Dawn
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Dawn - 03:38 Dec 19, 2025
ISLAMABAD: Former Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman has described attacks on Pakistan in May this year as a strategic mistake by India. “They underestimated our military power and thought we will not react. They never expected a befitting response,” he said while speaking at a seminar here. The seminar was organised by an overseas Pakistanis group led by Barrister Shehzada Hayat, in collaboration with the Pakistan Ex-Servicemen Society (PESS), headed by Senator retired Lt Gen Abdul Qayyum to pay homage to Pakistan’s martyrs, express solidarity with the armed forces, and commemorate the 149th birth anniversary of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The former air chief said the telling response by Pakistan shattered the myth of “shining India”. He chided India for blaming Chinese help to Pakistan for its failure saying “If we have Chinese JF-17 aircraft, you also have Rafale jets. Overseas Pakistanis’ contribution to national economy praised He made it clear that Chinese pilots did not come to... -
Dawn - 02:55 Dec 19, 2025
• 1,200 policemen, anti-riot personnel deployed; number of pickets increased • Party leaders return without visiting Imran after being barred by prison authorities RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD: As the PTI staged two sit-ins outside the jail in as many weeks, the Punjab government has deployed more than 1,200 police officials, installed additional pickets, and deployed anti-riot police in the vicinity of Adiala jail, in an apparent bid to pre-empt such protests. Separately, the jail authorities also barred the PTI leaders, including KP’s former finance minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra, who had arrived in Rawalpindi to meet their incarcerated party chief, Imran Khan. According to the Islamabad High Court, Mr Khan can have two weekly meetings with his family and party leaders, but the authorities have routinely restricted such visits, much to the PTI’s chagrin. Last Tuesday, the PTI leaders staged a protest, which was dispersed by police with water cannons after midnight. In a seemingly pre-emptive measure that would dissu... -
Dawn - 02:40 Dec 19, 2025
• FO says discussions ongoing; Islamabad has not been formally requested to deploy troops • Andrabi, White House say no Munir-Trump meeting planned ‘at this time’ ISLAMABAD: No decision has been taken yet on contributing troops to the planned International Stabilisation Force (ISF) for Gaza, the Foreign Office said on Thursday, seeking to quell renewed speculation about Washington’s pressure on Islamabad for joining the mission. “About Pakistan’s participation in the ISF, we have not taken a decision to participate in ISF as yet,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said at the weekly media briefing. ISF forms a key component of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza conflict, a 20-point framework announced in September that facilitated a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October. On Nov 17, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution, with Russia and China abstaining, endorsing the plan and authorising the establishment of the ISF as a temporary multinational force to... -
Dawn - 02:25 Dec 19, 2025
• Govt rations funds to meet IMF’s contingency measures for growing revenue shortfall • Health, energy allocations mostly unspent; better used in foreign-funded projects ISLAMABAD: Development spending under the federal Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) remained subdued in the first five months of the current fiscal year, with utilisation amounting to just 9.2 per cent of the Rs1 trillion annual allocation amid fiscal rationing to meet the IMF’s contingency measures for growing revenue shortfall. “Development spending remained modest, with Rs92 billion utilised against Rs196bn sanctioned, led mainly by infrastructure,” the Ministry of Planning and Development said in its Monthly Development Outlook (December 2025). It added that foreign-funded projects showed relatively better utilisation, with Rs12.8bn spent out of Rs25.1bn sanctioned. At Rs92bn, the July-November utilisation was 20pc lower than the Rs115bn spent in the same period last year. The ministry attributed the slowdown to “significant red... -
Dawn - 23:58 Dec 18, 2025
President Asif Ali Zardari, on early Friday morning, approved the de-notification of Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri as a judge of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on the advice of the prime minister. “The president has approved the de-notification of Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri as judge, Islamabad High Court, on the advice of the prime minister, in compliance with the IHC verdict and in accordance with the Constitution and law,” a statement from the President’s Secretariat said. IHC judgement The IHC ruling on Thursday said Justice Jahangiri’s elevation to the superior court “without lawful authority” and that he “ceased to hold” the office of the IHC judge forthwith. A division bench led by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan issued the judgement, which was earlier reserved, on a plea that challenged the legitimacy of Justice Jahangiri’s law degree and appointment as a judge. A short written order of the court, available with Dawn, said at the time of Justice Jahangi... -
