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Dawn - 16:20 Jul 24, 2026
A terrorist attack on a joint police checkpost in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district martyred 15 people, including 14 security personnel, the military’s media wing said on Friday. Among those martyred are 12 soldiers, two policemen and a government official. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that the attack took place early on Friday and was carried out by Fitna-al-Khawarij — a term used to designate members of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. Elaborating on the incident, the military’s media wing said the attackers attempted to breach the checkpost’s perimeter, but their attempts were “swiftly and decisively foiled by the vigilant and resolute response of security forces.” The security personnel deployed at the checkpost displayed “unwavering courage and professional excellence” and engaged and eliminated 15 terrorists, the ISPR added. The statement added that the attackers then rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the perimeter wall. “Due to [the] blast impact, infrastructur... -
Dawn - 16:11 Jul 24, 2026
One of OpenAI’s most advanced models broke out of a locked-down test and attacked another company’s website — reviving fears that AI systems are slipping beyond their creators’ control. The incident happened during what was supposed to be a “sandbox” test — a closed environment used to assess the capabilities of OpenAI’s most powerful model, GPT-5.6 Sol, and its not-yet-released successor. OpenAI runs this kind of closed testing routinely, but this time, something went wrong. Tasked with hunting for software vulnerabilities and given no guardrails, the models broke out onto the open internet and attacked Hugging Face, a site where developers store and share code. “It suggests that we don’t know how to reliably control these models or get them to do what we want,” said Jeffrey Ladish, director of Palisade Research, an independent organisation that evaluates new AI models from a cybersecurity standpoint. “These models understood that OpenAI did not want them to break out of their sandbox and hack another compan... -
Dawn - 16:00 Jul 24, 2026
The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) 125 member states convened on Friday to determine the fate of prosecutor Karim Khan, who was suspended over allegations of sexual assault against a member of his staff — accusations he firmly denies. In May 2025, Khan had stepped back from his duties to fight the allegations made by one of his female colleagues, after an inquiry was launched the previous year. The 56-year-old Briton was suspended last month by a key governing body of the ICC, the 21-member bureau of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), which called Friday’s meeting at UN headquarters in New York. At that time, the bureau said the suspension was “not an indication of the final outcome” in the matter. The decision on whether to relieve Khan of his duties is now subject to a secret ballot by the 125 countries party to the International Criminal Court during a closed-door session. An absolute majority carries the vote. Paivi Kaukoranta, head of the assembly that oversees the ICC, described the case as a “... -
Dawn - 14:44 Jul 24, 2026
When Indian television reporter Dev Kotak went to cover a massive youth protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government this week, he planned to deliver a live broadcast, mill around and leave. Instead, amid chants of “godi (lapdog) media”, he was beaten by dozens of protesters, because his channel is seen as pro-government. Mobile phone cameras captured the assault and the clip later went viral on social media. The physical attack on Kotak was unusual but through the protests, which gained momentum last week, people have heckled and abused crews from almost all of India’s mainstream television channels, calling them pro-government and sold out. “The mob might have actually killed me. There was a seething anger among them because they felt the media hadn’t reported their side of the story,” said Kotak, 36, who covers general news for the Times Now channel. “There were slaps, kicks, punches and water bottles being thrown. I was very scared and feared for my life; I just wanted to get out alive.” Ange... -
Dawn - 14:39 Jul 24, 2026
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday stressed the need to build upon the commitments enshrined in the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Their meeting came after Washington and Tehran exchanged strikes over the past several days, with the former targeting Iranian military facilities along its southern coast and the latter targeting US bases in Gulf countries. In a statement, the Foreign Office (FO) said the two top diplomats met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan. During the meeting, they reviewed the ongoing regional situation and bilateral ties. “DPM/FM expressed deep concern over recent regional tensions and underscored the importance of dialogue, restraint, de-escalation by all sides, and sustained diplomatic engagement to achieve lasting peace and stability,” the FO said in a post on X. “He emphasised the need to build o... -
Dawn - 14:17 Jul 24, 2026
