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Dawn - 17:43 Nov 18, 2025
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday met with senior Russian and Chinese leadership at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government summit, according to the Foreign Office (FO). The SCO is holding its Council of Heads of Government summit in Moscow from November 17 to 18. Taking place under Russia’s rotating presidency, the high-level meeting follows the landmark Tianjin summit three months earlier and comes at a pivotal moment for Eurasian economic connectivity in a shifting global order. At the heads of government gathering, Dar met Russian President Vladimir Putin, along with other SCO heads of state and senior officials. In a post on X, the FO said that Putin welcomed leaders to the summit in the Russian capital. He also “emphasised the importance of strengthening regional economic cooperation under the SCO, highlighting its role as a key platform for connectivity, stability, and mutually beneficial development across the region”. Dar also met Chine... -
Dawn - 16:54 Nov 18, 2025
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Tuesday that 38 terrorists were killed in four separate intelligence-based operations (IBOs) conducted over a period of three days in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In a statement, the military’s media affairs said that the operations were carried out between November 15 and 16, adding that the terrorists belonged to Indian proxy Fitna al Khawarij. Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The first IBO was conducted by security forces in the Kulachi area of Dera Ismail Khan district, the ISPR said, adding that troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location. As a result, ten terrorists, including kharji ringleader Alam Mehsud, were killed, it said. In another IBO conducted in Datta Khel in North Waziristan district, troops killed five more terrorists, the ISPR said. In a separate statement later in the day, the ISPR said two IBOs took place between November 16-17 in Bajaur district and Bannu ... -
Dawn - 16:08 Nov 18, 2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday called for Hamas to be expelled from the region, a day after the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) endorsed United States President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan that offers the Palestinian group amnesty. Netanyahu publicly endorsed the plan during a White House visit in late September. However, his latest remarks appear to show that there are differences with the US on the path forward. Hamas has also objected to parts of the plan. Diplomats say privately that entrenched positions on both the Israeli and Hamas sides have made it difficult to advance the plan, which lacks specific timelines or enforcement mechanisms. Still, it has received strong international backing, including from the Arab and Muslim countries that worked on it. Netanyahu on Tuesday published a series of posts on X in response to the UN vote. In one post, he applauded Trump and in another wrote the Israeli government believes the plan would lead to peace and prosperity because it calls f... -
Dawn - 15:32 Nov 18, 2025
A woman in the Texas town of Frisco has been sentenced to eight years in prison for making false statements about alleged terrorist acts in Karachi, it emerged on Tuesday. In a statement released by the US Justice Department last Friday, Acting US Attorney in the Eastern District of Texas Jay R Combs identified the woman as 34-year-old Kahkashan Haider Khan. The Justice Department stated that Haider pleaded guilty to making false statements in relation to international terrorism and was sentenced to 96 months in federal prison by US District Judge Amos L Mazzant III on October 7, 2025. “We will not allow the United States to be a launching point for terrorist attacks abroad,” said Acting US Attorney Jay R Combs. “Vigilantly protecting the United States and its interests is inherent in everything we do. This includes aggressively prosecuting those who wrongly believe that they can find safe harbour in the United States while plotting crimes elsewhere.” FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R Joseph Rothrock said,... -
Dawn - 14:43 Nov 18, 2025
Senior PTI leader and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi underwent a successful procedure to remove his gallbladder, lawyer Rana Mudassar Umer said on Tuesday. The senior PTI leader, incarcerated at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail since 2023, was hospitalised at the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute for gallbladder stone complications on October 31, his daughter Meher Bano said. She added that his condition deteriorated while imprisoned and that surgery was “unavoidable”. Speaking to Dawn, Umer said Qureshi’s gallbladder was successfully removed during the procedure. “Shah Mehmood Qureshi will remain under the constant supervision of doctors for a few days,” he stated. “Shah Mehmood Qureshi has appealed to the nation to pray for his speedy recovery.” Meher Bano also spoke to Dawn about the procedure, saying that the procedure was successful and the PTI leader is currently under observation. “The size of the stone inside the gallbladder was quite large, so the surgery took longer than usual,” she explained. ... -
