Author: admin
Bitcoin mining is quietly staging a comeback in China despite being banned four years ago, as individual and corporate miners exploit cheap electricity and a data-centre boom in some energy-rich provinces, according to miners and industry data.After its global bitcoin mining market share slumped to zero as a result of the ban, China crept back to third place with a 14 per cent share at the end of October, according to Hashrate Index, which tracks bitcoin mining activities.The resurgence in bitcoin mining, which has also been corroborated by rig maker Canaan’s fast-rebounding sales in China, could act as a demand…
Anthropic is rolling out a new version of its most powerful artificial intelligence model that is designed to be better at automating coding and office tasks, part of an effort to compete with OpenAI and Alphabet’s Google for business customers.The new model, Claude Opus 4.5, was more capable than previous versions at software engineering work, like fixing bugs, without needing a user’s help, Anthropic said. Opus 4.5, released on Monday, is also intended to be better at carrying out complicated multistep tasks on a user’s computer and the internet.Founded in 2021 by former employees of OpenAI, San Francisco-based Anthropic now…
A former editor-in-chief of a Chinese nationalist tabloid has called upon official media to manage public expectations properly and refrain from using “harsh language that does not reflect the actual situation” when criticising Japan.Hu Xijin, the former editor-in-chief of the Global Times, affiliated with Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily, said some social media accounts run by official media had used “harsh language that does not reflect the actual situation” when criticising Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and warning Japan’s right-wing groups.Hu said that official accounts should strive to “use precise language and convey factual information”, thereby “guiding public expectations and…
BEIRUT (AP) — Mireille Khoury lit a candle next to a portrait of her late son, Elias, surrounded by images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, just as she does every evening when she returns to her Beirut apartment after work.Elias was only 15 when he died in the August 2020 explosion at the Beirut port that blasted through surrounding neighborhoods in the Lebanese capital. Since then Khoury has been among the families who have convened monthly protests calling for justice for the 218 people killed when hundreds of tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate detonated.Their numbers have dwindled as…
KARACHI: Aman Pracha, Vice President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), has expressed deep concern over the International Monetary Fund’s Governance and Corruption Diagnostic (GCD) Assessment Report, which highlighted widespread, systemic, and severe corruption within Pakistan’s state institutions. He urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal General Syed Asim Munir to implement the 92 key reforms recommended by the IMF to curb corruption effectively. Pracha said the IMF’s findings regarding weak governance, the deterioration of the rule of law, and rampant corruption in Pakistan were factual and alarming. He noted that corruption had paralysed…
ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: Pakistan has proposed the establishment of a formal cooperation framework between the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) and the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) to deepen maritime collaboration between the two countries. The proposal was presented during a meeting between Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry and Brigadier General Dr M Sakhawat Hussain (retd), Adviser for Shipping of Bangladesh, said a spokesperson for the Maritime Ministry here on Monday. The proposal envisions a comprehensive partnership encompassing joint container and bulk shipping services, technical training programmes, cooperation on maritime safety and seafarer development, reciprocal port-call facilitation, and strengthened…
ISLAMABAD: Some of the top global pharmaceutical companies have left Pakistan due to a revision of their business plan, rupee depreciation and due to competition with the local pharmaceutical companies. According to senior representatives of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Association (PPMA) and officials of the Federal Ministry for National Health Services and Regulations (NHSR) most of these companies have closed down their manufacturing operations in Pakistan as per their revised business plans. They said that these pharmaceutical giants are now focused on high valued select products. During the past three years five major multinational pharmaceutical companies including Bayer, ICI Pakistan,…
KARACHI: The 3rd International Food & Agriculture Exhibition – FoodAg 2025 – will be inaugurated today at Expo Centre Karachi by Federal Minister for Commerce, Jam Kamal Khan. Under the theme “Harvesting Innovation, Cultivating Sustainability.” More than 350 leading Pakistani exporters will showcase the country’s finest Basmati rice, dehydrated mangoes, kinnows, dates, Himalayan pink salt, premium seafood, halal meat and dairy products, spices and value-added foods to over 800 pre-qualified international buyers from more than 80 countries – the largest buyer delegation ever hosted by Pakistan for a single trade event. Faiz Ahmad, Chief Executive, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan…
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) has warned that Pakistan’s power sector crisis evolved into a deep socioeconomic imbalance, where the poorest households are paying the highest price for the country’s inefficiencies. Authored by Dr Rubina Ilyas, a Research Economist at the PIDE, the study titled “Circular Debt and Electricity Tariffs: Unequal Burdens Across Household Quintiles in Pakistan” quantifies how power sector circular debt, which is now exceeding Rs2.6 trillion, has translated into regressive electricity tariffs that disproportionately impact low-income families. Without efficiency-based reforms, stronger governance, and progressive tariff restructuring, the circular debt menace will continue to perpetuate…
LAHORE: President of the Gold & Gems Art Promotion Council of Pakistan and Central Chairman of the Lahore Division Sarafa & Jewellers Association, Muhammad Ahmed, has welcomed the government’s decision to lift the ban on the import and export of gold. In a statement, he said the move would have far-reaching positive effects on the country’s gems and jewellery industry. He noted that rising gold prices can only be effectively addressed through increased exports, making this decision both timely and essential. He recalled that due to SRO 760(13)14, the national gems and jewellery sector had come to a standstill, leaving…