the DIG said. “According to the evidence we gathered, he fled on a motorcycle alone. “Police have also unearthed a bungalow in DHA being used by the suspects. CCTV footage obtained from the bungalow showed their activities before and after the lawyer was killed.” According to the South police chief, investigators have so far obtained 30 pieces of CCTV footage of the suspects. “With the help of human ... -
Dawn - 12:45 Aug 11, 2025
India’s Supreme Court on Monday ordered the removal of tens of thousands of stray dogs from the capital, citing public safety concerns after a surge in dog bites. India is home to millions of stray dogs and deadly attacks, particularly on children and the elderly, are regularly reported by the city’s media. At least 60,000 stray dogs live on the streets of Delhi, according to India’s Livestock Census of 2012, the most recent data available. Some suggest that number to be now far higher, with large rival dog packs patrolling parks and residential neighbourhoods across the city. The country accounts for more than a third of global rabies deaths, according to the World Health Organisation, a crisis exacerbated by a lack of sterilisation programmes and legal restrictions on canine culling. The court asked city authorities to set up dog shelters within eight weeks, and maintain daily records of the canines captured. “What is important, and without which the entire exercise would go futile, not a single stray dog s... -
Dawn - 12:41 Aug 11, 2025
“I have a problem with the use of the term ‘minority’. It only serves to otherise religious groups within the country and reinforce existing divides. We are all equal citizens of Pakistan.” Christians like Pastor Daniel were among hundreds gathered at Karachi’s YMCA on Sunday for the Minority Rights March, which, ironically, was celebrated a day earlier since “minorities wouldn’t get a day off to celebrate it”. Jinnah’s oft-quoted speech of Pakistani citizens being free to go to temples and places of worship remains relegated to the history textbooks since the lived realities for religious minorities across Pakistan are far from that freedom once promised. “Christians like me aren’t allowed to preach their religion, and seldom can we practice it without the fear of the supposed majority,” said Daniel of Karachi’s Philadelphia Pentecostal Church. Jinnah’s speech and his very upbringing were woven through the day’s itinerary. The speakers emphasised that his early education was at schools founded by religious m... -
Dawn - 12:23 Aug 11, 2025
Air India said on Monday that it would stop services between the capital cities of India and the United States from September 1, citing aircraft shortage due to the planned upgrades to its ageing Boeing planes and the closure of Pakistan’s airspace. The suspension of services between New Delhi and Washington, DC, marks the latest setback for Air India, which is facing heightened regulatory scrutiny after a June crash in Ahmedabad killed 260 people. The planned shortfall in Air India’s fleet and continued closure of airspace over Pakistan have impacted the airline’s long-haul operations, leading to longer flight routings and increased operational complexity, the carrier said. The airline has undertaken a $400 million retrofit programme to upgrade its fleet. It, however, sees the Pakistan airspace ban costing it $600m over 12 months, Reuters had earlier reported. India and Pakistan closed their respective airspaces to each other days after relations between the arch-rivals nosedived following a fatal attack on ... -
Dawn - 12:22 Aug 11, 2025
About 55 per cent of India’s merchandise exports to the United States will be subject to the tariff imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration, the Indian government said on Monday. Last week, Trump imposed an additional 25pc tariff on Indian goods as punishment for Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil. That raised the total duty on Indian exports to the US to 50pc — among the highest on any American trading partner. The Indian government had taken into account the 25pc tariff that Trump initially imposed on goods while providing Monday’s estimate, Pankaj Chaudhary, India’s junior finance minister, said in a written response to a question from a lawmaker. “The Department of Commerce is engaged with all stakeholders, including exporters and industry, for taking feedback of their assessment of the situation,” Chaudhary added. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday he would not compromise on the agriculture sector, a day after Trump announced 50pc tariffs on Indian goods. New Delhi also put on ... -
Dawn - 12:13 Aug 11, 2025
Prominent Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al Sharif, who had previously been threatened by Israel, and four colleagues were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Sunday, in an attack widely condemned by media and rights groups. Israel has been facing growing international criticism over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza caused by its offensive since October 2023, with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and experts already declaring its actions in Gaza as a “genocide”, which Tel Aviv rejects. Al Sharif, aged 28, was among a group of four Al Jazeera journalists and an assistant who were killed in a “directed assault” on a tent opposite Shifa Hospital in eastern Gaza City, Gaza officials and Al Jazeera said. An official at the hospital said two other people were also killed in the strike. A sixth journalist, Mohammad Al-Khaldi, a local freelance reporter, was also killed in the airstrike, medics at Al Shifa Hospital said on Monday. Calling Al Sharif “one of Gaza’s bravest journalists”, Al Jazeera said the attack was... -
Dawn - 11:07 Aug 11, 2025
At least seven volunteers died and six were injured early on Monday when a landslide hit individuals working at a water channel in Gilgit-Baltistan’s (GB) Danyor city, rescue officials said. The devastating impacts of climate change and melting glaciers have become more visible in GB, which has been facing heavy rains since late June. The situation worsened when deadly floods swept across the Babusar area on July 21, causing landslides and damaging infrastructure. So far, 10 deaths have been confirmed across the region, with a dozen tourists missing. Thirteen volunteers, mainly young people, were attempting to restore the water supply in the main water channel from Danyor nullah to Danyor town, which had been damaged due to the recent floods, when the landslide hit at 2am today. “Thirteen volunteers restoring the water supply were buried under the rubble,” Gilgit’s Rescue 1122 said in a statement. Stating the casualties, it said the injured were taken to a hospital. District Emergency Officer (operations) Ab... -
Dawn - 10:11 Aug 11, 2025
The opposition has been convicted. Its leaders in both houses of Parliament have been sentenced to a decade in jail, along with over a hundred other members of their political party. They and seven other opposition parliamentarians have been removed from their elected offices. If you were to apply these words to any country on the planet, most people reading would immediately understand this to be a shameless power grab by an authoritarian status quo; the work of an insecure and dictatorial mindset that treats the will, dissent, and collective intelligence of its own people with ruthless contempt. But I am intentionally making no such statement here. For now, I’d like to focus instead on one simple, apolitical, and logical question — what did the judgment actually say? Even if you are not invested in law or politics, it is in your interest to keep an eye on how your judicial system treats others. Not just because that is how it could one day treat you, but because these judgments are representative of where w...
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