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Dawn - 14:49 May 20, 2025
China said on Tuesday it supports Pakistan in defending “national sovereignty and territorial integrity”, after a ceasefire ended four days of fighting with India over a deadly attack in occupied Kashmir. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said China welcomed the two countries “handling differences through dialogue” as he met Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in Beijing. Wang called Pakistan an “ironclad friend” and vowed to deepen the “all-weather strategic cooperative partnership” between the two countries, a readout from China’s foreign ministry said. Likewise, Dar appreciated China for firmly supporting Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Foreign Office said Dar met his Chinese counterpart for in-depth discussions during his visit to discuss regional stability. “Both sides exchanged views on evolving situation in South Asia, future trajectory of Pakistan-China friendship and CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) 2.0. “Hailing all-weather strategic cooperative partnersh... -
Dawn - 14:24 May 20, 2025
The European Union and Britain announced new sanctions against Russia on Tuesday without waiting for the United States to join them, a day after President Donald Trump spoke to Vladimir Putin without winning a promise for a ceasefire in Ukraine. London and Brussels said their new measures would zero in on Moscow’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers and financial companies that have helped it avoid the impact of other sanctions imposed over the war. “Sanctions matter, and I am grateful to everyone who makes them more tangible for the perpetrators of the war,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram. But the new measures were unveiled without an immediate announcement of corresponding steps from Washington, despite intense public lobbying from leaders of European countries for the Trump administration to join them. “We have repeatedly made it clear that we expect one thing from Russia — an immediate ceasefire without preconditions,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on the sidelines of a ... -
Dawn - 13:43 May 20, 2025
The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence of Zahir Jaffer for the gruesome murder of Noor Mukadam nearly four years ago that had shaken the nation. After the ruling by the top court, a presidential pardon under Article 45 of the Constitution could possibly provide Zahir pardon, or reprieve, or remit, suspend or commute his sentence. Noor, aged 27 years, was found murdered at Zahir’s Islamabad residence in July 2021, with the probe revealing she was tortured before being beheaded. Zahir’s death sentence by the trial court had already been upheld by the Islamabad High Court (IHC). View this post on Instagram A three-member bench, led by Justice Hashim Kakar and including Justices Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Ali Baqar Najafi, presided today over the third hearing of Zahir’s appeal against his death sentence. The bench upheld Zahir’s death sentence handed by two courts previously over the murder charges under Section 302(b) (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). However, it converted the IHC... -
Dawn - 09:45 May 20, 2025
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that nuclear talks with the United States were unlikely to yield any results, amid a diplomatic standoff over the Islamic republic’s enrichment activities. “We don’t think it will lead to any outcome. We don’t know what will happen,” said Khamenei during a speech, adding that denying Iran’s right to enrich uranium was “a big mistake”. Iran and the US have held four rounds of Omani-mediated nuclear talks since April 12, the highest-level contact between the two foes since Washington abandoned the 2015 nuclear accord. The two sides had confirmed plans to hold another round of discussions during the latest meeting on May 11, which Tehran described as “difficult but useful”, while a US official said Washington was “encouraged”. Iran currently enriches uranium to 60per cent, far above the 3.67pc limit set in the 2015 deal but below the 90pc needed for a nuclear warhead. Western countries, including the US, have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire ato... -
Dawn - 08:50 May 20, 2025
The Foreign Office (FO) on Tuesday rejected the claim made by India that Pakistan had attempted to attack the Golden Temple in Amritsar — one of the holiest sites in Sikhism — during the recent tensions with the neighbouring country. New Delhi had accused Islamabad, without evidence, of orchestrating last month’s deadly attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam. Pakistan had strongly denied the allegations and called for a neutral probe. As the situation turned into a military confrontation between the nuclear powers, it took American intervention for both sides to agree to a ceasefire. A day earlier, the Indian army claimed that Pakistan had attempted to target the Golden Temple and the attacks were “successfully thwarted”, The Hindu reported. The management of the temple was allowed to deploy guns to “counter potential drone and missile threats from Pakistan”, a senior army official told ANI. He was quoted as saying, “Fortunately, we visualised what they [Pakistan] were capable of doing … They were more interes... -
