Author: i2wtc

A five-storey residential building collapsed in Karachi’s Lyari neighbourhood, claiming at least five lives and injuring at least six people, rescue officials said on Friday. All injured persons were shifted to the Trauma Centre at Dr. Ruth K. M. Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi, hospital sources confirmed. One person is in critical condition, while the others sustained minor injuries and are receiving treatment. Deputy Commissioner South stated that buildings adjacent to the collapse site are also being evacuated as a precaution. The collapse occurred in the Baghdadi area of Lyari. Rescue personnel said five people, including three woman, were initially pulled from…

LONDON: Novak Djokovic showed signs that he is easing into the old routine at Wimbledon as the seven-times champion sauntered into the third round on Thursday and Barbora Krejcikova also made it through as her title defence continued. This year’s Championships have been littered with seeds biting the dust early but day four offered some big statements from those fancied for deep runs on the lawns. Former women’s champion Elena Rybakina may have arrived very much under the radar but has reached the third round for the loss of a mere seven games, the 11th seed destroying Greece’s Maria Sakkari…

Listen to article ISLAMABAD: Salaried individuals have paid a staggering Rs555 billion in income tax in the last fiscal year, which were Rs188 billion more than the preceding year and also 100% more than the combined taxes paid by retailers and real estate sector. The record-high contributions by people, who pay income tax on the gross salaries without having the luxury to adjust their expenses, substantially reduced the home-take salaries of a larger segment of society. According to provisional figures compiled by the Federal Board of Revenue, the salaried persons paid Rs555 billion in income tax during the fiscal year 2024-25. The…

Listen to article BERLIN/ISLAMABAD: In a cramped guesthouse in Islamabad, 25-year-old Kimia spends her days sketching women — dancing, playing, resisting  — in a notebook that holds what’s left of her hopes. A visual artist and women’s rights advocate, she fled Afghanistan in 2024 after being accepted on to a German humanitarian admission program aimed at Afghans considered at risk under the Taliban. A year later, Kimia is stuck in limbo. Thousands of kilometres away in Germany, an election in February where migration dominated public debate and a change of government in May resulted in the gradual suspension of the programme. Now the…

Listen to article PESHAWAR: An inquiry report by the Malakand commissioner into the tragic incident in Swat River has been submitted to the Provincial Inspection Team on Thursday. The report sheds light on the circumstances surrounding the event that claimed multiple lives. Last week, flash floods triggered by a sudden surge in the Swat River and other streams in the district following heavy monsoon rains claimed the lives of at least 12 people. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) described the flood level as “very high,” while officials said dozens of people were trapped as authorities scrambled to deal with the aftermath…

Listen to article KARACHI: Almost 50,000 police personnel will be deployed for the security of Muharram processions in Sindh, said Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon addressing a press conference on Thursday. The tense geopolitical situation of the region compounded by collaboration of anti-state elements with the hostile neighbour warrants heightened security for the mass gatherings of Muharram. Sharjeel assured that the Sindh government has made foolproof security arrangements for Muharram. Most important was the unity of Ummah to defeat the designs of enemies of the country to use Muharram days to fan sectarian hatred and violence. The senior minister stated that the…

A drone photo taken on July 3, 2025 shows gantry cranes loading containers onto a freight train in Qinzhou railway container center station in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Cargo volume on the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor surged 76.9 percent year on year to 746,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the first six months of this year, according to the China Railway Nanning Group. The corridor now operates 14 fixed train routes connecting Beibu Gulf Port in Guangxi and Zhanjiang Port in neighboring Guangdong Province to major inland hubs including Chongqing, Chengdu, Guiyang, Lanzhou, Huaihua and Xi’an. Goods…

Listen to article Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi stated that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the military leadership played a pivotal role in the Iran-Israel conflict and the subsequent ceasefire between the two countries. “Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif played a crucial role in the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, and the military also played a significant role in this regard. I don’t want to go into further details, but the way PM negotiated with world leaders is something we must be proud of,” he said. The 12-day war, which began with unprovoked Israeli military strikes in Iran on June 13, resulted in 610…

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at the Axel Springer building in Berlin on Oct. 17, 2023. He received the annual Axel Springer Award.Ben Kriemann | Getty ImagesAmong the thousands of Microsoft employees who lost their jobs in the cutbacks announced this week were 830 staffers in the company’s home state of Washington.Nearly a dozen game design workers in the state were part of the layoffs, along with three audio designers, two mechanical engineers, one optical engineer and one lab technician, according to a document Microsoft submitted to Washington employment officials.There were also five individual contributors and one manager at the…

* As the digital economy reshapes societies, China is providing valuable examples and solutions for the world to expand its benefits.* Technologies from industry and academia need multilateral platforms to become “digital public goods.” * Chinese private companies are also expanding their global footprint in the digital economy and taking their digital expertise to the world stage.BEIJING, July 3 (Xinhua) — As the digital economy reshapes societies, a critical question emerges: how can its benefits move beyond privileged tech hubs to empower cities everywhere?At the 2025 Global Digital Economy Conference in Beijing, more than 40 partner cities spanning Europe, North America,…