Dawn
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Dawn - 17:36 Aug 02, 2026
Donald Trump has made some of the most aggressive public threats about military action of any modern US president. He has walked back many of them too. The 80-year-old Republican’s comments about the US war against Iran have shifted, sometimes dramatically and quickly, since the conflict erupted on February 28. He has repeatedly declared victory, claiming Iran’s military capabilities were utterly defeated, only to later tweak the war timeline or threaten Tehran with more strikes. He praised Iran’s new leaders on June 17 as “very smart” and “far less radicalized” than their predecessors killed in US and Israeli strikes. By July 8, a frustrated Trump changed his tune. “I don’t want to deal with them anymore, they’re scum,” he said. Here are some of the main examples of Trump’s threats against Iran, and how he has dialed them back. March 21 “If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their v... -
Dawn - 17:16 Aug 02, 2026
The second phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections took place on Sunday, with polling held in eight out of the nine constituencies of Muzaffarabad division and all 12 refugee constituencies. Polling began at 8am and continued till 5pm for the refugee seats, while the process concluded at 6pm in Muzaffarabad after an hour-long extension. The electoral process in LA-27 (Muzaffarabad-I) was postponed due to heavy rain, AJK Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal said, DawnNewsTV reported. Polling in LA-27, commonly known as Kutla, was deferred until August 4 after polling material could not be dispatched due to a landslide. Similarly, polling in 52 of the 147 polling stations of LA-28 (Muzaffarabad-II) was also postponed until August 4 for the same reason. Over 300 candidates were in the fray for the Muzaffarabad seats and the 12 seats for refugees settled in different regions. What has happened so far: Polling postponed in LA-27 due to rain; 4 other seats up for grabs in Muzaffarabad... -
Dawn - 14:20 Aug 02, 2026
HYDERABAD: Civic life remained paralysed in Hyderabad as the city received intermittent rainfall on Sunday. According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), the Met Office in Latifabad recorded 42mm of rain until 5pm, while the City Office recorded 40mm. Power outages were also reported in Hyderabad. The Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) spokesperson claimed that electricity supply remained suspended on 285 of the company’s 722 11kV feeders. In Hyderabad city, which has 166 feeders, 66 feeders were unable to provide electricity, he confirmed. A view of railway station main road submerged with rain water after rainfall on Sunday, — Photo by Umair Ali All major arteries and roads in the city were inundated due to rainfall. Meanwhile, water supply was severely affected as the facilities of the Hyderabad Water and Sewerage Corporation (HWSC) remained without electricity. In the absence of electricity and with roads inundated, business activities were also affected. Trade activities in the City C... -
Dawn - 13:34 Aug 02, 2026
At least 72 people died during the mass influx in recent days of migrants into Spain’s Ceuta enclave, when tens of thousands of people mostly swam around the border post from Morocco, local officials said on Sunday. Most of the estimated 60,000 people who rushed into Spain’s north African territory have returned to Morocco since the territory’s largest mass migrant crossing. “The latest figure that we have is 72,” the government’s delegate to Ceuta, Miguel Angel Perez Triano, told reporters, when asked about the number of fatalities. The previous toll was 67 deaths. Spanish police and troops patrolled the streets of Ceuta on Sunday as the enclave largely returned to normal after the sudden mass influx of migrants from Morocco that had occurred between Wednesday and Friday. Only small groups of migrants were still walking around after most who crossed the small border barrier returned voluntarily to Morocco in 48 hours. AFP on Saturday saw migrant minors milling around in a disused industrial park in Ceuta. Ot... -
Dawn - 13:12 Aug 02, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s electoral rolls contracted by 589,458 voters between May 7 and July 2, 2026, as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) removed a large number of deceased voters from the electoral database, more than offsetting fresh registrations during the period, it emerged on Sunday. According to official ECP statistics analysed by Dawn, the total number of registered voters fell from 137,163,857 on May 7 to 136,574,399 on July 2. A senior ECP official said 895,000 new voters were enrolled during the period, but the deletion of around 1.48 million deceased voters resulted in a net decline of 589,458 voters nationwide. The number of male voters dropped from 73,286,821 to 72,835,859, a decrease of 450,962, while female voters declined from 63,877,036 to 63,738,540, down by 138,496. The reduction narrowed the gender gap among registered voters from about 941,000 to 910,000. Overall, 99 of the country’s 144 districts recorded a decline in registered voters, while 45 districts posted a net increase. Pu... -
