Pakistan

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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...

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government was holding urgent talks on Friday to overturn a ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending a match at Aston Villa that Israel’s government branded “shameful”. Birmingham-based Villa said the club had been informed by the Safety Advisory Group (SAG), responsible for issuing certificates for matches, that no away fans would be permitted at the Europa League match on November 6. “Shameful decision! I call on the UK authorities to reverse this coward decision,” the foreign minister of Israel, Gideon Saar, posted on X. A UK police commissioner asked local officials to review the decision as criticism of the ban mounted, including from Starmer and European governing body UEFA. Starmer, a keen football fan, called the move “wrong”. “We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets. The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation,” Starmer wrote on X. A spokesman for the prime minister said on Friday that conve...

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said on Friday that the provincial government had forwarded the summary for banning the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) to the Centre. “The Punjab cabinet has given its approval for banning the TLP, and this has been forwarded to the Centre. So the legal requirement with regard to the provinces has been fulfilled. The provincial government, after giving its approval, has forwarded the summary to the Centre,” she said at a press conference in Lahore. Her statement comes a day after the Punjab government decided to ask the Centre to ban the TLP, which had conducted a protest march “in solidarity with Gaza”, pledging to reach Islamabad and protest outside the US embassy. However, on Monday, the authorities launched a pre-dawn operation in Muridke, where the TLP had set up its protest camp on its way to its planned destination. The move by law enforcement agencies had triggered violent clashes, chaos dozens of arrests, resulting in the protest’s premature end. There have ...

On paper, Pakistan has begun to conserve its sea. In July, the country created its third marine protected area around Miani Hor, a swampy coastal lagoon approximately 100km west of Karachi. This joins Astola Island and Churna Island, created in 2017 and 2024, respectively. These are meant to become safe havens for corals, fish and other marine species. But the reality of Pakistan’s marine protected areas (MPAs) is trawlers sweeping the seabed, discarded “ghost nets” entangling marine life, and fishers shocking their catch with electric currents. Pakistan has promised to protect 30 per cent of its ocean by 2030. At present, these three MPAs cover less than 1 per cent. “Pakistan is a very terrestrial country and most conservation efforts are based there, as people are starting to understand the issues and are loud about the problems,” explains Rab Nawaz, senior director for biodiversity programmes at WWF-Pakistan. He worries that Pakistan’s sea is consequently being overlooked: “We are already losing much of th...

The Punjab government has prepared a comprehensive plan to accelerate industrial growth across the province, with Rs30 billion earmarked in the current fiscal year to upgrade and provide missing facilities in industrial estates.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed all the provincial governments as well as federal and provincial institutions to work together to ensure the swift repatriation of Afghan nationals residing illegally in Pakistan.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Friday approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC), seeking permission to meet PTI founder Imran Khan in Adiala Jail. On Thursday, Afridi, who was elected as the provincial chief minister on Monday, was denied a meeting with Imran during a visit to the prison. The PTI founder, imprisoned since August 2023, is serving a sentence at Adiala Jail in a £190 million corruption case and also faces pending trials under the Anti-Terrorism Act related to the May 9 protests. Afridi said he waited outside the prison for around two hours yesterday bef­ore departing. Speaking to reporters, he said he would announce his cabinet after consulting Imran and seeking his input. He claimed he had officially notified the Punjab government and the federal government of his plan to visit Adiala, but received no response, adding that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif did not reply to his subsequent request, made during a phone call, to facilitate a meeting with Imran. Per Afridi’s writ pet...

Foreign Office Spokesperson Ambassador Shafqat Ali Khan, in his final weekly media briefing on Friday announced key diplomatic developments, including Pakistan’s re-election to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the implementation of a temporary ceasefire along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, and the country’s active.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs has extended the registration deadline for the private Hajj scheme until October 22.

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed authorities to submit a report on the health and living conditions of all animals at Karachi Zoo, following Tuesday’s decision to transfer brown bear Rano to a sanctuary for medical care. The case of Rano, a female Himalayan brown bear who stirred public outcry over her ailing health in the zoo, has brought into sharp focus the neglect of animals kept in captivity in Karachi. Rano’s relocation was finally ordered on Tuesday by the SHC after a petition was submitted to recognise her deteriorating condition. During the continuation of the hearing of the case today, the SHC called for a further report on all animals kept in captivity at the zoo. The report is to include details on animals’ “physical and psychological health, living conditions, qualifications and training of zoo staff”, as well as alternative plans for animals if they are shifted from the zoo, according to lawyer Jibran Nasir, who was representing Rano’s case on behalf of the petitioner Jude Allen Pereira. ...

The recent floods have caused an estimated economic loss of Rs822 billion across Pakistan, according to an initial government assessment released on Friday, which paints a grim picture of the devastation to the country’s agriculture and infrastructure sectors.