LEEDS: England’s first warm-up, against Pakistan, ahead of next month’s T20 World Cup was washed out after rain poured over Headingley on Wednesday, but captain Jos Buttler eagerly looked forward to defending the title for the side. “I’ve had a really good couple of days’ prep and everyone was really excited for the series,” Buttler said on Skysports as he expressed his disappointment over the washing out of the first of the four-match T20I series. Buttler made England the T20 world champions when they beat Babar Azam’s men in the 2022 edition of the showpiece in Melbourne. Under the wicket-keeper’s leadership, however, they experienced a disastrous…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
PARIS: Rafa Nadal was handed a tough start to what is expected to be his farewell to the French Open as the record 14-times champion was drawn against fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the first round while women’s champion Iga Swiatek and fellow four-time major winner Naomi Osaka are on a second-round collision course. Defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic will begin his quest for a 25th Grand Slam crown against local hope Pierre-Hugues Herbert in his opener. Unseeded Nadal, who missed his favourite Grand Slam tournament due to injury last year, has plummeted down the rankings during an extended spell…
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission and Pakistan have made significant progress towards reaching a staff-level agreement for an extended fund facility (EFF), the global lender said on Friday. The IMF’s comments helped the benchmark share index scale a record high and breach the key 76,000 level. The IMF has opened discussions with Pakistan on a new loan programme after Islamabad last month completed a short-term $3 billion programme, which helped stave off a sovereign debt default. An IMF team, led by mission chief Nathan Porter, concluded discussions with the authorities on Thursday after arriving in Pakistan on May 13, the lender said in a statement. “The…
Bulls dominated the trading floor at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as stocks climbed more than 900 points on Friday after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it and Pakistan made significant progress on a new loan. After the opening bell, the benchmark KSE-100 traded in the green. The index climbed 956.44 points, or 1.27 per cent, to stand at 76,070.91 points from the previous close of 75,114.47 at 12:08pm. Mohammed Sohail, chief executive of Topline Securities, said that stocks went up after the IMF mission said the global lender and Pakistan had made “significant progress” towards reaching a Staff-Level Agreement (SLA). Moreover, he…
ISLAMABAD: After an unsuccessful voluntary registration push for the Tajir Dost Scheme (TDS), the Federal Board of Revenue has claimed that retailers’ registration reached 17,000 in six major cities during the drive that entered its 22nd day, official sources told Dawn on Thursday. The voluntary registration incentivised traders and wholesalers to register into the tax framework by the April 30 deadline. However, less than 100 were enrolled under the scheme. A senior tax official told Dawn on Thursday that since May 1, tax officials have begun communicating with retailers to encourage them to register. The push has had real benefits, with registration…
ISLAMABAD: China and Pakistan will hold 13th Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) virtually today (Friday) in the run-up to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s first visit to China after coming to power early this year. Pakistan is pushing for expediting approval of financing for development of $6.7bn Main Line-1 (ML-1), notwithstanding internal opposition, and about $1.9bn Karachi Circular Railway during the JCC as part of the second phase of the multi-billion dollar CPEC initiative launched in 2013. The JCC will be followed by PM Sharif’s visit to Beijing, expected in the first week of June. The…
KARACHI: Without any foreign inflow, the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign exchange reserves showed a meagre increase, while commercial banks recorded a significant drop during the week ending May 17. On Thursday, the central bank reported a $22 million increase in its reserves to $9.157 billion during the week. This upward trend in reserves reflects the SBP’s strategic dollar purchases from the interbank market. Before releasing the final tranche of $1.1bn under the Stand-By Arrangement, IMF wanted the SBP to boost its forex reserves to $9bn. The government believes the reserves could reach $11bn by the end of June.…
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his rival, Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, kicked off their election campaigns on Thursday, each arguing that only they can snap the country out of its economic and political malaise. Sunak, whose Conservative Party has trailed Labour by around 20 percentage points in opinion polls since he became PM in October 2022, shocked and angered many in his party when he gambled on a July 4 election, calling it months earlier than expected. He argued on Thursday that the economy was turning a corner and he had a plan to tackle illegal immigration. But with…
UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has urged the UN Security Council to hold perpetrators of war crimes accountable, halt the supply of weapons to them, and impose political and legal consequences on the states and individuals responsible for these crimes. During a Security Council debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflicts, Pakistan also called for the protection of civilians under foreign occupation, including through the deployment of UN peacekeepers. Pakistan’s Permanent Representative, Munir Akram, detailed severe human rights violations in Palestine and Indian held Jammu and Kashmir. Referring to the “plausible genocide” in Palestine, as termed by the ICJ, the…
TRAVELLERS to Saudi Arabia holding visit visas will not be allowed to enter the holy city of Makkah during the Haj season, according to the Kingdom’s Ministry of Interior. In a statement, the ministry said the ban would remain in force from May 23 to June 21. Foreigners currently in Saudi Arabia on visit visas have been requested not to travel to Makkah during the designated period, according to the Saudi Press Agency. Any person intending to perform Haj rituals in Makkah will need a permit as visit visas do not grant permission to perform Haj, the ministry warned. The Ministry…