Dawn - 22:55 Dec 18, 2025
As the Foreign Office sought clarification from India via a letter over a sudden variation in the Chenab River’s flow, the situation is badly affecting wheat and other crops being fed through the Marala-Ravi link and other canals in various parts of Punjab. “The situation is really disturbing as the Chenab River’s control from upstream (India) is being handled by the Indian authorities through various run-of-the-river hydropower projects,” a senior official of the Punjab Irrigation Department said while speaking to Dawn on condition of anonymity. “When India releases the water from dams towards downstream (Pakistan) without informing us, the flow suddenly increases. Sometimes, they hold water for days, reducing flow massively,” he said. He continued, “Once the river inflows recorded at Marala reduced to 1,500 cusecs, leaving us with no option but to stop outflows.” “The situation is very serious and strange for us, as the growers, in several villages, couldn’t water wheat crops due to the lack of water flow t... -
Dawn - 18:59 Dec 18, 2025
A domestic worker was allegedly beaten by a man in Karachi earlier this week, it emerged on Thursday. According to a first information report filed at Gabol Town police station — dated December 13 and available with Dawn — the complainant stated that she was working as a cleaner at a private residence when she got into an argument with the suspect on December 10. “On December 11, when I finished working at a house, the suspect came and started beating me as I was descending some stairs,” she alleged. “He pushed me down the stairs while verbally abusing me.” The complainant further alleged that bystanders also beat her, leaving her with facial and internal injuries. According to the FIR, the suspect who initially assaulted the complainant was booked under Sections 337A (punishment for assault), 354 (assault or criminal force to [a] woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace). After a video of the incident went viral, Sindh Minister for Women... -
Dawn - 18:33 Dec 18, 2025
Sultan Aziz Azzam, a spokesperson for Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), was arrested by Pakistani authorities this year, a recent report submitted to the UN Security Council has revealed. IS-K is a branch of the Islamic State terrorist organisation active in Central and South Asia, according to the US-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank. The United Nations’ 16th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team noted that IS-K’s ability to operate in the region had been degraded as a result of high-profile arrests by Pakistan, such as that of Azzam from the border region this May. The state-run Associated Press of Pakistan said that Azzam was arrested by intelligence agencies during an operation near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The APP report claimed that following his arrest, IS-K propaganda arms, such as the Al-Azaim Foundation, had suffered a major blow. “Overall, the capability of [IS-K] has been degraded as a result of counter-terrorism operations,” the UN repor... -
Dawn - 18:27 Dec 18, 2025
A new study has revealed that labour rights abuses remained rampant in major textile factories in major production hubs — Karachi and Faisalabad — manufacturing healthcare exports to Europe. The report was titled “Public money, private harm: The role of EU procurement in perpetuating labour violations: lessons from Pakistan and Sweden”. The 52-page study was conducted collaboratively by Swedwatch and local organisations, including AwazCDS-Pakistan and NowCommunities, building on testimonies of textile factory workers from Karachi and Faisalabad, where it revealed rampant labour rights violations, enabled by weak enforcement of EU procurement rules and labour laws. It revealed that using social audits and certifications as a way of ensuring compliance “repeatedly fail to capture or remedy these violations, raising serious concerns about their efficacy.” At the outset of the report launch in Karachi today, Executive Director NowCommunities, Farhat Parveen, outlined the issues faced by workers in both informal a... -
Dawn - 16:53 Dec 18, 2025
Gender gap among Pakistan’s voters reduced from 11.8 per cent in 2018 to 7.1pc in 2025, the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) Secretary Omar Hamid Khan said on Thursday. According to the Human Rights Watch, for the February 8, 2024, elections, which saw the registration of 127 million voters, there were 10 million more men than women, showing a large gender gap in a country in which women make up 49pc of the population. Khan shared the numbers at a board review meeting of the Pakistan Legislative, Electoral, Digital Governance and Empowerment (Pledge) project. “Women voter registration has outpaced men’s over the past five years, with a 27pc increase in female voters as compared to 17pc for males,” Khan shared with the members of the meeting. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative Dr Samuel Rizk, Ministry of Economic Affairs Joint Secretary Mahmood Khan and representatives from the British High Commission and European Union were in attendance. “The progress is attributed to ... -
Dawn - 16:10 Dec 18, 2025
