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Found 10418 news

  • ‘Devil statue’ seized by police in Karachi
    Dawn - 13:31 Mar 12, 2026
    KARACHI: Police said on Thursday that a statue allegedly depicting a satanic figure was seized from Mehran Town in Korangi Industrial Area, after videos of the effigy went viral on social media. The videos posted on social media had shown a large white statue depicting what appeared to be a human male with a bull’s head sitting down. A senior police officer, who did not wish to be named, told Dawn that police had seized the statue on Wednesday night after videos of it surfaced on social media. The official confirmed that the statue was supposed to be torched at a rally marking Youm Al Quds in the metropolis. He said no case has been registered nor had anyone has been arrested so far. In 2019, a 20-feet-high ‘satanic’ sculpture was the cause of much controversy at the Lahore Museum. The sculpture, striking due to its size and grotesque features, was criticised for its alleged portrayal of the devil and inappropriateness for its historic venue. Following the criticism, the sculpture was first covered and then r...
  • Sindh announces public holiday on March 13
    Dawn - 13:05 Mar 12, 2026
    The Sindh government on Thursday announced a public holiday for March 13 (Friday). A notification issued by the government, a copy of which is available with Dawn, said: “The government of Sindh has been pleased to declare March 13, 2026 (Friday) as a public holiday throughout the province of Sindh for all government offices, autonomous bodies, semi-autonomous bodies, corporations, corporations and local councils under the administrative control of the government of Sindh, except essential services.” The notification did not state the reason for which the public holiday was being announced. However, a day earlier, Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah had said that the public holiday would be observed on Friday for Jummatul Wida.
    Tags: March Sindh
  • PIA raises fuel surcharge as Gulf crisis drives up costs
    Dawn - 12:33 Mar 12, 2026
    Airlines in Pakistan, including Pakistan International Airlines, are raising fuel surcharges after war in the Gulf disrupted regional air routes and canceled about 300 flights from the country in recent days, airline officials and flight data show. PIA spokesman Abdullah Khan told Reuters that fuel costs have risen 34 per cent due to the Gulf crisis. He added that the airline was raising fuel surcharges on domestic flights by $20 and up to $100 on international flights. In the past 12 days, the airline has cancelled 165 flights, Khan said, with flights to the Gulf making up 34pc of PIA’s total flights. Other airlines operating in the country have also raised fares as jet fuel prices surge and flight operations are disrupted. Most international flights operated by Pakistani carriers are to the Middle East, making them particularly exposed to the conflict and airspace closures. Recently privatised PIA resumed flights to Europe and Britain after a year-long safety ban last year.
    Tags: Gulf
  • Cop wounded as unidentified assailants hurl hand grenade at police post in Bajaur
    Dawn - 12:18 Mar 12, 2026
    BAJAUR: A cop was wounded after unidentified assailants hurled a hand grenade at a police post in Bajaur district’s Khar tehsil, officials said on Thursday. According to police, the attack occurred on Wednesday night when unidentified attackers hurled a hand grenade at a police post located near the Jinnah Bus Terminal, a major bus station, located around three kilometres from Khar, the headquarters of the district. “One cop was slightly wounded in the attack which caused no damage to the post. Other personnel remained completely safe and secure,” Israr Khan, a spokesperson for the district police, told Dawn. However, Khan noted that a portion of a nearby hotel was damaged in the incident. He stated that a team of police personnel rushed to the scene immediately after the incident was reported and launched a search for those involved. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Law enforcement personnel have increasingly come under attack in KP in recent weeks. Last week, a police officer was martyred a...
    Tags: Bajaur
  • Ogra notifies massive increase in RLNG price for March
    Dawn - 11:48 Mar 12, 2026
    ISLAMABAD: Less than a week after the government hiked the prices of petroleum products by a whopping Rs55, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) on Thursday notified a massive 19-22 per cent increase in the price of regasified liquified natural gas (RLNG) for sales at the distribution stage by the two Sui gas companies for the month of March. The increase was mainly because of increase in terminal charges amid lower import molecules and minor increase in import price, the dataset from the authority showed. The rare increase (19-22pc) in RLNG price for March has come following a minor 0.5pc increase in February and two consecutive monthly reductions in December (6pc) and January (5pc). The prices had cumulatively increased by 4.4pc in October and November. The Karachi-based Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) serves consumers in Sindh and Balochistan and its system losses at the distribution stage stand at 12.55pc, compared to 10.6pc a couple of months earlier. On the other hand, the Lahore-based S...
