Daily News Pakistan

Israeli forces continue attacks on Palestinians observing second day of Eid al-Fitr in Gaza, killing at least nine people, including many children. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has recovered the bodies of 15 emergency workers, a week after their vehicles came under fire from Israeli forces near Rafah in southern Gaza. A spokesman for the Israeli military has issued a new forced displacement order for the southern city of Rafah, warning that soldiers will soon “resume intense combat operations” there. In a post on X, Avichay Adraee said people in most of Rafah and the nearby areas of Nassr and ash-Shawka should immediately flee to al-Mawasi. Israel’s Army Radio described the order as the most “extensive evacuation since the resumption of fighting”. In a post on X, Jonathan Whittall, the head of UN’s OCHA in Palestine described seeing Israel fire on fleeing civilians as he and others travelled to south Gaza to look for the missing medics that Israeli forces killed in ...

Has Apple, the biggest company in the world, bungled its generative artificial intelligence strategy? Doubts blew out into the open when one of the company’s closest observers, tech analyst John Gruber, earlier this month gave a blistering critique in a blog post titled “Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino,” which is home to Apple’s headquarters. The respected analyst and Apple enthusiast said he was furious for not being more skeptical when the company announced last June that its Siri chatbot would be getting a major generative AI (genAI) upgrade. The technology, to be released as part of the Apple Intelligence suite of iPhone software, was to catapult the much-derided voice assistant’s capabilities beyond just giving the weather or setting a timer. Investors hoped the upgrade would launch the iPhone on a much-needed super-cycle, in which a new feature on the smartphone proves so tantalizing that users rush to snap up the latest and most expensive models. Apple Intell...

Myanmar’s neighbours sent warships and aircraft laden with relief materials and rescue personnel on Sunday, as international aid gained steam after a massive earthquake ravaged much of the poor Southeast Asian nation. At least 1,600 people have been killed and 3,400 injured by Friday’s 7.7-magnitude quake, one of Myanmar’s strongest in a century, its military government said. “All military and civilian hospitals, as well as healthcare workers, must work together in a coordinated and efficient manner to ensure effective medical response,” said the junta chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, according to state-run media. The US Geological Service’s predictive modelling estimated Myanmar’s death toll could top 10,000 and losses could exceed the country’s annual economic output. The quake jolted parts of neighbouring Thailand, bringing down an under-construction skyscraper and killing 17 people across the capital, according to Thai authorities. At least 78 people remained trapped un...

Today marks the first day of Eid al-Fitr, a time that is traditionally filled with joy and celebration. But in Gaza, the sound of bombardment and artillery shelling drowns out the call to prayer. Children who used to wear new clothes on this day are hungry and traumatised. People have no sense of safety and no festive meals to prepare. Since dawn today, Israeli strikes have continued to devastate neighbourhoods. Instead of gathering for celebrations, people have visited the graves of their loved ones in the early hours. As Palestinians in Gaza mark the end of Ramadan with Eid ul Fitr, the situation in the region remains dire. In the last 24 hours, Israeli airstrikes and military operations have claimed the lives of multiple individuals in Gaza and the West Bank. Families are not only dealing with the physical devastation but are also struggling with blocked aid and displacement, as many are once again forced to flee their homes. Despite the ongoing violence and fears of starvatio...

Muslims around the world are celebrating Eid ul Fitr today (Sunday) with large congregational prayers held in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries. Apart from the aforesaid two countries, Eid ul Fitr is being celebrated in Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Turkiye, Iran, Sudan, Lebanon, Yemen and Palestine following Shawwal moon' sighting on Saturday. Muslims celebrate Eid ul Fitr as the completion of the fasting month of Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. The timing of Eid ul Fitr is determined by the sighting of the crescent moon, in accordance with the Muslim lunar calendar. Meanwhile, people following the Islamic calendar in the United States and Canada are also celebrating Eid ul Fitr today, whereas mosques following moon sighting will announce Eid after its sighting. With, the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee set to convene this evening to determine moon sighting with regards to possible Eid ul Fitr in Pakistan tomorrow (Monday), the Bohra commu...

Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans rallied for and against impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol as the country’s Constitutional Court weighs whether to dismiss him. On Saturday, main streets through central Seoul were filled with rival protesters, carrying political signs and waving flags despite the cold weather. Yoon has been suspended from office since the liberal opposition-controlled National Assembly impeached him over his December 3 martial law decree, which plunged the country into political turmoil. The Constitutional Court is deliberating whether to formally dismiss or reinstate him. If he is removed, there will be an election to replace him within two months. “The people are overwhelmed with fatigue and frustration as … the ongoing crises remain unresolved,” Lee Han-sol, who was protesting for Yoon’s dismissal, told the AFP news agency. “The ongoing delays have led to a growing sense of scepticism.” But Yoon supporters, whose members include right-wing YouTubers and ...

Elon Musk's xAI has acquired X in a deal that values the social media platform at $33 billion and allows the value of his artificial intelligence firm to be shared with his co-investors in the company formerly known as Twitter. The deal could also help xAI's ability to train its chatbot known as Grok. "xAI and X's futures are intertwined," Musk, who also heads automaker Tesla and SpaceX, wrote in a post on X, "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent." He said the combination values "xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt)". Representatives for X and xAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Much of the deal's specifics remain unclear, such as how X's leaders would be integrated in the new firm or whether there would be regulatory scrutiny. Musk, the world's wealthiest man, is also a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump and heads...

The death toll from a huge earthquake that hit Myanmar and Thailand has passed 1,000, as rescuers dug through the rubble of collapsed buildings in a desperate search for survivors. At least 1,002 people were killed and nearly 2,376 injured in Myanmar’s Mandalay region – the country’s second-largest city and close to the epicentre of the quake – the country’s military government said in a statement on Saturday. In the Thai capital Bangkok – located 1,000km (620 miles) from the epicentre in Myanmar – about 10 more deaths have been confirmed. “Infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and buildings were affected, leading to casualties and injuries among civilians. Search and rescue operations are currently being carried out in the affected areas,” Myanmar’s military said in the statement, which raised the death toll sharply from a previously reported 144 deaths. The shallow 7.7-magnitude quake struck northwest of the city of Sagaing in central Myanmar in the early afternoon on Friday, ...

A man injured five people, two seriously, in a stabbing attack in the heart of Amsterdam on Thursday, Dutch police said, before he was overpowered by a bystander then taken into custody. Police had earlier given a toll of four seriously wounded, but confusion appeared to have resulted from the fact the suspect himself was also hurt. “Update: in the stabbing incident this afternoon, there were not four but five people wounded. In addition, the suspect himself is also injured,” Amsterdam police said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. Police declined to give any indication as to a motive for the stabbings near the Dam Central Square, saying their investigation was under way. They said they were “considering the possibility that the suspect may have randomly targeted victims, but the exact motive remains unknown”. “The suspect was overpowered with the help of a citizen. Due to an injury to his leg, he has been taken to hospital,” authorities said. A police spokesman had earlier...

Federal Minister for Interior Mohsin Naqvi met US Acting Ambassador Natalie Baker on Thursday to discuss Pakistan-US relations, counter-terrorism efforts, and mutual cooperation. The meeting took place in the presence of Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry, US Political Counselor Zach Harkenrider, and Federal Secretary for Interior Khurram Agha. During the meeting, Ambassador Baker strongly condemned the Jaafar Express attack and other recent terrorist incidents, expressing condolences to the families of the victims. She reaffirmed US support for Pakistan’s fight against terrorism and emphasised the need for global collaboration to address this challenge. The discussion also included plans to hold a Counter-Terrorism Dialogue in June and strategies for strengthening bilateral cooperation. Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump praised Pakistan for helping America arrest a senior Daesh operative implicated in the 2021 Kabul airport bombing that killed 13 US servi...

