Author: i2wtc

At least 307 people have died and 23 sustained injuries across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) during the past 48 hours of heavy rains and flash floods, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said Saturday. Buner was the worst-hit district with 184 fatalities, followed by Shangla with 36, Bajaur 21, Mansehra 23, Swat 22, Battagram 15, Lower Dir five, and Abbottabad one, according to PDMA. The report said the deceased included 279 men, 15 women, and 13 children. Infrastructure losses were also recorded, with 63 houses fully damaged and 74 partially damaged, along with schools and bridges washed away in several districts. Residents…

LONDON: Australian batting great Steve Smith is raring to go against England in the home Ashes later this year. The former skipper, who has the third-highest Test runs against England after Sir Don Bradman and Allan Border, believes England’s aggressive style of play is likely to produce an exciting contest Down Under. “I watched a lot of the series against India and it was one of the best Test series I’ve seen in a long time,” he said in an interview released by Sky Sports on Friday. “The cricket that was played by both teams was outstanding. Smith, however, doubted…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (not pictured), on the day they attend a virtual meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and European leaders on the upcoming Trump-Putin summit on Ukraine, in Berlin, Germany, August 13, 2025. Liesa Johannssen | ReutersUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would travel to Washington on Monday for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, after Trump’s summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin failed to bring an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine or a plan to achieve one.Zelenskyy said Trump had invited him on Saturday in a phone call that lasted…

CHENGDU: China’s Long Jianguo set a new national record of 4.74 seconds to win the men’s four-lane speed climbing title, while Indonesia’s Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi claimed the women’s crown in 6.35 during the World Games at the Tianfu Park. It was the first time the four-lane format has appeared in sport climbing at a multi-sport event. Unlike the Olympic’s two-lane standard, this event features four parallel lanes with four climbers racing simultaneously. The gold medal round is contested by all four finalists at once, rather than a head-to-head showdown. “I felt this format was so much fun after…

PESHAWAR: A Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government helicopter delivering flood relief supplies crashed in a tribal district on Friday, killing all five crew members, provincial officials said. The MI-17 aircraft went down in Mohmand district while en route to the flood-hit Salarzai area of Bajaur district, after losing contact in bad weather, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur told reporters. The dead included two pilots. Search teams later located the wreckage in Pandiali tehsil of Mohmand, CM Gandapur said, confirming there were no survivors. The provincial government declared a day of mourning, with flags to be flown at half-mast, and said the crew would…

In the end, what remained was not memory but metrics. Gill’s average. Duckett’s strike rate. Siraj’s stubborn resolve. No rivalries. No bruises. No poetry. Just a scoreboard with a smile. Yes, there were centuries to savour, spells to admire, and a finish that quickened the pulse. And yet, I write this not because of that excitement, but in spite of it because there are higher roads to the same high, and this series took the service lane. I remain stubbornly stuck in my fool’s paradise, expecting every over-staffed Test team administration to conjure a Wasim Akram, manage a Shane Warne,…

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA: US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met face-to-face in Alaska on Friday in a high-stakes summit that could determine whether a ceasefire can be reached in the deadliest war in Europe since World War Two. Ahead of the talks, Trump greeted the Russian leader on a red carpet on the tarmac at a US Air Force base. The two shook hands warmly and touched each other on the arm before riding in Trump’s limo to the summit site nearby. There, the two presidents sat with their respective delegations in their first meeting since 2019. A…

This photo taken on Aug. 7, 2025 shows a German version of John Rabe’s diaries and a book about him “Rabe and China” at the John Rabe Communication Center in Heidelberg, Germany. John Rabe Communication Center is dedicated to commemorating John Rabe for his role in protecting civilians during the Nanjing Massacre in 1937, an atrocity committed during Japan’s war of aggression against China. During the Nanjing Massacre in 1937, John Rabe, a then representative of Siemens in the war-ravaged Chinese city Nanjing, set up an international safety zone with other foreigners, and saved the lives of around 250,000 Chinese…

ISLAMABAD: The upper house of the parliament witnessed uproar on Friday as opposition lawmakers accused the government of politicising this year’s civil awards by allegedly favouring ministers and treasury benches, while ignoring deserving figures. The Senate session, chaired by Chairman Yousaf Raza Gillani, turned heated after he announced that several cabinet members and senators had been conferred national honours on August 14. Opposition members demanded disclosure of the criteria used for selection. Among the awardees were Ishaq Dar, Mohsin Naqvi, Musadik Malik, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Faisal Sabzwari, Senator Sherry Rehman, Senator Bushra Anjum, Ahsan Iqbal and Ahad Cheema. Irfan Siddiqui…

CHITRAL: A group of women trekkers returned to Chitral city here on Friday after successfully trekking to the base camp of Terich Mir, the highest peak of Hindukush system of mountains as part of the 75-year celebrations of its first successful ascent. Arranged by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture & Tourism Authority (KPCTA) under its ‘Year of Terich Mir 2025’ initiative, the group included trekkers from all the four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad Capital Territory. Supported by 36 local porters and three local guides, the trekkers braved the difficult paths, fast-flowing water and harsh glaciers to make it to the base camp…