ISLAMABAD: In a major move to facilitate overseas Pakistanis, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Monday dropped all its departmental appeals immediately filed over the last over seven years on the interpretation of law pertaining to availing of exemptions on foreign remittances. The controversy erupted when the FBR’s Inland Revenue Service field formations refused concessions in some situation on …

ISLAMABAD: On the intervention of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to meet international compliance, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has clearly defined the reporting requirements for real estate sector players including brokers, developers and builders recently registered as Designated Non-Financial Business and Professions (DNFBPs). The process has been simplified to facilitate about 22,000 …

NAIROBI: The use of leaded petrol has been eradicated from the globe, a milestone that will prevent more than 1.2 million premature deaths and save world economies over $2.4 trillion annually, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said on Monday. Nearly a century after doctors first issued warnings about the toxic effects of leaded petrol, Algeria — the last country to …

BERLIN: Chancellor Angela Merkel’s struggling would-be heir on Monday hit back at suggestions that a center-left rival is better qualified for the job after a televised debate four weeks ahead of Germany’s election failed to give him a clear breakthrough. Armin Laschet, the chancellor candidate from Merkel’s center-right Union bloc, insisted that he was not at all frustrated by a …

BRUSSELS: The EU plans to bolster financial aid to Afghanistan’s neighbours and head off “uncontrolled large-scale illegal migration” after the Taliban’s takeover, according to a draft statement. Interior ministers from the 27-nation group meet in Brussels on Tuesday for emergency talks as they seek to avoid a repeat of the 2015 migrant crisis that saw over one million people enter …

PARIS: The world passed the grim threshold of 4.5 million Covid-19 deaths on Monday as the virulent Delta variant wreaked havoc globally. Since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, the virus has killed a total of 4,500,620 people, the tally of official sources revealed. Some 10,000 deaths are reported every day in the world, a much lower figure …

Several children were among at least six civilians who were killed in a US drone strike targeting a suspected suicide bomber in Kabul on Sunday, international media reported. The US has said it is “investigating” reports of civilian deaths. Witnesses told Al Jazeera that the airstrike launched to destroy a car said to be laden with explosives killed six civilians, including at least three children. …

The Taliban’s spokesman says they will crack down on the the militant Islamic State (IS) group’s attacks and expects them to end once foreign forces leave the country. “We hope that those Afghans who are influenced by IS […] will give up their operations on seeing the formation of an Islamic government in the absence of foreigners,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah …

WASHINGTON: The United States said on Monday it had completed the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan following a chaotic airlift nearly 20 years after it had invaded the country in the wake of the Sept 11, 2001, attacks. More than 122,000 people have been flown out of Kabul since Aug 14, the day before the Taliban regained control of …

NAIROBI: The use of leaded petrol has been eradicated from the globe, a milestone that will prevent more than 1.2 million premature deaths and save world economies over $2.4 trillion annually, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said on Monday. Nearly a century after doctors first issued warnings about the toxic effects of leaded petrol, Algeria — the last country to …