PM URGES RESTRAINT IN CALLS WITH IRAN, QATAR LEADERS TO PRESERVE REGIONAL PEACE
R I M E Minister Shehbaz
Sharif on Friday held separate telephone conversations with Iranian President Dr Masoud Pezeshkian and Amir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, reaffirming Pakistan's commitment to regional peace and urging all parties to exercise restraint to preserve recent diplomatic gains
During his conversation with President Pezeshkian the prime minister expressed deep concern over the recent escalation of tensions in the region and underscored the urgent need to maintain
peace and stability
He called on Iran and all other stakeholders to avoid actions that could undermine the hard-earned progress achieved in recent months through sustained diplomatic efforts
Prime Minister Shehbaz stressed the importance of fully implementing the commitments made under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), describing it as a lasting framework for promoting mutual understanding regional cooperation and shared prosperity Reaffirming Pakistan s consistent policy of promoting dialogue and peaceful conflict resolution, the prime minister assured the Iranian president that Islamabad remained ready to continue playing
a sincere and constructive role in facilitating diplomatic engagement and supporting all initiatives aimed at preserving regional stability President Pezeshkian thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar Chief of Defence
Pakistan, Bangladesh agree to expand cooperation against c ybercrime
Pakistan and Bangladesh have agreed to broaden cooperation in efforts to curb cybercrime and online fraud, according to a statement issued by Pakistan’s interior ministry on Friday after a meeting between Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Salahuddin Ahmed
The ministry said the two ministers met in New York and also agreed to widen cooperation in other areas of mutual interest
Their discussions included training and exchange programmes for police officers as part of efforts to strengthen coordination between the two sides Regional and bilateral discussions
According to the ministry’s statement posted on X the meet-
ing also featured a detailed discussion on the US-Iran conflict and the current situation in the Middle East The statement said Ahmed praised Pakistan s constructive role in efforts aimed at peace Naqvi, as quoted by the ministry said Pakistan should use the current opening to deepen ties with Bangladesh We must seize new opportunities to further strengthen our mutual relations, The ministry also quoted Naqvi as saying that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir had played an important role in maintaining peace UN summit meetings in New York
Naqvi is currently in the United States where he repre-
and online fraud
sented Pakistan at a United Nations summit held on July 7 and 8
The gathering brought together interior ministers, police chiefs and senior law enforcement officials from around the world to discuss peace, security and stronger cooperation against transnational crime On the sidelines of the summit Naqvi also met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who appreciated Pakistan s efforts to promote peace, according to the interior ministry The minister separately held meetings with his counterparts from China Russia and Sri Lanka during his visit
The latest contact with Bangladesh comes as Pakistan s interior ministry pursues security and law-enforcement cooperation with a range of countries on the margins of the UN meetings in New York
TAl-Ghazi Tractors appoints Antoine Barthes as chairman after board resignations
of its
as
the resignations of
directors, including the
Al-Ghazi Tractors disclosed the changes in a notice submitted to the Pakistan
Exchange The company s board accepted the resignations of Robert Ian McAllister, who served as director and chairman, and Paul Terence Wagstaff, a director, at a meeting held on July 10, 2026 Both resignations took effect immediately Antoine Barthes and Neil Muncer have been appointed as directors to fill the casual vacancies for the remainder of the board s term The board also elected Barthes as chairman for the remaining tenure
ISLAMABAD s
The Collectorate of Customs (Enforcement), Karachi has uncovered an alleged large-scale misuse of the Export Facilitation Scheme (EFS) by importers, prompting the launch of an inquiry against senior customs officials, including an Additional Collector, a Deputy Collector, and appraising and scanning staff of the Collectorate of Customs (Appraisement-West), Karachi According to a letter of the Collector of Customs, Collectorate of Customs (Enforcement), Karachi to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), an incident report regarding misuse of EFS has been compiled, indicating the possible role of concerned officials
Details of the issue revealed that the consignments were declared to contain scrap items, including compressor scrap, aluminum condenser scrap, iron and steel remeltable scrap, and recoverable copper However, on the basis of credible information regarding mis-declaration of description, evasion of duty and taxes, and attempted clearance of banned goods under the garb of the EFS facility, the said consignments were blocked at the terminal, namely AICT All four consignments had already been cleared by the Collectorate of Customs (Appraisement-West), Karachi and were at the gate-out stage The consignments were subsequently
de-sealed and physically examined During examination the cargo was found to primarily comprise slightly used/almost new window air conditioners portable air conditioners and dehumidifiers of Midea brand and Thailand origin along with a small quantity of compressor scrap instead of the declared scrap items
The Export Facilitation Scheme (EFS) is a government initiative aimed at promoting exports by allowing manufacturers and exporters to import raw materials components and other industrial inputs without paying customs duties and taxes upfront provided the imported goods are used to produce items for export The scheme is intended to lower production costs and improve the competitiveness of Pakistani exports However because it offers tax and duty exemptions customs officials say it can be vulnerable to abuse if importers falsely declare goods or attempt to bring in restricted or commercial items under the cover of the scheme to evade taxes or bypass import restrictions According to the inquiry the importer first requested permission to have the cargo inspected before formally filing the customs goods declaration (GD) a procedure allowed under the Customs Act After the declarations were submitted the customs computer system placed all four consignments in the Yellow Channel meaning they were flagged for document
