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On Monday, the Biden administration announced plans to go after airlines and travel websites if they try to slip in fees after you've picked your flight or even after you’ve bought the ticket. The proposed rule is part of Biden’s overall competition efforts and now will undergo a 60-day review and public comment period before it can be enacted. President Biden touted the efforts to pressure airlines into changing their policies during a White House event on Monday afternoon. The overall effort — part of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s recent promise to make flying less painful — comes as other key issues such as constant flight cancellations and an ongoing pilot shortage elude quick fixes. "You should know the full cost of your ticket, right when you are comparison shopping to begin with so you can pick the ticket that actually is the best deal for you," Biden said Monday. President Joe Biden speaks during the third meeting of the White House Competition Co...

KARACHI: In line with expectations, the flow of workers' remittances sent by overseas Pakistani increased by 8%, to $2.72 billion in August, the State Bank of Pakistan reported on Tuesday. Remittance inflows during August were mainly sourced from Saudi Arabia ($691.8 million), United Arab Emirates ($531.4 million), United Kingdom ($369.7 million) and the United States ($294.4 million), the SBP said. The end of the holiday season helped increase the inflows in August. Remittances had dropped by 9%, to $2.52 billion, on a month-on-month basis in July due to a lower number of working days in the month. The financial markets in Pakistan and in the Gulf countries had remained closed for approximately half of the month because of Eidul Azha holidays, Hajj holidays in Saudi Arabia, and the closure of businesses due to heavy monsoon rainfall in Pakistan. Read:  Freelancers earn $400 million in FY22 Inflows are also up by 1.5% in August, compared to $2.68 billion in the same month...

At least five people died in clashes in the streets. Although the prime minister resigned, hundreds of protesters tried to enter his house, for which he had to be evacuated. In a matter of weeks, the tranquility has been definitively shattered in this small island country in South Asia. The serious shortage of food, fuel and medicine has generated enormous discontent among the population, which blames the powerful Rajapaksa clan for the crisis. On Tuesday, Sri Lankan authorities deployed thousands of soldiers and police to enforce a nationwide curfew after five people were killed in renewed protests. The violence, which also left nearly 200 injured , led to the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, but that did nothing to stem the outrage of protesters, who tried to force their way into his official residence.  Heavily armed troops had to come to his rescue as protesters had breached the main gate of his residence in Colombo and were trying to enter the building where Ra...

Recep Tayyip Erdogan exchanges finance minister again In the midst of a serious currency crisis, the Turkish president separates from his finance minister. He was only in office for a year. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is under pressure because the national currency is falling. He is trying to counteract this with a change in personnel: Finance Minister Lütfi Elvan will be replaced by Nureddin Nebati, according to an official announcement. Elvan had only held the office since November 2020, when he was appointed finance minister following the resignation of Erdogan's son-in-law Berat Albayrak. The Turkish lira had recently crashed faster and faster, and an interview by the state broadcaster TRT with the president on Tuesday evening, in which Erdogan had promised lower interest rates until the elections planned for 2023, caused additional pressure. On Wednesday, the Turkish central bank intervened in the foreign exchange market to support the local currency, the lira, but ...