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) ruled on Thursday that Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri’s elevation to the superior court was “without lawful authority”, declaring that he “ceased to hold” the office of the IHC judge forthwith. A division bench led by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan issued the judgment, which was reserved earlier today, on a plea that challenged the legitimacy of Justice Jahangiri’s law degree and appointment as a judge. Political figures and lawyers came out and assailed the IHC ruling, stating that the “case and bench had no merit to be heard”, while standing in solidarity with Jahangiri. PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan called Jahangiri’s removal an “unprecedented and troubling move” in a post on X. “I take strong exception to the order. It further erodes judicial independence,” he wrote. “The constitutional oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution becomes meaningless if judges are unable to protect and defend themselves within th... -
Dawn - 15:03 Dec 18, 2025
PTI members, including former KP minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra, protested the denial of meetings with party founder and ex-premier Imran Khan outside Adiala jail on Thursday. Water cannons were used early on Wednesday to disperse PTI leaders and protesters staging a sit-in near Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail, after his family was denied a meeting with the ex-premier. A court order issued by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on March 24 this year mandated that meetings with Imran would be permitted twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, the PTI maintains that the order is not being honoured. Jhagra was accompanied by PTI leaders, including Aftab Alam, Adnan Qadri, Pir Musavir Khan, Muhammad Israr and Liaqat Ali Khan. They were stopped at the Dahgali checkpoint on their way to the prison and staged a sit-in on the spot. However, they quietly gathered and left after a period of time. Jhagra wrote in a post on X: “870 unique meetings supposedly, but today was the 60th Thursday in a row when no one was allowed t... -
Dawn - 14:39 Dec 18, 2025
Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Tahir Andrabi on Thursday denied reports that Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir would undertake another visit to the United States soon. Reuters reported a day ago that Field Marshal Munir was expected to fly to Washington to meet US President Donald Trump in the coming weeks for a meeting which would likely focus on the Gaza force, according to two sources, one of whom was described as a key player in the CDF’s economic diplomacy. Andrabi’s statement came during the FO’s weekly press briefing today in response to a question, where he contradicted the Reuters report about the visit. “The Reuters story was showing as if the visit had been planned, and there was a finality about it. So, I am contradicting that and I’m contradicting the fact that a visit has been agreed or planned,” Andrabi said. “The fact is that this is information that I do not have, about the timing or any future visit that might take place. We obviously will wait ... -
Dawn - 14:35 Dec 18, 2025
In June, consecutive tremors shook Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi. Fifty-seven low-intensity quakes, measuring 1.5-3.8 on the Richter scale, were recorded on 1-25 June, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) reportedly said. Several months later, October began with a 3.2-magnitude quake in Malir, a neighbourhood in the city’s north. Karachi sits near the boundaries of three major tectonic plates, and multiple fault lines run through the city. Some 49 earthquakes with a magnitude of four or above have struck within 300 km of Karachi in the last decade. Mild quakes can sometimes act as “natural pressure releases, potentially reducing the risk of more destructive ones”, but the frequency of these earthquakes has raised concerns among experts, said geological oceanographer and former director of the Geological Survey of Pakistan, Asif Rana. In Karachi, mild quakes can have potentially devastating impacts on buildings that lack structural integrity. The Association of Builders and Developers stated in July... -
Dawn - 13:49 Dec 18, 2025
The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), in a joint raid along with intelligence and law enforcement agencies, arrested several foreign nationals allegedly running a fraudulent Ponzi scheme network in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA) area on Thursday, a statement from the agency said. A Ponzi scheme is a form of fraud in which belief in the success of a non-existent enterprise is fostered by the payment of quick returns to the first investors from money invested by later investors. Per the statement, the operation was conducted in DHA Phase 1 and Phase 6, where several foreign nationals were taken into custody during the action. “Important and sensitive data was recovered from the suspects, which is now being examined as part of the investigation,” the statement said. Preliminary inquiries suggest the detained individuals were allegedly running a “well-organised network through a Ponzi scheme,” the statement said, adding that the fraud had affected thousands of people, causing them “ser... -
