ISLAMABAD: Pakistani schools are raising funds for earthquake victims of Turkiye and Syria, according to a statement released on Thursday.
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This section brings you news reports from around the world, covering global events, politics, economy, and more. Stay informed with the latest international updates and developments.
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US Treasury sanctions companies involved in sales, shipment of Iranian petroleum
WASHINGTON: The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Thursday sanctioned nine entities across multiple jurisdictions that have played a critical role in the production, sale, and shipment of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian petrochemicals and petroleum to buyers in Asia.
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CDP identifies Ericsson as leader in climate performance, reporting
The independent non-profit Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) identified Ericsson as leader in climate performance and reporting by being named in the annual ‘A List’ – the top ranking possible.
The press release stated, CDP’s annual climate disclosure and scoring process is widely recognized as the gold standard of corporate reporting.
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Based on data reported through CDP’s 2022 Climate Change questionnaire, Ericsson is one of more than 280 of companies that achieved an ‘A’ out of more than 20,000 companies scored.
Heather Johnson, Head of Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility, Ericsson, said, “At Ericsson, we take our role in climate action seriously, and you can’t manage what you don’t measure.”
He also added that, “that’s why it means so much to colleagues across the company to see our commitment to climate action recognized on the CDP A List this year. This recognition is a testament to our continuous progression toward ambitious and science-based climate targets.”
A detailed and independent methodology is used by CDP to assess companies with scoring based on the comprehensiveness of disclosure, awareness and management of climate risks and opportunities, and demonstration of best practices associated with climate leadership such as setting ambitious and meaningful targets.
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Johnson adds: “Today more than ever, companies have a crucial role to play in limiting climate change to 1.5°C. That’s why Ericsson will continue to join forces with our customers, suppliers, and the entire ICT ecosystem to manage our climate impacts and develop sustainable solutions that can help take effective climate action.”
Maxfield Weiss, Executive Director, CDP Europe said: “CDP saw nearly 20,000 companies disclose environmental data this year. The CDP A List companies are showing they are ahead of the game – taking clear action to reduce emissions and to address environmental impacts throughout their value chains. This is the type of environmental transparency and action we need economy-wide to prevent ecological collapse.’’
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ACCA conference highlights challenges faced by public sector
A conference hosted by Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) highlighted the challenges faced by public sectors and gave solutions
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Hyundai Robots benefitted with Pilot programs for quick deliveries
SEOUL: Hyundai started two pilot delivery service programs using robots based on Plug & Drive (PnD).
These robots are available at hotels and residential-commercial complex in the suburbs of Seoul.
The delivery robot consists of a storage unit integrated on top of a PnD driving unit. Alongside the loading box used to deliver items, a connected screen displays information for customers.
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The robot contains one single wheel unit that combines intelligent steering, braking, in-wheel electric drive and suspension hardware, including a steering actuator for 360-degree, holonomic rotation. It moves with the aid of LiDAR and camera sensors. An integrated storage unit allows the robot to transport products to customers.
The PnD-based robot can find the optimal route within the area to deliver packages to recipients. It can recognize and avoid fixed and moving objects and drive smoothly, providing a fast delivery time.
The robot in service at the hotel uses a deep learning-based algorithm to recognize the surrounding environment and people. When the robot arrives at the room it recognizes the opening of the door, and once it perceives the recipient, it automatically opens the storage compartment for them.
The robot can communicate appropriate screen messages and in a befitting tone of voice based on the recipient. In addition, when moving between floors, the unit can determine the number of people boarding an elevator and wait for the next elevator if the first one is crowded.
The autonomous driving robot is also adept at avoiding obstacles and collisions, even in narrow hotel corridors, and can move between floors without human help due to electronic connectivity with the elevators, enabling it to deliver goods along an optimal route.
To enable the service, the Group uses wireless communication to access communal front doors and elevators, an issue which was previously an obstacle to commercializing robot delivery service. The service robot can enter the apartment complex, access upper floors through the elevator control system and deliver food to the customer’s home.
