KARACHI: With the number of active borrowers crossing the eight-million mark for the first time, microcredit outreach in the country grew 5.8 per cent on a quarterly basis in April-June. According to the latest data released by the Pakistan Microfinance Network — the national association for retail players in the microfinance industry — the gross loan portfolio of the entire …

LONDON: The Taliban took over Afghanistan with astonishing speed, but it appears unlikely that they will get quick access to most of the Afghan central banks roughly $10 billion in assets. The country’s central bank, Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), is thought to hold foreign currency, gold and other treasures in its vaults, according to an Afghan official. But most of …

KARACHI: Amid positive economic indicators in the first three years of the PTI-led coalition government, a major concern for consumers has been the galloping rise in prices of food items. Market people say the government has not given paramount importance to soaring food prices owing to lack of an effective price-checking mechanism which is mostly confined to holding weekly meetings …

LES CAYES: Haitians left homeless by a calamitous earthquake that killed about 2,000 people were on Wednesday increasingly angry at the slow pace of government aid efforts after spending a fourth night in the open, many without clean water and food. Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who flew to visit the worst-affected town of Les Cayes in southwest Haiti soon after …

MUZAFFARABAD: The Indian army on Wednesday arrested three young residents of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) while they were catching fish in a water channel that serves as the Line of Control (LoC) in a Poonch district village, an official said. Arbab Rahim, 13, his sibling Umair Rahim, 11, and Daniyal Malick, 17, had gone to Rangar Nullah in the …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday received a telephone call from his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte and discussed with the latter the situation in Afghanistan, including the efforts for evacuation of people from the country. Prime Minister Khan stated that Pakistan was closely following the developments and was in touch with regional and international partners. He said Pakistan was …

LONDON: In a packed, emotional session of parliament, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced accusations on Wednesday from lawmakers across the political spectrum of needlessly abandoning Afghanistan to the whims of the Taliban and of undermining Britain’s position in the world. The members of parliament were recalled from their summer break to attend the emergency session in London. Many, including …

GENEVA: The World Health Organisation condemned on Wednesday the rush by wealthy countries to provide Covid vaccine booster shots, while millions around the world have yet to receive a single dose. Speaking before US authorities announced that all vaccinated Americans would soon be eligible to receive additional doses, WHO experts insisted there was not enough scientific evidence that boosters were …

WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s US and UN envoys have assured the international community that Islamabad would follow their lead, particularly that of the “extended troika”, in offering diplomatic recognition to a Taliban government in Afghanistan. In an interview to CBS News broadcast on Tuesday evening, Pakistan’s US Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan said how the Taliban conduct themselves now will also influence Pakistan’s decision. “They …

KABUL: Outside the main iron gate of the Indian embassy in Kabul, a group of Taliban fighters waited — armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Inside the compound were 150 Indian diplomats and nationals — growing increasingly nervous as they watched news of the Taliban tightening their grip on the capital, which they took a day earlier without …