Dawn
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Dawn - 02:49 Jul 11, 2025
• Awais proposes delay in payback to ease grid surplus • Claims Rs191bn saved in FY25 as power losses dip due to governance reforms • Govt eyes 6,000MW surplus supply for crypto, data centres ISLAMABAD: The Power Division is making another attempt to convince the federal cabinet to curtail returns on solar net metering and remove electricity duty on consumer bills being resisted by the provinces. Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, Power Minister Awais Leghari said he would be presenting a revised plan to the federal cabinet in a week or two based on consultations with some stakeholders to stagger the recovery of investment on net metering to two to three years from the current one and a half years. Mr Leghari also announced that the Power Division on Thursday moved a summary for cabinet approval to finalise rules for wheeling charges, a key step towards operationalising the competitive electricity trading market. He added that the government was exploring plans to offer 5,000-6,000MW of surplus electr... -
Dawn - 18:36 Jul 10, 2025
The Balochistan government on Thursday said that it has received information about the kidnapping of some passengers near Sardhaka and a search operation is underway to recover them. A statement from Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind said terrorists belonging to the Fitna-al-Hindustan had carried out attacks in Quetta, Kalat, Mastung and Sardhaka. “Information has been received about the kidnapping of some passengers near Sardhaka. A search operation has been launched in the area to safely recover the passengers,” he said. Rind added that the security forces responded “immediately and vigorously” at all three locations, saying they were fully alert to protect the lives, property and belongings of the people. The police and security forces have not provided details at the moment of the other incidents. In May this year, the government designated all terrorist organisations in Balochistan as Fitna-al-Hindustan — a new phrase aimed at framing India’s alleged role in terrorism as a deliberate desta... -
Dawn - 17:39 Jul 10, 2025
Posts from users on social media platforms X and Facebook on Wednesday claimed that the Supreme Court had declared an Islamabad court’s ban on 27 YouTube channels unconstitutional. However, no such development has occurred. It emerged on Tuesday that an Islamabad court last month ordered YouTube to block 27 channels for disseminating “fake, misleading, and defamatory” content against the government and armed forces. Among the 27 sanctioned accounts — run by journalists, political commentators and social media influencers in Pakistan and overseas — are those of the PTI, Matiuallah Jan, Wajahat Khan, Ahmad Noorani and Asad Ali Toor, Imran Riaz, Orya Maqbool, Sabir Shakir, and Moeed Pirzada. On Wednesday, former anchorperson Sabir Shakir said in a post on X: “Supreme Court declares ban on 27 YouTube channels unconstitutional.” The post was seen by more than 39,000 people. The same claim was shared by several other X users as can be seen here, here, here and here. The claim also circulated on Facebook, as can b... -
Dawn - 17:36 Jul 10, 2025
The Punjab Police on Thursday arrested a suspect allegedly involved in “horrific” animal torture being committed in Lahore and put a stop to the activity. Lahore’s JFK Animal Rescue and Shelter said it received reports about an “extremely horrific situation after an Instagram influencer was seen posting torturing and killing animals, including bunnies and cats”. The organisation said it immediately contacted the police, who reached the location to find dead bodies of animals and blood, with the suspect found “laughing” when approached. The shelter said it would register a case against her and the animals were moved to shelters by the Police Animal Rescue Centre (PARC). Visuals shared by the shelter showed cats, rabbits and birds of prey in captivity at the site. Lahore Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Syeda Shehrbano Naqvi addressed the incident in a video, saying: “We just came back from a case where a girl … was torturing animals and she had rabbits, some exotic animals, cats and a lot of other stuf... -
Dawn - 17:22 Jul 10, 2025
A United Kingdom parliamentary committee on Thursday blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts to kill or kidnap British-based individuals since 2022, saying the threat from Iran had “significantly increased”. London’s response has been too focused on “crisis management”, said parliament’s intelligence and security committee, with concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme dominating their attention too much. Tehran swiftly issued a “categorical rejection of the unfounded, politically motivated and hostile allegations”. The committee’s claims were “baseless, irresponsible, and reflective of a broader pattern of distortion intended to malign Iran’s legitimate regional and national interests”, said its London embassy. The report comes after growing alarm in Britain at alleged Iranian targeting of dissidents, media organisations and journalists in the UK, including accusations of physical attacks. Iran in March became the first country to be placed on an enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, which a... -
