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Dawn - 14:35 Oct 08, 2025
In the wake of concerns expressed by the business community over increasing extortionism, Sindh Inspector General of Police (IG) Ghulam Nabi Memon on Wednesday vowed to provide full protection to economic and commercial activities in collaboration with traders across the province. “Elements hindering economic activity would be eliminated with the cooperation of the businessmen,” the provincial police chief was quoted as saying in a police statement while reviewing a crime data report on Karachi, which was submitted by Additional IG Operations. As per the police statement, 118 incidents of extortion were reported in Karachi so far this year, of which only 44 were genuine extortion cases, while the remaining 74 pertained to personal disputes and business quarrels. The statement added that of the 44 cases, 39 were “solved” — a success ratio of 87 per cent. A police crime statistics report seen by Dawn.com linked 12 of the 44 cases to three specific groups: the Wasiullah Lakho group, the Samad Kathiawari group an... -
Dawn - 14:31 Oct 08, 2025
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decided on Wednesday to hold Punjab’s long-delayed local government (LG) elections in December’s last week and that the process of delimitation would initiate from tomorrow to be completed within two months. Under Article 140-A of the Constitution and Section 219(4) of the Elections Act, the ECP is bound to hold elections within 120 days of the expiry of the term of the local government institutions. In April 2019, the then PTI-led Punjab government dissolved the local government institutions, which were later restored by the Supreme Court and subsequently completed their term on December 31, 2021. That means the elections were supposed to be held by the end of April 2022, but it could not be made possible as the provincial government kept on amending the LG law from time to time. The order, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, was issued by a four-member ECP bench comprising Chairman Sikandar Sultan Raja, Nisar Ahmed Durrani, Shah Muhammad Jatoi and Babar Hass... -
Dawn - 12:42 Oct 08, 2025
Artificial intelligence, the technology upending nearly every corner of society, is creeping into religion, serving up virtual Jesus and automated sermons — a change drawing mixed reviews from the faithful. Religious chatbots and other faith-based digital tools are growing in number, offering counsel, comfort and spiritual guidance during an age of rapidly transforming socialisation and engagement. One app, which is called Text with Jesus, has thousands of paying subscribers. It lets people ostensibly ask questions of Mary, Joseph, Jesus and nearly all 12 apostles. The idea is to educate, said Stephane Peter, CEO of Catloaf Software, which created the app. “This is a new way to address religious issues in an interactive way,” he told AFP. Although the app makes clear it uses AI, virtual Moses and Jesus don’t recognise that as such when asked the specific question. Peter said that ChatGPT’s latest version, GPT-5, on which Text With Jesus is based, follows instructions better than previous iterations. It is als... -
Dawn - 12:22 Oct 08, 2025
The military’s top brass warned India on Wednesday that any “imaginary new normal” its leadership might be entertaining about bilateral dynamics would be met with a “new normal of swift retributive response”. The statement from the army brass, released after the 272nd Corps Commanders’ Conference (CCC) held at General Headquarters (GHQ), comes in the wake of last week’s provocative remarks by top Indian civil-military leadership. Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi had warned Pakistan that it must stop state-sponsored terrorism if it wanted to retain its place on the map. He had said that Indian forces would “not show any restraint this time”, potentially hinting at another military incursion. The Pakistan military had issued a strong response to the remarks and wanred that any future conflict with India could lead to “cataclysmic devastation” and the country would “resolutely respond, without any qualms or restraint”. It had said that “those seeking to establish a new normal must know that Pakistan has... -
Dawn - 11:56 Oct 08, 2025
What started as a difference in opinion over how to aid flood-affected people has now spiralled into a full-blown feud between the PML-N and the PPP, the two main partners in the ruling coalition. The spat, termed a ghar ka mamla by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar on Sept 30, has devolved into a public spectacle threatening the alliance between the two parties. The bad blood has escalated to the point that leaders from both sides hold daily press conferences to take potshots at the other side. And now, President Asif Ali Zardari appears to be making overtures to smooth over the situation. But how did the whole thing begin? Here’s what we know. How to help flood victims? It appears that differences developed between the PML-N and the PPP last month as the two bickered on how to help flood victims. Several PPP leaders, including Sherry Rehman, called for the utilisation of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) to aid flood victims in Punjab, while the provincial government insisted it would use its own res... -
Dawn - 11:06 Oct 08, 2025
A local journalist, Tufail Rind, was shot dead by unidentified armed men in the Mirpur Mathelo area of Sindh’s Ghotki district on Wednesday morning, according to the police. The attack took place when he was on his way to drop his children off at school. According to a police press release, the shooting occurred on the Jerwar Road near Maso Wah, where the assailants riding a motorcycle opened indiscriminate fire at his car. “Rind died on the spot, while his children miraculously escaped unharmed,” the police said. Witnesses added that the attackers fled the scene after the assault, spreading panic across the area. The police later transported the body to the District Headquarters Hospital of Mirpur Mathelo for medico-legal formalities. The police statement said that upon receiving the information, Ghotki’s Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Anwar Khetran immediately reached the crime scene, inspected the site, and met with the victim’s family, issuing “strict orders to the concerned officers for prompt act... -
Dawn - 10:39 Oct 08, 2025
No casualties were reported after a fire erupted in a plastic factory in Karachi’s Liaquatabad area early on Wednesday and was extinguished after hectic efforts, according to a rescue official. Rescue 1122 Spokesperson Hassaanul Haseeb Khan told Dawn.com, “The fire erupted in the plastic factory located in a market near Sindhi Hotel in Liaquatabad at around 7:30am.” He said three fire tenders managed to control it, and no casualties were reported. Liaquatabad Station House Officer Ghulam Yasin told Dawn.com that the fire appeared to have been caused by a short circuit. Fires frequently erupt in buildings across Pakistan due to a mix of poor infrastructure, weak enforcement of safety regulations, and widespread negligence. Many structures lack proper fire exits, alarms, and emergency protocols, while faulty wiring and overloaded power systems increase the risk of electrical short circuits. According to city planners and engineers, 70 per cent of residential, commercial and industrial buildings in Karachi lacke... -
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...
12478 items