Dawn
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Found 12392 news
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Dawn - 03:05 Jul 14, 2026
• Sets aside SHC orders allowing contractor to claim price escalation beyond agreed terms • Orders completion of remaining work under original contract ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Monday set aside a series of Sindh High Court (SHC) orders in the long-delayed Nai Gaj Dam dispute and directed the contractor to complete the remaining work strictly in accordance with the original contract, the arbitral award and the Sept 21, 2021 memorandum of understanding (MoU). The SHC judgements had allowed the contractor, NEIE SMADB-LILLEY-RMS Karachi, to claim price escalation beyond the agreed terms. A two-judge FCC bench, headed by Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan and also comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, heard a set of appeals and expressed the expectation that all parties, including the contractor and Wapda, would honour their commitments and complete the project in accordance with the original contract. To ensure uninterrupted execution of the project, the FCC also ordered that no judicial proc... -
Dawn - 02:51 Jul 14, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Even though the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has decided to support Aleema Khan’s call for a “long march”, the party fears the protest may end up in another “false-flag operation”, like the May 9, 2023, disorder, or in a “massacre” similar to the one at D Chowk in Nov 2024. A senior leader of the opposition party said Aleema Khan’s “language” had thrown the PTI into a ‘state of panic’. “There is no doubt that leaders, workers and people love and respect Imran’s family and will support her (Aleema’s) call for protest and march. “But Aleema has been trying to instigate people against MNAs and MPAs, ignoring the fact that a large number of workers go to Adiala jail thanks to persuasion by parliamentarians. Duties are assigned to different wings of the party every week to ensure workers turn up at Adiala jail. “However, there is no doubt that many people turn up at the jail to express solidarity with the chairman’s family,” he explained. “However, Aleema’s statements may incite people to violence as ... -
Dawn - 02:42 Jul 14, 2026
LONDON: UK Home Minister Shabana Mahmood announced plans on Monday to change British law to allow a convicted paedophile, who led a so-called grooming gang, to be deported following his release from prison. Shabir Ahmed was jailed in 2012 for 22 years for multiple child sexual offences including rape when he was the ringleader of a gang of similarly predatory men targeting girls in Rochdale, northern England. He left prison on licence earlier this month under the country’s early release programme. Calls have mounted for the deportation of Shabir Ahmed, who held dual British-Pakistani citizenship before being stripped of the former following his 2012 conviction for multiple counts of child sexual offences. Immigration laws had prevented the deportation of Commonwealth nationals who arrived in UK before 1973 But a 1971 immigration law has prevented his deportation, as it prohibits the removal of Commonwealth nationals who, like Ahmed, arrived in Britain before 1973. Announcing the law would be changed through a... -
Dawn - 02:35 Jul 14, 2026
• Rapporteurs say Muslims were disproportionately targeted in voter purge • Seek explanation over alleged deletion of 52m voters • Warn exercise may violate international human rights law • Criticise rhetoric linking purge to ‘illegal Bangladeshi immigrants’ KARACHI: Three United Nations special rapporteurs have sought clarification from the government of India over allegations that millions of voters, particularly Muslims, were wrongfully removed from electoral rolls ahead of recent state elections. In a formal communication dated May 1, 2026, the independent UN experts expressed grave concerns regarding a massive voter-deletion exercise that reportedly stripped approximately 52 million names from registers across 12 Indian states and union territories. While the voter purge reportedly affected some other linguistic and religious minorities, the independent experts highlighted that Muslim citizens bore the brunt of the administrative exclusions. The letter highlighted West Bengal, where 9.1m names were delet... -
Dawn - 02:32 Jul 14, 2026
GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) government on Monday presented a Rs20.478 billion interim budget for the first quarter of the 2026-27 fiscal year, while urging the federal government to allocate Rs258.95 billion for the full fiscal year to address the region’s growing development and infrastructure needs. The three-month budget was presented in the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmaker Mohammad Ali Akhtar during a session chaired by Speaker Imran Nadeem Shigri. Presenting the interim budget, Mr Akhtar said the federal government had earmarked Rs158.54 billion for Gilgit-Baltistan in the current fiscal year, an amount he described as insufficient to meet the region’s pressing requirements. He explained that the interim budget had been prepared to ensure the continuity of government operations until the presentation of the full annual budget for 2026-27. According to the budget proposals, Rs88bn has been allocated for non-development expenditures, while the government has set a ta... -