Dawn - 16:35 Jul 10, 2025
Awami National Party (ANP) politician Maulana Khan Zeb and a policeman were shot dead on Thursday by unidentified suspects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district, according to the police. Bajaur District Police Officer (DPO) Waqas Rafiq told Dawn.com that the politician was shot dead in Shindai Mor while campaigning for the July 13 peace parade, adding that a policeman was also killed in the attack. “Three other people were injured in the shooting,” DPO Rafiq said. “This was a targeted killing carried out by unidentified shooters on motorcycles.” DPO Rafiq added that evidence had been collected from the crime scene. Khan Zeb was a member of the ANP’s central cabinet and held the office of secretary of ulema affairs, according to the party website. ANP President Senator Aimal Wali Khan issued a statement condemning the killing, stating that the party would file a first information report against the state. “State institutions are complicit in this incident because they have maintained criminal silence,” the A... -
Dawn - 16:29 Jul 10, 2025
A British F-35B fighter jet stranded at an Indian airport for nearly a month, sparking memes and cartoons on social media, is expected to fly back home as early as next week, The Associated Press reported on Thursday, quoting Indian officials. The Royal Navy aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport on June 14 in the state capital and has been grounded ever since, despite efforts to repair it. The Indian Air Force said last month it would help in the repair and return of the jet, which made an emergency landing when it was flying over the Arabian Sea off Kerala’s coast. A British High Commission spokesperson had told Reuters the United Kingdom had accepted an offer to move the aircraft to the maintenance, repair and overhaul facility at the airport. AP reported today that officials said engineers hoped to repair the plane in the next few days before it could fly back to the UK “sometime next week”. The British High Commission confirmed to the outlet that a Br... -
Dawn - 16:16 Jul 10, 2025
At least eight officials of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) were arrested on Thursday along with the owner of a building that recently collapsed in Karachi’s Lyari, claiming 27 lives. The five-storey building on Fida Husain Shaikha Road in Lea Market collapsed on Friday morning, with the rescue operations concluding on Sunday. The building had already been declared uninhabitable by authorities due to its dilapidated structure, with the SBCA saying it had issued multiple prior notices to residents to vacate the structure since 2023. South Deputy Inspector General of Police Syed Asad Raza told Dawn.com that the arrests were made today after a first information report (FIR) was registered a day ago. “Nine officials and the present owner of the building were nominated in the FIR registered on a complaint of an official of the local government department. However, eight directors and deputy directors were arrested but one official was not arrested as he was sick,” he said. adding that the owner was arr... -
Dawn - 15:52 Jul 10, 2025
A federal judge on Thursday again barred President Donald Trump’s administration from enforcing his executive order limiting birthright citizenship nationwide after the United States Supreme Court restricted the ability of judges to block his policies using nationwide injunctions. US District Judge Joseph Laplante in Concord, New Hampshire, made the ruling after immigrant rights advocates implored him to grant class action status to a lawsuit they filed seeking to represent any babies whose citizenship status would be threatened by the implementation of Trump’s directive. Laplante agreed the plaintiffs could proceed as a class, allowing him to issue a fresh judicial order blocking implementation of the Republican president’s policy nationally. The question of whether to issue an injunction was “not a close call”, he said, noting children could be deprived of US citizenship if Trump’s order took effect. “That’s irreparable harm, citizenship alone,” he said. “It is the greatest privilege that exists in the worl... -
Dawn - 14:26 Jul 10, 2025
Afghan taxi drivers have cobbled together a creative solution to spare them and their passengers from the sweltering heat. In southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar city, where temperatures easily exceed 40 degrees Celsius, blue taxis can be spotted with an air conditioning (AC) unit strapped to the roof with an exhaust hose delivering the cool air through the passenger window. “It started getting extremely hot three or four years ago. These cars’ AC systems didn’t work and repairs were too expensive. So I went to a technician, [and] had a custom cooler made,” said driver Gul Mohammad. The 32-year-old spent 3,000 Afghanis ($43) for the system, which he connects to his taxi’s battery and regularly refills with water. “This works better than [built-in] AC. ACs only cool the front — this cooler spreads air throughout,” said fellow driver Abdul Bari. Other devices are connected to solar panels, also mounted on the taxi’s roof. An Afghan taxi is pictured with a swamp air-cooler system installed atop the vehicle at a mark... -
