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  Pakistan and Uzbekistan on Monday finalised agreements to expand investment and increase bilateral trade to $1 billion. To this end, Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar and Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Khodjave Jamshid Abdukhakimovich signed nine Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs). Talking to the media on the occasion, Qamar said the two countries had decided to implement the Preferential Trade Agreement from February 1, 2023. In a press release issued afterwards, the commerce ministry said the two countries also discussed the implementation of the Agreement between Uzbekistan and Pakistan on Transit Trade (AUPTT) and Uzbekistan would notify rules in this regard in February.

 Moscow is ready to resume gas supplies to Europe through the Yamal-Europe Pipeline and it can also send supplies to Pakistan and Afghanistan in the long term, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told state TASS news agency. “The European market remains relevant, as the gas shortage persists, and we have every opportunity to resume supplies,” TASS cited Novak as saying in remarks published by the agency on Sunday. “For example, the Yamal-Europe Pipeline, which was stopped for political reasons, remains unused.” The Yamal-Europe Pipeline usually flows westward, but has been mostly reversed since December of 2021 as Poland turned away from buying from Russia in favour of drawing on stored gas in Germany.

  Chinese President Xi Jinping urged officials on Monday to take steps to protect lives in his first public remarks on Covid-19 since Beijing dramatically loosened hardline containment measures this month. Having mostly cut itself off from the rest of the world during the pandemic, China is now experiencing the planet’s biggest surge in infections after abruptly lifting restrictions that torpedoed the economy. Studies have estimated that around one million people could die over the next few months. Many in the population are now grappling with shortages of medicine, while emergency medical facilities are strained by an influx of under-vaccinated elderly patients. “At present, Covid-19 prevention and control in China are facing a new situation and new tasks,” Xi said in a directive, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

 ISLAMABAD: Pakistan captain Babar Azam has attained a career-best second position in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) men’s Test player rankings after notching two half-centuries in the final Test of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) series against England in Karachi. Babar’s knocks of 78 and 54 have helped him overtake Steve Smith, who managed 36 and six in a low-scoring game between Australia and South Africa in Brisbane. Babar, who is ranked first in ODIs and fourth in T20Is, trails Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne by 61 points in the Test rankings. Australian batter Travis Head, whose first innings score of 92 was the highest in the Brisbane Test, has gained three slots to reach a career-best fourth position as he crosses the 800-rating point mark for the first time in his career. His previous best was fifth position in January this year. In the latest weekly update that also takes into account performances in the first Test of the WTC series between Bangladesh...

  ZURICH: Winning the World Cup was not enough to lift Argentina atop the FIFA world rankings with arch-rivals Brazil keeping the No. 1 position, the global governing body announced on Thursday. Brazil were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Croatia but built enough rankings points from results over recent years that feed into FIFA’s calculation. Argentina climbed one place to second and beaten finalists France also rose one to third, while the tournament’s surprise package Morocco were big movers and are on the verge of cracking the top 10. Argentina skipper Lionel Messi scored two goals and netted again in the shootout as he led his country to an emotional 4-2 win on penalties over France on Sunday, with the title clash ending 3-3 after 120 minutes of breathtaking action. A win in normal or extra time would have propelled Argentina to the top of the rankings but they sit second behind five-time world champions Brazil who now have a slender lead in points. Belgium are still fourt...

  KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has asked banks to implement the Kissan Package in ‘letter and spirit’ to achieve the agriculture credit target of Rs1.8 trillion set for the current fiscal year. The banks disbursed Rs664 billion agri loans in the first five months of 2022-23, which accounted for 36 per cent of the target. Chairing the annual meeting of the Agricultural Credit Advisory Committee (ACAC) on Thursday, SBP Governor Jameel Ahmad referred to the devastation caused by recent floods and observed that climate change is the biggest threat to the country due to its unforeseen impacts. “While the government, businesses and societies are recognising such threats, we need to take timely actions and allocate required resources for research and development of relevant products and services and capacity building of stakeholders to address them preemptively,” said the governor. He said that the government keeping the quantum of devastation in view has announced a comprehe...

  Calls for intelligence-based action against banned outfits • Says killings of citizens by muggers ‘unacceptable’ KARACHI: Top brass of police, Rangers and intelligence agencies in Sindh sat together at Chief Minister House on Thursday to evolve a coordinated strategy following a renewed wave of terrorism in other parts of the country and an alarming surge in incidents of street crime in the metropolis. The meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, discussed at length the threats of terrorism and street crime and decided to launch an operation to be jointly carried out by police and Rangers against those involved in street crime in Karachi. Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon, director general of Pakistan Rangers Sindh Major General Azhar Waqas, officials of the Counter-Terrorism Department, Special Branch and provincial heads of intelligence agencies attended the meeting. The chief minister gave 15 days to the police to launc...

