Pakistan reports 382 covid19 cases in last 24 hours

Pakistan has reported two deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of confirmed positive cases has surged to 1,534,270. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 30,390 on Monday.

According to the latest figures by the National Institute of Health (NIH), at least 382 persons were tested positive for COVID-19 across the country in the past 24 hours.

Pakistan has conducted 13,412 tests in the past 24 hours out of which 382 persons were tested positive for the disease. The COVID Positivity Ratio was recorded at 2.85 percent.

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CM takes notice on incident of wall collapse in lahore

Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz has taken notice of the incident of wall collapse of a swimming pool in which three boys lost their lives in Badami Bagh area of Lahore on Sunday.

The CM sought a report from the Commissioner Lahore division and CCPO and ordered to investigate the incident.

He also directed to take indiscriminate legal action against those found guilty.

The chief minister expressed his deep sense of sorrow and grief over the death of three boys in the incident and directed the administration to provide best treatment facilities to other injured boys.

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NAP has increased terrorism in the last four years, Shehbaz Sharif

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Sunday that the role of the provinces in the National Action Plan (NAP) will be restored, saying it didn’t exist in the last four years which he said led to increase in terrorism in the country.

The prime minister referred to the rise in terrorism-related incidents during the last four years against the backdrop of 56 per cent increase in the number of terror attacks in 2021. A report of the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) had revealed that militants carried out 294 attacks, killing 388 people and wounding another 606 in 2021.

“The role of the provinces in the National Action Plan will be restored, which did not exist in the last four years,” the premier said after he chaired a meeting on law and order in Lahore, adding that ignoring provinces’ role in NAP has increased terrorism in the last four years – PTI government tenure.

After Army Public School attack on December 16, 2014, which resulted in killing of 149 people including at least 132 children, a national consensus was evolved to come down hard on the terrorists through a concerted national effort. A 20-point NAP for countering terrorism and extremism was chalked out by interior ministry in consultation with all stakeholders and approved on December 24, 2014, by the parliament.

NAP had spelled out the specifics for the counter-terrorism drive in the country involving provincial governments, which the premier noted on Sunday were allegedly ignored by the previous government.

In Sunday’s meeting, the premier was apprised of the latest law and order situation in the country. PM Shehbaz expressed concerns over the rise in street crime, saying public opinion about police and law enforcement agencies could only be changed by performance.

During the meeting, a briefing was given on the eradication of terrorism and the threats posed in this regard. Also, the measures to curb terror financing and enforcement of laws were reviewed. PM Shahbaz praised the law enforcement agencies for fulfilling the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) conditions, saying the whole nation was unanimously standing against terrorism and stands by its armed forces and law enforcement agencies.

Pakistan, which has been on FATF’s grey list for several years now, will be removed from the list if it successfully passes the onsite visit, FATF president Marcus Pleyer recently said. The purpose of the onsite visit, he said, is to verify the completion of reforms to check whether they are sustainable and irreversible.

“We will continue our struggle till the complete eradication of terrorism,” the PM said. “We will not compromise on Pakistan’s security and defence.” While directing the law enforcement agencies to ensure protection of lives and property of the people across the country, he said ensuring law and order was a key requirement for the recovery and development of Pakistan's economy.

The PICSS report had noted that the lethality of terror attacks rose by 46 per cent in 2021, with 388 total deaths of which 184 were civilians, stating the remaining 192 of those killed were security forces personnel – a 66 per cent increase in the casualties of Pakistani security forces from the year before.

It said that over 600 people were injured in the terror attacks of 2021, including 389 civilians and 217 security forces personnel. The report showed that the average number of militant attacks per month in Pakistan increased from 16 attacks per month in 2020 to 25 monthly attacks in 2021 -- the highest on record since 2017.

Balochistan was the most turbulent province in 2021 where 170 deaths were recorded in 103 militant attacks. PICSS noted that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa saw 162 attacks leaving 180 people killed. In Sindh, it said, 15 militant attacks left 23 dead while in Punjab 10 attacks left 10 people dead. Three militant attacks were reported in Islamabad, resulting in three deaths while a single attack was reported in Azad Jammu and Kashmir in 2021.

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2 soldiers martyred, 7 terrorists killed in North Waziristan

Two soldiers were martyred while seven terrorists were gunned down in a “fire exchange” that took place between security forces and the terrorists on Sunday.

According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the fire exchange took place in the general area of Ghulam Khan KaIle in North Waziristan District.

“Troops effectively engaged the terrorists and resultantly, seven of them were killed. Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorists who remained actively involved in several terrorist activities against security forces,” said the ISPR.

The military’s media wing identified the martyred troops as 44-year-old Subedar Munir Hussain, a resident of Parachinar, and 38-year-old Havildar Babu Khan, a resident of Dera Ismail Khan.

