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Dawn - 10:19 Oct 08, 2025
The Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Wednesday issued a bailable arrest warrant for PTI founder Imran Khan’s sister, Aleema Khanum, in connection with the party’s November 26 case, dismissing an exemption plea filed by her to appear for a hearing. More than 10,000 PTI supporters surged into the city on Nov 26 last year, defying a ban on public gatherings and a lockdown to skirmish with 20,000 security forces enlisted to turn them back. As the demonstrators inched towards the heavily barricaded D-Chowk, the police and security troops employed intense teargas shelling to disperse them. Aleema was to be indicted in the November 26 protest case registered at Sadiqabad Police Station during today’s hearing, but she did not appear before the court. During the hearing, the prosecutor objected that the person applying on Aleema’s behalf was not her lawyer, and therefore was not authorised to file an application without a power of attorney. On this basis, ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah dismissed Aleema’s application... -
Dawn - 10:01 Oct 08, 2025
Visa issues surrounding Afghanistan’s football team being able to play in Pakistan have been sorted out, allowing the team to travel to Islamabad for Thursday’s AFC Asian Cup qualifier at the Jinnah Stadium, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Pakistan Football Federation president Mohsen Gilani said that its Afghanistan counterpart had failed to ensure the presence of its full travelling squad at the Pakistan Embassy in Kabul for biometric verification, as most of the players were not living in the country. The Afghanistan Football Federation was quoted by the Afghan Voice Agency as stating that it had sent the initial list of team members to the Pakistan Embassy on September 18, but “despite repeated follow-ups and official contacts, visas have not been issued to the players and officials”. Today, Minister Naqvi took to X to announce the issue had been sorted out. “Issued now,” he said in response to journalist Faizan Lakhani’s post saying the minister has ordered to sort out the v... -
Dawn - 09:24 Oct 08, 2025
Chipmaker Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang said that the company will continue to sponsor H-1B visas and cover all associated costs following US President Donald Trump’s executive order last month that imposed a $100,000 fee on each new application, Business Insider reported on Tuesday. Huang’s reported message, aimed at reassuring employees, comes after panic and confusion had ensued among tech workers on H-1B visas, a large chunk of whom are from India and China. Akin to the wider chip and tech industry, Nvidia has a significant number of employees from overseas. Huang has repeatedly asserted that about half the AI researchers in the world are Chinese. “As one of many immigrants at Nvidia, I know that the opportunities we’ve found in America have profoundly shaped our lives,” Huang wrote in a message to staff, cited by Business Insider. “And the miracle of Nvidia — built by all of you, and by brilliant colleagues around the world — would not be possible without immigration,” Huang added, according to the report. N... -
Dawn - 09:18 Oct 08, 2025
Gold prices broke $4,000 for the first time on Wednesday as investors piled into the safe haven over expectations for United States interest rate cuts and worries over the US government shutdown. In Pakistan, 24-karat gold price was recorded at Rs425,178 per tola and Rs365,421 per 10 grammes, according the All Pakistan Sarafa Gems and Jewellers Association. The prices were based on the exchange rate in the interbank market. The global rally in the precious metal also came after concerns that a tech-fuelled rally that has sent some equity markets to record highs may have gone too far, fanning talk of an asset bubble. Traders have been piling into gold all year, pushing it up more than 50 per cent since the turn of the year, on the back of a range of issues including global economic uncertainty, Donald Trump’s trade war and geopolitical crises. Its allure was increased further this week by political turmoil in France, where the country’s prime minister resigned and President Emmanuel Macron’s former premier urg... -
Dawn - 09:05 Oct 08, 2025
Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Aimal Wali Khan has said he has apologised to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after the latter provided him with a clarification on the questions he had earlier raised during a Senate speech regarding a presumed rare earth minerals deal with the US. In a post on X on Tuesday, he said the PM had invited him for a meeting after his speech in the upper House of Parliament, and during the conversation, he told the premier: “If I can criticise openly, I also have the courage to apologise if I make a mistake”. He added that he had told the PM that if he was wrong in his presumptions about the deal, “I apologise”. In his Senate speech, Khan had referred to a photograph circulating on social media that showed PM Shehbaz, US President Donald Trump and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir, who was holding an open briefcase that appeared to contain minerals. The photograph was released by the White House, after a September meeting of the three in the US, and showed Field M... -
