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Dawn - 10:24 Nov 03, 2025
A strong earthquake killed at least 20 people in northern Afghanistan, authorities said on Monday, just months after another deadly tremor that left the country reeling. The 6.3-magnitude quake struck overnight at a depth of 28 kilometres with the epicentre near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). More than 20 people were killed and around 320 were injured in the provinces of Balkh and Samangan, health ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman told journalists on Monday morning, stressing that this was a preliminary toll. He did not provide a province-wide breakdown of the casualties. Expressing sorrow over the “tragic loss of lives in northern Afghanistan after the deadly earthquake near Mazar-e-Sharif”, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif posted on X that Pakistan “stands in solidarity with our Afghan brothers and sisters in this difficult hour”. “Our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and prayers for the swift recovery of the injured,” he said. Residents of Mazar-i... -
Dawn - 10:08 Nov 03, 2025
The former advocate general of the Israeli military, who had resigned last week after admitting to leaking a video to the media that allegedly showed Israeli soldiers raping a Palestinian prisoner, was arrested hours after she was reported to have gone missing, according to the The Times of Israel. Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi had resigned from the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) over a criminal inquiry into the leaking of a video that allegedly showed soldiers sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee arrested during the Gaza conflict. She said that she was stepping down because she had approved the video’s leak in August last year. In a report on Sunday, the Times of Israel said that Tomer-Yerushalmi was reported missing by her family, which prompted a search by authorities. “The large search, involving police, rescue forces, and the military, was carried out after she was unreachable for several hours, and her car was later found at Hatzuk Beach near Tel Aviv. Hebrew media outlets reported that she had l... -
Dawn - 09:17 Nov 03, 2025
Six cops were injured on Monday when gunmen opened fire at the North Waziristan district police officer’s (DPO) vehicle near Bannu district’s Mamash Khel town, an official said. Bannu Regional Police Officer (RPO) Sajjad Khan confirmed the details to Dawn, adding that the incident took place on Miranshah road, which connects Bannu and North Waziristan. “Armed men open fire at the vehicle of North Waziristan’s DPO,” RPO Khan said. “The DPO remained unhurt,” he added. He further said the injured police personnel were taken to the Bannu District Headquarters Hospital. “The unidentified attackers have hidden in nearby areas and a search operation is underway [to trace them],” the Bannu RPO said. Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities over the past year, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) broke its ceasefire with the government in November 2022. The past few months have seen an escalation in attacks on law enforcement agencies, with police forces in K... -
Dawn - 09:10 Nov 03, 2025
US President Donald Trump has included Pakistan among countries that he claims are “testing nuclear weapons”, saying that he did not want the US to be the only country that does not do so. “North Korea has been testing. Pakistan has been testing. […] But they don’t go and tell you about it,” he said in an interview on CBS News programme ‘60 Minutes’, where he was asked about his recent directives to the Pentagon to resume testing nuclear weapons. He also named Russia and China as testing nuclear weapons. In a recent social media post, Trump had instructed the US Department of War to resume testing nuclear weapons “immediately”. Confusion has surrounded Trump’s order that the US begin testing, particularly if he meant conducting the country’s first nuclear explosion since 1992. When the matter was brought up during the interview, Trump said: “Well, we have more nuclear weapons than any other country. I think we should do something about denuclearisation. And I did actually discuss that with both Russian Presid... -
Dawn - 08:27 Nov 03, 2025
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Monday termed Pakistan a “natural maritime bridge” between the East and the West as he inaugurated the second edition of Pakistan International Maritime Expo and Conference (PIMEC) in Karachi. The event is being held from today to November 6 (Thursday) at Karachi’s Expo Centre, and will see the participation of 45 countries, including Pakistan. It has been organised under the overall responsibility of the Pakistan Navy and with the support and patronage of federal and provincial departments. Addressing PIMEC, Iqbal highlighted that Pakistan had a unique geography as the regions of South Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa converged here, which positioned the country as a “natural maritime bridge between the East and the West”. However, despite these advantages, the maritime sector contributed less than 1pc to Pakistan’s GDP, compared to 4-7pc in several other maritime nations, he lamented. The planning minister pointed out that Pakistan had a coastline of over 1,000... -
Dawn - 05:42 Nov 03, 2025
