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Dawn - 16:23 Jul 17, 2026
MUZAFFARABAD: A personal security guard of former Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) prime minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas was shot dead on Friday after his convoy came under fire while travelling through his native constituency via the Tain-Dhalkot area, according to officials and his aides. Officials said that the convoy of Ilyas, who now heads the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) in the region, had travelled around one-and-a-half kilometres beyond the Tain-Dhalkot bridge over the Jhelum River, when unidentified assailants opened fire from the mountainside at around 1:30pm. Muhammad Asif, a retired commando from Sudhnoti district serving as one of Ilyas’s security guards, was struck in the head after reportedly moving to shield the former premier. He was critically injured and succumbed to his injuries while being moved to a hospital in Rawalpindi. Officials said Ilyas remained unharmed and in a video message released later in the day, he alleged that the attack had been carried out by armed members of the banned Jo... -
Dawn - 15:11 Jul 17, 2026
The pitch where Spain forward Lamine Yamal honed his skills in a working-class, multi-ethnic neighbourhood outside Barcelona was buzzing with life on Thursday as locals looked ahead with pride to the World Cup final against Lionel Messi’s Argentina. “Now that the moment has come when the two of them are going to play against each other, it’s incredible,” said Keba, an 18-year-old Senegalese resident, referring to Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal’s well-known admiration for Messi. Messi, 39, enjoyed the peak years of his career at Barcelona, having come through the club’s youth academy, and a viral photograph showing the Argentine with a baby Lamine Yamal, now 19, has captured imaginations ahead of Sunday’s final in New Jersey. Pedro, 83, talks in front of a jersey of soccer player Lamine Yamal displaying on the wall of Bar El Cordobes at Rocafonda neighbourhood in Mataro, north of Barcelona, Spain on July 16, 2026. — Reuters As children from migrant families played on a pitch behind a mural featuring Lamine Yam... -
Dawn - 15:10 Jul 17, 2026
Kicking off his election campaign in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday promised to be the voice of the people of AJK in the Centre and globally by bridging the “gap” between the federal capital and the people. Addressing the rally, the PPP chairman said: “We have seen both good and bad times in AJK, but I have not witnessed the conditions that I am seeing today.” He termed the prevailing situation a “test” for the AJK government, the state of Pakistan and all political parties. “It is the primary duty of a politician to be the voice of the people in the Centre and on international forums, but they are not fulfilling their responsibilities,” he said, adding that “politicians have to act as a bridge between the people of AJK and the Centre, but this is not happening.” He emphasised that this was not an issue limited to AJK; Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan were facing the same fate. “If the people of AJK give me the mandate, I promise that I w... -
Dawn - 14:08 Jul 17, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Power companies on Friday sought a Rs1.20 per unit increase in fuel cost charges for consumers across the country in August, primarily due to the use of expensive imported fuels. The request comes despite around 75pc of electricity generated in June having come from cheaper domestic sources, predominantly those with zero fuel costs. Once approved, the power companies would charge consumers of all power utilities, including ex-Wapda Distribution Companies (Discos) and K-Electric, an additional Rs15.7 billion through August bills. The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has called a public hearing on July 29 to examine the request for a fuel cost adjustment (FCA). The Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA), which filed the petition seeking a higher FCA for June, said power consumption was slightly lower than in June 2025. It reported electricity consumption of 13,066bn units in June this year, compared to 13,310bn units in the same month last year. The increase in fuel costs was prim... -
Dawn - 14:06 Jul 17, 2026
Pakistan on Friday chaired and hosted the 12th meeting of the Heads of Border Services of the Competent Authorities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the Foreign Office (FO) said. The meeting was attended by the heads and representatives of the border services of Belarus, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, along with the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS). The meeting participants exchanged information and assessments of the situation along the international borders of SCO member states and discussed development trends and forecasts, the FO said. The participants “discussed and approved the results of the Joint Border Operation ‘Solidarity-2025’, conducted by the border services of the competent authorities of the SCO member states”, the FO statement said. The meeting participants also considered and approved a plan for the preparation and conduct of the joint border operation ‘Solidarity-2026’, as well as... -
Dawn - 13:56 Jul 17, 2026
