PORT SUDAN: Clashes reignited between the Sudanese army and rival paramilitaries earlier this week in the key Darfur town of El-Fasher, the United Nations said on Sunday, killing at least 27 people in one day. Eyewitnesses have reported air strikes, artillery fire and machine gun clashes battering the city since Friday, when an hours-long battle left an estimated 850 people displaced, according to the UN. It also killed at least 27 that day, based on what the UN said were “unconfirmed reports”, as the city suffers a near-total communications blackout, with medics and human rights defenders barely able to get…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
WASHINGTON: The first patient to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant died, two months after the procedure, the US hospital that carried it out said. “Mass General is deeply saddened at the sudden passing of Mr Rick Slayman. We have no indication that it was the result of his recent transplant,” the Boston hospital said. In a world first, surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital in March transplanted the genetically edited pig kidney into Slayman, who was 62 years old at the time and suffering from end-stage kidney disease. The pig kidney provided by a biotech company, eGenesis, had been modified…
TANAH DATAR: At least 34 people were killed and 16 more were missing in western Indonesia after flash floods and cold lava flow from one of the archipelago’s most active volcanos damaged homes, roads and mosques, officials said on Sunday. Hours of heavy rain caused flooding in Agam and Tanah Datar districts in West Sumatra province on Saturday evening, threatening thousands of people after the downpours swept ash and large rocks down Mount Marapi. “I heard the thunder and the sound similar to boiling water. It was the sound of big rocks falling,” housewife Rina Devina said, adding that three…
MOSCOW: At least seven people were killed and 17 injured when a whole section of an apartment building in Belgorod collapsed after being hit by a missile fired by Ukraine, Russian officials said. In one of the deadliest attacks to date on the region of Belgorod, Ukraine launched what Russian officials said was a massive missile attack with Tochka ballistic missiles and Adler and RM-70 Vampire (MLRS) multiple launch rocket systems. Footage from the scene showed at least 10 storeys of the building collapsing. Later, as emergency services scoured the rubble for survivors, the roof collapsed and people ran for…
RAFAH: Israeli forces continued to conduct air strikes on Gaza on Sunday after it expanded an evacuation order for Rafah, with the United Nations warning an outright invasion of the crowded southern city risked an “epic” disaster. Gaza’s civil defence agency said two doctors were killed on Sunday in the central town of Deir al-Balah amid heavy gunfire from Israeli helicopters. Witnesses said Israel had carried out strikes in Rafah near the crossing with Egypt on Saturday and smoke was seen rising over the city. Israeli troops defied international opposition and entered eastern areas of the city, effectively shutting a key aid…
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday expressed Pakistan’s resolve to advance cooperation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on security and development, the Foreign Office (FO) said. The development comes as the foreign minister met with SCO Secretary General Ambassador Zhang Ming in Beijing, where he arrived earlier today. According to Radio Pakistan, Dar reaffirmed Pakistan’s “unwavering commitment” to the SCO charter and the organisation’s “fundamental ideals as enunciated in the ‘Shanghai Spirit’”. The deputy PM stressed the collective responsibility of the SCO member states to collaborate effectively and harness the collective potential for sustained progress and prosperity of…
India’s six-week election resumed on Monday including in India-occupied Kashmir (IoK), where voters are expected to show their discontent with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cancellation of the disputed territory’s semi-autonomy and the security crackdown that followed. Modi remains popular across much of India and his Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is widely expected to win the poll when it concludes early next month. But his government’s decision in 2019 to bring IoK under its direct rule — and the subsequent clampdown — have been deeply resented among the region’s residents, who will be voting for the first time since the move. “What we’re telling voters now…
NEW YORK: Featuring an array of fantastical beings such as mud people and giant grandmothers, an AI film festival is giving a glimpse of the storytelling made possible by the novel technology. Nearly 3,000 short films were submitted to the festival organised by Runway AI, one of the leading start-ups in the field of AI-powered video generation. The 10 films selected put the filmmakers’ vivid imaginations on display, with their stories set in aesthetically stunning universes. “There is a perception of … AI-driven filmmaking and creation as having a very specific style,” Runway co-founder and chief technology officer Anastasis Germanidis…
ISLAMABAD: After a long wait of almost eight years, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Gulf have again recognised the century-old postgraduate degree programme of Pakistan — MS (Master of Surgery) and MD (Doctor of Medicine) — and included it in the eligibility list of the highest paid tier. The development has become possible because of the efforts of the Association of University Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (AUPSP) which advocated for the recognition of Pakistani medical degrees in the Gulf region. The efforts culminated in a high-level delegation’s visit to the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS) in Riyadh,…
LAHORE: The Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML) on Sunday warned of nationwide protests if the demands of wheat growers are not met, condemning the mistreatment of the farming community. PMML leader Khalid Masood Sindhu, while addressing a protest demonstration outside the press club, said that farmers were being economically murdered by not ensuring the sale of wheat at the officially fixed rate of Rs3,900 per 40kg. Farmers joined the protest in large numbers as the participants raised slogans against the official ‘anti-farmer’ policies and sought an end to the ill-treatment of the agriculturists. The protesters were carrying placards inscribed with different slogans,…
