ISLAMABAD: The US unemployment rate hit 14.7 percent in April, the highest rate since the Great Depression, as 20.5 million jobs vanished in the worst monthly loss on record. The figures are stark evidence of the damage the coronavirus has done to a now-shattered economy.The losses, reported by...

KARACHI: Afghan Taliban chief Mulla Akhtar Mansour’s five properties of over Rs32 million in Karachi have been seized by the anti-terrorism court for auction, sources said on Thursday.Mulla Mansour, who was killed in a drone strike along the Pakistan-Iran border on May 21, 2016, had...

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday said out-of-box solutions were needed to meet the present day economic challenges in the wake of COVID-19 situation.He was chairing a meeting to review the economic situation and future outlook of economy in the wake of COVID-19 situation.A detailed...

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau Multan has sent a questionnaire to Opposition Leader in the National Assembly and President PML-N Shahbaz Sharif, ex-minister of state Balighur Rehman, former MNA Chaudhry Umair Mehmood and former law minister Punjab Rana Sanaullah Khan in the matter...

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-N President and National Assembly opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif has demanded an in-depth investigation into the medicine scandal through a parliamentary committee.“Coming on the heels of sugar, wheat and IPPs scandals, the latest drug scandal indicates how...

RAWALPINDI: US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad Friday called on Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa here on Friday.During the meeting, issues of mutual interest and overall regional security situation, including Afghan reconciliation process, came under...

ISLAMABAD: Eight out of 10 coronavirus patients didn’t have symptoms but found positive only after they were tested, countrywide data obtained by The News has determined. Similarly, local transmission of pandemic has considerably increased as around nine in 10 patients have contracted virus...

ISLAMABAD: Keeping in view the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, Pakistan’s GDP is going to contract by 1.6 percent in the ongoing fiscal 2019-20 and will grow to 2.9 percent in the next financial year 2020-21 and the loans from IMF and other multilateral and bilateral donors will help to ease...

RAWALPINDI: Six security forces personnel, including one officer, were martyred and another injured as an improvised explosive device hit their reconnaissance vehicle in Buleda near the Pakistan-Iran border, the military's media wing said in a statement released Friday.According to the...

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Friday said it had summoned a senior Indian diplomat to register a strong protest over the Indian ceasefire violations along the Line of Control .The statement by the FO said that in the unprovoked Indian firing across the LoC in Nezapir and Rakchikri sectors, six...

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz on Friday said people's cooperation is vital for the success of lifting the restrictions of lockdown.In a tweet, he said Standard Operating Procedures for various businesses will have to be implemented strictly.He said that...

ISLAMABAD: A senior member of the Prime Minister’s Office has approached the Federal Ombudsman over the ‘extreme injustice’ of out of turn allotment of second residential plots in the federal capital to a selected few in the bureaucracy in a non-transparent and unjust manner. The...

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-N President and National Assembly opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif has demanded an in-depth investigation into the medicine scandal through a parliamentary committee. Sugar, wheat and IPPs scandals, the latest drug scandal indicates how powerful mafias within the...

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday said out-of-box solutions were needed to meet the present day economic challenges in the wake of COVID-19 situation.He was chairing a meeting to review the economic situation and future outlook of economy in the wake of COVID-19 situation.A detailed...

ISLAMABAD: Keeping in view the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, Pakistan’s GDP is going to contract by 1.6 percent in the ongoing fiscal 2019-20 and will grow to 2.9 percent in the next financial year 2020-21 and the loans from IMF and other multilateral and bilateral donors will help to ease...

RAWALPINDI: Six security forces personnel, including one officer, were martyred and another injured as an improvised explosive device hit their reconnaissance vehicle in Buleda near the Pakistan-Iran border, the military's media wing said in a statement released Friday.According to the...

ISLAMABAD: The State Bank of Pakistan’s Refinance Scheme for Small Businesses has so far failed to take off due to multiple reasons as the commercial banks are not designed and fully equipped to provide credit line to Small and Medium Enterprises .“The SBP’s RefinanceScheme for...

RAWALPINDI: US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad Friday called on Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa here on Friday.During the meeting, issues of mutual interest and overall regional security situation, including Afghan reconciliation process, came under...

WASHINGTON: The coronavirus epidemic sent US jobless totals soaring to historic highs on Friday, increasing pressure on authorities to follow Europe in phasing out lockdown measures despite still climbing American death tolls.Germany, meanwhile, marked the anniversary of the end of World War II in...