Dawn - 14:01 Nov 18, 2025
The UK government has unveiled unprecedented changes to its asylum system in a bid to deter irregular migration and make deportations easier. How long will it take to implement the measures? Will there be any obstacles, and could the proposals be effective in discouraging small boat crossings, which successive governments have failed to curb? What is the timeline? The policy paper titled “Restoring Order and Control” was announced on Monday by interior minister Shabana Mahmood, who told lawmakers the reforms would discourage migrants from crossing the Channel from France on small boats. Many of the changes will need to be introduced as new legislation and be approved by parliament, where Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party holds a significant majority. The interior ministry has said it will end its legal obligation to provide support to asylum seekers “in the coming months”. Other changes — including increasing the time refugees must wait before applying for permanent residency from five to 20 years — ... -
Dawn - 13:52 Nov 18, 2025
Disruptions in internet access were widely reported on Tuesday as Cloudflare, a content delivery network and domain name server (DNS) service, reported it was experiencing issues in its global network. Downdetector, which tracks outages by collating status reports from a number of sources, showed that user reports from Pakistan indicated problems with Cloudflare, with complaints beginning around 4:10pm. Problems were also reported with OpenAI, Amazon Web Services, and Facebook. Social media platform X was also experiencing outages, with more than 5,600 reports of issues with the social media platform, as of 06:51am Eastern Time (4:51pm PKT), according to Downdetector. Cloudflare said it was “aware of and investigating an issue which impacts multiple customers”, but how did their service going down cause outages on multiple platforms? What is a DNS service provider? A DNS server is an address book that matches a website’s name (e.g. http://google.com) to its real IP (a set of numbers). For nationwide use, you ... -
Dawn - 13:30 Nov 18, 2025
Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore on Tuesday was sworn in as the 16th prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). The oath-taking ceremony was held a day after PPP’s Rathore was announced as the new AJK premier after Chaudhry Anwarul Haq was ousted through a vote of no-confidence (VoNC) in the region’s legislative assembly. The oath was administered by AJK Legislative Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar at the President’s House in Muzaffarabad. The speaker performed the duty on behalf of AJK President Barrister Sultan Mahmood, who reportedly could not travel to the regional capital owing to his health issues. Speaking after the oath, Rathore said, “First of all, I thank God from my heart for bestowing this heavy responsibility on my weak shoulders.” The newly sworn-in premier said fulfilling those duties would not be an “easy task in this extremely difficult era”, but said he believed God gave strength to those entrusted with such tasks. Rathore also thanked President Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Tal... -
Dawn - 12:49 Nov 18, 2025
The launch of an investigation in Italy into allegations that foreigners paid to shoot at civilians during the siege of Sarajevo three decades ago has raised survivors’ hopes that people will be brought to justice. About 11,000 civilians were killed by shelling and sniper fire from Bosnian Serb army positions on hills around the besieged city during the 1992-95 war that followed Bosnia’s declaration of independence from Yugoslavia. Milan prosecutors opened their investigation, a source said, after local journalist and novelist Ezio Gavazzeni filed a legal complaint over allegations that Italians and other foreigners had paid members of the Bosnian Serb forces to visit and shoot at civilians under what some referred to as “sniper tourism”. Gavazzeni said he had been inspired to look into the allegations after watching a 2022 documentary titled Sarajevo Safari, by Slovenian director Miran Zupanic. Without providing any firm evidence, Gavazzeni said wealthy foreigners paid large sums of money to take part in the... -
Dawn - 12:44 Nov 18, 2025
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Tuesday approved grants pertaining to Pakistan’s security and defence. In a post on social media platform X, the finance ministry said Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb chaired a meeting of the ECC that was attended by federal ministers, special assistants to the prime minister, secretaries, and senior officials from relevant divisions. It said the ECC approved “several strategic grants and reforms aimed at strengthening Pakistan’s security framework, defence capabilities, food security, and petroleum sector operations”. According to the ministry’s statement, a technical supplementary grant of Rs100.3 million was approved for the maintenance of defence equipment used by the federal civil armed forces. A technical supplementary grant of Rs841.56m was also approved for enhanced border management, internal security and law and order. Further, a technical supplementary grant of Rs50 billion was also approved for defence services projects. The ECC also decided to esta... -
