Dawn
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Dawn - 16:26 Apr 20, 2026
KARACHI: A 19-year-old medical student, who was the daughter of a Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) MNA, died after being struck by a stray bullet in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, police said on Monday. Speaking to Dawn, Gulshan-i-Iqbal Station House Officer (SHO) Mohammad Saud said a bullet fired from an unknown direction hit the daughter of MNA Iqbal Mehsud Khan while she was standing on the terrace of her home on Saturday night at 10pm. He said that she sustained critical injuries and was taken to a private hospital in the area. He said that she died during treatment on Sunday afternoon. The SHO said police had fulfilled legal formalities, but added that the family was reluctant to lodge a first information report (FIR) of the incident. On Sunday, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq had expressed grief and sorrow at the passing of Khan’s daughter and had extended his condolences to the bereaved family. -
Dawn - 15:01 Apr 20, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The government announced on Monday that it has increased its Eurobond to $750 million from $500m by exercising the green-shoe option as the country’s foreign exchange needs grow due to a higher oil import bill amid the war in the Middle East. A green-shoe option is the over-allotment provision allowing the borrower to raise additional funds at the same rate if the public demand exceeds expectations. “Following its successful return to international capital markets after four years, Pakistan has upsized its Eurobond issuance to $750m, with an additional $250m placed with global institutional investors through the exercise of the green shoe option,” the Ministry of Finance said in a statement. Khurram Schehzad, the adviser to the finance minister, said on the social media platform X that the development reflected “stronger-than-expected investor demand, reinforcing confidence in Pakistan’s economic outlook and market re-entry”. He said that the three-year Eurobond, which was initially placed at $500m... -
Dawn - 14:53 Apr 20, 2026
When the international community agreed to transition away from fossil fuels at the 2023 COP28 global climate summit, some hailed the moment as the beginning of the end for oil. But little progress has been made since then, even though the vast majority of scientists agree there’s overwhelming evidence of global warming and that it is driven chiefly by the burning of fossil fuels. The Middle East war, meanwhile, has shown that the world is as dependent as ever on “black gold,” with the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz holding the global economy and energy supply in a chokehold. Some have pointed to the ripple effects of the war as yet another reason to decrease humanity’s dependence on fossil fuels. But several global trends indicate the 2023 promise is still a way away from coming true. Among them is the agenda of United States President Donald Trump, whose energy slogan is “drill, baby, drill” and has intervened with military force in two countries with vast crude reserves: Venezuela and Iran. But ... -
Dawn - 14:52 Apr 20, 2026
Director of the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Kash Patel, filed a defamation lawsuit against American magazine The Atlantic and its reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick following the publication of an article on Friday alleging the director had a drinking problem that could pose a threat to national security. The magazine’s story, initially titled ‘Kash Patel’s Erratic Behavior Could Cost Him His Job’, cited more than two dozen anonymous sources expressing concern at Patel’s alleged conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences that alarmed officials at the FBI and the Department of Justice. The article, which The Atlantic subsequently titled ‘The FBI Director Is MIA’ in its online version, alleged that the FBI had to reschedule early meetings as a result of Patel’s alcohol-fuelled nights and that he is often away or unreachable, delaying time-sensitive decisions needed to advance investigations. In The Atlantic’s story, the White House, the Department of Justice and Patel denied the allegati... -
Dawn - 14:17 Apr 20, 2026
KHYBER: Four road construction workers, including excavator operators, were abducted by armed men in the Peer Mela area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tirah valley on Monday. Local sources said the kidnapped men included two excavator operators and as many labourers, who were working on levelling the land for the construction of a link road when armed men abducted them at gunpoint. They added that the abducted workers had been taken to an unknown location. According to sources, three of the abducted men belonged to Balochistan. Meanwhile, security forces had launched a search operation in the area and nearby localities, they added. Local elders demanded foolproof security for construction workers after the incident, pointing out that such occurrences could jeopardise the ongoing development projects in the area. Separately, a peace council of the Akkakhel tribe was held in Bara tehsil of KP’s Khyber district. Members of the council told Dawn that, during the meeting, deep concern was expressed over the deteriorating... -
