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Dawn - 02:52 Nov 21, 2025
• IMF highlights need for risk-based asset verification • Says NAB’s ‘political compromise’ hindering anti-corruption efforts • Seeks autonomous oversight body to audit internal control processes ISLAMABAD: With the International Monetary Fund (IMF) describing the country’s top anti-corruption agency, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), as a “political compromise”, the government has agreed to the publication of asset declarations of high-level public officials in 2026 and their risk-based verification to improve the country’s accountability and integrity standards against widespread corruption. According to IMF’s Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment (GCDA), released by the Ministry of Finance as a structural benchmark of the ongoing $7 billion loan programme, the two sides have agreed under a short-term action plan to “strengthen accountability and integrity among high-level federal civil servants by initiating the publication of asset declarations in 2026, and introduce risk-based verifica... -
Dawn - 19:00 Nov 20, 2025
The JF-17 Thunder Block-III drew significant attention, emerging as a “major focal point” at the Dubai Airshow 2025, with an MoU (memorandum of understanding) signed with a friendly country for the procurement of the jet. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), in a statement released on Thursday, said that several countries also expressed interest in acquiring the battle-proven fighter aircraft. The fighter has proved its combat capabilities during two conflicts with arch-rival India in 2019 and 2025. The biennial airshow is being held at Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport from November 17-21. “Demonstrating increasing international confidence in Pakistan’s aviation industry, several countries expressed interest in acquiring the JF-17 Thunder. In a noteworthy development, an MoU was signed with a friendly country for the procurement of the JF-17 Thunder, marking another significant milestone in Pakistan’s expanding defence and industrial partnerships.” A Pakistan Air Force (PAF) contingent arrived ... -
Dawn - 18:56 Nov 20, 2025
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan expressed concern and called for an inquiry into the alleged mistreatment of PTI founder Imran Khan’s sisters by police as the former were camped outside Adiala Jail. In a post on X today, HRCP expressed concerns over the reports of Imran’s sisters being “manhandled” and noted that the rights of prisoners’ families to meet their relatives and the right to peaceful assembly are protected under national and international human rights law. “Witness and media accounts indicate that family members and party representatives were engaged in a peaceful protest when police intervened, allegedly using physical force,” the statement read. “HRCP calls for a transparent inquiry and urges authorities to ensure the rights, safety and dignity of all involved are fully respected,” it added. The PTI had held a protest outside the jail on Tuesday, where Imran is currently incarcerated, but the jail administration did not allow party leaders and the PTI founder’s family to meet him. Subseq... -
Dawn - 18:48 Nov 20, 2025
European countries pushed back on Thursday against a United States-backed peace plan for Ukraine that sources said would require Kyiv to give up more land and partially disarm, conditions long seen by Ukraine’s allies as tantamount to capitulation. Two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday that Washington had signalled to President Volodymyr Zelensky that Ukraine must accept a US-drafted framework to end the war, which includes territorial concessions and curbs to Ukraine’s armed forces. The sources spoke on condition they not be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. The acceleration in American diplomacy comes at an awkward juncture for Kyiv, with its troops on the back foot at the front and Zelensky’s government undermined by a corruption scandal. Parliament fired two cabinet ministers on Wednesday. A Ukrainian soldier sits in a pickup truck before a combat mission near the frontline town of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region of Ukraine on November 20. — Reuters Moscow p... -
Dawn - 18:42 Nov 20, 2025
Four Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges have decided to approach the Supreme Court against the recently introduced 27th Amendment and a draft petition in this regard, invoking the original jurisdiction of the top court under Article 184(3), has already been prepared. According to the draft petition prepared and forwarded to the Supreme Court, the petitioners include Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Justice Saman Rifat Imtiaz. All four judges have signed the petition, which is yet to be formally lodged at the apex court. Sources said that the petition was not entertained by the apex court registry branch since Article 184(3), which used to be an inherent power of the SC to enforce fundamental rights, has been omitted from the Constitution. They added that the petitioner judges also did not visit the SC to either file the petition or undergo biometric verification. They said the judges decided to move the apex court after months of raising concerns over what ... -
