Peshawar  –  Adviser to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister on Finance Muzzammil Aslam on Saturday blamed what he described as the Punjab government’s policy failures for the country’s worsening wheat crisis, claiming Pakistan was facing record wheat and flour prices only three months after the harvest.

In a statement, Aslam said the current crisis was the third major disruption to wheat supplies during the four years of the Shehbaz Sharif government. He alleged that public attention was being diverted from the issue by focusing on the petroleum levy.

He said wheat was currently selling for around Rs11,600 per 100kg from Karachi to Peshawar, while retail prices had reached approximately Rs115 per kilogram for wheat and between Rs130 and Rs150 per kilogram for flour. By comparison, he said, flour had been available at Rs65 to Rs70 per kilogram in 2022.

Aslam maintained that despite the sharp increase in market prices, wheat growers were facing severe financial hardship because of rising production costs, particularly electricity, fertiliser and diesel. He also claimed that Pakistan was increasingly being classified among food-insecure countries.

The adviser further alleged that Punjab had imposed an undeclared restriction on the movement of wheat and flour to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He claimed that attempts to transport wheat from Sindh through Balochistan had also encountered obstacles. According to Aslam, Chief Minister Suhail Afridi, the provincial government and the chief secretary had repeatedly raised the issue with both the federal and Punjab governments.

He said the provincial Finance Department had released Rs15.6 billion to the Food Department for wheat procurement. He added that the supply of 150,000 tonnes of wheat from the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would begin shortly, while a further agreement had been finalised for an additional 50,000 tonnes.

Aslam said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa produced only about 25 per cent of its annual wheat requirement, making it heavily dependent on supplies from Punjab. He added that provincial wheat stocks were expected to exceed 350,000 tonnes, fully utilising the storage capacity of government warehouses. According to him, these would be the largest wheat reserves in the province’s history, accumulated without resorting to borrowing.

He also said Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah and Secretary Food Shah Mahmood were working to stabilise prices by supplying 70,000 tonnes of wheat to the private sector.

Concluding his statement, Aslam claimed Pakistan had never experienced such a severe wheat crisis within the first three months of the wheat season during its 78-year history.

Mardan  –  The Auditor General of Pakistan’s audit report for the 2022–23 financial year has highlighted alleged irregularities in the appointment, transfer and promotion of officials to Sub-Engineer (BPS-12) posts in the Executive Engineer’s Irrigation Division, Mardan.

According to the audit report, several officials were appointed or promoted to the posts in violation of the applicable Khyber Pakhtunkhwa civil service rules governing departmental promotions.

The report states that appointments to the post of Sub-Engineer should be made only from among officials who have passed the prescribed Grade A and Grade B departmental examinations, completed at least seven years of service and qualified on the basis of seniority. The audit found that these conditions were allegedly not met in several cases.

Among the cases highlighted, the report states that Yasir Fawad was transferred from the post of Gauge Reader (BPS-5) and appointed as a Sub-Engineer despite allegedly not having passed the required departmental examinations or completed the mandatory period of service. The audit also questioned the legality of his initial appointment as an Operator/Gauge Reader.

The report further states that Mazhar Ali was first transferred from the post of Tracer (BPS-5) to Gauge Reader before being promoted to Sub-Engineer. According to the audit, both his initial adjustment and subsequent promotion did not comply with the relevant rules, while the proceedings of the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) relating to his promotion were not produced during the audit.

Similarly, the report says Nadeem Khan was promoted from Operator Motor Grader to Gauge Reader and later to Sub-Engineer, although the relevant service rules did not provide for such adjustments. In another case, Shah Fahd was promoted from Work Secretary (BPS-7) to Sub-Engineer against the quota reserved for the family of a deceased employee. The audit states that he had neither passed the required departmental examinations nor were the proceedings of the Departmental Promotion Committee made available for scrutiny.

