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Dawn - 17:03 Jun 08, 2026
Pakistan on Monday rejected “unwarranted” remarks on Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) by members of the diaspora in the United Kingdom, advising the individuals to refrain from interfering in Pakistan’s internal affairs. “We have noted with concern the irresponsible and ill-informed insinuations made by certain members of the diaspora in the UK regarding AJK,” said the Foreign Office (FO) in a statement. “These individuals are advised to refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of Pakistan and AJK. They would do well to contribute positively to their country of residence,” it maintained. It added that the ministry has also noted the “unwarranted remarks and queries” raised by certain British members of parliament, which reflected a “lack of awareness and disregard for the historical background of the issue”. “For those still living in colonial times, it bears reiterating that Pakistan is a sovereign and democratic republic that firmly believes in non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries... -
Dawn - 15:43 Jun 08, 2026
Yemen’s Houthis said on Monday that they would ban ships linked to Israel from the Red Sea after Israel renewed its military attacks on Iran, adding to concerns about global shipping and energy flows. This is why it matters and what it means for the Iran war and the global energy crisis: How big is the risk to global energy markets? Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz since Israel and the United States attacked it on February 28 has disrupted most oil and other energy exports from the Gulf, raising prices and causing a major energy shock. Saudi Arabia has responded by diverting more than 70 per cent of its normal daily crude exports to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. That has been a lifeline for the energy market, helping to keep down global oil prices. Any sustained Houthi disruption to Red Sea shipping, including potential attacks on shipping or ports, could be a big problem. When the Houthis launched attacks on Red Sea shipping in November 2023, Gulf oil exports were flowing freely, meaning cargoes were dive... -
Dawn - 15:28 Jun 08, 2026
The PTI on Monday rejected the tentative election results for 24 seats of the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly, levelling allegations of rigging and calling for re-election in a constituency in Astore. The preliminary count from Sunday’s polls indicates that the PPP is currently leading in 10 constituencies, the PML-N in six, and independent candidates in five. Addressing a press conference, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said PTI was barred from campaigning in the days leading up to the election, alleging that it was part of a “planned arrangement aimed at eliminating the party from the polls”. He said that out of the region’s 24 seats, PTI-backed candidates were leading in two constituencies — Naik Karim in Hunza and Sohail Abbas in Gilgit — while their ally Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen’s Muhammad Kazim was ahead in Skardu. However, Gohar claimed PTI-backed candidates were “winning 100 per cent” in a total of eight constituencies — one seat from Astore, one from Diamer, two from Nagar, and one from... -
Dawn - 15:01 Jun 08, 2026
Iran on Monday said it was ending its latest military operation against Israel after the first exchanges of fire between the foes since a shaky ceasefire began, but warned it could inflict a more “crushing” response. United States President Donald Trump earlier on Monday told both Iran and key ally Israel to stop fighting, against the background of reports of an increasingly testy relationship between the US leader and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Iran fired dozens of missiles at Israel overnight and Israel responded by targeting military sites in the Islamic republic, sparking fears the escalation could usher in a new full-scale conflict after the April 8 truce. “Israel and Iran must immediately stop ‘shooting.’ President DONALD J. TRUMP,” the US leader wrote on his Truth Social network. Minutes later, he added in a new post that “final negotiations” towards peace were proceeding “subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way.” Iran’s military command then said it was halting the operati... -
Dawn - 14:55 Jun 08, 2026
Afghan residents in the western city of Herat have told AFP of witnessing multiple women detained by the Taliban government’s morality police, in a crackdown over clothing which has drawn criticism from the United Nations. The UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Sunday it was “concerned over multiple arrests and detentions of women in Herat Afghanistan for alleged non-compliance with dress requirements”. Taliban authorities have gradually tightened restrictions on women since returning to power in August 2021. Women nationwide must be completely covered when they leave home, with many wearing a flowing abaya robe along with a headscarf and a face covering. In Herat, residents witnessed women being detained on Saturday for not wearing the body-cloaking chador or burqa. They spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “I saw two employees of the ministry, one of whom was carrying a whip, putting two women who were not wearing chadors into a vehicle,” said a 23-year-old woman, referring to... -
