Infinity Social Updates

A Donald Trump presidential election victory would have huge implications for US trade policy, climate change, the war in Ukraine, electric vehicles, Americans’ taxes and illegal immigration. While some of his proposals would require congressional approval, here is a summary of the policies he has said he would pursue in his second four-year term in office: More tariffs Trump has floated the idea of a 10 per cent or more tariff on all goods imported into the US, a move he says would eliminate the trade deficit. But critics say it would lead to higher prices for American consumers and global economic instability. He has also said he should have the authority to set higher tariffs on countries that have put tariffs on US imports. He has threatened to impose a 200pc tariff on some imported cars, saying he is determined in particular to keep cars from Mexico from coming into the country. But he has also suggested that allies such as the European Union could see higher duties on t

The hit TV serial aired its final episode on Tuesday, reuniting Mustafa and Sharjeena. from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/mWBFCok

India plans to overhaul its criminal sentencing norms to counter accusations of arbitrary punishment, sources said, following public outrage over the 2022 rape conviction of a man within 30 minutes of trial, by a judge who handed him the death penalty. A higher court in the eastern state of Bihar later overturned the conviction and ordered a retrial, saying the man had been denied the opportunity to defend himself and the judge had acted in “utmost haste”. It also called for more training for the judge. In response, the government plans to develop a grading system to ensure punishment matches the crime, and help standardise sentencing, so pulling the judicial system closer in line with the likes of Britain, Canada and New Zealand. The law and justice ministry will unveil its plan to the Supreme Court around December, after the court asked the government in May to consider adopting a comprehensive sentencing policy following the Bihar case, one source said. The government sources s

Iranian armed forces killed four militants after a deadly attack on a police station in the restive southeast, state media reported on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to eight. On October 26, militants from the Jaish al-Adl group killed 10 police officers in Taftan county, Sistan-Baluchistan province — one of the deadliest attacks in the region in recent months. “A total of eight terrorists have been killed” during operations in the province, Revolutionary Guards commander Ahmad Shafahi said, quoted by the official IRNA news agency. “Fourteen other terrorists have been arrested,” including key figures involved in the Taftan attack, he said, adding security forces seized a large amount of weapons and ammunition. Late Monday, IRNA quoted Guards ground forces commander Mohammad Pakpour as saying the militants who carried out the October 26 attack “were not Iranian”, without specifying their nationalities. Sistan-Baluchistan straddles the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, and

RAWALPINDI: A dengue spray team was attacked with iron rods and threatened of dire consequences by a group of residents of Gul Afshan Colony in Dhamial area. Amir Sajjad, a health inspector, lodged an FIR with Dhamial police saying that he received a phone call while he was on patrol duty that their dengue spray team, led by Manan Mahmood, was carrying out mosquito killer spray in the Arnial area of UC 12 when they knocked on the door of a house. He said in response, a man identified as Arbaz Khan opened the door but later went back inside the house without talking to anyone from the health department team. He further said that as the dengue spray team moved forward, the man (Arbaz Khan) came out of his house along with 15 people and attacked the health department team. The complaint further said that the team members were punched, kicked and tortured with iron rods and batons. One of the health team members called emergency police 15 who arrived at the spot and rescued the health

There is just no winning for Lahore, unless it's topping the charts for the worst air quality EVER. from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/9BGQCJf

Like all parts of the world, countries in South Asia are closely following the US presidential race , keeping an eye out for their interests and preparing to tweak policies based on who among Donald Trump and Kamala Harris prevails on November 5. Analysts say major regional countries — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan — are divided in who they would like to be the next US president, but all remain willing to engage with whoever emerges victorious. On the flip side, US policies are likely to be in the realm of “continuation,” with neither administration applying “a very sharp strategic lens to South Asia,” according to Michael Kugelman, an expert on Washington’s relations with South Asian nations. “But I do think that you would see a sharper lens, relatively speaking, from Harris than from Trump,” he said. The US will “investigate possibilities for infrastructure investments in South Asia, working with India for sure to counter China, trying to step up varying levels o

Iranian demonstrators gathered on Sunday outside the former US embassy in Tehran to mark the anniversary of the 1979 hostage crisis that has for decades shaped relations between Washington and Tehran. The hostage crisis began in November 1979 following the Islamic revolution led by Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini which ousted the Western-backed Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. Students loyal to Khomeini stormed the embassy building and held 52 staff hostage for 444 days while demanding that Washington hand over Iran’s recently toppled shah, who was being treated in the United States for cancer. Washington officially broke off relations with Tehran in 1980, midway through the crisis, and they have been frozen ever since. “Death to Israel, Death to America!” chanted crowds of Iranians outside the building, which is currently a museum known as the “Den of Spies”, and covered with striking anti-American murals. Others burnt the Israeli and US flags. Iranians have he

Lahore will close primary schools for a week over record pollution , government authorities said on Sunday, to avoid exposing millions of children to smog several times above levels deemed dangerous. For days, Lahore’s 14 million people has been enveloped by smog, a mix of fog and pollutants caused by low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from seasonal agricultural burning, and winter cooling. The air quality index, which measures a range of pollutants, exceeded 1,000 on Saturday — well above the level of 300 considered “dangerous” — according to data from IQAir. The Punjab government also recorded peaks of over 1,000 on Sunday, which it considered “unprecedented”. “Weather forecast for the next six days shows that wind patterns will remain the same. Therefore we are closing all government and private primary schools in Lahore for a week,” Jahangir Anwar, a senior environmental protection official in Lahore told AFP . “All the classes” for children up to the age of 10, public, private