The audit also observed that the educational credentials of the officials concerned had not been verified by the relevant examination boards and universities by the close of the audit. It attributed the irregularities to alleged violations of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Service Appointment Rules.

The report states that audit authorities sought an explanation from the department in December 2023. In response, the administration said a detailed reply would be submitted later and that the officials’ academic credentials would be verified.

Subsequently, the department maintained that all appointments and promotions had been made in accordance with the applicable rules. However, the audit authorities said they were not satisfied with the explanation.

The audit has recommended that officials found to have been appointed or promoted in violation of the rules be reverted to their substantive posts, and that a high-level inquiry be conducted to determine responsibility. It also called for legal action against those found responsible, in accordance with the law.

FIFA on Saturday said there was “no evidence” to support claims that England’s equaliser in the 2-1 win over Norway in the World Cup quarter-final should have been ruled out after the ball appeared to strike a camera cable in the build-up.

Norway’s players protested to French referee Clement Turpin after Bellingham scored in first-half stoppage time to make it 1-1 at the Hard Rock Stadium.

Footage of Orjan Nyland’s goal-kick that started the passage of play which led to Bellingham’s goal showed the ball’s trajectory appearing to change suddenly and dropping down into the path of England midfielder Elliot Anderson.

Under the laws of the game that should have led to play being halted for a drop ball.

Breaking: re the ball possibly hitting camera cable in lead up to England goal, FIFA says they “have checked the data and no peak on the graph from the connected ball heartbeat sensor”pic.twitter.com/RC4oCQnilo

— GibsonVT (@Gibson_VT) July 12, 2026

FIFA though said Saturday that a chip sensor embedded in the ball — the same technology used to disallow a goal in Croatia’s knockout defeat to Portugal earlier in the tournament — showed there was no sign of the ball hitting the cable.

“Before England’s goal in minute 45+2 against Norway, the sensor in the Connected Ball showed no peak in the ‘heartbeat of the ball’ when in the air, and therefore no evidence that the ball touched the overhead wire and changed the movement of the ball,” the statement said.

Linda Noskova revealed a glimpse of the Wimbledon trophy during a bathroom break inspired her fightback to beat Karolina Muchova in an extraordinary final on Saturday.

Noskova was in danger of blowing her bid for a maiden Grand Slam title after squandering five match points to blow a 5-2 lead in a chaotic second set on Centre Court.

The 21-year-old hid her head in a towel and wiped away tears of frustration after her fellow Czech and close friend Muchova levelled the final at one-set all.

Noskova trudged sadly towards the locker room in a bid to recompose herself for the final set.

On that walk she noticed the Venus Rosewater Dish gleaming in a trophy cabinet alongside the runners-up shield.

The thought of having to make do with the losers’ consolation prize shook Noskova out of her malaise and she stormed back to take the title in the final set.

“I was just telling myself that the match is starting over. I was in the bathroom. I just splashed some cold water on me, started over again,” she said.

“But what really helped me, the first step I took off court, the trophies were there. I was like, ‘I’m not going to take the small one, I’m taking the big one. I have been so close. This will probably be the heartbreak of my life’.

“If I’m going to leave my soul on court in the third set, whatever that be. I just kind of started to focus on myself all over again, which was the key point.”

Jana Novotna’s tears on the shoulder of the Duchess of Kent after she squandered an apparently decisive advantage against Steffi Graf in the 1993 final remains one of Wimbledon’s most famous moments.

Noskova’s fellow Czech had to wait until 1998 for her cathartic winning moment but the ninth seed, playing in her first Grand Slam final, staved off three break points at the start of the third set before landing a crucial break.

Noskova admitted the pressure-packed situation had overwhelmed in the second set as the match points slipped through her grasp across three different games.

‘Had to fight for it’

“My hand kind of froze at certain moments. My feet were not as quick as they had been before,” she said.

When her next match point arrived, this time she seized the moment, sealing a life-changing 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory before falling to the turf in joy and disbelief.