The technology enabling service robots to move autonomously indoors and outdoors and deliver food without human assistance has created a game-changing last-mile delivery innovation that is attracting significant attention from the logistics and retail industries. The company expects last-mile delivery robots to greatly increase the efficiency of the entire delivery process.
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Xiaomi launches Watch S2, many other products with exciting features
BEIJING: Xiaomi unveiled Xiaomi Watch S2 and many other products that contains exciting features.
Along with Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro the other products are Xiaomi Watch S2, Xiaomi Buds 4, Xiaomi Sound Pro, Xiaomi Router 10000, and Xiaomi Mini PC.
Xiaomi Watch S2 brings a professional-grade sports tracking experience, offering ultra-comprehensive health monitoring and convenient features on the wrist. The watch comes in a more compact 42mm size, and is available in black, silver and light gold, as well as offering various options of colors for leather or silicone straps. For the first time, Xiaomi Watch S2 supports body composition measurement, which only takes a few seconds to measure and present eight types of body health data results. Xiaomi Watch S2’s new safety tracking feature, allows the users to send geolocation and SOS messages with a quick keystroke in case of any emergency.
Xiaomi Buds 4 offers an immersive audio experience with its powerful hardware and software capabilities. Equipped with Xiaomi’s customized graphene dual magnetic drivers and dynamic adaptive EQ compensation, the earbuds provide users a stable and consistent sound quality even while jogging.
Xiaomi Buds 4 is LHDC 5.0 and Hi-Res Audio Wireless certified, bringing astonishing audio in high-definition and with low-distortion. Xiaomi Buds 4’s case features a “space capsule” design, and earbuds can be snapped back into its place for easy storage. Its ergonomically half in-dear design enables users to have a secure fit and comfortable time for prolonged wearing. Furthermore, the adaptive active noise cancelling on Xiaomi Buds 4 enables a real-time adjustment for different levels of noise cancelling by recognizing ambient unwanted noise. With the new “independent spatial audio”, Xiaomi Buds 4 has on-device computing capabilities, meaning it no longer depends on smartphones for spatial audio calculations.
Xiaomi Sound Pro is equipped with 7 units of 55W and 360-degree omnidirectional sound, and features HARMAN AudioEFX professional tuning. The speaker is able to automatically adjust its output style among “Strong Bass”, “Balanced” and “Clean” modes by analyzing the content played when using XiaoAi Speaker app. In order to further enhance the connected smart home sound system experience
Xiaomi Sound Pro supports multiple connection methods such as Bluetooth 5.1, Aux in, and AirPlay 2. In addition, the intercom feature supports real-time communication between multiple speakers, as well as smartphones, TVs and other devices, so you can easily talk to your family without leaving the room.
Xiaomi Router 10000 features the highest configuration among our router offerings, and has an increased network speed by 20 per cent compared with the previous generation. The flagship tri-band router offers a wireless and wired data transfer rate of up to 10 Gigabit, ensuring sufficient bandwidth for next-generation usage such as VR games, 8K streaming media, and real-time high-definition conferences.
It is equipped with a Qualcomm quad-core A73 processor, 12-channel signal amplifier, 2GB storage, dual 10G network port, USB 3.0 port, as well as a sophisticated heat dissipation system, Xiaomi Router 10000 enables users to easily build a 10Gbps ultra-high-speed household WAN/LAN with NAS and supports simultaneous connection of more than 1,000 devices. The NFC pairing feature allows users to connect to the high-speed internet extremely easy and accessible.
READ MORE: Xiaomi unveils Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro
Xiaomi Mini PC is the most compact mainstream performance desktop at only 0.444L and weighs 437g. It adopts the 12th generation Core i5-1240P processor featuring a 12-core 16-thread heterogeneous design with a maximum turbo frequency reaching 4.4GHz, while the integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics (80EUs) ensures excellent performance 24-7. On the storage front, it utilizes a 16GB DDR4 and 512GB PCle 4.0SSD, and supports expandable storage of up to 32GB RAM and 4TB SSD ROM. The large 4600RPM fan and a dual heat pipe heat dissipation system ensures a stable performance of Xiaomi Mini PC.
