RIYADH: Riyadh-based fintech startup Lamaa has secured a $5.5m investment from Saudi Aramco’s entrepreneurship arm Wa’ed and Raed Ventures Arab News reported. The deal represents one of the largest seed funding rounds in Saudi Arabia. Lamaa provides financing solutions, such as supply chain finance and Buy Now Pay Later schemes, for small and medium enterprises. Wa’ed and … Read more
BEIJING: Spectators attending a major venue for the Beijing Olympics must be vaccinated but fans could be barred from the arena entirely if the coronavirus worsens in China, state media says. Unlike the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics, which took place last summer in mostly empty stadiums, organisers of February’s Winter Games have vowed to allow spectators, although only … Read more
RIYADH: Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has updated the criteria for running ads about cryptocurrency on its platform, according to Bloomberg. The tech giant announced on Wednesday its decision to reverse a long-standing policy that prevented most cryptocurrency companies from running ads on its services. The move came after Meta’s marquee crypto-related effort had been downsized. … Read more
LAHORE: Punjab government’s reluctance to kick-start the construction work of Ring Road Southern Loop-3 (SL-3) project has caused around Rs15 billion loss to the national exchequer, Bol News has learnt. Reportedly, former Lahore High Court (LHC) chief justice (CJ) Qasim Khan had vacated all the stay orders which were acquired to stop the construction work of … Read more
Ukraine rejects any efforts to get it to abandon its plans to join NATO, as well as any “guarantee” sought by Russia to ease tensions on the border, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told AFP on Friday. Kiev, which says such a pledge “is not an option”, urged the United States and its allies to reject … Read more
LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) are set to lock horns in the NA-133 by-polls scheduled to be held on December 5. A close contest is expected between the two parties in the absence of the ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) candidate from the constituency. The past elections in … Read more
HONG KONG, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) — Hong Kong’s Center for Health Protection (CHP) reported three new imported cases of COVID-19 on Friday, taking the total tally of confirmed cases in the financial hub to 12,448. The newly reported cases all involved mutant strains. A total of 50 cases have been reported in the past 14 … Read more
Turmoil in global equity markets due to the new omicron variant could be an opportunity for investors to rebuild positions, JPMorgan, as saying. According to Bloomberg, the American investment bank suggested the latest evolution of the Covid-19 virus might ultimately be a positive for risk markets because it could signal that the end of the pandemic … Read more
DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has signed a deal for 80 French-made Rafale fighter jets, the biggest international order ever made for the warplanes, officials said on Friday during a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron. The UAE, one of the French defence industry’s biggest customers, also agreed to buy 12 Caracal military transport helicopters, … Read more
LONDON: Antonio Conte said Tottenham are starting to understand his philosophy after Son Heung-min’s first Premier League goal since October sealed a 2-0 win against Brentford on Thursday. A 𝗕𝗜𝗚 three points! 👏 pic.twitter.com/EtcsEdYZS6 — Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) December 2, 2021 Conte’s side were last in action seven days ago for an embarrassing 2-1 defeat against Slovenian … Read more
BEIJING: Li Tie was replaced as China’s coach on Friday after weeks of intense media pressure and speculation, with their hopes of reaching the 2022 World Cup all but over. The former Everton midfielder, 44, quit and has been succeeded by Li Xiaopeng, who had been in charge at Super League side Wuhan FC, the … Read more
WASHINGTON, Dec 1, 2021 (AFP) – Inspired by how birds land and perch on branches, a team of engineers at Stanford University has built robotic graspers that can fit on drones, enabling them to catch objects and grip various surfaces. The advance could allow flying robots to conserve power in situations where they might otherwise be … Read more
DUBAI: French President Emmanuel Macron met His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, on Friday at the start of a two-day Gulf tour with some lucrative deals set to be signed including several for Rafale fighter jets. Read more: France’s Macron … Read more
MADRID: World number two and US Open champion Daniil Medvedev led Russia past Sweden and into a second successive Davis Cup semi-final on Thursday. Medvedev defeated world number 94 Mikael Ymer 6-4, 6-4 to secure the crucial winning point. Russia will on Saturday face Germany for a place in Sunday’s final with Novak Djokovic’s Serbia … Read more
