Dawn
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Dawn - 06:18 Jun 19, 2025
LAHORE: The PIA has resumed Lahore-Paris flight five years after the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) lifted ban on its operations in Europe. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and UK authorities had suspended permission for PIA to operate in the region in June 2020 after Pakistan began investigating the validity of pilots’ licences following a deadly plane crash in Karachi that killed 97 people. Following the ban lift on PIA by the EASA in November last year, the national flag carrier had resumed Islamabad-Paris flights early this year. “We can operate for any destination in Europe now (except the UK) after the lifting of ban by the EASA. However, it depends upon traffic on specific routes in Europe,” a senior official of PIA told Dawn on Wednesday. He said the PIA was also hopeful that its operation for the UK would resume in a couple of months as well. “Talks with the UK authorities concerned are underway and hopefully the PIA will be operating flights there in a couple of months,” he said. A... -
Dawn - 05:09 Jun 19, 2025
TRIPOLI/BERLIN: At least 60 migrants are feared dead after a pair of shipwrecks off the coast of Libya over the past week, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). The first ship went down on June 12 near a Libyan port in Tripoli, with 21 people, including women and children, reported missing and only five survivors found, the IOM said in a statement on Tuesday. Those lost at sea included Eritrean, Pakistani, Egyptian and Sudanese nationals. The second wreck took place about 35 kilometres off the port city of Tobruk, with the sole survivor reporting 39 people lost at sea, according to the UN body. “With dozens feared dead and entire families left in anguish, IOM is once again urging the international community to scale up search and rescue operations and guarantee safe, predictable disembarkation for survivors,” said Othman Belbeisi, the IOM’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa. According to the statement, at least 743 people have died so far this year trying to cro... -
Dawn - 04:56 Jun 19, 2025
SUKKUR: A powerful explosion of a remotely-controlled explosive device fitted to rail tracks caused four bogies of the Jaffer Express to derail near cattle market in Jacobabad on Wednesday. Luckily, no one was hurt in the incident. The responsibility of the terror act was claimed reportedly by the banned Baloch Republican Guards (BRG) through a statement, which started circulating on social media soon after the blast. Witnesses said that the bomb ripped through the train, when it was en route to Quetta, leading to shouts and cries of passengers. The blast caused floor of a bogie to crumble to pieces, left a three to four foot crater at the site and damaged 20-30 feet of the rail track, said officials. Jacobabad SSP Saddam Hussain Khaskheli, accompanied by officials of police and Pakistan Railway, reached the site and gathered details of the incident. The Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) officials had begun probe to determine the type of the bomb and the amount of explosive material used in the blast, he said. He sa... -
Dawn - 03:29 Jun 19, 2025
• Govt agrees to reduce GST on solar panels from 18pc to 10pc • Collection of tax on digital services handed over to provinces • PIDCL to oversee federal projects in all provinces • Funds for Sindh varsities to be maintained ISLAMABAD: In a significant development, the ruling PML-N has finally agreed to four major demands of its key ally PPP, thus paving the way for the federal budget’s smooth passage in the National Assembly. Taking the floor during the budget debate in the lower house of parliament on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar revealed that after extensive consultations with PPP leaders, including Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, as well as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the government had accepted the PPP’s key demands, including reduction in the proposed General Sales Tax (GST) on solar panels. The assurance came in the wake of constant criticism from the members, mostly from the PPP, on a number of budgetary proposals during the ongoing... -
Dawn - 03:05 Jun 19, 2025
ISLAMABAD: The Global Peace Index 2025 has put the disputed region of Kashmir at the forefront of the critical escalation hotspots in the world, where tensions between India and Pakistan remain ‘perilously high’. The index released by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) with headquarters in Sydney, says the situation in Kashmir exemplifies the fragility of ceasefire agreements in volatile geographic settings and underscores the dangers posed by non-state actors capable of triggering international crises. The index, a snapshot of the global state of peace, ranked Pakistan at 144, showing ‘low state of peace’ while India ranked 115 position with ‘medium state of peace’. Ukraine and Russia have been placed at the bottom of the rankings of 163 countries. Global Peace Index ranks Pakistan at 144, India at 115; says South Asia tensions remain perilously high About conflict history and escalation hotspots in India, the index report says the conflict is highly likely in the Kashmir region over the next year. ... -
