NEW YORK: Jessica Pegula returned to the quarter-finals of her home Grand Slam with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Diana Shnaider on Monday. On Arthur Ashe Stadium, the sixth seed needed an hour and 27 minutes to fend off rising 20-year-old Shnaider, the youngest player to reach this week’s Round of 16. With the win, Pegula moves into her seventh career Grand Slam quarter-final, and her second at the US Open. New York native Pegula previously made the elite eight at Flushing Meadows in 2022. She extended her hot summer run in 2024, improving to an incredible 13-1 since the…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
BERLIN: Germany men’s football coach Julian Nagelsmann said on Monday he had tapped Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich to take over as national team captain. Kimmich was a “role model for the whole group”, Nagelsmann said at a press conference ahead of Germany’s Nations League fixture against Hungary in Duesseldorf on Saturday. “He always gives his all, he always wants to train — sometimes too much — he is never tired, he always wants to win,” Nagelsmann said. Kimmich, 29, was “number one” in a player leadership group alongside Real Madrid defender Antonio Ruediger and Arsenal striker Kai Havertz, Nagelsmann…
Multiple social media accounts shared an image on Saturday showing football star Cristiano Ronaldo wearing a T-shirt with a face portrait of PTI founder Imran Khan. However, the original picture is from May 2016 and does not feature Imran’s face. On August 31, a user on X, who appeared to be pro-PTI based on their past posts, shared a photo of Ronaldo with a white T-shirt featuring Imran’s face, overlaid with the text: “Kaptaan we love you.” The caption of the post said: “Oh patwaris, what just happened? The person with the most fans in the world turned out to be a…
Bangladesh beat Pakistan by six wickets in the second test to complete a 2-0 series sweep in Rawalpindi on Tuesday. Zakir Hasan (40), Najmul Hossain Shanto (38) and Mominul Haq (34) chipped in with useful cameos as Bangladesh chased down the 185-run victory target with more than a session left in the game. Chasing 185 to win, the visitors inched their way to the target for the loss of four wickets, 25 minutes before tea on the fifth and final day to complete a 2-0 series sweep. At the start of play on the fifth and final day…
ISLAMABAD: The government on Monday decided to keep three federal entities — Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (Smeda) and Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) — in the public sector by declaring them as “essential state-owned enterprises (SOEs)”. The decision was made at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises presided over by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, which also approved the appointment of the board of directors of EXIM Bank of Pakistan and Karachi Port Trust. As part of the SOEs’ policy 2023 introduced on the directives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF),…
KARACHI: The sharp decline in inflation during August has opened the door for a potential interest rate cut of up to 200 basis points, researchers and analysts said after Monday’s release of the latest inflation figures. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures main inflation, dropped to 9.6pc in August from 11.1 per cent in July, creating an opportunity for the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to lower interest rates, in line with the demands of economic stakeholders. “I expect a 150 bps reduction in the upcoming monetary policy, as real interest rates currently stand at 9.9pc,” said Samiullah Tariq, head of…
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday his government was working on implementing conditions from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to complete its loan programme, which he hoped would be the country’s last. Speaking at a federal cabinet meeting today, the premier said, “The programme we have with the IMF — the conditions that they have — it is under supervision and we are fully taking steps for it.” “The conditionalities will be fulfilled and our case will be brought forward to the (Executive) Board for approval and, god willing, there will be a new journey,” the premier said, before…
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday stressed the need for “collective efforts” from all sectors while speaking about increasing the tax-to-GDP ratio amid resistance to tax reforms from traders. Traders and retailers nationwide have gone on multiple strikes against new tax measures introduced by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), particularly its Tajir Dost Scheme. The scheme, which aims to formalise the retail sector by bringing traders and wholesalers into the tax net, has been opposed by various trade bodies since its inception. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad today, the finance minister talked about the issue of taxation in the country…
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has received five proposals from international consultants to oversee the 5G spectrum auction in the country, with the process expected to be completed within the ongoing fiscal year. However, industry players have expressed concerns about the timing of the auction, questioning whether it is the right moment to proceed with the 5G rollout. In a statement released on Monday, the telecom regulator announced that it had received technical and financial bids for the auction of next-generation mobile services in Pakistan from five international consultants: Aetha Consulting Limited, Detecon Consulting FZ-LLC, Frontier Economics Limited, KomKonsult…
ISLAMABAD: The government has reiterated its directive to employees, instructing them to refrain from expressing political or religious opinions on social media and from sharing information with unauthorized individuals or the media. In a circular issued on Monday, the Establishment Division referred to the Government Servants (Conduct) Rules 1964, which prohibit employees from making statements that could potentially embarrass the government in any published document, press communication, public speech, or television program. The circular echoes similar directives issued in August 2021 and July 2020, which prohibit government employees from appearing on media platforms without official permission. It also reminds employees…
