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Dawn - 08:40 Jun 06, 2026
New attacks in the Middle East on Friday threatened to unravel an already fragile US-Iran ceasefire. Weeks of complex talks marked by threats and flare-ups of violence have failed to secure a deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key conduit for global energy flows. A ceasefire in the Middle East war, triggered nearly 100 days ago by US and Israeli strikes that wiped out Iran’s top leadership, has been in place since April 8. But tensions surged again on Friday when the US military said it struck radar sites in Iran after downing drones headed toward the strait. Shortly after, air raid sirens sounded in neighboring Gulf nations Kuwait and Bahrain — both US allies — and AFP correspondents in both countries heard explosions. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said early on Saturday they had targeted “enemy bases in the area” with missiles in response to a US “invasion” of the country’s Sirik and Qeshm islands. US Central Command (Centcom) said Iran launched seven ballistic missiles toward Kuwait and B... -
Dawn - 08:30 Jun 06, 2026
Hundreds of young students gathered in New Delhi on Saturday for the first street protest by the satirical “Cockroach People’s Party” over alleged irregularities in recent major examinations. Carrying paper cockroach masks and pamphlets, the protesters called for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan who has faced criticism over the irregularities, including question paper leaks and technical glitches. “We want accountability from the government,” Utkarsh Raj, a medical college aspirant, told AFP at the protest site, which was watched closely by police officers in riot gear. “How is it that exam papers get leaked in this country? How is this right?” added Raj, 16. Protesters were led by Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old Boston University graduate who arrived in New Delhi from the United States on Saturday. “The youth of the country will no longer fear anyone, they will fight,” Dipke, a former political communications strategist for the opposition Aam Aadmi Party, told supporters at the rally. “... -
Dawn - 08:29 Jun 06, 2026
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and local partners have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore the development of a maritime business district on prime Karachi Port Trust’s (KPT) waterfront land, the maritime affairs ministry said on Saturday. In a statement, Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar Chaudhry said the MoU was signed between KPT, Saudi Business Council–Najd Gateway Holding Company, Arif Habib Dolmen REIT Management Limited (AHDRML), and the Pakistan Corporate Consortium. The proposed project would be built on a 140‑acre KPT site on Karachi’s MT Khan Road and is intended to transform the area into a major commercial and maritime hub, the minister said. The development is envisaged to include modern commercial infrastructure aimed at attracting investment, generating employment, and supporting urban development, he added. “This strategic collaboration is a transformative opportunity to unlock the full potential of KPT’s waterfront assets and position Pakistan as a regional hub for maritime co... -
Dawn - 07:49 Jun 06, 2026
North Korea plans to build a 10,000-ton destroyer and develop secret underwater weapons, state media said on Saturday, ahead of a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Rodong Sinmun newspaper, reporting on a Thursday naval test supervised by leader Kim Jong Un, said he ordered the navy to deploy the destroyer Kang Kon and another 5,000-ton warship, the Choe Hyon, as soon as possible. The newspaper did not give further details. It is the first time North Korea has mentioned a plan to build a 10,000-ton destroyer, said Hong Min, a senior analyst at South Korea’s Institute for National Unification. Kim may be seeking to showcase the country’s military capabilities ahead of Xi’s visit on Monday and Tuesday, Hong said. The North Korean leader said Pyongyang must enhance its naval capabilities to deter a nuclear war, while calling for powerful military capabilities across land, sea and air, the newspaper said. Xi is making his first visit to North Korea in nearly seven years as Beijing looks to reassert ties w... -
Dawn - 06:16 Jun 06, 2026
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, signed agreements to enhance cooperation in preventing illegal immigration and drug trafficking, the interior ministry said on Saturday. Naqvi is currently attending a special meeting of the Ministers of Interior and Public Security of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. According to the interior ministry, Naqvi and Kolokoltsev signed agreements aimed at strengthening cooperation to curb illegal immigration and facilitate the repatriation of citizens. The two also signed an agreement to enhance collaboration in combating narcotics and preventing drug trafficking. Meanwhile, Naqvi also held separate meetings with his counterparts from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, the ministry said. It added that during his meeting with Tajikistan’s Interior Minister Rahimzoda Ramazon Hamro, the discussions focused on terrorist camps inside Afghanistan. “Both ministers agreed that terrorist ca... -
