News Stream One

ISLAMABAD: The nation is observing Palestine Solidarity Day today (Friday) to give a united message to the world for standing beside the people of Palestine against Indian atrocities.  The day is being observed on the call of the Pakistan Ulema Council. Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Religious Harmony Tahir Ashrafi urged the OIC to take notice of the matter. He said that Pakistan will continue raising the voice for suppressed Kashmiris and Palestinians at every international forum. Pakistan has strongly condemned the airstrikes by Israel in Gaza that resulted in deaths and injuries to so many innocent Palestinians including children. “This is yet another reprehensible action during the holy month of Ramadan, following the increased restrictions on the fundamental freedoms of Palestinians, and the attacks in and outside Al-Aqsa Mosque,” the FO spokesperson had said in a statement, last week. Read more:  PM Imran Khan condemns Israeli attack on Palestinians i...

A Chicago cat has survived after jumping out of a fifth-floor window to escape an apartment fire. Chicago Fire Department personnel were taking a video of the exterior of the building as firefighters were extinguishing the blaze when a black cat appeared through billowing smoke at a broken window. The fire-fleeing feline briefly tested the side of the building with its front paws, and then jumped.  Onlookers gasped as the cat fell. But it missed a wall as it hurtled downward and instead landed on all four paws atop grass, where it bounced once and immediately ran away. “It went under my car and hid until she felt better after a couple of minutes and came out and tried to scale the wall to get back in,” said fire department spokesman Larry Langford. The cat was not injured, Langford said, adding he was trying to track down its owner. No injuries were reported after the fire, which was confined to one apartment. The cause of the fire hasn’t been reported by officials, no...

GAZA: The death toll has risen to 109, including at least 28 children. 15 women, while 621 people have been wounded in Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.  Israel, ignoring international calls for calm, continues its aggression on Gaza Strip with airstrikes and artillery shells, stepping up the deployment of troops and tanks near the besieged Palestinian enclave. Israeli troops and tanks are massing at the border, for a possible ground offensive by entering Gaza. At least six Israelis and one Indian national have also been killed. There have also been more violent confrontations between Jewish Israelis and Palestinian citizens of Israel in several cities inside Israel. Read more: Fear replaces holiday joy in Gaza as fight with Israel escalates Rockets and missiles in dizzying numbers have been exchanged since Monday between Gaza and Israel’s military across the enclave’s boundary. The Israeli fighter jets destroyed a 14-storey building that housed businesses as well as me...

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar while ordering strict implementation of SOPs on Eid holidays said that strict adherence to the health-related guidelines can prevent COVID-19, ARY News reported on Friday. According to details, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar in his statement regarding the coronavirus situation said that nation’s cooperation in eliminating the coronavirus infection is of great importance. He said that violation of SOPs on Eidul Fitr will not be tolerated and one has to learn to live with corona by taking precautionary measures. Buzdar while ordering strict implementation of SOPs said that security and safety lie in taking precaution, SOPs will be ensured through administrative measures. Read more: Pakistan reports 48 COVID deaths, 2,517 new cases He said that measures and guidelines should be implemented in all cases, there is no scope for negligence in the implementation of government measures. It may be noted Pakistan has reported 2,517 new co...

NEW DELHI: India recorded more than 4,000 COVID-19 deaths for a second straight day on Thursday as infections stayed below 400,000, and extended the interval between doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to up to 16 weeks amid a dire shortage of shots in the country. Experts remain unsure when numbers will peak and concern is growing about the transmissibility of the variant that is driving infections in India and spreading worldwide. Bhramar Mukherjee, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan, said most models had predicted a peak this week and that the country could be seeing signs of that trend. Still, the number of new cases each day is large enough to overwhelm hospitals, she said on Twitter. “The key word is cautious optimism.” The situation is particularly bad in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state with a population of over 240 million. Television pictures have shown families weeping over the dead in rural hospitals or camping in wards ...

The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday advised that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks outdoors and can avoid wearing them indoors in most places, updated guidance the agency said will allow life to begin to return to normal. The CDC, which hopes the guidance will prod more Americans to get vaccinated, also said fully immunized people will not need to physically distance in most places. The turnaround came just 16 days since CDC issued revised guidance that left many restrictions in place for vaccinated people. The agency came under fire in March for initially discouraging immunized grandparents to fly to visit loved ones. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said the new guidance was based on a sharp reduction in cases, expansion of vaccines to younger people and vaccine efficacy against coronavirus variants. “We followed the science here,” Walensky. President Joe Biden emerged at the White House for remarks without a mask. “I think it’s a gr...

An emergency exit door on an aircraft broke off and flew into the runway just as the plane was about to take off. The incident happened on the runway of Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, US, when the flight was taking off of Minneapolis. According to reports, the two pilots of the aircraft were fired after the incident, WLUC-TV reported that the pilots had failed to complete the pre-flight checklist before starting the journey. Tom Yon, a passenger from the flight, told WUPM his carry bag was sucked out of the door. But he was able to find his bag an hour after the incident. “We were just about to take off probably going, I don’t know 100 miles per hour, and the door just flew off a loud bang, and the door flew off and the noise and the wind and everything,” the told the station. “ I didn’t even see my bag get sucked out of the plane. I got it right here, this bag right here, got sucked right out of the plane. They gave it to me about an hour after take-off,” he added...