Dawn - 08:11 May 20, 2025
Punjab Minister for Education Rana Sikandar Hayat has announced summer vacation for all schools across the province from May 28 amid an intense heatwave. In a statement issued by the education ministry, Hayat also announced revised school timings due to the rising temperatures. The new school timings will be observed from 7:30am to 11:30am effective from May 21 (tomorrow) until the start of the summer vacations. The Punjab government has decided to give the summer vacation just a few days earlier than the scheduled date of June 1 due to the extreme heatwave prevalent in the province like elsewhere in the country. The minister earlier said that consultations are underway regarding the announcement of the summer vacation and the decision will be made in a few days. He said efforts are being made to overcome the academic losses due to the closure of schools while ensuring the safety and well-being of students. Hayat said safety instructions have been issued by the concerned departments amid the severity of the h... -
Dawn - 08:06 May 20, 2025
ISLAMABAD: The government got an apathetic response to its auction for three inefficient power plants, compelling it to go for a second round of bidding by the end of this month. Only a single bidder — Siddiqsons from Karachi — came up with a bid for Jamshoro Power Company Ltd (JPCL). Two other plants — Muzaffargarh and Faisalabad — did not fetch even a single offer. The government set a combined reserve price of Rs26.625 billion for the three plants with 2,362MW of cumulative generation capacity. The auction was called through a ‘single-stage two envelop’ bid to ensure transparency, said the Ministry of Energy (Power Division), adding the bidding date was set for May 19. “Only one company, Siddiqsons, submitted a bid for JPCL. No company submitted any bid for Muzaffargarh and Faisalabad Power plants”, the Power Division said. The date for opening bids has been extended till May 30, it said in a statement. The government held open bidding for the disposal of three old and defunct power plants on an “as-is, wh... -
Dawn - 08:00 May 20, 2025
Fareeha, 43, who lives in Karachi’s Ibrahim Hyderi with her family, remembers all too well what it feels like to walk on water, or wade through it. For generations, her family relied on Badin’s salty waters for fishing, but seawater intrusion turned freshwater ponds brackish and fertile lands barren. This change, steady but not slow, left Fareeha in dire financial straits, forcing her husband and sons to work at brick kilns. But this wasn’t a permanent solution, she says. “The sea took our nets, then our dignity … we were eventually forced to move out.” Fareeha’s plight resonates with almost 80 per cent of other fishing families in Badin, where, without compensation or adaptation, climate poverty has pushed hundreds into a chaotic storm of displacement. While climate change is a global issue, its impacts, unfortunately, are spread disproportionately across the world. Despite having minimal contributions towards global greenhouse gas emissions, low-income countries tend to be extremely vulnerable to the disast... -
Dawn - 06:27 May 20, 2025
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is seeking loans totalling up to $350 million from commercial banks in the United Arab Emirates to meet its external financing needs. According to informed banking sources, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has been in discussions with these banks to revive their loan portfolio with Pakistan, and the finalisation of the loan is expected to occur very soon. In the first three quarters of the current fiscal year, the government received about $504m from foreign lenders (mostly UAE-based), showing a minor recovery from commercial banks that had stayed away from financing Pakistan last year. The government has budgeted $3.8bn in financing from foreign banks for the current fiscal year, but the actual realisation has been sluggish in the first nine months. The government had also targeted $1bn in international bonds for FY25. Another projection of $9bn inflows from bilateral partners — China and Saudi Arabia — was targeted for the current fiscal year. These projections include a $5bn time dep... -
Dawn - 06:14 May 20, 2025
RAWALPINDI: Having lost four matches in a row following five wins on the trot to open their HBL Pakistan Super League campaign, Islamabad United arrived here at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Monday night with the intent to stamp their authority as the defending champions. To Karachi Kings’ horror, the holders went on to post a mammoth total before bundling Kings out cheaply as Shadab Khan led from the front, contributing both with the bat and the ball. The all-rounder’s batting effort — 42 off 19 with the help of three fours and as many sixes — was a cameo in the bigger scheme of things, which saw Sahibzada Farhan and Alex Hales smash blistering half centuries to help United to 251-5. But Shadab’s leg-spin accounted for four wickets at the expense of 45 runs, and that performance eventually defined the match, choking Kings batters through the middle of their chase as United won by 79 runs eventually. The result saw United replace Kings in the second spot in the PSL standings as the tournament’s league sta... -