Dawn - 20:20 Jun 18, 2025
United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he was “honoured” to meet Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir for talks at the White House — also marking the first time a US president has hosted Pakistan’s army chief at the White House unaccompanied by senior civilian officials. The meeting, listed on the president’s official schedule, was held in the Cabinet Room and closed to the press. The lunch is being seen in Islamabad as a major diplomatic win, particularly because earlier this month, an Indian delegation met US Vice President JD Vance and Indian media depicted it as a diplomatic success, contrasting it with the apparent inability of the Pakistani delegation to secure a similar meeting. Gen Munir’s invitation to the White House is now being projected by officials in Islamabad as a diplomatic counterpoint to those narratives. When questioned about the meeting in an interaction with the media later, Trump said, “I was honoured to meet him (Field Marshal Munir) today.” Asked whether the talks includ... -
Dawn - 18:39 Jun 18, 2025
The coalition government in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Wednesday unveiled a Rs310.2 billion deficit-free budget for the fiscal year 2025-26, which was approved by the Legislative Assembly amid a boycott by the opposition. Earlier today, the budget session was delayed by over two hours after five opposition members — four from the PTI and one from the Jammu Kashmir People’s Party (JKPP) — staged a sit-in at the entrance of the assembly hall, protesting what they described as the government’s attempt to “bulldoze the budget”. Four to five cabinet members approached the opposition to convince them to end their protest and voice their concerns inside the hall, but they were told that verbal assurances aside, the government’s “ill-will” was evident from the agenda of the budget session. The agenda stated that after the presentation of the revised budget for 2024-25 and the estimated budget for 2025-26, the finance minister would move a motion for suspension of Rules 127, 128, 129, and 131 of the Rules of Proc... -
Dawn - 18:35 Jun 18, 2025
President Donald Trump left the question of whether the United States will join Israeli strikes on Iran up in the air on Wednesday, as he said that Tehran had reached out to seek negotiations. “I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” Trump told reporters as he supervised the installation of a new flagpole on the White House South Lawn. Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a televised message that the country “will stand firm against an imposed war, just as it will stand firm against an imposed peace” as the archfoes entered their sixth day of war. Israel launched wide-scale air strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, military sites and private residences on Friday, killing top commanders, scientists, and civilians. It claimed the strikes are part of a broader operation codenamed ‘Rising Lion’ to deter Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, which the latter has consistently denied, saying its uranium enrichment programme is for civilian purposes. Latest deve... -
Dawn - 18:15 Jun 18, 2025
Pakistan on Wednesday signed $1 billion financing for a five-year multi-tranche facility with the Asian Development Bank (ADB). “The Ministry of Finance has signed a syndicated term finance facility of $1,000 million partially guaranteed by a Policy-Based Guarantee of the ADB Programme ‘Improved Resource Mobilisation & Utilisation Reform’,” according to a press release. The press release said that the Dubai Islamic Bank acted as the Sole Islamic Global Coordinator while Standard Chartered Bank was the Mandated Lead Arranger and Bookrunners. Other financiers include Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank as the Mandated Lead Arranger and Sharjah Islamic Bank, Ajman Bank and HBL as Arrangers, it added. “The facility is a landmark transaction for the Government of Pakistan that demonstrates strong support from leading financiers in the region. This is a five-year multi-tranche facility including both Islamic and conventional tranches,” it said. The finance ministry said that the Islamic facility was structured to be fully compl... -
Dawn - 17:58 Jun 18, 2025
Two men were shot dead while a third was injured in what police described as an ‘honour’ killing in Karachi’s Ittehad Town on Wednesday, while in a separate incident in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a young man was also killed for the same reason, according to a first information report (FIR). In Karachi, Deputy Inspector General South, Syed Asad Raza, told Dawn.com that the incident occurred around 4am at a house near Khyber Chowk in the Ittehad Town neighbourhood. Two brothers and a nephew of a woman’s former husband allegedly scaled the boundary wall of her home. “The woman’s current husband and the intruders exchanged gunfire,” he said, adding that the husband was fatally shot. “The nephew was also killed in the shootout, while the current husband’s brother was injured,” DIG Raza added. “The two other suspects fled the scene.” During the initial probe, the police discovered that the deceased man had married a woman from the Tank district in KP. The couple was living in a rented house at Khyber Chowk in Ittehad Town... -