BEIJING: China said on Friday it supports a World Health Organisation-led review into the global response to the coronavirus outbreak, but “after the pandemic is over”.The comments from foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying came as China has faced increasing global pressure in...

LONDON: Fifty Labour Party parliamentarians have told the new Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, that his recent statement on Indian-occupied Kashmir after a meeting with the Labour Friends of India is unacceptable, illegal, and historically wrong and he must clarify his position or face open...

LONDON: The Organisation of Kashmir Coalition has hailed the policy statement of Liberal Democrats on Kashmir showing concern for the human rights situation in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.In a statement issued on Friday, OKC executive members Prof Nazir Ahmed Shawl and Barrister Abdul Majid...

RAWALPINDI: An officer and five other soldiers were martyred, while one was injured in an improvised explosive device blast in the Buleda area of Balochistan on Friday, the Inter-Services Public Relations said in a press release.According to ISPR, security forces conducted routine patrolling In...

BRUSSELS: The EU’s highest court on Friday said it alone had legal authority over the European Central Bank, firmly rejecting a German Constitutional Court ruling critical of the bank’s ambitious stimulus policies.The highly unusual intervention came after the German ruling issued...

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa said Pakistan’s support towards Afghan peace is a manifestation of “our goodwill to the cause” in a meeting with US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad.According to a press release issued by the...

LONDON: The UK has fallen silent to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day as the country was urged to draw on the “same spirit of national endeavour” during the coronavirus crisis.Millions across the country paused at 11am on Friday to remember those who served in the Second World War,...

By News DeskISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani has summoned a session of the Upper House on Tuesday, as the country witnessed its sharpest spike in confirmed coronavirus cases in a 24 hour period with nearly over 1,900 new cases and 35 more deaths.According to a press release issued by the...

Guarantees are one of government’s most powerful financing tools for mobilizing private sector participation in development projects.

To get energy efficiency programs back on track, governments need to focus on education, incentives and improved regulations, as well as artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Central Asia is improving food safety measures to share with the world some of the more than 8000 plant species, as well as livestock, from the region.

Collecting sex-disaggregated data on asset ownership is an important step in achieving gender equality and empowerment of women and girls in Asia and the Pacific.

Underserved businesses run by women in Armenia need help to create a reliable client base and convince skeptical banks that their enterprises are a good investment.

Investments in universal health coverage are investments in economic growth. They play a critical role in leveraging opportunities, anticipating challenges, and delivering the knowledge, expertise, and financing countries need to achieve universal health coverage.

Disaster-related displacement is often negative, but can result in more resilient communities under the right circumstances. This can include better management of remittances sent to family members in the disaster zone.

There is one sector that contributes up to a third of gross domestic product, and is an important source of foreign currency, in many of Asia’s developing countries. It could be deployed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Re-examining the design of rural road projects will make them more effective in improving the lives of the people living nearby.

Governance can be a complex, broad topic but its basic underlying definition is deceptively simple.

Technology is a critical aspect of improving the availability and accessibility of clean water around the world.

Public work programs can build much-needed infrastructure while helping lift people out of poverty and shield them from the effects of natural disasters and economic crises

Important changes are underway for Southeast Asia’s relationship with its biggest trading partner, the People’s Republic of China.

Skills training, civic engagement and youth forums will help young people become active players in society’s shared efforts to grow and improve.

Total asset management brings together all aspects of what it takes to make a city vibrant and livable.

Carefully designed social programs offer the best chance to avoid corruption, inefficiency and other governance problems. 

Better information and a willingness to tackle difficult issues are necessary to ensure a fit-for-purpose and accountable health system in Papua New Guinea.

At Camp No 5, in Cox's Bazar, there are about 632,000 displaced people still living in terrible conditions. But an international humanitarian effort is helping people in the community in southern Bangladesh live a better life. 

Investment in renewable energy around the world is entering a new phase that will require governments and the private sector to re-think the way they develop projects.

Effective and planned shoreline management would trigger activities for tourism, and support development of ocean and beach landscape, conserve biodiversity along with coastal people’s livelihood.

State-owned enterprises, including power utilities, in many countries have collected a menagerie of assets unrelated to their core business. And they are selling cheap.

The graduation approach provides a sequenced intervention designed to overcome multiple barriers that prevent the extreme poor from breaking out of poverty.

There’s one big element missing before we can create a truly transparent, seamless and open international trading framework.