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  • NIH confirms presence of XBB variant of Covid-19 in Pakistan

    NIH confirms presence of XBB variant of Covid-19 in Pakistan

    The National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad and the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) on Tuesday confirmed the presence of the XBB variant of Covid-19 in Pakistan, confirmed through genome sequencing of samples.

    A review meeting was held on the Corona situation in the country under the chairmanship of Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif.
    The Premier commended the efforts put in by all the relevant officials and NCOC to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

    The meeting was informed in detail about the current situation of Covid in the world including the region and in Pakistan, new variants of the pandemic, measures taken to prevent them and status of vaccinations.

    Attendants at the meeting were informed that there is no apparent threat to Pakistan from the new variant of Covid-19.

    The same variant, BF.7, has recently been identified as the dominant one spreading in China’s capital Beijing, contributing to a wider surge of COVID infections in the country.

  • Tennis legend Martina Navratilova diagnosed with early-stage throat and breast cancer

    Tennis legend Martina Navratilova diagnosed with early-stage throat and breast cancer

    Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has been diagnosed with throat and breast cancer.

    Later this month, the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion, who was previously diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, will begin treatment in New York.

    Both malignancies, according to 66-year-old Navratilova, were discovered at an early stage.

    “The double whammy is serious, but fixable, and I’m hoping for a favourable outcome,” she said. “It’s going to stink for a while, but I’ll fight with all I have got.”

    According to CNN, Navratilova discovered a swollen lymph node in her neck while competing in the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, in November.

    Following a biopsy, stage 1 throat cancer was discovered. A lump in her breast was also found during the testing, and it was later determined to be unrelated to cancer.

    “Both of these cancers are in their early stages with great outcomes,” Navratilova’s representative Mary Greenham added.

    Navratilova was scheduled to broadcast from the Tennis Channel studio in Melbourne to cover the Australian Open this month, but she will instead make sporadic remote appearances.

    The nine-time Wimbledon singles winner admitted that she felt “helpless” following her cancer diagnosis in 2010, but she made the decision to share the news in order to support other women going through comparable medical issues.

  • Samsung introduces AI-powered fridge with 32-inch smart touchscreen

    Samsung introduces AI-powered fridge with 32-inch smart touchscreen

    Samsung has launched the “Bespoke Refrigerator Family Hub Plus,” its latest fridge with a built-in 32-inch HD touchscreen display.

    Its display, which can be used to watch films, prepare digital shopping lists for Amazon delivery, and operate SmartThings-compatible smart home gadgets, is substantially bigger at 32 inches than the 21.5-inch screen featured on earlier versions of Samsung Family Hub refrigerators.

    The Family Hub Plus, which was unveiled in a press release in Korean, comes with the free Samsung TV Plus service, which enables customers to view 190 TV channels in the US or about 80 stations in South Korea via the Samsung TV Plus app.

    The vertical orientation of the display also makes it ideal for viewing social media content like TikTok videos and YouTube Shorts. It also has a picture-in-picture (PIP) mode that allows you to watch films in a floating window while using the rest of the screen for other purposes.

    Along with the OneDrive integration that was previously present on Samsung’s Family Hub refrigerators, Google Photos users may now share material made on the Family Hub to any mobile device thanks to Samsung’s addition of support for the Google Photos cloud.

    The Family Hub Plus allows for the download and display of images from Google Photos. If you prefer to exhibit artwork and paintings rather than family photos, the Family Hub Plus now supports Samsung’s Bespoke Atelier app.

    The integrated SmartThings hub offers six SmartThings Home Life services: Air Care, Home Care, Pet Care, Clothing Care, Energy, and Cooking. It may be used to control and monitor various SmartThings devices.

    Other details (such the display refresh rate or resolution) as well as the cost and release date of Samsung’s new Family Hub refrigerator have not been made public.

  • Man searches ‘how to commit a murder’ on google, before murdering his wife

    Man searches ‘how to commit a murder’ on google, before murdering his wife

    A man in India was arrested for murdering his wife after searching “how to commit a murder” on Google. As per details, Uttar Pradesh police said on Saturday that the accused, Vikas, had initially provided false information about a robbery.

    However, police found incriminating internet searches including “how to commit a murder” on the suspect’s phone.

    A few years after they were married, the two began having disputes over the suspect’s extramarital relations, leading to the plan to kill his wife.
    As per the police the suspect has been arrested.

  • Man stabs woman with screwdriver for refusing to talk to him

    A man in India killed a woman with a screwdriver for refusing to talk to him, Khaleej Times has reported. The girl was murdered with a screwdriver in Chhattisgarh’s Korba district after refusing to talk to one of the two suspects detained by the police on Sunday.

    The accused, identified as Shahbaan Khan, was arrested along with his aide Tarbez Khan.

    The police said that the matter was that of a ‘love triangle’.