PTI founding chairman Imran Khan’s lawyer Intezar Hussain Panjutha — who had been missing from October 8 — was recovered by the Punjab police last night, it emerged in the early hours of Sunday. The party labelled the development as scripted and demanded that a first information report (FIR) be filed against the Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan, who claimed in the high court that Panjutha would be produced in court within 24 hours, suggesting he was aware of his whereabouts. The PTI leader was recovered by police in Attock as his kidnappers were allegedly transporting him. Police later shifted him to the hospital. Video of him sitting in a car while being tied up was widely shared on social media by PTI, showing the lawyer visibly shaken. Here’s how the lawyers, politicians and journalists reacted to the recovery of the PTI founder’s lawyer: ‘Abduct, torture, leave by roadside — no question asked’ PTI Chairman Gohar Khan — while reacting to the recovery — questi

Kamala Harris targets the Rust Belt while Donald Trump heads to the biggest US swing states on Sunday in a frantic last push, less than 48 hours before Election Day in the historically close campaign . Seventy-five million people have cast early ballots ahead of Tuesday’s climax and the race is down to the wire — with more states functionally tied in polls at this point than in any comparable election. As of Saturday evening, neither candidate had a margin greater than three points in any of the seven battleground states set to determine the presidency, according to the polling averages maintained by RealClearPolitics. Harris — desperate to shore up the Great Lakes states seen as essential to any Democratic ticket — was to spend the day in Michigan, beginning in Detroit before a stop in Pontiac and an evening rally at Michigan State University. Trump’s Sunday timetable centers on Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia, the three biggest prizes in the “Electoral College” system t

Air pollution in Lahore soared on Saturday more than 80 times over the level deemed acceptable by the World Health Organisation (WHO), with an official calling it a record high. For days, Lahore has been enveloped by smog, a mix of fog and pollutants caused by low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from seasonal agricultural burning and winter cooling. The level of deadly PM2.5 pollutants — fine particulate matter in the air that causes the most damage to health — peaked at 1,067, before dropping to around 300 in the morning, with anything above 10 considered unhealthy by the WHO. “We have never reached a level of 1,000,” Jahangir Anwar, a senior environmental protection official in Lahore told AFP . “The air quality index will remain high for the next three to four days,” Anwar said. Commuters make their way amid smog in Lahore on November 2. — AFP On Wednesday, the Punjab Environmental Protection Agency announced new restrictions in four “hot spots” in the city. The next day, it al

After thousands of revellers gathered for the costume party, they soon realised the event did not actually exist. from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/EeXU1mp

Sajal Aly and Hamza Sohail deliver the love story you didn't ask for but definitely need to watch. from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/wdqrjRm

Pakistan’s annual consumer price index inflation rate was 7.2 per cent in October, data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Friday, up from 6.9pc in September month. The reading reinforced months of easing inflation — which hit a historic high of 38pc last year and was at 26.8pc October 2023 — ahead of a meeting of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting next week to review the policy rate, which stands at 17.5pc. The SBP had held off on aggressive monetary easing to achieve the goal of bringing inflation down to the medium-term target of 5 to 7pc in September 2025 and ensuring macroeconomic stability. A Reuters poll showed the central bank is expected to cut its key interest rate further at the meeting on Monday, with policymakers continuing their efforts to revive a fragile economy as inflation eases. The October reading was up 1.2pc month-on-month (MoM), PBS said, adding that the fiscal year’s average inflation, from July to Octo

The lowest price offered in the international tender from Indonesian state purchasing agency Bulog to buy about 500,000 metric tonnes of rice was estimated at $479 a tonne cost and freight (c&f) for rice expected to be sourced from Pakistan, European traders said on Friday. The lowest offer was said to have been made for 26,000 tonnes. No purchase has yet been reported and price negotiations are expected to continue in coming days, traders said. A decision is expected next week. Reports reflect assessments from traders and further estimates of prices and volumes are still possible later. Rice arrival in Indonesia is sought in November to December and the rice can be sourced from Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Pakistan or India. Price offers were submitted on Friday. Two other offers of rice from Pakistan were the next lowest at $484 and $485 a tonne c&f, traders said. The lowest reported offer for rice from Vietnam was $515, from Thailand/Cambodia $511, from In

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday highlighted Pakistan as an attractive investment destination in a meeting with the delegation of Qatar Businessmen Association (QBA) during his official visit. After securing investment pledges worth $600 million during his Saudi Arabia trip, the prime minister made a two-day official visit to Doha at the invitation of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Qatari emir. On Thursday, PM Shehbaz held a “very extensive and productive” meeting with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul­rahman Al Thani, and invited investors there to explore Pakistan’s diverse economic sectors. He also met the Qatari emir and visited the ‘Manzar’ art gallery showcasing Pakistani artists’ works. According to a Press Information Department (PID) press release issued today, PM Shehbaz met the QBA delegation “to discuss deepening economic ties and exploring new avenues for collaboration”. The delegation, led by QBA Chairman Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim A