Earth’s magnetic poles have dramatically flipped several times throughout the course of our planet’s history. With another change long overdue, scientists have created the most detailed record yet of the most recent switcheroo.
It sounds unbelievable, but Earth’s poles have routinely reversed every 200,000 to 300,000 years. However, there’s now been no change for around 750,000 years and experts have warned that it’s long over outstanding.
The magnetic field is charged by Earth’s molten metal outer core. It's crucial to life on our planet, playing a key role in navigational systems and also providing protection from radiation from outer space.
Approximately 40,000 years ago, it attempted to switch before snapping back into place. This NASA illustration captures the enormous disruption to the field during a reversal:
We don’t know much about the effects of such a flip, except that once it is completed, the needle on a compass will tell us that north is south and that south is north. Fresh research has offered a better understanding of the geophysical events leading up to the change and how our planet responded in the aftermath.
The study was conducted by scientists from Japan’s National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR). It reveals that the field became unstable at least 10,000 years before the last direction change actually occurred, and the full reversal process took at least 20,000 years to be completed.
The research team reached their conclusions after collecting a trove of samples and carrying out paleo and rock magnetic analyses. Yuki Haneda, project researcher at the NIPR, said: “Our data is one of the most detailed paleomagnetic records during the Matuyama-Brunhes geomagnetic reversal, offering deep insight into the mechanism of the geomagnetic reversal.”
The boffins now plan to figure out how the geomagnetic reversal influenced plankton and plants by studying marine microfossils and pollen data they collected in their samples.
The Berlin branch of the world’s most famous wax museum has placed its figurine of US President Donald Trump in a garbage-filled dumpster, sparking verbal fisticuffs online.
Madame Tussauds in Berlin, an outpost of the legendary London wax museum, placed its lifelike replica statue of Trump in a dumpster on Friday, apparently in anticipation of the Republican incumbent being defeated by Democratic rival Joe Biden in the November 3 election.
Orkide Yalcindag, the museum’s marketing director, described the unorthodox curation as “symbolic” and “a preparatory measure.”
The museum appears to have taken pains to publicize the move, with a Reuters photographer snapping photographs of staff members placing the smiling Trump figurine in a garbage-bag-filled dumpster. A red “Make America Great Again” baseball cap was also tossed in the trash can.
The museum doesn’t typically ‘throw away’ wax models of US presidents, even after they leave office. Their statue of former president Barack Obama, for example, has been left untouched.
The politically-tinged stunt received wide applause on social media. Numerous commenters hailed the move as “perfect” and “where Trump belongs.”
Others suggested that the “whole Trump family” was heading for the dumpster after the presidential election.
I would have put it in the toilet but I guess the dumpster will do. Will they set it on fire now?
Similarly unimpressed commenters theorized that Germans were just angry at Trump for demanding that it pay its fair share for military defense from NATO, and condemned the dumpster exhibit as tasteless.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Party on Sunday signed an agreement with the Green Party to form government in the Pacific nation of nearly five million.
Ardern earlier this month delivered the biggest election victory for her centre-left Labour Party in half a century. Although she no longer needs support from other parties to govern, coalitions are the norm in New Zealand as parties look to build consensus.
On Saturday, Ardern said her new government would be announced on Monday, offering the Greens two ministerial portfolios, but also included enhanced provisions that allow the coalition partner more freedom.
“What’s unique here is that we’re both agreeing that we actually don’t have to agree,” Ardern told reporters in televised remarks at the signing ceremony on Sunday.
The Greens are obliged to back the government over decisions made in their portfolios but are otherwise entitled to take a different position to Labour.
“I’m again really proud that we have a good mandate, because it shows that this is a cooperation agreement that is a win-win for the Greens,” the Green Party’s co-leader Marama Davidson said.
Prior to the October election, the Labour Party was in a governing coalition also with the Greens and New Zealand First.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has asked the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to delay its upcoming jalsa in Peshawar due to threats of a possible terrorist attack.
"Peshawar has witnessed a terrorism incident in which innocent children of a madrassa were targeted. The PDM should reconsider holding its Peshawar rally in view of the potential threat of terrorism," said KP Minister for Labour and Culture Shaukat Yousafzai on Saturday.
The PDM, which has held jalsas in Gujranwala, Karachi and Quetta, plans to flex its muscles next in Peshawar on November 22.
Yousafzai said the government will not ban any rallies but will provide foolproof security to those attending them. The minister said that the Opposition wanted to save the corrupt "under the guise of inflation".
"The PDM should not play with the lives of the people to save the corrupt," said Yousafzai. "The opposition has the right to raise public issues, but it wants to protect the corrupt under the guise of inflation, which will not be allowed".
He said the speeches being made in PDM rallies were providing opportunities for the enemy to further its propaganda against Pakistan. The PTI leader said the nation was standing by the security forces in their fight against terrorism.
