- Profit-taking weighs on PSX after early gains Dawn
- Bearish trend grips Pakistan Stock Market after strong early rally Dunya News
- PSX ends flat after record-high performance Profit by Pakistan Today
- Stock market gains 1,153 more points The Nation (Pakistan )
- PSX takes pause as profit-taking dominates The Express Tribune
Category: 3. Business
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Profit-taking weighs on PSX after early gains – Dawn
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Automobile sales surge 52pc in November – Dawn
- Automobile sales surge 52pc in November Dawn
- Car sales rise 52% in November 2025 Mettis Global
- Auto sales fall 11% in November The Express Tribune
- Pakistan car sales jump 43% in first five months of FY2025-26 Business Recorder
- Car Sales Increase By 43.11% During Jul-Nov 2025-26 UrduPoint
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Indian rupee hits record low vs dollar – Dawn
- Indian rupee hits record low vs dollar Dawn
- Indian rupee slips to record low, but central bank likely curbs losses Reuters
- Indian rupee likely to open higher as Fed outlook pushes back dollar Business Recorder
- USD/INR Forecast 11/12: Consolidates at Major Level (Chart) DailyForex
- Re slumps 54 paise to all-time low of 90.48 against dollar The Hans India
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How ‘entrepreneurs’ are fuelling the UK’s shoplifting problem
Jim Connollyand
Cherry Wilson
BBCBehind the counter of his convenience store, surrounded by rows of crisps, sandwiches and spirits, Muhammed Rabani glances at a bank of CCTV screens, anticipating a shoplifter coming at any moment.
Muhammed has grown wearily used to the crime. “It’s every day,” he says. He estimates it is costing the family business in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, around £900 every month.
When asked if thieves ever get violent, he holds his hand up to show a cut covered by a plaster. The previous day, he confronted a shoplifter who tried to steal a full box of chocolates: “I told him to stop… and he hit me.”
Shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales were up 13% in the year to June 2025, with 529,994 instances recorded according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS said there have been “sharp rises” in shop theft since the coronavirus pandemic.
It’s a similar story in Scotland. The Scottish Government’s police recorded crime statistics for the year ending September 2025 showed a 15% increase, from 42,271 to 48,564 shoplifting offences.
Muhammed Rabani says he has grown used to shoplifting in his store Northern Ireland saw a 3.9% reduction in police recorded shoplifting offences in the year to November 2025, but shoplifting offences there have risen sharply since Covid, too.
Cleveland – which covers Stockton-on-Tees as well as areas such as Middlesbrough and Redcar – appears to be England and Wales’s shoplifting capital. Figures show its police force recorded the highest number of shop theft offences – with 13.6 offences per 1,000 population.
And with the festive shopping season in full swing, retailers are braced for a shoplifting surge.
“We always see a spike in the run-up to Christmas – there’s a huge demand for stolen goods,” says criminologist Prof Emmeline Taylor from City St George’s, University of London.
Experts say that the nature of shoplifting itself is changing, with a greater range of offenders targeting a more diverse range of goods. So who are the modern day shoplifters and what can be done to tackle them?
‘There appears to be no consequence’
The statistics around shoplifting are notoriously tricky to analyse because retail experts and shops alike agree they don’t reflect the true scale of the crime.
A study this year by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) “put it at 20 million incidents [annually], which would suggest that fewer than 3% of shop thefts are even reported,” Prof Taylor points out.
According to the ONS, the latest statistics show the increases in shoplifting appear to be slowing down. But for shops in Stockton, it doesn’t feel that way.
Retail experts have also highlighted that after shoplifters have been reported to the police, shopkeepers often feel no action is taken.
And there is evidence to back this up. Almost 290,000 shoplifting investigations out of around 520,000 were closed with no suspect identified in 2024-25, according to House of Commons Library research revealed by the Liberal Democrats.
Meanwhile, figures obtained by the BBC show the average time it takes for a shoplifting case to be dealt with from offence to completion in a magistrates’ court in England and Wales has risen from 32 days in 2014 to 59 days in 2024.
Prof Taylor says these figures reveal the “crux” of the problem: “There appears to be no consequence if you steal and if you’re violent, and if you’re a prolific offender it takes a long time for any action to actually be taken.”
Former Det Ch Insp David Spencer, who now works for the right-leaning think tank Policy Exchange, says the consequences of shoplifting are felt much more widely: “This type of crime has the potential to completely knock out the economic viability of small towns,” he says.
