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Found 12402 news

  • Outrage in Spain after police beat Gaza flotilla activists
    Dawn - 02:44 May 25, 2026
    MADRID: Around two thousand protesters took to the streets of the Spanish city of Bilbao on Sunday to condemn the Basque police’s treatment of activists from a Gaza aid flotilla on their return from detention in Israel. When a relative of one of the six returning activists tried to approach them at Bilbao airport on Saturday, a police officer forcefully prevented him from doing so, leading to scuffles between both sides, images from state broadcaster TVE showed. Images showed police striking people with batons and pinning others to the ground while being jeered by onlookers. Before this, activists appeared to have blocked the exit for other passengers and police tried to move them. Four people were arrested for serious disobedience, resisting arrest and assaulting law enforcement officers, the Basque regional police force, the Ertzaintza, said in a statement on Sunday. Two of those arrested were activists who had just arrived from Turkiye, TVE reported. The police force also launched an investigation into the...
    Tags: Gaza
  • Govt plans Wapda security force for water projects
    Dawn - 02:26 May 25, 2026
    • Chinese workers, engineers to get enhanced security • Force to guard dams, plants, project sites • Bill sent to parliament for approval • Move follows attacks on Dasu hydel workers ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to create a new “Wapda Security Force” to provide dedicated security to major water sector infrastructure projects across the country and associated workers, particularly those from China. The force is being created through the Wapda Security Force Act, 2026, which has already been forwarded to parliament. “The Wapda Security Force is being constituted to ensure the protection and security of critical infrastructure managed by the Water and Power Deve­lopment Authority,” reads the statement of objects and reasons. The decision to create a standalone force follows two terrorist attacks on engineers and workers of the over $6 billion Dasu Hydropower Project in November 2021 and March 2024, in which several Chinese and Pakistani workers were killed. Initially, CPEC-related security was extended ...
  • PM hopes to host Islamabad Talks 2.0 ‘very soon’
    Dawn - 02:22 May 25, 2026
    • Insiders claim premier has received ‘serious indications’ delegation-level talks are on the cards • PMO source says no preparations yet for such a high-level meeting ISLAMABAD: After indi­­cations that Tehran and Washington will soon reach an understanding to end the weeks-long war in the Middle East, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday expressed hope for another round of peace talks between the US and Iran in Islamabad “very soon”. Background conversations with sources privy to developments suggested that while Islamabad may yet serve as the venue for another round of talks between the warring sides, there were no immediate signs of preparations for such a high-level event. A source close to PM Shehbaz told Dawn that during his four-day visit to China, the premier had received “serious indications” from the US and Iran regarding delegation-level talks, which could be held soon in Pakistan. However, another sou­rce claimed that not rece­ived any such indications. “The prime minister is currently in Chin...
  • PM Shehbaz lands in Beijing, will hold 'high-level' meetings with Chinese leadership
    Dawn - 21:05 May 24, 2026
    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reached Beijing on Sunday, where he would have “high-level engagements” with the Chinese leadership, including President Xi Jinping and his counterpart, Li Qiang. PM Shehbaz landed in Hangzhou on Saturday, kicking off his four-day official visit to China. He addressed the Pakistan-China Business-to-Business Investment Conference in Hangzhou earlier today, following which he reached Beijing, where he was received by Chinese Minister of Environment and Ecology Huang Runqiu. “During his stay in Beijing, the prime minister will hold high-level engagements, including meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Qian,g to further strengthen Pakistan-China all-weather strategic cooperative partnership and advance cooperation under CPEC Phase-II, particularly in trade, investment, industry, agriculture, science and technology, and people-to-people exchanges,” a statement by the PM’s Office (PMO) said. It added that in Hangzhou, the PM chaired the opening ceremony of t...
    Tags: Beijing Chinese Shehbaz
  • 'Heinous crime against humanity': Condemnations pour in after suicide bombing in Quetta
    Dawn - 20:48 May 24, 2026
    Condemnations poured in on Sunday after suicide attack in Quetta claimed more than 10 lives and left several others injured, with global actors expressing solidarity with Pakistan. The attack targeted a shuttle train, with images following the blast showing a mangled train carriage on its side as people clambered over the wreckage to find survivors. People could be seen carrying blood-soaked victims on stretchers away from a derailed car, while security personnel stood guard. Images from the scene also showed burnt-out vehicles, damaged residential buildings and twisted metal and debris scattered near the railway track, with smoke rising from the wreckage. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack in separate statements, expressing the resolve to continue the fight against terrorism. Condemnations poured in from others as well, with the Chinese embassy in Pakistan extending “deep condolences to the deceased victims and sincere sympathies to the bereaved families”. “We f...
    Tags: Quetta Condemnations
  • At least 14 killed, 20 injured in suicide bombing targeting shuttle train in Quetta: Balochistan govt
    Dawn - 19:46 May 24, 2026
    QUETTA: At least 14 people were killed and 20 others were injured after a blast caused by a vehicle-borne suicide bombing tore through a shuttle train in Quetta on Sunday morning, the Balochistan government said. Hours after the blast, the provincial government said in a statement it was confirming with “profound grief and deep concern” that a train shuttle service near Chaman Phatak in Quetta was targeted in a vehicle-borne suicide bombing. “This cowardly act of terrorism is not only an attack on innocent human lives but also a heinous attempt to undermine peace, stability, and normal civic life in Balochistan,” the statement said. Citing initial reports, it added that “14 people embraced martyrdom while 20 others sustained injuries, including women and children”. “Among the martyrs were three personnel of the Frontier Corps, while the majority of victims were civilians, including pedestrians, passengers, bystanders, and residents living in houses adjacent to the blast site. “Tragically, an entire family of ...
    Tags: Quetta Balochistan
  • Pakistan, 7 other nations condemn Israeli minister's 'appalling' actions against Gaza aid flotilla activists
    Dawn - 19:40 May 24, 2026
    Pakistan, along with seven other nations, condemned on Sunday the “appalling, degrading, and unacceptable actions of extremist Israeli Minister Itamar Ben Gvir” against participants in the Gaza-bound flotilla while they were in Israeli detention. Last week, Israel’s far-right national security minister posted a video on showing the detained activists kneeling with their hands tied and foreheads on the ground, sparking international condemnation. The video, shared on X by the firebrand minister, was published after Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla’s vessels at sea and began detaining hundreds of foreign activists at the southern port of Ashdod. The footage also shows Ben Gvir heckling and waving an Israeli flag among the detained activists. Later, the flotilla’s organisers said the activists were subjected to abuse in Israeli custody, with several hospitalised for injuries and at least 15 reporting sexual assaults, including rape. On Sunday, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Turkiye, Indonesia, ...
    Tags: Israeli Pakistan
  • PTI confirms Barrister Gohar, Sohail Afridi's meeting with Naqvi; says discussion focused on terrorism in KP
    Dawn - 19:20 May 24, 2026
    ISLAMABAD: The PTI confirmed on Sunday that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and party chairperson Barrister Gohar Ali Khan had held a meeting with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in previous days. PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram told Dawn that the meeting was held to discuss the issue of terrorism in KP, especially in Bannu, where two police personnel and as many civilians were martyred while 25 terrorists were killed in a fierce clash between law enforcers, a peace committee and militants on Saturday. The interior minister “mostly discussed how terrorism can be controlled”, he said. He shared these details after Dawn approached him following an X post by Imran’s sister, Aleema Khan. “Barrister Gohar and Sohail Afridi met Mohsin Naqvi. Our family had no knowledge of this meeting, and neither was any family member present,” she said, addressing another post that said she was also part of the meeting. Speaking to Dawn, Akram also said, “It is incorrect that Aleema Khan was part of th...
