Dawn
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Dawn - 10:52 Jan 23, 2026
CM Murad approves Rs21.5bn for Karachi infrastructure upgrades, including Rs13bn for improving roads
KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Friday approved a comprehensive package worth Rs21.53 billion, including a Rs13bn grant-in-aid for rehabilitating and improving Town Municipal Corporations’ (TMCs) road infrastructure in Karachi. According to a press release by the CM’s office, the initiative aims to ease traffic congestion, improve public safety, and boost economic activity in the provincial capital. The meeting, held at CM House, was attended by Local Government Minister Nasir Shah, Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, Karachi Commissioner Hassan Naqvi, Finance Secretary Fayaz Jatoi, Secretary to the CM Raheem Shaikh, and other relevant officers. Nasir informed the chief minister that 24 TMCs across Karachi had requested funding to repair severely dilapidated roads and streets. Due to financial constraints, these TMCs were unable to carry out the works independently. Wahab reported that 409 roads across seven districts of Karachi needed rehabilitation, including 400 re... -
Dawn - 09:17 Jan 23, 2026
A British man is due to appear in court on Friday accused of drugging and raping his ex-wife over 13 years, alongside five other men also charged with sexual offences against her. Philip Young, 49, is charged with 56 sexual offences against his former wife Joanne Young, 48, including rape and administering a substance with the intent to stupefy or overpower to allow sexual activity. Joanne Young has waived her legal right to anonymity. Voyeurism, possession of indecent images of children and possession of extreme images are among the other charges filed against Young, who is reportedly a former Conservative councillor. He is yet to enter a plea, and was remanded in custody after a hearing in December. Young is set to be joined by five other men, aged 31 to 61, also accused of various sexual offences against his ex-wife, at Winchester Crown Court, a criminal court in southeast England. The alleged crimes took place between 2010 and 2023. Norman Macksoni, 47, pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and possessi... -
Dawn - 08:30 Jan 23, 2026
TikTok announced on Thursday that it has established a majority American-owned joint venture to operate its US business, allowing the company to avoid a ban over its Chinese ownership. The video-sharing app is a global digital entertainment powerhouse, but its mass appeal and links to China have raised concerns over privacy and national security. The TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC will serve more than 200 million users and 7.5m businesses while implementing strict safeguards for data protection and content moderation, the company said. The new structure responds to a law passed under US President Donald Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden that forced Chinese-owned ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US operations or face a ban in its biggest market. Trump welcomed and claimed credit for the deal, but also thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping for approving it. “I am so happy to have helped in saving TikTok!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social late Thursday. “It will now be owned by a group of Great American Patriots and Inv... -
Dawn - 08:09 Jan 23, 2026
President Donald Trump said a US “armada” was heading toward the Gulf and that Washington was watching Iran closely, even after downplaying the prospect of imminent military action and saying Tehran appeared interested in talks. Trump has repeatedly left open the option of new military action against Iran after Washington backed and joined Israel’s 12-day war in June aimed at degrading Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. The prospect of immediate American action seemed to recede in recent days, with both sides insisting on giving diplomacy a chance. On his way back from the World Economic Forum in Davos, the president told reporters on Air Force One the United States was sending a “massive fleet” toward Iran “just in case.” “We’re watching Iran,” he said. “I’d rather not see anything happen but we’re watching them very closely.” Addressing the WEF on Thursday, Trump said the United States attacked Iranian uranium enrichment sites last year to prevent Tehran from making a nuclear weapon. Iran den... -
Dawn - 07:29 Jan 23, 2026
KHYBER: With hundreds of displaced families stranded on the road due to prolonged registration process, the Khyber district administration on Thursday suspended the evacuation of more families from Tirah valley due to heavy snowfall that began in early hours of the day. A note issued by Khyber House in Peshawar asked Tirah families to refrain from travelling to Bara until Friday evening due to the inclement weather. It added that the process of evacuation and registration would restart after weather improvement. Sources in Tirah had earlier informed that law-enforcement agencies made announcements in the valley about speedy evacuation of families as the Jan 25 deadline for displacement neared. Stranded families complain they had sleepless nights on the road Announcements caused panic and worry among Tirah families as the weather turned hostile and LEAs wanted them to leave without delay. Gul Mand Khan, who reached Bara on Wednesday evening, told Dawn that it took him and his extended family six days to cover ... -
