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☆ Lahore air pollution hits historic high, forcing school closures
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-04 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

KARACHI, Pakistan — Unprecedented air pollution levels in Pakistan’s second-largest city of Lahore prompted authorities to take emergency measures on Sunday, including issuing work-from-home mandates and closing primary schools. To reduce vehicle pollution, 50% of office employees would work from home, Aurangzeb said. The government has also imposed a ban on three-wheelers known as rickshaws and halted construction in certain areas to reduce the pollution levels. Aurangzeb described the situation as “unexpected” and attributed the deterioration in air quality to winds carrying pollution from neighboring India. The smog crisis in Lahore, similar to the situation in India’s capital, Delhi, tends to worsen during cooler months due to temperature inversion trapping pollution closer to the ground.

Persons: Punjab Marriyum Aurangzeb, Aurangzeb, ” Organizations: Citizens Locations: KARACHI, Pakistan, Lahore, India, Swiss, Punjab, Delhi

☆ Pakistan says police responsible for killing a doctor accused of blasphemy
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-26 | by ( Associated Press | Story The | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Multan, Pakistan — Pakistan’s government said Thursday that police had orchestrated the killing of a doctor who was in custody after he was accused of blasphemy. The statement marks the first time the government has accused security forces of what the doctor’s family and rights groups have said amounted to an extrajudicial killing carried out by police. Hassan’s statement backed up Nawaz’s family allegations earlier this week. Accusations of blasphemy, sometimes even just rumors, can spark riots and mob rampages in Pakistan. Nawaz’s killing was the second case of an extrajudicial killing by police this month in Pakistan.

Persons: Shah Nawaz, Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, Ziaul Hassan, Nawaz, Hassan, Islam, Nawaz’s, “, …, ”, Mohammad Saleh, Saleh, Rehmat, Syed Khan, Khan, Mohammad Khurram Organizations: Minister, Associated Press Locations: Multan, Pakistan, Sindh, Mirpur Khas, Umerkot, Karachi, Quetta

☆ Attack on foreign diplomats' convoy kills police officer in Pakistan
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-22 | by ( Mushtaq Yusufzai | Mushtaq Yusufzai Is A Journalist Based In Peshawar | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A roadside bomb hit a convoy of foreign diplomats visiting northwest Pakistan on Sunday, killing a police officer in their security detail, police said. Ambassadors from Indonesia, Portugal, Kazakhstan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Turkmenistan, Vietnam, Iran, Russia, and Tajikistan were among those in the convoy, police said. Police made security arrangements for the foreign ambassadors and they were immediately rescued and moved towards Pakistan's capital Islamabad, Khan said. Offering sympathies to the families of those who died, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement that “all members of the diplomatic corps have returned safely to Islamabad.”Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari also condemned the attack. Pakistani counter-terrorist forces maintain a strong presence in the Swat valley, which has long been a hotbed of Islamist militant insurgency.

Persons: Zahidullah Khan, Mohammad Ali Gandapur, Khan, Asif Ali Zardari, ”, Malala Yousafzai Organizations: NBC News, Police, Pakistani Locations: PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Swat, Indonesia, Portugal, Kazakhstan, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Turkmenistan, Vietnam, Iran, Russia, Tajikistan, Pakistan's, Islamabad, ”

☆ Sindh, Pakistan: Police fatally shoot blasphemy suspect in second such killing in a week
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-19 | by ( Associated Press | Story The | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Karachi, Pakistan — Police in southern Pakistan shot dead a blasphemy suspect during an alleged shootout with armed men, officials said Thursday, the second such apparent extra-judicial killing in a week, drawing condemnation from human rights groups. Videos circulating on social media showed local clerics throwing rose petals at police and praising officers for killing the blasphemy suspect. There was no immediate clarification from the Sindh government about the circumstances in which the suspect was killed. The latest killing comes a week after an officer opened fire inside a police station in the southwestern city of Quetta, fatally wounding Syed Khan, another suspect held on accusations of blasphemy. Pakistan has witnessed a surge in attacks on blasphemy suspects in recent years.