  ISLAMABAD: In a frantic attempt to get the local government (LG) polls in the federal capital delayed, the National Assembly on Thu­rsday passed a government bill seeking to increase the number of union councils from 101 to 125. The move comes less than 10 days ahead of the polling day, December 31, and the bill was passed with the house visibly lacking quorum throughout the proceedings which lasted less than 40 minutes. A lawmaker even asked if the house was in order and Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ash­raf replied in the affirmative without ordering a count. Against the required strength of 86 for the quorum, 54 lawmakers were present in the house at the start of the session and just 43 at the end, according to a fact-sheet prepared by the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen). Rules were suspended to allow taking up for consideration at once the Islam­abad Capital Territory Loc­al Government Amendment Bill introduced by Minister of State for Law Shahadat Awan on behalf of Interior Mi...

  ISLAMABAD: In a bid to reduce the import bill and promote solar energy, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday directed authorities concerned to complete the solarisation of the government buildings before the onset of the summer season. During a meeting, the PM said the utilisation of solar energy was inevitable to improve the economy by reducing the import bill of fuels. Calling for the promotion of solar energy by the private sector, he instructed all the departments to expedite the process of transparent bidding for the construction of solar power plants. During the briefing, the prime minister was told that the federal cabinet had already approved a framework for the generation of electricity through solar energy instead of expensive imported fuels. Moreover, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority would define the tariff for mega solar projects by the end of this month which would follow the bidding procedure. The PM was apprised that three solar power plants we...

 Skipper Babar Azam has no intention of giving up the Pakistan captaincy despite overseeing a first-ever 3-0 Test series whitewash at home, saying that leading the side was “a matter of honour”. Pakistan lost to England on Tuesday in the third and final Test in Karachi by eight wickets, after going down in the first two matches by 74 runs in Rawalpindi and 26 in Multan. It was also the first time Pakistan have lost four Tests on the trot, having been beaten by Australia in Lahore in MarchAsked if he would quit the captaincy to concentrate on batting, Azam told a news conference he still enjoyed the challenge. “Captaincy is a matter of honour for me. I will do whatever best I can for my country and for myself,” he sai “I enjoy it more when under pressure and it doesn’t affect my batting.”d.

  ISLAMABAD: The Pak­istani diaspora in the United States asked Islamabad on Tuesday to work out a long-term strategy to ensure predictability in policymaking along with ensuring ease of doing business to attract investment in the manufacturing sector The diaspora at a panel discussion on US-Pakistani Diaspora’s Commercial Investments in Pakistan shared current and future opportunities and challenges in sectors of construction, real estate, technology, tourism, hospitality, e-commerce and manufacturing. The US Mission in Pakistan, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and in close collaboration with the US-Pakistani diaspora, hosted a one-day engagement conference. More than 100 participants attended in person, including members of the US-Pakistani diaspora and prominent local business leaders. Leading US-Pakistani businessmen identified a lack of consistency in policies, adequate energy, and improving ease of doing business to attract investments i...

  Teenage England leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed demolished Pakistan’s defences in the final Test in Karachi on Monday, leaving the hosts staring at their worst-ever series defeat on home soil. Ahmed bagged three wickets in four overs late into the second session on day three — starting with the key wicket of captain Babar Azam who hit a miscued pull shot straight into the hands of Ollie Pope at short midwicket. His spell demolished Pakistan’s resistance after fellow spinner Jack Leach had taken out the top order in the space of six balls before lunch. At tea, Pakistan were struggling at 177-6 with Agha Salman unbeaten on one and Faheem Ashraf yet to score. Pakistan lead by 127 and will hope to at least double that lead to avoid a first-ever 3-0 whitewash at home. England won the first Test by 74 runs in Rawalpindi and the second in Multan by 26 runs. Ahmed, who became the youngest England Test player at 18 years and 126 days on Saturday, had surprisingly not bowled in the first session, ...

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf senior leader Fawad Chaudhry has said a dialogue between the government and the opposition is necessary to end uncertainty in the country following the backdoor channel talks The PTI leader, however, kept sticking to the party chairman’s stance that the government should first announce holding early polls. “The government should announce holding early elections and we are ready to go into talks to work out the election date and framework,” he said while speaking to media persons outside Imran Khan’s Zaman Park residence here on Sunday. Mr Chaudhry demanded the National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf should immediately accept the (already submitted) resignations of the PTI’s 123 MNAs to make way for holding of the national and provincial assemblies elections, simultaneously. As soon as the PTI wrote a letter to the NA speaker for acceptance of the resignations, the former federal information minister said, Mr Ashraf wound up the assembly session an...

