WASHINGTON: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will meet on April 29 to finalise its last review of Pakistan’s $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). “According to the IMF’s event calendar, the review meeting is set for 10:00am on April 29,” a diplomatic source informed Dawn. Earlier this week, the Fund published a schedule of the Executive Board’s meetings …

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Tuesday that Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves would reach “anywhere between $9 to $10 billion” by the end of June. Addressing the inaugural session of the seventh ‘Leaders in Islamic Business Summit’ in Islamabad, he said the expected position in June would be a “much better position in terms of where we were [in the …

India’s main opposition Congress party filed a complaint to the Election Commission on Monday accusing Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “blatantly targeting” minority Muslims in a campaign speech. The world’s most populous country is constitutionally secular and its election code bans canvassing based on “communal feelings”. Modi’s muscular Hindu-first politics is a key part of his electoral appeal …

NEW YORK: Donald Trump eng­aged in a multi-layered conspiracy of fraud, lies and cover-ups, prosecutors said on Monday during opening arguments in the first ever criminal trial of a former US president. Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo said Trump falsified business records to buy the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels over a 2006 sexual encounter that could have impacted …

QINGYUAN: Floods swa­mped cities in southern China’s densely populated Pearl River Delta following record-breaking rains, sparking worries about the region’s defe­nces against bigger deluges induced by extreme weather events. The province once dubbed the “factory floor of the world” is prone to summer floods. Since Thursday, Guangdong has been battered by unusually heavy, sustained and widespread rainfall, with powerful storms …

LONDON: Veteran news anchor Huw Edwards resigned from the BBC on Monday on “medical advice”, the broadcaster said, nine months after he become embroiled in a scandal over sexually explicit images involving a teenager. Edwards, 62, had been the BBC’s lead presenter in key events, such as the death and funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, but was suspended in July 2023 when allegations …

BAGHDAD: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said relations with Iraq were entering a new phase after the neighbours agreed to cooperate against Kurdish militants, boost economic ties via a new trade corridor and consider Iraq’s needs for access to scarce water. Erdogan was in Iraq on a long-awaited visit, the first by a Turkish leader since 2011, following years of strained …

BERLIN: Germany and Britain on Monday both swooped on suspected spies accused of passing on secret information to China, as concern deepens in the West over aggressive Chinese espionage. In Germany, investigators arrested three German nationals in the west of the country suspected of sharing information on maritime technology, prosecutors said in a statement. The trio, named as Herwig F., …

GAZA STRIP: Gaza’s Civil Defence agency said on Monday that health workers had uncovered around 200 bodies over the past three days of people killed and buried by Israeli forces at a hospital in Khan Yunis. When asked for comment, the Israeli military said: “We will come back to you on the matter.” Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defence, …

JERUSALEM: The head of Israeli military intelligence has resigned after accepting responsibility for the failures that allowed the devastating Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct 7, the military said on Monday. Major General Aharon Haliva, a 38-year veteran of the military, was one of a number of senior Israeli commanders who said they had failed to foresee and prevent the …