Tehran, Islamabad cooperation vital for regional peace: COAS Bajwa

Chief of General Staff for the Armed Forces of Iran Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri on Wednesday met with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa here at GHQ, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

According to ISPR, a wide range of issues including Afghanistan, regional security and border management particularly fencing along the Pak-Iran border were discussed during the meeting.

Both agreed on further enhancing defence cooperation, working together for regional peace and unified response to terrorism which is a common enemy, the ISPR said.

Pakistan and Iran are two brotherly countries and our close cooperation is vital for regional peace and stability, COAS remarked while speaking to the Iranian armed forces delegation.

During the delegation-level meeting, the Iranian delegation was given a comprehensive regional security appraisal and operational update besides briefing on training regime of the Pakistan Army including collaboration with friendly countries and conduct of various joint military exercises.

CGS Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri expressed his desire for further strengthening military to military ties particularly in counter-terrorism and training.

Later, on arrival, Chief of General Staff for the Armed Forces of Iran Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri was presented Guard of Honour by a smartly turned out contingent of the Pakistan Army.

The visiting dignitary laid a floral wreath at Yadgar-e-Shuhada and prayed for the martyrs of Pakistan.

Earlier today, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces of Islamic Republic of Iran also called on General Nadeem Raza, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee at Joint Staff Headquarters, Rawalpindi.

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3AEDO3C

Top Iranian, Pakistani Generals vow strengthening of bilateral ties

Chief of General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces and Chairman of Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee have discussed regional developments, the situation in Afghanistan, strengthening of defense relations between the two countries and border cooperation.

Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri met with General Nadeem Raza in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on Wednesday.

The meeting was also attended by high-ranking officials of Iran and Pakistan, Ambassador of Iran to Pakistan Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini, and Iran’s Defense attaché Colonel Mostafa Qanbarpour.

General Bagheri and General Nadeem Raza discussed a wide range of bilateral relations between Iran and Pakistan in the field of defense, security, military, border, regional developments, including the situation in Afghanistan.

The two sides stressed the serious desire and determination to strengthen these relations and expand bilateral cooperation between the armed forces of Iran and Pakistan.

Earlier members of the high-ranking Iranian military delegation headed by Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri met with Pakistan Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa at Army Headquarters.

The Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces and Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee also noted the two countries' common views on regional issues, the fight against terrorism and regional peace and stability.

General Bagheri will also meet with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan later this evening.

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3AHsS5o

Painless’ needle-free injections developed

Researchers in the Netherlands are developing laser technology to enable “virtually painless” injections without needles in what they call a breakthrough that will ease fear and lower the threshold for vaccinations.

The “Bubble Gun” uses a laser to push tiny droplets through the outer layer of the skin, said David Fernandez Rivas, a professor at Twente University and research affiliate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who founded the idea.

The process is quicker than a mosquito bite and “should not cause pain” because nerve endings in the skin are not touched, he said, adding this would be studied further.

“That allows us to penetrate the skin without damage. We don’t see any wound or entry point.”

Rivas expects the invention will not only help more people get vaccinated, but will also prevent the risk of contamination by dirty needles and reduce medical waste.

Testing on tissue samples has successfully been carried out with a 1.5-million-euro ($1.73 million) European Union grant. An application for funding to begin human testing with volunteers is expected to be submitted this month, Rivas said.

A new start-up company will collaborate with the pharmaceutical industry to test and market the “Bubble Gun” technology, he said.

It could however take 1-3 years for the method to be available to the general public, depending on the progress of research and regulatory issues.

Roughly one in five Dutch people are afraid of needles, said Henk Schenk, who offers therapy to help those suffering acutely.

“Phobia of needles is more common than you might think. People are ashamed to admit it.”

Some people trace their fears back to a traumatic childhood hospital admission, or are afraid of surrendering control. A small number of roughly 1 out of 1,000 have a deep phobia that requires repeated sessions to prepare them for a jab.

“During the (coronavirus) pandemic…, you see that a lot of people who had been able to avoid it are now up against the wall. People who need to get the COVID-19 vaccine are an important group for me this year.”

Patient Astrid Nijsen, a 31-year-old musical actress who has had 10 sessions with Schenk, says she’d still feel anxious about being vaccinated, even without a needle.

“It started during puberty. When I see a needle, or have to get a shot, I just want to leave. I’ll tear the place down just to avoid getting a shot,” she said

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3ADBIRG

Facebook to change rules on attacking public figures on its platforms

Facebook will now count activists and journalists as “involuntary” public figures and so increase protections against harassment and bullying targeted at these groups, its global safety chief said in an interview this week.

The social media company, which allows more critical commentary of public figures than of private individuals, says it is changing its approach on the harassment of journalists and “human rights defenders”, who it says are in the public eye due to their work rather than their public personas.

