SEOUL: South Korean automakers’ global car sales logged a double-digit fall in October, owing to the supply disruption of semiconductors, industry data showed on Monday. Five domestic carmakers, including Hyundai, Kia, Renault Samsung, GM Korea and Ssangyong, sold a total of 548,192 vehicles at home and abroad in October, down 22.2 per cent from the … Read more
KARACHI: Businessmen Group (BMG) chairman Zubair Motiwala and Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) president Muhammad Idrees have expressed concerns over high production cost of electricity being generated by the K-Electric (KE), and urged the power utility to shut down inefficient power generation plants, while the power generation mix must also be improved to … Read more
KARACHI: Select Technologies, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air Link Communication has partnered with Xiaomi for the manufacturing of Xiaomi mobile phones in Pakistan, a bourse filing said. “Air Link is targeting a production of initially around 2.5 to 3 million handsets annually subject to smooth supply chain, which is expected to add approximately $450 million … Read more
ISTANBUL: Turkey has raised natural gas prices by 48.4 per cent for large industrial and commercial organisation subscribers for November, while experts warned of higher inflation rates. The latest hike was announced by Turkey’s BOTAS Petroleum Pipeline Company, which also revealed that the tariff for electricity generation plants for the same month was increased by … Read more
BEIJING: The gratifying achievements of Pakistan’s economic recovery were attributed to the effective lockdown strategy to contain Covid-19, the sound policies of the government on the economic development, the diligence and wisdom of all Pakistani people, and the driving effect of the progressing China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. These views were expressed by Cheng Xizhong, visiting professor … Read more
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed the relevant authorities to take necessary measures for bringing down the prices of essential commodities so that maximum relief could be provided to the common man. Chairing a meeting to review the overall economic situation in the country, the prime minister was apprised of inflationary trend in the … Read more
KHAN YUNIS, Palestinian Territories: Perched on his sofa in a windowless room, leaning forward on his cane, Bassam Barbakh said Israel’s first military incursion into Gaza 65 years ago was seared into his memory. “I swore when I was a child that if I lived a thousand years I couldn’t forget what happened,” the squat 73-year-old … Read more
LONDON: French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that retaliatory measures threatened against Britain over an escalating row about fishing rights would not be implemented at midnight as talks are ongoing. Discussions will “continue tomorrow” between France, the UK and the European Commission, Macron said on the sidelines of the COP26 summit in Glasgow, ruling … Read more
LONDON: Queen Elizabeth II on Monday appealed to world leaders to work together in “common cause” against climate change to “solve the most insurmountable problems”. The statement, delivered in a video message to the COP-26 conference in Glasgow came after a day of speeches from world leaders warning of the urgency of the crisis. “If … Read more
TEHRAN: Iran repeated its insistence on Monday its nuclear programme was peaceful, two days after the US, Britain, France and Germany expressed their “grave” concern on the sidelines of a G20 meeting. Foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters in Tehran that Western positions were “incompatible with reality and will not bring constructive results”. The Western statement … Read more
ISTANBUL: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday returned to Turkey from the G20 summit in Rome, cancelling his planned attendance at the COP26 conference in Glasgow, according to state media reports. The Anadolu state news agency and other media did not explain why Erdogan decided not to attend. Turkey’s parliament this year finally ratified the Paris climate agreement, … Read more
YANGON: Lawyers for Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday cross-examined security forces who detained the Nobel laureate during February’s coup and who allegedly found her in possession of illicit walkie talkies, a source said. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the generals launched their coup exactly nine months ago, with more than 1,200 people killed by security … Read more
WASHINGTON: The United States said on Sunday it is “gravely concerned” about reports that Myanmar’s security forces committed human rights violations and destroyed more than 100 homes as well as Christian churches in western Chin state. “These abhorrent attacks underscore the urgent need for the international community to hold the Burmese military accountable and take action … Read more
RIYADH: The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said on Sunday that more than 218 Houthi rebels were killed in airstrikes around Marib city, the internationally recognised government’s last northern bastion. The Iran-backed Houthis rarely comment on losses, and AFP could not independently verify the toll. “Twenty-four military vehicles were destroyed and more than 218” insurgents … Read more