Dawn - 14:44 Jun 08, 2026
India has deported nearly 5,000 Bangladeshi citizens since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist party swept to power in West Bengal last month, according to official statistics. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a sweeping victory in elections in the eastern border state of more than 100 million people, promising to “detect, delete and deport” illegal migrants. India shares a long and porous border with Muslim-majority Bangladesh, where migration has historically been driven by economic hardship and longstanding family links. On taking power, the new West Bengal government ordered the establishment of detention centres for undocumented Bangladeshis and Rohingya refugees, a mainly Muslim people who fled persecution in Myanmar. State Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, speaking in the capital Kolkata on Sunday, said nearly 5,000 Bangladeshi citizens had been deported across the border. “We have started the work of deporting Bangladeshi infiltrators who do not fall under the purview of the Citizen... -
Dawn - 14:23 Jun 08, 2026
ISLAMABAD: In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that “vitriolage” (acid attack) is an offence more heinous than homicide. The ruling came after Abdul Manan, convicted for throwing acid on a young woman in Faisalabad, appealed against a 2022 Lahore High Court (LHC) order. The LHC had upheld an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) verdict sentencing him to life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs1 million. Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, heading a three-judge bench consisting of Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, upheld the LHC order. The ruling comes only days after an acid attack on a female doctor in Quetta’s Civil Hospital. Following the attack on 29-year-old Mahnoor Nasir, doctors in Quetta went on strike, demanding a thorough investigation. “Unlike death, which consumes its victim only once, the victim of an acid assault is relegated to a living death, where they are compelled to endure the agony of their trauma and the degradation of their physical self on a daily bas... -
Dawn - 12:12 Jun 08, 2026
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake in the southern Philippines on Monday killed at least 31 people, according to provincial authorities, after toppling buildings and sparking tsunami warnings across the region. National disaster authorities said at least a dozen people were still missing, while 134 had sustained injuries. Philippine authorities urged people in affected coastal regions to move to higher ground after the offshore quake hit south of General Santos, a city of about 720,000, where at least nine were killed. A series of powerful aftershocks rocked the area from about two hours after the first quake, according to the United States Geological Survey, with the largest measuring 6.5 magnitude. In General Santos, an AFP journalist watched on Monday afternoon as rescue workers dug through the rubble of a popular grocery store chain in a desperate bid to reach the bodies of two employees buried beneath. Rene Punzalan, disaster chief for hard-hit Sarangani province, told AFP 14 people had died in Glan municipality... -
Dawn - 12:08 Jun 08, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The Senate has surrendered Rs1.436 billion to the national exchequer after a year-long austerity drive, exceeding the Finance Division’s target by 500 per cent and setting what officials called a new benchmark for fiscal discipline. The amount makes up 15.9pc of the upper house’s total budget for 2025-26, according to a statement issued by the Senate Secretariat on Monday. Senate Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani ordered the expenditure rationalisation programme within his own office before extending it across the secretariat. Gilani said the Rs1.436bn represented “actual, realised savings” and not projected cuts or deferred liabilities. Among the measures, the Senate suspended 17 of the 18 procurement projects approved by its finance committee. Recruitment and non-essential spending were rationalised, while administrative overheads and operational costs were placed under “strict scrutiny”. The official transport fleet was “substantially grounded”, fuel allocations were capped and monitored, and ref... -
Dawn - 12:03 Jun 08, 2026
Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Chairperson Senator Rubina Khalid on Monday urged those whose words may have hurt BISP beneficiaries’ sentiments to apologise. While she did not specifically name anyone, the senator said this during a press conference in Islamabad after mentioning remarks by Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah. Speaking on Geo News’ programme ‘Capital Talk’ last week, Sanaullah claimed that the BISP data was “not accurate to the extent of Punjab”, alleged it was marred by corruption and remarked that the programme served no purpose other than turning people into beggars. In her press conference, Khalid said it was not right to say that BISP was turning people into beggars, explaining that the programme catered to those who worked to earn a living. But, she continued, when they need financial assistance, it is the state’s responsibility to aid them without compromising their self-respect. “BISP does not turn people into beggars; it prevents people from becoming ... -
