Author: i2wtc

During the first eleven months of 2025, Pakistan witnessed an over 25% surge in overall violence in its security landscape, recording at least 3187 violence-linked fatalities (compared to the entire tally of 2024, i.e., 2546), and 1,981 injuries — among civilians, security personnel, and outlaws, according to the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS). The casualties resulted from as many as 1188 incidents of violence, including terrorist attacks and counterterrorism operations. The violence was overwhelmingly concentrated in the country’s northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Balochistan, where both these regions, together, accounted for over 96% of all fatalities and 92% of…

Big centuries by Tom Latham and Rachin Ravindra put New Zealand firmly in control of the first Test against the West Indies with a lead of 481 at stumps on day three in Christchurch on Thursday. The pair put on 279 for the third wicket before Latham was out for 145. Ravindra followed soon after for 176. At stumps, Will Young was 21, Michael Bracewell was on six and New Zealand were 417-4 to go with their 64-run first innings lead. “If you asked what a perfect day looked like it would probably look something like that,” Ravindra said after…

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Wednesday acquitted Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leader Mahrang Baloch in a case related to sedition and public mischief, ruling that the prosecution had failed to present credible evidence. Mahrang had been booked by the Quaidabad police in Malir on Oct 11, 2024, in a terrorism case accusing her of inciting people by levelling “allegations against security institutions”. According to the court order, Mahrang joined the proceedings through a video link from Quetta Prison, where she has been held since her arrest in March. Although she has been cleared in the Karachi case, she will…

Meta has been hit with an EU antitrust investigation over its use of AI features in WhatsApp, as the European bloc continues to ramp up challenges to US big tech giants.The probe will examine whether Meta’s new policy on allowing AI providers’ access to WhatsApp may breach EU competition rules, Brussels said in a statement Thursday morning.”The claims are baseless,” a WhatsApp spokesperson told CNBC in a statement, adding that the app’s application programming interface (API) was not designed to support AI chatbots and “puts a strain on our systems.””The AI space is highly competitive and people have access to…

Russia’s security council chief warned on Thursday that should the European Union use its seized frozen assets to support Ukraine, that could be tantamount to justification for war.  The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, has been looking at how to use frozen Russian assets held in Europe to further support Ukraine.The move could be tantamount to an act justifying war, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said in a comment posted to Telegram and translated by Google. “If a frantic European Union attempts to steal Russian assets frozen in Belgium by issuing a so-called reparations loan, such actions could be classified under international law as a special…

U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. looks on as he attends a press conference to discuss health insurance reform, at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 23, 2025.Kevin Mohatt | ReutersHealth and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s hand-picked vaccine committee is scheduled to vote Thursday on whether to change a longstanding recommendation that every baby get vaccinated against hepatitis B within 24 hours of birth. It’s unclear if the panel, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, will significantly delay or eliminate that so-called birth dose…

BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) — Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Brigitte Macron, wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, visited the Beijing People’s Art Theatre (BPAT) here on Thursday.Brigitte is accompanying the French president on his state visit to China.At the Theatre Museum of the BPAT, Peng and Brigitte gained a detailed understanding of the development of the BPAT and its exchanges with the French theater community. They viewed the stage set of the classic play “Teahouse” in the theater. At the theater center, Peng invited Brigitte to watch a play segment, and they engaged in a…

Ordinance bars under-18s from kite flying, sale or use of metal- or chemically-coated string is banned The Punjab government on Wednesday formally reinstated Basant festivities, once the cultural heartbeat of the province, by issuing an ordinance that permits kite flying under stringent safety and regulatory conditions, effectively ending a ban that had stretched for 18 years. The decision, signed into law by Punjab Governor Salim Haider, brings a controlled revival of a festival outlawed in 2007 after a string of tragic incidents in which chemical- and metal-coated strings caused deaths across the province. Officials said the new regulatory framework is…

LAHORE: Despite an expanding stack of clean-air policies, Lahore’s smog crisis continues to deepen as weak implementation, poor interdepartmental coordination, and ineffective public communication stall meaningful action, experts warned while addressing a seminar. They warned that transport remains the city’s largest polluter, stubble burning persists despite subsidies, and citizens lack the incentives and infrastructure needed to adopt low-emission mobility habits. They stressed that without long-term planning and a shift from reactive measures to sustained enforcement and behavioural change, Punjab’s air-quality emergency will only worsen. The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) hosted the seminar on smog mitigation, resilience and carbon…

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan pose for photos with French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron ahead of talks between the two leaders in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 4, 2025. Xi held talks with Macron, who is on a state visit to China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Beijing on Thursday. ■Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, who is on a state visit to…