Dawn - 06:07 May 20, 2025
LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court on Monday awarded a jail term to a member of a banned outfit on charges of learning to make bombs on Facebook. ATC-I Judge Manzer Ali Gill convicted the accused, Hannan Abdullah, after finding him guilty and sentenced him to two years and six months in prison. He also imposed a fine of Rs50,000 on the convict. The convict, who was on bail, was taken into custody from the court after the announcement of the guilty verdict. The judge handed over the custody of the convict to Kot Lakhpat Jail officials. The FIA had registered a case against the convict in 2022. The prosecution said the convict was learning how to make bombs on Facebook. It said the convict also established contacts with terrorists and a banned outfit through Facebook. A prosecutor asked the court to convict the accused in light of the cogent evidence available on record. Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2025 -
Dawn - 05:39 May 20, 2025
India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has said that the United States had no role in mediating the ceasefire between New Delhi and Islamabad, according to Indian media reports on Tuesday. Misri’s statement comes despite US President Donald Trump taking credit multiple times for his administration’s role in the truce, which Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also thanked him for. New Delhi had accused Islamabad, without evidence, of orchestrating last month’s deadly attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam. Pakistan had strongly denied the allegations and called for a neutral probe. As the situation turned into a military confrontation between the nuclear powers, it took American intervention for both sides to agree to a ceasefire. During a meeting yesterday of the parliamentary committee on external affairs, led by Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor, Misri claimed that the offer for a ceasefire came from Pakistan and that no other country was involved in the negotiations, Hindustan Times reported, citing a “senior law... -
Dawn - 05:23 May 20, 2025
Dark finger-like slope streaks extending across the dusty Martian surface in a region called Arabia Terra are seen in this NASA satellite photograph released on May 19, 2025. — NASA/Handout via Reuters WASHINGTON: Images taken of Mars from orbit dating back as far as the 1970s have captured curious dark streaks running down the sides of cliffs and crater walls that some scientists have construed as possible evidence of flows of liquid water, suggesting that the planet harbors environments suitable for living organisms. A new study casts doubt on that interpretation. Examining about 500,000 of these sinewy features spotted in satellite images, the researchers concluded they were created probably through dry processes that left the superficial appearance of liquid flows, underscoring the view of Mars as a desert planet currently inhospitable to life — at least on its surface. The data indicated that formation of these streaks is driven by the accumulation of fine-grain dust from the Martian atmosphere on sloped... -
Dawn - 04:33 May 20, 2025
ALI Khan Mahmudabad NEW DELHI: The arrest of Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad on Sunday under charges that point to sedition and for hurting religious sentiments for his comments on operation Sindoor has been criticised by opposition parties who said the move shows how “fearful” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is of critique, The Wire said on Monday. Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra said that if an eminent scholar like Mahmudabad can be arrested “on Mickey Mouse charges & jailed then it is only because of his name.” Ms Moitra also re-shared Mahumadabad’s post and said that nothing in it “is remotely offensive, let alone seditious”. Prof Ali Khan Mahmudabad has noted in his social media post that while rightwing Indians rejoiced at Col Sofiya Qureshi’s briefings about operation Sindoor, they were insensitive to the lynchings and bulldosing of homes of Muslims in India. Says move shows how ‘fearful’ BJP is of criticism The opposition also said that in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s India, “hate mongers” ... -
Dawn - 04:02 May 20, 2025
NORTH WAZIRISTAN: Four children were killed and five others, including a woman, injured in a suspected quadcopter munitions drop in Mir Ali tehsil of North Waziristan district on Monday. Sources told Dawn that the drone strike took place in Hurmuz village during day time, leaving four children of the same family dead and five others, including a woman, injured. The incident caused panic in the area. Locals shifted the injured to the Mir Ali hospital. Sources said some of the injured were in critical condition. Both security forces and outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan are known to have been using quadcopters. Area people, including tribal elders, youth and children later took to the streets after the incident and staged a sit-in at Mir Ali Chowk against the suspected quadcopter strikes. Some of them also carried placards inscribed with slogans against drone strikes. In a statement posted on social media, KP Minister for Relief Naik Muhammad Dawar condemned the attack and said the blood of innocent childre... -
Dawn - 03:15 May 20, 2025
