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In a reversal of its earlier stance, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) late on Tuesday night extended the deadline for filing income tax returns for the tax year 2025 until October 15. The move came just as the initial Sept 30 deadline given by the board was set to expire at midnight. The move marks a clear departure from the FBR’s previously stated position that no extension would be granted, signalling that the tax authority has yielded to pressure from various quarters and walked back on its firm commitment. An official announcement said this decision has been made under Section 214A of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. “The extension in the deadline has been granted in response to requests made by various trade bodies, tax bar associations and the general public,” the FBR said. Just a day earlier, the board had urged taxpayers to file their returns before the Sept 30 deadline, reaffirming that the due date for filing would not be extended. An official statement from th...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur accused PTI founder Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan on Tuesday of creating a divide in the party and alleged that she was being facilitated by the Military Intelligence and “establishment”. In a video statement released on Tuesday, Gandapur said: “Imran Khan is my leader, I am loyal to him. It is my right to convey the truth to him … I made him aware of all that has been happening.” He said initially he was not being given the permission to meet Imran in jail and his messages were conveyed to the public only through his sisters. “So there is a big divide in the party now,” he continued. Gandapur said his provincial government had presented KP’s budget as otherwise the PTI government would have been “disqualified”. And since there were no instructions from Imran to the effect of not presenting the budget, it was presented, he added. “But after that, campaigns that were launched declaring me and parliament traitors were highly ...

Gaza will be a de-radicalised terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors. Gaza will be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza, who have suffered more than enough. If both sides agree to this proposal, the war will immediately end. Israeli forces will withdraw to the agreed upon line to prepare for a hostage release. During this time, all military operations, including aerial and artillery bombardment, will be suspended, and battle lines will remain frozen until conditions are met for the complete staged withdrawal. Within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting this agreement, all [prisoners], alive and deceased, will be returned. Once all [prisoners] are released, Israel will release 250 life sentence prisoners plus 1,700 Gazans who were detained after Oct 7, 2023, including all women and children detained in that context. For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 deceased Gazans. As releas...

United States President Donald Trump said on Monday he would impose a 100 per cent tariff on all films produced overseas that are then sent into the US, repeating a threat made in May that would upend Hollywood’s global business model. The step signals Trump’s willingness to extend protectionist trade policies into cultural industries, raising uncertainty for studios that depend heavily on cross-border co-productions and international box-office revenue. “Our movie-making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing candy from a baby,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social. However, it was not immediately clear what legal authority Trump would use to impose a 100pc tariff on foreign-made films. The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on how the tariffs would be implemented. Top US studios Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount Skydance and Netflix also did not immediately respond to requests ...

Pakistan women lost by four wickets against South Africa in their second World Cup warm-up, after the Proteas overcame an early scare on Sunday. South Africa were reeling early in their chase of 229 when pacer Diana Baig took two early wickets, leaving them 27-3 inside six overs. Sune Luus and Anneke Bosch rebuilt the innings and added a 100-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Chloe Tryon ensured there were no further hiccups for the Proteas Women after losing five wickets with 151 on board, guiding South Africa home with an unbeaten 45. sealing a comfortable win with almost ten overs to spare. Pakistan, batting first, were bowled out for 229 in 46 overs. Captain Fatima Sana top-scored with a terrific 64 laden with 8 boundaries and a six, Batters Sidra Amin and Sidra Nawaz also made useful contributions at the top, being involved in crucial partnerships. However, Pakistan struggled for momentum as wickets fell at regular intervals. Ayabonga Khaka and Masabata Klass sec...

The closing ceremony of the men’s Asia Cup descended into farce on Sunday as the Indian cricket team refused to collect the winners’ trophy from Asian Cricket Council chief Mohsin Naqvi, as politics continued to spill over the pitch. India had earlier beaten Pakistan by five wickets in the last over after a close contest to win a record-extending ninth Asia Cup title, but they caused the post-final formalities to be inordinately delayed due to their refusal to budge from their stance. There were no customary handshakes between the teams after India refused, with tensions high from their previous two clashes in the competition, which witnessed political posturing and aggressive on-field behaviour. The Asia Cup saw the first cricket matches between the two sides since the military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May. Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Naqvi, who is also the Interior Minister, was supposed to present the winners’ trophy, but there were indications tha...

