ISLAMABAD: As part of efforts to regain some of the fiscal space lost under the 7th National Finance Commission to provinces almost 15 years ago, the federal government has signed agreements with the four provinces to deliver a cumulative fiscal surplus of at least Rs600 billion and refrain from creating further debt in operations of key commodities like fertiliser, wheat …

In a village in Bajaur, a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa district nestled along the rugged Afghan border, a disquieting silence hangs heavy. Inside a hujra [a traditional guest house], a Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam — Fazl (JUI-F) candidate for a provincial assembly seat huddles with villagers, his campaign promises hushed against the backdrop of fear. Four armed men stand guard outside, a grim reminder of the …

ISLAMABAD: After practically blocking the restructuring of FBR, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has also asked the government to “refrain from taking any further steps including signing of an agreement”, about the privatisation of PIA or its entities till its formal clearance. In a letter to the cabinet secretary less than a week ahead of general elections, the ECP reminded the …

WASHINGTON: The United States launched air strikes in Iraq and Syria against more than 85 targets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and militias it backs, reportedly killing nearly 40 people, in retaliation for a deadly attack on US troops. The strikes, which included the use of long-range B-1 bombers flown from the United States, were the first in response …

Russia’s deputy foreign minister Andrey Rudenko visited South Korea to discuss the Ukrainian war and bilateral ties, Seoul’s foreign ministry said on Sunday, as the two countries trade increasingly heated rhetoric over the nuclear-armed North. Rudenko, Russia’s deputy foreign minister handling Asia-Pacific affairs, met his South Korean counterpart Chung Byung-won on Friday, Seoul’s foreign ministry said in a statement. Chung …

Namibia’s President Hage Geingob, a veteran of the country’s liberation struggle and its first post-independence prime minister, died on Sunday. Tributes to the 82-year-old statesman poured in from African leaders who saw him as a hero of the anti-apartheid struggle. And Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed regret that his country had lost “a partner who was committed to the process …

MOSCOW: Russia said on Sunday the death toll from a Ukrainian strike on a bakery in the occupied eastern city of Lysychansk climbed to 28 people, including a child. Moscow’s occupation forces said Kyiv struck a building that housed a bakery popular with locals on weekends. Ukraine has not yet commented on the strike. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday visited his …

MOSCOW: Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko on Sunday set a world record for total time spent in space, surpassing his compatriot Gennady Padalka who logged more than 878 days in orbit, Russia’s space corporation said. At 0830 GMT Kononenko broke the record, Roscosmos said. Kononenko is expected to reach a total of 1,000 days in space on June 5 and by …

VIA MAR: Chileans on Sunday feared a rise in the death toll from wildfires blazing across the South American country that have already killed at least 51 people, leaving bodies in the street and homes gutted. Authorities warned of “complicated” conditions as they battled fires in the coastal tourist region of Valparaiso amid an intense summer heat wave, with temperatures …

TUMBRU: Fighting in Myanmar raged close to the Bangladesh border on Sunday, with terrified residents reporting bullets crossing the frontier, medics treating patients and the government saying guards had fled seeking shelter. Aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said its medics in Cox’s Bazar had “received a large number of patients, following fighting at the Bangladesh-Myanmar border”. MSF said that …