verification and could be selected for physical inspection if officials considered it necessary All four consignments were also scanned before being moved between ports and those scan images remain available in the customs system The inquiry found that two of the four consignments were cleared directly by assessment officers without any request for a physical examination In the other two cases the assessment officer did ask for the cargo to be physically inspected However senior customs officials rejected both requests saying the importer had a long record of previous imports and that no sufficient reason had been provided for ordering an inspection They instructed the officer to rely on the available scan images and documents unless stronger grounds for an examination could be established The record states; Industrial profile with 587 GDs No valid reason has been recorded while calling examination Please check scanned documents and if examination is still required uired resend the request with proper reasons It is pertinent to mention that the scanned images were available in the system to the concerned Deputy Collector (DC) and Assessment Officers and clearly appeared to indicate that the goods did not correspond with the declared descriptions
Subsequently all four GDs were processed and assigned for the gate-out
Silicon Valley-based Plug and Play plans Islamabad, Karachi offices to accelerate up to 300 Pakistani star tups g COMPANY OFFERS ACCESS TO MORE THAN 600 CORPOR ATE PARTNERS AS AHSAN
PR OFIT n e w s D e s k Silicon Valley-based Plug and Play Tech Centre has expressed interest in opening offices in Islamabad and Karachi and accelerating up to 300 startups from Pakistan’s leading universities The proposal was discussed during a meeting between Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal and Plug and Play Founder and Chief Executive Officer Saeed Amidi in Northern California Under the proposed collaboration Plug and Play would connect Pakistani entrepreneurs with more than 600 global corporate partners and help them improve product-market fit raise investment and expand internationally while keeping their core operations in Pakistan The company also offered to issue a Letter of Intent for establishing offices in Islamabad and Karachi It shared partnership models used in Türkiye Saudi Arabia Italy Germany and other countries Ahsan Iqbal accepted the proposal in principle and invited Plug and Play to submit the Letter of Intent along with its suggested areas of cooperation He said the government would then facilitate a high-level visit by the company’s delegation to Pakistan
The minister said Pakistan’s young workforce, relatively low-cost engineering talent and continued public investment in digital and information technology skills could support the expansion of its startup ecosystem
He added that international partnerships could help Pakistan develop into a regional innovation hub
During the same visit, Ahsan Iqbal also addressed a breakfast reception attended by members of the Pakistani community and called on overseas Pakistanis to support investment, technology transfer, entrepreneurship and international business linkages
He said the United States remained Pakistan’s largest export market and that the Pakistani-American commu-
nity could play a greater role in expanding bilateral trade and investment
The minister said the government s URAAN Pakistan initiative aimed to transform the country into a knowledge-based and technology-driven economy, with targets of reaching a $1 trillion economy by 2035 and increasing exports beyond $100 billion
He also described E-Pakistan as a national priority and said the government was establishing National Centres of Excellence in artificial intelligence, cyber security, big data, robotics, genomics and quantum computing Participants proposed turning Pakistani consulates into centres for export promotion, technology cooperation and investment facilitation They also suggested creating advisory groups of Pakistani experts in Silicon Valley, linking professionals with National Innovation Centres and encouraging global technology companies to establish research and development facilities in Pakistan Ahsan Iqbal also participated in discussions with Silicon Valley professionals on artificial intelligence, innovation, entrepreneurship, investment and technology transfer Members of the Pakistani-American community said they would support Pakistan’s economic agenda through investment, knowledge sharing and technology collaboration
role after completion of the assessment process The detailed examination report shall be communicated upon finalization It is also relevant
Citi Pharma shareholders approve property demerger into Citi Core Holdings
Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) has set a savings mobilisation target of Rs1 5 trillion for the fiscal year 2026-27 after meeting its annual target in the previous year Official data showed that CDNS mobilised Rs1 384 trillion between July 1 2025 and June 30 2026
the audit held the Petroleum Division responsible for directing SNGPL to supply indigenous gas to two fertilizer manufacturers at a rate not approved by the ECC or notified by OGRA According to the report, "The rate conveyed by DG (Gas) was significantly higher than the OGRA-notified price which resulted in a sharp increase in urea prices from Rs2 440 to Rs3 277 per 50 kg bag The AGP estimated that Farmers paid an additional cost of Rs7 210 354 million for 9 830 067 urea bags
The audit further questioned the ECC s approval of Rs1 096 billion as finance cost on delayed release of RLNG subsidies despite the absence of any agreement between SNGPL and the federal government regarding Late Payment Surcharge (LPS) It observed that This oversight resulted in undue favour to SNGPL and irregular approval of Rs1,096 million," while the
COMMENT
TH E Asian Development Bank and the IMF have both lowered their estimates of GDP growth this fiscal respectively to 3 7 percent and 3 5 percent, indicating more jitteriness about the effects of the oil shock produced by the Middle East crisis, rather than any other economic weakness Both estimates are significantly below the 4 percent targeted by the government This difference should not be very bothersome, only the country is on an IMF programme, and the ADB will not engage in budgetary support loans to Pakistan unless the IMF seal of good housekeeping is there
The basic problem is that the GDP growth determines the tax collection especially from consumption taxes like sales taxes or excises That tax collection will determine what kind of revenue is available to service debt The IMF in particular, is not a growth institution and is not concerned with whether its policies lead to economic growth or not Both are banks, and thus are more concerned with whether the country can repay them their loans, rather than whether they are growing appropriately Even the target set by the government was anaemic considering the challenges faced by the government, which include the need to grow the economy enough so that it can absorb the young people arriving on the job market every year However if ever the economy started growing to that extent, the country would probably find itself getting out of the debt trap it is presently in While the ADB may be ostensibly dedicated to an underdeveloped country’s growth it is not part of its mandate to get borrowers out of the debt trap Indeed, more than the IMF, it is dedicated to development Yet it has been the instrument through which the debt trap has been frequently sprung, and its project loans have been made by those of the World Bank with the intention that they be embezzled, so that the embezzler may obey the political wishes of the USA
