Pakistan sets year-end goal to sell PIA as five final bidders emerge

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is pressing ahead with plans to sell its national airline, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), targeting final bids by October and a completed deal by year-end, the country’s privatization chief said, marking Islamabad’s most determined push yet to offload the loss-making carrier after decades of failed attempts and billions in taxpayer bailouts.

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PM Sharif presses for Middle East calm as fragile truce holds

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launched a flurry of diplomatic outreach on Tuesday, engaging with Iranian and Saudi leaders and meeting with key regional ambassadors to press for dialogue and de-escalation in the Middle East, where a tenuous US-brokered ceasefire has taken hold after weeks of spiraling violence.

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