KARACHI: Saud Sha­keel crawled along; boundaries sparse, run-rate rising. As the Quetta Gladi­ators’ opener looked like “taking it deep”, Lahore Qalandars sensed an elusive victory in the HBL Pakistan Super League match here at the National Bank Stadium on Sunday. Although Saud had dragged his way to a half-century, it came down to his team needing 29 off the last …

Despite the nation’s many hopes and expectation, the country’s political leadership has yet not been able to agree on a charter of economy or a common minimum agenda for the newly elected government to pursue for the next five years. However, ongoing developments indicate that the country’s multiple crises are likely to be addressed on an issue-to-issue basis either through …

The stars appear to be finally aligning for the long-awaited Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline. Driven by necessity and bolstered by the current global environment, Pakistan has set its sights on commencing and swiftly completing a small 80-kilometre stretch of the pipeline. Originally envisioned to span 785km in total, running from the Iran border through Balochistan to Sindh and extending to …

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has urged the United Nations to strengthen its commitment to supporting developing nations in tackling debt sustainability challenges. Stressing that this burden has notably impeded efforts related to climate change and gender equality, Pakistan highlights the need for increased assistance in these crucial areas. In a recent gathering organised by the Group of Friends on Gender Parity …

LISBON: Voters in Portugal went to the polls on Sunday in an early election that could see the country join a shift to the right across Europe after eight years of Socialist rule. Final opinion polls published on Friday put the centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) narrowly ahead of the Socialist Party (PS) but short of an outright majority in parliament, …

ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Emir Sirajul Haq on Sunday announced that his party will carry out a ‘million march’ on the Gaza situation on the 27th of Ramazan towards the US embassy to express solidarity with the Palestinian people. During a function, Mr Haq said that the JI working committee discussed the prevailing political situation and the war in Gaza. He …

RAWALPINDI: A new engine was airlifted to Muscat on Sunday as Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)’s Boeing 777 is currently being repaired there. The aircraft landed at Muscat International Airport on Wednesday following an engine failure during a commercial flight from Madina to Islamabad. According to sources, a C-130 cargo plane took the replacement engine to Muscat for installation on Sunday. …

BAGHDAD: The bell of a new church built near Iraq’s ancient city of Ur chimed for the first time last week as part of a push to lure back pilgrims to a country that is home to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities. The church is part of a complex that rises from a desert plain in the shadow …

WASHINGTON: Since his tumultuous takeover of Twitter, Elon Musk has made an unabashed turn to the right politically, defying the orthodoxy that Silicon Valley is a citadel of well-heeled liberals beholden to Democrats. Long considered non-identifiable ideologically, Musk’s politics are now hardline right wing as he uses his platform (now called X) to stoke the themes cherished by Fox News, …

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has started an investigation into the allegations of illicit imports and operational irregularities within the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sector, following directives from the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC). These allegations, purported to have caused losses worth billions of rupees to consumers and the country’s foreign exchange reserves, are now under scrutiny under the …