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Found 10444 news

  • Small-town Ramazan: Ohio’s growing Muslim community and quiet coexistence
    Dawn - 14:53 Mar 08, 2026
    Muslims offering taraveh prayers inside Masjid-i-Noor in Hilliard, Ohio. — AuthorOutside a mosque in Hilliard, Ohio, a police officer stood in the cold night air, handing out candies and stickers to children while their parents prayed taraveh inside. Hilliard, a quiet suburb near Columbus, the state capital, is home to a growing Muslim community. At its centre stands Masjid-i-Noor, a striking modern structure whose wide glass frontage glows softly after sunset. Smaller mosques also serve the area, including Masjid as Shurooq, where the North American Indian Muslim Association (Naima) hosted an iftar dinner for a small group earlier in the evening. Many who broke their fast there later drove a few minutes to join the larger taraveh congregation at Masjid-i-Noor — a reminder that in a small town, distances are short and communities are closely knit. Muslims offering taraveh prayers inside Masjid-i-Noor in Hilliard, Ohio. — Author Inside, worshippers raised their hands in dua, praying for an end to war and for peace in a troubled world. Outside, beneath the glow of parking-lot lights, a unif...
  • REGION: DEATH OF THE ‘RULES-BASED ORDER’
    Dawn - 14:41 Mar 08, 2026
     Mourners attend a funeral for girls and staff who lost their lives when a primary school in Minab in southern Iran’s Hormozgan province was hit on the first day of US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, 2026: at least 171 people, mostly schoolgirls between the ages of seven and 12, were killed in the airstrike | Anadolu The joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran represent a further erosion of the international legal order. Under international law, these attacks are neither preemptive nor lawful. Israel and the United States launched Operation Shield of Judah and Operation Epic Fury while diplomatic negotiations between Washington and Tehran were actively underway on Iran’s nuclear programme. Just two days earlier [on February 27], the most intense round of US-Iran talks concluded in Geneva, with both sides agreeing to continue. US President Donald Trump indicated he would give negotiators more time. Then came the bombs. Neither preemptive nor legal, US‑Israeli strikes on Iran have blown up international law The illegality of the attack Israel said the strikes were “preventive”, meaning they were to prevent Iran from developing a capacity to be a threat. But preventive war has no legal basis under international law. The UN Security Council did not authorise any military action, meaning the sole lawful pathway for the use of force f...
  • ‘Whole country will stop’ as India dreams of home World Cup glory
    Dawn - 14:33 Mar 08, 2026
    Tens of thousands of Indian cricket fans crowded the T20 World Cup final stadium on Sunday, and millions more were glued to their televisions, desperate to witness a historic home triumph. India face New Zealand in Ahmedabad as they attempt to become the first team to retain the trophy, the first to win it on home soil and the first to claim a third world T20 crown. Cricket’s T20 showpiece, a month-long tournament of 55 matches featuring 20 teams, concludes on Sunday evening at the 130,000-seat Narendra Modi Stadium, the world’s largest cricket venue. Diehard supporters arrived from across the country, many clad in Indian colours and waving the tricolour flag as the match began. Anil, a wedding photographer, travelled 1,200 kilometres (745 miles) by train from the southern city of Hyderabad with his brother, dreaming they would see their team triumph. “I hope India wins,” said the 18-year-old who goes by only his first name. Hundreds of vendors, all dressed in Indian jerseys, lined the pavement from the neare...