PML-N supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday questioned the lack of development initiatives in Azad Jammu and Kashmir after his ouster from power. He, along with Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, was addressing a public rally in Mirpur, AJK, ahead of the upcoming elections. Addressing the rally, he asked why there could be no development work in Mirpur or AJK after he had left the post of prime minister, criticising subsequent governments for not introducing or completing development projects. “Behind every project in AJK or Pakistan, you will find the PML-N’s stamp on it,” he stated, questioning, “Tell me if any other party has done something for AJK.” “Kashmir is as dear to me as Lahore. It is not my second home; it is my first home,” Nawaz said. He emphasised that he had come with a manifesto for AJK, with education as his top priority. “The youth of AJK will get education. Schools, colleges and universities will be built here,” he said, adding, “Scholarships will also be given to merit... -
Dawn - 14:15 Jul 24, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday reserved its order on the maintainability of petitions seeking suspension of the sentences awarded to lawyers and rights activists Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha in the controversial tweets case after the prosecution argued that the pleas had been filed prematurely. On January 24, rights lawyers Imaan and Hadi were sentenced by an Islamabad sessions court to a total of 17 years in jail on multiple charges under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca). Following their convictions, which were widely condemned by lawyers and United Nations (UN) experts, the couple challenged their convictions before the IHC on February 7. Justice Muhammad Azam Khan heard the petitions filed by the two convicts against the trial court’s judgment. At the outset of the hearing, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), through its counsel, raised a preliminary objection to the maintainability of the suspension of sentence petitions. The prosecut... -
Dawn - 13:43 Jul 24, 2026
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Friday issued a weather advisory for the next three to four days, forecasting rain in southern and central parts of the country due to an active monsoon system. A press release issued by the Met Office said a low-pressure area was present over south-west Rajasthan and adjoining areas, causing monsoon currents over the southern and central parts of the country. Under the influence of these currents, it said, rain and thundershowers were expected across the country, including Sindh, southern and central Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir and northeastern areas of Balochistan, between July 24 and 27. In Sindh, it forecast “rain-thundershowers with a few heavy falls” in the districts of Tharparkar, Umerkot, Mirpurkhas, Badin, Sanghar, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tando Allahyar, Hyderabad, Matiari, Jamshoro, Shaheed Benazirabad, Ghotki, Kashmore, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Sukkur, Qambar-Shahdadkot, Larkana, Khairpur, Nosheroferoz and Thatta between the evenin... -
Dawn - 13:17 Jul 24, 2026
Leaders of India’s youth-led “cockroach” movement said on Friday that the government has sought time until Saturday afternoon to respond to their demand for the education minister’s resignation over exam paper leaks, following talks between the two sides. The talks came hours after activist Sonam Wangchuk ended his 26-day hunger strike, raising hopes that the two sides could reach a breakthrough after tens of thousands of angry youth converged in the capital Delhi this week to demand the minister’s resignation. The anti-government protests represent the biggest youth challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he came to power in 2014. Opposition parties have echoed the movement’s demands and have disrupted the monsoon session of parliament that began this week. Friday’s talks were held between senior federal ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh on one side, and Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, spokespersons of the self-named Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) youth movement, on the other. Saurav Das speaks a... -
Dawn - 13:00 Jul 24, 2026
Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin, a former ally of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, has resigned citing serious health issues, his office said on Friday. Shahabuddin, 76, has held the largely ceremonial post of president since April 2023, a period that included volatile months after Hasina’s flight to India following a student-led uprising against her rule in 2024. “Recent medical examinations have diagnosed me with a condition known as autonomic neuropathy. Due to this condition, I occasionally experience momentary loss of consciousness,” Shahabuddin said in a statement released by his press secretary. The speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad, the national parliament, will perform the duties of the president until a new one is elected, the statement said. Shahabuddin also cited his deteriorating health in a resignation letter to the speaker of parliament, seen by AFP. “Due to worsening physical and mental incapacity… it is no longer possible for me to properly discharge the responsibilities of an impor... -
Dawn - 12:00 Jul 24, 2026
