Author: i2wtc

PUBLISHED January 04, 2026 I love James Cameron and have watched all his films, from The Terminator, which came out more than 40 years ago, to the present day. However, ahead of his latest release — Avatar: Fire and Ash — I was as sceptical as any other fan, because the film’s predecessor wasn’t able to satisfy me, nor others. It seemed more like a lengthy underwater documentary featuring characters from the first Avatar rather than a worthy sequel, and the same scepticism kept returning ahead of the third film in the franchise. However, after 195 minutes of watching the…

PUBLISHED January 04, 2026 US arms sales to Taiwan have pushed an already precarious arrangement into a far more volatile phase, and what is being supplied no longer sits comfortably within the language of “defensive” support. At the same time, the regional blade has been sharpened from another direction. Japan’s embrace of “counterstrike” capabilities, its expanding role in arms exports and its deepening operational alignment with US forces show a structural shift in posture. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s statement soon after taking office that any Chinese military action against Taiwan could be grounds for a Japanese military response leaves little…

People learn about a ducted-fan drone at the 2025 Wuhan International Industrial Design Expo in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province, Dec. 12, 2025. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)BEIJING, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) — China’s low-altitude equipment industry has continuously expanded, with the industry output value maintaining an average annual growth rate of over 10 percent during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), official data showed Sunday.As of Dec. 30, 2025, a total of 1,081 enterprises have completed registration in this sector, with 3,623 types of products filed and more than 5.29 million units registered, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).MIIT…

PUBLISHED January 04, 2026 KARACHI: Watching 27 Nights reminded me of a newspaper article I had come across a few years ago. It was about a woman Ayesha Bibi* who lived in the Edhi Old Age Home in Karachi. Apparently, she had been abandoned by her children, after her husband passed away. “I have grown-up sons but they left me saying I have mental issues. Do I have mental issues?” she had wistfully asked the interviewer. The reason I thought of her was because this woman in Karachi had asked the same question that Martha Hoffman asks her court-appointed psychiatrist…

This photo shows visitors’ reflection on the glass of The Stage, a new observation deck atop White Magnolia Plaza in Shanghai, east China, April 14, 2025. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)People learn about AI model DeepSeek at a fair themed on AI technologies in Hangzhou City, east China’s Zhejiang Province, May 4, 2025. (Photo by Long Wei/Xinhua)Deputies to the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) leave the Great Hall of the People after the closing meeting of the third session of the 14th NPC in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)This photo taken on Jan. 5, 2025 shows a Yangtze finless…

PUBLISHED January 04, 2026 KARACHI: It is the first weekend of 2026. The world wakes to a social-media post from Donald Trump, one year into his second term as president, claiming US forces have captured Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. A bold statement, delivered with the casual certainty of a post on Truth Social, it lands against a world already fraying at the edges. Since Trump returned to the White House, the rules that once governed international power have been tested and bent. Laws meant to restrain leaders are applied selectively. Multilateral institutions struggle to assert influence. Meanwhile, wars that should have…

PUBLISHED January 04, 2026 There was a time when crime announced itself loudly. It shattered windows, rattled streets, and left scars that were impossible to ignore. Even at its most violent, wrongdoing was physical and visible. You could point to it. You could investigate it. You could rebuild after it. In 2026, crime has learned a far more dangerous skill: it has learned how to disappear. Today, crime travels silently through cables and clouds, through encrypted networks and lines of code. It arrives not with a blast, but with a notification. Not with a weapon, but with an algorithm. At…

This photo taken on Dec. 27, 2025 shows a damaged building in Kiev region, Ukraine. (Photo by Peter Druk/Xinhua)* Eurasia witnessed easing political tensions in Central Asia and the South Caucasus, coupled with growing opportunities for multilateral political and economic cooperation with China.* Despite lingering tensions, solidarity and cooperation remained the defining themes across Central Asia and the South Caucasus in 2025.MOSCOW, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) — Eurasia has emerged as a pivotal arena of global developments in 2025 amid turbulence, uncertainty, as well as hopes for peace and aspirations for prosperity.Against the backdrop of continued fighting and diplomatic efforts surrounding…

ISLAMABAD: China and Pakistan will hold a crucial “strategic dialogue” on Sunday, as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar arrived in the Chinese capital on Saturday, becoming the first top foreign diplomat to travel to Beijing in 2026. He will co-chair the seventh round of the Pakistan-China Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, against the backdrop of several regional and international developments. A senior Foreign Office official said the last strategic dialogue was held in August and the convening of the next in a short span highlights the close cooperation and consultations between the…

People in support of Venezuela hold a placard outside the Venezuelan Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil, on Jan. 3, 2026. The U.S. military launched a series of attacks against Venezuela early Saturday morning, reportedly capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and flying him out of the country. (Photo by Lucio Tavora/Xinhua)Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel delivers a speech at an event condemning the U.S. military aggression against Venezuela in Havana, capital of Cuba, Jan. 3, 2026. (Photo by Joaquin Hernandez/Xinhua)Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel (2nd R, front) attends an event condemning the U.S. military aggression against Venezuela in Havana, capital of Cuba, Jan. 3,…