ISLAMABAD: The country’s development programme seems to be in tatters, incapable of meeting even a fraction of its infrastructure and growth potential, while budgetary allocations are flowing to constituency politics and deficit financing, in what is deemed a blatant violation of the decisions of the National Econo­mic Council (NEC), the apex economic decision-making body. This is the crux of a …

RAWALPINDI: The Euro­pean Union has opted to continue with its restrictions on Pakistani airlines, including Pakistan Inter­national Air­lines (PIA), after recent evaluations raised ongoing safety concerns. The decision, under­scored by the possibility of future reviews, follows an exhaustive asses­sment by the EU Air Safety Committee. During its latest meetings, the committee determined that there were insufficient grounds to amend the current list …

DUBAI: Iran’s hardliner former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday registered his candidacy for the presidential election this month, state media reported. The Islamic republic goes to the polls on June 28 to replace former president Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash on May 19. “I am confident that all the country’s problems can be solved by making maximum use of …

PRAGUE: A lightning bolt that hit a tree in a castle park in the northern Czech Republic on Sunday injured eighteen people who were sheltering underneath it, rescuers said. The strike occurred in the Liberec-Vratislavice castle park about 90 kilometres northeast of the capital Prague on Sunday afternoon. “There were 18 injured people on the site, including seven serious injuries,” …

WASHINGTON: Former US president and current White House hopeful Donald Trump has joined TikTok, posting his first video on the wildly popular social media app he once tried to ban while in office. Reaching out to younger voters as he seeks reelection in November, Trump posted a 13-second clip on Saturday night that shows him in his usual blue suit and red tie …

BERLIN: A 29-year-old police officer died on Sunday after being repeatedly stabbed during an attack at an anti-Islam rally in Germany. A knife-wielding man attacked and wounded several people on Friday on the market square in the city of Mannheim in southwest Germany. Five people taking part in a rally organised by Pax Europa, a campaign group against Islam, were wounded in …

MALE: The Indian Ocean nation of the Maldives will ban Israelis from the luxury tourist hot spot, the office of the president said on Sunday, announcing a national rally in “solidarity with Palestine”. The Maldives, a tiny Islamic republic of more than 1,000 strategically located coral islets, is known for its secluded sandy white beaches, shallow turquoise lagoons and Robinson …

COLOMBO: Flash floods, mudslides and falling trees have killed at least 14 people in Sri Lanka as the island nation is battered by monsoon storms, the country’s disaster centre said on Sunday. Some drowned, including three members of the same family swept away near the capital Colombo on Sunday. Others were buried alive in mudslides, including an 11-year-old girl and …

SINGAPORE: China will not allow any country or force to create war or chaos in the Asia-Pacific, its defence minister said on Sunday, warning that there were “limits” to Beijing’s restraint on the South China Sea and over the deployment of ballistic missiles in the region. In a keynote speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue, AFP quoted Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun as …

JERUSALEM: An aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Tel Aviv had accepted a framework deal, advanced by US President Joe Biden to wind down the war, even as Israel bombarded the Gaza Strip on Sunday. With 60 deaths among Palestinians over the past 24 hours, the death toll climbed to 36,439, the health ministry in Gaza said. A statement …