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Dawn - 03:55 Mar 18, 2026
LAHORE: A sessions court on Tuesday extended the interim pre-arrest bail of TikTokers Rajab Butt and Nadeem Mubarak alias Naniwala in a case of promoting gambling apps on social media. Additional District and Sessions Judge Mansoor Ahmad Qureshi heard the bail petitions of the TikTokers, who appeared before the court on the expiry of their bail period. The judge summoned the complete investigation record of the case from the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA). The judge extended the bail of both Tiktokers till March 26. In September 2025, the NCCIA had booked the content creators for allegedly promoting online gambling apps on their social media accounts. BAIL: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday granted bail to three men arrested on charges of producing and selling substandard milk and allegedly attacking officials of the Punjab Food Authority (PFA). The court allowed the bail petitions of Waseem Ashiq and Gulfam against surety bonds of Rs100,000 each. During the hearing, a counsel for the petiti... -
Dawn - 03:15 Mar 18, 2026
ISLAMABAD/Lahore: Rejecting media reports that she is opposing meetings between Imran Khan and party leaders, Aleema Khan on Tuesday questioned how she could stop such meetings when she herself has been unable to meet her brother. “People across Pakistan are demanding the release of Imran Khan. The whole world is raising the same demand. Just wait and see — people will come out of their homes and secure his release. Moreover, as the global situation changes, I am hopeful he will be released,” Ms Khan said while talking to media persons outside Adiala jail. “We are waiting here to find out whether we will be allowed to meet Imran. I believe we will not be granted permission, as they want to hide his health condition and what has been done to him. We had requested the chief justice to allow his medical treatment at Shifa International Hospital. We do not insist on meetings if he is allowed proper medical treatment,” she added. She said the Chief Justice had forwarded the request for medical treatment to chief c... -
Dawn - 03:05 Mar 18, 2026
PARIS: The Large Hadron Collider has discovered a new particle, the 80th identified so far by the world’s most powerful particle smasher, Europe’s CERN physics laboratory announced on Tuesday. The new particle has been named “Xi-cc-plus”. The Large Hadron Collider is a 27-kilometre-long proton-smashing ring running about 100 metres below France and Switzerland. The latest discovery comes as CERN plans to build an even bigger particle smasher, the Future Circular Collider, to continue probing the mysteries of the universe. Scientists hope the particle, which is similar to a proton but four times heavier, will reveal more about the strange behaviour of quantum mechanics. All the matter around us, including the protons and neutrons that make up the nucleus of atoms, are made of baryons. These common particles are composed of three quarks, which are fundamental building blocks of matter. Quarks come in six “flavours”: up, down, charm, strange, top and bottom. Each has varying mass, electric charge and quantum pr... -
Dawn - 02:03 Mar 18, 2026
• Islamabad maintains ex-Nato base targeted, presence of ammo dump confirmed by footage, secondary explosions • Afghan officials claim large numbers of casualties at ‘rehab centre’ • Taliban spox confuses ‘Omid Camp’ with Omid Hospital • Beijing seeks to ensure safety of personnel, interests in region • UN calls for probe; EU urges restraint ISLAMABAD: Following “targeted” overnight airstrikes in Kabul and Nangarhar, Pakistan on Tuesday maintained that it had targeted ‘Camp Phoenix’ — a former US military base currently being used by Afghan Taliban forces — even as Afghanistan claimed a drug rehabilitation centre had been bombed instead. According to Information Minister Atta Tarar, an ammunition storage facility was among the targets hit in the Afghan capital. However, reports emanating from Kabul said that a drug treatment centre known as ‘Omid Camp’ was targeted, with Afghan officials claiming hundreds dead and injured as a result. The UN called for a swift and independent investigation, the EU urged both ... -
Dawn - 00:03 Mar 18, 2026
Iran’s national security chief Ali Larijani and the commander of paramilitary force Basij, Gholamreza Soleimani, were assassinated in US-Israeli strikes on Tuesday. The confirmation of Larijani’s assassination came hours after Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had been “eliminated last night”, along with the commander of Tehran’s Basij paramilitary force. “I have just been updated by the chief of staff that Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, and the head of the Basij — Iran’s central repression apparatus — (Soleimani), were eliminated last night,” Katz said in a statement released by his ministry. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council later confirmed Larijani’s assassination, saying: “The pure souls of the martyrs embraced the purified soul of God’s righteous servant, martyr Dr Ali Larijani.” It added that Larijani’s son and his bodyguards had died with him. “After a lifetime of struggle for the advancement of Iran and of the Islamic Revolution, he ultimately attained ... -
Dawn - 23:16 Mar 17, 2026
