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A moderate won the closely fought Democratic primary for governor in Wisconsin, the latest contest between the partys progressive and moderate wings.

Colombia experienced a number of aftershocks on Tuesday, as efforts continued to free survivors trapped in rubble and buildings.

p Mohsin Naqvi meets Pezeshkian and Araghchi in Tehranbr Khawaja Asif says warring sides nearing some sort of an arrangementbr Tehran sees Islamabad MoU as only legitimate framework for resolution of wider warbr Trump rails against devious Iranian negotiators/p pISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran on Tuesday to follow up on the stalled a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2016487"Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding /a(MoU), as Islamabad seeks to revive its mediation efforts between Iran and the United States./p pNaqvi, who arrived in Tehran earlier in the day, was received by his Iranian counterpart Eskandar Momeni, and later held talks with Araghchi. The two interior ministers are also expected to hold detailed bilateral discussions during the visit./p pA diplomatic source told emDawn/em from Tehran that the principal objective of Naqvis visit was to follow up on the Islamabad MoU and Pakistans mediation between Iran and the US, which has remained largely dormant as Oman took the lead in negotiations over arrangements for navigation through the Strait of Hormuz./p blockquote class"twitter-tweet" lang"en" a href"https://twitter.com/AJEnglish/status/2087279134947115359"/a /blockquote pThe reported progress ina href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2022142/qatar-says-iran-oman-talks-on-hormuz-reached-advanced-stage" Oman-Iran dialogue /ahas created an opportunity for Islamabad to move for reviving the broader process that had emerged from the June agreement./p pSeparately, Defence Minister Khawaja Asifa href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2022152/us-and-iran-are-close-to-some-sort-of-arrangement-defence-minister-khawaja-asif-tells-bloomberg" told/a emBloomberg/em that the United States and Iran are close to some sort of an arrangement./p pThings are shaping up again in favour of a peace arrangement or a deal. The signals over the last three days are that we are close to some sort of an arrangement, he added./p pstrongDiplomatic efforts/strong/p pPakistan had recently invited Araghchi and Iranian parliament speaker and chief negotiator Bagher Ghalibaf to visit Islamabad at the earliest possible opportunity. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, however, said on Monday that the visit of the two Iranian leaders would take place at an appropriate time./p pNaqvis visit assumes significance as an effort to keep Pakistans mediation channel active rather than wait for the Iranian leadership to visit Islamabad./p pThe Persian Gulf, particularly the Strait of Hormuz, remains locked in a fragile no war, no peace situation following the collapse of Islamabad MoU reached between Iran and the US in June./p pIn his meeting with the Iranian president, Naqvi described the relationship between the neighbours as strong, long-standing and unbreakable and conveyed Islamabads serious determination and will to pursue the comprehensive development of ties with Tehran./p pPresident Pezeshkian also noted that Iran-Pakistan relations would serve the two countries national interests as well as contribute to regional stability and security./p pThe emphasis on bilateral ties came days after Pakistan a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2021248"signed/a a trilateral defence agreement with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, an arrangement Islamabad has repeatedly stressed is defensive in nature and not directed against any country./p pOn Monday, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2021935"spoke /awith his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi and shared the contours of the agreement, underscoring its objectives of strengthening strategic cooperation and contributing to regional peace and security./p pstrongHormuz future/strong/p pThe disagreement over the future management of the waterway had emerged as one of the principal fault lines in the implementation of the agreement and contributed to the subsequent escalation./p pIran and Oman have since been negotiating a new arrangement for safe passage through the strait, with the talks focused on a possible new shipping route and mechanisms for its management. Tehran, however, has maintained that an understanding with Oman would constitute only a technical or first stage arrangement and would not by itself amount to a full reopening of the waterway./p pIran is adamant that it will reopen the strait only after US has redressed all alleged violations of Islamabad MoU./p pAccording to the diplomatic source, Irans position conveyed to foreign capitals remains that full reopening of Hormuz is linked to implementation of the Islamabad MoU by US./p pIran, the source said, has insisted that the MoU, having been concluded at the presidential level, remains the only legitimate framework for resolving the wider dispute and should be implemented in the form in which it was signed rather than renegotiated through selective reinterpretation./p pThe source said Tehran was also seeking evidence of US political willingness to restore the process before moving towards what he described as the next phase leading to reopening of Hormuz. Iran, he said, wants concrete and verifiable assurances rather than verbal commitments, particularly on whether Washington is prepared to return to its obligations under the MoU./p pstrongTrump rails against devious negotiators/strong/p pMeanwhile, US President Donald Trump on Tuesdaya href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2022165/trump-calls-iran-devious-negotiators-dishonest-people" described /aIrans negotiators as devious and dishonest./p pTheyre very devious negotiators because theyll agree to something, then theyll go out and tell the press that they never agreed to it. Theyre very dishonest people, he said in an interview with US outlet emReal Americas Voice./em/p blockquote class"twitter-tweet" lang"en" a href"https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2087173715893047674?ref_srctwsrc5Etfw7Ctwcamp5Etweetembed7Ctwterm5E20871737158930476747Ctwgr5Ec1df016c4e28b717565f54b178332fbc586f0a337Ctwcon5Es1_ref_urlhttps3A2F2Fwww.dawn.com2Fnews2F2022165"/a /blockquote pHe added that Irans economic situation and inflation was unsustainable, suggesting that the US could either wait and just keep that going, or hit them really, really hard./p pThe third option, he said, was to beat them economically but were doing that anyway./p pHe claimed that Iran was economically a mess, saying: They cant borrow money. We control their money they had a lot, and we have total control Im their banker./p pemPublished in Dawn, August 12th, 2026/em/p

Sen. Darline Graham, who is serving out the remainder of her brother's term, and Rep. Ralph Norman advance to the special primary runoff later this month.