Noskova is the youngest women’s champion since another Czech, Petra Kvitova won in 2011.

Fittingly, two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova was watching from the royal box and she congratulated Noskova, who idolised her as a child, when they met in the Centre Court lounge after the match.

Noskova follows in the footsteps of fellow Czech Wimbledon winners Marketa Vondrousova and Barbora Krejcikova in 2023 and 2024 respectively.

Noskova and Muchova are good friends and the pair were emotional in their interviews after receiving their trophies from the Princess of Wales.

For Noskova, holding aloft the silverware validated her moment of clarity less than an hour earlier in the corridors of Centre Court.

It still wasn’t enough to mask the painful memory of her mother Ivana’s death from cancer two years ago.

Unable to hold back the tears, Noskova paid tribute to her before blowing a kiss to the sky.

Having shown her heart and desire in spades, Noskova had done her mother proud.

“A final is a final. No matter what you do, there’s always the pressure. You always want to keep your cool, be okay, be like nothing is happening. But deep inside of you you know it’s very important,” she said.

“Just winning it this way, really having to fight for it, having all these ups and downs, it matters a lot, but I do have to learn a lot from this match, definitely.”

A self-described “down to earth” personality, Noskova leaves Wimbledon with the world at her feet.

ISLAMABAD: Geo News was allowed to resume its transmission on Sunday after remaining suspended for 15 days as ordered by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) over its regulatory violation.

On Saturday, Pemra upheld its earlier decision to suspend Geo News for 15 days over the depiction of religious figures in the channel’s transmission aired on Muharram 10, warning that any future violation could lead to the cancellation of its licence.

As the suspension period expired on Saturday, the channel resumed transmission at around Sunday midnight.

In its final order, issued after the authority’s 191st meeting, Pemra said it had conducted a detailed review of the matter, taking into account the recommendations of the Council of Complaints, Lahore, the record of proceedings, the written and oral submissions of the licence holder, the Pemra Ordinance 2002, the relevant rules, and the Electronic Media (Programmes and Advertisements) Code of Conduct, 2015.

The Council of Complaints deliberated on the case during its 127th, 128th and 129th meetings held on June 30, July 2 and July 10, respectively.

After hearing Geo News representatives, examining the record and considering the opinion of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), it forwarded its recommendations to the authority.

Pemra said Geo News and its representatives were given a fair opportunity to present their defence before the final decision was taken.

The authority held that the violation was of a serious nature and was inconsistent with the obligations of a licence holder under the Pemra laws and the standards of responsible broadcasting.

While acknowledging that Geo News had admitted negligence, expressed remorse and issued an unconditional apology across all its media platforms, Pemra said these mitigating factors did not erase the violation or its legal consequences.

According to the order, the authority affirmed the June 27 decision suspending the channel’s licence for 15 days.

The suspension will remain effective until midnight today, after which transmissions may only resume once the suspension period has expired and the channel pays the Rs10 million fine imposed by the regulator.

Pemra also directed Geo News management to complete disciplinary proceedings against those found responsible for the lapse and dismiss them from service in accordance with the applicable rules.

It further ruled that any individuals removed from service as a result of the proceedings would not be allowed to work, directly or indirectly, with any Pemra-licensed, registered or authorised media service under the regulator’s jurisdiction.

The authority issued a final warning to Geo News, stating that any similar negligence in future would result in cancellation of its broadcasting licence.

In addition, Pemra directed Geo News and all other licence holders to establish impartial and competent in-house monitoring committees or editorial boards, submit their details to the regulator and ensure prior editorial scrutiny of all broadcast content.

The authority also announced that a separate directive would be issued to all licence holders for strict compliance with the Supreme Court’s judgment in Suo Motu Case No. 28 of 2018 (PLD 2019 SC 1).

Pemra warned that any future violations by broadcasters would invite stricter action under the law.