Dawn
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Dawn - 03:33 Apr 25, 2026
• Seminaries declared a ‘red line’, with warning of protest movement after May 2 deadline • Govt moves to strengthen madressah registration process, says around 300 unregistered seminaries identified QUETTA: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) Balochistan Emir Senator Maulana Abdul Wasay has announced a boycott of the Bugti-led coalition government’s functions, official meetings, and visits to the Chief Minister’s House, alleging that the provincial government has launched operations against madressas (seminaries) across the province and sealed many of them. Speaking at a press conference on Friday, along with Senator Kamran Murtaza and other party leaders, he said that the decision to socially boycott the government was taken in response to actions against seminaries. He said the law under which these actions are being carried out has neither been approved by parliament nor by the provincial assembly. He declared that seminaries are the party’s “red line” and warned that those taking action against them have “dug ... -
Dawn - 02:49 Apr 25, 2026
Source: The 2026 Global Report on Food Crises • Multi-agency report says over 9m Pakistanis face ‘crisis’ conditions; another 1.7 million in the more severe ‘emergency’ category • Notes devastating monsoon rains, severe flooding wiped out crucial cropland, livelihoods • Warns global hunger remains at critical levels amid conflict, drought, aid cuts; outlook for 2026 remains ‘bleak’ ISLAMABAD: Pakistan remains one of the 10 fragile countries where global acute food insecurity is most concentrated, according to a UN-backed report released on Friday, as intensifying climate extremes and persistent economic challenges continue to strain the nation. The 2026 Global Report on Food Crises names Pakistan alongside Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen as the primary centres of acute hunger. According to the report, Pakistan was among the world’s 10 largest food crises in 2025, with about 11 million people facing acute food insecurity. Of t... -
Dawn - 02:24 Apr 25, 2026
ISLAMABAD: In a surprise move, the Shehbaz Sharif government on Friday increased the prices of both petrol and diesel by Rs26.77 per litre with immediate effect for the week ending May 1, passing on the impact of global prices during the last fortnight while also seeking to raise revenues in the final months of the fiscal year under commitments with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF’s executive board is expected to approve in the first half of May the disbursement of more than $1.2 billion under two ongoing programmes. As of April 23, diesel prices were estimated to go down by around Rs25 per litre and petrol by Rs6 per litre. However, the government partially restored the petroleum levy on diesel and increased petrol prices to meet overall fiscal targets. Unlike the prime minister’s announcements of price cuts, the increase this time was quietly announced by the petroleum division on the day Iran and the United States dispatched their negotiators to Islamabad for the second round of talks. Petr... -
Dawn - 00:08 Apr 25, 2026
Every time exams come around, you are told to make a proper schedule, wake up early, drink water, be the responsible and disciplined child. And then somehow, many of you end up on your bed every night around 2 am with zero new information in your brain, but a detailed colour-coded schedule that you made instead of actually studying. Perhaps it’s not wrong. You have the motivation to start your studies accordingly. Whether you actually studied or the schedule became the whole project, at least you started. But there is a specific type of student with the most organised notes, the most colour-coded timetable, the neatest desk setup and, somehow, they actually do study. So that leaves the rest of us — the big lot — the students who also genuinely try, sacrifice sleep, panic-watch YouTube lectures and explanations. But the results still don’t match the effort they put in, leaving them confused and demoralised. What makes their efforts fail? Mostly, it’s study methods that don’t work. The pressure is on vigorous s... -
Dawn - 21:30 Apr 24, 2026
Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said on Friday that an Iranian delegation led by the Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had arrived in Islamabad. The development came as the White House said that envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would also be heading to Pakistan for talks with Iran. However, Iran asserted that it would not be meeting with the US. In a post on X, FO spokesperson Andrabi Araghchi was received by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir and other senior officials. “During the visit, the Iranian foreign minister will hold meetings with Pakistan’s senior leadership to discuss the latest regional developments as well as ongoing efforts for regional peace and stability,” he added. Subsequently, Dar posted on X that he was pleased to “receive and welcome my brother, Foreign Minister of Iran, Abbas Araghchi, to Islamabad”. “Look forward to our meaningful engagements aimed at promoting regional peace... -
Dawn - 20:52 Apr 24, 2026
