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Dawn - 07:34 Sep 02, 2025
Pakistan and China on Tuesday reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening their “iron-clad and all-weather strategic cooperative partnership” through enhanced cooperation, reflecting their unique bilateral relationship. Pakistan and China share a longstanding strategic partnership with ties ranging across different sectors — including trade, energy, defence, and infrastructure. The bilateral ties and cooperation were discussed in a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State (CHS) summit, held from August 31 to September 1. “During the meeting, the two leaders agreed that the relationship between their countries was unique and unparalleled, which should be reflected in their enhanced bilateral cooperation,” the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said. “Both leaders also discussed important regional and global developments and agreed to continue... -
Dawn - 06:55 Sep 02, 2025
ISLAMABAD: A Senate committee on Monday invalidated the bids for the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Tranche-III project and called on the National Highway Authority (NHA) to cancel the bids and inform the project financier of its findings regarding the use of “forged” documents to secure all four contracts associated with the Rs170 billion project. The Senate Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Division also called for the blacklisting of a joint venture (JV) of three firms — M/s Ningxia Communications Construction Co., Ltd NXCC, M/s Dynamic Constructors, and M/s Rustam Associates. The committee called on the NHA to write to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the project financier, within two days regarding the firms’ non-compliance and the fraudulent nature of the bids. It further recommended that the Economic Affairs Division officially notify the ADB that the bids were “technically invalid and were manipulated due to the malafide intentions of NHA officials and the contractors.” Commi... -
Dawn - 04:56 Sep 02, 2025
Australia’s white-ball pace spearhead Mitchell Starc has retired from Twenty20 internationals six months out from the World Cup in India and Sri Lanka to focus on extending his career in test and one-day cricket. The 35-year-old left-armer retires as the nation’s most prolific fast bowler in the format, with 79 wickets from 65 T20Is, second on the all-time Australia list to spin bowling teammate Adam Zampa. Test cricket is and has always been my highest priority,” he said in a Cricket Australia statement on Tuesday. “I have loved every minute of every T20 game I have played for Australia, particularly the 2021 World Cup, not just because we won but the incredible group and the fun along the way. “Looking ahead to an away Indian test tour, the Ashes and an ODI World Cup in 2027, I feel this is my best way forward to remain fresh, fit and at my best for those campaigns. “It also gives the bowling group time to prepare for the T20 World Cup in the matches leading into that tournament.” Starc was not included in ... -
Dawn - 04:05 Sep 02, 2025
ISLAMABAD: Despite strong reservations from the ministries of finance and power, the government has approved a dollar-based guaranteed return on the transportation of petroleum products through the 477-kilometre Machike-Thallian-Tarujabba White Oil Pipeline, estimated to cost $300 million. The project will be executed on a government-to-government basis by a joint venture comprising Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company SOCAR, Pakistan State Oil (PSO), and the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO). Positioned as a strategic investment from Azerbaijan, the project had long been advocated by the FWO using local resources. At a recent meeting, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet approved the terms and conditions proposed by the Petroleum Division to launch the project, citing its potential to enhance bilateral ties with Azerbaijan and attract future investment. However, official documents reviewed by Dawn reveal that Power Minister Sardar Awais Leghari cautioned against offering guaranteed dollar... -
Dawn - 02:46 Sep 02, 2025
• Xi calls for creation of new SCO bank to break dependence on dollar • Putin urges shift from ‘Euro-centric’ security model • Tianjin Declaration condemns terror attacks in Pakistan; reaffirms commitment to fight separatism and extremism ISLAMABAD: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday pressed his vision for a new global security and economic order that prioritises the “Global South”, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called on leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to initiate a structured process to resolve longstanding disputes in South Asia. “Global governance has reached a new crossroads,” said President Xi, adding that member states “must continue to take a clear stand against hegemonism and power politics, and practise true multilateralism” — a thinly veiled swipe at the US. The summit brought together more than 20 world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Indian PM Narendra Modi, in the Chinese port city of Tianjin. In an ima... -
Dawn - 02:40 Sep 02, 2025
