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Dawn - 12:02 Jun 02, 2025
Headline inflation rose 3.5 per cent year-on-year in May 2025, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Monday. On a month-on-month basis, it decreased by 0.2pc in May as compared to a decrease of 0.8pc in the previous month, according to data. This was higher than the finance ministry’s expectations, which had anticipated inflationary outlook to “remain between 1.5-2.0pc in May, with a possible rise to 3.0-4.0pc by June”. The finance ministry had depicted a cautious outlook towards growth in Large-Scale Manufacturing (LSM), presenting a rising trajectory for inflation during May and June. Topline Securities, in a note, said that inflation during 11MFY25 had averaged at 4.61pc compared to 24.52pc in 11MFY24. Year-on-year Urban: Food item prices that increased included: chicken (51.96pc), pulse moong (31.13pc), fresh fruits (29.5pc), butter (26.15pc), milk powder (21.80pc), sugar (21.71pc), honey (21.23pc) and condiments & spices (19.98pc). Non-food items prices that increased: ... -
Dawn - 11:56 Jun 02, 2025
Iran is poised to reject a US proposal to end a decades-long nuclear dispute, an Iranian diplomat said on Monday, slamming it as a “non-starter” that fails to address Tehran’s interests and leaves Washington’s stance on uranium enrichment unchanged. “Iran is drafting a negative response to the US proposal, which could be interpreted as a rejection of the US offer,” the senior diplomat, who is close to Iran’s negotiating team, told Reuters. The US proposal for a new nuclear deal was presented to Iran on Saturday by Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, who was on a short visit to Tehran and has been mediating nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington. But after five rounds of talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to resolve the nuclear standoff, many issues remain unresolved. Among clashing red lines is Iran’s rejection of a US demand that Tehran commit to scrapping uranium enrichment, viewed as a potential pathway to develo... -
Dawn - 11:23 Jun 02, 2025
PML-N’s Hina Arshad Warraich secured a Punjab Assembly seat (PP-52) in Sialkot by a wide margin amid rigging allegations by the PTI, according to preliminary results issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday. The by-election for PP-52 (Sambrial) took place yesterday, two months after the seat had fallen vacant following the demise of PML-N MPA Arshad Javed Warraich — father of the winning candidate. Analysts had expected a tough one-on-one contest between the ruling PML-N and the PTI-backed aspirants, whereas the PPP had also been running an aggressive campaign in Sambrial to perform better in the race. According to Form-47 issued by the ECP today and signed by Returning Officer Muhammad Iqbal, Warraich clinched the seat by winning 78,702 votes. Warraich’s main opponent, Fakhir Nashat Ghumman, who was an independent candidate backed by the PTI, was the runner-up with 39,018 votes. PPP’s Raheel Kamran Cheema ranked third with 6,832 ballots cast in his favour, followed by Tehreek-i-Labbaik P... -
Dawn - 11:03 Jun 02, 2025
No casualties were reported when unknown men opened fire on a polio vaccination team in Diamer district, where Gilgit-Baltistan recorded its first case of the year. Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic. Despite global efforts to eradicate the virus, challenges such as security issues, vaccine hesitancy and misinformation have slowed progress. According to a first information report (FIR) registered at the local police station, the incident occurred on Sunday when unknown armed men opened fire on a polio team in the village of Sheikho in Tangir Valley, the constituency of GB’s Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan. However, the polio team remained safe. According to the FIR, as soon as the polio vaccination team returned to Sheikho village after completing their duties, two unknown armed men stopped the team’s vehicle at the RCC bridge. “You all are ruining the environment here by bringing [unveiled] women from Gilgit in the name of the polio camp... -
Dawn - 10:01 Jun 02, 2025
Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has retired from one-day internationals to focus on next year’s T20 World Cup, the country’s cricket board said on Monday. Maxwell took the decision to prioritise his preparation for the T20 World Cup, to be held in India and Sri Lanka, and his commitment to franchise leagues, Cricket Australia (CA) said in a statement. “I think back to right at the start I was picked ahead of my time and out of the blue. I was just proud just to be playing a couple of games for Australia. I thought I was just going to have that,” the two-time World Cup winner said in the statement. “Since then, I have been able to go through the up and downs of being dropped, being brought back, playing in a few World Cups and being a part of some great teams.” View this post on Instagram The 36-year-old has played 149 ODIs for Australia, scoring 3,990 runs at a strike rate of 126.7 — second only to Andre Russell’s 130.22. Maxwell’s 201 not out from 128 balls while battling cramps in a 2023 World Cup match... -
Dawn - 09:22 Jun 02, 2025
