ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has become exporter of 4G smartphones by sending first-ever shipment tagged ‘Manufactured in Pakistan’ to the United Arab Emirates. The first consignment of 5,500 mobile sets of 4G smartphones manufactured by Inovi Telecom was exported to the UAE on Friday. However, the local manufacturers of mobile phone sets have stressed the need for an export supportive policy, allowing …

ISLAMABAD: Under pressure from rates in international markets, diesel price is likely to go up by Rs2.10 per litre to Rs118.63 per litre from Sunday (today). Sources in the government said the calculations received by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) showed an increase of Rs2.10 per litre in prices of high speed diesel (HSD) for the next fortnight …

KARACHI: Pakistan spends a handsome amount on bringing in auto parts from abroad for the aftermaket every year. However, the imports of completely and semi-knocked down (CKD) kits for the local assembly of cars surged to an all-time high of over $1 billion in FY21. In contrast, the country’s auto parts exports have remained negligible in the last decade. As …

ISLAMABAD: The government will make all-out efforts to address three to four outstanding issues, including tax harmonisation, for securing loans worth over $800 million from the World Bank in the next one month. Pakistan has already received $400m for reforms in tax administration out of a total of $1.2 billion loans of the World Bank, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin told Dawn on …

TOKYO: Nearly two million people were urged to seek shelter as torrential rain triggered floods and landslides in western Japan on Saturday, leaving at least one dead and three missing. Authorities in seven regions, mainly in the northern part of Kyushu island, issued their highest evacuation alert as the weather agency reported unprecedented levels of rain in the area. Under …

ISTANBUL: A firefighting plane from Russia crashed on Saturday in a mountainous area in southern Turkey, killing the eight crew members and emergency workers aboard, Russia’s Defence Ministry said. The Russian ministry said five Russian and three Turkish citizens were on the amphibious Beriev BE-200, which crashed while trying to land in Turkey’s Adana province. A team to investigate the …

KABUL: The Taliban captured a large, heavily defended city in northern Afghanistan on Saturday in a major setback for the government, as the insurgents were approaching the capital less than three weeks before the US hopes to complete its troop withdrawal. The fall of Mazar-i-Sharif, the country’s fourth-largest city, which Afghan forces and two powerful former warlords had pledged to …

MADRID: Spain endured what it expected to be its hottest day of the year on Saturday, with temperatures topping 45 degrees Celsius, while authorities in Italy expanded the number of cities on red alert for health risks to 16 as a heat wave engulfed Southern Europe. In the southern Spanish province of Granada, where the mercury rose to 45.4 Celsius …

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said the scale of natural disasters that have hit Russia this year is “absolutely unprecedented” as local officials ask for Moscow’s help to tackle fires and floods. A former sceptic of man-made climate change, the Russian leader called on authorities to do everything possible to help Siberians affected by the region’s gigantic wildfires, as …

WASHINGTON: In an Independence Day message, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed the hope to continue to work with Pakistan to advance the Afghan peace process. The top US diplomat also underlined 70 years of partnership between the two countries, hoping that this relationship will continue in years to come. “We continue to collaborate to advance the Afghan peace …