Select YouTube Premium members can sign into their accounts to try out experimental perks and AI features on a limited basis, the company notified in its webpage. YouTube Premium is the Google-owned video platform’s paid membership that offers benefits such as ad-free viewing and downloads for offline viewing. Eligible YouTube Premium users who have Android devices can get recommended videos in their Premium queue. By opening up their queue to discover more recommendations, they can add these videos to their queue or start watching them immediately. The feature is available until April 7. Both iOS and Android users can access more playback speeds with more precision, and also reach up to 4x on mobile devices. This feature is available until April 7 as well. YouTube further shared that eligible users who try out the features and share feedback can get rewards in exchange for their participation. “Sign up to give feedback. If a study is a good fit for your profile, you’ll receive ...

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he plans to call a national election “imminently” as the May 17 deadline for electing a new parliament is fast approaching. “It will be in May, I can guarantee that. And it will be called pretty imminently,” Albanese told radio station Triple M on Thursday. “I’m not calling it today but I will call it soon. I think that Australians want to get on with it,” he said. Separate reports from The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian newspapers said Albanese is scheduled to visit Governor-General Sam Mostyn’s in Canberra on Friday to call the election. Albanese must receive Mostyn’s authorisation, who as governor-general represents the United Kingdom’s King Charles – Australia’s official head of state – to dissolve parliament and declare a general election. The Australian reported that the vote would take place on May 3, though Albanese’s office has yet to comment on the claim. Albanese’s Labor Party has introduced a slew of measure...

A Hamas spokesperson has been martyred by an Israeli air strike in northern Gaza, news outlets have confirmed, as Israel’s army continues its renewed assault on the besieged enclave. Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua was martyred when Israeli fighter jets bombed his tent shelter in the northern city of Jabalia in the early hours of Thursday morning, according to Al-Aqsa television and the Shehab News Agency. Several more people were wounded in the strike, including children, according to media reports. On March 18, Israel abruptly ended a fragile two-month ceasefire as it resumed its intense bombing campaign and ground operations in Gaza. Israel has since killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians in an attempt to pressure Hamas into freeing the remaining captives held in the war-torn enclave. Several senior Hamas officials have also been martyred over the past week. On Sunday, an Israeli air strike on the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza martyred five people,...

Google recently announced a game-changing update to its "Results about you" tool, making it significantly easier for users to remove their personal information, such as phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses, from search results. This move comes as privacy concerns continue to rise, with individuals increasingly seeking control over their online presence. Previously, the "Results about you" feature was buried within Google's settings, making it difficult for many users to find and utilise. Now, the search engine giant has streamlined the process in a tutorial video, allowing users to initiate removal requests directly from Google Search. How to remove personal info from Google Search results? In a recent post on social media, the tech shared a tutorial video, explaining how users can use the new feature. In its tutorial, the tech giant revealed a few simple steps for users to remove their personal information from search results. Simply search fo...

The Oxfam charity has called on Israel to restore the ceasefire deal and lift its siege on Gaza, saying the total blockade is increasing famine risks for desperate civilians in the coastal enclave. It also said its operations in Gaza have been severely hampered by Israel’s renewed military assault on the territory, including in vital areas such as food security and livelihood, as well as essential repair work to damaged water infrastructure. “For the past 535 days, Israel has been systematically weaponising life-saving aid, inflicting collective punishment upon the population of Gaza,” said Oxfam’s policy lead for Palestine Bushra Khalidi. “The denial of food, water, fuel and electricity is a war crime and a crime against humanity. Many within the international community are enabling this by their silence, inaction and complicity,” she added. Hadja Lahbib, the European commissioner for equality, says she is concerned by alarming reports of yet more Israeli attacks on health worke...