Dawn - 06:18 Jan 23, 2026
United States President Donald Trump withdrew on Thursday an invitation for Canada to join his Board of Peace initiative aimed at resolving global conflicts. Trump’s about-face follows Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he openly decried powerful nations using economic integration as weapons and tariffs as leverage. “Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post directed at Carney. Neither Carney’s office nor the White House immediately responded to Reuters’ requests for comment on Thursday evening. Last week, Carney’s office said he had been invited to serve on the board and planned to accept. Carney received a rare standing ovation in Davos after the speech, in which he urged nations to accept the end of a rules-based global order. Canada, which recently s... -
Dawn - 05:07 Jan 23, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The capital police have sought the services of two army majors and 16 Special Services Group (SSG) commandos to train personnel of the newly formed Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) force, Dawn has learnt. In this regard, a written request was sent from the office of the inspector general of police (IGP), Islamabad, to the office of the chief commissioner, Islamabad. The letter, signed by the deputy inspector general of police (Headquarters), sought the requisition of the services of two majors and 16 serving SSG-trained officials on a secondment basis for the capital police. The letter stated that the Islamabad police are performing multifaceted duties, including maintenance of law and order, crime fighting and prevention and ensuring security and route duties. Request sent for services of two majors and 16 SSG commandos on secondment It further requested that the concerned quarters be approached to place the services of two majors and 16 serving SSG-trained officials of the Pakistan Army at the ... -
Dawn - 04:58 Jan 23, 2026
LAHORE: In a major breakthrough in the Rs1bn gold fraud case of Ichhra Bazaar, the police have reportedly arrested the suspect, a jeweller, from Islamabad and shifted him to an undisclosed location. A police team was staying in Islamabad for the last 10 days or so when they got a tip-off that the suspect, Waseem Akthar, was hiding somewhere in the federal capital. He was nominated in multiple FIRs lodged by his fellow jewellers besides his own stepmother. The major fraud case surfaced in the second week of December 2025 when several jewellers of Madina Jewellers Market Ichhra after they came to know that Waseem had disappeared suddenly with 20kg of gold worth over Rs1 billion they had “invested” with him for decades. The lockers of the suspect’s shop where they had deposited the gold ornaments were found unlocked at the time when the affected jewellers visited the premises. An official, privy to the development, said the suspect kept on changing his location and the police finally managed to arrest him and hi... -
Dawn - 04:44 Jan 23, 2026
Pakistan has stepped up its call at the United Nations for reinforcing the primacy of international law and reforming the Security Council, warning that selective compliance with treaties and parallel diplomatic initiatives risk weakening the UN at a time of heightened global conflict. Speaking at the International Law Year in Review 2026 Conference on Thursday, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, said the erosion of treaty obligations and uneven application of international law were undermining the foundations of collective security built after World War II. “There must be no space for selective compliance or legal exceptionalism,” the ambassador said, adding that the principles of the UN Charter must be applied “more consistently, more courageously and more faithfully” if the rules-based international order was to survive. Ambassador Asim linked the debate on international law directly to the functioning of the Security Council, noting that divisions among major po... -
Dawn - 02:31 Jan 23, 2026
ISLAMABAD: PTI MNA Asad Qaiser, while speaking in the National Assembly on Thursday, raised objections to the bill ensuring the secrecy of lawmakers’ assets passed a day earlier, saying parliamentarians were not above ordinary citizens. He announced PTI’s dissociation from the bill and sought its withdrawal. Under Section 137 of the Elections Act, all members of parliament and provincial assemblies are required to submit to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), on or before Dec 31 each year, a statement of their assets and liabilities, including those of their spouses and dependent children. Section 138 of the Act requires the ECP to publish these declarations in the official gazette. The proposed amendment to Section 138 seeks to insert a proviso stating: “Provided that the Speaker of the concerned Assembly or, as the case may be, the Chairman of the Senate may, on an application made by a member and for reasons to be recorded in writing, by a ruling delivered in the chamber, determine that the statemen... -
