Daily News Pakistan

US tech giant Google is all set to establish 50 smart schools in Pakistan's federal capital and extend different projects including teacher workshops, youth training via Google Career Certificates, and the establishment of a public Google Reference School. The Google for Education team, alongside its local partner Tech Valley, recently convened with the Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training to present forthcoming plans for Pakistan’s education sector. Some 50 smart schools in Islamabad will be equipped with 30,000 Google for Education IDs which include features, powered by AI, like practice sets and a suite of digital tools for enhanced collaboration and productivity, the state news agency reported. During the meeting, discussions extended to several upcoming initiatives, including teacher workshops on Google for Education tools, the establishment of a public Google Reference School, the training of 2,000 youths in job-ready skills through Go...

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been witnessing some extreme weather conditions lately and after devastating downpours that hit Dubai and other emirates on April 16, the country braces for heavy to moderate rainfall starting Wednesday night. Heavy thunderstorms lashed UAE earlier this month, dumping more than a year and a half’s rain on the desert city-state of Dubai in just a few hours leading to widespread disruption and flooding. The country encountered its most substantial rainfall in only 24 hours between April 15 and 16, since records commenced 75 years ago. As per Khaleej Times, more spells of torrential rain are expected from tomorrow and it is not anticipated to be the same as the rainfall encountered on April 16. Citing a weather expert from UAE’s National Centre of Meteorology (NCM), the publication has reported that the days ahead will witness moderate to heavy rainfall accompanied by lightning and thunder. Dr Ahmed Habib said that the challenging weather situatio...

Rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas have met in China for talks on potential reconciliation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing said that the groups’ representatives had met recently. The groups have competed for years, but the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip has provoked further talks on Palestinian reconciliation. The two groups visited China to partake in an in-depth and candid dialogue on the prospect, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said. He did not specify when the meeting took place. “The two sides fully expressed their political will to achieve reconciliation through dialogue and consultation, discussed many specific issues and made positive progress,” he added. “China and Palestine share a traditional friendship. We support Palestinian factions in achieving reconciliation and increasing solidarity through dialogue and consultation. We will continue to work actively towards that end.” Representatives from the two groups, as well as other political factions...

More than 1,000 previously undiscovered space rocks have been found in the solar system after covertly interfering with other cosmic objects for decades. A new study demonstrates how artificial intelligence and citizen scientists worked together to find the asteroids concealed in Hubble Space Telescope archive photographs, according to Live Science. According to Nasa, more than 1.3 million space pebbles have previously been found by scientists; the majority are located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. There are probably millions or perhaps hundreds of thousands of asteroids out there that have yet to be found. But it's likely the case that the remaining space rocks are the smallest and thus faintest entities in the solar system as a whole, making them incredibly elusive. In the current study, 1,031 previously unclassified asteroids from historical Hubble data were highlighted by researchers and published on March 15 in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. A...

World Central Kitchen (WCK) will resume its operations in the Gaza Strip after seven of its aid workers were killed in an Israeli strike earlier this month. "The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire. We are restarting our operation with the same energy, dignity, and focus on feeding as many people as possible," the charity's chief executive officer, Erin Gore, said in a statement. WCK will continue to get as much food into Gaza, including northern Gaza, as possible by land, air or sea, he added. "We have 276 trucks, with the equivalent of almost 8 million meals, ready to enter through the Rafah crossing. We’ll also send trucks from Jordan. We’re exploring the maritime corridor and utilizing the Ashdod Port. "In addition to 68 community kitchens, we’re building a third high production kitchen in Mawasi (the other two are in Rafah and Deir al-Balah)," Gore added. The Israeli attack killed seven aid workers -- three British nationals, an Australi...

Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX is set to lift off its Starlink satellites on the top of a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station into orbit of the Earth. The launch will be conducted with a four-hour window that is set to commence at 5:50pm EDT (2150 GMT). The event will be live-streamed on an X, formerly Twitter, account which will begin five minutes before the lift-off. It is anticipated that if everything goes as per the plan, the rocket Falcon 9's first stage will fall back on Earth for a vertical landing about 8.5 minutes after the launch on the drone ship Just Read the Instructions, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean, reported Space.com. In a mission description, SpaceX said, it will be the 13th launch and landing for the booster as half of the space vehicle’s earlier 12 flights were Starlink satellite missions. The upper stage of the rocket is set to deploy the 23 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit (...

