The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has launched an investigation into alleged corruption, favoritism, and illegal recruitments in the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC).
The probe targets former SPSC Chairman Noor Muhammad Jadmani and 15 other officials, including ex-members, secretaries, controllers, and additional controllers. NAB accuses the officials of irregularities in the hiring process, misuse of authority, and failing to maintain transparent recruitment records.
According to sources, NAB has summoned comprehensive documentation from the current SPSC administration, including records of all appointments and details of court cases both pending and resolved related to the commission’s recruitment procedures. The current chairman has been directed to submit the full record within one week.
Initial inquiries revealed that officials submitted incomplete recruitment data, prompting NAB to express dissatisfaction and reiterate its demand for a complete account of all appointments.
NAB’s investigation has also uncovered claims that some government officers allegedly manipulated the SPSC examination process to secure jobs for their children and relatives. In the next phase of the probe, NAB plans to summon those who benefited from the alleged fraudulent appointments.
This is not the first time SPSC has come under scrutiny. In 2020, NAB launched a similar investigation into forged recruitments via the commission in at least three Sindh government departments. It was alleged that in SPSC exams held in 2018, the names of qualified candidates for 30 positions were replaced with ineligible individuals through fraudulent means.
The ongoing investigation aims to determine the full extent of the corruption and bring those responsible to justice.
Households’ financial investment increased at broadly unchanged annual rate of 2.5% in first quarter of 2025
Non-financial corporations’ financing grew at higher annual rate of 1.3%, compared with 1.0% in previous quarter
Non-financial corporations’ gross operating surplus increased at annual rate 3.3%, while it decreased in previous quarter (-1.5%)
Chart 1
Household financing and financial and non-financial investment
(annual growth rates)
Sources: ECB and Eurostat.
Data for household financing and financial and non-financial investment (Chart 1)
Chart 2
NFC gross-operating surplus, non-financial investment and financing
(annual growth rates)
Source: ECB and Eurostat.
Data for NFC gross-operating surplus, non-financial investment and financing (Chart 2)
Households
Household gross disposable income increased at a lower annual rate of 2.9% in the first quarter of 2025 (after 4.2% in the previous quarter). Compensation of employees grew at a lower rate of 4.6% (after 4.9%). Gross operating surplus and mixed income of the self-employed as well as property income also increased at lower rates (1.5% after 3.2%, and 0.8% after 1.5% respectively). Household consumption expenditure grew at a lower rate of 2.8% (after 3.6%).
Household gross saving rate was unchanged at 15.4% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter.
Household gross non-financial investment (which refers mainly to housing) increased at an annual rate of 0.5% in the first quarter of 2025, after decreasing (-1.6%) in the previous quarter. Loans to households, the main component of household financing, grew at a higher rate of 1.7% (after 1.3%).
Household financial investment increased at an unchanged annual rate of 2.5% in the first quarter of 2025. Among its components, currency and deposits grew at an unchanged rate of 3.0%. Investment in debt securities increased at a lower rate of 0.7% (after 7.8%). Investment in shares and other equity grew at a higher rate of 2.3% (after 1.9%) mainly due to continued high growth of investments in investment fund shares (7.9% after 7.0%). Investment in life insurance increased at a higher rate of 1.6% (after 1.2%) and in pension schemes at a lower rate of 2.0% (after 2.2%).
Household net worth increased at an unchanged annual rate of 4.4% in the first quarter of 2025. The growth in net worth was mainly due to valuation gains in non-financial assets in addition to investments. Housing wealth, the main component of non-financial assets grew at a higher rate of 4.2% (after 3.0%). The household debt-to-income ratio decreased, to 81.7% in the first quarter of 2025 from 83.8% in the first quarter of 2024.
