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  • Pakistan’s mediation offer reflects growing diplomatic confidence, Capitol Hill symposium told
    Dawn - 07:48 Mar 25, 2026
    WASHINGTON: Speakers at an hours-long symposium on Capitol Hill on Tuesday noted that Pakistan’s gesture to mediate peace between the United States and Iran, amid the recent escalation of hostilities between Washington and Tehran, reflects growing confidence in Islamabad’s diplomatic role in regional disputes. Referring to the recent US–Iran military confrontation — which included direct strikes and retaliatory actions that heightened tensions across the Gulf — participants observed that Pakistan’s outreach underscored its desire to play a stabilising role in a region already burdened by multiple conflicts. Speakers argued that Pakistan, a developing country of more than 250 million people situated in a strategically sensitive region bordering Afghanistan, Iran, India and close to the Gulf, must be viewed beyond a narrow security lens. They noted that the country has a large diaspora in the United States, a growing and educated middle class, significant natural resources, and nuclear capability — factors that...
    Tags: Capitol Hill Pakistan
  • PM Shehbaz hails Saudi Arabia’s ‘restraint’, stresses urgent need for de-escalation of ongoing Iran war
    Dawn - 07:30 Mar 25, 2026
    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday hailed Saudi Arabia for showing “remarkable restraint” during the ongoing Middle East hostilities and stressed the need for urgent de-escalation. He made the remarks during a phone call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, wherein the two discussed Iran’s retaliatory attacks sparked by the US-Israel military actions on February 28. A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) about the phone call early this morning termed their conversation “warm and cordial”. “While appreciating the leadership of the Kingdom for demonstrating remarkable restraint in the current crisis, the prime minister reassured His Royal Highness that Pakistan would always stand by the Kingdom and the brotherly people of Saudi Arabia, just as they had always supported Pakistan, through thick and thin,” the PMO stated. It further said that the prime minister “reiterated Pakistan’s strong condemnation of the recent attacks on Saudi Arabia and expressed, once again, Pakistan’s com...
    Tags: Saudi Arabia Iran
  • Railways minister says Tezgam Express derailment likely due to ‘mechanical and human error’
    Dawn - 07:10 Mar 25, 2026
    LAHORE: Federal Minister for Railways Hanif Abbasi said on Wednesday that “human error and some mechanical issues” were most probably the reasons behind the derailment of the Karachi-bound Tezgam express train the day before. Twenty-six passengers were injured, including one critically, when seven coaches of the train derailed near Adam Wahan Railway Station near Punjab’s Lodhran on Tuesday night. “I can not confirm before time … the reasons behind this derailment. But most probably, the reasons seem related to mechanical and human error,” Abbasi said while talking to Dawn on Wednesday morning. “You know they (Pakistan Railways) have very old coaches to run. And they have not addressed such issues well,” he deplored, adding that for the last nine years, there was no proper maintenance of the locomotives. He said that 1960 model coaches are still in use by railways, “and we are currently refurbishing them one by one — not to the extent of paint work alone, but mechanical and other works too”. The minister said...
  • FO condemns harsh sentences awarded to Kashmiri leader Asiya Andrabi, associates by Delhi court
    Dawn - 06:50 Mar 25, 2026
    The Foreign Office (FO) on Wednesday condemned the awarding of a life imprisonment sentence to prominent Kashmiri leader Asiya Andrabi, as well as the 30-year prison sentences awarded to her associates Fehmeeda Sofi and Nahida Nasreen by a court in Delhi. Andrabi is the founder of a Kashmiri rights group called the Dukhtaran-i-Millat, or Daughters of the Nation. The court sentenced her, Fehmeeda and Nasreen under the Indian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) after government prosecutors alleged that Andrabi was involved in a conspiracy to carry out militant activities. In a statement posted to social media platform X, the FO said that the verdict constituted a “grave miscarriage of justice” and reflected the “continuing suppression of fundamental rights” in India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. “Pakistan views this decision as part of a broader pattern of politically motivated prosecutions aimed at silencing dissenting voices and intimidating those advocating the legitimate rights of the Kashmiri people,...
