Pakistan

Tech companies, including WhatsApp and Reddit, as well as streaming giant Twitch and gaming firm Roblox, could be among more than a dozen sites added to Australia’s social media ban for under-16s, the country’s regulator said Wednesday. Platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube were already included in the ban — a world-first. But the head of Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has written to 16 more companies to “self-assess” whether they fall under the ban’s remit. The list also included Pinterest as well as Lego Play, streaming company Kick and gaming platform Steam. Companies will need to make a case if they believe their platform should be exempt from the ban, the national broadcaster ABC said. Inman Grant told the network that while some cases were “pretty clear”, the regulator would “give them the due diligence process”. “We need to hear them all out,” she said. The regulator said it will initially focus on platforms with the greatest number of users, where there are hig...

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Dr Farooq Sattar on Wednesday took aim at the Sindh government and Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab over the delay in development projects in the metropolis. Karachi’s key development projects —from the long-delayed K-IV water supply scheme and Red Line bus corridor to stalled roadworks like the Karimabad underpass and Malir Expressway—remain stuck due to chronic funding gaps, utility relocation issues, regulatory hurdles, and weak inter-agency coordination, leaving the city’s residents waiting years for essential infrastructure. Addressing a press conference in Karachi, Sattar said, “They cannot conceive a development project, nor can they deliver it.” During the presser, the MQM leader talked about the Green Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. Recently, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), backed by the PPP-led Sindh government, halted the federally funded Rs6 billion project of the Green Line Bus extension, citing the PIDCL’s failure to obtain a no-objec...

EVERY year of my journalistic career of nearly half a century, I have known only a free and independent press in the United States. My professional start was in the 1970s. Those were years when Americans could see clearly how the press served democracy. With the publication of the Pentagon Papers, first by The New York Times, the American public learned of the failures its government had covered up during a long war in Vietnam that cost so many lives. Then there was Watergate, an investigation spearheaded by The Washington Post. US citizens learned how their president had weaponised the government against his political adversaries, abusing his powers and sabotaging the Constitution. In the decades since those revelations, I took for granted that my country would always enjoy press freedom — and that the First Amendment of our Constitution would guarantee it. We now live in a time when people are unable, or unwilling, to distinguish between ‘true’ and ‘false’; we cannot even agree on how to determine ‘a fact’ ...

Authorities have registered a case against a private laboratory after dengue larvae were discovered on its premises, officials confirmed on Wednesday.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz announced on Thursday that a new law will soon be enforced to eliminate land grabbing across the province.

French police arrested 101 Roma fans, some with weapons, in Nice on Tuesday, a day before the teams were due to meet in the Europa League, the local prefecture announced. A separate source told AFP that the Italian supporters were carrying sticks, shovels and knuckle dusters around the city centre on the French Riviera. The prefecture said that more than 400 police officers will be present for Wednesday’s group stage match. “Since yesterday, more than 200 personnel, including two mobile units, were deployed in the city centre of Nice to prevent all types of public disorder and proceeded with the arrest of 102 individuals identified as Roma ultras, carrying weapons,” it said on Wednesday, before later revising the number of arrests down to 101. “These individuals were taken into police custody,” it added. The local authorities have banned Roma fans from displaying visible signs of their allegiance in the city between 1300 GMT (6pm PKT) Tuesday and 1000 GMT (3pm PKT) on Thursday.

Sindh’s Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon has said that the Red Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project could still take up to two more years for completion.

A portion of a busy road in Thailand’s capital caved in early on Wednesday, leaving a hole dozens of metres deep in front of a main hospital and forcing people nearby to evacuate. Just outside a local police station and Vajira Hospital in a residential district of Bangkok, a roughly 50-metre (160-foot) hole pulled down power lines and exposed a burst pipe gushing water, AFP journalists saw. Dozens of police and city officials cordoned off the site, while a pickup truck teetered precariously on the edge of the hole. Suriyachai Rawiwan, director of Bangkok’s disaster prevention department, told AFP at the scene that the collapse was likely linked to recent heavy rain and a leaky pipe. “There was a leak in the water pipe — water from the pipe eroded (earth) under the road so this incident happened,” he said, adding that there were no known casualties. “The water that eroded brought some soil that dropped down to an under-construction subway station, causing the collapse,” Suriyachai added. The tunnel is part of ...

