Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Customs has intercepted two narcotics consignments sent through international mail at Karachi&rsquo;s Jinnah International Airport, preventing drugs worth more than Rs114 million (approximately $405,680) from entering the country, officials said Wednesday. According to the statement, the first parcel, declared as &ldquo;amulets&rdquo; and originating from Thailand, was found to contain 1.69 kilograms of marijuana. The consignment&rsquo;s value is estimated at Rs52 million (around $185,000). In the second case, officers discovered 1,945 MDMA (Ecstasy) pills hidden inside a &ldquo;vacuum cleaner&rdquo; shipped from Belgium, valued at Rs62 million (around $220,600). &ldquo;These detections reflect the vigilance and commitment of Pakistan Customs in preventing narcotics from reaching our communities,&rdquo; the customs department said. Officials noted that trafficking through international postal and courier systems has risen globally as criminal networks increasingly exploit the rapid growth of e-commerce. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has warned that parcel-based trafficking is expanding as traffickers disguise drugs in ordinary consumer items. To counter this, Pakistan Customs said it has intensified screening measures at airports and mail processing centers, using scanners, sniffer dogs, and data-driven risk profiling to identify suspicious shipments. &ldquo;Jinnah International Airport remains a critical frontline in efforts to curb drug trafficking,&rdquo; the statement added, emphasizing continued vigilance. No arrests were immediately announced, and investigations are ongoing.

Security

 Pakistan Customs at Karachi Airport seized two narcotics parcels sent through international mail, uncovering marijuana and MDMA worth over Rs114 million, officials said, amid increasing attempts by traffickers to exploit global postal and courier systems.


Drugs worth over $400,000 intercepted in international mail at Karachi Airport

GAZA CITY: US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that &ldquo;nothing&rdquo; would jeopardize the ceasefire in Gaza after Israel carried out airstrikes on the Palestinian territory, accusing Hamas of violating the truce, which the militant group denied. Gaza&rsquo;s civil defense agency said at least 38 people were killed in the Israeli strikes, which took place on Tuesday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered &ldquo;powerful strikes&rdquo; on Gaza after his defense minister accused Hamas of attacking Israeli troops in Gaza. While Israel Katz did not say where the troops were attacked, Hamas said its fighters had &ldquo;no connection to the shooting incident in Rafah&rdquo; and reaffirmed its commitment to the US-brokered ceasefire. Trump defended Israel&rsquo;s actions on Wednesday, saying it &ldquo;should hit back&rdquo; if Israeli soldiers were killed, but added that &ldquo;nothing&rsquo;s going to jeopardize&rdquo; the truce. &ldquo;They killed an Israeli soldier. So the Israelis hit back. And they should hit back,&rdquo; Trump told reporters on Air Force One during his tour of Asia. US Vice President JD Vance said the ceasefire was holding despite the &ldquo;skirmishes.&rdquo; &ldquo;We know that Hamas or somebody else within Gaza attacked an IDF soldier... but I think the president&rsquo;s peace is going to hold,&rdquo; he said. Escalations&nbsp;Gaza&rsquo;s civil defense agency said at least three strikes were carried out, while the territory&rsquo;s main Al-Shifa Hospital said one hit its backyard. Al-Awda Hospital said it had received several bodies, including those of four children, killed in the bombing of Gaza&rsquo;s central Nuseirat refugee camp. Hamas announced it would delay handing over the body of another hostage, due on Tuesday, saying Israeli &ldquo;escalation will hinder the search, excavation, and recovery of the bodies.&rdquo; Hamas militants had taken 251 people hostage during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war. A row over the last remaining bodies of deceased hostages has threatened to derail the ceasefire agreement. Israel accuses Hamas of reneging by not returning them, but the Palestinian group says it will take time to locate the remains buried in Gaza&rsquo;s war-ravaged ruins. Hamas later said on Telegram it had found the bodies of two hostages on Tuesday but did not specify when it would hand them over. &lsquo;Act decisively&rsquo;Hamas came under mounting pressure on Monday after it returned the partial remains of a previously recovered captive, which Israel said was a breach of the truce. Hamas had said the remains were the 16th of 28 hostage bodies it had agreed to return under the ceasefire deal, which came into effect on Oct. 10. But Israeli forensic examination determined Hamas had, in fact, handed over partial remains of a hostage whose body had already been brought back to Israel around two years ago, according to Netanyahu&rsquo;s office. Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian accused Hamas of staging the discovery of the remains. &ldquo;Hamas dug a hole in the ground yesterday, placed the partial remains inside it, covered it back up with dirt, and handed it over to the Red Cross,&rdquo; she told journalists. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum urged the government to &ldquo;act decisively against these violations&rdquo; and accused Hamas of knowing the location of the missing hostages. Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem rejected claims that the group knows where the remaining bodies are, arguing that Israel&rsquo;s bombardment during the two-year war had left locations unrecognizable. &lsquo;We want to rest&rsquo;&ldquo;The movement (Hamas) is determined to hand over the bodies of the Israeli captives as soon as possible once they are located,&rdquo; he told AFP. The Palestinian militant group has already returned all 20 living hostages as agreed in the ceasefire deal. Hamas&rsquo;s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Israel&rsquo;s subsequent assault on Gaza killed at least 68,531 people, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory&rsquo;s health ministry that the UN considers reliable. Despite the ceasefire, the toll has continued to climb as more bodies are found under the rubble. On the ground in Gaza, 60-year-old Abdul-Hayy al-Hajj Ahmed told AFP he was afraid the war would start again. &ldquo;Now they accuse Hamas of stalling, and that is a pretext for renewed escalation and war,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We want to rest. I believe the war will come back.&rdquo;