Facebook is under wide-ranging scrutiny from global lawmakers and regulators over its content moderation practices and harms linked to its platforms, with internal documents leaked by a forming the basis for a U.S. Senate hearing last week.

How Facebook, which has about 2.8 billion monthly active users, treats public figures and content posted by or about those figures has been an area of intense debate. In recent weeks, the company’s “cross check” system, which the Wall Street Journal reported has the effect of exempting some high-profile users from usual Facebook rules, has been in the spotlight.

Facebook also differentiates between public figures and private individuals in the protections it affords around online discussion: for instance, users are generally allowed to call for the death of a celebrity in discussions on the platform.

The company declined to share a list of other involuntary public figures but said they are assessed on a case-by-case basis. Earlier this year, Facebook said it would remove content celebrating, praising or mocking George Floyd’s death, because he was deemed an involuntary public figure.

Facebook’s Global Head of Safety Antigone Davis said the company was also expanding the types of attacks that it would not allow on public figures on its sites, as part of an effort to reduce attacks disproportionately faced by women, people of color and the LGBTQ community.

Facebook will no longer allow severe and unwanted sexualizing content, derogatory sexualized photoshopped images or drawings or direct negative attacks on a person’s appearance, for example, in comments on a public figure’s profile.

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3lD23LF

Kuwait allows women to serve military in combat roles

Kuwaiti army Tuesday said that women will be allowed to join the military in combat roles for the first time after years of having been restricted only to civilian roles in the army.

Defence Minister Hamad Jaber al-Ali al-Sabah said the door had been opened for women to join various combat ranks, including as officers, the Kuwait Armed Forces tweeted.

"The time has come for Kuwaiti women to be given the opportunity to enter the Kuwaiti military side by side with their brothers," the minister said in remarks carried by state news agency KUNA.

He expressed confidence in women's "capabilities... and their ability to endure hardship".

Kuwaiti women earned the right to vote in 2005 and have been active both in cabinet and parliament — though they did not gain any seats in the current parliament.

Unlike other Gulf countries, Kuwait's parliament enjoys legislative power and lawmakers have been known to challenge the government and royals.

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3pe4arx

Amazon, Google workers call for pulling out contract with Israeli govt

A coalition of workers at Google and Amazon has asked their employers to terminate a contract with the Israeli government, US-based publication The Hill reported Tuesday.

Per the publication, more than 300 employees from Amazon and 100 from Google wrote an open letter to their respective companies to present their demands regarding the termination of Project Nimbus. The letter was anonymously signed by the employees and was published in The Guardian.

Under the project, both Google and Amazon provide cloud services to the Israeli military and government. The contract signed by the companies earlier this year is worth $1.2 billion. The cloud services, according to the publication, allows the Israeli military to collect data on Palestinians.

The workers maintained that the data will be used to "further policies that Human Rights Watch says constitute crimes of apartheid."

“This contract was signed the same week that the Israeli military attacked Palestinians in the Gaza Strip – killing nearly 250 people, including more than 60 children,” the workers wrote, per The Hill.

“The technology our companies have contracted to build will make the systematic discrimination and displacement carried out by the Israeli military and government even crueler and deadlier for Palestinians,” they added.

 

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/2YLvF0K

PM Imran Khan orders accelerating Gilgit-Baltistan integrated development plan

Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday directed the authorities concerned to remove all the legal and procedural obstacles in the way of Gilgit-Baltistan's development projects.

A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said that the premier chaired a meeting to review the progress of the integrated development plan for G-B.

The meeting was attended by federal ministers Muhammad Hammad Azhar, Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, Syed Amin-ul-Haque, Dr Muhammad Farogh Naseem, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill, and GB Chief Minister Khalid Khursheed, along with relevant senior officials.

Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI chaired a meeting to review progress of integrated development plan for Gilgit Baltistan. pic.twitter.com/hlmSDS67Po

— Prime Minister's Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO) October 13, 2021

“We are focused on accelerating the pace of work on various development projects in Gilgit-Baltistan by taking effective measures to ensure delegation of administrative and financial powers,” said PM Imran Khan during his address to the meeting.

The statement said that the authorities were directed to “clear all legal and procedural hiccups in this regard to facilitate the people of Gilgit-Baltistan who have to travel long distances to reach Islamabad for getting their issues resolved”.

PM Imran Khan also ordered the provision of internet connectivity to the area at the earliest to cater better communication facilities to the local population.

Earlier, the prime minister was briefed about the progress of the implementation of the historic five-year development package for G-B, announced by his government early this year.

Per the statement, Rs370 billion would be released to G-B for various development projects till the fiscal year 2025-26 under the package.

from Latest Pakistan News - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3azJYaS