The government on Friday took another step towards completing the higher military command’s restructuring initiated last year under the 27th Constitutional Amendment by appointing Gen Syed Aamer Raza as the country’s first commander of the National Strategic Command (NSC). The four-star post was created under last year’s constitutional tweak to oversee the operational integration of Pakistan’s strategic forces — a role previously exercised by the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, which was abolished under the 27th Amendment. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, therefore, promoted Gen Raza from the rank of lieutenant general to the rank of a general and simultaneously appointed him as the CNSC. Apart from the CNSC, the 27th Amendment also resulted in the creation of the post of the chief of defence forces (CDF), which is concurrently held by the army chief. Subsequently, Field Marshal Munir became the country’s first CDF after changes to the Army Act. Under the Army Act, the CNSC is appointed by the prime ... -
Dawn - 10:38 Jul 24, 2026
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday that durable peace and stability in the region can only be achieved by eliminating the threat of terrorism emanating from neighbouring Afghanistan. “Durable peace, stability and economic development can only be achieved with the eradication of the menace of terrorism emanating from Afghan soil,” he said while speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers’ meeting. He said that Pakistan desired to see a “peaceful, stable, regionally integrated and prosperous Afghanistan which is at peace with itself and its neighbours”, adding that this would be in the best interest of all SCO member states and beyond. He said that currently, the threat of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan was one of the most serious security challenges for Pakistan. He said that terrorist organisations continued to recruit, train and operate from Afghan soil “under the watch and facilitation of the Afghan Taliban regime”. He said that... -
Dawn - 10:29 Jul 24, 2026
Security forces have killed four more terrorists during an operation in the Khad Kocha area of Balochistan’s Mastung district, the interior ministry and state broadcaster said on Friday. State broadcaster Radio Pakistan initially reported operation, saying that the terrorists belonged to Fitna-al-Hindustan — a term that the state uses for Balochistan-based groups to highlight India’s alleged role in terrorism and destabilisation across Pakistan. It quoted security sources as saying that large quantities of weapons and ammunition were recovered from the slain terrorists while several others, suspected of involvement in facilitating terrorism, were apprehended. The sources further said that search and clearance operations are ongoing in the area while security forces continue to maintain comprehensive surveillance, according to Radio Pakistan. Later, the operation and the fatalities among the terrorists were confirmed in an X post by the interior ministry, which said that Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had laud... -
Dawn - 08:59 Jul 24, 2026
India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka secured direct entry into the men’s cricket knockout stage at the 2026 Asian Games after the draw was announced on Thursday. The 10-team men’s competition, starting from September 24 in Nagoya, will begin with a preliminary round featuring Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal and Oman competing for the remaining quarter-final berths. Afghanistan, Japan and Nepal were drawn in Group A, while Hong Kong, Malaysia and Oman were placed in Group B. The top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout stage to join the four seeded sides. The women’s tournament, scheduled from September 17-22, features eight teams and will begin at the quarter-final stage. Defending champions India will face hosts Japan, Bangladesh will take on China, Sri Lanka will meet Malaysia, and Pakistan will play Thailand. All matches in both competitions will be played in the Twenty20 format. India swept the cricket gold medals at the 2022 Asian Games, held in 2023 in Hangzhou, cla... -
Dawn - 08:16 Jul 24, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday settled a jurisdictional dispute by declaring that it could not hear bail applications in pending National Accountability Bureau (NAB) appeals, and all such pending criminal appeals stood transferred to the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC). “This court has no jurisdiction to take cognisance in the NAB cases in terms of Article 175F (a) of the Constitution, read with Section 32 and 32-A of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 (NAO),” stated a 30-page judgement authored by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, who headed a three-member bench that took up the matter. The ruling also referred to arguments that the Supreme Court should not surrender its jurisdiction come what may, with the judges observing that courts could “not play to the gallery” for admiration, popularity and media commendations or for public perception, instead of adhering to the law and Constitution. The duty of the court was to follow the law and not make decisions or assume a jurisdiction motivated by... -
Dawn - 07:58 Jul 24, 2026