Apple is within striking distance of overtaking Nvidia as the world’s most valuable company, a milestone that would reshuffle the ranks of tech heavyweights as investors reassess the outlook for AI. Apple was last valued at $4.90 trillion as its shares rose marginally in premarket trading on Friday, while Nvidia was roughly at the same level, following a 2.4 per cent decline. If Apple overtakes Nvidia, it would reclaim the top spot for the first time since April last year. The close race shows that investors are broadening their focus beyond the obvious beneficiaries of the AI boom, such as Nvidia, which has been at the helm for nearly a year. “Apple was seen as a laggard in the AI race because it wasn’t spending to develop models, but now sentiment has changed,” said Toni Meadows, head of investment at BRI Wealth Management. “Apple is less exposed to capex intensity and better positioned to monetise AI via services, ecosystem lock-in, and hardware upgrades. The re-rating reflects confidence in earnings durab... -
Dawn - 13:32 Jul 17, 2026
A large-scale field trial on the integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) into the country’s justice system found that the use of AI resulted in an additional 1,848 cases being resolved per year, an increase of more than six per cent over the average, it emerged on Friday. “This increase does not appear to come at the expense of reduced quality,” observed a research paper on the rollout of a generative AI assistant in Pakistan’s trial courts, titled “Courts of Tomorrow: Evidence from a Nationwide Rollout of Generative AI”, that was published on Tuesday. The authors of the paper, researchers Sultan Mehmood, Christoph Goessmann and Elliott Ash, said that the custom assistant — named JudgeGPT — was a chatbot based on OpenAI’s GPT-4 family of models. It was customised for the Pakistani context and beta-tested “intensively” with Federal Judicial Academy before being deployed for use by 1,559 judges serving across 118 courts. According to the findings, it was most effectively implemented when paired w... -
Dawn - 13:03 Jul 17, 2026
ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Friday initiated proclamation proceedings against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, PTI leader Junaid Akbar, and Abdul Ghani Afridi, over their continued failure to appear before the court despite the issuance of non-bailable arrest warrants in a case related to the Nov 26 protest. ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra took up the case, examining a progress report submitted by the Islamabad police regarding the investigation into a first information report (FIR) registered at Margalla police station over the Nov 26 incidents. According to the report, submitted through the office of the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the Islamabad police, the investigation into the case has been completed. A reply was filed in response to the court’s notice seeking an explanation for the delay in the submission of the challan against the accused. The report stated that the court had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Sohail Afridi, Junaid Akbar and Abdul Ghani Afridi thr... -
Dawn - 12:54 Jul 17, 2026
Veteran UK politician Andy Burnham was confirmed as the new leader of the ruling Labour Party on Friday, and is now set to be Britain’s next prime minister. “There being no other eligibly nominated candidate, it is therefore my honour to declare that the duly elected leader of the Labour Party is Andy Burnham,” interior minister Shabana Mahmood told a special party conference. Burnham takes over from Keir Starmer, who resigned last month as premier after months of political turmoil, scandal and missteps. Speaking in London after being formally confirmed as Labour leader and succeeding Keir Starmer, Burnham said he had not yet made up his mind about the composition of his top team. “I haven’t made any decisions yet about who will be in that top team. But I will soon, and when I have, you will see it reflects all parts of our party, all communities,” Burnham said. Centre-left Labour retains an overwhelming majority in parliament after the 2024 elections, so the leader of the largest party becomes the country’s ... -
Dawn - 12:28 Jul 17, 2026
Former Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham was one step away from becoming Britain’s next prime minister on Friday after being appointed leader of the governing Labour Party. Following are the policies he has spoken about since returning to parliament in June, which offer an insight into how he could govern Britain to try to overcome a cost-of-living crisis, revive anaemic economic growth and win back voters. Decentralisation of power Burnham has promised to “bring about the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen”. His focus is on Whitehall, a part of London dotted with government departments where public officials help elected ministers devise and implement policy, which he said had become overly powerful to the detriment of Britain’s regions. “It is time for Whitehall to accept that growth cannot be ordered from the top down. Instead, it can only be nurtured from the bottom up,” he said in a speech on June 29. While focusing initially on England, where 85 per cent of the United Kingdom’s popula... -
Dawn - 11:51 Jul 17, 2026
