Dawn
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Dawn - 04:53 Mar 08, 2026
TWO nights ago, I logged on to our evening meeting the way I have done twice a day, five days a week for nearly six weeks. On my screen: half a dozen faces I have come to think of as family, based in Beirut. News was coming in of an impending Israeli bombing. They were scrambling — checking phones, calling relatives, trying to locate family members — and simultaneously, they were working. Editing, producing, filming. Because the news goes on. I sat in Islamabad, safe, watching them hold themselves together from across a screen. The friction was unbearable. A war brews in my backyard too, and yet there I was, untouched, while they split themselves in two — one half terrified, one half professional — because that is what survival looks like when the bombs have been falling, on and off, your entire life. I thought of the last time I was in Lebanon in 2009. My friend Shaan and I travelled the length and breadth of the country for two weeks, lost half the time, pre-Google Maps, finding our way through broken Arabi... -
Dawn - 04:51 Mar 08, 2026
NAROWAL: A filling station employee was shot dead and his two colleagues were injured by men for refusing to fill jerry cans with petrol the other night after the government announced Rs55 per litre hike in petrol price. A video of the altercation and murder in the Hajipura police area went viral on social media. Muhammad Nawaz, a resident of Nothen village, Hafizabad, filed a complaint with the police, saying that his nephew, Sibtain Ali, was working at the filling pump on Daska Road, Hajipura, Sialkot. Two persons arrived at the filling station in a car and pressured filling station worker, Hassan Khan, to fill petrol in jerry cans. Hassan Khan refused to fill the cans with petrol as per the policy. The people in the car left after abusing and threatening him of dire consequences. An hour later, the car driver came back with his companions armed with automatic weapons and they all started torturing the filling station staff. They hit Muhammad Shahbaz with the butt of a pistol and injured him while they open... -
Dawn - 04:42 Mar 08, 2026
• Police officers tell six-member panel around 300 protesters reached US mission from Numaish without high-ups’ consent • Say personnel of Sindh police deployed outside consulate fired 30 ‘aerial shots’ to stop the mob from entering foreign mission • ToRs of JIT silent about fixing responsibility of killings KARACHI: A Joint Interrogation Team (JIT) probing the facts and circumstances leading to the March 1 violence was informed that “one US marine” stationed at the American mission in Karachi resorted to firing in “retaliation” when protesters stormed the consulate building after breaching security, it emerged on Saturday. The JIT was also told that Sindh police personnel deployed at US consulate fired 30 shots into the air to stop the mob from storming the complex. As many as 12 people were killed and 49 others, including seven policemen, sustained bullet wounds during the violent protest near the US consulate against the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in coordinated US-Israel strikes on Tehran. On... -
Dawn - 04:25 Mar 08, 2026
The US embassy in Oslo was hit by an explosion in the early hours of Sunday but no one was injured, police in the Norwegian capital said, adding the cause was not immediately known. The blast occurred around 1am local time (0000 GMT) and caused only “minor material damage” to one of the building’s entrances, Oslo police said in a statement. Investigators were examining the scene, while dogs, drones, and helicopters were involved in the search “for one or more potential perpetrators”, it said. “Police view such incidents in public spaces as very serious, and are investigating the case with substantial resources and high priority.” Police commander Michael Dellemyr told TV2 police would “not comment on anything related to the type of damage, what it is that has exploded and similar details, beyond the fact that there has been an explosion” because “it is very early in the investigation”. He later told TV2 that police “have an idea of the cause”, adding: “It appears to us that this is an act carried out by someo... -
Dawn - 04:12 Mar 08, 2026
KARACHI: The University of Karachi (KU) has announced to hold all morning classes online from Monday (tomorrow) till the end of Ramazan. According to a KU spokesperson, evening classes have already been online since the start of Ramazan and that the latest decision will now provide relief to morning students given the significant hike in fuel prices. “Keeping in view the convenience of its students during Ramazan and transportation restraints likely to be caused by the recent price hike in petroleum products, the University of Karachi has decided that all the morning classes from Monday, March 9, 2026, till end of the month of Ramazan will be conducted only online,” the varsity said in a notification. Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2026 -
Dawn - 04:06 Mar 08, 2026