In response to a threat against the jet last month, the president was clandestinely removed in a catering container. But the plane was sent into the skies anyway with government employees and reporters onboard.

Video captures construction workers clinging to a malfunctioning Miami crane as its arm collapses onto a luxury high-rise pool deck during assembly.

Today marks one year since the National Guard was deployed to the nation's capital. Here's what has happened since. And, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake leaves more than 100 people dead in Colombia.

The US president was moved from the old Air Force One to a military plane as he left a Nato summit in Turkey last month, US media say.

Julian Epstein says Democrats have "gone off the deep end" and backs Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan's senate race against Abdul El-Sayed.

The South American nation is only the second country to recognise Israel's claims over the illegally annexed territory.

The amber alerts will be in place until Friday evening to cover high and even extreme temperatures expected through this week.

p Says sanctions under ITO 2001 cannot apply to assessments governed by repealed lawbr Settles conflict between two previous rulings/p pISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that penalties imposed under the Income a rel"noopener noreferrer" target"_blank" class"link--external" href"https://www.fbr.gov.pk/categ/income-tax-ordinance/326"Tax Ordinance (ITO) 2001 /afor assessments completed before June 30, 2002 were illegal and legally unsustainable, emphasising that such penalties could not be applied retrospectively./p pA five-judge SC larger bench, headed by Justice Shahid Waheed, also resolved a conflict between two decisions of three-member benches the 2009 Eli Lilly Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd case and the 2016 Islamic Investment Bank Ltd case./p pThe question before the SC was whether penalties under Sections 182, 184 and 186 of the ITO 2001 were lawful in view of the provisions of Section 239(3) of the ordinance./p pAuthored by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, the 17-page judgement explained that in the Eli Lilly Pakistan case, the court had held that assessments completed under the repealed ITO 1979 must be governed strictly by the old law, while assessments made after its repeal were to be governed by the ITO 2001./p pHowever, in the Islamic Investment Bank case, the court had taken a contrary view, departing from the strict prospective approach and declaring that the right of the state to calculate and collect the correct tax liability vests at the end of each accounting year./p pThe judgment held that the conclusion drawn by the subsequent bench of co-equal strength in the Islamic Investment Bank case was erroneous in law, whereas the decision of the earlier co-equal bench in the Eli Lilly case, treating the amendments as substantive in nature and prospective in application, reflected the correct legal position./p pThe controversy revolves around Khadim Hussain, the respondent and an existing taxpayer falling under the jurisdiction of the director general of Regional Tax Office, Rawalpindi./p pThe case arose when the petitioner, commissioner inland revenue (legal), RTO Rawalpindi, initiated tax proceedings against the respondent after receiving information that he had purchased a piece of property on Sept 7, 1999, without filing a corresponding tax return./p pFollowing his non-compliance with notices issued under Sections 61 and 62, a notice under Section 13(1) (aa) was/p pserved on June 28, 2007, requiring the respondent to explain the source of investment for the property./p pDue to the respondents continuous non-appearance and failure to submit documentary evidence, an ex-parte assessment was framed under Section 63 of the repealed ITO 1979, creating a tax addition of Rs300,000 for the assessment years 2000-01 to 2002-3, along with the imposition of a penalty under Section 184 of the ITO, read with Section 111 of the repealed ordinance./p pSubsequent compliance and reminder notices issued under Section 190 also went unheeded./p pAggrieved by the assessment and pena-lty orders, the respondent filed an appeal before the commissioner of income tax (appeals), which upheld the income addition but deleted the penalties on Jan 31, 2008./p pThe tax department preferred a second appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, challenging the deletion of the penalties. The appeal was subsequently dismissed on the ground that the penalties were legally unsustainable under Section 239./p pThe department then approached the Rawalpindi bench of Lahore High Court by filing a reference, which was ultimately dismissed on Oct 27, 2014./p pSubsequently, the tax department approached the Supreme Court, seeking leave to appeal against the LHC order./p pJustice Abbasi explained that in the absence of clear legislative language expressly giving retrospective effect to the provisions of the ITO 2001, they could not be invoked in respect of assessments governed by the repealed ITO 1979./p pAny contrary interpretation, he observed, would undermine the settled principle that a taxpayers substantive rights and liabilities crystallise under the law applicable to the relevant assessment year and cannot subsequently be aggravated through later legislation./p pIt is a well-settled legal position that in a taxing statute, if an amendment is introduced which is penal in nature or increases the tax liability of a taxpayer, it applies prospectively for the tax year in which such amendment has been introduced and cannot be given retrospective effect, unless such retrospective effect is given through the amending law itself in express language, the judgement explained./p pThe Supreme Court consequently ruled that the penalties imposed under Sections 182, 184 and 186 of the ITO 2001 were unlawful and legally unsustainable. Accordingly, the question proposed in the instant case relating to the imposition of penalties under these sections was held to be legally not maintainable, and the civil appeal was refused./p pemPublished in Dawn, August 11th, 2026/em/p