TOKYO: The suspect in a Halloween stabbing and fire attack on a Tokyo train expressed admiration for infamous comic villain the Joker, Japanese media reported, with authorities describing the incident as “atrocious and brutal” on Monday. Police said they arrested a 24-year-old man for attempted murder over the Sunday evening attack which caused 18 people to be … Read more
SYDNEY: Australia’s international border reopened on Monday almost 600 days after a pandemic closure began, sparking emotional scenes at Sydney airport as loved ones reunited. Shortly after dawn, bleary-eyed passengers began to trickle into the arrivals terminal at Kingsford Smith International and were quickly wrapped up in the tearful embraces of flower-clutching relatives. On March … Read more
RIYADH: Saudi Aramco is the world’s most profitable company in the third quarter, beating tech giants such as Google, Amazon and Apple, as well as other listed energy companies such as ExxonMobil and Shell, Arab News reported. Thanks to the recent increase in oil prices, the Dhahran-based company reported that its net income in the third quarter … Read more
CAIRO: Saudi Arabia reported its first quarterly budget surplus since the first quarter of 2019, as oil prices are trading at a multiyear high and the government cut down on its social spending and rationalised expenditures, Arab News reported. The kingdom’s budget turned to a surplus of SR6.68 billion ($1.78 billion) in the third quarter of this … Read more
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has huge trade and investment opportunities in the $3 trillion economy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) for increasing the bilateral trade and economic ties. With Asean’s $3 trillion economic power and a large market of 650 million people in the region, the mutual $7 billion trade between Asean and Pakistan … Read more
BEIJING: Pakistani exports to China are registering a significant increase and the export of Pakistan rice to China during the first nine months of the current financial year has broken previous records, Pakistan’s Consul General in Shanghai Hussain Haider said. While representing Pakistan at the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and Belt and Road Initiative Agriculture … Read more
LAHORE: All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) chairman Abdul Rahim Nasir has urged the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman to withdraw the mandatory digital mode of payments as it is neither possible for the business community to adopt it as the only mode of payment nor the banks are ready to implement it from … Read more
LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called this week’s UN Climate Change Summit, COP26, which kicks off in Glasgow, a “turning point for humanity”. Unfortunately, in the last few days, the normally Tiggerish Johnson has also warned that getting the world’s governments to agree on binding commitments to radically reset Earth’s climate trajectory, is … Read more
Qatar is set to join forces with Rolls Royce to launch a fund worth billions in investments in green engineering projects with a focus on an engineering hub in the UK with the potential for 10,000 jobs, The Sunday Times reported. The UK broadsheet quoted sources close to the project reporting that a new science … Read more
DUBAI: Bahrain has detailed a new economic growth and fiscal balance plan that pushes a zero-deficit target back by two years to 2024 from 2022 and increases value-added tax to 10 per cent from 5 per cent, Arab News reported. A government statement said the updated fiscal balance programme also included reducing expenditure and project spending, streamlining … Read more
CAIRO: Egypt’s exports to G20 countries rose 39.2 per cent in the first-half of 2021 to $9 billion, compared with $6.5 billion in the same period of the last year, Arab News reported. According to the data issued by the Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics, Italy, the US and Saudi Arabia were the biggest … Read more
RIYADH: The Islamic Development Bank listed SR63.76 billion ($1.7 billion) worth of financial instruments on Nasdaq, the Dubai-based stock exchange. The new listing sets out the Islamic Development Bank as the largest international multilateral financial institution, which issues instruments on Nasdaq Dubai through 13 issues since 2016 estimated at around SR70.5 billion, according to the … Read more
TERMEZ, Uzbekistan: As lorries arrive in bursts of dust at a logistics hub in Uzbekistan’s southern city of Termez, squatting drivers share complaints about how trade has suffered since the Taliban seized power next-door. “Before, our journey there and back took three days, now we are there for a week,” said Rafik Khujakov, an Uzbek who makes regular deliveries … Read more
MEXICO CITY: Giant skeletons, colorful costumes, mariachi music and dancers filled downtown Mexico City on Sunday as the Day of the Dead parade returned for the first time since the pandemic began. Thousands of people, including locals and tourists, lined the route through the capital for a glimpse of the procession, which was canceled last year due to … Read more
