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By S.M. Inam World Bank President Ajay Banga’s recent remarks on Pakistan’s economic trajectory have cast a stark and urgent light on the country’s long-term challenges, highlighting a reality that many analysts have long feared but few have articulated with such clarity. Speaking with characteristic candor, Banga warned that unless Pakistan generates at least three million new jobs each year over the next decade, the country faces a convergence of pressures that could prove destabilizing. The growing youth population, he noted, is a double-edged sword: a demographic dividend if harnessed through employment and skill development, yet a potential source of…

Negotiations over Pakistan’s participation in the 2026 T20 World Cup reached a tense and unusually high-stakes conclusion this week in Lahore, bringing together the International Cricket Council, the Pakistan Cricket Board, and the Bangladesh Cricket Board in a prolonged session that lasted more than five hours. Sources familiar with the talks suggest that a breakthrough could emerge within the next 24 hours, but the significance of the discussions extends far beyond the question of a single fixture. In many ways, what is unfolding in Lahore is as much about geopolitics and national pride as it is about the sport itself.…

By Uzma Ehtasham The fallout from the American withdrawal from Afghanistan continues to ripple across South Asia, and nowhere is its impact more immediate and alarming than in Pakistan. A recent CNN report paints a stark picture: modern weaponry left behind in Afghanistan is now in the hands of terrorist groups within Pakistan, fundamentally altering the landscape of militancy and counterterrorism. Rifles, machine guns, sniper rifles, and other sophisticated arms, initially supplied to support the Afghan military, were abandoned in vast quantities as US forces departed. Former Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko estimates that roughly 300,000 modern…

PCB, ICC talks conclude; PM’s advice sought on India match After ICC request, PCB leadership was set to seek political clearance as Mohsin Naqvi planned consultations with PM Shehbaz over a sensitive international decision By Asghar Ali Mubarak LAHORE: A meeting between senior officials of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) was concluded in Lahore to discuss Pakistan’s decision to skip its T20 World Cup 2026 match against India. The board said that Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Aminul Islam was also present at the meeting. Sources claimed that the possible breakthrough has been reached…

In what authorities in Pakistan described as a significant breakthrough, the alleged mastermind behind Friday’s devastating suicide bombing in Islamabad was taken into custody on Saturday, alongside a network of facilitators believed to have orchestrated the attack. The news came as a relief to many still reeling from the horror of one of the deadliest assaults the capital has seen in recent years. The bombing, which targeted an imambargah in the Tarlai area during prayers, left at least 33 people dead and scores more wounded, plunging the city into mourning and raising urgent questions about the protection of religious sites.…

By S.M. Inam Pakistan’s economy is navigating a precarious path, with debt obligations continuing to cast a long shadow over both defence and development spending. Data released on Friday by the Ministry of Finance reveals that in the first half of the current fiscal year, debt servicing consumed more than double the combined allocations for defence and the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP), highlighting the persistent fiscal squeeze under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program. Between July and December, the country’s accumulated public debt demanded Rs3,563 billion in interest payments alone. In contrast, allocations for defence stood at Rs1,044 billion…

By Muhammad Mohsin Iqbal After nearly a quarter of a century, Basant has returned to Lahore, not merely as a festival but as a long-suppressed emotion rediscovering its voice. For twenty-five years, the city carried the memory of spring like a faded photograph—cherished, yet distant. Past tragedies, when careless celebrations claimed innocent lives, had silenced rooftops and hushed laughter. This year, as kites once again rose above the Walled City and families cautiously gathered on terraces, Lahore seemed to breathe differently. The revival was neither loud nor reckless; it was measured, regulated, and reflective, shaped by time, loss, and hard-earned…

By Atiq Raja In a world obsessed with perfection—perfect beliefs, perfect behavior, perfect faith—Ittay Flescher’s The Holy & the Broken arrives like a quiet, honest breath. It does not promise easy answers or tidy resolutions. Instead, it gently dismantles the notion that holiness exists only in wholeness, inviting readers to see the sacred woven into doubts, struggles, and imperfections. This is a book less concerned with fixing faith than with befriending it, exactly as it is. At its heart, The Holy & the Broken challenges the false divide we often impose between the “spiritual” and the “messy” parts of life.…