FundayForum
Register
Forum Blogs Gallery Files Poetry Books
Portal Facebook YouTube Twitter
👀 You are watching:
Jump to content
👉 Click here to explore Remote Jobs, Work From Home & Global News – USA 🇺🇸 | UK 🇬🇧 | Canada 🇨🇦 | Pakistan 🇵🇰 ×
🚫 Guest Access Notice ×
LIVE UPDATES

Waqas Dar

🔥 Admin/Core Authority
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    11,279

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    552

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Waqas Dar

  1. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired on Tuesday a high-level meeting in which his upcoming visit to China and the notification on the matter of Dawn Leaks came under discussion.
    High–level sources revealed that PM presided over the session at the PM House in the capital.
    In the session, important matters pertaining to national and political issues were talked about. The meeting was attended by federal ministers, advisers, and special assistants.
    Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique, Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan and others were also present.
    According to sources, matters related to the upcoming PM’s visit to China from May 12 to attend the One Belt conference were part of the discussion.
    The issue of Dawn Leaks report and its recommendations were also taken up during the meeting.


  2. Waqas Dar
    Geo Pakistan has successfully completed one year as the flagship morning news programme for Geo News. Hosts Huma Amir Shah and Abdullah Sultan celebrated this first milestone with the team.
    Covering news ranging from politics, crime, corruption, social issues, business, sport, cinema and film industry and much more Geo Pakistan has consciously made an effort to change the stereotypical image morning shows in Pakistan had developed. The perfect fusion of news and entertainment it gives a platform to stories that would otherwise not make it to the forefront.
    A pioneer in its own right Geo Pakistan appreciates all the support it has received and aims to continue this journey reaching new heights.


  3. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange ended Tuesday on a positive note with the benchmark KSE-100 index experiencing an increase of 137 points. The index closed at 51,073 points. 
    During the session, 191 million shares worth an estimated Rs 17.4 billion were traded. 
    The index continues to experience all-time highs and on Monday closed at 50,935 points. The market closed up by 1,083 points with 326 million shares worth Rs 20 billion changing hands.
     
     


  4. Waqas Dar
    WASHINGTON: Former US President Bill Clinton is working with best-selling suspense writer James Patterson on a novel called "The President is Missing," which will be published in June 2018, the publishers said on Monday.
    The book will be "a unique amalgam of intrigue, suspense and behind-the-scenes global drama from the highest corridors of power," publishers Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and Hachette Book Group said in a statement.
    Clinton said he had been a fan of Patterson for years and has enjoyed working with him.
    "Working on a book about a sitting president – drawing on what I know about the job, life in the White House, and the way Washington works – has been a lot of fun," Clinton said in a statement.
    Patterson, known for his novels featuring the psychologist Alex Cross and for the "Women's Murder Club" series, said working with Clinton was the highlight of his career.
    "I'm a story-teller, and President Clinton's insight has allowed us to tell a really interesting one," he said in a statement.
    "It's a rare combination," he added. "Readers will be drawn to the suspense, of course, but they'll also be given an inside look into what it's like to be president."


  5. Waqas Dar
    Taimur Ali Khan has not been an ordinary kid as he became an internet sensation just within hours of his birth.
    Because, when you’re the child of the gorgeous Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan, everyone definitely just can't get over you.
    While pictures of Taimur Ali Khan have been viral on the internet since his birth, this time another picture has gone viral and for all the good reasons.
    The adorable picture of the little munchkin which surfaced online has left the internet in awe of it. 
    In the picture, little Taimur has an oversized cap turned sideways while he sits snug in a pram and the internet can’t stop gushing over this cute picture
    Even though it's his solo picture, he can be seen chilling in the stroller wearing a really cute cap.

     
     


  6. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD:  Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has accepted the invitation of the Custodian of Two Holy Mosques to attend the upcoming US-Arab and Islamic Summit in Riyadh, the PM’s Office said Tuesday.
    Saudi Arabia’s Minister for Information and Culture Dr Awwad Bin Saleh Al-Awwad extended the invitation to the Prime Minister in a meeting held here at the PM House.
    The visiting minister is the special envoy of the Custodian of Two Holy Mosques to extend invitation on the latter’s behalf.