    According to the police, Shahbaan stabbed Kusum with a screwdriver after she refused to talk to him.

    “Preliminary investigations have revealed that the accused had befriended the victim three years ago and later moved to Ahmedabad (Gujarat) for work. The duo stayed in touch for some time. Later, the girl stopped talking to him.”

    “The accused tried to approach the victim, but she refused to entertain him. Following this, the accused attacked her with a screwdriver and killed her,” the police said.

  • PPP unhappy with PM Shehbaz for ignoring them: report

    PPP unhappy with PM Shehbaz for ignoring them: report

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is unhappy with Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif for ignoring the party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), reports ARY News.

    According to the news outlet, PPP is annoyed at the fact that more importance is being given to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F) in the province.

    PPP has reportedly complained about the matter and expressed reservations over PM Shehbaz’s visit last week to Dera Ismail (DI) Khan on JUI-F’s request while ignoring PPP during his visit to Mangala Dam.

    PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has also assured his party leaders of raising this matter with the premier.

    It is to be noted that PPP is a key ally of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

  • Govt raises ghee price by Rs75 per kg, sugar by Rs19 per kg

    Govt raises ghee price by Rs75 per kg, sugar by Rs19 per kg

    The government-run Utility Store Corporation (USC) has increased the price of sugar, flour, ghee, and other food items despite the prime minister’s relief package.

    Utility stores increased the price of sugar by Rs19 per kg, ghee by Rs75 per kg, and 20 kg bag of flour by Rs496.

    According to the notification, the new prices will go into effect at utility stores all around the nation on January 1, 2023.

    The Benazir Income Support Programme’s (BISP) deserving beneficiaries will not be subject to the new pricing.

    Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif had previously stated that Food Stores Corporation would provide targeted subsidies on basic food items. These products included rice, lentils, ghee, sugar, and flour. Customers who are registered in the Benazir Income Support Programme are eligible to purchase food from the Food Stores outlets at discounted prices.

    In the meantime, the Food Stores Corporation has instructed all of its clients and consumers to SMS their Computerized National Identity Card numbers from their mobile phones to 5566. After receiving a one-time password, they can then purchase goods and apply for subsidies.

  • Abdul Hannan’s ‘Iraaday’ makes it to US Secretary of State’s playlist

    Abdul Hannan’s ‘Iraaday’ makes it to US Secretary of State’s playlist

    It seems like Pakistan certainly cemented itself as a defying force in the global music industry, with many of artists like Shae Gill and Arooj Aftab going global. And now Abdul Hannan has joined the ranks with his song ‘Iraaday’.
    USA Secretary of State Antony Blinken shared his Spotify playlist ‘The Secretary’s 2022 Playlist: On The Road’ where he shared the music he had listened to while travelling all over the world, and we were so pleased to spot a familiar face among them: Abdul Hannan.

    Blinken had shared:

    “Music has the power to connect people, regardless of borders, languages, or beliefs. As a lifelong lover of music, I’m excited to share with you some of my favorite songs and artists from around the world that I’ve been listening to in 2022. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.”

  • Twitter sued for failing to pay San Francisco office rent

    Twitter sued for failing to pay San Francisco office rent

    Elon Musk’s social media company is being sued by California Property Trust, the owner of the building where Twitter’s headquarters are located, for failing to pay $136,250 in rent.

    Bloomberg reports (via The Verge) that on December 16th, the company informed Twitter that it would be in breach of its contract for the 30th floor of the Hartford Building in San Francisco if it did not make the unpaid rent payment within four days.

    Twitter was said to have disobeyed the order by California Property Trust in a complaint submitted this week to the San Francisco County Superior Court.

    The New York Times reported on December 13 that Twitter had just stopped paying rent on all of its international locations to reduce costs. In addition, the business is being sued for failing to reimburse Musk for $197,725 in charter flights he took during his first week working for Twitter. In the same time frame, Musk is said to have bolstered Twitter’s legal team with “more than half a dozen” attorneys from SpaceX.

  • Balochistan Home Minister heads commission for recovering missing persons

    Balochistan Home Minister heads commission for recovering missing persons

    Balochistan Home Minister Mir Zia Ullah Langau has been appointed as the chairman of a commission that will look into the cases of missing persons.

    The commission will recover and investigate the cases of missing persons, provide legal assistance to the families of missing persons while also looking into the activities of these missing persons against the state.

    Earlier, the Balochistan home ministry formed a parliamentary commission on missing persons on the orders of the Balochistan High Court (BHC).

    It is pertinent to mention that the missing person commission received a total number of 9,133 complaints from the residents of Balochistan alone.

    Apart from this, Supreme Court (SC) was informed that overall 2,207 cases of missing persons are pending as of November 30, 2022.

    Prior to this, former Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah instructed Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif to ensure a resolution to the missing persons’ cases.

    The Premier assured the court that all-out efforts would be made to recover missing persons.