This section brings you news reports from around the world, covering global events, politics, economy, and more. Stay informed with the latest international updates and developments.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has granted approval for transportation of 50,000 metric tons of wheat and medicine from India to Afghanistan, citing the goodwill and exceptional humanitarian gesture.
The transportation of wheat and life-saving medicine was allowed from India via the Wagah Border, a statement said on Wednesday.
“As a goodwill gesture towards the brotherly Afghan people, the government of Pakistan has decided to allow the transportation of 50,000 Metric Tonnes of wheat and life-saving medicines from India to Afghanistan via Wagah Border on an exceptional basis for humanitarian purposes,” the Foreign Office said.
The FO said the decision of the government of Pakistan was formally conveyed to the Charge d’ Affaires of India, here at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today.
Facebook at its annual developer conference announced to change the name to Meta. The company said it would better “encompass” what it does, as it broadens its reach beyond social media into areas like virtual reality.
According to BBC, the company, which announced the change at its annual developer conference, said it would better “encompass” what the firm now does. It also revealed plans for a metaverse – an online world where people can game, work and communicate in a virtual environment, often using VR headsets.
The name change follows a series of negative stories about Facebook, based on documents leaked by an ex-employee.
“The metaverse is the next frontier,” Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in a presentation at Facebook’s Connect conference, held virtually on Thursday. “From now on, we’re going to be metaverse-first, not Facebook-first.”
Facebook’s name change is the most definitive signal so far of the company’s intention to stake its future on a new computing platform — the metaverse, an idea born in the imaginations of sci-fi novelists, according to Bloomberg.
In Facebook’s vision, people will congregate and communicate by entering virtual environments, whether they’re talking with colleagues in a boardroom or hanging out with friends in far-flung corners of the world.
KARACHI: Expo 2020 Dubai’s must-see aviation attraction is gearing up to open its doors to the public on October 01, 2021.
Located in the Opportunity District, and within walking distance of the Al Wasl Dome, the Emirates Pavilion offers a preview for the future of commercial aviation, reframing the role that science and technology will play in the next 50 years of air travel, as it welcomes visitors to experience two floors of interactive multi-sensory installations.
From today, visitors to Expo 2020 Dubai can plan their visit to the Emirates Pavilion and book their preferred date and time slots in advance.
Construction on the Emirates Pavilion began in March 2019 and was completed in June 2021. During its design and construction phases, the Emirates Pavilion followed a number of sustainability principles, using non-hazardous, regional, reusable and recyclable materials in its overall structure, and incorporated different design solutions to reduce energy and water consumption.
The Emirates Pavilion’s towering four storey design and façade are modelled around an aircraft’s wings taking flight, with 24 aluminium cladded fins that curve around two sides of the building structure. The Emirates Pavilion’s exterior lighting includes an 800 metre LED system, which illuminates in vibrant colours at night.
The interior’s bright, ultramodern design lets in ample natural light and serves as a backdrop for the immersive experiences, and can welcome 120 people an hour.
KARACHI: Gerry’s dnata, Pakistan’s leading ground services provider, has been awarded a multi-year contract by Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The partnership will see Gerry’s dnata provide quality and safe ground, passenger and cargo handling services to the airline at six airports in Pakistan, including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Multan and Faisalabad.
Syed Haris Raza, CEO of Gerry’s dnata, said: “We are proud to be the ground handler of choice for Gulf Air in Pakistan. We consistently invest in infrastructure, cutting-edge technologies and training to deliver the best possible services for our customers.
“Our new contract is a vote of confidence in our quality offering, and a testament to our team’s hard work and commitment to safety and service excellence. We look forward to a long-standing partnership with the airline.”
In recent years Gerry’s dnata has significantly invested in facilities, equipment, training and technology, while continually expanding its operations in Pakistan. Gerry’s dnata’s investments include a state-of-the-art import cargo centre at Jinnah International Airport (KHI) in Karachi. The 72,000 square feet facility is equipped with the latest technologies ensuring safe and efficient handling and storage of all types of cargo. Offering uncompromised temperature-controlled handling and storage solutions to airline customers, the GDP-certified facility has played a key role in the safe handling of COVID-19 vaccines, rapid test kits and other essential goods.
Gerry’s dnata also expanded its operations at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore (LHE) and opened a new export cargo terminal. The expansion nearly tripled the company’s cargo handling capacity in Lahore, supporting customers and their customers in increasing fruit export from the region.
The excellent quality of Gerry’s dnata’s services is underpinned by the constant growth of its customer base. Having won over 10 new contracts in the past 18 months, Gerry’s dnata now serves over 30 scheduled and unscheduled airline customers at seven Pakistani airports.
Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday started distribution of the largest ever allocation of $650 billion to provide additional liquidity to the global economic system.
Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF made the following statement on Monday:
“The largest allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) in history—about US$650 billion—comes into effect today. The allocation is a significant shot in the arm for the world and, if used wisely, a unique opportunity to combat this unprecedented crisis.
“The SDR allocation will provide additional liquidity to the global economic system – supplementing countries’ foreign exchange reserves and reducing their reliance on more expensive domestic or external debt. Countries can use the space provided by the SDR allocation to support their economies and step up their fight against the crisis.
