Dawn
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Dawn - 07:24 Aug 09, 2026
Pakistan’s Muhammad Zubair emerged victorious in the Tekken 8 championship at the Esports World Cup (EWC) in Paris on Saturday, becoming the new World Champion of the popular fighting game. Zubair achieved a clean victory over South Korea’s LowHigh in the grand final of the tournament held from Aug 5-8, after having just scraped through during the early stages. “He came out of nowhere and took the crown!” EWC posted on social media following the player’s triumph. In Friday’s second group stage, Zubair decisively defeated another Pakistani eSports icon and Tekken star — Lahore-born Arslan “Ash” Siddique — before once again beating the eight-time Evolution Championship Series (Evo) winner in a thrilling 5-4 semifinal on Saturday. Arslan is one of Pakistan’s most prominent esports figures and one of the leading names in the global fighting game community. Advancing into the grand final, Zubair faced off against LowHigh in a decisively less close game, sweeping his opponent with a 5-0 victory. The newly-crowned ... -
Dawn - 05:44 Aug 09, 2026
A short video recently circulating on social media shows Adolf Hitler drinking from a can of Fanta while angrily proclaiming, “I hate juice.” Though millions mistook it for an authentic commercial, sparking fierce online debate, it is actually an AI-generated meme. Its artificial nature is fairly obvious, given that the colour, fonts and logo on the can look nothing like actual Fanta packaging. So why did so many people fall for it? The answer lies in our current media topography, where “shockvertising” has been methodically normalised. The term ‘shockvertising’ emerged in the early 1990s, though the practice dates back to public health campaigns in the late 1960s, and describes a marketing strategy that deliberately violates social, moral or aesthetic boundaries to startle, offend or disturb an audience. Unlike traditional advertisements that highlight product benefits, shockvertising relies on instinctive reactions like fear, disgust, horror or outrage to cut through commercial noise. This is done to drive ... -
Dawn - 05:38 Aug 09, 2026
PARIS: FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who has endured a week of scathing criticism revolving around the now shelved private investment plan, has been accused by a British newspaper of paying off an alleged lover while at UEFA. According to The Telegraph, the Italian-Swiss lawyer, who served as secretary general of European football’s governing body from 2009 to 2016, also previously used his influence to secure a promotion for the same UEFA employee with whom he was in an intimate relationship. Infantino has categorically denied the allegations, according to the article which was published late on Friday. When contacted by AFP on Saturday, a FIFA spokesperson had not responded. According to The Telegraph, which did not cite its sources, this employee received a “a six-figure sum” upon her departure — at an unspecified time — in addition to the payment of tuition fees for a business school amounting to around 45,000 ($60,700). When contacted by AFP, UEFA acknowledged that “a departure payment was made to the... -
Dawn - 05:30 Aug 09, 2026
KARACHI: In a major blow to hopes of easing Karachi’s transportation crisis anytime soon, the Sindh government’s decision to cancel the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Red Line construction contract has been declared “unlawful, invalid, null and void”. The ruling was delivered by the Dispute Resolution Board after the Sindh High Court asked the parties to approach the forum. The Dispute Board’s decision also delivered an extraordinary indictment of the very agency entrusted with executing the project — TransKarachi — questioning its institutional capacity and pointing out its lack of experienced project management needed to administer a project of this magnitude and complexity. The contract requires both the employer (TransKarachi/Sindh government) and the contractor to resolve the dispute through an independent Dispute Board before resorting to formal court lawsuits. The Sindh government had announced termination of the BRT Red Line project’s key segment called Lot-2 from Mosamiyat to Numaish, over “lack of progress... -
Dawn - 05:27 Aug 09, 2026
• Eight-member board exhumed the corpse in presence of magistrate, family • Police surgeon says cause of death reserved till receipt of reports • Says young businessman suffered injuries on head and face • Family lawyer wants investigation team replaced KARACHI: A fresh post-mortem examination conducted following the exhumation of the body of young business owner Mir Ali Raza on Saturday found that he had been shot in the back, evidence that ruled out the possibility of suicide. Sources told Dawn that an eight-member medical board that exhumed the body in the presence of a judicial magistrate at the Tariq Road graveyard also found “multiple injuries on the head and face” and “fractures on the nasal bone and skull” that indicated he might have been subjected to torture before being fatally shot. Raza, owner of eatery Wafflix, had gone missing on July 28. The 25-year-old’s body was found a day later with a gunshot wound in bushes near Shahi Qila Ground in Gulistan-i-Jauhar. While his family is convinced that he... -
Dawn - 04:54 Aug 09, 2026
