LOS ANGELES: China has stopped paying Hollywood studios for its films in a dispute over a Chinese tax on movie profits, Hollywood trade papers reported Tuesday. Tens of millions of dollars in box office revenues are owed in arrears to the likes of Disney, Warner, Universal, Paramount, Fox and Sony, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
ECC approves sugar export to Iran
ISLAMABAD, July 30: The government on Tuesday allowed sugar export to Iran against electricity import.It also allowed continued higher margins to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and petroleum dealers and put an immediate ban on import of gold and export of live animals. The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, presided over by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar that also decided to strictly go by the procurement rules in import of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to ensure transparency instead of seeking exemptions.
ECP forms special wing for LB polls
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has begun its preparations for the holding of local government elections. The commission on Wednesday issued a notification pertaining to the formation of a special wing in relation to local bodies’ polls that are to be held in the four provinces. A spokesman for the ECP said the special wing includes four Grade 17 officers and has sections relating to local bodies’ elections to be held in the Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
PM, COAS meet ahead of Kerry’s visit
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met with Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani in Islamabad on Wednesday. The two discussed the agenda for their meetings with US Secretary of State John Kerry upon his coming visit to Pakistan, sources said. During the meeting, the army chief apprised the prime minister of his recommendations on issues of strategic importance. The two moreover decided that Pakistan’s civil and military leadership take an integrated and unified stance during its dialogue with the US.
Attacks on Baghdad mosques kill nine
BAGHDAD: A Shia and a Sunni mosque in Baghdad were targeted in bombings that killed at least nine people, Iraqi officials said. Police officials said a suicide bomber set off his explosives on Shia worshippers as they were leaving a mosque in the city’s suburb of Hussainya late on Tuesday. Seven people died and 11 were wounded in that attack. And in western Baghdad, a bombing on Tuesday night near a Sunni mosque killed two worshippers. Hospital officials confirmed the death tolls in the two attacks. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the media.
Akhtar terms team participation in CW Games essential
LAHORE: Pakistan hockey team head coach and manager Akhtar Rasool termed participation of the team in the next year’s 20th Commonwealth Games very essential and advised all those at the helm of affairs to take a swift decision in this regard. Talking to Dawn, Akhtar Rasool said he came to know that there were some hurdles in sending the national team to the Commonwealth Games which he said should be removed to pave the way for team participation in the tough competition.
Apex court sets aside LHC decision
LAHORE, July 30: A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside the Lahore High Court’s decision about allocating Haj quota to the lowest bidders from among the newly-enrolled Haj Group Organisers. The bench headed by Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jilani said the LHC decision was interference in policy matters of the government. The bench passed this order on petitions moved by old HGOs. Representing the petitioners, Advocate Afzal A. Haider argued that the LHC had issued the order to grant Haj quota to the newly-registered organisers and it was beyond the jurisdiction of the court. He said the allotment of the quota was a policy matter of the government and courts had no authority to intervene into such matters.
Civilian casualties up 23 per cent in Afghan war: UN
KABUL: Civilian casualties in the Afghan war rose 23 per cent in the first half of this year due to Taliban attacks and increased fighting between insurgents and government forces, the UN said Wednesday. The increase reverses a decline in 2012 and raises questions about how Afghan government troops can protect civilians as US-led Nato troops withdraw from the 12-year war against the Taliban. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said 1,319 civilians died and 2,533 were injured as a result of the war from January 1 to June 30, up 23 per cent from the same period in 2012.
Govt intervenes to stabilise market
KARACHI: Gold importers disappeared from the currency market which suddenly reduced the dollar price gap in open and inter bank markets to Re1 from Rs3.5 per dollar on Tuesday. Informed currency dealers said that importers spent $500 million in July to import gold, causing a serious dent to country’s weak dollar reserves. Dealers said that the government’s decision to put a temporary ban on gold for one month would surely help stabilise exchange rate in favour of local currency and lift pressure on the open market.
Zawahri vows Al Qaeda to free Aafia, Guantanamo inmates
DUBAI: Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri said the group would spare no effort to free Aafia Siddiqui as well as the hunger striking inmates at Guantanamo Bay, according to an audio recording posted on the Internet on Wednesday. “The (hunger) strike by our brothers at Guantanamo unmasks the true ugly face of (the United States of) America,” Zawahri said in an audio recording posted on an Islamist website and whose authenticity could not be verified.