Dawn - 17:53 Jun 18, 2025
A brain-dead pregnant woman who was kept alive in the southern US state of Georgia due to local abortion restrictions has given birth, officials said, with the mother then removed from life support. Adriana Smith had captivated attention across a country where access to abortion has changed radically since the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to terminate a pregnancy in June 2022. “On Friday, June 13, 2025, her infant son, named Chance, was born prematurely at approximately 4:41 am via emergency Cesarean section,” three Democratic congresswomen said in a statement. “Chance weighs about 1 pound, 13 ounces and is currently in the NICU,” the statement said, adding that Smith was removed from life support on Tuesday. Smith, a registered nurse, was suffering serious headaches in February when she was nine weeks pregnant. An initial hospital visit ended with only a prescription for medication. The next morning, when the then 30-year-old was taken to the hospital where she worked, doctors found multiple bl... -
Dawn - 16:16 Jun 18, 2025
Firefighters have been unable to completely put out the massive blaze that erupted in Karachi’s Millennium Mall on Tuesday night, as inflammable items stored in shops continue to reignite the flames. Rescue-1122 spokesperson Hassan Ul Haseeb Khan told Dawn.com on Wednesday evening that 12 fire tenders attempted to control the blaze after seven hours of hectic efforts. However, he noted that the blaze has not been completely extinguished, as clothes and other goods kept inside hundreds of destroyed shops are still fuelling the blaze. “We are expecting to continue firefighting operations until Wednesday night because of the presence of clothes, cell phones, gaming zones and other items,” Khan said. “Firefighters are searching every shop and are extinguishing any flames that are reignited.” Responding to a question, the Rescue-1122 spokesperson said that there was a fire safety system in the mall, but it was not functional. “When the firefighters attempted to use the fire suppression system, it could not be oper... -
Dawn - 16:07 Jun 18, 2025
India is a perpetrator of foreign interference, Canada’s intelligence agency said in a report published on Wednesday, just after India’s and Canada’s prime ministers vowed to strengthen ties at a global summit hosted by Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held what both sides called productive talks on Tuesday at the G7 summit in Alberta and agreed to reinstate top diplomats they had withdrawn last year. Carney drew outrage from some members of Canada’s Sikh community when he invited Modi to the G7. Canada-India relations have been tense since former prime minister Justin Trudeau in 2023 accused India’s government of involvement in the June 18, 2023, murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader in Canada. Modi’s government has denied involvement in Nijjar’s killing and has accused Canada of providing a safe haven for Sikh separatists. The intelligence report noted transnational repression “plays a central role in India’s activity in Canada”, though i... -
Dawn - 15:40 Jun 18, 2025
At least 935 people have been impacted by theextreme heat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa this month, rescue officials said on Wednesday. Climate change is a pressing reality for Pakistan, directly impacting millions of lives. Heatwaves, intensified by climate change, are becoming more frequent, prolonged and severe, disproportionately affecting communities with limited resources to adapt. According to Rescue 1122 KP spokesperson Bilal Ahmad Faizi, “The ongoing heatwave across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has reached alarming levels, affecting both human lives and the environment.” He told Dawn.com that, “A total of 935 people were impacted by the intense heatwave in June, of which 48 were taken to hospitals in critical condition due to heat-related health complications.” He added that to mitigate the impact of the heatwave, Rescue 1122 has established 108 anti-heatwave camps across 34 districts of the province. “The camps are equipped with first aid and hydration facilities to provide immediate relief to those suffering from he... -
Dawn - 14:31 Jun 18, 2025
Three Pakistani schools — two in Lahore and one in Quetta — have been shortlisted for the World’s Best School Prizes 2025, according to a press release issued by the award’s founder, T4 Education, on Wednesday. T4 said in a press release that the five awards are “the world’s most prestigious education prizes” and winners are chosen “by an expert judging academy based on rigorous criteria”. The awards are for Community Collaboration, Environmental Action, Innovation, Overcoming Adversity and Supporting Healthy Lives. Sanjan Nagar Public Education Trust Higher Secondary School, Nordic International School from Lahore, and the Beaconhouse College Programme’s Juniper Campus in Quetta are the three shortlisted Pakistani institutions. “All 50 finalist schools across the five prizes will also take part in a public vote, which opened today, to determine the winner of the Community Choice Award,” the press release read. “All six winners will be announced in October.” According to T4, Sanjan Nagar — a charity-run prima... -