US President Donald Trump speaks aboard Air Force One while traveling from Japan to South Korea on Oct. 29, 2025 (AFP).

Americas

Middle East

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that “nothing” would jeopardize the ceasefire in Gaza after Israel carried out airstrikes on the Palestinian territory, accusing Hamas of violating the truce, which the militant group denied.

Trump says 'nothing' will jeopardise Gaza ceasefire after Israeli strikes

ISLAMABAD: &nbsp;US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that &ldquo;seven brand new, beautiful planes were shot down&rdquo; during the Pakistan-India conflict earlier this year. While referring to the aerial encounters between the two countries, the US president said the two countries were &ldquo;going at it&rdquo; in May during which &ldquo;seven planes were shot down.&rdquo; Last month, Pakistan&rsquo;s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told the United Nations General Assembly that Pakistani forces had turned seven Indian aircraft into &ldquo;scrap and dust.&rdquo; The Indian military has also claimed that it shot down five Pakistani fighter jets, a statement dismissed by Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on X, who termed the claim &ldquo;comical.&rdquo; &nbsp;&ldquo;Seven brand new, beautiful planes were shot down,&rdquo; Trump said while speaking to business leaders in Japan during a dinner. &nbsp; The US president said that he conveyed it to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that &ldquo;we&#39;re not going to do any trade if you&#39;re going to be fighting.&rdquo; The same message was also sent to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif &mdash; whom he termed &ldquo;a very nice man, a very good man&rdquo; &mdash; and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir. &ldquo;And within about 24 hours, that was the end of that,&rdquo; Trump said. &ldquo;It was amazing, actually.&rdquo; &ldquo;A lot of the wars that I stopped were because of tariffs,&rdquo; he said, adding that he was able to do a &ldquo;great service to the world [&hellip;] because of tariffs, because of trade.&rdquo; &nbsp; The US president has in recent weeks also criticized India for continuing to purchase Russian oil, and his administration has imposed tariffs on Indian exports to pressure New Delhi to support efforts for peace in Ukraine.

US president says a lot of the wars were stopped because of tariffs, adds he was able to do a “great service to the world.”  



