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Dawn - 10:09 Dec 19, 2025
In a meeting with Australian High Commissioner Tim Kane on Friday in Islamabad, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his condolences over the tragic shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney last week and condemned the attack. Fifteen people were killed, and dozens were wounded last Sunday in Bondi after two gunmen opened fire at people celebrating Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights. The PML-N posted on social media that the newly appointed high commissioner of Australia called on Shehbaz at the PM’s House today. It added that he conveyed deepest condolences over the tragic loss of innocent lives in the terrorist shooting incident at Bondi Beach, saying that Pakistan unequivocally condemned the cowardly act of terrorism. While reaffirming Pakistan’s solidarity with Australia in its hour of grief, it said, PM Shehbaz emphasised that terrorism had no religion and it must be condemned in all forms and manifestations. He added that collective action was required to eradicate this menace. Deputy Prime Minister and... -
Dawn - 08:56 Dec 19, 2025
WASHINGTON: The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Thursday adopted by consensus a Pakistan-sponsored resolution that reaffirmed the right to self-determination for peoples still subjected to colonial, foreign, and alien occupation. According to Pakistan‘s Permanent Mission to the UN, the resolution — titled ‘Universal realisation of the right of the peoples to self-determination’ — was adopted during the UNGA’s 80th session. “The consensual adoption of the resolution manifests broad international support for the inalienable right of the peoples facing colonialism, alien domination and foreign occupation,“ it said in a post on X. “For the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and Palestine, the resolution reinforces international attention to their just and legitimate cause and their aspirations for freedom and dignity in accordance with UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions,” it added. Diplomats said the adoption of the text by consensus — without a vote — underscored continue... -
Dawn - 08:42 Dec 19, 2025
Snow unexpectedly blanketed several regions across Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Wednesday and Thursday, with cold weather and heavy rain hitting several cities and other parts of the Kingdom, Arab News and Khaleej Times reported on Thursday. According to Khaleej Times, a period of low-pressure systems in the Middle East has brought heavy rainfall over the last week. Conditions were forecast to intensify on Thursday, with thunderstorms expected to hit the region. The storm was then forecast to move eastwards towards the UAE and Qatar by night, it added, citing BBC Weather. Khaleej Times reported that large areas of Qatar had also been covered by snowfall already, sharing a video of the landscape. View this post on Instagram In Saudi Arabia, snow and light rainfall were experienced in Trojena, a mountain destination for hiking and skiing located on Jebel Al-Lawz in the province of Tabuk that reaches up to 2,600 metres, according to Arab News. Additionally, light to moderate rain was experienced in Bir Bin Hermas, ... -
Dawn - 07:27 Dec 19, 2025
Danger man Travis Head crunched his fourth century in as many Tests at Adelaide Oval Friday as Australia built a 356-run lead over England to stand on the brink of retaining the Ashes. The hosts were 271-4 at stumps on day three of the third Test with Head on 142 and first-innings century-maker Alex Carey not out 52, taking the five-match series out of England’s reach. England must win after crashing inside two days at the first Test in Perth and inside four in Brisbane, both by eight wickets. But it appears to be an impossible task with the highest run chase at the ground 316 by Australia against England in 1902. Head’s crucial ton, his 11th, came off a composed 146 balls although he almost didn’t get there, dropped on 99 by Harry Brook as impatience got the better of him. He has now scored a century in four consecutive Tests on his home ground, following 140 against India last year and 119 and 175 against the West Indies. Australia suffered an early setback in a tense 20 minutes before lunch after England w... -
Dawn - 07:04 Dec 19, 2025
US Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem ordered the suspension of the diversity visa lottery progamme on Thursday after saying it was used by the suspect in a mass shooting at Brown University. “The Brown University shooter, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, entered the United States through the diversity lottery immigrant visa programme (DV1) in 2017 and was granted a green card,” Noem wrote on social media. “At president Trump’s direction, I am immediately directing US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to pause the DV1 programme to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous programme,“ she said. According to the Associated Press, the diversity visa programme makes up to 50,000 green cards available each year by lottery to people from countries that are little represented in the US, many of them in Africa. The lottery was created by Congress, and the move is almost certain to invite legal challenges, AP reported. Officials said earlier that the suspect was dead as investigators said he also... -
