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Dawn - 18:09 Sep 04, 2025
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Thursday night said that tremors of a 5.9-magnitude earthquake were felt in the twin cities and areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A press release from the PMD said the quake originated at 9:56pm at a depth of 111 kilometres with its epicentre in the Hindu Kush region. It said tremors were felt in Peshawar, Mansehra, Hangu, Abbottabad, Swat, Attock, Malakand, Rawalpindi and Islamabad. State broadcaster PTV News said on X that the tremors “lasted for several seconds” and caused citizens to come out of their homes. A statement from the Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority said it received initial reports of an earthquake from “all districts” of the province. PDMA Director General Irfan Kathia said that the administration across Punjab was busy checking buildings and no damage had been reported so far. “District Emergency Operation Centres across Punjab, including the provincial control room of PDMA, are on 24/7 alert. Damages due to earthquake can be reported... -
Dawn - 17:56 Sep 04, 2025
Supreme Court Justice Athar Minallah on Thursday said that the talk of a “hybrid system” prevalent in the country actually amounted to an admission to the presence of a dictatorship. What had previously only been a term coined by analysts to describe the unique system of governance currently in vogue, is now apparently being worn as a badge of honour. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had in July spoken in glowing terms about the ‘hybrid regime’ that currently runs the country. The term is used to describe the informal power-sharing arrangement, whereby the country’s military holds a great deal of influence on the incumbent civilian setup and has a big say in the way the affairs of the state are managed. In remarks on the issue while addressing the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) today, Justice Minallah said: “It is something to accept that people today say there is a hybrid system, that [actually] means there is dictatorship and there is no constitutional governance.” He blamed what he said was the “lack of consti... -
Dawn - 15:46 Sep 04, 2025
More than 2,200 people have been killed in the magnitude 6.0 earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan on the weekend, the latest toll from the authorities said, as volunteers and rescuers retrieved bodies from the rubble on Thursday. The vast majority of the total 2,217 dead and nearly 4,000 injured were in the mountainous Kunar province near the border with Pakistan, deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat wrote on X, adding that “rescue efforts are still ongoing”. Firat said that the earlier toll of 1,469 dead and more than 3,700 injured would likely rise. “We cannot stop hoping” that injured people remain alive under the rubble, he told AFP. Limited access to the hardest hit areas of mountainous Kunar province delayed rescue and relief efforts, with rockfalls from repeated aftershocks obstructing already precarious roads etched onto the side of cliffs. While most of the areas that had been unreachable were accessed by Wednesday, expectations of finding survivors were fading fast. “Many survivors are... -
Dawn - 15:07 Sep 04, 2025
Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayeen-i-Pakistan leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar on Thursday moved the Supreme Court (SC), seeking its intervention to pave the way for the fixation of pending petitions challenging the 26th Constitutional Amendment before the full court. The 26th Constitutional Amendment, also known as the Constitutional Package, is legislation that takes away the SC’s suo motu powers, sets the CJP’s term at three years and empowers a special parliamentary committee to nominate the next CJP from among the three most senior SC judges. Last month, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi had ignored a decision made last year by a committee, constituted under the Practice and Procedure Act 2023, to bring challenges to the 26th Amendment of the Constitution before the full SC. After filing his petition today, Khokhar said while speaking to the media that he sought the CJP’s decision to be overturned. “The chief justice said, ‘I have informally consulted all Supreme Court justices. We have concluded that all... -
Dawn - 14:55 Sep 04, 2025
Ten people were kidnapped and three others were injured after multiple vehicles were attacked by bandits on the Sukkur-Multan motorway in Punjab’s Rahim Yar Khan district on Thursday morning, various officials confirmed to Dawn.com. For decades, dozens of bandit gangs armed with sophisticated weaponry have operated with impunity in northern Sindh as well as southern Punjab. Kidnappings for ransom, extortion rackets, brutal killings and robberies on major highways occur on a daily basis. South Punjab Additional Inspector General of Police (IG) Kamran Khan told Dawn.com that between 20 and 25 suspects attacked vehicles on the motorway. “Three people were injured in the incident,” he said. “Two of them suffered minor injuries, so they were discharged. One remains admitted in hospital with gunshot wounds to the waist and leg.” Additional IG Khan added that 10 people were abducted from the scene by the suspects and that no money or valuables were stolen. Sheikh Zayed Medical College Hospital (SZMCH) spokesperson R... -
