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Dawn - 13:34 Sep 28, 2025
The United Nations has reinstated an arms embargo and other sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme following a process triggered by European powers that Tehran has warned will be met with a harsh response. Britain, France and Germany initiated the return of sanctions on Iran at the UN Security Council over accusations it had violated a 2015 deal that aimed to stop it from developing a nuclear bomb. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons. The end of the decade-long nuclear deal originally agreed by Iran, Britain, Germany, France, the United States, Russia and China is likely to exacerbate tensions in the Middle East, just months after Israel and the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites. UN sanctions imposed by the Security Council in resolutions adopted between 2006 and 2010 were reinstated at 8pm EDT on Saturday. Attempts to delay the return of all sanctions on Iran failed on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the UN this week. “We urge Iran and all states to abide fully by these resoluti... -
Dawn - 13:00 Sep 28, 2025
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Sunday said it had foiled an attempt to send citizens abroad for hefty bribes and arrested two of its own personnel posted at Islamabad International Airport. According to an FIA statement, the action was taken on the instructions of the director of the agency’s Islamabad Zone during a surprise inspection of the immigration staff under the supervision of Deputy Director (Immigration) Salman Liaquat. The statement read that an assistant sub-inspector and a constable were taken into custody while on duty “after they were found using mobile phones”, which the immigration staff are prohibited from carrying during duty. Their phones were searched on suspicion, and “important evidence related to illegal immigration” was recovered. The FIA reported that according to initial investigation, the two men were in “contact with passengers and agents” and “charging Rs50,000 per person to send citizens to the Philippines and Uzbekistan”. Records of transactions amounting to “million... -
Dawn - 12:36 Sep 28, 2025
Pakistan has called India a “regional bully” at the United Nations General Assembly after an Indian diplomat referred to the country as “terroristan,” the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported on Sunday. Ties between Pakistan and India have long been fraught, with four wars fought since independence. Earlier this year, a brief but intense military escalation erupted after India launched air strikes in Pakistan over the Pehalgam attack in occupied Kashmir, which killed more than two dozen people. Pakistan denied involvement, and the crisis eased following US intervention. Since then, relations have become exceedingly sour between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. The spat unfolded during the fifth day (Sept. 27) of the 80th UNGA session in New York, where exchanges turned heated in the absence of the usual prime ministerial face-off. The sharpest blows came in the Right of Reply, with Indian representative Rentala Srinivas branding Pakistan a terrorist state, declaring: “No arguments or untruths can ever... -
Dawn - 12:05 Sep 28, 2025
Vietnam closed airports and evacuated thousands of people in areas under storm threat on Sunday, as intensifying Typhoon Bualoi barrelled towards the country, days after causing at least 10 deaths and widespread flooding in the Philippines. The typhoon was generating winds of up to 133 km/h (83 mph) as of 1000 GMT (3pm PKT) and is forecast to make landfall in central Vietnam around 0100 on Monday, slowing as it nears the coast, state-run Thanh Nien newspaper reported. “This is a rapidly moving storm - nearly twice the average speed - with strong intensity and a broad area of impact,” the national weather forecast agency said. “It is capable of triggering multiple natural disasters simultaneously, including powerful winds, heavy rainfall, flooding, flash floods, landslides, and coastal inundation.” Northern and central provinces may see up to 600 mm of rain through October 1, with rivers rising by 9 meters and risks of flooding and landslides, it said. Authorities in the central province of Ha Tinh have starte... -
Dawn - 12:05 Sep 28, 2025
The controversy surrounding the supposed inclusion of columnist and social media activist Shama Junejo in Pakistan’s delegation to the United Nations this week took a new turn on Sunday when she claimed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had included her among the delegates as an adviser. The controversy had surfaced when photos from Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s address at a UN Security Council session on artificial intelligence (AI) spread like wildfire on social media platform X, with users pointing to Junejo sitting in the background. Several of them also shared screenshots from her Twitter (now X) timeline from several years ago, expressing support for Israel — a position sharply at odds with Pakistan’s longstanding pro-Palestinian stance. After social media furore, Asif said on X that only the Foreign Office could explain Junejo’s presence at the session. Later, the FO clarified that she had not been part of Pakistan’s accredited delegation. Following that, Asif also spoke about the matter on Geo News... -
