Author: i2wtc

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission headquarters in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, Dec. 23, 2022.Ting Shen | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesU.S. President Donald Trump has picked Michael Selig as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s chair, an administration official and Selig himself said on Saturday.Selig is chief counsel for the CFTC’s crypto task force and has worked with Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins.Both Selig and David Sacks, the White House artificial intelligence and crypto czar, confirmed the selection in separate posts on X.Sacks praised Selig as “deeply knowledgeable about financial markets and passionate about modernizing our regulatory approach in…

WWF-Pakistan says pod spotted near Demi Zur by fishing crew led by Captain Amir Dad Karim In a rare and uplifting development, a pod of four Bryde’s whales was spotted near the coast of Gwadar — a sight that has sparked excitement among marine conservationists and local fishers alike. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature–Pakistan (WWF-Pakistan), the whales were sighted near Demi Zur by a fishing crew led by Captain Amir Dad Karim, who noticed unusual movement about five kilometres north of their operation area. “When we got closer, we saw four large whales surfacing and moving toward…

At the direction of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the Punjab Forest Department has intensified its crackdown on the timber mafia as part of efforts to curb smog and protect the environment across the province. In an action, the Murree Forest Division foiled an attempt to smuggle valuable timber. The operation was carried out during the night between October 23 and 24 in the Halwar area. During the check, the forest department team stopped a suspicious vehicle and recovered a large quantity of precious timber. The vehicle was seized, while the suspects managed to escape. The vehicle has been moved to…

PIA operates two weekly Islamabad–Manchester flights, plans expansion to London, Birmingham Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has resumed its flight operations to the United Kingdom after a gap of five years, with the first Islamabad–Manchester flight departing on Saturday carrying 284 passengers. The flight marks the airline’s return to the UK route following the suspension of direct operations in July 2020. The inaugural flight was seen off by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and British High Commissioner Jane Marriott at Islamabad International Airport. A simple but dignified ceremony was held before departure, attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Defence, diplomatic…

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif warns of ‘open war’ with Afghanistan if peace talks fail in TurkiyeAfghan Taliban fighters patrol near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in Spin Boldak, Kandahar Province, following exchanges of fire between Pakistani and Afghan forces in Afghanistan on October 15. Photo: Reuters Pakistan has presented a firm stance on cross-border terrorism during talks in Istanbul, with discussions focusing on threats posed by terrorist groups operating in the region, including Fitna al Khwarij. The second round of talks between Pakistani and Afghanistan concluded in Türkiye on Saturday, however, discussions are expected to continue for another two days. The dialogue, seen as…

QUETTA: Unknown armed men attacked the camp of a construction company in Khuzdar district late Thursday night, abducting 18 labourers and setting several vehicles and heavy machinery on fire. The incident – the second mass abduction of workers in Balochistan within 24 hours – has heightened security fears across the province. According to officials, the attack took place in Kaleri, located about 80 kilometres from Khuzdar in the Nall tehsil. Dozens of heavily armed assailants first blocked the main road to halt traffic before storming the camp and the crush plant of a private construction company. The firm was working…

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb speaks during a Reuters interview at the 2025 annual IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, US, April 25, 2025. Photo: Reuters/ File ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday gave approval for filling the vacant positions of half a dozen state-owned entities, including the appointment of five new members of the board of Pakistan Television Corporation and a new chairman. The decision was taken by the Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises (CCoSOEs), chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb. The meeting was held in the light of instructions given by the Prime Minister’s Office to fill all the…

Stocks jumped for the second straight week and reached record highs Friday as Washington trade and shutdown drama took a back seat to cooler inflation data and stronger earnings. The S & P 500 and Nasdaq rose 2% and 2.3%, respectively, for the week. In fact, the S & P 500 on Friday peaked above 6,800 for the first time ever before closing just below that level. Both stock benchmarks finished Friday with record-high closes. Propelling stocks on the final day of the trading week was an encouraging read on the consumer price index for September , which was released…

US President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on Oct. 22, 2025.Jim Watson | AFP | Getty ImagesA mystery donor whose $130 million is meant to pay U.S. military during the government shutdown is Timothy Mellon, an heir to a renowned Gilded Age family, The New York Times reported Saturday, citing two people familiar with the matter.But Mellon’s donation works out to only about $100 per service member. And the donation might run afoul of the law, the Times noted.When President Donald…

Passive investing through exchange-traded funds may be losing its appeal.Tidal Financial Group Chief Revenue Officer Gavin Filmore finds many of his clients are no longer satisfied with buying popular ETFs tied to market indexes. “I think investors are looking beyond just the let’s call it the ‘VOO and chill approach’ where you just buy the index in an ETF, which is a great approach but they’re looking for diversification,” Filmore told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” this week.” “And they’re not finding it within the product or within the index, so they have to look beyond that.” Filmore refers to the Vanguard S&P 500…