Author: i2wtc

Pakistan won the toss and elected to bowl in the third Twenty20 against New Zealand in Auckland on Friday as they bid to stay alive in the five-match series. New Zealand made one change from the side that won the second game of the series by five wickets in Dunedin on Tuesday to go 2-0 up, recalling Kyle Jamieson in place of fellow-seamer Zac Foulkes. Jamieson took three wickets when New Zealand won the opening match by nine wickets in Christchurch. Pakistan’s two changes were both to their bowling attack and included handing a T20 debut to Abbas Afridi. Seamer…

A child has hair cut at a barbershop in Tengzhou City, east China’s Shandong Province, March 1, 2025.(Photo by Li Zhijun/Xinhua)BEIJING, March 21 (Xinhua) — Faced with the twin demographic challenges of a low fertility rate and a graying population, China is spearheading systemic policy innovations and people-oriented practices to bolster birth rates, boost consumption and drive sustainable socioeconomic growth in the coming decades and beyond.This strategic emphasis on encouraging childbirth was underscored earlier this month during China’s national “two sessions,” where the term “provide childcare subsidies” was included for the first time in the annual government work report.Additionally, a…

Listen to article ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Sardar Ijaz Ishaq Khan on Thursday directed the Deputy Registrar Judicial to submit the High Court Rules to clarify whether the chief justice could withdraw a case from the court of a judge while pending hearing and send it to another bench. During the contempt proceedings against the deputy registrar, the judge said that he would pen down in his decision that there was no scope in the law to transfer a case in the way the contempt of court plea of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Mashal Yousafzai was delisted from the court’s…

The United Kingdom’s Heathrow airport has closed until midnight on Friday due to a power outage, throwing the plans of tens of thousands of travellers into chaos. London’s main airport, which is Europe’s busiest gateway, said on Friday that it had suffered a “significant” power failure due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the facility. “To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March,” Heathrow airport said in a post on X. “Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and should contact their airline for further information.…

Listen to article LAHORE/QUETTA: Ten days have passed since terrorists hijacked a Peshawar-bound train in Balochistan’s Bolan district. However, the Pakistan Railways (PR) has yet to receive clearance to resume train operations across the restive province, leading to a daily loss of over Rs2.4 million. An outlawed separatist organization on March 11 hijacked Jafar Express with over 400 passengers on board. The security forces later launched an operation killing all the terrorists and rescuing all the passengers except the 21 people who had been killed by the terrorists during the hijacking. According to sources, the PR is awaiting a clearance from security…

Predawn arrest of Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu sets off protests in several cities that are likely to continue into the weekend.Turkish protesters took to the streets for a second consecutive night following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as part of a separate corruption and terrorism investigation. Demonstrations were held at Istanbul’s City Hall on Thursday, where small groups of protesters scuffled with police as they tried to approach the city’s fenced-off Taksim Square – the site of mass demonstrations in 2013. In Ankara, the Turkish capital, police used water cannon to disperse crowds at Middle East Technical University. Smaller…

PESHAWAR: Fraudsters have been found using a forged sponsor letter from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa director general of sports in order to secure New Zealand’s visas for seven people posing as squash players and support staff. The issue came to light after the New Zealand consulate general took it up with the Pakistan Squash Federation, which formally reported it to the sports department, according to official sources. Details available with Dawn show that on Feb 7, a sponsorship letter on the letterhead of the KP directorate general of sports was sent to the New Zealand consulate general. The letter said that…

Tourists enjoy food in the ancient city of Lijiang, southwest China’s Yunnan Province, Jan. 7, 2024.(Xinhua/Zhao Qingzu)KUNMING, March 21 (Xinhua) — At the foot of the Yulong Snow Mountain in southwest China’s Yunnan Province, 100,000 Black Baccara roses recently began their journey from an airport in the city of Lijiang.In no more than 36 hours, these blooms, infused with the mountain’s crisp air, would adorn high-end florists in Tokyo’s Ginza district.This is just one chapter in the story of Lijiang’s flourishing flower industry, which has become a new engine for rural revitalization in the ancient city. Known globally for its…

Listen to article ISLAMABAD: In a significant development, a major reshuffle has taken place at the country’s polls oversight authority — the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) — with three of its provincial members exchanging places. According to a notification issued on Thursday, Sharifullah, the provincial election commissioner of Sindh, has been appointed as the provincial election commissioner of Punjab. Muhammad Farid Afridi, the provincial election commissioner of Balochistan, has been appointed as the joint election commissioner of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Aijaz Anwar Chohan, the provincial election commissioner of Punjab, has been reappointed as the provincial election commissioner of Sindh. Ali Asghar Sial…

These are the key developments on day 1,121 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.Here is the roundup of key events on Friday, March 21. Fighting The Russian government imposed a state of emergency in the district of Engels in the Saratov region after Ukrainian drones set off a huge blast and fire at a military airfield there, local officials said. Reuters reported several damaged buildings, while the region’s Ministry of Health said 10 people were injured. Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its units destroyed 132 Ukrainian “unmanned aerial vehicles” in an overnight attack on six regions of the country, including 54…