The Coordinator to the Prime Minister on Information for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Affairs Ikhtiar Wali Khan has said that terrorists are being “facilitated and given refuge to” in the tribal areas of the province, because of which security forces are compelled to carry out operations. The remarks come days after alleged aerial strikes in KP’s Tirah valley killed at least two dozen residents, including women and children. The incident prompted protests in the region, with local tribesmen, as well as the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, calling for an inquiry into the matter. On the other hand, officials claimed that the explosions that led to the killings were caused by terrorists storing and manufacturing explosive devices in houses. During an interview on the DawnNewsTV show ‘Doosra Rukh’, Wali was questioned about the PTI-led government in KP criticising the security situation in the province, with some suggesting the party was on board with military operations, while others claimed the party opposed the meas...

Typhoon Ragasa, the world’s most powerful tropical cyclone this year, barreled towards tens of millions of people in southern China on Wednesday after killing 14 people in Taiwan, leaving scores missing and lashing Hong Kong with ferocious winds and heavy rains. Some 129 people are missing in Taiwan’s eastern Hualien county, after a barrier lake overflowed and sent a wall of water into a town, the Taiwan fire department said on Wednesday, with Ragasa’s outer rim having drenched the island since Monday. Many residents in the tourist town of Guangfu complained there was insufficient warning from Taiwan authorities, who are used to moving people out of potential danger zones swiftly on the island, which is frequently hit by typhoons. As rains inundated Taiwan, Hong Kong grappled with huge waves that crashed over areas of the Asian financial hub’s eastern and southern shoreline, breaking into white-water streams as they rushed along pavements and submerged some roads alongside residential properties. At the Fulle...

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) announced on Wednesday that it has received Third Country Operator (TCO) approval for flight operations in the United Kingdom and is expected to return to British skies next month, according to a statement. In July, the UK removed Pakistan from its Air Safety List, allowing Pakistani airlines to now apply to operate flights in Britain. The development came after the UK Department for Transport concluded an aviation security ins­pection at Islamabad Inter­nat­ional Airport on Thursday, declaring Pakistan’s security arrangements “satisfactory and in line with international standards”. Having received the TCO certification, the national carrier announced that it would now be allowed to operate direct flights and carry not only passengers but also cargo. “In the first phase, flight operations to Manchester will be resumed, after which Birmingham and London will be included in the B network,” the statement read, adding that the carrier was informed about the approval a day pri...

Google on Wednesday announced the rollout of its ‘Google AI Plus plan’ in 40 more countries, including Pakistan. The plan was first launched in Indonesia earlier this month with “positive” reception. According to Google, the new plan opens up “more access to powerful AI tools to help people level up their productivity and creativity at an accessible price”. “Pakistan’s digital landscape is vibrant and growing, and we’ve been inspired by the creativity Pakistanis have shown in adopting AI tools,” said the Country Director of Google Pakistan, Farhan Qureshi, in a statement. “With the launch of Google AI Plus, we are making these tools even more accessible to more people across the country. This is a core part of our commitment to fuel Pakistan’s digital transformation, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to enhance their productivity, creativity, and learning with AI,” Qureshi was quoted as saying. The plan includes the following features: Higher limits for image generation and editing (Nano Banana) in t...

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday approved the bail of Shahid Nadeem, an accused in the murder case of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Dr.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has achieved a major milestone as the United Kingdom’s Department for Transport (DfT) has issued the national carrier a cargo licence following a successful audit.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on the sidelines of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Pakistan has called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to take decisive action to uphold human dignity, ensure accountability, and advance a just two-State solution for peace in the Middle East.

At least 12 people died as heavy rain lashed the eastern Indian city of Kolkata and surrounding areas ahead of a major festival, flooding streets, disrupting transport and leaving residents stranded for hours, officials said on Wednesday. Most of the rain, as much as 251.6 mm (9.9 inches) in 24 hours, fell during the early hours of Tuesday and was the heaviest witnessed in the city since 1988, said HR Biswas, the regional head of India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Kolkata. Police said nine people died in Kolkata, with most of the deaths due to electrocution. Two people drowned, they added. The rains brought the state capital to a standstill, seriously hampering preparations for the upcoming Durga Puja — the biggest annual festival of Hindus in West Bengal state. Many pandals, temporary structures built with bamboo and other materials for the festival, and clay idols of the deities also suffered damage across the city. Roads were submerged under waist-deep water in some areas, stranding vehicles and forc...

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has rolled out new facilities to make fee payments more convenient for citizens across Pakistan.

Local government by-elections are being held today (Tuesday) in fourteen districts across Sindh.

Tomergara - A one-day workshop on dengue prevention and control was organized at the District Population Welfare Office at Balambat to educate family welfare assistants male (FWA-M).