The device comes with Windows 11 pre-installed and supports Ubuntu, OpenWWRT, UNRAID, and EXSI operating systems. For maximum utility and connectivity, it also features a wide range of versatile ports capable of connecting to external graphics cards and hard drives when needed. With Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6 built-in support, Xiaomi Mini PC is a compact yet powerful device, covering users needs in all daily scenarios.
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Xiaomi unveils Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro
BEIJING: Xiaomi unveiled 13 Series in collaboration with Leica. The phones include Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro.
The phone is available colors including white, black, flora green and mountain blue. It adopts a flat screen with matching flat edges for a clean and strong visual impact on the front.
Xiaomi 13 Series is equipped with 4nm flagship processors from Qualcomm, the Snapdragon® 8 Gen 2 mobile platform. The new 1+4+3 fusion CPU architecture brings 37 per cent performance improvements while reducing power consumption by 47 per cent.
The new Adreno GPU brings 42 per cent performance improvements while reducing power consumption by 49 per cent. In typical benchmark workloads, Snapdragon® 8 Gen 2 achieved almost 2x fps/watt.
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Xiaomi 13 Pro also features double-curved ceramic body for uniform look that transitions smoothly especially into the camera module. It is available in four colors, Ceramic White, Ceramic Black, Flora Green (Ceramic) and Mountain Blue.
Xiaomi 13 implements a screen-to-body ratio to 93.3 per cent with a 6.36″ full-screen AMOLED display and 1.61mm ultra-thin bezels.
The displays of Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro have excellent HDR capabilities, with a fullscreen brightness of up to 1,200nits and a peak brightness of up to 1,900nits for optimal viewing.
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Xiaomi 13 is equipped with 4,500mAh silicon-oxygen anode battery, with the highest energy density under the same power. It also supports 67W wired charging and 50W wireless charging.
Xiaomi 13 Pro is equipped with a 4,820mAh battery and supports 120W wired charging and 50W wireless charging.
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Ericsson study highlights benefits of 5G connectivity in emerging markets
ISLAMABAD: A major new Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) commissioned study by management consulting firm Analysys Mason highlights the potential economic, consumer and environmental benefits of 5G connectivity in 15 national emerging markets.
With regulatory and government support, all fifteen countries could benefit from GDP growth between 0.3 and 0.46 per cent through 2035, with an estimated three-to-seven-fold cost-to-benefit ratio.
Called the Future Value of Mobile in Emerging Markets, the report examines the impact of multiple 5G spectrum deployment options to facilitate enhanced mobile broadband and fixed wireless access (FWA) across consumer, industry, logistics, rural and public services clusters, and spanning several business case options, including verticals.
The detailed methodology included using national government statistics and reports, Ericsson network insights and innovative mapping techniques – based on population density distribution and existing national infrastructure such as, road and rail networks, and agriculture – to create a cost-to-benefit model across the different deployment options.
Deployment options are based on the starting assumption of having 5G baseline rollout added to existing mobile radio network sites.
Additional options explore the extra benefits of adding Low-Band 5G spectrum coverage beyond the baseline (delivering wider geographical coverage at the lower end of 5G capabilities and suited to agriculture or logistics deployments) or Mid-Band 5G spectrum coverage – delivering smaller geographical coverage per site, but with higher capacity and speed, suitable for manufacturing, automation, industry and advanced services.
Expanded Mid-Band 5G coverage is identified as the key success factor – with the potential to deliver about 80 percent of the economic benefits. Benefits from the Smart Industry and Smart Rural clusters account for 85-90 percent of the total economic benefits in each emerging market.
Agriculture is a significant sector in all 15 countries – accounting for up to 10 percent of GDP in some markets.
