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Dawn - 07:33 May 15, 2026
United States President Donald Trump on Friday concluded his visit China, where he said he made “fantastic trade deals” with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump had arrived in Beijing seeking to seal deals in sectors including agriculture, aviation and artificial intelligence, as well as to contain differences between the two sides in a number of tense geostrategic areas — not least the Middle East war. Trump’s overtures to Xi, whom he described as a “great leader” and “friend”, have so far been met with more muted tones by the Chinese leader. But the US leader said “a lot of good” has come out of the visit. “We’ve made some fantastic trade deals, great for both countries,” he said, as Xi accompanied him through the gardens of Zhongnanhai, a central leadership compound next to Beijing’s Forbidden City. “We’ve settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to solve,” Trump added, without providing details. Xi said it was a “milestone visit”, and that the two sides had to date est... -
Dawn - 07:03 May 15, 2026
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Friday said that Pak-US ties had strengthened during United States President Donald Trump’s tenure. He made the remarks during a meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Paul Kapur, the interior ministry said in a post on the social media platform X. The meeting was also attended by US Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker, Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry, and other officials. “During the meeting, discussions took place on Pakistan-US relations and the latest situation in the Middle East,” the ministry said. It added that views were also exchanged on increasing cooperation in the fields of security, counter-terrorism, and combating narcotics. “Pakistan-US relations have strengthened during Trump’s tenure,” the ministry quoted Naqvi as saying. “Pak-US relations are based on mutual trust and bilateral cooperation,” Naqvi said, adding foolproof security had been ensured for American companies working on the Reko Diq project. Accor... -
Dawn - 06:43 May 15, 2026
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday lauded the “historic” ties between Pakistan and China during a meeting with a Chinese business delegation. According to a handout from the Prime Minister’s Office, a high-level 11-member Chinese business delegation led by Qian Xiaojun, the founder, president and controlling shareholder of IBI Beijing United Technology, called on the premier. “While welcoming the delegation to Pakistan, the prime minister said Pakistan and China enjoyed historic ties and the two countries were all-weather strategic cooperative partners,” the handout said. He lauded the remarkable progress made by China under the visionary leadership of President Xi Jinping and said that he was looking forward to his visit to China later this month, it added. The prime minister welcomed the growing business-to-business engagement between the two countries and said it was particularly encouraging that IBI would promote digital economy cooperation, investment facilitation and industrial collaboration, it sa... -
Dawn - 06:33 May 15, 2026
India’s state-run fuel retailers have raised petrol and diesel prices for the first time in four years by 3 Indian rupees ($0.03) per litre, or more than three per cent, according to dealers, to recoup some of the losses incurred due to higher global crude oil prices. India — the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer — is one of the last major economies to raise retail fuel prices following the disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz by the war started by US-Israeli attacks on Iran. State-run Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp, which together control more than 90pc of India’s 103,000 fuel stations, tend to set diesel and petrol prices in tandem. A BPCL spokesperson confirmed the price increase at its retail outlets. Indian Oil and HPCL did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Diesel in Delhi will cost 90.67 Indian rupees a litre and petrol 97.77 Indian rupees, reflecting increases of 3.4pc and 3.2pc, respectively, from 87.67 Indian rupees and... -
Dawn - 04:56 May 15, 2026
Israel on Thursday threatened to take The New York Times to court over a piece it published denouncing allegedly widespread sexual abuse against Palestinian detainees. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar have ordered the “initiation of a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times”, according to a joint statement issued by their offices. The offices said that the piece by Nicholas Kristof, a prominent opinion columnist, was “one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel in the modern press, which also received the backing of the newspaper”. Kristof’s investigation is based on testimonies gathered in the Israeli-occupied West Bank from 14 men and women who said that they had been sexually assaulted by Israeli settlers or members of the security forces. The report described “a pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children — by soldiers, settlers, interrogators in the Shin Bet internal security agency an... -
Dawn - 04:20 May 15, 2026
