Senator Irfan Siddiqui, spokesperson for the government negotiation committee, said on Tuesday that no decision was made regarding the formation of judicial commission on the events of May 9 and November 26. He made these remarks while speaking to the media after the first round of the meeting convened to review PTI’s demands under the chairmanship of National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq at the Speaker’s Chamber. The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Aleem Khan, Salik Hussain, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, Rana Sanaullah, Dr Farooq Sattar ..read more

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has fired U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Linda Lee Fagan, the first female uniformed leader of an armed forces branch, a U.S. official told Reuters on Tuesday. Fox News, which first reported the firing, said Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman had terminated Fagan for putting diversity issues over border security. The White House and Department of Homeland Security did not immediately reply to requests for comment on the report. The Coast Guard and Fagan could not immediately be reached. While the Coast Guard is an armed service, it fa ..read more

DAVOS: Pakistan has agreed terms for a $1 billion loan with two Middle Eastern banks at a 6%-7% interest rate, its Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told Reuters on Tuesday, as the South Asian country looks for more financing. “With two institutions we have now gone forward in signing up the term sheet - one bilateral and one for trade (finance),” Aurangzeb said during an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos. The loans were short-term, or up to one year, Aurangzeb added. The country’s central bank chief told Reuters in August that Pakistan aimed to r ..read more

NEW YORK/GENEVA: The United States will leave the World Health Organization, President Donald Trump said on Monday, saying the global health agency had mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and other international health crises. Trump said the WHO had failed to act independently from the “inappropriate political influence of WHO member states” and required “unfairly onerous payments” from the U.S. that were disproportionate to the sums provided by other, larger countries, such as China. “World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It’s not going to happen anymore,” Trump said ..read more

DAVOS: Pakistan has agreed terms for a $1-billion loan with two Middle Eastern banks at a 6%-7% interest rate, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told Reuters on Tuesday, as the South Asian country looks for more financing. “With two institutions we have now gone forward in signing up the term sheet - one bilateral and one for trade (finance),” Aurangzeb said during an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos. The loans were short-term - or up to one year, Aurangzeb added. Pakistan aims to boost its finances after securing a $7 billion International ..read more

JAKARTA: A landslide triggered by heavy rain on Indonesia’s main island of Java has killed at least 17 people with nine others missing, disaster officials said on Tuesday. Intense rainfall in a mountainous area near Pekalongan city in Central Java province sparked the landslide on Monday, collapsing at least one bridge and burying houses and cars in thick mud. “The joint team evacuated one more victim buried by the landslide. With the discovery… the number of victims who died reached 17,” National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Abdul Muhari said in a statement. “Meanwhile the numb ..read more

MELBOURNE: A vintage Novak Djokovic tamed Carlos Alcaraz in a late-night blockbuster to set up an Australian Open semi-final with Alexander Zverev as two-time women’s defending champion Aryna Sabalenka fought on. The 37-year-old Djokovic rolled back the years at the scene of his greatest achievements on Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 triumph sealed close to 1:00 am. The Serb surged into the semi-finals and a date with world number two Zverev to edge closer to an 11th Melbourne crown and all-time record 25th Slam title. “I just wish that this match today was the final ..read more

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks climbed early Tuesday to open the second Trump administration on positive footing as US Treasury bond yields retreated. After his inaugural speech, Trump’s first day in office was punctuated by a raft of executive orders on immigration, energy policy and other issues. The returning president also threatened 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico as early as February 1, a statement that “took a little steam out of the equity futures trade, but (didn’t) steamroll that trade,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare. About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Indu ..read more

Pakistan’s “innovative approaches” in taxation and economic stabilisation offer “valuable lessons” for other developing economies, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb wrote in an article in the World Economic Forum (WEF) published on Tuesday. Pakistan’s finance czar is currently in Davos to attend the WEF Annual Meeting that is taking place between January 20 and 25. The Annual Meeting 2025 convenes global leaders to address key global and regional challenges. These include responding to geopolitical shocks, stimulating growth to improve living standards, and stewarding a just and inclusive en ..read more

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH: Israeli security forces backed by helicopters raided the volatile West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday, killing at least eight Palestinians in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a “large-scale and significant military operation”. The action, launched a day after U.S. President Donald Trump declared he was lifting sanctions on ultranationalist Israeli settlers who attacked Palestinian villages, was announced by Netanyahu as a new offensive against the Palestinian group. “We are acting systematically and resolutely against the Iranian axis wherever it extend ..read more