Dawn - 06:21 Oct 08, 2025
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in India on Wednesday, months after London and New Delhi signed a landmark free trade agreement, capping years of intense negotiations. Starmer’s first official trip to India, which he hopes will boost economic ties between the two nations, sees him accompanied by a 125-member delegation that includes top business leaders including British Airways chief executive Sean Doyle. The two-day visit follows his July meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in London, where the pair signed the trade accord. Starmer is due to meet Modi tomorrow, and address a fintech conference in Mumbai alongside him. “With India set to be the third biggest economy in the world by 2028, and trade with them about to become quicker and cheaper, the opportunities waiting to be seized are unparalleled,” Starmer said in a statement. India and its former colonial ruler are the world’s fifth- and sixth-largest economies, with bilateral trade worth around $54.8 billion and investments suppo... -
Dawn - 02:41 Oct 08, 2025
SHIKARPUR: Four bogies of the Jaffar Express derailed following an explosion on the track near the town of Humayoon, in the Shikarpur district, injuring seven passengers on Tuesday morning. Railways Minister Hanif Abbasi alleged foreign involvement, stating that India was behind the repeated attacks on the Jaffar Express. He affirmed that railway operations would continue despite the incident. The train was en route from Peshawar to Quetta when the blast occurred at around 8:15am, said Shikarpur Deputy Commissioner Shakeel Ahmed Abro while speaking to the media on the scene soon after the incident. He said there were no fatalities, and the seven injured passengers were promptly transported to Shikarpur Civil Hospital. The injured included Muhammad Shafique, son of Abdul Azziz, a railway official, Muhammad Younis, Hawaldar Javed, constable Abdul Rahman, constable Azhar Jameel, besides two unidentified passengers. Four of the more seriously injured were later shifted to the military hospital for ... -
Dawn - 02:40 Oct 08, 2025
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani banks led the Asia-Pacific region in equity performance during the third quarter (July-September) of 2025, according to an analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The Bank of Punjab topped the list of publicly traded banks in the region with a market capitalisation greater than $100 million, delivering a total return of 176.4 per cent during the quarter. The Lahore-based bank, with a market cap of approximately $320m as of September 30, outperformed other regional lenders. The Bank of Khyber, based in Peshawar, ranked second with a total return of 108.2pc. Other Pakistani banks among the top 15 performers included National Bank of Pakistan, JS Bank, Askari Bank, and Habib Bank, bringing the total number of Pakistani banks in the top rankings to six. Six banks feature in the region’s top performers list Pakistan’s benchmark KSE-100 index also saw notable gains, advancing 11pc in July and 11.4pc in September. Investor sentiment was bolstered by the resolution of a military conflict with... -
Dawn - 02:25 Oct 08, 2025
• World Bank cuts forecast by 0.5pc, predicts inflation may shoot to 7.2pc; exports to decline 1.5pc • WB official says removing barriers to women’s participation in job market can boost GDP per capita by 20-30pc ISLAMABAD: The World Bank on Tuesday cut its growth forecast for Pakistan by half a per cent to 2.6 per cent for the current fiscal year due to the recent floods, which are also expected to push up inflation to 7.2 per cent. “For FY 2025/26, real GDP growth is projected to remain around 2.6pc, as ongoing catastrophic floods have damped the forecast,” the Washington-based lending agency said in its regional economic outlook for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MENAAP) region. The bank had earlier projected a 3.1pc growth rate for the country in its previous biannual outlook in April 2025. Pakistan had set 4.2pc growth target and has since been looking at 3.5pc as part of its IMF engagements. “Early estimates suggest a drop of at least 10 per cent in agricultural output in Punja... -
Dawn - 01:53 Oct 08, 2025
MURDER for ‘honour’, executed by systems meant for women’s safety, is gender-based violence at its most brutal. Rights defenders have flagged a troubling surge in the tribal custom in Sindh — data says 105 female lives have been lost to karo kari so far this year. Police statistics reveal that most perpetrators were family members: 38 husbands, 24 brothers, six fathers, and others. The HRCP puts last year’s toll of ‘honour’ killings in Pakistan at 405; far higher than 226 in 2023. Activists believe the annual toll is close to 1,000 due to political abdication and negligible enforcement of accountability mechanisms. Most cases are either miscategorised or unreported. This evil will plague women until it is stripped of the label of ‘honour’, and seen as a manifestation of toxic patriarchal control. The last time the state showed empathy and commitment was in 2016, when it plugged loopholes so ‘honour’ killers are not easily freed. Through Section 311 of the PPC, which deals with ‘fasad fil arz’, it was ensured ... -
Dawn - 19:11 Oct 07, 2025
Israel has been facing damning criticism from across the globe over its relentless bombardment in Gaza over the past two years, with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and a United Nations inquiry already declaring its actions in the enclave as a “genocide”. Israel imposed a total blockade on the Palestinian enclave on March 2 after ceasefire talks broke down. In late July, it began allowing a small trickle of aid to resume, following warnings of a wave of starvation. But the aid was too little and too late to reverse the damage already done; the UN officially declared a famine in Gaza City in August. As today marks another year of the world witnessing piled up bodies in shrouds, spilt blood, shredded body parts, hungry cries for food and buildings reduced to rubble in Gaza, we take a look at some pictures that are an incriminating statement of Israel’s multiple war crimes in the enclave. A Palestinian shouts following an Israeli strike, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Oct 14, 2023, as fig... -
Dawn - 18:57 Oct 07, 2025
PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja on Tuesday aired concerns about party founder Imran Khan being transferred from Adiala Jail to some unknown location to prevent his access to his family and legal team. “Another matter that is coming to the fore is that Khan sahib is being transferred somewhere from Adiala Jail,” said the PTI leader addressing the media. “We have great concern about this, and apparently, it seems that this is part of the plan of cutting Khan off from his family and lawyers.” The PTI leader said Imran had given clear directions to the party a day ago to resist any such move and protest against it. “We will never accept this injustice and won’t allow Khan to be lost to any solitary cell. This is a clear announcement from our end, if there is any such plan and action is taken on it, then our response will be that of an honourable people.” A day ago, Imran’s sister Aleema Khanum had aired similar misgivings, saying there were plans to shift him from Adiala Jail to another facility and keep ... -
Dawn - 18:38 Oct 07, 2025
Still searching for a sense of direction in the ICC Women’s World Cup, Pakistan will take on a rampant Australian side at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday, hoping to spark a turnaround against the tournament’s most complete outfit. Fatima Sana’s charges have endured a tough start to their campaign, slumping to heavy defeats against Bangladesh and India. Their batting has wavered, their bowling has lacked consistency, and their fielding has been short of international standard — a combination that has left them bottom of the eight-team table with little margin for error. But ahead of their clash with the defending champions, Pakistan’s senior batter Sidra Amin struck a note of quiet defiance. “I think tomorrow is a big game for us as a team,” she said at the pre-match press conference on Tuesday. “We are a good batting side, but as batters, we have to spend more time on the wicket so that we can execute our plans and assess the conditions really well.” Sidra, one of the few bright spots in Pakistan’s othe... -
Dawn - 18:24 Oct 07, 2025
Pakistan on Tuesday sought regional countries’ cooperation to counter threats emerging from Afghanistan during the Moscow Format Consultations held in the Russian capital on Tuesday. Pakistan’s Special Representative to Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq addressed the moot, which was also attended by Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. The consultations, held at the level of special representatives and senior officials of Afghanistan, were attended by India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. For the first time, the Afghan delegation participated in the meeting as a member. Russia became the first country to recognise the Taliban government in July this year. A delegation from Belarus also attended the meeting as guests. “I spoke about the urgent need for collective regional efforts to effectively counter terrorism and dismantle all terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil,” Ambassador Sadiq told the 7th meeting of the Moscow Format. Sadiq said he also highligh... -
Dawn - 18:02 Oct 07, 2025
In flood-prone regions of Bangladesh, solar-powered “floating schools” ensure children do not miss class when rising waters cut off roads and villages. One of them is 10-year-old Safikul Islam. Each morning, he waits on the edge of his flooded village in Bhangura, western Bangladesh, for the solar-powered classroom that sails right to his doorstep. His home lies deep in Chalan Beel, a sprawling 26-square-kilometre (10 sq miles) wetland where seasonal floods often cut off roads and submerge entire villages. Students get off the boat-school, built by an NGO named Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, after the class, in Bhangura area of Pabna, Bangladesh, on September 25. — Reuters But for Islam and hundreds of other children, education floats. The initiative, launched in 2002 by architect Mohammed Rezwan using $500 of his scholarship money, has grown into a nationwide model run by the non-profit Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha (SSS). Now, more than 100 boats serve as schools, libraries, and clinics. The project has educa... -
Dawn - 17:05 Oct 07, 2025
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Tuesday that former Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) senator Mushtaq Ahmad, who was detained by Israel last week after it intercepted a flotilla of boats carrying aid for Gaza, had arrived at the Pakistan embassy in Amman, Jordan and was in “good health and high spirits”, adding that he would return on October 9. Ahmad led the Pakistani delegation on the 45-vessel Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), which left Spain last month to break Israel’s blockade of aid to Gaza with activists and politicians, including Greta Thunberg, on board. However, as it approached Gaza, Israeli forces intercepted it, detaining the activists on board before deporting them. In a post on social media platform X, Dar said, “I am pleased to confirm that former senator Mushtaq has been released and is now safely with [the] Pakistan embassy in Amman. He is in good health and high spirits.” He said that the embassy stood ready to facilitate his return to Pakistan at his wish. “[I] am pleased to e... -
Dawn - 16:58 Oct 07, 2025
Four government officials, including two high school teachers and two workers from the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), were allegedly abducted from different localities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district, officials said on Tuesday. Per the police, the teachers were “abducted” from GHS Zindi Musa Khan in Bannu’s Mandati Naika Zyarat area, which falls within the limits of Hoid police station. “The first incident occurred within the limits of Hoid police station, which is under threat of militants,” District Police Officer (DPO) of Bannu Saleem Abbas Kulachi told Dawn.com. “In the past few months, the police station in Hoid has been attacked several times by militants.” DPO Kulachi added that unknown armed men had taken the school teachers to unidentified locations. Among the abductees were the headmaster of the school, who was a resident of Nekam Kaki, as well as a senior school teacher, who was a resident of Bannu, Bannu police spokesperson Kashif Nawaz told Dawn.com. Nawaz added that both teachers ... -
Dawn - 16:16 Oct 07, 2025
The continuing row between the PPP and PML-N escalated on Tuesday as PPP’s Vice President Senator Sherry Rehman warned the coalition ally of difficulties in the Senate without the former’s “clear support”. The PPP and the PML-N’s Punjab leadership have been engaged in a war of words for the past many days over issues ranging from flood compensation to water rights in the context of the Cholistan canals project. The PPP, which is in power in Sindh, has been particularly incensed by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s remarks, whose party is also leading the federal government. Talking about the matter in an interview on DawnNewsTV show ‘Doosra Rukh’, the PPP senior vice president said: “If you want to tear apart the whole coalition then I’ve already said in the National Assembly that don’t take our inclusion on the treasury benches for granted and don’t think that we will keep you stable no matter what you do.” “If you don’t need [us] then that’s your choice, but let me remind you we are the biggest party in ... -
Dawn - 15:56 Oct 07, 2025
The National Press Club on Tuesday submitted its charter of demands to the interior ministry following the recent police operation in which uniformed personnel forcibly entered the club premises. The incident occurred during a protest by journalists and demonstrators from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, some of whom were reportedly fleeing from police action when officers stormed into the club. A joint action committee (JAC) was subsequently formed with all key media associations and various factions of the NPC. A press release issued today from the NPC said the JAC held a meeting a day earlier in which the charter was finalised and the same was submitted today in a meeting with Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudry, who was also briefed on the demands. “Strict legal action should be taken against those responsible for the attack on the NPC and they should be punished accordingly. A high-level inquiry committee should be immediately established to determine those responsible for the attack, consisting of journ... -
Dawn - 15:38 Oct 07, 2025
The World Bank said on Tuesday that higher tariffs on Indian goods exported to the US would be a drag on South Asia’s economic growth rate in 2026, even as it remains shielded in the current year by government spending. The World Bank said growth in South Asia was expected to slow sharply to 5.8 per cent in 2026 from its projection of 6.6pc for 2025. Its forecast for the region comprises India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives. “For 2026, the forecast has been downgraded, as some of these effects unwind and India continues to face higher-than-expected tariffs on goods exports to the United States,” the World Bank said in its report. The World Bank has raised its forecast for India’s growth in the current fiscal year ending March 2026 to 6.5pc from 6.3pc, while trimming its projection for the next fiscal year to 6.3pc from 6.5pc due to tariffs imposed by the United States. US President Donald Trump has imposed a 50pc tariff on most exports from India, among the highest for any US trading ...
4689 items