Dawn - 18:06 Nov 20, 2025
Security forces killed 23 terrorists in separate operations launched in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district, the military’s media affairs wing said on Thursday. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), two intelligence-based operations (IBO) were conducted and the terrorists belonged to Fitna al Khawarij. Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). “On [the] reported presence of khawarij, a targeted operation was conducted by the security forces,” the statement read, without elaborating on the exact location. “During the conduct of [the] operation, own troops effectively engaged the khawarij location and after an intense fire exchange, 12 khawarij were sent to hell,” it added. The ISPR further said that security forces, “capitalising on intelligence with respect to [the] presence of another group of khawarij”, killed 11 terrorists in another IBO. “Sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian s... -
Dawn - 18:00 Nov 20, 2025
The PTI slammed the PML-N government on Thursday for allegedly employing rigging tactics in support of its candidate in Lahore’s NA-129 by-election. The by-election is scheduled for Sunday. The party claimed that campaigning began with state personnel tearing down the PTI candidate’s banners and posters, managing polling stations and then appointing subordinates of the PML-N candidate, who has served as chairman of the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) Board of Directors (BoD). The PTI leaders allege that this amounts to an orchestrated attempt to tilt the electoral playing field in favour of the ruling party’s candidate, Muhammad Nauman. The NA-129 seat, vacated after the death of Mian Muhammad Azhar, is being contested by his nephew, Chaudhry Arslan, who was nominated by Azhar’s son and former PTI Punjab acting president Hammad Azhar. The junior Azhar is absconding as he is wanted by the state in different cases. The PTI is contesting the by-election only in Lahore, where the seat was vacated, while bo... -
Dawn - 17:29 Nov 20, 2025
PTI leader Amir Dogar on Thursday said that the party remained firm on having Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai as its nominee for the slot of the National Assembly opposition leader. The PTI had formally requested Achakzai’s appointment to the position last month in the wake of the post being left vacant after Omar Ayub’s disqualification. However, the National Assembly Secretariat maintains that Ayub’s disqualification is a sub-judice matter with Speaker Ayaz Sadiq making it clear that, in line with parliamentary practice, such announcements were made on the floor of the house to allow all members an equal opportunity to propose a candidate for the position and since he had not yet made any announcement regarding the schedule for submitting proposals, no request or nomination could be entertained at this stage. A statement issued today by Dogar said that the PTI had nominated Achakzai for the role, after which the government had written a letter to him raising objections t... -
Dawn - 17:15 Nov 20, 2025
The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) has issued a notice to airmen (Notam) extending the airspace ban for Indian aircraft till December 24, it emerged on Thursday. The new ban for Indian aircraft has been notified just four days before a previous one is set to expire. India and Pakistan have closed their airspaces to each other’s airlines since tensions between them escalated in late April in the wake of an attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 people. Islamabad most recently extended the airspace ban in mid-October till November 24. The latest restriction went into effect from 2:50pm Pakistan time on November 19 (yesterday) to 4:59am on December 24, according to a Notam issued on Wednesday. The bar will apply to all Indian-registered aircraft as well as any aircraft operated, owned, or leased by Indian airlines or operators, including military flights. The airspace closure applies from ground level up to unlimited altitude. Pakistan’s airspace is divided into two flight information regions (F... -
Dawn - 17:05 Nov 20, 2025
Security forces have killed seven terrorists during three operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the military’s media affairs wing said on Thursday. According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the terrorists belonging to “Indian proxy Fitna-al-Khawarij” were killed in operations conducted over two days, November 18 and 19. Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) The ISPR said an intelligence-based operation (IBO) was carried out in KP’s Mohmand district on the reported presence of terrorists. “During the conduct of the operation, own troops effectively engaged the khawarij’s location and after an intense fire exchange, four khawarij were sent to hell.” Another IBO was conducted in the Lakki Marwat district. In the ensuing fire exchange, “two khawarij were effectively neutralised by the security forces,” the ISPR said. It added that during the third encounter in the Tank district, security forces killed one... -