How shops are fighting back
Many of those working in the retail sector point to the fact that shoplifting has evolved in recent years – with different categories of shoplifters emerging.
One of the biggest developments, experts and retail staff agree, has been the rise of organised criminal gangs.
“We get groups of three or four that come in and use distraction techniques,” says the a supermarket worker from Teesside who contacted Your Voice, Your BBC News. The worker described it as “really bad”, adding “it’s got worse”.
In 2024, the National Business Crime Solution (NBCS) – an organisation which works with 100 businesses to tackle retail crime – said it was tracking 63 organised criminal groups across the UK who have stolen at least £2.4m of goods in five years. Of these, it told us, 26 groups originate from the UK and Ireland and the rest predominantly from Eastern European countries.
Lucy Whing, a crime policy adviser for retail trade body, the BRC, says this is a huge concern for its members: “You hear of these gangs systemically hitting stores one after another all over the country.”
Abigail Donaldson believes the higher-value items in her shop have made it a target for organised thieves This trend appears to have become an issue in more affluent areas of Cleveland, like Yarm, a pretty market town a short drive from Stockton.
When I visit, the high street is full Christmas shoppers enjoying its pubs, restaurants and independent shops.
Abigail Donaldson, who owns high-end streetwear shop, Triad, believes the relatively expensive items she sells has made her shop a target for organised criminals travelling from out of town to steal.
“We don’t get as many young kids coming and stealing here, it’s all middle-aged men that know what they’re doing,” she says. “They are very prepared” – in that they know what they want and are organised.
David Spencer believes organised criminals have moved into the shoplifting market because it is highly lucrative. “They can literally take huge amounts of stock out pretty quickly.”
New breed of ‘shoplifting entrepreneurs’
In an age where online resale sites have allowed so many people to dabble in entrepreneurialism, it’s perhaps little surprise that among them are also a new breed of what Prof Taylor calls “shoplifting entrepreneurs”.
She says: “They might not have really dabbled in criminality before but for some reason, they’ve latched on to a particular product that they know is easy to steal, it’s high value and they can resell it quickly,” she said.
One popular item which shops have said is regularly stolen to sell online is the collectable soft toys Jellycats. Other items high on the shoplifters’ wish-list for resale include perfume and designer clothes.
Getty Images for NordstromJellycats have become a common target, with shops reporting they’re often stolen and resold online Ruth Lund, manager of Cherry Hill Garden Centre in nearby Middlesbrough, says this type of shoplifter has become a problem for her business, which has just installed new anti-shoplifting barriers to tackle the problem.
She said they know “exactly what they’re going for” – including garden furniture and Christmas decorations. Perhaps more surprisingly, bags of gravel and even cans of soft drinks are also targets – and “they will be out the door before we’re even aware that they’re in the shop”.
Shoplifting-to-order is also being used to sell on stolen goods by what a 2018 report by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) think tank identified as a traditional shoplifter – somebody funding a Class-A drug addiction. Even before the rise in shoplifting since the pandemic, the CSJ said 70% of shoplifting incidents were committed by these people.
Ruth Lund installed anti-shoplifting barriers One reformed shoplifter, Keeley Knowles from Telford, Shropshire, says she only stole from shops to feed her habit – focusing on shops in Birmingham’s Bullring.
“I went straight for designer handbags, designer belts, sunglasses, you know, the stupidly priced stuff,” says Keeley, who has now been clean for two years and carries out outreach work with drug users. “And obviously, my income went up and up and with it, my habit went up and up.”
In Stockton, shop workers pointed to drug and alcohol addiction as fuelling the crime and one street is mentioned above all as the epicentre of the problem – Hartington Road, a row of large terraced houses, many divided up into flats, where lots of people with addiction problems congregate.
Keeley Knowles says she used to steal from shops to fund an addiction A nearby shop manager told us when people come into their store under the effects of drugs “they don’t know what they’re doing” and just grab things and walk out.
“It’s very scary, because you don’t know if they have needles or what else they may carry,” he added.
Cleveland Police says its charge and detection rate is above the national average and that it takes a “proactive” approach to combating shoplifting.
Ch Insp Jamie Bell, the force’s operational lead on retail crime, said: “While there is still work to do in tackling retail crime, our officers work tirelessly to address the issue and, despite the high volume of offences, continue to deliver strong results.”
