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Dawn - 02:15 May 05, 2026
The Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) provided humanitarian assistance to over half a dozen sailors stuck aboard an Indian offshore tug and supply vessel in the Arabian Sea, security sources said on Monday. The rescue and support operation for the crew, which included six Indians and one Indonesian national, was initiated after the Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre in Mumbai contacted Pakistani authorities and requested assistance. They reported a technical fault on the MV Gautam, which was en route from Oman to India, security sources said. The Pakistan Navy deployed the PMSS Kashmir to carry out rescue operations. Emergency assistance, including food, medical aid, and technical support, was provided to the crew of MV Gautam, the sources said, adding that support operations for the vessel remain ongoing. Last month, the Pakistan Navy carried out an operation in the Arabian Sea and rescued 18 crew members, including foreign nationals, of a merchant vessel following a distress ca... -
Dawn - 20:23 May 04, 2026
Russia on Monday declared a unilateral ceasefire with Ukraine between May 8-9, when Moscow marks its annual World War II Victory Day commemorations, and threatened a “massive missile strike” on Kyiv if Ukraine violated it. Ukraine responded by declaring a truce of its own between May 5-6, saying it was “not serious” to expect it to observe a ceasefire during a Russian military holiday. The quarrelling between the two sides comes with a lull in US-led diplomatic efforts to end the war, as Washington shifts its focus to conflict in the Middle East. Russian strikes killed nine people across Ukraine on Monday, according to Ukrainian officials, while a Ukrainian drone crashed into a high-rise building in an upscale Moscow neighbourhood overnight. “In accordance with a decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces, Vladimir Putin, a ceasefire has been declared from May 8–9, 2026… We hope that the Ukrainian side will follow suit,” the Russian defence ministry said in a post on state-backed m... -
Dawn - 18:58 May 04, 2026
The Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) provided humanitarian assistance to over half a dozen sailors stuck aboard an Indian offshore tug and supply vessel in the Arabian Sea, security sources said on Monday. The rescue and support operation for the crew, which included six Indians and one Indonesian national, was initiated after the Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre in Mumbai contacted Pakistani authorities and requested assistance. They reported a technical fault on the MV Gautam, which was en route from Oman to India, security sources said. The Pakistan Navy deployed the PMSS Kashmir to carry out rescue operations. Emergency assistance, including food, medical aid, and technical support, was provided to the crew of MV Gautam, the sources said, adding that support operations for the vessel remain ongoing. Last month, the Pakistan Navy carried out an operation in the Arabian Sea and rescued 18 crew members, including foreign nationals, of a merchant vessel following a distress ca... -
Dawn - 18:52 May 04, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Karachi on Monday announced the recovery of 80 acres of government land illegally allotted to Bahria Town in the Gulshan-i-Sarmast housing scheme in Hyderabad’s Deh Ganjo Takkar, a press release said. According to the press release, the land worth Rs6 billion was located in a prime area of Hyderabad district. “The management of Bahria Town got the possession of the land through the illegal allotment against the meagre amount of Rs383 million, which was also defaulted,” the bureau said. Furthermore, the statement said that Bahria Town had also failed to fulfil the terms and conditions of the allotment, as the land was intended for the establishment of a university. “Accordingly, the matter was taken up with Hyderabad Development Authority and as a result of efforts and intervention of NAB, the HDA cancelled the allotment and possession with forfeiture of the partially paid amount by Bahria Town,” the statement added. Last week, an accountability court issued ... -
Dawn - 18:51 May 04, 2026
WASHINGTON: Public opinion within parts of the American-Jewish community on the US-led war against Iran has shown a noticeable shift, with support easing and opposition rising over time, according to a recent survey. While different polls focus on different segments of the community, both point to growing reservations about the campaign as it has progressed. The Jewish People Policy Institute’s “Voice of the Jewish People Index” survey, which tracks attitudes among a more connected segment of American Jews engaged with organised communal life, records a steady decline in support over the course of the conflict. Backing fell from 68 per cent in the war’s first week to 62pc in the third week, and further to 60pc in the week following the ceasefire, while opposition rose from 26pc to 34pc over the same period, the survey shows. A separate nationwide survey conducted by GBAO Strategies for the advocacy group J Street, which reflects a broader sample of American Jewish voters, suggests that scepticism is even more... -
Dawn - 18:14 May 04, 2026