Dawn - 13:50 Apr 20, 2026
The Pakistan Cricket Board on Monday said Sri Lankan cricketer Dasun Shanaka had been banned from participating in the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) over his “unilateral withdrawal” from this year’s tournament. According to ESPNCricinfo, Shanaka left Lahore Qalanders to play for the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals In a statement, the cricket board said that “the player’s unilateral withdrawal from the tournament on March 21, 2026, constituted a clear breach of both the Player Registration terms and the Tripartite Agreement”. As a penalty, the cricket board declared the player ineligible to participate in the next edition of the PSL — scheduled for 2027. The PCB said that as per its findings, Shanaka’s withdrawal was “made on grounds not recognised within the existing contractual framework”. The statement also quoted Shanaka as saying that he “deeply” regretted his decision to withdraw from the tournament. “I deeply regret my decision to withdraw from the PSL and offer my sincere apolo... -
Dawn - 13:30 Apr 20, 2026
The high security measures were in place in Islamabad for the arrival of foreign delegations, even as mixed signals emerged from Iran amid intensifying tensions with the United States. Iran has said it has not yet decided on attending a new round of negotiations with the US, while President Donald Trump said on Sunday that a US delegation will be arriving in the federal capital “tomorrow evening”. Despite this, security in Islamabad was on high alert on Monday, with the Red Zone sealed and public transport in the twin cities suspended. A police officer gestures to a vehicle at a checkpost along a road near Faisal Masjid, as Pakistan prepares to host the US and Iran for the second phase of peace talks in Islamabad on April 19, 2026. — Reuters Rangers descend from a vehicle during their deployment along a road leading to the Presidentâ’ss House, as Pakistan prepares to host the United States and Iran for the second phase of peace talks in Islamabad on April 20, 2026. — Reuters A police officer guards a road blo... -
Dawn - 12:32 Apr 20, 2026
“You have to admit that most women who do something with their lives have been disliked by almost everyone.” — Françoise Gilot, the French painter who loved Picasso, left him on her own terms, and refused to be remembered just as his muse. There are many who would assert that Pakistan’s former first lady Bushra Bibi should be dismissed as a woman of no substance. She did not, they argue, earn a place in the national imagination by winning over crowds with her speeches or marching for the downtrodden. They would rather say she just weasled her way to the top through wedlock. Her new husband, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, and her previous one, Khawar Maneka, were both men who loomed large in the public eye. One was a cricketing legend who had abandoned his storied appetite for pretty white women and the world’s attention in order to pursue political rebirth back home. The other was a shrine-through-town aristocrat from Pakpattan, known as much for his influence as for his oddities. Bushra Bibi’s effacement ... -
Dawn - 12:27 Apr 20, 2026
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)’s benchmark index KSE-100 plunged by over 1,700 points on Monday amid uncertainty over the Middle East conflict. The KSE-100 declined by 1,742.31 points or 1 per cent to close at 172,196.70 from the previous close of 173,939.01 points. The KSE-100 rose to an intraday high of 174,523.76 points at around 11:55am, then declined to an intraday low of 169,226.56 points at 1:05pm, before settling at 172,196.70. According to Topline Securities, the trading began on a “subdued note, reversing the previous session’s upward momentum, with the benchmark index declining to an intraday low of 4,712 points”. “Investor sentiment remained cautious amid escalating geopolitical tensions,” it said, citing increased concerns due to the US seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz and uncertainty over Iran’s participation in the 2nd round of US-Iran talks in Islamabad. “Earlier indications of potential diplomatic engagement, including the possibility of a US delegation vi... -
Dawn - 12:02 Apr 20, 2026
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Monday held separate meetings with the Iranian and US envoys to discuss arrangements made for a second round of Islamabad Talks between the two warring parties. Naqvi’s intensified efforts come as Islamabad continues to set the stage for a possible second round of negotiations between Washington and Tehran, after the first round ended without an agreement. The Ministry of Interior issued separate press releases detailing Naqvi’s interactions with US Charge d’Affaires to Pakistan Natalie Baker and Iran’s Ambassador to Pakistan Reza Amiri Moghadam. According to a statement issued later in the day, Naqvi discussed “arrangements for a second round of Islamabad Talks” with the Iranian envoy, telling him that the preparations for it were complete. “Foolproof security arrangements have been made for foreign delegations,” Naqvi told Moghadam. Iran said earlier on Monday that Tehran has yet to decide on whether to send its delegation, and there is no official confirmation so far that ... -
Dawn - 12:01 Apr 20, 2026
