Infinity Social Updates

Anyone in need of a good cleansing cry in the last week has only had to peek at TikTok, Reddit or X. Punch the Japanese macaque’s virality has turned the internet into one big grief support group. Abandoned by his mother at birth and hand-raised by keepers, the young primate is one of about 60 at Ichikawa City Zoo’s Monkey Mountain exhibit. The humans gave Punch an Ikea orangutan stuffed toy because it provided the comfort and security missing from his life. The photos and videos of Punch clinging to his toy after other monkeys slapped him away broke the Internet’s collective heart. Like millions of others, I consumed this sadness porn like it was candy. The sight of this human-looking primate seeking solace did not just evoke pity; people were willing to go to battle for Punch. A baby Japanese macaque named Punch drags a stuffed orangutan at Ichikawa City Zoo, in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, February 19, 2026. — Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon Some felt that keepers should inter...

As the Climate Week Karachi 2026 came to a close on February 4, the urgency for climate action was palpable across panels and community dialogues, with one message reiterated loud and clear by experts and policymakers: Pakistan can no longer afford business as usual on climate change. Adaptation and resilience must move from paper to action . Climate change is no longer a future threat, but a lived reality in Pakistan today, manifesting regularly in the form of melting glaciers and heat waves, erratic rainfall, and flooding. According to the United Nations Development Programme, rising global temperatures are accelerating glacier retreat in Pakistan, with almost 10,000 glaciers having receded in recent years, leading to floods and future water scarcity. Meanwhile, erratic rainfall patterns have made the country vulnerable to floods and droughts. The 2025 monsoon season displaced about 3.5 million people in Pakistan and left 1.6m in Sindh at the risk of flooding, per data compiled ...

ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s remarks about a plan to ally with India and other countries to counter Muslim nations. The resolution moved in the House by PPP’s Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan deplored the continued provocative steps and statements by the Israeli leadership that threatened the regional and international peace and stability, including the latest statement about forming “alliances” against Muslim nations. Addressing a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country “will create an entire system — essentially a kind of hexagon of alliances — around or within the Middle East”, Times of Israel reported . Netanyahu listed India, Greece, Cyprus, and “unnamed Arab, African and Asian countries”, the report added. “The intention here is to create an axis of countries that see reality, the challenges, and the goals in the same way, in contrast to the radical axes...

The glow of his phone screen often marks the end of Mohammad Daniyal Shahid’s day. A final-year MBBS student, buried in exam preparation, says his nights are the only moments that feel truly his. “The whole day is scheduled, lectures, wards, studying,” he says. “Night is the only time that feels like my own.” Between lectures, clinical rotations and the relentless pressure of becoming a doctor, Daniyal squeezes his passions, travel, fitness and photography, into whatever hours he can reclaim. A young woman looking at her phone while in bed at night. — Canva AI But when he checks his screen-time report, often stretching beyond four or five hours, the realisation hits. “I think I’ll scroll for a few minutes, and suddenly it’s 2am,” he says. “That’s when I realise I’ve delayed sleep again.” Those late-night hours are both comforting and costly. For Daniyal, they are a way of taking control, a quiet rebellion against packed schedules and constant responsibilities. “It feels like I’...

THE timing may be questioned, but the issue is not new. The PPP and the MQM-P are once again engaging in their old tug of war over who ‘owns’ Karachi, using bombast to stake their claims. The Sindh Assembly last Saturday passed a resolution, tabled by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, to condemn “any conspiracy aimed at the division of Sindh or the creation of a separate province comprising Karachi”. The resolution affirmed that Karachi shall “forever remain” an integral part of Sindh. The MQM leadership protested at the resolution during its passage, and convened especially to declare it an “attack on the federation”. “This [resolution] challenged Pakistan, its Constitution, its law and its state,” an MQM leader declared at the party’s press conference. It was remarkable that the leaders of the MQM’s component factions were able to come together on the matter, given the bitter infighting the party — whose years of rule in Karachi yielded little more than a few flyovers — has seen in...

PESHAWAR: Unidentified attackers blew up a school in the Birmal tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s South Waziristan in the late hours of Monday, the police said on Tuesday. According to District Police Officer (DPO) South Waziristan Lower Muhammad Tahir Shah Wazir, the explosion destroyed parts of the Government Middle School (GMS) Boys’ Sharif Khan Kot, including two classrooms, bathrooms, the main gate, and one side of the boundary wall. Initial reports confirmed no casualties were reported. The blast was so powerful that it was heard in distant areas. According to police sources, nearby houses were also affected. Solar panels, walls, and windows sustained partial damage from the blast. Following the explosion, police launched an investigation into the incident and began collecting evidence from the site. Local authorities reiterated their commitment to ensuring the safety of educational institutions and maintaining peace in the region. Meanwhile, KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi str...

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), in its February-April weather outlook for northern areas, on Monday warned of a “high probability” of glacial lake outburst flood (Glof) in Gilgit-Baltistan, owing to “sustained above normal” temperatures. Glof refers to the sudden release of water and debris from a glacial lake, leading to the loss of lives, property, and livelihoods in mountain communities. Over 7.1 million people in GB and KP are vulnerable to the phenomenon, according to the Ministry of Climate Change. The PMD, in its outlook, noted that due to reduced rain and “persistent clear-sky conditions”, temperatures across GB and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) from Feb 1 to 22 recorded an increase. “Daytime (maximum) temperatures were recorded 3–5°C above normal, while nighttime (minimum) temperatures remained 1–3.5°C above the 1981–2010 climatological average,” the PMD said, adding that the highest warming was recorded in the regions of Gilgit and Bunji. “Chilas and Bunji h...