China will send a robotic spacecraft in the coming days on a round trip to the moon’s far side in the first of three technically demanding missions that will pave the way for an inaugural Chinese crewed landing and a base on the lunar south pole. Since the first Chang’e mission in 2007, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, China has made leaps forward in its lunar exploration, narrowing the technological chasm with the United States and Russia. In 2020, China brought back samples from the moon’s near side in the first sample retrieval in more than four decades, confirming for the first time that it could safely return an uncrewed spacecraft to Earth from the lunar surface. This week, China is expected to launch Chang’e-6 using the backup spacecraft from the 2020 mission and collect soil and rocks from the side of the moon that permanently faces away from Earth. With no direct line of sight with the Earth, Chang’e-6 must rely on a recently deployed relay satellite orbiti...

As pro-Palestine sit-ins continue to swell across US college campuses, the Gaza Strip's displaced population shared messages of thanks for the solidarity of the students, faculty, and others protesting Israel's offensive. Using what limited means of expressions are left in the blockaded territory, where Israeli attacks have killed over 34,400 people, Palestinian man Abu Youssef Hamad wrote in English on his tent: "Thank you students in solidarity with Gaza. Your message has been received." Speaking to media, Hamad, 43, said Palestinians in Gaza had "no way to express our gratitude to the students protesting in America other than writing a letter of thanks on our tents." "We thank all the students who stood with us and expressed their solidarity as a result of the genocidal war taking place in Gaza," he added. "Thank you, American universities," was written on another of the tents set up in the southern city of Rafah, where 1.4 milli...

In a historic event, researchers have detected a gas in the atmosphere of the planet K2-18b that could be "only produced by life", according to a recent report by The Times. This comes as scientists from the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) revealed that scientists may soon find evidence of life outside our solar system via the James Web Space Telescope (JWST), the largest telescope ever sent into space. The planet K2-18b is located beneath a constellation Leo, orbiting a star K2-18 which is believed to be roughly half the size of the sun. This planet is around 2.6 times bigger than the Earth and, according to the report, scientists believe that dimethyl sulphide (DMS) gas in it's atmosphere may have been produced by "phytoplankton in marine environments". Researchers are more than 50% confident that DMS is present in the planet's atmosphere. However, so far, they have been unable to prove that DMS could be produced in the absence of li...

The intelligence agencies in the United States have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin probably didn't order opposition politician Alexei Navalny's murder earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Saturday reported. Navalny, who was 47 when he died, was a staunch critic of Putin, 71, and was killed at an Arctic prison camp in February. His allies accused the Russian president of having him murdered and said they will provide proof to back their allegation. However, the Kremlin has denied any involvement. Last month, Putin called Navalny's demise "sad" and said he had been ready to hand the jailed politician over to the West in a prisoner exchange provided Navalny never return to Russia. Navalny's allies said such talks had been under way, Reuters reported. According to the WSJ report, that cited unnamed people familiar with the matter, the US intelligence agencies had concluded that Putin probably didn't order Navalny to be k...

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations continue in universities across the United States, as they also spread to schools in Europe and Australia. In the second week of protests calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, thousands of students are calling on dozens of universities to divest from Israel. Some universities have been forced to cancel their graduation ceremonies, while others have seen entire buildings occupied by protesting students. One of the latest to join the movement is The City University of New York (CUNY), where hundreds of students have set up an encampment on campus with banners with slogans like “No More Investment in Apartheid”. Gabby Aossey, a student organiser at the CUNY protest told reporters the mobilisation of young pro-Palestinian people in the US is “beautiful to see”. “Young people are really starting to show up and demand that schools are held accountable for their relationship with the Israeli colon...