Veteran Iranian politician Ali Larijani was one of the most powerful figures in the Islamic republic, an architect of its security policy, and a close adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei until the supreme leader’s assassination in an airstrike last month. Larijani, 67, was assassinated by a US-Israeli air attack as he was visiting his daughter in the eastern outskirts of a Tehran suburb, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency said on Tuesday. The scion of a leading clerical family with brothers who rose to high positions after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Larijani was seen as canny and pragmatic but always fiercely determined to uphold Iran’s theocratic system of government. A Revolutionary Guard Corps commander during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, he became head of Iran’s national broadcaster before stints running the Supreme National Security Council either side of his membership of parliament, where he was speaker for 12 years. His role as the ultimate insider in Ali Khamenei’s Iran gave him responsibilit... -
Dawn - 20:36 Mar 17, 2026
The government on Tuesday said it will not hold the Pakistan Day parade and other ceremonial events on March 23 in light of the ongoing Gulf oil crisis and the resulting austerity measures announced by the government. Pakistan Day — observed on March 23 every year — commemorates the passing of the Lahore Resolution on March 23, 1940, when the All-India Muslim League demanded a separate nation for the Muslims of the British Indian Empire. A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) stated that in the backdrop of the ongoing Gulf oil crisis and the consequent austerity measures announced by the government, it was decided that the Pakistan Day parade and associated ceremonial events shall not be held on March 23. “The day shall, however, be commemorated with dignity and reverence through a simple flag‑hoisting ceremony at appropriate levels,” the statement said. “This measure is being taken to ensure that the resilience and unwavering commitment of the nation to the ideals of Pakistan Day remain aligned w... -
Dawn - 19:29 Mar 17, 2026
US President Donald Trump lashed out Tuesday at “foolish” Nato over Iran, saying the United States needs no help after allies rebuffed his calls to join efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said most US allies had rejected his push to escort ships through the crucial waterway, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying his country would “never” do so until the situation was calmer. “I think Nato is making a very foolish mistake,” Trump told reporters as he hosted Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin in the Oval Office. “I’ve long said that I wonder whether or not Nato would ever be there for us. So this was a great test.” But Trump insisted that Washington was ready to go it alone against Iran, saying that even Nato allies had agreed that Tehran needed to be confronted over its nuclear programme. “We don’t need too much help. We don’t need any help,” Trump said. Minutes before the meeting, Trump made a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform saying US forces “no longer need” military help in the I... -
Dawn - 19:03 Mar 17, 2026
Pakistan on Tuesday dismissed claims made by the Afghan Taliban that its armed forces allegedly struck a hospital in Kabul, stating that the target was “Camp Phoenix”, which is several kilometres away from the hospital. The development comes amid the ongoing Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, which was launched on the night of February 26, following unprovoked firing by the Afghan Taliban from across the border. Earlier on Monday, the government said that Pakistani forces targeted the Afghan Taliban’s military installations in Kabul and Nangarhar overnight. A fact check posted by the information ministry on X said that Omid Hospital, which the Afghan Taliban claimed had been hit, was “actually multiple kilometres away from Camp Phoenix, the military terrorist ammunition and equipment storage site precisely targeted last night”. Sharing satellite imagery, the ministry said that the “actual hospital is a multi-storied structure as compared to the military/terrorist infrastructure actually targeted, whose image is also a... -
Dawn - 18:42 Mar 17, 2026
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government announced on Tuesday a three-day Eid holiday in the province. A press release issued by the KP government said: “It is notified for general information that March 19, 20 and 21 (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) shall be public holidays on the occasion of Eidul Fitr across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.” Meanwhile, the Sindh government also announced a two-day holiday for Eidul Fitr on March 20 and 21. “The government of Sindh hereby declares March 20 and 21, 2026 (Friday and Saturday) as public holidays on the occasion of Eidul Fitr 2026 (Shawal 1447 AH) throughout the province of Sindh for all government offices, autonomous bodies, semi-autonomous bodies, corporations and local councils under the administrative control of the Sindh government, except essential services,” a notification issued by the Sindh government said. Separately, the Sindh government also announced a public holiday on Pakistan Day, March 23. “It shall be observed by all workers in the province of Sindh,” the authoritie... -