Dawn - 03:38 Dec 19, 2025
ISLAMABAD: Former Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman has described attacks on Pakistan in May this year as a strategic mistake by India. “They underestimated our military power and thought we will not react. They never expected a befitting response,” he said while speaking at a seminar here. The seminar was organised by an overseas Pakistanis group led by Barrister Shehzada Hayat, in collaboration with the Pakistan Ex-Servicemen Society (PESS), headed by Senator retired Lt Gen Abdul Qayyum to pay homage to Pakistan’s martyrs, express solidarity with the armed forces, and commemorate the 149th birth anniversary of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The former air chief said the telling response by Pakistan shattered the myth of “shining India”. He chided India for blaming Chinese help to Pakistan for its failure saying “If we have Chinese JF-17 aircraft, you also have Rafale jets. Overseas Pakistanis’ contribution to national economy praised He made it clear that Chinese pilots did not come to... -
Dawn - 02:55 Dec 19, 2025
• 1,200 policemen, anti-riot personnel deployed; number of pickets increased • Party leaders return without visiting Imran after being barred by prison authorities RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD: As the PTI staged two sit-ins outside the jail in as many weeks, the Punjab government has deployed more than 1,200 police officials, installed additional pickets, and deployed anti-riot police in the vicinity of Adiala jail, in an apparent bid to pre-empt such protests. Separately, the jail authorities also barred the PTI leaders, including KP’s former finance minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra, who had arrived in Rawalpindi to meet their incarcerated party chief, Imran Khan. According to the Islamabad High Court, Mr Khan can have two weekly meetings with his family and party leaders, but the authorities have routinely restricted such visits, much to the PTI’s chagrin. Last Tuesday, the PTI leaders staged a protest, which was dispersed by police with water cannons after midnight. In a seemingly pre-emptive measure that would dissu... -
Dawn - 02:40 Dec 19, 2025
• FO says discussions ongoing; Islamabad has not been formally requested to deploy troops • Andrabi, White House say no Munir-Trump meeting planned ‘at this time’ ISLAMABAD: No decision has been taken yet on contributing troops to the planned International Stabilisation Force (ISF) for Gaza, the Foreign Office said on Thursday, seeking to quell renewed speculation about Washington’s pressure on Islamabad for joining the mission. “About Pakistan’s participation in the ISF, we have not taken a decision to participate in ISF as yet,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said at the weekly media briefing. ISF forms a key component of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza conflict, a 20-point framework announced in September that facilitated a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October. On Nov 17, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution, with Russia and China abstaining, endorsing the plan and authorising the establishment of the ISF as a temporary multinational force to... -
Dawn - 02:25 Dec 19, 2025
• Govt rations funds to meet IMF’s contingency measures for growing revenue shortfall • Health, energy allocations mostly unspent; better used in foreign-funded projects ISLAMABAD: Development spending under the federal Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) remained subdued in the first five months of the current fiscal year, with utilisation amounting to just 9.2 per cent of the Rs1 trillion annual allocation amid fiscal rationing to meet the IMF’s contingency measures for growing revenue shortfall. “Development spending remained modest, with Rs92 billion utilised against Rs196bn sanctioned, led mainly by infrastructure,” the Ministry of Planning and Development said in its Monthly Development Outlook (December 2025). It added that foreign-funded projects showed relatively better utilisation, with Rs12.8bn spent out of Rs25.1bn sanctioned. At Rs92bn, the July-November utilisation was 20pc lower than the Rs115bn spent in the same period last year. The ministry attributed the slowdown to “significant red... -
Dawn - 23:58 Dec 18, 2025
President Asif Ali Zardari, on early Friday morning, approved the de-notification of Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri as a judge of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on the advice of the prime minister. “The president has approved the de-notification of Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri as judge, Islamabad High Court, on the advice of the prime minister, in compliance with the IHC verdict and in accordance with the Constitution and law,” a statement from the President’s Secretariat said. IHC judgement The IHC ruling on Thursday said Justice Jahangiri’s elevation to the superior court “without lawful authority” and that he “ceased to hold” the office of the IHC judge forthwith. A division bench led by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan issued the judgement, which was earlier reserved, on a plea that challenged the legitimacy of Justice Jahangiri’s law degree and appointment as a judge. A short written order of the court, available with Dawn, said at the time of Justice Jahangi... -
