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Dutch MP Esther Ouwehand was told to change her Palestinian flag outfit during a tense budget debate. She returned wearing a watermelon-themed blouse, a symbol of Palestinian "resistance."

KARACHI: Pakistan is expected to meet all seven Quantitative Performance Criteria (QPC) set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ahead of the second semi-annual review of the country’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme, according to Topline Securities’ report released on Saturday. The IMF team is scheduled to visit Pakistan on Sept 25 to review the country’s performance under the $7 billion EFF arrangement, covering the first half of 2025. The review will assess Pakistan’s progress in meeting key economic targets for the March-June quarter. Based on Topline’s estimates, Pakistan is likely to meet the IMF’s QPC, including targets related to net international reserves and swap positions. The primary balance numbers for FY25 are also well within the IMF’s projections, the report noted. In addition to fulfilling IMF-mandated reforms, Pakistan is actively seeking foreign investment in emerging sectors such as offshore drilling, mining, and Web 3.0 technologies. A key milestone in this effort was the Pakis...

Two people were killed and three others injured in a collision between a motorcycle and a mini bus in village Machi Khail on Saturday.

ISLAMABAD: The government has announced a set of measures aimed at enhancing the global recognition of Pakistani kinno, a variety of citrus fruit, with a focus on improving its export potential and value-added products. National Food Security and Research Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain, in a statement on Saturday, highlighted that the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) has accredited the Citrus Research Institute’s post-entry quarantine facilities. This accreditation paves the way for the introduction of new, disease-resistant, and seedless kinno varieties that offer higher yields and greater consumer appeal. Mr Tanveer emphasised that citrus, especially kinno, is a symbol of Pakistan’s agricultural strength. He noted that the government’s efforts are not limited to expanding fresh fruit exports; equal emphasis is also being placed on promoting seedless kinno and value-added citrus products such as juices, concentrates, and essential oils, which have higher market value internationally. The government is als...

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly on Sunday appreciated the signing of the historic defense agreement between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, terming it a significant milestone in bilateral relations.

LAHORE: Fashion de­­signer Khadija Shah has approached the Lahore High Court (LHC), challenging her conviction in a May 9 case. She claims to have been falsely implicated for political reasons. Through her Advocate Sameer Khosa, Ms Shah argues that she had no involvement in the torching of a Supreme Court judge’s squad vehicle near Jinnah House during the riots. She maintained she was not named in the FIR, nor was she implicated throu­­gh supplementary statements. No identification para­­de was conducted to establish her presence at the scene. The trial, held inside Kot Lakhpat jail, resulted in 21 acquittals out of 51 accused, with 12 declared proclaimed offenders. Ms Shah was among the 18 convicted, recently sentenced to five years in prison and fined Rs100,000. The appeal highlights that the prosecution’s case relied solely on her social media activity post-May 9, 2023. However, the trial court scrutinized her entire online data without legal basis, terming the charges “defective, vague, and unsustainable....

Vitalik Buterin said low-risk DeFi protocols can bring in stable revenue for the network, like how Google Search does for Google, but while also ensuring Ethereum’s core values remain intact. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said revenue from low-risk decentralized finance protocols could give the network economic stability — much like Google Search supports Google — while letting nonfinancial apps uphold Ethereum’s cultural values. Low-risk DeFi could address “important tensions” in the Ethereum community over whether apps that bring in enough revenue to economically sustain the ecosystem align with the cultural and ethical values that brought people to Ethereum in the first place, Buterin said in a blog post on Saturday. The former has been a combination of nonfungible tokens, memecoins, and speculative trading, while the nonfinancial and semifinancial apps that reflect Ethereum’s cultural values have either struggled to gain widespread adoption or haven’t generated enough fees, he said. Read more

Житель Великобритании выиграл трехдневную поездку в Рим, заплатив за нее всего 8 пенсов (менее 1 грн). Это чрезвычайно выгодное предложение мужчина получил в рамках конкурса Bid for a Break от компании Jet2holidays, что дает шанс туристам приобрести отдых за смешную цену.

Партизаны взорвали железнодорожные пути в Смоленске, которые вели к заводу по производству ракет Х-59, которыми Министерство обороны РФ бомбит украинские города.

ISLAMABAD - The International Atomic Energy Agency has recognised Pakistan’s steady progress in developing its civil nuclear technology capabilities.

LAHORE/ MUZAFARGARH - Another portion of the M-5 Motorway at Jalalpur Peerwala near Multan was swept away by floodwaters, further disrupting travel in the region.

ISLAMABAD - Terrorist belonging to Fitna al-Hindustan, Gul Rehman alias Ustad Mureed has been mysteriously killed in Afghanistan’s Helmand province “Gul Rehman alias Ustad Mureed was the mastermind of the Jafar Express attack,” sources said.

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif said sustainable peace was not possible unless the causes of conflict, including poverty, denial of human rights and growing intolerance were eliminated.

Lahore - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Saturday launched Phase-II of the Green Tractor Program by announcing the results of a ballot for 9,500 high-power tractors to be distributed among farmers across the province.

ISLAMABAD - Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) minister Shireen Mazari Saturday said that a “heavily armed raiding party” of the Islamabad police had surrounded her house at 1am and enquired about her daughter, Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, and son-in-law, Hadi Ali Chattha.

LAHORE - Pakistan Muslim League (Q) chief and former Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has been elected as the Chairman of the Pakistan Bodybuilding Federation.

WASHINGTON: The United States has called on Pakistan to subject its defence and intelligence budgets to parliamentary or civilian public oversight, describing it as a key step to improve fiscal accountability and transparency. The recommendation appears in the US Department of State’s 2025 Fiscal Transparency Report, released on Friday. The annual report reviews the openness of budgetary practices worldwide, assessing how governments publish, audit, and manage public funds. “The military and intelligence budgets were not subject to adequate parliamentary or civilian public oversight,” the report stated in its Pakistan section. It added that “steps Pakistan could take to improve fiscal transparency include… subjecting the military and intelligence agencies’ budgets to parliamentary or civilian public oversight”. The report also urged Pakistan to ensure the timely publication of its executive budget proposal. “The government… did not publish its executive budget proposal within a reasonable period,” the assessm...

JERUSALEM: Israel’s military kept up its assault on Gaza City and the wider Gaza Strip on Saturday, dismantling underground shafts and booby-trapped structures in attacks that left 87 Palestinians dead, 70 of them in Gaza City. The civil defence agency said 11 were killed when warplanes struck the Dughmush family in the city’s Al-Sabra neighbourhood. The assault came as 10 countries including Australia, Belgium, Britain and Canada are scheduled to formally recognise an independent Palestinian state on Monday, ahead of the annual gathering at the UN General Assembly. Israel’s intensified military demolition campaign targeting high-rise buildings in Gaza City began this week alongside a ground assault. Its forces, which control Gaza City’s eastern suburbs, have in recent days been pounding the Sheikh Radwan and Tel Al Hawa areas from where they would be positioned to advance on central and western parts of the city, where most of the population is sheltering. Hamas warns lives of Israeli prisoners are in danger...

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Maryam Nawaz Sharif met with a high-level delegation of Germany’s Hope Children’s Cancer Centre, led by renowned pediatric oncologist and neuro-oncologist Dr Stefan Michael, to discuss enhanced cooperation in pediatric cancer treatment.