ISLAMABAD: The mobile manufacturers have expressed confidence that the new government will streamline a key loophole in the taxation system to promote the local assembly of mobile phone accessories in the country. They have pointed out that this lacuna currently permits the import of finished products at zero rates while imposing heavy taxes on raw materials. The Pakistan Mobile Phone …

KARACHI: Stocks finished the tumultuous three-session election week on a negative note as the ‘unusual delay’ in announcing election results created uncertainty among investors about a smooth return to a stable political government as a result the benchmark KSE 100-share index came under renewed selling pressure settling the short week below 63,000. As Feb 5 was a closed holiday on …

LAHORE: The terms on conditions related to the loan pledged by Beijing for the Pakistan Railways’ flagship project — Main Line-1 (ML-1) — will be finalised by the upcoming government with the Chinese authorities. “Everything, except finalisation of the terms and conditions related to financing/loan by the government, has been completed, as no issue about the project exists at the …

KARACHI: During the past 20 months, Pakistani businessmen and rich individuals have not only been investing heavily in Dubai’s real estate but also establishing export-import trad­ing houses there, said market sources. “This is not a surprise that the Pakistanis have been investing in the real estate of Dubai but important is the establishment of trade and business houses by Pakistanis,” …

PARIS: Tens of millions of people across the world are thought to suffer from long Covid, but four years after the pandemic was declared, this elusive condition still cannot be tested for — let alone treated. However research could be finally starting to find early clues on the trail of long Covid, raising hopes of future breakthroughs that may also …

GAZA STRIP: Six-year-old Hind Rajab pleaded to be rescued, after her family’s car came under fire in war-ravaged Gaza City, leaving her alone, frightened and injured, surrounded by the bodies of her dead relatives. “I am so scared,” she had said in a desperate phone call to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. “Call someone to come get me, please.” But …

DURBAN: Firebrand leftist politician Julius Malema on Saturday accused the ruling ANC of neglecting the country’s ills as he launched the party’s electoral campaign ahead of a hotly contested poll that could cost the ruling party its parliamentary majority. Through the crippling power cuts (locally known as loadshedding) South Africa’s President Cyril “Ramaphosa is continuing to kill our people” he …

BEIRUT: A senior Hamas officer survived on Saturday an Israeli assassination attempt in Lebanon, Palestinian and Lebanese security sources said, with officials reporting two killed in the attack south of Beirut. Israeli forces and the Lebanese movement Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, have traded near-daily fire since Oct 7. But the Israel-Lebanon violence has been largely contained to the border area, …

YANGON: Myanmar’s junta is enforcing a law requiring all men aged 18-35 and women aged 18-27 to serve at least two years under military command, it said on Saturday, as it struggles to crush opposition to its 2021 coup. The country has been in turmoil since the military seized power that year, with massive pro-democracy protests morphing into widespread armed …

DAKAR: Senegal’s political crisis deepened as a second person died on Saturday in increasingly violent protests against President Macky Sall’s decision to postpone upcoming presidential elections. A 23-year-old man died after being shot during clashes in the capital Dakar, two of his relatives said, while a 22-year-old student died on Friday in the northern town of Saint-Louis in still uncertain …