The Cabinet Division has made public the Toshakhana records for January to June 2025, revealing a list of high-value gifts presented to top state officials, including the president, prime minister, ministers, and senior officials. These items, such as watches, luxury vehicles, carpets, handicrafts, and traditional artifacts, were received during foreign visits and local events. The released data, which includes 137 entries, details gifts from heads of state, royal families, diplomats, and business delegations. The exact value of these gifts is still under assessment by the Cabinet Division. Gifts to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif received a total…
Author: Raja Zahid Khanzada
Satellite communications firm EchoStar announced on Monday that it expects to hold $24.1 billion in total cash after using proceeds from its spectrum license sales to repay debt. This move aims to strengthen its balance sheet and support future growth in the wireless, satellite, and technology sectors. The announcement comes after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) questioned EchoStar’s compliance with its network buildout extensions. In response, the company sold some of its wireless spectrum licenses to AT&T for $23 billion and to SpaceX for about $17 billion. At the World Space Business Week in Paris, EchoStar CEO Hamid Akhavan stated…
The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) announced on Monday that it has completed its first transaction on its new blockchain-based infrastructure platform for private funds. The platform, named the Digital Markets Infrastructure (DMI), was developed in partnership with Microsoft and is part of LSEG’s effort to modernize global financial markets. How the Platform Works The DMI platform is designed to handle the entire lifecycle of a private fund, from its initial issuance to post-trade settlement and servicing. By leveraging blockchain technology, the platform aims to streamline workflows, improve distribution, and enhance liquidity in private markets, which have historically…
Elon Musk’s satellite internet service Starlink is back online for most users after a brief outage on Monday, according to the tracking website Downdetector.com. The number of U.S. users reporting issues fell below 1,000, down from a peak of more than 43,000. Starlink’s website had reported a service outage early Monday, with the message, “Starlink is currently experiencing a service outage. Our team is investigating.” The message has since been removed. The outage was particularly concerning in Ukraine. The commander of Ukraine’s drone forces, Robert Brovdi, reported on Telegram that the Starlink outage affected the entire frontline of the war…
Data center operator CoreWeave announced on Monday that it has signed a new order with Nvidia with an initial value of $6.3 billion. The deal guarantees that the AI chipmaker will purchase any residual cloud capacity not sold to customers. Following the news, CoreWeave’s shares rose 6.9% in early trading. The latest order, which requires Nvidia to purchase any unsold capacity through April 13, 2032, builds on their existing partnership. CoreWeave operates AI data centers in the U.S. and Europe, offering access to Nvidia’s GPUs, which are highly sought after for training and running large AI models. CoreWeave stated that…
The United States and Britain are set to announce agreements on technology and civil nuclear energy during U.S. President Donald Trump’s unprecedented second state visit this week. The UK hopes to finalize steel tariffs as part of a much-vaunted trade deal. President Trump and his wife, Melania, will be treated to a display of British royal pageantry on Wednesday, including a carriage tour, a state banquet, a military flypast, and a gun salute. The British government hopes that the soft power of the royals will appeal to Trump as it seeks to forge tighter defense, security, and energy ties with…
France has warned that it may try to block some crypto firms licensed in other EU countries from operating domestically as part of a push to transfer oversight to the bloc’s central securities regulator, according to the head of its financial watchdog. Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani, president of France’s securities watchdog, the AMF, told Reuters that the agency is concerned that under the new EU regulatory regime, crypto companies are seeking out jurisdictions with more lenient licensing standards. MiCA, a landmark set of digital asset rules that came into force this year, allows crypto companies to apply for licenses from individual EU…
Tesla shares jumped over 8% in premarket trading on Monday after a regulatory filing revealed that CEO Elon Musk had purchased nearly $1 billion worth of the electric-vehicle maker’s stock. The stock purchase reinforces Musk’s push for greater control over Tesla. The company is currently racing to meet ambitious targets in robotaxis, artificial intelligence, and robotics as it works to transition from an EV manufacturer to a tech leader. According to LSEG data, Musk held a roughly 13% stake as of December. The filing showed that Musk bought 2.57 million shares in open-market transactions on Friday, paying between $372.37 and…
Intel announced on Monday that it has lowered its full-year 2025 adjusted operating expense target from $17 billion to $16.8 billion. This reduction reflects the deconsolidation of its programmable chip business, Altera, following the sale of a majority stake. In April, Intel agreed to sell a 51% stake in Altera to private equity firm Silver Lake. The deal, which valued the unit at just $8.75 billion, a sharp decrease from the nearly $17 billion Intel paid in 2015, was completed on September 12. As a result, Altera’s financials are no longer fully included in Intel’s consolidated results. Under the leadership…
China’s market regulator, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), has announced a preliminary finding that U.S. chip giant Nvidia violated the country’s anti-monopoly law. This announcement coincides with ongoing trade talks between the U.S. and China in Madrid, where Nvidia’s chips are a key topic. According to analysts, the timing of the announcement is likely a strategic move by China to gain leverage in the trade negotiations. The U.S. Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, acknowledged this, stating that the “poor timing” of the investigation was discussed during the talks. A Potential Response to U.S. Actions The SAMR’s ruling…