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday partially suspended a lower court verdict in a defamation case filed by singer-cum-actor Ali Zafar against Meesha Shafi, to the extent of damages payment. The court, however, maintained Shafi would remain barred from repeating the allegations of sexual harassment against Zafar. As an interim relief, the bench suspended the trial court’s decision to the extent of the damages only. The LHC allowed Shafi to deposit half of the amount of damages with the court and furnish a surety bond for the remaining amount instead of making the payment to Zafar. The decision came on an appeal filed by Shafi following a sessions court order in March, in which she was directed to pay Zafar Rs5 million in damages for levelling allegations of sexual harassment against him. The lower court had ruled that the allegations had “not been proved to be true or made for public good, and thus constitute actionable defamation”. Subsequently, Shafi challenged the civil decree in the LHC. Her app... -
Dawn - 17:59 May 04, 2026
SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: An attempted suicide attack on a security forces’ post near Azam Warsak Bazaar, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s South Waziristan area, was foiled on Monday evening, officials said. According to security sources, the attacker attempted to target the army post using an explosives-laden coach; however, due to timely action by Pakistan Army personnel, the vehicle was destroyed before reaching its target. Police officials said the explosion damaged a nearby religious seminary, a petrol pump, shops and the roofs of several houses, some of which partially collapsed. As a result of the incident, one civilian was martyred while 15 others sustained injuries. All of the injured were immediately transported to the District Headquarters Hospital in Wana. Medical Superintendent Dr Jan Mohammad said that a state of emergency had been declared at the hospital, with the injured being provided medical treatment. Local residents told Dawn that the blast was so powerful that people rushed out of their rooms in fear and... -
Dawn - 17:35 May 04, 2026
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar was informed by the petroleum ministry on Monday that the country has sufficient reserves of POL products till the third week of June. The information was conveyed to the deputy premier during a high-level meeting to review the country’s petroleum, oil, and lubricants stock position. “The Petroleum Ministry briefed the committee on the prevailing supply situation, confirming that, after factoring in incoming shipments, sufficient stock levels are available to ensure uninterrupted availability of POL products throughout Pakistan until the third week of June 2026.” Global fuel prices have skyrocketed over the past two months as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains paralysed since the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on February 28. The attendees were also informed that the supplies are being continuously monitored on a daily basis by the National Coordination and Management Committee (NCMC), to “ensure effective oversight and proactive supply chain management... -
Dawn - 17:23 May 04, 2026
Iranian sailors, who had been evacuated to Pakistan after being released by the United States, crossed the border and entered their home territory on Monday, reported Iranian state media. According to IRNA, 15 of the 22 sailors crossed through the Rimdan border terminal in Sistan-Baluchistan. Earlier, the Foreign Office (FO) said that as a “confidence-building measure” by the US, 22 crew members on an Iranian ship seized by US forces had been evacuated to Pakistan. The statement came hours after American outlet ABC News reported that an Iranian ship seized by the US after it “failed to comply” with the blockade imposed by the country on Iranian ports had been transferred to Pakistan for repatriation. “US forces completed the transfer of 22 crew members of M/V Touska to Pakistan for repatriation,“ the report quoted US Central Command Spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins as saying. “Six other passengers were already transferred to a regional country for repatriation last week,” he said. According to the report, Ira... -
Dawn - 17:05 May 04, 2026
Fire broke out at a major UAE oil industry zone on Monday after a drone attack originating from Iran, authorities said, as the Gulf state’s military separately intercepted three Iranian missiles over its waters and a fourth crashed into the sea. Civil defence teams were deployed immediately to contain the blaze at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, the Fujairah Media Office said in a statement, adding that three Indian citizens were moderately injured in the attack and taken to the hospital. The UAE defence ministry said on X that its forces had intercepted three missiles, with a fourth falling into the sea. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy issued a map it said showed an expansion of areas under Iranian control near the Strait of Hormuz, encompassing the UAE ports of Fujairah and Khorfakkan as well as the coast of the Umm Al Quwain emirate, Iranian news agencies reported. The drone attacks shattered a period of relative calm in the UAE since a Pakistani-mediated ceasefire between Washington and Tehran t... -
Dawn - 16:04 May 04, 2026
