Author: i2wtc
ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has observed that Pakistan is not effectively using data on the ultimate real owners of companies, creating hurdles in disrupting corruption-related laundering schemes and checking front companies from securing government contracts. The global lender’s draft report on the Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment revealed major flaws in the effective implementation of the country’s beneficial ownership regime. The IMF found “little evidence of routine coordination” between the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and investigation agencies for exchanging and using beneficial ownership data in financial investigations. However, Pakistani authorities disagreed with the IMF’s findings,…
Nvidia secured what was seen as a major win last month when the U.S. government announced it would allow it to resume sales of its made-for-China H20 chip. But it has since become clear that Beijing wont be rolling out the red carpet. Despite the U.S. softening on chip export controls — which Beijing has long opposed — Nvidia is being welcomed back under increased distrust and scrutiny. On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that China had urged companies against using Nvidia’s H20 chips, or those from Advanced Micro Devices , especially for government and national security use cases, citing sources familiar…
NEW DELHI: India says it will bid for the 2030 Commonwealth Games, seen as part of a wider push by the cricket-mad nation to host the 2036 Olympics. “Our preparations will go ahead,” Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha said after a meeting on Wednesday, according to local media. The capital New Delhi — which hosted the 2010 Commonwealth Games, an event marked by construction delays, substandard infrastructure and accusations of corruption — is being considered as host city. Bhubaneswar in the eastern state of Odisha is another option. But Indian media are tipping Ahmedabad, the key city in…
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump during a meeting at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan June 28, 2019.Mikhail Klimentyev | Kremlin | Sputnik | ReutersWhen Russian President Vladimir Putin travels to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska on Friday for talks on ending the war in Ukraine, it’ll be one of the most high profile summits of the year, and there’s a lot at stake.Veteran statesman Putin is likely to be aiming to extract as many concessions and benefits for Russia as he can in return for a ceasefire that’s coveted by Trump.Close…
An aerial drone photo shows the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army and the former site of the Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, Aug. 15, 2025. (Xinhua/Wang Song)HARBIN, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) — New evidence of Unit 731 — a Japanese germ-warfare unit that operated during World War II — was unveiled on Friday in Harbin, the capital of northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province.The new evidence includes 3,010 pages of archive documents, 194 minutes of video footage, 312 photographs, 12 postcards and eight letters, exposing Japanese germ-warfare crimes in detail.Jin…
PESHAWAR: Terrorists carried out 13 overnight gun and grenade attacks on the police in several districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) in which at least six policemen embraced martyrdom, officials said on Thursday. Many of those attacks were repulsed when the police fought back, inflicting injuries on the attackers, while the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), in an intelligence-based operation (IBO), killed three terrorists in Peshawar. The overnight attacks were against police stations, checkpoints and patrols across seven districts of the province, police officer Mohammad Ali Babakhel told Reuters. The attacks came as the nation celebrated its 78th Independence Day. The unprecedented wave…
BALTIMORE: Michael Phelps has launched a scathing attack on USA Swimming’s leadership, with the 23-time Olympic gold medallist branding the body weak and demanding sweeping reforms after what he sees as years of organisational decline. The 40-year-old American, the most decorated Olympian of all time with 28 medals, delivered his broadside while revealing he might not want his four young sons competing in the sport given the current state of swimming in the United States. Phelps traced his frustrations back through his competitive career, saying he often felt that his voice went unheard, was “told to be grateful for the…
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday formally published the Supreme Court Rules, 2025, replacing the Supreme Court Rules, 1980 in what the court described as its commitment to modernization, digitalization, and to bring procedural clarity in the justice system in line with global governance of law. Framed under Article 191 of the Constitution, the new rules replaced “outdated provisions” and brought court procedures in line with contemporary legal, constitutional, and technological developments. According to a press release issued by the SC on Thursday, the rules came into immediate effect. The new rules were framed by a committee formed by Chief…
DARWIN: Half-centuries from Abdul Samad, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay and Yasir Khan followed by a combined seven wickets from the spinners powered Pakistan Shaheens to a resounding 79-run win over Bangladesh ‘A’ in the opening match of the Top End T20 Series at the TIO Stadium in Darwin on Thursday. After opting to bat first, Shaheens posted a formidable 227 for four in 20 overs. Openers Khawaja Nafay (61 off 31 balls) and Yasir Khan (62 off 40) provided a blazing 118-run stand in just 11.1 overs. Abdul Samad then played an unbeaten knock of 56 off 27 balls as he…
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is looking to redefine Germany’s voice in Europe and build a relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump — who many of Merz’s European colleagues do not see eye to eye with. The historically EU-friendly Merz, a former member of the European Parliament, now has a long list of complaints about the bloc. This has included objections to an increase in the EU’s new long-term budget that was proposed last month, as well as calling the bloc out for sluggishness and complex bureaucracy. Germany was also among the louder critics of the EU-U.S. trade agreement. Merz’s sharp…