Author: i2wtc

Voting held on five NA seats in Punjab, one in K-P; Ruling party maintains broad lead; PPP secures one PA seatElectoral moment: A woman casts her vote in by-election in Faisalabad. Photo: Online LAHORE: The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) held a commanding lead in Sunday’s by-elections, winning most of the contested national and provincial assembly seats in Punjab, according to unofficial and unconfirmed tallies compiled late in the evening. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) – a government ally – captured one Punjab Assembly seat, while the opposition, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed candidates trailed in the constituencies where they contested. Polling…

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., during a dinner with tech leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. US President Donald Trump said he would be imposing tariffs on semiconductor imports “very shortly” but spare goods from companies like Apple Inc. that have pledged to boost their US investments. Photographer: Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesWill Oliver | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesMeta halted internal research that purportedly showed that people who stopped using Facebook became less depressed and anxious, according to a legal filing that was…

Such statements reveal an expansionist Hindutva mindset challenging realities and violating international law, says FO The Foreign Office on Sunday strongly condemned recent remarks by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh regarding Sindh, denouncing his comments as “delusional” and “dangerously revisionist” and reflective of an “expansionist Hindutva mindset.” In a sharply worded statement, the FO said the remarks sought to challenge “established realities” and violated “the inviolability of recognized borders, and the sovereignty of states.” It added that “such statements reveal an expansionist Hindutva mindset that seeks to challenge established realities and stands in clear violation of international law.” The FO…

Almost every night, for almost a decade, I got a phone call between 7:00 and 7:01 p.m. ET. I didn’t have to look at the three letters on my phone screen to know who was ringing. It was the old man we called Pop, or more like “The Old Man of the Mountain,” as he called himself when we had our grandchildren. Sometimes I tired of the words, but I always took a breath before I hit hello, lest he hear the fatigue in my voice for something I know I would miss dearly one day. “Jamesy,” he would say,…

Scott Bessent, US treasury secretary, arrives to speak during a site expansion groundbreaking ceremony at the Boeing South Carolina (BSC) manufacturing facility in North Charleston, South Carolina, US, on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. Sean Rayford | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesTreasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday the U.S. was not at risk of entering a recession in 2026 and claimed Americans would soon benefit from the Trump administration’s economic policies on trade and taxes. “I am very, very optimistic on 2026,” Bessent said in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “We have set the table for a very…

Attacks undermine international efforts to achieve lasting peace, stability in regionPolice officers stand guard at the main entry gate of Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad. Photo: File Pakistan condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the attacks by Israeli occupying forces across Gaza, which have reportedly resulted in the deaths of several Palestinian civilians, including women and children, and have left many more wounded. In a statement on Sunday, the Foreign Office (FO) said, Such actions constitute a blatant violation of international law, relevant UN resolutions, and the recently concluded peace agreement at Sharm El-Sheikh. These attacks also undermine international…

People walk past a logo of the 20th Group of Twenty (G20) Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Nov. 22, 2025. (Xinhua/Chen Wei)Chrispin Phiri, a spokesperson of South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), said that the United States’ absence negates its role over the G20’s conclusions, reiterating that Pretoria would not be bullied. “We cannot allow coercion by absentia to become a viable tactic,” he said. “It is a recipe for institutional paralysis and the breakdown of collective action.”JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) — The 20th Group of Twenty (G20) Summit on Saturday adopted a declaration calling for strengthening…

Fifteen reform proposals have been under intense discussion between Pakistani authorities and an IMF tech team In a bid to plug long-standing leaks in its fiscal machinery, the Ministry of Finance is scrambling to finalise a comprehensive set of proposals aimed at overhauling Pakistan’s budget-implementation system, with plans to present the reforms to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by next month, highly placed officials told The Express Tribune. The reform package—built around 15 proposals—has been under intense discussion between Pakistani authorities and an IMF technical team. At the heart of the plan is a push to fully digitise the Public…

It’s safe to say that no one is crazy about passwords. For chief information security officers, there’s the nightmare of employees leaving lists of passwords on their desks or putting them on Post-it notes on their computers. For workers, there’s the inconvenience of having to enter multiple passwords to gain access to various devices and resources.Passwordless authentication technology is designed to address these issues, and use of these tools is on the rise. A recent survey of 200 CISOs by Wakefield Research, sponsored by security vendor Portnox, showed that a significant majority (92%) of the security leaders said their organizations…

Vote counting has begun as polling concluded for by-elections in six National Assembly and seven Punjab Assembly seats. Voting began at 8 am and continued without interruption until 5 pm. Tight security arrangements have been implemented for the elections in accordance with Election Commission directives, with additional personnel deployed at sensitive locations. Special provisions have been made for the convenience of voters, including the elderly and women. A total of 2,792 polling stations were established for the by-elections, with 408 designated as highly sensitive and 1,032 marked as sensitive. Over 20,000 security personnel were deployed to maintain law and order…