The report estimates that enhanced rural 5G coverage could deliver up to 1.8 percent uplift in long-term GDP from agriculture. 5G will also promote sustainable farming methods, increase efficiency and reduce agricultural waste.
Study findings include:
• Baseline 5G deployment cost is estimated between USD 3-8 billion per country. An additional 20-35 percent investment is required to extend coverage
• Extending coverage beyond the baseline can generate significant GDP benefits from industrial adoption, especially from mid-band coverage extension
• Most countries are expected to generate overall economic benefits (GDP) three-to-seven times higher than the incremental cost of extending coverage
• Results suggest 5G mobile broadband can generate consumer surplus between USD 1-10 billion per country, with coverage extension giving 20-30 percent extra consumer surplus
• The social benefits enabled by 5G will be greatest from 5G-based FWA, smart factories, freight and logistics, agriculture and healthcare use cases
• Adopting 5G can help reduce emissions by supporting digital transformation in agriculture, freight and logistics, smart factories and construction
The study highlights how governments, regulators and policy makers can support the 5G ecosystem to deliver the benefits.
These include treating 5G as a national infrastructure with a 5G national strategy and roadmap; implementing 5G spectrum policies that facilitate speedier and widespread deployment, including trading off spectrum fees for deployment targets that meet connectivity policy objectives; implementing policies and procedures to make infrastructure deployment and site upgrades easier; working with communications services providers to enhance coverage in areas where commercially-led solutions are not viable; incentivizing the use and prominence of 5G in industry and manufacturing; promoting 5G in the public sector and promoting the environmental benefits of 5G solutions.
Andrew Lloyd, Head of Government and Policy Advocacy, Ericsson, says: “This Analysys Mason Future Value of Mobile in Emerging Markets report provides a detailed breakdown, based on comprehensive research into realistic and achievable scenarios in each of the 15 countries, of the potential economic, social, environmental and national benefits of 5G in these markets. With the backing of governments, regulators and policy makers, each of these 15 countries, and their citizens, stand to benefit significantly from 5G connectivity. In addition to economic benefits, 5G can also reduce climate impact, increase social inclusion, wellbeing and tackle the digital divide in areas where fixed infrastructure availability is poor.”
Janette Stewart, Partner, Analysys Mason, says: ”The study highlights the benefits from having the right spectrum available for 5G deployment, both for geographic coverage, for which the low-bands are very suitable, and in the 3.5GHz band where most of the high-capacity 5G deployments in other markets are already taking place.”
The countries addressed in the report research are Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey.
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United States, Croatia sign income tax treaty
WASHINGTON: The United States and Croatia on Wednesday signed a comprehensive income tax treaty between the two countries, according to an official statement issued by US Department of the Treasury.
In a ceremony held at the US Department of State today, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Jose W. Fernandez and Croatia’s Minister of Finance Dr. Marko Primorac signed the treaty.
The new tax treaty is the first of its kind between the United States and Croatia.
“I am honored to sign the US-Croatia income tax treaty with you today, Finance Minister Primorac,” said Under Secretary Fernandez. “We look forward to taking this monumental step towards further strengthening trade and commercial ties between the United States and Croatia.”
“The Treasury Department is pleased to conclude this new tax treaty with Croatia. It is the first comprehensive tax treaty that the United States has signed in over ten years and reflects our current tax treaty policies and is a milestone in the Treasury’s efforts to expand the U.S. tax treaty network. We appreciate the collaboration Croatia showed throughout the negotiations,” said Lily Batchelder, Assistant Secretary (Tax Policy).
The new tax treaty closely follows the US Model income tax treaty. Key aspects of the new treaty include:
Elimination of withholding taxes on cross-border payments of dividends paid to pension funds and on payments of interest;
Reductions in withholding taxes on cross-border payments of dividends other than those paid to a pension fund, as well as royalties;
Modern anti-abuse provisions intended to prevent instances of non-taxation of income as well as treaty shopping;
Robust dispute resolution mechanisms including mandatory binding arbitration; and
Standard provisions for the exchange of information to help the revenue authorities of both nations carry out their duties as tax administrators.