The government must remember that the IMF and ADB have both got to offer austerity programmes and both actually frown upon measures which boost growth (This is why the ADB is giving a high inflation figure ) While pump priming does not work, not even politically, because of runaway inflation, the present IMF conditionalities actually suppress natural growth
The government must realize that such suppression of natural growth is as harmful as trying to create growth where there is none
Dedicated to the legac y of late Hameed Nizami Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor
M A Niazi Editor Pakistan Today Babar Nizami Editor Profit
licemen were taken hostage on a Monday night and executed by Thursday morning They had been guarding a pumping station on the Mangi Dam, infrastructure built to bring water to a thirsty province, when dozens of armed militants descended from multiple directions and overwhelmed their post Nine of their colleagues were killed in the initial assault The remaining 18 were held for days while security forces surrounded the area, reluctant to launch air strikes for fear of killing the very men they were trying to save The militants killed them anyway before melting back into terrain they know better than the state does On the same day, an army convoy on the N25 highway near Bela was ambushed by Balochistan Liberation Army terrorists Eleven soldiers, including one junior commissioned officer and ten jawans, were killed Forty-two Pakistani lives were lost in four days Their deaths are not isolated tragedies but part of a conflict that has quietly intensified while much of the country’s attention has drifted elsewhere The violence is no longer episodic but organized, coordinated and increasingly ambitious According to the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, Balochistan witnessed at least 254 terrorist attacks in 2025, a 26 percent increase over the previous year, resulting in more than 400 deaths In January 2026, the BLA launched coordinated attacks across multiple districts, briefly seizing government installations, attacking banks, and engaging security forces in sustained firefights Earlier, the Jaffar Express hijacking and the suicide bombing of a school bus in Khuzdar, which killed eight children, demonstrated that militants are no longer confined to remote mountains They are capable of striking strategic infrastructure, public transport, and civilian targets alike Balochistan is not simply another province facing a law and order challenge, it accounts for nearly 44 percent of Pakistan’s landmass, possesses enormous mineral wealth, hosts Gwadar Port and is the centrepiece of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and borders both Afghanistan and Iran Instability here carries consequences that extend beyond Pakistan’s internal security It threatens regional connectivity, foreign investment, and the credibility of the
IN an age when a few clipped seconds can travel farther than an entire parliamentary proceeding, the first casualty is often not merely a public figure’s reputation but the public’s capacity for fair judgment A recent controversy arising from an exchange during proceedings of the Punjab Assembly is a reminder of how quickly context can disappear and how readily an ordinary parliamentary interaction can be recast as something far more sensational than it ever was
During the Assembly proceedings, the Speaker asked a female member to “look into my eyes and talk” and, during the course of the exchange, also remarked that she was “wearing a nice dress ” Those comments, together with other parts of the interaction, were extracted from the proceedings and circulated in isolation Detached from the formal setting of the Assembly and accompanied by background music, suggestive captions and sarcastic commentary, they were transformed into a spectacle designed less to inform than to provoke What should have remained a matter of parliamentary procedure became material for digital entertainment
This is not a trivial matter Legislatures are governed by rules, and a language of order that often sounds unfamiliar outside the chamber Speakers routinely direct members to address the Chair, maintain decorum and speak within the bounds of parliamentary procedure Such instructions are not personal overtures; they are part of the discipline of parliamentary conduct To remove a single sentence from that framework and present it as evidence of impropriety is not interpretation It is distortion
Whether the reference to the member ’s attire reflected an ill-judged attempt at courtesy, an unnecessary personal observation or simply an awkward remark is a matter on which reasonable people may differ It is entirely legitimate to debate whether such comments are appropriate in a legislative chamber What is not legitimate, however, is to construct conclusions from selectively edited clips while ignoring
state itself Pakistan has repeatedly presented what it says is substantial evidence including before the UN Security Council that India supports the BLA while the Afghan Taliban provides sanctuary and operational space to both the TTP and the BLA The recurring pattern of cross border infiltration sophisticated weapon recoveries and coordinated attacks points to an insurgency sustained by external backing rather than indigenous capability alone Yet external support alone cannot explain why the insurgency has endured for so long A May 2025 analysis by the West Point Combating Terrorism Center concluded that growing political alienation among the Baloch has made the insurgency increasingly difficult to contain Despite its vast natural wealth and generous fiscal transfers under successive NFC Awards Balochistan remains Pakistan s poorest province While criticism is often directed at the federation the province s own political and tribal leadership cannot escape responsibility Decades in power have produced little improvement in education healthcare infrastructure or employment even as many of the same elites have enjoyed influence in Islamabad Governance failures at provincial level have deepened the trust deficit creating grievances that militant groups readily exploit Pakistan s security forces continue to fight with remarkable courage under exceptionally difficult conditions The policemen murdered in Ziarat and the soldiers killed near Bela were not defending abstract policies They were defending the writ of the state often at great personal sacrifice Their professionalism and commitment deserve national respect But their sacrifice also demands an honest question Can military operations alone resolve a conflict rooted not only in violence but also in political exclusion economic deprivation and competing external interests? History offers a consistent answer Durable counterinsurgency campaigns combine effective security operations with political inclusion
