Dawn
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Dawn - 03:10 Feb 05, 2026
• King Charles’ brother Andrew shunted out of royal residence as police probe claims another woman was sent to royal estate by known convicted child sex trafficker • Peter Mandelson also faces Met Police inquiry; under-fire PM Starmer agrees to release record linked to his appointment WASHINGTON / LONDON / OSLO: The fallout from the revelations contained in the Epstein Files continued to cause upheaval in Europe, with notable British and Norwegian figures — including royals and top government officials — facing intense scrutiny for a variety of wrongdoings. King Charles’ brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has left the Royal Lodge mansion, his home of two decades, after Thames Valley Police said they were assessing allegations that a second woman was sent to the UK by convicted sex trafficker and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, for a sexual encounter with the former royal. In 2014, the late Virginia Giuffre became the first woman to publicly accuse the embattled ex-royal of similar encounters. Giuffre filed a civi... -
Dawn - 02:49 Feb 05, 2026
• Araghchi says talks with US ‘scheduled’ for Friday in Oman • Regional leaders urge United States to proceed with dialogue following reports of breakdown • Uncertainty triggered after Rubio said talks should include missile programme; Iran wanted issue kept ‘off the table’ • Trump says Iran supreme leader ‘should be very worried’ • Regional players like Pakistan, S. Arabia, Turkiye, Egypt ‘unlikely’ to take part at this stage ISLAMABAD / WASHINGTON: The prospects for talks between Iran and the United States seemed fraught with uncertainty on Wednesday, even after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi publicly announced the date and timing of the proposed negotiations. “Nuclear talks with the United States are scheduled to be held in Muscat on about 10 am Friday. I’m grateful to our Omani brothers for making all necessary arrangements,” he posted on X late on Wednesday night. A US official also confirmed that the negotiations are on track, Reuters reported. The statement came amid swirling speculation tha... -
Dawn - 02:41 Feb 05, 2026
• FBR ready to consider super tax recoveries on a case-to-case basis, Senate panel told • Aurangzeb says IMF mission due by month end, external financing needs fully covered. • Reveals discussions underway with UAE; currency notes being changed ISLAMABAD: Ahead of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) review mission’s planned visit this month, the government has hinted at the recovery of around Rs217 billion super tax arrears in instalments to facilitate businesses, and changing all currency notes. Testifying before the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue on Wednesday, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial expressed willingness to collect super tax arrears in instalments and clarified that the pending tax recoverable following the Supreme Court (SC) judgement in government favour was Rs217bn, not Rs300bn as speculated. The FBR chairman said the government did not want business closures for tax recoveries and would be ready to consider super tax recoveries on a case-to-ca... -
Dawn - 02:41 Feb 05, 2026
• Proposes a preferential trading arrangement to cut reliance on China • Pakistan weighs options to maintain ties with both Washington and Beijing WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday outlined plans to establish price floors for critical minerals and form a preferential trading arrangement among participating countries, a proposal that Pakistan has so far chosen to approach cautiously as it seeks to maintain close ties with both Washington and Beijing. US Vice President J.D. Vance told representatives from more than 50 countries that Washington was proposing a coordinated system to stabilise prices of critical minerals essential for clean energy, advanced technology and defence industries, arguing that market volatility had discouraged long-term investment. Diplomatic sources in Washington told Dawn that Pakistan has been briefed on the US proposal but has not yet signed on. Islamabad was represented at the two-day meeting by Federal Minister for Energy Ali Pervaiz Malik, rather than a senior political ... -
Dawn - 01:47 Feb 05, 2026
QUETTA: A coalition of opposition political parties announced the withdrawal of province-wide protests in Balochistan following a meeting with government officials on Wednesday, a move described as a “goodwill gesture” amid the province’s current security and political situation. In response to the announcement, the Balochistan government agreed to release all government employees recently arrested by police while attempting to enter the “Red Zone”. The decision was reached during a meeting between an authorised government committee and an All Parties delegation representing a broad spectrum of political leadership, including the Awami National Party (ANP), National Party, Pakhtunkhwa National Awami Party (PkNAP), and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). During the session, the political coalition formally ended its protest movement, citing the prevailing circumstances in Balochistan. In turn, the government confirmed it would move forward with the release of detained employees to de-escalate tensions. The two sid... -
