Beyond Today, Into Tomorrow
GENEVA: Sri Lankan forces used sexual violence against minority Tamils during the island’s decades-long separatist war, and victims still await justice 17 years after the fighting ended, a UN report said on Tuesday. Troops crushed the separatists following a no-holds-barred offensive and declared an end to the war by May 2009. The spectacular military success…
WASHINGTON: US Central Intelligence Agency head John Ratcliffe travelled to Venezuela on Thursday and met leader Delcy Rodriguez, a US administration official said, in the highest-level American visit since the fall of Nicolas Maduro. President Donald Trump sent the spy chief to Caracas for a meeting that lasted approximately two hours, US sources said, less…
ALEPPO: A US-led coalition intervened on Friday to reduce tensions between Syria’s government and Kurdish forces, with Damascus determined to expel them from an area in the country’s north. After driving Kurdish forces from Aleppo last week, the Syrian army deployed reinforcements near the Kurdish-controlled Deir Hafer, some 50 kilometres east of the city, ordering…
KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) staged a robust recovery on Friday, buoyed by strong year-on-year growth in large-scale manufacturing and easing geopolitical concerns, as investors indulged in aggressive value-hunting after days of caution. Market sentiment improved after US President Donald Trump signalled that the crackdown on protesters in Iran was easing, reducing fears of a broader regional…
ISLAMABAD: Short-term inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), increased 3.87 per cent year-on-year in the week ending Jan 15 due to an increase in the retail price of tomatoes and LPG cylinders. The SPI-based inflation recorded an upward trend over the past 24 consecutive weeks, mainly driven by surges in the prices of perishable products,…
ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) on Friday notified up to five per cent reduction in the price of regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) at the distribution stage for the current month, mainly due to lower international oil prices. This is the second consecutive monthly reduction, following around a 6pc decline in December,…
KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday began implementing the Women Entrepreneurship Finance (WE-FI) Code, adopted on July 7, 2025, to dismantle the financial barriers faced by women-led businesses. To kick off the implementation of the code, the central bank held a two-day workshop in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in…
ISLAMABAD: The number of approved special economic zones has surged dramatically from seven to 44 in the second phase of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), including notification of 37 new SEZs through coordinated efforts led by the Board of Investment (BoI). The increase in approval rate was revealed on Friday during a briefing on Pakistan’s engagement with China…
LAHORE: Police on Saturday submitted a report in the Lahore High Court (LHC) detailing the security plan for the upcoming three-day Basant festival. Basant will be celebrated in Lahore from February 6-8, following the passage of the Punjab Regulation of Kite Flying Bill, 2025, that ended a suspension of the festival after almost two decades. The report…
Protests in Iran have subsided after a crackdown by security forces amid an internet blackout, monitors said Friday, a week after the start of the largest demonstrations in years challenging the country’s government. Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s late shah, however, said he was confident the Islamic republic would fall and called…
