Author: i2wtc

Refreshed versions of the Tesla Model Y are shown outside a Tesla store in San Diego, California, U.S. October 21, 2025. Mike Blake | ReutersDETROIT — U.S. electric vehicle sales leader Tesla made notable strides in Consumer Reports’ influential annual auto brand rankings, cracking the top 10 overall for the U.S.The EV manufacturer jumped from No. 18 on last year’s list of more than 30 automotive brands to 10th on the 2026 Consumer Reports Brand Report Card, which was released Thursday.”They definitely have their struggles, but by continuing to refine and not make huge changes in their models, they’re able…

Is the “year of efficiency” Mark Zuckerberg back at Meta Platforms ? Shares of the social media giant rallied more than 5% to $676 each at Thursday’s highs after Bloomberg reported that Zuckerberg is set to reduce metaverse spending up to 30%. The metaverse group, which works on the company’s virtual “Horizon World” environment and Quest line of virtual reality headsets. It’s been a long time coming. Meta stock took a beating back in 2022 when, in addition to aggressive interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve to combat sky-high inflation, investors grew concerned that Zuckerberg was going to spend…

A big year for local music as young hip-hop artists dominate Pakistan’s listening trendsTalha Anjum. photo: file Spotify’s biggest annual moment returns this year with a deeper look into Pakistan’s evolving music landscape, and 2025 Wrapped makes one thing clear: the country’s love for local music has never been louder. With Pakistani music consumption rising by 70%, Talha Anjum has once again secured his place as the platform’s Top Pakistani Artist for the second consecutive year, revealing a pattern where homegrown talent dominated listener habits. Anjum leads a lineup of an intergenerational mix of artists resonating across the country. Umair…

The countdown to the first 48-team World Cup begins in earnest on Friday as the draw for the 2026 finals takes place in Washington, with Donald Trump set to dominate much of the attention. The most logistically complex World Cup in history will be held across North America from June 11 to July 19, with 16 more teams added to the global showpiece, up from the 32 nations involved in Qatar in 2022. Friday’s ceremony, at the Kennedy Center on the banks of the Potomac River, will be a star-studded event but Trump will take centre stage. FIFA president Gianni…

People walk next to the Google Cloud logo, during the 2025 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, March 4, 2025.Albert Gea | ReutersGoogle Cloud announced Thursday a multi-year partnership with artificial intelligence coding startup Replit, giving the search giant fresh firepower against the coding products of rivals, including Anthropic and Cursor. Under the partnership, Replit will expand usage of Google Cloud services, add more of Google’s models onto its platform, and support AI coding use cases for enterprise customers. Google will continue to be Replit’s primary cloud provider. Replit, founded nearly a decade ago, is a leader in the fast-growing AI…

PM Shehbaz Sharif had forwarded a summary to the President’s House for formal approval, as per official releaseField Marshal Asim Munir. Photo: ISPR Field Marshal Asim Munir has been appointed the country’s first Chief of Defence Forces after a formal approval from President Asif Ali Zardari. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif earlier approved the summary for the appointment and forwarded it to the President’s House for formal approval, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s office on Thursday. Field Marshal Munir will hold dual responsibilities as both Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), marking…

A sign at a NYS Department Of Labor job fair at the Downtown Central Library in Buffalo, New York, US, on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025.Lauren Petracca | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesThis is CNBC’s Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox.Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:1. Silver linings playbookYesterday highlighted the relevance of a market adage: Bad news can actually be good news for investors. After private payroll data showed weakness in the labor market, stocks climbed as investors hoped the report would strengthen the case for an interest rate…

Australia pace bowler Mitchell Starc said Thursday he could not be compared with Wasim Akram after he surpassed the Pakistani great as the leading left-arm pace bowler in Test history. Starc’s six-wicket haul on day one of the second Ashes Test in Brisbane gave him 418 Test wickets, four more than Wasim. “Wasim’s still a far better bowler than I am,” said Starc. “So as far as I’m concerned, he’s still the pinnacle of left-armers and certainly he’s right up there with the best bowlers to ever play the game. “It’s nice to be spoken of up around that, but…

A Fanatics advertisement on the sideline billboard during the NWSL match between Houston Dash and Washington Spirit at Shell Energy Stadium on March 14, 2025 in Houston, Texas.Aaron M. Sprecher | Getty Images Sport | Getty ImagesFanatics has struck a deal to run retail and merchandising for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the company announced Thursday. The global competition will see 104 matches played in 16 stadiums across the U.S., Canada and Mexico this coming summer. “There is no larger sporting event in the entire world than the World Cup … we’ve been doing a lot of events; this is…

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repositioned the social media giant as an AI company. Vincent Feuray | AFP | Getty ImagesMeta Platforms shares popped about 4% higher on Thursday after Bloomberg reported that CEO Mark Zuckerberg was looking to make significant cuts to the company’s metaverse resources.Bloomberg said that executives have considered budget cuts as high as 30% for the unit, citing people familiar with the talks.The move would be notable for the Facebook parent company, which changed its name to Meta in October 2021 to signal its pivot beyond social media.Zuckerberg said at the time that “the metaverse is…