Dawn - 19:08 Feb 04, 2026
The Foreign Office (FO) said on Wednesday that Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev would arrive in Pakistan on Thursday on a two-day official visit. In a statement, the FO said that at the invitation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the president would lead a high-level delegation, comprising cabinet ministers and business leaders for the state visit on Feb 5-6. FO added that the visiting dignitary will meet President Asif Ali Zardari, hold delegation-level talks with PM Shehbaz, and address the Pakistan-Uzbekistan Business Forum. “Discussions will focus on reviewing the entire gamut of bilateral relations and identifying new avenues to further deepen cooperation in diverse sectors including trade, energy, defence, education, people-to-people exchange and regional connectivity,” it stated. The FO statement said that this was the Uzbek president’s second visit to Pakistan, “which reflects the upward trajectory in Pakistan-Uzbekistan bilateral relations and the brotherly ties between the two brotherly coun... -
Dawn - 19:06 Feb 04, 2026
UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan on Wednesday urged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to move swiftly to designate the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) as a terrorist organisation under its sanctions regime, saying the listing request was already under consideration by the council. “We hope the council will act swiftly to designate BLA under the 1267 sanctions regime, acceding to the listing request that is currently under consideration,” Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, told a UNSC briefing on ‘Threats to International Peace and Security caused by Terrorist Acts’. In his remarks, the envoy thanked UNSC members for issuing a press statement condemning the recent attacks in Balochistan and expressed appreciation for what he described as an international “outpouring of support and solidarity with Pakistan”. “We remain resolute in eliminating this externally sponsored scourge from our soil and exposing the sponsors, financiers, aiders and abettor... -
Dawn - 19:03 Feb 04, 2026
Kasim Khan, the son of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan, said on Wednesday that the government was “deliberately” refusing to process his and his brother’s visas. In a post on X, Kasim said, “My brother and I are trying to travel to Pakistan to see our father. For 914 days, he has been held in solitary confinement while his health deteriorates and he is denied access to independent medical care. “Now the government is deliberately refusing to process our visas. Denying a prisoner treatment is cruel. Denying his children the right to see him is collective punishment,” he said. “I call on international human rights organisations and governments to speak out and act before irreversible harm is done,” he said. Kasim and his older brother Suleiman live in London with their mother, Jemima Goldsmith. The development comes as the government last week admitted that Imran was treated at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), days after reports regarding the treatment of the former premier emerged in main... -
Dawn - 18:30 Feb 04, 2026
Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir on Wednesday said that no terrorist or their facilitator would be spared, adding that “no one can rationalise violence and terrorism on any pretext”. He made the remarks during a visit to Quetta, according to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), where he received a “comprehensive operational briefing on the prevailing security environment and internal security operations”. “The briefing covered recent terrorist attacks orchestrated by Indian-backed internationally-designated terrorists of Fitna al Hindustan and the prompt aggressive response of security forces, which failed their ulterior motive of compromising peace, stability, and development in Balochistan,” ISPR said. The state has designated Balochistan-based terrorist groups as Fitna al Hindustan to highlight India’s alleged role in terrorism and destabilisation across Pakistan. The handout said measures being undertaken to further strengthen the writ of the state and ensu... -
Dawn - 18:08 Feb 04, 2026
Commenting on the decision to boycott the match against India in the T20 World Cup, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said that there “should be no politics in sports”. He made the remarks while addressing the federal cabinet in Islamabad. The remarks were televised. “We have taken a clear stand regarding the T20 World Cup that we will not play the match against India,” he said. “There should be no politics in sports,” he said. “We have taken this stand after deliberating on it carefully,” he said, calling it an “appropriate decision”. It should be noted that the government on Sunday gave the cricket team the nod to participate in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026, but said the Green Shirts would not play their match with arch-rivals India, scheduled to be held on Feb 15 in Colombo. The development came after Bangladesh’s withdrawal from the tournament amid tensions with India, which is one of the co-hosts of the T20 World Cup. At the start of his address, PM Shehbaz began by talking about the attacks ... -