Tesla’s European sales dropped 49 percent year on year in January and February, despite rising registrations of electric vehicles (EVs). New Tesla registrations in the European Union fell to 19,046 in the first two months of the year from at least 37,000 in the same period of 2024, according to a report published by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) on Tuesday. The lobby group noted that the United States-based EV manufacturer is struggling to keep pace with competitors while the political controversy around owner Elon Musk is also affecting sales. Tesla’s struggles saw Tesla’s market share drop from 2.1 percent to 1.1 percent. In February alone, Tesla registrations commanded 1.8 percent of the total market and 10.3 percent of the Battery-Electric Vehicle market, down from 2.8 percent and 21.6 percent, respectively, in the same month last year. The US company’s ageing models are viewed as one reason for the dip, as traditional automakers and new Chinese m...

Minorities in India continue to feel unsafe which can be borne out by the recent protest by Buddhists. A victim of Hindu tyranny in India, Buddhists are protesting against Hindu control over Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, their holiest site. According to an arrangement, the temple managed under the Bodh Gaya Temple Act of 1949 is governed by an eight-member committee, with equal Hindu and Buddhist representation. The protesters demand full Buddhist control, arguing that Hindu rituals performed at the temple violate Buddhist traditions. Reports say the recent protests intensified after police forcibly removed monks staging a hunger strike for possession of the site. The Bodh Gaya Math, a Hindu monastery, defends its role, citing historical preservation efforts. Hindu monks dismiss the protests as politically driven but demonstrators remain determined.

The United Nations has announced that it will be reducing the size of its international team on the ground in Gaza after renewed attacks on the Palestinian territory by Israeli forces killed hundreds of civilians, including UN personnel. UN spokesperson Stephan Dujarric said in a news briefing that approximately 30 of the UN’s 100 or so international staff would leave Gaza this week, admitting that the withdrawal comes at a time when humanitarian needs have soared and “concern over the protection of civilians intensifies”. Dujarric said the “temporary measure” was a “difficult decision” taken by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for security and operational reasons. The UN spokesman also confirmed that an Israeli tank was responsible for the attack on a UN compound in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, on March 19, that killed a Bulgarian UN staff member and left six other foreign staff with severe injuries. Dujarric’s statement was the UN’s first to implicate Israeli forces in the...

Global investors are increasingly re-rating mainland China's stock markets after two years of sitting on the sidelines, which bankers said will help drive renewed activity in a market where equity issuance doubled in January-March versus a year earlier. Easing government scrutiny of technology majors and the emergence of disruptive AI software developer DeepSeek are big enough draws even for overseas investors wary of the impact of Sino-U.S. tit-for-tat import tariffs, bankers and advisors said. Total equity issuance from Chinese firms in the first quarter reached $16.8 billion, LSEG data showed, 119% more than a year earlier. "The psychology of investors has changed. From many believing China was not investible, many now think this is a re-rating process," said James Wang, head of Asia ex-Japan Equity Capital Markets at Goldman Sachs. "The risk recognition remains, but it has shifted to the search for opportunities. This is apparent from the long-onlys, whose ...

An Israeli airstrike at a hospital in Gaza on Sunday martyred five people, including a Hamas political leader, Palestinian medics and Hamas said. The Gaza Health Ministry said the strike hit the surgery department at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Hamas said a member of its political office, Ismail Barhoum, had been martyred. Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV said Barhoum was being treated at the hospital for wounds sustained in a previous attack. After two months of relative calm in the war, Gazans have again been fleeing for their lives after Israel effectively abandoned a ceasefire, launching a new all-out air and ground campaign on Tuesday against Hamas. Another leader in Hamas, Salah al-Bardaweel, was martyred in a separate strike in Khan Younis, Hamas said earlier. Both Bardaweel and Barhoum were members of the 19-member Hamas decision-making body, the political office, 11 of whom have been martyred since the start of the war in late 2023, according to Hamas sources. Explosions echoed t...

