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Dawn - 11:35 Jul 14, 2026
After Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, PM Shehbaz reaffirms Pakistan's support for kingdom's security
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that Pakistan “strongly condemns the blatant attacks” against Saudi Arabia the previous night, reaffirming Islamabad’s unwavering support for the kingdom’s security. The premier’s condemnation in an X post did not further specify the attacks. But, his statement came after Saudi Arabia said on Monday that it had intercepted ballistic missiles fired at the country’s south by Houthis. “Such reprehensible actions constitute a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and have the potential to further undermine regional peace and stability,” PM Shehbaz warned. He said Pakistan “reaffirms its unwavering support for the kingdom’s security and stands in complete solidarity with the brotherly kingdom of Saudi Arabia at this critical time”. “On its part, Pakistan will continue to support all sincere efforts aimed at promoting peace, stability, security, and mutual understanding across the region,” he added. Pakistan and Saudi Arab... -
Dawn - 11:31 Jul 14, 2026
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed that remittances from abroad be fully digitised as the government aims to achieve a cashless and digital economy. The premier issued the directives during a meeting he chaired in Islamabad on promoting a cashless economy and digital payments. “The prime minister directed that awareness campaigns to encourage merchants toward digital payments via QR codes be made more effective, and that remittances from abroad be digitised to 100 per cent,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said. The meeting was briefed that 92pc of remittance funds were received digitally during the past year. Workers’ remittances are seen as the single most critical stabilising force for Pakistan’s external sector, with the inflows reaching a record $41.6 billion in the last fiscal year. The government last month also expanded the scope of its Roshan Digital Account (RDA) framework, opening the scheme initially meant for overseas Pakistanis to foreign nationals and investors... -
Dawn - 11:04 Jul 14, 2026
Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir has met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, according to a post on the Turkish Presidency’s X account. The presidency’s post on Tuesday, which also had a picture of the two, said Erdogan received Munir at the Ankara airport. Reuters reported that the meeting was held behind closed doors at the Ankara airport. The report said that Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, Chief of Turkish General Staff General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu and National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) Director Ibrahim Kalin also attended the meeting. Separately, an X post by the Turkish embassy in Pakistan said CDF Munir was accorded a guard of honour by a tri-services contingent of the Turkish armed forces following his arrival in Ankara. General Bayraktaroglu welcomed him during his official visit, the post said. “Rooted in brotherhood, mutual trust and a shared strategic vision, the enduring defence and military cooperation between Turkiye and Pa... -
Dawn - 10:16 Jul 14, 2026
The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark index lost more than 6,000 points during intraday trade on Tuesday as equities experienced a massive meltdown amid renewed fighting between the United States and Iran. The KSE-100 index opened in the red and had lost 3,464.89 points at 10am, dropping to 176,462.15 points from the previous close of 179,927.04. After minor fluctuations, the index had lost 6,088.03 points (3.38 per cent) by 3pm, dropping to 173,839.01 points. The decline came as global oil prices rose to their highest in four weeks on Tuesday, as the US reimposed its naval blockade of Iran while the two countries stepped up attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, heightening uncertainty about energy flows. Brent crude futures were up $2.74, or 3.29pc, at $86.04 per barrel at 12:51pm PKT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose $2.21, or 2.83pc, to $80.35 a barrel. Oil prices are now at their highest since the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding to end the war on June 18. Awais Ashraf, dir... -
Dawn - 10:07 Jul 14, 2026
Teacher Raja Dey fears attendance might drop now that government-run schools have stopped serving eggs for lunch in his eastern Indian state, a dietary change that has stirred a political storm. The humble egg, a popular food in West Bengal, was taken off the menu after the state’s recently elected Hindu nationalist government said a religious charity will provide free, vegetarian cooked meals in state-run schools. The new arrangement has rekindled a long-running debate over food, faith and nutrition in the world’s most populous country, with critics accusing the government of trying to turn schoolchildren vegetarian. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, which swept to power in West Bengal for the first time in regional elections held in May, often promotes vegetarianism as a part of its nationalist agenda, although most Indian Hindus eat meat and fish. Eggs, which Hindus generally consider non-vegetarian, are even more widely consumed. Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, whose regional Trinam... -