    Tags: Barrister Gohar Sohail Afridi
  • What we know about the possible US-Iran deal
    Dawn - 18:17 May 24, 2026
    The United States and Iran appear closer than ever to a deal that would end a war that has engulfed the Middle East and disrupted the global oil market. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the world might “get some good news” soon after President Donald Trump announced an agreement had been “largely negotiated” and would include the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Before Trump’s announcement, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei spoke of “a trend towards rapprochement” with Washington, but warned that “it does not necessarily mean that we and the United States will reach an agreement on the important issues.” He said on state television that Iran’s “intention was first to draft a memorandum of understanding, a kind of framework agreement,” before a final deal is reached within 30 to 60 days. What do we know about the possible agreement? Nuclear question Baqaei said that the nuclear issue was not be part of an initial framework. It will rather be “subject to separate discussions” at a later s...
    Tags: What
  • India voices concern on US visas but sees alignment with Rubio
    Dawn - 17:48 May 24, 2026
    India voiced concern on Sunday over a US visa crackdown, striking a rare critical note even as it expressed broad alignment with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on other fractious issues. Paying his first visit to India, Rubio said the two democracies were on the same page on all major issues, brushing aside recent unease in New Delhi over trade, China and the Iran war. India’s foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar agreed that the two countries had a “convergence of national interests in many areas” but publicly took Rubio to task over US President Donald Trump’s assault on visas. Jaishankar said he “apprised Secretary Rubio of challenges that legitimate travellers face in respect of visa issuance”. “While we cooperate to deal with illegal and irregular mobility, our expectation is that legal mobility should not be adversely impacted as a consequence,” he said, noting that visas were key for US-India tech cooperation. Trump, who has made curbing non-Western immigration a key political priority, has ramped u...
    Tags: India Rubio
  • Gwadar University VC, pro-vice chancellor return home 10 days after they were reported missing
    Dawn - 17:39 May 24, 2026
    QUETTA: The vice chancellor and pro-vice chancellor of the University of Gwadar, another varsity employee and their driver reached home on Sunday, around 10 days after they were reported missing, an official said. “All four, including the vice chancellor and pro-vice chancellor, have reached their homes safely,” Babar Yousafzai, an aide at the Balochistan Home Department, confirmed to Dawn. ​Mullah Barkat Baloch, a relative of Pro-VC Manzoor, also confirmed to Dawn that the varsity official had reached home safely. Sources in Mastung police told Dawn that Vice Chancellor Dr Abdul Razzaq Sabir, Pro-Vice Chancellor Syed Manzoor Ahmed, VC’s staff officer Irshad Ahmed and their driver, Hatim Ali, were freed in the Kardgap area of Mastung. The university officials and their driver went missing while travelling from Gwadar to Quetta on May 13. While their mobile phones had been switched off and they could not be traced, police officials believed that they could have been kidnapped. Later, security forces had launch...
  • Sindh govt now declares 3-day Eidul Azha holiday, announces WFH on May 29
    Dawn - 17:34 May 24, 2026
    The Sindh government has announced a three-day Eidul Azha holiday from May 26 to 28, in correction of an earlier notification of a four-day holiday, which included Friday. The decision is in line with the federal government’s announcement of a three-day public holiday from Tuesday to Thursday to mark Eidul Azha. In a corrigendum dated May 23 and issued by Sindh Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, the provincial government declared May 26 (Tuesday), May 27 (Wednesday), and May 28 (Thursday) as public holidays for Eidul Azha throughout the province, “except essential services and departments/offices engaged in preparation of budget for financial year 2026-27”. On May 29 (Friday), offices will observe work-from-home, the notification read. Meanwhile, the Punjab government has also notified May 26, 27, and 28 as public holidays for Eidul Azha, as per a notification dated May 23. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had also announced four Eid holidays from May 26 to May 29 (Tuesday to Friday), according to a notificati...
