The UN Human Rights Council said on Thursday it would hold a special session on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, amid Israel’s deadly violence against the Palestinians in Gaza. The session, planned for next Thursday, will address “the grave human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”, the council said in a statement. The session was requested …

Tribal elders in eastern Afghanistan achieved something that has long eluded world leaders — a ceasefire between the Taliban and the Afghan government. The month-long stoppage in hostilities in the Alingar district of Laghman province, one of the hardest hit by violence, was called to allow local farmers to harvest their wheat crop and students to sit annual examinations. “A …

ISLAMABAD: A day after the government decided to open educational institutions, restaurants and tourist destinations, Pakistan recorded a spike in daily Covid-19 cases. According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) data, as many as 4,207 new Covid-19 cases of the coronavirus emerged across the country over the last 24 hours when 51,130 samples were tested. The positivity ratio …

Apple Inc made more than $100 million in commissions from Epic Games’ “Fortnite” during the two years the online game was on the App Store, an Apple executive testified on Wednesday. Michael Schmid, Apple’s head of game business development for the App Store, took the stand during the third week of an antitrust trial in federal court in Oakland, California. …

TOKYO: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) reassured an anxious Japan on Wednesday that the Tokyo Olympics would be safe for athletes as well as the host community, amid mounting opposition to the Games and fears it will fuel a spike in Covid-19 cases. Speaking in Tokyo alongside senior Japanese officials, IOC chief Thomas Bach said he believed more than 80 …

LAHORE: The hosting of the remaining 20 matches of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) in Abu Dhabi is in doldrums as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has deferred the announcement about holding, at least until Thursday. The decision has been taken after the PCB and the six franchise owners discussed in a virtual session the operational planning and delivery …

LAHORE: For more than a month, the group of officials led by Ashfaq Hussain Shah have been labelled as the villains of Pakistan football; the bad guys who have led to FIFA banning the country after seizing the headquarters of the Pakistan Football Federation from the Normalisation Com­mittee installed by the global football body. On Wednesday, 49 days after retaking …

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed on Thursday that it had received all outstanding approvals and exemptions from the United Arab Emirates government for staging the remaining 20 Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches in Abu Dhabi. “The PCB will now hold an online meeting with the six franchise owners later in the day to update them about the progress made …

KARACHI: The government on Wednesday raisedRs575.3 billion through the auction of treasury bills (T-bills). The rate was slightly changed from the previous auction held on May 5. Banks with surplus liquidity showed their eagerness to park over one trillion rupees in government papers. However, the government accepted about 50 per cent amount offered by the investors. Since the cut-off yields …