French authorities detained 79 people in the second such wave of arrests during celebrations following Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League win, a police chief said on Monday. The PSG thrashed Inter Milan by a record 5-0 in Saturday evening’s final in Munich, flying back to Paris on Sunday for a triumphal parade along the Champs-Élysées, then celebrations in a packed Parc des Princes stadium on the edge of the French capital. The PSG winning the biggest prize in European club football for the first time sparked delirious festivities in France, but was marred by violence. On Sunday, “we saw a resurgence of individuals driven by malicious intent who were not really PSG supporters”, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told RTL radio. “We arrested 79 people, some of them in the night,” he said, adding that order had been restored before dawn. Some were detained for taking barriers and briefly blocking the ring road around Paris, while others had tried to vandalise businesses or light fireworks on the Champs-Élysée... -
Dawn - 06:40 Jun 02, 2025
Pakistan on Monday rebuked the recent remarks made by Indian leadership saying that they reflected a deeply troubling mindset that prioritised hostility over peace. The Foreign Office issued a statement today after a flurry of antagonistic statements made by Indian leaders, including one made by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson on May 29 where he stated that talks on the Kashmir dispute will only be held “when Pakistan hands over [Azad Jammu and Kashmir] to us”. Responding to the antagonistic remarks, FO spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said, “Any attempt to portray Pakistan as the source of regional instability is divorced from reality. “The international community is well aware of India’s record of aggressive behavior, including documented support for terrorist activities within Pakistan,” he stated, adding that those facts could not be “obscured by hollow narratives or diversionary tactics”. He reiterated that the Kashmir dispute remained a “core issue threatening peace and stability in th... -
Dawn - 18:50 Jun 01, 2025
Mohammad Haris hit a swashbuckling maiden international century to guide Pakistan to a 3-0 clean sweep of Bangladesh with a seven-wicket win in the third and final Twenty20 international in Lahore on Sunday. Haris, playing in his 17th T20I, carted seven sixes and eight boundaries in his 107 off just 46 balls as Pakistan chased down a challenging 197-run target in 17.2 overs for their first home T20I series win in three-and-a-half years. Pakistan won the first two matches by 37 and 57 runs at the same venue. Parvez Hossain smashed four sixes and seven boundaries in his solid 34-ball 66 to lift Bangladesh to 196-6 in their 20 overs. Pakistan lost Sahibzada Farhan for one in the first over, but Haris, whose hundred came up off 45 balls, added 92 for the second wicket with Saim Ayub and an unbroken 60 for the fourth with Salman Agha, who made 15 not out. Ayub hit four sixes and two boundaries in his 29-ball 45 while Hasan Nawaz scored 13-ball 26 as the home batters enthralled a near-capacity 30,000 crowd at Gadda... -
Dawn - 18:17 Jun 01, 2025
United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that President Donald Trump could speak with China’s Xi Jinping “very soon” and that such a call could help break the logjam in the trade talks between the world’s two biggest economies. Trump on Friday accused Beijing of violating a deal reached last month in Geneva — negotiated by Bessent — to temporarily lower staggeringly high tariffs they had imposed on each other, in a pause to last 90 days. China’s slow-walking on export license approvals for rare earths and other elements needed to make cars and chips have fueled US frustration, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday — a concern since confirmed by US officials. But Bessent seemed to take the pressure down a notch, telling CBS’s ‘Face the Nation’ that the gaps could be bridged. “I’m confident that when President Trump and Party Chairman Xi have a call that this will be ironed out,” Bessent said, noting that China was “withholding some of the products that they agreed to release during ou... -
Dawn - 17:36 Jun 01, 2025
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir has vowed to “crush” terrorists in Balochistan, stating that India’s involvement in terrorism in the country’s largest province was “no longer hidden”, state-run Radio Pakistan reported on Sunday. His comments came during a grand jirga in Quetta on Saturday, organised to interact with tribal leadership and discuss the evolving security situation in Balochistan, with particular focus on terrorists receiving support from India. The COAS and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif delivered speeches and interacted with tribal elders. In April, at least six people, including three students, lost their lives and over 40 others — mostly students — sustained injuries after a bomb targeted a school bus in Balochistan’s Khuzdar. Following the attack, the military accused India of activating its “assets” to intensify terrorist attacks in Pakistan, presenting “irrefutable evidence” of Indian state-sponsored terrorism, directed by the Indian military personnel. Reaffirming t... -
Dawn - 17:32 Jun 01, 2025