ISLAMABAD: PTI accused the government on Monday of driving Pakistan into an “unprecedented economic and governance crisis” that has “crushed the common man”. In a statement, PTI’s Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram stated that the “stability” claimed by the government was nothing but a “cruel joke on 250 million Pakistanis”. Akram said that after four years of no reforms, inflation had returned sharply, with the Consumer Price Index rising 11 per cent year-on-year and the Sensitive Price Indicator increasing 15pc. He added that fuel and electricity prices had surged significantly, with petrol and diesel nearing Rs400 per litre and power tariffs reaching Rs60–80 per unit, while food costs, including flour and roti, had also risen markedly across the country. He further slammed the Punjab government’s ban on inter-provincial wheat movement, calling it a blatant violation of Article 151 of the Constitution. “A Form-47 chief minister who herself sits on an illegitimate seat has no regard for the federation.... -
Dawn - 15:28 May 04, 2026
A tiny, little-known world beyond Pluto appears to have an atmosphere, Japanese astronomers said on Monday, defying what had been thought possible for icy objects in our cosmic backyard. If confirmed, the roughly 500-kilometre-wide rock would become just the second world past Neptune in our Solar System to host an atmosphere — after only Pluto itself. Formerly classified as a planet, Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet status in 2006, in part because astronomers were discovering other similar objects in a distant region called the Kuiper Belt. While Nasa under US President Donald Trump has floated the idea of restoring Pluto’s planet status, the discovery of another atmosphere nearby could undermine the argument for its reinstatement. For the new discovery, Japanese researchers and an amateur astronomer pointed their telescopes at an object with the unwieldy name of (612533) 2002 XV93. The icy world is nearly 40 times further from the Sun than Earth — or roughly six billion kilometres away. These dark objects c...
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Dawn - 15:22 May 04, 2026
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed a “record” victory on Monday in key elections in opposition-held West Bengal state after official trends and partial results showed a thumping majority for his Hindu nationalist party. Votes were still being counted under tight security in the state of more than 100 million people, one of five states and territories that held elections in April and May where results were also being announced on Monday. The results should put Modi on a stronger footing while he battles a series of economic and foreign policy challenges, including high unemployment rates and a pending US trade deal, ahead of a general election in 2029. In keenly fought West Bengal, where Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has never won before, the party was leading in 156 of the 293 seats and had won 48 others, according to the Election Commission of India. “The 2026 West Bengal Assembly Elections will be remembered forever,” Modi said on social media. “People’s power has prevailed and BJP’s politics...
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Dawn - 14:58 May 04, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) announced on Monday that it remains firmly committed to supporting Pakistan in strengthening midwifery education, workforce development and health systems. In a statement to mark the observance of ‘International Day of the Midwife’ on May 5, UNFPA’s representative in Pakistan, Dr Luay Shabaneh, said that the Fund will continue to work in close partnership with the government and all stakeholders to advance this agenda. “The path forward is clear, the evidence is strong and the returns are undeniable. The question is not whether we can afford to invest in midwives, but whether we can afford not (to do) so. “Let us stand with our midwives by protecting them, valuing their contribution and enabling them to reach their full potential, investing not only in health, but in the dignity, prosperity and future of Pakistan,” the UNFPA representative said. He added that Pakistan now had an opportunity to act by expanding midwifery education, scaling up the B.S. Midwi... -
Dawn - 14:43 May 04, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Senate Deputy Chairman Syedal Khan Nasar on Monday took notice of security lapses and poor facilities at the Parliament Lodges, summoning the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and security officials and ordering a comprehensive report within three days. Parliament Lodges house members of the National Assembly and Senate in the capital. Security and maintenance issues have been a recurring issue at the lodges. Chairing an emergency meeting at Parliament House, Nasar expressed displeasure over the unauthorised entry of unrelated persons in the Parliament Lodges and termed the security flaws a “serious threat”. He directed authorities to submit details of all complaints received at the lodges and the subsequent action taken. The deputy chairman also raised questions over delays in renovation and repair work, and expressed dismay at the poor condition of lifts. Citing his own experience of getting stuck in a lift, he called such incidents an “administrative failure”. Lack of progress despite repeated... -