NOT a rivalry? Well, still very much a rivalry. It is very much a rivalry when the Dubai International Cricket Stadium is filled to capacity to witness its spectacular nature. It is very much a rivalry when Indian faces on the ground, in the stands and in the dressing rooms fall in disappointment when a Pakistan player hits a six or takes a wicket. It is very much a rivalry when Gautam Gambhir, who went on record saying India shouldn’t play against Pakistan, bangs the table like a maniac in the dressing room when Shivam Dube breaks the shackles to get India back into the match. It is very much a rivalry when India’s top broadcaster wants the country to play the maximum number of matches against Pakistan in the face of calls for “boycotting” the contest. It was very much a rivalry when India as the best Twenty20 International side in the world found itself under pressure chasing a paltry 148 before India’s Tilak Varma’s brilliance with the bat, and Pakistan’s Haris Rauf’s meltdown wi...

Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Sunday told a US delegation in Kabul that American citizen Amir Amiri had been released from prison, the Afghan foreign ministry said in a statement. United States President Donald Trump’s special envoy for hostage response, Adam Boehler, welcomed the decision to release the American citizen and called it a good moment for him, the statement read. Muttaqi was quoted as saying, “The Afghan government does not view the issues of its citizens from a political angle and makes it clear that ways can be found to resolve the issues through diplomacy.” He added that the step taken by his government to release the American citizen was a positive development and thanked the government of Qatar for its role in facilitating the release of the prisoner. According to the statement, Boehler described the previous round of talks between Kabul and Washington as “constructive” and expressed hope that talks on the remaining issues would continue. This was...

CAN Pakistan do it? Nobody expects them to. India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav, or SKY for short, doesn’t even think that Pakistan deserve being called rivals. But here they are, the “non-rivals” with a chance to upset India’s pre-scripted march to glory in the Asia Cup. T20 cricket is certainly a game of skill, but it is also a game of chance. And Pakistan, the underdogs, the non-rivals, have a chance. The first two games in this minor trilogy of contests between the ex-rivals were one-sided and ill-tempered. It isn’t partial to say that India brought the bad vibes. Haris Rauf responded with some low insults and was rightly fined — along with Mr SKY for his comments after the group game. It’s hard to imagine a final free of needle. That’s probably a good thing for Pakistan, who were more competitive in the Super Fours game as the political row escalated. India’s cricketing dominance is built on their formidable batting, in particular the brilliance of Abhishek Sharma, the world’s to...

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has dismissed petitions filed by cinema operators seeking to extend the scope of the Motion Pictures Ordinance, 1979, to cover Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, ruling that the law cannot be applied to digital streaming services. Justice Raheel Kamran, delivering a detailed 20-page judgement, observed that the ordinance was enacted in a pre-digital era to regulate films exhibited through cinematographs in cinemas and other public venues, and was not designed for online streaming services. The petitioners, including NC Entertainment (Pvt) Ltd, had argued that requiring cinemas to obtain film certification while leaving digital platforms unregulated was discriminatory and infringed their fundamental rights. They contended that censorship principles under Section 6 of the Ordinance, derived from Article 19 of the Constitution, should apply equally across all platforms to uphold social norms of decency and morality. Says...

The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) on Friday approved the adoption of the latest WiFi generation, WiFi 7, making it one of the first nations in the Asia-Pacific region to use the network. According to a press release, WiFi 7 and future generations will operate on the 6 GHz network band, underscoring Pakistan’s commitment to digital innovation and leadership. “Wi-Fi 7 delivers ultra-high data rates, low latency, and robust reliability, enabling 8K streaming, AR/VR, and industrial automation,” the press release read. “By easing congestion in legacy bands and reducing broadband delivery costs, it will strengthen connectivity for households, SMEs (small-medium enterprises), campuses, healthcare, and smart cities.” This development comes a week after Information and Technology Secretary Zarrar Hasham said that restoring damaged undersea internet cables may take four to five weeks. During a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information Technology and...

