Infinity Social Updates

Four men were publicly executed in Afghanistan on Friday, the Supreme Court of Afghanistan said, the highest number of executions to be carried out in one day since the Taliban’s return to power . The executions at sports stadiums in three separate provinces brought to 10 the number of men publicly put to death since 2021, according to an AFP tally. Public executions were common during the Taliban’s first rule from 1996 to 2001, with most carried out publicly in sports stadiums. Two men were shot around six or seven times by a male relative of the victims in front of spectators in Qala-i-Naw, the centre of Badghis province, witnesses told an AFP journalist in the city. “They were made to sit and turn their backs to us. Relatives from the victims’ families stood behind and shot them with a gun,” Mohammad Iqbal Rahimyar, a 48-year-old spectator, told AFP. The men had been “sentenced to retaliatory punishment” for shooting other men, after their cases were “examined very precisely ...

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has decided not to retaliate against the United States’ announcement of reciprocal tariffs , choosing instead to engage in constructive and forward-looking discussions to tackle emerging challenges. This decision follows a special Asean economic ministers meeting with Timor-Leste and the Asean secretary general on Thursday in Kuala Lumpur. The meeting acknowledged the warning from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) director-general regarding the significant risks posed by trade tensions between the US and China, which could potentially reduce global real GDP by nearly 7 per cent in the long term. “In reaffirming Asean’s commitment to open and inclusive economic cooperation, the ministers underscored the region’s support for a predictable, transparent, non-discriminatory, free, fair, inclusive, sustainable, and rules-based multilateral trading system, with the WTO at its core,” a statement issued by the Malaysian Investment...

Security forces killed two terrorists, including a “high-value target”, during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in the Timergara area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lower Dir, the military’s media wing said on Friday. Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities over the past year, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), security personnel carried out the IBO on the night of April 10-11 on the reported presence of khawarij . Fitna Al Khawarij is a term the state uses to refer to the banned TTP. The statement said: “During the conduct of operation, [our] own troops surrounded and effectively engaged the khawarij location, and after intense fire exchange, two khawarij including a high value target Kharji Hafeezullah [alias] Kochwan were sent to hell.” It added that Kharji Hafeezullah was “involved in numerous ...

KARACHI: As the city’s weather gets intense, hopes for zoo bear Rano’s relocation to a species-appropriate sanctuary in cold season have faded as the lonely animal continues to languish in a barren cage. Sources say that the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) hasn’t yet implemented the recommendation of its own committee that had suggested the bear’s relocation to a sanctuary in Punjab over two months back. The committee couldn’t hold any follow-up meeting either. “We were expecting that the bear would be shifted to the sanctuary within a month or so. Unfortunately, this couldn’t be materialised as there is no headway in her case,” a KMC official regretted, adding that an attempt for her DNA testing failed because the team couldn’t collect proper samples. The zoo director was not available for comments. No action yet on experts’ advice to relocate Himalayan brown bear to Balkasar sanctuary It might be recalled that the KMC on mayor’s directives had notified a committee on J...

ISLAMABAD: Health Minister Mustafa Kamal on Wednesday said every year 10,000 women in Pakistan lose their lives due to complications during pregnancy. He revealed these figures while speaking at an event held in connection with World Health Day in the office of World Health Organisation (WHO). “These are silent tragedies happening across the country, with little to no public outcry,” the minister said, adding that “if such a high number of deaths occurred due to any other cause, our national response would be very different. We cannot afford to lose even a single life due to maternal causes.” He stressed the urgent need for both individual and collective efforts to prevent these avoidable deaths, saying, “every life is precious and must be protected. These women can be saved.” Highlighting the weaknesses of the healthcare system, Mustafa Kamal said: “Pakistan’s health system is not in a healthy state. But we are hopeful with systemic reforms, we can save lives. I do not consider t...

Iran may suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog if external threats continue, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader said on Thursday, after US President Donald Trump again warned of military force if Tehran does not agree to a nuclear deal. Iranian and American diplomats will visit Oman on Saturday to start dialogue on Tehran’s nuclear programme, with Trump saying he would have the final word on whether talks are reaching a breakdown, which would put Iran in “great danger”. “Continued external threats and putting Iran under the conditions of a military attack could lead to deterrent measures like the expulsion of IAEA inspectors and ceasing cooperation with it,” Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, published on X, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency. “Transferring enriched material to safe and undisclosed locations in Iran could also be on the agenda,” he wrote. While the US insists that the talks with Tehran will be direct , Iran has stres...

Tech giant Apple chartered cargo flights to ferry 600 tons of iPhones, or as many as 1.5 million, to the United States from India, after it stepped up production there in an effort to beat President Donald Trump’s tariffs , sources told Reuters . The details of the push provide an insight into the US smartphone company’s private strategy to navigate around the Trump tariffs and build up inventory of its popular iPhones in the US, one of its biggest markets. Analysts have warned that US prices of iPhones could surge given Apple’s high reliance on imports from China, the main manufacturing hub of the devices, which is subject to Trump’s highest tariff rate of 125pc. That figure is far in excess of the tariff of 26pc on imports from India, but which is now on hold after Trump called a 90-day pause this week that excludes China. Apple “wanted to beat the tariff,” said one of the sources familiar with the planning. The company lobbied Indian airport authorities to cut to six hours the ...

