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This report is from this week’s The Tech Download newsletter. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.The past week has seen some progress, albeit uneasy and stilted, being made towards ending the Iran war.A two-week ceasefire was agreed on Wednesday, and while it looks fragile, hopes of the conflict approaching a close are prompting analysts to look ahead and assess its longer-term impact on the global tech sector.Exports of helium, a key material in chipmaking and other manufacturing processes, have already been significantly curtailed by the fighting, and some European companies have faced delays to semiconductor deliveries from Asia due…

A customer purchases cooking oil at a supermarket in Congjiang County, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, April 10, 2026. (Photo by Luo Jinglai/Xinhua)BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) — China’s consumer prices recorded a mild increase in March, while factory gate prices returned to growth for the first time in more than three years, driven by imported inflationary pressures, official data showed on Friday.The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 1 percent year on year last month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).On a month-on-month basis, CPI fell 0.7 percent in March, which NBS statistician Dong Lijuan…

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli air strike in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut on March 9, 2026. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during US-Israeli strikes. PHOTO: AFP ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday held a telephone conversation with Prime Minister of Lebanon Nawaf Salam and strongly condemned Israel’s ongoing aggression against Lebanon. He also expressed condolences over the loss of thousands of precious lives in these hostilities. The prime…

LAHORE: More than 200,000 frontline polio workers and supervisors will participate in a vaccination campaign targeting over 23.3 million children under the age of five across Punjab from April 13. Addressing a ceremony on Thursday where the Punjab Emergency Operations Centre inaugurated the upcoming National Immunisation Days (NIDs), Provincial Minister for Health and Population Imran Nazeer said sustained efforts and effective strategies had brought Pakistan closer than ever to the final phase of polio eradication. He urged parents to ensure that their children receive polio drops during every campaign. In Lahore, identified as a high-risk reservoir district, the campaign will…

The Alibaba logo is pictured during a tour at the Alibaba office in Beijing on April 1, 2026. Wang Zhao | Afp | Getty ImagesA mysterious AI video model that has ascended global leaderboards has been confirmed as a project from Chinese tech giant Alibaba, in a development that could boost the company’s artificial intelligence ambitions.HappyHorse-1.0, which appeared on the benchmarking platform Artificial Analysis around April 7, without identifying its affiliations, climbed to the top of blind-test rankings for both text-to-video and image-to-video generation. The developers revealed in a newly created X account Friday that HappyHorse was part of Alibaba’s ATH…

A farmer levels seedbed soil in a rice cultivating greenhouse of Youyi Farm Co., Ltd. under Beidahuang Group in Shuangyashan, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, April 9, 2026. Heilongjiang, a major grain-producing area in China, has entered the spring ploughing season for rice. (Xinhua/Wang Song)This photo taken on April 9, 2026 shows an interior view of a rice cultivating greenhouse of Youyi Farm Co., Ltd. under Beidahuang Group in Shuangyashan, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. Heilongjiang, a major grain-producing area in China, has entered the spring ploughing season for rice. (Xinhua/Wang Song)An aerial drone photo taken on April 9, 2026 shows a…

The High Court held that matters relating to CNICs fall outside the jurisdiction of civil courts LAHORE: In a ruling on a petition filed by citizen Ali Ansari, the Lahore High Court (LHC) has declared that civil courts do not have the authority to order the blocking or cancellation of a citizen’s Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC). Justice Tanveer Ahmad Sheikh issued a detailed seven-page judgment, setting aside a civil court’s decision that had led to the blocking of the petitioner’s CNIC. The court termed the action illegal and directed that the CNIC be restored within 15 days. In its…

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Kuomintang party chair Cheng Li-wun in Beijing on Friday, the first encounter between Xi and a sitting Taiwanese opposition leader in nearly a decade. In a readout released by Chinese state media, Xi said Beijing “welcomes any proposals conducive to the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.” That’s according to a CNBC translation of the statement in Chinese. Xi also reiterated that “‘Taiwan independence’ is the primary threat undermining stability across the Taiwan Strait,” calling on party leaders on the mainland and Taiwan to oppose “separatism and foreign interference.” Cheng took the helm last October…

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, meets with a delegation of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party led by its chairwoman Cheng Li-wun in Beijing, capital of China, April 10, 2026. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) — Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Friday morning met with Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party, in Beijing.Invited by the CPC Central Committee and Xi, Cheng is the first KMT chairperson to have led a delegation to the Chinese mainland in the past decade. The delegation…

OGRA, FIA empowered to fine violators, cancel licences An employee checks empty LPG cylinders inside Vidyarthi Bhavan restaurant, as restaurants and hotels in southern India, including the IT hub of Bengaluru, have warned of shutdowns amid disruptions in commercial LPG supply, following the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Bengaluru, India, March 10, 2026. Photo: Reuters ISLAMABAD: The government has ordered a nationwide crackdown to ensure the supply of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) at officially notified prices, directing regulators and enforcement agencies to take strict action against violations. Acting on the prime minister’s directive, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA)…