The government raised the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs26.77 each on Friday. Following the increase, the price of petrol now stands at Rs393.35 and that of HSD at Rs380.19. The announcement was made in a press release issued by the Petroleum Division. It said the prices were revised for the week starting on April 25. Petrol is mostly used in private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws and two-wheelers and has a direct bearing on the budget of the middle and lower-middle class. High-speed diesel is mainly used in the heavy transport sector and for large generators. The government has been revising petroleum prices every week on Friday night following the now-paused US-Israeli war on Iran, which began on February 28. The war also led to a global fuel crunch caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s supply of oil and gas used to pass in peace time. After the US-Israeli war on Iran began, the government initially hiked petrol and diesel prices by R... -
Dawn - 19:57 Apr 24, 2026
KARACHI: An 11-year-old boy was feared to have drowned after he could not be recovered even hours after being swept away while swimming in an open water line in Karachi’s Scheme-33 area on Friday. East Deputy Commissioner (DC) Nasrullah Abbasi, who was supervising the rescue operation, told Dawn that the boy, Zahid Mohammed Khan, was swept away around 2pm while swimming in the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC)’s line. He was not recovered until late at night, when the last updates were received. Lifeguards from Rescue 1122 and Edhi Foundation carried out the search for him, the DC said, adding that the delay in finding the boy could have been due to the heavy flow of water. Rescue 1122 said in a statement that its two teams were searching for the boy at two spots. The DC said KWSC officials had also visited the spot and had estimated that the boy may end up as far away as in Gulistan-i-Jauhar’s Block-1 near Continental Bakery, where an iron grill had been installed in the line. But that might take... -
Dawn - 17:20 Apr 24, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar Chaudhry sought on Friday a detailed report on the purported hijacking of an oil tanker by pirates near Somalia, with Pakistanis said to be among the hostages. A statement issued by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs referred to the reported incident, mentioning that the crew of the hijacked vessel was said to comprise 11 Pakistanis. It added that the ministry was monitoring the situation and was in contact with relevant departments, including the Foreign Office. The statement said efforts were also being made to contact the Somali authorities regarding the matter. According to media reports, an oil tanker named “Owner 25” was hijacked by pirates near Somalia’s coast on April 21, and 11 Pakistani crew, as well as the Indonesian captain of the vessel, were taken hostage. The incident is said to have taken place in the Gulf of Aden, while the name and nationality of the tanker’s operator have not been reported. In 2024, Somali pirates had hijacked an Iranian fishi... -
Dawn - 17:17 Apr 24, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Police have arrested a citizen for allegedly mocking and likening the Tarnol Railway crossing to the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping route, has been virtually paralysed by the Middle East war. The first information report (FIR), a copy of which is available with Dawn, has been registered on the complaint of Sub-inspector Shahid Asghar on the state’s behalf. The FIR was registered under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant), Section 341 (punishment for wrongful restrains) and Section 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or for a shorter term) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). According to the complaint, a man identified as Khurram was accused of sharing a post on social media, saying, “Tarnol Railway Crossing is no less than the Strait of Hormuz. If it is closed, all our problems will be resolved”. It said that the citizen was taken into custody and his phone was also checked, wherein evi... -
Dawn - 15:21 Apr 24, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, who also serves as the chairperson of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), has observed that granting the transfer of Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) back to the Sindh High Court (SHC) would render key constitutional ideals — federalism and equitable representation — redundant. Such a transfer will also reduce the appointments of judges to merely a temporary and reversible administrative arrangement, the CJP feared in his response to informal requests by IHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar to requisition a JCP meeting for the transfer of five judges presently serving in IHC to other high courts. The IHC chief justice had sought to convene a JCP meeting on April 28 to consider the transfer of senior puisne judge Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiani to the Lahore High Court (LHC), Justice Babar Sattar to the Peshawar High Court (PHC), Justice Arbab Tahir to the Balochistan High Court (BHC) and both Justice Saman ... -
Dawn - 15:04 Apr 24, 2026