‘[I] didn’t think anything would be done’
One of the big issues with tackling shoplifting is there is no quick-fix solution and a wide range of opinions on how to combat the problem.
A 2024 report by the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee made 15 recommendations on how to combat the issue – which included improving reporting systems, more regulations on the online resale market and more funding for rehabilitation.
Former shoplifter Keeley believes sending shoplifters with addictions to jail is a “waste of resources” as it does not treat the root cause of the offending.
She believes there needs to be more targeted recovery programmes for offenders. Prof Taylor says sentences of less than 12 months are “really ineffective and most people come out worse than they went in”.
Getty ImagesProf Taylor believes prison sentences under 12 months are “really ineffective” David Spencer feels that the police need to be responding more quickly and putting offenders through the criminal justice system.
He said that organised criminals who commit thousands of pounds worth of shoplifting should not be handed suspended or community sentences and instead should be sent to jail for “lengthy periods of time”.
Steps have been taken to try and combat the issue and there are indications they are having some success.
In October 2023 police and government launched the Retail Crime Action Plan, which committed police to prioritise turning up urgently where violence has been used, where a repeat or prolific offender has been detained or where evidence needs to be promptly secured.
The same year, a group of major retailers agreed to pay around £600,000 to a police operation called Project Pegasus, which used CCTV and data shared by the shops and police to understand shoplifters’ tactics.
The operation has seen offenders who were responsible for £8m of theft brought to justice in its first year, according to the National Police Chiefs Council.
Retailers have also stepped up their investment in measures such as CCTV and security guards with a record £1.8bn spent on crime prevention in the year to June 2024, according to the BRC. Lucy Whing of the trade body says it is “hearing anecdotally that for some some members, things are looking a bit better and perhaps this is off the back of these major investments”.
The Home Office says shop theft “is completely unacceptable and is blighting our high streets”. A spokesperson says it has announced a “Winter of Action” to crack down on crime and its Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will see 3,000 additional officers in neighbourhood roles by spring 2026.
Last year the government said it was bringing in a new crime bill to target people who steal goods worth less than £200. The policy would be a reversal of 2014 legislation that meant “low-value” thefts worth under £200 were subject to less serious punishment. The government has also pledged to bring in a specific offence of assaulting a retail worker. Both moves have been welcomed by the BRC.
Despite this, there is little confidence from some retailers that anything will change soon.
Back in Stockton, Muhammed says he didn’t report the shoplifters assault against him because he “didn’t think anything would be done”.
For all the talk of action, he feels the crime is still not treated seriously. Confronting shoplifters, he says, is “just a part of working there”.
Additional reporting by Florence Freeman
Top image credits: In Pictures/Getty Images
BBC InDepth is the home on the website and app for the best analysis, with fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions and deep reporting on the biggest issues of the day. You can now sign up for notifications that will alert you whenever an InDepth story is published – click here to find out how.
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Google asks UK experts to find uses for its powerful quantum tech
Google has announced plans to team up with the UK to invite researchers to come up with uses for the tech giant’s state-of-the-art quantum chip Willow.
It is one of several firms competing to develop a powerful quantum computer – which is seen as an exciting new frontier in the future of computing.
Researchers hope they will be able to crack problems in fields such as chemistry and medicine which are impossible for current computers to solve.
Professor Paul Stevenson of the University of Surrey – who had no involvement with the agreement – told the BBC it was “great news for UK researchers”.
The collaboration between Google and the UK’s national lab for quantum computing means more researchers will get access to the technology.
“The new ability to access Google’s Willow processor, through open competition, puts UK researchers in an enviable position,” said Prof Stevenson.
“It is good news for Google, too, who will benefit from the skills of UK academics.”
Quantum devices work in a fundamentally different way to the computers powering our smartphones and laptops, solving problems using technologies based on the science of particle physics
But the full potential of the technology has yet to be realised and the machines that currently exist have few practical applications and most are experimental.
It is hoped giving UK researchers access to Willow would help “uncover new real world applications”.
Scientists will be able to submit proposals describing how they intend to use the chip, and they will work with experts from Google and the UK quantum lab to design and conduct experiments.
When it was unveiled in 2024, Google’s Willow chip was seen as a significant step forward in the field.
Rival firms including Amazon and IBM are also developing their own tech.