    Tags: Eidul Azha
  • PM Shehbaz hails Trump's 'extraordinary efforts to pursue peace' after phone call with CDF, leaders of other countries
    Dawn - 17:17 May 24, 2026
    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday hailed United States President Donald Trump’s “extraordinary efforts to pursue peace”, saying the latter held a “very useful and productive call” with multiple countries’ representatives, including Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir. Trump held a phone call on Saturday with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkiye, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan and Pakistan. The leaders encouraged Trump to agree to the emerging framework, Axios reported. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had a “very good call” with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince; the presidents of the UAE, Turkiye and Egypt; Qatar’s emir, prime minister and a minister who is part of the Board of Peace; and the kings of Jordan and Bahrain. A call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also went “very well”, Trump noted. Subsequently, in a post on X, PM Shehbaz said CDF Munir represented Pakistan in the call with Trump, appreciating the field marshal’s “...
    Tags: Shehbaz
  • China launches three-crew space flight as part of Moon ambitions
    Dawn - 16:14 May 24, 2026
    China launched its Shenzhou-23 mission on Sunday, which will see a Chinese astronaut spend a full year in orbit for the first time, a crucial step in Beijing’s ambition to send humans to the Moon by 2030. The Long March 2-F rocket blasted off in a cloud of flames and smoke on time at 11:08pm (local time) from the Jiuquan launch centre in China’s northwestern Gobi Desert, video from state broadcaster CCTV showed. The spacecraft separated from the rocket around 10 minutes later and entered orbit, the Chinese space agency (CMSA) said on social media. “The astronauts are in good condition, and the launch has been a complete success,” it added. The mission marks the first spaceflight ever undertaken by an astronaut from Hong Kong: 43-year-old Li Jiaying (Lai Ka-ying in Cantonese), who previously worked for the Hong Kong police. Other crew members include 39-year-old space engineer Zhu Yangzhu and 39-year-old Zhang Zhiyuan, a former air force pilot, who is travelling into space for the first time. Cheering crowds w...
    Tags: Moon China
  • Security forces kill 11 terrorists in KP's North Waziristan: ISPR
    Dawn - 14:51 May 24, 2026
    Security forces have killed 11 terrorists in the Datta Khel area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district during the last 48 hours, the military’s media affairs wing said on Sunday. A statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said security forces had “engaged multiple” terrorist locations as part of a series of intelligence-based operations in the area. “Following intense and fierce exchanges of fire, eleven khawarij belonging to India-sponsored Fitna-al-Khawarij were effectively neutralised,” the statement said. Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term that the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. According to ISPR, weapons and ammunition were recovered from the slain terrorists, who “remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area”. “Sanitisation operations continue to eliminate holed up khawarij from these areas, as a relentless counter-terrorism campaign under the vision ‘Azm-i-Istehkam’ (as approved by Federal Apex Committee on National Action Plan) by s...
    Tags: North Waziristan Security ISPR
  • 'Illegal, unacceptable': Pakistan, 13 other nations condemn Somaliland's announcement of opening embassy in Jerusalem
    Dawn - 11:30 May 24, 2026
    Pakistan, along with 13 other nations, on Sunday condemned the “illegal and unacceptable step” of the so-called Somaliland opening a “purported” embassy in occupied Jerusalem, terming it an “infringement on the legal and historical status of Jerusalem,” the Foreign Office (FO) said. Somaliland is a breakaway region of Somalia. In December 2025, Israel became the first country to formally recognise the self-declared Republic of Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state. Somalia rejected this move and termed a “deliberate attack” on its sovereignty. On May 19, it was announced that Somaliland would set up an embassy in Jerusalem soon. Subsequently, the foreign ministries of Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkiye, Indonesia, Djibouti, Somalia, Palestine, Oman, Sudan, and Yemen condemned “the illegal and unacceptable step taken by the so-called ‘Somaliland’ region in opening a purported ‘embassy’ in occupied Jerusalem”. “This constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and...