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asserted on Friday that the security of Chinese in Pakistan was “paramount for us”. “I would like to say with fullest force at my command that the security of Chinese brothers and sisters in Pakistan is paramount for us, it is most important. And we will leave no stone unturned to provide them with the best possible security,” he said while addressing the Pakistan-China Pharmaceutical and Healthcare B2B Investment Conference in Islamabad. The conference also saw the signing of multiple agreements between Pakistani and Chinese companies in the areas of healthcare, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, with PM Shehbaz saying that the deals were cumulatively valued at almost $440 million. PM Shehbaz’s assurance came two days after State Minister for Interior Tallal Chaudhry said authorities were stepping up security around the China-run Saindak copper and gold mine in Balochistan after supply routes were disrupted in the region by terrorists. His statement came against the backdrop of ... -
Dawn - 11:38 Jul 17, 2026
In May earlier this year, Islamabad and Beijing commemorated the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic ties, with the bilateral discourse predictably gravitating toward familiar flourishes. Bonds “higher than the Himalayas and stronger than steel” once again resurfaced in official handouts and state-level speeches. Yet, beneath the ceremonial surface of this milestone, a more consequential structural transformation is being engineered. Over the course of this 75-year arc, the relationship has gradually evolved from a traditional diplomatic alignment into a highly structured economic partnership. What was once framed in exclusively strategic terms has increasingly been recast as a matrix of economic and technological cooperation. This ongoing evolution has allowed both capitals to systematically convert a long-standing political bond into a more functional, project-driven engine. The bilateral partnership is now attempting to pivot from an early-stage, state-led infrastructure programme into a more intricate, m... -
Dawn - 10:14 Jul 17, 2026
LAHORE: A judicial magistrate at the Cantonment Courts granted police 14-day judicial remand of four suspects, including one related to a senior political figure, in a case of alleged kidnapping and rape of two foreign women. One of those two women is a national of the Netherlands and the other of Venezuela, and a case of their alleged abduction and sexual assault was registered on July 2. Subsequently, police had arrested four of the suspects and were initially granted their five-day physical remand on July 3. The suspects’ remand was extended twice in the following days, last on July 13. They were produced before Judicial Magistrate Azhar Mahmood on Friday, following the expiry of their physical remand. The investigating officer (IO) submitted a progress report before the court and requested that the suspects now be sent on judicial remand. The magistrate accepted the request and sent the four suspects on judicial remand for 14 days. During the hearing, the state prosecutor opposed a plea by the counsel of ... -
Dawn - 09:38 Jul 17, 2026
Iran launches fresh attacks on American facilities in Gulf after sixth consecutive day of US strikes
Iran said it launched fresh attacks on American facilities in the Gulf on Friday after a sixth consecutive night of US strikes on Iranian military facilities, as last month’s truce descended into daily attacks and counterattacks. The US military said it completed another night of strikes on Iran “to further degrade Iranian military capabilities”, including on Qeshm Island and near Bandar Abbas, home to Iran’s largest port and key navy and Revolutionary Guards facilities. “US forces, including fighter jets, aerial drones, and warships, launched precision munitions that hit dozens of Iranian military targets such as coastal surveillance and air defense sites, military logistics infrastructure, and maritime capabilities,” the US Central Command said in a statement. Iran has fired missiles and drones at US military bases in neighbouring states, including an air base in Jordan. In the early hours of Friday, Iran’s military said it had attacked US facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait. Several explosion-like sounds were... -
Dawn - 09:31 Jul 17, 2026
All-rounder Mohammad Nawaz has been sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after testing positive for a cannabis-related substance, the cricket governing body said on Friday. In April, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had sent the player’s medical history to the ICC after it was reported that he failed a dope test conducted during the T20 World Cup staged in Sri Lanka and India. In a press release issued on Friday, the ICC said that the 32-year-old cricketer had tested positive for Carboxy-THC — a metabolite of THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis — after a doping test carried out after Pakistan’s T20 World Cup 2026 match against the Netherlands in Colombo on Feb 7. Carboxy-THC is classified as a Substance of Abuse under the ICC’s Anti-Doping Code. “Nawaz admitted to the offence and demonstrated that the substance had been used out-of-competition, in a manner unrelated to sport performance,” it said. The ICC handed the player a “three-month period of ineligibility” but noted that this wa... -
Dawn - 09:27 Jul 17, 2026