There was a moment — brief but powerful — where we began to believe we had finally slain an old giant. It came with the rise of platforms that promised to “democratise” media, to give voice to every individual, to let every athlete, thinker, activist, executive or celebrity broadcast their own story, without the filters of legacy institutions. Elon Musk said as much when he spoke about decentralising media, opening it up to everyone with a phone and an internet connection. No more gatekeepers. No more old hierarchies. Just pure, unmediated truth. And, at first, it felt liberating. Every podcast became a direct line to the person who actually lived the narrative. Every social media platform turned into a newsroom and every public figure into their own anchor. We were told to reject “mainstream media” — that it was biased, outdated, elitist — and embrace instead the beautiful chaos of direct testimony. Fake news, they said, wasn’t the problem; controlled narratives were. And now those narratives could be topple... -
Dawn - 03:35 Mar 08, 2026
ISLAMABAD: As the conflict in the Middle East escalates, Pakistan’s Planning Commission has cautioned about possible economic impacts on the country, including increased energy costs, strain on remittance inflows, and potential interruptions to exports and financial stability. The ministry warned that instability in the region, especially around the strategic Strait of Hormuz, could drive up global oil prices and sharply increase Pakistan’s import costs, given the country’s heavy dependence on petroleum imports from the Middle East, according to the Ministry of Planning’s Monthly Development Update for March. Such developments could also fuel domestic inflation, raise production and freight costs for exporters, and place additional pressure on the exchange rate and fiscal position, according to the report released here on Saturday. At the same time, prolonged conflict could affect remittance inflows from Gulf countries, where millions of Pakistani workers are employed, and create uncertainty for Pakistan’s ex... -
Dawn - 02:56 Mar 08, 2026
TOKYO: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Saturday that former prince Andrew should be removed from the line of royal succession over his “deplorable” behaviour. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is being investigated for alleged misconduct in public office following revelations about his dealings with the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He was arrested and released in February on suspicion of having passed confidential information to Epstein during his 2001-2011 role as a UK trade envoy. “There is a process in order to do it….but I certainly think his actions which are deplorable and have caused him to be stripped of his royal titles, certainly… necessitate his removal from the line of succession,” Carney told reporters in Tokyo. The Canadian PM was visiting Japan to hold talks with his counterpart Sanae Takaichi. The former prince — who was stripped of his royal titles last year over his alleged connections to Epstein — has denied all wrongdoing. Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide last year, clai... -
Dawn - 02:43 Mar 08, 2026
• Stages rare helicopter raid deep into Bekaa Valley, killing 41 • UN, Ghana condemn ‘war crime’ attack that wounded three peacekeepers BEIRUT: Israel warned Lebanon it would pay a “very heavy price” if it failed to control the Hezbollah group on Saturday, as Israeli forces pounded the Beirut with airstrikes and mounted a deadly airborne raid in the country’s east. The warning came as the cross-border conflict, which dragged Lebanon into a wider Middle East war on Monday following Hezbollah’s retaliation after Israel killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, escalated sharply. On Saturday morning, more buildings in the southern suburbs of Beirut lay as mounds of smoking rubble and twisted metal, Reuters video showed, after heavy Israeli bombardment that followed an evacuation order for civilians. ‘A night of hell’ Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, addressing Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun in a statement, said that if the Lebanese government failed to enforce a 2024 agreement to disarm Hezb... -
Dawn - 02:37 Mar 08, 2026
Tankers are seen off the coast of Fujairah, as Iran vows to close the Strait of Hormuz.—Reuters KARACHI: Though Pakistan is not part of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, it is the first victim in the region as the government raised oil prices while the high-cost oil is still at sea; the 28-day stocks are being sold at prices yet to reach consumers. India kept petrol and diesel prices stable despite global price spikes, but LPG prices were increased. The Indian government has so far managed high import costs for crude. Trade and business people were disappointed with the sudden jump in oil and diesel prices by Rs55 per litre, while ordinary citizens were highly concerned about the ripple effects of this oil price hike. “The easiest way to extract money is to bomb the common citizens and destroy the already ailing economy,” said Syed Shakil, a textile industry worker. He said the textile industry was facing tough times and could face the most difficult times in the wake of the Middle East war. Industry p... -
Dawn - 02:07 Mar 08, 2026