    Tags: India
  • Police register FIR after 15-year-old allegedly sexually assaulted in Mandi Bahauddin hospital
    Dawn - 14:23 Mar 08, 2026
    MANDI BAHAUDDIN: Punjab Police on Sunday registered a first information report (FIR) after a 15-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted in a hospital near the district’s King Chowk, officials said. Per officials, the incident allegedly occurred in a private hospital when the victim went there to collect medicines. She was reportedly taken to a room in the facility. The Civil Lines Police Station registered an FIR on the complaint of the victim’s mother against three individuals under Sections 376(3) (punishment for rape of a minor) and 114 (abetment) of the Pakistan Penal Code. One of the suspects was named in the FIR, while the other two had been listed as unidentified individuals, officials said. The FIR stated that the victim went to the hospital with her aunt and uncle. “She excused herself to go to the toilet, but when she didn’t return for a long time, her aunt grew concerned,” the mother stated in the FIR. “The aunt and uncle went to look for the girl and heard someone crying in a room. Upon ope...
  • War Diary Day 9: War hits oil, water, and diplomacy
    Dawn - 13:36 Mar 08, 2026
    Vehicles move along a highway past a war memorial statue and a billboard depicting Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in an air strike on February 28, with plumes of black smoke billowing, in Tehran on March 8, 2026. —AFPWar has a way of widening even when some of the actors involved are simultaneously trying to contain it, and the events of the past day in the US-Israel war with Iran offered a striking illustration of this paradox. The conflict is no longer confined to air strikes and the exchange of missiles and drones between adversaries. It is steadily drawing in the economic lifelines of the region, from oil infrastructure to desalination plants, as a diplomatic effort to end Iranian strikes on its neighbours faltered because of a statement by President Donald Trump and subsequent US and Israeli strikes. The diplomatic opening had begun to emerge quietly through regional channels over the preceding 48 hours. Oman and Qatar, supported by several Muslim countries, attempted to facilitate mediation between Tehran and its neighbours, while Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke directly with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. The Iranian leader then issued a carefully worded public statement in which he referred to neighbo...
  • Explainer: Who might succeed in Iran’s theocratic system of power?
    Dawn - 12:59 Mar 08, 2026
    Iranian clerics involved in choosing a successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after his assassination a week ago in US-Israeli strikes say they are close to naming the Islamic Republic’s new supreme leader. Iran’s revolutionary theocracy has never been in greater jeopardy, and with the clerical body tasked with naming a new leader ready for an announcement as soon as Sunday, it is hard to predict what might happen next. Israel and the United States have vowed no let-up in their war, promising to kill whoever replaces Khamenei and even those involved in selecting the new leader — a group that may include the clerics who formally make the choice and the Revolutionary Guardsmen and political insiders who influence them. The following explains how power is meant to operate in the Islamic Republic, how a new supreme leader can be chosen, some of the main candidates, and how the US and Israeli attacks have changed the equation. What is Iran’s ‘Supreme Leader’? Iran’s theocratic system dates to the 1979 revolution that...
    Tags: Iran
  • Second Pakistani killed in UAE due to falling debris from aerial interception amid ongoing Iran-US-Israel war
    Dawn - 12:52 Mar 08, 2026
    A Pakistani driver was killed when “debris from an aerial interception” fell onto a vehicle in Dubai’s Al Barsha area late on Saturday night, according to Dubai Media Office. This is the second instance of a Pakistani national losing his life in an attack in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the ongoing war between Iran and the US and Israel. The war has expanded in the region, with Iran targeting US assets and bases in Gulf countries and Israel carrying out attacks in Lebanon. The statement by the Dubai Media Office does not specify which projectile was intercepted during Saturday’s incident, or from where it was fired. The Pakistani embassy in the UAE said its consulate in Dubai was in direct contact with local authorities to assist the Pakistani national’s family. “We are profoundly saddened to confirm that a Pakistani national lost his life yesterday in Dubai’s Al Barsha area due to falling debris following the interception of an incoming missile,” the embassy said on X. “Our Consulate General in Duba...
