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Found 10418 news

  • Info ministry rubbishes Afghan claims of military post being captured
    Dawn - 12:27 Mar 14, 2026
    The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Saturday rubbished claims by the Afghan Taliban regarding the capture of a military post, saying it was “designed to mislead internal public opinion” in the neighbouring country. In a post on the social media platform X, the ministry’s fact-checking account posted a photo of a post by the Afghan Ministry of Defence, which claimed that a Pakistani military outpost was captured while 14 soldiers were martyred. In response, the ministry said, “This latest claim of the so-called Ministry of Defence of the Afghan Taliban Regime regarding capturing some post and made-up damages etc, is false as always, fabricated and designed to mislead Afghan internal public opinion, which are unfortunately first-hand experiencing and suffering under these terror sponsors.” It said that damages and losses incurred by the “master proxy Afghan Taliban and their extension Fitna al Khawarij” were being regularly updated by the ministry. Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terr...
    Tags: Afghan
  • Employees of SOEs, other govt-supervised bodies to face 5-30pc salary cut as part of austerity measures: PMO
    Dawn - 12:27 Mar 14, 2026
    Employees of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and autonomous institutions under government patronage would see their salaries cut by five to 30 per cent under the government’s austerity measures, which would go towards public relief, it was decided on Saturday. The move adds to a host of austerity measures announced by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday in view of the global oil crisis triggered by the US-Israel war on Iran, which has hiked local fuel prices. On Saturday, PM Shehbaz chaired a meeting reviewing the impact of petroleum product prices and the implementation of government austerity measures in view of the ongoing situation in the Middle East, a press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said. “It was decided in the meeting that, like government employees, there will be a 5-30pc cut in the salaries of employees of state-owned enterprises and autonomous institutions under government patronage,” the statement said. It added that the funds saved as a result of all austerity measures...
    Tags: Employees SOEs
  • How the Middle East crisis has affected sporting events and athletes
    Dawn - 11:59 Mar 14, 2026
    The US and Israel’s war against Iran has led to sporting events being postponed in the region, while competitions elsewhere have been hit by travel disruption, with thousands of flights cancelled in some of the world’s busiest transit hubs. Bahrain and Saudi F1 races set to be cancelled Next month’s Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Formula One Grands Prix are set to be cancelled due to the Middle East conflict. Multiple sources told Reuters an announcement, seen within the sport as just a matter of time, was expected with a March 20 deadline looming for freight that has to be transported to Bahrain for logistical reasons. Trump says inappropriate for Iran to be at World Cup US President Donald Trump said on March 12 that Iran’s soccer team were welcome to take part in this year’s World Cup but that he believed it was not appropriate they be there “for their own life and safety”. Iran have qualified for the 48-team tournament to be held in the US, Canada and Mexico from June 11 and are scheduled to play two group mat...
    Tags: Middle East
  • India frees Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk after 6 months in jail
    Dawn - 11:51 Mar 14, 2026
    India on Saturday ended the preventive detention of prominent activist Sonam Wangchuk, freeing him six months after he was arrested over protests in India-held Ladakh. The Buddhist-Muslim enclave was deprived of its autonomy in 2019 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government carved it out of occupied Kashmir, placing the region under New Delhi’s direct control. Wangchuk, 59, an environmental advocate who became a key figure in Ladakh’s movement for greater autonomy, was held in September and later charged under India’s National Security Act (NSA) following protests that left four people dead and dozens wounded. New Delhi had blamed the violence on “provocative speeches” by Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike demanding either full federal statehood for India-held Ladakh or constitutional protections for its tribal communities, land and fragile environment. Authorities in the sparsely populated, high-altitude region bordering China and Pakistan at the time said the order, issued by the district magist...
    Tags: Ladakh Sonam Wangchuk India
  • China urges Pakistan, Afghanistan to resolve tensions via talks, not force
    Dawn - 10:55 Mar 14, 2026
    Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Afghan counterpart Amir Khan Muttaqi in a phone call that disputes between Afghanistan and Pakistan should be resolved through dialogue and consultation, not force, the foreign ministry said in a statement published on Friday. Wang urged both sides to remain calm and exercise restraint, hold face-to-face talks as soon as possible, seek an immediate ceasefire and address differences through dialogue, according to the statement. The further use of force would only complicate the situation and intensify tensions, Wang said. “China is willing to continue to make active efforts to help achieve reconciliation and detente between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” said Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong on X, sharing the call’s details. The ministry’s statement came after Pakistan on Friday targeted terror camps and associated infrastructure in Afghanistan. Wang and Muttaqi also exchanged views on the situation in Iran, the statement said. Wang told Muttaqi, according to the sta...