Dawn - 11:36 Jun 08, 2026
SWAT: Local transport leader Afzal Gujjar was injured while his son, nephew and guard were killed after unidentified assailants opened fire on his vehicle in the Shakardara area of Matta last night, police said on Monday. Police told local media that the attackers used heavy weapons during the assault that took place on Sunday night. In the ensuing exchange of fire, Gujjar sustained injuries and was shifted to a hospital for treatment. His son, Behram Khan, was among the three people who lost their lives in the incident. Swat District Police Officer Umar Khan told Dawn that heavy police contingents surrounded the area and started a search operation after the attack. “Three persons were arrested while the search operation is underway,” he said, assuring that police would reach the culprits soon. Officials said an investigation was underway to determine the motive behind the attack and establish the exact circumstances of the incident. A spokesperson for Swat Police also confirmed that law enforcement agencies ... -
Dawn - 10:48 Jun 08, 2026
Fruit sellers at roadsides and bazaars are bracing for Pakistan’s yearly mango madness. Their baskets are filled with the early Sindhri crop for now as they wait for the Punjab Langra and Dusehri, soon to be followed by the Chaunsa and Anwar Ratol. This year’s season arrives with as much anxiety as anticipation. Fluctuating temperatures, erratic rain and hailstorms early in the year, the period critical for flowering, fruit set and ripening, have damaged orchards across Punjab’s mango belt, covering Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur divisions in the south and Sahiwal, Faisalabad, Sargodha and Lahore in the central and northern parts of the province. The prolonged stagnation after last year’s floods weakened root systems and stressed trees already battered by climatic shocks. These setbacks, coupled with uncertainty in export markets amid tensions surrounding the US-Iran-Israel conflict, have kept growers, contractors and traders on the edge over the season’s fragility. “I can safely say that around 40 pe... -
Dawn - 10:05 Jun 08, 2026
Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar Chaudhry held a telephone call with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday regarding the release of Pakistani seamen taken hostage by Somali pirates, a statement by Chaudhry’s ministry said. The seamen were taken hostage more than a month ago when armed pirates hijacked the MT Honour 25 off the southeastern coast of Somalia on April 21. There were 11 Pakistanis among the vessel’s crew, who remain in the pirates’ captivity. A statement by the Maritime Affairs Ministry said that Chaudhry had called Dar and also contacted Pakistan’s envoy in Somalia on the matter. “Need to expedite efforts for the fast and safe release of the Pakistani crew was stressed,” the statement read. It quoted Chaudhry as saying that soon after receiving information about the incident in April, efforts for the crew’s release were initiated. “We remain in touch with the Pakistan foreign ministry and the Somalian embassy,” he said, adding that the government was making efforts ... -
Dawn - 09:38 Jun 08, 2026
Israel and Iran traded fire on Monday, seriously testing a fragile truce and threatening hopes for a deal to end the Middle East war. The new attacks, including a strike on an Iranian petrochemical complex, came hours after US President Donald Trump called on Israel to refrain from retaliating against Tehran’s missiles. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Tehran retaliated for the strike on its petrochemical complex by attacking similar industrial targets in Israel’s Haifa. AFP journalists in Jerusalem heard a series of explosions as they took shelter and the Israeli army said it worked to intercept a new wave of Iranian missiles. The retaliation followed Israel saying it fired on western and central Iran, tit-for-tat action against Tehran’s strikes on Sunday of 11 missiles, all of which were intercepted, with no casualties. Israel’s military and Iranian local media said Monday that Israel struck a petrochemical company in Mahshahr in southwestern Iran. Trump had sought to rein in Israeli Pri... -
Dawn - 07:46 Jun 08, 2026
United States President Donald Trump lasted through probing questions about his Iran war strategy and repeated weather disruptions during an interview with US broadcaster NBC — but angrily stormed out when confronted over his unfounded claims of election fraud. “You’re a one-sided, crooked network. Sorry. Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time,” Trump told ‘Meet the Press’ host Kristen Welker before standing up and walking out of the interview that aired on Sunday. The interview, filmed on Friday, was conducted on a farm in Wisconsin, where Trump was addressing farmers. A tractor and hay bales served as a backdrop. The interview was interrupted several times by weather and audio issues as torrential rain pounded the roof, making it difficult to continue the conversation. “Is that wind or what?” Trump asked at one point according to a transcript. “Hear that sound?” he said later. “That sound of thunder, lightning, rain” Welker asked her technical crew if they should s... -