Non-financial corporations
Net value added by NFCs increased at a higher annual rate of 4.2% in the first quarter of 2025 (after 2.6% in the previous quarter). Gross operating surplus grew at a rate of 3.3%, after decreasing (‑1.5%) in the previous quarter, and net property income (defined in this context as property income receivable minus interest and rent payable) also increased. As a result gross entrepreneurial income (broadly equivalent to cash flow) increased at a higher rate of 4.0% (after 1.3%).[1]
NFCs’ gross non-financial investment increased at a higher annual rate of 4.6% in the first quarter of 2025 (after 1.5%).[2] Financial investment grew at higher rate of 2.0% (after 1.8%). Among its components, net purchases of debt securities and loans granted increased at higher rates (8.7% after 2.1% and 2.9% after 2.6%), and investment in shares and other equity grew at a lower rate of 0.4% (after 0.7%). Other accounts receivable, including trade credits, increased as well.
Financing of NFCs increased at a higher annual rate of 1.3% (after 1.0%). Loan financing (2.0% after 1.3%)[3], debt securities net issuance (1.6% after 1.4%) and trade credit financing (4.1% after 3.6%) all grew at higher rates. Equity financing increased at a broadly unchanged rate of 0.5%.
The NFC debt-to-GDP ratio (consolidated measure) decreased to 67.3% in the first quarter of 2025, from 68.5% in the same quarter of the previous year; the non-consolidated, wider debt measure decreased to 139.0% from 140.7%.
For queries, please use the Statistical Information Request form.
Notes
This statistical release incorporates revisions to the data since the first quarter of 2021.
The annual growth rate of non-financial transactions and of outstanding assets and liabilities (stocks) is calculated as the percentage change between the value for a given quarter and that value recorded four quarters earlier. The annual growth rates used for financial transactions refer to the total value of transactions during the year in relation to the outstanding stock a year before.
The euro area and national financial accounts data of non-financial corporations and households are available in an interactive dashboard.
Hyperlinks in the main body of the statistical release are dynamic. The data they lead to may therefore change with subsequent data releases as a result of revisions. Figures shown in annex tables are a snapshot of the data as at the time of the current release.
The ECB publishes experimental Distributional Wealth Accounts (DWA), which provide additional breakdowns for the household sector. The release of results for 2025 Q1 is planned for 29 August 2025 (tentative date).
LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday announced the selection of 30 players for the third phase of the U19 Skills Assessment camp, set to begin in Multan on July seven and run through the end of August.
This phase follows a comprehensive match-based assessment conducted in two earlier stages, where a total of 65 players were evaluated under the supervision of former Test captain and current Head of Youth Development, Azhar Ali.
Of the 30 players selected for the next phase, 20 were shortlisted based on their performances in the first two phases. Ten additional players, who have previously represented Pakistan U19 and remain eligible for the ICC U19 World Cup 2026, have also been included.
The third phase of the camp is designed to further enhance the players’ technical and mental skills ahead of the ACC U19 Asia Cup and ICC U19 World Cup.
It is pertinent to mention that the Skills Development Camp for 47 senior Pakistan cricketers was also held in three phases at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore from June 30 to July four.
Selected U19 players for skills assessment camp:
Abdul Subhan, Ahmed Hussain, Abbas Khan, Abdul Wahab, Ali Hassan Baloch, Asad Umar, Daniyal Ali Khan, Ghulam Haider, Hamza Zahoor, Haroon Khan, Hazrat Ali, Huzaifa Ahsan, Ibtisam Azhar, Mohammad Arshad, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Niqab Shafiq, Rana Adeel Mushtaq, Rizwanullah, Saad Sakhawat, Sadeeq Aman, Sameer Minhas and Yahya Shah, Farhan Yousaf, Hassan Khan, Mohammad Huzaifa, Mohammad Tahir, Momin Qamar, Tayyab Arif, Umar Zaib and Usman Khan.
The U.S. economy continues to send mixed signals. On Thursday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will report job figures for June that may help clear up the picture.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal forecast that 110,000 new payrolls were added in June. That would be the fewest since February, and it would be the fourth monthly decline in the past six months. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, was expected to have climbed to 4.3%, the highest since October 2021.
Consumers and businesses are still grappling with the uncertainty caused by President Donald Trump’s policies, something further reflected in volatile data.
