Dawn
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Dawn - 15:32 Feb 15, 2026
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Sunday vowed that “strict and indiscriminate action” would be taken against those hoarding or raising the prices of goods during the holy month of Ramazan. According to the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco), the first day of Ramazan is “likely to fall” on February 19, 2026. However, the final announcement regarding the beginning of the Islamic holy month will be made by the Ruet-i-Hilal Committee, the sole competent authority, based on credible witness testimonies from across the country. “Exploiting citizens in this sacred month will not be tolerated under any circumstances,” the provincial chief executive said in a post on X. She added that directives and enforcement measures would be outlined in a meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning (Monday). The Punjab Food Safety and Consumer Protection department (FS&CP), earlier this week, instructed the Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority (Pera) force to ensure the availability of food item... -
Dawn - 15:18 Feb 15, 2026
Iran is pursuing a nuclear agreement with the United States that delivers economic benefits for both sides, an Iranian diplomat was reported as saying on Sunday, days before a second round of talks between Tehran and Washington. Iran and the US renewed negotiations earlier this month to tackle their decades-long dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme and avert a new military confrontation. The US has dispatched a second aircraft carrier to the region and is preparing for the possibility of a sustained military campaign if the talks do not succeed, US officials have told Reuters. “For the sake of an agreement’s durability, it is essential that the US also benefits in areas with high and quick economic returns,” foreign ministry deputy director for economic diplomacy Hamid Ghanbari said, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. Iran has threatened retaliation against any US attack, but the official struck a conciliatory note on Sunday. “Common interests in the oil and gas fields, joint fields, mining i... -
Dawn - 14:00 Feb 15, 2026
The Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital on Sunday dismissed social media claims regarding the withdrawal of a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for a fundraising event for its Karachi facility, clarifying that the purported notification being circulated dates back to December 2023. Several reports emerged on social media and television platforms claiming that the NOC issued by Islamabad’s administration related to holding a fundraising ceremony for the under-construction SKMCH in Karachi had been withdrawn. SKMCH issued a formal clarification regarding the purported development, saying, “The news currently circulating on social media about the withdrawal of a NOC by the Islamabad administration is from December 2023.” “It relates to a fundraising gala dinner planned in Islamabad for December 29, 2023, in support of Shaukat Khanum Hospital Karachi,” it added. It said that fundraising and construction had continued without interruption since then. “The Karachi hospital remains on track for opening in December ... -
Dawn - 12:49 Feb 15, 2026
BAJAUR: An additional station house officer was martyred after terrorists attacked a police station in the War Mamund tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district on Saturday night, officials said. According to a police statement, a group of terrorists attacked the police station using both light and heavy weapons. They added that personnel deployed at the station quickly acted and repelled the assault. “The police personnel successfully foiled the overnight attack of militants at the War Mamund station, but Additional SHO Gul Mahmood Din was martyred after fighting bravely,” said a senior police official who visited the area on Sunday morning with his team. The official told Dawn that all the other station personnel were safe and secure following the attack. Attacks on police personnel, law enforcement agencies, and security forces have escalated across KP and Balochistan, especially after the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) broke a ceasefire agreement with the government in November 2022. Earlier ... -
Dawn - 12:21 Feb 15, 2026
The West Indies became the first team to qualify for the Super Eights phase of the T20 World Cup when they cruised to victory against Nepal by nine wickets on Sunday. After restricting Nepal to 133-8 in their 20 overs, captain Shai Hope’s 61 not out helped his team romp to 134-1 in 15.2 overs in the Group C clash at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium. Hope reached his fifty off 38 balls and scored three sixes and five fours in all. He put on an unbroken 91 with Shimron Hetmyer to reach the 134 target with 28 balls to spare. Hetmyer was 46 not out at the end from 32 balls, with two sixes and four fours. Hope said the qualification was “one step, one hurdle that we’ve crossed”. “Good to contribute to wins,” he added of his own batting, after scores of 19 and nought in his side’s two previous matches at the tournament. “It’s about continuing how we’ve been playing. Hopefully, we can carry through that.” Hope won the toss and chose to field and his decision was justified by a magnificent spell by Matthew Forde. The Nepal ... -