Dawn - 11:59 Aug 02, 2026
The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) said on Sunday that complaints of a suspected gas leak near Karachi’s Abul Hasan Isphahani Road since the previous night were due to the testing of odourisation plants during the commissioning of a new pipeline. While gas is often thought to have a distinctive smell, it is in fact odourless. Gas suppliers deliberately add odorants to the gas as a safety measure to alert consumers to potentially life-threatening leaks. In a media alert issued on Sunday, the SSGC said that odourants used to give gas its distinctive smell were added in larger quantities for testing purposes. This resulted in a stronger-than-usual smell, prompting reports of a gas leak from various parts of Karachi. “The SSGC administration wishes to make it clear that all system pressures are normal and that no gas leak of any kind has been reported,” the statement said. “The smell is solely due to the relatively larger quantity of odourants added to the gas during the testing of the odourisation plants.” The ... -
Dawn - 11:58 Aug 02, 2026
As part of the second phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections, polling is underway in eight out of the nine constituencies of Muzaffarabad division and all 12 refugee constituencies. Polling started at 8am and was to continue till 5pm. However, an AJK Election Commission spokesperson said it has been extended by an hour till 6pm. The electoral process in LA-27 (Muzaffarabad-I) was postponed due to heavy rain, AJK Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal said, DawnNewsTV reported. Over 300 candidates are vying for the Muzaffarabad seats and the 12 seats for refugees settled in different regions. What has happened so far: Polling suspended in LA-27 due to rain; 4 other seats up for grabs in Muzaffarabad district, 2 each in Neelum and Jhelum Valley Voting underway across country for 12 refugee seats — 7 in Punjab, other 5 divided between different provinces Bilawal condemns ‘attack’ on party’s regional president, says PPP worker died in LA-31 PPP alleges electoral malpractices at some ... -
Dawn - 11:52 Aug 02, 2026
Security forces have killed the mastermind behind the July 30 attack on a police checkpost in Hangu, which claimed the lives of nine police officials, a senior security official told Dawn on Sunday. Security sources identified the slain terrorist as Amir Mauviya, who they said was killed during an intelligence-based operation in Hangu’s Chapri Naryab. According to the sources, the slain terrorist held an important position among Fitna-al-Khawarij in Kurram, and was wanted in several other terrorism cases. Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. The sources added that under Operation 11 Garaj, operations against terrorists had been intensified. The attack on the Khazina Banda checkpost had claimed the lives of nine police personnel, including a deputy superintendent of police, and left 28 injured. Police officials said an exchange of fire had broken out after the terrorists attacked the checkpost, and 15 terrorists were killed in retaliatory action. Security person... -
Dawn - 11:03 Aug 02, 2026
GILGIT: The bodies of celebrated Nepali climber Nirmal Purja and three other mountaineers accompanying him on a summit of the Broad Peak mountain in Gilgit-Baltistan were recovered on Sunday — three days after all 10 members of the team were reported missing after an avalanche. On Saturday, his expedition organising company Elite Exped announced that all members of the team, which also included Pakistani climber Sohail Sakhi, had died. The bodies of three climbers were recovered by then, as well as the remains believed to be of a climber from the United States, Naila Kiani of the ACP told Dawn on Sunday. Meanwhile, the ACP announced in a statement that Purja’s body had been found. “The Alpine Club of Pakistan shares this update with profound sorrow. The ground rescue team has reached Nirmal Purja ‘Nims Dai’ at approximately 5,700m on Broad Peak, where three additional bodies have also been sighted, though their identities remain unconfirmed. The ground team will bring the bodies down to the Japanese camp. “Re... -
Dawn - 10:15 Aug 02, 2026
When European lawmakers talk about labour abuse in the garment trade, Pakistan is too often cast as the defendant before any evidence is heard. A serious child-labour problem in one corner of the economy becomes, in the retelling, a verdict on an entire export industry. That is not regulation. It is collective punishment by reputation. Europe is right to insist that the clothes, towels and bed linen entering its market are not produced through child labour, forced labour, unsafe workplaces or environmental abuse. Pakistan should not seek exemption from those standards. It should, however, challenge the habit of turning legitimate concerns into sweeping judgments about an entire industry. Regulation must follow evidence, not inherited stereotypes about manufacturing in the developing world. That distinction matters more now, not less. The European Parliament’s June 2026 briefing on textile trade placed labour and sustainability conditions in supplier countries under renewed scrutiny. The EU’s revised Generalis... -
Dawn - 10:03 Aug 02, 2026
