Pakistan

• Aurangzeb says PM has set 100-day target for full rehabilitation of victims • Promises farmers emergency support packages for next sowing season • Says loss assessment surveys likely to be completed within 15 days TOBA TEK SINGH: As Pakistan grapples with devastating floods, a senior Inte­rnational Monetary Fund official confirmed an upcoming mission will evaluate if the country’s financial and emergency plans are adequate to handle the crisis, shortly after the finance minister signalled talks with the lender for relief. An IMF team is expected in Pakistan by the end of the month for a review mission, Federal Minister for Finance and Reve­nue Muhammad Aur­angzeb said on Sunday, stressing that discussing flood-related financial needs with the IMF was a necessary step. “There is nothing wrong with asking the IMF about the relief, because we are in the fund programme,” Mr Aurangzeb said during a visit to flood-affected areas in Kamalia. “The IMF responded very responsibly and the prime minister announced the ...

ISLAMABAD: Praising the J-10 and JF-17 aircraft for str­engthening Pakistan’s aerial defence capabilities, President Asif Ali Zardari reaffirmed on Sunday that Pakistan and China would continue to expand their collaboration in the field of defence production and aviation. The president expressed this resolve during a visit to top Chinese aerospace and defence conglomerate, the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), which manufactures the J-10C aircraft. According to the President’s Secr­etariat, he is the first foreign head of state to visit the facility. He was accompanied by his children, PPP Chairman Bilawal and MNA Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari. During the visit, President Zar­dari met with the company’s engineers and scientists and pra­ised the Chinese-made aircraft’s capabilities, which he said were amply demonstrated during the recent Maarka-i-Haq and Opera­tion Bun­yanum Marsoos against India. Head of state gets a peek at stealth fighter production; praises J-10C, JF-17 for strengthening a...

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif will depart for Qatar today (Monday) to attend the Emergency Arab-Islamic Summit in Doha.

ISLAMABAD: The PTI has called on a foreign observation mission to release its report on the 2024 general elections, claiming that it lays bare “systemic rigging, institutional bias, and deliberate targeting of PTI and its founder, Imran Khan”. The demand came after a recent report by the independent news outlet Drop Site News claimed that the Comm­on­wealth Observer Group (COG) group had “buried their report” after finding the Feb 8 general elections to be riddled with problems. Although the group’s report on Pakistan has yet to be officially released, media outlets claimed to have obtained leaked copies of the report. In a statement issued on Sunday, the COG said it was aware that a version of its report on the 2024 Pakistan general elections was circulating online, adding that they did not comment on leaked documents as a matter of policy. C’wealth says report shared with govt, ECP; will be released this month “The government and the Election Commission of Pakis­tan have already received the report. The ful...

• Audit reveals widespread discrepancies, tax evasion, underinvoicing, solar panel money laundering scam • Report warns green channel clearances shrinking scope of pre-clearance controls ISLAMABAD: The Faceless Customs Assessment (FCA) system, inaugurated by the prime minister last year in Karachi to combat corruption, has incurred a revenue loss of about Rs100 billion in three months. This was revealed in a detailed analysis by the Pakistan Customs Audit — an internal arrangement of the Federal Board of Revenue — spanning December 16, 2024 to March 15, 2025. “The scrutiny of 13,140 goods declarations (GDs) led to detection of several discrepancies in 2,530 GDs that raise serious concerns about quality of assessments, indicating revenue and compliance risks,” said the 161-page report, which did not cover 100pc operations. Of the reviewed GDs, the audit looked into 18pc cleared through the green channel, 76pc through the red channel, and 6pc through the yellow channel, highlighting weaknesses of the system, in...

KAMALIA - Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Sunday that Pakistan had been in close contact with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the global lender had shown understanding on the ongoing crisis, triggered by the recent floods.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and the United States have intensified contacts as the cooperation grows between the long time allies.

India romped to a comprehensive seven-wicket victory in their high-intensity encounter against Pakistan in the men’s Asia Cup 2025 in Dubai on Sunday. The match had been coloured from the start by calls from across the border to ‘boycott’ the fixture. It seems the pressure got to the players as well, with the Indian team refusing to shake hands, as is customary, at the toss and after the match. Then, at the post-match ceremony, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav seemingly ‘politicised’ the victory by bringing up the Pahalgham terrorist attack in India-occupied Kashmir, over which the two countries fought a four-day military conflict in May, saying the victory was “a perfect gift” for his country. “We stand with the victim’s families of the Pahalgam terror attack, and we express our solidarity, and we want to dedicate today’s win to the armed forces,” the Indian skipper said. Speaking at the post-match press conference, Yadav said: “Our government and the BCCI were aligned. We took a call and came here just to pl...

Dar tables sweeping proposals in Doha meeting; Suggests joint task force to deter Jewish regime

Zardari lauds China's hi-tech from stealth jets to bullet trains; becomes first foreign leader to tour AVIC

TOKYO: Two new 100m world champions were crowned on Sunday night as Jamaica’s Oblique Seville led a double podium finish that rewrote men’s sprint history while Melissa Jefferson-Wooden of the US ran a championship record — all that happening as Usain Bolt watched from the stands of a sold-out Japan National Stadium. The 21-year-old Seville crossed the finish line in a 9.77 personal best ahead of Thompson in 9.82 and the USA’s reigning champion Noah Lyles, who won bronze with a season’s best 9.89. “It was a good run because these two actually pushed me to run a personal best,” Seville, the youngest 100m champion, said at the post-race press conference. He became the third Jamaican sprinter to win this title. “To come out here and run a 9.77 is something amazing, and in Japan is where I made my debut; to get a medal is something great for me.” Jefferson-Wooden came in as the world lead and left Tokyo with a gold medal, proving her superiority to round off a season unbeaten. Tina Clayton continued Jamaica’s pod...

Visually-impaired vocalist Mehak Rashid wins hearts on opening night

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In surprise pop-up, rapper dances on car roof as fans celebrate

From voice clones to digital avatars, artificial intelligence is reshaping preservation of memories

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'Our voices have always been there, and people just haven't been listening'

Another Pakistan-India match, the gulf of quality between the two sides glaring yet again, and brighter than ever. Fair to say Pakistan are a young side undergoing transition under a new captain and a newer team management, but there were enough instances throughout the fixture that highlighted a bigger problem: big-match nerves. One of those few instances was Shaheen Shah Afridi’s late onslaught of 33 off 16, which included four clean hits for sixes. He and Sufiyan Muqeem added 43 off 22 balls — a strike-rate of 195-plus — to drag Pakistan to 127-9 when it looked like the team wouldn’t even get into three figures. If tailenders can do that, why not the specialist batters? India’s Suryakumar Yadav plays a shot during the Asia Cup 2025 T20 International cricket match against Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai, the UAE. — Reuters To put it simply, the pressure of the big occasion got the better of them before India, obviously a well-oiled T20 machine, faced no challenge whatsoever during the c...

Urges authorities to uphold constitutional protections