• PTI parliamentary body says international community showed little interest in flood relief • Endorses boycott of by-polls and resignation from parliamentary committees; daily walkouts planned in NA and Senate to highlight ‘lack of democracy’ in country ISLAMABAD: Claiming that the international community has not shown interest in supporting Pakistan after floods, the parliamentary committee of the PTI on Monday urged former prime minister Imran Khan to appeal to overseas Pakistanis to donate funds through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government to help flood-hit people in Punjab and KP. The committee endorsed the decision of Imran Khan to boycott the by-elections and resign from parliamentary committees. It also decided to stage a daily boycott of the National Assembly to send a message to national and international community that the democracy does not exist in the country. PTI leader Asad Qaiser, while talking to Dawn, said that during the meeting, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan briefed the committee on his meeting ... -
Dawn - 02:32 Sep 02, 2025
• Senate panel says four companies in race, two disqualified; Discos next in line • Senators seek clarity on energy supply, debt before privatisation ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary committee was informed on Monday that Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited is expected to be privatised by November this year. Briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Privatisation on the current status of the process, the Privatisation Commission secretary said that four companies were participating and would need to form consortiums with established airlines to operate PIA. Two applicants had already been disqualified for not meeting standards. When Senator Zeeshan Khanzada raised concerns over PIA’s Rs650 billion debt, committee chairman Senator Dr Afnan Ullah Khan suggested that the airline’s two hotels could be sold to offset liabilities. When Senator Khanzada questioned the government’s strategy of selling profitable companies in the first phase, the Privatisation Commission secretary replied that investors are... -
Dawn - 19:41 Sep 01, 2025
Islamabad police on Monday arrested a man for allegedly harassing and attempting to kidnap social media influencer Samiya Hijab. A statement from the police spokesperson said the action was taken after her complaint and video statement. A case was registered in the capital’s Shalimar Police Station at her complaint under Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 365 (Kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person), 392 (punishment for robbery), 500 (punishment for defamation), 509 and 511 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The suspect had been stalking her for several days, the social media influencer said in the first information report. She added that on Sunday at 6:30pm, an attempt was made to forcefully take her out of the house “Today’s incident further escalated when he attempted to forcibly abduct me from my house while I was returning his gifts. This amounts to abduction, harassment, and assault under the law. For evidence, I have C... -
Dawn - 18:14 Sep 01, 2025
With over one million children in Pakistan still missing routine vaccination, health experts on Monday gathered in Lahore for a week-long workshop focused on strengthening national immunisation efforts. When it comes to vaccination, Pakistan continues to face challenges of low uptake, public hesitancy and mistrust, operational bottlenecks, and the unfinished struggle against the poliovirus. The National Vaccinology Workshop kicked off today at Lahore’s Pearl-Continental Hotel and will run through till Friday. The first day brought together leading experts who spoke on topics ranging from the history of vaccines and the science of how they work to global immunisation trends, coverage challenges, and Gavi’s support. Gavi is a public-private partnership formed in the year 2000 that aims to improve vaccine access in the world’s poorest countries. Speakers on the first day included Prof Asad Ali, Dr Junaid Iqbal, Prof Farah Qamar, Dr Chaudhri Irtaza Ahmad, and Dr Richard Omore. “What are the interventions modern m... -
Dawn - 18:12 Sep 01, 2025
A massive rescue operation was under way in Afghanistan on Monday, after a strong earthquake and multiple aftershocks flattened homes in a remote, mountainous region, killing more than 800 people, the Taliban authorities said. The quake, which struck at a relatively shallow depth of eight kilometres, was 27 kilometres from the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Nangarhar and Kunar provinces border Pakistan, with the Torkham crossing, the site of many waves of Afghan returnees deported or forced to leave, often with no work and nowhere to go. The earthquake struck just before midnight, shaking buildings from capital Kabul to Islamabad. After the initial quake, a series of at least five aftershocks followed throughout the night, with the strongest being one of magnitude 5.2 just after 4am (2330 GMT on Sunday). More than 1.2 million people likely felt strong or very strong shaking, according to the USGS. Casualties and destruction swept across at least five pro... -
Dawn - 18:12 Sep 01, 2025