The new tax treaty will enter into force after the United States and Croatia have notified each other that they have completed their requisite domestic procedures, which in the case of the United States refers to the advice and consent to ratification by the US Senate.
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Global trade restrictions rising amid economic uncertainty, Ukraine War: WTO
A report released by World Trade Organization (WTO) on Tuesday showed that trade restrictions are increasing in a context of economic uncertainty exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the food security crisis.
According to the latest WTO Trade Monitoring Report presented at a meeting of the Trade Policy Review Body, WTO members are introducing restrictions at an increased pace, particularly on food, feed and fertilizers. The stockpile of import restrictions in force also continues to grow.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called on WTO members to refrain from adopting new trade-restrictive measures, particularly export restrictions, that can further contribute to a worsening of the global economic outlook and urged them to cooperate to keep markets open and predictable in order to allow goods to move around the world to where they are needed.
“Members have increasingly implemented new trade restrictions, in particular on the export side, first in the context of the pandemic and more recently in the context of the war in Ukraine and the food security crisis. Although some of these export restrictions have been lifted, many others persist,” she said.
“Out of the 78 export restrictive measures on food, feed, and fertilizers introduced since the start of the war in late February, 57 are still in place, covering roughly USD 56.6 billion of trade. These numbers have increased since mid-October, which should be a cause for concern.”
“As I told G20 Leaders at their summit in Indonesia a few weeks ago, lifting those export restrictions is fundamental to reduce price spikes and volatility and to allow goods to flow to where they are urgently needed,” she added.
During the review period for the report, from mid-October 2021 to mid-October 2022, WTO members introduced more trade-facilitating (376) than trade-restrictive (214) measures on goods (unrelated to the pandemic), with the average number of trade-facilitating measures per month at its highest since 2012.
Most of the facilitation happened on the import side while most of the restrictions were on the export side. For the first time since the beginning of the monitoring exercise in 2009, the number of export restrictions outpaced that of import restrictions.
The trade coverage of the trade-facilitating measures was estimated at USD 1,160.5 billion, and that of the trade-restrictive measures at USD 278.0 billion. The stockpile of import restrictions in force also continued to grow. By mid-October 2022, over 9 per cent of global imports continue to be affected by import restrictions implemented since 2009 and which are still in force.
Initiations of trade remedy investigations declined sharply during the review period (10.9 initiations per month, the lowest since 2012) after reaching its highest peak in 2020 (36.1 initiations per month).
These actions remain an important trade policy tool for many members, accounting for 37.4 per cent of all non-COVID-19-related trade measures on goods recorded. Anti-dumping continues to be the most frequent trade remedy action in terms of initiations and terminations.
The implementation of new COVID-19-related trade measures decelerated over the past 12 months, with 45 such measures recorded on goods and four on services. Additional information communicated by WTO members mainly consisted of termination of existing measures or amendments of others.
The number of new COVID-19-related support measures by WTO members and observers to mitigate the social and economic impacts of the pandemic fell sharply over the review period.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, 443 COVID-19-related trade and trade-related measures in the area of goods have been introduced. Most were trade-facilitating (246 or 56 per cent), while the rest were trade-restrictive (197 or 44 per cent). During the review period, members continued to phase out the pandemic-related measurers, and in particular the restrictive ones.
According to information received by the WTO Secretariat, as of mid-October 2022, 79.2 per cent of the COVID-19-related trade restrictions have been repealed, leaving 27 export restrictions and 14 import restrictions in place. Although the number of the pandemic-related trade restrictions still in place has decreased, their trade coverage remains important at USD 134.6 billion.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, a consistent feature of the trade and trade-related measures taken in response to the COVID-19 crisis has been the frequent changes, adjustments and gradual roll-back of such measures to reflect the evolving situation.
The updated lists of measures implemented in the context of the current pandemic are available on the COVID-19 page of the WTO website and cover the areas of goods, services and intellectual property as well as measures communicated by members on general economic support.