'Seven brand new, beautiful planes' shot down during Pakistan-India conflict: Trump

RIO DE JANEIRO: Bodies piled up in poor neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday as police launched their biggest ever raids on the city&#39;s drug traffickers, leaving at least 64 dead in war-like scenes. As many as 2,500 heavily armed officers, backed by armored vehicles, helicopters, and drones, took part in the operation targeting Brazil&#39;s main drug-trafficking gang in two poor neighborhoods, or favelas, in northern Rio. Gunfire rang out in the area near Rio&#39;s international airport, and smoke billowed from several fires on Tuesday afternoon, several hours after the raids started. Residents scrambled for cover, and shops closed their doors amid police claims that the gangs were using drones to fight back. State Governor Claudio Castro described the operation in the Complexo da Penha and Complexo do Alemao favelas as the largest in the state&#39;s history. The central government said the raids aimed to stop a gang called Comando Vermelho (Red Command) from expanding. Castro reported a death toll of 60 suspected gang members. A source from his administration told AFP that four police officers were also killed. As of late Tuesday afternoon, the operation was still going on. &#39;Everyone is terrified&#39; AFP saw police in the Vila Cruzeiro neighborhood of Penha district guarding about 20 young people huddled together and sitting on the sidewalk, heads bowed, barefoot, and shirtless. &quot;This is the first time we&#39;ve seen drones (from criminals) dropping bombs in the community,&quot; said a Penha resident, speaking on condition of anonymity. &quot;Everyone is terrified because there&#39;s so much gunfire,&quot; she added. Raids in the favelas are common, but this was the deadliest one yet. Until now, the highest death toll came in a raid in 2021 that left 28 people dead. Tuesday&#39;s operation ground traffic on many of the seaside city&#39;s main streets to a halt. &quot;We&#39;re left without buses, without anything, in this chaos and not knowing what to do,&quot; said Regina Pinheiro, a 70-year-old retiree, who was trying to return home. Favelas ruled by gangs The police mobilized two helicopters, 32 armored vehicles, and 12 demolition vehicles used to destroy barricades erected by drug traffickers to prevent police from entering the narrow streets of the favelas. Major police operations are frequent in Rio, Brazil&#39;s main tourist destination, particularly in the favelas, poor and densely populated neighborhoods often ruled by criminal gangs. Castro posted a video on X of what he described as a gang-controlled drone launching a projectile from the cloudy sky. &quot;This is how the Rio police are treated by criminals: with bombs dropped by drones. This is the scale of the challenge we face. This is not ordinary crime, but narcoterrorism,&quot; he said. Congressman Henrique Vieira, an evangelical pastor, roundly condemned the police operation. The state government &quot;treats the favela as enemy territory, with a license to shoot and kill,&quot; he wrote on X. In Geneva, the UN human rights office said it was &quot;horrified&quot; by Tuesday&#39;s violence. &quot;This deadly operation furthers the trend of extreme lethal consequences of police operations in Brazil&#39;s marginalized communities,&quot; UN officials said in a statement. &quot;We remind authorities of their obligations under international human rights law, and urge prompt and effective investigations.&quot; Last year, approximately 700 people died during police operations in Rio, almost two a day. Experts and human rights organizations have criticized these types of security efforts in Brazil, deeming them ineffective against criminal organizations. The Human Rights Commission of the Rio State Legislative Assembly will demand &quot;explanations of the circumstances of the action, which has once again transformed Rio&#39;s favelas into a theater of war and barbarism,&quot; Dani Monteiro, a congresswoman who heads the commission, told AFP.

State governor describes operation as largest in state's history; central government says raids aimed to stop a gang from expanding; the UN human rights office says it was "horrified" by the violence.