India and South Korea said on Monday that they would boost their economic ties by expanding cooperation in energy, critical minerals, shipbuilding, semiconductors and steel as they seek to double their trade to $50 billion by 2030. New Delhi and Seoul also agreed to resume and step up negotiations to give new energy to their 2010 trade agreement as India wanted their trade to be more balanced and South Korea wanted greater market access to the world’s fastest-growing major economy. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung is in India for a three-day visit, the first South Korean presidential state visit to the country in eight years. “We decided to upgrade the framework of economic cooperation between the two countries to create a new engine for shared growth,” Lee told reporters after talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two countries created a ministerial-level economic cooperation committee for the first time, Lee said, adding that they would strengthen cooperation in areas such as nuclear power... -
Dawn - 11:06 Apr 20, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The second nationwide anti-polio campaign of the ongoing year has missed its target of vaccination by around 300,000 children. The week-long campaign aimed to vaccinate more than 45 million children under the age of five. However, according to data released by the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) on Monday, more than 44.7m children were vaccinated against polio. “Due to the tireless efforts of polio workers, the vaccine reached over 44.7m children across the country. In addition to polio drops, children were also administered Vitamin A supplements to help strengthen their immunity,” it said. The provincial breakdown showed that over 23m children were vaccinated in Punjab, over 10.4m in Sindh, over 7.2m in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and over 2.6m in Balochistan. Meanwhile, over 441,000 children were vaccinated in Islamabad, over 292,000 in Gilgit-Baltistan and around 717,000 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The NEOC highlighted that the strong support and cooperation of parents and communities played a... -
Dawn - 11:02 Apr 20, 2026
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the foreign minister and the military on Monday condemned the desecration of a crucifix after it was smashed by an Israeli soldier in a Christian village in southern Lebanon. A photo that emerged online over the weekend shows a soldier taking the blunt side of an axe to a fallen sculpture of Jesus on the cross. It was posted by Younis Tirawi, who describes himself as a Palestinian reporter and has also posted images of Israeli soldiers’ misconduct in Gaza. Reuters verified the location of the image as Debel, one of the few villages in southern Lebanon where residents remained through an Israeli military campaign against Hezbollah that began on March 2. The cross was part of a small shrine in the garden of a family living on the edge of the village, said Fadi Falfel, a priest in Debel. “One of the Israeli soldiers broke the cross and did this horrible thing, this desecration of our holy symbols,” he said. Netanyahu said that the soldier’s actions went against Jewish ... -
Dawn - 10:20 Apr 20, 2026
Pakistan and Egypt concluded a two-week-long military exercise focused on counter-terrorism, the military’s media wing said on Monday. In a press release, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the “Pakistan-Egypt Joint Exercise Thunder-II” concluded in Cherat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — the military’s premier Special Operations School (SOS). “[The] two-week-long exercise was designed to enhance interoperability by refining drills, procedures, and techniques related to counterterrorism operations through joint training,” ISPR said. It added that “combat teams from the Special Services Group (SSG) of the Pakistan Army and the Egyptian Special Forces actively participated” in the exercise. The military’s media wing further said that the participants exhibited “exceptional professionalism and operational skill throughout the exercise”. The picture shows Pakistan-Egypt Joint Exercise Thunder-II underway. — ISPR General officer commanding SSG and Commander of Egyptian Paratroopers, Major General Mohamed Saad Ab... -
Dawn - 09:58 Apr 20, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday engaged the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank as transaction adviser for inducting private investors in the installation of 10 million smart meters across all electricity distribution companies (Discos). The Ministry of Energy (Power Division) had announced a large-scale rollout of smart meters across Discos in October 2025. On Monday, the Power Division said it has signed a Transaction Advisory Services Agreement (Tasa) with the IFC, a member of the World Bank Group. Under this agreement, the IFC will act as transaction advisor and conduct a comprehensive techno-commercial assessment for a service-provider model or public-private partnership framework to support the large-scale rollout of smart metering infrastructure for 10m single-phase connections. The initiative was intended to attract local and international investors to install, maintain, and operate the infrastructure, thereby advancing Pakistan’s digital transformation in the power sector. It said... -