Yemen’s Houthis have damaged an oil tanker and downed another MQ-9 Reaper drone of the United States as they promise more attacks in opposition to Israel’s war on Gaza. The group’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said in his latest televised video address early on Saturday that “British oil ship Andromeda Star” was targeted in the Red Sea with naval missiles and was directly hit. The US military confirmed that the group fired three antiship ballistic missiles into the Red Sea at multiple targets and damaged MV Andromeda Star. The vessel was recently sold to a company registered in the Seychelles. “MV Andromeda Star reports minor damage, but is continuing its voyage,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X, adding there were no injuries or damage reported by the maritime military coalition led by the US that is deployed in the area to counter attacks from Yemen. The Houthi military spokesman also said its air defence forces in Yemen also shot down an MQ-9 Reaper att...

WhatsApp is about to become a lot easier to log in on an iPhone, thanks to a new feature that’s being rolled out. Meta owned by Mark Zuckerberg announced the new update earlier this week via a post on X, which reads: "Passkeys are rolling out now on iOS…a more secure (and easier!) way to log back in with Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode." This new feature will make WhatsApp chats more secure and safe by allowing users to log in to the application with either face ids, touch ids or passcodes. Although the company did not specify which IOS will get the feature, reports suggest it is compatible with iOS 17 and onwards. A passkey is a more secure alternative to traditional login methods such as SMS verification which takes ages to appear at times. Previously, users could access WhatsApp with a face id or passcode, however, this new feature works by storing authentication information on our device and pairing it up with the information saved up on our device to match it....

The United States says it will supply Patriot air defence missile systems to Ukraine as part of a $6bn additional aid package, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Friday, calling it the largest security assistance package to Kyiv since Russia’s invasion in 2022. The package is the second this week after President Joe Biden signed a much-delayed bill to provide a total of $61bn of new funding for Ukraine. The package also includes more munitions for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, or NASAMS, and additional gear to integrate Western air defence launchers, missiles and radars into Ukraine’s existing weaponry, much of which still dates back to the Soviet era. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the need for Patriots early on Friday with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a coalition of about 50 countries gathering virtually in a Pentagon-led meeting. The meeting fell on the second anniversary of the US to provide Patriot missiles to Ukrain...

Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch on Friday said Pakistan was in contact with the United States regarding the country’s requirements for energy. Addressing her weekly media briefing in Islamabad, the spokesperson said she had seen the US’s statement on Pakistan’s willingness to get energy from Iran. Earlier this week, a State Department spokesperson had warned Islamabad regarding "potential risk of sanctions" following the Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi's visit to Pakistan. "We advise anyone considering business deals with Iran to be aware of the potential risk of sanctions,' the spokesperson said. Baloch, on the other hand, maintained that cooperation for trade on preferential basis was present between Pakistan and Iran to fulfil the former’s crucial necessities. She said during President Raisi's three-day visit, the matter of Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline was discussed and it was also reflected in the joint statement later. Both co...

Meta’s WhatsApp is reportedly testing the feature to allow users to share files including photos and video with nearby users without an internet connection. The platform is also working to introduce an in-app dialler for users, Business Standard reported. The feature that allows users to share photos, videos, documents, and other files with nearby WhatsApp users is available for testing in beta version of the platform. However, Meta has not begun testing the in-app dialler in beta release while it is reportedly only available in the early version of the app. According to WABetaInfo, users must be near other WhatsApp users for the new feature to work. Users will be able to share files via a locally-created network after finding the other users. Meta has also given users the option to revoke these permissions at any time. On the security side, WhatsApp has made file sharing end-to-end encrypted similar to messages. Days earlier, Meta added its free artificial intelligence assista...

The US Department of State denied that there were any rifts between Islamabad and Washington after the latter imposed sanctions on four commercial entities allegedly having links to the former's ballistic missile programme. "Absolutely not. You’ve heard me say this before. Pakistan continues to be one of our most important partners in the region," said the State Department's principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel during a press briefing on Thursday. The spokesperson said that the US continues to have a "lot of cooperation" with Pakistan's government, especially in the security space and trade sector. "This is a robust relationship and we’ll look to continue strengthening it," added Patel, when asked if there was something going on between Washington and Islamabad. Last week, the US State Department imposed sanctions on four entities — three Chinese and one from Belarus — for reportedly supplying items to Pakistan’s ballistic missile p...

