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  • Mask up: Covid positivity rate jumps to 3.19%

    Mask up: Covid positivity rate jumps to 3.19%

    According to the National Institute of Health (NIH),435 cases of Covid-19 with a positivity rate of 3.19 per cent were reported in Pakistan on June 24.

    The number of confirmed cases have jumped to 1,533,482. One death was reported in the last 24 hours. A total of 13,64 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours .

    In April, Pakistan reported zero Covid-19-related deaths for the first time since the breakout of the pandemic in the country.

    In March this year, the government announced the closure of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). The body was set up in March 2020 to deal with Covid-19.

  • ‘Hurt, anger, confusion’: People react to US abortion decision

    ‘Hurt, anger, confusion’: People react to US abortion decision

    The United States (US) Supreme Court has overturned Roe v Wade, a landmark ruling that granted the right to abortion. The court determined that there is no constitutional right to an abortion, leaving it up to the states to decide whether or not to allow abortions.

    The verdict has been announced in the Dobbs vs Jackson case.

    According to research from Planned Parenthood, a healthcare organisation that provides abortions, almost about 36 million women of reproductive age, are expected to lose their access to abortion.

    What is the 1973 judgment known as Roe v. Wade?

    The landmark 1973 ruling protected the constitutional right to have an abortion.

    Roe v. Wade was a historic legal decision delivered by the United States Supreme Court on January 22, 1973, in which the court overturned a Texas law prohibiting abortion, essentially legalising the operation throughout the United States.

    “The court held that a woman’s right to an abortion was implicit in the right to privacy protected by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Prior to Roe v. Wade, abortion had been illegal throughout much of the country since the late 19th century. Since the 1973 ruling, many states have imposed restrictions on abortion rights.”

    Here are some key reactions.

  • Khan in court, granted pre-arrest bail in 10 cases against him

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has been granted pre-arrest bail till July 6 by the court of a district and sessions judge in Islamabad today (Friday). He got bail in 10 cases related to vandalism during his party’s Azadi March in the federal capital which happened on May 25.

    He is booked on charges involving interference in state affairs and damaging public property.

    Khan appeared in court with strict security arrangements. The court directed Khan to submit Rs5,000 as surety in each of the cases and directed the police to submit a record of cases in the next hearing which is on July 6.

    Prior to this development, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) granted transit bail to PTI Chairman till June 25 in different cases registered against him in connection with his party march.

    Bail to PTI leaders:

    Earlier, police had booked around 11 PTI leaders including Imran Khan, Asad Umar, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry and others in a case pertaining to violence at the Kohsar police station. However, an Islamabad court granted interim bail to them in this case on June 20.

    Similarly, last week, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) granted interim bail till June 28 to more than a dozen PTI leaders for vandalism in the case pertaining to violence at the Bhatti Gate police station, Lahore. The bail was granted to Hammad Azhar, PTI Central Punjab President Dr Yasmin Rashid, Mian Aslam Iqbal and others.

  • Varun Dhawan praises Abrar-ul-Haq, sends love in a video message

    Varun Dhawan praises Abrar-ul-Haq, sends love in a video message

    Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan has praised singer Abrar-ul-Haq recently in a video message while recording an interview with Bollywood Hungama.

    “I want to say to Abrar that he sung the song so well, the original one,” the actor told the outlet. “It is amazing, outstanding and we loved it.”

    He added, “Our music company, they bought the rights and now our song is doing so well, so thank you.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD474_Dvxes

    Earlier this year, the Bheega December crooner took to his twitter handle to slam Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar for plagiarising his famous song Nach Punjaban in his latest film, Jug Jugg Jeeyo.

    As soon as the trailer of the upcoming film was out, Abrar shared his statement.

    “I have not sold my song Nach Punjaban to any Indian movie and reserve the right to go to court to claim damages. Producers like @karanjohar should not use copy songs. This is my 6th song being copied which will not be allowed at all,” Abrar tweeted.

    After a series of unpleasant exchanges between the two entities, Abrar was given the credits for his iconic song Nach Punjaban used in Johar’s Jug Jugg Jeeyo.