The UK has a significant quantum industry. Quantinuum, which has headquarters in Cambridge and Colorado, US, reached a $10bn (£7.45bn) valuation in September.
Announcements of new developments from firms throughout 2025 have led some experts to believe powerful machines capable of having real-world impact will be developed within a decade.
Dr Michael Cuthbert, Director at the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) said the partnership would “accelerate discovery”.
He said the cutting edge science it would support could ultimately lead to quantum computing being used in areas such as “life science, materials, chemistry, and fundamental physics”.
The NQCC already hosts seven quantum computers from British-based firms such as Quantum Motion, ORCA and Oxford Ionics.
The government says it is committing £670m to support the tech, which is a priority area in the UK’s Industrial Strategy.
Officials believe quantum could contribute £11 billion to the UK economy by 2045.
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TerraUSD creator sentenced to 15 years in prison over $40bn crash
A former crypto entrepreneur who was behind two digital currencies that collapsed and lost an estimated $40bn ($29.9bn) has been sentenced by a New York judge to 15 years in prison for an “epic” fraud.
Do Kwon, a South Korean national, was co-founder of Singapore-based Terraform Labs, which developed the TerraUSD and Luna digital coins.
Kwon had admitted misleading investors about TerraUSD, a so-called stablecoin that was supposed to maintain its value against the US dollar.
He was one of a number of crypto bosses to face charges in the US after digital tokens slumped in 2022, triggering the failure of several companies.
US District Judge Paul A Engelmayer, who handed down the sentence, said the Stanford graduate had repeatedly lied to investors who trusted him with their money.
“This was a fraud on an epic, generational scale,” he said during Thursday’s court hearing in Manhattan.
“In the history of federal prosecutions, there are few frauds that have caused as much harm as you have.”
Kwon – who pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud – expressed remorse to the judge.
“I have spent almost every waking moment of the last few years thinking of what I could have done different and what I can do now to make things right,” he said.
Prosecutors alleged that when TerraUSD fell below its $1 peg in May 2021, Kwon told investors that a computer algorithm had restored its value.
Instead, Kwon had arranged for a trading firm to secretly buy millions of dollars of the coin to artificially boost its value, according to court documents.
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Lundin Mining Announces TSX Approval for a Normal Course Issuer Bid
Lundin Mining Announces TSX Approval for a Normal Course Issuer Bid
December 11, 2025
VANCOUVER, BC, Dec. 11, 2025 /CNW/ – (TSX: LUN) (Nasdaq Stockholm: LUMI) Lundin Mining Corporation (“Lundin Mining” or the “Company”) announces that the Toronto Stock Exchange (the “TSX”) has accepted the notice of Lundin Mining’s intention to renew its normal course issuer bid (the “NCIB”). Unless otherwise stated, all values presented are in United States dollars.
The Company is committed to delivering shareholder returns through a balanced approach of dividends and share buybacks, with a total annual allocation of approximately $220 million. As part of its shareholder distribution policy (see news release dated March 26, 2025), the Company will pay a quarterly dividend of C$0.0275 per common share of the Company (the “Common Shares”) while allocating up to approximately $150 million per annum in share buybacks through the Company’s NCIB. If the Company allocates less than $150 million in share buybacks in a calendar year, the shortfall will be distributed as a special dividend. If applicable, the special dividend will be paid alongside the regular 4th-quarter dividend.
Under the Company’s previous NCIB that commenced on December 16, 2024 and expires on December 15, 2025, the Company sought and received approval from the TSX to acquire up to 57,597,388 Common Shares. As of December 5, 2025, the Company acquired 17,474,000 Common Shares in the market for cancelation at an average price of C$13.09 per Common Share. Such amount includes the purchase of 14,229,000 Common Shares since January 1, 2025 in accordance with the Company’s 2025 shareholder distribution policy.
Normal Course Issuer Bid
The approval of the NCIB allows the Company to purchase up to 67,723,868 Common Shares, representing 10% of the 855,770,029 issued and outstanding Common Shares as of December 4, 2025, minus those Common Shares beneficially owned, or over which control or direction is exercised by the Company, the senior officers and directors of the Company and every shareholder who owns or exercises control or direction over more than 10% of the outstanding Common Shares, over a period of twelve months commencing on December 16, 2025. The NCIB will expire no later than December 15, 2026.