Dawn - 03:10 Jun 06, 2026
A PAKISTANI couple living in the Italian city of Reggio Emilia have been sentenced to two years in prison for forcing their 22-year-old daughter to abort and coercing her into marrying her cousin in Pakistan, Italian news agency ANSA reported. The case echoes the tragic tale of Saman Abbas, a young woman murdered by her family for refusing an arranged marriage in Pakistan. The young woman, who was not identified, reportedly rebelled and reported her parents to the Carabinieri (Italian police) after years of abuse. The victim was said to have been locked in the basement at night, deprived of her cell phone, slapped, forced to kneel, and beaten with her face smashed against the floor. She was subsequently forced to go to Pakistan and threatened if she didn’t agree to an engagement and marriage to a cousin. Finally, when it was discovered that she had become pregnant by a young boyfriend whom her family deemed unsuitable, she was punched in the abdomen and back and forced to have an abortion. Her parents, aged 5... -
Dawn - 02:55 Jun 06, 2026
RECENT photos and videos of the Attabad Lake in Gilgit-Baltistan seem to show that the size of the water body has shrunken considerably. But the phenomenon at play here is not a drying-up of the lake, rather heavy silt and sedimentation encroaching on the lake bed, according to an iVerify fact check published on Friday. Known as GB’s “crown jewel” and a major tourist attraction, the lake was formed after the Attabad village in the Gojal Valley witnessed a major landslide on January 4, 2010. Recent visuals of the lake have had netizens talking, showing large parts of its once-turquoise waters replaced by dry, exposed land. Many raised concerns over a “visible decline in water levels”, linking it to environmental degradation, while other argued that the apparent drying was a usual phenomenon. Jamil Nagri, Dawn’s correspondent in Gilgit, confirmed the authenticity of the visuals circulating on social media. But the size of the lake, which is not a natural water body, rather a landslide-dammed reservoir, is susce... -
Dawn - 02:49 Jun 06, 2026
KARACHI: Quantum Global Data Centre (QGDC), a venture of the Gul Ahmed Energy Group, announced plans on Thursday to develop Pakistan’s largest Tier III data centre, which is expected to become operational in 2027 with an initial investment of $230 million, Bloomberg reported. The project’s investment could rise to $600 million over the next three to four years. The announcement came as QGDC signed a strategic partnership agreement with Huawei Pakistan to develop the facility and a science and technology park to support Pakistan’s digital transformation, according to the press release. Speaking at the Q Summit, QGDC Chairman Danish Iqbal said that, although Pakistan was still in the early stages of AI adoption, it was already spending between $700m and $800m annually, warning that demand for computing power would rise sharply in the coming years. “Right now, with this minimal AI, we haven’t even started,” he said. “For our economies to grow, we need to go to very high AI compute. And that compute, without data... -
Dawn - 02:24 Jun 06, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday invited Saudi investors to participate in the construction of the long-awaited Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (M6) and two other major highway projects, as Islamabad sought to attract foreign capital into its expanding transport infrastructure sector. Once completed, the motorway is expected to provide uninterrupted motorway connectivity from Karachi Port to Peshawar and onward to Gilgit. The offer was extended by Federal Communications Minister Aleem Khan during a meeting with the Chairman of the Saudi-Pakistan Joint Business Council, Prince Mansour bin Muhammad Al Saud, who held high-level talks with the minister on promoting bilateral economic cooperation and investment. According to the Ministry of Communications, Aleem Khan presented investment opportunities in three strategic road projects: the M6 Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway, the M10 Karachi Port and the M13 Kharian-Rawalpindi motorways. The minister described the projects as commercially attractive ventures with strong potential ... -
Dawn - 02:14 Jun 06, 2026
• Approves Rs100bn financing facility for PSO • Oil company facing over Rs900bn receivables from SOEs • Special honoraria expanded to more ministries, departments • Rs10.15bn cleared for Pakistan Navy’s Hangor Project • Rs4.38bn granted to Gilgit-Baltistan ahead of elections ISLAMABAD: Less than a week before the next budget, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet on Friday approved more than Rs40 billion in supplementary grants and a Rs100bn sovereign-guarantee-backed financing facility for the Pakistan State Oil (PSO), which is facing over Rs900bn in receivables from other state-owned enterprises, raising concerns about smooth oil supplies. And despite financial constraints forcing development cuts in the name of IMF restrictions, the ECC meeting, presided over by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, also allowed Rs10bn additional funds for parliamentarians’ development schemes and expanded the scope of special honoraria running up to six-month additional salaries to more ministries and d... -