Dawn - 11:56 Sep 28, 2025
Former domestic player and administrator Mithun Manhas was unanimously elected on Sunday as president of India’s cricket board, the sport’s most powerful national body. Manhas was the only nominee to be chief of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and was appointed after the board’s annual general meeting in Mumbai. Rajeev Shukla was elected as vice-president, while Devajit Saikia will stay on as secretary, the BCCI said in a statement. Manhas, 45, never played for India but turned to the game’s administration after his first-class playing career ended. He replaces India’s former World Cup-winner Roger Binny, who quit in August after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70. Cricket’s massive popularity in India has helped the BCCI become by far the wealthiest of all of the sport’s boards, netting massive money from sponsorship and TV deals. Manhas’ rise has apparently been backed by India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was chosen at a key meeting in New Delhi last week that was als... -
Dawn - 10:59 Sep 28, 2025
Afghanistan’s Taliban government has welcomed the recent stance by Russia, China, Iran and Pakistan against the establishment of foreign military bases in and around Afghanistan. This position was affirmed in a joint statement released after foreign ministers from the four countries met on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York. They emphasised respect for Afghanistan’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and said re-establishment of foreign military bases is “not conducive to regional peace and security.” According to Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesperson for the Taliban government, his country not only welcomed the stance of the four countries but said that “Afghanistan will not allow its territory to be used against other countries, nor permit armed groups to operate from its soil.” While the joint statement did not refer to any specific country seeking bases in Afghanistan, it follows one by US President Donald Trump where he said Washington was trying to get... -
Dawn - 10:47 Sep 28, 2025
China’s former minister for agriculture and rural affairs was sentenced to death with reprieve for bribery at a court in Jilin province on Sunday, according to state-run news agency Xinhua. Tang took bribes, including cash and property worth over 268 million yuan ($37.6 million) in various positions held from 2007 to 2024, Xinhua said. The Changchun Intermediate People’s Court suspended his death sentence for two years, noting he had confessed to his crimes, it added. China’s Communist Party expelled Tang in November 2024, six months after he was placed under investigation by the anti-graft watchdog and removed from his post. Tang’s investigation was unusually swift and followed similar investigations into Defence Minister Li Shangfu and his predecessor Wei Fenghe. President Xi Jinping started a campaign of purges of China’s domestic security apparatus in 2020, seeking to ensure police, prosecutors, and judges are “absolutely loyal, absolutely pure and absolutely reliable”. Tang was governor of the western pr... -
Dawn - 09:13 Sep 28, 2025
A team of female health workers was attacked on Saturday while administering vaccines against the human papillomavirus (HPV) in Punjab’s Mandi Bahauddin district, the second such incident in three days. The HPV vaccine, first launched in Pakistan in 2022, has now been rolled out nationwide as part of the routine immunisation programme to protect adolescent girls against cervical cancer. However, vaccine hesitancy in Pakistan remains a major public health challenge, driven by a mix of misinformation, safety concerns, and mistrust of authorities. In the latest incident yesterday, the HPV vaccination team was performing its duty in a non-formal education school in the village of Ratuwal, within the limits of Kathian Sheikhan police station, when a 55-year-old resident of the village entered the school and attempted to attack a female health supervisor. According to Kathian Sheikhan’s Station House Officer Sabir Iqbal Sindhu, the suspect “tried to attack the supervisor with a stick and by lifting a chair, threate... -
Dawn - 08:34 Sep 28, 2025
A stampede that killed dozens at a south Indian political rally happened after a crowd of thousands waited hours in baking heat without sufficient safeguards, officials and witnesses said on Sunday. Some 27,000 people thronged a public road in Tamil Nadu state in hopes of seeing popular actor-turned-politician Vijay on Saturday, but panic broke out and 39 were killed, authorities said. Witnesses cited hours of delays, insufficient police presence, and people falling from a tree branch onto the audience as contributing to the tragedy. Tamil Nadu police have registered a criminal case against leaders of Vijay’s political party. Senior police official V Selvaraj told Reuters that the filing of the case was the first step toward potential charges, “against TVK party senior leaders Bussy Anand, Nirmal Kumar and VP Mathiyalagan, and the investigation is under way”. “TVK originally sought permission for a gathering of 10,000 people, but the actual crowd was more than double,” he said. Deadly crowd incidents happen r... -
Dawn - 07:22 Sep 28, 2025
