KARACHI: Housewife Maira Tayyab has considered begging for money to feed her family in inflation-hit Pakistan, while shop owner Mohammad Hanif finds his thoughts turning to crime. 

PARIS: More than 100 millionaires made an unusual plea yesterday: “Tax us now”. Their appeal came as a study backed by wealthy individuals and nonprofits found that a wealth tax on the world’s richest people could raise $2.52 trillion per year-enough to pay for COVID vaccines for everyone and pull 2.3 billion people out of poverty.

TAIPEI: Every day, Aiden Lee joins the hundreds of thousands of people getting around Taipei on two wheels. But when most of his fellow riders head to a petrol pump to refuel, he takes his e-motorbike to one of Taiwan’s increasingly commonplace battery-swapping stations-tech its creators say could supercharge the shift from fossil fuels. 

PARIS: Global demand for oil is expected to remain “robust” in 2022 and overcome short-term disruption caused by the Omicron coronavirus variant, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said yesterday. 

PARIS: EU car sales fell to a new low last year as the auto sector was hobbled by the COVID pandemic and a shortage of computer chips, industry figures showed yesterday. 

WASHINGTON: The chief executives of America’s largest airlines warned of a “catastrophic disruption” to travel and shipping operations if telecommunication firms roll out their 5G technology as planned today without limiting the technology near US airports. 

WASHINGTON: Microsoft announced yesterday a $69 billion deal to purchase US gaming giant Activision Blizzard, the firm behind hits like “Call of Duty” that has been hit by allegations of sex discrimination against women. 

TOKYO: Persistently high levels of ozone pollution in Asia are costing China, Japan and South Korea an estimated $63 billion annually in lost rice, wheat and maize crops, a new study says. 

MUMBAI: Indian politicians are clamoring for Elon Musk’s attention on Twitter, chasing the coveted right to host a Tesla factory, after the billionaire said government “challenges” were delaying his electric car company’s local launch.