Dawn
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Dawn - 03:36 Aug 08, 2026
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ruled that customer data entrusted to a bank constitutes “property” under the law and its dishonest misuse may amount to criminal breach of trust. Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh issued the ruling granting post-arrest bail to a telecom franchise operator accused in a multi-million-rupee SIM-swap fraud case while refusing bail to a private bank employee. The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) had registered the case about the alleged fraudulent issuance of duplicate SIMs, using victims’ CNICs and fingerprints and unauthorised transfers of Rs10.45m from six customers’ accounts of the private bank. Justice Sheikh maintained that customer information maintained by banks – including account particulars and registered mobile numbers – falls within the definition of “data” under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca), and that Section 27(2) of Peca expressly treats such data as “property” for offences relating to property under the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).... -
Dawn - 03:31 Aug 08, 2026
KARACHI: Four armed men stormed the premises of the Edhi shelter home at Sohrab Goth on Friday, held staff at gunpoint and took away over Rs6.5 million, police and the charity said. An Edhi Foundation spokesperson told Dawn that orphaned children lived in the shelter home where an estimated 250-300 staff also performed their duty. He said employees of the charity had drawn Rs6.5 million cash from a bank, which was supposed to be distributed among the staff as monthly salary. In the meantime, four robbers ostensibly chasing them entered the premises and snatched the cash before fleeing. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said the Edhi home was a source of help for the poor and helpless people and a robbery at such a centre was unacceptable. He directed the officials concerned to ensure immediate arrest of the culprits. Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2026 -
Dawn - 03:27 Aug 08, 2026
PAKISTAN has already paid a heavy human price this monsoon, even as another dangerous spell approaches. NDMA figures covering June 26 to Aug 7 record 151 deaths — 73 of them children — and 448 injuries, besides damage to more than 1,200 houses and dozens of bridges and kilometres of roads. Chitral shows how quickly such destruction multiplies into other emergencies. Glofs, cloudbursts and flash floods have washed away bridges and severed roads, leaving communities unable to reach healthcare. Attendance at Lower Chitral’s district headquarters hospital has fallen by around 55pc, while patients from some isolated villages have stopped arriving altogether. Doctors are already reporting gastroenteritis and dysentery and fear outbreaks of typhoid and malaria. Pregnant women unable to reach hospitals face particular danger, while post-traumatic stress is emerging among disaster-hit communities. The situation shows us how extreme weather kills not only through torrents and collapsing homes, but also by cutting peopl... -
Dawn - 03:22 Aug 08, 2026
• Corpse of IBA graduate to be dug up for fresh autopsy today • Exhumation planned for Friday postponed after family objected to abrupt reconstitution of board KARACHI: After a day of uncertainty over the exhumation of the body of IBA graduate and businessman Mir Raza Ali, the Sindh government on Friday evening restored the original medical board, which is set to exhume the body on Saturday (today). The exhumation, which was scheduled for Friday morning, was postponed after Raza’s family objected to the abrupt reconstitution of a medical board and inclusion of members from outside Karachi division. Raza’s body was found in bushes in Gulistan-i-Jauhar last month, a day after he went missing on July 28. On Thursday, a judicial magistrate had allowed the exhumation of the body on an application filed by Raza’s father, Mir Hussain Ali, directing the police surgeon and the Sindh health secretary to constitute a medical board for the exhumation. The Sindh health department then constituted an eight-member board, wi... -
Dawn - 03:02 Aug 08, 2026
• Tells Senate panel bureau’s hands are tied under amended law to act against govt officials • Says private sector accounts for 45pc of corruption ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Friday urged the government to withdraw a restriction that prevents it from taking action against government officials accused of corruption involving less than Rs500 million. “Untie our hands and withdraw the Rs500m restriction; otherwise, people [government officials] will become addicted to committing corruption,” NAB Chairman retired Lt Gen Nazir Ahmed said during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice. Under the amended NAB law, the anti-graft watchdog cannot take up cases involving amounts below Rs500m. As a result, a large number of cases it had been pursuing were transferred to other departments, such as the Federal Investigation Agency. Mr Ahmed said that because of the restriction, a station house officer (SHO) of the police enjoyed more powers than a NAB investigation officer... -
Dawn - 02:56 Aug 08, 2026