Dawn - 14:09 May 04, 2026
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday revealed the ‘Team of the Year’ for the 11th HBL Pakistan Super League edition, with Peshawar Zalmi captain Babar Azam leading the side after finishing as the highest run-getter for the season, said a press release issued by the board. The 11th HBL PSL season culminated on Sunday with Peshawar Zalmi lifting the title for the second time since 2017, after beating tournament debutants Hyderabad Kingsmen by five wickets in Lahore. “The team was selected by a five-member committee from the esteemed commentary team. The jury also selected an emerging team of the tournament as well, comprising young Pakistan players,” the PCB said. Babar, who scored 558 runs in 11 innings, was named as the captain of the side. He also struck two spectacular centuries in the season against Quetta Gladiators and Islamabad United. Peshawar Zalmi’s Kusal Mendis and Lahore Qalandars’ Fakhar Zaman are also part of the team for scoring the maximum number of runs after Babar. Multan Sultans’ batte... -
Dawn - 14:04 May 04, 2026
ISLAMABAD: A delegation of 16 Pakistani entrepreneurs and business leaders is participating in the ‘SelectUSA Investment Summit’ that has opened in National Harbour, Maryland, to establish new connections and opportunities to grow through investing in the United States. The four-day Investment Summit, which opened on Sunday, is the highest-profile event in the United States to facilitate business investment by connecting thousands of investors, companies, economic development organisations (EDOs), and industry experts to make deals happen. US Charge d’ Affaires Natalie A. Baker, in a video statement issued on Monday, welcomed the Pakistani delegation’s participation in the summit, stating that strong economic ties are the heart of the US-Pakistan relationship. “I look forward to helping Pakistani investors expand their global footprint in the United States,” the acting US envoy said. “This is the premier event to promote foreign direct investment in the United States. By facilitating investment, innovation, a... -
Dawn - 12:57 May 04, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday issued a detailed judgment in the One Constitution Avenue case, upholding the cancellation of the lease of the multi-billion-rupee project. It ruled that buyers of luxury apartments in the development do not have ownership rights and may instead pursue legal remedies against the builder for recovery of their investment. In a detailed judgment, IHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar dismissed a set of petitions filed by M/s BNP (Pvt) Limited — the developer of the project — along with investors and other stakeholders, challenging the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) decision to terminate the lease. The court held that the impugned action was in accordance with law and consistent with the framework laid down earlier by the Supreme Court (SC). In the case, leading lawyers, including former SC judge Ijazul Ahsan, represented the BNP, while advocate Kashif Ali Malik represented the CDA. The dispute concerns a 2005 lease agreement between the CDA and... -
Dawn - 12:51 May 04, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s (HRCP) on Monday launched its annual report for 2025, observing a severe contraction of civic space, the erosion of judicial independence and deepening insecurity over the past year. The report, titled “State of Human Rights in 2025”, was launched in Islamabad, with HRCP Chairperson Asad Iqbal Butt, former chairperson Hina Jilani, co-chair Munizae Jahangir, vice-chair Nasreen Azhar and Secretary General Harris Khalique present. Butt, while speaking to reporters, said it was a fact that human rights in Pakistan were in their worst state. “It is not a report, it is a charge sheet. In 2025, as many as 273 persons faced enforced disappearance. Around 13 were traced from state agencies’ centres, but others are unknown,” he said. Butt added that thousands of people have been missing for years and that if anyone has committed a crime, they should be produced in a court of law. Khalique said that multiple constitutional and human rights-related violations were part... -
Dawn - 12:33 May 04, 2026
Italian prosecutors have opened an unlawful detention investigation following a raid by Israeli forces on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, Italian media reported on Monday. The probe was opened following complaints received over the detention last week of Spanish citizen Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila, who were on an Italian-flagged vessel. An Israeli court on Sunday extended for two days the detention of the two activists who were taken to Israel for questioning. The two were on a flotilla of more than 50 vessels that left France, Spain and Italy, aiming to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and bring supplies to the devastated Palestinian territory. They were intercepted in international waters off Greece on Thursday, with Israel saying it had removed some 175 activists. Avila and Abu Keshek were taken to Israel for questioning, while the other activists were released. The Israeli operation was widely criticised, particularly by Italy and Spain. The Rome prosecutor’s office opened a similar investigation...
10418 items