Author: i2wtc

KARACHI: There has been a visible decline in high-profile and mass-casualty ter ror attacks in Balochistan, which is partly being attributed to a major setback suffered by the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), after two senior commanders of its suicide wing, the Majeed Brigade, were killed abroad under mysterious circumstances. The Express Tribune has learnt. Security analysts say the back-to-back eliminations have knocked a hole in the BLA’s command-and-control structure and blunted the operational edge of its allied network, the Baloch Raaji Aajoi Sangar (BRAS). Formed in November 2019, BRAS is an umbrella of Baloch terror outfits — including the BLA…

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (L) and China’s President Xi Jinping wave during a meeting in Miraflores Presidential Palace, in Caracas on July 20, 2014.Leo Ramirez | Afp | Getty ImagesThe ancient Greek historian Thucydides once wrote that “the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.” On Jan. 3, the United States appeared to echo that maxim when it launched strikes on Venezuela and, in a lightning raid, arrested President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.The couple was flown to New York to face drug and terrorism charges, drawing sharp criticism from foreign governments about the legality…

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi. SCREENGRAB ISLAMABAD: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said he is determined to follow the instructions of PTI founder Imran Khan “to the letter” and will keep preparing for a street movement against the government. In a post on micro-blogging site X, Afridi, who belongs to the PTI, said on Sunday his position on the planned protest against the government remains unchanged and any news attributed to him “beyond this” is purely someone’s personal interpretation. “My leader has instructed me to manage the administrative affairs of my province while also preparing for a street movement.…

Top officials call Maduro’s capture criminal; Trump says Cuba ‘ready to fall’ without US interventionMembers of the group known as “Colectivos” take part in a march calling for the release of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, after he and his wife Cilia Flores were captured following U.S. strikes on Venezuela, in Caracas, Venezuela, January 4, 2026. Source: Reuters US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the US might launch a second military strike on Venezuela following the capture of President Nicolas Maduro if remaining members of the administration do not cooperate with his efforts to get the country “fixed.” Trump’s comments to reporters…

SpaceX headquarters is shown in Hawthorne, California, U.S. June 5, 2025.Daniel Cole | ReutersElon Musk’s Starlink is offering free broadband internet service to users in Venezuela through Feb. 3, following U.S. airstrikes and the capture of ousted leader Nicolas Maduro. The satellite internet provider said in a release on Sunday that service credits were being added proactively to both active and inactive accounts as it monitored evolving conditions and regulatory requirements. “While we do [not yet have] a timeline for local purchase availability, if and when there are updates they will be communicated directly through official Starlink channels,” it added. Starlink, which is…

A customer selects products at a duty-free shopping mall in Haikou, south China’s Hainan Province, Jan. 1, 2026. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)HAIKOU, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) — Duty-free shopping in south China’s resort island province of Hainan got off to a strong start over the New Year holiday, with offshore duty-free sales reaching 712 million yuan (about 101.3 million U.S. dollars) from Jan. 1 to 3, up 128.9 percent year on year, Haikou Customs said on Sunday.Customs recorded the sale of 442,000 duty-free items during the three-day holiday, up 52.4 percent compared with the same period last year, while the number of shoppers…

Underscores need for adherence to principles of UN Charter and international law to resolve all outstanding issuesForeign Office. Photo: File Pakistan on Sunday urged restraint and de-escalation to bring an end to the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, underscoring the need for adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law to resolve all outstanding issues, the Foreign Office said in a statement. “Pakistan attaches great importance to the well-being of the people of Venezuela and views with concern the evolving situation in the country,” the statement said. Calling for restraint and de-escalation, the Foreign Office stressed that…

A trader wears “2026” glasses on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025.Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images May this year prove as lucrative as 2025, when the S&P 500 rallied 16.39% mostly on the back of enthusiasm over artificial intelligence, though some pockets of the sector (looking at you, Oracle) noticeably weakened as the year drew to a close.Since U.S. markets have only been open for a day thus far, and most investors and analysts might still be stubbornly nursing their New Year’s Day champagne (maybe I’m…

Performers pose for a photo in front of the bullet train No.G1276, the first themed high-speed train of the Harbin Ice-Snow World, at Harbin West Station in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 4, 2026. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao)HARBIN, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) — The first high-speed train with the theme of the Harbin Ice-Snow World began service from Harbin West Station in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province on Sunday, heading for Wuhan City in central China’s Hubei Province. Featuring unique interior and exterior decorations of the Harbin Ice-Snow World, the themed high-speed train serves as a mobile emblem to boost the ice and snow…

RAWALPINDI: Following the start of the New Year, prices of food items, including vegetables, fruits, meat and bakery products have witnessed an unchecked surge in Rawalpindi. Bakeries across the city have increased prices of buns, rusks, biscuits and bread by 20 to 30 per cent and begun charging new rates. Chicken is being sold at Rs700 per kg, eggs at Rs350 per dozen, mutton at Rs2,400 per kg, beef at Rs1,500 per kg, ghee and cooking oil at Rs500–510 per litre, sugar at Rs190–200 per kg, flour at Rs160–170 per kg, tea at Rs2,500–2,850 per kg, white chickpeas at Rs430…