LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi may have announced the recently-formed selection committee as the sole authority to make a decision over the national side’s Twenty20 Interna­tional captaincy, but as it has emerged, the PCB chief may well be the one who makes the final call. Mohsin, a media mogul-turned politician, who was elected as the PCB chairman …

MUNICH: Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso ended speculation of a potential move to one of his former clubs Liverpool or Bayern Munich in the close season when the Spaniard said on Friday that he was committed to staying with the Bundesliga leaders. Alonso, who has a contract with Leverkusen until 2026, has become the talk of Europe and a reported …

KARACHI: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurang­zeb on Friday expre­ssed the hope for reaching a staff-level agreement (SLA) with the Inter­national Monetary Fund (IMF) by the end of the fiscal year (June 30), adding that there have not been any final discussions with the Fund yet. During an appearance at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) gong ceremony, the finance minister said details …

KARACHI: Finance Minister Muhammad Auran­gzeb has asked banks to enhance lending to priority sectors to stimulate economic growth and development in Pakistan. The minister said this in a high-level meeting with State Bank Governor Jameel Ahmad and CEOs and presidents of leading banks. The primary agenda of the meeting was to discuss and strategise on enhancing lending by banks to …

ISLAMABAD: In a breakthrough in trade relations with Afghanistan, Paki­stan has agreed to a plan to separate cargo movement and passenger crossings at border stations to maintain unfettered bilateral trade and facilitate transit to Central Asian states. Pakistan has decided to establish a one-document regime (ODR) for all foreign nationals, including Afghans, who travel to Pakistan with a valid visa. The first …

India’s main opposition party said on Friday it had been asked to pay an additional 18.2 billion rupees ($218 million) in taxes, which it called an attempt by the tax department to financially cripple it weeks before general elections. Calling the latest notice from the Income Tax Department “tax terrorism”, Congress treasurer Ajay Maken told reporters the party would fight …

WASHINGTON: Annelle Sheline, the second US State Department official to resign over the Gaza conflict, cited her unwillingness to be associated with a government “enabling… genocide” in the Palestinian enclave. Her departure underscores mounting disillusionment with the Biden administration’s Middle East policy, particularly as recent Gallup polls indicate a significant majority of Americans now oppose the conflict, with 55 per …

WASHINGTON: Pakistan-facing US experts noted on Friday that President Joe Biden’s letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was a gesture not extended to his predecessor, Imran Khan. However, they also pointed out that Mr Biden did not congratulate Mr Sharif for assuming power or winning the election. “What distinguishes this anodyne message to the Pakistani leadership is the absence of any reference …

WASHINGTON: Presi­dent Joe Biden said on Friday the US will impose costs for Russia’s “appalling attempts” to use Americans as bargaining chips in a statement to mark the first anniversary of Wall Street Journal repor­ter Evan Gersh­kovich’s arrest in Russia. Gershkovich, 32, became the first US journalist arrested on spying charges in Russia since the Cold War when he was …

Chinese investigators arrived in Pakistan on Friday to join a probe into Tuesday’s suicide attack in Bisham which claimed the lives of six people, including five Chinese nationals, according to the interior ministry. The five Chinese engineers — and their Pakistani driver — were killed in the suicide bombing on Tuesday while travelling between Islamabad and a hydroelectric dam construction site in …