6. July-April trade gap nears $40bn
• The country`s trade deficit jumped by an all-time high of 65 per cent year-on-year to $39.3 billion during the 10 months through April on the back of higher than-expected imports, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data showed on Friday.
• The trade deficit has been on the rise owing to an unprecedented increase in imports due to a rise in global commodities prices, while exports stagnated at around $2.5bn to $2.8bn a month, mostly those of semi-finished products and raw materials.
• In April, the trade deficit came in at $3.74bn, growing by around 2.7pc over March and by 24pc compared to April 2021
7. Conservatives lose key councils in UK elections
• Prime Minister Boris Johnson`s Conservative party lost control of key councils in London, according to partial results from local and regional UK elections on Friday, with a potentially historic change looming in Northern Ireland.
• The main UK opposition Labour party of Keir Starmer won in long-term Conservative strongholds in the capital, including Margaret Thatcher`s `favourite` council Wandsworth, and Westminster for the first time since it was created in 1964.
• Just over half of votes for councils in England have been counted. Results from the remainder, as well as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are expected throughout the day
8. S. Africa launches biggest hydrogen-fuelled truck
• Mining giant Anglo American on May 6, 2022 unveiled the world`s largest hydrogen-powered truck, a monster weighing in at 220 tonnes, at a platinum mine in northern South Africa.
• Billed as the first of a fleet that will replace the firm`s diesel-powered trucks, the vehicle uses two-megawatt hydrogen fuel cells to haul up to 290 tonnes of ore.
• `What we are launching is not merely an impressive piece of machinery, it is the genesis of an entire ecosystem powered by hydrogen,` President Cyril Ramaphosa said
9. White House to have first Black press secretary
• US President Joe Biden on Thursday named Karine Jean-Pierre as the next White House press secretary, the first Black person to hold the high-profile post.
• Jean-Pierre, who will also be the first openly LGBTQ+ person in the role, will replace Jen Psaki, under whom she served as deputy, from May 13.
• Biden in a statement praised Jean Pierre`s `experience, talent and integrity, saying he was `proud` to announce her appointment. The outgoing spokeswoman, bringing Jean-Pierre behind the podium for the traditional briefing of accredited journalists at the White House on Thursday, praised, in a voice sometimes choked with emotion, the qualities of her deputy, whom she hugged several times
10. Saudi-led coalition to free Yemen rebels in peace gesture
• The Saudi-led military coalition fighting Yemen`s Houthi insurgents said on May 6, 2022 it was freeing a batch of rebel prisoners, part of what it describes as efforts to end the seven-year war.
• Last week, the coalition said it would release 163 prisoners it accused of participating in `hostilities` against Saudi Arabia.
• The official Saudi Press Agency said on Twitter that the process had begun, adding that there would be `three stages of air transport of prisoners` to Yemen`s Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa and the southern port city of Aden
Check our daily updated ‘s Complete Day by Day Current Affairs Notes
May 2021:
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