    Tags: Kashmiri Delhi Asiya Andrabi
  • Fresh studies trace Mohenjo Daro’s urban roots to 3300 BC
    Dawn - 04:15 Mar 25, 2026
    LARKANA: Recent excavations and new radiocarbon dates confirm an earlier urban occupation at Mohenjo Daro during the Kot Diji Phase, circa 3300-2600 BC, a source in Technical Consultative Committee (TCC) of the National Fund for Mohenjo Daro (NFM) has disclosed to Dawn. New excavations at the plain level to the west of the famous Stupa Mound have provided five new radiocarbon dates for a massive mud brick perimeter wall of the city. Sir Mortimer Wheeler had first discovered this structure in 1950, “but misidentified it as a revetment or flood protective bund”, experts working at the site said. The recent archaeological investigations were carried out at Mohenjo Daro under the direction of the NFM after a lapse of many years. A Joint Mission of the Directorate General of Archaeology and Antiquities, Sindh, and the Sindh Exploration and Adventure Society (SEAS), Pakistan, carried out excavation during the summer of 2025, and winter of 2025-26. The project was led by leading Pakistani Archaeologists Dr Asma Ibra...
    Tags: Mohenjo Daro
  • Pakistan joins UNSC in denouncing illegal Israeli settlements
    Dawn - 02:52 Mar 25, 2026
    WASHINGTON: Pakistan on Tuesday joined seven other members of the UN Security Council in reiterating firm opposition to the annexation of any part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the forcible displacement of the Palestinian people. All seven nations warned that such actions violated international law and undermined prospects for peace. The briefing, however, was delayed because the Israeli Ambassador Danny Dannon occupied the microphone and spo­ke first, although Pakistan pointed out that the slot was reserved for the seven-nation stakeout. Asked to explain Israel’s position abo­ut reported US-Iran peace talks in Islam­abad, Dannon said that Israel has “continued its participation” in the war and will “continue to attack targets” until it achieves its objectives. At a Security Council press stakeout, Pakistan delivered the first portion of a joint statement on behalf of Bahrain, Denmark, France, Greece, Latvia, Pakis­tan, Somalia and the United Kingdom. Tel Aviv envoy ‘hogs the mic’ ahead of stakeou...
    Tags: Pakistan
  • In world first, antimatter taken on test drive at CERN
    Dawn - 02:30 Mar 25, 2026
    MEYRIN (Switzerland): CERN scientists on Tuesday pulled off the unprecedented feat of transporting antiprotons by road, successfully test-driving the world’s first antimatter delivery system, with an eye to one day supplying research labs across Europe. “The particles returned... so this was a success,” CERN physicist Stefan Ulmer told reporters after the large truck came back from a 10-kilometre drive around the campus of Europe’s main physics laboratory. While that might not sound like a big distance, Ulmer, a spokesman for CERN’s BASE experiment probing the asymmetry between matter and antimatter in the universe, said it marked the “starting point to a new era”. Visible matter and its mysterious twin antimatter are believed to be almost identical, except their charges and magnetic properties are reversed. Scientists today still wonder why our universe contains far more matter than antimatter, when the Big Bang should have created an equal amount. When antimatter comes in contact with matter it annihilates,...
    Tags: Cern
  • Islamabad offers to host US-Iran climbdown effort
    Dawn - 02:27 Mar 25, 2026
    • Insiders say Washington asked Pakistan to host negotiations; groundwork laid in weeks of ‘hectic diplomacy’ • Witkoff expected to lead engagement; no indication yet of who Iran may send • Trump claims engagement on ‘15 points’ • Tehran implies existence of backchannel; spox says messages from US ‘received and responded to’ • Qatar, Turkiye support swift efforts to end war • German president calls US-Israeli war on Iran ‘violation of international law’ ISLAMABAD: A day after a proposal was floated to hold Iran-US talks in the nation’s capital, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formally pitched Islamabad as a potential venue for negotiations between Iranian and US officials. “Subject to concurrence by the US and Iran, Pakistan stands ready and honoured to be the host to facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks for a comprehensive settlement of the ongoing conflict,” he wrote on X, tagging US President Donald Trump, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. The move followed rep...
