ISLAMABAD: The Economic Advisory Council (EAC) on Monday agreed to keep the focus of coming budget on agriculture, export diversification, higher subsidy allocations and to extend construction sector tax amnesty until December 31 to maintain the growth momentum. The second meeting of the EAC presided over by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin deliberated upon six out of 12 expert groups. The …

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Industries on Tuesday urged the National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) to resolve the ex-mill sugar price fixation issue soon as the sweetener is being sold at retail level for Rs100 per kg across the country. The NPMC meeting, chaired by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, was briefed by the ministry regarding the considerable progress made on the …

Pop icon Ariana Grande dropped jaws by secretly marrying Dalton Gomez in an intimate ceremony last month. Insiders have now dished details about the Thank U, Next crooner’s plans to start a family with her real estate agent husband, 25. A source spoke to HollywoodLife and said: “Ariana is not in any rush to get pregnant and have kids with Dalton for at least …

American singer Taylor Swift is gearing up for another project on the silver screens by joining the cast of David O. Russell’s untitled film. The folkore crooner was the latest addition in the star-studded film which has already roped in a number of big names, reported Collider. Swift, 31, will be joining Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, Rami Malek, John David Washington, Zoe …

Renowned singer and songwriter Selena Gomez recently unveiled the international release of her very own cosmetic line Rare Beauty. The singer announced the news over on Rare Beauty’s official Instagram Stories and was quoted saying, “We will be launching internationally on July 1st. this has been an absolute dream of mine. I cannot wait for you to try the collection …

Trevor Noah and Minka Kelly may still have some spark between them as the two lovebirds were recently spotted together. People confirmed that the two were seen spending time together in St. Barts last week after their split. A source shared that while the two are “not officially back together” they are in the process of “figuring things out”. Another source …

VILNIUS: Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said on Tuesday she had asked the United States for further sanctions on individuals and companies supporting the Belarus government. The Biden administration said on Friday it was drawing up a list of targeted sanctions against key members of the Belarusian government following the former Soviet republic’s forced landing of a passenger jet and …

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis updated the Catholic Church’s criminal code on Tuesday, reinforcing penalties for priests who sexually abuse minors, measures long sought by activists against paedophilia. The most comprehensive revision of the Code of Canon Law in nearly 40 years followed a years-long process that was begun under Francis’s predecessor, Benedict XVI, and involved input from canonist and criminal …

GENEVA: Coronavirus variants with clunky, alphanumeric names have now been assigned the letters of the Greek alphabet to simplify discussion and pronunciation while avoiding stigma. The World Health Organisation revealed the new names on Monday amid criticism that those given by scientists to strains such as the South African variant — which goes by multiple names including B.1.351, 501Y.V2 and …

The highly infectious Covid-19 variant first detected in India threatens to rapidly spread in the Asia Pacific region, including areas inhabited by refugees, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said, as it warns of vaccine shortages in the region. UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic, at a press briefing in Geneva, said fragile health systems in many countries in the Asia …