At least 64 killed in war-like Rio drug raids

Faraz Saeed

LAHORE: For years, Pakistan&rsquo;s economy has often been discussed through broad narratives of crisis and decline. But analysts say that much of this discourse overlooks the actual data, which now points to a phase of stabilization and gradual recovery under severe external and climate-related pressures. The contrast between perception and performance, they argue, has rarely been more pronounced. The comparison with India frequently dominates headlines. India&rsquo;s growth rate, hovering near 7%, is widely showcased as a regional success story. Yet, as economists note, growth alone does not define economic well-being. India currently ranks 105th on the Global Hunger Index 2024, categorized in the &ldquo;serious&rdquo; hunger bracket, with more than 800 million people reliant on free food rations. Meanwhile, the richest 1% own 40% of national wealth, leaving the bottom half with just 6.4%. Economic expansion has not prevented inequality from reaching levels deeper than the colonial era. Pakistan, by contrast, has weathered multiple overlapping crises: record flooding in 2022 displaced 33 million people and caused more than $30 billion in losses; new floods in 2025 again hit Punjab, damaging crops and supply chains just as stabilization had begun. These shocks came amid global inflation, volatile energy markets, and disruptions at the Afghan border. Despite this, the economy held together. A data-based correction to recent pessimistic commentary came from Khurram Schehzad, advisor to the finance minister, after BBC Urdu&rsquo;s recent report painted a bleak picture of Pakistan&rsquo;s economic trajectory. In a detailed post on X, Schehzad challenged the narrative with updated performance metrics. He noted that GDP growth rose from 2.5% in FY24 to 3.0% in FY25, with projections of 3.6&ndash;4.0% in FY26. Per capita income climbed to $1,830, the first significant increase in years. Inflation fell sharply, from 23% to 4.5%, its lowest in nine years, while the policy rate dropped from 22% to 11%, reopening avenues for investment and credit. The external account improved in parallel. Pakistan recorded its first current account surplus in 14 years, reaching $2.1 billion in FY25. Foreign exchange reserves rose to $14.5 billion, about 55% higher than a year earlier. The primary fiscal surplus reached a record 2.4% of GDP. The overall deficit hit a nine-year low. Debt metrics also improved. Debt-to-GDP declined from 75% to under 70%, and the government posted a fiscal surplus of Rs1.5 trillion (&asymp; $5.34 billion) in the first quarter of FY26. Ratings agencies responded in kind: Fitch upgraded Pakistan to B&ndash; (April 2025) S&amp;P matched the upgrade (July 2025) Moody&rsquo;s raised Pakistan to Caa1 (August 2025) Each cited strengthened reserves, improved fiscal discipline, and credible reforms. These reforms are wide-ranging. The tax system has shifted to digital e-invoicing, provinces have begun agriculture income tax enforcement, and the energy sector is being restructured through tariff rationalization and governance changes. Industrial and agricultural tariffs have been brought down from Rs38 to Rs23 per unit, with three-year price certainty, reducing production costs. Privatization, stalled for years, has resumed: the First Women Bank was recently acquired by a UAE investment group. Under the Medium-Term Debt Strategy, Pakistan has already repaid Rs3.5 trillion (&asymp; $12.45 billion) in early debt retirements. Regulatory simplification has reduced compliance costs by over Rs300 billion (&asymp; $1.07 billion) annually. This shift is reflected in trade and markets. Exports grew across goods (+7%), services (+15%), and technology (+18%) in FY25. Large-scale manufacturing expanded 9% between July and September 2025. The Pakistan Stock Exchange surged 60% in FY25, with its investor base growing 28%, surpassing one million individual investors. The ICT and freelance economy now leads the transformation. Between July&ndash;September FY26, ICT exports reached $1.06 billion (+20.5% YoY); September alone recorded $366 million (+25.3%), the highest month ever. ICT now contributes 48% of total services exports, generating a $953 million trade surplus. This progress has attracted renewed foreign investment. Saudi Arabia has advanced commitments in refining and minerals, China&rsquo;s CPEC 2.0 has brought $1.5 billion in new B2B projects, and the UAE and US have expanded investment in banking, renewables, ports, mining, and digital infrastructure. The picture that emerges is not one of triumph, but of resilience combined with gradual structural repair. Inflation is down. Interest rates are down. Reserves are higher. Fiscal and external accounts are in surplus. Exports and ICT earnings are at record levels. Investment appetite is returning. Structural reforms, long delayed, are underway. Global headlines may continue to frame Pakistan&rsquo;s economy as collapsing. But the data shows an economy that is stabilizing, reforming, and quietly rebuilding, under extraordinary constraints. The story, as the numbers tell it, is not one of decline, but of recovery under pressure, real, uneven, but unmistakably underway.

Economy

Pakistan’s economy is showing signs of stabilization, with lower inflation, rising reserves, export growth and structural reforms underway, despite recent climate shocks and external pressures, according to officials and analysts citing updated macroeconomic data.

