LONDON: Finance ministers from wealthy G7 nations on Friday moved towards supporting US-backed plans for a minimum global level of corporate tax aimed at getting multinationals — especially tech giants — to pay more into government coffers hit hard by the pandemic. British finance minister Rishi Sunak chaired the first of two days of meetings– held in person after an …

WASHINGTON: The conclusion of a classified US intelligence report on the existence of alien unidentified flying objects (UFOs) is inconclusive, US media reported on Friday. Military and intelligence found no evidence that seemingly highly advanced objects sighted by military pilots were alien spacecraft, the report concludes, according to the New York Times and others briefed on it. But it also could not …

Facebook on Friday set its ban on former US president Donald Trump for two years, saying he deserved the maximum punishment for violating platform rules over a deadly attack by his supporters on the US Capitol. The two-year ban will be effective from January 7, when Trump was booted off the platform, and comes after Facebook’s independent oversight board said …

PESHAWAR: The controversy over Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai’s views on marriage echoed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Friday with members of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal urging her family to clarify position on the issue. The issue was raised by PPP lawmaker from Upper Dir district Sahibzada Sanaullah on a point of order. Saying Malala’s interview to the …

MITHI: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Sindh secretary Aajiz Dhamrah has warned of dire consequences if water is not provided to rice cultivation zones of the province and said the country may face a serious food crisis if farmers are not able to cultivate paddy in the absence of water. Dhamrah told media persons here on Friday that functionaries of Pakistan …

LAHORE: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has recommended to the government to eliminate gas subsidies to ward off formation of circular debt and encourage greater participation of the private sector in LNG trade to develop an efficient LNG market to cope with the growing gas shortages in the country. In a special section on LNG sector inserted in its …

LAHORE: The Punjab Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department has unearthed a scam of posting of nurses on the fake Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) recommendation letters allegedly prepared and entertained by a network of officials within the department and hospitals. The department has initially identified that 18 charge nurses (BPS-16) serving at the Kot Khwaja Saeed Hospital and the …

ISLAMABAD: In a resolution, the Sindh Bar Council (SBC) on Friday called upon Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed to consider taking suo motu notice of a ban on prominent journalist and anchor Hamid Mir from hosting his own talk show on Geo News. Issued under the signature of SBC vice chairman and chairman of its executive committee Arif Dawood, the resolution …

ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday completed Rs89.2 billion transactions as the first instalment of payments to 20 independent power producers (IPPSs) from the Rs403bn committed under a settlement agreement with 46 IPPs signed in February. Payment to other IPPs suffered delay as the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had decided to examine the deal. “The government has completed the first payment …

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Friday allowed K-Electric to charge an additional fuel cost adjustment (FCA) of average 26 paisa and 10 paisa per unit in June and July, respectively from its consumers to add about Rs500 million to its revenue. The regulator has worked out the increase in rates on the basis of seven months …