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Dawn - 18:53 Sep 26, 2025
The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) on Friday approved the adoption of the latest WiFi generation, WiFi 7, making it one of the first nations in the Asia-Pacific region to use the network. According to a press release, WiFi 7 and future generations will operate on the 6 GHz network band, underscoring Pakistan’s commitment to digital innovation and leadership. “Wi-Fi 7 delivers ultra-high data rates, low latency, and robust reliability, enabling 8K streaming, AR/VR, and industrial automation,” the press release read. “By easing congestion in legacy bands and reducing broadband delivery costs, it will strengthen connectivity for households, SMEs (small-medium enterprises), campuses, healthcare, and smart cities.” This development comes a week after Information and Technology Secretary Zarrar Hasham said that restoring damaged undersea internet cables may take four to five weeks. During a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication, while resp... -
Dawn - 18:48 Sep 26, 2025
The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday dismissed a set of petitions filed against the cancellation of Islamabad High Court’s Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri’s law degree over non-prosecution, observing that shouting slogans against the judiciary and disrupting the court’s decorum was “highly unbecoming”. In a related development, the University of Karachi (KU) issued a fresh declaration about the withdrawal and cancellation of the IHC judge’s degree. On Thursday, heated scenes were witnessed at the SHC as a two-judge bench declined to entertain the plea of the IHC judge to become a party in proceedings on seven petitions, challenging the cancellation of his law degree. The two-judge constitutional bench (CB) comprising Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha and Justice Adnan-ul-Karim Memon, however, set aside the IHC judge’s application, insisting that it would first hear and decide the maintainability of the petitions before it. In its written order on Friday, the CB noted that it had “given an opportunity of hearin... -
Dawn - 18:02 Sep 26, 2025
Trade negotiators from the United States have told their Indian counterparts that curbing purchases of Russian oil is crucial to reducing India’s tariff rate and sealing a trade deal, two people familiar with the talks told Reuters. While trade negotiations are on a positive track, a US official said, more work is needed to ensure India addresses US concerns over market access, the trade deficit and purchases of Russian oil. US President Donald Trump has sought to pressure India, the European Union and members of Nato to curb purchases of Russian oil as a way to cut Moscow’s revenue and hasten an end to the war in Ukraine. The Trump administration has shown a willingness to use maximum leverage to advance its policy goals, as evidenced by its linking trade negotiations with India to demands that it curb Russian oil purchases. Trump has expressed growing frustration over the slow progress toward ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, a conflict he pledged to resolve from his first day in office. The US has already im... -
Dawn - 17:08 Sep 26, 2025
As Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif detailed the events of May’s four-day escalation between India and Pakistan at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday, he highlighted the need for “proactive” rather than “provocative” leadership for South Asia. In May, the military confrontation between India and Pakistan had come as the former blamed Islamabad for the April 22 Pahalgam attack without evidence. On the night of May 6-7, New Delhi launched a series of air strikes on Pakistan, resulting in civilian casualties. Both sides then exchanged missiles, which stretched over the week. It took a US-brokered ceasefire for both sides to finally drop their guns. PM Shehbaz recalled the escalation at the 80th session of the UNGA today, where he led Pakistan’s delegation. He began his address with these words: “Our world is more complex today than ever before. Conflicts are intensifying, international law is being brazenly violated, humanitarian crises are multiplying, terrorism remains a potent threat, disinform... -
Dawn - 15:53 Sep 26, 2025
Iran and Russia signed a $25 billion deal to build nuclear power plants in the Islamic republic, Iranian state media reported on Friday, just hours ahead of the likely return of sweeping UN sanctions on Iran. “A deal for the construction of four nuclear power plants with a value of $25 billion in Sirik, Hormozgan was signed between the Iran Hormoz company and Rosatom,” state television said. Iran has just one operational nuclear power plant in Bushehr in the south, with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts — just a fraction of the country’s energy needs. According to state news agency IRNA, each plant will have a capacity of 1,255 megawatts, though no details were provided on the timeline. The move comes as so-called snapback sanctions triggered by the European parties to a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran are set to return by the end of Saturday. Britain, France and Germany triggered the sanctions last month, accusing of Iran of failing to adhere to its commitments under the agreement. At a Security Council ses... -