“SDRs are being distributed to countries in proportion to their quota shares in the IMF. This means about US$275 billion is going to emerging and developing countries, of which low-income countries will receive about US$21 billion – equivalent to as much as 6 percent of GDP in some cases.
“SDRs are a precious resource and the decision on how best to use them rests with our member countries. For SDRs to be deployed for the maximum benefit of member countries and the global economy, those decisions should be prudent and well-informed.
“To support countries, and help ensure transparency and accountability, the IMF is providing a framework for assessing the macroeconomic implications of the new allocation, its statistical treatment and governance, and how it might affect debt sustainability. The IMF will also provide regular updates on all SDR holdings, transactions, and trading – including a follow-up report on the use of SDRs in two years’ time.
“To magnify the benefits of this allocation, the IMF is encouraging voluntary channeling of some SDRs from countries with strong external positions to countries most in need. Over the past 16 months, some members have already pledged to lend US$24bn, including US$15 billion from their existing SDRs, to the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, which provides concessional loans to low-income countries. This is just a start, and the IMF will continue to work with our members to build on this effort.
“The IMF is also engaging with its member countries on the possibility of a new Resilience and Sustainability Trust, which could use channeled SDRs to help the most vulnerable countries with structural transformation, including confronting climate-related challenges. Another possibility could be to channel SDRs to support lending by multilateral development banks.
“This SDR allocation is a critical component of the IMF’s broader effort to support countries through the pandemic, which includes: US$117 billion in new financing for 85 countries; debt service relief for 29 low-income countries; and policy advice and capacity development support to over 175 countries to help secure a strong and more sustainable recovery.”
Google is the first big tech company to announce a vaccine requirement for returning to its offices. The decision may push other tech companies to follow with similar moves.
Google will now require employees who work in its offices to be fully vaccinated and is pushing back its start date for when they need to report back to the office in response to the highly contagious delta variant spreading across the United States and around the world.
Google made the announcement in a note sent to employees from CEO Sundar Pichai on Wednesday.
In it, Pichai says the company has seen high vaccination rates for Google employees so far and that is why it is comfortable in bringing workers back into the office.
Currently, there are some early volunteers who are already working at various Google campuses.
“For those of you with special circumstances, we will soon be sharing expanded temporary work options that will allow you to apply to work from home through the end of 2021,” said Pichai in the note.
In the spring, Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon started rolling out their return-to-office plans which largely involved a hybrid approach — three days of work in the office and two at home, starting for most employees in the fall.
For the most part, wearing masks was not going to be a requirement for vaccinated in-office workers at most companies, and getting vaccines was not mandated. Now the companies’ plans appear to going through another round of revisions.
Apple was the first company to change its fall 2021 return-to-office date, announcing in July that workers would not be required back until October instead of the previously announced date in September.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced to pay $100 for people to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.
New Yorkers, who get their first vaccine dose, starting Friday at a city-run vaccination site will get a $100 incentive, the mayor announced Wednesday.
News reports quoted De Blasio as saying the $100 will make a “big impact, particularly in a world in which more and more things are going to be determined by whether you’re vaccinated or not.”
“We wanted to supercharge it by saying we’ll give you extra, direct personal incentive to get this done now.”
Residents and city employees will receive a $100 prepaid debit card, said Rachel Loeb, president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation.
Residents can immediately redeem the card digitally, or receive a physical debit card.
The incentive is the latest the mayor has announced to get the city vaccinated. De Blasio said Wednesday that 9,902,097 doses have been administered.
Fifty-nine percent of the city’s population has received one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to data from the city, while 54 percent have been fully inoculated.
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On Monday, de Blasio said that all city employees would need to be fully vaccinated or undergo frequent coronavirus testing by September 13.
The mayor said that while vaccine mandates are a “crucial part” of the solution, mandates work well with incentives.
“We’ve talked the last few days about mandates, and there’s no question in my mind that mandates are a crucial part of the solution, and we’ll keep working on those. But we also still believe in incentives. Incentives help immensely. Both go well together,” de Blasio quoted as saying.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed 25 distinguished tax experts from around the world to serve as members of the United Nations Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters for the term 2021 to 2025.
KARACHI: Bitcoin has recovered on Wednesday after witnessed a decline below $30,000 a day earlier.
The bitcoin on Wednesday bounced back above $34,000 mark to trade as high as $34,367 in early morning trading. It last changed hands at $33,641.27, up 3 per cent on the day, according to CNBC.com
Smaller rivals also surged, with ether rising 6 per cent to $2,014 and XRP up 9 per cent at a price of 64 cents. The reason for the moves higher was not clear, but cryptocurrencies are known for their volatility.
Bitcoin had a solid start to the year, rallying to an all-time high of almost $65,000 ahead of crypto exchange Coinbase’s blockbuster debut and as institutional investors appeared to be warming to it.
But the world’s biggest digital coin has been on a roller-coaster ride since, almost halving in value amid a slew of negative news.
In China, authorities have been clamping down on bitcoin mining, the power-intensive process for validating transactions and generating new bitcoins. Over the weekend, Beijing’s crackdown on crypto mining extended to the hydropower-rich Sichuan province.