The World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) on Friday highlighted “potentially irreversible risks” and “ecological degradation” from development work at the foothills of Islamabad’s Margalla Hills, calling for the suspension of all such proposed and ongoing activities pending a “transparent environmental review”. The conservation organisation’s call came three days after the Ministry of Interior announced that a new park, spanning 1,000 kanals, would be developed at the foothills of the Margalla Hills. “WWF-Pakistan expresses its serious and escalating concern regarding ongoing and proposed development activities in areas adjoining the Margalla Hills National Park, particularly within ecologically sensitive foothill zones,” the organisation said in a statement. It recalled that recent assessments published by WWF-P earlier this year on tree removal in the federal capital “indicate that large-scale vegetation clearance and infrastructure expansion are taking place across multiple locations”. These developm... -
Dawn - 14:52 Apr 24, 2026
ISLAMABAD: After a gap of 28 months, state-run Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) on Friday secured three bids at $17.997 to $18.88 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) for delivery between April 27 and May 8. A total of four bids were received and three were declared the lowest. For the first delivery window of April 27-30, TotalEnergies submitted the lowest bid of $18.88 per mmBtu. Vitol Bahrain’s bid of $18.54 was declared the lowest for the May 1-7 window, while OQ Trading was declared the lowest bidder at $17.997 per mmBtu for delivery between May 8 and 14. A day earlier, PLL had floated urgent tenders for the import of three LNG cargos for delivery between April 27 and May 8 amid rising temperatures and power shortfall. The PLL had set April 24 (Friday) as the deadline for bids to be opened the same day, given the emergent needs to meet power demand, which was short of supply by more than 4,500MW in peak, resulting in six to seven hours of loadshedding. The tender came following Qatar’s reluctance to send ... -
Dawn - 14:23 Apr 24, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has revamped its website, enabling citizens to access district-level birth and death records and also file right-to-information (RTI) requests online through a verified login. According to the authority, it has launched a major overhaul of its website, and replaced a text-heavy site that had been criticised as outdated and hard to navigate. A press release said that Nadra, which holds biometric data for over 240 million citizens, had redesigned group services, statistics and support “in a structured and user-centric manner”. “For the first time, Nadra’s Geospatially Referenced Demographic Information System is public. The tool displays registration data on interactive maps and lets users compare district-level census figures with Nadra’s own records,” the release said. “A map gallery offers downloadable thematic maps for research and planning — data previously restricted to government departments,” it added. It said that the key identity docu... -
Dawn - 13:40 Apr 24, 2026
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that he had received successful treatment for early-stage prostate cancer, without specifying when the treatment took place. In a statement on social media, as his annual medical report was released, Netanyahu, 76, said an early stage malignant tumor had been discovered during a routine checkup. He said “targeted treatment” had removed “the problem” and left no trace of it. According to the medical report, which otherwise said the prime minister was in good health, Netanyahu was treated with radiation therapy for early-stage prostate cancer. Neither the medical report nor Netanyahu said when the treatment occurred. Israel’s longest-serving prime minister said that he had delayed the release of the medical report by two months to prevent Iran from spreading “false propaganda against Israel”. In March, during the US-Israeli war on Iran, rumors that circulated on social media and aired on Iranian state media alleged that Netanyahu had died. The Israeli lea... -
Dawn - 12:36 Apr 24, 2026
Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Friday said that the Sindh government would fulfil its promise of rebuilding Gul Plaza, a multi-storey shopping plaza which was reduced to ruins due to a deadly inferno that claimed the lives of more than 70 people in January. In January, CM Murad had told the Sindh Assembly that the provincial government would demolish and reconstruct Gul Plaza within two years, ensuring no increase in the number of shops. Addressing a ceremony for distributing compensation cheques among the affected shopkeepers in Karachi on Friday, CM Murad said, “The Sindh government will rebuild Gul Plaza as promised, and will make the same number of shops as before. All the losses will be recompensed and no one will benefit through unfair means.” He said that this was the first phase of distributing the cheques to the affected shopkeepers. CM Murad also expressed his gratitude to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) and the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) for providing the tempora... -
Dawn - 12:16 Apr 24, 2026