Mass graves found in two hospitals in the Gaza Strip containing 392 bodies, including those of women, children and the elderly, showed signs of torture and executions, officials in the enclave have said. On the sixth consecutive day of digging up bodies in southern Gaza, Palestinian Civil Defence officials on Thursday revealed horrifying new details about the mass graves around the Nasser and al-Shifa hospitals. Ten of the bodies were found with bound hands while others still had medical tubes attached to them, indicating they may have been buried alive, said civil defence member Mohammed Mughier. “We need forensic examination for approximately 20 bodies for people who we think were buried alive,” Mughier said. Yamen Abu Sulaiman, the head of the civil defence department in southern Khan Younis where Nasser Hospital is located, said three separate mass graves were found at the facility – one behind the morgue, one in front of the morgue, and one near the dialysis building. Only ...

British police say they have arrested three men over the deaths of five people including a child who died attempting to cross the English Channel from France. The deaths occurred when a small overcrowded boat carrying 112 people set out to cross one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world and panic took hold among the passengers not far from the shore. Rescuers picked up about 50 people, with four taken to hospital, but others stayed on the boat, determined to get to Britain. Three men, two Sudanese nationals aged 22 and 19, and a South Sudan national aged 22, were detained on Tuesday night on suspicion of “facilitating illegal immigration and entering the UK illegally”, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said. “This tragic incident once again demonstrates the threat to life posed by these crossings and brings into focus why it is so important to target the criminal gangs involved in organising them,” said NCA Deputy Director of Investigations Craig Turner. “We will do all we ca...

Mark Zuckerberg has announced WhatsApp video calling support for Ray Ban Meta glasses. WhatsApp is testing an in-app dialer, allowing people to easily make calls directly via the messaging app. This comes as an effort to become a one-stop solution for all calling and messaging needs of its users. Check out the details below. WhatsApp Working on In-App Dialer   WhatsApp has introduced an in-app dialer in its latest WhatsApp beta for Android 2.24.9.28 update. As you can see in the screenshot shared by WABetaInfo, users will get a dedicated number pad in the app. This will allow people to make WhatsApp calls to unsaved contacts straight from the app. WhatsApp recently introduced the ability to message unknown numbers without saving contacts, which saves people from the hassle of saving the contacts first to message them on WhatsApp. As of now, it’s not clear how the in-app dialler will be implemented in the app. It is safe to assume it will either be a floating button like ...

Meta has entered the artificial intelligence race (AI) by introducing its chatbot, Meta AI. You can now use the chatbot across all of Meta's social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, Techloy reported. The Meta AI chatbot also lets you create images with a simple prompt "imagine". You can use the feature to create images out of personal references or to make business advertisements by providing a description of what you want. How to create images with Meta AI? Open Meta AI chat on WhatsApp. If you can’t find it, just write “Meta AI” on the search bar. In the chatbot, write "imagine" followed by what you want it to create. You can also use this feature in your personal or group chats. To use, just open any chat you want to send, Type @ and tag Meta AI. Followed by imagine and your text prompt. Tap on Send and your generated image will be displayed in the chat. As Meta AI is a new feature, it is still evolving and may not be the mos...

Russian law enforcement officers have detained Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov on suspicion of taking bribes, Russia’s Investigative Committee said on Tuesday. President Vladimir Putin was informed of the detention of the high-ranking official, a rare move amid the offensive in Ukraine, Russian state-media reported. Anti-corruption activists have for years criticised what they call widespread corruption under Putin’s rule. “Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation Timur Vadimovich Ivanov has been detained on suspicion of committing a crime under Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code (taking a bribe),” the committee said on Telegram. The committee did not give any more details. The offence is punishable by a large fine or over a decade in prison depending on the details of the crime. Ivanov is already under sanction from the European Union as the defence ministry’s top official in charge of construction of military facilities. He was the subject of an inves...