Behind headlines: Pakistan’s economy shows stabilization amid crises, reform

TOKYO: US President Donald Trump heads on Wednesday for South Korea, where a key meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping could produce a truce in the blistering trade war between the world&#39;s two largest economies. Trump&#39;s two-day visit to key US ally South Korea is the third leg of a trip to Asia that has seen him lauded at a regional summit in Malaysia and flattered as a &quot;peacemaker&quot; by Japan&#39;s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. But the eyes of the world will be on a meeting set for Thursday &mdash; the first time in six years Trump sits down with Xi. It could determine whether the United States and China can halt a trade war that has roiled global markets and sent international supply chains into panic. Negotiators from Beijing and Washington have both confirmed a &quot;framework&quot; has been agreed. It is now down to Trump and Xi, who will meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the city of Gyeongju, to sign off on it. &quot;There seems to be a mismatch in terms of where both countries are, heading into the Trump-Xi summit,&quot; said William Yang, an analyst at the International Crisis Group. The United States &quot;is eager to reach any trade deal that Trump could declare as a victory,&quot; while China is focused on &quot;building more mutual trust, managing longstanding differences, and steadying the bilateral trade relationship,&quot; he added. &#39;Complicated&#39;Trump is due to land in the South Korean city of Busan, fresh from two days in Tokyo, where Japan&#39;s new conservative premier Takaichi hailed a &quot;golden age&quot; in bilateral ties. The US president will head to Gyeongju for a summit with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung &mdash; their second in-person talks just two months after a meeting in Washington. Discussion will likely be focused on trade, with the two sides still deadlocked over a deal between the major economic partners. In July, Trump said Washington had agreed to cut tariffs on South Korean imports to 15% in exchange for a $350 billion investment pledge by Seoul. Steep auto tariffs, however, remain in place, and the two governments remain divided over the structure of the investment pledge. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admitted on Monday there was still &quot;a lot of details to work out&quot; in what he said was a &quot;complicated&quot; deal, while Trump has denied that there was a &quot;snag&quot; in the talks. Activists plan to welcome the US leader, whose sweeping tariffs triggered the trade war, with anti-Trump demonstrations in Gyeongju condemning his &quot;predatory investment demands.&quot; DMZ meeting? Adding to the diplomatic high drama, Trump has also extended an invitation to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to meet while he is on the peninsula. The two leaders last met in 2019 at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the fraught Cold War frontier that has separated the two Koreas for decades. Trump has said that he would &quot;love to meet&quot; Kim and even suggested sanctions could be a topic for conversation. But North Korea is yet to respond publicly to the invitation. Officials in Seoul appear divided as to whether it will go ahead. Kim said last month he had &quot;fond memories&quot; of his meetings with Trump. He also expressed openness to talks if the United States dropped its &quot;delusional&quot; demand that Pyongyang give up its nuclear weapons. &quot;Trump&#39;s made it clear he wants to meet,&quot; Chad O&#39;Carroll, founder of the specialist website NK News, told AFP. &quot;The ball is in Kim Jong Un&#39;s court.&quot; But the US leader now faces a different Kim than in 2019 &mdash; one emboldened since their diplomatic love affair during Trump&#39;s first term, having secured crucial backing from Russia after sending thousands of North Korean troops to fight alongside Moscow&#39;s forces. &quot;North Korea has time on its side and isn&#39;t as isolated as before,&quot; said Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification. &quot;A surprise event to show personal rapport is possible, but a negotiation with tangible results &mdash; like denuclearization talks &mdash; will not happen,&quot; he told AFP.

China

First time in six years, Trump sits down with Xi; can determine whether US and China halt trade war that has roiled global markets, sent international supply chains into panic.

