Pakistan

Khawaja Asif warns Pakistan won’t tolerate terror from Afghan soil, says perpetrators will pay a heavy price

Security put on high alert in Pindi as 5,500 personnel deployed to maintain peace

.

Upon completion, project will address 21 MGD water shortfall

.

Factories manufacture low-quality heating appliances with fake monograms

.

.

.

.

.

At least 71 new dengue cases were confirmed across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the last 24 hours, according to a situation report issued on Friday by the Integrated Diseases Surveillance and Response System (IDSRS) at the Directorate-General Health Services (DGHS). The report stated that 27 of the new patients were hospitalised, bringing the total number of currently hospitalised dengue cases in the province to 48. So far this year, KP has recorded a total of 3,582 laboratory-confirmed cases, 1,474 hospitalisations, 3,314 recoveries, and two deaths. Provincial Medical Entomologist at the DGHS Dengue Control Programme, Salahuddin Khan Marwat, told Dawn.com, “Climate change is a key factor in the spread of the disease to new areas.” Marwat said the current weather conditions, persistent humidity, monsoon rains, and temperatures between 18 to 25 degrees Celsius, have created an ideal environment for mosquito breeding. “This is why we see a spike in cases in October. The mosquitoes breed rapidly in these conditions...

Russia and the United States should build a “Putin-Trump” rail tunnel under the Bering Strait to link their countries, unlock joint exploration of natural resources and “symbolise unity”, a Kremlin envoy has suggested. The proposal by Kirill Dmitriev, President Vladimir Putin’s investment envoy and head of Russia’s RDIF sovereign wealth fund, envisages a construction project costing $8 billion, funded by Moscow and “international partners”, to build a 70-mile (112-km) rail and cargo link in under eight years. Dmitriev, who has helped spearhead a Russian charm offensive designed to revive US-Russia ties, floated the idea late on Thursday after Putin spoke to US President Donald Trump by phone and agreed to meet in Budapest to seek a way to stop the war in Ukraine. Musk’s ‘boring company’ proposed as contractor “The dream of a US-Russia link via the Bering Strait reflects an enduring vision from the 1904 Siberia-Alaska railway to Russia’s 2007 plan. RDIF has studied existing proposals, including the US-Canada-R...

OpenAI has suspended its Sora 2 artificial intelligence tool from creating videos of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. after his estate complained about disrespectful depictions. The slain civil rights leader’s estate and OpenAI announced the decision in a joint statement late Thursday, saying the company would pause generations depicting King while it “strengthens guardrails for historical figures.” The move comes as families of deceased celebrities and leaders have expressed outrage over OpenAI’s Sora 2 video tool, which allows users to create realistic-looking clips of historical figures without family consent. Some users had generated videos showing King making monkey noises during his “I Have a Dream” speech and other demeaning content, according to The Washington Post. Videos reanimating other dead figures, including Malcolm X, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and Amy Winehouse, have flooded social media since Sora 2’s launch on September 30. “While there are strong free speech interests in depicti...

Pakistan opener Omaima Sohail said on Friday that the team was still looking forward to a chance to make the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s World Cup , ahead of their clash with New Zealand on Saturday. On Wednesday, Pakistan’s hopes of a first victory at the World Cup were hit by rain, with their crucial fixture against England being abandoned after a second downpour in Colombo. Chasing a revised target of 113 to win after earlier rains had reduced the match to 31 overs per side, Pakistan were well on their way at 34-0 in 6.4 overs when rains returned to end any chance of the match being completed — saving England from their first ever loss against the Green Shirts. Speaking at the pre-match press conference at the R. Pramedasa Stadium in Colombo, Omaima said: “We are not relaxed at all. We have a chance to go [to the] semis if we win the matches, like three matches. “So maybe the scenario is open, so maybe we will win the three matches, so we have a chance in the semis.” Omaima showed glimpses of form in th...

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has refuted reports predicting an “extremely harsh winter” in 2024–25, calling such claims circulating on social media unscientific and misleading.

A powerful 5.

PAKISTAN has done it again. The country has held on to its spot near the bottom of the Henley Passport Index, ranking 103rd out of 106, just above Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. For the fifth time in a row, our passport holds the dubious distinction of being among the world’s least powerful. Consistency demands commitment and successive governments have shown plenty of that, especially when it comes to standing still. While others jostle up and down the index, Pakistan’s passport remains a model of stability. Holders of the green booklet can travel visa-free to a grand total of 31 destinations — a list that mostly includes islands most have never heard of and countries one might only encounter in a geography quiz. Meanwhile, top spot holders, Singaporeans, can breeze into 193 destinations, and South Koreans into 190. One could blame geopolitics, global suspicion, or our own bureaucratic enthusiasm for paperwork. But the truth is that passport strength reflects far more than airport convenience: it mirrors inter...

A high-level meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, was informed on Friday that as of October 16, a total of 1,477,592 Afghan nationals have been repatriated and the government will grant no further extension. A drive to expel more than 1.3 million Afghan nationals with Proof of Registration (PoR) card holders, the last category of refugees legally living in the country without visas, has been underway since Sept 1 this year. According to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the meeting’s attendees were told that only those Afghans who possess a valid Pakistani visa would be allowed to stay in Pakistan and the number of exit points on the Afghan side are being increased to make the repatriation process smoother and faster. “Officials informed the meeting that harboring Afghan nationals residing illegally in Pakistan or allowing them to stay in guesthouses is a criminal offense, and efforts are underway to identify such individuals. The public will be involved in the repatriat...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and other northern areas were jolted by tremors on Friday, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD). The PMD’s data showed that the quake was registered with a magnitude of 5.6 at a depth of 120 kilometres at 5:15pm. Tremors were felt in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Swat and Chitral. The PMD stated that the quake’s epicentre was in the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) registered a 4.7 magnitude quake less than 30km from the western Pak-Afghan border, at a depth of 10km at 4:53pm. However, USGS also registered a 5.5 magnitude earthquake less than 10km Pakistan’s northern border with Afghanistan. This one was registered at 5:15pm at a depth of 10km. A screenshot of a map showing two earthquakes registered north and west of Pakistan. — Screengrab via USGS Last week, a magnitude 5 earthquake struck close to Punjab’s Layyah on Saturday night, according to the PMD. The department said the quake occurred 50k...