the surrounding context in which the exchange occurred Fair criticism requires a complete record not an incomplete narrative In circumstances such as these both the presiding officer and the member concerned deserve fairness rather than frenzy Neither should be judged on the basis of selectively edited material that obscures the setting in which the exchange occurred Public office does not extinguish personal dignity nor does it justify the circulation of material that invites misunderstanding by stripping events of their context Yet the damage caused by such distortion extends well beyond the individuals directly involved In societies where public reputation still carries moral and social weight the consequences of viral misrepresentation rarely remain confined to those featured in a clip Families are drawn into the fallout Children hear whispers absorb embarrassment and inherit a burden they never chose What begins as online amusement can quickly become a private injury that lingers long after the trend has faded That is why this episode deserves a more serious response than the usual partisan reflex One may question the Speaker s style criticise the tone of the exchange or disagree with the manner in which proceedings were conducted if there are legitimate grounds for doing so But criticism must be anchored in the complete parliamentary record not in edited fragments engineered to manufacture outrage Democratic accountability loses its moral force when it rests on selective presentation rather than evidence
The same principle applies to every elected rep-
The controversy should therefore not be remembered for the innuendo it generated but for the lesson it offers. Parliamentary proceedings deserve to be assessed in their entirety, not through fragments engineered for maximum outrage Democracies depend upon informed citizens capable of distinguishing evidence from manipulation When context is sacrificed, dignity is diminished, institutions are weakened and public discourse becomes hostage to spectacle.
and economic opportunity Military pressure can weaken militant organisations but lasting peace requires reducing the grievances that allow them to recruit and survive Security without political reconciliation produces only temporary gains Political outreach without security creates space for militant coercion Success requires both Pakistan is fighting two battles at once One is against heavily armed militant organisations sustained by external support The other is against decades of political alienation weak governance and uneven development that have created fertile ground for insurgency Winning only one of these battles will not bring lasting peace The pain is no longer confined to Balochistan Large parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa particularly the southern districts and the former tribal areas have endured the same cycle of terrorism and insecurity for years Policemen soldiers teachers labourers and ordinary citizens continue to pay the highest price They deserve more than periodic military successes followed by the return of violence Pakistan’s soldiers and policemen have done what the nation asked of them They have fought bled and died from the mountains of Balochistan to the valleys of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa They cannot be expected
and
group
political courage equal to the courage shown on the battlefield a whole of state strategy that combines uncompromising security with justice development accountable governance and genuine political inclusion The soldiers have done their duty it s time for the state to do its own The next chapter of this conflict will not be written by militants alone but by the choices
Lessons from the digital under world
AI classrooms
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How America backstabbed Iran at Hormuz
and regional countries
does not International law recognises navigational rights through straits used for international passage but freedom of navigation is not synonymous with US administration
A right of passage does not give a distant military power sovereign authority to redesign a waterway impose its preferred management system or establish a parallel transit regime under the protection of warships
This is precisely where the deception surrounding the MoU becomes visible Article 5 was central to the interim understanding under which Iran committed itself to facilitating safe commercial passage through Hormuz for 60 days without charging vessels
The objective was clear: remove the immediate danger to international shipping reduce military tensions and create sufficient diplomatic space for negotiations over a permanent settlement
Iran repeatedly made its longer-term position clear The future management of the Strait would be discussed with Oman and other concerned Gulf states with Tehran envisaging a maritime mechanism reflecting the rights and responsibilities of the coastal
One may disagree with Iran s proposed fees, reject unilateral tolls or demand international guarantees against discriminatory passage, but these were precisely the disputes that negotiations were to resolve Negotiation, however, cannot mean persuading one party to temporarily surrender its strongest leverage and then using the breathing space created by that concession to destroy the very leverage awaiting negotiation From Tehran s perspective, this is exactly what Washington attempted to do Even before the MoU was finalised, President Donald Trump publicly claimed that the USA had quietly moved an enormous quantity of oil 100 million barrels, according to his own assertion through Hormuz The accuracy and logistics of that claim were questioned, but its political meaning was more important than the number Trump was boasting Washington had moved vast oil supplies through the world s most sensitive maritime chokepoint without Iran being able to prevent it To Tehran, such a declaration could hardly inspire confidence in US intentions Diplomacy was being discussed at the negotiating table while, according to Trump s own boast, strategic facts were being created on the water Yet Iran still entered the MoU, agreed to temporary free commercial passage and allowed negotiations to proceed towards the more difficult question of Hormuz s future management Then Washington moved towards an alternative passage closer to the Omani side of the Strait This became the decisive mistake or, from Tehran