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced that Lieutenant General Aamer Raza, the chief of general staff of the Pakistan Army, has been promoted to the rank of a four-star general and appointed Commander National Strategic Command (CNSC), the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on Friday. According to the PMO, the premier congratulated the newly promoted general and wished him the best for “undertaking this important responsibility”. General Raza has previously been awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military) and Sitara-i-Basalat (Star of Valour). The CNSC post was created under last year’s 27th Constitutional Amendment, which made significant changes to the military’s chain of command, to assume the nuclear manager role previously exercised by the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), a post which was abolished. The appointment, reappointment and extension of the CNSC are tied solely to the recommendation of the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), a post that was also created under the amendment for a uni... -
Dawn - 07:19 Jul 24, 2026
Two people were stabbed in New York on Thursday, with police saying that they had arrested a suspect and were evaluating the incident as a possible hate crime. The two victims, who were targeted in separate attacks near Manhattan’s Central Park, were “an Asian male and a Jewish male,” New York City police commissioner Jessica Tisch said on X, adding that they were both hospitalised and “expected to survive”. The New York Police Department (NYPD) arrested the suspect, identified as 51-year-old Raul Morales. “Detectives are continuing to work the case and determine motive, but according to victim and witness statements, Morales yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ during both attacks,” Tisch said. “The NYPD is currently evaluating whether this is a potential hate crime.” She further said that “at this time, there is no known link between Morales and either of the victims, nor between the victims and each other”. Tisch added that the suspect has no record of psychiatric illness in police records. But New York Mayor Zohran Mamd... -
Dawn - 06:00 Jul 24, 2026
US forces launched a fresh wave of strikes on Iran for the thirteenth consecutive day early on Friday after President Donald Trump vowed “major military punishment” for Tehran and its Houthi allies over attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea by the Yemeni rebels. The Houthi rebels, who control northern and western Yemen, said this week they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, which has diverted millions of barrels of oil per day by pipeline to the Red Sea to get around Iran’s blockade of Gulf oil through the Strait of Hormuz. Now, attacks in the Red Sea have extended the Middle East war to a second major shipping chokepoint. Fears that the disruption could widen to block another sea route sent global oil prices surging in one of the steepest rises of the war, which began with US-Israeli attacks on Iran in late February. Brent crude rose more than six per cent on Thursday, piercing the level of $100 a barrel for the first time since May. Early on Friday, Brent futures eased 72 cents, or 0.... -
Dawn - 05:30 Jul 24, 2026
A day after Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir led hundreds of Israeli Jews into Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa mosque compound, Pakistan and seven other countries on Friday issued a joint statement condemning the “provocative actions”. The joint statement, shared by the Foreign Office, was issued by the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Turkiye, Indonesia, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The ministers condemned “in the strongest terms the Israeli escalation at Al Aqsa Mosque, particularly the continued mass settlers’ incursions led by extremist Israeli ministers, under the protection of the Israeli forces, the raising of the Israeli flag within its courtyards, the erection by Israeli police of two tents, and all other inflammatory acts”. Access to the site is governed by a decades-old “status quo” arrangement between Israel and Jordan, whose religious foundation administers the place. Under that arrangement, Jews may visit but are not permitted to pray there, whil... -
Dawn - 04:50 Jul 24, 2026
The United States said on Thursday that it would impose new tariffs on 60 trading partners, including Pakistan, India, China and the European Union, over forced labour concerns, replacing an expiring global duty rolled out by US President Donald Trump earlier this year. The levies, effective Friday, range from 10 per cent to 12.5pc. “The United States has had a forced labor import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it; it’s well past time for our trading partners to do the same,” said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. He earlier added that targeted economies represent the majority of US trade. The Trump administration has moved swiftly to rebuild the president’s tariff wall after the Supreme Court struck down a host of his duties in February — dealing a blow to his ability to unleash steep levies at will. After the setback, Trump tapped different authorities to reimpose a 10pc tariff on imports. But this only lasts 150 days, expiring Friday. The volley of new duties, initially proposed in...
12682 items