Dawn - 14:29 Sep 04, 2025
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Thursday granted bail to PTI founder Imran Khan’s nephew Shershah Khan in a case pertaining to the Jinnah House attack during the May 9, 2023 riots. The Lahore Police arrested Shershah, son of Imran’s sister Aleema Khan, from outside his home on August 22. He was then sent on a five-day physical remand and later to jail for 14 days on August 28. Today’s development comes a day after Shershah’s triathlete brother, Shahrez Khan, was also granted bail in a similar case. Shahrez was picked up on August 21 and was handed over to police custody for eight days before his judicial remand and bail. He was released today from Kot Lakpat Jail after paying bail. In the last hearing on Tuesday, the ATC had again granted the prosecution time till today to present the case record in connection with Shershah’s post-arrest bail plea. ATC Judge Manzer Ali Gill presided over the hearing today, where Advocate Rana Mudassar Umer appeared as Shershah’s counsel. During the hearing, Umer po... -
Dawn - 12:38 Sep 04, 2025
Pakistan and Qatar reaffirmed their commitment to regional peace and stability during a meeting between Pakistan’s top military official, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza and Qatari military leadership on his visit to Qatar, the military’s media wing said on Thursday. Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) Mirza, — who is in Qatar for the second round of the Higher Military Cooperation Committee (HMCC) — called on the Deputy Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, where both sides “reaffirmed their shared commitment to peace and stability at the regional and global level,” a press release issued by the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. “The civil and military leadership of Qatar acknowledged Pakistan’s pivotal and responsible role in ensuring regional stability,” it added. Also present at the meeting was the Chief of Staff Qatar Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Jassim Mohammad Ahmed Al-Mannal. The CJCSC was presented with a guard of honour at the Qatar Armed Forces ... -
Dawn - 12:28 Sep 04, 2025
Teen sprinter Gout Gout will make a much-anticipated world championships debut in Tokyo this month as he marks an early milestone in a career Australia hopes will peak with Olympic gold at Brisbane 2032. Still only 17, Gout is already one of the most exciting prospects in global athletics, earning comparisons with Jamaican great Usain Bolt and training with Adidas stable-mate Noah Lyles in Florida. All this while juggling homework and exams in his final year of high school in Ipswich, Queensland. Gout is skipping school for a few days to run in the 200 metres at Tokyo, only his second senior race abroad. His first, in June, saw him win the 200m at the Ostrava Golden Spike event in the Czech Republic in 20.02 seconds, improving on his Australia record. Australia’s Gout Gout in action during the men’s 200m in Ostrava, Czech Republic on June 24, 2025 . — Reuters/File While impressive for his age that time only puts him equal-20th in the season rankings, meaning he may need to raise the bar considerably to earn a... -
Dawn - 11:47 Sep 04, 2025
China defended on Thursday its decision to invite the leaders of Russia and North Korea to World War II commemorations, which President Donald Trump accused them of using to conspire against the United States. Trump wrote a testy Truth Social post addressing his Chinese counterpart after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin flanked Xi Jinping at a massive parade in Beijing showcasing Chinese military hardware. “Give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America,” Trump wrote. Asked about Trump’s post, Beijing’s foreign ministry said on Thursday “foreign guests” had been invited to commemorate 80 years since the end of World War II. “It is to work together with peace-loving countries and peoples to remember history, cherish the memory of the martyrs, cherish peace, and create the future,” spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters. “China’s development of diplomatic relations with any country is never directed against any third party... -
Dawn - 08:40 Sep 04, 2025
Neeraj Chopra does not usually worry about distance as long as he gets on the podium but the poster boy of Indian athletics knows he may have to throw beyond the 90 metres mark if he is to defend his javelin world title in Tokyo this month. A mop-haired Chopra became India’s first track-and-field athlete to win Olympic gold in the Japanese capital four years ago, and has since added a Diamond League trophy, world championships gold and a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Games. In November last year, the 27-year-old brought in three-time Olympic champion Jan Zelezny as his coach in a bid to throw even farther. Six months into the partnership, Chopra registered a personal best of 90.23m in Doha earlier this year. But the Indian has fallen well short of 90m in his last five outings and threw a modest 85.01m in the Diamond League Final in Zurich last week, finishing a distant second behind German Julian Weber’s monster throw of 91.51m. While a string of high 80m throws have kept him in the top two in each of his la... -