Dawn - 13:21 Dec 18, 2025
Bangladesh police on Thursday stopped protesters from marching towards an Indian diplomatic mission, a day after India’s foreign ministry conveyed its concerns over the “deteriorating” security environment in the country. Ties between the two countries have been frosty since former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India following a student-led uprising last year. Dhaka has repeatedly asked for her extradition so that she could stand trial for her alleged crimes, with Delhi responding that it was examining the requests. On Thursday, dozens of demonstrators began marching towards the assistant Indian high commissioner office in Rajshahi district, which borders India. Miftahul Jannat, one of the protesters, said the plan was to carry out a sit-in, demanding the “repatriation of all the killers including Sheikh Hasina”. The protest was stalled by the police, who said they “listened to their demands and promised to forward them to the authorities”. “We are not aware of any further plans (for demonst... -
Dawn - 13:02 Dec 18, 2025
The German government said on Thursday that it would take in 535 Afghans who had been promised refuge in Germany but have been stuck in limbo in Pakistan. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told the RND media network that Berlin wanted to complete the processing of the cases “in December, as far as possible” to allow them to enter Germany. The Afghans were accepted under a refugee scheme set up by the previous German government, but have been stuck in Pakistan since conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz took office in May and froze the programme. Those on the scheme either worked with German armed forces in Afghanistan during the war against the Taliban, or were judged to be at particular risk from the Taliban after its return to power in 2021 — for example, rights activists and journalists, as well as their families. Pakistan had set a deadline for the end of the year for the Afghans’ cases to be settled, after which they would be deported back to their homeland. Dobrindt said that “we are in touch with t... -
Dawn - 12:48 Dec 18, 2025
Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Raja Shehbaz Khan on Thursday announced a delay of general elections and local bodies polls due to harsh weather conditions in the region, after a multiparty conference held to consult political parties on the holding of the elections. General Elections of the Assembly and local government (LG) elections were scheduled for January 24 and February 14, 2026, respectively. The LG polls are going to be conducted in the region after a gap of 20 years. “The new polling dates for both elections will be announced later,” Khan said. After the GB Assembly completed its five-year tenure on November 24, President Asif Ali Zardari announced the general elections date as it is mandatory to conduct elections within 60 days, while the GB election commissioner also announced the date of local body elections. Meanwhile, the GB Election Commission convened a multiparty conference (MPC), including leaders of PML-N, PPP, PTI and JUI, today at its secretariat to consult political ... -
Dawn - 12:36 Dec 18, 2025
UK teachers will be trained to tackle misogyny in the classroom under a new strategy aimed at halving violence against women and girls over the next decade, the government said Thursday. The new strategy would “deploy the full power of the state to introduce the largest crackdown to stop violence perpetrated against women and girls in British history”, said Jess Phillips, minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, who is due to unveil details of the new approach in parliament later. The 20 million plan comes as the latest statistics showed over 40 per cent of young men held a positive view of so-called manosphere influencer Andrew Tate, a government statement said. And over the last year alone, one in every eight women was a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking. “For too long, the scale of violence against women and girls has been treated as a fact of life in our country,” said Phillips. Under the strategy, all secondary schools in England will have to teach students about... -
Dawn - 11:53 Dec 18, 2025
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Thursday acknowledged ‘employment issues’ among creatives within the advertising sector due to the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and invited proposals to address the problem. In a post on X, the minister wrote that widespread AI adoption is affecting the employment of creative minds in the sector, specifically referring to content creators, graphic designers and editors, creative directors, actors and models and technicians and cameramen. “I am inviting proposals on how to address this problem and how to save these professions from becoming redundant,” Tarar wrote, urging people to send proposals to an email address linked to the Press Information Department. An International Labour Organisation (ILO) report published in May found that around “one in four workers across the world are in an occupation with some degree of exposure” to generative AI models’ capabilities. “Few jobs are currently at high risk of full automation,” the ILO added. In November, ...
7393 items