    Tags: Islamabad
  • Several injured as Karachi-bound Tezgam Express derails near Punjab’s Lodhran: official
    Dawn - 19:44 Mar 24, 2026
    LAHORE: Several people were injured when a Karachi-bound train derailed near Punjab’s Lodhran on Tuesday night, officials said. Lodhran District Emergency Officer Engineer Shakeel Ahmed told Dawn that, according to initial reports, 17 of the injured were provided first aid at the spot while eight others were taken to the district headquarters hospital. Pakistan Railways (PR) spokesperson Babar Ali told Dawn that no loss of life was reported in the incident and that the cause of the accident was yet to be determined. He said the federal minister for railways had ordered a “high-level inquiry” to determine the cause. The spokesperson also stated that the affected track would soon be open for traffic, and Rescue 1122 and PR medical teams had conducted relief and rescue operations at the site. A relief train and a relief truck were also sent to the site, he added. Further details about the incident involving Tezgam Express are not yet clear. The train’s driver, Tariq Khan, earlier told Dawn he could not explain h...
    Tags: Several Punjab Lodhran
  • Clerics from Pakistan, Afghanistan appeal to authorities to extend pause in fighting till Eidul Azha
    Dawn - 19:35 Mar 24, 2026
    ISLAMABAD: A group of clerics from Pakistan and Afghanistan on Tuesday appealed to the authorities on both sides to extend the pause in hostilities — which was announced for Eidul Fitr — to Eidul Azha. In Pakistan, the announcement was made by Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on March 18, three days before Eidul Fitr. “In view of the upcoming Islamic festival of Eidul Fitr, upon its own initiative as well as on the request from the brotherly Islamic countries of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the State of Qatar and the Republic of Turkiye, the government of Pakistan has decided to announce a temporary pause amidst ongoing Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against terrorists and their support infrastructure in Afghanistan,” Tarar had posted on X. The minister said the pause would be applicable from midnight March 18-19 to midnight March 23-24. Pakistan had launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq on the night of Feb 26 following cross-border firing by the Afghan Taliban. Eleven Pakistani and as many Afghan clerics signed a ...
    Tags: Afghanistan Eidul Azha Pakistan
  • War Diary Day 25: Pause holds but conflict’s underlying dynamics point to widening of scope
    Dawn - 18:30 Mar 24, 2026
    On the 25th day of the US-Israeli war on Iran, the conflict’s underlying dynamics pointed to a continued widening of scope, with President Donald Trump’s five-day pause on strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure offering only limited respite and doing little to alter the broader trajectory. Over the past 24 hours, Israeli strikes continued against Iranian energy and military targets, including gas management facilities in Isfahan, pipeline-linked infrastructure in Khorramshahr, and military sites. Additionally, US and Israeli strikes were reported in Tehran and other urban areas, which indicates a sustained pressure by the US-Israel alliance on Iran’s both strategic and symbolic nodes. Iran responded with a calibrated but geographically expanding pattern of retaliation. As missile and drone strikes targeted US positions across the Gulf, including installations linked to air and naval operations, fire continued to be directed toward Israeli targets. A notable development was the strike on Kuwait’s power ...
  • Sindh minister says govt contemplating smart lockdown as fuel conservation measure
    Dawn - 16:28 Mar 24, 2026
    Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah said on Tuesday that the government was contemplating a smart lockdown as a fuel conservation measure following the global oil crisis triggered by the US-Israel war on Iran. “The chief minister who heads the committee on austerity measures has conducted multiple in-person and online meetings on a daily basis,” he said, while speaking to the media in Rohri. He said the provincial government had reduced the fuel consumption allowance for official vehicles by “60 per cent”. He also called on the media to raise awareness, saying that if the war on Iran continued for a prolonged period, it would have “terrifying” effects on everyone, including Pakistan. He said that the energy sector would be the first “to be hit”, saying that the prices of commodities were directly linked to fuel prices. He called on the citizens to limit their movement, saying, “We have to save petrol, oil and gas.” He said that it would be better in the long run if citizens reduced the unnecess...
