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Dawn - 17:04 Jun 02, 2025
A madressah teacher who allegedly molested a student in Muzaffargarh’s Bet Mir Hazar Khan area has been arrested, police said on Monday. According to Muzaffargarh District Police Officer Dr Rizwan Ahmed Khan, the teacher in Jatoi tehsil allegedly raped the student and locked him in the madressah for five days to prevent him from reporting the assault. “The teacher had invited his young student to his room under the pretext of a massage and raped him,” DPO Khan alleged. “A case was registered against the teacher and he was taken into custody.” The Bet Mir Hazar Khan Station House Officer (SHO) said, “Such a brutal person will be punished severely according to the law and such people do not deserve any concession.” In a separate incident, police have said that they will arrest a tailor’s son who allegedly raped an 11-year-old girl and blackmailed her with video footage of the assault six months ago. The incident took place in the Riazabad area of Kot Sultan, where a girl had gone to learn sewing at a tailor’s h... -
Dawn - 16:02 Jun 02, 2025
More than a million pilgrims poured into the holy city of Makkah ahead of the annual Haj, with authorities vowing to hold a safer pilgrimage amid searing desert heat and a massive crackdown on illegal visitors. Officials have beefed up heat mitigation measures, hoping to avoid a repeat of last year’s Haj, which saw 1,301 pilgrims die as temperatures reached 51.8 degrees Celsius. Temperatures were forecast to exceed 40 degrees Celsius this week as one of the world’s largest annual religious gatherings starts on Wednesday. The Haj, one of the five pillars of Islam, must be performed at least once by all Muslims with the means to do so. As of Friday, more than 1.3 million pilgrims had arrived in Saudi Arabia for the multi-day pilgrimage, according to officials. This year, authorities have mobilised more than 40 government agencies and 250,000 officials, doubling their efforts against heat-related illness following the lethal heatwave of 2024. Shaded areas have been expanded by 50,000 square metres (12 acres), th... -
Dawn - 15:11 Jun 02, 2025
As millions of Muslim pilgrims gather in Saudi Arabia to perform Haj every year, thousands of volunteers help the pilgrims navigate their journey with ease and comfort. According to the Saudi Ministry of Haj and Umrah, over 7,000 volunteers work across Makkah and other holy places to facilitate the pilgrims. They are the “unseen anchors” whose efforts, often behind the scenes, ensure that the pilgrims do not face hardships. “You may not know their names. You may not remember their faces. But if you have ever performed Haj, you have felt their kindness — a bottle of cold water pressed into your hand, a voice gently guiding you when you felt lost,” the ministry said. Haj, one of the fundamental pillars of Islam, is performed each year by millions of Muslims worldwide. Pakistan receives one of the highest Haj quotas from Saudi Arabia. The statement said that the volunteers sacrifice their own Eid celebrations, sleep and comfort so that they can help out the pilgrims in many ways, narrating the stories of multipl... -
Dawn - 15:03 Jun 02, 2025
The Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) has agreed to form a technical committee to draft a framework for digital and virtual assets, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. The PCC was officially launched in March to “regulate and integrate blockchain technology and digital assets” into the country’s financial landscape. According to a press release by the finance ministry, the meeting was chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and attended by PCC Chief Executive Officer Bilal Bin Saqib, governor of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), and government officials. “The meeting focused on the draft regulatory framework for digital and virtual assets in Pakistan, aiming to align with international standards and evolving technological trends,” the press release said. It added that the participants discussed options for establishing “an autonomous regulatory authority to oversee and regulate the digital finance and crypto ecosystem in the country”. “It w... -
Dawn - 15:02 Jun 02, 2025
Screenshots of news stories doctored to look like articles on DAWN.com have been circulating on social media since at least March, with certain images posted in the form of sponsored ads on social media platforms leading to dubious links. DAWN has taken up the matter of the impersonated images with the relevant authorities. All news stories by DAWN will appear on its website or can be checked on its official social media accounts: Instagram: @dawn.today Facebook: Dawn.com X: @dawn_com Doctored images The earliest known such image spotted this year was of former caretaker foreign minister Jalil Abbas Jilani with the following headline in upper case: “THE ACCUSATIONS AGAINST JALIL ABBAS JILANI HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED!” Immediately, the image presents stark differences when compared with articles on DAWN.com. The doctored image’s headline is centred, whereas DAWN’s headlines are left-aligned Viewed on a desktop, the headline is followed by the author byline, dateline and social media plugins before the picture, wher... -