Dawn - 14:08 Jul 10, 2025
An ice-cream seller in Turkiye was arrested and his shop was sealed earlier this week for allegedly sexually harassing a woman tourist, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported. According to the newspaper, the incident was caught on camera, following which the ice cream shop in Istanbul’s Beyoglu municipality was sealed by local authorities. “An ice cream vendor in Beyoglu started playing a cone trick on a female tourist and allegedly harassed the woman as she tried to take the cone,” Hurriyet reported. “After the images surfaced on social media, the ice cream shop drew widespread criticism. Beyoglu Municipality teams subsequently sealed the business.” Beyoglu Mayor Inan Guney took to X and posted a video of police removing equipment from the shop, writing, “Our municipal police teams have sealed the relevant establishment. “Beyoglu is a district where all women can walk safely, and we will take every measure to ensure it remains so,” the post added. -
Dawn - 13:55 Jul 10, 2025
The principal and attendant of a school in India’s Maharashtra state were arrested, while four teachers and two trustees were taken into custody for allegedly stripping around 10 girls to check if they were menstruating, Indian Express reported on Thursday. In a statement released on Wednesday, police said that school staff informed the teachers and principal of bloodstains in the toilets. To find who was responsible, girls of classes 5-10 were called into the convention hall, where they were shown photos of bloodstains in the toilet and on the tiles. The students were then asked to reveal who was on their periods. The teachers took down details, including thumb impressions, of the girls who raised their hands, and took the rest of the girls to washrooms where they were stripped and checked by attendants, the statement added. According to Thane rural police personnel, the accused principal asked the daughter of one of the complainant parents why she was using a sanitary pad when she was not menstruating, accu... -
Dawn - 13:39 Jul 10, 2025
Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir said on Thursday that India was doubling down on its “nefarious agenda” against Pakistan through the use of proxies after facing a “manifest defeat” in the recent military conflict between the two countries. India blamed Pakistan for the April 22 Pahalgam attack without evidence, triggering a military escalation. On May 6–7, New Delhi launched air strikes that killed civilians, followed by a week-long missile exchange. A US-brokered ceasefire ended the war. A day earlier, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry accused Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval of masterminding terrorism in Pakistan, alleging Indian support for terrorist groups. Echoing similar sentiments, Field Marshal Munir said, while chairing the 271st Corps Commanders’ Conference (CCC) at the General Headquarters (GHQ), said today: “Following its manifest defeat in direct aggression against Pakistan, post-Pahalgam incident, India is now doubling do... -
Dawn - 13:07 Jul 10, 2025
PML-N leaders have issued differing statements on whether PTI founder Imran Khan’s sons would be allowed entry into Pakistan to run a political movement for their father’s release, with Senator Irfan Siddiqui saying they “can stage protests but within legal limitations”. Imran’s sons — Suleman Khan (28) and Kasim Khan (26) — had called attention to their father’s incarceration for the first time publicly in May. Earlier this week, Imran’s sister Aleema Khan said the two brothers would come to Pakistan as part of an upcoming PTI protest movement. Imran, imprisoned since August 2023 in a case related to state gifts, is serving a sentence at the Adiala Jail in the £190 million graft case and and faces pending trials related to the May 9, 2023 riots. Speaking on Geo News’ programme ‘Geo Pakistan’ today, Irfan Siddiqui said: “In my personal opinion — as the government has so far not taken any official stance — they should be allowed to come. They should come and carry out their activities.” He noted that the sons ... -
Dawn - 11:49 Jul 10, 2025
Four people died and 40 were injured in rain-related incidents across Punjab over the past 24 hours as more heavy showers were expected across the province, according to rescue officials and local authorities. Monsoon rains fall across the region from June to September, offering respite from the summer heat. They are crucial to replenishing water supplies and agriculture, and therefore, the livelihoods of millions of farmers and food security. However, they also wreak havoc by triggering deadly floods, landslides and displacement, particularly in vulnerable, poorly drained, or densely populated areas. At least nine people lost their lives and many others sustained injuries as heavy monsoon rains lashed Lahore on Wednesday. The downpours caused widespread flooding and disrupted daily life in several areas. “Over the last 24 hours, four people died and 40 were injured due to rain and winds across the province,” Rescue 1122 Punjab Spokesperson Farooq Ahmed said in a statement. Those who sustained serious injurie... -
Dawn - 11:33 Jul 10, 2025
