The only power plant in the Gaza Strip, which is under fierce Israeli bombardment and siege, shut down on Wednesday after it ran out of fuel, said the Palestinian enclave’s electricity authority. “The only power plant in the Gaza Strip stopped functioning at 2pm (1100 GMT),” the authority’s head Jalal Ismail said in a statement, having earlier warned that it …

Punjab government employees continued to observe a pen-down strike and  sit-ins in front of the government offices across the province till the acceptance of their “genuine demands.” A large number of government employees protested in front of Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner Offices in Rawalpindi and other cities against discrimination in salaries and pensions. The protestors demand the same salaries, pension …

The Pakistan women’s team is set to embark on their Bangladesh tour, with the Selection Committee and captain Nida Dar finalizing a 15-member squad. According to media reports, the national women’s team sees the return of seasoned players Iram Javed and Bismah Maroof, bolstering the setup for the tour. The squad features a blend of experience and youth, with names …

After the historic victory against Sri Lanka in the World Cup 2023, Zaka Ashraf, Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) Management Committee, is leaving for India tomorrow to witness Pakistan’s match against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday, October 14. According to a press release issued by the PCB, Zaka Ashraf made the decision to …

Passport applicants are expected to wait longer to receive their travel documents due to the shortage of lamination papers, local media reported. Citing its own sources, a local media outlet reported that despite an inadequate stock of lamination papers, the concerned officials didn’t take timely measures to guarantee an ample provision of the papers. Last week, there were no positive …

After massive hikes in electricity tariffs, the government is now all set to raise gas rates for all categories excluding protected consumers, succumbing to pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The government is on the verge of announcing a massive increase in rates for non-protected domestic consumers by up to 173 percent, commercial 136 percent, export industry 86 percent, …

BEIJING: Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang met with Oliver Blume, chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, in Beijing on Wednesday. Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that the Chinese and German economies are highly complementary and have huge space for cooperation. As …

BEIJING: President of Xinhua News Agency Fu Hua met with visiting Reuters President Paul Bascobert in Beijing on Wednesday. Noting that Reuters was the first international mainstream news agency to establish a cooperative relationship with Xinhua, Fu said that over the past 66 years, exchange and cooperation of the two sides have achieved fruitful outcomes in various areas. Fu expressed …

BEIJING: Passenger throughput at the Beijing Daxing International Airport has surpassed 30 million this year, the airport said on Wednesday. As of Wednesday morning, Daxing airport has also handled approximately 570,000 tonnes of cargo and mail. Since kicking off operations on Sept. 25, 2019, the airport has handled 84.55 million passenger trips in total. To date, 54 domestic and international …

CHANGSHA: Over the past five decades, China’s self-developed hybrid rice has been promoted in an accumulative cultivated area of 600 million hectares across the country, helping increase a total rice yield of 800 billion kg. Rice is one of the most important staple foods for Chinese. Chinese scientist Yuan Longping, widely known as the “father of hybrid rice,” and his …

BEIJING: China’s vehicle sales rose 9.5 percent year on year to nearly 2.86 million units in September, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed Wednesday. In the third quarter, China’s overall performance in automobile production and sales exceeded expectations, according to Chen Shihua, the deputy secretary-general of the association. He credited the sales surge in part to the …

The 3rd BRI forum for international cooperation will be held on October 17-18 in Beijing in which the Chinese policy makers will share new priorities, plans, policies and projects to gear-up regional as well as global development through BRI which has been dubbed as “Project of the 21st Century”. In this regard, more than 120 countries have been confirmed their …

Magnesium is one of the most essential minerals of the body, which regulates over 300 enzyme reactions in the body along with ensuring proper functioning of the immune system, muscle and nerve functioning and managing blood pressure. However, consuming certain common foods may lead to depletion of magnesium in the body and lead to magnesium deficiency. Here are a few …

Today, the world is observing International Girl Child Day, a day dedicated to highlighting the rights, empowerment, and well-being of girls globally. The theme for this year, “Invest in Girls’ Rights: Our Leadership, Our Well-being,” underscores the importance of nurturing girls’ potential and ensuring their well-being as they take on leadership roles in society. Chairperson of the Child Protection Bureau, …

BEIJING: Tassos Vamvakidis, who has worked at the Port of Piraeus in Greece for over five decades, has seen the ebb and flow of this millennia-old port. Nevertheless, there are still moments that evoke strong emotions whenever he recalls. On Nov. 11, 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Piraeus port, a flagship project of China-Greece Belt and Road cooperation, during …

Separate teams of the capital police and local administration have been constituted to identify and locate properties owned by Afghan nationals, compile records and ascertain their value. However, when Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon was contacted, he denied that any team had been established for the purpose. “No such teams had been formed by the local administration,” Mr Memon said. …

Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir affirmed the army’s commitment towards offering its complete support to enforce actions against unlawful activities in collaboration with law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and other government institutions, The News reported on Wednesday. The army chief’s statement came during a provincial apex committee meeting chaired by Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, where he …

The excitement is reaching a fever pitch as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) gears up for a grand spectacle in the lead-up to the highly anticipated India vs. Pakistan ODI World Cup 2023 clash. In a bid to make up for the absence of an opening ceremony for the tournament, the BCCI has decided to treat …

The Supreme Court has resumed the hearing of multiple petitions against the Practice and Procedure Act for the fourth consecutive day. A full court bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Qazi Faez Isa, is hearing the petitions. On Tuesday, the MQM and Pakistan Bar Council had announced their support for the Practice and …

ZHENGZHOU: With over 100 terabytes of storage, Zhang Mingyun’s hard drives house a photographic and video archive that spans four decades. This extensive collection meticulously chronicles the dynamic changes of the Yellow River and the remarkable transformation of the swan population that winters in the city of Sanmenxia in central China. These swans have evolved from a scattered few to …