Dawn - 22:55 Dec 18, 2025
As the Foreign Office sought clarification from India via a letter over a sudden variation in the Chenab River’s flow, the situation is badly affecting wheat and other crops being fed through the Marala-Ravi link and other canals in various parts of Punjab. “The situation is really disturbing as the Chenab River’s control from upstream (India) is being handled by the Indian authorities through various run-of-the-river hydropower projects,” a senior official of the Punjab Irrigation Department said while speaking to Dawn on condition of anonymity. “When India releases the water from dams towards downstream (Pakistan) without informing us, the flow suddenly increases. Sometimes, they hold water for days, reducing flow massively,” he said. He continued, “Once the river inflows recorded at Marala reduced to 1,500 cusecs, leaving us with no option but to stop outflows.” “The situation is very serious and strange for us, as the growers, in several villages, couldn’t water wheat crops due to the lack of water flow t... -
Dawn - 18:59 Dec 18, 2025
A domestic worker was allegedly beaten by a man in Karachi earlier this week, it emerged on Thursday. According to a first information report filed at Gabol Town police station — dated December 13 and available with Dawn — the complainant stated that she was working as a cleaner at a private residence when she got into an argument with the suspect on December 10. “On December 11, when I finished working at a house, the suspect came and started beating me as I was descending some stairs,” she alleged. “He pushed me down the stairs while verbally abusing me.” The complainant further alleged that bystanders also beat her, leaving her with facial and internal injuries. According to the FIR, the suspect who initially assaulted the complainant was booked under Sections 337A (punishment for assault), 354 (assault or criminal force to [a] woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace). After a video of the incident went viral, Sindh Minister for Women... -
Dawn - 18:33 Dec 18, 2025
Sultan Aziz Azzam, a spokesperson for Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), was arrested by Pakistani authorities this year, a recent report submitted to the UN Security Council has revealed. IS-K is a branch of the Islamic State terrorist organisation active in Central and South Asia, according to the US-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank. The United Nations’ 16th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team noted that IS-K’s ability to operate in the region had been degraded as a result of high-profile arrests by Pakistan, such as that of Azzam from the border region this May. The state-run Associated Press of Pakistan said that Azzam was arrested by intelligence agencies during an operation near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The APP report claimed that following his arrest, IS-K propaganda arms, such as the Al-Azaim Foundation, had suffered a major blow. “Overall, the capability of [IS-K] has been degraded as a result of counter-terrorism operations,” the UN repor... -
Dawn - 18:27 Dec 18, 2025
A new study has revealed that labour rights abuses remained rampant in major textile factories in major production hubs — Karachi and Faisalabad — manufacturing healthcare exports to Europe. The report was titled “Public money, private harm: The role of EU procurement in perpetuating labour violations: lessons from Pakistan and Sweden”. The 52-page study was conducted collaboratively by Swedwatch and local organisations, including AwazCDS-Pakistan and NowCommunities, building on testimonies of textile factory workers from Karachi and Faisalabad, where it revealed rampant labour rights violations, enabled by weak enforcement of EU procurement rules and labour laws. It revealed that using social audits and certifications as a way of ensuring compliance “repeatedly fail to capture or remedy these violations, raising serious concerns about their efficacy.” At the outset of the report launch in Karachi today, Executive Director NowCommunities, Farhat Parveen, outlined the issues faced by workers in both informal a... -
Dawn - 16:53 Dec 18, 2025
Gender gap among Pakistan’s voters reduced from 11.8 per cent in 2018 to 7.1pc in 2025, the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) Secretary Omar Hamid Khan said on Thursday. According to the Human Rights Watch, for the February 8, 2024, elections, which saw the registration of 127 million voters, there were 10 million more men than women, showing a large gender gap in a country in which women make up 49pc of the population. Khan shared the numbers at a board review meeting of the Pakistan Legislative, Electoral, Digital Governance and Empowerment (Pledge) project. “Women voter registration has outpaced men’s over the past five years, with a 27pc increase in female voters as compared to 17pc for males,” Khan shared with the members of the meeting. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative Dr Samuel Rizk, Ministry of Economic Affairs Joint Secretary Mahmood Khan and representatives from the British High Commission and European Union were in attendance. “The progress is attributed to ... -
Dawn - 16:10 Dec 18, 2025