Indian election officials have given voters in Bihar state just weeks to prove their citizenship, requiring documents that few possess in a registration revamp set to be applied nationwide, triggering disenfranchisement fears. The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the revision of the voter rolls in June ahead of upcoming polls in the eastern state. It said the exercise will later be replicated across the nation of 1.4 billion people. According to the ECI, the “intensive revision” was needed in part to avoid the “inclusion of the names of foreign illegal immigrants”. Members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have long claimed that large numbers of undocumented Muslim migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh have fraudulently entered India’s electoral rolls. Critics say the overhaul could render vast numbers of Indian citizens unable to vote. “You are being asked to produce documents that very few people have,” said Asaduddin Owaisi, a prominent Muslim lawm... -
Dawn - 11:24 Jul 10, 2025
Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk on Thursday said Pakistan and Russia were “natural allies”, stressing that Russian President Vladimir Putin views Islamabad as an important strategic partner in the areas of economy and energy, the Foreign Office said in a statement. In recent years, Russia and Pakistan have engaged in strengthening bilateral ties with each other. On June 3, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in a meeting with Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi, reaffirmed Russia’s desire to expand cooperation with Pakistan. Moscow’s growing engagement with Islamabad — including defence deals, energy cooperation and regular joint military exercises — reflects a strategic shift to diversify partnerships across the region. In a high-level meeting with Ambassador Fatemi and the prime minister’s aide on Industries and Production, Haroon Akhtar Khan, in Moscow, the Russian DPM reaffirmed his country’s commitment towards deepening bilateral cooperation w... -
Dawn - 11:12 Jul 10, 2025
Pakistan is seeking a valuation of at least $1 billion for the Roosevelt Hotel it owns in New York and is ready to part with a minority stake in the prime Manhattan property as it scouts for a redevelopment partner, a senior government official said. Named after former US President Theodore Roosevelt, the century-old property in midtown Manhattan is seen as one of Pakistan’s most valuable foreign assets, which it acquired in 2000. Faced with mounting losses, the over 1,000-room hotel was shut in 2020, and has also operated briefly as a migrant shelter. As part of its $7bn IMF-backed privatisation push, the government approved a “transaction structure for the Roosevelt Hotel” on Tuesday, saying it won’t do an outright sale but has decided to adopt a joint venture model to maximise long-term value. It gave no further details. The senior official said the government will retain ownership in the project through an equity partnership, but declined to disclose the size of the stake being offered to any potential JV... -
Dawn - 11:09 Jul 10, 2025
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Thursday rebutted rumours of President Asif Ali Zardari being asked to resign, terming it a “malicious campaign”. “We are fully aware of who is behind the malicious campaign targeting President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and the chief of army staff,” Naqvi wrote on X. “I have categorically stated that there has been no discussion, nor does any such idea exist about the president being asked to resign or the COAS aspiring to assume the presidency,” he asserted. “The president of Pakistan enjoys a strong and respectful relationship with the leadership of the armed forces,” the minister said. He quoted President Zardari as having “clearly” stated: “I know who is spreading these falsehoods, why they are doing so, and who stands to benefit from this propaganda.” Naqvi stressed that the “sole focus” of Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir was Pakistan’s strength and stability, and “nothing else”. “To those involved in this narrative, do whatever you wi... -
Dawn - 10:57 Jul 10, 2025
Four people from two different groups were killed while two others were injured in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mardan district over a personal dispute, police said on Thursday. Mardan police spokesperson Muhammad Faheem Khan told Dawn.com, “There was a clash between two groups over a personal dispute, resulting in the killing of four people — three from one group and one from the other group — while two people sustained injuries.” “The motive behind the clash was a personal dispute between them,” he added. One of the injured filed a first information report (FIR) at the Garhi Kapura police station on Wednesday night. According to the FIR, seen by Dawn.com, the complainant said that the incident occurred around 10pm when he was returning home with his brothers and cousins, saying that they were attacked by armed assailants who were already present there. The FIR was registered under Sections 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 302 (intentional murder) and 324 (attempted murder) of the ...
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