    Tags: OGRA RLNG March
  • Speed limits on motorways and national highways reduced amid govt’s austerity drive
    Dawn - 11:29 Mar 12, 2026
    The speed limits for vehicles on motorways and national highways were reduced on Thursday “in order to promote austerity measures and fuel conservation”, according to a handout issued by the National Highways and Motorway Police (NHMP). The development comes as the government in recent days announced a host of austerity measures to conserve fuel in view of the global fuel crisis triggered by the US-Israel war on Iran. The press release said that the step “was taken in light of the instructions of the prime minister of Pakistan to ensure efficient use of energy and to encourage fuel savings”. The speed limit for cars and light transport vehicles (LTV) has been reduced to 100 kilometres per hour from 120km/h on motorways. Meanwhile, the speed limit for passenger service vehicles (PSV) and heavy transport vehicles (HTV) on motorways has been reduced from 110 km/h to 90 km/h, the press release said. On national highways, the speed limit for cars and LTVs was reduced from 100km/h to 80km/h. For PSVs and HTVs, the ...
  • Foreign hacker in 2023 compromised Epstein files held by FBI, source and documents show
    Dawn - 10:16 Mar 12, 2026
    A foreign hacker compromised files relating to the FBI’s investigation of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a break-in at the bureau’s New York Field Office three years ago, according to ​a source familiar with the matter and recently published Justice Department documents reviewed by Reuters. The details of who accessed a server at the FBI’s New York Field Office, ‌including the allegation that a foreign hacker was involved, are being reported here for the first time. In a statement, the FBI said what it described as a “cyber incident” was “an isolated one”. “The FBI restricted access to the malicious actor and rectified the network. The investigation remains ongoing, so we do not have further comments to provide at this time.” Although the source said the intrusion appeared to have been carried out by a cybercriminal rather than a foreign government, ​the incident underscores the files’ potential intelligence value, one academic said. The legally mandated publication of US Justice Department docu...
  • Stocks tumble as KSE-100 sheds more than 1,400 points
    Dawn - 09:11 Mar 12, 2026
    Pakistan’s benchmark KSE-100 Index closed lower on Thursday, shedding 1,437.04 points, 0.92 per cent, after a highly volatile trading session. The decline followed a turbulent start to the day. At the open, the market had dropped more than 1,700 points by 9:55am before staging a brief recovery, rising 968.93 points later in the morning. During the session, the index recorded an intraday high of 157,080.28 points and a low of 153,503.70 points, highlighting sharp swings in investor sentiment. Trading volume stood at 202,928,283 shares at a value of 20,373,653,824. The top active stocks were led by Hascol Petroleum Limited, which gained 7.71pc to Rs17.46 with a volume of 38,337,773 shares. It was followed by K-Electric Limited, which rose 1.34pc to Rs7.59 on a volume of 38,053,693 shares, and Dost Steels Limited, which fell 2.48pc to Rs5.50 on 25,149,001 shares. The volatility comes as global oil prices surged more than 9 per cent, pushing crude back above $100 a barrel after fresh Iranian strikes on energy sup...
  • Man arrested after attempt on life of former occupied Kashmir CM Farooq Abdullah
    Dawn - 08:31 Mar 12, 2026
    An individual was arrested after an attempt on the life of senior Kashmiri politician Farooq Abdullah, Indian media reported on Thursday. Abdullah, a former chief minister of India-occupied Kashmir, was at a wedding ceremony in occupied Jammu’s Greater Kailash area when the attacker brandished a pistol and tried to approach the politician, The Hindu reported, citing initial reports. The suspect was overpowered by the security personnel guarding Abdullah, president of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) party and father of CM Omar Abdullah. “Eyewitnesses said he opened fire. However, the police have not confirmed it,” stated The Hindu. Occupied Kashmir’s Deputy CM Surinder Choudhary and adviser to CM Nasir Aslam Wani were also present at the event. The police, in a statement carried by The Hindu, said there was “an attempt made on the life of Dr Farooq Abdullah when he was attending a marriage ceremony at Royal Park, Greater Kailash”. “The security personnel of J&K Police and NSG (National Securit...
    Tags: Farooq Abdullah
  • US to permanently close its Peshawar Consulate: report
    Dawn - 07:29 Mar 12, 2026
    The United States has announced that it will permanently close its consulate in Peshawar, The Independent reported on Thursday. According to the British publication, the consulate is the US’ closest diplomatic mission to the Afghan border and was a primary operations and logistics point at the time of its invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. The US State Department notified Congress of its intent to close the consulate, saying that it would save $7.5 million per year without undermining the advancement of US national interests in Pakistan. According to The Independent, a copy of the notification was obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday. “The move has been under consideration for more than a year since the Trump administration began downsizing nearly all federal agencies and is not related to the Iran war,” The Independent said. The joint US-Israeli war against Iran, launched on Feb 28, sparked protests in various cities, and caused the US Consulate in Karachi to suspend its operations after an incident w...
