Pakistan hopes to capitalise on the fall of Ashraf Ghani-led hostile regime by increasing the scale and depth of economic engagement with Afghanistan at a time when the economy desperately needs a push for growth. As Taliban leaders scramble for legitimacy in the wake of the bloodless takeover on August 15, businesses in Pakistan wish for lasting peace in the …

ISLAMABAD: As Ehsaas — an umbrella of 20 programmes of social safety and welfare — has completed a fresh poverty survey for 2021 in the country, the number of Benazir Income Support Programme beneficiaries has increased to 8.2 million. The first BISP survey that was completed in 2011 had 23 variables to ascertain the deserving people but the fresh one …

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Sunday disposed of 42 representations of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in cases of bogus sales tax invoices worth over Rs1.2 billion. The representations had been filed with the president assailing the orders of the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) passed in suo motu cases, in which bogus sales tax refunds were reimbursed fully …

ISLAMABAD: Oil marketing companies (OMCs) have asked the government to provide a deregulated and fair environment to all arms of the petroleum sector through an all-encompassing petroleum policy 2021 to address existing challenges like repeated shortages, reduce foreign exchange loss through rationalised imports and provide investment opportunities to all instead of working on just refining policy in isolation. “It must …

WASHINGTON: Three major miscalculations — about time, will and trust — caused the collapse of the American plan for an orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan, claims a New York Times report published on Sunday. The Americans “consistently believed they had the luxury of time. (Their) military commanders overestimated the will of the Afghan forces to fight … and put too much faith in President …

KABUL: A day after seven people were killed in a crush at the gates of Kabul airport, the Taliban fired into the air and used batons on Sunday to force people desperate to flee Afghanistan to form orderly queues there, as the militant group said its fighters were heading to the northern Pan­jshir valley to take on thousands of forces …

KIEV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday that the soon-to-be completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline carrying Russian gas to Europe was “a dangerous geopolitical weapon”. The comments came as the two leaders met in Kiev for a last time ahead of Merkel leaving office after 16 years in power next month and days after she …

PARIS: Josephine Baker, the famed French-American dancer, singer and actress who fought in the French resistance during WWII and later battled racism, will become the first Black woman to enter France’s Pantheon mausoleum. The remains of American-born Baker will be laid to rest in the hallowed Parisian monument on November 30, an aide to President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday, …

BERLIN: An Afghan woman gave birth to a baby girl on a US military plane shortly after arriving on an evacuation flight to Germany, the US Air Force tweeted on Sunday. During the flight from a staging base in the Middle East, the woman went into labour and began to experience complications, it said. “The aircraft commander decided to descend …

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s new Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob struck a conciliatory tone in his first national address on Sunday, saying he would embrace the opposition in an effort to tackle the runaway pandemic and revive a slumping economy. A day after being sworn in, Ismail said the political battles that led to a change of government twice since 2018 …