Trade negotiators from the United States have told their Indian counterparts that curbing purchases of Russian oil is crucial to reducing India’s tariff rate and sealing a trade deal, two people familiar with the talks told Reuters . While trade negotiations are on a positive track, a US official said, more work is needed to ensure India addresses US concerns over market access, the trade deficit and purchases of Russian oil. US President Donald Trump has sought to pressure India , the European Union and members of Nato to curb purchases of Russian oil as a way to cut Moscow’s revenue and hasten an end to the war in Ukraine. The Trump administration has shown a willingness to use maximum leverage to advance its policy goals, as evidenced by its linking trade negotiations with India to demands that it curb Russian oil purchases. Trump has expressed growing frustration over the slow progress toward ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, a conflict he pledged to resolve from his first day i...

THE new World Bank report, Reclaiming Momentum Towards Prosperity, is a sobering reminder that Pakistan’s current growth and development model is no longer fit to sustain reduction in poverty and inequality. The model, which supported initial gains in poverty alleviation before running aground, has already eroded two decades of progress as poverty trends reversed over the past three years. A new development trajectory is needed, one which prioritises inclusive growth, equity and sustained investment in human capital, the WB said. The bank also called for the overhaul of the present development model at the report’s launch in Islamabad recently. “Reforms that expand access to quality services, protect households from shocks and create better jobs — especially for the bottom 40pc — are essential to break cycles of poverty and deliver durable, inclusive growth,” it said. Poverty, which had declined from 64.3pc in 2001-02 to 21.9pc in 2018-19, has been climbing again. It rose to 24...

• Seniority concerns cannot override constitutional transfers, holds Justice Mazhar • Justice Panhwar suggests creating unified seniority list of all high court judges ISLAMABAD: Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar on Thursday ruled that the transfer of a judge from one high court to another under Article 200(1) of the Constitution cannot be declared “against the public interest” merely because it affects the seniority of a few existing judges. “The best interest of public at large is always with the expeditious disposal of their cases and not in forum shopping,” emphasised Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar in a detailed judgement. Justice Mazhar had presided over the Supreme Court’s five-judge Constitutional Bench that heard a joint petition by five Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges — Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Saman Rafat Imtiaz — who had argued that three transferred judges, including IHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarf...

THE World Bank has issued a stark warning to Pakistan in a report released on Tuesday. The country’s growth model has run its course, and over the past five years, the number of people living below the poverty line has begun to swell after two decades of shrinkage. Not only that. Nearly 40 per cent of children are stunted, and this percentage has not changed much over a long period of time. One quarter of children of primary school age remain out of school. Of the ones that do go to school, 75pc of those who finish primary schooling cannot read, or follow a simple story. One after another, the dismal state of the population as seen in the social indicators testifies to the fact that the economy is not delivering, whether or not it grows. The middle of the decade of the 2010s saw a high-growth spurt, yet between the years 2011 and 2021, “real wage growth in sectors employing the poor remained minimal at just 2-3pc” the report notes, “making the poor ill-equipped to convert economic ...

• Allowing judges to target peers would lead to ‘internal conflicts’, Justice Mandokhail warns • Ruling underscores principle of judicial equality, places emphasis on judicial discipline; affirms that judges cannot ‘pick and choose’ cases • IHC judges’ pleas ‘still under review’, says SC spox ISLAMABAD: Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail of the Supreme Court, in an 11-page verdict, has ruled that judges cannot initiate contempt proceedings against their peers, establishing that only the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) has the constitutional authority to probe misconduct allegations against the judges of both the apex and high courts. He explained that judges within the superior cou­rts share equal power and status, with no individual holding superiority or inferiority over another. He warned that allowing judges to take such punitive mea­sures against one another would cripple the judiciary. The ruling formally justified why a six-judge Supreme Court bench on Jan 27 disposed of an Intra...

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday welcomed the mutual defence deal struck between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as the beginning of a “comprehensive regional security system”. Pakis­tan and Saudi Arabia entered into a landmark mutual defence agreement, under which any aggression against one state will be considered an attack on both. The pact was signed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman at the Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh last week. The agreement came amid diplomatic upheaval in the Middle East and just months after a deadly India-Pakistan conflict in May, as well as the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June. The Iranian president praised the defence deal while addressing the General Debate of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) today. “Iran welcomes the defensive pact between the two brotherly Muslim countries, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, as a beginning for a c...