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) ruled on Thursday that Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri’s elevation to the superior court was “without lawful authority”, declaring that he “ceased to hold” the office of the IHC judge forthwith. A division bench led by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan issued the judgment, which was reserved earlier today, on a plea that challenged the legitimacy of Justice Jahangiri’s law degree and appointment as a judge. Political figures and lawyers came out and assailed the IHC ruling, stating that the “case and bench had no merit to be heard”, while standing in solidarity with Jahangiri. PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan called Jahangiri’s removal an “unprecedented and troubling move” in a post on X. “I take strong exception to the order. It further erodes judicial independence,” he wrote. “The constitutional oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution becomes meaningless if judges are unable to protect and defend themselves within th... -
Dawn - 15:03 Dec 18, 2025
PTI members, including former KP minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra, protested the denial of meetings with party founder and ex-premier Imran Khan outside Adiala jail on Thursday. Water cannons were used early on Wednesday to disperse PTI leaders and protesters staging a sit-in near Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail, after his family was denied a meeting with the ex-premier. A court order issued by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on March 24 this year mandated that meetings with Imran would be permitted twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, the PTI maintains that the order is not being honoured. Jhagra was accompanied by PTI leaders, including Aftab Alam, Adnan Qadri, Pir Musavir Khan, Muhammad Israr and Liaqat Ali Khan. They were stopped at the Dahgali checkpoint on their way to the prison and staged a sit-in on the spot. However, they quietly gathered and left after a period of time. Jhagra wrote in a post on X: “870 unique meetings supposedly, but today was the 60th Thursday in a row when no one was allowed t... -
Dawn - 14:39 Dec 18, 2025
Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Tahir Andrabi on Thursday denied reports that Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir would undertake another visit to the United States soon. Reuters reported a day ago that Field Marshal Munir was expected to fly to Washington to meet US President Donald Trump in the coming weeks for a meeting which would likely focus on the Gaza force, according to two sources, one of whom was described as a key player in the CDF’s economic diplomacy. Andrabi’s statement came during the FO’s weekly press briefing today in response to a question, where he contradicted the Reuters report about the visit. “The Reuters story was showing as if the visit had been planned, and there was a finality about it. So, I am contradicting that and I’m contradicting the fact that a visit has been agreed or planned,” Andrabi said. “The fact is that this is information that I do not have, about the timing or any future visit that might take place. We obviously will wait ... -
Dawn - 14:35 Dec 18, 2025
In June, consecutive tremors shook Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi. Fifty-seven low-intensity quakes, measuring 1.5-3.8 on the Richter scale, were recorded on 1-25 June, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) reportedly said. Several months later, October began with a 3.2-magnitude quake in Malir, a neighbourhood in the city’s north. Karachi sits near the boundaries of three major tectonic plates, and multiple fault lines run through the city. Some 49 earthquakes with a magnitude of four or above have struck within 300 km of Karachi in the last decade. Mild quakes can sometimes act as “natural pressure releases, potentially reducing the risk of more destructive ones”, but the frequency of these earthquakes has raised concerns among experts, said geological oceanographer and former director of the Geological Survey of Pakistan, Asif Rana. In Karachi, mild quakes can have potentially devastating impacts on buildings that lack structural integrity. The Association of Builders and Developers stated in July... -
Dawn - 13:49 Dec 18, 2025
The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), in a joint raid along with intelligence and law enforcement agencies, arrested several foreign nationals allegedly running a fraudulent Ponzi scheme network in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA) area on Thursday, a statement from the agency said. A Ponzi scheme is a form of fraud in which belief in the success of a non-existent enterprise is fostered by the payment of quick returns to the first investors from money invested by later investors. Per the statement, the operation was conducted in DHA Phase 1 and Phase 6, where several foreign nationals were taken into custody during the action. “Important and sensitive data was recovered from the suspects, which is now being examined as part of the investigation,” the statement said. Preliminary inquiries suggest the detained individuals were allegedly running a “well-organised network through a Ponzi scheme,” the statement said, adding that the fraud had affected thousands of people, causing them “ser...
6698 items