Dawn - 08:37 Sep 04, 2025
Amid global cuts in education funding, the UN agency for children (Unicef) has projected that an estimated six million additional children could be out of school worldwide by the end of 2026, with around one-third of them in humanitarian settings. The projection was made in an new analysis, according to a Unicef press release issued on Wednesday, which said that the Official Development Assistance for education was estimated to fall by $3.2 billion — a 24 per cent drop from 2023 — with just three donor governments accounting for nearly 80 per cent of the cuts. “Such a decline would push the number of out-of-school children worldwide from 272m to 278m — the equivalent of emptying every primary school in Germany and Italy combined,” it added. The press release quoted Unicef Executive Director Catherine Russell as saying, “Every dollar cut from education is not just a budgetary decision, it is a child’s future hanging in the balance.” “Education, especially in emergency settings, often serves as a lifeline, conn... -
Dawn - 08:26 Sep 04, 2025
At least twenty houses were severely damaged, while crops were destroyed and trees were uprooted due to floods in Deral Valley in Gilgit-Baltistan’s (GB) Diamer district, authorities said on Friday. Since late July, monsoon rains have wreaked havoc across the country, especially in its northern regions like GB, by triggering deadly floods, landslides and displacement, particularly in vulnerable, poorly drained, or densely populated areas. The assistant commissioner of Deral, Waseem Abbas, told Dawn.com that he flood occurred at 6am on Friday due to heavy rains, which engulfed the Gamari area. “As a result of the floods, twenty houses were damaged, of which five were completely demolished,” he said. “In addition, crops and trees were also damaged.“ According to locals, many people fled when the flood hit, with dozens moving to safer places. They added that the water channel system was also severely affected by the flood, with damage to cattle sheds and livestock. The National Disaster Management Authority has ... -
Dawn - 06:08 Sep 04, 2025
Stargazers will have a chance to see a “Blood Moon” on Sunday night during a total lunar eclipse visible across Asia, as well as swathes of Europe and Africa. When the Sun, Earth and Moon line up, the shadow cast by the planet on its satellite makes it appear an eerie, deep red colour that has astounded humans for millennia. People in Asia, including India and China, will be best placed to see Sunday’s total eclipse, which will also be visible on the eastern edge of Africa as well as in western Australia. The total lunar eclipse will last from 1730 GMT to 1852 GMT (10:30pm PKT to 11:52pm PKT). Stargazers in Europe and Africa will get a brief chance to see a partial eclipse just as the Moon rises during the early evening, while the Americas will miss out. The Moon appears red during lunar eclipses because the only sunlight reaching it is “reflected and scattered through the Earth’s atmosphere”, said Ryan Milligan, an astrophysicist at Northern Ireland’s Queen’s University Belfast. Blue wavelengths of light are... -
Dawn - 05:59 Sep 04, 2025
LAHORE: The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) has arrested the owner of Theme Park, an ‘illegal’ housing scheme raised in the river bed of Ravi. The scheme was completely inundated by the swollen river last week. “Khushi Muhammad built this illegal housing scheme in the Ravi land, made residential plots on 12,000 kanals inside the river bed and sold them to citizens by fraud. The suspect had not built the society as per law and even couldn’t establish any kind of sewage system in the fake housing scheme and since the entire area was inside the river, therefore, all the houses in the illegal housing scheme were submerged by the floodwater,” an ACE spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday. He said the ACE had also sought record of all illegal housing schemes established in the Ravi bed from the River Urban Development Authority (Ruda) and the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) so that action could be taken against those housing schemes as per the law. ACE seeks record from Ruda, LDA: promises strict acti... -
Dawn - 05:47 Sep 04, 2025
KARACHI: Traffic congestion in the city due to goods transport vehicles may be eased in the coming years as the 57-kilometre Karachi Northern Bypass is being extended with a new six-lane 134km M-10 Motorway to connect Karachi to M-6 Motorway at Jamshoro via the Kirthar Mountain Range. Officials said the M-10 project is a mega initiative that has evolved from a simple bypass upgrade. It involves upgrading the Northern Bypass and constructing a new 134-kilometer six-lane motorway through the Kirthar Range. Additionally, a 23-kilometer stretch will be upgraded to a six-lane road, transforming the entire route from Karachi Port to M-6 in Jamshoro into a high-capacity motorway. The project was discussed on Wednesday at a meeting between Communication Minister Aleem Khan and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at CM House. Nespak is conducting a feasibility study on the proposed 134km M-10 project, Communications Minister Aleem Khan tells CM Murad The meeting was informed that the M-10 project was currently in... -