    Tags: Pakistan Jerusalem
  • Gunman killed by US Secret Service after opening fire near White House
    Dawn - 11:26 May 24, 2026
    A gunman opened fire near the White House on Saturday evening, with US Secret Service agents killing the assailant in a shoot-out during which a bystander was also struck, authorities said. President Donald Trump was in the White House at the time — on a day when he was working to negotiate a deal with Iran — but was not impacted by the incident, Secret Service communications chief Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement. The confrontation took place just after 6pm (3am PKT) when a man near the White House security perimeter “pulled a weapon from his bag and began firing”. “Secret Service Police returned fire striking the suspect who was transported to an area hospital where he was pronounced deceased. During the shooting one bystander was also struck by gunfire,” Guglielmi said, without giving details on the bystander’s condition. Multiple US media identified the suspect as Nasire Best, 21, of Maryland, reporting that Best had a history of mental health concerns and had multiple prior interactions with Secret ...
    Tags: Secret Service White House
  • Heatstroke kills 16 in southern India as temperatures climb
    Dawn - 09:57 May 24, 2026
    At least 16 people have died of heatstroke in southern India so far this summer, officials said on Sunday, as a heatwave grips swathes of the country following official health warnings. India is no stranger to scorching summers but years of scientific research have found climate change is causing heatwaves to become longer, more frequent and more intense. Temperatures in several cities across the country of 1.4 billion people have recently hovered well above 45 degrees Celsius. The deaths were reported in the southern state of Telangana, with revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy calling for “statewide vigilance” to safeguard public health. “The intensity of the heat has reached unprecedented levels” and officials in Telangana should issue advance warnings about precautions to be taken during heatwaves, Reddy’s office said in a statement. Health experts say that extreme heat can lead to dehydration that thickens the blood and, in particularly severe cases, causes organs to shut down. The local government...
    Tags: India
  • TikToker held in Faisalabad for using obscene language for female tourists in Naran
    Dawn - 07:31 May 24, 2026
    TOBA TEK SINGH: A TikToker from Faisalabad, who made a video using obscene words about women at lake Saiful Muluk, was arrested on his return home. According to details, Yousuf, a resident of Chak 236 RB Faisalabad, allegedly made a video of female tourists present at lake Saif-ul-Muluk in Naran a few days ago and used obscene language for them. The accused later uploaded the video on social media. The Roshanwala Police identified the accused and registered a case against him on the complaint of ASI Mubashir Hafeez and arrested him on Saturday. In a video statement after his arrest, the suspect ‘confessed’ to making videos of women as a profession and using obscene words about them. He claimed in the video that the police had ‘convinced’ him and had also “updated his software”. He said, “I sincerely apologise to my mothers and sisters. All TikTokers should consider women as their mothers and sisters and think a thousand times before making such videos”. RAPE: A 16-year-old girl suffering from cancer was alleg...
    Tags: Faisalabad Naran TikToker
  • More facts surface ahead of high profile One Constitution project case hearing
    Dawn - 06:18 May 24, 2026
    ISLAMABAD: As the Islamabad High Court (IHC) is set to resume hearing on the high-profile One Constitution project on Monday, intriguing new facts have surfaced in the court record, including a 2012 interim arbitration award issued by incumbent Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and a former chamber president to resolve disputes between two main partners. The arbitration award, dated September 13, 2012, was issued by Khawaja Asif and Mian Hamid Javed, former president of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industries. The agreement was meant to settle differences between Abdul Hafeez Sheikh of M BNP and Nadeem Zia Pirzada of M/s Paragon regarding the five-star hotel project. According to the settlement placed on record, the parties agreed that BNP’s ownership would ultimately be 75 per cent with Sheikh and 25 per cent with Pirzada, subject to a forensic audit to determine financial contributions, loans and liabilities. Interestingly, the award records that bank loans taken by Sheikh and his family for ...
    Tags: One Constitution

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