For Russia, Ukraine getting closer to NATO was a red line which would mean absorbing that Slavic country from where the state of Russia originated in 9th century AD. But, the war of nerves and psychological pressure exerted from both sides against each other comes at the cost of further widening of vacuum in the global order. Be that as it may, one can figure out two major realities which will further deepen the vacuum in global order. And it is not only the war in Ukraine which has exposed faultlines in the global order, there are other critical issues which prove how divided global powers are. The aforementioned realities indicate how fragile world order has become where the concerned stakeholders are unable to fulfil their responsibilities, thus augmenting global crisis at different levels.

After much controversy surrounding their married life, Rakhi Sawant's husband Adil Khan Durrani has finally broken his silence and confirmed he has indeed tied the knot with the Indian actor-performer. Taking to Instagram, Durrani re-shared pictures of the lovebirds during their wedding ceremony, reciprocating Sawant's sentiments with a heartfelt caption. Just had to handle few things so had to be quiet, happy married life to us Rakhi," penned Durrani, adding a few heart emojis at the end. In a recent interview, ETimes quoted Durrani as saying, "Well, yes, Rakhi and I are married. However, they parted ways soon after she learnt that her marriage wasn't legal in India as Singh hadn't divorced his first wife.

Share:Pakistan has reported no death in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of confirmed positive cases surged to 1,576,086. The nationwide tally of fatalities stood at 30,640 on Tuesday. According to the latest figures issued by the National Institute of Health (NIH), at least five people were tested positive for Covid across the country in the past 24 hours. Pakistan has conducted 1,865 tests in the past 24 hours, out of which five people were tested positive. The Covid positivity ratio was recorded at 0.27 per cent.

But the FBR has lately claimed that it will face only Rs170 billion to Rs180 billion shortfall, which appears on the lower side. In the case of petrol, the government has already achieved the maximum petroleum levy threshold of Rs50 per litre. But it increased the petroleum levy rate by Rs2.50 per litre to Rs35 in the case of high-speed diesel. The petroleum levy rates on kerosene oil increased toRs6.22 per litre and light diesel oil Rs30 per litre. The government is now facing pressure from the IMF to enhance the levy rates to increase the collection.

A UN assessment issued on Monday suggested that Pakistan will continue to be a lower-middle-income nation and would be susceptible to changes in energy costs. - Advertisement -According to UN research, the ongoing global economic crisis will make it more difficult to acquire suitable work in 2023 than it was in 2022. South Asia has not been impacted by the conflict in Ukraine since it has limited relationships with Russia and the country. According to the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) World Employment and Social Outlook Trends report, this equates to a global unemployment rate of 5.8% or 16 million people. The research suggested that the current economic downturn “means that many people will have to take inferior quality positions, often at very low pay, and often with insufficient hours.”

Share:LAHORE - Noor RFC beat Pakhtons 5-0 in the final to win the U-16 Rugby Cup 2023. The first game ended in draw between Noor RFC and Aspirian RFC. In the second game, Pakhtons beat Aspirian 15-0 while in third and last game before the final, Noor RFC beat Pakhtons 27-0. After league games, Noor RFC and Pakhtons RFC qualified for final and in the end, Noor RFC emerged as title winners. Chief guests Maj Yasin (Frontier Core), Sajid Khan Afridi DSO Kohar and Noor Aslam EC member PRU distributed trophies

North Andover, MA (01845)TodaySunshine early then becoming cloudy later in the day. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph..TonightMostly cloudy. Low around 35F. Winds light and variable.

Share:LAHORE - Australia women recorded an eight-wicket win over Pakistan women in the rain-curtailed first ODI of the three-match series at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Monday. According to information made available here, this was Pakistan women’s second defeat in the ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25 after they have won five of the six matches played last year in the Championship. The half-centuries by debutant Phoebe Litchfield (78 not out, 92b, 9x4, 1x6) and captain Meg Lanning (67, 76b, 9x4) were the highlight of the first ODI. Bismah was joined by Nida Dar and both experienced batters added 46 runs for the fourth wicket. Nida brought up her 11th ODI half-century off 81 balls.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Masood Khan was also nominated as Honorary Chairman of Martin Luther King International Salute. PHOTO: RADIO PAKISTANPakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Masood Khan was honoured on Sunday with Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. Legacy Award for Diplomacy and International Service’ in recognition of his commitment, leadership and service. Ambassador Masood was also nominated as the Honorary Chairman of Martin Luther King International Salute. Other recipients of the Martin Luther King Legacy award this year were: Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland; John Wobensmith, Maryland’s Secretary of State, Richard Shadyac, President and CEO of ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Shanel McGoy, Senior Director in Public Affairs, Corporate Citizenship Gilead Sciences, Inc.Thanking IAMMM for the award, Ambassador Masood said that he was honoured to be associated with the iconic figure of Dr Martin Luther King and his mission.

Pakistan's ambassador in Kabul had been summoned over the recent attacks in Khost and Kunar provinces and given a diplomatic demarche to deliver to Islamabad. At the request of the Afghan Taliban, Pakistan pursued peace talks with the terror outfit. In the last three months alone, the TTP claimed responsibility for over 150 terrorist attacks. Earlier this month, the National Security Committee (NSC) held an extended meeting for two days to discuss the spike in terrorist attacks. The civil and military leadership decided not to pursue talks with the TTP and conveyed the same to the Afghan Taliban.

North Andover, MA (01845)TodaySunshine early then becoming cloudy later in the day. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph..TonightMostly cloudy. Low around 35F. Winds light and variable.

Current, and preceding, policy makers should own up to their mistakes in failing to devise a framework for growth. Invariably, our rulers are found blaming the opposition, and external factors, instead of looking inwards at their self-centred policies. Thirdly, constant ignorance to the alarms being raised by global credit rating agencies require aggressive rebuilding of the economy instead of ‘befitting’ responses. If we don’t act soon, we will be feeding 350-400million odd people through imports, leaving little to no scope for a capital intensive, value-adding and high skilled economy. Don’t push the economy off the cliff.

However, it is not new money, as the World Bank has already approved projects or it diverted funds from the schemes that were moving slow and the lender was considering cancelling those loans. This fact had also been highlighted by World Bank Vice President for the South Asia Region Martin Raiser at the Geneva Conference. Also, on December 19, 2022, the WB had approved $1.3 billion worth of projects to support the recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction process. At the Geneva conference, Pakistan had received at total $9.7 billion worth of pledges, including $2 billion that the WB had already given in various forms. The World Bank is funding 54 operations in Pakistan costing $13 billion, which include both the IDA and IBRD loans.

North Andover, MA (01845)TodaySnow this morning will transition to snow showers this afternoon. Expect mist and reduced visibilities at times. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 100%. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.

Containers have been held up at Karachi's port as the country grapples with a desperate foreign exchange crisis. PHOTO: AFPThousands of containers packed with essential food items, raw materials and medical equipment have been held up at Karachi port as the country grapples with a desperate foreign exchange crisis. He was speaking from an office near Karachi port, where shipping containers are stuck waiting for payment guarantees -- packed with lentils, pharmaceuticals, diagnostic equipment and chemicals for manufacturing industries. "We've got thousands of containers stranded at the port because of the shortage of dollars," said Maqbool Ahmed Malik, chairman of the customs association, adding that operations were down at least 50 per cent. Some factories have complained of a backlog of imported raw materials such as dyes, buttons, zippers and spare parts for machinery held up at the Karachi port.