Persons: Shah Nawaz, Mohammed, Niaz Khoso, Nawaz, “, Khoso, ”, HRCP, Syed Khan, Khan, Mohammad Khurram, —, Islam Organizations: Pakistan — Police, Police, Local, Human Rights Locations: Karachi, Pakistan, Umerkot district, Sindh province, Mirpur Khas, Sindh, Umerkot, Quetta, Madyan, Punjab, Jaranwala

☆ Pakistan’s transgender community gets a ride-sharing service for safety
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-11 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s transgender community has gotten its first ride-sharing service in the latest effort to protect trans people from discrimination and harassment, the business’ founder said on Wednesday. It’s called SheDrives and will service only trans people and women, according to Ammaz Farooqi, the company’s chief executive. For now, it will service only Lahore, but expansion is possible, Farooqi said. “A unique aspect of this app and ride service is that the drivers and passengers will be women and transgender persons,” Farooqi said. The country’s parliament also drafted a transgender rights bill to allow trans people choose their gender identity for previously issued government documents, educational certificates and national identity cards.

Persons: Pakistan —, It’s, Ammaz Farooqi, Farooqi, ” Farooqi, “ Organizations: Ministry of Human Rights Locations: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Lahore, ”, Multan

☆ Opinion: I’m a vaccine scientist. The devastating impacts of vaccine hesitancy have touched my life too
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-06 | by ( Opinion Mohamed Bassyouni | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

But when my eldest son was a young child, there was no vaccine for rotavirus. Mohamed Bassyouni Gates MRIIt just so happened that my research back then supported clinical trials evaluating a vaccine candidate for rotavirus. In Saudi Arabia, where we were living at the time, my two younger children received their rotavirus shots as their doctors recommended. And researchers at the National Institutes of Health in the US determined that the vaccine also “substantially reduced hospitalization and deaths in Africa.”The expectation was that many lives would be saved around the globe thanks to the rotavirus vaccine. This could be the first new TB vaccine in 100 years.

Persons: Mohamed Bassyouni, Melinda Gates Organizations: Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute, CNN, rotavirus, National Institutes of Health Locations: Saudi Arabia, Africa, United States, Pakistan

For all of the counterterrorism wins that the United States has had in its fight against the Islamic State — and there have been many — we still have not figured out how to defeat it. It served as the latest deadly reminder that the Islamic State — and particularly its Khorasan branch, ISIS-K, which is active in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan — remains a potent threat. Several ISIS-K plots in Europe have been disrupted, with arrests in Austria, France, Germany and the Netherlands. All of these events point to what we now know: Stripping the Islamic State of its self-proclaimed caliphate is not the same as beating it. Forced from this redoubt, ISIS has reconstituted itself in other countries, going underground in less detectable — but more dangerous — forms.

Persons: “ Organizations: Islamic, —, ISIS Locations: United States, Russian, Moscow, Khorasan, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Kabul, Turkey, Europe, Austria, France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Britain, State, Levant, Southeast Asia

☆ Iran's ‘brazen’ strikes around the Middle East send a message to Israel and the U.S., analysts say
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Fayaz Aziz | ReutersIran's recent missile and drone strikes on targets in three countries — Syria, Iraq and Pakistan — may not have been directly related to Israel's war in the Gaza Strip but they still revealed an intent to send a clear message, analysts told CNBC. Iraqi and Pakistani ministers vocally criticized the attacks, calling them a "violation" and vowing consequences. watch nowPakistan responded a day later, striking targets inside Iran that Iranian authorities say killed several people. They were also the first time Iran had deployed its military directly at any time since the Israel-Hamas war began. "There is an element of signaling to the United States and Israel by carrying out these strikes because they do showcase Iran's continued ballistic missile capabilities," Bohl told CNBC.