Dawn - 16:26 Nov 20, 2025
With temperatures just above freezing point, heavy snow has blanketed areas in southern Germany and left them frozen in both time and the literal sense. A snowy landscape can be seen through the heart-shaped hole cut out of an advertising sign in front of a beer garden in Bad Hindelang, Germany on November 20. — AFP A wooden cabin stands in the snow-covered landscape in Gorisried, Germany on November 20. — AFP An advertising sign stands in front of a closed beer garden in the snow in Bad Hindelang, Germany on November 20. — AFP A fence stands in the snow-covered landscape in Oy Mittelberg, Germany on November 20. — AFP Benches and tables of a closed beer garden stand in the snow in Bad Hindelang, Germany on November 20. — AFP A snowplow drives through the snow-covered landscape in Oy-Mittelberg, Germany on November 20. — AFP Header Image: A car drives behind an icicle in the snowfall in Hindelang, Germany, on November 20, 2025. — AFP -
Dawn - 16:03 Nov 20, 2025
Amid Pakistan’s burgeoning but fragile entrepreneurial ecosystem, students at Karachi’s Institute of Business Administration (IBA) gathered on Thursday for an interactive session on venture creation and how artificial intelligence is speeding up the process of building and scaling startups. The event, organised at the university’s main campus, featured Dr Jonathan Doerr, senior vice president at Disrupt.com (formerly Gaditek), who shared insights from 15 years of experience as an entrepreneur and investor. “Who among you is using ChatGPT on a daily basis?” Dr Doerr asked, prompting (predictably) multiple hands to go up. He highlighted that while the telephone took years to reach one million users, OpenAI’s ChatGPT achieved the same milestone in just five days, a fact confirmed by the company’s president and co-founder Greg Brockman. “Open AI and other [large] language models enable a new wave of companies that are built,” Dr Doerr said, pointing out the example of the startup Lovable, which reached a $100 mil... -
Dawn - 15:05 Nov 20, 2025
Customs staff on Thursday seized around Rs110 million in gold jewellery and foreign currency from a pair of alleged smugglers at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport, a statement from the Collectorate of Customs read. According to the statement, two female passengers were stopped for inspection at the international departure hall, where customs staff unearthed $6,143 and two kilogrammes of gold from one passenger and $5,746 and 1.05kg of gold from the other. “The total recovered gold jewellery and foreign currency is valued at approximately Rs110 million,” the statement read. “The recovered items were taken into custody by Customs preventive staff [and] formal detention receipts were issued, and after completing initial legal proceedings, an FIR (first information report) has been lodged against the accused passengers for attempting to smuggle gold and foreign currency in violation of customs laws.” Earlier this week, a man was stopped at Sialkot International Airport after he arrived from the United Arab E... -
Dawn - 14:27 Nov 20, 2025
State-owned energy company Pakistan Petroleum Ltd on Thursday issued a clarification that it was enabling safe drilling operations in a marshy area near Sujawal and not reclaiming land from the sea to build an island. US outlet Bloomberg reported a day ago that PPL was reclaiming land from the sea to create a launchpad to ramp up oil and gas exploration. Citing PPL’s General Manager Exploration and Core Business Development, Arshad Palekar, Bloomberg reported that the artificial island would be created about 30 kilometres off the coast of Sindh, near Sujawal. However, in a statement issued today, available with Dawn, PPL said: “We would like to clarify that the aforesaid media coverage is misleading and does not fully reflect the technical scope and design of the project. “The activities underway relate to enabling safe drilling operations in a challenging marshy environment, rather than the development of a standalone offshore island. This is a technically complex and unique initiative, and is among the firs... -
Dawn - 14:05 Nov 20, 2025
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said that a recent report submitted to the United States Congress had validated Pakistan’s triumph in the military confrontation with India in May. “Pakistan’s military success over India in its four-day clash showcased Chinese weaponry,” said the report submitted by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Following an attack on tourists in occupied Kashmir, which New Delhi, without evidence, linked with Pakistan, India launched deadly air strikes in Punjab and Azad Kashmir on May 7, marking the beginning of the four-day clash. After tit-for-tat strikes on each other’s airbases by the two sides, it took American intervention on May 10 for both sides to finally reach a ceasefire. After laying the foundation stone for the Daanish School in Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s (AJK) Bagh, the PM said in a speech that US President Donald Trump had also acknowledged multiple times that Pakistan downed seven Indian aircraft. “The exemplary performance of the Pakistan Arme... -