NEW YORK: A court in the United States held on Friday that a Pakistani man with alleged “ties to Iran was guilty of plotting to assassinate President Donald Trump” or other US officials in retaliation for the American military killing of Revolutionary Guards commander Qassem Soleimani, prosecutors said. Asif Raza Merchant allegedly sought to hire a hitman to assassinate a politician or a government official in the US, prosecutors said during the trial in a federal court in Brooklyn. Soleimani, the head of Iran’s foreign military operations, was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad in Jan 2020. Iran has repeatedly vowed to avenge his killing. Merchant testified that he was forced into the plot to protect his family in the Iranian capital Tehran from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, adding that he thought he would get caught before anyone was killed, multiple media outlets reported. He said he was never ordered to kill a specific person, but added that his Iranian contact had mentioned three people in connection ... -
Dawn - 20:40 Mar 07, 2026
LOWER SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: Two cops were martyred while 31 people, including five policemen and 26 civilians, were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Wana’s Rustam Bazaar area on Saturday. According to police officials, the explosion occurred when policemen on routine patrol were present in the area around 5pm. They said that explosive material was planted near the main gate of a supermarket, which caused casualties among policemen and civilians present at the scene. Wana Circle Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Asghar Ali Shah said that the explosive material had been planted at the main entrance of the supermarket and was detonated through a remote control or a timed device. Immediately after the blast, local residents, police personnel and rescue teams initiated relief operations and moved the injured to the district headquarters hospital. The medical superintendent of the hospital, Dr Jan Mohammad, said that the bodies of two policemen were brought to the facility. He said that the ... -
Dawn - 18:30 Mar 07, 2026
US President Donald Trump on Saturday urged Latin American nations to use military power against the “cancer” of drug cartels and offered to support them with US missile strikes targeting narco kingpins. Trump, currently waging a war with Iran, laid out a muscular position for advancing Washington’s interests in the Western hemisphere, pronouncing that communist-led Cuba was “in its last moments of life” and advocating tough action by allies against organised crime blighting the region. He formally launched a 17-nation “counter cartel” coalition, which the White House described as a pledge from governments in the region to use “hard power” against security threats. “We’re working with you to do whatever we have to do. You want us to use a missile? We’ll use missiles. They’re extremely accurate,” Trump told a dozen right-wing leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean at his Doral golf club near Miami. “‘Piu,’ right into the living room,” he said, suggesting the sound of a missile in flight. “That’s the end ... -
Dawn - 18:03 Mar 07, 2026
ISLAMABAD: After announcing a whopping Rs55 per litre increase in petrol and high-speed diesel prices, the government also silently increased the price of kerosene by almost 70 per cent, it emerged on Saturday. A notification to this effect was issued by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority. According to the notification, the price of kerosene has been increased by Rs130.08 to Rs318.81 per litre. The notification said that the increase would come into effect on March 7 (Saturday). The previous price of kerosene, which went into effect on March 1, was Rs 188.73 per litre. Kerosene is commonly used by households in remote areas where access to liquefied petroleum gas cylinders is difficult. Petrol and high-speed diesel are the major revenue spinners with their monthly sales of about 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes compared to just 10,000 tonnes of monthly demand for kerosene. The development comes a day after the government increased petrol and diesel prices, mere hours after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Finance... -
Dawn - 16:23 Mar 07, 2026
Kuwait has implemented a precautionary reduction in crude oil production and refining throughput after the ongoing attacks by Iran against the country and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said on Saturday. The cuts are another disruption for the global energy industry because of the US-Israeli war on Iran, as oil and gas storage at facilities in the Middle East Gulf rapidly fill. Oil fields in Iraq have already cut production and Qatar declared force majeure on its huge volumes of gas exports, while the United Arab Emirates is most likely to cut next. “In light of the ongoing aggression by the Islamic Republic of Iran against the State of Kuwait, including Iranian threats against safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, KPC has implemented a precautionary reduction in crude oil production and refining throughput as part of its risk management and business continuity strategy,” it said, adding that it would be “reviewed as the situation develops”. The... -
Dawn - 15:51 Mar 07, 2026