Dawn - 01:07 Jun 06, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has set aside the government’s decision to deny foreign postings to several selected Trade and Investment Officers, ruling that executive authorities cannot deprive individuals of accrued rights on the basis of undisclosed intelligence reports that are neither shared with the affected persons nor produced before the court. In a detailed 26-page judgement, Justice Raja Inaam Ameen Minhas declared unlawful the Ministry of Commerce’s decision to withhold the appointments of successful candidates solely on the basis of adverse assessments attributed to the Intelligence Bureau (IB). The petitioners were represented by advocates Kashif Ali Malik, Barrister M. Saad Buttar, and Syed Hasnain Ibrahim Kazmi, who argued that the government could not reverse a completed merit-based selection process through secret vetting reports that were never disclosed to the candidates. They maintained that the petitioners had acquired vested rights after obtaining approval from th... -
Dawn - 20:48 Jun 05, 2026
Wall Street’s nine-week winning streak ended with a thud on Friday, as red-hot technology stocks suffered their largest daily decline this year after a hot May jobs report fueled fears of a hawkish policy pivot from the US Federal Reserve. Selling was concentrated among chip stocks and other technology favorites that have surged higher in recent weeks as the Nasdaq Composite Index and S&P 500 rose repeatedly to fresh highs. All three major US stock indexes closed sharply lower, with plunging chip stocks dragging the tech-laden Nasdaq down by its largest one-day percentage loss since last year. The S&P 500 ended its nine-week run of Friday-to-Friday gains, its longest weekly winning streak since one that ended in December 2023. “After the record run we’ve seen the last nine weeks in equities, specifically tech and semiconductors, the dam just broke today,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group in Omaha. “Obviously, the stronger-than-expected jobs report puts the Fed in a tough spot rega... -
Dawn - 20:25 Jun 05, 2026
The government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Friday declared the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) a proscribed organisation and placed it under the First Schedule of the region’s anti-terrorism act. The notification by AJK’s Home Department said the group is “engaged in terrorism” and has acted in a manner “prejudicial to peace and security” of the state. It further stated that JAAC is involved in “creating anarchy in the state by intimidating public, promoting hatred and creating a sense of insecurity in society and public at large etc”. “Now, therefore, in exercise of powers conferred under section 12 of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Terrorism Act, 2014, the President, Azad Jammu and Kashmir has accorded approval to list the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JK-JAAC), also known by names such as Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) and Awami Action Committee (AAC) etc, in the First Schedule of ATA, 2014, Proscribed Organization for the purpose of the said Act.” Persistent avoidance of institutional... -
Dawn - 20:20 Jun 05, 2026
The government on Friday cut the petrol price by Rs4 per litre and kept the diesel rate unchanged with immediate effect for the week ending June 12, owing to changes in global prices over the past week. Accordingly, the ex-depot price of high-speed diesel (HSD) will remain fixed at Rs380.78 per litre for another week. The government made adjustments in taxes and other levies to maintain the diesel price, which is otherwise considered on the higher side. The price of diesel has come down from a peak of Rs520.35 recorded on April 10. HSD is considered the most inflationary fuel, given its extensive use in freight transportation. The ex-depot price of petrol was cut by Rs4 to Rs377.79 per litre, from the current Rs381.78 per litre. This is the fourth consecutive weekly reduction in petrol prices, with a cumulative decline of about Rs37 per litre. Last week, the government announced a reduction of Rs22 per litre in the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel. The government is currently charging about Rs100 per li... -
Dawn - 19:06 Jun 05, 2026
WASHINGTON: The US Congress is moving to tighten oversight of Pentagon leadership decisions and limit unilateral military action against Iran, in a rare bipartisan effort that underscores renewed tensions over presidential war powers and civilian control of the military. On Thursday, the House Armed Services Committee adopted a bipartisan provision that would require the Pentagon to notify Congress within five days whenever a senior military officer is dismissed, along with a written explanation for the decision. Lawmakers say the measure is intended to improve transparency over personnel changes at the top levels of the armed forces, where congressional visibility has traditionally been limited. The move comes amid broader scrutiny on Capitol Hill of the Trump administration’s handling of military operations against Iran and recent changes in senior defence leadership. While Congress frequently debates executive war powers, bipartisan agreement on measures that directly constrain presidential military author... -
Dawn - 18:10 Jun 05, 2026
