WASHINGTON DC: Bill Gates says he has paid more than $10 billion in taxes over a lifetime but billionaires like him should pay “significantly” more because they benefit more from the system.

The Microsoft co-founder, the world’s second richest man after Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, was critical of a recent US tax overhaul that slashed corporate taxes and lowered the top bracket for individual income.

“I’ve paid more taxes, over $10 billion, than anyone else, but the government should require the people in my position to pay significantly higher taxes,” he said.

He said the tax overhaul passed in December favors the rich despite Republican claims it will help the middle and working classes.

“People who are wealthier tended to get dramatically more benefits than the middle class or those who are poor, and so it runs counter to the general trend you’d like to see, where the safety net is getting stronger and those at the top are paying higher taxes,” he said.

With a sixth of the US population living in what he called “disappointing” conditions, he said US policymakers need to think about rising inequality and ask, “Why aren’t we doing a better job for those people?”

Samsung may have to look for an alternative to buy the company’s OLED panels after reports have suggested Apple has slowed down production of the iPhone X.

The anniversary edition iPhone X uses the expensive OLED panels made by the South Korean giant, unlike other smartphone makers who prefer the cheaper LCD panels.

With Apple currently being Samsung’s only buyer, the South Korean company faces the possibility of seeing its excess OLED displays going to waste.

According to a report by Nikkei, Samsung hoped that after the launch of the iPhone X, other smartphone makers would follow suit and use the expensive panels, which didn’t turn out to be the case.

“Other smartphone makers, who Samsung had hoped would incorporate OLED panels, have been slow to make the transition due to their expense and are sticking to liquid crystal displays,” according to the report.

The report also suggested that in the future Samsung may not be the only producer of OLED panels with Chinese OLED companies catching up swiftly to the technology.

Currently, a Samsung OLED panel costs $100, while LCD panels are available at a much cheaper price.

Apple itself is no stranger to controversy with the company recently confirming that some iPhone 7 devices were facing a cellular service issue.

Previously, Apple faced a backlash after an announcement that the company slowed down batteries for older iPhones. for slowing down batteries. Apple had to apologise for letting down its customers.

The iPhone X’s hefty price tag of $999 has gradually slowed down demand for the device after an initial surge.

Last year, a report for the Wall Street Journal estimated that the South Korean giant earns about $110 on every iPhone X sold and would earn about $4 billion more in revenue by making parts for the iPhone X than it would for its own flagship Galaxy S8 device.

LAHORE: Instead of legislative matters, the treasury and opposition benches seemed more concerned about the marriages of Shehbaz Sharif and Imran Khan. Both PML-N and PTI went at each other with hammer and tongs, calling leaders of the other party “serial grooms”.

The pandemonium broke out when Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Public Health Engineering Syed Haroon Ahmed Sultan Bokhari, with a wry smile on his face, said he even allowed wedding ceremonies in parks of those people who hoped to marry three or four times.

Bukhari was responding to a question put forward by PTI minority MPA for Shunila Ruth who asked how many public parks were allowed to be used for wedding ceremonies. Bukhari said there were 813 small and big parks in Lahore, adding the law did not allow such functions, but they were still being held. The MPA found the information illogical, stressing that the law does not give permission for these ceremonies. The minister replied with a joke, saying that he even grants permission to those people who were marrying for the third or fourth time to host functions at these parks.

In reaction, the opposition MPAs stood up from their seats and said this was an irresponsible answer to a serious query. PTI’s Shaikh Khurram, naming the wives of the Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shehbaz Sharif, said that Imran Khan never forced a divorce

Opposition leader Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed and other PTI legislators Dr Murad Rass, Nabila Hakim Ali Khan and others also reacted strongly to the minister’s answer which clearly targeted their party chief Imran Khan.

Responding to another query by JI MPA Dr Waseem Akhtar who asked when the government would implement its “master plan” of clean drinking water and sewerage for the people of Bahawalpur, Bukhari admitted there was no doubt the southern area was deprived of several facilities.

He said several schemes had been launched in different areas, but the projects never reached completion due to the negligence of departments concerned. However, he assured that specific problems, if sorted out, would be resolved at the soonest.

Minister Syed Haroon Ahmed Sultan Bokhari also could not satisfy PTI’s Dr Nausheed Hamid who asked if the news that the government had allotted 15 marlas of property to land grabbers was correct. The minister responded that the information was incorrect and the land was only handed over to deserving people by then chief minister Nawaz Sharif in 1990. Hamid objected by saying the property was not given to deserving people.

On Monday, there were 34 questions related to the Housing, Urban Development and Public Health Engineering Department on the agenda. Of the total, only six were taken up and five discussed. One of them was the question of PTI’s Shunila Ruth who protested against the unsatisfactory answers.

Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan had to leave the rest of the questions pending as the question-answer session time had finished due to a delay in the start of proceedings. The House was to begin at 2PM, but it started at 2:40pm instead.

The speaker adjourned the House for 10 minutes due to the absence of the minister and the department secretary concerned. After that, proceedings started again with a delay of more than 30 minutes. Meanwhile, PTI’s Nabila Hakim Ali Khan pointed to the quorum and said the government could not show the required number of legislators after which the assembly was adjourned till 10am on Tuesday.

PESHAWAR: At least five people died and three others were injured in the rain and snow-related incidents across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa over the past two days.

Heavy rains and snow began on Sunday night across the province which continued on Tuesday. The snow had also stranded tourists in the hilly Hazara Division where roads were blocked in the Galiyat area.

In Mardan, a one-year-old boy died while his parents were injured on Monday evening when the roof of their house in Bageecha area of Shahbaz Garhi caved in, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority said. The dead and injured were rushed to the MMC hospital in Mardan for treatment.
The toddler was identified as Husnain.

Meanwhile, the roof of another house caved in, in Peshawar’s Lal Kurti area. According to rescue 1122, 55-year-old Abdul Jamil and his eight-year-old son Umar. The boy’s mother was injured and had been rushed to the CMH for treatment.

In Lower Dir, the roof of a house collapsed due to heavy rain. The falling debris killed a woman and her daughter. Traffic in the city remained quite slow where because of construction on the BRT. Pools of rainwater around the construction site made it almost impossible for people to walk.

In Chitral, the Lowari Tunnel was closed down because of excessive snowfall on both sides of the tunnel while the authorities feared an avalanche.

QUETTA : At least four Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were martyred on Wednesday in a targeted firing incident in Quetta.

The FC personnel were patrolling the area near Sariab road early morning when unknown assailants on a motorcycle opened fire at their vehicle, critically injuring all four inside the car. The security officials were moved to Civil Hospital where they breathed their last.

Condemning the targeted incident, Governor Balochistan Mohammad Achakzai expressed condolences to the bereaved families. He urged the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) arrest the culprits at the earliest.

On January 15, five troops of paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) were martyred and six others sustained injuries when their vehicles were ambushed in Shapok area in Balochistan’s Kech district.