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Friday forecast widespread rain, windstorms and thundershowers in several parts of the country over the coming days as strong monsoon currents continue to affect Pakistan. In a weather advisory, the department said that “monsoon currents from the Arabian Sea were continuously penetrating the upper and central parts of the country and were likely to strengthen over the weekend”. It added that a westerly disturbance was also expected to approach the upper parts of the country on Monday (July 20). Under the influence of the weather system, the PMD said rain, windstorms/thundershowers, accompanied by scattered heavy to very heavy falls at times, were expected in Neelum Valley, Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot, Poonch, Hattian Bala, Bagh, Haveli, Sudhnoti, Kotli, Bhimber and Mirpur from July 18 to July 25, with occasional gaps. Similar weather, accompanied by scattered heavy to very heavy rainfall, was expected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dir, Chitral, Swat, Kohistan, Malakand, N... -
Dawn - 09:07 Jul 17, 2026
Israel has taken a legal step toward implementing a controversial proposal by extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to surround prisons holding Palestinian detainees with crocodile-filled moats, Hebrew media reports said on Thursday. Israel’s Channel 7 said Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman signed an order reclassifying crocodiles as “managed wild animals,” allowing government bodies, including the Israel Prison Service, to keep them in their facilities under specified conditions. The move removes a key legal obstacle that had stymied the plan, as crocodiles were previously classified as protected wild animals that could only be kept in licensed zoos, the broadcaster said. Channel 13 said the legal change followed objections by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority to the proposed project, dubbed the “crocodile prison” by Hebrew media. Ben-Gvir unveiled the proposal about six months ago, calling for a high-security prison encircled by crocodile-filled waterways to deter escape attem... -
Dawn - 08:50 Jul 17, 2026
Security forces have killed 24 terrorists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district and its adjoining areas in the last 24 hours, the military’s media affairs wing said in a statement on Friday afternoon. The statement by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that recently, there had been a “surge” in terrorist activities against police and suicide bombings in Bannu. In these incidents, the statement said, “Indian proxy Fitna-al-Khawarij targeted law enforcement agencies and innocent civilians”. Fitna-al-Khawarij is the term that the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban. “Security forces have initiated extensive joint intelligence-based operations to hunt the perpetrators of these heinous attacks and their support infrastructure. “Accordingly, in the last 24 hours, following fierce fire exchanges in Bannu district and adjoining areas, 24 khawarij belonging to Indian proxy Fitna-al-khawarij have been sent to hell,” the statement said. It added that weapons and ammunition were found in the possession ... -
Dawn - 08:01 Jul 17, 2026
Relatives of the five crew members aboard a Boeing 737 cargo plane that crashed into the Arabian Sea off Karachi last week are urging an international search effort to find the flight recorders to determine the cause. Debris from the K2 Airways freighter was recovered shortly after the July 7 crash, but the water in the area is about 3,000 metres deep. Finding the “black boxes” would require a costly underwater search likely to need foreign assistance, according to aviation experts familiar with deepwater crashes such as Air France 447 in 2009. The locator beacons on the 27-year-old plane were designed to transmit pings for only 30 days. Recovering the recorders could show whether a navigation system issue reported shortly before the crash was linked to a navigation component that relatives say was replaced before the flight. The Pakistan Airports Authority has not provided an update on the search operation for a week, and an industrial company with underwater search expertise told Reuters it had not heard o... -
Dawn - 07:29 Jul 17, 2026
Oil prices inched up on Friday after the US and Iran stepped up attacks across the Gulf, with their broken truce limiting oil flows out of the Strait of Hormuz and with Tehran asking the Houthis to stand ready to shut the Red Sea export route. Brent crude futures rose 7 cents, or about 0.08 per cent, to $84.30 a barrel at 0632 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate futures gained 16 cents, or 0.2pc, to $79.11 a barrel. Both benchmark contracts have climbed nearly 12pc this week, with Brent on track for a third consecutive weekly gain and WTI on pace for a second weekly gain. “The potential threat of the Red Sea becoming another major supply disruption point is further complicating the global oil outlook,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade. He noted the “dual-risk scenario” was keeping a geopolitical premium embedded in both benchmarks. For the first time since a memorandum of understanding paused fighting last month, the US launched two major waves of air strikes in a single day on Wednesday,...
12392 items