On one hand, the inflation rate has so far proven stable, while average earnings continue to grow at a healthy clip. Stocks have returned to all-time highs, and in testimony last week, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell described overall economic conditions as “solid.”
“Look at labor force participation, look at wages, look at job creation,” Powell said. “They’re all at healthy levels now. I would say you can see perhaps a very, very slow continued cooling but nothing that’s troubling at this time.”
On the other hand, Powell’s assertions have not sat well with Trump, who has continued to harangue him to lower the federal interest rate. On Wednesday evening, the president said Powell should “resign immediately.”
Commentary from U.S. firms and various other data points paint a more worrisome portrait of the economy. The latest survey of manufacturers from the Institute for Supply Chain Management found some firms describing the business environment as “hellacious” and “too volatile” for long-term procurement decisions.
On Wednesday, the private payrolls processor ADP reported a net decline in jobs added, which hasn’t occurred since March 2023 — and before that, the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic. The May job growth figure was revised even lower, to just 29,000 jobs added, from 37,000.
“Though layoffs continue to be rare, a hesitancy to hire and a reluctance to replace departing workers led to job losses last month,” Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist, said in a news release published Wednesday morning.
Clarity about tariffs was supposed to have arrived by next week, with Trump having set July 9 as the deadline to negotiate new deals. While he said this week he does not plan to extend the deadline, the White House said last week that the key date was “not critical.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s tax cut and spending bill continues to be debated in Congress even as it has cleared some key hurdles.
“Companies need business visibility in taxes and policy if they are going to take the risk of hiring a new employee,” Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer of Bleakley Financial Group, wrote in a note to clients. “And tariffs, on again/off again, have just thrown mud into the gears of business activity.”
The ADP report has a mixed track record of predicting the official BLS figure, which is usually published a day or two later. Earlier in the week, the BLS reported data showing a somewhat more sound picture of the job market, with job openings having unexpectedly increased in June.
Yet, even then, the bulk of those openings were in the leisure and hospitality sector, while openings declined in manufacturing and professional and business services.
“The leisure/hospitality sector alone cannot support the labor market amidst a broader weakening,” analysts with Citi Research wrote in a note to clients.
An additional hiring report released this week by the job consultancy Challenger, Gray and Christmas showed that through June, U.S. employers have announced 82,932 planned hires, a 19% increase over the 69,920 announced at this point in 2024.
Yet that rate remains historically low, it said.
“Hiring announcements in 2025 suggest a cautious but stabilizing labor market,” firm Senior Vice President Andrew Challenger said in a release. “While companies are clearly adding workers at a higher rate than in 2024, the restraint shown relative to previous years indicates continued uncertainty around costs, automation, and the broader economic outlook. Without a strong economic driver, hiring may remain measured through the rest of the year.”
The winter 2025 edition of Tomorrowland, held in the French ski resort of Alpe d’Huez, also featured indoor stages and was a preview for the kind of immersive, climate-controlled environment that will be replicated in Shanghai.
With The Magic of Tomorrowland in Shanghai, organisers are looking to introduce this evolving format to a new audience, adapting the brand’s large-scale appeal for an urban, indoor setting in Asia.
Thailand has also recently announced that the country will host a Tomorrowland festival in 2026, to be held in Chon Buri province.
In the meantime, this year’s flagship edition of Tomorrowland in its home country is set to open in a couple of weeks, kicking off on July 18 to 20, and then again on its second weekend on July 25 to 27 in Boom, Belgium. Featuring the theme “Orbyz”, the festival expects about 400,000 people from all over the world to attend.
How beating cancer helps Ann-Katrin Berger ‘live in the moment’
Berger has more than just hard work behind her.
In 2017, and then again in 2022, she had to undergo surgery and subsequently therapy following a diagnosis of thyroid cancer.
Her fight has given the goalkeeper the inspiration to live in the moment, on and off the field. She is no longer worried about making mistakes, nor does she want to overthink when she is between the sticks.
“I try to live, react, and act in the moment,” she explains to us.
