Author: i2wtc

Mandalay, Bangkok – Rescue workers in Myanmar are struggling to save people trapped beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings in the country’s second-largest city, Mandalay, following the powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake that toppled buildings, brought down bridges, destroyed roads and sent shockwaves felt across the region. Every street in the city has collapsed buildings as a result of Friday’s quake. Distraught residents are waiting outside their damaged and flattened homes and businesses for rescue crews and any assistance from the government, which has yet to arrive. Mandalay resident Sandar Win, 45, told Al Jazeera how her six-year-old son was trapped under falling…

The MSC Regulus container ship, operated by Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC), left, the Monte Verde container ship, operated by Hamburg Sud, centre, and the OOCL Germany container ship, operated by Orient Overseas Container Line Ltd., docked at the Port of Felixstowe Ltd., a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd., in Felixstowe, U.K., on Thursday, June 24, 2021.Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesHong Kong’s CK Hutchison will not sign a deal next week to sell its two port operations near the Panama Canal to a BlackRock-led group, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said, amid growing pressure from…

Kyiv and Moscow have stepped up their aerial attacks as US pushes the warring parties to agree on a ceasefire.A Russian drone attack has killed at least four people and wounded 21 in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, damaging high-rise buildings and triggering fires in a hotel and homes, the regional governor said, as Moscow claims to have made gains on the ground elsewhere. Late Friday, Russia sent “more than two dozen drones” to Dnipro, the governor of the surrounding Dnipropetrovsk region, Sergiy Lysak, wrote on his official Telegram account on Saturday. “The massive attack caused large-scale destruction and…

Listen to article ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) Justice Babar Sattar has noted that the IHC chief justice has no authority to determine—on the administrative side or otherwise—as to whether a bench ought to hear a case or not. “Once a case is set down for hearing before a single or division bench, it is for such a bench to determine whether circumstances arise for the case to be transferred to another bench, including on grounds of recusal of a judge comprising the bench,” the judge stated in a three-page order. An IHC bench including Justice Sattar on March 14 determined that…

Army claims control of Souq Libya, a pivotal commercial hub in Omdurman, solidifying gains in Khartoum’s twin city.The Sudanese army has said it seized control of a key market in Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city, building on a series of recent successes in its offensive against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The announcement on Saturday comes days after it also took control of most parts of the capital in a potentially pivotal victory in the devastating two-year war that has caused the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. The army said in a statement that its forces were now in control of the…

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures, before boarding Air Force One as he departs for Florida, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., March 28, 2025. Kevin Lamarque | ReutersThe Trump administration is broadening its anti-DEI campaign to European companies.Government officials have reportedly sent letters to companies in France and the European Union that hold U.S. government contracts, warning them to comply with an executive order banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs if they want to keep their contracts.According to the document, “Department of State contractors must certify that they do not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable anti-discrimination laws…

Listen to article ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s tax shortfall widened to Rs725 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year despite slowing refunds, days after it committed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to achieving the annual goal of increasing collections to 10.6% of the size of national economy. In March alone, the government added more than Rs100 billion to the tax shortfall, putting in danger its commitment that the shortfall against the original annual target would not be more than Rs640 billion. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) provisionally collected Rs8.44 trillion in taxes till the last working day of…

Listen to article ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has ruled that a married woman remains an equal child of her deceased parent as their other children, and to deny her entitlement on the basis of her marriage is tantamount to denying her constitutional identity as an equal citizen. Supreme Court Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah said that any presumption that a married woman becomes financially dependent on her husband is not only legally untenable but also religiously unfounded, and contrary to the egalitarian spirit of the Islamic law. A division bench of the apex court, led by Justice Shah, ruled on the petition…

Supporters and critics of Yoon Suk Yeol take to the streets of the capital Seoul amid ongoing impeachment trial.Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans rallied for and against impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol as the country’s Constitutional Court weighs whether to dismiss him. On Saturday, main streets through central Seoul were filled with rival protesters, carrying political signs and waving flags despite the cold weather. Yoon has been suspended from office since the liberal opposition-controlled National Assembly impeached him over his December 3 martial law decree, which plunged the country into political turmoil. The Constitutional Court is deliberating whether to…

Foley artist Gary Hecker recreates sounds (in this case, galloping horses) on the Foley sound stage at Todd-AO Studios in Santa Monica, California, July 3, 2012.Don Kelsen | Los Angeles Times | Getty ImagesIn a small studio tucked within the Sony Pictures lot, Gary Hecker makes art with sound.His canvases are some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters — from Zack Snyder’s “Justice League” and Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” to Disney and Marvel’s Spider-Man flicks and the Academy Award-winning “Master and Commander.”Hecker is a Foley artist, the maestro tasked with crafting the everyday sound effects that occur in a scene: squeaky…