Category: English

Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court has dismissed a petition filed by Bushra Bibi, wife of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, seeking bail and suspension of her sentence in the Toshakhana case. A two-member bench headed by Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan heard the case on Wednesday. Bushra Bibi’s counsel, Salman Safdar, presented arguments, while Salman Akram Raja was also present in the courtroom. Safdar argued that Pakistani courts had historically adopted a lenient approach in cases involving women and that Bushra Bibi should be granted the same legal concession through suspension…

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Gold prices in Pakistan declined on Wednesday in line with a fall in the international market, with the price of gold per tola dropping by Rs3,000 to Rs437,836. According to rates released by the All-Pakistan Gems and Jewellers Sarafa Association (APGJSA), the price of 10-gram gold fell by Rs2,572 to Rs375,373. On Tuesday, gold prices had increased by Rs900 per tola, bringing the rate to Rs440,836. In the international market, gold prices fell by $30 to reach $4,153 per ounce. Meanwhile, silver prices in Pakistan also decreased, falling by Rs172…

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Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday blamed the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) for the circumstances that led to the imposition of an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), describing it as a “political suicide attack” on the provincial government. Speaking in the National Assembly, Bilawal said the PTI leadership had contributed to the current political and security situation by failing to cooperate with the federal government in the fight against terrorism. “Their responsible leadership knows, even if it does not admit it publicly, that the PTI itself carried out…

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Oil prices edged higher on Wednesday after an attack on the headquarters of Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company, while ‌Iranian officials told Reuters they were deploying new tactics to target ships, seeking to keep oil prices high and influence the US midterm elections. Brent crude futures were up 14 cents to $105.83 a barrel at 0938 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 57 cents to $94.71. Both contracts had climbed more ​than $1 in early trade, with WTI hitting a more than two-week high at $95.41 a barrel.…

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Hospitals across Yemen are struggling to cope with a sharp rise in war casualties ​as intensified fighting along multiple front lines ‌strains its already fragile health system, the Red Cross said on Wednesday. Front-line hospitals in areas including Marib, Taiz ​and Yemen’s Red Sea coast were seeing unprecedented ​numbers of weapon-wounded patients, with some facilities ⁠admitting more than 700 casualties in a single ​week, according to the humanitarian agency. More than 200,000 people ​have been displaced from their homes since fighting in the country began in recent weeks, sparked by…

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The deal between the United States and Russia over diesel supply is ​a “very risky choice” that runs counter to efforts to ‌force Vladimir Putin to sit at a negotiating table with Ukraine, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Wednesday. The United States and Russia ​said last week they had agreed that Moscow would ​initially supply more than 300,000 metric tons of ⁠diesel to US and global markets. “The outcome of this decision ​is uncertain, while the risks are clear,” Meloni told the Italian parliament ahead ​of an EU…

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Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence imposed on a Sri Lankan migrant worker over a comment he posted on Facebook, Sri Lanka’s Deputy Foreign Minister Arun Hemachandra has said. Anojan Sivarasa, 27, was sentenced to death in September after a Saudi appellate court convicted him of blasphemy against Islam and the Prophet Muhammad over the social media comment. The case sparked widespread concern in Sri Lanka and prompted diplomatic efforts to secure clemency for Sivarasa. In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Hemachandra announced that Saudi Arabia’s highest…

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The growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor employees is raising concerns over workplace privacy, performance assessments and unequal benefits from the technology. Workers across different industries are facing increased scrutiny, with automated systems tracking their behaviour and evaluating their performance. In the UK, Co-op Legal Services has introduced AI technology that records and analyses phone calls between employees and customers seeking advice on probate, wills and estates. The system assigns percentage scores to these interactions. A Co-op employee described the monitoring system as oppressive, telling The Guardian that…

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Polish military police are investigating an unidentified object found on ​a Baltic Sea beach on ‌Tuesday. Private radio station RMF FM reported that a passerby discovered what resembled a ​drone and reported it to ​the police, with military sappers and ⁠other services then arriving at the ​scene. Poland is the largest NATO member ​on the alliance’s eastern flank, and borders Ukraine. A series of airspace incursions in ​the region have fuelled concerns about ​the war in Ukraine spilling over the alliance’s ‌borders. Military ⁠police said late on Tuesday on X…

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Pollution readings in Singapore reached their highest level this year on Wednesday ‌while East Timor shut its schools for three days in response to intensifying smoke and haze from Indonesia’s wildfires. Singapore’s 1-hour PM2.5 reading hit a high of 284 micrograms per cubic metre in the western part of the island state, entering the National Environmental Agency’s “very high” band for ​the first time during the current haze period. The East Timor government said in a statement that it was suspending ​face-to-face learning activities for three days starting from October…

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