Dawn - 17:57 Feb 04, 2026
The Washington Post began widespread layoffs on Wednesday that will drastically shrink the size of the storied newspaper, affecting all departments. Executive Editor Matt Murray informed the staff of the cuts, which will occur across the international, editing, metro, and sports desks, and come just days after the more than 145-year-old newspaper scaled back its coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics amid mounting financial losses. “For too long, we’ve operated with a structure that’s too rooted in the days when we were a quasi-monopoly local newspaper,” Murray said on the call, adding that “we need a new way forward and a sounder foundation.” One Post reporter, speaking on condition of anonymity, called it a “bloodbath.” The impacted journalists include Amazon beat reporter Caroline O’Donovan, Cairo Bureau Chief Claire Parker and the rest of The Post’s Middle East correspondents and editors, according to X posts from O’Donovan and Parker. “The Washington Post is taking several difficult but decisive actions to... -
Dawn - 17:50 Feb 04, 2026
Chinese leader Xi Jinping called on Wednesday for “mutual respect” in strengthening relations with the United States, warning President Donald Trump in a phone call to use “caution” when selling arms to Taiwan, Beijing’s state media reported. Xi expressed the hope that bilateral issues — amongst which trade figures highly — could be resolved amicably between the world’s two largest economies. “By tackling issues one by one and continuously building mutual trust, we can forge a right way for the two countries to get along,” Xi said, according to state broadcaster CCTV. “Let us make 2026 a year in which China and the United States, as two major countries, move toward mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation,” he added. Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform following what he called an “excellent” call, said ties between the two countries were “extremely good”. “The relationship with China, and my personal relationship with President Xi, is an extremely good one, and we both realise h... -
Dawn - 17:48 Feb 04, 2026
KARACHI: In family lore, the year 1976 shines with a particular light. It was the year of the Montreal Olympics, and a young man from Karachi named Marghoob Hasan Ansari carried the dream of representing Pakistan in field hockey. Whether he stood on the turf or carried the hope only in his heart, that dream became a family heirloom — a lost legacy of sporting ambition that his daughter, Shehla Nasir, would hold onto. With time and distance, it faded into the realm of proud, silent ghosts. Almost 49 years later, and 3,800 kilometres south, that ghost found its voice. It did not speak on the AstroTurf, but on a perfect, frozen sheet in Coral Springs, Florida. It did not cheer for a field hockey flick, but for the thunderous clap of a puck against plexiglass. And it did not watch a son, but a grandson. In the stands, surrounded by a sea of opposing colours, a small, defiant cluster of green flags fluttered. Among them stood the Olympian’s daughter, Shehla — her heart a storm of memory and miracle — as her son, M... -
Dawn - 16:33 Feb 04, 2026
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said that he was confident that the visit of Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev would open “new avenues for shared prosperity”. He made the remarks on X after President Tokayev spent a busy day in Islamabad, meeting with the Pakistani leadership. “Delighted to host my dear brother President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Islamabad on this historic visit — the first by a Kazakh president in 23 years,” PM Shehbaz said. “We agreed to elevate our relations to a strategic partnership, enhance bilateral trade to $1 billion, deepen regional connectivity, and expand cooperation across economic, defence, energy, and people-to-people domains,” he said. “We also addressed the Pakistan–Kazakhstan Business Forum, where it was heartening to see business leaders from both nations engaging to create new opportunities across key sectors,” he added. “I am confident that President Tokayev’s visit will open new avenues for shared prosperity and stronger regional integration. Our two s... -
Dawn - 16:15 Feb 04, 2026
KARACHI: The Sindh government on Wednesday formed a single-member judicial commission to probe the cause of the Gul Plaza blaze that claimed at least 73 lives. The notification appointing Justice Agha Faisal and listing the commission’s terms of reference came hours after Sindh High Court (SHC) Chief Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput nominated the judge for the task. It should be mentioned that the Sindh government had announced it would approach the SHC chief justice for a judicial inquiry into the fire, which took nearly two days to be fully extinguished and left over 1,100 shops in ruins. Earlier in the day, a letter from the SHC registrar to the Sindh Home Department’s secretary, available with Dawn, stated that the chief justice had nominated Justice Faisal as the single-member commission to “probe the causes of the fire incident of Gul Plaza shopping centre, Karachi for a period to be fixed and notified by the government of Sindh”. It stated that the decision was made keeping in view the provisions of Section ... -
