MADRID: Spain’s fragmented parliament gave final approval on Tuesday to the biggest budget in the country’s history, with billions of euros from EU’s huge Covid-19 recovery fund. Passage of the 2022 spending plan boosts the chances that Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s minority government will survive until the end of its mandate in late 2023. Lawmakers … Read more
TUNIS: Debt-ridden Tunisia unveiled a 2022 budget on Tuesday that will see it borrow almost $7 billion more, as it seeks to stimulate an economy battered by the coronavirus pandemic. The 2022 finance law boosts spending by over 3 per cent on a year-on-year basis to 57.3 billion dinars ($19.8 billion, 17.6 billion euros), Finance Minister … Read more
FRANKFURT: On the 23rd floor of the European Central Bank’s towering Frankfurt headquarters, on the other side of a security door, anti-counterfeiting experts are poring over some of the best fake banknotes in the eurozone. The room, off limits to outsiders, at first glance recalls a high school science lab, an unusually well-equipped one. Lined up … Read more
PARIS, Dec 29, 2021 (AFP) – France said Wednesday that nightclubs would remain closed for a further three weeks, after nearly 180,000 new Covid cases smashed the record for daily cases since the pandemic began. The roughly 1,600 clubs were ordered shut on December 6 for four weeks as officials hoped to avoid a wave of … Read more
Family is expected to love you and care for you when you go through your good times and bad. One cannot even imagine they might be the antagonist in your life. If something like this happens, it takes time to not only deal with the issue but to even accept it. Britney did come to … Read more
FRANKFURT: Twenty years after arriving in Europeans’ wallets, euro banknotes will get a new look with help from the public, a process officials hope will make citizens feel closer to the single currency. But the Austrian artist behind the original banknotes fears the redesign could spark national rivalries, something he painstakingly tried to avoid with neutral … Read more
President Arif Alvi condoled with the United States on the death of former Democratic Party senator Harry Reid. “Would like to condole the death of senator Harry Reid. He was a very good friend of Pakistan,” tweeted President Arif Alvi. Would like to condole the death of Senator Harry Reid. He was a very good … Read more
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday dismissed a petition challenging the appointment of the Lahore region Director-General (DG) National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on being non-maintainable. A citizen, Ayub Khawar, had filed a petition against the appointment of NAB Lahore region DG Jamil Ahmed, a retired federal secretary hired on a one-year contract. Read … Read more
Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid on Wednesday claimed that Prime Minister Imran Khan would eradicate inflation in the fifth year of his tenure. Addressing the media in Rawalpindi today, he said that eradicating poverty was the government’s top agenda. Mini-budget would be passed in every condition he emphasised and said that it was necessary to control … Read more
STOCKHOLM: Swedish battery group Northvolt said on Wednesday it has launched construction of a ‘gigafactory’ in Sweden, the first of its kind to be undertaken by a European company on the continent. Intended to compete with the United States’ Tesla and Asian producers of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, the factory located in Skelleftea in northern … Read more
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday once again extended stay order against the show-cause notices of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) issued to several sugar mills owned by politicians of the ruling and opposition parties, for alleged violation of laws to monopolise the commodity. SW Sugar Mills, Gojra Samundari Sugar Mills and … Read more
MUMBAI: Apple said on Wednesday it has put the Indian plant of its main supplier “on probation” after a mass food poisoning and protests over workers’ living conditions. Some 250 women working at Foxconn’s iPhone factory in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu were treated for food poisoning this month, 159 of whom were hospitalised. … Read more
TOKYO: Japan’s industrial production surged a record 7.2 per cent in November compared to the previous month, with auto output rebounding from a decline triggered by a global semiconductor shortage and supply chain disruptions, government data revealed on Tuesday. The seasonally adjusted production index for factories and mines stood at 97.7 against the 2015 base … Read more
KABUL, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) — The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has provided medical supplies to over 1,000 health facilities in Afghanistan last month, the organization announced on Wednesday. “Over 1,000 health facilities were provided with medical supplies. These services are a lifeline for millions of children and mothers,” the agency wrote on social media … Read more