“If I think too much, it will ruin my style of play – that’s why I’ve never thought like that before, and I hope that I never will.
“In general, I don’t look so far into the future. No matter what I do, I just look at what’s in front of me. In football, you don’t know what’s going to happen – and due to my illness, I don’t know whether I might be able to continue tomorrow or not.”
As far as Berger is concerned, some things are simply more important than playing with a ball.
Her experiences have helped shift perspective, she continues: “Football is just a game, there are worse things in the world. In the past, football was the be-all, end-all for me. There was nothing better and nothing more important.
“The illness has made me a bit calmer… I still hate losing, but I lose and walk away from the game after doing my best for 90 or 120 minutes, then that’s enough for me now.
“It’s best to leave the pitch as a winner, but as I said, there are bigger things out there that are more important.”
Between November 2019 and July 2021, 201 women were enrolled in the study. These included 98 kidney transplant recipients, 93 liver transplant recipients, and ten patients who received simultaneous kidney and liver transplantation. 65.2% of patients knew they were at increased risk for genitoanal cancers, and 77.6% knew cervical screening could reduce cancer risk. In addition, most patients (92.5%) reported regularly taking advantage of the cervical screening offer.
HrHPV prevalence
The baseline characteristics of the participants are shown in Table 1, which compares hrHPV positive and negative patients. Overall, 32 out of 201 (15.9%) patients tested positive for hrHPV at the cervical site. The anal hrHPV prevalence was 20.3% (40/197). No significant difference in cervical hrHPV prevalence was found between kidney and liver transplanted patients (see Table 2). The median age was 52 years (median 18–78), with cervical hrHPV-positive patients being, on average, eight years younger (p = 0.029). HrHPV prevalence declined with increasing age as shown in Fig. 1. However, the differences in cervical hrHPV prevalence across age groups were not statistically significant (p = 0.068), whereas anal hrHPV prevalence did show a significant difference across age groups (p = 0.038). When comparing individuals aged ≤ 45 years to those > 45 years, anal hrHPV prevalence was significantly higher in the younger age group (p = 0.020). In contrast, cervical hrHPV prevalence showed a non-significant trend towards higher rates in the younger group (p = 0.078).The median body mass index (BMI) was 23.4 in the cervical hrHPV-negative group and 21.4 in the cervical hrHPV-positive group (p = 0.030).
Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the study population comparing cervical hr-HPV-positive and negative patients
Table 2 Comparison of immunosuppressive treatment of liver transplant recipients, kidney transplant recipients and transplant recipients who received a simultaneous liver and kidney transplantation
Fig. 1
hrHPV = high-risk human papillomavirus
Immunosuppressive treatment
Overall, 97.5% of the patients were currently taking immunosuppressants, with most (75%) being on a calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) based immunosuppressive regimen consisting of more than two drugs. A comparison of immunosuppression and HPV risk factors is shown in Table 1. Neither the number of immunosuppressants nor the type of immunosuppression was significantly associated with hrHPV infection. Other transplant-specific variables, such as duration of immunosuppressive treatment, pretransplant immunosuppressant use, or graft rejections, did not correlate with hrHPV infection. A comparison of kidney and liver transplant recipients showed differences in immunosuppressive therapy (see Table 2). Compared to liver transplants, more kidney recipients took at least two immunosuppressants and had higher induction therapy rates (85.5% vs. 37%). However, cervical hrHPV prevalence showed no significant difference. Additionally, risk factors like sexual partners and age at first intercourse didn’t differ between kidney and liver recipients.
Risk factors associated with increased HPV prevalence in the general population, i.e. sexual behaviour and younger age, are confirmed in transplanted patients in a multivariable logistic regression model, with adjusting for transplantation, nicotine use and age of first intercourse (see Table 3). HrHPV-positive women were, on average, one year younger at the time of first sexual intercourse (p = 0.025) and had more than twice as many sexual partners as HPV- negative patients (p < 0.001). Likewise, the number of sexual partners since the first transplant was significantly higher among hrHPV-positive patients (p < 0.001).