Dawn - 11:28 Feb 15, 2026
Gaza’s civil defence agency reported that Israeli strikes killed at least 12 people since dawn on Sunday, while a military official said the attacks were in response to ceasefire violations. Despite a US-brokered truce that entered its second phase last month, violence has continued in the Palestinian territory, with Israel and Hamas blaming each other for violating the agreement. The civil defence agency, which operates as a rescue force, said one strike hit a tent of displaced people in northern Gaza and another targeted an area in the south. Five people were killed and several were injured when an air strike targeted a tent sheltering displaced people in Jabalia in the north, the agency said in a statement. Five more were killed and several were injured in a separate early morning strike in the southern city of Khan Younis, the agency said, adding that one more was killed in Israeli shelling in Gaza City. The agency also said that one person was killed by Israeli gunfire in Beit Lahia in north Gaza. The Al... -
Dawn - 11:24 Feb 15, 2026
KARACHI: At least 11 people were killed and eight were injured after a bus collided with a trailer on the National Highway near Tando Masti in Sindh’s Khairpur district on Sunday, motorway police said. As per a statement issued by National Highways & Motorway Police (NHMP), “11 people have died so far, while another eight remain injured in a collision between a bus and a trailer on the National Highway near Tando Masti”. The bus was heading from Bahawalpur to Karachi. In an earlier statement, the motorway police said the accident occurred due to “negligence and recklessness on the bus driver’s part”. “Rescue teams and motorway police immediately reached the site of the incident,” the statement said, adding that the bodies and injured were rushed to nearby hospitals. The NHMP inspector general (IG) has taken notice of the incident and sought a report on it, the statement said. “The motorway police are continuing to restore traffic and clear the road,” the NHMP said. It added that an emergency control room had ... -
Dawn - 10:48 Feb 15, 2026
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Sunday issued directions to the Punjab Police to ensure “grooming” of their personnel as part of police reforms, warning them against violating the “dignity of common people”. In a high-level televised meeting, the chief minister directed Punjab Inspector General (IG) Abdul Kareem to “groom” the police staff, citing complaints of “intimidating behaviour” exhibited by Punjab Police. “Teach them how to talk to people, and groom them mentally as well,” CM Maryam stressed, warning that the police officials would “not be permitted to interact with people if they refuse to address them as sir or sahib”. “Police staff that patrol or interact with the public should directly teach them the appropriate body language,” she directed. The chief minister noted that police in Punjab often addressed people in public spaces with “oye”, rather than speaking to them respectfully. “Do not violate the dignity of the public,” CM Maryam stressed. She further underscored the “need for accountabi... -
Dawn - 10:14 Feb 15, 2026
As India races to narrow the artificial intelligence gap with the United States and China, it is planning a vast new “data city” to power digital growth on a staggering scale, the man spearheading the project says. “The AI revolution is here, no second thoughts about it,” said Nara Lokesh, information technology minister for Andhra Pradesh state, which is positioning the city of Visakhapatnam as a cornerstone of India’s AI push. “And as a nation… we have taken a stand that we’ve got to embrace it,” he told AFP ahead of an international AI summit next week in New Delhi. Lokesh boasts the state has secured investment agreements of $175 billion involving 760 projects, including a $15bn investment by Google for its largest AI infrastructure hub outside the United States. And a joint venture between India’s Reliance Industries, Canada’s Brookfield and US firm Digital Realty is investing $11bn to develop an AI data centre in the same city. Visakhapatnam — home to around two million people and popularly known as “Vi... -
Dawn - 06:30 Feb 15, 2026
Former US president Barack Obama criticised a lack of shame and decorum in the country’s political discourse, responding on Saturday for the first time to a post on Donald Trump’s social media account that depicted him and first lady Michelle as monkeys. In a wide-ranging podcast interview with left-wing political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen released on Saturday, Obama also compared the actions of agents enforcing the president’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota to dictatorships. The video, shared on Trump’s Truth Social account on February 5, sparked censure across the US political spectrum, with the White House initially rejecting “fake outrage” only to then blame the post on an error by a staff member and taking it down. Near the end of a one-minute-long video promoting conspiracies about Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, the Obamas — the first Black president and first lady in US history — were shown with their faces on the bodies of monkeys for about one second. “The discourse has devolved int... -