    Tags: Afghanistan Pakistan China
  • Meta planning sweeping layoffs as AI costs mount: report
    Dawn - 09:51 Mar 14, 2026
    Meta is planning sweeping layoffs that could affect 20 per cent or more of the company, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, as Meta seeks to offset costly artificial intelligence infrastructure bets and prepare for greater efficiency brought about by AI-assisted workers. No date has been set for the cuts and the magnitude has not been finalised, the people said. Top executives have recently signalled the plans to other senior leaders at Meta and told them to begin planning how to pare back, two of the people said. The sources spoke anonymously because they were not authorised to disclose the cuts. “This is speculative reporting about theoretical approaches,” Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said in response to questions about the plan. If Meta settles on the 20pc figure, the layoffs will be the company’s most significant since a restructuring in late 2022 and early 2023 that it dubbed the “year of efficiency”. It employed nearly 79,000 people as of December 31, according to its latest filing. The...
    Tags: Meta
  • Trump, Xi prepare to meet amid Iran war, uncertain goals
    Dawn - 09:37 Mar 14, 2026
    Just over two weeks before President Donald Trump is due to meet his counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing, Chinese uncertainty over the US leader’s goals and the impact of the Iran war hangs over the highly anticipated state visit. Trump’s trip, his first to China in his second term, is aimed at sealing a trade war truce the two leaders shook hands on when they met in South Korea in October. But for Beijing, which likes to carefully choreograph such events to avoid any possibility of embarrassment, Trump’s free-wheeling style is proving a challenge. A source familiar with negotiations told AFP that Chinese officials were expecting more ambitious preparations for such a summit between the leaders of the rival superpowers. The White House insisted, however, that preparations were going well for the visit from March 31 to April 2, with regular contacts and interactions with Beijing. “Unlike the autopen Biden administration that prized performance over outcomes, the Trump administration is very comfortable with trip...
    Tags: Iran Trump
  • ‘Rudimentary’ drones launched by Afghan Taliban injure 4, failed to reach targets: ISPR
    Dawn - 09:20 Mar 14, 2026
    At least four people, including two children, were injured when the Afghan Taliban launched a “few rudimentary” drones, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Saturday. On Friday evening, security sources said that two rudimentary drones were intercepted at different locations adjacent to Rawalpindi but were successfully brought down through electronic countermeasures. The military’s media wing said today that the drones were intercepted through “soft and hard kills” and did not reach their intended targets. According to the ISPR, two children were injured in Quetta, a civilian was injured in Kohat and another in Rawalpindi. “These attacks were aimed at inducing fear in the public and remind us of the terrorist mindset which drives the Afghan Taliban.” The military’s media wing added that while the Afghan Taliban “project victimhood to garner global sympathy”, on the other hand, they “actively target civilians through their terrorist proxies and their drones”. “Pakistan’s people and its Armed Forc...
    Tags: Afghan Taliban ISPR
  • South Korea says North fired around 10 ballistic missiles
    Dawn - 09:19 Mar 14, 2026
    North Korea fired about 10 unidentified ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan Saturday, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over South Korea-US military drills. Pyongyang recently dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with South Korea, Washington’s security ally, describing its latest peace efforts as a “clumsy, deceptive farce”. Seoul’s military detected “around ten unidentified ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea at around 1:20 pm (0420 GMT),” the JCS said in a statement. Japan’s defence ministry also confirmed the launch, saying on its official X account that “what is possibly a ballistic missile was launched from North Korea”. The announcement came hours after South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said that US President Donald Trump thinks a meeting with Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong Un would be “good”. Washington has for decades led efforts to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear programme, but summit...
    Tags: South Korea
  • Sharjeel Memon demands apology from Pakistan Customs after Sindh govt vehicle confiscated
    Dawn - 08:52 Mar 14, 2026
    Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon on Saturday demanded that Pakistan Customs in Karachi release a vehicle belonging to the provincial government that the authority had wrongly confiscated and apologise over the matter. In a post on X, Memon said, “Pakistan Customs Karachi confiscated a Sindh government vehicle on 12 March, claiming it was non-custom paid. “Despite being shown all official documents confirming that the vehicle belongs to the Information Department and was purchased through official outlets of Indus Motor Company, the vehicle was still taken into custody,” he added. The minister lashed out at Customs, saying: “Such incompetency and unacceptable behaviour towards a provincial government department cannot be tolerated.” He demanded that Pakistan Customs immediately release the vehicle and issue a written apology. Memon, also the information minister, shared pictures of what seemed to be the original stamped sales certificate issued by Indus Motor Company Limited on Feb 12, 2026, in Hydera...