LAHORE: After the arrest of drug dealer Anmol alias Pinky by Sindh Police, her appearance in a Karachi court whose video went viral on mainstream as well as social media and her revelations during the investigation, Punjab police have also woken up to three old cases allegedly registered against her and her brothers in Lahore several years ago and are reportedly planning to seek custody of the woman from Sindh. On the other hand, the arrest and investigation have put the Punjab Police under the scanner as it transpired that officers in the CIA (now the Crime Control Department) had taken bribes and avoided arresting Anmol, who was nominated in three cases. The FIRs were registered with Liaqatabad Police Station in 2019, Iqbal Town Police Station in 2020 and Kot Lakhpat Police in 2022, nominating Anmol and her two brothers, Nasir and Riaz Baloch. The 2022 FIR clearly stated that the police, during a raid on Jan 6, rounded up a black SUV at Shadab Colony, following the intelligence reports that it was smuggling... -
Dawn - 02:54 May 15, 2026
• MNAs complain poor connectivity affecting parliament’s paperless mechanism • Minister assures them spectrum auction will address problem • Concerns raised over digital harassment, online fraud ISLAMABAD: Several members of the National Assembly on Thursday raised the issue of slow internet speed in the House as well as across the country, in the context of recent efforts to switch to a paperless working environment in parliament to enhance efficiency and reduce costs. Despite repeated requests by the NA chair, the majority of MNAs from all sides paid no attention to the implementation of the paperless system in parliament. Deputy Speaker Ghulam Mustafa Shah reminded members that parliamentary proceedings were being automated as part of efforts to modernise the functioning of the House and the physical distribution of bills and other documents would soon be eradicated. “All the members have been provided with tablets to facilitate paperless proceedings and improve efficiency. We want to minimise paper usage,... -
Dawn - 02:51 May 15, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Thursday lashed out at “coordinated negative information campaign… initiated from outside Pakistan” that was trying to discredit Pakistan’s role for sustainable peace in the region. In a post on his X handle, the minister said that “detractors of peace, who are unable to come to terms with Pakistan’s role for peace in the region” were running a malicious campaign to discredit Pakistan, adding that facts and verification by credible domestic media sources as well as multiple fact check forums have already called out the propaganda. “We understand quite clearly that behind such stories are certain elements,” he said, adding that Pakistan and its responsible media will continue to expose the nefarious designs of those behind this coordinated campaign. While the information minister did not specifically mention any particular reports, he was ostensibly referring to reports such as the one recently carried by US network CBS News, falsely claiming that Pakistan h... -
Dawn - 02:30 May 15, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Following the release of a $1.1 billion tranche for Pakistan, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has identified Pakistan’s economic exposure to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as its most acute external vulnerability. In its staff report, the lender warned that “the war weighs on the near-term outlook as Pakistan is highly exposed to energy imports and remittances from the Gulf countries as well as to global financial conditions”. According to the report, 81 per cent of Pakistan’s fuel imports originate in the GCC region, while 55pc of remittances — equivalent to about nine percent of the GDP — flow from these economies. The IMF noted: “A significant disruption to the GCC economies and/or return of migrant workers could weigh on these flows, a major source of financing for consumption and the balance of payments”. According to the Fund, the Iran war’s impact has been formally embedded in Pakistan’s macroeconomic projections. Under the IMF’s baseline scenario, GDP growth is expected to slow b... -
Dawn - 02:23 May 15, 2026
• Most compromised passwords either begin or end with digits • Common symbols like ‘@’ and ‘.’ are heavily overused ISLAMABAD: An analysis of 231 million unique passwords leaked between 2023 and 2026 has revealed several alarming patterns, according to a report by cybersecurity company Kaspersky. Firstly, 68 per cent of modern passwords can be cracked within a day. Secondly, the vast majority of compromised passwords either begin or end with a digit — a common habit that makes them vulnerable to brute-force attacks. Thirdly, users often rely on positive or trending words in their passwords. For example, the use of the word “Skibidi” in analysed passwords increased 36-fold over the past few years, reflecting the rise of the internet trend. “In recent years, secure password rules have become a widely discussed topic. More and more services now require passwords that are at least 10 characters long, include an uppercase letter, and contain a number or symbol. Yet a comparative analysis of leaked passwords from r... -
Dawn - 18:59 May 14, 2026
