Pakistan

• Lawmakers warn misuse to hurt businesses, turn country into police state • FBR chief says tampered vehicles to be seized and destroyed • IMF to review tax authority’s performance every week • Average annual income of top 1pc households is Rs10m ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel on Saturday pressed senior tax officials to drop proposed provisions in the Finance Bill 2025 granting arrest and money laundering notice powers to tax commissioners, warning the move would create unnecessary obstacles for businesses. The Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, chaired by Senator Saleem Mandvi­walla, convened for a second consecutive day to examine the Finance Bill 2025. Lawmakers debated the implications of enhanced powers for the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and discussed measures to curb tampered vehicles. Senator Mandviwalla warned that there is a grave risk of misuse of the power to arrest or issue a notice. Even a junior FBR officer sending a notice could create chaos, he warned. He also emphasised t...

WASHINGTON: Two important visits from Pakistan to the United States — one by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and the other by a trade delegation — have been postponed due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, official sources told Dawn. Mr Dar was scheduled to travel to New York next week to attend a United Nations conference on Palestinian statehood. But on Friday, France and Saudi Arabia — co-sponsors of the event — requested the UN to postpone the gathering. The request followed Israeli air strikes on Iran. Speaking in Paris, French President Emmanuel Mac­ron said the conference, which aimed to advance a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, had been delayed but would still take place. “While we have to postpone this conference for logistical and security reasons, it will take place as soon as possible,” Presi­dent Macron said. The changing situation in the Middle East has also delayed another planned visit — that of a trade delegation from Islamabad, which was to hold tal...

• Hamas accuses Tel Aviv of turning aid centres into traps of mass deaths • Egypt blocks activists’ bid to march to Gaza border CAIRO: Israeli firing and air strikes killed at least 45 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, many of them near an aid distribution site operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on Saturday, local health authorities said. Medics at Al-Awda and Al-Aqsa Hospitals in central Gaza areas, where most of the casualties were moved to, said at least 15 people were killed as they tried to approach the GHF aid distribution site near the Netzarim corridor. The Israeli army said in a statement that an aircraft had opened fire on a person “to neutralise the threat” after he advanced towards troops and ignored warning shots fired near a group. Last week, the army warned Palestinians not to approach routes leading to sites of the GHF between 6pm and 6am local time, describing these roads as closed military zones. The GHF said none of its distribution centres was opened on Saturday. The ...

GWADAR: In another significant development regarding regional trade and transit facilities, a second cargo ship under the Afghan Transit Trade successfully docked at Gwadar Port. The vessel, MV ASL ROSE arrived from Australia carrying 20,000 tonnes of diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser destined for Afghanistan. Previously, the first ship under the Afghan Transit Trade, MV Beyond 2, berthed at Gwadar Port on Feb 4. The current consignment was imported by Agven Private Limited, further highlighting Gwadar Port’s growing role as an emerging transit hub for Afghanistan. This progress in Afghan transit trade became possible after the Economic Coordination Committee of Pakistan abolished the requirement for bank guarantees on Afghan trade — a policy aimed at facilitating smoother trade and strengthening economic ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Gwadar Port Chairman Shah Irfan Ahmed remarked that the successful berthing and swift unloading of MV ASL ROSE demonstrate that Gwadar Port is now fully equipped fo...

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Prime Minister (PM) Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif spoke with President of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan and discussed the current regional situation. In a post on X, PM Shehbaz said, “Spoke with my dear brother President Erdogan this evening on the grave regional situation following Israel’s unprovoked aggression against Iran.” “We agreed such actions are a blatant […]

Erin Moriarty, best known for her role as Annie January/Starlight in the hit Prime Video series The Boys, has revealed that she has been diagnosed with Graves’ disease. The 30-year-old actress shared the news with her fans on Instagram, saying that she had been feeling unwell for some time but had blamed it on stress […]

KARACHI: Former federal minister Senator Faisal Vawda hosted JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman at his residence in Karachi as they discussed current political situation of the country, ARY News reported. During the meeting, Faisal Vawda admired Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and mentioned that Pakistan needs his leadership and guidance. Faisal Vawda accepted Fazlur Rehman as his […]

Iran has partially suspended gas production at the world’s biggest gas field after an Israeli strike caused a fire there on Saturday, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, in what would be the first Israeli strike on Iran’s oil and gas sector. Iran shares the South Pars gas field with Qatar. Striking it would mark […]

South African captain Temba Bavuma has recorded his name in the cricketing history as he became the first skipper clinch the World Test Championship (WTC) title unbeaten. South Africa celebrated a historic victory in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025, defeating Australia by five wickets at Lord’s to claim their first major ICC title […]

The latest round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks scheduled for Sunday in Muscat will not take place, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on X on Saturday. Oman has been mediating the talks. Albusaidi’s statement came a day after Israel launched a sweeping air offensive against Iran, killing commanders and scientists and bombing nuclear sites in […]

Iran’s state TV said on Saturday that “heavy and destructive” attacks against Israel were expected within the coming hours, as the Israeli military continues its air campaign and talks between Tehran and the US over its nuclear programme were cancelled. The development comes a day after nearly 80 people, including top army officers, were killed while civilians were among over 300 wounded in Iran as a result of Israel’s strikes on military sites and private residences, according to the country’s UN envoy Amir Saeid Iravani. Israel’s military announced earlier it was launching attacks on several sites across Iran as it kept up its campaign targeting Tehran’s military and nuclear sites, following earlier threats that the Iranian capital “will burn” amid the latter’s retaliatory strikes targeting Israel. What we know so far: US-Iran nuclear talks cancelled, says Omani FM Military officers, scientists, civilians among 78 killed in Israeli strikes on Friday; 320 injured Tehran retaliates with ‘Operation True Promis...

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Shehbaz says empowering youth government's top priority