<p>Even before the pehlwans square off in the mud, the air is already wrestling with a mix of bruised earth and olive oil. Men of all ages and build, gleaming like magazine models from head to toe, prep for a day under the July sun in Edirne.</p> <p>For over six centuries, men have gathered in this northwestern Turkish city for Kırkpınar, the yağlı güreş or oil wrestling festival for what is considered the national sport. It has been around for so long that it was ancient by the time the O

<p>WHEN the Taliban <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1640974">entered Kabul in August 2021</a>, the world feared Afghanistan was heading towards an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. Those fears proved well-founded. Yet few imagined that nearly five years later, Afghanistan would remain one of the world’s gravest humanitarian crises despite the absence of a nationwide civil war.</p> <p>The United Nations <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1688868">warned </a>in 2022 that almost half the

<p>Kicking off his election campaign in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday promised to be the voice of the people of AJK in the Centre and globally by bridging the “gap” between the federal capital and the people.</p> <p>Addressing the rally, the PPP chairman said: “We have seen both good and bad times in AJK, but I have not witnessed the conditions that I am seeing today.”</p> <p>He termed the prevailing situation a “test” for the AJK governm

<p>Pakistan on Friday chaired and hosted the 12th meeting of the Heads of Border Services of the Competent Authorities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the Foreign Office (FO) said.</p> <p>The meeting was attended by the heads and representatives of the border services of Belarus, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, along with the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS).</p> <p>The meeting partici

François Picard is pleased to welcome Venice's new mayor, Simone Venturini, just 38 years old and one month into office. He offers a unique governing philosophy rooted in balancing contradictions rather than embracing absolutes. His central argument is that Venice cannot be understood merely as an open-air museum threatened by mass tourism, nor simply as a global cultural icon. Instead, he portrays it as a living, breathing city that must simultaneously preserve its fragile heritage, remain op

The government on Friday increased petrol and diesel prices by Rs5.44 and Rs31.05 per litre, respectively, with immediate effect for the next three days until July 20, to pass on the impact of higher import premiums and global prices following...

<p>LAHORE: A judicial magistrate at the Cantonment Courts granted police 14-day judicial remand of four suspects, including one <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/2013143">related to a senior political figure</a>, in a case of <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/2012477">alleged kidnapping and rape</a> of two foreign women.</p> <p>One of those two women is a national of the Netherlands and the other of Venezuela, and a case of their alleged abduction and sexual assault was <a href="https://www.da

<p>WASHINGTON: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb is expected to arrive in Washington on Saturday for a three-day visit during which he will hold talks with officials on trade, finance and investment as Pakistan and the United States continue negotiations on a broader bilateral economic partnership, diplomatic sources told <em>Dawn.</em></p> <p>According to the sources, Aurangzeb is scheduled to meet officials from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the US Export-Impor

<p>Oil prices inched up on Friday after the US and Iran<a href="https://www.dawn.com/"> stepped up </a>attacks across the Gulf, with their broken truce limiting oil flows out of the Strait of Hormuz and with Tehran <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/amp/2015945">asking </a>the Houthis to stand ready to shut the Red Sea export route.</p> <p>Brent crude futures rose 7 cents, or about 0.08 per cent, to $84.30 a barrel at 0632 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate futures gained 16 cents, or 0.2pc,

<p>Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday cast ‌Beijing as the champion of a <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/2016032/pakistan-joins-global-ai-organisation-as-founding-member">new global AI order</a>, using China’s premier tech conference to promote open-source technology and challenge US influence over the rules governing the fast-moving sector.</p> <p>In a speech to the opening ceremony of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, Xi urged countries to “seize the