Author: i2wtc

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff speaks during a swearing-in ceremony for Jeanine Pirro as interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 28, 2025. Leah Millis | ReutersSpecial Envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to allow the United States and European nations to give Ukraine “Article 5-like protection” as a security guarantee to bring an end to the war.”We were able to win the following concession: That the United States could offer Article Five-like protection, which is one of the…

PUBLISHED August 17, 2025 KARACHI: In 2025, the frontlines weren’t only on maps. They were in timelines, newsreels and comment sections. Bangkok, Tehran, Karachi saw protests, bomb blasts or drone attacks, evacuations. Right alongside them cropped up reaction memes, viral posts, and GIFs that turned tragedy into theatre. Social media zoomed in on distant conflicts and raised awareness of political rights of various groups. At the same time, by its very nature, social media flattened the context of these crises and transformed them into content. The churn felt distinctly unsettling this year with too many wars unfolding too closely, curated…

PUBLISHED August 17, 2025 KARACHI: Despite growing student enrollments, increased PhD production, and persistent public investment over the years, Pakistan’s higher education sector continues to underperform. No Pakistani university ranks in the top 350 globally, and graduates struggle with underemployment and limited research commercialisation. At the root of this dysfunction lies a complex intersection of poor governance, political maneuvering, low returns on education, policy stagnation, and structural economic issues that fail to reward learning. Higher education in Pakistan, continues to suffer from deep-rooted structural challenges that limit its global competitiveness and national impact. At the heart of these challenges lie…

PUBLISHED August 17, 2025 Political opponents today, when they go to war, do not dive in with their guns blazing but with tweets and hashtags. Their followers pick up their line, and like a snowball, it gets bigger and bigger, and we witness the formation of extremely opinionated blocks where there is little-to-no room for what the opposing party has to say. That’s the polarisation we hear about now and then. To an extent, the polarisation reflected people’s awareness of their political realities and their engagement with them, but it has gotten to the extent of ideological extremes now. The…

PUBLISHED August 17, 2025 KARACHI: Just days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration for the second term, a senior Pakistani diplomat briefed a group of people including experts and journalists in Islamabad. His focus was on the Pakistan-US relationship under Trump’s administration. The bottom line was: Pakistan should be prepared for a tough challenge. According to the diplomat, Trump’s team was surrounded by people who had little sympathy for Pakistan. Experts and those who understand Trump as well as the nature of Pakistan-US ties echoed similar sentiments. There was consensus that despite the unpredictable nature of Trump, there was little or…

Pakistan left out Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan from the T20 squad named on Sunday for the Asia Cup and a warm-up tri-series beginning this month against Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates, according to a press release issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board. Azam and Rizwan have been star performers in the shortest format in the past, but have not played since December, which head coach Mike Hesson put down to other players performing well while addressing a press conference. “We know what a fine player Babar (Azam) is,” said Hesson. “Babar has been asked to improve in certain…

Dressed-up humanoid robots perform a fashion show during the opening ceremony of The 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 14, 2025. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) — At the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, four robots dressed in 3D-printed terracotta warrior armor beat drums in synchrony, while five others at the front danced in seamless harmony alongside a live performer, creating a striking cross-millennial dialogue between technology and art.”With their dexterous hands, these humanoid robots hold drumsticks and execute precise strikes perfectly in time with the music,” said Gao Qian, deputy head of…

BAJAUR: Authorities have imposed a week-long curfew in 24 areas of Mamond tehsil, Bajaur tribal district, as security forces launch a targeted operation against terrorists. According to an official notification issued with the approval of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Home Department, the curfew came into effect at 5pm on Friday (Aug 16) and will remain in force until 5pm on Aug 21. The order bars residents from leaving their homes or moving on roads during the period. Authorities warned that any violations of the restrictions would be dealt with strictly, and individuals flouting the curfew would be held accountable for any untoward…

SILESIA: Kishane Thompson laid down a marker ahead of next month’s world championships when the Jamaican came out on top in the highly-anticipated 100 metres against Olympic champion Noah Lyles at the Silesia Diamond League meeting on Saturday. A host of world and Olympic champions headlined by the likes of Keely Hodgkinson, Karsten Warholm, Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis, Faith Kipyegon and Femke Bol shone in hot and humid conditions in front of more than 40,000 fans in the Polish city. The men’s sprint brought together American Lyles and Thompson for the first time since their unforgettable Olympic final last year in…

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW/KYIV: US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Ukraine should make a deal to end the war with Russia because “Russia is a very big power, and they’re not”, after a summit where Vladimir Putin was reported to have demanded more Ukrainian land. After the two leaders met in Alaska on Friday, Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Putin had offered to freeze most front lines if Kyiv ceded all of Donetsk, the industrial region that is one of Moscow’s main targets, a source familiar with the matter said. Zelenskiy rejected the demand, the source said. Russia already…