WASHINGTON, Dec 3, 2021 (AFP) – US President Joe Biden announced Thursday a winter campaign against Covid-19, with new testing requirements for travelers and a surge in vaccination efforts as the new Omicron variant threatens to revive the pandemic. Biden has brought steady leadership after the chaotic Donald Trump years, but the mutating coronavirus continues to … Read more
OSLO, Dec 3, 2021 (AFP) – At least 17 people who came down with Covid-19 after a Christmas party gathering over 100 guests in Oslo last week are suspected of having the Omicron variant, city officials said on Friday. “So far 60 people have tested positive (for Covid) with PCR tests, and four with antigen tests. … Read more
KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) may increase the policy rate by 125 basis points to bring it back to the double-digit, analysts said on Friday. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is scheduled to meet on December 14, 2021 to review the economy and decide the policy rate for the next 45 days. The … Read more
KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee plunged to a historic low as the dollar crossed Rs177 at the midday trading in the interbank exchange market on Friday. The local currency declined 88 paisas against the greenback, which is being traded at the historic high of Rs177.30 at midday. The exchange market closed at the historic low of … Read more
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz has said after signing of the Electoral Reforms Bill, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) would now float tenders to select the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM). Addressing the ceremony of signing of the Electoral Reforms Bill 2021, in Islamabad, he said the election commission had already constituted … Read more
RIYADH: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies are likely to achieve an aggregate growth rate of 2.6 per cent in 2021, Arab News quoted the World Bank Gulf Economic Update, as showing on Thursday. The report, titled “Seizing the Opportunity for a Sustainable Recovery”, attributed the rebound to stronger oil prices and the growth of non-oil … Read more
World food prices rose for a fourth straight month in November to remain at 10-year highs, led by strong demand for wheat and dairy products, the UN food agency said on Thursday. The Food and Agriculture Organization’s food price index, which tracks international prices of the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 134.4 points last … Read more
KARACHI: Armed robbers gunned down a man in the Saeedabad area of Karachi during a robbery and stole Rs3 million, Bol News reported on Friday. Read more: Robbers snatch Rs34 mn from family in Lahore The incident took place yesterday, following which its CCTV footage went viral on social media. The footage revealed that the robbers chased … Read more
Five employees of a privately-run hospital were killed and one critically injured on Friday in a road accident in the northern Indian state of Haryana, local media reported. The accident took place near Sadhrana village of Gurugram district on the outskirts of the Indian capital Delhi. “The accident took place around 1:00 a.m. (local time) … Read more
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday termed overseas Pakistanis a precious asset of the country. Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday called on Ayub Khan Afridi, PM’s aide on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development and discussed the issues pertaining to dual nationality with Spain and the issuance of visas to Pakistanis living abroad … Read more
Saudi Arabia and Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group are looking to form an electric vehicles joint venture, in a move that could boost the kingdom’s effort to diversify its economy. The parties aim to sign the deal by the end of 2021, but plans are still subject to change, Bloomberg reported. The majority stakeholder of the joint venture … Read more
ISLAMABAD: Railways Minister Azam Swati on Friday apologised to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for his remarks against the electoral watchdog and the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja. Read more: Azam Swati and Fawad Ch to receive notice from ECP The minister did not attend the hearing in person, but his lawyer, Barrister … Read more
MOSCOW: The longer the prices for natural gas remain at record high levels in Europe this year, the stronger the markets feel that Russian gas should not be seen as a quick fix to the problem, at least not before this winter ends. “Overall gas production in Russia over the three quarters of 2021 was … Read more
At least three civilians and seven Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters have been killed in northern Iraq in an attack blamed on the Islamic State jihadist group, the forces said Friday. The jihadists attacked the village of Khidir Jija, south of Arbil, late Thursday, killing three civilians, a statement said. The peshmerga, Kurdistan’s armed forces, launched … Read more