s perspective, the decisive betrayal The IRGC had already issued a map identifying an Iranian-approved navigation route, while Iran repeatedly maintained that a future Hormuz management system should be negotiated principally with Oman and other relevant Gulf states If the USA genuinely believed Iran s proposed route was unsafe, discriminatory or inconsistent with international navigation rights, Washington could raise those objections during negotiations It could have demanded a single internationally published navigation map, proposed joint Iran-Oman coordination, requested international maritime observers or insisted no tolls be imposed during the interim period It could also have sought independent verification of mines and other navigational hazards What Washington did not need to do was support a rival passage that, in practice, could bypass the Iranian mechanism under a US umbrella Yet this is precisely how Tehran interpreted the US-Omani arrangement The strategic consequence was obvious: if commercial ships could safely travel through a US-protected corridor closer to Oman, shipping companies would have little reason to negotiate with Iran or recognise Tehran s desired role in future management
The MoU had secured Iranian restraint, but the alternative route threatened to transform that temporary restraint into a permanent strategic defeat Washington appeared to be taking the benefit of the agreement while hollowing out Iran s bargaining position To Tehran, this was not genuine diplomacy but a carefully designed attempt to neutralise Iran s last significant leverage without compensating it through a negotiated settlement Iranian suspicion was further intensified because influential voices in the USA were openly discussing Hormuz in the language of control, seizure and financial gain President Trump himself spoke of the Strait in openly transactional terms, while Republican hardliners including Senators Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham adopted increasingly uncompromising positions
When a superpower publicly discusses controlling a distant maritime chokepoint, boasts of secretly moving enormous oil volumes through it and subsequently supports a rival transit arrangement during an interim peace understanding, the other party is entitled to question whether it is negotiating or confronting an empire
The attacks on commercial vessels were dangerous and, if deliberately directed against civilian shipping, legally indefensible No political grievance automatically transforms an LNG tanker or crude carrier into a legitimate military target Iran cannot demand respect for international law while disregarding the protection owed to civilian maritime traffic, and Tehran must answer for any attacks by its forces
Condemning those attacks, however, does not require intellectual dishonesty about their strategic context The vessels appear to have become instruments in a much larger confrontation Tehran appears to have been sending a brutal message that no alternative Hormuz navigation system could be operationalised by completely bypassing Iranian authority The ships were physically on the water, but the strategic message was directed at Washington The USA responded with overwhelming military force, again attacking Iranian coastal radars, air defences, naval installations and IRGC assets President Trump then declared the interim understanding dead Washington now presents this sequence as evidence that Iran cannot be trusted Tehran, however, can ask: at what stage was the USA trustworthy? When Trump claimed millions of barrels of oil had been quietly moved while negotiations were developing and then publicly boasted about the operation?
Was Washington acting in good faith when Iran agreed to free commercial passage for 60 days and the USA subsequently backed a transit mechanism capable of neutralising Iran s negotiating leverage? Was it respecting the spirit of an interim peace arrangement when President Trump repeat-
How FIFA is publicly endorsing US imperialism
body has licensed the resurgence of the colonial racism that has been meted out to fans coaches and athletes alike by American authorities in recent weeks This is not sportswashing It is a public endorsement of Washington’s imperial project in full view of the watching world Infantino who once insisted that “football should stay out of politics” has carefully carved out FIFA’s place as a reliable accomplice to US President Donald Trump’s assault on international law Nothing is off limits when it comes to appeasing the 2026 tournament’s primary host even on-field decisions With little more than a phone call Trump - to whom Infantino awarded the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize in December 2025 - reportedly convinced football authorities to overturn the suspension of US striker and leading goal scorer Folarin Balogun While many have focused on the sordid nature of this decision doing so assumes that FIFA retains any commitment to the principle of sportsmanship The Iranian national team which was barred from setting up a base camp within US borders knows otherwise And they are far from alone On the eve of Haiti s opening fixture FIFA demanded that the team amend its designated kit to remove a reference to the revolution that created the world s first Black republic proclaiming that political messages are prohibited Mexico which will not host a single World Cup match after the Round of 16 is similarly familiar with the tournament s shamelessness - not to mention the millions of fans left unable to attend due to dynamic pricing
COLLECTIVE IDENTITY: FIFA like the World Cup s main host country has dispensed with the illusion of fair play and even provoked the condemnation of its infamous ex-president Sepp Blatter Galeano was right: imperialism s shadow hangs over the tournament The competition is the perfect metaphor for a world system
that wreaks carnage depletes resources and denies sovereignty across the Global South to fuel development in the North In return for transforming the World Cup into a show of Trumpian theatre FIFA expects to extract record revenues of $13bn In moments however the sun has shone too Simplistic portraits of national identity contingent on creed or colour have crumbled on the pitch More than half of the US squad members for example hold dual citizenship; six were born outside the US while others come from immigrant families National football teams argued British historian Eric Hobsbawm represent countries in the public consciousness: “The imagined community of millions seems more real as a team of eleven named people ” he wrote That’s why the presence of multicultural teams has dealt a blow against the ethnonationalism of Trump and his ideological allies Having declared an illegal and unprovoked war on Iran in February the US president had hoped the Iranian team would not turn up at
edly threatened to destroy Iranian bridges, energy supplies and critical infrastructure?
