Author: i2wtc

Listen to article ISLAMABAD: In November last year, the government announced that 179,210 Pakistani pilgrims would perform Hajj in 2025. Under the Hajj Policy, the Hajj quota was divided with a ratio of 50:50 between the government and private Hajj schemes with 89,605 seats reserved for each. However, in a statement issued on Thursday, the Ministry of Religious Affairs spokesperson, Umar Batt, announced that only 23,620 pilgrims from Pakistan will be able to perform Hajj in 2025 under the Private Hajj Scheme Prior to the announcement, the ministry’s secretary informed the Senate committee that around 67,000 people enrolled under private scheme seemed…

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has cast doubt over the intentions of the United States a day before a second round of nuclear talks is set to take place with Washington. The new round will come a week after the two countries held their highest-level negotiations since US President Donald Trump unilaterally abandoned a 2015 landmark nuclear deal three years later. Iran has since abandoned all limits on its nuclear programme, and enriches uranium to up to 60 percent purity – near weapons-grade levels of 90 percent. “Although we have serious doubts about the intentions and motivations of the American…

Ukrainian servicemen operate a tank on a road near the border with Russia, in the Sumy region of Ukraine, on August 14, 2024. The Ukrainian army entered Russia’s Kursk region on August 6, capturing dozens of settlements in the biggest offensive by a foreign army on Russian soil since World War II. Roman Pilipey | Afp | Getty ImagesThe U.S. has presented allies with potential plans for peace between Russia and Ukraine that include an end to fighting and rolled-back sanctions on Moscow, according to Bloomberg News.The U.S.’ proposals were shared in Paris on Thursday, European Union officials familiar with the…

Listen to article The Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, Sardar Muhammad Yousuf, has said that the government has made the best possible arrangements for Hajj pilgrims this year, Express News reported on Friday. Speaking to reporters during a visit to the Haji Camp in Karachi, Yousuf said he was there to inspect training sessions for pilgrims. He added that ministry staff were on site to brief pilgrims and ensure they were well prepared for the journey. According to the minister, 89,000 pilgrims will perform Hajj this year under the government scheme. He assured that all preparations had been finalised, with a special…

An attendee wearing a Super Mario costume uses a Nintendo Switch 2 game console while playing a video game during the Nintendo Switch 2 Experience at the ExCeL London international exhibition and convention centre in London, Britain, April 11, 2025. Isabel Infantes | ReutersNintendo on Friday announced that retail preorder for its Nintendo Switch 2 gaming system will begin on April 24 starting at $449.99.Preorders for the hotly anticipated console were initially slated for April 9, but Nintendo delayed the date to assess the impact of the far-reaching, aggressive “reciprocal” tariffs that President Donald Trump announced earlier this month.Most electronics companies,…

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. A growing number of wealthy Americans are opening bank accounts in Switzerland as part of the “de-Americanization” of their portfolios, according to investors and banks. Swiss banks say they have seen a surge of interest and business from high-net-worth Americans opening investment accounts in recent months. “It comes in waves,” said Pierre Gabris, CEO of Alpen Partners International, a Swiss financial consulting firm. “When [former President…

Listen to article ISLAMABAD: The PML-N led federal government has decided in principle to present the next fiscal year’s budget prior to Eidul Azha, which is expected to be celebrated on June 7. According to sources in the Ministry of Finance, the government is likely to summon parliament’s budget session a few days earlier in view of Eid. It may present the next budget between June 3 to June 5. They said the process to pass the money bill will start immediately after the Eid holidays. They said prior to presenting the budget, the government authorities will hold consultations with the International…

Hundreds of students and recent graduates have seen their visas revoked by immigration officials since United States President Donald Trump took office for a second time on January 20, 2025, with several also arrested. Many of the targets of the visa revocations and arrests are students who participated in pro-Palestine protests which erupted on campuses across the country in 2024 amid Israel’s brutal war on Gaza. Others are individuals with more indirect links to Palestine – or those who have shown support for Gaza on social media. The Trump administration alleges that these students spread anti-Semitism and pro-Hamas sentiment on…

A Russian missile strike has killed one person in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, with a separate drone attack killing another person in the nearby city of Sumy. At least five children were among dozens of people injured in Friday morning’s attack on Kharkiv that damaged 15 residential buildings, a business and an educational facility, according to Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov and emergency services. In Sumy, a drone hit a bakery producing Easter cakes, killing at least one and injuring another person. Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi said Russia also targeted Lviv, Dnipro, Mykolaiv and Kyiv. “We…

Listen to article A recent report by a Britain’s public broadcaster, the BBC, has stated that the Taliban have sold or smuggled approximately 500,000 American-made weapons to terrorist groups since their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. These weapons—left behind by US forces—have since gone missing and are now allegedly in the hands of terrorist groups, including those linked to al-Qaeda, the report added. Citing a United Nations report, the outlet noted that the Taliban themselves have admitted being unable to account for nearly half of the US-supplied military equipment. The UN report further alleges that Taliban leadership allowed local commanders to retain up to…