PESHAWAR: Two police personnel sustained minor injuries in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion targeting a police van near Pir Zakorhi Bridge near the Peshawar-Islamabad motorway toll plaza on Sunday afternoon, police said. According to the police, the driver of a police van and a constable sustained minor injuries, while the vehicle itself sustained damage. “Both the cops have been shifted to the hospital,” the city police spokesperson Alam Khan told Dawn. The bomb disposal unit (BDU) reached the scene shortly after the incident was reported. “It was a roadside IED explosion, and the bomb was planted in the green belt [next to the vehicle],” Peshawar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Farhan Khan told Dawn. He said the BDU was busy scanning the green belt for other devices, adding that both cops were stable and had only scratches on their bodies. Peshawar Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Dr Mian Saeed Ahmed also visited the blast site and later met the injured at the Lady Reading Hospital in ... -
Dawn - 08:45 Aug 02, 2026
Gianni Infantino’s position as FIFA president looks untenable following his failed plan to sell a stake in the World Cup’s commercial rights, the head of Europe’s professional football leagues said on Sunday. Claudius Schaefer, whose organisation represents 53 professional men’s and women’s football leagues, said there could be “only one consequence” for Infantino after his plan triggered a storm of protest from regional associations. “When I saw how this whole thing unfolded and that FIFA’s key bodies weren’t involved, then there’s essentially only one consequence in any company or association,” Schaefer told Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung. Asked if this meant that Infantino was now unacceptable as FIFA president, Schaefer said: “This is usually the consequence when someone in a company pushes such a business deal forward without anyone knowing about it.” Infantino said on Friday that FIFA had scrapped the plan after a widespread backlash. Regional confederations UEFA and CONCACAF said on Saturday they had ... -
Dawn - 08:16 Aug 02, 2026
Reacting to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s call for an overhaul of the country’s governance structure, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has advised him to initiate the change by implementing the National Action Plan (NAP) and with his own ministry. He also urged him to bring a “revolution” in the Pakistan Cricket Board, which Naqvi heads in addition to the interior ministry. Speaking at the Pakistan Economic Summit on Thursday, Naqvi had said the governance system in the country had “collapsed” and argued that the country needed new administrative units, or provinces, to improve service delivery, accountability and access to justice. He had also said new leadership was needed in the country and argued that the youth wanted justice, merit and jobs rather than stipends and laptops. A day later, the military’s spokesperson also urged political parties to consider an administrative reset for improving governance, arguing that the country’s security and stability depended on adapting its governance structure to t... -
Dawn - 06:31 Aug 02, 2026
South Korea registered on Sunday its highest temperature since records began more than a century ago, according to the state weather agency. The southeastern city of Yangsan saw the temperature reach 42.5 degrees Celsius at 1:26pm (9:26am PKT), the Korea Meteorological Administration said on its website. Yangsan has been the epicentre of the ongoing heatwave, where temperatures exceeded 40°C for a fifth consecutive day on Sunday. Much of South Korea has been placed under heat warnings, with many cities seeing temperatures climb into the high 30°C. More than 20 localities were on Sunday under emergency heatwave alerts, a new warning category introduced this year to better address rising temperatures. An emergency alert is issued when areas experiencing a heatwave are forecast to hit perceived temperatures of 38°C or an actual temperature of 39°C for one day. KMA data show the average annual number of heatwave days in the country has more than doubled to 19 over the past five years, from eight in the 1970s. A h... -
Dawn - 05:51 Aug 02, 2026
Reacting to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s call for an overhaul of the country’s governance structure, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has advised him to initiate the change by implementing the National Action Plan (NAP) and with his own ministry. Speaking at the Pakistan Economic Summit on Thursday, Naqvi had said the governance system in the country had “collapsed” and argued that the country needed new administrative units, or provinces, to improve service delivery, accountability and access to justice. He had also said new leadership was needed in the country and argued that the youth wanted justice, merit and jobs rather than stipends and laptops. A day later, the military’s spokesperson also urged political parties to consider an administrative reset for improving governance, arguing that the country’s security and stability depended on adapting its governance structure to the requirements of modern times and a growing population. Speaking at a news conference, Inter-Services Public Relations Director... -