An MoU is not merely a collection of isolated sentences to be exploited by lawyers International agreements create an expectation of good faith between the parties
If Iran committed to opening Hormuz temporarily so that a permanent settlement could be negotiated, Washington could not reasonably expect Tehran to remain indifferent while the USA used the interim period to make Iran s role in that permanent settlement increasingly irrelevant
The USA may argue that Article 5 did not explicitly prohibit an alternative route through Omani waters That is technically convenient but strategically incomplete
The MoU also did not expressly authorise Washington and Oman to establish a separate US-protected passage capable of circumventing Iran s approved system The absence of an explicit prohibition cannot automatically become a licence for strategic sabotage of the agreement s negotiating purpose
This is where US power repeatedly collides with the international order Washington claims to lead The USA invokes international law when demanding restraint from adversaries, yet when US strategic interests are involved, legal principles are frequently stretched around military realities
Freedom of navigation becomes US naval supervision, regional security becomes permanent US military presence, deterrence becomes bombing, and negotiation becomes an opportunity to reduce an adversary s leverage before the final bargain is reached
Then, when the weaker state reacts, Washington begins the history of the conflict from the moment of reaction Iran attacked the ships; therefore the USA bombed Iran Such selective chronology may serve political messaging, but a serious analysis cannot erase the actions, threats and strategic manoeuvres that created the conditions for confrontation
The Hormuz crisis is the consequence of accumulated actions by all parties Iran must answer for attacks on civilian vessels, but the USA must equally answer for attempting to insert itself as the decisive military power in the management of a waterway where it possesses neither coastline nor territorial sovereignty Iran and Oman are the two coastal states and should therefore form the core of a transparent maritime management system Other Gulf states should participate wherever their legitimate commercial and security interests are involved, while international maritime institutions can provide technical assistance, monitoring and verification What cannot be accepted as a permanent arrangement is the transformation of the US Navy into the de facto government of the Strait of Hormuz
The USA must therefore de-escalate, which must mean more than suspending one round of air strikes Washington should withdraw its direct armed enforcement role from
sold out across Spain, Italy and Germany, most of them Chinese Fan sales in Spain alone on the retail platform of Alibaba Group Holding (which owns the South China Morning Post) nearly doubled last month while Midea Group s airconditioner sales in western Europe surged by over 70 per cent in
whether their governments are comfortable depending on Chinese supply chains It will be who can deliver affordable units fast enough when demand becomes desperate Increasingly, the answer is China – because its air conditioners are available, affordable and good enough exactly when it matters The same logic may be reshaping something far less visible: artificial intelligence At first glance, Chinese AI looks like an extension of China s manufacturing playbook: take a complex technology, compress the cost, iterate quickly, accept thinner margins and make it cheap enough for mass adoption China did this with solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles Now, through open-weight models, it appears to be doing something similar with AI The analogy works until it reaches the strategic bottleneck In manufacturing, China s advantage became durable because the supply chain stayed in China Once built, it was brutally hard to relocate Open-weight AI moves differently Once released, a model can live on someone else s graphics processing units (GPUs), be finetuned with someone else s data and create value inside someone else s systems The feedback loop shifts too: in manufacturing, the learning compounds inside the Chinese system In open-weight AI, much of it accrues to whoever adapts the model The vulnerability has inverted In manufacturing, China often owns the expensive node – polysilicon, wafers, batteries, components, factories, industrial scale In AI, the expensive node is advanced compute: chips, data centres, electricity, training infrastructure The United States is actively restricting this layer Those restrictions are not meaningless Nvidia reported US$75 2 billion in data centre revenue for its last quarter, up 92 per cent year on year Washington s controls are aimed at a chokepoint, and appear to be doing their narrow job – making it harder for China to stay at the frontier The logic is
the management of Hormuz and begin reducing its enormous military footprint through which the Middle East has become a permanent theatre If the confrontation returns to war, the USA and Israel may destroy more Iranian infrastructure Much of Iran s military capacity has already suffered heavy attacks, meaning a further escalation could increasingly threaten power
QaMar Bashir
the quality of cooperation, Xi added He noted that China has implemented a zero-tariff policy for all products from the 53 African countries with which it has diplomatic relations describing it as a major step in China s high-level opening up and a timely boost for Africa s development He expressed hope that Namibia would make full use of the zero-tariff arrangement, the upgraded "green channel" for exports to China and other preferential policies to bring more high-quality Namibian products into the Chinese market
The Chinese president also called for strengthening solidarity and coordination to uphold multilateralism As important members of the Global South, China and Namibia share broad common interests and similar values he said adding that they should work more closely together to uphold international fairness and justice China stands ready to strengthen coordination with African countries, including Namibia, to amplify the voice and influence of the Global South and make new contribu-
