Infinity Social Updates

Hezbollah vowed on Monday to keep fighting Israel in support of Gaza after its leader was killed in a massive wave of air strikes on Lebanon that dealt the group a seismic blow. In a televised address on Monday, the group’s deputy chief Naim Qassem said a new leader to replace Hassan Nasrallah , who enjoyed cult status among his supporters, would be selected “at the earliest opportunity”. He also said the group was ready for any Israeli ground offensive, even though Israel’s bombardment of its targets has in the past week killed a large number of its top commanders and officials. Hezbollah began low-intensity cross-border strikes on Israeli troops a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas staged its unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, triggering conflict in the Gaza Strip. Israel said earlier this month that it was shifting its focus from Gaza to securing its northern border with Lebanon, in order to allow Israelis displaced since October to return to their homes. It has al

At least three policemen were killed in separate attacks by militants and gunmen in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province, state media reported on Monday. One of Iran’s poorest regions, Sistan-Baluchistan has long been plagued by unrest involving drug-smuggling gangs, rebels from the Baloch minority, and extremists. “A border guard was killed a few hours ago in a clash with gunmen in Hirmand in Sistan-Baluchistan province,” the official IRNA news agency reported . A separate attack on law enforcement in the same region on Monday left another border guard killed and two others wounded, IRNA said. The news agency also reported that a member of the police special force was killed in the town of Khash, also in Sistan-Baluchistan. Pakistan-based militant group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice in Arabic) claimed responsibility for the last two attacks in a message on Telegram. The group has claimed responsibility for several attacks in recent months, including a Sunday raid t

Japan’s incoming prime minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Monday he aimed to call snap elections for October 27, as equities plunged on a strong yen and fears that tax hikes are on the cards. Ishiba, who was set to be formally appointed as premier on Tuesday after winning the leadership of the ruling party, supports the Bank of Japan’s drive to hike interest rates and has said “there is room” to raise corporate levies. The leadership contest for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has governed almost uninterrupted for decades, went down to the wire on Friday, with right-winger Sanae Takaichi tipped to win when markets closed. With Takaichi a fan of former prime minister Shinzo Abe’s unorthodox “Abenomics” economic policies of ultra-low interest rates and tax cuts, the prospect of her winning sent stocks higher and the yen lower. Takaichi, an arch-nationalist, would also have been the first woman prime minister in a country where men still dominate politics and business. Ish

LAHORE: The Punjab government has plans to purchase 79 new luxury vehicles for provincial ministers, parliamentary secretaries as well as escorts for provincial ministers’ security and VVIP protocol duties. It will cost the government Rs612.475m. The foreign affairs ministry had requested the Punjab government to provide it with 15 VVIP vehicles, including bulletproof cars, for deployment with the 12 prime ministers coming to attend the two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) scheduled to start on Oct 15 in Islamabad. After this, the additional chief secretary (ACS) of Punjab briefed the Standing Committee of Cabinet on Finance & Development about the need for the vehicles with a plan to strengthen the Services and General Administration Department’s (S&GAD) transport pool with luxury vehicles. The senior officials in the S&GAD say that every new government, including the caretaker government, in the province had purchased luxury vehicles for provincial ministers

Residents of Nepal’s flood-hit capital returned to their mud-caked homes on Sunday to survey the wreckage of devastating floods that have killed at least 148 people across the Himalayan republic. Deadly rain-related floods and landslides are common across South Asia during the monsoon season from June to September, but experts say climate change is increasing their frequency and severity. Entire neighbourhoods in Kathmandu were inundated over the weekend with flash floods reported in rivers coursing through the capital and extensive damage to highways connecting the city with the rest of Nepal. Kumar Tamang, who lives in a slum area by a riverbank, told AFP that he and his family had to flee after midnight on Saturday as waters rushed into his shack. “This morning we returned and everything looks different,” the 40-year-old said. “We couldn’t even open the doors to our house, it was jammed with mud,” he added. “Yesterday we were afraid that the water would kill us, but today we

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Sunday said that tax filers for the current fiscal year had nearly doubled as compared to last year, stating that around 723,000 new filers have registered themselves. On September 20, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved drastic measures for tax enforcement and compliance, including a ban on all banking and financial transactions for non-filers of tax returns. “I think it is important that we, as a government, are walking the talk,” he said during a press conference held in Islamabad along with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman. “This also shows our resolve as we go forward.” The finance minister said that the FBR chairman had presented a report to the prime minister on non-filers and underfilers. On this, he stated that the estimated tax evasion of individuals who underfile amounted to Rs1.3 trillion. “I think I’ve already talked about that we have to declare war on cash in this country,” he said. “When we talk about [going] in

A SpaceX rocket lifted off with two passengers on Saturday to retrieve two American astronauts stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) for months, according to Nasa. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 1:17pm, carrying Nasa astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov to the ISS. The mission, Crew-9, features two empty seats intended to return Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stranded on the ISS for months due to issues with their Boeing-designed Starliner spacecraft. “Congrats to Nasa and SpaceX on a successful launch,” NASA chief Bill Nelson wrote on X. “We live in an exciting period of exploration and innovation in the stars.” Wilmore and Williams, originally intended for an eight-day stay, had their mission extended after propulsion problems forced Nasa to reconsider their return plans. “We know that this launch is a bit unique in moving from the plan for crew members to two,” noted Nasa Associate Admi