Pakistan News

A Dubai restaurant has opened that prides itself on having the world’s “first AI chef”, the latest ostentatious dive into new technology in a city obsessed with being on the cutting edge of the future. The Emirati city has become increasingly known for its growing culinary scene, with thousands of restaurants on offer from luxurious Michelin-starred eateries to greasy spoons serving up bona fide street food from across the Middle East and Asia. But at Woohoo, the brains behind the menu is not a person but an AI programme — known as chef Aiman — trained on thousands of recipes and decades of culinary research and molecular gastronomy. Chef Aiman can also optimise menus and balance flavours, according to the establishment. The real work of preparing and serving the food, however, remains in human hands, for now. “AI is going to create better dishes than humans maybe in the future,” said the restaurant’s Turkish co-founder Ahmet Oytun Cakir. While Woohoo’s menu mostly comprises int...

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Global airlines scrambled on Saturday to fix a software glitch on their Airbus A320 jets as a recall by the European planemaker temporarily grounded aircraft in Asia and Europe and threatened travel in the United States during the busiest weekend of the year. The recall of 6,000 planes, covering more than half of Airbus’ global A320-family fleet, is among the broadest in its 55-year history and is a blow for the planemaker weeks after the A320 overtook the Boeing 737 as the most-delivered model. Airlines worked through the night to make fixes after Airbus issued the emergency recall to 350 operators around the world, and global regulators directed carriers to remedy the software problem before resuming flights. That appeared to help head off the worst-case scenario and capped the number of flight delays in Asia and Europe early on Saturday. The US will face high travel demand later in the day after the Thanksgiving holiday period. “It’s not as chaotic as some people might think,” ...

Sri Lanka made an appeal for international assistance on Saturday as the death toll from heavy rains and floods triggered by Cyclone Ditwah rose to 123, with another 130 reported missing. The extreme weather system has destroyed nearly 15,000 homes, sending almost 44,000 people to state-run temporary shelters, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said. Director-General Sampath Kotuwegoda said relief operations had been strengthened with the deployment of thousands of troops from the army, navy and air force. “We have 123 confirmed dead and another 130 missing,” Kotuwegoda told reporters in Colombo. Cyclone Ditwah was moving away from the island on Saturday and was heading towards neighbouring India to the north, but it had already left massive destruction in its wake. “Relief operations with the help of the armed forces are underway,” Kotuwegoda said. Fresh landslides hit the central district of Kandy, 115 kilometres east of Colombo, with the main access road under water at seve...

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has said that Afghan forces open fire at Pakistani checkposts across the border to facilitate the infiltration of terrorists into the country. He made the comments during a briefing with journalists on November 25, a video of which was released by the ISPR on Friday evening. “Borders are always mutually guarded. Both countries [guard] them. Now on the other side is such a country whose posts first engage your posts through fire and an exchange begins. And then they have them (terrorists) pass from the gaps in between,” Lt Gen Chaudhry said. “There are extremely coordinated attacks. [They] attack the posts and have smugglers’ vehicles pass from below,” the military spokesman further said. He noted that a “narrative” was made that questioned how terrorists could infiltrate the Pak-Afghan border, how smuggling was carried out, and how non-custom paid vehicles passed through it if the army and ...

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday published for the first time directives to improve the prevention, detection and treatment of infertility, which affects millions across the globe. “One in six people worldwide experience infertility during their lifetime,” said Pascale Allotey, the global health body’s head of sexual and reproductive health. “The condition affects individuals and couples across all regions and income levels. “And yet access to safe and affordable care remains highly inequitable.” Allotey told reporters that the issue of infertility had been neglected “for far too long”. The new guide would provide a “unified, evidence-based foundation” to ensure care is safe, effective and accessible for all, she added. According to the WHO, infertility is a condition of the male and female reproductive system, defined as the inability to achieve pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual relations. The situation can lead to major distress, stig...

The power supply of four housing projects in Bahria Town Lahore has been cut over the non-payment of dues amounting to over Rs682 million, it emerged on Friday. The move has prompted outcry from residents, who have planned a demonstration in front of the Bahria Town offices after Friday prayers. Muhammad Ramzan Butt, the chief executive officer of the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco), said that Bahria Town had defaulted on its payments. “They have failed to pay a total of Rs682m on four connections for bulk power supply,” he told Dawn . “We will not restore the power supply till the bills have been paid,” he asserted. According to him, the initial deadline for paying the bills was November 21, which was then extended to November 23 at the request of the Bahria Town officials. However, they continued to file for extensions till November 26 (Wednesday), he said. The Lesco official said that the last deadline was November 27. “Instead of paying the bills, they have reportedly ...

PTI MPA Anwar Zeb Khan has said that one person has been injured after his home in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district was targeted in a “drone attack” last night, it emerged on Friday. In a video statement posted on his social media account on Thursday, the provincial lawmaker said, “My house in Raghagan, Khar tehsil, was targeted by a drone (quadcopter) attack by unknown individuals tonight, injuring one of my security guards.” Khan, who said he was in Peshawar at the time of the incident, strongly condemned the incident. He also identified the injured as Zair Muhammad, saying he was rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital in Khar. Following the incident, police personnel arrived at the scene and initiated an investigation. However, local police have not yet released any official statement regarding the nature of the incident and those responsible. Meanwhile, KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, in a statement, condemned the incident, terming it an act by “anti-peace elements”....