Dawn - 04:53 Sep 04, 2025
LAHORE: In a surprising turn, cotton production in Pakistan has seen an unexpected increase this season, defying earlier predictions despite widespread heavy rainfall and flooding in key cotton-growing regions. While the increase marks a positive development, the sector still faces significant challenges, with large areas of cotton crops submerged by floods, especially in Punjab. The floodwaters are now heading towards Sindh, threatening further damage. According to the latest report from the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) released on Wednesday, as of Augu 31, ginneries across the country had received 1.336 million bales of raw cotton, reflecting a 9 per cent increase over the same period last year. The rise has been largely driven by a notable surge in cotton arrivals from Sindh, where production is up by 87pc compared to Punjab. In fact, ginneries in Sindh received 352,000 bales between Aug 16 and 31, a sharp increase from 226,000 bales in the first half of August and a substantial jump from 130... -
Dawn - 04:43 Sep 04, 2025
ISLAMABAD: The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) has sought about a 91 per cent increase in its revenue requirement to Rs365 billion for the current fiscal year (FY26), up from Rs191bn in FY23. This would translate into an estimated 90pc increase in the bulk hydropower rate to about Rs11.55 per unit (kilowatt hour) from Rs6.10 per unit, an official told Dawn. The additional revenue of about Rs174bn demanded by Wapda for FY26 also covers an unaddressed financial gap of Rs22.35bn for FY23, Rs56bn for FY24 and Rs61bn for FY25. The Rs365bn revenue requirement further includes Rs29.5bn net hydel profit (NHP) to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at Rs1.55 per unit, Rs11.7bn to Punjab at Rs1.47 per unit, and Rs5bn in water use charges to Azad Kashmir at Rs1.10 per unit. The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has scheduled a public hearing on September 11 to assess whether Wapda’s claim is justified for an 85pc increase in return on investments and operations and maintenance (O&M) to Rs179bn in FY26, c... -
Dawn - 04:02 Sep 04, 2025
• CJ turns down plea by some judges to postpone meeting as they haven’t had a chance to review the voluminous document • Move to have family courts hear polygamy cases gets full court nod ISLAMABAD: Despite strong resistance from senior judges, a full court meeting of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday adopted the High Court Establishment (Appointment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 2025. The rules were passed by a slim majority, while a proposal from two judges, seeking changes to the meeting’s agenda, was rejected. According to the agenda, the full court had been convened to deliberate on three key issues: amendments to the law related to polygamy, structural flaws in the IHC building, and the adoption of the service rules. The meeting was attended by all 11 judges, including Chief Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Arbab Mohammad Tahir, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Justice Khadim Hussain Soom... -
Dawn - 02:06 Sep 04, 2025
• Preparations in place for more ‘controlled breaches’ as waters from Ravi-Chenab set to converge • PDMA chief fears renewed flooding in central Punjab as Indian dams near max capacity; says ‘Ravi flowing backwards’ instead of merging with Chenab • 3.7m affected across province, death toll jumps to 46; another massive surge expected at Multan tomorrow LAHORE: As the confluence of the swollen Ravi and Chenab rivers near Khanewal threatens the districts of Multan and Muzaffargarh, provincial authorities on Wednesday braced for an unprecedented disaster in light of a “dual threat”, which persisted despite several controlled breaches over the past week. The water level at Muhammadwala and Sher Shah was recorded at 412 feet, only five feet below critical level. The authorities termed the next 12 hours critical, as the pressure at the breaching points continued to increase after the convergence of the Ravi and Chenab rivers near Khanewal. In order to save urban centres along the eastern rivers, the Punjab governmen... -
Dawn - 18:28 Sep 03, 2025
United States President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he plans to hold talks about the war in Ukraine in the coming days after his Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in August failed to achieve a breakthrough. Trump has been frustrated at his inability to put a halt to the fighting, which began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, after he initially predicted he would be able to end the war swiftly when he took office in January. Trump said he would be holding talks in the next few days. A White House official said Trump is expected to speak on the phone on Thursday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The French presidency said earlier today that several European leaders, including Zelensky and France’s Emmanuel Macron, would call Trump on Thursday afternoon. That call was expected to follow a mostly virtual meeting on Thursday, hosted by France, of some 30 countries to discuss their latest efforts to provide Ukraine with security support once there is a peace agreeme...
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