Dawn - 09:35 Apr 20, 2026
An 80-centimetre tsunami wave hit a port in northern Japan on Monday after a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the region, Japan’s Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. The wave was observed at 5:34pm (1:34pm PKT) at a port in Kuji, Iwate, JMA said. It previously said a 70-centimetre wave had struck at 5:32pm. A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck northern Japan earlier, the country’s Meteorological Agency (JMA) said, issuing a tsunami warning for waves up to three metres. The quake hit at 4:53pm (12:53pm PKT) in Pacific waters off northern Iwate prefecture and the tremor was strong enough to shake large buildings as far as Tokyo, hundreds of kilometres away. “Evacuate immediately from coastal regions and riverside areas to a safer place such as high ground or an evacuation building,” it said, warning that damage due to tsunami waves was expected. “Tsunami waves are expected to hit repeatedly. Do not leave safe ground until the warning is lifted,” it said. Footage from national broadcaster NHK did not show any... -
Dawn - 09:34 Apr 20, 2026
A terrorist and his accomplice, an alleged suicide bomber, were killed by security forces during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district, the military’s media affairs wing said on Monday. In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said an IBO was conducted on Sunday on the reported presence of “khawarij”. Khawarij, or Fitna al Khawarij, is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). “During conduct of the operation, after [an] intense exchange of fire, two khawarij, belonging to the Indian-sponsored Fitna-al-Khawarij, including Kharji Ring leader Waheedullah alias Muktiar, along with a suicide bomber, were sent to hell,” the ISPR statement read. It added that a suicide jacket, weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorists. The ISPR said Waheedullah “was amongst the most-wanted terrorist list for his active involvement in numerous terrorist activities”, including the martyrdom of secu... -
Dawn - 08:49 Apr 20, 2026
Russia said Monday it had arrested a German woman found with a homemade bomb in her backpack in what it alleged was a Ukrainian-hatched plot to blow up a security services facility in the south. Russia has arrested dozens of people throughout the four-year war, mostly its own citizens, on allegations of working for Ukraine to carry out sabotage attacks. There has been a string of high-profile arrests of Western citizens since Moscow ordered its troops into Ukraine — typically on espionage charges that are widely seen as baseless, with those detained later swapped in exchange for Russians jailed abroad. Detentions of Western citizens for carrying out or preparing actual attacks are much rarer. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said the woman, born in 1969, had been dragged into the alleged plot by a citizen from a Central Asian country, who was working on orders from Ukraine. She was detained and found with an improvised explosive device in her bag in the Caucasus city of Pyatigorsk, the FSB said. The FS... -
Dawn - 07:28 Apr 20, 2026
LAKKI MARWAT: Two terrorists were killed and a police constable embraced martyrdom in a gun battle in Lakki Marwat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, police said on Monday. District police spokesperson Qudratullah Khan said the gunfight erupted when police conducted a targeted operation in a forest near the Khundan area, bordering Bannu district. He said that a large police contingent was dispatched to the area after local law enforcement authorities received credible intelligence reports that Fitna-al-Khawarij terrorists were hiding in the forest. Fitna al Khawarij is a term that the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. “The exchange of fire continued for some time, resulting in the neutralisation and killing of two terrorists,” he maintained. Qudratullah added that police constable Attiqur Rehman was also martyred in the exchange of fire. The official said that several terrorists were injured in the clash but escaped with the help of their accomplices, taking advantage of the darkness and dens... -
Dawn - 06:47 Apr 20, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The momentum of economic growth in Asia-Pacific developing countries slowed to 4.6 per cent in 2025 and is projected to drop to 4pc in 2026, as fallout from the Middle East situation weighs on energy prices, supply chains and external demand, due to the conflict in the Middle East, said a new United Nations report on Monday. The 2026 edition of the ‘Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific’ suggests that regional countries need to rely more on domestic and regional demand, while carefully managing the shift to clean energy to avoid short-term economic and social disruptions. The annual survey released by the UN Regional Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) said that the average economic growth in the region moderated to 4.6pc in 2025 from 4.8pc in 2024, and 5.3pc in 2023. However, assuming that the conflict in the Middle East will not last more than a few months and that there will be a partial de-escalation and an easing of tensions later in 2026, the survey noted that the aver...
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