New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday called a snap election for April 28, saying he needed a strong mandate to deal with the threat posed by US President Donald Trump, who "wants to break us so America can own us." Although the next election was not due until October 20, Carney is hoping to capitalise on a remarkable recovery by his Liberal party in the polls since January, when Trump began threatening Canada and former prime minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation. "We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Trump's unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty," Carney said. "There is so much more to do to secure Canada. To invest in Canada, to build Canada, to unite Canada. That's why I'm asking for a strong positive mandate from my fellow Canadians. I've just requested that the Governor General dissolve Parliament and call an election for April 28th, and she has ...

The death toll in Hamas-run Gaza has crossed 50,000, as the health ministry in Gaza reported on Sunday that at least 50,021 people have been martyred since the conflict with Israel began in October 2023. The ministry also stated that 113,274 people have been wounded in the ongoing war. According to Gaza's civil defense agency, the death toll had surpassed 50,000, although these figures have not been independently verified. However, the United Nations has deemed the health ministry's figures reliable. The death toll surged this week after a truce that had largely held since January 19 broke down, prompting Israel to launch heavy airstrikes and renew its ground offensive. In the past 24 hours alone, at least 39 deaths were reported, bringing the total number of casualties to 673 since Israeli operations resumed on Tuesday. A study published in The Lancet in early January suggested that the death toll in Gaza during the first nine months of the conflict was about 40% higher...

Canada's new prime minister Mark Carney is expected to announce snap elections today (Sunday), seeking a stronger mandate as his country fights off a trade war and annexation threats from United States President Donald Trump. The former central banker was chosen by the centrist Liberal Party to replace Justin Trudeau as prime minister, but he has never faced the broader Canadian electorate. That will change on April 28, if, as expected, Carney announces he is bringing parliamentary elections forward several months from October. Government sources told AFP that he would announce the decision at 12:30pm local time in a speech to Canada's 41-million-strong nation. In power for a decade, the Liberal government had slid into deep unpopularity, but Carney will be hoping to ride a wave of Canadian patriotism to a new majority — thanks to Trump's threats. Trump has riled his northern neighbour by repeatedly dismissing its sovereignty and borders as artificial, and urging it ...

WhatsApp is working on an exciting new feature that will allow users to share motion photos in chats, groups, and channels, and it will be rolled out in a future update. The popular Meta-owned instant-messaging app announced the new feature in its latest WhatsApp beta for Android 2.25.8.12 update, which is available on the Google Play Store, according to WABetaInfo. Motion photos are a type of media format that captures a brief moment of movement before and after a photo is taken. Unlike traditional images, motion photos include a few seconds of video and audio, providing an immersive way to capture memories. This feature is particularly popular on certain mobile devices, as it bridges the gap between photos and videos by adding a touch of animation to snapshots. These motion photos are often saved in specialised formats that combine static images with short video clips, allowing users to relive moments with a single tap, expanding the app's media-sharing capabilities. When ...

WhatsApp is working on an exciting new feature that will allow users to share motion photos in chats, groups, and channels, and it will be rolled out in a future update. The popular Meta-owned instant-messaging app announced the new feature in its latest WhatsApp beta for Android 2.25.8.12 update, which is available on the Google Play Store, according to WABetaInfo. Motion photos are a type of media format that captures a brief moment of movement before and after a photo is taken. Unlike traditional images, motion photos include a few seconds of video and audio, providing an immersive way to capture memories. This feature is particularly popular on certain mobile devices, as it bridges the gap between photos and videos by adding a touch of animation to snapshots. These motion photos are often saved in specialised formats that combine static images with short video clips, allowing users to relive moments with a single tap, expanding the app's media-sharing capabilities. When ...

The top diplomats from Japan, China and South Korea met in Tokyo on Saturday, seeking common ground on East Asian security and economic issues amid escalating global uncertainty. “Given the increasingly severe international situation, I believe we may truly be at a turning point in history,” Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said at the start of the meeting in Tokyo with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul. The three agreed to accelerate preparations for a trilateral summit in Japan that would also include talks on how Tokyo, Beijing and Seoul can tackle declining birthrates and aging populations, Iwaya said in a joint announcement after the meeting. The first gathering of ‘ foreign ministers of Japan, China, and South Korea since 2023 comes as U.S. President Donald Trump upends decades-old alliances, potentially opening the door for China to forge closer ties to countries traditionally aligned with Washington. “Our three nations h...