All purchases made pursuant to the NCIB will be made on the open market through the facilities of the TSX, other designated exchanges and/or alternative Canadian trading systems or by such other means as may be permitted by applicable securities laws. In accordance with TSX rules, any daily purchases (other than pursuant to a block purchase exemption) on the TSX under the NCIB are limited to a maximum of 624,337 Common Shares, which represents 25% of the average daily trading volume of 2,497,350 Common Shares on the TSX for the six months ended November 30, 2025. The price that Lundin Mining will pay for Common Shares in open market transactions will be the market price at the time of purchase.
In connection with the NCIB renewal, Lundin Mining entered into an automatic share purchase plan (“ASPP”) with its designated broker to allow for the repurchase of Common Shares at times when the Company ordinarily would not be active in the market due to its own internal trading blackout periods, insider trading rules or otherwise (any such period being a “Blackout Period”). Before entering a Blackout Period, the Company may, but is not required to, instruct the designated broker to make purchases under the NCIB in accordance with the terms of the plan. At this time, the Company has not instructed the broker to actively repurchase Common Shares. Purchases made pursuant to the plan, if any, will be made by the Company’s designated broker based upon the parameters prescribed by the TSX, applicable Canadian securities laws and the terms of the written agreement entered between the Company and its designated broker. Outside of these Blackout Periods, Common Shares will be purchasable by Lundin Mining at its discretion under its NCIB.
The ASPP will terminate on the earliest of the date on which: (i) the purchase limit under the NCIB has been reached; (ii) the NCIB expires; and (iii) the ASPP otherwise terminates in accordance with its terms. The ASPP constitutes an “automatic plan” for purposes of applicable Canadian securities legislation and the agreement governing the plan has been pre-cleared by the TSX.
The actual number of Common Shares that may be purchased and the timing of such purchases will be determined by the Company. Decisions regarding purchases will be based on market conditions, share price, best use of available cash, and other factors. Any Common Shares that are purchased under the NCIB will be cancelled.
About Lundin Mining
Lundin Mining is a Canadian mining company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada with four operating mines in Brazil, Chile and the USA. We produce commodities that support modern infrastructure and electrification. Built for growth, ready for opportunity, our strategic vision is to become a top ten global copper producer. To get there, we are executing a clear growth strategy, which includes advancing one of the world’s largest copper, gold, and silver projects in the Vicuña District on the border of Argentina and Chile, where we hold a 50% interest. With a legacy of value creation in the base metals sector, Lundin Mining has a proven track record of resource growth, operational excellence, and responsible development. We are committed to safety, sustainability, and delivering long-term value for stakeholders. Lundin Mining’s shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (LUN) and Nasdaq Stockholm (LUMI). Learn more at www.lundinmining.com.
The information in this release is subject to the disclosure requirements of Lundin Mining under the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out below on December 11, 2025 at 16:00 Pacific Time.
Cautionary Statement in Forward-Looking Information
Certain of the statements made and information contained herein is “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this document constitute forward-looking information, including but not limited to statements with respect to Lundin Mining’s shareholder distribution policy, including the payment of quarterly or special dividends, proposed NCIB, the Company’s pre-defined plan with its broker to allow for the repurchase of Common Shares and the timing, number and price of Common Shares that may be purchased under the NCIB. Words such as “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “contemplate”, “target”, “plan”, “goal”, “aim”, “intend”, “continue”, “budget”, “estimate”, “may”, “will”, “can”, “could”, “should”, “schedule” and similar expressions identify forward-looking information.
Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon various estimates and assumptions including, without limitation, the expectations and beliefs of management; assumed and future price of copper, zinc, gold, nickel and other metals; anticipated costs; ability to achieve goals; the prompt and effective integration of acquisitions; that the political environment in which the Company operates will continue to support the development and operation of mining projects; the Company will continue to pay dividends in accordance with its current shareholder distribution policy; the Common Shares will, from time to time, trade below their value; the Company will complete purchases of Common Shares pursuant to the NCIB; and assumptions related to the factors set forth below. While these factors and assumptions are considered reasonable by Lundin Mining as at the date of this document in light of management’s experience and perception of current conditions and expected developments, these statements are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements and information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: the market price of the Common Shares being too high to ensure that purchases benefit the Company and its shareholders; factors affecting the payment of dividends; and other risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those described in the “Risks and Uncertainties” section of the Company’s MD&A for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025 and the “Risks and Uncertainties” section of the Company’s Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2024, which are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca under the Company’s profile.