Dawn - 14:12 Jun 18, 2025
Two people were killed and one was injured during a shooting incident in Karachi’s Ittehad Town, police said on Wednesday. South Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Syed Asad Raza told Dawn.com, “The incident occurred inside a house near Amir Muawiyah Mosque. Police have detained two people from the site of the incident, recovering a 30-bore pistol from there. A woman was being investigated.” DIG Raza added that the exchange of fire occurred due to “personal enmity between the two sides.” According to the preliminary investigation, a man brought a married woman from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district to Karachi, he said. “The firing exchange took place after the woman’s husband and brothers arrived at the scene to take her back,” he added. He further said that two people died on the spot and another person, sustaining bullet injuries, was arrested. “The crime scene unit is at the scene and evidence is being collected,” he said, adding that the bodies of the deceased have been taken to the Civil Hospital ... -
Dawn - 14:04 Jun 18, 2025
The iVerify Pakistan team reviewed this content and determined that it is false. To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan analysed the flight-tracking image to verify whether the aircraft mentioned actually existed in the US military and whether the mapped locations were accurate. Posts from multiple Indian users on the social media platform X on Tuesday shared an air traffic map claiming that Pakistan is helping the United States in obtaining crucial intelligence on Iran’s sensitive sites amid the conflict with Israel. However, the image is fake with numerous discrepancies. Nearly 80 people, including top army officers, were killed while civilians were among over 300 wounded in Iran as a result of Israel’s strikes on military sites and private residences on June 13. Iran subsequently launched its retaliation with ballistic missiles fired at Israel, and the two countries continued to exchange volleys over the weekend. Tensions have escalated since, with more than 224 Iranians killed and over 1000 injured, m... -
Dawn - 13:14 Jun 18, 2025
Terrorists have blown up a gas pipeline in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat district which supplied gas to Punjab, police said on Wednesday. Assistant spokesperson to the Lakki Marwar’s district police officer, Qudratullah, said, “The explosion triggered a fire and caused a massive gas leak. The pipeline was attacked in the Torwah seasonal stream area, which provided cover for the perpetrators.” Calling the incident a “major act of sabotage”, Qudratullah added: The khawarij (terrorist) operatives targeted a key gas pipeline from the Bettani Gas Field to Punjab, using explosives to destroy a main section of the line.“ “Soon after the blast, security forces were dispatched to the site and cordoned off the area,” Qudratullah further said, adding that emergency teams had also been mobilised to control the fire and assess the extent of the damage. “Investigations are underway to identify and apprehend those involved in the attack,” he said. “Officials have condemned the incident as an assault on critical national... -
Dawn - 12:41 Jun 18, 2025
At least 18 people have died since Monday as torrential rains lashed parts of India’s western Gujarat, state officials said. Disaster response teams have been deployed to help residents in the south of the state, who are bracing for more heavy monsoon rainfall. “Eighteen people have lost their lives in rain-related incidents, while dozens have been rescued across low-lying areas by disaster response teams,” the state government said late on Tuesday. The worst-hit areas included Palitana and Jesar towns, which on Tuesday registered 867 millimetres of rain over the past 24 hours. State relief commissioner Alok Kumar Pandey said the 18 deaths were the result of storms, lightning strikes and structural collapses due to rough weather. “The state is fully geared to handle the situation, and inter-departmental coordination is being intensified to ensure swift relief and rescue operations,” Pandey said. Those rescued included 18 farm labourers who were trapped in mango orchards in the Gadhada area and 22 people in Su... -
Dawn - 12:41 Jun 18, 2025
A ban on smartphones in schools issued by Taliban authorities in southern Afghanistan came into force, students and teachers confirmed to AFP on Wednesday, over concerns of “focus” and “Islamic law”. The directive by the provincial Education Department in Kandahar applies to students, teachers and administrative staff in schools and religious schools. “This decision has been made to ensure educational discipline, focus”, the statement said, adding that it was taken from a “sharia perspective” and that smartphones contribute to “the destruction of the future generation”. The policy, which has already taken effect in schools across the province, has divided opinion among teachers and students. “We did not bring smartphones with us to school today”, Saeed Ahmad, a 22-year-old teacher, told AFP. “I think this is a good decision so that there is more focus on studies,” he added. Mohammad Anwar, an 11th grader, said, “The teachers are saying if anyone is seen bringing a phone, they will start searching the students...
5467 items