  QUETTA: Balochistan National Party (BNP-Mengal) and National Party held separate protest rallies in Quetta and other parts of the province on Sunday against the bill passed by the parliament on Reko Diq agreement In Quetta, a huge BNP-M rally began from the Metropolitan Corporation where party leaders and workers had gathered. The participants of the rally marched through the main roads and streets of the provincial capital carrying placards and banners inscribed with their demands. They chanted slogans against Reko Diq deal and demanded recognition of sovereignty and rights of the Baloch people over the coastline of Balochistan. The BNP-M rally later turned into a public meeting at Mezeen Chowk which was addressed by BNP-M’s central deputy secretary general and parliamentary leader Malik Naseer Ahmad Shahwani, former senator Dr Jahanzeb Jamaldini, member of the central executive committee and district president Ghulam Nabi Marri and district general secretary of BSO Atif Rodini ...

  Lionel Messi and his teammates set off for Argentina with the most coveted prize in football as millions of compatriots waited to welcome them home on Monday and catch a glimpse of the World Cup trophy . In the capital Buenos Aires and throughout the country, millions took to the streets to celebrate Sunday’s remarkable penalty shoot-out victory over France in the World Cup final in Qatar. Messi finally crowned his record-breaking career with the one trophy that was missing as he produced a performance that will go down in World Cup history, scoring a first-half penalty and netting again in extra time. France had fought back from 2-0 down in the last 10 minutes as Kylian Mbappe scored twice to equalise and force extra time in a pulsating match watched by an 89,000 crowd in Lusail Stadium. Messi seemed to have decided the match in extra time with his second goal of the game before his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Mbappe completed only the second World Cup final hat-trick to bring ...

  Of all people, it was Azhar Ali who appeared at the day’s first press conference. The Pakistan Cricket Board’s media manager said the veteran needed to “make a statement”. It wasn’t hard to guess what was about to come from Azhar then. The long-serving Pakistan batter still gave a disclaimer. “Obviously, it can get a bit emotional,” Azhar said after a deep sigh, before announcing that the Karachi Test — his 97th if he plays — will be his final appearance as an international cricketer.

 Addressing a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers’ convention here on Sunday, he said that Imran Khan’s biggest regret is that he could not get an opportunity to select the army chief of his choice, adding that he wanted to appoint an army chief who would allow him to extend his rule for another 10 years. Kh Asif said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, during his around four-year tenure in government, destroyed the national economy. He said people were suffering as a consequence of Imran Khan government’s failure and wrong policies. He said Imran Khan used to say that he would commit suicide but not take loans. However, in the history of the country, no government took as much loan as the previous government of Imran Khan did. The federal defence minister said that the coalition government in Centre was trying day and night for the last eight months to improve and revive the country’s economy. It is determined and very soon it would be able to bring t...

Date 17/12/2022 LAHORE: Announcing his much-awaited final date to dissolve the two provincial assemblies where his party is at the helm of affairs, PTI chief Imran Khan on Saturday revealed that the party will dissolve assemblies in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on December 23 (Friday), staking his hard-earned political ground on a bid to trigger early elections. "We will sacrifice both assemblies... we are sacrificing them for this nation... there will elections in 66 per cent of Pakistan," Imran announced. The former prime minister -- flanked by Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi and K-P Chief Minister Mahmood Khan -- made the announcement during his address to party supporters and workers at Lahore's Liberty Chowk via video link from his residence in Zaman Park. Imran said he had thoroughly consulted PTI lawyers before pulling off the provincial power play to spur polls and emphasised that the Constitution did not allow elections to be delayed beyond 90 days of an ass...

Date 17/12/2022  'I will support all of Khan's decisions. I owed Punjab Assembly to him and I have returned my debt to him,' Parvez Elahi saysIn his latest meeting withPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi Saturday reiterated his support toward the former prime minister's decision to dissolve the Punjab andKhyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies. The chief minister met Imran for consultations on the matter as the PTI and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) prepare to move towards taking the crucial decision of dissolving the assembly where Elahi rule "I will support all of Imran Khan's decisions. I owed the Punjab Assembly to Imran Khan and I have returned my debt to him," CM Elahi said in a tweet hours before Imran's scheduled announcement of the dissolution date.s.

  LAHORE: Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhry Parvez Elahi accompanied by former Federal Minister Moonis Elahi and MNA Hussain Elahi met with the Chairman PTI Imran Khan at Zaman Park Saturday in which matters pertaining to dissolution of Punjab Assembly came under consultation. Imran Khan will announce the decision flanking with the Chief Ministers of Punjab and KPK. ParvezElahi while talking on the occasion stated that they would side with every decision of Imran Khan. He clarified that the Punjab Assembly is a trust given by Imran Khan and has returned this trust to him. He categorically remarked that Imran Khan has made the politics of his political opponents zero adding that those spreading rumors will meet with failure even now as earlier. Moonis Elahi highlighted that their alliance with PTI is even stronger than before and would welcome every call of Imran Khan. Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mehmood Khan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhry, Pervez Khattak, Shibl...