Dawn
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Dawn - 03:27 Dec 17, 2025
A SCREEN grab from a viral video shows Bihar CM Nitish Kumar pulling down the veil of a doctor, who came to receive a certificate. NEW DELHI: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar invited criticism from the opposition on Tuesday after he pulled off a woman doctor’s hijab at a graduation ceremony. Opening himself up to more questions about his mental health a month after taking oath as the Bihar chief minister for the 10th time, Kumar was seen in a widely shared video clip as pulling a hijab down from the woman’s face during a government event in Patna. The video clip shows the 74-year-old politician handing a certificate to an AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy) doctor during the event on Monday and motioning to her to remove her hijab. Before the woman could react, Kumar is seen reaching out and pulling down the hijab, exposing her mouth and chin. Nitish Kumar’s act of pulling down woman’s face covering draws condemnation, raises questions about his mental health The moment appear... -
Dawn - 03:00 Dec 17, 2025
• NA panel told ‘Beep’ application offers end-to-end encryption, certified for official use • Launch will take place in phases, starting with federal ministries, attached departments • Committee rejects PTA’s 99pc satisfaction claim on mobile phone, internet services ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will roll out a locally developed secure messaging app, ‘Beep’, for government employees in the coming months, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecom was informed on Tuesday. The committee was told that the app — inspired by the Chinese platform WeChat — is almost ready for launch and is expected to meet its project deadline of June 30, 2026. National Information Technology Board (NITB) Chief Executive Faisal Iqbal Ratyal said Beep had been developed locally and certified by relevant government agencies for official use. Committee Chairman Syed Aminul Haque directed the NITB to ensure the timely rollout of the application. “The purpose of launching Beep is to provide a secure messaging p... -
Dawn - 02:50 Dec 17, 2025
Water cannons were again used early on Wednesday to disperse PTI protesters staging a sit-in near Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail, after his family was denied a meeting with the ex-premier. Imran’s sisters, party workers and supporters had staged a sit-in at Factory Naka, demanding their court-mandated meeting with the PTI founder. 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. Despite the IHC’s order, Imran’s sisters — Aleema Khan, Uzma Khan and Noreen Khan Niazi — along with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, have tried and failed to meet Imran over the past several weeks. Last Tuesday, after being denied a meeting with the PTI chief, his sisters and party supporters staged a sit-in, which was later dispersed with water cannons. Early on Wednesday, water cannons were again used to disperse the protesters, with poli... -
Dawn - 23:48 Dec 16, 2025
IN his additional note in Noor Mukadam’s case, Justice Ali Baqar Najafi wrote that the case is “a direct result of a vice spreading in the upper society which we know as living [sic] relationship … The young generation must note its horrible consequences such as in the present case which is also a topic for the social reformist, to discuss in their circles”. The order implies that if a victim conformed to a certain moral or societal expectation, the crime could have been avoided. The reasoning shifts the focus away from the perpetrator’s culpability and onto the victim’s character and choices. It perpetuates a culture in which women are held responsible for the violence inflicted upon them. Victims are expected to predict, prevent, and bear responsibility for the violence committed against them. According to a report by the Sustainable Social Development Organisation, 32,617 cases of gender-based violence (GBV) were reported in 2024 including 2,238 incidents of domestic violence and 547 cases of ‘honour’ kill... -
Dawn - 22:55 Dec 16, 2025
Former Punjab chief minister Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo passed away in Lahore on Tuesday, his secretary Muhammad Asif confirmed to Dawn. He was 86 years old. Asif said the veteran politician died after a prolonged illness and is survived by three sons and four daughters. His grandson, columnist Hassan Kamal Wattoo, also posted about the former CM’s demise on social media platform X. “With profound sorrow, we announce the passing of my beloved grandfather, Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo,” he said, adding that funeral prayers would be held at the Wasawewala stadium in Okara at 2pm tomorrow. President Asif Ali Zardari expressed deep grief over his demise, a post on the Presidency’s X account said. It added that the president paid tribute to Wattoo’s “invaluable public service, role in strengthening democracy, and contributions to national unity”. State-run APP reported that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also condoled his death, saying in a statement that “services of late Manzoor Wattoo for the country’s politics will... -
Dawn - 19:05 Dec 16, 2025
