By: Raja Zahid A Khanzada Houston, Texas: A mammoth gathering on Sunday, March 17, 2024, at the Bayou City Center in Houston of over 2,000 persons made it again the largest Iftar Dinner event in the United States of America. Silver Jubilee of America’s largest Annual Houston Iftar Dinner was organized for the past many years by the Muslim Sister …

MOSCOW: Russia launched a furious tirade at the International Olym­pic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday, arguing the IOC’s restrictions on Rus­sian athletes and its criticism of the Moscow-orga­nised Friendship Games amo­unted to “neo-Nazism”. The IOC on Tuesday both barred Russian athletes from taking part in the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics on July 26 and criticised the Kremlin for …

MADRID: Spanish police searched the Spanish football federation (RFEF) headquarters and its former president Luis Rubiales’ house among other locations as part of an investigation into alleged corruption and other crimes, judicial sources said Wednesday. According to Spanish media the operation is part of a court investigation into contracts signed by former federation chief Rubiales to take the Spanish Super …

KINGSTON: Fast bowling sensation Shamar Joseph should be fast-tracked into the West Indies squad for the home T20 World Cup in June, said former captain Chris Gayle. Joseph burst onto the scene in his debut series in Australia earlier this year, grabbing a five-wicket haul in his maiden Test in Adelaide. He followed that up with a magical display in …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan have always ended up on the losing side against Jordan and while coach Stephen Constantine said his team will play for a win, he warned against high expectations from his charges. The second round of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup has been a baptism of fire for Constantine’s men; bringing them back to earth after their …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s key diplomatic allies have begun discussions with the new government’s economic team to foster bilateral and multilateral economic and financial cooperation. European Union Ambassador to Pakistan Dr Riina Kionka, US and China’s envoys Donald Blome and Jiang Zaidong met Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb in the last four days. The three envoys met the finance minister at a time …

ISLAMABAD: Announ­c­ing the staff-level agreement on the successful completion of the existing short-term facility, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday confirmed Pakistan was seeking a 24th medium-term bailout package for a permanent push towards longstanding structural reforms. In its end-of-mission statement, the IMF said that subject to the approval of its executive board, the staff-level agreement would enable Pakistan to access …

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday called for expanding the scope of bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and Japan across a wide spectrum of areas, especially trade, investment, economy, culture and people-to-people contacts. “Pakistan is a huge market and Japanese businesses should benefit from the economic opportunities by investing in diverse sectors,” the president expressed these views while talking to …

KARACHI: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) jumped 16 per cent year-on-year to $131.2 million in February, the State Bank reported on Wednesday. The increase in February inflows was also a welcome change from January’s dire situation, which saw a net outflow of $173m. However, the overall trend for the fiscal year remains troubling, with FDI falling by 17pc to $821m during …