Author: i2wtc

Listen to article LOWER DIR: Tribesmen from a border village in Lower Dir district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have announced that they will take up arms against foreign terrorists operating in the volatile region along the Afghan border, vowing to expel them along with their local facilitators. The development comes amid a sharp uptick in terrorist violence in the border districts, with reports that terrorists from the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and their Afghan cohorts are using sanctuaries across the border to launch attacks inside Pakistan. According to local sources, a grand jirga held on Saturday resolved that no terrorist would be allowed to…

Listen to article LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Saturday dismissed interim bail petitions of senior PTI leader Omar Ayub in three separate cases pertaining to the May 9 rioting. The cases involve alleged attacks on military installations — including Lahore’s Jinnah House and Askari Tower — during countrywide rioting triggered by the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan on May 9, 2023. ATC Judge Manzar Ali Gul, while hearing the petitions, rejected the pleas on account of Omar’s repeated absence from court proceedings. The judge also turned down his request for a one-day exemption from appearance. Omar had earlier secured interim bail in…

Tourists ride horses at the Wulanmaodu pasture in Horqin Right Wing Front Banner, Hinggan League, north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 9, 2025. (Xinhua/Ma Jinrui)This photo shows the scenery of the Wulanmaodu pasture in Horqin Right Wing Front Banner, Hinggan League, north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 9, 2025. (Xinhua/Ma Jinrui)An aerial drone photo shows the scenery of the Wulanmaodu pasture in Horqin Right Wing Front Banner, Hinggan League, north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 9, 2025. (Xinhua/Ma Jinrui)Tourists ride horses at the Wulanmaodu pasture in Horqin Right Wing Front Banner, Hinggan League, north China’s Inner Mongolia…

Listen to article ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday dismissed claims by the Indian Air Force (IAF) chief about the destruction of Pakistani fighter jets during Operation Sindoor, calling them “as implausible as they are ill-timed”. The scathing rejoinder came hours after Air Chief Marshal AP Singh asserted that the IAF had shot down five Pakistani fighter jets and one other military aircraft during the military confrontation in May in which, according to Pakistani officials, the IAF lost six warplanes. In a statement posted on microblogging site “X”, Defence Minister Asif said it was “ironic” that senior Indian military officers were…

* Decades ago in its heyday, Lenghu pulsed with grit as home of China’s “fourth largest oilfield,” where workers braved sandstorms and thin air to pump the nation’s industrial lifeblood. Today, these same winds still sweep across the mountaintops of Lenghu, which are now studded with telescopes — their lenses trained on supernovae and black holes.* In 2021, Lenghu was placed on the global astronomy map. Three consecutive years of data have confirmed that Serteng Mountain offers exceptional conditions for optical/infrared astronomical observation. Thus, this Gobi Desert town emerged as a source of salvation for Chinese astronomers long starved by…

Rescuers search for lost belongings of disaster-affected villagers at a river channel of Yuzhong County, Lanzhou City, northwest China’s Gansu Province, Aug. 9, 2025. Rescue efforts are underway after continuous heavy rainfall triggered mountain torrents in Yuzhong County. (Photo by Pei Wenkang/Xinhua)Rescuers help evacuate a disaster-affected villager in Chengguan Town of Yuzhong County, Lanzhou City, northwest China’s Gansu Province, Aug. 9, 2025. Rescue efforts are underway after continuous heavy rainfall triggered mountain torrents in Yuzhong County. (Photo by Hou Chonghui/Xinhua)Rescuers clear debris outside the houses of disaster-affected villagers in Chengguan Town of Yuzhong County, Lanzhou City, northwest China’s Gansu Province,…

Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Said Ahmed Al-Malki called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Prime Minister’s House on Saturday and presented him with an invitation from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud to attend the ninth Future Investment Initiatives (FII) Forum in Riyadh from October 27, 2025, to October 30. While accepting the invitation, the prime minister conveyed his warm greetings and respectful regards to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the PM Office Media Wing said in a press…

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Saturday dismissed interim bail petitions filed by senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Omar Ayub in three separate cases linked to the May 9 violence, citing his absence from court proceedings. The cases pertain to attacks on key state and military properties during May 9 riots, including the high-profile incidents at Lahore’s Jinnah House and Askari Tower. ATC Judge Manzar Ali Gul presided over the hearings and noted Ayub’s failure to appear before the court as grounds for rejecting his bail pleas. A request for a one-day exemption from appearance was also denied. Also…

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stands next to French President Emmanuel Macron as he welcomes him for bilateral talks at Villa Borsig in Berlin, Germany on July 23, 2025.Lisi Niesner | ReutersEuropean officials presented their own Ukraine peace proposals to the United States on Saturday as President Donald Trump prepared for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending the war.Trump plans to meet Putin in Alaska on August 15, saying the parties, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, were close to a deal that could resolve the three-and-a-half-year conflict.Details of the potential deal have yet to be announced, but Trump said…

Listen to article RAWALPINDI: Security forces killed 14 more Indian-sponsored terrorists during a ‘sanitisation’ operation near the Pak-Afghan border in the Sambaza area of Zhob district, Balochistan, the military’s media wing said in a statement, bringing the total number of terrorists eliminated in two days to 47. A day earlier, security forces thwarted a major infiltration attempt from Afghanistan, killing at least 33 terrorists in the Zhob district of Balochistan. According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), a “sanitisation operation” was ongoing to clear residual terrorist elements in the area. On night 7/8 August 2025, movement of a large group of khwarij, belonging…