Dawn - 09:50 Jul 14, 2026
Another four terrorists have been killed during the ongoing Operation Shaban in Balochistan, following which the total number of terrorists killed in the operation has reached 83, state-owned Pakistan TV reported on Tuesday, citing security sources. The ongoing sweep was launched in retaliation for a deadly attack on a police post at the Mangi Dam pumping station in Ziarat. During that assault, armed attackers kidnapped and killed 27 police officers. Troops from the army, Frontier Corps, police and the Anti-Terrorism Force are participating in the joint operation. In a post on the social media platform X, the broadcaster said, “Security sources say four more khawarij terrorists were killed in ongoing air and ground operations, taking the total number of terrorists killed in Operation Shaban to 83.” “Since July 5, a total of 121 khawarij terrorists have been eliminated in Operation Shaban and other intelligence-based operations,” it said, adding that the operation would continue “until the last terrorist is ne... -
Dawn - 09:22 Jul 14, 2026
Ministers, mostly from the ruling PML-N, have rebuked Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman over his recent remarks about security personnel, it emerged on Tuesday. Fazl made the statement during a recent party rally in Punjab’s Kasur, where he spoke about the security and terrorism situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. In this context, he mentioned that soldiers’ martyrdom was often cited, adding that personnel were drawing salaries to fight for the country. In a post on X, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif reacted to his statement by expressing disappointment and terming his words “unfair”. Asif said he expected a seasoned politician such as Fazl to be more responsible in his choice of words. “Linking the sacrifice of military personnel for the homeland to their salary is not only unfair but tantamount to hurting the sentiments of the martyrs and their families. No one sacrifices their life merely for a salary; there is an ideology, a belief, a duty, and a deep association w... -
Dawn - 08:55 Jul 14, 2026
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Tuesday met with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar at the Aiwan-i-Sadr. According to the PPP, the two discussed the “overall situation in the country, including matters relating to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK)”. Tuesday’s meeting comes ahead of the upcoming elections in the region, scheduled for July 27. Last month, PPP’s Bilawal and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman announced that their parties would jointly contest the AJK general elections. Meanwhile, ahead of the elections, the proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) has called for widespread protests demanding the abolition of 12 reserved seats. Bilawal had also met with Dar last week to discuss the “situation in AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan”, according to Radio Pakistan. “Both leaders also agreed on the importance of holding free, fair, and transparent forthcoming general elections in AJK,” the report said. It is worth mentioning that last month, the PPP formed a governm... -
Dawn - 08:36 Jul 14, 2026
Police on Tuesday said that the “mastermind” of the deadly attack on a Rangers camp in Karachi last month has been arrested, adding that the terrorists had training and “backing from Afghanistan”. On the night of June 27, terrorists attacked the local headquarters of the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) in Karachi’s Gulistan-i-Jauhar area, during which three security personnel were martyred and four were injured, according to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). ISPR said the attack was carried out by terrorists “belonging to Indian proxy Jamaatul Ahrar” (JuA), adding that three terrorists were killed in retaliatory action while one was arrested, whom it identified as an Afghan national. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday alongside Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar, City Senior Superintendent of Police Irfan Bahadur detailed the involvement of elements from Afghanistan in the “entire planning” and execution of the attack. The SSP identified the “mastermind” of the attack as Qari Basheer alias Qari Habib, add... -
Dawn - 08:18 Jul 14, 2026
THE murder of five workers from Punjab in Mashkel is another grim reminder that ethnic violence remains a persistent feature of Balochistan’s fragile security landscape. The targeting of civilians on the basis of their ethnicity underscores the continued ability of terrorist groups to exploit fault lines and perpetuate insecurity in the province. Such killings must be unequivocally condemned. The attack is part of a fresh surge of terrorism, that defies ongoing counterterrorism operations, in which security forces have killed 109 terrorists since early July. It is clear that decades of operations, militant losses and official assurances have not achieved the desired results, and tactical victories against terrorist groups have yet to translate into lasting security for ordinary citizens. The targeted killing of workers from Punjab is not a new development. Over the years, workers and travellers hailing from Punjab have been singled out after identity checks on highways or at their places of work. Such attacks... -
