Author: i2wtc

This file photo taken on July 18, 2025 shows battery materials displayed at the Smart Vehicle Chain area of the third China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)BEIJING, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) — More than 500 domestic and foreign companies have signed up as exhibitors at the fourth China International Supply Chain Expo scheduled to take place in Beijing from June 22 to 26, China’s trade promotion body announced on Saturday.Wang Wenshuai, spokesperson with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), told a press conference that the CCPIT has so far organized 18…

Tax target. Design: Ibrahim Yahya ISLAMABAD: The federal government’s tax shortfall has jumped to Rs450 billion against the downward revised target for the first eight months of this fiscal year, increasing the prospects of a second revision amid the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s view that the tax base cannot be broadened soon. Till the last working day, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) pooled little under Rs8.1 trillion in taxes for the July-February period of fiscal year 2025-26. The collection was Rs450 billion below even the downward revised target. Against the original target, the shortfall was as high as Rs670…

In the first two months of 2026, generative artificial intelligence has undergone a rapid scaling of capabilities, going from chatbot to full-blown executive assistant and triggering an indiscriminate sell-off across sectors, hitting software, legal, insurance and cybersecurity stocks.”AI just went through its third inflection,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC’s Becky Quick on Wednesday. “Now, with these agentic systems, we’re having these agents able to reason, take tasks, and actually do work.”But the faster AI moves, the faster the safety nets are coming off.Anthropic was just blacklisted by the Trump administration after the AI startup refused to comply with the…

NASA is preparing to launch a mission to the moon — and it’s making history for more reasons than one.The space agency’s Artemis II launch marks the U.S.’s first journey back to the moon in more than 50 years. It will also carry the first Black astronaut and the first female astronaut to travel to the moon, though the mission will be a flyby without a touchdown on the surface.The launch, originally scheduled for early February and now delayed, will carry four astronauts around the moon and back, including Victor Glover and Christina Koch, the first Black and first female…

Intrinsic CEO Wendy Tan White has led the company to graduate out of Alphabet’s “Moonshot” factory X.IntrinsicGoogle became a powerhouse in smartphones by creating the Android operating system and partnering with handset makers in need of an answer to Apple’s iPhone. Now the search giant has a similar plan for tackling robotics. Earlier this week, Google announced that Intrinsic, an internal robotics software project, will be moved from the “Other Bets” category into the main company.Just as Android runs across phones and tablets from devices made by Samsung, Motorola, China’s Xiaomi and others, Intrinsic does the same for robotic systems,…

ISLAMABAD: After months of political stalemate, the federal government and the opposition alliance on Friday established their first formal contact in a bid to initiate the negotiation process, signalling a tentative shift from confrontation toward engagement. Federal ministers and Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai met Prime Minister’s Adviser Rana Sanaullah and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry at Parliament House. Senior PML-N leaders urged the opposition to move forward with political understanding and dialogue. According to sources, the prime minister himself will respond to the opposition’s agenda points and conditions. Sources further said that Achakzai will present his concerns…

Merchants pose for photos at the Global Digital Trade Center in Yiwu, east China’s Zhejiang Province, Feb. 28, 2026. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)YIWU, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) — Merchants on Saturday kicked off the first business day of the Year of the Horse as the Yiwu International Trade City and the Global Digital Trade Center in Yiwu, the world’s largest small-commodities hub, resumed operations after the Spring Festival holiday. According to local customs data, Yiwu’s total foreign trade reached 836.5 billion yuan (about 121.97 billion U.S. dollars) in 2025, achieving an increase of 25.1 percent year on year. Exports rose more than 24…

Asif accused the Taliban of becoming an Indian proxy after the withdrawal of foreign forces in 2021Khawaja Muhammad Asif. PHOTO: REUTERS ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Friday declared an “all-out confrontation” with the Taliban regime, posting on X: “Now it is open war between us and you.” The comments came as the armed forces silenced enemy guns along the border. The operation was Pakistan’s most widespread bombardment of the Afghan capital and its first air strikes on the southern power base of the Taliban authorities since they returned to power in 2021. The defence minister struck the hardest…

Governor K-P Faisal Karim Kundi. Photo: File PESHAWAR: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi has issued a firm statement amid escalating tensions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, declaring that Pakistan will make no compromises on matters of national defense and territorial integrity. In his remarks, the governor emphasized that Pakistan is a responsible state committed to peace, stability, and brotherly relations in the region. However, he made it clear that sovereignty and territorial wholeness remain non-negotiable. “Pakistan has long hosted and shown hospitality to our Afghan brothers and sisters, consistently supporting a stable and peaceful Afghanistan on every international forum,” Kundi said.…

PARIS: Vinicius Junior sealed Real Madrid’s progress to the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday with the clincher against Benfica as holders Paris St-Germain edged out 10-man Ligue 1 rivals AS Monaco. Italian giants Juventus almost pulled off a stunning comeback from their 5-2 first leg deficit against Galatasaray, but extra-time goals from Victor Osimhen and Baris Yilmaz gave the Turks a 7-5 aggregate victory, while Lazar Samardzic’s injury-time spot-kick put Atalanta through 4-3 on aggregate against Borussia Dortmund. Vinicius scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory on the night to secure a 3-1 aggregate success for Real in…