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KARACHI: The government’s borrowing from banks in the first half of FY26 has marked a sharp reversal from last year’s pattern, with Rs672 billion raised against net debt retirement during the same period of FY25. Latest data from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed that, as the first half of FY26 draws to a close, the government borrowing remains limited to Rs672bn, compared with debt retirement of Rs1.7 trillion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. Bankers expect heavy borrowing in the second half of the current fiscal year as the government faces liquidity constraints due to revenue shortfalls, which they say remain below target. Financial market sources said the government continues to rely on banks to stay within its targeted fiscal space. Bankers noted that dividend payouts to the federal government surged sharply in FY25, with around Rs2.7tr transferred to the national exchequer, providing significant fiscal relief. Another SBP report shows that banks’ investments stood at Rs36.7...

• Also curbs powers to place names on passport control list for five years or more • Authority deemed beyond scope of parent law; Centre gets 30 days to revise rules LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has set aside the federal government’s power to inactivate a citizen’s passport and imp­ose a travel ban of five years or more by placing a person on the Passport Control List (PCL) — adjudicating that this authority was beyond the scope of the parent law. However, Justice Asim Hafeez upheld the government’s powers to cancel, impound, or confiscate passports, subject to the fulfilment of statutory requirements. The judgement was delivered at the Multan bench while allowing a petition filed by citizen Farhan Ali, who took up two grievances before the court. First, he sought the setting aside of an order that dismissed his representation against the placement of his name on the PCL as premature. Second, he questioned the legality and constitutionality of the power to inactivate a passport under Rule 23 of the Pas...

• Insiders say Judicial Commission of Pakistan will convene series of meetings next month • Transfers have already been discussed informally among high court chief justices on sidelines of NJPMC moot ISLAMABAD: The transfer of high court judges is expected in the coming weeks under the 27th Amendment, with sources in the judicial bureaucracy indicating that the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) may soon take up the matter formally. The move will come in light of the 27th Amendment that significantly altered the constitutional scheme governing the transfer of judges of the superior judiciary by empowering the JCP to recommend transfers of judges from one court to another without requiring their consent. According to sources, the issue of judges’ transfers was discussed informally during a recent interaction among the chief justices of the high courts. The chief justices had assembled earlier this month to attend the 56th meeting of the National Judicial Policy-Making Committee (NJPMC). Following the meetin...

Wie droomt er vlak voor de oudejaarstrekking niet van rijkdom? De Venlose familie Taihuttu - wereldwijd bekend als The Bitcoin Family - werd schatrijk met cryptobeleggingen. Verslaggever Ton Voermans zocht ze op in Thailand en zag hoe het is om meer te hebben dan je kunt uitgeven. „Oeps, een drankrekening van 7400 euro.’’Dit verhaal is ook te luisteren:

Россия и США обсуждают возможность совместного управления Запорожской атомной электростанцией без участия в этом процессе Украины.

De Noord-Koreaanse leider Kim Jong-un heeft laten doorschemeren dat zijn land ook de komende vijf jaar zal doorgaan met de ontwikkeling van raketten. Dat meldt staatspersbureau KCNA vrijdag, nadat Kim in het laatste kwartaal van 2025 meerdere munitiebedrijven bezocht.

Grok makes X more truth-friendly as it often challenges users’ assumptions instead of confirming them, says Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. X’s artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, makes the social media platform more truth-friendly with responses that oppose users who turn to it to confirm political biases, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said. “The easy ability to call Grok on Twitter is probably the biggest thing after community notes that has been positive for the truth-friendliness of this platform,” Buterin said on Thursday.  ”The fact that you don't see ahead of time how Grok will respond is key here,” he added. “I've seen many situations where someone calls on Grok expecting their crazy political belief to be confirmed and Grok comes along and rugs them.” Read more

Fondatorul Telegram, miliardarul Pavel Durov, în vârstă de 41 de ani, revine în centrul atenției cu declarații care au stârnit controverse în presa internațională.

ISLAMABAD: The Pakis­tan Telecommunication Aut­ho­rity (PTA) on Thurs­day issued a warning to Sim owners to be responsible users and that all Sims must be registered in the user’s name. In a statement, the telecom regulator has said that the use of Sims registered in another individual’s name is considered a violation of applicable regulations, and any misuse of a SIM shall be the sole responsibility of the registered user. PTA further emphasised that consumers must ensure responsible use of their SIMs and telecommunications connections. Users shall be individually accountable for all calls, messages, and data usage made through their SIMs or devices. Consumers are required to comply with all relevant rules and regulations, and failure to do so may result in necessary enforcement action in case of any violation. The PTA has asked all telecom consumers to adopt responsible conduct and play an active and effective role in safeguarding the security, stability, and reliability of Pakistan’s telecommunications sys...

Police in Cherkasy region are establishing the circumstances of a car explosion in Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi that occurred on Christmas Eve.

Bitcoiners wanting to focus on short-term factors should be “fairly methodical and mathematical,” says Strategy CEO Phong Le. Bitcoin’s market fundamentals have stayed strong in 2025, despite the asset’s price and sentiment declining toward the end of the year, says Strategy CEO Phong Le. “The fundamentals of the market this year for Bitcoin couldn’t be better,” Le told the “Coin Stories” podcast on Tuesday, emphasizing that he doesn’t care too much about its short-term performance.  Bitcoin (BTC) reached an all-time high of $125,100 on Oct. 5, but has since declined nearly 30%, trading at $87,687 at the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap. AMeanwhile, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which measures overall market sentiment, has shown “Extreme Fear” since Dec. 12. Read more

Unii dintre cei mai apreciați bucătari din Marea Britanie propun soluții simple pentru refolosirea resturilor de Crăciun. Curcanul, unul dintre felurile culinare care dau motive de neliniște când nu este consumat complet, poate fi transformat în noi preparate delicioase, arată aceștia.

Последствия поражения Силами обороны Украины нефтяных резервуаров морского порта "Темрюк" в Краснодарском крае РФ видны из космоса

De Verenigde Staten hebben een „krachtige en dodelijke” luchtaanval uitgevoerd op strijders van Islamitische Staat (IS) in het noordwesten van Nigeria, meldden de Amerikaanse president Donald Trump en het Amerikaanse leger donderdag. De terreurgroep zou zich hebben gericht op christenen in de regio.

De Verenigde Staten hebben donderdag luchtaanvallen uitgevoerd in het noordwesten van Nigeria. Volgens president Donald Trump waren de aanvallen gericht op aanhangers van Islamitische Staat (IS) die christenen zouden aanvallen.

De kerstperiode is aangebroken. Voor de meeste sporters ook een periode om even hun rust te pakken en terug te blikken op het afgelopen jaar. Bekijk hier de leukste foto’s van sporters uit binnen- en buitenland op sociale media.

De Amerikaanse minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Marco Rubio heeft Cambodja en Thailand donderdag opgeroepen een einde te maken aan het geweld dat sinds 7 december tussen de landen is uitgebroken. Hij deed dat in een telefoongesprek met de premier van Cambodja.

The Mykolaiv Academic Art Drama Theater hosted a Christmas nativity play, which was translated into sign language for the first time.

The XRP Ledger (XRPL) is ending the year with major technological developments after a year that saw it gain significant adoption and milestones. On Dec. 24, Denis Angell, a lead software engineer at XRPL Labs, announced the integration of “post-quantum” cryptography and native smart contracts into AlphaNet, the project’s public developer network. The ‘Q-Day' inevitability […] The post XRPL flips to quantum-safe signatures; 2,420-byte proofs replace elliptic curves appeared first on CryptoSlate.