  • Pakistan, seven other Muslim countries, condemn Israel’s closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque gates
    Dawn - 06:33 Mar 12, 2026
    The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s continued closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque and Al-Haram Al-Sharif to Muslim worshippers, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Thursday. During the holy month of Ramazan, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians traditionally attend prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque — Islam’s third-holiest site, located in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967 and later annexed. The FO statement posted to X, dated March 11, said, “Security restrictions on access to the Old City of Jerusalem and its places of worship coupled with discriminatory and arbitrary access restrictions to the other places of worship in the old city constitute a flagrant violation to international law, including international humanitarian law, the historical and legal status quo, and the principle of unrestricted access to places of worship.” According to the statement, the ministers affirmed their “absolut...
    Tags: Pakistan Israel Al-Aqsa Mosque Muslim
  • Pakistan backs Bahrain, Russia draft resolutions at UNSC, urges de-escalation
    Dawn - 06:10 Mar 12, 2026
    WASHINGTON: Pakistan has outlined the rationale behind its votes on two competing draft resolutions at the United Nations Security Council, stating that both were aimed at curbing regional escalation and promoting an immediate return to dialogue. On March 11, the Security Council adopted a Bahrain-led resolution condemning recent missile and drone attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran on several Gulf states — including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan — and demanding an immediate cessation of all such attacks. Russia also presented a draft resolution on the military escalation in the Middle East at the meeting, but it was vetoed by the US. The resolution received four votes in favour — from Russia, China, Somalia, and Pakistan — while the United States and Latvia voted against it. Nine members abstained Explaining Pakistan’s vote at a Security Council meeting on the “Situation in the Middle East,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s Permanent Representa...
    Tags: Pakistan Bahrain Russia
  • IMF mission fails to reach staff-level agreement with Pakistan, talks to continue
    Dawn - 05:26 Mar 12, 2026
    ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday confirmed that its mission could not reach a staff level agreement (SLA) on the third review of the country’s $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the second review of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) despite considerable progress, and that negotiations would continue. In its “End of Mission” statement, the IMF said its team, headed by Iva Petrova, held discussions with Pakistani authorities on the EFF’s third review and the second review of the 28-month RSF arrangement in Karachi and Islamabad, as well as virtually, from February 25 to March 11 (Wednesday). “While considerable progress was made in the discussions, these will continue in the coming days, including to more fully assess the impact of recent global developments on Pakistan’s economy and the EFF-supported programme,” Petrova said. It said that programme implementation under the EFF remained broadly aligned with the authorities’ commitments through the end of Febru...
    Tags: Pakistan
  • UNSC adopts resolution against Iran’s attacks on Gulf nations; Tehran decries ‘blatant misuse’ of Security Council
    Dawn - 22:11 Mar 11, 2026
    WASHINGTON: The UN Security Council on Wednesday adopted a Bahrain-led resolution condemning Iran’s recent missile and drone attacks on Gulf countries. The attacks, targeting US assets and bases in Gulf countries, have been carried out in retaliation of America and Israel’s strikes on Iran, which began on February 28 and also resulted in the assassination of Ayotallah Ali Khamenei, who was Iran’s supreme leader. The resolution at UNSC, drafted on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), set a record with 135 co-sponsors — surpassing the previous high of 134 for Resolution 2177 (2014) on Ebola. Pakistan was among the co-sponsors and voted in favour, noting that it is “not immune from these attacks” and stating that it supports the resolution. The Bahrain-led resolution was adopted with 13 votes in favour; China and Russia abstained. Its text “condemns in the strongest terms the egregious attacks” carried out by Iran against Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, ...
    Tags: Security Council Iran Gulf UNSC
  • Karakoram Highway blockage at multiple points due to landslides leaves passengers stranded for hours
    Dawn - 19:13 Mar 11, 2026
    GILGIT: The Karakoram Highway (KKH), which had been blocked at multiple locations between GB’s Diamer and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kohistan due to landslides amid rain and snowfall, reopened for traffic on Wednesday. The highway was blocked on Tuesday evening, and Diamer Deputy Commissioner Ataur Rehman Kakar told Dawn that it reopened for traffic on Wednesday at around 4pm. He said rain, however, was still pouring, and there were chances of “rockfalls and landslides”. The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) had earlier issued an alert for an increased risk of glacial lake outburst flood, snow avalanches, and landslides in GB and upper KP till March 12. Due to the blockages, thousands of passengers, including patients, elders, and children travelling towards GB or to other parts of the country, remained stranded at multiple locations on Tuesday night. According to Diamer police, landslides had occurred at multiple locations in Diamer and Kohistan districts on Tuesday. The landslides blocked the KKH at multip...