Dawn - 02:23 Jul 14, 2026
ISLAMABAD: While the government is pushing to replace petrol-powered motorcycles with electric two-wheelers, a sub-committee of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Industries was informed on Monday that Pakistan lacks a dedicated regulatory authority for e-motorcycles, while the absence of a comprehensive lithium battery policy has encouraged the sale of substandard batteries. Soon after the meeting began, sub-committee convener Dr Mehreen Bhutto expressed concern over the fragmented regulatory framework, noting that too many ministries and departments were involved in overseeing different aspects of the e-motorcycle sector. The committee was told that manufacturing licences are issued by the Engineering Development Board (EDB) under the Ministry of Industries and Production, while quality standards for e-motorcycles and their batteries are certified by the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA), which falls under the Ministry of Science and Technology. Charging infrastructure, the l... -
Dawn - 02:23 Jul 14, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Facing serious duck-curve challenges, the government has decided to make Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) mandatory as part of the upcoming auction of 800MW of surplus power capacity at a wheeling charge to help stabilise electricity supply. After more than 30 years’ delay, the government has announced the auction process for a notional 800MW capacity to gradually move towards a competitive energy market and is currently engaging with the private sector to finalise the bidding schedule. Based on these engagements, particularly with prospective auction participants for feedback on different aspects of the wheeling auction framework, the state-run Independent System and Market Operator (ISMO) under the power division has now proposed three major changes to the Wheeling Auction Process to ensure smooth implementation of wheeling and the auction framework. The first one is the mandatory BESS requirement as part of the auction. Under this, the auction participants would be required to include a BESS... -
Dawn - 02:16 Jul 14, 2026
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati on Monday referred the controversial legislation seeking to expand lawmakers’ powers and privileges to the house’s standing committee for review. In April, the provincial assembly passed the KP Provincial Assembly (Powers, Immunities and Privileges) Act, 2026, granting blue passports to members and their spouses, arms licenses, blanket immunity from preventive detention and making the speaker’s permission necessary before arresting members on criminal charges. The law faced harsh criticism from the media and the general public, prompting KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi to order a review of the legislation last week. Moreover, KP Information Minister Shafi Jan had also announced that the government would withdraw the controversial clauses and restore them in accordance with the 1988 Act. Addressing a press conference in Peshawar, the information minister said that the committee would re-examine the controversial clauses. Jan said that the act had... -
Dawn - 02:15 Jul 14, 2026
GILGIT: Climate change-induced disasters continued to batter Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) as flash floods triggered by heavy rainfall caused widespread destruction in various parts of Diamer district. According to a statement issued by the Gilgit-Baltistan Disaster Management Authority (GBDMA), flash floods occurred at six locations in Diamer early on Monday. The floods damaged several houses, the Karakoram Highway (KKH), link roads connecting remote areas, crops, agricultural land, and public and private property. Flooding was reported in Khanbari, Niyat, Thore, Gaspayan, Gasbala, Bunar and other areas. Flood debris entered several houses, while agricultural land, standing crops and fruit trees were severely affected in the Thunraka area of Thore Valley. GBDMA officials said the main road in Thore Valley was washed away at several places, completely suspending traffic. Power transmission lines were also damaged, disrupting electricity supply to Thore Valley and surrounding areas and causing difficulties f... -
Dawn - 18:46 Jul 13, 2026
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati on Monday referred the controversial legislation seeking to expand lawmakers’ powers and privileges to the house’s standing committee for review. In April, the provincial assembly passed the KP Provincial Assembly (Powers, Immunities and Privileges) Act, 2026, granting blue passports to members and their spouses, arms licenses, blanket immunity from preventive detention and making the speaker’s permission necessary before arresting members on criminal charges. The law faced harsh criticism from the media and the general public, prompting KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi to order a review of the legislation last week. Moreover, KP Information Minister Shafi Jan had also announced that the government would withdraw the controversial clauses and restore them in accordance with the 1988 Act. Addressing a press conference in Peshawar, the information minister said that the committee would re-examine the controversial clauses. Jan said that the act had... -