A group of 47 Afghans who fled the Taliban arrived in Germany on Monday after months of waiting in Pakistan until German court rulings forced Berlin to offer them refuge. The 10 families have been among more than 2,000 Afghans caught in limbo in Pakistan as Germany’s conservative-led government this year froze a programme to offer them sanctuary. Most of them arrived in Hanover on a commercial flight from Istanbul around 2pm (1200 GMT), said an AFP reporter and the Airbridge Kabul initiative set up to help those affected. An interior ministry spokeswoman confirmed that “45 Afghan nationals entered Germany. These are all individuals who obtained visas through legal proceedings … All of these individuals have fully completed the admission procedure and security screening“. The Airbridge Kabul initiative later said that two more people had arrived after catching a later connection from Istanbul. A mother and daughter who did not want to give their names told AFP they were looking forward to their new life in Ger... -
Dawn - 15:50 Sep 01, 2025
Pakistan witnessed an alarming spike in militant violence in August this year, registering a 74 per cent increase in militant attacks compared to July, becoming the “deadliest month in over a decade”, according to data released by the Islamabad-based think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) on Monday. In July, PICSS documented 82 militant attacks across the country, resulting in 101 fatalities and 150 injuries, a 5pc rise in militant attacks compared to June. According to the think tank, those killed in July’s militant attacks included 47 civilians, 36 security personnel, and 18 militants. Among the injured were 90 civilians, 52 security personnel, seven militants, and a member of a peace committee. “With 143 militant attacks recorded, August became the deadliest month in over a decade, surpassing all monthly figures since February 2014, as per the PICSS Militancy Database,” the think tank’s latest report read. The wave of violence left 194 people dead, including 73 security for... -
Dawn - 15:34 Sep 01, 2025
The world’s biggest academic association of genocide scholars has passed a resolution saying the legal criteria have been met to establish that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, its president said on Monday. Eighty-six per cent of those who voted among the 500-member International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) backed the resolution declaring Israel’s “policies and actions in Gaza” had met the legal definition set out in Article II of the 1948 UN Convention on genocide. Israel launched its devastating assault on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, after fighters from Hamas attacked Israeli communities, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages. Since then, Israel’s military action has killed 63,000 people, damaged or destroyed most buildings in the territory and forced nearly all its residents to flee their homes at least once. A global hunger monitor relied on by the United Nations says parts of the territory are now suffering a man-made famine, which Israel also denies. The three-p... -
Dawn - 14:59 Sep 01, 2025
The leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Monday adopted a statement condemning terrorism in Pakistan and India amid tense ties between the two nations that have seen allegations against each other for alleged involvement in militant attacks. The Jaffar Express train was hijacked on March 11 when Balochistan Liberation Army terrorists ambushed the Peshawar-bound train carrying 440 passengers, opening fire and taking hostages. Security forces launched a two-day operation, concluding on March 12. On May 21, at least six people, including three students, were slain while over 40 others — mostly students — were injured after a bomb targeted a school bus near Zero Point in Khuzdar on the Quetta-Karachi highway when it was on its way to drop the students at the Army Public School in Khuzdar Cantonment. On April 22, assailants conducted an attack in Pahalgam, a tourist hotspot in occupied Kashmir that draws thousands of visitors every summer. Gunmen opened fire on visitors, killing at least 26 pe... -
Dawn - 14:07 Sep 01, 2025
United States President Donald Trump said on Monday that India has offered to reduce its tariffs on US goods to zero amid deteriorating ties between the two countries. While calling the US’s relationship with India “one-sided”, Trump wrote on Truth Social, “They have now offered to cut their tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago.” The Indian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to Trump’s comments, which follow the implementation of total duties as high as 50 per cent on Indian goods. Relations between the two countries have plummeted, with 50pc levies on many Indian imports into the US taking effect last week as punishment for New Delhi’s massive purchases of Russian oil, a part of US efforts to pressure Moscow into ending its war in Ukraine. Since his return to the White House this year, Trump has wielded tariffs as a wide-ranging policy tool, with the levies upending global trade. Amid this dispute, India has grown closer to Beijing and Moscow. Indian Pr... -
Dawn - 14:03 Sep 01, 2025