The Pakistan Navy expects its first Chinese-designed submarine to enter active service next year, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf told Chinese state media. A deal under which Islamabad will take delivery of eight Hangor-class submarines by 2028 is “progressing smoothly,” Admiral Ashraf told the Global Times in an interview published on Sunday, adding that the successful launch of the second and third submarines in China earlier this year was a major milestone for naval collaboration between the two countries. Admiral Ashraf further said that the project was not only significant for the advancement of the Pakistan Navy’s submarine force capabilities, but would also contribute toward self-reliance through transfer of technology and skill development at Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works, according to the report. He said that the Type 054A/P frigates marked another major achievement in China-Pakistan naval cooperation. The publication reported that such multirole frigates were already in service w... -
Dawn - 02:28 Nov 03, 2025
• Fawad claims over a dozen lawmakers agree with him on need to ‘open channel with govt’; concedes he ‘doesn’t represent PTI’ • Qaiser says party ‘willing to talk to anyone’ if fair polls assured • Ismail says no ‘minus-Imran formula’ LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Even as its founder remains locked up, and the party continues to lose ground, some former PTI members seem to have taken it upon themselves to end the isolation faced by their erstwhile party, proposing talks with the government and other parties to bring down political temperatures and pave the way for Imran Khan’s release. Only a day ago, a number of ex-PTI leaders, including former information minister Fawad Chaudhry and ex-Sindh governor Imran Ismail, had called on party vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi at a Lahore hospital, ostensibly to seek his blessing for their campaign — an offer Mr Qureshi did not endorse, as per his lawyer. On Sunday, Mr Chaudhry doubled down on his quest to revive the fortunes of the PTI, even as senior party leaders like Asad ... -
Dawn - 02:17 Nov 03, 2025
• Urges govt to ensure market-determined, flexible exchange rate • Calls for deeper reforms to cut energy, input costs ISLAMABAD: The World Bank has asked Pakistan to improve its skewed preferential trade agreements with 10 bilateral partners, ensure a market-determined and flexible exchange rate and push deeper reforms to lower energy and other input costs to turbocharge over three decades of declining exports for sustainable economic growth. In a policy advice to the government, the bank observed that nearly all countries that have achieved rapid and durable growth have done so by tapping into global markets, but Pakistan has struggled to follow this path. “Exports have declined from 16 per cent of GDP in the 1990s to just around 10pc in 2024, with the export basket still concentrated in low-value textile and agricultural products,” it said, adding that economic upturns had been fuelled instead by debt and remittance-financed consumption, rather than export dynamism. The Washington-based lending agency has ... -
Dawn - 22:32 Nov 02, 2025
Fawad Chaudhry claimed on Sunday that four jailed PTI leaders had written a letter to party founder Imran Khan around three months ago, sharing their stance that the political temperature in the country should be brought down. Fawad is one of the three ex-PTI leaders who say they have been engaging with the party’s incarcerated leadership to put an end to the politics of confrontation as part of their political outreach initiative. They also visited PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi, after he was taken to a hospital in Lahore from prison, on Thursday to convince him to join their campaign. But, Qureshi is said to have rebuffed their move. However, Fawad claimed on Geo News programme ‘Naya Pakistan’ today that Qureshi, Ejaz Chaudhry, Yasmin Rashid and Mehmoodur Rasheed — all of whom were jailed following action by authorities over May 9, 2023 riots — had written a letter to Imran around three months a ago and shared their stance. He also claimed that he had been meeting Qureshi, Ejaz and Rasheed on multiple occa... -
Dawn - 21:12 Nov 02, 2025
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said her team’s breakthrough Women’s World Cup triumph on Sunday was “just the beginning” as they beat South Africa by 52 runs to win the tournament for the first time. Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma starred with both bat and ball to propel India to the title in front of a jubilant home crowd at Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium. Hosts India posted 298-7 and then bowled South Africa out for 246 in 45.3 overs with spinner Sharma taking five wickets after earlier contributing a vital run-a-ball 58 in the middle order. Opener Verma top-scored with 87 as India posted a challenging total after they were put in to bat in a final delayed two hours by rain. South Africa skipper Laura Wolvaardt hit a valiant 101 but her departure off Sharma raised the noise at the 45,000-capacity stadium, which had turned into a sea of blue. Sharma took down Nadine de Klerk, for 18, for the final wicket as India celebrated with the thousands of supporters inside the ground and millions outside in the cricket-ma... -