Dawn - 14:05 Nov 20, 2025
Two cops were martyred and four were injured when a police van was targeted with a bomb in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan, an official said. DI Khan District Police Officer (DPO) Sajjad Ahmad Sahibzada confirmed the casualties to Dawn. He said that a “remotely controlled bomb was detonated when an armoured police vehicle of the Takwara checkpost was patrolling on the Hathala-Giloti road as per its routine”. “As a result, Driver Ramzan and Constable Saifur Rehman lost their lives. Hawaldar Shahid and constables Mehboob Alam, Asif and Kifayat were injured.” The incident comes just over a week after a bomb attack in DI Khan’s Daraban tehsil injured at least 14 security personnel when an improvised explosive device (IED) damaged a security forces vehicle. Pakistan has witnessed a surge in terror activities in the past year, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022 and vowed to attack security forces, police,... -
Dawn - 13:26 Nov 20, 2025
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has accused Texas Governor Greg Abbott of promoting “anti-Muslim hysteria” and advancing policies that serve the interests of Israel rather than Texans after the group was designated as a terrorist organisation in the American state. “Greg Abbott is an Israel First politician who has spent months stoking anti-Muslim hysteria to smear American Muslims critical of the Israeli government. Although we are flattered by his obsession with our civil rights group, his defamatory proclamation has no basis in fact or law,” CAIR, the largest Muslim civil liberties organisation in the United States, said in a statement. It came after Abbott designated the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as “foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organisations”. “Unlike Mr Abbott — who unleashed violence against Texas students protesting the Gaza genocide to satisfy his AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) donors — our civil rights organisation is an independent voice that ans... -
Dawn - 13:15 Nov 20, 2025
The State Investigation Agency (SIA) of the India-0ccupied Kashmir on Thursday raided the office of the region’s oldest English news agency, Kashmir Times, as part of the SIA’s action against media networks that are allegedly “aiding separatist narratives”, Indian media reported. A statement issued by Kashmir Times editors Prabodh Jamwal and Anuradha Basin said that “coordinated crackdown on the Kashmir Times [is] yet another attempt to silence us”. According to The Indian Express, the raid was carried out following the registration of a first information report (FIR) alleging the “organisation’s involvement in anti-national activities and attempts to spread disaffection against the country”. As per “official sources, the FIR mentions alleged activities and communications that are under scrutiny for ‘potential threats to the sovereignty and integrity of India’”, the news agency said. During the raid, SIA officials went through “documents, digital equipment and other material as part of the investigation,” add... -
Dawn - 13:14 Nov 20, 2025
The top leadership of the federal coalition partner Muttahida Qaumi Movement–Pakistan (MQM-P) pointed out on Thursday that constitutional provisions require the creation of new provinces after certain conditions are met, as politicking heats up ahead of a possible 28th constitutional amendment. The party claimed on Monday that its proposed constitutional amendment, aimed at empowering local governments, would now be advanced as the 28th amendment, marking what the party called a “national, not merely Karachi-centric” reform initiative which would materialise in the coming months. Speaking to reporters in Chiniot earlier, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah had also said that the 28th amendment, dealing with “public issues such as local bodies, population, the National Finance Commission … health-related issues”, could be introduced if there was political consensus. The top leadership of MQM-P addressed a press conference in Karachi today, flanked by Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori,... -
Dawn - 12:28 Nov 20, 2025
The F-35 fighter jets the United States plans to sell Saudi Arabia will be less advanced than those operated by Israel, in line with a US law that guarantees Israel’s military edge in the region, US officials and defence experts said on Wednesday. US President Donald Trump announced the sale this week, but officials said the Saudi aircraft will lack the superior features of Israel’s fleet, which include advanced weapons systems and electronic warfare equipment. Israel enjoys unique permissions to modify its F-35s, including the ability to integrate its own weapons systems and add radar-jamming capabilities and other upgrades that do not require US approval. Still, the Israeli Air Force opposed the planned sale, warning in a position paper to political leaders that it would undermine Israel’s air superiority in the region, The Times of Israel reported on Tuesday. Even if Saudi Arabia gets the jets, it is unlikely to receive the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM), next-generation air-to-air missiles...
5467 items