Dawn - 12:44 Nov 18, 2025
In a recent video report, German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle News observed that “more than two decades after 9/11, Al Qaeda hasn’t vanished, it’s adapted.” This assessment is reinforced by recent reports from the world’s leading news outlets, including the Wall Street Journal and Al Jazeera, which indicate that one of Al Qaeda’s regional affiliates, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), is on the verge of capturing the Malian capital, Bamako. Operating across the Sahel region of West Africa, primarily in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, JNIM is imposing an economic siege on the capital by blocking routes used by fuel tankers, effectively bringing the country to a standstill. Despite the elimination or arrest of its top to mid-ranking leadership in the Afghanistan-Pakistan (Af-Pak) region over the last two decades — through extensive US-led counter-terrorism operations across Af-Pak, the Middle East and Africa — Al Qaeda has persisted by adopting a key strategy: evolving from a hierarchical, centralis... -
Dawn - 11:20 Nov 18, 2025
Pakistan’s star batter Babar Azam was fined for a minor ICC Code of Conduct breach during the third One-Day International (ODI) against Sri Lanka on Sunday, according to the International Cricket Council. A brilliant bowling show from Pakistan and a laboured chase later saw the hosts beat Sri Lanka by six wickets to complete a 3-0 series sweep over the visitors in the third and final ODI at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Sunday. Babar was fined 10 per cent of his match fee for a Level 1 ICC Code of Conduct breach, which carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50pc of a player’s match fee, and one or two demerit points. View this post on Instagram “The 31-year-old has been found to have breached Article 2.2 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to ‘abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an international match’,” ICC said in a press release. One demerit point has been added to his dis... -
Dawn - 11:16 Nov 18, 2025
The opposition alliance Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP) on Tuesday staged a march from Parliament House to Supreme Court as part of its nationwide protest movement against the newly enacted 27th Amendment. The 27th Amendment was signed into law on November 13 after passage from the parliament amid strong criticism by the opposition parties. The legislation, which has brought major structural changes to the judiciary and the military, has been assailed by the legal fraternity, even former and sitting judges, as an “attack” on judicial independence. In a meeting on Friday, the TTAP had vowed to vigorously protest to “restore the Constitution to its original form”. Under a plan announced then, members of parties under the TTAP umbrella gathered outside Parliament House today to hold a protest. They then marched to the Supreme Court on Constitution Avenue. TTAP Vice Chairman Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and PTI Senator Faisa... -
Dawn - 10:29 Nov 18, 2025
Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad stressed on Monday the need for ending the occupation of Palestinian territories and paving the way for Palestinian statehood through a credible political process. “We believe that in order to break the cycle of violence, it is absolutely necessary to end the occupation, and to have a political horizon, open the pathway to the Palestinian State through a credible, time-bound political process firmly anchored in the relevant UN resolutions,” he said while speaking at the UN Security Council (UNSC) after it adopt a US-drafted resolution endorsing President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza. The plan also authorises an International Stabilisation Force (ISF) for the Palestinian enclave. Thirteen UNSC members, including Pakistan, voted in favour of the resolution, while Russia and China abstained — notable given earlier signals that Moscow might veto the text. Israel and Hamas agreed last month to the first phase of Trump’s 20-p... -
Dawn - 09:39 Nov 18, 2025
As the dust settles after the passage of the 27th Amendment Constitutional Amendment, changes have been made to key constitutional and statutory judicial bodies. Following these changes, Supreme Court’s Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail has been included in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and the Practice and Procedure Committee while Federal Constitutional Court’s (FCC) Justice Aamer Farooq has been made a member of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP). Among the three statutory bodies, the SJC is the the top forum for judicial accountability that probes allegations of misconduct against judges, the Practice and Procedure Committee forms benches and fixes cases, and the JCP is responsible for appointing judges to the superior judiciary. Changes in their composition were required to synchronise them with the latest constitutional amendment. A Supreme Court (SC) press release issued on Tuesday said: “Pursuant to the 27th Constitutional Amendment, [these] key constitutional and statutory judicial bodies […]... -
Dawn - 09:21 Nov 18, 2025