tions to building a community with a shared future for humanity, he said Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Namibian President Netumbo NandiNdaitwah in Beijing July 10 2026 /Xinhua hinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Namibian President Netumbo NandiNdaitwah in Beijing, July 10, 2026 /Xinhua
Helping African countries develop their abundant mineral resources and transform resource advantages into development momentum is an important path toward accelerating Africa s modernization Xi said China is willing to deepen mining cooperation with African countries, including Namibia, based on three principles: mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, friendly consultation and innovation and progress he added Nandi-Ndaitwah said the friendship between Namibia and China has a long history and bilateral relations have maintained a high level of development She congratulated the CPC on its 105th anniversary, saying China is a great country that has achieved remarkable economic and social progress under Xi s leadership Namibia highly values its relations with China and firmly adheres to the
Israel shared intelligence with US on alleged Iranian plot to kill
Trump: repor t
for a second consecutive day of overnight US strikes
Despite strains in relations over Iran, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by telephone on Thursday and agreed to maintain coordination
The developments add to a broader confrontation between Washington and Tehran with the alleged intelligence-sharing by Israel emerging at a time when regional tensions have risen sharply and military exchanges have continued
Xi calls on China, DPRK to keep advancing socialist cause, modernization
China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) should ensure that the development of bilateral relations always helps consolidate their respective socialist causes and promote their modernization drives General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday Xi made the remarks when meeting with Pak Thae Song, premier of the Cabinet of the DPRK in Beijing Pak is also a member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea and vice president of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK Xi said that while the current international situation is volatile and intertwined, China and the DPRK should maintain strategic resolve, enhance strategic confidence and accelerate the implementation of the consensus reached by him and General Secretary Kim Jong Un ensuring that the relations between the two parties and the two countries keep pace with the times
China on Friday
CORPORATE CORNER
Pakistan–China
Revive RCD with expanded membership to strengthen regional cooperation, says Syed Jawaid
Iqbal
KARACHI STAFF REPORT
Former President of the RCD Students Association, Syed Jawaid Iqbal, has urged the governments of Pakistan Iran and Turkey to revive the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD) by expanding its membership to include Bangladesh China Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman The RCD was established on 21 July 1964 in Istanbul by Pakistan, Iran and Turkey to promote regional cooperation and economic development According to Iqbal the changing geopolitical and economic landscape has made regional collaboration more important than ever Iqbal said the revival of the RCD has become even more important in view of India's approach towards Pakistan which has rendered SAARC largely dysfunctional and unable to serve as a cohesive regional bloc He said this has created the need for an alternative regional framework that can promote cooperation based on shared economic and strategic interests It is time for Pakistan, Iran and Turkey to take the initiative and revive the RCD by bringing in new members that can contribute to regional connectivity trade and economic growth " he said Iqbal noted that the strategic importance of Pakistan s Gwadar and Karachi ports has increased in light of recent developments in the region, including tensions involving Iran
COMSATS Launches
‘K AL A AM’ — A Secure, Countr y’s own Vir tual Meetings Platform
ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
The Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS) in collaboration with its Technology Partner, KHASTECH, launches indigenous digital SaaS platform, KALAAM, by signing an agreement at COMSATS Secretariat on July 10, 2026 KALAAM is a virtual meetings platform designed to meet the evolving needs of secure scalable economical and locally optimized digital communication system The agreement was signed by Ambassador Dr Mohammad Nafees Zakaria, Executive Director from COMSATS and Brig Dr M Ashraf, CEO of KHASTECH Solutions The agreement signing ceremony was witnessed by senior officials from COMSATS Secretariat KhasTech Solution and COMSATS Internet Services (CIS) KALAAM is developed as an enterprise-grade solution, with a strong emphasis on data sovereignty, advanced security, and high performance, making it an ideal choice for government institutions, financial organizations,
Fiscal
Choices, Human
Consequences Roundtable in Islamabad Puts Pakistan's Development Budget Under the Lens