  • OpenAI hardware leader resigns after deal with Pentagon
    Dawn - 12:27 Mar 08, 2026
    Caitlin Kalinowski, who oversaw hardware at OpenAI, announced her resignation on Saturday, citing concerns about the company’s agreement with the Department of Defence. In a social media post on X, Kalinowski wrote that OpenAI did not take enough time before agreeing to deploy its AI models on the Pentagon’s classified cloud networks. “AI has an important role in national security,” Kalinowski posted. “But surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorisation are lines that deserved more deliberation than they got. Reuters could not immediately reach Kalinowski for comment, but she wrote on X that while she has “deep respect” for OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the team, the company announced the Pentagon deal “without the guardrails defined,” she posted. “It’s a governance concern first and foremost,” Kalinowski wrote in a subsequent X post. “These are too important for deals or announcements to be rushed.” OpenAI said the day after the deal was struck that it include...
  • Gwadar fisherman killed by ‘debris from Israeli projectile’ in Iran waters
    Dawn - 12:00 Mar 08, 2026
    GWADAR: A fisherman from Gwadar was killed after the debris of an Israeli projectile intercepted by Iranian air defence systems hit his boat in Iranian waters, officials said on Sunday. Gwadar Deputy Commissioner (DC) Naqibullah Kakar confirmed the incident to Dawn that took place on Saturday, saying that the deceased was identified as Muhammad Tayyab, a resident of Gannz, a small coastal town in Balochistan’s Gwadar district. District Police Officer Attaur Rehman also confirmed the incident and told Dawn that Tayyab “went into Iranian waters for Iranian oil”. DC Kakar believes an attempt was made to attack fishing boats in a coastal area of Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province, but the projectile was intercepted and destroyed by the Iranian air defence system. “A portion of the debris from that drone or missile hit Tayyab’s fishing boat, resulting in his death,” he added. The officials said Tayyab’s body was taken to his native town, Gannz, via the sea, and he was later buried. Iran, a neighbour of Pakistan, h...
  • 13 terrorists killed in 5 intelligence-driven operations across KP: ISPR
    Dawn - 09:27 Mar 08, 2026
    Security forces have killed 13 terrorists in five separate operations across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the military’s media affairs wing said on Sunday. “On March 6-7, security forces conducted a series of high-tempo intelligence-driven operations, part of relentless counter-terrorism campaign, wherein 13 khawarij belonging to Indian proxy Fitna Al Khawarij were killed in five separate engagements in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). According to ISPR, five terrorists were killed in the Bajaur district after an intense fire exchange when troops “effectively engaged the khawarij location” during an intelligence-based operation (IBO). In two other encounters in Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan districts, three terrorists “belonging to Indian proxy Fitna Al Khawarij were successfully neutralised”, the press release said. “Simultaneously, in two separate engagements in Khyber...
    Tags: ISPR
  • What would a feminist Karachi look like?
    Dawn - 09:02 Mar 08, 2026
    Consider this: she gets back home after a long hard day at work. “It’s 10pm already,” she thinks to herself, as something outside the window catches her eye. It’s her roommate excitedly waving a cricket bat at her. She now begins to notice her surroundings: almost 15 girls from her neighbourhood out on the street. All positioned for the game, all looking as disheveled as one can be, yet they all have this fiery spark in their eyes. Clearly they feel passionately for the game. They play for the next two hours. Unperturbed by any restrictions. The dark shadows on the street do not scare them. Time is of no concern. They feel free. Their energy, loud passionate voices, and roaring laughter fill the dimly lit street. No one cares for their appearance, they just run and trip and get back up. They get into silly brawls over the rules of the game. By the end of the night, they are drained but they return to their homes content. The kind of contentment almost every young girl and woman in Karachi is starved for; to o...
