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KARACHI: Pakistan’s total liquid foreign exchange reserves witnessed a significant boost during the week ended May 2, 2025, rising by $ 231 million to reach $ 15.483 billion, according to the latest data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The SBP’s reserves increased by $ 118 million to reach $ 10.332 billion, up from $ 10.214 billion a week earlier. The improvement in SBP reserves reflects higher inflows, possibly from external financing or remittance support. Meanwhile, foreign exchange reserves held by commercial banks also recorded a notable increase of $ 113 million to$ 5.150 billion, compared to $…

ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP), in collaboration with the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Islamabad, held an interactive awareness session on Competition Law. The session focused on the role of competition in promoting economic growth, investment, and consumer welfare. The session was led by Ahmed Qadir, Director General Advocacy and OIEA, and senior officials including Salman Zafar, Senior Director and Head of the Cartel and Trade Abuse Department, Mr. Noman Ahmed, Assistant Director, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Amin Akbar, Assistant Director, Office of Fair Trade. The event opened with a short video showcasing CCP’s…

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV celebrates his first Mass on Friday after his historic election as the first North American pope, meeting with the cardinals who chose him to lead the Catholic Church and follow in Pope Francis’ reform-minded footsteps.Leo, the Chicago-born Augustinian missionary Robert Prevost, surprised the world Thursday when he emerged on the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, overcoming the traditional prohibition against a pope from the United States.The 69-year-old wore the traditional red cape — which Francis had eschewed on his election in 2013 — and trappings of the papacy, suggesting a return to some…

NEW LENOX, Ill. (AP) — When white smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel revealing that a new pope had been chosen, John Prevost turned on his television in Illinois, called his niece and they watched in awe as his brother’s name was announced.“She started screaming because it was her uncle and I was in the moment of disbelief that this cannot be possible because it’s too far from what we thought would happen,” Prevost said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press from his home in New Lenox, Illinois.Next, he said he felt an intense sense of pride…

Chinese academics are calling for the “Western-centric” version of World War II to be rewritten by pushing back the start date nearly a decade and placing Chinese forces firmly on the front line against fascism.Instead of Germany’s 1939 invasion of Poland marking the beginning of the global conflict, some academics at a second world war history seminar in Beijing on Tuesday said it should be Japan’s 1931 invasion of Manchuria, which escalated into a full-scale war in China in 1937.“This historical perspective that marks 1939 as World War II’s starting point … diminishes and undermines China’s role in the war,”…

Unitree Robotics, one of China’s leading robot manufacturers, said it shut down a third-party remote control service that had exposed its Go1 robot dog to potential hacking, allowing unauthorised users to gain control of the machine and access its video cameras.The company identified a “security vulnerability” through which hackers obtained the management key for a third-party cloud tunnel service used by the Go1, the Hangzhou-based start-up said in a post on social platform X on Wednesday.The tunnel service, which enabled remote control of the Go1, was completely shut down in late March, shortly after tech bloggers and hackers Andreas Makris…

South Korea’s presidential race has been shaken by allegations that the wife of conservative front runner and former acting president Han Duck-soo is deeply involved in superstitious practices – claims Han has strongly denied.The controversy has drawn comparisons to past accusations against former first lady Kim Keon-hee, wife of impeached president Yoon Suk-yeol, whose alleged ties to shamanistic beliefs sparked public backlash amid concerns that spiritual advisers might be influencing key state decisions.The latest claims were made by Park Jie-won, a veteran lawmaker from the progressive Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). In a bombshell statement he made on a radio…

Texas Roadhouse on Thursday evening reported a disappointing first quarter, with inclement weather dragging down comparable store sales. However, early signs of a stronger second quarter were giving investors hope, nudging the stock modestly higher in after-hours trading. Revenue in the quarter ended April 1 increased 9.6% year over year to $1.45 billion, exceeding the LSEG-complied Wall Street consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Earnings per share increased 1% to $1.70, missing the $1.76 expected. TXRH YTD mountain Texas Roadhouse YTD Bottom Line Once again, the Texas Roadhouse results were a tale of two halves. The company entered 2025 with tons…

Three of Hong Kong’s biggest developers – Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP), CK Asset Holdings and Henderson Land – are expected to dominate the housing market, as homebuyers increasingly prefer smaller flats amid economic jitters, according to JLL.The trio were set to deliver 60 per cent of new residential units in 2025 and 2026, up from 40 per cent in 2023 and 2024, according to the property consultancy.Sales of class A units – measuring 431 sq ft or smaller – accounted for more than 60 per cent of all residential transactions in March, JLL said, up from nearly 50 per…

China and Russia accused the United States on Thursday of increasing the risk of a nuclear war and vowed to jointly address threats, highlighting the escalation of Beijing and Moscow’s strategic confrontation with Washington.After a meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin held with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Moscow, the two nations issued a joint statement on global strategic stability.In it, they condemned several US policies, including the expansion of its security alliances, the forward deployment of strategic weapons, the development of global missile defences like the “Golden Dome”, the militarisation of space, and the sharing of nuclear technology with allies.Such…