  7. Waqas Dar
    SINGAPORE: Emmanuel Macron´s victory in the French presidential election is "good news" for trade-reliant Asia as it eases fears of rising protectionism in Europe, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Tuesday.
    Changyong Rhee, director of the fund´s Asia and Pacific Department, said Macron´s win over far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, an economic nationalist, had made him more optimistic that major trade tensions would ease.
    "If you asked me this question (on rising protectionism) three to six months ago, I would probably have answered that I am very seriously concerned on the possibility of trade tensions in the global economy," he told reporters in Singapore.
    "But now I feel a little bit better," he added, citing a meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping last month and Macron´s victory on Sunday.
    "I think the result of the French elections really show that it´s good news to open trade and globalisation, and it reduces the uncertainties of the eurozone," Rhee said.
    "So I think at this moment I am a little bit more optimistic that these trade tensions will resolve without bigger tensions."
    The IMF´s latest economic outlook had flagged increasing protectionism in Asia´s major trading partners and tightening global financial conditions as key downside risks to regional growth.
    "Asian economies are particularly vulnerable to trade shocks... given the reliance of many Asian economies on exports, more protective trade policies would generate a significant negative impact on the region," said the report issued last month.
    It said the Asia-Pacific was expected to remain the world´s fastest growing region this year and next, at 5.5 percent and 5.4 percent, but growth was "clouded with significant uncertainty".


  8. Waqas Dar
    BANGKOK: At least 40 people were injured Tuesday when a double bombing hit a town in Thailand's insurgency-plagued south, police said, the latest suspected rebel attack to undermine stalled peace efforts.
    The Muslim-majority border region has seethed with violence for over a decade as ethnic Malay insurgents battle the Buddhist-majority state for more autonomy.
    The latest attack struck the town of Pattani around 2pm, with two bombs going off in quick succession outside a supermarket near the city centre.
    "The first bomb was small and no one was hurt but the second bomb was huge – I don't know yet whether it's a car bomb or not," Captain Preecha Prachumchai of Pattani provincial police told AFP.
    "Currently around 40 people have been wounded: one is in serious condition," he said.
    Pictures posted by rescue workers on Twitter showed a thick plume of black smoke over the supermarket car park and some damage to the store entrance.
    Near-daily shootings and bomb attacks have claimed more than 6,800 lives since 2004, with both sides accused of rights abuses and atrocities.


  9. Waqas Dar
    MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday warned Russia could defeat any aggressors but insisted that the world come together to fight "terrorism" as Moscow marked 72 years since victory in World War II.
    Soldiers and military hardware paraded across Red Square in Moscow as the country held its annual pomp-filled celebration of the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.
    "The lessons of past war force us to remain alert and the armed forces of Russia are capable of warding off any potential aggression," Putin said as he presided over the parade.
    "Today life itself requires us to increase our defensive capability, but for an effective fight against terrorism, extremism, neo-Nazism and other threats it is necessary to consolidate the whole international community."
    The Kremlin strongman insisted that Russia was "open for such cooperation" and that Moscow would "always be on the side of the forces of peace and with those who choose the path of equal partnership."
    Under Putin, celebrations of the Soviet Union´s immense sacrifice in World War II has become a key rallying point for society with authorities fiercely seeking to control the historical narrative.
    "This monstrous tragedy was not prevented primarily because the criminal ideology of racial superiority was tolerated, because of the disunity of the world´s leading countries," Putin said.
    There "is no, there was no, and there will be no force that can conquer our people," he added.
    Clouds scupper airshow
    "We will never forget that the freedom of Europe and long-awaited peace across the planet was won namely by our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers."
    The Victory Day military parade is also a major chance for Putin to showcase Russia´s military might as the country has poured vast sums into bolstering its forces.
    In a hiccup, however, organisers said they were forced to cancel the traditional fly-by of helicopters and warplanes over Red Square due "adverse weather conditions" as heavy clouds covered Moscow.
    As soldiers paraded in cities across the country, Moscow´s forces at its Hmeimim air base in Syria also held a ceremony.
    Russia has been pushing for the West to join forces with it in Syria to battle "terrorism" but has faced fierce criticism for backing leader Bashar al-Assad.
    Ties between Russia and the West have slumped to their lowest point since the Cold War over the crisis in Ukraine, where Moscow seized the Crimea peninsula and has backed insurgents in a bloody conflict.