Table 3 Multiple logistic regression of influencing factors on cervical HrHPV positvity
HPV vaccination
In total, 12.4% (25/201) of patients had prior HPV vaccination. Among them, 80% (20/25) were under 30, while only 2.9% (5/173) of those over 30 were vaccinated (p < 0.0001). Most patients were vaccinated before their first sexual intercourse (17/25), and six were vaccinated before transplantation. The number of vaccinated patients was higher among HPV-positive patients compared with HPV-negative patients (see Table 1). Three HPV-positive women were vaccinated after their first sexual intercourse and six after their transplantation.
Follow-up
The participation rate in the follow-up offered 6 to 18 months after the initial HPV test for cervical hr-HPV positive patients was 91%, with 29 out of 32 patients returning. The positive hr-HPV result was confirmed in 25 cases. In 52% (13/25), more than one HPV type was determined by genotyping. A total of 14 different HPV-Types with oncogenic potential were detected in the cervical site (HPV 16, 18, 31, 33, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 66, 68, 73). High-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) was detected in four patients during follow-up in the dysplasia unit (1x CIN2, 2x CIN3, 1x VaIN3). Three out of four patients with precancerous lesions had normal pap smears (NILM).
In anal swab specimens more than one HPV genotype was detected in 52.5% of patients, and 11 different high-risk oncogenic genotypes were identified (HPV 16, 18, 31, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 68). The most common HPV-types are shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2
* This refers to the number of tested patients; multiple HPV types can occur in a single patient. HPV = Human papillomavirus
Anal and cervical co-infection
For further investigation of co-infection in cervical hrHPV-positive patients, genotyping was performed at follow-up, whereas anal HPV testing involved genotyping at baseline and follow-up, and one positive test was considered sufficient for hrHPV positivity. All detected HPV types were included in the evaluation of co-infection, regardless of the time of examination. In patients with cervical hrHPV positivity, anal co-infection was detected in 68,8% (22/32), whereas in cervical HPV-negative patients, only 10.9% (18/165) had an anal hrHPV infection. In 18 of 23 patients, cervical and anal genotyping was available to compare HPV genotypes. Fifteen of these 18 patients were positive for more than one HPV type. There was a strong association at the HPV-specific level: 78% (14/18) of patients exhibited at least one concordant hrHPV type, while 22% (4/18) displayed different hrHPV genotypes. The highest concordance rate was found for HPV 16, with all 6 out of 6 patients (100%) showing a coinfection in the anal swab specimens.
Arvid Lindblad is expecting his FP1 debut with Red Bull to be a “very special moment”, with the British driver set to get behind the wheel of Yuki Tsunoda’s RB21 in front of his home crowd at Silverstone.
After being granted a Super Licence in June, the Formula 2 racer will make his first F1 weekend appearance when he drives for Red Bull during Friday’s first practice session at the British Grand Prix.
The 17-year-old is keen to get going and has hailed the experience as “an amazing opportunity”, having long been a part of the Red Bull Junior Programme.
“I am very excited to be driving during FP1, driving in an official F1 session is going to be a very special moment,” said Lindblad. “It is something I have dreamt of for a long time.
“To get a first taste of F1 with Oracle Red Bull Racing as well, after being with the Junior Programme for almost five years, is really special to me. This is an amazing opportunity, and I am super grateful to everybody at Oracle Red Bull Racing for it.
“And to be making my F1 debut as a British driver, on a British track, in front of a British crowd, is going to be really amazing.
“My aim is to get up to speed in the car really quickly, get Yuki good data to help him across the weekend, lead the team in a good direction and try to drive quickly as well! I can’t wait to hit the track and get going.”
Lindblad currently competes for Campos Racing in Formula 2 and sits in sixth place of the Drivers’ Championship on 79 points, having achieved two race victories and one pole position so far.
Prior to this, the young driver finished fourth during his sole F3 season in 2024 after climbing the ranks in junior categories, a rise that saw him win the Macau F4 World Cup race at the end of 2023.
