Author: i2wtc
Oil storage containers and facilities of the TotalEnergies refinery in Leuna, Germany PHOTO: REUTERS Oil prices rose on Thursday as doubts over a fragile two-week Middle East ceasefire raised concerns that energy flows through the crucial Strait of Hormuz will remain restricted. Brent crude futures were up $1.96, or 2.07%, at $96.71 a barrel at 0325 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $2.60, or 2.75%, to $97.01 a barrel. Both benchmark prices fell below $100 per barrel in the previous trading session, with WTI recording its biggest decline since April 2020, on initial expectations for the ceasefire…
President Donald Trump speaks to press at the White House, in Washington, April 6, 2026.Kyle Mazza | Anadolu | Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump on Thursday said that Iran “better stop now” if it’s charging fees to oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz.Trump’s warning in a Truth Social post put even more strain on the fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran less than two days after it began.Trump said Tuesday evening that the U.S. would agree to a two-week suspension of hostilities against the Islamic Republic on the condition that it agree to “the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE…
As per notification, revised dates for these examinations will be announced in due courseGirls Higher Secondary School Jacob Lines examination centre in Karachi. PHOTO: JALAL QURESHI/FILE ISLAMABAD: Examinations scheduled for April 9 and 10 at three centres in Islamabad have been postponed following official directions issued in view of ongoing diplomatic activities in the federal capital, according to a notification. According to a notification issued by the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE), “In view of ongoing diplomatic activities in Islamabad, the examinations scheduled on April 9 and 10 at the following examination centres are hereby postponed.” The…
Open AI CEO Sam Altman speaks during a talk session with SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son at an event titled “Transforming Business through AI” in Tokyo, on Feb. 3, 2025.Tomohiro Ohsumi | Getty ImagesWith Anthropic gaining momentum in the booming AI market, OpenAI sent a memo to investors this week slamming its chief rival for “operating on a meaningfully smaller curve,” and characterizing the company as compute constrained. OpenAI said it’s planning to have 30 gigawatts of compute by 2030, while it expects Anthropic to have roughly 7 to 8 gigawatts by the end of 2027, according to the memo,…
‘This is a victory for diplomacy and dialogue,’ Rizwan Saeed Sheikh says in interview with CNNPakistan’s Ambassador to the US Rizwan Saeed Sheikh in an exclusive interview with CNN. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Rizwan Saeed Sheikh said that Pakistan had been working diplomatically for weeks, and the successful announcement of the ceasefire between US and Iran, and the opening of negotiations was a direct result of these efforts. In an exclusive interview with CNN, Sheikh discussed the country’s diplomatic efforts in facilitating the ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran. “This is a victory for diplomacy…
US First Lady Melania Trump speaks in the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington, DC on April 9, 2026.Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty ImagesFirst lady Melania Trump on Thursday blasted what she described as an array of false claims about her and notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.”I am not Epstein’s victim,” Melania Trump told reporters in a statement at the White House that ended without her taking questions. “Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump.””I have never had any knowledge of Epstein’s abuse of his victims,” she said of the late sex offender, who was previously…
The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the NFL over potential anticompetitive tactics, a government official told CNBC. The investigation stems from questions about “affordability for consumers and creating an even playing field for providers,” the official said. The government’s investigation comes as the NFL is looking to renegotiate media rights deals with its broadcast networks earlier than previously planned, CNBC previously reported. The league is also reportedly considering a bigger package of games with streaming giant Netflix. In a statement to CNBC, the league called its media distribution model “the most fan and broadcaster-friendly in the…
KARACHI: Pakistan’s benchmark KSE-100 Index ended marginally lower on Thursday, shedding 293 points to close at 165,517, as geopolitical tensions and surging oil prices kept investors on edge. The market witnessed heightened volatility throughout the session, with the index plunging more than 3,500 points intraday before recovering some losses. The decline was largely driven by weak regional cues and a sharp rise in global oil prices, which hovered near $97–98 per barrel amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. Investor sentiment remained fragile as concerns grew over renewed Israeli strikes in Lebanon and uncertainty surrounding Iran-US negotiations. Analysts noted that…
Companies are not going to abandon Salesforce altogether in the age of artificial intelligence, but they are changing how they use it and what they expect. For Morgan DeBaun, CEO and co-founder of digital media group Blavity, cost-saving enabled by AI is a major factor in how she views Salesforce going forward. Blavity, which aims to serve Black audiences, spends about $1 million per year on enterprise software across roughly a dozen vendors, including Salesforce. Once its current six-figure contract expires in early 2027, DeBaun plans to replace Salesforce’s customer relationship management (CRM) platform with a more cost-efficient AI solution. She…
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers remarks at the top of the Cabinet meeting to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine at Downing Street on February 24, 2026 in London, England.Wpa Pool | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesBritish Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he is “fed up” seeing energy bills in the U.K. swing up and down because of actions taken by U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.The comments, in an interview with ITV News’ Talking Politics podcast dated Thursday, aired as oil prices — which have soared during the U.S.-Israeli war in…