THE tragic loss of civilian lives in explosions in KP’s Tirah valley highlights the need for greater transparency in counterterrorism operations from the state. In particular, residents in the vulnerable area should be taken on board to minimise the chances of collateral damage . Much confusion surrounds the incident, which occurred in the early hours of Monday. At least two dozen residents of Tirah, including women and children, lost their lives in the blasts, which officials claim were caused by terrorists storing and manufacturing explosive devices in houses. Sources quoted in the media say that TTP militants had forcibly occupied the dwellings and used them to store explosives. They said that several militants also perished in the blasts. However, residents of the area and provincial lawmakers dispute these claims, asserting that the valley came under aerial bombardment. A statement attributed to the KP chief minister quotes him as saying that the “martyrdom of civilians” due to...

QUETTA: Twelve people, including women and chil­dren, were injured wh­en the Quetta-bound Jaf­far Express was targeted in a bomb blast in the Spizend area of Mas­tung on Tuesday. According to railway officials, six bogies of the train coming from Peshawar derailed after the blast and one overturned, injuring the passengers in that carriage. It was the second blast in the same area within 10 hours. Earlier in the morning, an explosion had occurred near the main track linking Balochistan to the rest of the country, just as the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express was preparing to leave Quetta Railway Station. The train was briefly halted but allowed to continue after security clearance, as the track was not damaged. Police officials said an explosive device plan­ted on the track was detonated when the Quetta-bound train was passing through the Spizend area. “Six bogies of the Jaffar Express derailed after the blast and one of them over­t­urned,” a senior Pakistan Railways official told Daw...

The government is set to hold a signing ceremony today for a financing facility agreement to reduce the circular debt in the power sector, according to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). A letter from the Central Power Purchasing Agency to all banks and power sector entities invited their chief executive officers and heads to attend the event. It said the event will be held at the PMO and PM Shehbaz Sharif will also virtually address the event as he is currently in New York for the UN General Assembly session. Pakistan’s debt burden has become the defining constraint of its fiscal and economic future. According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan, the total government debt (excluding the International Monetary Fund) increased from Rs69 trillion in June 2024 to Rs78tr by June 2025. The public debt (including the IMF debt) increased to Rs80.5tr from Rs71.2tr in June 2024. Both the numbers understate the full level of the government’s indebtedness. Developments suggest ...

THE world’s battle against polio is stuck on a glass mountain. After 37 years and $22bn, the Independent Monitoring Board has declared that conventional strategies are running out of road. Its latest assessment , The Glass Mountain, places Pakistan centre stage. The country has reported 27 new cases this year — small in absolute terms, but large enough to confirm what the IMB calls “resurgence” in one of the last reservoirs of wild poliovirus. The board’s findings are uncomfortable. It argues that Pakistan’s claims that transmission had been interrupted between 2021 and 2023 were an illusion created by Covid-19 restrictions. Lockdowns, not stronger campaigns, suppressed spread. That temporary reprieve has ended. With new infections surfacing, confidence in the programme’s direction is ebbing. Eradication in Pakistan has long suffered from predictable failings: financing that rewards effort rather than outcomes, superficial ties to routine immunisation, accountability systems that c...

• Justice Aminuddin Khan issues detailed reasoning, says Oct 23 order by five judges more akin to ‘legislation than interpretation’ • Civilians’ trials in military courts ‘long understood as valid and operative’, says Justice Mazhar ISLAMABAD: Justice Aminuddin Khan has said that though the procedural framework under the Pakistan Army Act (PAA) 1952 includes due process protections, the absence of an independent right of appeal to a civilian court has rendered its application to civilians constitutionally incomplete. He made these remarks in a 68-page judgement to justify the May 7 short order on a set of 38 intra-court appeals, which challenged the Oct 23, 2023, order on military trials of the civilians. Justice Khan explained that this deficiency required legislative intervention, urging parliament to do the needful in 45 days. According to Justice Khan, the Constitutional Bench had referred the matter to parliament for the enactment of appropriate amendments, with the expectati...