  10. Waqas Dar
    NEW DELHI: The National Basketball Association (NBA) opened its first academy in India on Tuesday, hoping the facility on the outskirts of Delhi will trigger the game´s growth in a country obsessed with cricket.
    "The opening of our first academy in India is an important milestone in the NBA´s efforts to grow basketball in India and demonstrates our commitment to developing talent and shaping the game´s future here," NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum said in a statement.
    It follows the launch of academies in Hangzhou, Jinan and Urumqi in China and in Thies in Senegal.
    The NBA´s plans also include launching a global academy in Canberra.
    A total of 21 male players are to receive NBA-level coaching and scholarship at the academy.
    The number of international players in the NBA has been increasing, with a record 113 on opening night rosters for the 2016-17 season.
    The NBA has an Indian owner in Sacramento Kings Vivek Ranadive, who was born in Mumbai, but a player to galvanize a fan base has yet to arrive.
    Satnam Singh Bhamara, the son of a farmer, became the first Indian to be drafted into the NBA when the Dallas Mavericks used the 52nd pick on the 7-foot-2-inch centre in 2015.


  11. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday restored the petition of Hashim Ali Bhutta seeking disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan.
    The ECP resumed the hearing of the case regarding disqualification of the PTI chief and ordered Imran Khan to submit his reply till May 23.
    The petitioner Hashim Ali Bhutta, in his plea, had said that Imran Khan did not mention his Bani Gala residence and London flats in his asset declaration.
    The petition had also stated that the PTI chief failed to abide by Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution.
    The ECP had earlier dismissed the petition because the petitioner had failed to appear at the hearing.
    In a hearing on Monday, Chief Election Commissioner Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan ruled that the ECP had the jurisdiction to continue with the PTI-foreign funding case and rejected the party’s petition challenging its authority.
    The ECP adjourned the hearing – which includes the matter of contempt of court as well – till May 17, adding that this was PTI’s last chance.


  12. Waqas Dar
    BOSTON: When the Masjid Al-Kareem mosque in Providence, Rhode Island, received a threatening letter in November calling Muslims a "vile and filthy people," its members were frightened enough they asked for and got extra police protection.
    The 42-year-old mosque was far from alone. The letter it received was one of 2,213 anti-Muslim bias incidents in the United States last year, according to a report released Tuesday by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
    The report found a 57 percent increase in the number of incidents in 2016, up from 1,409 in 2015. Incidents increased 5 percent from 2014 to 2015.
    While the group had been seeing a rise in anti-Muslim incidents prior to Donald Trump's stunning rise in last year's presidential primaries and November election victory, it said the acceleration in bias incidents was due in part to Trump's focus on militant groups and anti-immigrant rhetoric.
    Rhode Island's oldest mosque was only threatened, while others in Florida and Texas were set ablaze in cases ruled arson. But the knowledge of how common threats had become was far from comforting for Faissal Elansari, a member of the mosque's board.
    "Hearing about it is not the same thing as when you receive it, it was definitely a weird feeling," Elansari said.
    CAIR officials decided in September to start what they intend to be quarterly reports after noticing a pickup in complaints beginning in 2014, following the rise of Daesh killings in the Middle East and attacks inspired by the group in Europe and the United States.
    "There was this widespread sense that we were going right back to how it was after 9/11," when al Qaeda hijackers launched coordinated attacks on New York and Washington, sparking a wave of anti-Muslim sentiment, said Corey Saylor, director of the CAIR department on monitoring and combating Islamophobia. "We wanted to be able to put something factual out there."
    The accounting includes a wide variety of bias incidents, from assaults and street harassment, to employment discrimination, to what the group considers unwarranted contact by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
    It also shows a rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes to 260 in 2016, up 44 percent from 180 a year earlier. That includes all crimes recorded where CAIR saw evidence of anti-Muslim bias, not just those where hate crime charges were brought, Saylor said.
    CAIR attorneys reviewed each incident reported and eliminated cases that were later disproved, including a New York City woman who alleged she had been attacked by Trump supporters shortly after his election. She was later arrested and charged with making up the encounter.
    Trump promised during his campaign to impose a temporary ban on Muslims coming to the United States, presenting this as a way to prevent militant attacks. His early executive orders intended at putting a temporary stop on citizens from a half-dozen Muslim majority countries have been blocked by challenges in court.
    His administration has denied any intention of religious discrimination in the travel ban, saying it is intended purely as a national security measure.
    Muslims are not alone in experiencing an uptick in bias. A report released last month by the Anti-Defamation League recorded a 34 percent rise in anti-Semitic acts in 2016. "The 2016 presidential election and the heightened political atmosphere played a role in the increase," the ADL concluded in its report.
    Trump made his first public condemnation of anti-Semitic incidents in February after a spate of bomb threats to Jewish community centers and vandalism in a Jewish cemetery. He was criticised by Jewish groups for responding too slowly.
    At the Providence mosque, one of about 30 to receive similar threatening letters following Trump's election, Elansari said there has been an upside to the threat: "A lot of brothers and sisters from the Jewish and Christian communities gave us a lot of support, they called and sent support letters."