Dawn - 18:35 Nov 02, 2025
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Sunday said that with the establishment of a joint monitoring and verification mechanism, the onus would be on Kabul to take action against terrorists using Afghan soil. A second round of discussions between Pakistani and Afghan Taliban delegations had began in Istanbul on October 25, following days of border hostilities, but Islamabad’s long-standing concern over terror attacks emanating from Kabul remained a major point of contention, resulting in a stalemate. A breakthrough came after Turkiye and Qatar salvaged the dialogue process for the second time in less than a week, following Pakistan’s announcement on Oct 29 that the talks had “failed” and that its negotiators were preparing to return home. The talks produced a three-point understanding — the continuation of the ceasefire, the establishment of a monitoring and verification mechanism to ensure peace, and penalties for violations. The operational details of that mechanism are expected to be finalised when the “p... -
Dawn - 18:25 Nov 02, 2025
Lawyers backed by the Awami National Party (ANP) have won at least 12 of the 28 seats of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council, outperforming other groups in polls held across the province on Saturday, according to provisional results. The unofficial results released on Sunday revealed that three candidates of Malgari Wakilan (MW), which is affiliated with the ANP, two of the PTI’s lawyers wing and an independent candidate were elected on six of the seven seats of Peshawar. Meanwhile, there were conflicting reports about the results for the seventh seat until the last updates were received. Those who were declared successful in Peshawar included Khizar Hayat Khazana, Fazal-i-Wahid and Babar Khan Yousafzai of MW, Ali Zaman and Sophia Noreen of the Insaf Lawyers Forum (ILF) and an independent candidate, Muhammad Saeed. As for the winner for the seventh seat, initially Rafiq Mohmand of MW was reported as successful, but later reports also emerged about the victory of a female candidate, Khushnood Zakirullah. The offici... -
Dawn - 18:22 Nov 02, 2025
KP govt to form commission for probe into vandalism of Radio Pakistan building in Peshawar: minister
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Local government, Elections and Rural Development Meena Khan Afridi on Sunday announced that the provincial government would set up an inquiry commission to probe the vandalism of the Radio Pakistan building in Peshawar during the riots on May 9, 2023. Following the arrest of former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan on May 9, 2023 from the Islamabad High Court’s premises, riots erupted across the country that went on for at least 24 hours. Public properties and military installations were also vadalised during the riots, including the Radio Pakistan building in KP’s provincial capital. The announcement that the KP government would be forming a commission to probe the vandalism of the building was made by Meena Khan during a press conference alongside Adviser to the KP chief minister Shafiullah Jan in Peshawar today. “Since it is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in our jurisdiction, our first cabinet will form an inquiry commission to probe what happened at the Radio Pakistan b... -
Dawn - 18:22 Nov 02, 2025
Tehran’s main source of drinking water is at risk of running dry within two weeks, state media warned on Sunday, owing to a historic drought. The Amir Kabir dam, one of five which provide drinking water for the capital, “holds just 14 million cubic metres of water, which is 8 per cent of its capacity,” the director of the capital’s water company, Behzad Parsa, was quoted as saying by the IRNA news agency. At that level, it can only continue to supply Tehran with water “for two weeks”, he said. The megacity of more than 10 million people is nestled against the southern slopes of the often snow-capped Alborz mountains, which soar as high as 5,600 metres and whose rivers feed multiple reservoirs. But the country is in the midst of its worst drought in decades. The level of rainfall in Tehran province was “nearly without precedent for a century,” a local official declared last month. A year ago, the Amir Kabir dam held back 86 million cubic metres of water, Parsa said, but there had been a “100pc drop in precipit... -
Dawn - 18:18 Nov 02, 2025
Journalist and policy expert Mosharraf Zaidi has been appointed as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesperson for foreign media, it emerged on Sunday. The notification, shared by Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on X, said that the appointment was made in “supersession of his (PM Shehbaz’s) earlier orders of even number dated [June 4] and Cabinet Division’s Circular No. 3-2/2024-Min-I, dated [June 10]”. “The prime minister is pleased to appoint Mr Mosharraf Ali Zaidi as Prime Minister’s Spokesperson for Foreign Media, with immediate effect and until further orders,” the notification read. “[The] Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Cabinet Division are requested to take further action accordingly.” In his post, Tarar wrote: “Welcome on board, brother. A great addition to our team. It’s been great working with you these past few months, looking forward to continue this teamwork.” Speaking to Dawn, Zaidi said the appointment is “a privilege to serve the Pakistani people—the best people on the plan... -
