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Stocks eked out gains Friday and closed the week higher after the Federal Reserve’s favorite inflation gauge added to the case for an interest rate cut next week. For the week, the S & P 500 rose 0.3%, while the Nasdaq added nearly 1%. Both indexes logged back-to-back weekly gains. The Dow gained roughly 0.5%. On Friday morning, the government’s September personal consumption expenditures price index showed a cooler-than-expected year-over-year increase in the core rate, which excludes food and energy prices. While the PCE report was delayed because of the government shutdown, it was welcome news in a data-starved market…

Pakistan government signaled on Saturday strong commitment to Digital Asset Regulation in a meeting held with a delegation of cryptocurrency exchange Binance. Senior leadership from Binance, including Global CEO Richard Teng, visited Islamabad for high level engagements with the country’s top leadership. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir attended the meeting. Bilal bin Saqib, Chairman Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA,) also attended the meeting and gave a briefing on his organisation, as per a statement from the Prime Minister’s…

It is not unusual for Berlin to be cloaked in a blanket of grey on the brink of winter. What hangs over the city this year, however, feels heavier.This new shade of gloom cuts through conversations about everything. Germany’s coalition government is just six months old, but already some are wondering how long it can last. The economy is no larger now than it was five years ago and is being pummelled by a heady brew of structural problems and external threats.The German foreign minister warned last month that Nato could be attacked by Russia within four years. Relations with…

Competing priorities and US economic interests are likely to challenge Washington in its goal of “deterring a conflict over Taiwan” through an overwhelming military advantage, according to experts.The strategic goal was laid out in the White House’s latest National Security Strategy report released on Friday.While the report said the western hemisphere and domestic security were Washington’s top concerns, it also noted that “Taiwan provides direct access to the second island chain and splits Northeast and Southeast Asia into two distinct theatres”.“Hence, deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said.Beijing has not responded publicly…

Nigel Slater, former pro-vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge and a distinguished figure in chemical engineering and biopharmaceuticals, has officially embarked on a new chapter in China’s rapidly rising biomedical frontier.The veteran academic, who spent over three decades shaping science and innovation at Cambridge, has joined Zhejiang University in Hangzhou as part of a strategic move fuelled by both personal ambition and global scientific realignment.For Slater, the journey from Cambridge’s historic labs to Hangzhou’s hi-tech hubs reflects both a continuation of his pioneering work in biopharmaceuticals and a commitment to nurturing the next generation of scientists.“While my primary motivation for…

Jing Quan, formerly the second-in-command at the Chinese embassy in Washington, arrived in Manila on Saturday to assume his post as Beijing’s top envoy to the Philippines, pledging to both defend national interests and stabilise bilateral ties.“As the ambassador, I will firmly safeguard China’s national interests and dignity, while also serving as a bridge to ensure China-Philippines relations stabilise rather than deteriorate, and that our peoples draw closer instead of drifting apart,” Jing was quoted as saying upon arrival, according to an embassy social media account.“The task is heavy, but I am confident.”China-Philippines tensions have intensified over the past year…

Only a few years ago, the notion that Beyond Meat – the former poster child of the plant-based meat industry – would shut down its operations in China seemed unthinkable. At the height of the brand’s popularity, its label could be found adorning heavily promoted products at restaurants and grocery stores across major cities.Many observers speculated that the alternative meat company and others like it had found the next great success story in the country’s rapidly evolving consumer market.But barely three years after launching its direct-to-consumer channels in 2022, Beyond Meat announced in February that it would suspend its China…

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgarian maritime authorities on Saturday launched efforts to evacuate the crew of the oil tanker Kairos stranded off the Black Sea port of Ahtopol and believed to be part of the “ shadow fleet ” used by Russia to evade international sanctions linked to its war in Ukraine. Last week, the Gambian-flagged 274-meter Kairos caught fire after an alleged attack with Ukrainian naval drones in the Black Sea near the Turkish coast. It was sailing empty from Egypt toward the Russian port of Novorossiysk.The 149,000-ton Kairos, formerly flagged as Panamanian, Greek and Liberian, was built in…

The American public still wants the United States to be “engaged and take the lead” in international affairs, with support increasing for military intervention if Taiwan were to be attacked, according to a new survey.This view contrasts with US President Donald Trump’s isolationist bent and pivot towards homeland security, something analysts say could “complicate” decision making in the event of a crisis in the Taiwan Strait.According to an annual survey published on Thursday by the Ronald Reagan Institute, a US non-profit organisation created by the former US president, 64 per cent of Americans, a “record high” in the eight years…

Funds siphoned off from the Philippines’ flood control projects and converted into cryptocurrency may be linked to online scam syndicates run by offshore gaming operators, an official from the country’s cybercrime unit has revealed.Renato Paraiso, acting executive director of the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Centre, told This Week in Asia that investigators had uncovered a “definite link” between digital assets tied to the multibillion-peso flood control scandal and cryptocurrency scams carried out by Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos).President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr banned Pogos last year amid public outrage over their alleged involvement in criminal activities. The government has since intensified…