Dawn - 14:15 Jun 02, 2025
Russia and Ukraine on Monday swapped plans for ending their three-year war during talks in Istanbul aiming to find a way out of Europe’s largest conflict since World War II. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said any deal must not “reward” Russian leader Vladimir Putin, but said Kyiv was willing to take the “necessary steps for peace”. Urged on by US President Donald Trump, Moscow and Kyiv have opened direct negotiations for the first time since the early weeks of Russia’s invasion, but have yet to make progress towards an agreement. Monday’s talks come a day after Ukraine carried out one of its most brazen and successful attacks ever on Russian soil — using drones to hit dozens of strategic bombers parked at airbases thousands of kilometres behind the front line. A first round of meetings in Istanbul last month yielded a large-scale prisoner exchange but no pause in the fighting, which has raged since Russia invaded in February 2022. On Monday, the delegations “exchanged documents through the Turkish si... -
Dawn - 14:00 Jun 02, 2025
Another low-intensity earthquake was felt by Karachi residents on Monday, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD). The tremor was the third within 24 hours. The most recent quake measured 3.2 on the Richter scale with the city’s densely populated Quaidabad area as its epicentre. The area’s residents had also experienced a similar 3.6-magnitude tremor at 5:33pm yesterday. Both earthquakes originated at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres beneath the surface. View this post on Instagram A separate tremor originating near the city’s Gadap Town was recorded at 1:05am earlier today. It measured 3.2 on the Richter scale and had a depth of 12km. Ameer Hyder, the chief meteorologist at the Met Office in Karachi, told Dawn.com that the tremors were caused by an active fault line in Landhi. He noted that the quakes’ intensity was not high and was “gradually declining”. While stating that no formal prediction could be made yet, Hyder expected the tremors to end within a week. This screengrab shows a “norm... -
Dawn - 14:00 Jun 02, 2025
A huge plume of ash, gas and rock spewed forth Monday from Italy’s Mount Etna, Europe’s largest active volcano, after a portion of its southeastern crater likely collapsed, authorities said. Images showed a massive grey cloud billow forth from the volcano on the island of Sicily, beginning about 11:24am local time (0924 GMT), according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV). Surveillance cameras showed “a pyroclastic flow probably produced by a collapse of material from the northern flank of the Southeast Crater”, the agency said. A pyroclastic flow occurs when volcanic rock, ash and hot gasses surge from volcanos. They are extremely dangerous. The explosive activity “had transitioned to a lava fountain”, INGV said, with the plume of ash expected to dissipate towards the southwest. A red alert issued for aviation authorities said the height of the volcanic cloud was estimated at 6.5 kilometres. The nearby Catania airport was still in operation. -
Dawn - 13:46 Jun 02, 2025
Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal on Monday said the government will have to prioritise high-value projects, as only Rs880 billion has been allocated for development in the upcoming budget for the fiscal year 2025-26. The government has adopted austerity measures for the upcoming budget — set to be announced on June 10 — in line with the demands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to implement stricter spending policies and raise revenues to reduce the budget deficit and improve debt sustainability, as part of its $7 billion loan programme. The global money lender also expects Pakistan to achieve a 3.6 per cent economic growth with 7.7pc inflation next year. Speaking to reporters in Islamabad after a meeting of the Annual Plan Coordination Committee, the planning minister noted that since 2023, the development budget had decreased, stating that Pakistan was observing “tight financial discipline in order to balance spending and income” — a process he said had ... -
Dawn - 13:26 Jun 02, 2025
In the face of rising criticism of Israeli atrocities on Gaza, which has killed nearly 54,000 Palestinians, a man in the United States yelling “free Palestine” used incendiary devices to torch protesters rallying in support of Israeli hostages, injuring at least eight people in the US state of Colorado on Sunday. The FBI said it was investigating the incident as a “targeted terror attack” and identified the suspect as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman. He was booked into the county jail just before midnight on multiple felony charges, according to county records. His bond has been set at $10 million. The incident comes as pressure on Israel rises to cease what has been called a “genocide” in Gaza by the United Nations and Amnesty International among other international human rights organisations. Police in the city of Boulder said it was too early to determine a motive for the attack, which took place shortly before 1:30pm (12:30am PKT) at a demonstration outside a mall. The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish a... -
Dawn - 12:40 Jun 02, 2025