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) — Malaysia reported another 2,897 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Tuesday, bringing the national total to 2,746,833, according to the health ministry. Another 192 cases are imported, with 2,705 being local transmissions, data released on the ministry’s website showed. Twenty-three more deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll … Read more
BEIRUT: Lebanon is mired in an economic crisis branded by the World Bank as one of the worst in modern times, but officials are yet to strike an international bailout deal. The financial meltdown began in 2019, and Lebanon defaulted on its debt last year. Politicians have failed to enact significant reforms to rescue the Mediterranean … Read more
MANILA: The Philippines has lifted a four-year ban on new open-pit mines, an official said on Wednesday, in a bid to revitalise the country’s coronavirus-battered economy slammed by activists as “short-sighted”. The move sees the Philippine government reverse a ban imposed in 2017, when the then-environment minister blamed the sector for widespread ecological damage. Manila has … Read more
ISTANBUL: Turkish doctoral student Gulfer Ulas saw the first edition of her favourite Thomas Mann collection published for 33 liras. She found the second print of the same two-volume set selling months later at her Istanbul book shop for 70 liras (about $6 at the latest exchange rate). The jump exemplifies the debilitating unpredictability of Turkey’s … Read more
HANOI: Vietnam reported economic growth of just 2.58 per cent on Wednesday, beating a 30-year low set last year, as the pandemic continues to take a toll. The communist state has long been a success story among the Asian economies, posting a growth of 7 per cent in 2019. But shutdowns caused by the coronavirus have … Read more
MELBOURNE: David Warner has hinted he is keen for one last Ashes tour in 2023 to make amends for his failed campaign in England two years ago, drawing inspiration from veteran seamer Jimmy Anderson. The explosive Australian opener would be approaching 37 should he retain his place that long and in all likelihood would have … Read more
KARACHI: The Pakistan bourse opened on a bullish note as the KSE-100 index witnessed an increase of 56.59 points, or 0.13 per cent, in the first hour of trading on Wednesday. The Pakistan stocks managed to close in a green territory as the global crude oil prices rose amid limited impact of Omicron virus on … Read more
KARACHI: Pakistani rupee recovered 4 paisas against the dollar in early trade at the interbank foreign exchange market on Wednesday. The dollar is being traded at the historic high of Rs178.15 at the opening of the interbank market. The exchange rate ended as the local currency hit a historic low of Rs178.19 on Tuesday December … Read more
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has claimed that the opposition parties did not have the guts and prowess to overthrow the present democratically-elected government with their so-called protest movement. Replying to questions during the media briefing on the decisions of the federal cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday, … Read more
WhatsApp is an instant messaging tool used by millions of individuals every day to stay in touch, whether through messages, calls, voice notes, video calls, images, or other means. Because this medium is utilised to solve personal concerns, job, school, and other things, this tool has become a vital part of many people’s life. We’ll … Read more
Rupee’s free-fall continues as dollar hits new high of Rs178.19 KARACHI: The free-fall in the rupee value continued on Tuesday, as the dollar hit a new record high of Rs178.19 at the closing of the interbank foreign exchange market, dealers said. –SHAHNAWAZ AKHTER Read more PDWP approves 4 uplift projects worth Rs3.40 billion LAHORE: The … Read more
The National Institute of Health (NIH) has confirmed a total of 79 cases of Omicron across the country, claiming that it has also isolated the patients and initiated contact tracing to control the spread of the variant. Read more: NIH confirms Pakistan’s first Omicron case after analysing samples An NIH statement issued by the institute … Read more
MIAMI: The USA v Ireland one day international cricket series scheduled for this week has been cancelled over Covid-related concerns, USA Cricket said Tuesday. The federation had already cancelled one of the three scheduled matches, but had hoped to play the remaining two on Wednesday and Thursday. “While all players in both current playing squads have returned negative Covid … Read more
Latest Gold Rate in Kuwait today Per 10 Gram – Check live international gold rates in Kuwait 24K/ounce US$ Dollar, and its converted prices in gold 24K per 10 gram and gold 22K per 10 gram. The rate of 24 karat/gramme increased to KWD 17.68 from the previous day’s KWD 17.56. Similarly, the rate of 22 karat … Read more
