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Dawn - 04:29 May 09, 2025
AMERICAN officials have said that Pakistan shot down an Indian jet using fighter aircraft it acquired from China, CNN and Reuters reported on Thursday. CNN cited a senior US official saying as per their assessment, Pakistani forces shot down the jet during India’s air strikes inside Pakistan on Wednesday. On Wednesday, Pakistan said it had shot down five Indian Air Force jets, including three Rafales. Indian officials have yet to confirm the claim. When asked about the downed planes, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri didn’t answer the question directly, or issue a denial. He merely said that official information on this topic will be shared at the right time, BBC News reported. BBC terms video showing wreckage of French-made jet in Bathinda ‘authentic’ Earlier, on Wednesday, a high-ranking French intelligence official had told CNN that one Rafale fighter jet operated by the Indian Air Force was downed by Pakistan. Meanwhile, Reuters cited two US officials as saying that Pakistan had used the Chinese-made ... -
Dawn - 03:05 May 09, 2025
RAWALPINDI/KARACHI: It took an hours-long meeting, consultations with all the stakeholders, before the Pakistan Cricket Board eventually decided that in the view of the escalating tensions with India, it was unsafe to hold the Pakistan Super League in the country. The show, however, will go on with the closing stages of this season’s PSL to be held in the United Arab Emirates. “The PCB confirms that the remaining fixtures of the HBL PSL X have been shifted to the UAE,” the PCB said in a statement in the early hours of Friday morning. “The exact schedule of matches, outlining the dates and venues, will be shared in due course.” Four matches of the league stage of the country’s glitzy T20 extravaganza are still to be held, which will decide which four teams advance to the playoffs. That, after Thursday’s match between Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings, which was to be held at the Pindi Cricket Stadium, was called off hours before the scheduled start time. Pakistan’s military on Thursday said it took down nearly... -
Dawn - 02:25 May 09, 2025
• One casualty each reported from Attock, Rawalpindi, Ghotki districts; four troops wounded in Lahore • Military spokesperson says Israeli-made Harop drones used; calls intrusion ‘a serious, serious provocation’ • India acknowledges carrying out strikes; ISPR chief says New Delhi should ‘transition from cinema into real world’ ISLAMABAD: At least three people lost their lives and seven, including four soldiers, sustained injuries as Pakistan intercepted and destroyed as many as 25 Indian drones that had intruded into its airspace across the country, possibly to target military installations. According to the military, the locations where these drones were neutralised included Lahore, Attock, Gujranwala, Chakwal, Rawalpindi, and Bahawalpur in Punjab, as well as Sukkur, Umerkot and Karachi in Sindh. Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the military’s chief spokesperson, confirmed that one civilian lost their life while another sustained injuries in Miano. Moreover, as per police, one person each was slain in Attock an... -
Dawn - 02:21 May 09, 2025
RAWALPINDI / LAHORE: Flight disruptions left hundreds of passengers stranded at the country’s major airports, with many failing to reach their destinations due to last-minute cancellations. Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi and Sialkot airports were the most affected, as air traffic was halted for several hours amid rising tensions between Pakistan and India. However, flight operations at the four airports later resumed on Thursday after temporary suspensions. The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) initially said that flight operations at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport would remain suspended until midnight, but they resumed earlier than scheduled. Flight operations at Islamabad, Lahore and Sialkot airports resumed by evening. Earlier in the day, the PAA had temporarily suspended operations at Karachi, Lahore and Sialkot airports until Thursday noon, citing operational reasons. Islamabad International Airport also briefly suspended flights during the day. Later, the PAA extended the closure at Lahore, Is... -
Dawn - 01:36 May 09, 2025
• NEC to meet on May 26 or 27 to approve development programme • 200 ongoing uplift projects likely to be closed • Ahsan says proper allocations cannot be made for key schemes ISLAMABAD: The federal government will present the next fiscal year’s budget on June 2, with a 16 per cent lower development allocation of Rs921 billion, resulting in the likely closure of about 200 ongoing development projects. This was announced at a press conference by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, who disclosed that an indicative budget ceiling (IBC) of Rs921bn for the next year provided by the Ministry of Finance was over three times lower than Rs2.9 trillion demanded by the Planning Commission based on requirements of various ministries for development projects. The figure is also around 16pc lower than the current year’s revised allocation of Rs1.1tr, slashed on the instructions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from Rs1.4tr approved by the parliament as part of the federal budget 2024-25. The minister said he would conte... -