Dawn - 15:28 Sep 26, 2025
Pacer Haris Rauf and opener Sahibzada Farhan were on Friday reprimanded by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for gestures made during the Asia Cup Super Four match against arch-rivals India, ESPNCricinfo reported. According to the publication, the pacer was fined 30 per cent of his match fee by match referee Richie Richardson. At the same time, “It is understood that Pakistan batter Sahibzada Farhan was not fined and let off with a warning by Richardson. “Rauf was seen responding to heckling from Indian fans by signalling 6-0 with his hands and making gestures depicting the downing of aircraft, in apparent reference to the military conflict between India and Pakistan in May this year,” the report read. “Farhan had celebrated his fifty by mimicking a gunshot.” Earlier, India captain Suryakumar Yadav was found guilty by the ICC of breaching the code of conduct for his comments that alluded to the brief military skirmish between India and Pakistan this year, after their group stage match in the Asia Cup on... -
Dawn - 13:20 Sep 26, 2025
Big smiles, a red carpet and a thumbs up: the first formal bilateral interaction between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and US President Donald Trump during the early hours of Friday morning was plastered all over the airwaves. The meeting, which was also attended by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir, was described by the Prime Minister’s Office as being held in a pleasant atmosphere. However, the meeting itself was closed to the press — a break from President Trump’s usual modus operendi — as he is quite fond of Oval Office photo-ops and there was no press conference either; just a statement issued from Pakistan where the US president was described as a “man of peace” and stressing the need to enhance cooperation in security and intelligence. With Pak-US ties ‘gradually warming’ in President Trump’s second term, the meeting was closely watched by geopolitical hawks and analysts. Here’s what some had to say about it: ‘Quite surprising’ Author and journalist Zahid Hussain termed the meeting “v... -
Dawn - 13:13 Sep 26, 2025
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday declaring that his plan to sell Chinese-owned TikTok’s US operations to US and global investors will address the national security requirements in a 2024 law. The new US company will be valued at around $14 billion, Vice President JD Vance said, putting a price tag on the popular short video app far below some analyst estimates. Trump on Thursday delayed until January 20 enforcement of the law that bans the app unless its Chinese owners sell it amid efforts to extract TikTok’s US assets from the global platform, line up American and other investors, and win approval from the Chinese government. The publication of the executive order shows Trump is making progress on the sale of TikTok’s US assets, but numerous details need to be fleshed out, including how the US entity would use TikTok’s most important asset, its recommendation algorithm. “There was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish is that w... -
Dawn - 12:58 Sep 26, 2025
Indian police on Friday detained prominent activist Sonam Wangchuk over violent protests in the Himalayan territory of Ladakh that left at least five people dead, a lawyer said. Demonstrations demanding greater political autonomy for the sparsely populated, high-altitude region bordering China and Pakistan turned deadly on Wednesday when security forces opened fire. New Delhi blamed the unrest on “provocative speeches” by Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike demanding either full federal statehood for Ladakh or constitutional protections for its tribal communities, land and fragile environment. Mustafa Haji, a lawyer for the Apex Body Leh — which is spearheading the protests — told AFP that Wangchuk was “picked up” by the police from his village of Uley Tokpo on Friday. “Charges against him are not known yet,” Haji said. An engineer by training, Wangchuk, 59, is best known for pioneering water conservation projects in the Himalayas. He received the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2018 for his enviro... -
Dawn - 11:04 Sep 26, 2025
A man in Karachi’s Malir area has died of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF), raising the city’s death toll from the virus to five this year, the Sindh health department said in a statement on Friday. According to the World Health Organisation, the CCHF, commonly known as Congo Virus, causes severe viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks with a case fatality rate of 10-40 per cent. There is no vaccine available for the disease. Experts say the CCHF virus is primarily transmitted to people either by tick bites or through contact with infected animal blood or tissues during and immediately after slaughter. As per the statement, a lab report confirmed that a 28-year-old butcher from Karachi’s Landhi area had contracted the disease. He developed symptoms on September 24, was admitted to the hospital the same day, and died within hours of admission. His symptoms included a high-grade fever, cough, shortness of breath, and bleeding from the mouth and rectum, following which a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test was... -