The United States has drained much of its weapons stockpile, totalling up to billions of dollars, in its war on Iran, according to a New York Times investigation. The weapons, as per the NYT, included over 1,200 Patriot interceptor missiles — each worth more than $4 million. According to the report, the US has “burned through around 1,100 of its long-range stealth cruise missiles built for a war with China, close to the total number remaining in the US stockpile”. Also included in the stockpile used were over 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles — around ten times the US military’s annual stock. Citing internal Defence Department estimates and congressional officials, NYT reported that over 1,000 Precision Strike and ATACMS ground-based missiles were used, “leaving inventories worryingly low”. Further, around 1,100 JASSM-ER missiles were used — each worth around $1.1m — leaving only 1,500 in the military’s stock. The report said that the existing situation had left the US military “less ready” to confront threats f... -
Dawn - 11:29 Apr 24, 2026
On a cold day in January, a hundred and fifty armed policemen descended on Taunsa Barrage near Kot Addu with two bulldozers to raze a settlement spread over 47 kanal of government land. Many of the homes belonged to the famous boatpeople of the River Indus, the Mohanas. As they also go by the name Shaikh, their settlement, Basti Shaikhan, was marked on the official map for demolition. Also on the map, in the corner, was a box that said: proposed for Circuit House. The operation was carried out by the new Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority (Pera) which was assisted by Deputy Commissioner Bilal Saleem. But the people who have lived there for generations, challenge the notion that they are squatters. And even though Pera’s Director-General for Monitoring and Implementation, Ahmed Zaheer, says they issue encroachers a digital Emergency Prohibition Order, activist Fazl-e-Rab maintains the basti had no idea the bulldozers were coming. A view of the basti post Pera’s operation — photo by Tariq Birmani As Bi... -
Dawn - 11:13 Apr 24, 2026
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday stressed his country was a “reliable member” of Nato, after a report the United States was considering possibly trying to expel Spain over its refusal to support operations in the Middle East war. Reuters news agency cited an anonymous US official telling it that the Pentagon had outlined the expulsion option in an email looking at ways to punish Nato allies that steered clear of the US-Israeli war against Iran. “Spain is a reliable member within Nato” which is fulfilling all its obligations, Sanchez told reporters in Cyprus, where he was attending an EU summit. “As a result, I am absolutely not worried,” he said. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly railed against Nato allies for refusing to join the war, saying he viewed it as a betrayal. Some of them — France, Spain and Italy — did not allow US military aircraft deployed for the war to overfly their territories or to use bases. Britain initially also refused, but later allowed US flights from its bases for... -
Dawn - 10:03 Apr 24, 2026
India on Thursday criticised as inappropriate a post by US President Donald Trump that called the South Asian country a “hellhole.” The comments come ahead of a planned visit next month to India by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who would seek to turn the page on recent tensions between the normally friendly powers. Trump late Wednesday posted on social media a screed apparently written by someone else denouncing the US constitutional right to citizenship of everyone born in the country. The post accused Indian immigrants in the tech industry of not hiring white native-born Americans and inaccurately alleged that Indian immigrants lack English proficiency. “A baby here becomes an instant citizen, and then they bring the entire family in from China or India or some other hellhole on the planet,” the post said. The Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, responded that the remarks were “obviously uninformed, inappropriate, and in poor taste.” He added, “They certainly do not reflect the realit... -
Dawn - 09:58 Apr 24, 2026
Pakistan repaid the $3.45 billion deposit to the United Arab Emirates, the State Bank of Pakistan confirmed on Friday. The central bank said the $1bn deposit was repaid to the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development on April 23 and $2.45bn was repaid to the UAE “last week”. “This completes the repayment of total deposits of $3.45 billion to UAE,” said the SBP in a post on X. A senior official said earlier this month that Pakistan had decided to return $3.5 billion in debt to the UAE before the end of this month. The official described the move as a cost the country was willing to bear to uphold “national dignity”, even as it is set to significantly draw down foreign exchange reserves. These funds were part of external financing support extended by the UAE in 2019 to help stabilise Pakistan’s balance of payments. In March, Islamabad failed to secure an agreement with the UAE to roll over the $3.5bn facility, marking the first such failure in seven years and raising concerns about near-term financing gaps. In a separa...
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