Author: i2wtc

Labubu toys packaging are seen at a souvenir store in Krakow, Poland on August 21, 2025. Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesEven Confucius is getting in on China’s “blind box” craze.At the main temple in Beijing to China’s greatest sage, the souvenir shops sell a range of “blind boxes,” gifts packaged in such a way that buyers don’t know exactly what variety of the item they’re purchasing until after they commit.One popular blind box at the store is an ice cream treat with a blessing from Confucius. Worshippers pay $4.50 and, only after unwrapping the dessert, read that they…

An aerial drone photo taken on Aug. 23, 2025 shows yachts returning to a dock in Sanya, south China’s Hainan Province. (Xinhua/Zhao Yingquan)HAIKOU, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) — Typhoon Kajiki, the 13th typhoon of the year, brushed past the coast of south China’s island province of Hainan on Sunday night, affecting over 100,000 people, according to a provincial press conference held on Monday.The typhoon passed through the offshore areas from the resort city of Sanya to Ledong Li Autonomous County, and headed toward the central and northern coastal regions of Vietnam, according to the press conference on Kajiki response.Preliminary figures show…

After a historic visit to Bangladesh, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar arrived in Jeddah on Monday to take part in the 21st Extraordinary Session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) council of foreign ministers. The foreign ministers and senior officials of member states are to assemble to consider the issue of Israel’s assault on Gaza. The Foreign Office detailed the agenda – “to deliberate on coordinated responses to the escalating developments in Palestine, arising from the ongoing Israeli military aggression, proposed plans for full military control over Gaza, and the continuing egregious violations of Palestinian rights”. Dar…

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, attends the Viva Technology conference at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris on June 16, 2023.Gonzalo Fuentes | ReutersTwo of Elon Musk’s companies sued Apple and OpenAI on Monday, accusing the pair of an “anticompetitive scheme” to thwart artificial intelligence rivals. The lawsuit, filed by Musk’s AI startup xAI and his social media platform X, alleges Apple and OpenAI have “colluded” to maintain monopolies in the smartphone and generative AI markets. It also accuses Apple of deprioritizing so-called “super apps” and generative AI chatbot competitors, such as xAI’s Grok, in its…

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened the rollover week on a turbulent note on Monday as profit-taking and cautious sentiment drove the benchmark KSE-100 index from the intra-day high of 586 points to the low of 735 points. It closed the day at 148,815.31, representing a decrease of 677.75 points, or 0.45%. Banking and cement stocks weighed heavily on the index’s performance. In its market review, Topline Securities commented that the local bourse kicked off the rollover week on a volatile note, with a glimpse of profit-taking weighing on sentiment. The benchmark index oscillated sharply, hitting the intra-day high of…

Keurig Dr Pepper will acquire Dutch coffee and tea company JDE Peet’s in a roughly $18 billion deal that could give a boost to the U.S. giant’s struggling coffee business, the two companies said Monday.Shares of Keurig Dr Pepper fell roughly 8% in early trading, while shares of JDE Peet’s climbed 17%, on pace for its best day ever.The deal was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.Keurig Dr Pepper will pay JDE Peet’s shareholders 31.85 euros ($37.3) per share in cash, representing a 33% premium on the Dutch’s firm’s 90-day volume-weighted average stock price, which represents a total equity…

This undated file photo taken by Lang Wenrui shows snow leopards at the Qilian Mountain National Nature Reserve in northwest China’s Gansu Province. Lang, a 50-year-old staffer with the ecology and environment bureau of Su’nan Yugur Autonomous County, Gansu Province, has spent more than a decade documenting the wildlife of the Qilian Mountains. (Xinhua)LANZHOU, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) — A shadow appeared suddenly on the frozen riverbed, no more than 30 meters away. Wildlife photographer Lang Wenrui raised his phone for a closer look, and his heart skipped a beat. The shadow was being cast by a snow leopard.However, before he…

Saudi low-cost carrier Flyadeal has expanded operations in Pakistan by launching scheduled flights to Peshawar and Islamabad, it emerged on Monday.  The inaugural Riyadh–Peshawar flight landed at Bacha Khan International Airport on August 25, where a welcome ceremony was held, including a cake-cutting event attended by officials from Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA), Airport Security Force (ASF) and Menzies RAS. Flyadeal will now operate twice-weekly flights from Riyadh to Peshawar on Mondays and Wednesdays. A day earlier, the airline’s inaugural Riyadh–Islamabad service touched down at Islamabad International Airport, carrying 65 passengers. The aircraft was greeted with a traditional water salute, and…

Citizens ride past fallen trees in Sanya, south China’s Hainan Province, Aug. 25, 2025. Sanya, a popular tourist destination, wastes no time in getting back to normal after Kajiki, the 13th typhoon of this year, had ploughed through the city. (Xinhua/Zhao Yingquan)Members of the Sanya fire and rescue brigade clear fallen trees on a road in Sanya, south China’s Hainan Province, Aug. 25, 2025. Sanya, a popular tourist destination, wastes no time in getting back to normal after Kajiki, the 13th typhoon of this year, had ploughed through the city. (Xinhua/Zhao Yingquan)An aerial drone photo taken on Aug. 25, 2025…

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Faisalabad sentenced on Monday senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz and 57 others each to 10 years in prison in the May 9 case about an attack on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah’s residence.  Of the 59 persons convicted in the case, 17 were PTI leaders. Sixteen other accused were also convicted and sentenced to three years in prison each. The latter group included MPA Sheikh Shahid Javed of PP-115.  Former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry and PTI lawmaker Zain Qureshi were acquitted.  The case was part of a series of trials…