• Mission to resume once weather improves • Bodies of Nirmal Purja, four other foreign climbers flown to Islamabad for repatriation to their respective countries GILGIT: The search operation to recover the remains of Pakistani mountaineer Sohail Sakhi and two foreign climbers missing after the deadly Broad Peak avalanche has been suspended due to the continuing risk of fresh avalanches, rescue officials said on Friday. Search teams spent eight days trying to locate the remains of Sohail Sakhi, American climber Sarah Mallory Geis, and Nepalese climber Nawang Thindu Sherpa before deteriorating conditions forced authorities to halt the mission. Ayaz Shigri, General Secretary of the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP), said a leg believed to belong to Geis had earlier been recovered. He added that Nawang Thindu Sherpa’s body has been located but cannot be retrieved because it lies in a highly dangerous, avalanche-prone area. He said rescue efforts would resume once weather conditions improve and the area is safe. ... -
Dawn - 02:45 Aug 08, 2026
KARACHI: As concern grows over recent restrictions imposed on foreign media outlets operating in the country, global human rights watchdogs have termed the fresh guidelines issued by the government “an attack on press freedom”. Until the new government restrictions were first circulated widely over the weekend, only foreign citizens working as journalists were routinely subject to controls on movement outside Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. Now, Pakistani journalists, fixers and others working for foreign media will need government permission to travel and report outside those three major cities and must register with the government – even for leisure travel. The controls mark “an alarming step” in Pakistan’s “narrowing space for press freedom,” said Patricia Gossman of Human Rights Watch, calling for them to be “immediately reversed”. Meanwhile, Amnesty International said on Friday that the restrictions on foreign news outlets, extending to local staff of these organisations, under the new Foreign Media Facil... -
Dawn - 02:28 Aug 08, 2026
• MBS, Shehbaz, Erdogan sign Makkah Joint Defence Agreement to boost ‘collective deterrence against any aggression’ • PM hopes accord will serve as ‘shield of peace’; Erdogan says alliance is open to other friendly nations • Saudi minister insists new bloc no threat to ‘any country’ ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye on Friday signed a joint defence pact in the holy city of Makkah, which empowers member states to treat an attack against one of them as an attack against all. The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, which seeks to strengthen the collective security of the three states, was signed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince and PM Mohammad bin Salman, and Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Al-Safa Palace. The signing of the agreement was announced by three countries through a joint statement, which was published by Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) and Saudi Arabia’s official SPA press agency. It said the pact reflected the three countries’ “shared commitment to further... -
Dawn - 02:28 Aug 08, 2026
• Provisions for lifetime blue passport scrapped; number of lifetime arms licences for MPAs reduced to four • Assembly resolves to resist ‘proposed takeover’ of Hazara areas by federal government PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly on Friday withdrew controversial provisions from the recently enacted KP Provincial Assembly (Powers, Immunities and Privileges) Act, 2026, including the issuance of official passports to lawmakers and their spouses for life. The provincial assembly had earlier in April passed the KP Provincial Assembly (Powers, Immunities and Privileges) Act, 2026, granting blue passports to members and their spouses, arms licences, blanket immunity from preventive detention, and making the speaker’s permission mandatory before arresting members on criminal charges. However, the law faced harsh criticism from the media and the general public, prompting KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi to order a review of the legislation last week. KP Information Minister Shafi Jan also announced that the g... -
Dawn - 02:15 Aug 08, 2026
• Govt’s legal team set to meet Presidency officials as summary remains pending with Zardari • Officials say matter now sub judice after petition filed in IHC ISLAMABAD: In a last-ditch effort to break the deadlock over judicial appointments, the government’s legal team has scheduled a meeting with its counterparts at the Presidency on Sunday, as authorities explore the possibility of unilaterally notifying the confirmation and appointment of high court judges. The development comes as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has yet to issue its ruling on the maintainability of a petition challenging President Asif Ali Zardari’s alleged failure to assent to the recommendations of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan. The JCP, during its meetings on July 20 and 21, recommended the confirmation of four additional judges of the Peshawar High Court, a six-month extension for an additional judge of the Sindh High Court, and the appointment of 19 additional judges to the Lahore, Islamabad, Sindh and Balochistan high courts. ... -