Lawyer and rights activist Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Advocate Hadi Ali Chattha, on Thursday objected after the apparent vanishing act of the court-appointed lawyer in the controversial social media posts case and the appointment of a new counsel. Judge Afzal Majoka, who has been presiding over the case’s proceedings, too, was also seemingly unaware of the finalisation of the appointment of a new counsel when Advocate Taimur Janjua showed up in the Islamabad district and sessions court instead of Advocate Shakeel Jatt. Advocate Jatt, who attended the case’s hearing as Imaan and Hadi’s court-appointed defence counsel for the first time on Tuesday, had previously refused to cross-examine the prosecution’s witnesses, saying that he could not “ask questions dictated” to him. “I am in favour of a fair trial. I cannot ask questions that are dictated [to me]. My conscience does not allow this,” he had said. The counsel had alleged without sharing any specific details that ...

India has approved a more than $800 million plan to boost production of rare earth magnets in an effort to secure supplies and cut its dependence on imports from countries like China. Rare earth permanent magnets (REPMs), some of the strongest types of permanent magnets, made from alloys of rare earth elements, are used in many critical sectors, including electric vehicles, aerospace and renewable energy. New Delhi currently meets its demand primarily through imports, with the government estimating that the country’s needs could double by 2030. India’s cabinet approved on Tuesday a $815.3m scheme to promote the production of REPMs, which the government said will help secure the “supply chain for domestic industries”. The plan involves offering sales-linked incentives and subsidies to help establish a manufacturing capacity of around 6,000 metric tons per year. “This first-of-its-kind initiative aims to establish 6,000 MTPA (metric tons per annum) of integrated REPM manufacturing i...

ANAHEIM, Calif. — When hockey teams have struggled as much as the Vancouver Canucks have, you can be so desperate for good signs that there are more false positives than the early rapid-tests for COVID. The Canucks, themselves, will either prove or disprove that they are starting their way back from the bottom of the National Hockey League standings. It’s only a day-and-a-half until they visit the San Jose Sharks for a Friday matinee, so the suspense won’t last long. But there were a lot of encouraging aspects to Wednesday’s wildly-entertaining 5-4 win against the fast and trending Anaheim Ducks, who led the Pacific Division and were nine points ahead of the reeling Canucks. There were still the defensive gaps the Canucks have been struggling mightily to close, a collection of awful Vancouver penalties and another near collapse when the Ducks scored twice in a little more than two minutes near the end of the second period to erase a 3-1 deficit. Despite this, when the game was at ...

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The counsel appointed by the court for lawyer and rights activist Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Advocate Hadi Ali Chattha, in a case pertaining to controversial social media posts refused to cross-examine the prosecution’s witnesses on Tuesday, saying that he could not “ask questions dictated” to him. He also alleged that he was not given enough time to prepare for the case, which was registered by the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency (NCCIA). Mazari and Chattha have been accused of attempting to incite divisions on linguistic grounds through social media posts and of creating the impression that the armed forces were engaged in terrorism within the country in the case. Additional District and Sessions Judge Mohammed Afzal Majoka resumed proceedings in the case in Islamabad today, where court-appointed defence counsel Advocate Shakeel Jatt alleged he was approached at around 4pm yesterday to represent Imaan and Chattha. He said that he had not been provided the...

Pakistan is racing toward a demographic milestone that is likely to rob the next generation of a future. As the country crosses the quarter-billion mark, a stark mismatch is forming between an exploding demand for essentials and a shrinking natural base that supplies them.  When demand grows faster than what land, water, and climate can support, the potential of a demographic dividend becomes a demographic emergency. Pakistan is unusually young, with a median age of 20.6 years, and roughly two-thirds of its population is under the age of 30. Millions of Gen Z (born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s) are entering adulthood amid the sharpest resource squeeze in the country’s history. This is not a distant-future problem. It is already visible in water taps that run dry, crops that fail under erratic weather, and job markets that shut out millions of educated youths. The water crunch is behind every crisis, making it perhaps the most urgent indicator of imbalance.  Per-c...

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Monday approved Rs25 billion for the reconstruction of 315 internal streets and 60 major roads across Karachi while ordering the proper installation of streetlights throughout the metropolis. Karachi’s road networks have been in shambles with thoroughfares riddled with potholes, posing serious dangers to commuters across the city, particularly after the latest spell of rains . According to a statement by CM Sindh’s spokesperson, Abdul Rashid Channa, a meeting on the reconstruction of Karachi’s roads and streets was chaired by CM Murad today. Minister for Local Government Nasir Shah, Mayor Karachi Murtaza Wahab, Chief Secretary Asif Haider Shah, Principal Secretary Agha Wasif, Senior Member Board of Revenue Khalid Haider Shah, among others, also participated. “After heavy rains, Karachi’s roads are in a state of disrepair,” CM Murad was quoted as saying. “Mega projects are underway, causing traffic problems. I want development work to be a...

