[ Listen to article KARACHI: Defying all predictions, China’s economy grew by 5.3% year-on-year in the first half of 2025, according to preliminary data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), as Beijing rejigged its trade strategy in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s tariff offensive. Beijing stayed ahead of the curve and outmanoeuvred the … Read more

BERLIN: European powers plan fresh talks with Iran on its nuclear programme in the coming days, the first since the US attacked Iranian nuclear facilities a month ago, a German diplomatic source told AFP on Sunday. Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3, “are in contact with Iran to schedule further talks for the … Read more

[ Listen to article ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s recurring sugar crises have become a telling reflection of how entrenched elite interests continue to manipulate the economy under the guise of policy. The latest surge in sugar prices, now hitting between Rs180 and Rs210 per kilogramme despite official claims of intervention, shows just how far removed state actions are from … Read more

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s coalition lost its upper house majority in elections on Sunday, local media projected, in a debacle that could end his short premiership. Ishiba’s governing coalition was already humiliatingly forced into a minority government after lower house elections in October, shortly after he became prime minister and called the snap … Read more

India’s pace attack has suffered another setback ahead of the fourth Test against England, scheduled to begin on July 23 at Old Trafford, as fast bowler Akash Deep is likely to be ruled out due to a back injury, Indian media reported on Sunday. According to a report, the development came after Arshdeep Singh was … Read more

[Pakistani luck is flying these days. It has been blessed with massive success, one after the other. First, Pakistan successfully and comprehensively defeated India in the military conflict. It was an enormous triumph, which laid the foundation for a regional reset. India, which had portrayed itself as the regional power, a rising market and economy … Read more

Listen to article PESHAWAR: After much ado, 25 opposition lawmakers elected on reserved seats in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly took their oaths — not in the provincial legislature, which was adjourned earlier in the day due to lack of quorum, but at the Governor House on Sunday evening. With the induction of these new MPAs, the … Read more

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s independent regulator has sacked a senior police officer for failing to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which killed 279 people including 45 foreigners. The National Police Commission dismissed Nilantha Jayawardena, then head of the State Intelligence Service (SIS), for disregarding prior warnings of an impending attack. Court records show that Jayawardena … Read more

[ Listen to article KARACHI: Pakistan has quietly achieved a macroeconomic milestone that would have seemed implausible just a year ago: the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign exchange reserves have surged to $14.5 billion, up from a perilous $3.7 billion in May 2023. This turnaround is more than just a statistical rebound; it reflects a profound … Read more