Persons: Fayaz Aziz, Ben Taleblu, we've, Ian Bremmer, Yemen's, Ryan Bohl, Bohl, Safin Hamid Organizations: Reuters, CNBC, ISIS, Foundation for Defense, Democracies, Washington D.C, Israel, Gaza, Hamas, Eurasia Group, Economic, Middle East, RANE Network, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, AFP, Getty Locations: Iran, Tehran, Israel, Peshawar, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, Gaza, Washington, Israeli, Iraq's Kurdistan, State, Iraqi, Davos, Lebanon, Hamas, Yemen, U.S, Red, United States, Kurdistan, Arbil

☆ 'Unprovoked violation': Iran strikes Syria, Iraq and Pakistan as Middle East tensions spike
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Speaking to CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday night, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian defended his country's actions. watch nowTehran also hit what it said were Islamic State targets in northern Syria in tandem with its strikes on Iraq. In response to the Red Sea attacks, the U.S. and U.K. governments last week began launching missile strikes against Houthi positions in Yemen. While the U.S. has hit Iranian proxies in Syria and Iraq since the Gaza war began, the missile strikes marked the first U.S. attack on the Yemeni group. Iran's foreign minister told CNBC on Tuesday that the Houthis "are not receiving any orders or instructions from us."

Persons: Pakistan —, Masrour Barzani, Hossein Amirabdollahian, Ebrahim Raisi, Israel —, Umar Karim, Iran — Organizations: United Arab Emirates, . Security, CNBC, Economic, Iranian, Islamic, Sepah, Anadolu Agency, Getty, King Faisal Center for Research, Islamic Studies, Middle, Iran Yemen's Locations: DUBAI, United Arab, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Israel, Gaza, Baghdad, Kurdistan, Tehran, Israeli, U.S, Erbil, Iraqi Kurdish, Davos, Islamic State, Balochistan, Israel — Tehran, Lebanon, Hamas, Yemen, Red

☆ With geopolitical tensions mounting, Bernstein expects 3 defense stocks to soar 20%
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Amala Balakrishner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"The rising geopolitical threats in APAC has been a driver of military spending for the Western nations. In addition, APAC countries have become more important for their own military expenditures, which present some opportunities for Western defense contractors through either exports or partnerships," they added. Quoting research from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute , Bernstein said that global defense spending reached a record high of $2.2 trillion last year. Why is defense spending on the rise? For instance, South Korea's defense spending is high given its longstanding tensions with neighbor North Korea.

Persons: AllianceBernstein, Bernstein, Northrop Grumman, CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Asia, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Boeing Co, Dassault Aviation, U.S Locations: Asia, Pacific, U.S, APAC, Stockholm, China, North Korea, North America, Europe, Russia, Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, Soviet, Vietnam, Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei

☆ The US told several Afghans to await relocation in Pakistan after escaping Taliban rule. Two years later, many are facing deportation.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( Katie Hawkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Several Afghan refugees in Pakistan who were promised relocation to the US are now facing deportation, CNN reports. For Afghans who served the US military, returning to a Taliban regime could be a death sentence. One expert told CNN many Afghans have yet to receive visas because the US has not established a processing center in Pakistan. One former US military contractor told CNN the Taliban "will punish me, they will put me in jail. Meanwhile, the State Department told the outlet in a statement that staff in Pakistan are actively working to expand their processing capacity.

Persons: —, Afghanistan Immigrants Refugees Council — Organizations: CNN, Service, Pakistan —, US State Department, Support Center, Afghanistan Immigrants Refugees Council, State Department Locations: Pakistan, Wall, Silicon, Afghanistan

☆ China has a reputation for exporting shoddy weapons, but its sales may get a boost from Russia's blunders in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

If Russia's arms exports falter because of the war in Ukraine, China's appeal may only grow. Despite the drawbacks, Chinese arms exports may get a boost from the war in Ukraine. Mazhar ABID/Gamma-Rapho via Getty ImagesQuality concerns could be one reason for a pre-Ukraine decline in Chinese arms sales. On the other hand, SIPRI also found that German and British arms sales declined 35% and Israeli sales fell 15% during the same period. "As Russia's weapons availability may change as the war continues, China is prepared for when that time arrives."