Weary from long years of biting sanctions and worried about US threats of military action, Iranians have responded to the prospect of talks this weekend with expressions of hope that have boosted their stock market and depressed currency. The talks in Oman are to address the long dispute between Iran and the West over its nuclear programme, though Iranian officials are sceptical of progress and US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to bomb if no deal is reached. Many people in Iran to whom Reuters spoke by phone remained pessimistic about the future. But even the slim chance of a deal with an unpredictable US president who has often boasted of his negotiating skills has given some people a little optimism. Trump announced the talks on Monday. By Wednesday, Iran’s rial currency, which had sunk to a record low of 1,050,000 to the dollar and whose value often tracks Iran’s geopolitical shifts, had strengthened slightly to 999,000 to the dollar. Tehran’s stock exchange...

As calls for Lebanon’s Hezbollah to disarm gain momentum, a senior Hezbollah official said the group is ready to hold talks with the Lebanese president about its weapons if Israel withdraws from south Lebanon and stops its strikes, Reuters reports. The prospect of talks aimed at securing Hezbollah’s disarmament —unimaginable when it was at the zenith of its power just two years ago — underlines dramatic shifts in the Middle East power balance since Israel pummelled the Iran-backed group in a devastating conflict triggered by the Gaza war. US backed President Joseph Aoun, who vowed when he took office in January to establish a state monopoly on the control of arms, intends to open talks with Hezbollah over its arsenal soon, three Lebanese political sources said. Hezbollah emerged severely weakened from the 2024 conflict with Israel when its top leaders and thousands of its fighters were killed and much of its rocket arsenal destroyed. The blow was compounded when its ally Basha...

SOMETHING is stirring within the PTI. Some of its older hands are back in the limelight, ostensibly to make another attempt at securing a rapprochement with the establishment. Imran Khan is prepared to come to the negotiating table if the establishment is prepared to talk, PTI veteran Azam Khan Swati recently communicated through the media. It is unclear what has changed. Why now, and what different result is being expected? After all, ever since his ouster, Mr Khan has been quite open about his desire to negotiate only with the security establishment. However, though he has been quite clear that he will talk to the generals and no one else, the same sentiment doesn’t seem to have been reciprocated by the other side. Several attempts have been made to secure some kind of agreement between the two, but talks have ultimately broken down due to the rigid positions taken by them. What makes the present situation more interesting is how it has triggered unease both within and without ...

In a decisive move to address the alarming increase in traffic accidents across Karachi, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah presided over a high-level meeting and directed the police and transport authorities to implement “strict measures” aimed at improving road safety and saving lives. The move comes amid an alarming increase in road accidents across the metropolis, especially involving dumpers and water tankers, which killed nearly 500 people and injured 4,879 were in 2024, according to hospital data. The incidents promoted protests over citizens’ deaths, following which the provincial government banned the movement of heavy vehicles during the daytime in Karachi while also mandating them to obtain a vehicle fitness certificate. During today’s meeting, CM Shah made it compulsory for all heavy transport vehicles (HTVs), light transport vehicles (LTVs), and public service vehicles (PSVs) to be equipped with trackers, dashcams, and underrun protection devices on the front, s...

No loss of life was reported on Tuesday after an explosion occurred on a road near a Levies checkpoint in the Batkhela city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Malakand division, officials said. Malakand Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Muhibullah said an explosion occurred but confirmed there was “no loss of life”. A wall is charred after an explosion of unknown nature occurred on a road in Batkhela in KP’s Malakand district on April 8, 2025. — Photo via Umar Bacha “According to the preliminary investigation, no explosives of any kind were used in the explosion,” he clarified. ADC Muhibullah added, “The explosion was not dangerous and there was no fear or threat in the area.” According to officials, a probe is underway to determine if the explosion occurred because of an improvised explosive device (IED), due to gas leakage or some other reason. The explosion comes amid a deteriorating security situation in the province, with security officials often being targeted. Attacks particula...

Pakistan is ranked among four countries — together with Nigeria, India and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) — that accounted for nearly half of the estimated 260,000 maternal deaths worldwide in 2023, according to UN data released Monday that has prompted stark warnings about the impact of cuts to aid funding by the US and the UK. Maternal deaths include those related to complications during childbirth or pregnancy, three UN agencies said in a joint report. The trends in maternal mortality report was published by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN sexual and reproductive health agency UNFPA, in observance of World Health Day on 7 April. The report showed that Nigeria had the highest number of maternal deaths and accounted for more than a quarter (28.7 per cent) of all estimated global maternal deaths in 2023, with approximately 75,000 deaths. Only three other countries had more than 10,000 maternal deaths in 2023. India and DRC ti...