The federal government on Monday announced a four-day public holiday on the festive occasion of Eidul Azha. According to a notification issued by the Cabinet Division, the government has declared a public holiday from June 6-9, 2025 (Friday to Monday). “The prime minister has been pleased to declare the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th (Friday to Monday) as public holidays on the occasion of Eidul Azha,” the statement said. Pakistan would observe Eidul Azha on June 7, the moon sighting Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee (RHC) announced last month after the crescent for the month of Zilhaj was not sighted. The committee’s meeting took place on a roof in Islamabad’s Kohsar Block, where the religious affairs ministry has its office. Addressing a press conference, RHC Chairman Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad said, “No testimony of sighting the moon of the month of Zilhaj was received from any part of Pakistan […]. Therefore, it was decided with consensus that Zilhaj 1, 1446AH would be on May 29, Thursday and Eidul Azha would be obs... -
Dawn - 12:38 Jun 02, 2025
The Karachi police on Monday arrested a main suspect along with his two employees over charges of beating a citizen in the city’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA). The development came after a video of the incident went viral on social media earlier today, prompting authorities to take notice of it. The man, identified as Salman Farooqi, was arrested from DHA and his vehicle was impounded, Karachi South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Syed Asad Raza said in a statement. The man, travelling in a luxury car, allegedly subjected a bike rider, who was accompanied by a woman, to torture on the Khayaban-i-Ittehad road after a minor accident. Earlier today, the police had arrested the suspect’s driver and guard during late-night raids on his home and office in DHA. DIG Raza clarified that the held suspect was not a government employee. Stating that the citizen who was subjected to violence had not approached the police to file a complaint, the DIG said the police were trying to contact his family. Meanwhile, the Gizri... -
Dawn - 12:02 Jun 02, 2025
Headline inflation rose 3.5 per cent year-on-year in May 2025, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Monday. On a month-on-month basis, it decreased by 0.2pc in May as compared to a decrease of 0.8pc in the previous month, according to data. This was higher than the finance ministry’s expectations, which had anticipated inflationary outlook to “remain between 1.5-2.0pc in May, with a possible rise to 3.0-4.0pc by June”. The finance ministry had depicted a cautious outlook towards growth in Large-Scale Manufacturing (LSM), presenting a rising trajectory for inflation during May and June. Topline Securities, in a note, said that inflation during 11MFY25 had averaged at 4.61pc compared to 24.52pc in 11MFY24. Year-on-year Urban: Food item prices that increased included: chicken (51.96pc), pulse moong (31.13pc), fresh fruits (29.5pc), butter (26.15pc), milk powder (21.80pc), sugar (21.71pc), honey (21.23pc) and condiments & spices (19.98pc). Non-food items prices that increased: ... -
Dawn - 11:56 Jun 02, 2025
Iran is poised to reject a US proposal to end a decades-long nuclear dispute, an Iranian diplomat said on Monday, slamming it as a “non-starter” that fails to address Tehran’s interests and leaves Washington’s stance on uranium enrichment unchanged. “Iran is drafting a negative response to the US proposal, which could be interpreted as a rejection of the US offer,” the senior diplomat, who is close to Iran’s negotiating team, told Reuters. The US proposal for a new nuclear deal was presented to Iran on Saturday by Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, who was on a short visit to Tehran and has been mediating nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington. But after five rounds of talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to resolve the nuclear standoff, many issues remain unresolved. Among clashing red lines is Iran’s rejection of a US demand that Tehran commit to scrapping uranium enrichment, viewed as a potential pathway to develo... -
Dawn - 11:23 Jun 02, 2025
PML-N’s Hina Arshad Warraich secured a Punjab Assembly seat (PP-52) in Sialkot by a wide margin amid rigging allegations by the PTI, according to preliminary results issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday. The by-election for PP-52 (Sambrial) took place yesterday, two months after the seat had fallen vacant following the demise of PML-N MPA Arshad Javed Warraich — father of the winning candidate. Analysts had expected a tough one-on-one contest between the ruling PML-N and the PTI-backed aspirants, whereas the PPP had also been running an aggressive campaign in Sambrial to perform better in the race. According to Form-47 issued by the ECP today and signed by Returning Officer Muhammad Iqbal, Warraich clinched the seat by winning 78,702 votes. Warraich’s main opponent, Fakhir Nashat Ghumman, who was an independent candidate backed by the PTI, was the runner-up with 39,018 votes. PPP’s Raheel Kamran Cheema ranked third with 6,832 ballots cast in his favour, followed by Tehreek-i-Labbaik P... -
