Pope Francis gave the traditional Easter blessing earlier today, appearing from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in front of delighted crowds in what marks his highest-profile appearance since being discharged from the hospital after falling ill with double pneumonia. The 88-year-old pontiff has not led the main Holy Week and Easter services but has made brief appearances, including spending 30 minutes at a prison in Rome on Thursday and a visit to St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday evening. Here’s what else you need to know to Start Your Week Smart. Sunday spotlight Tuesday marks 55 years since millions of…
Author: Raja Zahid Khanzada
Multinational companies repatriated $1.719 billion in profits and dividends during the first nine months of the current fiscal year — a 108% increase, according to the latest figures from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). This increase indicates that the central bank continues to permit capital outflows from foreign investors, reflecting ongoing improvements in the external account, The News reported on Sunday. In March, $157.9 million was sent home by multinational corporations and foreign investors who participated in the local stock market. Pakistan posted a $1.2 billion record high current account surplus in March due to surging remittances. However, the…
In a memorable image from the 1977 film “Star Wars,” the young hero Luke Skywalker gazes at two suns setting above the horizon on his desert planet Tatooine. Astronomers since then indeed have discovered worlds, called circumbinary planets, orbiting two stars. But for sheer exoticism, it would be hard to top a newly described circumbinary planet located relatively nearby in our Milky Way galaxy. It orbits not two stars but two brown dwarfs – celestial objects too small to be a star and too big to be a planet. And its orbit is unlike any other such planet on record.…
Meta’s instant messaging platform WhatsApp is rolling out a feature to browse channel photos, videos, GIFs, and links, and it’s available to some beta testers. Similar to how starred messages work in individual and group chats, this feature would allow users to save specific updates within a channel for easy access later, reported WABetaInfo. By making it easier to retrieve important updates without having to scroll through the entire channel history, it can improve user convenience. In certain situations, the earlier process was time-consuming and frustrating, especially when searching for media in channels that frequently share a high volume of…
A team of Chinese researchers has developed a groundbreaking flash memory device capable of storing data at an unprecedented speed, according to Chinese state media. Clocking in at one bit per 400 picoseconds, the device has established a new benchmark for semiconductor storage performance. Dubbed PoX, the non-volatile memory technology significantly outpaces even the fastest volatile memory types, such as Static Random-Access Memory (SRAM) and Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DRAM), which typically require 1 to 10 nanoseconds to store a single bit. A picosecond, in comparison, is a trillionth of a second or one-thousandth of a nanosecond. While volatile memory excels…
US President Donald Trump is facing a new wave of protests in cities across the United States, as thousands of protesters take to the streets against his hard-line policies. In New York, people gathered outside the city’s main library carrying signs targeting the US president with slogans like “No Kings in America” and “Resist Tyranny.” Many took aim at Trump’s deportations of undocumented migrants, chanting “No ICE, no fear, immigrants are welcome here,” a reference to the role of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in rounding up migrants. In Washington, protesters voiced concern that Trump was threatening long-respected constitutional…
The US Supreme Court, in a late-night ruling, has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s use of a centuries-old law to deport Venezuelan migrants without court hearings, marking a major setback to his aggressive immigration policy. The emergency ruling noted that two of the most conservative justices on the nine-member panel had dissented. The order temporarily prevents the government from continuing to expel migrants under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act—last used to round up Japanese-American citizens during World War II. Trump invoked the law last month to deport Venezuelans to a notorious prison in El Salvador that holds thousands of that…
Harvard stated on Saturday that the Trump administration was “doubling down” on far-reaching demands on the university, despite a published report indicating that government officials sent a letter outlining those demands without authorization. The letter from government lawyers, received by Harvard on April 11, was sent before senior officials of US President Donald Trump’s administration could approve it or authorize its release, according to a report by the New York Times on Friday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. Three days after the letter’s arrival, Harvard rejected numerous demands that it said would require the school to relinquish control…
Pope Francis is expected to bring joy to Catholics worldwide during Easter celebrations at the Vatican on Sunday, just weeks after battling for his life in hospital with pneumonia. The ailing 88-year-old pontiff has been recovering since his discharge from the hospital on March 23, following a 38-day stay for treatment. He is anticipated to deliver the “Urbi et Orbi” benediction from a balcony overlooking Saint Peter’s Square at midday (1000GMT) on Sunday, the most significant Christian celebration. The Holy See’s press service has indicated Francis’s likely presence at the Easter events, though without confirming his participation, emphasizing that it…
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has stated that his country will emphasize “fairness” in any discussions with the US President Donald Trump’s administration regarding exchange rates, as bilateral trade talks gain global attention amidst Washington’s tariff offensive. Ishiba, during a talk show on public broadcaster NHK, indicated that Tokyo could increase its purchases of US energy and suggested flexibility on US accusations of non-tariff barriers to the Japanese automobile market. Trump, who unexpectedly joined the first round of US-Japan talks on Wednesday and touted “significant progress,” has indicated that he wants the negotiations to include his accusations that Tokyo intentionally…