  • Youm-i-Ali procession taken out in Karachi amid strict security
    Dawn - 19:12 Mar 11, 2026
    KARACHI: Several routes in Karachi, including the M.A. Jinnah Road, were closed for traffic on Wednesday while the main Youm-i-Ali procession set off from Nishtar Park and culminated at Imambargah Hussainia Iranian. Strict security arrangements were in place as the country observed Youm-i-Ali to mark the martyrdom day of Hazrat Ali. A statement by the traffic police said: “Due to security reasons, M.A. Jinnah Road from Gurumandir to Tower and from Saddar Dawakhana, Empress Market to Regal Chowk will remain closed.” There was no confirmation of the roads being reopened until the last updates were received at around midnight. Earlier, a statement issued by the East Zone police said the main procession had departed from Nishtar Park, with Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Dr Farrukh Ali and other senior officers present at the gathering’s head. A strict monitoring and checking system was established at the entrance and exit routes of the procession and gatherings through walk-through gates, metal detectors and CCTV...
    Tags: Karachi Youm-i-Ali
  • Three brothers of Iraqi origin arrested over US embassy blast in Oslo
    Dawn - 19:04 Mar 11, 2026
    Norwegian police said on Wednesday that three brothers had been arrested on suspicion of a “terrorist bombing” over a weekend explosion at the US embassy in Oslo, which caused minor damage but no injuries. Police prosecutor Christian Hatlo told a press conference the brothers, who were Norwegian citizens of Iraqi origin, had been arrested in Oslo around 3:30pm local time (2:30pm GMT), and that police were investigating the motive. “We are still working from several hypotheses. One of them is whether this is an order from a government entity,” Hatlo said. “This is quite natural given the target — the US embassy — and the security situation the world is in today,” he said. Hatlo said the investigation would seek to clarify exactly what roles the brothers, who were in their 20s and not previously known to police, had played. “We believe that one of them is the person who placed the bomb outside the embassy and that the other two were complicit in the act,” Hatlo told reporters. Hatlo also said that they were not...
    Tags: Oslo Iraqi
  • Targeting mistake led to US missile strike on Iranian school: report
    Dawn - 18:25 Mar 11, 2026
    The United States was responsible for a Tomahawk missile strike on an Iranian elementary school because of a targeting mistake, The New York Times reported on Wednesday. The newspaper, citing US officials, said the investigation into the February 28 attack was ongoing but preliminary findings were that the United States was responsible. The US military was conducting strikes on an adjacent Iranian base of which the school building was formerly a part and target coordinates were set using outdated data, it said. President Donald Trump suggested earlier this week that Iran itself may have been responsible but later said he could “live with” whatever the investigation reveals. Asked by reporters about the Times report on Wednesday, Trump said: “I don’t know about it.” Iran has said the strike on the elementary school in the southern city of Minab killed more than 150 people. The Times said US Central Command officers created the target coordinates for the strike using outdated data provided by the Defence Intell...
    Tags: Iranian
  • TTAP calls on govt to take opposition, Parliament into confidence on defence pacts amid ‘changing regional situation’
    Dawn - 17:59 Mar 11, 2026
    ISLAMABAD: Tehreek Tahaffuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan called on Wednesday for the government to take the opposition and Parliament into confidence on defence pacts and policies matters “in light of the changing regional situation” so that decisions related to national security were taken with national consensus. The demand was listed in a resolution that was passed during a joint parliamentary meeting of the PTI and other opposition parties at the Parliament House in Islamabad, according to a post on the TTAP’s X account. The resolution included demands pertaining to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, as well as tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan. It said that participants of the meeting expressed “deep concern” over the situation in the region and condemned US-Israeli attacks on Iran. Tensions in the Middle East escalated into a conflict after Israel and the US launched a joint attack on Iran on Feb 28 and assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was the Islamic republic’s supreme leader. The opposition ...
    Tags: TTAP Parliament
  • Nadra cancels 4.2 million CNICs of deceased individuals
    Dawn - 16:19 Mar 11, 2026
    ISLAMABAD: The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has cancelled around 4.2 million Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) of individuals who have been recorded as deceased in provincial civil registration systems, according to a statement issued by the authority. In many cases, while deaths are formally registered, the next of kin do not apply for the cancellation of CNICs of the deceased, resulting in a discrepancy between civil registration records and Nadra’s database. Under the legal framework, Nadra maintains and updates the national citizen database by incorporating “vital life-event information” — birth, death, marriage, and divorce — received from provincial and local Civil Registration Management Systems (CRMS), the statement said. These records are reported and registered at local civil registration authorities, including union councils, town committees and cantonment boards, typically by blood relatives of the individuals concerned, it detailed. “In pursuance of its statutor...
    Tags: Nadra CNICs

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