Washington: The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a long-awaited antitrust lawsuit against Amazon.com on Tuesday, charging the online retailer with harming consumers with higher prices in the latest U.S. government legal action aimed at breaking Big Tech's dominance of the internet.

The lawsuit had been expected after years of complaints that Amazon.com and other tech giants abused their dominance of search, social media and online retailing to become gate keepers on the most lucrative aspects of the internet.

The lawsuit, which was joined by 17 state attorneys general, follows a four-year investigation and federal lawsuits filed against Alphabet's Google and Meta Platforms' Facebook.

"The FTC and its state partners say Amazon’s actions allow it to stop rivals and sellers from lowering prices, degrade quality for shoppers, overcharge sellers, stifle innovation, and prevent rivals from fairly competing against Amazon," the agency said in a statement.

The FTC said that it was asking the court to issue a permanent injunction ordering Amazon.com to stop its unlawful conduct.

The FTC said that Amazon, founded in 1994 and worth more than $1 trillion, punished sellers that sought to offer prices that were lower than Amazon's by making it difficult for consumers to find the seller on Amazon's platform.

Other allegations include that Amazon gave preference to its own products on its platforms over competitors also on the platform.

FTC Chair Lina Khan, while a law student, wrote about Amazon.com's dominance in online retailing for "The Yale Law Journal" and was on the staff of the House committee that wrote a report issued in 2020 that advocated reining in four tech giants: Amazon.com, Apple, Google and Facebook.

The need to take action against Big Tech has been one of the few ideas that Democrats and Republicans have agreed on. During the Trump administration which ended in 2021, the Justice Department and FTC opened probes into Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon.

The Justice Department has sued Google twice - once under Republican Donald Trump regarding its search business and a second time on advertising technology since Democratic President Joe Biden took office. The FTC sued Facebook during the Trump administration and Biden's FTC has pressed forward with the lawsuit.

Karachi: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Tuesday has made public its financial report, which shows a loss of Rs 60.71 billion in the first half of 2023.

According to the report, PIA’s loss for six months in 2022 was Rs 41.31 billion as compared to the first six-month loss of 2023 which is Rs 60.71 billion.

The depreciation of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar resulted in a loss of Rs27.45 billion in PIA’s finances while Rs 30.78 billion was spent on fuel and finance in the first half of 2023 whereas this amount was Rs 48.34 billion in 2022.

The revenue of PIA was recorded by 74 percent, reaching Rs59 billion, surpassing Rs34 billion compared to the previous year, while the operational profit also increased, reaching Rs 4.1 billion.

It is important to note that the reorganization plan for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has advanced due to the impending privatization.

According to details, the PIA management requested submissions from corporate and legal entities for the national flag carrier's restructuring plan.

The Department of Contract Management has been directed to forward the applications by October 6.

The PIA's property, debts, aircraft, and staff will all be moved to the new business, and the PIA will be presented to investors as a debt-free entity ready for privatization.

Islamabad: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan was shifted to Adiala Jail from Attock prison following the Islamabad High Court (IHC) order on Tuesday.

The concerned authorities were directed by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq to transfer the PTI chairman from Attock prison to Adiala Jail.

IHC CJ Aamer Farooq voiced his displeasure at the 'under-trial prisoner' being held in Attock prison rather than Adiala Jail and ordered the relevant authorities to transfer the former prime minister, who is presently serving a three-year term in the Toshakhana case, to the Adiala Jail.

Earlier today¸ The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan was shifted from Attock Jail to Adiala prison on Tuesday evening as per court orders by the Islamabad Police.

Attock Jail was met by a large detachment of Islamabad Police, supported by a convoy of 13 vehicles, including police vans and an ambulance with medical personnel and physicians.

Imran Khan's relocation was decided upon as a result of the ongoing court case being heard in Attock Jail regarding the cypher case.

The decision follows a holdup in the court order's execution, which Chief Justice Aamir Farooq issued yesterday.

The court also reserved its verdict on a petition seeking an open hearing of the PTI chief’s bail plea in a cypher case.

The PTI chief is facing charges of corruption, misuse of authority in several cases, including the Toshakhana case, the cipher case and the marriage case.