Infinity Social Updates

US tech giant OpenAI on Monday unveiled a ChatGPT tool called “deep research” that can produce detailed reports, as China’s DeepSeek chatbot heats up competition in the artificial intelligence (AI) field. The company made the announcement in Tokyo, where OpenAI chief Sam Altman also trumpeted a new joint venture with tech investor SoftBank Group to offer advanced artificial intelligence services to businesses. Altman and SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son will meet the Japanese prime minister later on Monday and will reportedly announce plans to boost Japan’s AI infrastructure. It comes as AI newcomer DeepSeek has sent Silicon Valley into a frenzy , with some calling its high performance and supposed low cost a wake-up call for US developers. OpenAI, whose ChatGPT led generative AI’s emergence into public consciousness in 2022, said its new tool “accomplishes in tens of minutes what would take a human many hours”. “You give it a prompt, and ChatGPT will find, analyse, and synthesi...

The Islamabad Bar Council, Islamabad High Court Bar Association, and Islamabad District Bar Association, in a joint meeting on Sunday, announced a strike in the district courts and the Islamabad High Court tomorrow to protest what they call “unconstitutional measures” undermining the judiciary and legal profession. The move comes a day after President Asif Ali Zardari approved the transfer of a Lahore High Court (LHC) judge, Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, along with two others, to the IHC despite opposition from five IHC judges. They warned in a letter to top judges that his elevation as IHC chief justice would “violate constitutional procedures and judicial norms”. According to a resolution passed in a joint session of the capital’s legal fraternity today, a strike will be observed tomorrow to protest the “unconstitutional measure affecting the judiciary and the legal profession”. “The legal fraternity of Islamabad ensures its commitment to resist the unjustified transfers...

WITH the start of UN World Interfaith Harmony Week , Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s call for dialogue , understanding, mutual respect and cooperation among religious communities is a timely reminder of how much remains to be done to promote communal tolerance in the country. “The groundbreaking Interfaith Harmony Policy and Strategy of Religious Tolerance are now in motion, targeting hate speech at its core, safeguarding every temple, church, and shrine,” he said, while admitting that challenges remained. And these challenges are considerable. It is no secret that constitutional assurances of freedom for religious groups to practise their faith and of protection for the life and liberty of all citizens ring hollow for many of Pakistan’s religious minorities, who include Hindus , Christians , Sikhs , and Ahmadis among others, forming only 4pc of the population. They exist on the peripheries of society, with many at risk of being targeted by divisive zealots with disruptive agend...

THATTA: In a landmark verdict, Thatta sessions court on Saturday sentenced two accused to death after finding them guilty of abducting, sexually assaulting and murdering a seven-year-old girl in Gharo in December 2019. The incident had sent shockwaves through the area’s residents as one of the convicts was the victim’s close relative. The accused Irshad Mallah, the victim’s own uncle, and Sikandar Shah kidnapped Dua Wasayo Mallah, took her to a jungle where they subjected her to sexual assault and then murdered her in the jurisdiction of Gharo police station. The victim’s body was later found in a banana field, stripped of clothes. The victim’s father, Altaf Wasayo, registered the case and its investigation was led by former Thatta SSP Shabbir Ahmed Sethar. The accused were eventually arrested and remained in custody at Badin jail throughout the trial period. Judge Mushtari Khanam delivered verdict on the case on Saturday after a prolonged legal battle. In addition to the death pen...

RAHIM YAR KHAN: Deputy Commissioner (DC) Khurram Parvez has ordered an inquiry into the actions of Sadiqabad Municipal Committee (MC) employees after a viral video surfaced on social media. The video showed four MC employees, under the supervision of Sadiqabad Assistant Commissioner (AC) Raashid Iqbal Maywati, puncturing the tyres of cars, rickshaws and motorcycles on various roads in Sadiqabad. In the video, the AC can be seen leaving his official vehicle and instructing the MC employees to puncture the tyres of cars, despite the drivers being present in the vehicles, parked along or on the roads. Following his orders, the employees used bodkins to puncture all the tyres of some cars. Later, the AC directed the employees to puncture the tyres of motorcycles parked outside a commercial centre, as well as a rickshaw and a loader. DC orders probe The public criticised the district administration, questioning which law permitted an AC to damage vehicles under the guise of an anti-e...

Two devastating wildfires in Los Angeles were declared fully contained by firefighters on Friday after burning for more than three weeks, killing about 30 people and displacing thousands more. The Palisades and Eaton fires in Southern California’s Los Angeles County were the most destructive in the history of the second-largest US city, burning more than 150 square kilometres and over 10,000 homes, causing damage estimated to cost hundreds of billions of dollars. Cal Fire, the state’s firefighting agency, updated the figures on its website on Friday to show 100 per cent containment of both fires, meaning their perimeters were completely under control. Evacuation orders were lifted earlier, with the fires not posing a serious threat for days. Both blazes started on January 7 and their exact cause remains under investigation. But human-driven climate change set the stage for the infernos by reducing rainfall, parching vegetation, and extending the dangerous overlap between flamma...

DESPITE the immense pressures they routinely face, Pakistani journalists have always cherished and jealously safeguarded their freedoms. There is hope that, despite everything, the fight has not yet left the community. On Friday, they rallied for the observance of a ‘Black Day’ against recent amendments to the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act, which were bulldozed by the ruling coalition through parliament and signed into law by the president earlier this week. There are now harsher penalties in effect for anything deemed ‘fake news’ by the authorities, expanded state oversight of digital platforms, and preparations for new regulatory bodies to monitor and clamp down on social media. Decrying the Peca amendments as a ‘black’ law, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, which organised the protest, had called out ruling parties for advocating for freedom of expression when in the opposition and betraying them once in power. Condemning the amended Act for enabling detentions and penal...

Afghanistan’s Taliban government took over management of Kabul’s famed Serena hotel on Saturday, a hotel statement said, a luxury property targeted by Taliban attacks during their insurgency. The Kabul Serena Hotel was run for nearly 20 years by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development in the Afghan capital and was popular with business travellers and foreign guests. “Kabul Serena Hotel shall be closing its operations effective February 1, 2025,” a statement from Serena on Friday night said. Hotel operations are now handled by the Hotel State Owned Corporation (HSOC), the statement added. “Since opening in 2005, Kabul Serena Hotel has been an integral part of Kabul’s social fabric, an iconic presence in the city, and a symbol of our unwavering commitment to the people of Afghanistan,” the statement said. Taliban government spokesmen did not immediately respond to requests for comment and AFP journalists were not allowed onto the property on Saturday morning. On Saturday, the h...