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A significant progress has been made toward a staff level agreement between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the Extended Fund Facility and the Resilience and Sustainability Facility, sources said. They said that the IMF has shared a draft of the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies with the government. The staff level agreement is expected once both sides reach consensus on the draft document. Ministry of Finance has circulated the MEFP draft among relevant ministries and divisions for review, and consultations are currently underway. According to sources, once all stakeholders agreed on the contents of the MEFP,…

The annual matriculation exams in Punjab are set to begin tomorrow, with 14 exam centers in Lahore designated as sensitive, officials said on Thursday. According to sources, the sensitive centers in Lahore include Government N.D. Islamia High School Achhra, Government High School Barki, Government Science College Barki, Government High School Atoki Awan, Government High School Jalomor, Chohung, Maraka Quarter, and Sher Shah Colony. In addition, four centers in Kasur, seven in Sheikhupura, and one in Nankana Sahib have also been marked as sensitive. The exams will start on March 27, with the first papers covering Arabic, Commercial Geography, and History.…

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday received a telephone call from his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim and briefed him on the latest diplomatic efforts, including discussions with leaders of Gulf countries and Iran, to bring the US and Iran to the negotiating table. During their warm and cordial conversation, the two leaders exchanged Eid-ul-Fitr greetings and prayed for the unity and progress of Muslim Ummah. The prime minister conveyed his deep appreciation to the Malaysian Prime Minister for his strong message of support for Pakistan’s leadership and endorsement of Pakistan-led mediation efforts to end the ongoing hostilities in the Middle…

 Iran’s men’s team trained in southern Turkey on Wednesday as they prepare for two upcoming friendlies ahead of the World Cup, where the ​squad are likely to attract heightened attention against the backdrop of ‌the US-Israeli war on Iran. The team held a training session in Belek, a resort area near the Mediterranean city of Antalya, with tightly restricted media access as officials said they wanted to avoid distractions ahead of the matches described as critical to their World Cup preparations. Iran’s football federation is in discussions with world governing body FIFA about moving its World Cup matches to Mexico…

A public dispute between Pakistani YouTubers Zulqarnain Sikandar and Rajab Butt has intensified, with Sikandar speaking out for the first time and making a series of allegations against Butt. Sikandar, who is widely known for his family and adventure vlogs with his wife Kanwal Aftab, said he was compelled to address the issue despite usually avoiding controversies. The situation escalated after Rajab Butt allegedly made remarks about Kanwal, prompting Sikandar to respond. He challenged Rajab’s claim of being “self-made,” asserting that his rise was supported by others. According to Sikandar, Rajab initially reached out to Kanwal in 2021 when he…

Walking on the Moon by 2030, building a lunar base, and then perhaps on to Mars: after 30 years of honing its expertise, China is challenging the United States’ supremacy in spaceflight. As US space agency NASA prepares for its crewed lunar flyby mission, Artemis II, we take a look at China’s ambitions in space: What is China’s crewed programme? The programme has conducted around 15 crewed missions since the first flight of a Chinese astronaut, Yang Liwei, in 2003. Blocked from the International Space Station (ISS) in 2011 by the United States, China built its own orbital hub. The…

 The Pentagon is weighing whether to redirect weapons originally meant for Ukraine to the Middle East, as the war in Iran strains supplies of some of the US military’s most critical munitions, the Washington Post reported Thursday, citing three people familiar with the matter. The weapons that could ⁠be redirected include air defense interceptor missiles purchased through a NATO initiative launched last year, under which partner countries buy US arms for Kyiv, the report said. The consideration comes as US operations in the region intensify. Admiral Brad Cooper, the Central Command chief leading US forces in the ‌Middle ⁠East, on…

As the conflict intensified, grim numbers began to emerge from Iran’s health authorities. Speaking to the media, Deputy Health Minister Ali Jafarian painted a devastating picture of the human toll left behind by the ongoing strikes. According to him, nearly 2,000 lives had already been lost. Among the dead were hundreds of women and children—families caught in the violence rather than on any battlefield. He emphasized that 240 of the victims were women, while 212 were children, underscoring how deeply civilians had been affected. But the suffering did not end there. Hospitals across the country were overwhelmed as tens of…

Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro returns to a US court on Thursday on criminal charges including narcoterrorism, a statute that has rarely been tested at trial and has a limited record of success. Maduro, 63, led Venezuela from 2013 through his capture in Caracas by US special forces on January 3. He pleaded not guilty on January 5 to all US charges against him. The 2006 statute at issue, enacted to target drug trafficking tied to activities the United ‌States considers terrorism, has produced just four trial convictions, a Reuters review of federal court records shows — and two were later overturned…

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi  called on the international community to actively promote dialogue to bring peace to the Middle East and expressed firm opposition to attacks on civilians and civilian facilities. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, held separate phone talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Wednesday amid the ongoing US-Israel-Iran conflict. During the talks, Egyptian foreign minister expressed deep concern about the current situation, saying that if energy and power facilities are attacked and paralyzed, it will lead to chaos…