In a game that had turned into a virtual semi-final, a transformation was nearing its completion. It had taken time but the necessary trust had been gained — a tottering Pakistan were pinning hopes on Shaheen Shah Afridi to dig them out of a hole and, for a change, with the bat. Bangladesh had reduced Salman Ali Agha’s men to 58-5 in their 2025 Asia Cup Super Four clash and Pakistan were searching for some inspiration when the transformed Shaheen hoicked Tanzim Hasan Saqib to the top tier of the Dubai International Cricket Stadium for the first six of the match. Taskin Ahmed, Bangladesh’s most successful bowler of the night, was then clubbed for another in the next over to pave way for Pakistan to post a respectable 135-8; the defence of which he would later spearhead with the ball. There is a viral video from the 2024 T20 World Cup in which Shaheen jokingly complains to the ICC crew for putting ‘bowler’ next to his name instead of ‘all-rounder’. Only days later, his unbeaten 16-ball 23 not out helped Pakista... -
Dawn - 07:15 Sep 28, 2025
The article was first published in December 2019 and has been replugged for DawnMedia’s upcoming air pollution conference in Lahore. In an unprecedented move, schools in Lahore were officially closed for a couple of days this month because of heavy smog that has noticeably settled in every crevice of the city. Not only has the city’s air quality touched hazardous levels with zero visibility to go along, there also seems to be an acrid smell of burnt garbage in the air. The all-too-familiar phenomenon has now become the ‘fifth climate’ of Lahore. Currently, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 285, the state of Lahore’s air has moved from ‘hazardous’ to ‘very unhealthy’, where it remains the most polluted urban centre in Pakistan in terms of air quality. But this isn’t the first year of Lahore’s suffering. For the past several years, the onset of the cooler months of October and November has been bringing with it choking smog to the city that heralds in respiratory illnesses, eye diseases, and particulate matter...
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Dawn - 05:39 Sep 28, 2025
• TTP terrorists targeted in intelligence-based operation • Four civilians killed in Bajaur blast, caused by old explosive device • State minister warns militants to be met with bullets if talks fail • Says 80pc attackers are Afghans; urges political unity to tackle challenge LAKKI MARWAT/ BAJAUR: Seventeen militants were killed in an intelligence-based operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak district on Friday night, while four civilians fell victim to an explosion in the Bajaur district on Saturday. Three security personnel were also injured in the operation conducted in the Darshakhel area of Karak. The operation was conducted “on the reported presence of khwarij belonging to Indian proxy Fitna al Khwarij,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement. “During the conduct of operation, own troops effectively engaged the khwarij location and, resultantly, 17 Indian-sponsored khwarij were sent to hell,” it added. Karak District Police Officer Shahbaz Elahi said that the police and security... -
Dawn - 04:34 Sep 28, 2025
KARACHI: The female camel brutally ‘punished’ for straying into a landlord’s field recently underwent a major two-hour surgery on Friday at a shelter home in the metropolis, officials said on Saturday. Sources said that the procedure was successfully performed by experts of the livestock and fisheries department — a second such procedure in recent months. The experts included Dr Shalla Hayat, Dr Muhammad Ali Ayaz, Dr Javed Khoso, Dr Zulfiqar Haider Otto and Dr Muhammad Ali Gopang. The disease investigation was carried out by Dr Abdul Manan Khokhar, who is also the government focal person. The 18-month-old camel — now affectionately named Chandni — is currently being kept under 24-hour observation at the Comprehensive Disaster Response Services (CDRS) shelter home, located in the Murad Memon goth. A separate unit has been created at the facility to meet her intensive health needs. Officials say Chandni is recovering. Female camel’s right hind leg surgically removed ‘to prevent infection’ Sources said her post-... -
Dawn - 04:09 Sep 28, 2025
RAWALPINDI: Despite an objection from defence lawyers, an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) of Rawalpindi on Saturday recorded the testimony of three more prosecution witnesses in a case against former prime minister Imran Khan related to violent protests outside the army headquarters, GHQ, on May 9, 2023. The court proceeded with the hearing irrespective of objections from Mr Khan’s legal team, who requested a halt to the video link trial, insisting on his in-person appearance. ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah resumed proceedings in the General Headquarters (GHQ) protest case as lawyers for Mr Khan submitted an application seeking his personal appearance. They urged the court to stop the trial being conducted via video link, where Mr Khan appears from Adiala Jail. Raja Ikram Ameen Minhas, head of the prosecution, argued that a similar application had already been dismissed and the defence counsel did not challenge that order before the Lahore High Court. He alleged the defence filed the previously decided application to di... -
Dawn - 03:17 Sep 28, 2025