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani officials on Monday suspected that India triggered false alarm about the use of Shaheen missile during the military hostilities earlier this month as a deliberate fabrication, timed to support its post-conflict diplomatic surge and international lobbying effort. By exploiting fears of nuclear escalation, they suspect, India sought to redirect attention from its own aggressive actions during Operation Sindoor and reinforce its narrative of moral and strategic superiority. The Indian action, therefore, highlighted the dangerous intersection of disinformation and nuclear signalling in a volatile region. The baseless narrative, the officials, who spoke on background, argued is part of India’s broader strategy to frame Pakistan as a reckless nuclear actor amid mounting international concern over South Asia’s security volatility. “The claim that Pakistan employed Shaheen-class ballistic missiles during the recent crisis appears rooted in a broader Indian — and now Western — effort to frame Isla... -
Dawn - 03:02 May 20, 2025
• PM praises Navy for ensuring maritime sovereignty • Reiterates Pakistan will give strong response to India if truce violated; lauds Trump for taking up Kashmir dispute ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday visited Karachi to pay tribute to the Pakistan Navy, which successfully safeguarded the sea lines of communication and ensured absolute maritime sovereignty through a layered seaward defence. During the visit to Pakistan Naval Dockyard, the PM was briefed by officials on the Pakistan Navy’s strategic orientation, operational undertakings, and contributions during the recent conflict. He praised the navy for its preparedness and said it would have given a robust response to India if the neighbouring country had tried to attack Pakistan using its fleet. In his address, the prime minister said India’s aircraft carrier Vikrant retreated after sensing the preparedness of the Pakistan Navy. “Indian Navy’s (aircraft carrier) Vikrant had reached close to Pakistan by 400 nautical miles, but after suff... -
Dawn - 02:36 May 20, 2025
WASHINGTON: Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) opened high-level policy talks in Islamabad on Monday to discuss the upcoming federal budget for fiscal year 2025-26, officials said. The current round of discussions, which will continue till May 23, will help determine whether Pakistan’s proposed budget meets the fiscal and reform targets agreed with the IMF under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF). An IMF delegation arrived earlier in Islamabad for the formal policy-level negotiations on budget finalisation, after last week technical discussions held via video link amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. The Islamabad talks focus on revenue targets, expenditure controls, and budgetary projections as Pakistan grapples with mounting fiscal and external financing pressures. An agreement between the IMF staff mission and the authorities on next year’s budgetary measures and macroeconomic framework would lead to the announcement of the federal budget on June 2. IMF staff have emp... -
Dawn - 18:47 May 19, 2025
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Relief Minister Haji Nek Muhammad Dawar on Monday strongly condemned the deaths of three children and injuries to women from an alleged drone strike in the North Waziristan district. A post on his Facebook account said the alleged incident occurred in the district’s Hormuz village in Mir Ali tehsil. “I have already clearly said on the floor of the KP Assembly that all types of operations and war operations should be kept away from civilian populations, so that the common people, especially innocent women and children, are not harmed,” the post read. He later told Dawn.com: “We will raise our voice at every forum and make every effort to bring those responsible to justice.” The minister added that he stood with the affected family and would provide them with all possible assistance. He also ordered an immediate investigation and sought a detailed report from the institutions concerned. No official statement has been issued at the federal level yet or from provincial authorities. Jamiat Ulema... -
Dawn - 18:45 May 19, 2025
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Russia and Ukraine “will immediately start negotiations” toward a ceasefire and an end to their three-year-old war, speaking after he held a call with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. “Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will begin immediately,” Trump said in a Truth Social post following his call with Putin, which lasted two hours. After the call, Putin said efforts to end the war were “generally on the right track” and that Moscow was ready to work with Ukraine on a potential peace deal. “We have agreed with the president of the United States that Russia will propose and is ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace accord,” Putin told reporters near the Black Sea resort of Sochi. There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on the statement that talks would begin immediately. A source familiar with the matter earlier said Zelenskiy spoke “for a few minutes” with Trump before the US leade...
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