Business

Lahore: Pakistan continues to grapple with hazardous air pollution, ranking as the world’s third-most polluted country according to IQAir data with average PM2.5 concentrations of 73.7 μg/m³, far exceeding World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. In urban centers such as Lahore, winter smog regularly pushes PM2.5 levels beyond 145 μg/m³, a reality that guided much of the discussion at the Climate Action …

Shoppers are paying significantly more for Christmas food this year, with festive chocolate treats costing up to 70 per cent more than last Christmas and the price of a turkey rising by as much as £15, according to new research from consumer champion Which?. The organisation analysed the cost of key ingredients for a traditional Christmas dinner alongside popular seasonal …

Senior ministers and MPs have warned that the UK’s recent agreements with Donald Trump are dangerously fragile, after it emerged that the flagship deal to avoid US tariffs on pharmaceuticals has no detailed legal text beyond high-level political statements. The “milestone” UK–US pharmaceuticals agreement announced earlier this month, under which the NHS is expected to pay more for medicines in …

Thousands of hospitality businesses risk losing their right to Covid-related insurance compensation unless the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) intervenes to extend a fast-approaching claims deadline, industry leaders have warned. In an open letter to the regulator, disputes firm Stewarts, alongside major hospitality trade bodies representing more than 155,000 businesses, has called on the FCA to require insurers to extend the …

Amazon is reportedly in discussions to invest as much as $10 billion in OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT, in a move that could value the business at more than $500 billion and further intensify competition in the global AI market. The talks, first reported by The Information and subsequently confirmed by multiple sources, are said to be at …

Two of the world’s largest auction houses have signalled a return to growth in the global art market, offering early evidence that a prolonged downturn in demand may be easing. Sotheby’s, headquartered in New York, said it expects sales to rise by 17 per cent in 2025 to around $7 billion. Auction sales alone are forecast to increase by more …

The Bank of England has cut interest rates for the fourth time this year, lowering borrowing costs to their lowest level in almost three years as policymakers forecast that inflation will fall back to the 2 per cent target by spring. Members of the Bank’s nine-strong monetary policy committee (MPC) voted narrowly, by five votes to four, to reduce the …

Introduction: Redefining Growth in a Climate-Conscious World The global economy is undergoing a profound transformation. Traditional growth models—built on intensive resource extraction and environmental neglect—are no longer sustainable. In response, green growth has emerged as a forward-looking economic strategy that harmonizes nature, technology, and economic development. By integrating environmental protection with technological innovation, green growth offers a roadmap for long-term …

Strict adherence to governance reforms is vital, but further burdening the industrial sector could stifle recovery Mian Zahid Hussain, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum & All Karachi Industrial Alliance, Chairman National Business Group Pakistan, Chairman Policy Advisory Board FPCCI, and Former Provincial Minister Information Technology, has commented on the 11 milestones recently outlined by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) …

KARACHI: Researchers from the Aga Khan University (AKU) have reported promising early results from a simple, low-cost household water filter that is dramatically reducing diarrheal disease and measurably improving nutritional status among children under five in rural Sindh, Pakistan. The non-electric, easy-to-use filter, which costs as little as USD 5–8 per year, is being hailed as a critical intervention against …