BUENOS AIRES: Argentina’s government suffered an embarrassing defeat on Friday, as its 2022 budget was rejected by the parliament, with Economy Minister Martin Guzman insisting this would ‘affect’ its debt renegotiations with the International Monetary Fund. Guzman said the defeat “weakens us as a nation-state within Argentina and before the world. And that hurts us.” The … Read more
ISLAMABAD: Commending Pakistan’s efforts to address the emerging humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, Interim Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi termed the initiative ‘unprecedented’. The Afghan minister, along with a delegation, reached Pakistan on Saturday to attend the 17th Extra-ordinary Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Speaking to … Read more
COLOMBO: International ratings agency Fitch downgraded cash-strapped Sri Lanka on Saturday by one notch to ‘CC’ due to mounting fears of a sovereign default on its $26 billion foreign debt. The downgrade came a day after Sri Lanka reported a 1.5 per cent contraction in the third quarter of this year, as a foreign exchange crisis … Read more
LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on Saturday said that 30 million families in Punjab will be able to benefit from the Naya Pakistan health programme. The chief minister stated that every family will be able to get treatment of up to Rs1 million from any private or government hospital. On December 14, Prime Minister … Read more
PESHAWAR: A candidate of the Awami National Party (ANP) for the post of tehsil mayor in Dera Ismail Khan was shot dead on Friday night near his house. Read more: Jhang assistant commissioner shot dead in Chiniot ANP DI Khan President Omar Khitab Sherani was murdered when he was running an election campaign, said the … Read more
LAHORE: Federal Minister for Water Resources Moonis Elahi has directed the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) to ensure a foolproof security arrangement in collaboration with relevant stakeholders at the site of the Dasu Hydropower Project. Read more: Wapda chief, Chinese envoy discuss Dasu hydropower project Elahi was chairing a meeting of the 4,320-MW project’s … Read more
SAN FRANCISCO, (AFP) – San Francisco’s mayor on Friday declared a state of emergency in a downtown district reeling from a severe spike in fatal drug overdoses driven mainly by fentanyl. The Tenderloin neighborhood, just south of tourist and shopping hotspot Union Square, has emerged as the city’s epicenter of an opioid crisis that has … Read more
PARIS: The coronavirus is once again disrupting global sport, forcing the cancellation of English Premier League matches and the scrapping of a one-day cricket series. AFP Sport looks at the state of play around the world as authorities scramble to cope with the surging pandemic. Football Five of the 10 Premier League matches scheduled for … Read more
LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has stressed the need for devising an economic revival plan after consultation with all the stakeholders, a statement said. Talking to a delegation of Sahiwal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the LCCI office-bearers said the government should treat the private sector as a partner and resolve … Read more
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Pakistan Super League (PSL) has come to an agreement for allowing two additional players in the supplementary category for the seventh instalment of the tournament. Although each franchise can select one international player, however, the agreement opens up the opportunity for the emerging talent within Pakistan to experience franchise … Read more
LAHORE: The Punjab Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP) has approved execution of two development schemes of health and tourism sectors with an estimated cost of Rs947.457 million. These schemes were approved in the PDWP meeting presided over by Planning and Development Board chairman Abdullah Khan Sumbal. The approved development scheme included purchase of linear accelerator … Read more
KARACHI: Leveraging innovation in technology, Telenor Pakistan and Unicef have handed over the digital birth registration (DBR) system to the Sindh government, a statement said. After its successful launch and implementation in three pilot districts, the local government in Sindh is now all set to take over the digital birth registration project and scale it across … Read more
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday said the 17th Extra-ordinary Session of Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on Afghanistan held paramount importance to avert humanitarian crisis in the neighbouring country. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, FM Qureshi said he reviewed all the arrangements regarding the OIC session. … Read more
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has launched the plan and main features of the Jeddah Central Project, previously known as New Jeddah Downtown, with total investments of 75 billion riyal ($19.99 billion), SPA reported on Friday. “The ambitious 75 billion Saudi riyal project will develop 5.7 million square metres of land overlooking the Red … Read more