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has responded to a series of alarming reports from United Nations agencies, confirming that many glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region will not survive the 21st century. The reports, published on the first-ever UN World Glacier Day, highlight the catastrophic consequences of glacier melt on water, food, energy, and livelihood security in the region, with ripple effects felt across Asia and beyond. According to findings from UN Water, UNESCO, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS), the HKH glaciers—often referred to as the “Third Pole” due to their extensive ice reserves—are melting at an unprecedented rate. Five of the past six years have seen the most rapid glacier retreat on record. Experts warn that this rapid melt will lead to extreme weather events, water shortages, food insecurity, ecosystem disruptions, and even geopolitical conflicts. A Cris...

Thousands of Turks were expected to ramp up protests on Thursday over what they called the undemocratic detention of Istanbul's mayor Ekrem Imamoglu despite a ban on gatherings, police barricades and dozens of detentions over social media posts. Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, was taken in on Wednesday facing charges of graft and aiding a terrorist group, a move that the opposition condemned as a "coup attempt" and that sparked an initial round of demonstrations. The move against the popular two-term mayor caps a months-long legal crackdown on opposition figures across the country which has been criticised as a politicised attempt to hurt their electoral prospects and silence dissent. "We must stand against this evil as a nation," Imamoglu said on social media platform X, calling on members of the judiciary and Erdogan's ruling party to fight injustice. "These events have gone beyond our parties and political ideals....

On March 16, 2025, a video surfaced on social media in which a self-proclaimed soldier claimed to have resigned from the military after witnessing alleged atrocities against civilians. In his video statement, he claimed to have killed 12 civilians on the orders of his superiors. The video was widely circulated by pro Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) and Baloch separatist social media activists (SMAs), who later alleged that the soldier was assassinated by intelligence agencies for exposing military actions. On March 17, 2025, aligned SMAs began countering this narrative, revealing that the original video was first uploaded on TikTok by the handle ‘Parachinar News’. Forensic analysis and further investigation indicated that the video was AI-generated, and the individual depicted was not a real person. This fact-check report provides a detailed forensic analysis of the video, exposing the fabricated nature of the content. After the video went viral, multiple social media accounts false...

India’s IT ministry has unlawfully expanded censorship powers to allow the easier removal of online content and empowered “countless” government officials to execute such orders, Elon Musk’s X has alleged in a new lawsuit against New Delhi. The lawsuit and the allegations mark an escalation in an ongoing legal dispute between X and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government over how New Delhi orders content to be taken down. It also comes as Musk is getting closer to launching his other key ventures Starlink and Tesla in India. In the new court filing dated March 5, X argues India’s IT Ministry is asking other departments to use a government website launched by the Ministry of Home Affairs last year to issue content-blocking orders and mandate social media companies to join the website too. This mechanism, X says, does not contain the stringent Indian legal safeguards on content removal that required such orders to be issued in cases such as harm to sovereignty or public order, and...

Google was hit with two charges of breaching landmark EU rules on Wednesday, while Apple was ordered to help rivals connect with its iPhones and iPads, as Europe's antitrust regulators continued a crackdown against Big Tech. The move by the European Commission came despite threats from U.S. President Donald Trump to levy tariffs against countries which impose fines on U.S. companies. Both Google and Apple have been in the European Commission's crosshairs since March last year over concerns that they may not be complying with the Digital Markets Act, which aims to rein in the power of Big Tech via a list of do's and don'ts. The EU competition watchdog on Wednesday issued preliminary findings charging Google with DMA violations in both areas, confirming a Reuters story from February 21. The Google case centred on whether it restricts app developers from informing users about offers outside its app store Google Play, and whether it favours its associated search servi...