  • AJK PM condemns sentencing of Kashmiri leader Asiya Andrabi, her associates by Indian court
    Dawn - 16:08 Mar 24, 2026
    MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore on Tuesday strongly condemned the sentencing of three women activists by an Indian court, terming the verdict a manifestation of “political coercion” aimed at silencing dissent in India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. In a social media post on X, Rathore denounced the life imprisonment awarded to Kashmiri leader Asiya Andrabi, along with 30-year sentences handed down to her associates Fehmida Sofi and Nahida Nasreen by a special court of India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) in New Delhi. “These verdicts are not about justice; they are instruments of political coercion designed to criminalise dissent and suppress the legitimate voice of the Kashmiri people,” he said, adding that targeting women for their political beliefs laid bare the “deep bias” in the system. Andrabi is the founder of a Kashmiri rights group called the Dukhtaran-i-Millat, or Daughters of the Nation. The court sentenced her, Fehmeeda and Nasreen under the...
    Tags: Kashmiri Asiya Andrabi Indian
  • Pakistan’s petrol cargoes for March and April ‘largely secured’: finance ministry
    Dawn - 16:03 Mar 24, 2026
    The members of the committee formed to monitor petrol prices were told on Tuesday that cargo inflows were continuing as scheduled and petrol cargoes for the current month and for April had “largely been secured”, with additional shipments planned to further strengthen supply buffers. According to a post by the finance ministry on X, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb chaired a meeting of the committee to review the energy supply situation and assess developments in global oil and gas markets amid evolving geopolitical conditions. “The committee undertook a forward-looking assessment of the national petroleum supply outlook, reviewing stock availability of crude oil and refined petroleum products across the energy value chain. Members were informed that overall inventories remain at comfortable levels, supported by secured import arrangements and ongoing production,” it said. It added that supply lines from import terminals to refineries, storage installations, and retail outlets were reported to be operating...
    Tags: April
  • PTI decries ‘blatant violation of rights’ as Imran’s sisters again barred from meeting him at Adiala jail
    Dawn - 15:58 Mar 24, 2026
    ISLAMABAD: Sisters of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan were again not allowed to meet him at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail on Tuesday, while his party termed the persistent denial of meetings with the ex-prime minister a “blatant violation of fundamental human and constitutional rights”. The IHC has allowed Imran twice-a-week meetings — on Tuesday and Thursdays — with his family, lawyers and other associates. Despite the order, the ex-premier has not been largely restricted from meeting visitors for several weeks. His last meeting took place with his lawyer, Salman Safdar, on February 10, after the Supreme Court’s intervention following a long period of no visits being allowed. Speaking to the media outside the Adiala jail, one of Imran’s sisters, Aleema Khanum, said it was important to determine the cause of Imran’s medical issues, which have garnered attention in recent days. Concerns mounted after partial vision loss in Imran’s right eye was reported via Safdar after he met him. Doctors later confirmed that,...
    Tags: Imran Adiala
  • Pakistan stands ‘ready, honoured’ to host US-Iran talks, says PM Shehbaz
    Dawn - 15:26 Mar 24, 2026
    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that Pakistan stood “ready and honoured” to host “meaningful and conclusive talks” between the US and Iran. “Pakistan welcomes and fully supports ongoing efforts to pursue dialogue to end the war in the Middle East, in the interest of peace and stability in the region and beyond,” he said in a post on the social media platform X. “Subject to concurrence by the US and Iran, Pakistan stands ready and honoured to be the host to facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks for a comprehensive settlement of the ongoing conflict,” he said, tagging US President Donald Trump, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. Subsequently, the US president shared PM Shehbaz’s statement on his Truth Social platform. PM Shehbaz’s statement came shortly after the Foreign Office (FO) urged the media to refrain from speculation and await official announcements when asked about reports of Islamabad being a possible venue for talks between the US and Irani...