Dawn - 01:36 May 09, 2025
KARACHI: India deliberately fired “projectiles” in its Punjab province and blamed Islamabad to prepare grounds for retaliatory attacks, Pakistan’s foreign minister said on Thursday. In a press conference, Ishaq Dar said India “deliberately fired” projectiles, three of which were dropped in Amritsar, the capital of Indian Punjab, located around 54km from Lahore. He added that a fourth projectile entered Pakistani airspace, which was shot down by the air defense system in Dinga, Gujrat, around 87km from the nearest point on the India-Pakistan border. Mr Dar’s remarks were in response to claims by New Delhi that it neutralised attempts by Pakistan to hit multiple “military targets” using “drones and missiles” on the night of Wednesday and Thursday. Mr Dar added that India’s “deliberate” attack was a “malicious strategy” to “falsely implicate Pakistan” for targeting civilians and incite Indian Sikhs. Sitting beside Mr Dar, the armed forces spokesperson also accused India of launching a false flag operation. ISPR ... -
Dawn - 21:23 May 08, 2025
The UN appointed Spanish diplomat Miguel Angel Moratinos Cuyaube on Wednesday as Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ special envoy to combat Islamophobia. Moratinos will continue in his current role as High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC), which he has held since 2019, according to a statement by the UN spokesperson’s office. “Moratinos brings decades of diplomatic experience and leadership on multilateral issues, including dialogue among civilisations and combating discrimination,” it said. “Moratinos has reinforced UNAOC’s role as a global platform for dialogue and bridge-building.” A seasoned diplomat, Moratinos served as Spain’s foreign minister from 2004 to 2010, during which his country held the presidency of the Security Council and led several international organisations, including the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe. On X, Moratinos uploaded a statement expressing his gratitude and stating he was truly honour... -
Dawn - 21:02 May 08, 2025
The Pakistani military on Thursday said it took down nearly two dozen Indian drones sent on this side of the border since last night, as tensions between the neighbouring countries continue to rise. According to the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the armed forces shot down 25 Harop drones sent by India using their “soft-kill (technical) and hard-kill (weaponised) skills fully”. In a press conference earlier today, DG ISPR Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said the drones were neutralised at various locations, including Karachi and Lahore. He also showed a series of pictures showing the debris of the drones. He said that the process of India sending across these Harop drones was a “serious serious provocation”. “This naked aggression continues, and the armed forces are on a high degree of alert and neutralising them as we speak,” Gen Chaudhry asserted. Harop drone is a loitering munition system, or suicide drone that flies to a target and detonates to carry out one-way missions with a high degree of autono... -
Dawn - 20:18 May 08, 2025
Posts on multiple social media platforms from Indian users on Wednesday shared a video claiming to show India attacking Pakistan amid the recent escalation between the two countries. However, the footage dates back to October 2024 and shows Iranian airstrikes on Israel’s Nevatim airbase. On Wednesday, Pakistan mourned the loss of 31 lives in overnight attacks by Indian forces on civilians, describing New Delhi’s actions as “terrorism” and accusing it of continuous ceasefire violations on the Line of Control (LoC). The Pakistan military termed the downing of five Indian fighter jets as a major victory — and it was seemingly acknowledged when Indian officials admitted that at least three of their aircraft had “crashed” within their territory. As both countries continued to trade heavy artillery fire, authorities revealed the extent of the damage caused by Indian strikes at six locations — Ahmedpur East, Muridke, Sialkot and Shakkargarh in Punjab and Muzaffarabad and Kotli in Azad Kashmir. Since the breakdown in... -
Dawn - 17:42 May 08, 2025
Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected in a surprise choice to be the new leader of the Catholic Church on Thursday, taking the name Leo XIV, becoming the first American pontiff. Pope Leo appeared on the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica around 70 minutes after white smoke billowed from a chimney atop the Sistine Chapel, signifying that the 133 cardinal electors had chosen a new leader for the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church. “Peace be with you all,” the new pope told the cheering crowd. The choice of Prevost was announced by French Cardinal Dominique Mamberti with the Latin words ‘Habemus Papam’ (We have a pope) to tens of thousands of people gathered in St Peter’s Square to hear the news. Aged 69 and originally from Chicago, Prevost spent most of his career as a missionary in Peru and became a cardinal only in 2023. He has given few media interviews and rarely speaks in public. Leo becomes the 267th Catholic pope after the death last month of Pope Francis, who was the first Latin American pope and had ... -