  13. Waqas Dar
    Toshiba Corp has told Western Digital Corp not to interfere with the sale of its prized chip unit, disputing claims by the U.S. firm that it had breached a joint venture contract.
    Western Digital, which is a partner in Toshiba's main semiconductor plant as well as one of the bidders for the chip business, has argued that the Japanese firm is violating their contract by transferring their joint venture's rights to the newly formed unit.
    In a May 3 letter sent by Toshiba's lawyers, the Japanese conglomerate disputed Western Digital's argument and said it would pursue all available remedies if it saw continued interference in the sale process.
    Western Digital's "campaign constitutes intentional interference with Toshiba's prospective economic advantage and current contracts. It is improper, and it must stop," the letter, which was seen by Reuters, said.
    In a separate letter, also dated May 3, the general manager of Toshiba's legal affairs accused Western Digital of failing to sign some joint venture agreements.
    If Western Digital refuses to sign by May 15, the chip unit would protect its intellectual property rights by suspending Western Digital employees' access to all of the unit's facilities, networks, and databases, the letter said.
    A Western Digital spokeswoman in Japan declined to make an immediate comment.


  14. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD: The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed by the Supreme Court for the implementation of Panama Leaks verdict, met on Tuesday ahead of formally launching an investigation into the case.
    Wajid Zia, Additional Director at the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) who is heading the six-member JIT, is chairing the session currently underway at the JIT Secretariat to set out the investigation method for the Panama verdict implementation.
    The team of investigators has decided to seek assistance from the FIA and experts from private sector. The head of the JIT has already written a letter to the DG FIA in this regard.
    The Supreme Court’s special bench constituted the JIT to probe funds used by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's children to buy properties in London through offshore businesses.
    Earlier on Monday, JIT members met at the Federal Judicial Academy in Islamabad, which has now been declared the JIT Secretariat. The members also moved their offices to the location ahead of the investigation.
    Read more: Panama case: Profiles of JIT members
    The Interior Ministry has issued instructions for provision of complete security to the members of the JIT. The instructions were conveyed by the secretary in-charge at the ministry to IG Islamabad.
    Other members of the investigation team include Brigadier Kamran Khurshid from the Military Intelligence (MI), Amer Aziz from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Bilal Rasool, an executive director at the Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Irfan Naeem Mangi, a Director at the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and Brigadier Muhammad Nauman Saeed from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). 
    Read more: SC judge irked by Panama verdict misinterpretation: 'I did not call the PM a liar'
    The SC directed the federal government to provide the JIT with the necessary funds required to carry out the investigation. The apex court also ordered to provide the JIT an initial amount of Rs20 million.
    “The JIT would also be at liberty to utilise the expertise available in their departments and any other department of the Federal or Provincial Governments as and when required by it,” the order stated.


  15. Waqas Dar
    Ever wondered how the dream house of a queen should look like? We can show you.
    Bollywood Queen Kangana Ranaut just had her dream house designed and the internet just can't get over it.
    The house of Revolver Rani actress was featured in the latest issue of Architectural Digest India and is actually the mirror to the Kangana's fearless personality.
    Kangana acquired her new house in Khar in 2013. 
    She said that she broke everything down because while it was very beautiful, it had no originality or any sense of belonging.
    Kangana was helped in the redesign by Richa Bahl who is a wife of Queen director Vikas Bahl.
    While talking about the house Kangana said, "I’m a mountain girl, and I wanted a bit of a mountain flavour, with a lot of greenery and colour.”
    “My idea of a perfect house is a place that takes me closer to my roots, while I look into my future,” added Kangana.
    The dream house of the actress has a very cozy look along with the mix of art and quirk which gives a unique vibe to it.
    The breathtaking living room boasts of some great showpieces with colorful cushions and antique showpieces and the Patio and balcony is a blend of monochromatic flooring along with a chillax seating arrangement. 
    While the actress house also has some of the portraits of some of the most influential women from history, the Bohemian taste also adds charm to the design of the house.
    Kangana’s early years in the industry were spent in a single room flat in Versova and after the success of Fashion, she purchased an apartment in a Santa Cruz highrise.
    Check out the amazing pictures of the house of Queen's Raani.