    Tags: Pakistan Shehbaz
  • Afghanistan announces release of detained US citizen
    Dawn - 14:40 Mar 24, 2026
    The Afghan Taliban announced on Tuesday that it was freeing a US national who had been detained for more than a year. The foreign ministry said the family of linguist and researcher Dennis Coyle had written to the supreme leader of Afghanistan, requesting his release for Eid. “The Supreme Court of the Islamic Emirate deemed his period of detention sufficient and decided on his release,” a statement read. The announcement came after a meeting of Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, US former special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) ambassador to Kabul Saif Mohammed Al-Ketbi, and a member of Coyle’s family. The UAE facilitated the release, the ministry said, adding that Coyle had been reunited with his family in Kabul on Tuesday. Coyle, 64, was arrested by the Afghan authorities in January 2025, according to the Foley Foundation, which advocates for the release of Americans taken hostage or arbitrarily detained abroad. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also welcomed Coyle’s rele...
    Tags: Afghanistan
  • ADB announces support package for developing member states hit by Middle East conflict
    Dawn - 14:30 Mar 24, 2026
    The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday announced a financial support package to help its developing member countries mitigate the economic and financial impacts resulting from the conflict in the Middle East. A press release issued by the lender quoted ADB President Masato Kanda as saying, “ADB will deliver rapid, flexible, and scalable assistance to help countries manage immediate pressures and strengthen long-term resilience, notably fast-disbursing budget support and trade and supply chain finance to secure the import of essential goods, now including oil.” Kanda further said that this built on the ADB’s track record of supporting Asia and the Pacific through “periods of global uncertainty”. ADB has ample resources to safeguard existing and planned operations, while expanding emergency support in line with developing member countries’ needs, including utilising its countercyclical lending buffer, the statement said. It added that the bank was closely monitoring global market developments and their pot...
    Tags: Middle East
  • LHC sustains objection on plea against acquittal of PM Shehbaz, his sons in money laundering case
    Dawn - 13:44 Mar 24, 2026
    LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday sustained an objection on the maintainability of a petition filed against the acquittal of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his sons in a Rs16bn money laundering case. LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum heard the plea filed by a young lawyer as an “objection case”. The office of the LHC’s registrar had objected to the maintainability of the petition, questioning the locus standi (the right to bring a legal action to a court) to agitate the matter. During the hearing, the chief justice asked the petitioner’s counsel, Amir Saeed Rawn, how his client was an aggrieved party in the matter. The LHC chief justice noted that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the prosecuting agency, had not filed any appeal against the acquittal judgment of the trial court. To the court’s query, the counsel said the decision was issued in December 2022 despite the availability of substantial evidence in the case. He alleged that the FIA had colluded with the accused to secure the acqui...
  • Pakistan in the limelight as US, Iran ‘open backchannel’
    Dawn - 13:10 Mar 24, 2026
    • Efforts alongside Egypt and Turkiye seen as key to pausing threatened US strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure • Administration sources say diplomatic efforts saw Islamabad leveraging its position as ‘net regional stabiliser’ • PM speaks to Pezeshkian, Dar calls Araghchi; White House ‘kept in the loop’ • Islamabad floated as ‘possible venue’ for talks ISLAMABAD: On the 24th day of the US-Israel war against Iran, Pakistan took centre stage in a coordinated diplomatic push alongside Turkiye and Egypt, as the trio appeared instrumental in securing a five-day pause of US plans to strike Iranian energy and power infrastructure, officials said, describing the effort as going beyond routine crisis management. US President Donald Trump had publicly announced the ‘delay’ on Monday, saying Washington had held “very good and productive conversations” with Tehran over the previous couple of days that could lead to a “complete and total resolution” of hostilities. The pause, however, remains conditional and limited to...
    Tags: Pakistan Iran

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