Dawn - 06:10 Feb 15, 2026
Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir has discussed “global and regional security dynamics” with United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Sunday. CDF Munir undertook a visit to Germany from February 12 (Thursday) to 14 (Saturday) to attend meetings on the sidelines of the 62nd Munich Security Conference, according to the military’s media affairs wing. In a press release, ISPR said the army chief met with Rubio and “discussed matters of mutual interest, including global and regional security dynamics and counterterrorism cooperation”. During his visit, Field Marshal Munir interacted with a number of dignitaries. These included Germany’s Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, Foreign Policy & Security Policy Adviser to Federal Chancellor of Germany Günter Sautter, and Chief of Defence Carsten Breuer. “The meetings focused on contemporary security issues, bilateral defence cooperation and the need for promoting... -
Dawn - 05:25 Feb 15, 2026
• DHA, Clifton residential plots up 25-50pc; commercial plots surge 25-75pc • Industrial investment in Karachi remains weak; investors shifting to Nooriabad, Jhampir KARACHI: Property prices in Karachi have increased over the past two years, but the gains have lagged behind the unexpected returns in equities and gold. Investors have been drawn to bullion amid global uncertainty, including market swings linked to US President Donald Trump’s shifting stance on tariffs and threats of military action against various countries. Pakistan’s stock market has also posted strong gains over the past two years, repeatedly setting new highs amid political and economic developments, lower interest rates and investor reluctance to hold US dollars. One tola gold on Jan 1, 2024, was available at Rs219,700 as compared to the current price of Rs526,962 on Saturday, reversing from a record peak of Rs572,862 on Jan 29, 2026. On Feb 13, the KSE-100 Index closed at 179,603.73 points, almost three times higher than its level of 64,6... -
Dawn - 05:14 Feb 15, 2026
RAHIM YAR KHAN: President Asif Ali Zardari says it is the duty of a leader to fight and go to jail to protect the party and safeguard people. He was addressing party ticket-holders, office-bearers and workers at Jamaldinwali, 40km from here, on Saturday night. Without naming PTI leader Imran Khan, the president said they had already started complaining about condition in jail hardly after 18-month detention. “Sometimes they say they have pain in their eyes. Some other time they complain there is no milk.” He said such a leader could not make sacrifices and lacked courage. Zardari said he himself spent 14 years in jail, endured hardships but never lost courage. “Jail is a place for worship, and prayers of those who worship are answered.” He advised political workers that they should not fear arrests. He pledged that he would work to build and improve Pakistan and would not step down until his mission was fulfilled. Zardari predicted that one day the Pakistan People’s Party would win with a two-third majority a... -
Dawn - 04:40 Feb 15, 2026
KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has assured the affected shopkeepers of the ill-fated Gul Plaza that the provincial government would temporarily accommodate them at Parking Plaza, New Jamia Market, and Royal Market on Korangi Road, providing full compensation for their losses. He was addressing a gathering during his visit to the verification counters for claims of losses at the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Saturday to review the process and meet the affected traders. The KCCI, on the instruction of the chief minister, has set up counters to verify claims of losses and ownership or tenancy filed by traders affected by the Gul Plaza incident. The chief minister was accompanied by provincial ministers Nasir Hussain Shah and Jam Ikram Dharejo, Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab, Karachi Commissioner Hassan Naqvi, and other senior officials. Parking Plaza, New Jamia Market, Korangi’s Royal Market selected for shopkeepers’ relocation; Murad visits verification counters for losses c... -
Dawn - 03:06 Feb 15, 2026
• Verdict notes marriage remains legally intact as ‘mere assertion of oral talaq insufficient’ • Justice Abid Chattha observes dowry claims must be determined strictly on evidence, not conjecture LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ordered a man to pay Rs1 million as deferred dower and monthly maintenance to his wife after holding that contracting another marriage without prior permission makes the entire dower immediately payable under the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961. Justice Abid Hussain Chattha issued the judgement, deciding two cross writ petitions filed by Mehnaz Saleem and her husband Kashif Iqbal, challenging concurrent and appellate findings of a family court and additional district judge (the appellate court), Sialkot. Ms Saleem had filed a suit seeking recovery of deferred dower (Rs1m), maintenance allowance, and dowry articles. The family court had partially decreed her suit, awarding Rs15,000 per month as maintenance for the Iddat period, Rs1m as deferred dower, and dowry articles or t... -
