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Dawn - 18:43 Apr 11, 2026
Two US Navy warships transited the Strait of Hormuz at the start of an operation to clear the strategic waterway of mines laid by Iran, US Central Command (Centcom) said on Saturday. The announcement — which marks the first such transit since the US-Israeli war on Iran began — came shortly after President Donald Trump said Washington had started “clearing out” the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil passes. “Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon to encourage the free flow of commerce,” said Centcom commander Admiral Brad Cooper. The USS Frank E Peterson and the USS Michael Murphy are the guided-missile destroyers involved in the operation, but Centcom said that “additional US forces including underwater drones” could join the effort in coming days. Earlier, US media outlet Axios reported that the operation was not coordinated with authorities in Tehran. “We’re now starting the process of clearing out the... -
Dawn - 18:25 Apr 11, 2026
Former foreign minister and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari termed the US-Iran talks taking place in Islamabad on Saturday the “biggest achievement so far” in efforts to end the Middle East war. He expressed these views during an interview with Al Jazeera, during which he was asked how difficult it would be for Pakistan to get something “concrete” out of the talks, which are taking place in the federal capital after Islamabad brokered a two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran. In his response, Bilawal said: “The fact that the talks are even happening is the biggest achievement thus far. It’s significant that the ceasefire is in effect [and] the bombing has stopped in Iran and across most of the Middle East, and the two major [powers] are now negotiating. “We hope that this ceasefire is built upon towards a more lasting and permanent resolution to this conflict.” Bilawal added that not only the people of Pakistan, but the people of the entire world were watching the talks with “cautious optimism”. “We b... -
Dawn - 18:16 Apr 11, 2026
TOBA TEK SINGH: Relatives of a Pakistan-origin man residing in Kuwait, who has been missing along with his family, have sought the authorities’ assistance to confirm whether the family had been killed in an incident involving missile debris after interception. Muhammad Saleem, a brother-in-law of the missing person, Waqas Ahmed, shared a copy of a letter with Dawn that he said he had sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The letter states: “I am writing to seek your urgent assistance regarding my brother-in-law, Mr Waqas Ahmad, who, along with his family, is currently untraceable in Kuwait under extremely concerning circumstances.” Saleem said in the letter that Waqas was residing in Kuwait with his family. “The household consisted of five members: four Australian nationals, including Mr Waqas Ahmad, and his wife, who is an Egyptian national.” He further stated that recently, “we received a WhatsApp call from an individual identifying himself as Zeeshan … who claimed to be their neighbour in Kuwait. He inf... -
Dawn - 18:10 Apr 11, 2026
Pakistan has sent a military force and fighter jets to Saudi Arabia to boost security under a joint defence cooperation agreement between the two countries, the Saudi defence ministry said on Saturday. The Saudi ministry, in a statement, wrote that a military force and fighter jets from Pakistan had arrived at the King Abdulaziz Air Base in its eastern province. It added that the Pakistani deployment was aimed at “strengthening the joint defence cooperation agreement signed between the two brotherly countries”. “The Pakistani force consists of fighter and support aircraft belonging to the Pakistani Air Force, with the aim of enhancing joint military coordination, raising the level of operational readiness between the armed forces of the two countries,” it continued. The planes were sent after Iranian strikes hit key energy infrastructure and killed a Saudi national, three sources, including a senior Pakistani government official, told Reuters. They were “not there to attack anyone”, said the Pakistani officia... -
Dawn - 17:39 Apr 11, 2026
London’s Metropolitan Police said on Saturday they had arrested 212 people at a protest in Trafalgar Square opposing Britain’s banning of the Palestine Action group. The gathering was the first since London’s High Court ruled in February that a ban designating the pro-Palestinian group as a terrorist organisation was unlawful. UK Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood has been granted approval to appeal the ruling. Lawmakers banned Palestine Action — which accuses Britain’s government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in Gaza — under anti-terrorism legislation last July after some members broke into a Royal Air Force base. During Saturday’s demonstration, placard-holding protesters, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves and waving Palestinian flags, sat on the ground or on camping chairs. London’s Metropolitan Police said in a post on X that they were “continuing to make arrests where people are showing support for a proscribed organisation”. -