Dawn - 05:29 Aug 02, 2026
The second phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections began on Sunday morning. Polling is being held in nine constituencies of Muzaffarabad division and all 12 refugee constituencies. Polling started at 8am and will continue without interruption till 5pm. Over 300 candidates are vying for nine Muzaffarabad seats and 12 seats for refugees settled in different regions. According to the AJK Election Commission, 207 candidates are in the fray for the nine constituencies in Muzaffarabad division, comprising five seats in Muzaffarabad district and two each in Neelum and Jhelum Valley districts. Another 137 candidates are contesting the 12 refugee constituencies, including six seats representing refugees from the Kashmir Valley and six from Jammu. A total of 809,621 voters are registered in Muzaffarabad division, while the 12 refugee constituencies have a combined electorate of 438,834. According to the commission, 1,483 polling stations have been established across Muzaffarabad division, of which 533 have ... -
Dawn - 05:21 Aug 02, 2026
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not fall, but he clearly wears a shell-shocked expression these days, as widespread anti-Modi protests by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) appear to have unnerved him. The CJP operates outside conventional politics as a movement driven primarily by young Indians. Naturally, following regional trends, where commentators labelled recent anti-government uprisings in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh as Gen-Z uprisings, the Indian movement is receiving the same description. In truth, this term is intellectually lazy. Global student protests against governments in the late 1960s were never termed Boomer uprisings, nor were violent anti-corporate demonstrations in the 1990s described as Gen-X uprisings. Revolutions in places such as Ukraine and erstwhile Czechoslovakia received colour-coded names such as the Orange Revolution, Velvet Revolution etc. Western media delights in such terminology. This silly practice ultimately collapsed alongside the disastrous unravelling of the s... -
Dawn - 03:43 Aug 02, 2026
United States President Donald Trump said late on Saturday he would hold off on a fresh attack on Iran as long as a deal could be reached quickly to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran and “other Middle Eastern Countries” asked for a time to complete a deal that would lead to “the Immediate, Complete and Total” reopening of the Strait and “an end to Iran’s nuclear threat,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL.” Israel “joins me in this commitment,” Trump wrote. Israel did not immediately make a public statement on the issue. Iran warned the US this weekend against any adventurous action and said it would retaliate decisively if American forces followed through on Trump’s threats of fresh attacks on Iranian targets. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchis comments in sep... -
Dawn - 03:28 Aug 02, 2026
PAKISTAN’S automobile industry captures the country’s industrial policy dilemma well. As the government considers lower tariffs, manufacturers warn of plant closures, job losses and wasted investment. Critics argue that, despite more than 40 years of protection, consumers until recently faced high prices and limited choice, while exports remained negligible. Both sides have a point. But the debate is framed wrongly. The question is: can the country’s auto industry build capabilities that can compete in regional and global value chains? One principle should guide policy. Except in strategically important sectors, any industry seeking protection must offer consumers better value and move towards international competitiveness. Protection should be a runway, not a refuge. The auto industry deserves credit. It has built assemblers and component suppliers, developed engineering skills, invested in vendors and created skilled jobs despite expensive energy, costly finance, policy uncertainty, cumbersome regulation an... -
Dawn - 03:19 Aug 02, 2026
YOUTH are highly innovative in expressing their anger. Meanwhile, ruling elites struggle to understand that the existing power structure can no longer meet the aspirations of the young. The context of this statement is neither the events in Delhi, where the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) succeeded in achieving its demands, nor the violent protests in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, nor the recent provocative statement by the federal interior minister about the state system. Rather, the reference is to a silent protest by the youth of Khuzdar in Balochistan, in which they succeeded in having their demand met. Is it not a unique event in Pakistan when the demands of the youth are met? What was the youth’s demand? The reopening of a local library, where students study and prepare for their civil service examinations. The library was closed by the local bureaucracy, quite likely with the consent of superior institutions, which see books and libraries as sources of dissent. One cannot spare the bureaucracy either, ...
12682 items