Dawn - 10:17 Sep 26, 2025
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday announced plans for a new nationwide digital ID in a bid to curb illegal migration, but the move faces strong opposition in country that has long-resisted such moves. The new digital ID will be held on people’s phones and there will be no requirement for individuals to carry or be asked to produce it, said the government. However, it will be “mandatory as a means of proving your right to work,” a statement said. “This will stop those with no right to be here from being able to find work, curbing their prospect of earning money, one of the key ‘pull factors’ for people who come to the UK illegally,” it added. The government said the drive will also make it simpler to apply for services like driving licences, childcare and welfare, while streamlining access to tax records. The announcement comes as Labour, the party in government, prepares to hold its annual conference, with Starmer under intense pressure, particularly over immigration. “Digital ID is an enormous opportu... -
Dawn - 09:41 Sep 26, 2025
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Quetta on Friday refused to extend the physical remand of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) chief Dr Mahrang Baloch and other organisers, according to the group’s lawyer. Advocate Israr Jatak, a member of BYC’s legal team, told Dawn.com, “Quetta ATC-1 refused to extend the physical remand of five accused, namely Mahrang, Bebow Baloch, Sibghatullah Shahji, Beberg Baloch and Gulzadi and ordered them to be sent to jail on judicial remand.” In a hearing presided over by Judge Muhammad Ali Mubeen, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) produced Mahrang and others in court today after the completion of their 15-day physical remand granted on September 11. Advocate Shoaib Mengal, along with Advocate Jatak, appeared in the court on behalf of the accused. The CTD requested the court for an extension to the physical remand of the accused, but Judge Mubeen refused, asking for the accused to be handed over to jail custody. On September 11, a Quetta ATC judge extended the physical remand of ... -
Dawn - 09:40 Sep 26, 2025
At least five people, including two cops, were injured on Friday in an accidental firing incident at the residence of Balochistan Governor Jaffar Khan Manndokhail in the province’s Zhob district, police said. Speaking to the media, Zhob Superintendent of Police (SSP) Shaukat Mohmand said that three students and two police officers had been injured in the incident. “The firing happened by mistake and was done by the station house officer’s gunman,” the police officer said. He added that the gunman had dropped his gun on the ground, which had resulted in it going off. The injured students, who had come to meet the governor, were pupils at the Zhob Government Boys Degree College, he added. The official said that the condition of all the injured people was stable and they had been taken to a nearby hospital for medical intervention. According to initial investigations, police have termed the incident an accident, he said, adding that further investigation was underway. Earlier this month, a teenage girl was kille... -
Dawn - 09:25 Sep 26, 2025
A digital reconstruction of a million-year-old skull suggests humans may have diverged from our ancient ancestors 400,000 years earlier than thought and in Asia not Africa, a study said on Friday. The findings are based on a reconstruction of a crushed skull discovered in China in 1990, and have the potential to resolve the longstanding “Muddle in the Middle” of human evolution, researchers said. But experts not involved in the work cautioned that the findings were likely to be disputed, and pointed to ongoing uncertainties in the timeline of human evolution. The skull, labelled Yunxian 2, was previously thought to belong to a human forerunner called Homo erectus. But modern reconstruction technologies revealed features closer to species previously thought to have existed only later in human evolution, including the recently discovered Homo longi and our own Homo sapiens. “This changes a lot of thinking,” said Chris Stringer, an anthropologist at the Natural History Museum, London, who was part of the researc... -
Dawn - 09:22 Sep 26, 2025
Rights activist and lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir on Friday filed a grievance letter over “inaction” on her workplace harassment complaint against Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar. Justice Dogar had warned Mazari of a contempt of court case and was reported to have gone as far as passing warning remarks along the lines of “getting a hold of her”. Multiple lawyers’ bodies had issued condemnatory statements and called for the judge’s dismissal from the post of the IHC top judge. On Sept 15, Mazari approached an inquiry committee of the IHC and the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), filing a complaint under Section 4 (procedure for holding inquiry) of the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2010. As Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz took cognisance of Mazari’s complaint, the IHC administration stripped the judge of her powers to entertain harassment complaints. Instead, IHC’s Justice Inaam Ameen Minhas was appointed as the competent authority to oversee the case. This promp... -