Chinese tech company Huawei unveiled on Wednesday a new software brand for intelligent driving, marking its latest push to become a major player in the electric vehicle industry. The new brand Qiankun, symbolising a combination of heaven and the Kunlun Mountains, plans to provide self-driving systems involving the driving chassis, audio and driver's seat, Jin Yuzhi, CEO of Huawei's Intelligent Automotive Solution (IAS) business unit, said during an event ahead of the Beijing auto show. "2024 will be the first year for mass commercialisation of smart driving and the cumulative number of cars on road equipped with the Huawei self-driving system will top 500,000 by the year-end," Jin said. He also expected within a year more than 10 car models adopting Huawei’s Qiankun system would hit the market. The Shenzhen-based tech conglomerate launched its smart car unit in 2019 with the aim that it could become the equivalent of German automotive supplier Bosch of the intel...

Mathilde Panot, a member of parliament representing the La France Insoumise in France, has been summoned by authorities for questioning on charges of "terrorism propaganda." Panot, known for her vocal support for Palestine, finds herself at the center of a legal storm following a statement she made on her social media platform. The summons, issued by the Paris Police Headquarters, has sparked widespread debate and condemnation among political circles. As the deputy group leader of LFI in the parliament, Panot took to social media to announce the development, expressing her unwavering commitment to advocating for the rights of the Palestinian people. "I will not be deterred by any summons or intimidation tactics," she asserted. "Our stance against the genocide perpetrated against the Palestinian people remains steadfast." She further called upon the public to recognize the "disturbing attacks" being made on freedom of expression and democra...

Nasa has used information collected by the Juno spacecraft from Jupiter’s moon Io and created an animation that shows lava and large mountains. The Nasa’s Jupiter mission passed several times from Io in December and January, according to the Newsweek report. While speaking with the media at the European Geophysical Union General Assembly in Vienna, Scott Bolton, said on April 16: "Io is simply littered with volcanoes, and we caught a few of them in action." Bolton, who is the principal investigator of Juno went on: "We also got some great close-ups and other data on a 200-kilometre-long lava lake called Loki Patera. There is amazing detail showing these crazy islands embedded in the middle of a potentially magma lake rimmed with hot lava." According to Nasa, Jupiter has 95 officially recognised moons. Io was discovered by an Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1610. The moon is the most geologically active place in our solar system with hundreds of volcanoe...

Nasa’s Juno spacecraft has discovered an enormous lava lake in the middle of Jupiter's moon called "lo". The lake named, Loki Patera, is the largest volcanic depression on Io. If it was on Earth, it would be the 13th largest lake in the world. In the middle of the lake, there is an island which features steep mountains. Jupiter’s Io has more volcanoes than any other body in the solar system. It is bigger than the Earth. The new findings were announced by Scott Bolton, the principal investigator of the Juno mission, at the European Geophysical Union’s General Assembly. He said, "Lo is simply littered with volcanoes, and we caught a few of them in action." "There is amazing detail showing these crazy islands embedded in the middle of a potentially magma lake rimmed with hot lava. The specular reflection our instruments recorded of the lake suggests parts of Io’s surface are as smooth as glass, reminiscent of volcanically created obsidian glass on Eart...

China has evacuated more than 100,000 people as heavy rain continues to lash the southern province of Guangdong. Authorities raised the highest level of alarm on Tuesday as the storms showed no sign of letting up. Flooding has already killed four people, with another 10 reported missing, in just the latest episode of extreme weather to hit China as climate change affects the country. Torrential rains have been swelling rivers in Guangdong, prompting state media to warn of the risk of floods at a level “seen around once a century”. Footage from across Guangdong showed flooded villages, farmland and cities, along with collapsed bridges and floating vehicles. In addition to the 110,000 people who have been evacuated, at least 25,000 are in emergency shelters. In the provincial capital, Guangzhou, authorities have registered cumulative rainfall of 609mm in April so far, which is already the highest monthly volume since record-keeping began in 1959. The sustained torrent has hit the ...