The opposition on Saturday slammed the government’s move to hike petrol and diesel prices by Rs55 per litre, terming it an “inflation bomb” for the public and demanding its reversal. The decision to raise the prices came as the country felt the economic impacts of the US-Israel war on Iran, which has paralysed trade via the Strait of Hormuz — a route Pakistan relies heavily on for its oil supplies. Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas termed the decision the “worst form of governance and a grave anti-people move”. “When people are already struggling to make ends meet, such decisions are tantamount to rubbing salt into the people’s wounds,” he said on X. Highlighting that the government was already collecting more than Rs100 in petroleum levy, Abbas wondered whether the public or the ruling class would bear the additional burden. The government has increased the petroleum development levy (PDL) on petrol by Rs20 to about Rs105 per litre to offset what would otherwise have been a higher increase in ... -
Dawn - 14:55 Mar 07, 2026
The best way to deal with pressure is to embrace it, India captain Suryakumar Yadav reminded his teammates ahead of Sunday’s final of the T20 World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium. India are bidding to become the first team to retain the T20 World Cup title and to achieve that, they will have to deal with not just a strong New Zealand XI but also the weight of expectation from a cricket-mad nation of about 1.4 billion people. Leading the team in the final of a home World Cup was a “special feeling”, and Suryakumar said they were looking forward to the challenge. “There are nerves, butterflies in the stomach, but as I always say — if there’s no pressure, there’s no fun,” Suryakumar told reporters on Saturday. “I’m very excited. All the boys and support staff, and I’m sure all of India is excited for tomorrow.” More than 100,000 predominantly home fans are expected to fill the world’s largest cricket stadium where Australia famously beat India in the final of the 50-overs World Cup three years ago. Expectation... -
Dawn - 14:30 Mar 07, 2026
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa finance department on Saturday directed all offices working under it to adopt conservation measures in view of the Middle East crisis and “anticipated disruptions” to the supply chain of petroleum products. While the government has assured the nation that petroleum reserves were sufficient and the situation remained under control, fuel prices were hiked by Rs55 on Friday, citing the rising global oil prices as shipping in the Strait of Hormuz remains paralysed. A notification issued by KP’s finance department on Saturday, a copy of which is available with Dawn, noted that a “critical situation is expected to arise at local level” due to the anticipated disruptions. “Given the possible implications, it has become necessary to adopt precautionary and conservative measures to ensure the smooth functioning of government operations in the province,” it added. According to the notification, all departments, formations and subordinate offices working under the finance department were directed ... -
Dawn - 14:24 Mar 07, 2026
Five senior PTI leaders currently incarcerated at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail said on Saturday that “internal divisions and external pressures” were threatening the country’s sovereignty, economy and democracy, and called for putting aside personal ambitions and political grudges for the sake of Pakistan. The PTI leaders — Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhry, Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed, and Omar Sarfraz Cheema — made the remarks in a statement issued through their counsel, which was also shared by the party on X. Earlier this week, the senior leaders had called on the government to revisit its approach toward the PTI and its founder, Imran Khan. In the fresh statement, the five leaders said that the evolving regional and national situation should be discussed among the leadership of the opposition alliance Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) and within the PTI’s political committee for “formulating a way forward in a joint session of Parliament”. They said that currently, the last thing that P... -
Dawn - 13:25 Mar 07, 2026
Eight days into the war between the United States–Israel coalition and Iran, the conflict has settled more firmly into a pattern that began to emerge over the previous 48 hours; a high-intensity confrontation fought largely through missiles, drones and proxy forces and widening steadily across multiple theatres. At the same time, quiet diplomatic activity gathered momentum to contain the widening fallout for the region. The past 24 hours demonstrated that despite the scale of coalition air power deployed against Iran and its allies, Tehran’s asymmetric military capabilities remained largely intact and continued to shape the tempo of the war, along the area stretching from the Strait of Hormuz through Iraq to Lebanon, where attacks on American facilities, shipping lanes, and Israeli military positions have continued in a calibrated but persistent manner. One demonstration of this capability was seen in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, when the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed that one of its drones...
10732 items