Dawn - 11:03 Jun 02, 2025
No casualties were reported when unknown men opened fire on a polio vaccination team in Diamer district, where Gilgit-Baltistan recorded its first case of the year. Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic. Despite global efforts to eradicate the virus, challenges such as security issues, vaccine hesitancy and misinformation have slowed progress. According to a first information report (FIR) registered at the local police station, the incident occurred on Sunday when unknown armed men opened fire on a polio team in the village of Sheikho in Tangir Valley, the constituency of GB’s Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan. However, the polio team remained safe. According to the FIR, as soon as the polio vaccination team returned to Sheikho village after completing their duties, two unknown armed men stopped the team’s vehicle at the RCC bridge. “You all are ruining the environment here by bringing [unveiled] women from Gilgit in the name of the polio camp... -
Dawn - 10:01 Jun 02, 2025
Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has retired from one-day internationals to focus on next year’s T20 World Cup, the country’s cricket board said on Monday. Maxwell took the decision to prioritise his preparation for the T20 World Cup, to be held in India and Sri Lanka, and his commitment to franchise leagues, Cricket Australia (CA) said in a statement. “I think back to right at the start I was picked ahead of my time and out of the blue. I was just proud just to be playing a couple of games for Australia. I thought I was just going to have that,” the two-time World Cup winner said in the statement. “Since then, I have been able to go through the up and downs of being dropped, being brought back, playing in a few World Cups and being a part of some great teams.” View this post on Instagram The 36-year-old has played 149 ODIs for Australia, scoring 3,990 runs at a strike rate of 126.7 — second only to Andre Russell’s 130.22. Maxwell’s 201 not out from 128 balls while battling cramps in a 2023 World Cup match... -
Dawn - 09:22 Jun 02, 2025
French authorities detained 79 people in the second such wave of arrests during celebrations following Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League win, a police chief said on Monday. The PSG thrashed Inter Milan by a record 5-0 in Saturday evening’s final in Munich, flying back to Paris on Sunday for a triumphal parade along the Champs-Élysées, then celebrations in a packed Parc des Princes stadium on the edge of the French capital. The PSG winning the biggest prize in European club football for the first time sparked delirious festivities in France, but was marred by violence. On Sunday, “we saw a resurgence of individuals driven by malicious intent who were not really PSG supporters”, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told RTL radio. “We arrested 79 people, some of them in the night,” he said, adding that order had been restored before dawn. Some were detained for taking barriers and briefly blocking the ring road around Paris, while others had tried to vandalise businesses or light fireworks on the Champs-Élysée... -
Dawn - 06:40 Jun 02, 2025
Pakistan on Monday rebuked the recent remarks made by Indian leadership saying that they reflected a deeply troubling mindset that prioritised hostility over peace. The Foreign Office issued a statement today after a flurry of antagonistic statements made by Indian leaders, including one made by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson on May 29 where he stated that talks on the Kashmir dispute will only be held “when Pakistan hands over [Azad Jammu and Kashmir] to us”. Responding to the antagonistic remarks, FO spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said, “Any attempt to portray Pakistan as the source of regional instability is divorced from reality. “The international community is well aware of India’s record of aggressive behavior, including documented support for terrorist activities within Pakistan,” he stated, adding that those facts could not be “obscured by hollow narratives or diversionary tactics”. He reiterated that the Kashmir dispute remained a “core issue threatening peace and stability in th... -
Dawn - 18:50 Jun 01, 2025
Mohammad Haris hit a swashbuckling maiden international century to guide Pakistan to a 3-0 clean sweep of Bangladesh with a seven-wicket win in the third and final Twenty20 international in Lahore on Sunday. Haris, playing in his 17th T20I, carted seven sixes and eight boundaries in his 107 off just 46 balls as Pakistan chased down a challenging 197-run target in 17.2 overs for their first home T20I series win in three-and-a-half years. Pakistan won the first two matches by 37 and 57 runs at the same venue. Parvez Hossain smashed four sixes and seven boundaries in his solid 34-ball 66 to lift Bangladesh to 196-6 in their 20 overs. Pakistan lost Sahibzada Farhan for one in the first over, but Haris, whose hundred came up off 45 balls, added 92 for the second wicket with Saim Ayub and an unbroken 60 for the fourth with Salman Agha, who made 15 not out. Ayub hit four sixes and two boundaries in his 29-ball 45 while Hasan Nawaz scored 13-ball 26 as the home batters enthralled a near-capacity 30,000 crowd at Gadda...
6698 items