PTI founder Imran Khan’s sisters, party workers and supporters are continuing their sit-in past midnight at Factory Naka, near Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail, to demand their court-mandated 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. Despite the IHC’s order, Imran’s sisters — Aleema Khan, Uzma Khan and Noreen Khan Niazi — along with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, have tried and failed to meet Imran over the past several weeks. Last Tuesday, after being denied a meeting with the PTI chief, his sisters and party supporters staged a sit-in, which was dispersed early morning with water cannons. Late on Tuesday night, Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas arrived at the protest site and began one-on-one consultations with PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raj... -
Dawn - 18:58 Dec 16, 2025
Mountaineer Samina Baig has completed an expedition where she skied to the last degree of the South Pole, according to her brother. Mahboob Ali told Dawn that she was part of an international expedition organised by Elite Exped, which departed from Pakistan on December 2. It reached Union Glacier on December 6 and she completed her journey on December 14. In a post on her Facebook page, Baig said she was “deeply grateful and humbled” to have successfully skied to the last degree of the South Pole, part of her pursuit of the Explorer’s Grand Slam. “This ski journey has never been accomplished by any Pakistani in the past. It has been one of the most challenging and meaningful experiences of my life, and it is still difficult to put into words,” she wrote. “From standing on the summit of Mount Everest in 2013 to completing the Seven Summits, the highest mountains on each continent, from climbing K2 and Nanga Parbat to now reaching the South Pole, this journey has taken me across the highest mountains and the mo... -
Dawn - 18:51 Dec 16, 2025
Indian police said on Tuesday that one of the gunmen in Australia’s Bondi Beach shooting, Sajid Akram, was originally from the southern Indian city of Hyderabad but had limited contact with his family in India. The death toll in one of Australia’s worst mass shootings stands at 16, including 50-year-old Akram, who was shot by police. The man’s 24-year-old son and alleged accomplice, identified by local media as Naveed Akram, was in critical condition in hospital after also being shot. Hyderabad is the capital of Telangana state. Australian police said both men had travelled to the Philippines last month, the father on an Indian passport and the son on an Australian one. “The family members have expressed no knowledge of his radical mindset or activities, nor of the circumstances that led to his radicalisation,” Telangana state police said in a statement. The purpose of the trip is under investigation, officials said, adding it was not conclusive whether they were linked to any terrorist group or whether they ... -
Dawn - 18:44 Dec 16, 2025
Donald Trump’s top national security officials faced a grilling from lawmakers Tuesday on US strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific — operations that have raised alarms about escalating military force near Venezuela. The House and Senate briefings, led by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, came amid mounting unease in Congress over the president’s widening campaign in waters off Latin America, and as lawmakers weigh measures to curb Trump’s authority to act without their approval. US officials say the operations target narcotics bound for American shores. Critics counter that the campaign — which has destroyed at least 26 boats and killed at least 95 people, according to US military figures — is legally ambiguous and strategically unclear. The classified sessions preceded a possible Senate vote on resolutions aimed at restricting Trump from launching military action against Venezuela without congressional consent. But Senate Democratic Minority Leader C... -
Dawn - 18:35 Dec 16, 2025
A police official and his brother were martyred in a gun attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat district on Tuesday. The constable had completed his polio duty and was travelling to his village with his brother when motorcycle-riding terrorists opened fire near the Chwar Khel area, said a spokesperson for Lakki Marwat police. The bodies of Amir Nawaz and Ameer Mohammad, siblings of former district councilor Ali Gul, were transferred to the district headquarters hospital. Immediately after the incident, a heavy police contingent reached the scene and launched a search operation in the area to arrest the culprits. The funeral prayers of the martyred constable and his brother were offered later in the evening District Police Officer Nazir Khan, Deputy Commissioner Hamidullah Khan, SP Investigation Murad Ali Khan, along with other senior police and district administration officials, police personnel, and a large number of relatives of the martyrs, attended the funeral. In another attack on a polio team in KP... -
Dawn - 17:44 Dec 16, 2025
