DUBLIN: Intent was on show when Pakistan thrashed Ireland in the second Twenty20 International on Sunday after a stunning loss in the opening fixture of the three-match series. To seal the series, as well as to inject much-needed momentum to their upcoming T20 World Cup campaign, Pakistan captain Babar Azam and his charges will have to repeat a similar approach in the …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday suspended two senior officers of Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) over their alleged negligence and failure in ensuring transparency in wheat purchase. Presiding over a high-level meeting to review the demand and supply and procurement of wheat by the federal government, the PM ordered the suspension of Passco’s managing director and general …

KARACHI: The influential sugar industry is attempting to align baga­sse prices, a residue of sugarcane, with coal prices in order to increase them by five to eight times the prevailing value, sources said on Monday.” Bagasse is used as biofuel at the industrial level. Due to the increasing high cost of thermal energy and significant taxes on it, various options …

ISLAMABAD: Thanks to a significant drop in the international market, petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) prices are expected to decrease by about Rs15 and Rs9 per litre on May 15 despite increased import premiums. Informed sources said the prices of petrol and HSD had declined in the international market by about $8.7 and $4.3 per barrel, respectively, in the last …

Pakistan will privatise all state-owned enterprises, with the exception of strategic entities, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced on Tuesday, broadening its initial plans to take only loss-making state firms private. The announcement came after PM Shehbaz headed a meeting on the privatisation process of loss-making state enterprises, according to a statement from his office. According to state-run Radio Pakistan, the premier …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday kick-started negotiations on 24th ‘longer and larger’ bailout programme, starting with an anticipated upfront fiscal adjustment of more than Rs1.6 trillion (1.5pc of GDP) in the upcoming budget. Pakistani side, led by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb comprised Governor State Bank of Pakistan Jameel Ahmed, Chai­rman Federal Board of Revenue Amjed …

JERUSALEM: Israeli protesters blocked aid trucks headed for Gaza on Monday, strewing food packages on the road in the latest in a series of incidents that have come as Israel has pledged to allow uninterrupted humanitarian supplies into the besieged enclave. Four protesters, including a minor, were arrested at the protest, at Tarqumiya checkpoint, west of Hebron in the Israeli …

ASTANA: A former minister of the economy from Kazakhstan has been sentenced to 24 years in prison. He has been charged with the murder of his wife after the conclusion of a widely watched trial. Certain individuals perceived the trial as ‘a litmus test’ of the president’s promise to improve women’s rights. Kuandyk Bishimbayev, 44, was found guilty of torture …

AL MAWASI: Pupils sitting with their legs crossed in the sand, take classes inside a tent, near the city of Khan Yunis, in Gaza. Two sisters connect online to a West Bank school from Cairo. A professor in Germany helps Palestinian students link up with European universities. After witnessing their schools and universities being forced to close, being damaged and/or …