Dawn - 17:37 May 08, 2025
United States President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday announced a “breakthrough deal” on trade that leaves in place a 10 per cent tariff on goods imported from the UK, while Britain agreed to lower its tariffs to 1.8pc from 5.1pc and provide greater access to US goods. The agreement announced by Trump from the Oval Office marked the first since Trump triggered a global trade war with a barrage of levies on trading partners following his return to the White House in January. “It opens up a tremendous market for us,” Trump said. “This is a really fantastic, historic day,” Starmer said by teleconference. The United States has been under pressure from investors to strike deals to de-escalate its tariff war after Trump’s often chaotic policymaking upended global trade with friend and foe alike, threatening to stoke inflation and start a recession. Top US officials have engaged in a flurry of meetings with trading partners since the president on April 2 imposed a 10pc tariff on mo... -
Dawn - 14:41 May 08, 2025
Pakistan’s armed forces have taken down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones sent into the country by India since last night, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Thursday. A day earlier, Pakistan mourned the loss of 31 lives in overnight attacks by Indian forces on civilians, describing New Delhi’s actions as “terrorism” and accusing it of continuous ceasefire violations on the Line of Control (LoC). The Pakistan military termed the downing of five Indian fighter jets as a major victory — and it was seemingly acknowledged when Indian officials admitted that at least three of their aircraft had “crashed” within their territory. On Wednesday, as both countries continued to trade heavy artillery fire, authorities revealed the extent of the damage caused by Indian strikes at six locations — Ahmedpur East, Muridke, Sialkot and Shakkargarh in Punjab and Muzaffarabad and Kotli in Azad Kashmir. “The Pakistan Army, using their soft-kill (technical) and hard-kill (weapons) skills fully, have shot down 25 Israeli... -
Dawn - 07:22 May 08, 2025
• Four missiles struck Jamia Masjid Ummul Qura in Muridke, killing three civilians • 13 people, including two girls, martyred in Subhan mosque strike • Funeral of Bahawalpur victims held at Dring Stadium LAHORE: Tensions between India and Pakistan have intensified after a series of Indian air and drone strikes resulted in the deaths of at least 31 Pakistani civilians, with many others injured, including 16 martyred only in Muridke and Bahawalpur. As many as three civilians were killed when four Indian missiles struck Jamia Masjid Ummul Qura and an adjoining house in Muridke, some 40 kilometres from Lahore. The deceased were identified as Abdul Malik (from Jhang), Mohammad Alam (Samundri), and Midasar (Chunian). Two others were injured and shifted to local hospitals. Sources said that the area had reportedly been evacuated earlier due to warnings of a possible strike, which helped reduce further casualties. The mosque was destroyed and local authorities later arranged visits for both international an... -
Dawn - 05:44 May 08, 2025
ISLAMABAD: Against high hopes, the government has sought revision in the base electricity tariff for next fiscal year, proposing only 30 paise to a maximum of Rs2.25 per unit reduction in consumer rates under seven different scenarios. Only in one unlikely case of normal circumstances and stable exchange rate at Rs280, the average base tariff would reduce by Rs2.25 per unit in fiscal year 2025-26 to Rs24.75 from prevailing rate of about Rs27 per unit. In case of local currency depreciation to Rs300, the base tariff reduction would be around 30 paise per unit. The reduction mainly stems from lower capacity payments. The average Power Purchase Price (PPP) would be on top of about Rs8.16 to Rs9.52 per unit fuel cost, taking the total electricity price to range between Rs34 and Rs35 per unit excluding taxes, fees, duties and surcharges. 30 paise to Rs2.25 reduction depends on rupee-dollar parity The Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) of the Power Division has formally submitted a request for projected PPP for... -
Dawn - 05:30 May 08, 2025
KARACHI: The foreign players participating in the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) will continue their stay in the country despite the ongoing military stand-off between Pakistan and India, an official of the country’s cricket board has said. India launched a devious attack on Pakistan late on Tuesday night before the latter’s retaliation escalated the situation. But while things got serious along the border, the foreign players had a meeting with the PSL leadership. “The foreign players met PSL chief Salman Naseer at a dinner last night and they had a ‘gup shup’ [informal chat],” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesperson Amir Mir told Dawn on Wednesday. “Naturally the current scenario may have come under discussion. “There is no chance of the foreign players leaving the country anyway with airspace issues, but they are living under a heavy security blanket of Pakistan Army. “There have been surgical strikes on both sides of the border but we don’t expect that affecting the PSL. But if, God forbid, things do e... -