Trump heads to South Korea with all eyes on Xi meeting

Saqib Tanveer

ISLAMABAD: High-level security talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Istanbul ended without an agreement, sources told Pakistan TV Digital on Wednesday. According to the sources, the four-day negotiations concluded after the Afghan delegation &ldquo;declined to accept verifiable measures&rdquo; against the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). &ldquo;The central issue was verifiable action to restrain the TTP and prevent cross-border attacks,&rdquo; a senior security source said. &ldquo;The Afghan side did not sign the final draft despite multiple near-agreements.&rdquo; Pakistan, the sources said, presented evidence and proposed enforcement steps, but the Afghan delegation &ldquo;kept avoiding concrete commitments.&rdquo; &ldquo;They acknowledged the concern but would not agree to mechanisms of verification. This affects peace and stability,&rdquo; another source said. Mediators from Qatar and T&uuml;rkiye facilitated the discussions. Pakistan thanked both host countries for their role. Patience ran its courseIn a detailed statement on X, Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said Pakistan had engaged the Afghan Taliban leadership repeatedly after their takeover in Kabul to address &ldquo;persistent cross-border terrorism&rdquo; carried out by &ldquo;Indian-abetted TTP and the Indian proxy BLA [Balochistan Liberation Army].&rdquo;<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 393px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1983278941944107396&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fdashboard%2F&sessionId=de3a52aa346e03965fbbca4d6dd1ec9b26cd3cee&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px"></iframe></div></div> &ldquo;Pakistan has time and again asked the Afghan Taliban regime to fulfil their written commitments under the Doha Agreement,&rdquo; Tarar said. He said Pakistani efforts had &ldquo;proved futile&rdquo; due to what he described as &ldquo;unabated support to anti-Pakistan terrorists&rdquo; inside Afghanistan. &ldquo;For four years, Pakistan has borne heavy losses in men and material. Pakistan&rsquo;s patience has run its course,&rdquo; he said. Tarar added that Pakistan attended the Doha and Istanbul rounds &ldquo;to give peace a chance&rdquo; at the request of Qatar and T&uuml;rkiye. &ldquo;Irrefutable evidence was shared and acknowledged by the Afghan side and the hosts,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But instead of taking responsibility, the Afghan Taliban resorted to blame, deflection, and excuses. The dialogue, therefore, failed to produce any workable outcome.&rdquo; He said Pakistan would continue to take &ldquo;all necessary measures to protect its people&rdquo; and &ldquo;eliminate terrorists, their sanctuaries, abettors and supporters.&rdquo;

Foreign Affairs

After four days of talks in Türkiye, negotiations end without agreement as Afghanistan decline verifiable action against cross-border militants, prompting concern from mediators and leaving future dialogue prospects uncertain.

Pakistan, Afghan Taliban talks in Istanbul end without resolution

ISLAMABAD: South Africa defeated Pakistan by 55 runs in the first Twenty20 International at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, as the hosts&rsquo; batting collapsed while chasing 195.&nbsp;Chasing a target of 195, Pakistan was bowled out for just 139 runs in 18.1 overs. South Africa&#39;s Right-arm fast bowler Corbin Bosch starred with a career-best 4-14, while George Linde claimed 3-31 as Pakistan lost their last seven wickets for only 58 runs.&nbsp;Pakistani Openers Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub gave a slow start before wickets tumbled. Babar Azam, returning to T20Is, fell for a golden duck, while skipper Salman Ali Agha managed only two. Only Mohammad Nawaz showed resistance with a quick 36 off 20 balls, but the rest of the lineup offered little support.&nbsp;Earlier, sent into bat first, South Africa posted 194/9, with Reeza Hendricks anchoring the innings with a solid 60, and Linde contributing a quickfire 36. Nawaz shone with the ball, claiming 3-26, while Saim Ayub chipped in with 2-31 to help peg back the visitors after a fiery start from Quinton de Kock and debutant Tony de Zorzi.&nbsp;Despite late wickets by Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah, Pakistan&rsquo;s bowlers leaked runs at crucial stages.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Green Shirts swapped their traditional green jerseys for pink ones as the Pakistan team joined the global effort to raise awareness about breast cancer.&nbsp;The defeat leaves Pakistan facing renewed concerns over batting intent and middle-order consistency, ahead of the second T20I in Lahore on Friday.

Cricket

Pakistan collapses chasing 195. Bosch (4-14) and Linde (3-31) lead attack; defeat leaves Pakistan facing renewed concerns over batting intent and middle-order consistency, ahead of the second T20I in Lahore on Friday.