All of the forward-looking information in this document are qualified by these cautionary statements. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, forecasted or intended and readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which may have been used. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking information. There can be no assurance that the Common Shares will, from time to time, trade below their value and that the Company will complete purchases of Common Shares pursuant to the NCIB, or that dividends will continue to be paid in the future or on the same terms currently intended by the Company. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate and forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance. Readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information contained herein speaks only as of the date of this document. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise forward ‐ looking information or to explain any material difference between such and subsequent actual events, except as required by applicable law.
SOURCE Lundin Mining Corporation
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Pakistan names crypto as foundation for new national financial rail
Pakistan’s Minister of State for Crypto and Blockchain, Bilal Bin Saqib, stated that Pakistan considers Bitcoin and digital assets to be crucial aspects that will play a significant role in the country’s new financial system, benefiting its 240 million population. This perspective highlights the potential for Pakistani officials to consider regulating the crypto market.
This outlook was noted at the Bitcoin MENA Conference a few days after Saqib shared a statement dated Tuesday this week, declaring that the country can no longer rely on outdated economic models. Therefore, according to him, “a new engine”, which he referred to as digital assets, is needed to boost economic growth.
Saqib refers to digital assets as essential aspects for Pakistan’s new financial system
During a discussion in Abu Dhabi, the senior official argued that they do not view Bitcoin, digital assets, and blockchain as speculative tools, but as an important part of their infrastructure.
Saqib further explained that they are not just distractions but play a significant role in establishing the basis for a new financial system for developing nations.
Saqib, who was recently appointed Chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) and previously served as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Blockchain and crypto matters, highlighted that he is working towards a major goal of transforming the largest unregulated cryptocurrency markets into a favourable investment environment.
According to him, Pakistan has the potential to develop a regulated crypto ecosystem as soon as possible, given that 70% of the population belongs to the 30-year-old age group, rather than becoming a late adopter.
“My message is straightforward,” he stated. “If El Salvador can achieve this with 6 million people, just think about what Pakistan could accomplish with a population 40 times larger and one of the fastest-growing digital sectors in Asia.”
Following the senior official’s argument, analysts weighed in on the situation. They pointed out that Pakistan is increasingly becoming one of the fastest-growing cryptocurrency markets globally.
Their remarks came after the country moved up six spots to solidify its top position as the third in Chainalysis’ 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index.
Pakistan positions itself as a hub for digital assets
Earlier this month, Saqib informed reporters that the country is preparing to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve. He also noted that Pakistan is working towards adopting more supportive policies specifically for cryptocurrency.
This move sparked excitement among individuals who are advocates of cryptocurrencies. To further illustrate their commitment to exploring the crypto ecosystem, Pakistan reported allocating 2,000 megawatts of additional electricity to support Bitcoin mining activities and the construction and operation of AI data centres that same month. This time round, the country embraced national efforts essential to enable it to go digital.
This move triggered reports to reach out to financial leaders in the country to explain this plan further. Respondingly, they mentioned that this plan aims to attract significant foreign investment and create new high-tech jobs by diverting excess power supply to AI and crypto initiatives.
To position itself as a hub for digital assets, Pakistan notified international crypto firms in September that they are accepting applications for licenses under the country’s new federal regulations. For leading exchanges and service providers interested in exploring the market, the PVARA advised them to begin submitting their interest.
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‘It’s amazing’ – the wonder material very few can make
Chris BaraniukTechnology Reporter
KromekVery few organisations can supply cadmium zinc telluride Lying on your back in a big hospital scanner, as still as you can, with your arms above your head – for 45 minutes. It doesn’t sound much fun.
That’s what patients at Royal Brompton Hospital in London had to do during certain lung scans, until the hospital installed a new device last year that cut these examinations down to just 15 minutes.
It is partly thanks to image processing technology in the scanner but also a special material called cadmium zinc telluride (CZT), which allows the machine to produce highly detailed, 3D images of patients’ lungs.
“You get beautiful pictures from this scanner,” says Dr Kshama Wechalekar, head of nuclear medicine and PET. “It’s an amazing feat of engineering and physics.”
