WORLD
Pakistan forex reserves fall to near 3-year low
The foreign reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan dropped by $555 million or 6.6 per cent on a weekly basis due to increased debt payments and a lack of external financing, The News reported. The central bank's data showed reserves plunged to their lowest level since October 2019.
Pakistan's total liquid foreign reserves fell by $648 million or 4.6 per cent to $13.561 billion.
Ukrainian grain ship docks in Turkey after buyer refuses delivery
The Sierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni will unload some of its cargo at the port of Mersin, Turkish news agency DHA reported. The vessel left Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odesa on August 2, carrying about 26,000 tonnes of corn to the port of Tripoli in Lebanon, reports Xinhua news agency.The cargo ship was first inspected off Istanbul by a joint monitoring centre team according to the agreement before heading to Tripoli. However, the Lebanese buyer rejected the cargo, citing the delay in delivery "for more than five months", the Ukrainian embassy in Lebanon said on Monday.
Ukrainian grain ship docks in Turkey after buyer refuses delivery
The Sierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni will unload some of its cargo at the port of Mersin, Turkish news agency DHA reported. The vessel left Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odesa on August 2, carrying about 26,000 tonnes of corn to the port of Tripoli in Lebanon, reports Xinhua news agency.The cargo ship was first inspected off Istanbul by a joint monitoring centre team according to the agreement before heading to Tripoli. However, the Lebanese buyer rejected the cargo, citing the delay in delivery "for more than five months", the Ukrainian embassy in Lebanon said on Monday.
Armed man attempting to breach FBI office killed after standoff
The person attempted to breach the visitor screening facility at the office at around 9.15 a.m. on Thursday, according to a statement from the federal law enforcement agency.The manfled and was encountered by law enforcement officers near Wilmington, where they exchanged gunfire in which he "was shot and is deceased" in the afternoon, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying. The FBI said it is "reviewing this agent-involved shooting". The Ohio State Highway Patrol tweeted troopers and their law enforcement partners "attempted to negotiate with the suspect to bring the standoff to a peaceful end" throughout the afternoon.
Obama Foundation revenues down in 2021 amid pandemic: Report
The foundation's total revenue for 2021 of $160 million, almost all of it from fundraising, only gets it 10 per cent of the way there, dpa news agency reported citing the foundation's annual report, which is traditionally released each August. It was the second lowest revenue total the foundation has recorded since its founding, according to the report. The lowest total was in 2019, when revenues amounted to $139 million. Two years earlier the foundation recorded its highest revenue, $232 million. In its five years of existence, the foundation has notched a total of $866 million in revenues.
Pak preps for 'contingency plan' over TTP's potential resurgence
Although the government has been holding talks with the TTP for months to broker some kind of a deal, prospects of such an agreement are grim, the sources told The Express Tribune. On Wednesday, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif expressed his apprehensions about the success of the talks, while Pakistan's special envoy on Afghanistan Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq had admitted the peace process was at a "nascent stage". With reports of some Taliban fighters being seen in the Swat valley, the authorities concerned are preparing a "contingency plan" to deal with the militant threat in case talks with the TTP collapsed.
300 TikTok, ByteDance employees worked for Chinese state media: Report
LinkedIn profiles of ByteDance and TikTok employees showed them in current roles as content partnerships, strategy, policy, public affairs, monetisation and 'media cooperation', reports Forbes. Profiles of 15 current ByteDance employees revealed they worked at the tech firm and state media outlets simultaneously. According to the report, ByteDance and TikTok did not contest that the 300 LinkedIn profiles represent current employees or deny their connections to Chinese state media.
McDonald's to reopen some branches in Ukraine
It said work would be done in the coming months to restore supply chains and prepare restaurants that were closed at the start of the war on February 24. McDonald's did not give an exact opening date. The political leadership in Kiev reacted promptly to the news. The head of the president's office, Andriy Yermak, posted French fries and hamburger emojis on Twitter along with a Ukrainian flag. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called the reopening plan a "political decision", adding that millions of Ukrainians had been longing for Big Mac.
Report says cash taken by Ashraf Ghani while fleeing Afghanistan did not exceed $1 mn
As per the report, this number did not exceed $1 million and may have been closer in value to $500,000, Tolo News reported. "Although SIGAR found that some cash was taken from the grounds of the palace and loaded onto President Ghani's evacuation helicopters, evidence indicates that this number did not exceed $1 million and may have been closer in value to $500,000. Most of this money was believed to have come from several Afghan government operating budgets normally managed at the palace," the report read, Tolo News reported.
Moscow urges West to facilitate Russian grain export
The package of agreements not only allows grain export from three Ukrainian ports but also stipulates the promotion of Russian food and fertilisers on global markets, which is not implemented, said Ivan Nechaev, Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday. "We expect that all provisions of the food agreements will be implemented in full and Western countries will create the necessary conditions for access of Russian fertilisers and food to global markets," Nechaev told a briefing.
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