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on Monday called for support from the country’s business community for victims of the earthquake that killed at least 800 people and left more than 2,500 injured. The quake, which struck at a relatively shallow depth of eight kilometres, was 27km from the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). “The (ACB) calls upon all national businessmen, traders [and] rich countrymen to extend their support to the affected families of Kunar and other eastern provinces in this dire situation, while also recognising its own responsibility in this regard,” the governing body said in a statement on X. “The leadership of the ACB, along with all the players and staff, express its deepest sorrow over the loss of lives and casualties caused by the severe earthquake in the eastern provinces, particularly in Kunar. “In this time of immense grief, we consider ourselves united with all our people.” It added that the earthquake had caused many deaths an... -
Dawn - 12:29 Sep 01, 2025
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday raised the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) issue at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) summit in China and called for a “structural” dialogue on all outstanding disputes. PM Shehbaz arrived in China on Saturday to attend the SCO Council of Heads of State (CHS) summit held from August 31 to September 1. Besides Pakistan, the SCO comprises China, India, Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus. Another 16 countries are affiliated as observers or “dialogue partners”. “We respect all international and bilateral treaties and expect similar principles to be followed by all SCO members,” PM Shehbaz said at the summit today, in an apparent reference to fellow SCO member India and its unilateral move to hold the IWT in abeyance in April. “Uninterrupted access to due share of water as per existing treaties among SCO members will strengthen the SCO working smoothly and will support the achievement of broader goals for which the SCO was establis... -
Dawn - 12:17 Sep 01, 2025
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) heads of state summit underway in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin (Aug 31–Sept 1) showcases the group’s ambition to anchor what analysts describe as an ‘alternative model’ of multilateral cooperation within the rules-based World Trade Organisation (WTO) framework at a time of heightened global economic and geopolitical uncertainty. The bloc has showcased itself at Tianjin as a ‘pillar of multipolarity’ rooted in the ‘Shanghai Spirit’ characterised by “mutual trust, equality, benefit and respect for diversity”. The timing of the summit is crucial as the world is torn by recent wars, rising US-led trade protectionism and climate emergencies. The meeting is expected to push deeper economic and security cooperation among member states and signal the emergence of an alternative to a global order dominated by the US-led West. The gathering’s significance is underscored by its scale, as leaders from more than 20 countries and 10 international organisations are in Tian... -
Dawn - 12:01 Sep 01, 2025
A powerful earthquake jolted eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan late on Sunday, killing at least 800 people and injuring 2,500 others, with authorities fearing a rise in the death toll. Surrounded by mountains, Afghanistan is prone to earthquakes as it sits near the junction of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, a highly active seismic zone. Many of the recent quakes have had shallow depths, which increased the intensity of shaking on the surface and destruction. Here is a timeline of major earthquakes that struck the country since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 and before. August 31, 2025: A 6.0 magnitude earthquake shook eastern Kunar province, killing more than 800 people and injuring more than 2,000 others, and flattening hundreds of houses and buildings. Afghans dig graves for the victims’ bodies from the earthquakes in Sarbuland village, Zendeh Jan district of Herat province on Oct 8, 2023. — AFP October 7, 2023: A 6.3 magnitude earthquake and subsequent aftershocks in Herat province kil... -
Dawn - 11:48 Sep 01, 2025
Karachi’s population has crossed 20 million people, indicating the economic promise and perilous byproducts of the ambition to cash it. However, in these trials of the city’s resilience lies the immense potential for Karachi to become a model of regenerative urbanism. Regenerative infrastructure design Metropolitan cities must actively regenerate ecosystems disturbed through infrastructure design for long-term sustainability. For Karachi, this could mean adapting the urban environment to restore biodiversity, manage heat, and mitigate floods. Examples include the treatment of industrial runoff and the construction of wetlands in Malir and Korangi, due to their proximity to waterways. Green corridors can be connected to urban public spaces, such as Karachi University, Safari Park, and the Malir River, to form a biodiversity belt. Using permeable paving in all public spaces could help restore aquifers and groundwater. Greener mobility A mobility system that prioritises people instead of vehicles is needed. Curr...
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