Dawn - 06:17 Jul 14, 2026
Big Tech companies, including Apple, Meta and Google, have “significant gaps” in tackling child sexual abuse and the growing threat of online sexual extortion, Australia’s internet regulator said on Tuesday. Online platforms are failing to use available technologies that can identify well-known coercion scripts used by sexual extortion offenders, eSafety said in a transparency report. “In several cases, we have provided these platforms with evidence of how their services are being colonised by criminals to devastating impact, with clear guidance on how to stem the abuse,” said eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant. “Even when we’ve laid this out, we haven’t seen adequate responses, despite the technology being readily available.” Google, Meta, Snap, Microsoft and Apple did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. Top 10 services with highest number of sexual extortion reports to eSafety. A report for sexual extortion received by eSafety can include multiple services. — via eSafety The latest... -
Dawn - 05:56 Jul 14, 2026
Cradling an Asian koel in his hands, wildlife officer Zaheer Ahmed gently stretched its wings as part of a health checkup to rehabilitate birds hit with dehydration or heatstroke in Islamabad. Pakistan, which is one of the most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change, experienced its second-warmest year since 1960 in 2025, according to government data. Temperatures in Islamabad this summer have pushed past 40°C. This photograph taken on July 10, 2026 shows a pigeon drinking from a bowl of water in Islamabad. —AFP “In the past, because of kite flying, the string used to damage their wings,” said Sakhawat Ali, director of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board, which oversees the Margallah Wildlife Rescue Centre in Islamabad. “But for the last one or two years, most of the cases we have been receiving involve birds that are dehydrated and suffering from heat stress.” The wildlife rescue centre, located at the foot of the Margallah Hills, was once the site of the Islamabad Zoo, where neglected ele... -
Dawn - 05:51 Jul 14, 2026
WASHINGTON: Pakistan on Monday backed Saudi Arabia at an emergency UN Security Council briefing on Yemen, reaffirming Islamabad’s support for the kingdom’s security and territorial integrity and calling for all parties concerned to resolve differences through dialogue and diplomacy. Yemen has been gripped by conflict since the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014, triggering a Saudi-led military intervention in support of the beleaguered government the following year. The UN Security Council briefing came after an attack by the Yemeni government on an international airport in Sanaa on Monday. The Yemeni government said it wanted to prevent an Iranian plane from landing in Sanaa after it failed to convince a Houthi delegation, which went to Tehran for assassinated Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s funeral, to board a Yemen flag carrier’s flight instead. Hours after the airport attack, Saudi Arabia said it intercepted ballistic missiles fired at the country’s south by Houthis. Monday’s flare-up ... -
Dawn - 05:50 Jul 14, 2026
The United States launched another wave of strikes on Iran for the third consecutive day early on Tuesday after President Donald Trump announced the reimposition of a blockade on Iranian ports and floated a 20 per cent fee on cargo in the vital Strait of Hormuz. Trump said a deal with Iran was still possible even as attacks were carried out, with Tehran striking two ships in the Strait of Hormuz and killing one crew member, according to the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said two “offending supertankers” were hit and disabled in the Strait of Hormuz. It said the tankers ignored warnings, turned off navigation systems and tried to pass through a “mined route”. The statement did not name the vessels or say whether it was referring to the same tankers cited by the UAE’s Ministry of Defence. The Guards said the US was “inciting vessels to use an illegal route” and warned that cooperation with the “aggressor enemy” would result in damage, delays in reopening the strait an... -
Dawn - 05:39 Jul 14, 2026
The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark index continued in the red for a second day on Tuesday, losing more than 3,000 points during early trade. The KSE-100 index had lost 3,464.89 points, dropping to 176,462.15 points from the previous close of 179,927.04. The decline came as global oil prices rose nearly three per cent on Tuesday to their highest in four weeks, as the US reimposed its naval blockade of Iran while the two countries stepped up attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, heightening uncertainty about energy flows. Brent crude futures were last up $1.50, or 1.8pc, to $84.80 per barrel at 0330 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.70, or 2.2pc, to $79.84 a barrel. Oil prices are now at their highest since the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding to end the war on June 17. Awais Ashraf, director of research at AKD Securities, said the market declined after the US reinstated its naval blockade of Iran. “The decline is broad-based, with cyclical sectors witnessing the sharpe... -