Former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, along with a nine-member high-level parliamentary delegation, will visit New York tomorrow on a two-day visit to present Pakistan’s perspective on the recent military clash with India and counter New Delhi’s disinformation campaign on the conflict. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif decided to send a diplomatic delegation to important world capitals in the aftermath of the recent military escalation with the neighbouring country. He entrusted PPP Chairman Bilawal to lead the delegation. The delegation comprises Senator Rehman, former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Dr Musadik Malik, Engineer Khurram Dastgir, Faisal Subzwari, Tehmina Janjua, Senator Bushra Anjum Butt and Jalil Abbas Jilani. According to Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), the delegation members would conduct several meetings, including with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, UN General Assembly President Philemon Yang, and the ambassadors of permanent and non-permanent ... -
Dawn - 17:16 Jun 01, 2025
Formula One leader Oscar Piastri won the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with Lando Norris on Sunday while Max Verstappen was demoted from fifth to 10th for a late collision with George Russell’s Mercedes. Piastri beat teammate and title rival Norris by 2.471 seconds for his fifth win in nine races this season, and McLaren’s seventh, to stretch his championship lead to 10 points. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the podium after passing Verstappen’s Red Bull six laps from the end of a race that saved the drama to the end. “It’s a nice way to bounce back from Monaco. A superb weekend,” said Piastri, who finished third last weekend in a race won from pole by Norris. Verstappen, who made four stops in total and ended up fighting on the slower hard tyres against rivals with softs, collided with Leclerc and then twice with Russell after a safety car restart with six laps to go. “I’ve seen those sort of manoeuvres before on simulator games and go-karting but never in F1,” said Russell,... -
Dawn - 16:50 Jun 01, 2025
Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Sunday rejected the recently enacted Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Restraint Act 2025, announcing nationwide protest rallies aimed at “creating awareness” among the public. The bill, which sought to protect the rights of children and eventually eradicate marriages of children under the age of 18 in Islamabad, was signed into law by the president on May 27 after sailing through both houses of parliament. However, the move attracted strong opposition from religious segments of society, with the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) — a constitutional body responsible for giving legal advice on Islamic issues to the government and the Parliament — ruling that “classifying marriage under the age of 18 as rape did not conform with Islamic law.” Addressing a press conference in Peshawar today, the JUI-F chief rejected the law, alleging that it “made fornication easier while making legitimate marriages difficult”. “Pakistan is a strange countr... -
Dawn - 16:09 Jun 01, 2025
Despite heightened military tensions between Pakistan and India in May, militant groups were unable to significantly escalate their activities in Pakistan, according to data released by the Islamabad-based think tank, Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) on Sunday. The PICSS monthly security assessment recorded 85 militant attacks in May —up slightly from 81 in April — resulting in 113 fatalities. These included 52 security forces personnel, 46 civilians, 11 militants, and four peace committee members. A total of 182 people were injured, comprising 130 civilians, 47 security personnel, four militants, and one peace committee member. This marks a five per cent increase in militant attacks compared to April. Notably, there was a 73pc rise in security personnel deaths, and a dramatic 145pc increase in civilian injuries (from 53 in April to 130 in May). However, injuries among security personnel decreased by 20pc, falling from 59 to 47. In operations initiated by security forces during the... -
Dawn - 15:39 Jun 01, 2025
The Pakistan Navy on Sunday conducted a comprehensive two-day exercise “focusing on countering sub-conventional and asymmetric threats across all major ports and harbours of Pakistan,” a statement said on Sunday. The naval exercise took place amid heightened tensions with India, following four days of clashes involving fighter jets, missiles, drones, and artillery, before a ceasefire was declared. On Friday, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said his country would use the “firepower of their navy in response to any future aggression by Pakistan.” In response, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s military referred Reuters to a May 12 statement, which said there would be a “comprehensive and decisive” response whenever Pakistan’s sovereignty was “threatened and territorial integrity violated”. According to a press release issued today by the Pakistan Navy’s Director General Public Relations Commodore Ahmed Hussain, the naval fleet conducted a comprehensive two-day exercise focusing on countering sub-convention... -
Dawn - 15:30 Jun 01, 2025