It added that an area clearance is underway to eliminate any other terrorists found in the vicinity.

 

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Iran-US nuclear talks to resume 'in the coming days', Tehran and EU say

Iran's indirect talks with the United States on reviving the 2015 nuclear pact will resume soon, the Iranian foreign minister said on Saturday amid a push by the European Union's top diplomat to break a months-long impasse in the negotiations.

"We are prepared to resume talks in the coming days. What is important for Iran is to fully receive the economic benefits of the 2015 accord," Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said, adding that he had held a "long but positive meeting" with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

The pact appeared close to being revived in March when the EU - which is coordinating negotiations - invited foreign ministers representing the accord's parties to Vienna to finalise an agreement after 11 months of indirect talks between Tehran and President Joe Biden's administration.

But the talks have since been bogged down, chiefly over Tehran's insistence that Washington remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), its elite security force, from the US Foreign Terrorist Organisation list.

"We are expected to resume talks in the coming days and break the impasse. It has been three months and we need to accelerate the work. I am very happy about the decision that has been made in Tehran and Washington," Borrell told a televised news conference in Tehran.

Two officials, one Iranian and one European, told Reuters ahead of Borrell's trip that "two issues including one on sanctions remained to be resolved", comments that Iran's Foreign Ministry has neither confirmed nor denied.

"We agreed on resumption of negotiations between Iran and US in the coming days, facilitated by my team, to solve the last outstanding issues," Borrell said.

"And the coming days mean coming days. I mean, quickly, immediately."

In 2018, then-US President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal, under which Iran agreed to curbs on its nuclear programme in return for relief from economic sanctions.

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Monkeypox is not yet a health emergency: WHO

Monkeypox is not yet a global health emergency, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has ruled , although WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was deeply concerned about the outbreak.

"I am deeply concerned about the monkeypox outbreak, this is clearly an evolving health threat that my colleagues and I in the WHO Secretariat are following extremely closely," Tedros said in a statement issued on Saturday.

WHO said in a separate statement that although there were some differing views within the committee, they ultimately agreed by consensus that at this stage the outbreak is not a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

The "global emergency" label currently only applies to the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing efforts to eradicate polio, and the UN agency has stepped back from applying it to the monkeypox outbreak after advice from a meeting of international experts.

There have been more than 3,200 confirmed cases of monkeypox and one death reported in the last six weeks from 48 countries where it does not usually spread, according to WHO.

So far this year almost 1,500 cases and 70 deaths in central Africa, where the disease is more common, have also been reported, chiefly in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Monkeypox, a viral illness causing flu-like symptoms and skin lesions, has been spreading largely in men who have sex with men outside the countries where it is endemic.

There are vaccines and treatments available for monkeypox, although they are in limited supply.

Some global health experts said WHO may be have been hesitant to make a declaration because its January 2020 declaration that the new coronavirus represented a public health emergency was largely met with scepticism around the world.

But others said the outbreak met the criteria to be called an emergency.

Gregg Gonsalves, an associate professor of epidemiology at Yale University who advised the committee but who is not a member of WHO, told Reuters by email on Saturday that he thought the decision was "misguided".

"It met all the criteria but they decided to punt on this momentous decision," he said.

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US president Biden signs new gun control bill into law

US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law his country’s first gun-control bill in decades that seeks to prevent people with criminal records and mental problems from acquiring firearms.

The bill — now known as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act 2022 — passed the House of Representatives on Friday evening by 234 to 193 votes.

The US Senate passed the bill late Thursday by a 65-33-vote and sent it to the House. As promised by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the House acted swiftly and sent it to the president on Friday evening for signing it into law. President Biden also acted promptly and put his signature on the bill early Saturday morning before leaving on a week-long trip to Europe.

“God willing, it’s going to save a lot of lives,” said the president after signing the bill. He recalled that the last time Congress passed meaningful gun safety laws was almost 30 years ago and he attended that event as well. He mentioned major school and public shootings that killed hundreds of Americans, mostly children.

For those “and for the shootings that happen every day in the streets … their message to us was: ‘Do something. How many times have we heard that? Just do something.’ For God’s sake, just do something,” he said.

The US media described the new law as “the most significant firearms legislation” in more than 30 years. It followed mass shootings last month at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, and a primary school in Uvalde, Texas, that left 31 people dead.

The law requires tougher background checks for buyers younger than 21. It would provide $15bn in federal funding for mental health programmes and school security upgrades. The law provides funds to encourage states to implement “red flag” laws to remove firearms from people considered a threat. It also seeks to close the so-called “boyfriend loophole” by blocking gun sales to those convicted of abusing unmarried partners.

Conservative Republicans opp­ose the new law and have vowed to undo it if they capture Congress in the midterm elections.

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