Dawn - 19:08 Aug 07, 2026
The government on Friday reduced the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs2.20 and Rs1.50 per litre, respectively. Following the revision, petrol will retail at Rs327.62 per litre while HSD will cost Rs380.86 per litre. The government continues to levy Rs114 per litre in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs100 per litre on HSD. According to the Petroleum Division’s notification, the new prices will apply from August 8 to 10. The diesel price has come down from a peak of Rs520.35 recorded on April 3. Its price had started rising from Rs281 per litre after the US-Iran war broke out on February 28. The petrol price had peaked at Rs458.41 on April 3 after beginning its upward trajectory from Rs266 in the first week of March. Earlier, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik announced that fuel prices would now be fixed on a daily basis due to fluctuations in international market prices following renewed hostilities between Iran and the US. The government had been announcing weekly revisions to fuel prices s... -
Dawn - 18:18 Aug 07, 2026
Goods transporters and oil tanker operators began suspending their services on Friday night after negotiations with the government failed, ahead of their nationwide wheel-jam strike scheduled for Saturday. All Pakistan Goods Transport Itehad spokesman and All Pakistan Goods Transport Owners Association President Mohammad Owais Chaudhry Advocate told Dawn that talks with Federal Minister for Communications Aleem Khan and other government officials had failed. He said the negotiations ended without a breakthrough, prompting transporters, including edible oil tanker operators, petroleum oil tanker operators, truckers, trailer operators and other intercity transporters, to proceed with their previously announced strike. “We have informed the government side about the problems we are facing and our concerns,” Chaudhry said, adding that the strike would continue until their demands were accepted. However, the minister has assured the transporters that he would discuss their demands, and the next round of talks woul... -
Dawn - 18:17 Aug 07, 2026
After withdrawing its two earlier notifications, the Sindh government on Friday notified a newly constituted eight-member medical board to carry out the exhumation of 25-year-old business owner Mir Ali Raza’s body on Saturday. The exhumation, which was originally scheduled for Friday, was deferred after the deceased’s family objected to the abrupt reconstitution of the medical board, just hours after the notification of the first one. A notification issued by the Sindh Health Department on Friday named police surgeon Dr Sumaiyya Syed as the convener of the board and Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) Pathology Department head Professor Dr Naseem Ahmed as the pathologist. The eight-member board also includes Jinnah Sindh Medical University’s (JSMU) Dr Farah Waseem as a forensic expert, Shanakht Project’s Amir Hassan Khan as a forensic identification expert, Additional Police Surgeon Dr Srichand, Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) medicolegal officers Dr Kamran Khan and Dr Daniyal Mirza, and Offic... -
Dawn - 17:51 Aug 07, 2026
Goods transporters and oil tanker operators began suspending their services on Friday night after negotiations with the government failed, ahead of their nationwide wheel-jam strike scheduled for Saturday. All Pakistan Goods Transport Itehad spokesman and All Pakistan Goods Transport Owners Association President Mohammad Owais Chaudhry Advocate told Dawn that talks with Federal Minister for Communications Aleem Khan and other government officials had failed. He said the negotiations ended without a breakthrough, prompting transporters, including edible oil tanker operators, petroleum oil tanker operators, truckers, trailer operators and other intercity transporters, to proceed with their previously announced strike. “We have informed the government side about the problems we are facing and our concerns,” Chaudhry said, adding that the strike would continue until their demands were accepted. However, the minister has assured the transporters that he would discuss their demands, and the next round of talks woul... -
Dawn - 17:24 Aug 07, 2026
Several major thoroughfares in Karachi were blocked or affected by traffic disruptions on Friday as Jamaat-i-Islami held protest sit-ins in the city as part of a nationwide demonstration against the petroleum levy. A day earlier, the party announced that it would stage sit-ins at 510 locations across the country by blocking major roads. In a traffic advisory issued, the Karachi traffic police warned that traffic flow could be affected due to the protests and sit-ins, with slow-moving traffic, temporary diversions and partial road closures expected on several major thoroughfares. The affected areas included Mazar-i-Quaid, Numaish Chowrangi, Saddar, Sharea Faisal, Sharae Pakistan, UP Mor, Power House Chowrangi, Defence Housing Authority, Sea View, Shahrah-i-Orangi, Hub River Road, Super Highway and National Highway. The traffic police advised citizens to avoid travelling to the affected areas unless necessary, and urged them to select alternative routes and allow extra travel time before setting out. Meanwhile,... -