Dawn - 18:57 Jan 22, 2026
US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he will sue The New York Times over an unfavourable opinion poll and suggested that what he called “fake” surveys should be criminalised. Trump lashed out after publication of a New York Times/Siena University poll finding only 40 per cent approval for the 79-year-old Republican — in line with multiple other polls showing declining support a year into his second term. “The Times Siena Poll will be added to my lawsuit against The Failing New York Times,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “They will be held fully responsible for all of their Radical Left lies and wrongdoing!” Expanding on the threat, Trump posted that “Fake and Fraudulent Polling should be, virtually, a criminal offence”. Trump has fired off multiple defamation lawsuits against media companies, including the BBC, CNN, Wall Street Journal, CBS and ABC. Some have ended in multi-million-dollar settlements. He first filed a $15 billion defamation suit against the Times in September 2025, c... -
Dawn - 18:25 Jan 22, 2026
Amid an outcry by the opposition in the National Assembly, the government on Thursday defended its decision to join the Board of Peace led by US President Donald Trump, saying it was taken in the interest of the Palestinian people. Originally meant to oversee peace in Gaza after Israel’s two-year war on the Palestinian enclave, the Board of Peace’s charter envisions a wider role in resolving international conflicts. A group of leaders and senior officials from 19 countries — including Pakistan — gathered on stage on Thursday with Trump at a signing ceremony in Davos, Switzerland, to put their names to the founding charter of the body. Speaking in the National Assembly, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said Pakistan had a principled position on the Palestine issue and always raised it at international forums. He said Pakistan’s decision to join the board was guided by national interest and the collective priorities of the Muslim Ummah, not political considerations. He noted that UN Securi... -
Dawn - 18:21 Jan 22, 2026
KARACHI: The death toll of the deadly fire at Karachi’s Gul Plaza reached 67 on Thursday as rescuers continued to comb through the wreckage of the gutted building. Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed issued a list of 67 individuals, only seven of which had been identified. Earlier in the day, she had issued a list confirming the deaths of 50 people. A separate statement issued by the Sindh health department spokesperson also said that the post-mortem examination of 67 bodies had been conducted. The updated death toll comes a day after officials found the bodies of 30 people from a single shop on the mezzanine floor. The plaza, parts of which have collapsed due to the blaze, was a ground-plus-three-storey building with 1,200 shops spread over 8,000 square yards. Rescue 1122 spokesperson Hassaanul Haseeb Khan told Dawn that urban search and rescue teams were conducting a search operation with the help of a thermal imaging camera (TIC). “Urban search and rescue teams are working at the incident site and using specia... -
Dawn - 18:15 Jan 22, 2026
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday termed reports regarding raising the voting age in Pakistan from 18 to 25 as “baseless”, saying there was “no such legislation under consideration”. There is an emerging political discussion in the country about raising the voting age from 18 to 25. While no formal bill has been tabled yet, the idea is being floated through media commentary, social media narratives, and informal political signalling. On Wednesday, five senior PTI leaders incarcerated at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat opposed any change in the voting age, asking whether those “operating in the dark” were afraid of the youth’s power. In a post on the social media platform X, Iqbal said, “Reports of increasing voters’ age from 18 years to 25 years are baseless. There is no such legislation under consideration.” In the video accompanying the post, the minister said, “We have confidence in our youth and we can’t even think of depriving them of the right to vote.” “These [reports] are part of [our] opponents’ disinfo... -
Dawn - 17:39 Jan 22, 2026
KARACHI: Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar on Thursday ordered an inquiry after Model Colony police arrested journalist Shahab Salman for allegedly firing a gun and injuring a person. The journalist’s arrest came after a first information report (FIR) was registered against him under Sections 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 324 (attempted murder) and 337A(i) (causing a head injury) of the Pakistan Penal Code. The complainant, who operates a “cable network”, alleged that he and his friends had met for tea at a restaurant on Wednesday night, when Salman and three others drew a pistol and started firing, resulting in a bullet injury to his thigh. He further alleged that the suspect was spreading fake news against him on social media for “blackmailing purposes”. Subsequently, the Sindh home minister took notice of the arrest and sought details from the Korangi senior superintendent of police (SSP), according to a statement. “Merit, transparency and impartiality should b... -
