Author: i2wtc

The Eli Lilly & Co. logo at the company’s Digital Health Innovation Hub facility in Singapore, on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.Ore Huiying | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesEli Lilly and Walmart on Wednesday said they have teamed up to expand access to the drugmaker’s weight loss drug Zepbound, allowing U.S. patients to get vials of the blockbuster injection at direct-to-consumer prices through retail locations for the first time. The announcement comes as Eli Lilly works to maintain its dominance over rival Novo Nordisk in the booming market for a class of obesity and diabetes drugs called GLP-1s. It also comes as the…

AI is tipped to transform the economy and eventually evolve into a $4.8 trillion market, but the question on everyone’s lips right now is: is the market in a bubble? Everyone from tech CEOs to asset managers and central bankers is worried the promise of AI could quickly turn sour if it doesn’t live up to the hype, but many remain optimistic on the long-term view. CNBC surveyed fund managers to find out what they think makes a bubble — and whether the signs are there today. Expectations vs. reality Blue Whale Growth Fund Chief Investment Officer Stephen Yiu says…

The Supreme Court rejected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Shibli Faraz’s plea to suspend the Senate election for his vacated seat on Wednesday, ruling that it would not intervene in the electoral process. A five-member constitutional bench, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, heard the case. The Supreme Court (SC) set aside the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) earlier decision to indefinitely adjourn the matter and directed it to hear both parties and decide the pending petition on merit. A special anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Faisalabad had earlier sentenced Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Shibli Faraz and Omar Ayub to 10 years in prison each…

U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary speaks during a press conference alongside U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz, discussing administration plans to lower drug costs, at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C., U.S., Oct. 29, 2025. Annabelle Gordon | ReutersThe Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday said it will take steps to speed up the process of developing generic versions of complex biological drugs, in a bid to increase cheaper competition for expensive medicines and lower drug costs for…

Asif accuses Taliban of dragging Afghanistan into new conflict to protect rule, wartime economy’Poisonous’ statements by Afghan officials hint at growing discord within Taliban leadership: Asif Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has warned that, if necessary, Pakistan could defeat the Taliban regime and set an example for the world. Commenting on the failed talks in Istanbul, Khawaja Asif said the Afghan Taliban regime had repeatedly sought negotiations with Pakistan through “brotherly countries”, and Pakistan had accepted the offer in the interest of peace. He added that some “poisonous” statements by Afghan officials suggested growing discord and duplicity within the Taliban leadership,…

Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Markets: The S & P 500 flipped between positive and negative Wednesday afternoon after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said a December interest rate cut was not a foregone conclusion. Powell’s comments came during his post-Fed meeting news conference and after central bankers decided to reduce rates by a quarter-point for the second time this year. There were two dissenters: Fed Gov. Stephen Miran voted for a half-point cut, while Kansas…

Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald TrumpSergey Bobylev | Kent Nishimura | ReutersA high-stakes meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could yield a breakthrough in the quarrelsome trade relationship between the two economic superpowers.But while both the Trump administration and Beijing are projecting optimism ahead of the sit-down, specifics about the summit remain unclear — and some experts are skeptical of the White House’s confidence.Phil Luck, director of the economics program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said he was expecting an outcome that is “relatively minor, relatively vague” and “not awe…

A man holds a sign reading “SNAP Feeds Families,” as food aid benefits will be suspended starting November 1 amid the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, during “A Rally for SNAP” on the steps of the Massachusetts Statehouse in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., October 28, 2025. Brian Snyder | ReutersNearly 42 million Americans are days away from missing their monthly food stamp check as the government shutdown enters its 28th day.The Trump administration has said funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, will not be distributed if the federal government is still shut down on Nov. 1. With little movement…

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference following a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee at the Federal Reserve on Oct. 29, 2025 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong | Getty ImagesFederal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that the artificial intelligence boom is different from the dotcom bubble of the late 1990s.”This is different in the sense that these companies, the companies that are so highly valued, actually have earnings and stuff like that,” Powell said, during a news conference following the Fed’s two-day policy meeting. AI investments in data centers and chips are also…

Sargodha AQI 344, Faisalabad 296, Multan 287, Gujranwala 274, Kasur 257, Sheikhupura 245School children walk across a railway track engulfed in dense smog in Lahore. Photo: AFP Air pollution levels across Punjab have once again reached alarming heights, with Lahore topping the list of the world’s most polluted cities on Wednesday. According to global air monitoring agency IQAir, the city’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 403 in the morning — a level deemed “hazardous” to human health. In comparison, India’s capital, New Delhi, registered an AQI of 235. Data from the Punjab Environment Department revealed that air…