Dawn - 05:09 May 08, 2025
ISLAMABAD: In an attempt to combat disinformation in the wake of hostilities with India, Pakistan on Wednesday blocked over a dozen Indian YouTube channels, 31 video links, and 32 websites for disseminating “false information and anti-Pakistan propaganda”. “This action has been taken in light of the prevailing regional situation to safeguard national security and protect Pakistan’s digital ecosystem,” the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said, adding that the content it blocked was spreading misleading and harmful narratives aimed at manipulating public perception and undermining national unity. On the other hand, IT minister Shaza Fatima said that the government foiled several cyberattacks, which she blamed on India, while an advisory by a cybersecurity body asked citizens to remain vigilant against possible cyberattacks in light of tensions with India. Amid all this, the social media platform X, which was blocked in Feb last year, came back to life without any official word from the government, ac... -
Dawn - 05:00 May 08, 2025
LAHORE: In response to India’s brazen pre-dawn attack, the Punjab government has mobilised all departments, directing them to maintain maximum preparedness in accordance with the ‘War Book’ protocols. Rescue services have been put on high alert and a central control room established to ensure seamless monitoring and coordination. While the armed forces ferociously responded to the attack, the Punjab government swiftly took measures to ensure public safety, announcing the immediate closure of public and private sector universities, colleges, and schools, as well as the suspension of ongoing examinations at various academic levels. As 26 civilians have been martyred and 46 sustained injuries in Indian missile attacks, the Punjab government cancelled staff holidays and called all law-enforcement agencies officials to handle any eventuality. Despite high alert, educational institutes allowed to function normally; social media flooded with memes after damages to India In line with the `War Book’ protocols, the Pun... -
Dawn - 04:48 May 08, 2025
• Educational institutions remain open, exams underway • Security beefed up across province • Rescue-1122 ready to meet any eventuality KARACHI: Although routine life in Karachi and other parts of the province remained unaffected by the Indian strikes in Azad Kashmir and Punjab, the provincial authorities on Wednesday prepared a contingency plan and beefed up security across Sindh to tackle any situation. Almost all educational institutions remained opened on Wednesday and intermediate exams were held as per their schedule in Karachi and other parts of the province. The director general of Rescue-1122, retired Brigadier Wajid Sibghatullah Mahar, told Dawn that the Sindh Emergency Rescue Service had prepared an emergency plan, outlining preparedness and resource allocation in anticipation of the situation. “Rescue-1122 (Sindh) is on high alert and prepared with manpower, resources and coordination protocols to deal with any emergency efficiently,” according to the content of the plan reviewed by Dawn. “Rescue ... -
Dawn - 04:02 May 08, 2025
• Dar briefs Islamabad-based ambassadors on unprovoked Indian attacks • Discusses security situation with Chinese, Turkish and Italian reps ISLAMABAD: Amid escalating tensions, the Indian chargé d’affaires was summoned to the foreign ministry on Wednesday to receive a strong protest over the unprovoked Indian strikes at multiple locations across Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. These strikes resulted in the deaths and injuries of several civilians, including women and children. According to a statement issued by the Foreign Office, Pakistan conveyed to the envoy that India’s blatant act of aggression constitutes a clear violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty. The statement emphasised that such actions contravene the UN Charter, international law, and established norms governing inter-state relations. Pakistan firmly rejected India’s baseless justifications for its hostile actions. The Indian side was warned that such reckless behaviour poses a serious threat to regional peace and stability, the statement add... -
Dawn - 03:14 May 08, 2025
• PM offers to meet political leaders, including PTI’s, to offer joint front against Indian aggression • Barrister Gohar welcomes premier’s offer • Lawmakers laud forces on successful defence of the realm ISLAMABAD: Lawmakers in the National Assembly on Wednesday strongly condemned the brutal aggression demonstrated by India resulting in loss of civilian lives in Pakistan. In an impassioned speech on the floor of the lower house of parliament, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said: “Only thieves and cowards attack at night. If they had even an ounce of courage, they would have announced their attack during the day.” Mr Bhutto-Zardari said that India has become barbaric and blind due to its arrogance, but the valiant people of Pakistan will make them see. “We do not condone war and never have, but India should brace itself because Pakistan is yet to respond, and it will not do so during the night, or on the basis of lies, but as per international laws and UN Charter.” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in his ...
5680 items