Afghanistan’s Minister for Public Health Noor Jalal Jalali on Tuesday reached the Indian capital of New Delhi on an official visit, the country’s health ministry said. The visit marks the third by an Afghan official in the last three months, after Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Industry Minister Nooruddin Azizi visited New Delhi. “The multi-day visit aims to strengthen bilateral health cooperation, promote the exchange of experience, and coordinate joint efforts,” said the Afghan health ministry. According to the statement, Jalali is to hold separate meetings with Indian officials, particularly health authorities, and take part in several organised programmes. “Discussions will also focus on capacity-building opportunities for Afghan health workers, the import of quality medicines into Afghanistan, medical equipment, and other related issues,” it said. The visit comes after the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan barred the traders from importing pharmaceutical goods from Pakistan. Ran... -
Dawn - 17:34 Dec 16, 2025
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday suspended the schedule for re-polling at 22 polling stations of NA-251 (Sherani-cum-Zhob-cum-Qila Saifullah), which was to take place on December 18. A notification to this effect was issued a day after a two-member bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Shehzad Ahmad Khan, suspended the election tribunal’s order of re-polling at the polling stations. JUI-F’s candidate Syed Samiullah had won the seat in the 2024 general elections with a thin margin of less than 100 votes. After hearing a petition filed by Pashtoonkhwa National Awami Party Chairman Khushhal Khan Kakar, who challenged the 2024 general election results, the election tribunal, headed by Justice Aamir Nawaz Rana, ordered re-polling at 22 polling stations on the grounds that Form-45s from the stations were missing. The tribunal’s decision was challenged before the SC by JUI-F legislator Samiullah. The SC bench issued the stay order against the re-polling, s... -
Dawn - 17:19 Dec 16, 2025
All 20 passengers abducted from a bus by Katcha area dacoits near Ubauro in Sindh’s Ghotki district have been recovered unharmed, the Sukkur Range Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) said later on Tuesday. Around 25 dacoits had attacked the bus in Sadiqabad on Monday night and kidnapped several passengers after injuring the driver. DIG Sukkur Range, Captain (retired) Faisal Abdullah Chachar, told Dawn that he reached Ghotki and led a large contingent of police personnel from different stations in Ghotki, Sukkur, Khairpur and Kashmore, along with Rangers officials. DIG Chachar led the joint operation with other senior officers, including Ghotki Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Muhammad Anwar Khetran, Sukkur SSP Azhar Khan Mughal and Khairpur SSP Samiullah Soomro. “We rescued all hostages unharmed from the clutches of the dacoits, with whom we engaged in a gunfight,” the DIG said. All routes leading to the Katcha area were blocked in time by police, preventing the dacoits from taking the hostages deep... -
Dawn - 15:35 Dec 16, 2025
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and the All Pakistan Newspaper Employees Confederation (Apnec) on Tuesday condemned the ban on government advertisements to the Dawn Media Group and its outlets and lamented the attack on freedom of expression. The HRCP expressed grave concern over the “rapidly shrinking space for independent and critical news reporting in the country”, including the ban on government advertisements to the Dawn Media Group and its outlets. The development comes as several media bodies have condemned the government’s unannounced restriction on advertisements to Dawn Media Group’s TV and radio outlets — imposed after curtailing ads to its flagship newspaper — and called on the authorities to immediately rescind the ban. “The HRCP expresses grave concern over the rapidly shrinking space for independent and critical news reporting in the country, including the reported 13-month ban on government advertisements to the Dawn Media Group, which has recently been extended to Dawn News and... -
Dawn - 14:56 Dec 16, 2025
Indonesia has welcomed the arrival of the first giant panda born in the country, marking a significant milestone after years of efforts to breed the vulnerable species. The cub was born on Nov. 27 at the Taman Safari Indonesia wildlife park in Bogor, West Java, to giant panda pair Cai Tao and Hu Chun. Both pandas arrived in the park in 2017, under a 10-year joint research programme and as a symbol of the friendship between Indonesia and China. Taman Safari Indonesia’s Corporate Communication Manager Trully Erlynda said the birth is the culmination of a decade-long international collaboration. “We welcome the panda cub’s birth with gratitude and joy. It is a proud year-end milestone for Indonesia and a sign of advancing international conservation cooperation,” Trully said on Monday. In August, the veterinary team at Taman Safari Indonesia, working with the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) in Berlin, performed an artificial insemination procedure on giant pandas Cai Tao and Hu Chun in an ef... -
Dawn - 13:07 Dec 16, 2025