Former president and Pakistan Peoples Party Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari said on Tuesday he wanted to tell his “enemies that elections are near and I have passed all exams of life”. Addressing a gathering on the occasion of a dinner hosted by Ghulam Qadir Marri in the Dariya Khan Marri village on Tuesday evening, where he was warmly welcomed on …

The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea in order to deter any actor seeking to escalate the situation or widen the Israel-Hamas war. In a statement issued, the US CENTCOM said: “The forces in the area include the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), with its 8 squadrons of …

In a bid to improve public safety and combatting environmental hazards, the Lahore High Court (LHC) Wednesday issued a series of directives, including hefty fines for riders without helmets and stringent measures to tackle smog. The directives come as a response to petitions filed for addressing the persistent smog issue in the region. The Lahore High Court has made it …

An earthquake of magnitude 6.3 hit Afghanistan four days after a strong tremor in the same region killed more than 3,000 people, said reports on Wednesday. As per details, the latest quake struck at around 05:10 local time. The epicenter was at a shallow depth of 10 km with its epicenter about north of Herat city. Afghanistan experiences frequent seismic …

A 104-year-old lady from Chicago, named Dorothy Hoffner, recently passed away in her sleep. She had become famous for doing something incredible she went skydiving at her age, and it could have been a world record! She did this exciting jump from an airplane 13,500 feet in the air. Dorothy’s friend, Joe Conant, who was also a nurse, fondly called …

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan has announced his next film, which he is not only going to produce, but also star in. Titled ‘Sitare Zameen Par’, the upcoming film follows the same theme as the emotional 2007 hit ‘Taare Zameen Par’, Aamir told a News18 India event. He added that while the latter made people cry, the new film will take …

CAIRO: The Palestinian people seek strong political and humanitarian support from Arab states over the ongoing deadly Palestinian-Israeli conflict, said Mohannad Aklouk, Palestine’s permanent representative at the Arab League (AL), in an interview with Xinhua on Tuesday. Aklouk called on Arab states to use their diplomatic, political, economic and legal tools and their influence in regional and international organizations “to …

PHNOM PENH: Ten years on, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has had a tremendous impact on Cambodia, injecting strong momentum into the kingdom’s development of infrastructure, trade and economy, a Cambodian scholar said on Tuesday. Seun Sam, a policy analyst at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said BRI projects invested or aided by China have been turning Cambodia into …

YANGON: A total of 27,302 people in Bago of southern Myanmar have been taking shelter in 47 relief camps as of Tuesday evening due to floods triggered by surging river levels, the state-run television channel MRTV reported. According to the country’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, the water level of Bago River in Bago has been above its danger level …

BEIJING: The third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) will be held in Beijing from Oct. 17 to 18. Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony of the forum and deliver a keynote speech, and hold a welcome banquet and bilateral events for the guests attending the forum, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced on Wednesday. …

ISLAMABAD: The capital police have asked all illegal immigrants to shift to a camp set up for them at I-12 on voluntarily basis within 48 hours. The police on Monday said all those residing in the capital without legal documents should move to the camp. A police officer told Dawn that there were 54 official camps set up for refugees …

Inflow of overseas workers’ remittances clocked in at $2.2 billion in September 2023, 5.3% higher on a month-on-month basis when compared to $2.1 billion in August 2023, showed data released on Tuesday by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). On a yearly basis, however, the monthly inflow of remittances registered a decline of 11% as it stood at $2.5 billion …

LONDON: The UK on Tuesday welcomed the release of four British men from detention in Afghanistan and apologised on behalf of their families for “any violations of the laws of the country”. “We welcome and appreciate the release by the current administration of Afghanistan of four British nationals who were detained on allegations of breaking the laws of Afghanistan,” said …

You might have heard that humans are the most dangerous animals in the world and whether you believe that or not, it seems that many animals do. A new study found that a majority of African mammals, including giraffes, hyenas and zebras, were more likely to flee from the sound of two humans talking than from the sounds of gunfire, …

A video showing a man’s body on fire in India’s restive Manipur prompted calls for justice from a minority tribal group in the northeastern state, which remains on edge more than five months after bloody ethnic clashes killed at least 180 people. State authorities said they had ordered an investigation by the federal police into the incident suspected to have …

Today marks the second death anniversary of the renowned nuclear scientist, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, who is fondly remembered as the “Mohsin-e-Pakistan.” Born on April 1, 1936, in Bhopal, India, Dr. Khan’s life and work continue to inspire and shape Pakistan’s scientific and defense landscape. Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan is celebrated as a national hero for his pioneering efforts that …

World Mental Health Day is being observed on Tuesday, a day dedicated to raising awareness about mental health, advocating for its importance, and promoting positive mental well-being for all. This year, the theme of the day is “Mental health is a universal human right”. President Dr Arif Alvi, in his message on the World Mental Health Day, called for creating …

Punjab’s Provincial Admission Committee has announced the admission schedule for private medical and dental colleges. All the private medical institutes will be accepting applications from October 16 to 31. The applications can be submitted through the online portal of the University of Health Sciences (UHS). In a meeting chaired by the Secretary Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Department Ali Jan …

Teaching staff across Punjab will no longer perform election duties during school hours. The decision was made by caretaker Chief Minister Punjab Mohsin Naqvi during a visit to the Government Pilot Higher Secondary School on Wahdat Road. The CM Punjab stressed that the teachers’ only focus should be their responsibilities during school hours. He ordered to improve the school’s classroom, …

The federal government has removed two board members of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in compliance with the orders of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The two board members who have been removed are Waseem Hayat Bajwa, who served as Member Planning, and Mazhar Hussain Shah, who held the position of Member Finance. The ECP had communicated its orders …