Dawn - 14:41 Feb 04, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met the newly-appointed Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director General (DG) Dr Usman Anwar on Wednesday and expressed hope that under his leadership, the FIA would emerge as a “model institution”. The meeting took place during Naqvi’s visit to FIA Headquarters in Islamabad, a statement by the interior ministry said. It further quoted Naqvi as saying that Anwar would “utilise all his energies and capabilities to transform the agency into an institution that meets public expectations”. The interior minister added that he would fully support efforts to make the FIA a “modern, strong, and effective organisation”. The statement quoted DG Anwar as saying that the agency would be improved to meet international standards through the use of modern technology and training. “All necessary measures will be taken to improve the institution,” he assured. According to the statement, Naqvi also assessed an under-construction committee room at the FIA Headquarters, and it was als... -
Dawn - 14:36 Feb 04, 2026
Five United Nations (UN) experts on Wednesday expressed alarm over the conviction of lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chatta. Last month, an Islamabad sessions court had sentenced Imaan and Hadi to a total of 17 years in prison on multiple charges in a case pertaining to controversial social media posts. In a joint statement on Wednesday, UN special rapporteurs Margaret Satterthwaite, Ben Saul, Mary Lawlor, Irene Khan and Gina Romero noted that the two were convicted on multiple criminal charges, which resulted in lengthy prison sentences “for simply exercising rights guaranteed by international human rights law”. “Lawyers, like other individuals, are entitled to freedom of expression. The exercise of this right should never be conflated with criminal conduct, especially not terrorism,” they were quoted as saying, while also emphasising the vague definition of terrorism-related offences under Pakistan’s counter-terrorism framework. “Doing so risks undermining and criminalising the w... -
Dawn - 13:27 Feb 04, 2026
Russia faces a steep drop in oil income if United States President Donald Trump successfully pressures India to stop importing Russian crude, because losing its top purchaser of seaborne exports would force Moscow to slash prices to find other buyers, analysts and traders said. Trump on Monday cut US tariffs on Indian goods in a trade deal he said also included provisions for India to halt oil imports from Russia, the world’s second-biggest oil exporter. The US is also putting pressure on Russia to agree to a peace deal in Ukraine. Trump has over the past year already claimed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to stop buying Russian oil. India never halted imports, however, citing its need for energy security and for cheap oil. The Kremlin says energy cooperation with India, its second-largest oil buyer after China, is strong after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the country in December 2025. But Indian refiners are taking a cautious approach to Russian oil purchases, which is already hu... -
Dawn - 13:23 Feb 04, 2026
Pakistan’s Saim Ayub has reclaimed the top spot in the ICC Men’s T20 All-Rounder Rankings on the back of “some excellent showings” during the recently concluded three-match series against Australia. Pakistan whitewashed Australia with a 3-0 victory in the series, during which Saim scored 119 run and claimed three wickets. An announcement by the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Wednesday that Saim moved up one slot to regain the top spot in the monthly rankings, replacing Zimbabwe veteran Sikandar Raza. The cricket’s governing body said the development “bodes well for Ayub and Pakistan just days out from the start of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup as the Asian side look to claim their second title in the 20-over showcase event and their first since they tasted success in the second edition of the tournament back in 2009”. Meanwhile, Pakistani spinner Abrar Ahmed also moved up two places to the second spot in the T20 bowler rankings. He grabbed six wickets in the series against Australia and was “now ju... -
Dawn - 13:13 Feb 04, 2026
The US and Iran are due to hold talks in Oman on Friday after Tehran requested a change of venue to limit negotiations to its nuclear programme, a regional official said, with a build-up of US forces in the Middle East raising fears of a confrontation. Iran wanted the meeting to take place in Oman as a continuation of previous rounds of talks held in the Gulf Arab country on its nuclear programme, asking for a change of location from Turkiye to avoid any expansion of the discussions to issues such as Tehran’s ballistic missiles, the regional official said. Iran has said it will not make concessions on its formidable ballistic missile programme — one of the biggest in the Middle East — calling that a red line in negotiations. Tehran, which said it replenished its stockpile of ballistic missiles since coming under attack from Israel last year, had warned that it will unleash its missiles to defend the Islamic Republic if its security is under threat. The regional official, speaking on condition of anonymity, sa...
7934 items