Dawn - 02:55 Feb 15, 2026
• Bangladesh’s PM-to-be pledges to restore governance, economy; vows to fix ‘broken’ systems • Urges unity as BNP sweeps first polls since 2024 uprising DHAKA: Bangladesh’s prime minister-in-waiting Tarique Rahman on Saturday dedicated his party’s landslide election victory to the citizens who “sacrificed for democracy” during the deadly 2024 uprising and pledged to prioritise the restoration of economy and governance. Rahman, the 60-year-old scion of one of the nation’s most powerful political dynasties, called for national unity as he prepared to lead the South Asian nation of 170 million people following the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s sweeping success in Thursday’s vote. He will take over from an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, which has steered Bangladesh since a student-led uprising ousted Hasina in August 2024. “This victory belongs to Bangladesh, belongs to democracy,” Rahman said in his first speech since the vote. “This victory belongs to people who aspire to and have sac... -
Dawn - 02:25 Feb 15, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The consortium led by the Arif Habib Group has announced plans to acquire the remaining 25 per cent government stake in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), thereby securing full control of the national flag carrier. In December 2025, the group acquired a 75pc stake for Rs135 billion, with the goal of transforming the loss-making airline through operational restructuring, fleet expansion, and improved customer service. To ensure the success of its revival plan, the consortium now seeks to take full control of decision-making. The acquisition will allow the consortium to implement management changes by the end of April. Shahid Ali Habib, CEO of Arif Habib Ltd, told Dawn that this will enable them to operate as a private entity, free from government-appointed board members. “The change of sponsors is scheduled for late April or early May,” he added. Consortium to acquire remaining 25pc stake for Rs45bn The government has given the consortium a 90-day window to purchase the remaining shares, valued ... -
Dawn - 02:07 Feb 15, 2026
It was never going to be easy for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to sideline Pakistan from the T20 World Cup, let alone exclude them from the marquee clash against India. That is precisely why, today on February 15, Pakistan will take on India for the ninth time in T20 World Cup history. It is a rivalry in which Pakistan has managed only one victory so far. Yet win numbers barely matter when these two teams meet, because this contest has grown far beyond cricket and has become arguably the most anticipated fixture in global sport. In the build-up to this match, uncertainty loomed large. Until just days before the game, there was no official confirmation that Pakistan would play. This followed a dramatic political intervention when the Government of Pakistan announced that it would not permit the Pakistan team to participate in the World Cup group-stage match against India. Despite the tournament featuring 20 teams, this single lucrative fixture dominated headlines across the cricketing world. The ten... -
Dawn - 02:07 Feb 15, 2026
Camouflage and mimicry are among the oldest concepts in biology — taught in classrooms as elegant outcomes of natural selection. Animals that blend in avoid getting eaten. Over many generations, tiny random changes accumulate. Simple, neat, intuitive. But the deeper scientists look, the more the real world looks less like a simple narrative and more like a puzzle with missing pieces. Across the animal and plant kingdoms, there are creatures whose mimicry is so precise — down to texture, colour gradients, behavioural nuance and even spectral reflections invisible to the human eye — that the standard explanation strains at the seams. What mechanisms allow an insect or a plant with no brain, no eyes and no cognitive awareness of its surroundings to develop such astonishing resemblance? Take, for example, walking stick and leaf insects. Some species do more than mimic the general outline of foliage; they reproduce irregular edges, asymmetries and colour variations indistinguishable from real leaves — even under c... -
Dawn - 02:05 Feb 15, 2026
RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has predicted rain and thunderstorm in southern parts of the country. The Met Office said a shallow westerly wave is likely to approach the western parts of the country on Feb 16. Under the influence of this weather system, light to moderate rain-wind/thunderstorm is expected in Quetta, Ziarat, Chaman, Pishin, Qilla Abdullah, Qilla Saifullah, Chaghi, Nokkundi, Dalbandin, Noushki, Harnai, Zhob, Kalat, Mustung, Bar Khan, Sibbi, Loralai, Khuzdar, Kech, Turbat, Panjgur, Gawadar, Awaran, Kharan, Pasni, Ormara and Lasbella of Balochistan from Feb 16 (evening/night) to Feb 17 with occasional gaps. Rain-wind/thunderstorm is also expected in Dadu, Hyderabad, Karachi, Thatta, Badin, Jamshoro, Sukkur, Larkana, Jacobabad and Khairpur of Sindh from Feb 17. Gusty and dust-raising winds are also likely during the period. Light to moderate rain-wind/thunderstorm is expected in Waziristan, Bannu, D.I. Khan and Kurram areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the night of Feb 16 an...
7934 items