IN April I was living in Islamabad, in a leafy neighbourhood I had moved to after a few months cooped up in the Red Zone. The talks were on and the city was full of foreign correspondents. We passed a coffee shop on our way out of town and half the café was press. What I remember is how much everybody loved Islamabad. On camera and off it. The hills, the food, the hospitality. Testimonials. The state was delighted, and none of it required a form. It is August now. Those same correspondents cannot travel to any city outside Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi to produce a story without a No Objection Certificate from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The fixers who drove them around must register on a government portal, as must freelancers, translators and camera operators. For a weekend in Murree, a journalist may apply. Permission may be granted within three working days. Feted in April. Registered in August. We do not even change the cast. And Al Jazeera’s website has not opened from my desk in Karach... -
Dawn - 04:38 Aug 09, 2026
PAKISTAN’S security forces are fighting terrorism with commitment and high intensity. From sanitisation campaigns and intelligence-based operations to targeted raids and large-scale engagements, the tempo of action is rising. Yet terrorist violence is not receding. July recorded the year’s highest number of attacks, underscoring the grim reality that the security situation is deteriorating, particularly in KP and Balochistan, despite mounting operational pressure on terrorist groups. The return of violence to areas once declared cleared of terrorism is especially troubling. Last week, Swat suffered a devastating suicide bombing outside the Kabal police station. The attacker struck as participants were leaving the Swat People’s Peace Uprising, organised by residents and civil society groups alarmed by renewed terrorist activity in the valley. Seventeen people, including police personnel and civilians, were killed, while more than a dozen were wounded. Though there is confusion about whether the TTP had targete... -
Dawn - 04:21 Aug 09, 2026
IN the midst of a gruelling war between the US and Iran — currently at a stalemate — the signing of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye on Friday is a highly symbolic development. It comes at a time when the American defence umbrella has proved of little help in protecting Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf Arab states. Rather, the presence of US military assets in these states has pulled them into the war, as the Iranians and their regional armed allies target these facilities. Seen in this context, many questions swirl around the new defence agreement, specifically the fact that it considers an attack against one signatory to be an attack against all. The prime minister, the Saudi crown prince and the Turkish president were all upbeat about the new pact. PM Shehbaz Sharif termed it “historic”, while President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it is open to “friendly nations”. This is not an ‘Islamic Nato’. Moreover, similar alliances have been attempted before, such as the Isl... -
Dawn - 04:12 Aug 09, 2026
THE PM House is illuminated in green and red lights, depicting the national flags of the three signatories, on the eve of celebrations marking the defence agreement.—APP • Shehbaz visits Madina before departure • Turkish minister says pact same as Nato’s Article 5 • Bilawal terms it historic document for regional peace ISLAMABAD: The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has welcomed the signing of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, terming it an “important strategic step”. The pact aims to strengthen collective deterrence and empowers the three states to treat an attack against one of them as an attack against all of them. In a statement posted on X, OIC Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha expressed his “strong appreciation and support” for the agreement, describing it as an “important strategic step” that reflected the three countries’ commitment to strengthening regional and international cooperation. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince Mohamm... -
Dawn - 04:06 Aug 09, 2026
Firefighters extinguished a fire that broke out early on Sunday at a facility at Aramco’s Jazan refinery in southwestern Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Energy Ministry said, adding that there were no injuries. Aramco’s industrial security teams had brought the fire under control and the relevant authorities were completing procedures to deal with the incident, the ministry said on X. It did not say what caused the fire. The Jazan refinery processes 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day and produces refined products including gasoline and ultra-light sulfur diesel. Aramco shut down the refinery on July 27 following an attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels that damaged the plant’s Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) complex and tank farm area, according to a note from consultancy IIR seen by Reuters. The Houthis said at the time they had struck Aramco sites in Jazan and Yanbu. The attacks raised the prospect that threats to Red Sea shipping and Saudi oil infrastructure could widen global disruption stemming from th... -