NEW YORK: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reached London after concluding a week-long trip to the United States, where he headed a delegation to the 80th session of the UN General Assembly and met US President Donald Trump, describing their discussion as “very encouraging”. The formal bilateral interaction between the two leaders was held at the Oval Office and was closed to the press. According to a statement issued from Pakistan, the leaders discussed regional security and cooperation on counter-terrorism, among other matters. Calls Trump talks ‘very encouraging’ During an interaction with the media in New Jersey, aired on Saturday, the prime minister said the US was ready to share “techniques” with Pakistan in the areas of artificial intelligence, information technology and agriculture. He added that the US was also open to investment opportunities in the country. At the airport, the PM along with the foreign minister and others was seen off by UN and US ambassadors. Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2025 -
Dawn - 02:37 Sep 28, 2025
NEW YORK: An Indian intelligence agent not only allegedly hired an Indian citizen to carry out murders in Pakistan, Nepal, and the United States but also promised to provide him with a plane-load of weapons to execute the assassinations, documents filed in US federal court show. Documents filed in a US federal court reveal new charges against the alleged assassin, Nikhil Gupta, including money laundering, credit card fraud, drug and arms trafficking, and attempted murder of a person in Nepal or Pakistan. According to fresh court documents, US government lawyers claim that the alleged murder-for-hire plot was not limited to New York but also included plans to kill another person in Nepal or Pakistan. US prosecutors allege that former Indian RAW officer Vikash Yadav promised to supply firearms and even arrange clearance for an aircraft to transport weapons from India. This was allegedly intended so that Gupta could sell the weapons to a man he believed was a trafficker, who would, in turn, help him hire a h... -
Dawn - 02:24 Sep 28, 2025
• PPP leaders insist BISP data best suited for flood relief • Maryam says Punjab is working while other provinces are busy criticising it • 2,200 survey teams with 10,000 personnel from army, other depts deployed in the province • Azma Bokhari threatens to sue Nadeem Afzal Chan over loan claim ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: As the Punjab government on Saturday launched a survey to assess the losses caused by recent floods, the PPP urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to accept its demand for providing immediate relief to the flood-affected people through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). The PML-N and the PPP — coalition partners at the Centre and in Punjab — have been at odds over how to help the flood victims, with the former’s government in Punjab insisting on using its own resources, while the latter is adamant about channelling the aid through the BISP. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, PPP Secretary General Humayun Khan, Senator Palwasha Khan and the party’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa leader Muhammad Ali... -
Dawn - 23:20 Sep 27, 2025
MUZAFFARABAD: Authorities staged flag marches across major towns in Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, flexing their muscles amid an uneasy calm as leaders of a civil society alliance pressed forward to mobilise support for a region-wide lockdown scheduled for Sept 29. The show of force by the government came as the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC) escalated its campaign, vowing to shut down the region to protest what it calls the decades-long denial of fundamental rights. In Muzaffarabad, Shaukat Nawaz Mir, a core member of the action committee, toured several neighbourhoods with colleagues and dozens of followers. “Let it be clear once again: we are not running a campaign against any ideology or institution, but for the bona fide rights of our people that have been denied for over seven decades under one or the other pretext,” he told a cheering crowd in Plate. Traders vow to keep shops open “The lockdown will send a loud and clear message that enough is enough. Either grant the rights o... -
Dawn - 19:15 Sep 27, 2025
At least 36 people were killed and more than 50 were injured on Saturday in a stampede at a rally held by Tamil actor Vijay, who is campaigning for election, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu said. Chief Minister MK Stalin said eight children and 16 women were among the 36 who died in the district of Karur in Tamil Nadu during a political rally by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, Vijay’s party. Earlier, state lawmaker Senthil Balaji told reporters that 58 people were hospitalised. Vijay has drawn massive crowds Vijay, one of Tamil cinema’s most bankable actors for three decades, has drawn massive crowds to his public meetings since launching his political party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, in 2024, which has targeted both the state ruling party DMK and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. He is campaigning ahead of state elections that are to be held in early 2026. Videos from local media show thousands of people surrounding a large campaign vehicle on top of which Vijay is seen standing and speaking....
5467 items