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of direct involvement in military operations against his country during a Brics meeting in New Delhi on Thursday, Iranian state media reported. The spat comes a day after the UAE denied a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he visited the Gulf country during the Iran war, to which Araghchi already reacted by saying that “those colluding with Israel to sow division will be held to account”. “I didn’t name the UAE in my [Brics] statement for the sake of unity. But the truth is that the UAE was directly involved in the aggression against my country. When the attacks started, they didn’t even issue a condemnation,” state media quoted Araghchi as saying on Thursday, in response to comments made by the Emirati representative. Iranian state media did not specify what the Emirati representative said. According to the reports, Araghchi argued that neither US bases nor an alliance with Israel provided the UAE with secu... -
Dawn - 18:59 May 14, 2026
US President Donald Trump hailed “extremely positive” talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday, in remarks made at an opulent banquet in Beijing attended by top leaders and American business figures, including Elon Musk and Tim Cook. His trip to Beijing is the first by a US president in nearly a decade, with the grand reception belying a host of unresolved trade and geopolitical tensions between the two countries. The two leaders rounded off the first full day of a closely watched summit in the Chinese capital with the banquet in a red-carpeted dining room in the lavish Great Hall of the People, abutting Tiananmen Square. “There are those who say this may be the biggest summit ever,” Trump told Xi after a ceremony that featured an honour guard and throngs of children waving flowers and flags at the Great Hall. Trump also said he had invited Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, to visit the White House on September 24. Live images streamed before the leaders arrived showed a jovial atmosphere, with s... -
Dawn - 18:47 May 14, 2026
ISLAMABAD, May 14: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday said that the government had not contacted him or his father, President Asif Ali Zardari, regarding a constitutional amendment. His remarks came amid media reports about the government’s intention to have the 28th constitutional amendment passed by parliament. “President Zardari and I remain in contact with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, but the government has not contacted the PPP regarding any constitutional amendment,” the PPP chief said at a press conference after chairing the parliamentary party meeting at the Parliament House in Islamabad. Responding to questions, Bilawal said that without the PPP, the passage of constitutional amendments and the federal budget would not be possible. “The PPP’s role in the 26th and 27th constitutional amendments is evident to everyone. We did not allow the rights of the provinces to be reduced; instead, we expanded them. Through our amendments, Balochistan’s representation in the Senate increased,” he ad... -
Dawn - 18:20 May 14, 2026
France’s health minister said Thursday that 26 people in France identified as close contacts of hantavirus cases linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship had tested negative for the illness. Dutch authorities also confirmed that all people who arrived in the Netherlands on evacuation flights from the ship this week have tested negative. Twenty-six people are in hospital isolation in France, including 22 identified as close contacts of a Dutch woman on the MV Hondius that was at the centre of an international alert for the rare disease typically transmitted by rodents. French doctors are monitoring four others who were on the ship, while a fifth French passenger tested positive for hantavirus and is in serious condition in a French hospital. “As of today, all close contacts of a person who tested positive for hantavirus, present in France, have tested negative, without exception,” said Health Minister Stephanie Rist on X. Twenty-two of the individuals in France were on a flight from the Atlantic island of Saint He... -
Dawn - 17:57 May 14, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The government on Thursday said that IMF-mandated asset declarations of civil servants would be made publicly accessible in a redacted form to ensure both transparency and personal privacy. The declaration of government officials’ assets is required under IMF governance and corruption-related benchmarks. Establishment Division Secretary Nabeel Awan testified before the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, which ordered full investigations into two major scams involving the disappearance of over 400 kilogrammes of silver and a major portion of 2,000 bags of skimmed milk from the custody of Pakistan Customs. The meeting of the senate panel, chaired by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, took up the status of asset declarations by government servants, and Awan reported that the government had revised the Civil Servants Conduct Rules and was in the process of digitising the asset declaration system through the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) platform. He said, “Declarations would be publicly access... -
Dawn - 17:02 May 14, 2026