The overnight collapse of two bridges in Russian regions bordering Ukraine that killed seven people were caused by explosions, Russian officials said on Sunday, treating them as “acts of terrorism”. In Russia’s Bryansk region, an explosion caused a road bridge to collapse onto a railway line late Saturday, derailing a passenger train heading to Moscow and killing seven people, authorities said. A separate rail bridge in the neighbouring Kursk region was blown up hours later in the early hours of Sunday, derailing a freight train and injuring the driver. Authorities did not say who was behind the explosions, but investigators said a criminal inquiry was underway. Russian President Vladimir Putin was briefed on the incidents throughout the night, the Kremlin said. Videos posted on social media from the Bryansk region showed rescuers clambering over the mangled chassis of a train belonging to national operator Russian Railways, while screams could be heard in another video. “There are seven dead as a result of t... -
Dawn - 14:45 Jun 01, 2025
Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Sunday described the improvement of ties with Pakistan as a “very positive development in bilateral relations,” the Afghan foreign ministry said in a statement. Earlier this week, both nations agreed to upgrade their diplomatic relations by exchanging envoys — a key step towards normalising ties after years of strained relations between Islamabad and the Taliban administration in Kabul. Pakistan on Friday announced its elevation of diplomatic representation in Afghanistan from Charge d’Affaires to Ambassador level, as bilateral ties “move on a positive trajectory.” According to the statement, Muttaqi spoke to Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar over the phone and discussed upgrading diplomatic relations. “Muttaqi called it a positive step and expressed hope that the remaining stages would be completed soon,” the statement said. “Both sides expressed that upgrading the level of diplomatic relations would pave the way for expanding cooperation... -
Dawn - 14:38 Jun 01, 2025
Indian police have arrested scores of people for allegedly “sympathising” with Pakistan, a month after the worst conflict between the arch-rivals for decades, a top government official said on Sunday. The arrests took place in the northeastern state of Assam, where Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “81 anti-nationals are now behind bars for sympathising with Pak”. Sarma, from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist ruling party, said in a statement, “Our systems are constantly tracking anti-national posts on social media and taking actions”. One of the persons was arrested after he posted a Pakistani flag on his Instagram, Assam police told AFP. No further details about other arrests were given. There has been a wider clampdown on social media since an April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-occupied Kashmir, the deadliest on civilians in the disputed territory in decades. New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing the terrorists it said carried out the attack, charges that Pakistan denied. I... -
Dawn - 13:46 Jun 01, 2025
Poland was voting on Sunday in a tight presidential election that will determine whether the country cements its place in the mainstream of the European Union or turns toward Donald Trump-style nationalism. Both Rafal Trzaskowski of ruling centrists Civic Coalition (KO) and his rival Karol Nawrocki, backed by nationalists Law and Justice (PiS), are hoping to mobilise their supporters and clinch the race. Trzaskowski had a narrow lead in pre-election opinion polls, but the difference was within the margin of error. Voting was due to end at 9 pm (1900 GMT), with exit polls published soon afterwards. The electoral commission says it hopes final results will be announced on Monday morning or early afternoon. Parliament holds most power in Poland, but the president can veto legislation, so the vote is being watched closely in neighbouring Ukraine, as well as in Russia, the US and across the EU. Both candidates agree on the need to spend heavily on defence, as US President Trump is demanding from Europe, and to con... -
Dawn - 13:34 Jun 01, 2025
The Punjab home department has banned the operation of temporary mechanical rides installed during Eidul Azha holidays, fairs, festivals and other seasonal events for a short period of time at any location of the province, according to a notification issued on Sunday. In the past, several accidents have been reported due to malfunctioning and falling mechanical rides, resulting in the loss of lives, including children, and injuries to several other riders. Such incidents were reported at amusement and water parks in different cities, including Lahore and Multan, in the province. Mechanical ride accidents are generally reported during Eid holidays or Christmas holidays, as more families visit amusement parks with their children to enjoy the rides. A notification issued today by the Punjab home department said that temporary mechanical rides typically setup or installed during Eidul Azha holidays, fairs, festivals, and other seasonal events for a short period of time “shall not to be allowed to operate at any l...
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