Dawn - 17:26 Nov 02, 2025
There is little that changes when reporting on the women’s Sindh Open from year to year. Karachi Grammar School retains the championship title; records are shattered as teammates and mothers cheer on the swimmers till their throats go hoarse; top-level swimmers wow the crowd with speedy races duplicated in international arenas for team Pakistan. The only thing that does change is the sense of camaraderie, sportsmanship and drive the young women have — it only grows stronger every year. There were, however, a handful of anomalies at the 31st Sindh Women’s Swimming Championship this weekend. A record 377 participants from nearly 20 institutions across Karachi competed at the two-day age-group championship, compared to figures of 250 or less in previous years. For the first time, lengthier and more strenuous races like the 800m freestyle, 400m IM and 200m breaststroke were scratched from the event list due to a lack of participants, according to the organisers. For the third straight year, Hareem Malik was crown... -
Dawn - 16:35 Nov 02, 2025
New Yorkers will pick a new mayor on Tuesday after an unpredictable race that has drawn attention from far beyond the largest city in the United States, with President Donald Trump branding frontrunner Zohran Mamdani “a communist”. Breakout Democratic Party candidate Mamdani, a naturalised Muslim American who represents Queens in the state legislature, leads former governor and sex assault-accused Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent after losing his party’s primary contest to Mamdani. The Republican party candidate polling in third place is Curtis Sliwa, 71, who has a colourful past as the founder of the Guardian Angels vigilante group, a prolific broadcaster and cat lover. The latest Quinnipiac University poll, conducted from October 23 to 27, gives Mamdani 43 per cent of the vote, followed by Cuomo on 33pc and Sliwa on 14 pc. The race has centred on the cost of living, crime and how each candidate would handle Trump, who has threatened to withhold federal funds from the city. “Mamdani is an unusual poli... -
Dawn - 15:24 Nov 02, 2025
President Asif Ali Zardari will be undertaking a visit to Qatar on November 4, where he will hold “important meetings” with global and regional leaders and heads of major multilateral forums on sidelines of the Second World Summit for Social Development, a statement issued by the President’s Secretariat on Sunday said. The statement issued on Sunday said that the president would attend the Second World Summit for Social Development in Qatari capital Doha from November 4–6, being held under the auspices of the United Nations General Assembly. On the summit’s sidelines, the statement added, the “president will hold important meetings with global and regional leaders, including the leadership of Qatar, as well as heads of major multilateral forums such as the United Nations and other international organisations”. Meanwhile, the summit “will bring together world leaders and policymakers to discuss ways of advancing social development, promoting decent work and employment opportunities as well as strengthening inc... -
Dawn - 14:14 Nov 02, 2025
India launched its heaviest ever communication satellite on Sunday, the latest step in the country’s ambitious space programme. The CMS-03 satellite blasted off from Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh at 5:26 pm local time (1156 GMT). “Our space sector continues to make us proud!” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who wants to send an Indian astronaut to the Moon by 2040. Weighing about 4,410 kilogrammes, it is “the heaviest communication satellite” launched in the country, the Indian Space Research Organisation said on Thursday. The Indian Navy said the satellite would help “secure communication links between ships, aircraft, submarines”. The CMS-03 satellite was sent into orbit from the towering 43.5 metre tall LVM3-M5 launch vehicle. It is an upgraded version of the rocket that launched India’s unmanned craft that landed on the Moon in August 2023. Only Russia, the United States and China have previously achieved a controlled landing on the lunar surface. The country has flexed its spacef... -
Dawn - 13:13 Nov 02, 2025
Three cops, including a station house officer (SHO), were injured in a blast caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Doaba area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Hangu district on Sunday, police said. Abbas Majeed, the regional police officer in Kohat division, confirmed these details to Dawn, further stating that a police convoy was targeted in the IED attack. He added that SHO Imranuddin was among the three injured policemen. Separately, a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office said the provincial chief executive, Sohail Afridi, had taken notice of the incident and sought a detailed report from the KP inspector general of police. He directed that the injured policemen be provided immediate medical treatment, the statement said, adding that the CM paid tribute to the police personnel’s “courage and sense of duty”. The CM further directed that security in the province be tightened and strictly monitor suspicious elements. “Elements involved in [such] cowardly attacks will be taken to task,” the s...
8038 items