    Taking to Instagram Story, the well-acclaimed Indian director shared the track’s new version of The Punjaabban Song‘s poster which featured Haq’s name alongside Tanishk Bagchi.

    This came after Haq publicly called out the filmmakers for using his famed song without taking his permission or right to it. Also the way they have credited him at the end of the list is also not fair. This should have been done earlier only.

    Abrar-ul-Haq officially gets credit for Nach Punjaban in Karan Johar film

    Earlier Dhawan broke his silence on the controversy by stating: “T-series has put out an official statement about this they legally licensed the rights. I think when you have international companies like YouTube and Spotify… When they are playing music they have very strict laws about copyrights. It’s no joke. All the processes have been followed.”

  • Karachi fifth worst city in the world to live

    Karachi fifth worst city in the world to live

    Karachi is the fifth least liveable city in the world, according to an annual report released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The report titled ‘Global Liveability Index 2022’ lists the capital of Sindh as one of the least liveable cities in the world.

    Syria’s capital, Damascus, is the least liveable city in the world. Karachi is better than only four other cities, which include Algiers, Tripoli, Lagos, and Damascus.

    The list has been divided into categories depending on the infrastructure, stability, culture, environment, and health care systems.

    Austrian capital Vienna has been ranked as the world’s most liveable city. Danish capital Copenhagen is the second most liveable city while Switzerland’s capital Zurich is the third most liveable city in the world.

  • Bilawal urges UN to create task force to tackle disinformation

    Bilawal urges UN to create task force to tackle disinformation

    Bilawal urges UN to create task force to tackle disinformation

    Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in his virtual address to the Group of Friends on Countering Disinformation urged that a United Nations (UN) backed task force be set up to counter disinformation.

    “We should agree on an international plan to counter disinformation online and offline, in the public and private domain,” said Bilawal.

    He urged that the UN department of information set an international standard of guidelines that countries can follow to tackle disinformation.

    FM Bhutto put forth some of his own suggestions on how disinformation can be dealt with ranging from creating public awareness campaigns about disinformation to increasing the capacity of governments to filter and limit hate speech.

    “Misinformation is the biggest problem of this era,” Bilawal said. “An effective strategy has to be formulated to tackle the issue of disinformation.”

  • Indian engineer arrested for allegedly providing missile information to Pakistani female spy

    Indian engineer arrested for allegedly providing missile information to Pakistani female spy

    An engineer working for the Defence Research & Development Laboratory India (DRDL) has been caught in a trap and leaked information about the Indian missile programme to a Pakistani female spy.

    Indian authorities say the suspect provided information about the technology used in the Indian Agni missile and the K-series missiles.

    A press note issued by the police in this regard has confirmed the arrest of 29-year-old engineer Mallikarjan Reddy and stated that he was a contract employee of DRDL.

    According to the press note, the man had mentioned on his Facebook profile that he works in DRDL. A girl sent him a Facebook friend request in March 2020.

    The woman said that her name is Natasha Rao, she lives in the UK and works for a defence magazine. She trapped the man who fell in love with her, and then forced him to disclose information about the missile programme.

    The alleged spy always talked to Reddy on Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.

    The engineer stayed in contact with the woman for two years between January 2020 and December 2021. She always talked to Reddy on Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp but never made a video call.

    A senior intelligence official claimed that the accused had shared details of the ballistic missiles K-4, K-5, and K-15 with 3,500 km, 6,000 km, and 1,500km range, respectively. These all are equipped with nuclear weapons and launched from the submarine.

    The man has also claimed that the woman asked for bank account details to transfer money, but she never did. The police are now trying to trace Reddy’s account.

  • Italian spyware hacks Apple and Android smartphones

    Italian spyware hacks Apple and Android smartphones

    A report released on Thursday by Alphabet Inc.’s Google revealed that a hacking tool created in Italy was used to spy on Apple Inc. and Android smartphone users in Kazakhstan and Italy.

    The report claimed that RCS lab, a Milan-based company whose website lists European law enforcement agencies as clients, created tools to spy on the private messages and contacts of the targeted devices.