    Tags: Pakistan Customs Sindh
  • Anti-terrorism court extends pre-arrest bail of Fawad Chaudhry, others
    Dawn - 07:04 Mar 14, 2026
    LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court on Friday extended the interim pre-arrest bail of several leaders and relatives of incarcerated PTI founding chairman Imran Khan in different cases, including those related to the May 9 riots. The court extended the bail of former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry in five cases till April 16. During the hearing, Fawad Chaudhry appeared before the court on the expiry of his bail period. The court extended the bail and directed the prosecution to present arguments on the next hearing. The court also extended the interim bail of former federal minister Azam Swati till April 3 in multiple cases of May 9 riots. Swati also appeared before the court on expiry of his interim bail. Separately, the court extended the pre-arrest bail of Jamshed Iqbal Cheema and his wife Musarrat Jamshed Cheema till April 3. In a separate case, the ATC extended the bail of Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan, sisters of Imran Khan, till April 16 in a case registered over an alleged attack on police during the party’s ...
    Tags: Fawad Chaudhry
  • Fire chief blames management of Gul Plaza for loss of life
    Dawn - 03:57 Mar 14, 2026
    • Says lack of fire safety measures, disconnection of electricity and blocking of exits caused fatalities • Forensic investigation can determine exact origin of fire, commission told KARACHI: Chief Fire Officer Muhammad Humayun Khan has blamed the Gul Plaza administration for the loss of life due to lack of implementation of fire safety protocols, failure to make a prompt announcement about the fire, blocked emergency exits and disconnection of electricity without evacuating people trapped inside. He said this in response to a questionnaire from the single-judge commission, headed by Justice Agha Faisal of the Sindh High Court. In his reply / statement, Mr Khan submitted that information about Jan 17 Gul Plaza fire was received at the central fire station at 10:26pm, first fire tender was dispatched at 10:27pm and it was arrived at the site in around 10 minutes. He maintained that the one-minute response time was consistent with internationally recognised performance benchmarks while travel time was influence...
    Tags: Gul Plaza
  • Fuel dealers warn of post-Eid strike if margins not raised
    Dawn - 03:38 Mar 14, 2026
    KARACHI: Petroleum dealers have threatened to stop petrol and diesel sales after Eidul Fitr, in case the government does not revise their profit margins. Addressing a news conference at the Karachi Press Club on Friday, the leadership of Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) gave the government until March 26 to revise petroleum dealers’ margin from 2.59 per cent to 8pc in the wake of a Rs55 per litre hike in diesel and petrol rates. Currently, the dealers’ margin comes to around Rs8.64 per litre on diesel and petrol. The PPDA leaders, including Abdul Sami Khan, Tariq Hasan and Ameer Khan Masood, said the petroleum levy and hike in petroleum prices have severely affected dealers as well as consumers. They blamed oil-marketing companies (OMCs) for capping oil supplies. As a result, retail outlets are facing problems in obtaining the required quantity of oil products, drying up many pumps. They said the petroleum dealers have been urging the government for the last two years to raise their profit margin...
  • PMD forecasts another rain spell in northern areas
    Dawn - 03:07 Mar 14, 2026
    RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Meteoro­lo­gical Department (PMD) has forecast another spell of rain in the northern parts of the country, making it a wet weekend from Saturday night to Monday morning, while the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has asked provincial and district authorities to make necessary arrangements. The department has predicted that a westerly wave was likely to approach the northwestern parts of the country on the evening of March 14 and likely to persist until the morning of March 16. Under the influence of this weather system, partly cloudy to cloudy weather conditions with chances of moderate rain, wind and thunderstorms, along with snowfall over high mountains (with isolated hailstorms), are expected in the districts of Chitral, Dir, Swat, Kohistan, Shangla, Battgram, Buner, Malakand, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Haripur, Khyber, Mohmand, Peshawar, Bannu, Swabi, Mardan, Charsadda, Nowshera, Bajaur, Orakzai, Kurram, Kohat, Hangu, D.I. Khan, Zhob, Barkhan, Chaman, Ziarat, Gilgit-Baltis...
  • Sri Lanka repatriates remains of 84 Iranian sailors
    Dawn - 02:59 Mar 14, 2026
    • Court orders prompt handover of bodies to Iranian embassy following autopsies in Galle • Chartered flight transports sealed boxes from Mattala airport to Iran • Colombo still holds over 250 crewmen from second ship; faces Washington’s pressure to halt repatriation COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Friday repatriated the remains of 84 Iranian sailors killed when their warship was sunk by a US submarine nine days earlier, an attack that extended the raging Middle East conflict to the Indian Ocean, officials said. The seamen were killed when the frigate IRIS Dena was torpedoed on March 4 just off Sri Lanka’s coast. The incident occurred while the vessel was returning from a naval exercise in India amid a wider US-Israeli war on Iran. An Iranian-chartered Airbus A340 transported the bodies from Mattala International Airport in the island’s south, according to an airport official who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. The flight’s destination was not disclosed. “The departure was delaye...