Dawn - 03:46 Aug 09, 2026
KARACHI: Consumers continued to face rising prices for wheat and wheat flour as the federal government plans to import one million tonnes of grain to curb the escalating costs. According to the Sensitive Price Index data as at Aug 6, the prices of 20 kg wheat flour, 10 kg wheat bag and one kg fine flour have further increased in Karachi to Rs2,700-3,000, Rs1,200 and Rs158.56, up from Rs2,600-2,900, Rs1,160 and Rs149.46, respectively, prevailing at the week ending July 30. The national average prices of a 20 kg flour bag, 10 kg wheat, and 1 kg fine flour for the week ending Aug 6 were Rs2,200-3,133, Rs1,235, and Rs153, as compared to Rs2,200-3,133, Rs1,223, and Rs152.14 for the week ending July 30. In the above period, wheat flour price has risen by 0.52pc. Traders said that the government is not paying any attention to the rising prices of wheat and wheat flour ahead of one million wheat imports. If the government does not bother to control prices before the arrival of imported wheat, consumers will not deriv... -
Dawn - 03:21 Aug 09, 2026
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan team has won one gold and two silver medals at the 3rd International Nuclear Science Olympiad (INSO-2026), held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from Aug 2 to 8. Supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the competition brought together around 120 students and experts from 19 countries, including China, Japan, Russia, Turkiye, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia. The team was selected and trained by the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), under the auspices of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). Muhammad Ali from Govt College University, Lahore, won a gold medal, while Muhammad Usman from F.G. Sir Syed College, The Mall, Rawalpindi, and Seerat Fatima from Nixor College, Karachi, secured silver medals. Syed Shuja Haider from Sundar STEM School, Lahore, also represented Pakistan at the Olympiad. The students were selected through the Pakistan Nuclear Science Olympiad, an initiative of PAEC aimed at identifying and nurturing y... -
Dawn - 03:15 Aug 09, 2026
• DC urges civil society, elected representatives to help reopen institution by tomorrow • Says nursing college registration also at risk due to protests in Rawalakot MUZAFFARABAD: A senior government official in the troubled Poonch district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) has appealed to civil society, local elected representatives and other influential members of the community to help ensure the reopening of the area’s medical college before Aug 10, warning that continued closure could cost around 500 students an academic year and also jeopardise the registration of a proposed nursing college. In a press release, Poonch Deputy Commissioner Syed Mumtaz Kazmi said that the Poonch Medical College, Rawalakot, located a few hundred yards from the outlawed Joint Awami Action Committee’s (JAAC) Eidgah sit-in, had been forced to suspend academic and administrative activities because the administration was unable to function amid the prevailing security situation. The organisers of the sit-in had established checkpo... -
Dawn - 02:59 Aug 09, 2026
• Agents deducting Rs1,500 to Rs2,000 from payments, say beneficiaries • BISP introduces Social Protection Wallet to reduce dependence on agents WHEN Koonj Jhanjhanjo finally received Rs12,500 from a Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) agent, she had little choice but to accept that Rs11,620 of the amount due to her had been withheld. Along with her husband, Saghir, she spent an entire afternoon in the scorching heat, hoping to receive the remaining amount after the device operator — an agent authorised by BISP and a partner bank to make disbursements — refused to pay what was owed to her. “When we insisted, the operator replied arrogantly that the rest of the amount would be paid later. We objected but finally received the money (despite the massive deduction), after an agonising wait in scorching heat,” her husband told Dawn. Koonj, whose husband is a daily-wage earner, is a BISP beneficiary from the Husri area of Hyderabad. Her entitlement includes financial support under the Benazir Taleemi Wazaif and... -
Dawn - 02:48 Aug 09, 2026
A recently sealed placer gold extraction site in Hunza. —Photo by Gilgit-Baltistan Environmental Protection Agency • Authorities warn of risks to Diamer-Bhasha Dam, roads, bridges and settlements • Untreated wash water, debris and oil from machinery areas of concern GILGIT: Increasing placer gold mining activities in streams and rivers are threatening the fragile ecosystem of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), with authorities describing them as a serious risk to dams, including the Diamer-Bhasha Dam, as well as roads, bridges, important infrastructure and human settlements along riverbanks. Currently, a large number of local companies, in joint ventures with national and multinational companies, are engaged in extracting gold from rivers and streams across GB. Sources said placer gold mining activities in rivers and streams had increased across the region in violation of environmental laws, causing environmental degradation and putting roads, bridges, government and private infrastructure, human settlements and agri... -
Dawn - 02:44 Aug 09, 2026