Ten crew members have been killed after two Malaysian navy helicopters collided in midair and crashed to the ground. The Royal Malaysian Navy said in a statement that the two aircraft collided on Tuesday morning as they were taking part in aerial training in northern Lumut, where the navy has its headquarters. One helicopter, an Agusta Westland AW139 Maritime Operations Helicopter (HOM), crashed near the raised seating of the stadium at the complex while the second, a Eurocopter Fennec, fell near a swimming pool. The navy said there were seven crew on board the Agusta and three on the Eurocopter. All were confirmed dead at the scene of the crash, which took place at about 9.30am (01:30 GMT) The navy “will establish an investigation board to determine the cause of the incident”, it said. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim described the incident as a “heart-wrenching tragedy” and confirmed an investigation would take place. Videos shared on social media showed several helicopters flyin...

The head of Israeli military intelligence, who last year accepted responsibility for the failures that allowed the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, has resigned, the military said in a statement on Monday. Major General Aharon Haliva was one of a number of senior Israeli commanders who said they had failed to foresee and prevent the most devastating attack in Israel’s history. “The intelligence division under my command did not live up to the task we were entrusted with. I have carried that black day with me ever since,” he said in a resignation letter released by the military. During the Oct. 7 attack, thousands of fighters from Hamas and other groups broke through the high tech security barriers around Gaza, surprising Israeli forces and rampaging through the communities around the enclave. Some 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed in the attack, most of them civilians, and around 250 were taken into captivity in Gaza, where 133 remain as hostages. The attack badly t...

Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu’s party has won Sunday’s election in a landslide, according to preliminary results. The People’s National Congress (PNC) won 70 out of 93 seats to take full control of parliament, local media reports said early on Monday. The outcome is likely to accelerate the country’s shift away from traditional ally India in favour of China. Boosted by three seats secured by allies, the results – if confirmed – hand the PNC a supermajority. Full official results are expected later on Monday. The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), led by former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who is seen as pro-India, won only 15 seats against 65 in the outgoing parliament, according to local news site Mihaaru. Only three female candidates of the 41 who contested were elected, Mihaaru reported. All three are members of Muizzu’s PNC. A formal ratification of the results is expected to take a week and the new assembly will take office from early May. The vote ...

Apple iPhones are notoriously known for their poor battery life especially after the new IOS update, people have been complaining about the battery draining fast. A tech enthusiast by the user id @t_sply on TikTok has shared an iPhone hack that will surely shock you. He claims to have found a full proof hack that provides devices with "unlimited power." T-SPLY's clever hack promises you'll "never run out of juice." T-SPLY came across this potential trick while exploring iPhone settings, he said in his video that others may already be aware of this trick. He later shared his discovery with his followers and posted a comprehensive tutorial on his TikTok account, outlining steps to achieve an "unlimited cell phone battery". How to use the hack? Go to iPhone settings, tap "Accessibility" and choose "Display and Text Size". From there, turn on the "Reduce White Point" setting. Toggle with the slider, and adjust acc...

The iPhone 17 Pro has been the subject of several reports in the past, some of which claimed it would have a 2nm CPU, always-on features, and high refresh rate panels but now its size is also the talk of the town. There are already reports going around about the iPhone 17 Plus that suggest the 2025 Apple model may have a smaller screen. The iPhone 17 Plus seems to buck the trend of ever-larger screens; according to reports, it will debut in late 2024, following the release of the iPhone 16 series. In the past, Apple has remained consistent by matching the Plus models' display dimensions to those of the more costly Pro Max models. For example, the screens on the iPhone 14 Plus and iPhone 15 Plus were both 6.7 inches in size, which was the same as the screens on their corresponding Pro Max models. It has been reported that Apple may be trying to make its models easier to identify from one another by changing the screen sizes of the models in its lineup. This tactic might satis...