Tremors were felt in Lahore and other districts of Punjab on Friday after a 4.9-magnitude earthquake was reported, said a statement by the Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA). A PDMA spokesperson said the depth of the earthquake was recorded at 18 kilometres, while the epicentre was located in the Kashmir region. “No loss of life or property due to the earthquake has been reported in Punjab,” the spokesperson said, adding that the relevant authorities were engaged in inspecting buildings. He further said that any earthquake-related damage could be reported to the PDMA helpline 1129, adding that district emergency operation centres across Punjab, along with the PDMA’s provincial control room, were operational round the clock. In late May, at least one person was killed and 11 others were injured after several houses were seriously damaged following a reported earthquake in Jhelum’s Pind Dadan Khan tehsil. On May 4, tremors were also felt in Islamabad and Rawalpindi after a 5.2-magnitude earthquake was ... -
Dawn - 17:58 Jun 05, 2026
The Gilgit-Baltistan Election Commission on Friday announced the end of election campaigning 48 hours before polling day, prohibiting all election-related activities in the region, according to a press release. The general elections for the GB’s legislative assembly are scheduled on June 7, after a four-month delay. “The commission informs the public, political parties, candidates and their supporters that under Section 182 of the Elections Act 2017 and the Code of Conduct, no election-related activities will be allowed during the 48 hours preceding polling,” said the statement by the commission’s public affairs wing. According to the law, no person would be permitted to organise, attend, promote or support any public meeting, rally, procession or gathering within the relevant constituency during this period, the statement added. “In this regard, a complete ban on all election activities will come into effect from 12 midnight on June 5, 2026,” the press release said. It further said that, following the enforc... -
Dawn - 17:10 Jun 05, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday “categorically rejected” India’s remarks regarding upcoming elections in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), calling them “baseless” and part of a “carefully choreographed attempt to conflate fact with fiction”. General elections in GB are scheduled for Sunday (June 7), after a four-month delay attributed to harsh winter weather. The PPP and other political parties have staged a series of rallies across the region and ramped up efforts to garner support ahead of the polls. In a statement, Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Tahir Andarabi said India remained in “illegal occupation of the internationally recognised disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir,” and termed New Delhi a “global leader in propagating fake narratives and tendentious propaganda”. “We unequivocally reject this latest Indian rhetoric with the contempt it deserves,” the statement said. New Delhi, in a statement issued by its foreign ministry earlier on Friday, objected to the upcoming elections in GB, claiming that “the entire... -
Dawn - 16:47 Jun 05, 2026
A worsening air leak aboard the International Space Station (ISS) prompted five astronauts to take shelter and prepare for evacuation for roughly two hours on Friday as Russia attempted to fix a crack on its portion of the orbital laboratory, Nasa said. The four astronauts of Nasa’s Crew-12 mission aboard the station two Americans, a French astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut along with another US astronaut were ordered by Nasa mission control at 9:04am ET (1304 GMT) on Friday to enter their SpaceX-built Crew Dragon spacecraft docked to the station, Nasa spokesperson Bethany Stevens said. Nasa reversed that order roughly two hours later and told the astronauts they could return to the station as the agency and its Russian counterparts examined the rate of leaking air. Nasa and Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, the station’s two primary operators, have debated for months over the cause and potential fixes of small air leaks aboard Russia’s Zvezda service module, a key structure of the ISS, a football field-size o... -
Dawn - 15:48 Jun 05, 2026
The ex-wife of a nephew of Dubai’s ruler has been arrested following a long-running custody battle, prosecutors in the UAE said on Friday. Zeynab Javadli was detained after her former husband, Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, accused her of abducting their three children. “Dubai Public Prosecution confirms that Ms. Zeynab Javadli has been taken into custody, following a complaint filed by the father of her three children alleging that she abducted the children during a court-approved visitation session,” said a statement sent to AFP. “The matter remains under investigation and is subject to ongoing legal proceedings.” Since late 2025 Javadli, a former international gymnast from Azerbaijan, has posted several Instagram posts with her daughters, in which she pleads for help and accuses her ex-husband of taking them away. But a lawyer for Sheikh Saeed, a nephew of Dubai’s ruler and United Arab Emirates Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, said he was awarded custody of the three g...
10706 items