• Petitioners term concessional treatment of oil tanker contractors ‘discriminatory’ • Argue distinction based merely on nature of goods being transported ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has sought responses from the federal government, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and other respondents on a petition challenging the increase in withholding tax (WHT) on goods transportation from 6pc to 7pc through the Finance Act, 2026. A division bench comprising Justices Khadim Hussain Soomro and Muhammad Asif also issued a notice to the attorney general for Pakistan (AGP) after the petitioners challenged the vires of relevant provisions of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. The court fixed the matter for further hearing on Sept 17. The petition was filed by Advocate Kashif Ali Malik on behalf of I.S. Enterprises and Shaheen Freight Services. During the hearing, the counsel argued that the enhanced WHT was discriminatory, particularly in view of the concessional tax regime available to oil tanker contractors und... -
Dawn - 02:38 Aug 09, 2026
• Private firm says bus operations to be suspended from 11th as talks with authorities fail • Punjab Mass Transit Authority calls move ‘blackmail’, vows to challenge court order against it LAHORE: A private firm operating the Lahore Metro Bus on the 27km Gajjumata-Shahdra route has decided to suspend its operations from Aug 11 after talks with the Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMA) over rising fuel costs and other issues failed to yield a solution. As the company has served a final notice on the PMA, the authority has termed the move an attempt to blackmail and pressure the government into accepting its demands. It said it would challenge the court verdict against it and invoke a clause in the contract that provides for the appointment of arbitrators by both parties to settle any dispute. According to the final notice, the company referred to its letters of July 31 and Aug 4, which had yet to be responded to by the PMA, and a meeting held on Aug 6 between company representatives and authority officials regar... -
Dawn - 02:32 Aug 09, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Saturday ruled that a complaint filed by a Point-of-Sale (PoS) agent against the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) over the blocking of his retailer ID was not maintainable under consumer protection laws, as the relationship did not constitute a “consumer service” arrangement. A two-judge SC bench, headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, issued the verdict on an appeal filed by BISP Deputy Director Muhammad Ishaq against the Nov 6, 2025 order of the Peshawar High Court, Bannu bench, in a consumer protection appeal. The Supreme Court, however, set aside the judgements of the Consumer Protection Court, Bannu, as well as the PHC, which had earlier directed the BISP and Bank Alfalah to restore the agent’s ID. “We held that [the] complaint under Section 13 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Consumer Protection Act of 1997 was not maintainable,” observed Mazhar in a 14-page order. Rules Point-of-Sale agent cannot invoke consumer law However, in the interest of justice, the Supreme Court... -
Dawn - 02:26 Aug 09, 2026
KARACHI: Goods carriers remain parked in Mauripur on Saturday, disrupting cargo movement to and from the city’s ports.—Online • Movement of over 400,000 goods-carrying vehicles suspended • Transporters refuse to end strike before talks with govt KARACHI: A countrywide strike by goods transporters and oil tankers started affecting industrial and export supply chains on Saturday, with operators vowing to continue the protest until the outcome of talks with the government on Monday, while manufacturers warned that prolonged disruption could halt production and jeopardise export commitments. Pakistan Goods Transporters Alliance Chairman Nisar Hussain Jafry told Dawn that “our countrywide strike will continue as our leadership intends to meet the ministers concerned with petroleum, transport and ports on Monday”. He said the movement of more than 400,000 goods-carrying vehicles, ranging from small to large, had been suspended from Saturday until the outcome of Monday’s meeting. “We have already unloaded our contai... -
Dawn - 00:43 Aug 09, 2026
KARACHI: Police on Saturday claimed to have arrested 33 suspects after violence erupted during an anti-encroachment drive at Shafiq Mor. The police said that the angry mob attacked the police and district administration, causing injuries to them, blocked main roads, resorted to firing and attacked vehicles with stones. According to a police statement, on Friday night, the district administration carried out an anti-encroachment drive on Shah Waliullah Road at Haji Agha Hotel in the limits of Samanabad. During the drive, the owner of the hotel, namely Mohammed Hashim, and his employees put up resistance and attacked both police and district administration officials, resulting in injuries to SHO Hyderi Market Adeel Ahmed, constable Asif and one administration official. The police took immediate action and arrested hotel owner Hashim along with three other suspects, who were shifted to the police station for further legal action. Later, one suspect, namely Jaffer Shah, along with four-five armed guards travellin...
12682 items