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump met in Beijing on Thursday for high-stakes talks, discussing the Iran war, Ukraine and economic cooperation. Away from the long list of complex agenda topics, here are five other highlights from day one of the summit: One-sided friendship? China’s President Xi Jinping (R) and US President Donald Trump shake hands as they attend a state banquet at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14, 2026. — AFP Trump heaped praise on Xi as talks began at the cavernous Great Hall of the People, saying: “It’s an honour to be your friend.” “You and I have known each other for a long time… We’ve had a fantastic relationship, we’ve gotten along when there were difficulties, we worked it out,” Trump told Xi. “I would call you and you would call me.” Xi has in the past partially reciprocated Trump’s characterisation of their relationship, referring to a “personal friendship”. But on Thursday the Chinese leader stopped short of using that label, saying ins... -
Dawn - 16:38 May 14, 2026
The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday said Pakistan’s relations with the United Arab Emirates remained unaffected by any external engagements the Gulf state may have, expressing confidence in the strength of bilateral ties. It said the relationship was based on mutual trust, adding that this sentiment was also shared in Abu Dhabi. “Pakistan – UAE relations are strong, brotherly, built on strong foundation. We have 2.2 million-strong diaspora in the UAE. We have traditionally been friendly and cooperative in all affairs. We have a trade close to $8 billion, said FO Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi during the weekly press briefing. He further said that there is “absolutely no question” of any negative aspersions with respect to relations between Islamabad and Abu Dhabi. Earlier in the day, Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry said that Pakistan’s relationship with the United Arab Emirates was “absolutely fine”. Several media outlets in recent days have reported that the Gulf country had begun a “large-scale e... -
Dawn - 16:02 May 14, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan raised $250 million equivalent through its inaugural Panda bond issuance in the Chinese capital market at an interest rate of 2.5 per cent, with a three-year maturity, according to Advisor to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad. In a social media post on X on Thursday, Schehzad said: “Pakistan has successfully completed its inaugural Panda bond issuance in China’s onshore capital market today, marking the country’s first-ever entry into the world’s second-largest and deepest capital market.” The inaugural Panda bond is a three-year fixed-rate instrument, making it Pakistan’s first-ever renminbi (RMB)-denominated sovereign issuance in China’s onshore capital market, he announced. “The landmark Panda bond issuance of RMB 1.75 billion (equivalent to $250 million) attracted overwhelming investor demand of over RMB 8.8bn (approximately $1.26bn), resulting in oversubscription of more than five times,” Schehzad wrote. Importantly, he said that the demand for the inaugural tranche alone exceeded... -
Dawn - 14:57 May 14, 2026
In a moment that turned an ordinary working day into an unforgettable act of heroism, 44-year-old railway employee Muhammad Liaqat Ali laid down his life while attempting to stop a suicide bomber near the sensitive Mankoor check post in Attock’s Jand-Kohat railway section. The quiet of the remote area was shattered when Liaqat, a gang mate of Pakistan Railways, confronted a suspicious man wearing an explosive vest who was reportedly moving toward a security installation near the Khushal Garh Bridge. What began as a brief exchange of words quickly escalated into a fatal encounter that ended in a powerful explosion, echoing across the surrounding locality and sending residents into panic. According to railway and local sources, Liaqat had already completed his duties earlier in the day and returned home after marking his attendance — another routine shift for a man who spent his life earning an honest living for his family. Within hours, that routine was replaced by an extraordinary act of bravery that cost him... -
Dawn - 14:27 May 14, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Aleema Khan, sister of former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan, filed a writ petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday, challenging his prolonged solitary confinement at Central Jail Adiala, Rawalpindi, terming it illegal and a violation of fundamental rights. Imran — imprisoned since Aug 5, 2023, for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts — is serving a 14-year sentence at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail in the £190m case, also known as the Al-Qadir Trust case. The petition, filed through Barrister Salman Safdar and Salman Akram Raja, names the superintendent and deputy superintendent of Adiala jail, the inspector general of prisons, Punjab, chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the director general Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the medical superintendent of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), and the state as respondents. The petitioner argued that no court has sentenced the 74-year-old former prime minister to solitary confinement in either the Al-Qadir T...
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