Category: English

Gold prices rose sharply in Pakistan on Wednesday, with the price of one tola increasing by Rs4,300 to Rs441,636, according to the jewellers’ association. The price of 10 grams of gold also increased by Rs3,686 to Rs378,631. In the international market, gold gained $43 to reach $4,191 per ounce. The jewellers’ association attributed the rise in gold prices to movements in international bullion prices, changes in the value of the US dollar, global economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions. On Tuesday, the price of one tola of gold fell by Rs800,…

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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi received US feedback via Qatari mediators in ​Doha on Tuesday on a seven-day plan aimed ‌at building trust between Washington and Tehran, with sequencing the main sticking point, an official, who was not Iranian but was briefed on the ​talks, told Reuters. Araqchi is expected to discuss the US ​response in Tehran on Wednesday, the official said. “At today’s cabinet meeting, the American side’s proposal was presented to President Masoud Pezeshkian by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi,” government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani told the official IRNA news…

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US forces are set to withdraw on Wednesday from their last bases in Iraq, a departure celebrated as a victory by Iran and its allies, which have deep influence in the country where 4,500 Americans died during more than two decades of war. Still, since its 2003 ​invasion of Iraq, the US has held effective control of the country’s oil revenue dollars, giving Washington extraordinary leverage over Baghdad’s ‌affairs, with implications for regional dynamics involving Iran. How does US control Iraq’s oil money? This stems primarily from the management of…

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US President Donald Trump and leaders of major artificial intelligence companies have signed a voluntary accord committing the firms to internal and independent external reviews of their AI safety controls. The agreement, signed on Tuesday by Trump, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and xAI founder Elon Musk, leaves open the possibility of future legislation. Under the accord, the companies will establish “robust internal controls”, work with independent external auditors to assess them and create board…

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A Flydubai passenger aircraft travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv diverted to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after a reported altercation between its two pilots triggered an emergency signal, according to CNN and Israeli media. The aircraft, which was scheduled to land at Ben Gurion Airport, descended about 17,400 feet over northwestern Saudi Arabia in just over two minutes before transmitting an emergency signal, flight-tracking data reviewed by CNN showed. Israeli daily Ynet reported that a hijacking code was activated during the cockpit altercation and that the aircraft subsequently landed at…

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Burkina Faso has opened its first gold refinery as the military-led government seeks to process more of the country’s mineral wealth domestically and increase state control over the sector. Junta leader Ibrahim Traoré said at the inauguration in Ouagadougou on Monday that the facility was part of efforts to end reliance on exporting raw materials for processing abroad and develop the entire value chain locally, according to a BBC report. The Raffinor-BF refinery cost more than 11 billion CFA francs ($19 million), according to the presidency, and will initially be…

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The chief executive of the company operating the Eiffel Tower will step down at the end of the year following a backlash over female staff being replaced by male colleagues during a visit by a Hindu religious group. Patrick Branco Ruivo, who has headed the landmark’s operator SETE since 2018, will leave his post after an internal investigation found “operational flaws and shortcomings” in organising the visit, the company said. About 100 people linked to the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) visited the Eiffel Tower earlier this month. SETE…

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The US Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to resume deporting migrants to third countries without first giving them an opportunity to raise concerns that they could face torture or other human rights abuses. The court on Tuesday also agreed to hear the case on its merits in December, with a ruling expected by July. The three liberal justices dissented from the decision. The policy, introduced last year as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, allows the US to deport migrants to countries other than their own when…

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Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Wednesday visited Jinnah International Airport in Karachi and inspected immigration counters, reviewing the process for passengers travelling abroad. Naqvi met departing passengers and asked about the immigration procedure and facilities. He also had the travel documents of some passengers verified by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials. Expressing satisfaction with the arrangements, Naqvi said the deployment of additional staff at immigration counters had eliminated long queues. He directed authorities to provide passengers with all possible facilities during immigration and ordered that those carrying incomplete or…

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Chinese-powered AI agents have learnt to deceive, circumvent restrictions and conceal failure, showing the kind of traits in autonomous artificial intelligence that have raised global alarm about US models, research documents and experts say. In one case this year, agents powered by models from China’s Alibaba, DeepSeek and Moonshot lied about their capabilities in a bid to win a simulated business tender, then doubled down on their deceptive behaviour when told to try ​again. In another case, agents — programmes that use AI models and computer tools to undertake complex…

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