The CZT in the machine, which was installed at the hospital last August, was made by Kromek – a British company. Kromek is one of just a few firms in the world that can make CZT. You may never have heard of the stuff but, in Dr Wechalekar’s words, it is enabling a “revolution” in medical imaging.
This wonder material has many other uses, such as in X-ray telescopes, radiation detectors and airport security scanners. And it is increasingly sought-after.
Investigations of patients’ lungs performed by Dr Wechalekar and her colleagues involve looking for the presence of many tiny blood clots in people with long Covid, or a larger clot known as a pulmonary embolism, for example.
The £1m scanner works by detecting gamma rays emitted by a radioactive substance that is injected into patients’ bodies.
But the scanner’s sensitivity means less of this substance is needed than before: “We can reduce doses about 30%,” says Dr Wechalekar. While CZT-based scanners are not new in general, large, whole-body scanners such as this one are a relatively recent innovation.
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation TrustDr Kshama Wechalekar with the latest scanner at London’s Royal Brompton Hospital CZT itself has been around for decades but it is notoriously difficult to manufacture. “It has taken a long time for it to develop into an industrial-scale production process,” says Arnab Basu, founding chief executive of Kromek.
In the company’s facility at Sedgefield, there are 170 small furnaces in a room that Dr Basu describes as looking “like a server farm”.
A special powder is heated up in these furnaces, turned molten, and then solidified into a single-crystal structure. The whole process takes weeks. “Atom by atom, the crystals are rearranged […] so they become all aligned,” says Dr Basu.
The newly formed CZT, a semiconductor, can detect tiny photon particles in X-rays and gamma rays with incredible precision – like a highly specialised version of the light-sensing, silicon-based image sensor in your smartphone camera.
Whenever a high energy photon strikes the CZT, it mobilises an electron and this electrical signal can be used to make an image. Earlier scanner technology used a two-step process, which was not as precise.
“It’s digital,” says Dr Basu. “It’s a single conversion step. It retains all the important information such as timing, the energy of the X-ray that is hitting the CZT detector – you can create colour, or spectroscopic images.”
He adds that CZT-based scanners are currently in use for explosives detection at UK airports, and for scanning checked baggage in some US airports. “We expect CZT to come into the hand luggage segment over the next [few] years.”
KromekSpecial furnaces are needed to make CZT But it’s not always easy to get your hands on CZT.
Henric Krawczynski at Washington University in St Louis in the US has used the material before on space telescopes attached to high altitude balloons. These detectors can pick up X-rays emitted by both neutron stars and plasma around black holes.
Prof Krawczynski wants very thin, 0.8mm pieces of CZT for his telescopes because this helps to reduce the amount of background radiation they pick up, allowing for a clearer signal. “We’d like to buy 17 new detectors,” he says. “It’s really difficult to get these thin ones.”
He was unable to source the CZT from Kromek. Dr Basu says his firm has high demand at the moment. “We support many, many research organisations,” he adds, “It’s very difficult for us to do a hundred different things. Each research [project] needs a very particular type of detector structure.”
For Prof Krawczynski, it’s not a crisis – he says he might use either CZT that he has from previous research, or cadmium telluride, an alternative, for his next mission.
However, there are bigger headaches at the moment. That upcoming mission was due to fly from Antarctica in December but “all the dates are in flux”, says Prof Krawczynski, because of the US government shutdown.
Diamond Light SourceCZT will be used in an upgrade of Diamond Light Source Many other scientists use CZT. In the UK, a major upgrade of the Diamond Light Source research facility in Oxfordshire – costing half a billion pounds – will improve its capabilities thanks to the installation of CZT-based detectors.
Diamond Light Source is a synchrotron, which fires electrons around a giant ring at nearly the speed of light. Magnets cause these whizzing electrons to lose some energy in the form of X-rays, and these are directed off from the ring in beamlines so that they may be used to analyse materials, for example.
Some recent experiments have involved probing impurities in aluminium while it melts. Understanding those impurities better could help improve recycled forms of the metal.
With Diamond Light Source’s upgrade, due to complete in 2030, the X-rays produced will be significantly brighter, meaning that existing sensors would not be able to detect them properly.
“There’s no point in spending all this money in upgrading these facilities if you can’t detect the light they produce,” says Matt Veale, group leader for detector development at the Science and Technology Facilities Council, which is the majority owner of Diamond Light Source.
That’s why, here too, CZT is the material of choice.
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