In a message on the 11th anniversary of the Army Public School (APS) attack, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said the nation stood firm and united in its resolve to eradicate terrorism. In the deadliest terror attack in the country’s history, at least 144 people ─ mostly schoolchildren ─ were killed when heavily armed militants stormed the army-run public school on Dec 16, 2014. Seven soldiers of the Special Services Group and two officers were among the wounded. In a message posted on his X account, PM Shehbaz said, “Today, we commemorate the martyrs of the APS Peshawar tragedy — the innocent children, teachers and staff whose sacrifice is forever etched in our national conscience. “Their sacrifice remains a constant reminder of our collective responsibility to defeat terrorism,” the premier stressed. “The Pakistani nation will always stand united, firm and unwavering in its resolve to eradicate the scourge of terrorism,” he added, praying for the families of the martyrs. In his message, President A... -
Dawn - 12:49 Dec 16, 2025
At least two people, including a constable, were killed after unidentified assailants attacked a polio team in the Salarzai tehsil of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district, the police said, as the nationwide polio campaign entered its second day. The attack comes a day after the government launched the final polio campaign of 2025, which is set to run until December 21. Public Relations Officer (PRO) police, Israr Khan, confirmed to Dawn that two people, including a passerby and a policeman guarding the polio team, were killed in the attack on Tuesday afternoon in the Thangi area of Salarzai. Khan identified the martyred cop as Constable Sajad Ahmed, who passed away after sustaining critical injuries, while another civilian was “shot dead by the armed men when he attempted to chase after the assailants.” “Local residents also confirmed the account, while the assailants managed to escape,” Khan said, adding that the police had launched a search operation. He also confirmed that no polio workers were harmed in t... -
Dawn - 10:09 Dec 16, 2025
Flowers were laid on Tuesday in front of the shuttered shop of Ahmed al Ahmed, the 43-year-old tobacco shop owner who locals hailed as the Bondi hero after he wrestled a gun from one of the attackers during a mass shooting on Sydney’s Bondi Beach. Ahmed was identified on social media as the bystander who hid behind parked cars before charging at the gunman from behind, seizing his rifle and knocking him to the ground. The act saved several lives, authorities have said. View this post on Instagram “I think he’s a role model for us all and it really encompasses the Aussie spirit and I’m incredibly proud to live in the area and I think everybody is, it blows me away, absolutely blows me away,” said Adam Pogorzelski, a local resident in Ahmed’s neighbourhood, in the suburb of Sutherland, about 26 kilometres from the centre of Sydney. Ahmed, a father of two, remains in a Sydney hospital with gunshot wounds. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited him earlier on Tuesday and told media that Ahmed will undergo more s... -
Dawn - 10:00 Dec 16, 2025
IHC dismisses Justice Jahangiri’s objections on CJ Dogar-led division bench hearing fake degree case
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has turned down Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri’s objections on a division bench, led by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, hearing challenges to the legitimacy of his law degree and appointment as a judge, it emerged on Tuesday. The objections were raised by Justice Jahangiri, also an IHC judge, during the hearing of the petition challenging his qualification on Monday, with CJ Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan presiding over the proceedings. The same bench previously also barred Justice Jahangiri from judicial work in September in the case, but the order was later set aside by the Supreme Court (SC). Justice Jahangiri had appeared in person before the bench yesterday and presented his arguments. A court order issued after the hearing, a copy of which is available with Dawn, said he had raised preliminary objections on the constitution of a division bench instead of a single bench to hear lawyer Mian Dawood’s petition. Moreover, Justice Jahangiri “expressed his no ... -
Dawn - 09:57 Dec 16, 2025
The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said on Tuesday that dense fog had affected its flight schedule in Lahore, Multan, Sialkot and Faisalabad, affecting both domestic and international operations. In a statement, the spokesperson for the national carrier urged passengers travelling domestically and internationally to obtain the latest information about their flights before leaving for the airport. The spokesperson said that temporary changes were made to the schedule to ensure passenger safety and to avoid unnecessary delays in flight operations. He said that dense fog affected visibility significantly, creating challenges for aircraft during landing and takeoff. He added that passengers could contact the PIA helpline for updates on the status of their flights. According to the weekly weather outlook issued by the Pakistan Meteorological Department, cold and dry weather was likely to expected in most parts of the country on Tuesday. “Moderate to dense fog/smog is likely to persist over Punjab, upper Sin...
6698 items