  16. Waqas Dar
    NEW DELHI: India´s top court on Tuesday held liquor baron Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt of court in a case moved by banks to recover funds owed by him, television channels reported.
    The Supreme Court directed Mallya to appear on July 10, CNBC TV18 said.
    Mallya moved to Britain last March after banks sued to recover about $1.4 billion the Indian authorities say is owed by Kingfisher, now a defunct airline.
    Mallya has denied the charges against him.


  17. Waqas Dar
    SRINAGAR: Through sombre black and white drawings, graphic novelist Malik Sajad tells the brutal story of his native Kashmir in the 1990s, as an uprising against Indian rule reached its bloody peak.
    Sajad´s debut graphic novel "Munnu" is his account of growing up in the Kashmir Valley, one of the most spectacular but also most heavily militarised places on earth.
    The story is set in Srinagar, the main city in Indian-occupied Kashmir, against a backdrop of clashes, curfews and arbitrary detentions as the Indian army suppressed a separatist uprising that reached its peak in the 1990s.
    "You grow up grappling with paranoia. And also cynicism a little, but a cynicism informed by reality," the 29-year-old told AFP in an interview in Srinagar, where he recently returned after a decade abroad.
    The shopping centre where he agrees to meet is deserted and despite the breathtaking scenery that surrounds it, Srinagar has an air of sadness.
    "I prefer when it rains here, nature joins you in that sadness. When it is sunny, it becomes really unsettling," said Sajad.
    The black and white drawings in the novel have the jarring, angular look of German expressionist art.
    Rather than having human features, the Kashmiris in the story are represented as hanguls -- a local species of deer endangered because the army has encroached on its habitat.
    Sajad started drawing cartoons for newspapers at the tender age of 13 and went on to study art.
    But said he always felt a close affinity with literature, making the graphic novel format an obvious choice.

    Kashmiri cartoonist Malik Sajad poses for a photograph at his home in Srinagar - AFP
    ´People die like flies´
    He believes the lives of all in Kashmir are shaped by the "volatile atmosphere" of the region, where an anti-India uprising has claimed thousands of lives since 1989.
    The Kashmir valley has been tense since last month, when eight people were killed by police and paramilitaries during election day violence.
    Dozens of Kashmiris were killed last summer in violent clashes between government forces and stone-throwing protesters angered by the death of a charismatic and popular leader in a police shoot-out.
    Sajad´s book was published in 2015 in Britain, but it took another six months for it to come out in India.
    He says he never found out why, but his publisher told him authorities were slow to provide the ISBN number that all published books must have.
    Despite its controversial subject matter, the book appears to have gone down well in India, where Sajad is often invited to lecture at universities.
    Two young readers even made the journey to Srinagar to see for themselves the scene of the book and try to meet him -- though it was not until later that he learned of their journey.
    He said he wanted to tell a story on a human level, far from the great geopolitical game.
    Sajad said: "Unfortunately, in this part of the world human life is not important. It´s not just in Kashmir, it´s everywhere, people die like flies."
    He added: "Human lives do not have any value in South Asia."


  18. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange started Tuesday on a positive note with the benchmark KSE-100 index experiencing an increase of 539 points at the start of trading.
    The KSE-100 stood at 51,475 points at the time this report was posted.
    The index continues to experience all-time highs and on Monday closed at 50,935 points. The market closed up by 1,083 points with 326 million shares worth Rs 20 billion changing hands.


  19. Waqas Dar
    The adorable Video of the deflated Pikachu which went viral on the internet is now getting hilarious reactions.

    The unlucky Pikachu which was mercilessly dragged off the stage halfway during the dance performance by suited men, had not the slightest idea of getting hilarious reactions by the internet.

    While some of the people went emotional over the video, some Twitterati had funny reactions to tweet on the social media.
     