Dawn - 16:59 Apr 11, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) on Saturday reviewed the prices of essential commodities, transport fares and directed the Sindh government to take corrective measures regarding rising fares in Karachi, according to an official statement. On April 5, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had announced that the government had secured a province-wide fare freeze after successful negotiations with transporters, even as fuel prices rose amid a global crunch caused by the now-paused US-Israeli war on Iran. However, citizens using public transport in Karachi continue to pay inflated fares while the government announced a reduction in fuel prices on Friday after falling oil prices in the international market. A meeting, chaired by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, examined the trend in food prices across the country on Saturday, where officials from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) briefed the NPMC on prevailing price trends and market conditions. According to the official statement issue... -
Dawn - 14:39 Apr 11, 2026
They came from around the world: hundreds of journalists rushed to Islamabad’s flagship convention centre — converted into a media hub by Pakistani authorities for landmark talks between the United States and Iran to end the war in the Middle East. But as negotiations began behind closed doors half a kilometre away, all the world’s media could do was wait — and sip on an expertly brewed coffee while listening to live eastern folk music. Even the lattes had a tagline: “Brewed for Peace.” Branding was a big part of the event, with Pakistan dubbing the process the “Islamabad Talks”, and plastering a logo combining the Pakistani, US and Iranian flags all over the city. Early on Saturday, an overcast Islamabad felt like a ghost town, with almost no civilian traffic on its wide avenues. The few vehicles that moved were driven by armed, uniformed personnel who patrolled the city. Some journalists, accredited by the information ministry, were nonetheless held up for about an hour at a checkpoint outside the venue as ... -
Dawn - 13:45 Apr 11, 2026
GILGIT: General elections in Gilgit Baltistan will be held on June 7, the GB Election Commission announced on Saturday after a four-month delay. General elections for the GB Assembly were scheduled for Jan 24, 2026. However, days after the announcement, the elections were postponed indefinitely due to harsh weather conditions in the region. The GB Election Commission Secretariat, in a notification available with Dawn, announced June 7 as the poll day for the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly general elections. The GB Chief Election Commissioner Raja Shahbaz Khan also confirmed the development. As for the local government election, Khan said a schedule will be issued later, and it will be held after the general election. He added that preparations were ready for both. LG polls in GB, announced after a gap of 20 years, were initially set for Feb 14, 2026. Earlier this month, Khan said the GB Election Commission was preparing to conduct the elections but had not yet decided on a date. Fourteen political parties had stoo... -
Dawn - 12:39 Apr 11, 2026
US President Donald Trump’s administration plans to crack down on networks it says help pregnant women lie on visa applications in order to secure US citizenship for their US-born babies, an issue that Trump has highlighted to justify his attempts to restrict birthright citizenship. In an internal email sent on Thursday and reviewed by Reuters, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement ordered investigative agents around the country to focus on a new Birth Tourism Initiative. The operation will seek to root out networks that help pregnant foreign nationals come to the US to give birth so their children can receive citizenship, it said. Trump, a Republican, has kicked off an aggressive push to reduce both legal and illegal immigration after taking office in January 2025. His administration has used the threat of birth tourism as a rationale for attempting to restrict the practice of granting automatic citizenship to children born on US soil. “Uninhibited birth tourism poses a tremendous cost to taxpayers and thre... -
Dawn - 11:18 Apr 11, 2026
The Artemis II capsule and its four-member crew streaked through Earth’s atmosphere and safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Friday after nearly 10 days in space, capping the first voyage by humans to the vicinity of the moon in over half a century. Nasa’s gumdrop-shaped Orion capsule, dubbed Integrity, parachuted gently into calm seas off the Southern California coast shortly after 5:07pm Pacific Time (12:07am GMT on Saturday), concluding a mission that four days prior took the astronauts 252,756 miles away from Earth, deeper into space than anyone had flown before. The Artemis II flight, travelling a total of 694,392 miles (1,117,515km) in two Earth orbits and a climactic lunar flyby some 4,000 miles from its surface, was the debut crewed test flight in a series of Artemis missions that aim to return astronauts to the lunar surface starting in 2028. ‘Perfect bull’s splashdown The splashdown under partly cloudy skies was carried by live video feed in a Nasa webcast. “A perfect bull’s eye splashdown f... -
