Pakistani student Aqsa Shabbir is hot, tired and frustrated. A keen field hockey player, she can no longer train during the day because of a brutal heatwave, she can’t sleep at night and she fears she will not play well in a tournament at the end of June. The 17-year-old, who lives in Jacobabad, Sindh, already had to overcome many …

TAROUBA: Sherfane Rutherford rescued the West Indies with the bat and their bowlers contained New Zealand to complete a 13-run victory in a Group C match of the T20 World Cup in Trinidad on Wednesday. Rutherford’s unbeaten 68 off 39 balls (two fours, six sixes) lifted the home side from the depths of 30 for five in the seventh over …

KINGSTOWN: Veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan hit a half-century as Bangladesh defeated the Netherlands by 25 runs on Thursday to edge closer to the second round of the T20 World Cup. Shakib, the 37-year-old former captain, recorded his 13th fifty in the format as Bangladesh made 159-5 in their 20 overs. Shakib went on to finish undefeated on 64 off …

NEW YORK: India skipper Rohit Sharma on Wednesday admitted it wasn’t easy playing on a two-paced newly-laid drop-in pitch at Nassau County ground and the team had to stick through till the end to notch up wins in each of their three matches in the ongoing T20 World Cup. India recorded the highest successful chase at this venue when they …

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday gained more than 1,000 points in intraday trade to hit an all-time high of 77,000, just a day after the trading floor witnessed the biggest single-day gains. The KSE-100 index gained 1,097.12 points, or 1.44 per cent, to stand at 77,305.28 at 11:04am from the previous close of 76,208.16, the PSX data portal showed. Raza …

ISLAMABAD: The government is expected to pass on the impact of lower international prices to consumers with a cut in the rates of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD). In the upcoming fortnightly review of prices on June 15, petrol is expected to go down by about Rs9 and HSD by Rs5 per litre. According to sources, the prices of petrol …

KARACHI: The Pakistan Tax Bar Association (PTBA) has criticised the increase in taxes on salaried individuals and sales tax as oppressive. It also believes that giving the FBR officials more powers will lead to greater harassment of taxpayers. PTBA President Anwar Kashif Mumtaz, at a press conference held at Karachi Press Club on Thursday, labelled the budget FY25 as counterproductive …

ISLAMABAD: The government has raised the sales tax rate to 18 per cent from 1pc on raw materials used in producing pharmaceutical active components and goods, which is expected to spike drug prices. The Finance Bill 2024 proposed that the standard sales tax rate will be applied to all items classified under Chapter 30 of the First Schedule with exceptions …

KARACHI: Hybrid car assemblers are now in a quandary as the government increased the general sales tax (GST) to 25 per cent from 8.5pcin the new budget. As a direct consequence, the price of locally made hybrid vehicles is projected to surge, with some models potentially increasing by up to Rs1.4 million to over Rs2.2mn after the GST hike. Sources …

BORGO EGNAZIA: US President Joe Biden and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a 10-year bilateral security agreement on Thursday aimed at bolstering Ukraine’s defence against Russia. The deal, signed on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy, aims to commit future US administrations to support Ukraine, even if former president Donald Trump wins the November election, officials said. It …