Author: i2wtc

ISLAMABAD: Public debt has jumped to a new record of Rs80.5 trillion by the end of June – an addition of Rs25.4 billion per day, breaching an Act of Parliament and further weakening the government’s debt-bearing capacity, revealed official statistics. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has released the debt bulletin for fiscal year 2024-25 which showed that public debt increased both in absolute terms and relative to the size of the economy, a deadly combination that underscores the highly unsustainable indebtedness of the country. As of the end of June, gross public debt increased to Rs80.5 trillion, Rs9.3 trillion…

India men’s captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and elected to bowl first against the United Arab Emirates in their first encounter of Asia Cup 2025 in Dubai on Wednesday. The 17th edition of the Asia Cup kicked off with the Group ‘B’ match between Afghanistan and Hong Kong, where Azmatullah Omarzai hammered a 20-ball fifty as his team beat Hong Kong by 94 runs in the opening match on Tuesday. Pakistan and India meet on September 14 in the most-awaited match of the T20 tournament, which serves as a build-up for next year’s T20 World Cup in India and…

Erin Scott/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesThe Labor Department’s internal watchdog said Wednesday it has opened an investigation into how jobs and inflation data is collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.The probe by the department’s Office of Inspector General comes as BLS is under pressure from the Trump administration, which has pointed to recent downward revisions to employment data to argue that the agency’s data cannot be trusted.President Donald Trump fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer in August, accusing her of being motivated by politics hours after her agency released a weak monthly jobs report.The inspector general is a nonpolitical appointee whose…

An Embraer SA E190-E2 passenger aircraft stands on display on day two of the Farnborough International Airshow (FIA) 2018 in Farnborough, U.K., on Tuesday, July 17, 2018. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesBrazilian airplane maker Embraer has landed its first U.S. sale of its efficient but slow-selling E2 jets with a 50-plane deal from startup carrier Avelo Airlines.Avelo first started flying in April 2021 with used Boeing 737s but has struggled and recently exited a host of cities on the West Coast. It has also turned to flying deportees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has sparked protests, demonstrations and…

Pakistan and Hong Kong signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in legal affairs, during the Belt and Road Summit held in Hong Kong, on Wednesday. The agreement was signed by Federal Law Secretary Raja Naeem Akbar and the Hong Kong Secretary for Justice. Under the MoU, both sides agreed to cooperate on legal matters and capacity building, with Hong Kong set to provide training to Pakistan in arbitration and alternative dispute resolution. The partnership will also extend to digital governance and the regulation of virtual assets. “This agreement reflects legal reforms and institutional improvement,” said Raja Naeem…

Five years after its splashy $1.3 billion acquisition of Zoox, Amazon has officially entered the U.S. robotaxi race, which to date has been dominated by Alphabet’s Waymo.Zoox’s first public launch kicks off Wednesday on the Las Vegas strip. The company is offering free rides from a few select locations, with plans to expand more broadly across the city in the coming months. Riders will eventually have to pay, but Zoox said it’s waiting on regulatory approval to take that step.Amazon is jumping into a market that’s all about the future, but one where Waymo has a major head start, having…

Sportspersons should never be expected to carry the weight of what happened five months ago, and they should not be required to do the bidding of their governments on a cricket field. Around three years ago, Shaheen Shah Afridi sat on the periphery of an ICC Academy training ground in Dubai when the Indian team arrived at the venue. The images that followed would warm billions of hearts around the world. Shaheen’s right-leg was in a brace, a consequence of an ill-fated dive in Galle, Sri Lanka, that ruled him out of cricket for four months. He helped himself off…

This photo taken on Sept. 10, 2025 shows exhibits displayed during the 2025 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, capital of China. The 2025 CIFTIS opened in Beijing on Wednesday, themed “Embrace Intelligent Technologies, Empower Trade in Services.” (Xinhua/Li Xin)A visitor views exhibits at the booth of Iran during the 2025 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 10, 2025. The 2025 CIFTIS opened in Beijing on Wednesday, themed “Embrace Intelligent Technologies, Empower Trade in Services.” (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)A staff member introduces a construction model during the 2025 China International…

Pakistani shooter Huzaifa Waleed Gill won a silver medal in the 800-yard individual event at the European F-Class Long Range Championship 2025 held in the United Kingdom, according to official competition results. The event featured participation from over 260 shooters representing 18 countries, including the United States, Canada, Germany, the UK, and Pakistan. Pakistan was represented by a 12-member team, which scored 1,106 points out of a possible 1,200, the championship’s official report confirmed. Read: Precision and Grit shines at long range shooting event Team Pakistan officials on-site confirmed that Gill’s performance raised the Pakistani flag on the global stage,…

Oracle stock roared 40% higher on Wednesday after reporting gobsmacking cloud demand numbers, setting the company on track for a historic gain.The cloud giant is on pace for its best day since 1992, and is now quickly approaching the $1 trillion market cap benchmark. Oracle is now at $950 billion.The company said Tuesday after the bell that it has $455 billion in remaining performance obligations, up 359% from a year earlier.”This is a very historic kind of print right here from Oracle with this backlog,” Ben Reitzes, technology research head at Melius Research, told CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime” on Tuesday. “The…