Persons: Cindy Zheng, AAMIR QURESHI, Zheng, —, Mazhar ABID, SIPRI, NOEL CELIS Organizations: Service, RAND Corporation, Kamra, Getty, Nigerian Air Force, Pakistan —, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Germany's Puma, Getty Images Arms Locations: China, Beijing, Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Islamabad, Africa, South Asia, Nigeria, Soviet, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Aslat, Karachi, Stockholm, Russia, AFP, Venezuela, Iran

☆ Global rice shortage is set to be the largest in 20 years – here's why
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The global rice market is set to log its largest shortfall in two decades in 2023, according to Fitch Solutions. "At the global level, the most evident impact of the global rice deficit has been, and still is, decade-high rice prices," Fitch Solutions' commodities analyst Charles Hart said. That would mar the largest global rice deficit since 2003/2004, when the global rice markets generated a deficit of 18.6 million tonnes, said Hart. "The global rice production deficit situation will increase the cost of importing rice for major rice importers such as Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and African countries in 2023," said Tjakra. "It is our view that global rice production will stage a solid rebound in 2023/24, expecting total output to rise by 2.5% year on year," Fitch's report forecast, hinging on India being a "principal engine" of global rice output over the next five years.

☆ How Timberland, Vans, VF Corp. are making sure their cotton isn't 'greenwashed'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Kaitlin Balasaygun | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

In this article VFC Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTSmallholder Farmers Alliance purchase of organic cotton from farmer member. But the focus quickly moved to regenerative agriculture, a practice more activist shareholders are pressing with big consumer companies. "Regenerative agriculture is really important to Timberland and VF because it's about restoring the soil," said Atlanta McIlwraith, Timberland's director of social impact and activation. watch nowVF Corp's efforts with regenerative cotton in Haiti come at a time of growing pressure from consumers for companies to adopt more sustainable practices. So, we tackle the problem from its roots, which is environmental degradation in the country," said Timote Georges, executive director and co-founder of Smallholder Farmers Alliance.

☆ Suicide bomber kills 59 at Pakistan mosque used by police officers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A suicide bomber struck a crowded mosque inside a police compound in Pakistan on Monday, causing the roof to collapse and killing at least 59 people and wounding more than 150 others, officials said. He expressed his condolences to families of the victims, saying their pain “cannot be described in words.”Police said between 300 to 350 worshippers were inside the mosque when the bomber detonated his explosives. Sarbakaf Mohmand, a commander for the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, claimed responsibility for the attack on Twitter. Pakistan, which is mostly Sunni Muslim, has seen a surge in militant attacks since November, when the Pakistani Taliban ended their cease-fire with government forces. Monday’s assault on a Sunni mosque was one of the deadliest attacks on security forces in recent years.

☆ Pakistan says power restored after second major breakdown in months
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s energy minister on Tuesday blamed the worst power outage in months on a lack of investment in the network, saying the aid-dependent nation had “learned lessons” from the breakdown that left millions of people without electricity. Like much of the national infrastructure, the power network desperately needs an upgrade, but funding has been patchy as Pakistan lurched from one International Monetary Fund bailout to the next. The outage, which began on Monday morning, was the second major breakdown since October. Pakistan has enough installed power capacity to meet demand, but the sector is so heavily in debt that it cannot afford to invest in infrastructure and power lines. “The government plans to add more power distribution lines within the next 36 months,” he added.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Afghanistan’s Taliban-run government on Saturday ordered all local and foreign nongovernmental organizations to prevent female employees from reporting to work, in the latest restrictive move against women’s rights and freedoms in the country. The order was made in a letter written in Persian by Economy Minister Qari Din Mohammed Hanif, Abdur Rahman Habib, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s Economic Ministry, told NBC News. Afghan women protest against a new Taliban ban on women accessing university education on Thursday in Kabul, Afghanistan. Getty ImagesForeign governments, including Muslim-majority Saudi Arabia and Turkey, condemned the university ban, which also led to criticism and protests inside Afghanistan. In the western city of Herat on Saturday, Taliban forces used water cannons to disperse women protesting the ban on university education, Reuters reported.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — The oldest prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention center was released and “reunited with his family” in Pakistan, the country's foreign ministry said in a statement Saturday. “We are glad that a Pakistani citizen detained abroad is finally reunited with his family,” the statement said. The Pentagon said in a statement Saturday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had “notified Congress of his intent to repatriate Saifullah Paracha to Pakistan” last month. Following Paracha’s release, 35 detainees remain in Guantanamo Bay and 18 have been cleared for release, according to Amnesty International. The most high-profile prisoner held at Guantanamo Bay prison is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

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