    Tags: Karachi
  • New York police probe man for throwing ‘ignited’ devices near anti-Muslim protest in front of Mayor Mamdani’s house
    Dawn - 08:29 Mar 08, 2026
    New York counterterror police said they were carrying out an investigation on Saturday after a man threw “ignited devices” near far-right protesters demonstrating outside the mayor’s home. New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the devices contained nuts, bolts and screws as well as a fuse — but it was not yet clear if they were functional improvised explosive devices, or hoax imitations. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said in an X post that its Joint Terrorism Task Force was “actively investigating” the matter along with New York City Police. There was no indication the incident was related to the ongoing hostilities in Iran, Tisch added. Police arrested six people over unrest at the protest, she said, including two suspects in connection with the devices. Far-right influencer Jake Lang was demonstrating against alleged “Islamification” and calling for an end to “public Muslim prayer” in New York in front of Gracie Mansion, the residence of Mayor Zohran Mamdani. His protest drew around 20 peopl...
  • The L word
    Dawn - 04:53 Mar 08, 2026
    TWO nights ago, I logged on to our evening meeting the way I have done twice a day, five days a week for nearly six weeks. On my screen: half a dozen faces I have come to think of as family, based in Beirut. News was coming in of an impending Israeli bombing. They were scrambling — checking phones, calling relatives, trying to locate family members — and simultaneously, they were working. Editing, producing, filming. Because the news goes on. I sat in Islamabad, safe, watching them hold themselves together from across a screen. The friction was unbearable. A war brews in my backyard too, and yet there I was, untouched, while they split themselves in two — one half terrified, one half professional — because that is what survival looks like when the bombs have been falling, on and off, your entire life. I thought of the last time I was in Lebanon in 2009. My friend Shaan and I travelled the length and breadth of the country for two weeks, lost half the time, pre-Google Maps, finding our way through broken Arabi...
  • Petrol issue turns bloody: Filling station worker killed, two injured in Sialkot for refusing to fill cans
    Dawn - 04:51 Mar 08, 2026
    NAROWAL: A filling station employee was shot dead and his two colleagues were injured by men for refusing to fill jerry cans with petrol the other night after the government announced Rs55 per litre hike in petrol price. A video of the altercation and murder in the Hajipura police area went viral on social media. Muhammad Nawaz, a resident of Nothen village, Hafizabad, filed a complaint with the police, saying that his nephew, Sibtain Ali, was working at the filling pump on Daska Road, Hajipura, Sialkot. Two persons arrived at the filling station in a car and pressured filling station worker, Hassan Khan, to fill petrol in jerry cans. Hassan Khan refused to fill the cans with petrol as per the policy. The people in the car left after abusing and threatening him of dire consequences. An hour later, the car driver came back with his companions armed with automatic weapons and they all started torturing the filling station staff. They hit Muhammad Shahbaz with the butt of a pistol and injured him while they open...
    Tags: Sialkot
  • US marine ‘opened fire in retaliation’ when people stormed consulate in Karachi, JIT told
    Dawn - 04:42 Mar 08, 2026
    • Police officers tell six-member panel around 300 protesters reached US mission from Numaish without high-ups’ consent • Say personnel of Sindh police deployed outside consulate fired 30 ‘aerial shots’ to stop the mob from entering foreign mission • ToRs of JIT silent about fixing responsibility of killings KARACHI: A Joint Interrogation Team (JIT) probing the facts and circumstances leading to the March 1 violence was informed that “one US marine” stationed at the American mission in Karachi resorted to firing in “retaliation” when protesters stormed the consulate building after breaching security, it emerged on Saturday. The JIT was also told that Sindh police personnel deployed at US consulate fired 30 shots into the air to stop the mob from storming the complex. As many as 12 people were killed and 49 others, including seven policemen, sustained bullet wounds during the violent protest near the US consulate against the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in coordinated US-Israel strikes on Tehran. On...
