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Iran says it could dilute enriched uranium if all sanctions are lifted

Iran could agree to dilute its most highly enriched uranium in exchange for all financial sanctions being lifted, its atomic chief said on Monday, one of the most direct indications so far of its position at talks with Washington. US and Iranian diplomats held talks through Omani mediators in Oman last week in an effort to revive diplomacy, after US President Donald Trump positioned a naval flotilla in the region, raising fears of new military action. The talks follow a crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in Iran last month. Trump joined an Israeli bombing campaign last year and hit Iranian nuclear sites. He also threatened last month to intervene militarily during the protests, but ultimately held off. Washington has demanded Iran relinquish its stockpile — estimated last year by the UN nuclear agency at more than 440 kilogrammes — of uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent fissile purity, a small step away from the 90pc that is considered weapons grade. The head of Ira...
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COMMENT: Why Pakistan must become a cricket superpower

PAKISTAN’S boycott of its T20 World Cup match against India raises two fundamental questions: why the PCB took this decision, and what it hopes to achieve by it. The fact that neither answer is particularly clear invites a deeper concern, whether this dramatic gesture was fully thought through at all. To begin with, let’s be clear on a few points. The ICC is controlled by India. It is a governing body that behaves like a wholly owned subsidiary of the BCCI. The ICC does not run international cricket, the BCCI — and therefore the Indian government — does. This is realpolitik. The rule of “might is right”. India is in charge, both as policymaker and paymaster, however you describe it. India’s malign dictatorship of international cricket is to be condemned, just as the previous dominance of England and Australia had been condemned. Today, India is the Pied Piper of cricket, playing a seductive tune that brings the rats of the world’s cricket boards under its control. Something does nee...
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Sound policy vs ad hoc taxation

Each budget cycle in Pakistan sparks a recurring debate: businesses advocate for tax relief to encourage investment and employment, while fiscal authorities focus on stabilisation, leaving little flexibility in policy. This routine has created a pattern of short-term solutions, ad hoc levies, and shifting policy objectives that ultimately satisfy neither side. Pakistan faces both undisciplined public spending and a lack of clear direction in tax policy. Without political will and robust enforcement, efforts to achieve a higher tax-to-GDP ratio have placed a disproportionate burden on the formal sector. This has sidelined the real drivers of increased tax revenue: wealth creation and business growth. In the past decade, Pakistan’s tax system has increasingly prioritised immediate revenue targets over a cohesive economic strategy. Elevated government spending, high tax rates, cascading indirect taxes, extensive withholding regimes, and frequent policy changes have made formal economic...
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‘Strike failed’ as nation rejected TTAP’s call, says minister

ISLAMABAD: Information Mini­ster Attaullah Tarar on Sunday said Tehreek-i-Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan’s (TTAP) protest and shutter-down strike call completely failed, as the people didn’t pay any heed to the call which was reflected in the ‘hustle and bustle’ in markets even on the weekly off. Talking to Dawn , the minister said, “It has been witnessed for the first time that wheel jam strike itself suffered the wheel jam.” He said people rejected the TTAP’s protest call as they were fed up with the politics of unrest and division in the nation. Tarar says people fed up with politics of unrest, division; PPP says country needs stability, not chaos Minister for States and Frontier Regions Amir Muqam also asserted that the public rejected the TTAP’s call for a wheel-jammed and shutter-down strike. Chaos, negativity Also, PPP Secretary General Muhammad Humaiyun Khan said the strike called by the opposition had completely failed. “People have rejected the politics of chaos and negati...
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Punjab CM lauds Lahore residents for abiding by SOPs during Basant festivities

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Sunday lauded the people of Lahore for abiding by the standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the provincial government, as the three-day Basant festival approached its culmination. “Lahore is happy today, I am happy, too. The residents of Lahore played a vital role in making this Basant successful by following all the rules and regulations,” she said in a statement, posted on PML-N’s official X account. Maryam continued: “The idea of safe Basant will also be adopted in other cities.” Brightly coloured kites soared through the skies over Lahore this weekend, marking the return of a festival after a 19-year ban that had been imposed over safety concerns. Families and groups of friends gathered on rooftops, in parks and on streets for the three-day kite-flying festival. “Everyone is excited — all of Punjab, all of Pakistan. It has become hard to find kites and strings because they sold out,” Shahzaib, a kite flyer, told AFP . Punj...
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Stray dogs attack two women, policeman engaged in anti-polio drive in Karachi

KARACHI: The public health crisis triggered by unchecked increase in stray dog population once again came into the spotlight when two female polio workers and a policeman escorting the field staff were injured in separate incidents of animal attacks on Saturday. Sources said one female worker carrying out door-to-door vaccination campaign was attacked by a street dog in Zaman town, Korangi, while the other in the area of Malir Cantonment. The third incident, the sources said, was reported in the Quaidabad area where a policeman escorting the polio team was bitten by a stray dog. He was later treated at the Indus Hospital. Speaking to Dawn , a spokesperson for the Sindh Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) only confirmed the cases involving two female workers. EOC confirms two incidents involving as many female polio workers; cop bitten by stray dog receives treatment at Indus Hospital “Two incidents involving street dogs affecting polio workers were officially reported today in Kor...
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Suspected robber lynched by mob in Karachi’s Korangi

KARACHI: A suspected robber was lynched by an angry mob in Korangi area on Saturday night, according to police. Zaman Town Station House Officer (SHO) Rao Aurangzeb told Dawn that three suspects had attempted to rob citizens near Mutkay Wali Pull in Korangi No. 2. People got hold of one suspect while his two suspected accomplices managed to escape, the official said. The mob beat him up, killing him on the spot, he said. “The suspect was killed with sticks and other weapons. His identity could not be ascertained immediately, as no CNIC [card] was found in his pocket,” he said. The SHO said that the suspect’s body was moved to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for legal formalities. Last year in May, a suspected robber was lynched by an angry mob, which also set the body on fire, after he shot and wounded two brothers during a robbery in New Karachi. According to police, two suspects had attempted to loot a general store in Sector-11-G. Two shopkeepers, Mohammed Faisal a...
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