Three Federal Constabulary (FC) personnel were martyred while two others were injured on Monday in a suicide attack on the force’s headquarters in Peshawar. The attack, which occurred shortly after 8am, targeted the premises located on Saddar Road, one of the city’s busiest routes. According to police, one terrorist blew himself up at the gate while two others tried to enter the premises before being gunned down. Here are some images from the site of the incident. Army personnel inspect the suicide attack site outside the Federal Constabulary headquarters in Peshawar on November 24. — AFP Rescue workers inspect a damaged vehicle after suicide bombers targeted the headquarters of the Federal Constabulary in Peshawar on November 24. — Reuters Army soldiers walk, after suicide bombers targeted the headquarters of the Federal Constabulary in Peshawar on November 24. — Reuters Security personnel stand guard at the site of a suicide attack outside the Federal Constabulary ...

RECENTLY, I attended the press conference for the Adab Festival, an event that features prominently on the nation’s cultural and literary calendar. I’m always glad to see regional and provincial languages promoted at our literary festivals, and this year at Adab, one of the languages of Gilgit-Baltistan — Burushaski to be precise — was included in a mushaira in which poets Ahmed Ali Jan and Qamar Kazmi participated. This inclusion resonated with me this year because I’ve been teaching expository writing at the AKU’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences this semester, and many of my students come from Gilgit-Baltistan, Chitral, Hunza, Kohistan. They’ve left their homes up in the mountains to seek knowledge in the big bad city of Karachi, but they’re also educating everyone here about themselves, their land, culture, norms and values, and their dreams and hopes for the future. At first I had no idea of Gilgit-Baltistan’s Buddhist history, or how Sufi preachers brought Islam to Baltistan from P...

A United Nations wildlife trade body decided on Sunday not to restrict India from importing endangered animals, after many countries supported reversing an earlier, stringent recommendation that had embroiled the private zoo run by Asia’s richest family. Vantara , a 3,500-acre zoo in Gujarat run by the philanthropic arm of the Reliance conglomerate led by Mukesh Ambani and his family, had faced allegations from non-profit and wildlife groups of improper imports of some animals, triggering higher scrutiny by Germany and the European Union. After visiting the facility in September, the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cities) issued a report this month asking India to “not issue any further import permits” as discrepancies had been found between exporter and importer trade data, and there were insufficient checks on the origin of some animals. At the Cities meeting in Uzbekistan, live-streamed on Sunday, the recomme...

The Foreign Office (FO) on Sunday strongly condemned the continued Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip as a “blatant violation of international law”. Despite a ceasefire signed by Israel and Hamas on October 9, Israeli forces have continued to regularly bombard Gaza with airstrikes, with the latest attack on Saturday leaving at least 21 dead in the territory. A statement issued by the FO today said, “Pakistan condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the attacks by Israeli occupying forces across Gaza.” It added that the attacks had reportedly resulted in the deaths of several Palestinian civilians and left many more wounded. “Such actions constitute a blatant violation of international law, relevant UN resolutions, and the recently concluded peace agreement at Sharm el-Sheikh,” the FO said. It said that the attacks also undermined international efforts aimed at achieving “lasting peace and stability” in the region. “The Government of Pakistan reiterates its call upon the i...

Max Verstappen is still technically in it to win it in the chase for the Formula One drivers’ championship. Verstappen kept his “drive for five” consecutive titles alive Saturday with a commanding victory at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. It was Verstappen’s 69th career victory as his luck continued on the famous Las Vegas Strip. The Red Bull driver won the inaugural race in 2023 and finished fifth last year when he clinched his fourth straight world championship. Verstappen started second on the grid with points leader Lando Norris right next to him on pole position. Norris made a mistake right after the start as he swooped over to cover Verstappen and overshot the turn heading into the first corner. That unforced error allowed not only Verstappen but also Mercedes driver George Russell to take advantage as the McLaren dropped to third. “I just braked too late,” Norris said on the Sky Sports broadcast. “It was my (expletive) up.” It wasn’t until Lap 35 that Norris was final...

I have spent the past few weeks staring at what seem to be digital ghosts; they look human, speak the way we do, and cause anger and despair. But they are not real. They are machines wearing human skin. Something is shifting in Pakistan’s social media landscape. It is not merely a rumour. It is not the old cycle of misinformation. It feels darker. Artificial intelligence is reshaping reality frame by frame until the internet resembles a hall of mirrors. For me, it began on November 8, when an account called ‘PakVocals’ posted a video on X that claimed to show journalist Benazir Shah dancing in a nightclub. The caption was cruel. It tried to mock her by using derogatory comments against her professional credibility. At the time of writing this piece, that video had garnered more than half a million views. It did exactly what it was designed to do: turn a journalist into a target. Mission accomplished! To most viewers, the clip probably passed as real, but for me, something felt off....