Pakistan

• Income tax for Rs50,000-Rs100,000 monthly salaries cut to 1pc • Solar panel import tax slashed from 18pc to 10pc • Opposition criticises lack of transparency on Senate finance committee report • Shibli Faraz says economy running unsustainably on loans ISLAMABAD: Under fire from parliamentarians and business leaders over a clause allowing tax officers to detain suspected evaders, Finance Minister Muha­mmad Aurangzeb told the Senate on Saturday that more safeguards have been added to the law to prevent misuse of authority. Speaking during the Senate debate on the Finance Bill 2025, Mr Aurangzeb said that detailed consultations were held with Senators Saleem Mand­viwalla and Farooq H. Naek, resulting in clearer and more balanced provisions, which will be shared during his upcoming speech in the National Assembly. The rollback follows strong push-back from business lobbies and both parliamentary committees, which argued that the original clause — allowing officers to detain suspects without external approval — ...

ISLAMABAD: The pre­sence of poliovirus has been confirmed in seven distri­cts across all four provinces. The Regional Refer­ence Laboratory for Polio Era­dication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) tested sewage samples from nine districts, of which seven were found positive for the presence of poliovirus. A sewage sample from an area is the basic parameter used to identify the presence of the virus in an area. It determines if polio vaccination campaigns were resulting in the desired immunity among children. An NIH official said wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) was detected in sewage samples collected from Gwadar, Quetta, South Waziristan Lower, South Waziristan Upper, Rawalpindi, Larkana and Mirpurkhas. The two negative samples were collected from Pishin and Lahore. The official explained that if the virus is found in sewage, it is called a positive sample and whenever a child is paralysed with the virus, it is called a positive case. After the virus is detected in sewage samples, polio campaigns are he...

At least eight people were killed Saturday when a hot-air balloon with 21 passengers caught fire in southern Brazil, a state governor said. It was the second fatal balloon accident in the vast South American country in less than a week. “Eight fatalities and 13 survivors,” Santa Catarina state governor Jorginho Mello said on X. […]

KARACHI: A series of violent incidents unfolded in Karachi within a few hours as three robbers were killed and a citizen was injured in different engagements in the metropolis, ARY News reported, citing police. A citizen, identified as Subash Chand, was injured due to gunfire during a robbery attempt near Sea View, the police said. […]

Famous YouTuber MrBeast has revealed the unexpected and ‘depressing’ effects of completing a two-week water-only fast. Known for his extreme challenges and huge giveaways on YouTube, MrBeast took on this new task to test how his body would react, but the outcome was far from what he expected. MrBeast, who boasts over 400 million YouTube […]

ISLAMABAD: Khurram Shehzad, Adviser to the Finance Minister, stated that the federal government has successfully resolved Pakistan’s long-standing issue of circular debt through a historic Rs1.275 trillion Islamic financing agreement with 18 commercial banks, ARY News reported. Khurram Shehzad made the announcement, hailing the development as a foundation of the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif administration’s major […]

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BEIRU: A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday. The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s […]

Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom are facing growing tensions in their relationship, sparked by Perry’s much-criticised space flight and a disagreement over the guest list for Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s upcoming wedding. The couple’s issues reportedly came to a head after Katy Perry joined Lauren Sanchez on her Blue Origin space flight in April. […]

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ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari formally launched the Benazir Hunarmand Programme, a skill development and empowerment initiative for needy families, at a ceremony held at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Saturday. Speaking on the occasion, the President underscored the importance of education and skill development, stating that every household should be equipped with the tools of learning and […]

WASHINGTON, D.C: The US State Department has announced new visa screening rules focused on improving national security by increasing scrutiny of the vetting process for international students and exchange visitors, ARY News reported. All applicants under the F, M, and J visa categories come under the updated policy and mandate a comprehensive review of their […]

PESHAWAR: The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has officially unveiled an extensive age relaxation policy for candidates seeking to pursue their career in the public sector, ARY News reported. The Chief Secretary highlighted in the notification that the new policy lets a general age relaxation of up to 10 years for several government job groups. According […]

MrBeast promises changes to AI thumbnail tool after backlash from creators like JackSepticEye and PointCrow.