ISLAMABAD: A day before Pakistan is set to host the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Prime Minister Imran Khan reiterated his call for the world to recognize the emerging humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. In an interview with Al Jazeera, the premier stressed that if the world community does not step in … Read more
ISLAMABAD: The exports of textile commodities witnessed an increase of 28.41 per cent during the first five months of the current fiscal year (2021/22), compared with the corresponding period of the last year and went up over 35 per cent on a year-on-year basis, the latest data of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) revealed. … Read more
ADELAIDE: Steve Smith says he always felt that he had the support of the Australian public after slipping back into the captaincy of the Test team this week, capping a remarkable career revival. In March 2018, Smith was enemy number one in the wake of a ball-tampering scandal that shook cricket. It was a long road … Read more
KARACHI: Engro Elengy Terminal (EETL) chief executive officer Yusuf Siddiqui has underlined the need for expansion of the existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and development of onshore terminals to effectively tackle the prevailing gas crisis in the country. “To curtail the gas crisis, Pakistan must prioritise the expansion of [the] existing terminals under the … Read more
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s holdings of US Treasuries fell to the lowest level in about four years in October, Arab News reported. The kingdom’s stocks of US government debt fell by $8 billion, the most in a year, to $116.5 billion, the lowest level in four years, according to US Treasury Department data. Saudi Arabia was the biggest … Read more
LONDON: Oil prices slid on Friday, heading for a slight decline over the week, on concern curbs to slow the spread of the Omicron variant could hit demand, Arab News reported. Brent crude futures declined 1.5 per cent to $73.88 a barrel at 1.10 p.m. Riyadh time, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 1.4 per … Read more
HERAT: The value of Afghanistan’s currency is tumbling, exacerbating an already severe economic crisis and deepening poverty in a country where more than half the population already doesn’t have enough to eat, AP reported. The afghani lost more than 11 per cent of its value against the US dollar in the space of a day earlier this … Read more
Adidas has teamed up with non-fungible token specialist Bored Ape Yacht Club, cryptocurrency investor Gmoney, and Punks Comic to release its own set of NFTs as the sportswear brand pushes further into the metaverse, Reuters reported. The Adidas Originals NFT collection, which went on sale Friday, provides access to virtual wearables for blockchain-based gaming metaverse The Sandbox. … Read more
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar on Saturday said that the need for coronavirus vaccination had become more urgent with the arrival of the Omicron variant in the country. Read more: NIH confirms Pakistan’s first Omicron case after analysing samples “With [the] arrival of omicron variant the need for vaccination [is] even … Read more
RIYADH: Saudi Aramco has launched a tender for a key engineering, procurement, construction and installation, EPCI contract, to upgrade the world’s largest offshore oilfield Safaniyah. The state-owned company issued the Safaniyah upgrade tender as a part of its long term agreement with offshore contractors, Upstream reported citing two people with direct knowledge of the development … Read more
ISLAMABAD: The federal capital is all set to host the 17th Extra-ordinary Session of Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation tomorrow with a special focus on the evolving situation in Afghanistan. The session is being convened at the initiative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as OIC summit chair. Read more: … Read more
Ras Al-KhairRas Al-KhairRIYADH: The Royal Commission in Ras Al-Khair Industrial City has signed an agreement to establish a SR15 billion ($3.9 billion) industrial complex on the east coast of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Press Agency reported. The three million sq-m complex will provide iron sheets that are used in the manufacture of cars and ships, the commission said … Read more
OSLO: Norway on Friday granted 1 billion Norwegian crowns ($111 million) in support for three projects to produce emissions-free hydrogen and ammonia, aiding a transition to a low-carbon economy, Arab News quoted the government, as saying. The funding will be allocated to projects led by Yara, Tizir Titanium & Iron (TTI) and Horisont Energi, government agency Enova … Read more
Hundreds of prisoners set fire to a Thai jail during a two-day riot over the handling of a coronavirus cluster, with some inmates wounded as officers sought to restore order. Thai prisons are notoriously overcrowded and have struggled to curb the spread of the virus — more than 87,000 inmates have been infected with 185 … Read more
