Author: i2wtc

Staff at Pakistani websites otherwise used to reheating international coverage of the motherland as a bona fide news genre were a little surprised to find their Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb splashed all over USA Today on December 22. The American tabloid is known for its four-colour infographics and weather reports, not necessarily knowing where Pakistan is located on the map. The 16-page Pakistan Special Report titled, ‘Pakistan Rising on New Foundations’ in ChatGPT house style capitalisation featured Muhammad Aurangzeb expounding on macroeconomic stabilisation, policy continuity, and export-led growth. And while he stressed Pakistan would not progress without economically including women…

Visitors pose for photos at an AI holographic costume change station at the Cultural & Tourism Services exhibition area of the 2025 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) at Shougang Park in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 12, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Qin)BEIJING, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) — Beijing aims to grow its core artificial intelligence (AI) industry beyond 1 trillion yuan (about 142.5 billion U.S. dollars) within two years via a new action plan unveiled on Monday, as China’s capital city seeks to cement its role as a global AI innovation hub.Under the plan, authorities will roll out nine major…

ISLAMABAD: Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong has said that Pakistan has become increasingly influential on the global stage, expanding its diplomatic ties and enhancing its international voice. In his New Year message released by the China’s Embassy in Islamabad on Monday, the ambassador also praised the government’s efforts in economic reform, counter-terrorism, and national unity. “China and Pakistan’s all-weather strategic cooperative partnership continues to thrive,” Ambassador Jiang said, stressing the frequent high-level exchanges between the two nations. He highlighted key projects, including the steady progress of the Karakoram Highway Phase II, the successful implementation of agricultural training programs for Pakistani youth,…

CNBC is now accepting applications for the 2026 Disruptor 50 list — our fourteenth annual look at venture-backed companies innovating across industries, experimenting with AI and, increasingly, making it work at scale.The deadline for submissions is Monday, Feb. 23 at 11:59 pm EST.All independent, privately-owned companies founded after Jan. 1, 2011, are eligible, and any company founder or executive, investor in the company, or any of their communications representatives can access and submit an application.Nominees will be put through a comprehensive and rigorous process of researching and scoring across a wide range of quantitative and qualitative criteria, including scalability, revenue…

This aerial view shows icebergs floating in the waters beaten down by the sun with buildings in the background off Nuuk, Greenland, on March 11, 2025, on the day of Greenland, the autonomous Danish territory, legislative elections. Odd Andersen | Afp | Getty ImagesEuropean leaders on Tuesday issued a joint statement to push back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed interest in Greenland, saying security in the Arctic must be achieved collectively. “The Kingdom of Denmark – including Greenland – is part of NATO,” the statement said, according to a letter published by Denmark’s Prime Minister’s Office on X. “Security…

Staff members work at the construction site of a fine chemicals and raw materials project under Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company in Panjin, northeast China’s Liaoning Province, Feb. 26, 2025. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong)SHENYANG, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) — As the new year begins, Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company’s fine chemicals and raw materials project site in Panjin, northeast China’s Liaoning Province, is buzzing with activity.This project, with a total investment of 83.7 billion yuan (about 11.9 billion U.S. dollars), stands as Saudi Arabia’s largest investment in China and is jointly funded by Saudi and Chinese enterprises.Since its groundbreaking in March 2023, local authorities have…

Committee suggests avoiding blanket protection, conducting sector-specific analysis of potential damage ISLAMABAD: A steering committee has decided to compile product- and sector-wise data on imports, prices and domestic production to take a decision on tariff rationalisation. The committee has also decided to analyse the impact of tariff rationalisation under the National Tariff Policy and propose targeted, temporary measures – where justified. In a recent meeting, the committee noted that tariff rationalisation was a gradual process and its impact varied across sectors. Therefore, blanket protection measures should be avoided. Instead, sector-specific analysis should be undertaken to assess the extent of injury,…

Following the U.S. military operation in Venezuela that led to the removal of its leader, Nicolas Maduro, AI-generated videos purporting to show Venezuelan citizens celebrating in the streets have gone viral on social media.These artificial intelligence clips, depicting rejoicing crowds, have amassed millions of views across major platforms like TikTok, Instagram and X. One of the earliest and most widely shared clips on X was posted by an account named “Wall Street Apes,” which has over 1 million followers on the platform. The post depicts a series of Venezuelan citizens crying tears of joy and thanking the U.S. and President Donald Trump…

ISLAMABAD: Salaried individuals paid Rs266 billion in income tax during the first half of the current fiscal year, contributing nearly one rupee out of every Rs10 collected in income taxes across the country. Tax contributions by salaried persons, in both the public and private sectors, remained more than double the taxes paid by the real estate sector during the same period, according to provisional figures compiled by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for the July–December period. The statistics showed that salaried persons paid a little over Rs266 billion in income taxes, higher by Rs23 billion, or 9%, compared to…

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026.Michael Nagle| Bloomberg | Getty ImagesSemiconductor stocks rallied to start the year, led by the world’s biggest memory chip firms that are getting a boost from continued artificial intelligence-related demand. South Korea’s SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, the world’s two biggest memory makers, are up 11.5% and 15.9% respectively year-to-date. Micron is 9% higher this year. Memory is a core component of the type of chips required to train and run AI models such as those…