BASTAD: Rafael Nadal continued his Olympic preparations with a confident 6-4, 6-4 win over Cameron Norrie here at the Bastad Open on Thursday, showing signs of the power hitting that fired him to 14 French Open titles. The 38-year-old Spaniard continued his return to winning ways on the Swedish clay as he moved into the quarter-finals, racking up his ninth Tour win of the year and back-to-back wins for the first time since reaching the last-16 of the Madrid Open in April. “Great feelings now, I’ve been a while now without playing on the Tour since Roland Garros and had…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
KARACHI: The stock market resumed its record-setting spree after a two-day break on Thursday as investors continued value-hunting for improved external funding prospects following the signing of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This helped the benchmark index close at an all-time high. Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed at an all-time high as investors weighed Fitch ratings’ projections for a cut in the State Bank of Pakistan’s policy rate to 16pc by the end of 2024 and 14pc by 2025 on slowing inflation, economic expansion of 3.2pc on the back of high agri growth, easing monetary…
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed authorities on Thursday to increase the number of Appellate Tribunals from 50 to 100, to expedite the resolution of pending tax cases while asking the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to bring affluent individuals under the tax net. The premier held a follow-up meeting with top FBR officials to review the performance of several tax projects that have been delayed for over three years. This was one of several meetings held by the prime minister to direct the FBR to speed up the digitalisation of the tax system. He also directed an increase in the number of Appellate…
ISLAMABAD: Textile and clothing exports posted a modest growth of 0.93 per cent in FY24, indicating that the sector may not be able to compete with regional rivals due to the implementation of harsh taxation measures in the current fiscal year. The impact of the highest-ever energy cost is evident in the export results for June, which fell 3.91pc from the previous year, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data issued on Thursday. Former commerce minister Gohar Ejaz told Dawn on Thursday that textile and clothing exports have stayed the same in the last two years despite having a $25 billion installed capacity. He…
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Energy (Petroleum Division) was informed on Thursday that no company was interested in offshore oil and gas exploration in the country after Kekra-1, an exploratory well, remained dry in 2019. The session was chaired by Syed Mustafa Mehmood, the committee’s chairman. The members enquired about reasons for the lack of interest being shown by international players in the country’s oil and gas sector. Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik informed the standing committee that major oil and gas companies were leaving Pakistan. The minister said global companies turn to countries where it is easy to do business.…
ISLAMABAD: The Large-Scale Manufacturing (LSM) sector grew for the sixth consecutive month, with a 7.33 per cent increase in May, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Thursday. The quantum index of LSM industries was 113.90 points in May compared to 106.12 in the same month last year. However, it surged from April’s 105.94 points. For the outgoing fiscal year’s first 11 months (July to May), the LSM shows a paltry growth of 0.99pc year-on-year to 116.48 points. The PBS data showed the cumulative change in the index was negative for the 20th month in a row,…
MILWAUKEE: At the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week, a fashion trend with a difference has emerged fake ear bandages, donned by attendees as a symbolic gesture of support for Donald Trump. Trump has appeared at the convention wearing a large bandage where a would-be assassin’s bullet grazed his right ear at a rally on Saturday. “We’re helping President Trump set a new fashion statement,” said Arizona delegate Susan Ellsworth. “We’re standing in solidarity with him for his wound. And we just want him to know how much we love him.” Delegate Michael Schafer, sporting a bandage taped to his right…
CAIRO: Egypt’s Suez Canal on Thursday reported a 23.4 per cent drop in revenues attributed to disruptions in Red Sea shipping over the past year, marked by attacks from Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Israeli-linked vessels. The canal is a crucial source of foreign currency for Egypt, which is currently grappling with a severe financial crisis. Since November, the Houthis have launched numerous attacks on ships in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea. The Iran-backed group says the attacks are aimed at vessels with links to Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip. The attacks have forced many major shipping firms…
GAZA STRIP: The Gaza health ministry said on Thursday that 54 people have been killed in 24 hours as Israel kept up its heavy bombardment of recent days. All health facilities in southern Gaza have been pushed to their “breaking point” by the influx of casualties, the International Committee of the Red Cross said. Television images showed mourners at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central town of Deir el-Balah, where several white-shrouded corpses lay on the ground. One man cradled the covered body of a child. Also on Thursday, the Israeli parliament voted to oppose a Palestinian state as an “existential threat”.…
JERUSALEM: Amnesty International on Thursday called on Israel to end the indefinite detention of Gaza Palestinians and what it called “rampant torture” in its prisons. “Israeli authorities must end their indefinite incommunicado detention of Palestinians from the occupied Gaza Strip, without charge or trial … (which is) in flagrant violation of international law,” the rights group said. Amnesty called for the repeal of the Unlawful Combatants Law, amended following the beginning of the Gaza aggression, which allows Israeli forces to hold people without charge or trial for months. The law “enables rampant torture and, in some circumstances, institutionalises enforced disappearance,”…