Dawn - 10:06 Apr 11, 2026
The United States and Iran have been sworn enemies since the 1979 Islamic revolution and the hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran. On Saturday, the arch-foes are set to hold talks in Islamabad to end more than a month of war in the Middle East, as a fragile ceasefire holds despite deep mutual mistrust. 1979: Hostage crisis On November 4, 1979, student activists demanding the extradition of Iran’s deposed monarch —Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was undergoing medical treatment in the US — take staff hostage at the US embassy in Tehran. The move comes seven months after the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Some 52 hostages are held for 444 days. In April 1980, Washington breaks off diplomatic relations with Iran and imposes restrictions on commerce and travel. Nine months later, the last hostages are released. 2002: ‘Axis of evil’ On April 30, 1995, US president Bill Clinton announces a complete ban on trade and investment with Iran, accusing it of supporting terrorism. The US cites Iran’s backi... -
Dawn - 10:03 Apr 11, 2026
San Francisco police arrested a person for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home and for making threats outside the artificial intelligence startup’s headquarters, the company said on Friday. In a post on X, the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) said an unknown male threw an incendiary device at a North Beach residence at 4:12am and then escaped on foot. The 20-year-old suspect was detained about an hour later after police received a call about a man threatening to burn down another building. Police did not immediately comment on the suspect’s potential motive. “Thankfully, no one was hurt. We deeply appreciate how quickly SFPD responded and the support from the city in helping keep our employees safe,” an OpenAI spokesperson said. The company is assisting law enforcement agencies with their investigation, the spokesperson added. The incident came as OpenAI faces intense pressure. The company recently faced backlash over its move to strike a deal with the US government to ... -
Dawn - 09:59 Apr 11, 2026
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Saturday departed for the US to participate in the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings 2026, during which he is expected to participate in over 50 high-level engagements, the Ministry of Finance said. The Spring Meetings, set for April 13–18 in Washington, DC, will bring together finance ministers, central bank governors, policymakers and development experts from across the globe at a time of heightened economic uncertainty. As per the press statement, during his visit, the finance minister will “represent Pakistan at important events organised by the IMF and the World Bank Group”. It said that Aurganzeb is set to “participate in a wide range of multilateral and bilateral engagements with global financial leaders, development partners, and policymakers” during the course of his visit. The statement said that before the meetings, the finance minister will visit Boston to participate in the “Pakistan Conference at Harvard University”. At the co... -
Dawn - 08:44 Apr 11, 2026
WASHINGTON: The war in the Middle East will have a cascading impact on the global economy, even if the fragile ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump takes hold, World Bank President Ajay Banga told Reuters in an interview on Friday. And the damage will be far more serious if the ceasefire fails and the conflict escalates, he said. Banga on Tuesday said global growth could be lowered by 0.3 to 0.4 percentage points in a baseline scenario, with an early end to the war, and by as much as 1 percentage point if it endures. Inflation could increase by 200 to 300 basis points, with a much higher impact of up to 0.9 percentage points if the war continues, he said. The war, which has killed thousands of people across the Middle East, has sent the price of oil up by 50pc while disrupting supplies of oil, gas, fertiliser, helium and other goods, as well as tourism and air travel. The two-week ceasefire announced by Trump appears tenuous, with Israel and Iran continuing strikes. Iran said on Friday that blocke... -
Dawn - 08:12 Apr 11, 2026
Since the outbreak of the US-Israel war on Iran on February 28, Pakistan’s top civilian leadership has leaned on backchannel and direct telephonic diplomacy, using a steady stream of phone calls to position Islamabad as a bridge between Washington and Tehran. From the first day of the conflict, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif began reaching out to Gulf leaders, condemning regional escalation and showing solidarity. In the weeks that followed, both the premier and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar expanded that outreach, holding repeated conversations with counterparts in Tehran, Gulf capitals, and key regional players. Here is a timeline of the calls made by Pakistan’s leadership since the conflict began.