Dawn - 07:44 Jun 08, 2026
MUZAFFARABAD: At least seven civilians were killed during Sunday’s clash between police and the newly proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) protesters in Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s (AJK) Rawalakot, an official told Dawn on Monday. Poonch Commissioner Sardar Waheed Khan confirmed the civilian death toll to Dawn a day after the clash in which four law enforcement personnel were martyred. The commissioner and AJK Inspector General (IG) Liaqat Ali Malik also told Dawn 30 people had been taken into custody late on Sunday. The officials also said that 23 policemen were injured during the clash. The clash broke out after tensions flared over the death of a trader, who was allegedly shot during a confrontation with law enforcers on Friday night. Officials have accused the demonstrators of attacking the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Rawalakot on Sunday. Initially, his family had announced his funeral would be held on Saturday, but they later changed their mind and brought the body back to CMH, apparently... -
Dawn - 07:29 Jun 08, 2026
KARACHI: The investigating officer (IO) in a narcotics case has approached a court, seeking permission to record the voice samples of alleged drug baroness Anmol Pinky and her three accomplices in prison. Pinky was arrested last month in connection with two cases registered at the Garden police station pertaining to the possession of drugs and an unlicensed weapon. She had already been booked in multiple other criminal cases prior to her arrest. Following her arrest, the police also held Pinky’s three accomplices — Zeeshan-ur-Rehman, Sohail-ur-Rehman and Muhammad Sameer — who are also in prison on judicial remand in the drug case. The IO of the Garden police station has filed an application before a judicial magistrate (South), seeking directions for the jail authorities to allow the recording of voice samples of Pinky and her three accomplices in prison for voice-matching evaluation. Explaining the need to obtain the suspects’ voice samples, the IO stated in the application that during the investigation, the... -
Dawn - 06:36 Jun 08, 2026
China’s President Xi Jinping hailed an “invincible friendship” with Pyongyang as he arrived in North Korea on Monday, his first trip abroad this year after hosting back-to-back summits in Beijing. China, Washington’s chief geopolitical rival, has been North Korea’s main trading partner by far for decades and a key source of diplomatic and economic support for the country hit by multiple international sanctions. Military officers lined a red carpet as an Air China plane carrying Xi arrived for his first visit since 2019, video from Xinhua showed. A banner that read “We warmly welcome Comrade Xi Jinping” and hailing the two countries’ “unbreakable friendship” hung below Chinese and North Korean flags at the airport. Xi made the trip after hosting US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin separately in Beijing, and as North Korea’s nuclear talks with Washington remain deadlocked. The White House said last month that Xi and Trump “confirmed their shared goal to denuclearise North Korea” during their s... -
Dawn - 04:31 Jun 08, 2026
HYDERABAD: Water crisis in Sindh and Balochistan continues to deepen with each passing day as the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) remains indifferent to their hue and cry constantly being raised over the last few weeks. The two smaller provinces have been expressing their strong reservations over “unfair” deduction in their share of the Indus water while Punjab continues to draw in excess of its allocated quantum. Kotri Barrage reported 57pc reduction in flows on June 7 as Sindh’s overall deficit in flows rose from 22pc to 39pc within the last fortnight while Punjab, through its controversial Chashma-Jhelum (CJ) link canal keeps withdrawing more water than Kotri. Balochistan has also come up with 71pc reduction in its share from Sukkur Barrage’s right bank canal on Saturday. Shortage in Sindh worsens to 39pc while Balochistan gets 71pc less flows The Balochistan irrigation department has taken up the issue with Irsa, pressing it to settle it with Sindh authorities in order to ensure its required share of ... -
Dawn - 03:22 Jun 08, 2026
• Victim’s eyes damaged, but is said to be in stable condition • CM honours ward boy who helped victim; Aseefa recommends him for country’s highest civilian award • FIR registered; political leaders slam incident QUETTA: The Young Doctors Association (YDA) on Sunday announced an indefinite strike, shutting down Out-Patient Departments (OPDs) and elective services in all government hospitals across the provincial capital, to protest the acid attack on one of their female colleagues. A day earlier, 29-year-old Mahnoor Nasir was seriously injured at the Civil Hospital when another employee threw acid on her. The attacker, later identified by police as Humayun Shah, was said to have been killed in an encounter after law enforcers traced him as he attempted to flee on a bus. Meanwhile, Dr Nasir was shifted to Karachi after receiving initial treatment in Quetta. Currently, she is receiving care at Aga Khan University Hospital. Sources at the hospital diclosed to Dawn that her condition was stable. She has bilate...
10706 items