    Regulators in Europe and America have been considering possible revisions to the laws governing the sale and import of spyware.

    “These vendors are enabling the proliferation of dangerous hacking tools and arming governments that would not be able to develop these capabilities in-house,” Google said.

    According to Billy Leonard, a senior researcher at Google, the hackers occasionally collaborated with the target’s ISP, which suggests that they had connections to the government.

    Requests for comment from the governments of Italy and Kazakhstan were not immediately returned. According to a spokesperson for Apple, the company has cancelled all known accounts and certificates linked to this hacking campaign.

    According to RCS lab, its goods and services are compliant with European regulations and support criminal investigations.

    Government spyware has become a growing global industry in recent years. More and more businesses are being accused of supporting governments that, in some cases, use these tools to repress civil and human rights.

    When it was discovered that numerous governments were using the Pegasus spyware from Israeli surveillance firm NSO to spy on journalists, activists, and dissidents, there was a widespread outcry against the industry.

  • Pakistan sends aid to earthquake-stricken Afghanistan

    Pakistan sends aid to earthquake-stricken Afghanistan

    The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Thursday dispatched relief supplies for the earthquake victims in Afghanistan on the special directives of Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif.

    Details indicate that the NDMA dispatched a shipment containing family tents, tarpaulins, blankets, and emergency medications, according to the NDMA spokesperson.

    “Pakistan has assured all possible support to ameliorate the sufferings of the Afghan people affected by the 6.1 magnitude earthquake which hit parts of Afghanistan on Wednesday, (June 22, 2022)”, it said.

    The relevant authorities were told on Wednesday by the PM Shehbaz Sharif, to assist Afghanistan when necessary. The PM expressed his grief over the earthquake in Afghanistan that claimed innocent lives in a message posted on his Twitter account. He said, “People in Pakistan share the sorrow and grief of their Afghan brethren.”

    Additionally, Imran Khan, a former minister, gave instructions to his KP government to arrange for medical facilities for the affected people in the neighbouring nation.

    Mahmood Khan, the chief minister of KP, has instructed the chief secretary and the health minister to send medical teams and aid to the nation’s earthquake-affected regions in accordance with orders from Imran Khan.

    A 6.1-magnitude earthquake that struck Afghanistan early on Wednesday left 950 people dead, and more than 600 injured. The death toll is expected to rise as news from isolated mountain villages trickles in, according to a report by Reuters.

    Images posted on Afghan media showed houses in ruins and bodies lying on the ground covered in blankets.

    According to Salahuddin Ayubi, an official with the interior ministry, helicopters were used in the rescue effort to transport food and medical supplies to the injured.

    The earthquake on Wednesday was the deadliest since 2002. The US Geological Survey (USGC) reported that it struck about 44 kilometres (27 miles) from the southeast Afghan city of Khost, close to the Pakistani border.

  • ‘Tough decisions’: PM Shehbaz announces 10 per cent super tax on large-scale industries

    ‘Tough decisions’: PM Shehbaz announces 10 per cent super tax on large-scale industries

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif announced that the coalition government plans to impose a 10 per cent super tax on large-scale industries, and that “tough decisions” have been taken to protect the economy in budget 2022-23.

    Addressing the nation, PM Shehbaz announced the imposition of a 10 per cent super tax on cement, steel, sugar, oil and gas, fertiliser, banking, textile, chemical, beverage, and automobile industries, adding that it it has been done to save the common man from taxes.

    PM said that people whose annual income exceeds Rs150 million will be subject to one per cent tax; for Rs200 million, two per cent; Rs250 million three per cent; and Rs300 million will be taxed four per cent of their income.

    PM Shehbaz said the steps taken in the budget were designed to ease the burden on the poor. “And the classes who are blessed, today, this nation is demanding of them to also work hard, to come forward and to make Pakistan prosperous, progressive and with its head held high,” he added.

    The premier called on the wealthy to distribute some of their wealth and “relive the memory of Ansar-i-Madina”. “This is your responsibility, and the nation demands it of you,” he said.