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday again summoned Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan on April 14 for assistance in a case pertaining to the implementation of the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act 2021. The Anti-Rape Act 2021 seeked to establish special courts and use of modern devices during the investigation and trial of rape cases. A special committee had been formed that year to oversee the implementation of the Act and reach out to any federal or provincial ministry, division office, agency or authority for effectual compliance. Today’s proceedings were heard by a three-member bench headed by LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum. Justice Farooq Haider and Justice Ali Zia Bajwa were the other members of the bench. Additional Attorney General (AAG) Mirza Nasr Ahmed, Punjab Prosecutor General Syed Farhad Ali Shah and Advocate General of Punjab Amjad Parvez appeared before the bench. In the previous hearing of the case, Justice Neelum deplored that no ef...

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Monday approved the formation of an intelligence coordination and threat assessment centre under the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta). Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities over the past year, especially in Khyber Pakthunkhwa and Balochistan, after the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022. Naqvi presided over the fifth meeting of the Board of Governors of Nacta in Islamabad. The session was focused on critical decisions aimed at strengthening Pakistan’s counter-terrorism framework. Nacta’s National Coordinator Khalid Chauhan gave a detailed briefing on the authority’s performance and plans. One of the most significant outcomes of the meeting was the approval for the establishment of the National Intelligence Fusion and Threat Assessment Centre (NIFTAC). The new centre, which was developed after thorough consultations with security stakeholders, will serve...

THE state’s efforts to stifle political activity in Balochistan are unlikely to improve the situation, and instead may further enflame matters. After the authorities placed obstacles in the way of the BNP-M’s ‘ long march ’, Akhtar Mengal’s party has warned that it will march on Quetta today. The Baloch leader had originally launched a long march from Wadh to the provincial capital on March 28, calling for the release of Mahrang Baloch and other detained women activists. However, unable to reach Quetta due to obstructions placed by the state, the party transformed the procession into a protest sit-in. Negotiations with the state have failed to end the impasse, though the provincial government’s spokesperson said on Saturday the BNP-M may be allowed to march to Quetta, but not to the red zone. In a related move, the provincial head of the JWP has also been detained . Meanwhile, political parties in Balochistan have called on the state to lift restrictions on political activ...

Four people were killed and five others were injured on Saturday morning in a clash between two parties over a land dispute in the Cham Saidan area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Battagram district, police said. The deceased included three members of a family — Shahzada, his son Ziaullah Shah and brother Muzzarib Shah — according to Abdul Nabi, public relations officer (PRO) for Battagram District Police Officer (DPO) Ayaz Khan. The fourth person killed, Anwar Ali Shah, was from the rival group, PRO Nabi added. Nabi added that the injured people were taken to the Battagram District Headquarters Hospital, from where those in a serious condition were shifted to Abbotabad’s Ayub Teaching Hospital Complex. The official further said that a heavy police deployment had been arranged in the area following the incident. An elderly man receives medical treatment at a hospital after a firing incident over a land dispute in KP’s Battagram district, on April 5, 2025. — Battagram police Subsequent...

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ruled that a beneficiary of an oral gift/transfer of immovable property(s) bears heavy onus to prove the transaction. Justice Khalid Ishaq issued the ruling allowing a civil suit of a widow who was denied her share in the inherited property by her brother on the pretext that their deceased father had orally gifted him the property during his life. Sadiqan Begum, a resident of district Toba Tek Singh, challenged the gift mutation before a local civil court but her suit was dismissed. Her subsequent appeal was also rejected by an appellate court. After going through facts of the case, Justice Ishaq declared it a simple but similar to usual cases where a helpless female strives for her right of inheritance, having challenged the transaction of transfer of immovable property in favour of her male sibling. Rejects man’s claim that father had orally gifted him property months before death The judge regretted the ongoing trend of unfair schemes t...

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Friday reaffirmed his commitment to safeguarding Sindh’s interests, particularly with regards to the proposed construction of six canals on the Indus River, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and Chief of the Army Staff Gen Asim Munir inaugurated the ambitious Cholistan project to irrigate south Punjab lands on February 15 amid a public uproar in Sindh and strong reservations expressed by stakeholders of the smaller province. The $3.3 billion Green Pakistan Initiative launched by the federal government aims to develop six canals to irrigate 1.2 million acres of “barren land” in south Punjab, but has encountered strong opposition in Sindh — initially from Sindhi nationalist parties, and now the PPP as well. They fear Sindh will lose its water share from the Indus River due to the construction of these canals. In March, the Sindh Assembly also passed a resolution against the initiative. Speakin...

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Friday heard the government’s petition to reduce the electricity rates for three months (April-June 2025) by Rs1.71 per unit for all consumers across the country and reserved its decision, which would be announced later. During the hearing, it surfaced that the Rs7.41 per unit cut in power rates across the country announced by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday included Rs1.71 per unit relief in petroleum levy. The other factors contributing to the rate cut is the second quarter adjustment for this fiscal year will include a reduction of Rs1.90 per unit. Besides, a cut of Rs1.36 per unit will be included in the monthly fuel price adjustment. Similarly, a reduction of over Re1 per unit is expected in the third quarter adjustment. The total relief will amount to around Rs6 per unit. After inclusion of tax, the relief will come to Rs7.41 per unit. Power Division officials said the prime minister’s decision to reduce...