Senior representatives from the government, leading economic think tanks, multilateral organizations, and Pakistan’s wider development community convened today for a closed-door policy roundtable “Fiscal Choices Human Consequences: Pakistan s Development Budget in Focus hosted by Globesight at the Serena Hotel Islamabad The discussion was held against the backdrop of Pakistan s recently announced FY2026-27 budget, which prioritizes strict fiscal consolidation as a roadmap to short-term economic stability amid debt servicing overhangs With development spending sustaining significant cuts under this mandate the roundtable raised a fundamental question: How does Pakistan meet its soaring demand for investments in human development when fiscal space is compressed? The takeaways were clear: Pakistan’s development model needs to move towards outcome-based accountability Participants examined current trends and execution challenges within various sectoral programs; whether the country s persistent development gap is driven primarily by resource misallocation, spending inefficiency or institutional fragmentation; and what reforms could better align federal and provincial development budgets to strengthen human capital and long-term resilience The roundtable also examined the implications of devolution after the 18th Amendment, with education, health, and population discussed as priority sectors Opening the discussion, Hasan Hanif moderator and Partner at Globesight said: Pakistan appears caught in a brick-and-mortar trap: too much development spending remains tied to infrastructure old throw-forward liabilities, and allocations that are not fully utilized Jaffer Askari, Senior Economist at the World Bank said: “When the national budget comes out everyone looks at the allocations for their favored sector What we should do instead of looking at allocations is build accountability around outcomes
Karachi:
PM CALLS ON STAKEHOLDERS TO RECOGNIZE URGENCY OF POPUL ATION RISE, PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
ISLAMABAD
PR I M E Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has urged all stakeholders including the federal and provincial governments members of parliament development partners, civil society, academia, the private sector, religious scholars, the media, and local communities, to recognize the urgency of the population rise as a national issue and fulfill their shared responsibility by promoting informed decision-making responsible parenthood, gender equality, and sustainable development
The prime minister, in his message on the World Population Day, said that the day provides an important opportunity to highlight the significance of population issues at the global level
He added that this year s theme
The World Bank has approved $375 9 million in financing for Pakistan to modernise its electricity transmission network marking the first phase of a 10-year programme designed to improve grid reliability, reduce transmission bottlenecks and support the country s transition towards cleaner energy
According to a statement issued on Thursday the financing will support the Grid Stability Enhancement Project, which is being implemented under the Boosting Energy Security through Transmission in Pakistan (BEST-PAK) Multiphase Programmatic Approach
The project will upgrade key transmission substations with advanced grid-stabilising equipment to improve the flow of electricity across the national network The World Bank said the investment would enable 640 megawatts
(MW) of currently constrained wind generation to be delivered to the grid allowing the full utilisation of 1 840MW of installed wind capacity in southern Pakistan It will also facilitate the integration of approximately 491MW of planned private sector renewable energy projects
The lender said Pakistan's transmission network continues to face grid instability and capacity constraints that contribute to frequent power outages higher electricity costs and the underutilisation of renewable energy resources, affecting households, businesses and industrial consumers
According to the World Bank the upgrades will support Pakistan s target of generating 60% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, consistent with the country's commitments under the Paris Agreement The project is expected to reduce carbon emissions by around 832 500 tonnes
annually, equivalent to more than 20 8 million tonnes over its projected 25-year operational life
Beyond infrastructure investment the programme will support the government s transmissionsector reform agenda by assisting with the restructuring of the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) into specialised successor entities The reforms are intended to strengthen governance improve operational performance enhance accountability and create conditions for greater private sector participation in the transmission network
The World Bank also said the project incorporates climate-resilient design standards with new installations to be built on elevated platforms to reduce flood risks and equipped to operate in temperatures of up to 55°C, helping ensure reliable performance during heatwaves and monsoon conditions
Four terrorists killed in joint operation near K arak-Kohat border
police also reiterated its resolve against terrorism
ISLAMABAD
N E W S D E S K
The Pakistan Meteorological Department has forecast rain, windstorms and thundershowers in the upper parts of the country over the weekend with isolated heavy falls expected in some areas
According to the PMD moist currents from the Arabian Sea are continuously moving into the upper regions and are expected to strengthen by Saturday evening
The department also said a westerly wave is likely to approach the upper parts of the country on Saturday
The weather system is expected to affect Neelum Valley Muzaffarabad Rawalakot Poonch Hattian, Bagh, Haveli, Sudhanoti, Kotli, Bhimber and Mirpur from Friday night through Monday In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa rain windstorms and thundershowers are forecast on Saturday and Sunday in Dir Chitral Swat Kohistan Malakand, Nowshera, Charsadda, Karak, Tank, Lakki Marwat, Swabi, Shangla, Battagram, Buner, Kohat, Kurram, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu Waziristan Bajaur Mohmand Khyber Orakzai Mansehra Abbottabad Haripur
Peshawar Mardan and Hangu Punjab Islamabad and northern areas in forecast zone
The department said scattered rain, windstorms and thundershowers, with isolated heavy rainfall are also expected on Saturday and Sunday in Islamabad Rawalpindi Murree Galiyat Attock Chakwal Jhelum Mandi Bahauddin, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Hafizabad, Wazirabad, Faisalabad, Khushab, Sargodha, Lahore, Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Narowal Sahiwal Jhang Toba Tek Singh Nankana Sahib Chiniot and Okara