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Dawn - 05:01 Apr 11, 2026
RAWALPINDI: The district administration declared Saturday as a public holiday in Rawalpindi in view of the US-Iran dialogue in Islamabad. Earlier, the administration observed April 9 and 10 as public holidays and on Friday it extended it for another day. Deputy Commissioner Dr Hassan Waqar Cheema told Dawn that the government had decided to declare public holiday in the district in relation to the security arrangements for the delegates in Islamabad. He said all emergency departments and institutions will remain operational. Hospitals and other services will also remain operational. Meanwhile, the district administration asked traders to close all bazaars and commercial outlets and petrol filing stations in some selected area like Murree Road, Airport Road and Peshawar Road to close their outlets on Friday and Saturday. Due to the security measures, the movement of residents will also be restricted to their localities. “The petrol filling stations on Murree Road, Airport Road and Peshawar Road have been close... -
Dawn - 04:58 Apr 11, 2026
Opposition and treasury members exchange punches during the City Council session on Friday.—PPI • Treasury and opposition councillors fight over seating dispute • Mayor Wahab claims JI ‘spoiled the atmosphere’ • Opposition leader blames PPP for ‘hooliganism’ • House passes 13 resolutions after JI’s walkout KARACHI: A violent brawl erupted at the City Council session on Friday as members of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and opposition Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) clashed in a chaotic showdown with members trading blows and kicks, and even hurling chairs on each other. The commotion started when some PPP members objected to the JI members for sitting on chairs placed ahead the seat of the Opposition Leader Advocate Saifuddin, insisting that the opposition members should not be allowed to sit in front of the opposition benches. While Mayor Murtaza Wahab helplessly watched the ruckus, the PPP and JI members scuffled leading to fighting among members turning the City Council hall in to a battlefield. They kicked... -
Dawn - 04:50 Apr 11, 2026
• Work to begin next month; 2,314 cameras to be installed across Karachi except district Central • CM reviews proposal to expand surveillance network to other Sindh cities KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has approved Phase-II of the Karachi Safe City Project, work on which is likely to begin next month. In the second phase, over 2,300 smart cameras and advanced monitoring infrastructure will be installed across Karachi. Presiding over a meeting of the Sindh Safe Cities Authority (SSCA) here at the CM House, the chief minister termed the project a major step towards strengthening urban security, surveillance and law enforcement capacity in the metropolis, saying ensuring public safety through modern technology remains a top priority of his government. The meeting was attended by Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, Inspector General of Police Javed Odho, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Iqbal Memon and others. The meeting was informed that the Phase-II of the p... -
Dawn - 04:42 Apr 11, 2026
WASHINGTON: As indirect diplomacy between the United States and Iran converges on Islamabad in the coming hours, the messaging from Washington has settled into a carefully managed tone of cautious optimism—tempered by clear acknowledgment that the process remains fragile. US President Donald Trump, speaking briefly before boarding Air Force One on Friday evening, projected guarded confidence in the American negotiating team while avoiding any suggestion that outcomes were pre-determined. “We’ll see how it turns out. So it’s JD and Steve and Jared. We have a good team, and they meet tomorrow. We’ll see how it all works out,” he said, referring to the delegation led by Vice President JD Vance and senior aides. At the same time, Trump framed the talks in explicitly strategic and transactional terms, suggesting that economic and geopolitical interests tied to regional chokepoints would ultimately shape outcomes. “The strait will open up. If we just left the strait, …(it) is going to open,” he said, adding that th... -
Dawn - 02:49 Apr 11, 2026
• Growing number of service members seeking information on how to apply for discharge • March alone saw over 80 new cases, nearly double annual norm • School bombing in Iran cited as key turning point by many callers WASHINGTON: The US-Israeli war against Iran has caused an unprecedented surge in US service members seeking information about conscientious objection, according to the Centre on Conscience and War, a nonprofit that advises troops on their rights. The group says calls to its 24-hour GI Rights Hotline have increased by 1,000 per cent in recent weeks, with many active-duty personnel asking how to apply for discharge as conscientious objectors — a rarely used and often complex process. In interviews with various US media outlets, including National Public Radio, the centre’s executive director, Iraq War veteran Mike Prysner, said the spike reflects a deep moral reckoning among troops in the wake of the conflict with Iran. “In a typical year, we see about 50 conscientious objector applications from ac...
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