One person was killed and seven people were missing on Sunday after two Japanese military helicopters collided before crashing into the sea, officials said. A spokesman for Japan’s Self Defence Force (SDF) confirmed the incident to AFP, adding that one person was rescued but later confirmed dead. Defence Minister Minoru Kihara said rescuers “spotted what are believed to be part of the aircraft in the sea, and we believe that the two helicopters crashed.” “At this point the cause is unknown, but firstly we do our best to save lives,” Kihara told reporters. Hours later, Kihara told reporters that the crew member who was rescued “was confirmed dead”. He also said the ministry “discovered the flight recorders in places close to each other,” and so the “possibility is high that (the two helicopters) collided.” Officials said the helicopters appear to have crashed during night-time training for countering submarines off the Izu Islands in the Pacific Ocean. “The flight recorders are ...

 Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that Pakistan rejects political use of export controls. Foreign Office Spokesperson on Saturday, that it is a reality that the same jurisdictions, which claim to exercise strict non-proliferation controls, have waived off licensing requirements for advanced military technologies for some countries,” it was added. Commenting upon reports of United States’ decision to impose sanctions against commercial entities on allegations of links with Pakistan’s ballistic missile programme, she said that such listings had taken place in the past without sharing any evidence whatsoever. Responding to media queries, the spokesperson, in a press statement, said while they were not aware of the specifics of the latest measures by the US. In the past, they had come across many instances where listings had been made on mere suspicion or even when the involved items were not on any control lists but were deemed sensitive under catch-all provi...

Alphabet-owned Google is laying off an unspecified number of employees, a company spokesperson said, marking the latest cuts at the technology giant as it cracks down on costs. The Google spokesperson said the layoffs are not company-wide and that affected employees will be able to apply for internal roles, but did not specify the number of employees impacted nor the teams involved. A small percentage of the impacted roles will move to hubs the company is investing in, including India, Chicago, Atlanta and Dublin. The layoffs follow a slew of job cuts across Google, and the tech and media industry this year, adding to fears that layoffs may continue as companies grapple with economic uncertainty. "Throughout the second half of 2023 and into 2024, a number of our teams made changes to become more efficient and work better, remove layers and align their resources to their biggest product priorities," the spokesperson added. Employees across several of Google' teams i...

The United States will withdraw its soldiers from Niger as the West African nation is increasingly turning to Russia and away from Western powers. The US Department of State agreed to pull out about 1,000 troops from the country that has been under military rule since July 2023, US media reported late on Friday. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and Nigerien Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine met on Friday, the reports said, with Washington committing to begin planning an “orderly and responsible” withdrawal of its troops from the country. The US built a military base in Niger to combat armed groups that pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) in the Sahel region, which also includes Burkina Faso and Mali. The major airbase in Agadez, some 920km (572 miles) from the capital Niamey was used for manned and unmanned surveillance flights and other operations. Known as Air Base 201, it was built at a cost of more than $100m. Since 2018, it has been used to target...

The Israeli army bombed Gaza again, nine members of the same family were martyred by the bombing in Rafah. Israeli army continues atrocities on women and children in Gaza, several residential houses were targeted by the barbaric bombardment on Rafah, Khan Younis and Gaza City, five Palestinian youngsters were martyred in the two-day operation in the West Bank, nine members of the same family were killed in Rafah. Six women and two children were also among the martyrs. However, in the Tulkarm city of West Bank, where the operation had just entered its second day, fighting had started out between the occupying forces and the Palestinians in the Nur Shams camp, five youngsters had been killed by the Israeli forces, and the roads had been demolished by bulldozers. However, Israeli jets also targeted Hezbollah bases in Lebanon; as a result of this, rocket attacks were launched into northern Israel from Lebanon. Over thirty-four thousand people lost their lives as a result of the battl...

The popular messaging application WhatsApp shows its users when their contact is active, however, it is now conducting trials of a new feature that may conveniently reveal when someone was recently online on the Meta-owned platform. According to the Financial Express report, the messaging application will also present a list for those who were recently active, making it convenient for users to know when someone was online, with separately opening chats. A new tab, that was recently noticed inside WhatsApp's interface, will only show a "limited number of recent active contacts", and not a "comprehensive online list of all contacts", meaning that perhaps the California-based platform is employing an algorithm to distinguish the relevant of frequently contacted individuals to appear in that specific list. The "recently online" feature was spotted on WhatsApp for Android version 2.24.9.14, and it remains unclear when it will be rolled out for all user...