Dawn - 04:53 Jul 14, 2026
Kash Patel, the director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), hosted Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, describing ties between Pakistan and the US as “critical”. Patel, in a post on X, said it was an “honour” to host Naqvi at the FBI headquarters and thanked Pakistan for its support in protecting US interests in the region. “The FBI deeply appreciates their support as we protect US interests in the region,” he said. He added that the two sides held “important discussions surrounding facilitating resources and specialised training to combat counterterrorism financing and cyber investigations, both at home and abroad.” “Our partnership is critical and we look forward to more success ahead,” Patel said. The interior minister had arrived in Washington last week after representing Pakistan at the Fifth United Nations Chiefs of Police Summit in New York. On the sidelines of the summit, he had met with several regional and international officials. Naqvi had last ... -
Dawn - 03:39 Jul 14, 2026
THE Palestinian woman was breastfeeding her baby in a tattered shelter abutting the ruins of her devastated home. Right then, a direct sniper shot pierced the infant’s semi-formed skull, leaving a limp body without scratching the mother. The child evidently posed a threat to the ancient oracle’s prophecy for a country called Israel, which would prosper from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean Sea but only after vanquishing its enemies, the Amalek. The child Amalek of Gaza would become an adult Amalek and that’s problematic. Pinpointed precision with which the well-planned genocide is being executed in Gaza borrows inevitably from ancient myths. The Egyptian pharaoh ordered all newborn babies to be killed to reverse his oracle’s prediction that one Moses among the children would bring his doom. The CIA reportedly used the legend of the pharaoh’s cruelties as depicted in the Cecil B. DeMille movie to superimpose it on its bête noire, one Joseph Stalin. The precision targeting of the infant’s head in Gaza is docu... -
Dawn - 03:32 Jul 14, 2026
BALOCHISTAN bled again this past week — for the rest of the country. In reality, it is the part of the homeland that has rarely ever stopped bleeding over the past 20 years. But for those of us who live a long way from the province, we only become aware of the festering wound when the sepsis sets in. And that is what happened last week with the incidents in Quetta and Ziarat. The manner in which the events unfolded in Ziarat was heart-breaking and by the time the attack took place in Lasbela, the death toll was far too horrific to even comprehend. But there is a greater tragedy. And that is the inability of those in power to approach the crisis in Balochistan with any empathy and political will to heal. The causes of the ailment have been discussed at length — the alienation of the people; the rise of the middle class youth and the roots of its anger; the absence of a genuine political process. It is a political problem that needs a political solution, along with counter-insurgency operations. The people need... -
Dawn - 03:27 Jul 14, 2026
FOR some time, the escalating confrontation between the US and Iran has been playing out round the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz. Both states want to manage the international waterway, which has a key role in global trade, particularly in the transport of hydrocarbons. Tensions flared last week when the Iranians attacked ships using a route they had not ‘authorised’. From that point onwards, both the US and Iran have traded regular fire, with hostilities rising, and the Islamabad MoU coming under a cloud. The US has hit Iranian facilities close to the coast, as opposed to the heavier bombing across the country before the April ceasefire. Tehran has responded by hitting US bases and infrastructure from Jordan to the GCC states. On Monday, American President Donald Trump declared, in all caps, that his country would be the “guardian of the Hormuz Strait”, while adding that the blockade of Iran would resume. Tehran, meanwhile, says the strait has been closed. None of this bodes well for peace in the Gulf,... -
Dawn - 03:17 Jul 14, 2026
• Minister Ghani briefs Murad about findings of two inquiries conducted in 2025 and 2026 on outbreak at Valika Hospital • Labour dept told to ensure accountability, uninterrupted treatment and long-term rehabilitation of affected children • CM orders Sindh-wide review of infection-control practices to ensure strict compliance of sterilisation, waste management and patient-safety protocols KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah was informed on Monday that two inquiries conducted into the HIV outbreak at the Sindh Employees Social Security Institution (SESSI)-run Valika Hospital found several lapses, including non-adherence to infection-prevention protocols by healthcare staff, non-compliance with personal protective equipment requirements and mishandling of single-use syringes. The CM, who held a meeting with senior government officials to take stock of the HIV cases detected at Valika Hospital, ordered a province-wide review of infection-control practices in all SESSI healthcare facilities. He was ...
12392 items