Dawn - 17:16 Mar 17, 2026
A senior US counter-terrorism official resigned on Tuesday to protest the US-Israeli war against Iran and said the Islamic Republic posed no imminent threat to the United States. “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Joseph Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Centre, said in his resignation letter to President Donald Trump. Kent — a former member of the Green Beret special forces who served multiple combat tours — said “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.” Kent is the first senior US official to resign from the Trump administration to protest the war against Iran. “Until June of 2025, you understood that the wars in the Middle East were a trap that robbed America of the precious lives of our patriots and depleted the wealth and prosperity of our nation,” Kent said in his letter to Trump. “Early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influen... -
Dawn - 16:24 Mar 17, 2026
The Israeli claim of killing Iran’s top security official Ali Larijani, if confirmed, would mark the most consequential setback for Iran since the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei at the start of the US-Israel war on the Islamic republic, which is now in its 18th day. Larijani is one of the few remaining figures who straddle the political, security and diplomatic layers of the Iranian system at a time of war. He is not merely a senior insider, but part of a small cohort that can reconcile competing power centres within the state and translate battlefield developments into coherent political signalling. His role extends beyond messaging to quietly shaping external engagement, including maintaining channels that could, if required, support de-escalation. His loss, if confirmed, would not fracture the system. It would rather narrow the space within which strategy is formulated, tilting the balance further toward a security-driven approach and reducing flexibility for any future political exit. ... -
Dawn - 16:22 Mar 17, 2026
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday stressed that dialogue and diplomacy remained the only viable path to resolving issues and achieving lasting peace and stability in the region. Dar made the remarks during a meeting with Iran’s Ambassador to Pakistan Ambassador Reza Amiri Moghaddam, according to the Foreign Office (FO). In a post on X, the FO said, the ambassador expressed gratitude for the “strong moral support extended by the people of Pakistan during this challenging time”. “The DPM/FM conveyed his condolences over the loss of precious lives in the conflict and expressed hope for an early resolution. He underscored that dialogue and diplomacy remain the only viable path to resolving issues and achieving lasting peace and stability in the region,” it said. The development comes amid an ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. In retaliatory strikes, Iran has targeted US assets and bases in Gulf countries. Amid the hostilit... -
Dawn - 15:52 Mar 17, 2026
Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani directed on Tuesday the implementation of “wide-ranging austerity measures”, projecting a reduction of more than 50 per cent in the Senate Secretariat’s remaining budgetary utilisation for the current fiscal year, which is believed to translate into savings of around Rs700-750 million. A statement issued by the Senate Secretariat said that Gilani presided over a high-level meeting at the secretariat today to review the austerity measures and discuss their implementation in light of the country’s economic situation. The austerity measures for the secretariat align with a broader initiative taken by the government to deal with a global fuel crunch resulting from the ongoing Middle East conflict. The discussion during the meeting focused on “significant cuts in Senate expenditures, beginning with substantial reductions in the budget of the chairman’s office”, the statement said. “Adopting a top-down approach to fiscal discipline, the chairman directed that austerity measures mu... -
Dawn - 14:54 Mar 17, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday approved the restructuring of Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) under a plan that envisions aligning the national agenda with export targets and food security goals. The premier’s approval came during a meeting chaired by him and convened to discuss PARC-related matters in Islamabad, a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said. It added that PM Shehbaz directed the Ministry of National Food Security and Research to chalk out a comprehensive roadmap for the implementation of the reorganisation plan, including a timeline. He directed that the PARC should be developed in line with research being carried out on agriculture by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), the statement said, further quoting PM Shehbaz as saying that research plays a central role in the development of the country’s agriculture sector and food security. Under the restructuring plan, a copy of which is seen by Dawn, the National Agricultural Resea... -
Dawn - 14:50 Mar 17, 2026
