News Update

  Joe Biden, a fixture in US politics for a half century as a senator and vice president, has completed a long climb to the political summit that included two previous failed presidential bids by defeating President Donald Trump. When he enters the White House on January 20, Biden, at the age of 78, will be the oldest person ever to assume the office. His views about Pakistan intrigue the most. Unlike Trump’s scepticism about Pakistan’s role in the US war on terror, Biden has historically looked upon Pakistan as a strategic regional ally. During his tenure as the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), Biden, along with Senator Richard Lugar, promulgated the Enhanced Partnership Act with Pakistan 2008. Their efforts to strengthen the US-Pakistan relationship later culminated in the famous Kerry-Lugar-Berman Act 2009 after Senator Kerry became the Chairman of SFRC. The main aim of Biden’s effort was to improve the political and economic situation in Pakistan for regio

  Police in Islamabad arrested an employee of a leading Pakistani bank after a video of him caught groping a female colleague went viral on social media. Islamabad DIG operation shared on Twitter that the culprit Usman Gohar had been taken into custody. He has also been fired from his job by the bank and raids are being conducted to arrest him, he added in another Twitter post.  Faysal Bank also released an official statement confirming that Gohar had been let go in, as well as, denying that he was branch manager.   The footage, in which Gohar can be seen inappropriately touching a female employee near his desk went viral on social media with netizens calling for ouster.  Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari also lauded the swift action taken by the Islamabad Police in his arrest.   Harassment against women at the workplace is pervasive in the country despite the government enacting laws to tackle the issue.

  Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi shared a heartfelt note of appreciation for his daughters on Friday. Taking to his Instagram, the popular personality said he considers them "the most wonderful gift of Allah" in his life. "Didn't get to spend much time with my other daughters especially when they were growing up; feel blessed that now I have the time to see Arwa grow," he wrote, along with photos of his youngest daughter. "May Allah bless her and protect her as well as children all around," the former cricket all-rounder continued. Afridi is a father to five daughters, all of whom he showers with love quite often judging from his frequent posts about them on social media. Arwa, the baby daughter he is posing in the pictures with, was born on February this year and is the latest addition to the family. Afridi's remaning daughters are named Aqsa, Ansha, Ajwa, and Asmara — and the cricketer had revealed this information while invitating his fan

  Maya Ali recently shared an emotional message for her mother on Instagram. The actor expressed how she considers her mother a "superwoman" for whom she wants to provide every single moment of peace. On Friday, Ali uploaded an adorable picture posing alongside her mother and wrote: "My  jan , my life, my strength. I wish I could find the words to write about you Amma (mother). I hope I have been able to be a good daughter." The actor, in her heartfelt tribute went on to say that she exists because of her mother and was nothing without her. "If I have achieved anything in life so far, it’s all just because of your prayers," she said, adding: "I am sorry if I don’t pick up your call when I am at a shoot, I am sorry if I don’t give you proper time as you have sacrificed your life to raise your kids." Ali also confessed she regretted not being able to give her mother even 1 percent of what she had done for her. " Allah app ka saya hum pe hamesh

  BEIJING: China’s exports posted strong growth again last month, extending an upward trend on the back of a consumption rebound among its major trading partners, official data showed Saturday. Inbound shipments, however, cooled after a surge in September - with analysts expecting that a drop in import prices weighed on headline numbers. Although the coronavirus pandemic has battered countries worldwide, foreign trade in the world’s second-largest economy fared better than expected, buoyed by healthcare shipments. Exports rose 11.4% on-year in October, customs data showed, better than the 8.9% growth predicted by a Bloomberg poll of economists. This marks the fastest pace since March last year, supporting China’s economic recovery after lockdowns this year to curb the spread of Covid-19. Imports, meanwhile, grew 4.7%, short of the 8.8% on-year rise expected. The customs administration said Saturday that China’s exports of mechanical and electrical products rose in the first 10 months,

  LONDON: Oil rose on Monday, with Brent topping $40 a barrel, after Joe Biden clinched the US presidency and buoyed risk appetite, and the Saudi oil minister said an OPEC+ deal on output cuts could be adjusted to offset rising supply and weak demand. Brent crude had climbed $1.28, or 3.2%, to $40.73 a barrel by 1116 GMT and US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $38.40, up $1.26, or 3.4%. “Oil prices surged on Monday benefiting from a risk-on stance and a weaker US dollar driven by Joe Biden becoming president-elect,” said Giovanni Staunovo, oil analyst for UBS. Biden will convene a coronavirus task force on Monday to examine the number one problem confronting him when he takes office in January. Oil prices remain under pressure by renewed lockdown measures in Europe aimed at containing a rise in Covid-19 cases. Keisuke Sadamori, International Energy Agency (IEA) Director for Energy Markets and Security, told Reuters the new lockdowns appear set to push the outlook for global oil dem

  KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) exhibited a turnaround on Monday as the KSE-100 index rose over 200 points in intraday trading before giving up most of the gains and closing with a meagre increase of 52 points. Market players took positive cue from international equities and oil markets. During the day, Brent crude climbed $1.28, or 3.2%, to $40.73 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $38.40, up $1.26, or 3.4%. While investors cheered clarity in the US presidential election where Joe Biden was declared winner, overall sentiment remained mixed as market players were concerned over rising cases of coronavirus in the country and globally. Earlier, the market opened on a positive note and touched the intra-day high within minutes but battered sentiment over the second wave of Covid-19 dragged the index into negative territory later. However, the index still managed to recover and close with a slight gain. At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increa

  ISLAMABAD: Domestic gas production has finally started coming down in a significant way. There are slim chances that in the short term, it may go up, although some improvement may be possible in the medium to long term. Imported gas, either in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG) or piped gas, may take two years. And there are transmission issues as well. New infrastructure in this respect will take two to three years to implement. Thus, consumers are in for gas shortage for the next two to three years. What are the options for consumers and how the government can facilitate those options is our subject in this space. Rich (including the higher middle class) have potentially many choices. Ironically, the rural poor are not affected by the gas crisis, as they are not the users or beneficiaries of piped gas. Only 20% or so of the households in Pakistan have access to piped gas as against electricity for 80%. There may be questions in the numbers for electricity, though. Poor rely on

  SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA: Samsung may launch its flagship Galaxy S smartphones more than a month earlier than expected in a bid to grab market share from Huawei and fend off competition from Apple, three sources familiar with the matter said. Huawei once challenged Samsung’s top position in the global smartphone market, but the Chinese rival is in survival mode with US restrictions choking off its supplies of chips used in smartphones and telecom equipment. TikTok tests 'Learn' feed encouraged by growing interest in educational videos South Korean chip industry officials hope Joe Biden’s presidency will ease some of those restrictions, although they are far from certain as they also expect the incoming US administration to maintain a tough stance on China. Samsung is preparing to launch its new Galaxy S21 as early as late January next year, whereas it previously launched its flagship S20 phone in early March this year, the sources said, asking not to be identified because the plan

  Think Michelangelo vs Da Vinci. Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Batman v Superman. Another epic rivalry is rejoined this week when Sony and Microsoft go head-to-head with the next generation of their blockbuster video-game consoles. Sony, whose PlayStation 5 (PS5) takes on Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and Series S, is widely viewed as being in pole position to capitalise on a pandemic-driven boom in consumer spending that has buoyed the $150 billion video game industry. The Japanese company’s deep bench of games and broader fan base - it has sold over 100 million PS4s, winning the battle of the previous generation - should see it retain its edge over its American archrival, according to industry experts. “People who own Xbox tend to buy the new Xbox, while people who own PlayStation tend to buy the new PlayStation,” said Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter. Yet the industry is changing and cloud gaming is on the rise, allowing games to be streamed without bulky hardware. This could

  NEW DELHI: Global tech giant Google on Friday criticised India’s move to cap the share of transactions some companies within the country’s digital payments space can account for, saying it would hinder the nation’s burgeoning digital payments economy. Google’s criticism came after India’s flagship payments processor the National Payments Corp of India (NPCI) on Thursday said third-party payments apps, from January1, will not be allowed to process more than 30% of the total volume of transactions on state-backed United Payments Interface (UPI) framework, which facilitates seamless peer-to-peer money transfers. The move will likely stymie the growth of payments services offered by Facebook, Alphabet's  Google, and Walmart, while boosting the likes of Reliance's  Jio Payments Bank and SoftBank backed Paytm, which are armed with bank permits. More than 2.07 billion UPI transactions were processed in October, according to NPCI, with Walmart’s PhonePe accounting for just over 40% o

  SEATTLE: Richard Branson’s Virgin Hyperloop has completed the world’s first passenger ride on a super-high-speed levitating pod system, the company said on Sunday, a key safety test for technology it hopes will transform human and cargo transportation. Virgin Hyperloop executives Josh Giegel, its Chief Technology Officer, and Sara Luchian, Director of Passenger Experience, reached speeds of up to 172 km per hour at the company’s DevLoop test site in Las Vegas, Nevada, the company said. “I had the true pleasure of seeing history made before my very eyes,” said Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman of Virgin Hyperloop and Group Chairman and Chief Executive of DP World. TikTok tests 'Learn' feed encouraged by growing interest in educational videos Los Angeles-based Hyperloop envisions a future where floating pods packed with passengers and cargo hurtle through vacuum tubes at 966 kph or faster. In a hyperloop system, which uses magnetic levitation to allow near-silent travel, a tri

  Aiming to empower women entrepreneurs in Pakistan along with giving their businesses international exposure, Karachi-based startup CIRCLE brought “She Loves Tech back” to Pakistan once again. The world’s largest startup competition for women in technology has been welcomed in the country for the fourth time. "She Loves Tech Pakistan National Finals", an online event began November 6-7 in which 14 female-led startups presented their innovative ideas to the world. Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) joined hands to sponsor the event. Participants from 10 Pakistani cities, including Gilgit, Quetta, Multan, and Faisalabad, entered the contest, breaking previous records. Touching upon the importance of promoting women’s participation in science and technology, CIRCLE’s founder Sadaffe Abid said that “investing in women is critical to progression in the country”. She said that event aims to build a platform to support female startups that