A newlywed 18-year-old girl was found dead in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA) area while the police detained her relatives for their suspected involvement for interrogation, officials said on Tuesday. “The girl was married to a government employee deputed at Malir Cantonment; she was found dead at the rooftop of a building in Badar Commercial in Phase 5,” South Deputy Inspector General Syed Asad Raza told Dawn. The senior officer added that a dupatta was knotted around her neck twice. She was immediately taken to a private clinic in DHA and later to a hospital in Clifton, where doctors pronounced her dead. Subsequently, DIG Raza detailed, her body was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for legal proceedings. The couple had arrived in Karachi from Sialkot two weeks ago and was residing at an aunt’s house in the Badar Commercial area. According to details shared by the DIG, the girl reportedly went to the rooftop on Monday evening and did not return. When her aunt went upstairs, she found... -
Dawn - 08:40 Nov 18, 2025
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday barred the police from harassing an Indian woman who had filed a petition against them. The woman, formerly Sikh, had come to Pakistan for religious purposes but had converted to Islam to marry the second petitioner, her now-husband. She complained that the police had conducted an “illegal raid on their house in Farooqabad, Sheikhupura district, and pressured her to end the marriage.” The petition was heard by Justice Farooq Haider, who ordered the police to stop harassing the petitioners. The petition, a copy of which is available with Dawn, was filed on November 12 under Article 199 (jurisdiction of High Court) of the Constitution. It named both the woman and her husband as the petitioners and Punjab’s inspector general of police (IGP), the regional police officer of Sheikhupura, the district police officers (DPOs) of Sheikhupura and Nankana Sahib, the station house officers (SHOs) of the same, and another resident of Farooq Abad as respondents. The petition alleged th... -
Dawn - 07:48 Nov 18, 2025
The United States is the biggest recipient of China’s lending activities globally, according to a study that tracked Beijing’s credit activities and found it is increasingly lending to higher-income countries over developing countries. The report, published on Tuesday by AidData, a research lab at US university William & Mary, said China’s lending and grant giving totalled $2.2 trillion across 200 countries in every region of the world from 2000 to 2023. During this period, Pakistan received $74 billion, the report shows, ranking it as the fifth largest recipient. China has long been seen as a creditor to developing countries through its Belt and Road initiative, but is shifting toward lending to advanced economies — backing strategic infrastructure and high‑tech supply chains in areas such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence and clean energy. Beijing’s portfolio size is two-to-four times larger than previous estimates suggest, AidData said, adding that China remains the world’s largest official credit... -
Dawn - 06:57 Nov 18, 2025
Terrorists’ bid to blow up a bridge in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district failed on Tuesday when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated prematurely while it was being installed, police said. Amir Khan, the spokesperson for the District Police Office in Bannu, told Dawn that two terrorists intended to blow up Doghoda Bridge. He said that one of them died on the spot when the IED detonated prematurely while it was being installed. The other terrorist was injured and escaped the scene, he added. The spokesperson said police had reached the spot and were collecting evidence. Meanwhile, the process for the identification of the dead terrorist had also been initiated, he said. A search operation was also under way to track down the other terrorist, he added. Today’s incident comes around a month after law enforcers foiled an attack by terrorists at a police station in Bannu. According to police, terrorists belonging to Fitna-al-Khawarij — a term the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP... -
Dawn - 06:08 Nov 18, 2025
Vitol and Cnergyico, Pakistan’s largest oil refiner, have delivered the country’s biggest single shipment of very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) for ship refuelling, the global trading firm said in a statement late Monday. The move will enable large vessels refuelling in Pakistan to now sail longer routes from east to west without needing to stop elsewhere, while also giving the country a stronger local supply of environmentally compliant marine fuel. This shipment came from Cnergyico’s first large-scale batch of fuel that meets International Maritime Organisation (IMO) low-sulphur rules. The company began producing it after importing its first US crude oil cargoes earlier this year. Vitol delivered the VLSFO to a vessel owned and operated by shipping major MSC at Port Qasim, using a Singapore-flagged bunker barge Marine Ista that has the capacity to supply 6,800 metric tons of marine fuel in a single delivery. It was also the first barge to load fuel directly from the Karachi Port Trust’s Oil Pier rather than ...
5467 items