Security sources said that an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) fell on a house in Chaklala area of Rawalpindi early Tuesday morning. They said that no loss of life was reported in the incident. However, they said that the house had sustained some damage. Last week, four people were injured after a “few rudimentary” drones launched by the Afghan Taliban were intercepted in various cities of Pakistan, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. The development came amid Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, which was launched on the night of February 26, following unprovoked firing by the Afghan Taliban from across the border. The ISPR said the drones were intercepted through “soft and hard kills” and did not reach their intended targets. “However, the debris from these drones resulted in injuries to two children in Quetta and a civilian each in Kohat and Rawalpindi,” the military’s media affairs wing said. The military spokesperson had also stated in late February that Afghan forces attempted to use “rudimentary drones”... -
Dawn - 14:09 Mar 17, 2026
From sea turtles to birds and the gentle dugong, the Persian Gulf’s diverse but fragile marine life is threatened by the bombs and oil of the war in the Middle East. The ecosystem was already under pressure from climate change and maritime traffic before the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran at the end of February. More than 300 incidents involving environmental risks — including attacks on oil tankers — have been recorded in the region since the conflict broke out, according to a March 10 report by the Conflict and Environment Observatory, a UK non-governmental organisation. The geography of the Gulf makes its ecosystem particularly vulnerable. A semi-enclosed and shallow sea about 50 metres deep on average, it is connected to the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Hormuz. Its slow water renewal — every two to five years — limits the dispersion of oil or other pollutants. The region hosts the world’s second-largest population of dugongs — herbivorous marine mammals known as “sea cows” that ... -
Dawn - 13:08 Mar 17, 2026
China said on Tuesday it will provide humanitarian assistance to Middle Eastern countries, including Iran and Lebanon, targeted in US and Israeli strikes in the conflict now in its third week. China’s foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said the war had caused “grave humanitarian catastrophes” in Iran and other Middle Eastern nations. “China has decided to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to Iran, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. It is hoped this will help alleviate the humanitarian plight faced by the local populations,” Lin told a press conference, without providing further details. “China will continue to make every effort to promote peace and stop the war … and to prevent further spreading of the humanitarian crisis,” he added. China has sought to mediate in the war, with its special envoy to the Middle East, Zhai Jun, urging de-escalation when he recently met Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister for talks. China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, has also said that the war “should never have happened” and called for ... -
Dawn - 13:03 Mar 17, 2026
Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Chairperson Rubina Khalid on Tuesday said that the programme was not responsible for the process of disbursement of cash, saying that it had been “outsourced” to banks. The statement comes a day after at least seven women were killed and more than 75 were injured during a roof collapse when hundreds of women gathered at a retail shop in Rahim Yar Khan’s Tibba area to collect BISP handouts. Speaking to the media during a visit to Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Rahim Yar Khan on Tuesday, Khalid maintained that BISP was not responsible for disbursing cash handouts. “We don’t have any mechanism for disbursement, so when you outsource something, the responsibility falls on the banks,” she said. Khalid termed it unfortunate that the programme — an initiative aimed at uplifting people — was pushed to the “background” while “actual criminals … are not asked why their retailers and franchises are doing this”. She said that BISP had no “direct relation” to retailers or franchises, addi... -
Dawn - 11:44 Mar 17, 2026
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday congratulated Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on the success of a “historic constitutional referendum”, according to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). On Monday, Kazakhstan voted 87.15 per cent in favour of adopting a new constitution, the Central Election Commission said. The new constitution streamlines the country’s Parliament and recreates the office of vice president, which was abolished in 1996. It gives the president the right to appoint the vice president, as well as a host of other key officials. In a statement on Tuesday, the PMO said that during a “warm and cordial call” with the Kazakhstan president, PM Shehbaz congratulated him on the success of the “historic constitutional referendum”. Furthermore, the prime minister noted that the “overwhelming turnout and support for the new constitution reflected the trust and confidence of the people of Kazakhstan in President Tokayev’s visionary leadership and reform agenda”. The statement ...
10732 items