South Africa defeat Pakistan by 55 runs in Rawalpindi T20 opener

ISLAMABAD: At least 1.2 million users on ChatGPT talk about &ldquo;suicide plan&rdquo; on the platform, its company OpenAI said this week. OpenAI has shared new data showing how often its chatbot, ChatGPT, is used in moments of deep distress. In their latest blogpost, it says that every week, about 0.15% of its users show &ldquo;explicit indicators of potential suicidal planning or intent.&rdquo; With roughly 800 million users each week, that translates into 1.2 million people talking to ChatGPT about suicide. The company also found that another 0.07 percent, about 560,000 people, show early signs of mental health emergencies like psychosis or mania. OpenAI claims that these numbers are small percentages but when considering its huge userbase, the numbers are concerning.&nbsp; Earlier this year, Arab News reported that Pakistan ranked among the top 20 countries for ChatGPT traffic, with thousands using it daily &ldquo;to vent feelings, manage anxiety, and seek late-night reassurance when friends aren&rsquo;t available.&rdquo;&nbsp; OpenAI says &ldquo;these are only estimates.&rdquo; Detecting emotional distress through text is complex and can easily be misread. But the company says it is working with doctors and psychologists to make ChatGPT more sensitive in how it responds. To improve safety, OpenAI partnered with more than 170 mental health experts worldwide.&nbsp; &ldquo;We worked with more than 170 mental health experts to help ChatGPT more reliably recognize signs of distress, respond with care, and guide people toward real-world support&ndash;reducing responses that fall short of our desired behavior by 65-80%.&rdquo; The report said. The team trained ChatGPT to recognise warning signs, provide gentle and supportive responses, and guide users toward local helplines. The company says unsafe or unhelpful replies have dropped by 65 to 80 percent after these updates. The blog also highlights a new risk: people becoming emotionally dependent on the AI itself. Some users talk to ChatGPT for comfort, spending long hours chatting when they should reach real people. OpenAI now encourages users to take breaks and seek human support when needed. The company insists ChatGPT is not a therapist. It can provide information and empathy, but it cannot replace professional care. Still, the data shows that people in crisis often reach out to what feels most accessible: an AI that listens without judgment. &ldquo;We believe ChatGPT can provide a supportive space for people to process what they&rsquo;re feeling, and guide them to reach out to friends, family, or a mental health professional when appropriate.&quot;

Artificial Intelligence

OpenAI revealed that about 1.2 million ChatGPT users weekly discuss suicide, with hundreds of thousands showing other mental health distress. The company is training its AI to detect emotional crises and direct users toward professional support

Over million users talk about suicide weekly to ChatGPT: Open AI

ISLAMABAD: Tajikistan asked India to withdraw its military personnel and equipment from the Ayni airbase last year, prompting New Delhi to close its only overseas air facility in Central Asia, Indian media reported this week. According to the digital publication The Print on Tuesday, India was instructed to vacate the base in 2024, and the withdrawal process was completed earlier this year. The Gissar Military Aerodrome (GMA), commonly known as the Ayni airbase after the nearby village, is located just west of Dushanbe and had been jointly administered by India and Tajikistan for nearly two decades. India is estimated to have spent close to $100 million on its development. Despite the investment and political backing under the Vajpayee government, the airbase never became fully operational. Reports said the facility remained largely idle due to Russian opposition, with Moscow reluctant to allow any other country to operate from the base. India did not maintain permanent air assets there, aside from two to three helicopters gifted to Tajikistan but operated by Indian Air Force personnel for humanitarian and relief missions. The Print also noted that Tajikistan&rsquo;s request for withdrawal came amid apparent pressure from Russia and China over the presence of foreign military personnel in the region. The closure of the Ayni airbase reduces India&rsquo;s strategic reach in Central Asia at a time when regional influence is increasingly shaped by China&rsquo;s expanding presence and Russia&rsquo;s renewed assertiveness, according to Zee News. India had previously used the airbase during the evacuation of its citizens in 2021, after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan.

Central Asia

Tajikistan requested India to withdraw from the Ayni airbase near Dushanbe, leading to its closure. The move, influenced by Russian and Chinese pressure, reduces India’s strategic reach in Central Asia

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