Dawn - 18:25 Jul 13, 2026
Yemen’s Houthis targeted Saudi Arabia on Monday, hours after the rebels accused the kingdom of attacking Sanaa airport — the biggest flare-up in years between the two sides that threatens to upend a frozen conflict. The Saudi-backed Yemeni government claimed responsibility for the attack on the Houthi-held airport, saying it wanted to prevent an Iranian plane from landing. It came after they failed to convince a Houthi delegation that went to Tehran for the late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s funeral to board a flight on domestic carrier Yemenia instead. “Air defences dealt with a ballistic missile threat launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards the southern region,” coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said in a social media post. Earlier, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree accused Saudi Arabia of “ending the de-escalation phase” and warned that “this aggression will not go unanswered or unpunished”. The latest escalation threatens to unravel a truce that has been holding since 2022 despite ... -
Dawn - 18:08 Jul 13, 2026
KHYBER: Pakistani customs authorities on Monday issued gate passes to as many as 26 World Food Programme (WFP) containers carrying food and essential supplies at the Torkham border to cross into Afghanistan. Since October 2025, the Torkham border — a key trade route between Pakistan and Afghanistan — has been closed due to the “escalating security situation” along the border. Customs clearing agents, who had earlier in the day submitted Goods Declaration (GD) documents to the customs authorities, told Dawn that the containers were issued gate passes for crossing into Afghanistan late in the evening, despite the fact that the gates had officially been closed for any cross-border movement. The agents said that the containers were made to wait throughout the day as officials awaited a final “nod” from the higher authorities after the containers arrived at the Torkham import terminal early on Monday morning. They said that the authorities had informed them that all cleared vehicles would be allowed to proceed to ... -
Dawn - 17:49 Jul 13, 2026
Yemen’s internationally recognised government said it struck Houthi-controlled Sanaa airport on Monday, its biggest flare-up in years with the rebels, who blamed Saudi Arabia for the attack and threatened retaliation. The government said it had wanted to prevent an Iranian plane from landing in the capital, after failing to convince a Houthi delegation that went to Tehran for the late Iranian supreme leader’s funeral to board a Yemenia flight instead. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree accused Saudi Arabia of “ending the de-escalation phase” and warned that “this aggression will not go unanswered or unpunished”. The latest escalation threatens to unravel a truce that has been holding since 2022 despite expiring, and comes at a time of heightened tensions as the United States and Iran trade attacks impacting the Gulf and traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. Smoke rises following an airstrike after Yemen’s defence ministry said that its armed forces had targeted the runway at Sanaa International Airport, in Sana... -
Dawn - 17:38 Jul 13, 2026
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday accused the International Criminal Court (ICC) of threatening American sovereignty and “waging a war” against the country. “The ICC and its friends are waging a war against our country — not with bullets or missiles but with statutes, compacts and the force of so-called ‘international law’“. He further said the court had “become the unaccountable arbiter of a new global law — empowered to prosecute and arrest our citizens at will”. Rubio described the court as “far more radical and extreme” than it had initially promised to be, saying it was “staffed by unelected globalist bureaucrats who claim their power is almost unlimited”. “The danger of this global court has only continued to grow.” “The American people never agreed to any of this,” he said. “And they never will.” Rubio’s remarks come after the Trump administration launched an effort to dismantle what it describes as the threat posed by the ICC to US sovereignty, according to a State Department official. Presi... -
Dawn - 16:48 Jul 13, 2026
The Middle East has been rocked by US and Iranian attacks of a scale unseen since an April ceasefire, as fighting over the strategic Strait of Hormuz threatened to derail efforts to permanently end the war. As the US attacks on Iran continued on Monday, Tehran said it would stop complying with a framework agreement signed in June to halt the fighting if Washington failed to meet its commitments. It also responded with attacks of its own targeting Gulf nations, with the powerful Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) announcing new strikes on Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Oman. “There is no doubt that this document is in crisis,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding. “Each time that the other party has failed to meet its obligations, we did not uphold ours,” he added. “We will continue to act in this manner.” He nonetheless added that Tehran was continuing talks with mediators from Qatar, Pakistan and Oman in an effort to prevent any further escalation. The US Central ... -