     
     
     


  20. Waqas Dar
    KABUL: At least nine people, including eight children and an ulema council leader, were killed in a blast inside a seminary in Parwan province of Afghanistan Tuesday morning, Afghan media reported.
    Head of the Parian Ulema Council, Maulvi Abdul Rahim Shah Hanafi, was also among the deceased, according to Afghan media outlet TOLO News.
    The explosives were placed inside a classroom in the seminary and were detonated in the morning when students had gathered in the classroom.
    A number of others were also injured in the explosion, officials said, as quoted by the news network.
    No group has claimed responsibility for the blast yet.
    In March, a deadly attack was carried out on a hospital in Kabul. At least 38 people were killed and more than 70 others, including patients, were wounded in the attack which lasted over six hours. Gunmen had entered Sardar Muhammad Daud Khan Hospital in the Afghan capital, disguised as doctors, in white coats and opened indiscriminate fire.


  21. Waqas Dar
    PARIS: France's incoming president Emmanuel Macron has an ambitious economic agenda and a favourable economic environment and business leaders' backing in his favour -- but can he bring change?
    Even if the world's sixth-biggest economy is still weighed down by fundamental weaknesses, it has been enjoying a breath of fresh air recently.
    Growth is on the up, private sector activity is expanding, consumer sentiment is positive and even unemployment appears to be heading downwards, despite a small rise in March.
    Macron has proposed cuts to France's heavy burden of state spending and wants to loosen the rigid labour laws that many believe push up joblessness and hobble investment. He also wants to extend social protection to the self-employed.
    Hardly surprising then that Macron's victory over far-right candidate Marine Le Pen on Sunday is being hailed by advocates of liberalist economics, free trade and European integration.
    German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Macron "carries the hopes of millions of French people and also many in Germany and across Europe".
    "Market-friendly, pro-reform"

    But the success of what analysts at Morgan Stanley dubbed "Macronomics" to describe the incoming president's "market-friendly and pro-reform" and "moderate and incremental" agenda will depend on legislative elections in June, analysts say.
    Critics have noted that Macron's victory was in some ways more a vote against Le Pen than an expression of support for his reformist policies.
    The 39-year-old former investment banker inherits a country still in a state of emergency following a string of Islamist-inspired attacks since 2015 that have killed more than 230 people.
    And his economic agenda, in particular, is likely to face fierce resistance from leftist opponents.
    When he was economy minister, the country flared up last summer as the Socialist government of which he was part forced through new watered-down labour laws, blocking fuel depots and halting trains and planes.
    Indeed, there is some scepticism about Macron's ability to win a majority with candidates from his centrist En Marche movement alone, meaning he might have to form a coalition.
    "While politicians in Europe let out a collective sigh of relief, what the result can't disguise is the level of voter dissatisfaction in France as a whole," said Michael Hewson, economist at CMC Markets.
    "Nearly half the French electorate still voted for parties who ran on an anti-globalisation ticket."
    "It's all well and good running on a ticket of cutting 120,000 public sector jobs, a 60-billion-euro cut in public spending and a lowering of the unemployment rate to 7.0 percent, (but) it will be another getting it through the French parliament," the expert said.
    Nonetheless, there were indications that the traditional right-wing Republicans party would "support most of his economic policies," he added.
    The crunch test for "Macronomics" will come in the two rounds of voting in the legislative elections.
    Candidates from the two parties that have traditionally dominated French politics for decades, the left-wing Socialists and the Republicans, were knocked out at the first-round stage of the election for the first time since 1958.
    And while a number of their leading figures rallied behind Macron, his "En Marche" movement, founded just a year ago, has never fought a legislative election.
    Le Pen's National Front (FN) party is likely to greatly increase its share of parliamentary seats.
    Ballot box test

    The legislative vote "is crucial", said IHS Markit analyst Kit Nicholl.
    "To govern effectively, Macron needs the backing of a parliamentary majority (289 seats or more), but the chance of his movement being able to build one, from zero seats, appears slim," the analyst said.
    However, Laurence Boone of AXA Investment Managers, who like Macron was an economic advisor to outgoing president Francois Hollande, believes Macron has a good chance of building a majority.
    Despite the "very unusual character" of this election, "historically, the French tend to favour the party of the elected president," she said.
    She suggested three scenarios: En Marche would win either an absolute or a relative majority, or the right-wing Republicans would secure a majority and push through their own agenda.
    All three cases would reassure international investors because they would enable structural reforms to be implemented, strengthening France's growth potential, Boone said.


