Author: i2wtc
Yachts are seen in waters over the Sanya River estuary passage project in Sanya, south China’s Hainan Province, Dec. 5, 2025. The Sanya River estuary passage project undertaken by China Railway 20th Bureau Group was successfully drilled through on Friday. This 3.118-kilometer underwater tunnel, the first of its kind in Sanya, is expected to further optimize the urban spatial layout of the city, and facilitate the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port. (Xinhua/Zhao Yingquan)A staff member works at the construction site of the Sanya River estuary passage project in Sanya, south China’s Hainan Province, Dec. 5, 2025. The Sanya…
Lawmakers push for Imran Khan’s release, other political prisoners, and an official state responseUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Photo: File Forty-four Democratic US lawmakers have written to Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling for targeted sanctions against Pakistani officials, citing what they described as an “escalating campaign of transnational repression and worsening human rights abuses.” The letter, led by Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal and Congressman Greg Casar, calls for visa bans and asset freezes on officials held responsible for human rights abuses under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir. The…
Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is initiating a secondary share sale that would give the company a valuation of up to $800 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.SpaceX is also telling some investors it will consider going public possibly around the end of next year, the report said. At the elevated price, Musk’s aerospace and defense contractor would be valued above ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which wrapped up a share sale at a $500 billion valuation in October. SpaceX has been investing heavily in reusable rockets, launch facilities and satellites, while competing for government contracts with newer space players, including Jeff Bezos’…
Says if the target is not met, Sindh will contribute to the Centre from its own resourcesPakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari speaks at the inauguration of the newly constructed, outpatient department (OPD) block at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD). Photo: Express Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has urged the federal government to devolve greater fiscal responsibilities to the provinces, insisting that provincial governments — particularly Sindh — could collect more taxes than the Centre’s assigned targets if empowered to do so. According to Express News, Bilawal made the comments while inaugurating on Friday a newly-constructed technologically…
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s handpicked vaccine committee voted on Friday to do away with the long-standing, universal recommendation that all babies receive a hepatitis B shot at birth, issuing weaker guidance for certain infants. The group, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, recommended that parents use individual decision-making in consultation with a health-care provider to determine when or if to give the hepatitis B birth dose to a baby whose mother tested negative for the virus. For babies who don’t receive the birth dose, the committee recommended that they wait to receive…
Says he cannot call many news items or sets of information as ‘blanket fake or a blanket misinformation’ Pakistan’s Foreign Office has denied any knowledge of reported negotiations between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Saudi Arabia, stating that Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan would remain closed until Kabul provided firm assurances that cross-border terrorist infiltration would be prevented. Addressing a weekly news briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Hassan Andrabi said, “I can check specific news and call it fake or otherwise. However, I cannot call many news items or sets of information as a blanket fake or a blanket misinformation.” The Foreign…
Amazon made plenty of news this week — from advances in the cloud business to questions about its partnership with the U.S. Postal Service — leaving investors with a lot to digest. The flurry of headlines comes at the end of a challenging year. The e-commerce and cloud giant’s stock is up 4.6%, compared to the broad market S & P 500’s 16.4%, and well behind all of its Magnificent Seven peers. Despite the company showing reaccelerating growth in AWS and enhancements to its dominant Prime e-commerce ecosystem, investors remain concerned that it is losing ground in the AI race…
Logos of Netlfix and Warner Bros.ReutersThe Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery deal came together quickly — but its path to regulatory approval may not be so speedy. Netflix stunned the media industry on Friday when it announced its proposed $72 billion deal to acquire the iconic Warner Bros. film studio and streaming service HBO Max. The combination brings together two of the most popular streaming platforms in the business. Netflix reported 300 million global subscribers as of late 2024, the last time it reported the metric. HBO Max had 128 million customers as of Sept. 30. Netflix currently claims 46%…
Non-prosecution leads to rejection; PTI leader accused of torching police mobile, containers PTI’s former opposition leader Omar Ayub’s pre-arrest bail pleas in three cases linked to the May 9 riots have been dismissed by Lahore’s Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC). Judge Arshad Javed presided over the hearing, dismissing all three interim bails due to non-prosecution. The court also rejected Ayub’s request for a one-day exemption from appearing personally. The cases against the former opposition leader involve allegations of burning police vehicles in Gulberg, setting a container ablaze at Kalma Chowk, and attacking Islamabad Police at Zaman Park. All three FIRs pertain to…
US President Donald Trump said he was not attending the draw for the 2026 World Cup to receive a prize, but he got one anyway. Trump, who has campaigned aggressively this year for a Nobel Peace Prize, was given FIFA’s inaugural peace prize for his efforts to promote dialogue and de-escalation in some of the world’s hotspots. Amid TV cameras and flashbulbs from the international press, Trump dominated the scene at Washington’s Kennedy Center on Friday, placing himself squarely at the center of one of the biggest events in the sporting world. The United States, along with Canada and Mexico,…