Dawn - 08:09 Sep 26, 2025
At least 11 people were killed, and another three were injured after a truck crashed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan, rescue 1122 said on Friday. Speaking to Dawn.com, spokesperson Rescue 1122, Bilal Ahmad Faizi, said that, “Eleven people lost their lives and three were injured as the truck’s brakes failed, causing it to crash in the Dana Sar Daranda area of DI Khan.” “The deceased include five women, a child, and a man,” he said, adding that the three injured were rushed to the District Headquarter Hospital DI Khan.“ He further said that the truck was travelling from the Khanozai area of Balochistan. “Seven of the bodies were also taken to the hospital by the Rescue 1122 team, while four bodies were moved to the hospital by the local people,” he said. The deceased people have not yet been identified. Public Relations Officer of DI Khan Police Yaqoob Khan, in a statement, said, “Police are compiling a report for the identification of the deceased and arranging for the bodies to be handed over to thei... -
Dawn - 06:58 Sep 26, 2025
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) reported that an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 was felt in areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday morning. Pakistan falls on three major tectonic plates — the Arabian, Euro-Asian and Indian — which create five seismic zones under the country. The intersection of multiple fault lines means that tectonic movements remain a frequent occurrence in the region. A report issued by the PMD said that the earthquake originated at 8:17am PKT today, with its epicentre in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan at a depth of 195 kilometres, at a latitude of 36.51 degrees north and longitude of 70.98° east. Shocks were reported by the PMD to have been felt in Chitral, Peshawar and Swat, while the Pukhtunkhwa Times posted on X that “mild” tremors were also felt in Attock, Lower Dir and Upper Dir. At the start of the month, a 6.0-magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan killed over 1,400 people and flattened homes, with tremors jolting KP and Punjab. However, no casualties or damages were re... -
Dawn - 06:53 Sep 26, 2025
KARACHI: Building on the success of the Breathe Pakistan International Climate Change Conference, DawnMedia has announced plans to convene a moot focused on tackling the issue of air pollution. ‘The Air We Breathe’ will be held at the Expo Centre in Lahore on October 11, under the umbrella of Breathe Pakistan — an initiative to combat climate change that aims to mobilise citizens to incorporate environmental sustainability in their daily lives. Air pollution has become one of the most pressing public health and environmental crises facing Pakistan, and Lahore in particular is no stranger to this phenomenon. Once celebrated for its gardens, the city now ranks among the most polluted in the world, with PM2.5 levels far exceeding WHO safety limits, a DawnMedia statement said. “Other major cities — including Karachi, Faisalabad, and Peshawar — face similar challenges, driven by industrial emissions, vehicular exhaust, stubble burning, and poor enforcement of environmental regulations.” “Vulnerable groups — childr... -
Dawn - 05:51 Sep 26, 2025
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and US President Donald Trump discussed regional security and cooperation along the lines of counter-terrorism, among other matters, as the two met for the first time at the Oval Office in Washington in the early hours of Friday morning, according to a press release from the PM Office. The premier was accompanied by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir, while the US President was joined by US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as per an earlier statement from the PM office. PM Shehbaz thanked Trump for “his public endorsement of Pakistan’s role in counterterrorism and stressed the need to further enhance cooperation in security and intelligence,” as the two discussed matters of regional security. The premier described Trump as a “man of peace”, lauding his “sincere” efforts in ending conflicts around the world. PM Shehbaz branded Trump’s style of leadership “bold, courageous and decisive,” and thanked the US president for his role in me... -
Dawn - 04:14 Sep 26, 2025
• Govt faces tough task as it seeks flood-related relaxations • Fund questions use of emergency funds, delays in governance reforms • $1bn tranche hinges on progress in review talks ISLAMABAD: An International Monetary Fund (IMF) review mission began its work simultaneously in Karachi and Islamabad on Thursday, holding discussions with authorities on mixed programme performance without the customary opening engagement with Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb, who is currently on a visit to the United States. Sources said the introductory meeting with Mr Aurangzeb, initially scheduled for Sept 25, has now been moved to Monday (Sept 29) in his absence. In the meantime, two IMF teams — one dealing with monetary policy and the other with fiscal policy — are engaged with the State Bank of Pakistan and federal government entities. The mission is expected to stay for about two weeks and will also hold forward-looking discussions, pressing the authorities to expedite implementation of end-December 2...
7421 items