  22. Waqas Dar
    R&B singer Mary J. Blige and British alternative band Gorillaz could not break Kendrick Lamar's reign on the weekly U.S. Billboard 200 album chart, as the rapper's album "Damn." held onto the top spot for a third consecutive week.
    Lamar's "Damn." sold another 173,000 units that included 157 million streams in the week ending May 4, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.
    Gorillaz, a virtual animated band co-created by British alt-rocker Damon Albarn, saw its latest album "Humanz" debut at No. 2 with 140,000 units sold, while Blige's "Strength of a Woman" opened at No. 3 with 78,000 units sold.
    The Billboard 200 album chart tallies units from album sales, song sales (10 songs equal one album) and streaming activity (1,500 streams equal one album).
    Other new entries in the top 10 of the chart this week include Epic Record's compilation of hit singles "Epic AF V2" at No. 6 and singer-songwriter Willie Nelson at No. 10 with "God's Problem Child."
    On the Digital Songs chart, which measures online single sales, hiphop producer DJ Khaled and Justin Bieber's "I'm the One" debuted at No. 1 with 171,000 copies sold.


  23. Waqas Dar
    Dutch officials on Monday opened what is being billed as one of the world's largest offshore wind farms, with 150 turbines spinning in action far out in the North Sea.
    Over the next 15 years, the Gemini windpark, which lies some 85 kilometres (53 miles) off the northern coast of The Netherlands, will meet the energy needs of about 1.5 million people.
    At full winds the windpark has a generating capacity of some 600 megawatts, and will help supply some 785,000 Dutch households with renewable energy, the company said.
    "We are now officially in the operational stage," the company's managing director Matthias Haag told AFP, celebrating the completion of a project first conceived in 2010.
    The 2.8-billion-euro ($3 billion) project is a collaboration between the Canadian independent renewable energy company Northland Power, wind turbine manufacturer Siemens Wind Power, Dutch maritime contractor Van Oord and waste processing company HVC.
    It has been "quite a complex" undertaking, Haag said, "particularly as this windpark lies relatively far offshore... so it took quite a lot of logistics".
    Gemini will contribute about 13 percent of the country's total renewable energy supply, and about 25 percent of its wind power, he added.
    It will also help reduce emissions of carbon-dioxide emissions, among the so-called greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, by 1.25 million tons, the company says.
    The Netherlands remains dependant on fossil fuels which still make up about 95 percent of its energy supply, according to a 2016 report from the ministry of economics affairs.
    But the Dutch government has committed to ensuring that some 14 percent of its energy comes from renewable sources such as wind and solar power by 2020, and 16 percent by 2023, with the aim of being a carbon neutral by 2050.
    Gemini "is seen as a stepping stone" in The Netherlands, and has "shown that a very large project can be built on time, and in a very safe environment," Haag added.


  24. Waqas Dar
    British street artist Banksy has created his first mural inspired by Brexit, showing a workman chipping away at one of the stars on the European Union flag.
    The work appeared on the side of a house on Sunday in Dover, a port town just across the Channel from France that is Britain's closest point to mainland Europe.
    It depicts a man in overalls armed with a chisel and hammer on a ladder, cancelling out one of the 12 stars, causing cracks across the entire blue flag.
    An image of the mural also appeared on Banksy's official website, confirming its authenticity even though the elusive artist is still anonymous.
    Britain voted to leave the EU in a referendum last year and is set to do so in 2019.
    Negotiations with Brussels are expected to begin after a snap British general election on June 8.
    Passers-by stopped to look at the mural, which has a large anchor in front of it and is on the seaside near a terminal with ferries for northern France.
    Banksy is best known for his political satire.
    In one recent mural he criticised the use of tear gas by French police against migrants and another at the main migrant camp in the French port of Calais, across the Channel from Dover, shows Apple founder Steve Jobs, whose biological father was a Syrian immigrant.


  25. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: Police held a 'drug peddler' among three suspects in different raids, while Rangers intensified snap checking in Karachi late Monday.
    In a raid conducted in Orangi Town fish market, police rounded up a suspected drug peddler and claimed to have seize 0.5kilogram charas from him.
    The suspect was being further interrogated, while a case also lodged against him.
    Two other suspects were nabbed from PIB Colony. Officials also reportedly recovered weapons and drugs from them.
    Body of a man was found from a truck in Shah Lateef Town. Police said the deceased used to work on the truck and died a natural death.
    On the other hand, Rangers intensified snap checking and searched several vehicles near Hassan Square and Old Sabzi Mandi areas.
    The paramilitary personnel verified vehicles' documents and drivers particulars during checking.
    Two days ago a man was shot dead during an attempted mugging in the same vicinity.


  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...