Latest News
EU and US agree trade deal, with 15% tariffs for European exports to America
The United States and European Union have reached a trade deal framework, ending a months-long standoff between two of the world’s biggest economic partners.
After make-or-break negotiations between President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen in Scotland, the pair agreed a US tariff on all EU goods of 15%.
That is half the 30% import tax rate Trump had threatened to implement starting on Friday. He said the 27-member bloc would open its markets to US exporters with zero per cent tariffs on certain products.
Von der Leyen also hailed the deal, saying it would bring stability for both allies, who together account for almost a third of global trade.
Trump has wielded tariffs against major US trade partners in a bid to reorder the global economy and trim the American trade deficit.
As well as the EU, he has struck tariff agreements with the UK, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, although he has not achieved his goal of “90 deals in 90 days”.
Sunday’s agreement was announced after private talks between Trump and Von der Leyen at his Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire.
Trump – who is on a five-day visit to Scotland – said following their brief meeting: “We have reached a deal. It’s a good deal for everybody.”
“It’s going to bring us closer together,” he added.
Von der Leyen also hailed it as a “huge deal”, after “tough negotiations”.
[BBC]
Latest News
Signing agreement for the establishment of BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility in Sri Lanka
It has been decided to establish a BIMSTEC technology transfer facility in Sri Lanka by entering into a Host Country Agreement at the second leaders’ summit of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal
Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) held in New Delhi, India, in 2008, with the objective of enhancing regional cooperation.
The relevant cooperation agreement was signed by the member countries at the 5th BIMSTEC summit on 30-03-2022 in Colombo.
The prime objective of this technology transfer facility is to provide technology, capacity building, and management of intellectual property for the micro, small, and medium-scale
enterprises of the BIMSTEC member countries.
According to the cooperation agreement, an agreement should be entered into between Sri Lanka, as the host country, and BIMSTEC Secretariat for formalizing the legal status, privileges, and immunities of the technology transfer facility.
The drafted agreement has received the relevant institutional approval and legal clearance.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Science and Technology to sign the proposed agreement.
Misbah ul Haq has offered his resignation from the Pak7stan men’s national selection committee the day after the PCB made wholesalw changes to the Teat squad and team management midway through the ongoing tour of England. Misbah has also decided to step down from his role as a batting consultant at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.
After going 2-0 down in the three-match series by losing at Lord’s by 194 runs, the PCB removed seven players from the Test squad and also released Sarfaraz Ahmed and Umar Gul as head coach and bowling coach ahead of the third Test at Edgbaston from September 9.
Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Agha, Ali Usman, Aamer Jamal, Awais Zafar, and Khurram Shahzad were the seven players released. Five uncapped players – Arafat Minhas, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Saad Baig, Mohammad Imran Randhawa, and Razaullah – will join the Test squad along with Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal. Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke – the head coach and bowling coach of the white-ball set-up – have joined the Test coaching staff.
Cricinfo understands the PCB served a notice to members of the selection committee following the Lord’s defeat seeking a written explanation regarding the selections of Rizwan and Imam in the squads for the tours of West Indies and England.
The notice was sent on Monday, the same day the board announced its decision to send home the seven players and two coaches, ahead of the third Test at Edgbaston from September 9. The notice asked for a written explanation outlining the reasons for their selections and the process through which it was arrived at, within 24 hours of the receipt of notice. From the start of 2024 until the West Indies tour, Rizwan was Pakistan’s top Test run-scorer with the highest average. Imam had only played two Tests in that period but was a heavy domestic run-scorer.
Since retiring as Pakistan’s most successful Test captain in 2017, Misbah has served in various capacities in the PCB. He was appointed in the dual role of head coach and chief selector in 2019. He served in both roles until October 2020, when he resigned as the chief selector to focus entirely on the head coaching responsibilities, from which he ultimately resigned the next year.
Two years later, he was brought in as an advisor by the then chief of ad-hoc management committee Zaka Ashraf and had since remained involved with the PCB. He was announced as one of five mentors for the now-defunct men’s Champions Cup after the current management took over in 2024, and he also mentored women’s teams in domestic competitions. He was the coach of the Pakistan Gold side which won the 50-over National Champions Cup in Multan last month under Shaheen Afridi’s captaincy.
Misbah was made part of the four-member selection committee which includes Aaqib Javed, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Asad Shafiq in March this year and had also been on a 180-days-a-year contract with the PCB as a batting consultant.
(Cricinfo)
The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal submitted by the President to make a donation of United States Dollars One million as humanitarian and economic relief to the government of Nepal
Cabinet aporives recruitment of Nursing Instructors for Nursing Schools under the Ministry of Health and Mass Media on Contract Basis
Signing agreement for the establishment of BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility in Sri Lanka
The cabinet approves agreement on mutual legal cooperation in criminal matters between the Republic of Sri Lanka and the Republic of Korea
Misbah-ul-Haq resigns as Pakistan selector after Test squad upheaval
Amendment of the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance No. 3 of 1897
Cabinet approves donation of USD One Million to the Government of Nepal
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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