    Tags: Sri Lanka Iranian
  • War displaces up to 3.2m Iranians internally: UNHCR
    Dawn - 02:53 Mar 14, 2026
    ISLAMABAD: The United Nations refugee agency has said that between 600,000 and one million Iranian households have been temporarily displaced inside Iran as a result of US-Israeli war against the country. The UNHCR’s preliminary assessments represent displacement of up to 3.2 million people, and this figure is likely to continue rising as US-Israeli bombing persists, marking a worrying escalation in humanitarian needs, according to Ayaki Ito, UNHCR Director of Emergency and Programme Support and Cross-Regional Refugee Response Coordinator for the Middle East Emergency. Most of the displaced persons are reportedly fleeing from Tehran and other major urban areas towards the north of the country and rural areas to seek safety. Also affected are Afghan refugee families, who are particularly vulnerable, given their already precarious situation and limited support networks. Families are leaving affected areas amid rising insecurity and limited access to essential services, the UN agency said. With its longstanding ...
  • PTI signals drive for Imran’s release ‘after Eid’
    Dawn - 02:39 Mar 14, 2026
    ISLAMABAD: Warning the federal government against what it described as “criminal negligence” in former prime minister Imr­an Khan’s medical care, the PTI has hinted at lau­n­ching a massive movement for his release after Eid. At a press conference on Friday, PTI leaders reiterated their demand for Mr Khan’s immediate transfer to Shifa International Hospital, saying that any further delay could have serious consequences. They said the party had made every possible effort to secure appropriate medical care for the PTI founder, but the government had repeatedly rejected these requests. Flanked by senior party leaders, Khyber Pakh­tunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi warned that the party would not tolerate such behaviour, adding that the PTI was fully prepared to launch a massive movement for its founder’s release. He reminded the PML-N-led ruling coalition in the Centre that his party had “temporarily slowed its political activities out of respect for the holy month of Ramazan”. He declared that the party’s pre...
  • Alarm raised over shortage of paediatric TB medicines
    Dawn - 00:36 Mar 14, 2026
    KARACHI: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) raised on Friday an urgent national alarm over the severe and persistent shortage of essential paediatric tuberculosis (TB) medications, warning that the situation could lead to a “catastrophic surge” in drug-resistant tuberculosis in the most vulnerable population. Citing reports from healthcare facilities across the country, the association stated that they indicate “a near-total depletion” of first-line paediatric TB drugs, signalling a complete breakdown in the mandate of National TB Programme (NTP) in ensuring the availability of life-saving treatment. “As the country with the fifth-highest TB burden globally, Pakistan stands on the precipice of a man-made disaster. The systematic collapse of TB control programme is not merely an administrative issue. It’s a staggering failure of the programme and a medical emergency, threatening the lives of our children,” stated the association. Highlighting the adverse effects of persistent shortage of TB medicines, the ...
  • Abducted policeman found dead in KP’s Bajaur
    Dawn - 20:09 Mar 13, 2026
    BAJAUR: A policeman was found dead in the War Mamund tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district on Friday, a day after he was abducted near the Dama Dola area, officials said. Bajaur district police spokesperson Israr Khan told Dawn that the 54-year-old Shah Munir Khan, who was on leave, was heading home with his family to the Badan locality on Thursday evening when unidentified armed men approached his vehicle, pulled him out, and took him to an unknown location, where he was later shot dead. He also dismissed reports that Munir was abducted from the Badan police station. Later, Bajaur Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Niaz Muhammad also confirmed while speaking to the media that a police team, which included senior officers, had found Munir’s body. Law enforcement personnel have increasingly come under attack in KP in recent weeks. Last week, a police officer was martyred after unidentified terrorists opened fire on a police post in War Mamund. In February, four cops were martyred, and two others we...
    Tags: Bajaur
  • Law enforcers kill 6 terrorists in Lakki Marwat operation: CTD
    Dawn - 19:57 Mar 13, 2026
    PESHAWAR: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) killed six terrorists during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat on Friday, according to a press release issued by the CTD. The press release said the operation was carried out in the Shagai area within the limits of the Gambila police station on the reported presence of terrorists there. It added that the terrorists opened fire on the CTD team as they approached their location, following which the law enforcers fired in retaliation. The firing continued for around 40 minutes, the press release said, adding that six terrorists were found dead in the ensuing search operation. The press release said the process of identifying the slain terrorists was under way, following which action would be taken against their facilitators and associates. Four Kalashnikovs with magazines and ammunition, two 9mm pistols, eight hand grenades and an improvised explosive device was found in the possession of the terrorist, the press release ad...
    Tags: Lakki Marwat

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