Dawn - 17:28 Jan 22, 2026
India on Thursday condemned an alleged act of vandalism at its embassy in Zagreb as Croatia promised to prosecute the offenders. The Indian foreign ministry said that an act of “trespassing and vandalism” at its embassy in the Croatian capital was committed by “anti-India elements” without providing further details of the incident. “We have taken up the matter strongly with Croatian authorities and asked them to hold the perpetrators accountable for their reprehensible and illegal actions,” a ministry statement said. Indian media reported that a video had been posted online, purporting to show Khalistan activists removing the Indian flag and replacing it with the yellow flag representing the Sikh separatist movement. AFP could not verify the video, while police and the embassy did not immediately respond to questions. The Khalistan movement seeks an independent state for the religious minority carved out of Indian territory. The Croatian foreign ministry strongly condemned the incident and added that the inte... -
Dawn - 16:38 Jan 22, 2026
Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Mustafa Kamal on Thursday called on the federal government to declare Karachi a federal territory by making it the country’s “financial capital”. The remarks come against the backdrop of the Gul Plaza inferno in the metropolis, which has resulted in lawmakers stressing the need for reforms in the city’s administration, particularly in local governments (LGs). Kamal, addressing a press conference today, called on the federal government to “invoke Article 148 and 149 of the Constitution, and declare Karachi as the financial capital of the country”. Article 148 of the Constitution pertains to the obligation of provinces and the federation, while Article 149 allows the federal government to issue directives to provinces in certain cases. Article 149 enables the federal government to direct provincial governments regarding the “manner in which the executive authority thereof is to be exercised for the purpose of preventing any grave menace to the peace or tranquilli... -
Dawn - 16:23 Jan 22, 2026
ISLAMABAD: As authorities draw criticism over the large-scale cutting of trees in Islamabad, Minister of State for Health maintained on Thursday pollen allergy cases in the federal capital had been on a decline following targeted felling. He expressed these views during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change, which was chaired by PPP Senator Sherry Rehman and focused on the management of paper mulberry trees and ecological restoration in Islamabad. Recently, large-scale tree removal took place in at least three locations in Islamabad, including acres of tree cover around Shakarparian. Islamabad’s CDA has maintained that only paper mulberry trees were removed as they had been causing pollen allergies. WWF-Pakistan had also disputed Islamabad authorities’ stance, stating that the action was also linked to infrastructure development. During the briefing on Thursday, the state minister shared the National Institute of Health’s data in connection with mitigating Islamabad’s severe seasonal po... -
Dawn - 15:05 Jan 22, 2026
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other world leaders on Thursday signed the charter for the “Board of Peace” headed by United States President Donald Trump, who has billed the body as a platform for resolving international conflicts. Originally meant to oversee peace in Gaza after Israel’s two-year war on the Palestinian enclave, the board’s charter envisions a wider role in resolving international conflicts. A group of leaders and senior officials from 19 countries — including Pakistan — gathered on stage with Trump at a signing ceremony in Davos, Switzerland to put their names to the founding charter of the body. Trump — who is the chairman of the Board of Peace — said they were “in most cases very popular leaders, some cases not so popular”. “That’s the way it goes in life,” he said. “Congratulations, President Trump. The charter is now in full force, and the Board of Peace is now an official international organisation,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “Every one of them are friends of ... -
Dawn - 14:57 Jan 22, 2026
LAHORE: Lahore police registered a case on Thursday following the alleged abduction of KIPS Education System Chief Executive Officer Abid Wazir Khan by “unidentified” suspects. The first information report (FIR), seen by Dawn, was registered on the complaint of Abid’s brother, Tahir Wazir Khan at Lahore’s Jauhar Town under Section 365 (kidnapping or abducting with the intent to secretly and wrongfully confine a person) of the Pakistan Penal Code. In the FIR, the complainant recounted a telephone conversation between his brother and the KIPS general manager, identified as Lubna. He said his brother called Lubna shortly after leaving a corporate office in Jauhar Town in his car on Wednesday at 6:34pm. He quoted Lubna as saying that she heard a knock on the car’s window, followed by a voice saying, “You have caused an accident involving my car”, after which the call ended. “Unidentified suspects have kidnapped my brother and his life is in grave danger,” the FIR quoted the complainant as saying.
7368 items