    Tags: Karachi
  • Explosion at US embassy in Oslo, no injuries
    Dawn - 04:25 Mar 08, 2026
    The US embassy in Oslo was hit by an explosion in the early hours of Sunday but no one was injured, police in the Norwegian capital said, adding the cause was not immediately known. The blast occurred around 1am local time (0000 GMT) and caused only “minor material damage” to one of the building’s entrances, Oslo police said in a statement. Investigators were examining the scene, while dogs, drones, and helicopters were involved in the search “for one or more potential perpetrators”, it said. “Police view such incidents in public spaces as very serious, and are investigating the case with substantial resources and high priority.” Police commander Michael Dellemyr told TV2 police would “not comment on anything related to the type of damage, what it is that has exploded and similar details, beyond the fact that there has been an explosion” because “it is very early in the investigation”. He later told TV2 that police “have an idea of the cause”, adding: “It appears to us that this is an act carried out by someo...
    Tags: Oslo
  • University of Karachi’s morning classes go online from tomorrow
    Dawn - 04:12 Mar 08, 2026
    KARACHI: The University of Karachi (KU) has announced to hold all morning classes online from Monday (tomorrow) till the end of Ramazan. According to a KU spokesperson, evening classes have already been online since the start of Ramazan and that the latest decision will now provide relief to morning students given the significant hike in fuel prices. “Keeping in view the convenience of its students during Ramazan and transportation restraints likely to be caused by the recent price hike in petroleum products, the University of Karachi has decided that all the morning classes from Monday, March 9, 2026, till end of the month of Ramazan will be conducted only online,” the varsity said in a notification. Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2026
  • ESSAY: WHY JOURNALISM MATTERS
    Dawn - 04:06 Mar 08, 2026
    There was a moment — brief but powerful — where we began to believe we had finally slain an old giant. It came with the rise of platforms that promised to “democratise” media, to give voice to every individual, to let every athlete, thinker, activist, executive or celebrity broadcast their own story, without the filters of legacy institutions. Elon Musk said as much when he spoke about decentralising media, opening it up to everyone with a phone and an internet connection. No more gatekeepers. No more old hierarchies. Just pure, unmediated truth. And, at first, it felt liberating. Every podcast became a direct line to the person who actually lived the narrative. Every social media platform turned into a newsroom and every public figure into their own anchor. We were told to reject “mainstream media” — that it was biased, outdated, elitist — and embrace instead the beautiful chaos of direct testimony. Fake news, they said, wasn’t the problem; controlled narratives were. And now those narratives could be topple...
  • External sector faces instability amid Middle East crisis
    Dawn - 03:35 Mar 08, 2026
    ISLAMABAD: As the conflict in the Middle East escalates, Pakistan’s Planning Commission has cautioned about possible economic impacts on the country, including increased energy costs, strain on remittance inflows, and potential interruptions to exports and financial stability. The ministry warned that instability in the region, especially around the strategic Strait of Hormuz, could drive up global oil prices and sharply increase Pakistan’s import costs, given the country’s heavy dependence on petroleum imports from the Middle East, according to the Ministry of Planning’s Monthly Development Update for March. Such developments could also fuel domestic inflation, raise production and freight costs for exporters, and place additional pressure on the exchange rate and fiscal position, according to the report released here on Saturday. At the same time, prolonged conflict could affect remittance inflows from Gulf countries, where millions of Pakistani workers are employed, and create uncertainty for Pakistan’s ex...
  • Carney supports removing Andrew from succession
    Dawn - 02:56 Mar 08, 2026
    TOKYO: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Saturday that former prince Andrew should be removed from the line of royal succession over his “deplorable” behaviour. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is being investigated for alleged misconduct in public office following revelations about his dealings with the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He was arrested and released in February on suspicion of having passed confidential information to Epstein during his 2001-2011 role as a UK trade envoy. “There is a process in order to do it….but I certainly think his actions which are deplorable and have caused him to be stripped of his royal titles, certainly… necessitate his removal from the line of succession,” Carney told reporters in Tokyo. The Canadian PM was visiting Japan to hold talks with his counterpart Sanae Takaichi. The former prince — who was stripped of his royal titles last year over his alleged connections to Epstein — has denied all wrongdoing. Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide last year, clai...

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