Dawn - 17:23 Aug 07, 2026
First used in the 1991 Gulf War, the US Patriot air defence system has seen demand spike sharply this year, with supplies of interceptor missiles depleted by Ukraine’s war against the Russian invasion and the widening war in the Middle East. Ukraine is urgently seeking more Patriot interceptors to defend against a nightly barrage of Russian ballistic missile strikes. But the Iran war has drained arsenals in the US and the Gulf, and some European countries are holding onto missiles they may need for their own defence. The following are some details about the Patriot air defence system, one of the most advanced weapons in the US arsenal. What is the Patriot system? Patriot, short for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target, is a mobile surface-to-air missile defence system built by US weapons maker Raytheon Technologies that can be used in all kinds of weather and at long range. Developed in the 1980s, the Patriot system has been modernised over the past decades, expanding its capabilities and reach... -
Dawn - 16:16 Aug 07, 2026
Spain threatened on Friday to impose restrictions on travellers from Italy unless Rome lifts by Sunday the border controls it introduced last week following a mass influx of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Italy swiftly responded, saying it would not accept “ultimatums or impositions” from Madrid, adding that it would keep in place its suspension of Schengen rules for non-EU nationals arriving from Spain until at least August 15. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s conservative government had previously said the more robust travel checks would remain in force until the end of the month. The Spanish government said Italy’s decision to reintroduce controls on arrivals from Spain was “unjustified, contrary to the interests of the European Union and discriminatory against the Spanish population”. It promised to adopt “proportionate measures” against Italy unless Meloni rolled back the new constraints by Sunday. However, in a toughly worded statement, Meloni’s office said Spanish authorities had th... -
Dawn - 16:13 Aug 07, 2026
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye on Friday signed a joint defence pact in Makkah that empowers member states to treat an attack against one of them as an attack against all of them. The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, which seeks to strengthen the collective security of the three states, was signed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince and PM Mohammad bin Salman, and Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the “Makkah Al-Mukarramah Summit for Joint Defence” held at Al-Safa Palace. Since the signing, experts, political figures and commentators have offered their views on the agreement, with many describing it as a significant regional development and a historic moment for the three countries. ‘Historic day’: Attaullah Tarar Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, while talking to a private TV channel, described the signing of the joint defence agreement between the three states as a “historic day” for Pakistan, saying the pact reflected growing recognition of the country’s defence capabiliti... -
Dawn - 15:25 Aug 07, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) — a premier lawyers’ body — on Friday voiced support for the controversial proposal recently put forward by Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi regarding the creation of new provinces in the country. Recently, while addressing the Pakistan Economic Summit 2026, the interior minister had urged all political parties to resolve various national issues, including the question of creating new provinces. He termed this the only solution to improving the country’s overall condition, which he said had “collapsed”. Speaking at the Full Court Reference held at the Supreme Court (SC) in honour of Justice Musarrat Hilali on the occasion of her laying down her judicial robes, SCBA President Haroonur Rashid said the association endorsed and supported the suggestion to create new provinces. Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, the reference was attended by SC judges both in person and via video link. The reference was also attended by Additional Attorney... -
Dawn - 15:18 Aug 07, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Friday notified an additional burden of Rs9.8 billion on electricity consumers for the August billing period due to a fuel cost adjustment (FCA) of 75 paisa per unit. The net average fuel cost in August would be around 41 paisa per unit higher than in July, when the FCA stood at Rs0.34 per unit. In its notification, Nepra said it had decided that the positive FCA for June 2026, amounting to Rs0.7503 per kWh, would apply to all consumer categories that opted for prepaid tariffs, except lifeline consumers, electric vehicle charging stations and prepaid electricity consumers. The adjustment applies to K-Electric (KE) as well as power distribution companies (Discos) that originated from Wapda. The regulator said the adjustment would also apply to consumers under the incremental consumption package. Discos and KE are required to reflect the fuel charges adjustment for June 2026 in the billing month of August 2026. The FCA is reviewed every mont...
12682 items