AUSTIN: Ecuador ground out a nerve-jangling 0-0 draw with Mexico to book their place in the quarter-finals of the Copa America on Sunday as Venezuela sealed top spot in Group ‘B’ with a 3-0 win over Jamaica. Ecuador finished level with Mexico on four points but progress to the last eight thanks to a superior goal difference. “We would like to have a little bit more control,” Ecuador coach Felix Sanchez told reporters.“It’s a very young squad, as I said, and we actually need to be able to overcome these situations in these matches. We know that even if you…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
RIYADH: Pakistan snooker stars continued to excel at the ACBS Asian 15-Red Under-21 and 6-Red Men’s Snooker Championship as defending Under-21 champion Ahsan Ramzan and Mohammad Hasnain Akhtar won their respective semi-finals on Monday to setup an all-Pakistan final at the Riyadh Front Arena. Meanwhile, Awaisullah Munir downed compatriot Asjad Iqbal 5-2 in the semi-final to move into the 6-red final. Ahsan and Hasnain both are unbeaten in the tournament and they made light work of their opponents in the semi-finals. Ahsan, the world amateur champion in 2022, defeated Tirdad Azadipour of Iran 4-1 [108-02(51), 61-24, 55-01, 48-56, 63-07] with a 50-plus in the…
ISLAMABAD: Former PML-N leaders Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Misftah Islamil, who have recently formed their own party, criticised the federal budget on Monday for lacking reforms and burdening the salaried class. At a news conference, the two leaders demanded that the government cut its expenses, stop smuggling, and increase exports by incentivising industrialists. The two leaders urged the government to review the budget and roll back punitive measures like increasing taxes on the salaried class and allocating Rs500 billion to MNAs for development schemes in their constituencies. “The budget does not carry any reform agenda, so how will the country move forward,” wondered Mr…
ISLAMABAD: A nationwide nominal Rs1 Point-of-Sale (PoS) service fee on each sale invoice collected by hundreds of thousands of tier-1 retailers translates into tens of billions of rupees annually and is allegedly misappropriated by tax officials. This fee, hardly noticed by customers, was imposed by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) about four years ago. At the time of its imposition in August 2021, it was announced that the amount so collected would be spent on promoting documentation, including rewards to customers through lucky draws. Initially, for a few months, there were actually some lucky customers who earned cash prices.…
UNITED NATIONS: Russian envoy to the UN Vasily Nebenzya suggested on Monday that Moscow was considering dropping sanctions against the Taliban as the Afghan authorities met with representatives of the international community in Doha. “(The Taliban) are the de facto authorities. (They) are not going to stop, and we’ve been saying consistently that you have to recognise this fact and deal with them as such because, whether you like it or not, this movement is running the country now. You cannot simply ignore that,” he said. “On how far we are from removing them from the sanctions list on which…
BRASLIA: An Air Europa Boeing plane made an emergency landing in Brazil on Monday after several people were injured by “strong turbulence” on a flight from Madrid to Montevideo, the airline said. The 787-9 Dreamliner was diverted to the airport of Natal in northeastern Brazil on its way to the Uruguayan capital, the Spanish company said on X, adding that passengers who suffered injuries “are receiving attention”. Uruguay’s foreign ministry said in a statement that passengers in need of medical attention were taken to the Monsenhor Walfredo Gurgel hospital in Natal. Several have already been discharged. A Uruguayan diplomatic source said…
SEOUL: At least nine people were killed and four others were injured when a car struck pedestrians near Seoul city hall on Monday, police said. There were six fatalities at the scene, while three others were pronounced dead after being rushed to hospital, firefighter Kim Chun-soo said. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that a 68-year-old driver crashed into people who were waiting at a traffic signal. He was driving in the wrong direction and hit two other vehicles before ploughing into the pedestrians, Yonhap said. A man was detained by police over the incident, said Kim Suk-hwan, safety and transport director at the…
GAZA STRIP: Israeli forces struck southern Gaza’s main city on Monday after a rocket barrage claimed by Islamic Jihad, and as shelling and fighting raged on across the besieged Palestinian territory. A group of Palestinian detainees meanwhile returned to the Gaza Strip, including the director of its biggest hospital who recounted “severe torture” in Israeli custody. Israel has released Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital, along with dozens of other detainees returned on Monday to Gaza for treatment, according to a hospital source in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah. Successive Israeli raids have reduced large parts of Al…
BUDAPEST: Hungary trumpeted its “joyful” taking over of the EU’s rotating presidency on Monday, despite widespread concerns over what critics see as the country’s authoritarian, Russia-friendly government. Nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has run the central European country since 2010 promising to transform it into an “illiberal democracy”, frequently clashes with Brussels over rule-of-law and human rights issues. He is also the only EU leader who has maintained ties with Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine. He has refused to send arms to Kyiv and repeatedly slammed sanctions against Moscow over the war. Hungary is taking over the six-month…
STOCKHOLM: A town in Sweden was inundated with emails and phone calls from Pakistan, India, the United States and Australia after offering land at less than 10 euro cents ($0.11) per square metre, its mayor said on Monday. The mayor of Gotene had to temporarily suspend sales after the local government was overwhelmed by requests for plots. “We launched this campaign in mid-April. It was a bit of a crazy idea, but also a joke to be honest. It was a marketing operation,” said Johan Mansson, mayor of Gotene, a town of around 5,000 people. A local television report late…