Dawn - 16:03 Jul 13, 2026
Children should have “phased and gradual access” to social media, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday, as experts recommended under 13s only use online platforms under supervision. The European Union has been mulling a social media ban since a push by EU states, including Greece and France, for limiting access, with pressure intensifying for a bloc-wide ban like Australia. To help the EU take decisions based on evidence, von der Leyen tasked an expert panel of doctors, academics, youth representatives and parents to give their advice. They delivered their recommendations on Monday. “What we already have is a consensus that there needs to be a start date for the age children can join social media,” von der Leyen said, calling for “age-appropriate restrictions”. “This is not about whether children can access social media. It is about whether and when social media can access our children.” A legal proposal will come in the second half of the year, von der Leyen added, but she is expected to give an indi... -
Dawn - 15:53 Jul 13, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Monday set aside a Supreme Court (SC) judgment from August 2024 that had paved the way for the demolition of infrastructure developed by the Monal Group of Companies, La Montana and Gloria Jeans inside the picturesque Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP). The SC had ordered the closure of Monal and the adjacent La Montana restaurant on August 21, 2024, and they were closed the next month to protect the park’s biodiversity. A bench headed by Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Syed Arshad Hussain Shah had taken up review petitions filed by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI). The petitions challenged the SC’s directions to the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) to take possession of the restaurants — namely Monal, La Montana and Gloria Jeans — located inside the park. The CDA and the Islamabad Capital Territory Police were also directed to assist the wildli... -
Dawn - 15:41 Jul 13, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan and his spouse, Bushra Bibi, challenged in the Supreme Court on Monday the registrar’s decision to return a set of petitions that contested the high court’s refusal to suspend their sentences in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case. Imran and Bushra Bibi were convicted and sentenced in January 2025 in the corruption case, in which an accountability court found them guilty of obtaining billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from a real estate firm for legalising Rs50bn that was identified and returned to the country by the UK during the previous PTI government. The court verdict had said that funds from foreign bank accounts, previously frozen by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), were repatriated to settle the liabilities of Bahria Town instead of being added to the national kitty. The court had found that Imran, when he was the prime minister, gave a nod to a confidential deed for the illegal transfer of funds to settle Bahria Town’s liability. Imr... -
Dawn - 15:36 Jul 13, 2026
Last week, the European Parliament, after a five-year lull, adopted a resolution on Pakistan — this time condemning alleged abductions, forced conversions, and child marriages among Hindu and Christian minority communities. Citing the case of 13-year-old Maria Shahbaz, the text warns that human rights violations could endanger Pakistan’s preferential market access to the EU, known as GSP+ (General System of Preferences). It may make for strong headlines, but a closer look at how this resolution came to be — and who actually holds the authority over trade sanctions — reveals a process far more performative than substantive. Procedural perplexities First, the legal reality. The European Parliament has no authority over GSP+. That power rests exclusively with the European Commission, the bloc’s executive power. The resolution is non-binding — a political statement, not a policy instrument. Its real purpose is to signal displeasure and influence Commission thinking, but it carries no immediate consequences. Secon... -
Dawn - 15:22 Jul 13, 2026
KARACHI: A young doctor practicing at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) was shot dead during a robbery near Clifton on Monday, according to police. South Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that the incident occurred near Teen Talwar, where a young doctor, identified as Akash Kumar, lost his life. He said Dr Kumar was present outside a bank along with his father and cousin when armed suspects attempted to rob them. “During the course of the incident, firing took place, resulting in fatal injuries to the doctor. It is reported that the bank security guard also opened fire, leading to a crossfire.” “The suspects fled the scene following the incident after looting approximately Rs2.5 million,” the South DIG said. He further said that Dr Kumar was unmarried and had been serving at JPMC for the past two years. His body was shifted from JPMC to the Chhippa morgue after completion of legal formalities. The senior police official added that CCTV footage from the vicinity had ...
12392 items