HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Sorry, Houston! Your drive in the Galleria area is about to cause you some serious delays (and maybe a few headaches, too!) Starting next week, two of the ramps to I-610 that are already sore spots for drivers are going to shut down for a while. US-59 northbound ramp to I-610 West Loop northbound On Thursday, …

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) surpassed its collection target by 7.82 per cent to hit Rs386 billion in May, the third highest collection in the second half of the current fiscal year (FY21), provisional data collected by the tax authorities on Monday showed. May has emerged as the third consecutive month when the FBR revenue collection surpassed the …

MUMBAI: India’s economy contracted 7.3 per cent in 2020-21, official data showed on Monday, its worst recession since independence as coronavirus lockdowns put millions out of work. Asia’s third-largest economy grew by 1.6pc between January and March — the fourth fiscal quarter — after exiting its first “technical recession” since 1947 following two successive quarters of contraction. About 230 million …

American actress Emma Stone portrays  Disney’s most iconic villains in her new movie Cruella that is garnering a lot of rave reviews after it was premiered over the past weekend. The 32-year-old actress seems to be over the moon as the movie is at the centre of discussion on social media.  Some of her fans broached the topic of Cruella’s dark storyline …

ISLAMABAD: The government on Monday kept the prices of petroleum products unchanged for next 15 days. “The prime minister has decided to maintain the prices of petroleum products as they were on May 17th, 2021,” the petroleum ministry announced. The government has not increased the prices since April 16, and maintained them by adjusting sales tax and petroleum levy so …

LAHORE: Pakistan’s real effective exchange rate (REER) hit 32-month high at 103.3 in April, posting a change of 2.8 per cent from the previous month’s level of 100.5, the central bank reported on Monday. The REER index has been increasing since January, when it dropped to 95.2 from 96.3 in December 2020, on the back of an appreciation of 3.4pc …

GWADAR: After becoming fully operational, the Gwadar Port and Gwadar Free Zone (GFZ) would generate economic activities of around $10 billion per annum, besides creating thousands of new jobs, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority Chairman retired Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa said on Monday. “Soon after the completion of GFZ, a lot of manufacturing and trading activities will start, cargoes …

COPENHAGEN: France warned on Monday that alleged US spying on European allies using Danish underwater cables would be “extremely serious” if confirmed, as questions mounted over whether Denmark knew what the US was doing. In an investigative report on Sunday, Danish public broadcaster Danmark’s Radio (DR) and other European media outlets said the US National Security Agency (NSA) had eavesdropped on Danish …

LONDON: Britain on Monday announced plans to accelerate its relocation of Afghan staff who worked with the military and their families ahead of a planned withdrawal of US-led Nato forces. Under Britain’s relocation scheme for former and current Afghan staff, many of whom served as translators, over 1,300 workers and their families have been brought to the UK. More than …

Gunmen kidnapped scores of children from an Islamic seminary in central Nigeria, officials said, the latest mass abduction to hit Africa’s most populous nation. Some 200 children were at the school in Niger state on Sunday during the attack, the local government tweeted, adding “an unconfirmed number” were taken. The abduction came a day after 14 students from a university in northwestern …