Yousafzai said the government was willing to talk to the Opposition if they wished to do so over any genuine issue. "If they have an agenda on public issues, the government is ready to negotiate with them. The aim of PDM is to save the corrupt," he added.
The minister said that all the indicators of economic recovery were moving in the right direction. He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan was aware of inflation and was taking strict measures to control it.
The PDM has called for PM Imran Khan's resignation and listed other demands as well when 11 Opposition parties formed an alliance to put pressure on the government.
In its rallies, the PDM has hit out at the federal government and the military, calling an end to the practice of rigging elections and voicing the demand for free, fair and transparent polls in Pakistan.
South Korea has reported that 83 people have died after receiving flu shots, a week after Seoul said it would probe its mass vaccination program. The government continues to insist the deaths aren’t linked to the jab.
The country’s public health agency, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), announced on Saturday that 83 people in total have died after participating in a free vaccination initiative billed as a way to offset potential complications from Covid-19.
Most of the deaths involved the elderly, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, citing figures provided by the KDCA. Of the total number of fatalities, 37 people were in their 70s, followed by 34 people aged 80 or older. Four deaths involved people in their 60s, while eight individuals who passed away were under 60.
Health officials have repeatedly insisted that there is no evidence pointing to a direct link between the flu shots and the deaths. However, South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun called for an investigation into potential safety issues last week, when the number of people who died shortly after receiving flu shots reached 30. Earlier, the Korean Medical Association had called on Seoul to halt the program pending a full review.
Concerns about the vaccination drive first emerged after it was revealed that some of the doses were exposed to room temperature while being administered to the public. However, the vaccines in question have not been linked to any of the deaths.
To date, more than 11.5 million South Koreans have received a free jab under the program.
Prime Minister Imran Khan and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday held a telephonic conversation.
During the telephonic conversation, PM Imran Khan expressed his heartfelt grief and sorrow over the loss of lives in the earthquake in Turkey. Pakistan stood with the Turkish nation in this difficult time, the prime minister said and extended all-out help and cooperation to Ankara.
Both the leaders expressed serious concerns over rising Islamophobia in Europe.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Imran Khan had extended condolences to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the people of Turkey over the loss of precious lives in an earthquake in Izmir city.
He tweeted: “We stand with the Turkish nation, offering every help we can give. We can never forget the way Turkey stood with us when the devastating earthquake hit Pak & AJK in 2005.”
Nineteen people had been killed in Turkey and Greece after a strong earthquake struck the Aegean Sea on Friday, bringing buildings crashing down and setting off tidal waves which slammed into coastal areas and islands.
A third individual has been taken into custody amid an ongoing investigation into a deadly knife attack at a church in Nice, France, according to multiple outlets citing police sources.
The 33-year-old man was present during a police search on Friday at the home of another individual who was suspected of having been in contact with the alleged attacker, the AFP news agency reported.
The second person of interest, identified by police sources to the media as a 47-year-old male, is said to have been in communication with the alleged knifeman, a Tunisian migrant, a day before he carried out his rampage. The suspect was shot by police after he killed three people at the church. His condition is listed as serious. French officials are investigating the attack as a terrorist act.
Tunisian authorities have launched a separate probe into the existence of an alleged terror cell that reportedly took credit for the attack on social media. The suspect’s family in Tunisia have insisted that the 21-year-old man showed no signs of extremism and had told them earlier that he planned to sleep in a building opposite the church.
Turkish seismologists have detected a powerful 5.0 magnitude aftershock off the country's Aegean Sea coast. The jolt follows the devastating earthquake that killed at least 27 and injured over 800 across Turkey and Greece.
The aftershock was reported by Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) early on Saturday. It was not immediately clear whether the tremor inflicted more damage on the country.
The devastating earthquake, measured at 6.6 magnitude by Turkish authorities and 7.0 by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), struck the Aegean shore on Friday afternoon. More that 470 aftershocks, with at least 35 measuring over 4.0 in magnitude, followed the quake.
Izmir, the third largest city in Turkey, was the worst hit by the earthquake. Several multi-story buildings have been reduced into rubble, with dozens of people trapped inside. Some 100 people have been rescued from the debris, and rescue efforts continue at eight locations.
At least 25 people were killed including one individual who has drowned, latest figures by the Turkish authorities show. Two more people died on the Greek island of Samos. More than 800 people suffered various injuries across the two countries during the disaster.
The leaders of Turkey and Greece, two neighbors trapped in a bitter dispute over Mediterranean natural resources exploration rights for months, have shown rare solidarity in wake of the disaster. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke on the phone, expressing condolences and offering help to one another.
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Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has said that his government will not tolerate religious extremism after dozens of Turkish youths reportedly stormed through a church in Vienna.
Between 30 and 50 Turkish teenagers are said to have rampaged through the Catholic Church of St. Anton von Padua in Vienna-Favoriten. According to local media reports, the youths shouted “Allahu akbar” as they kicked benches and the church’s confessional. The youths scattered after the pastor called the police.
Writing on Twitter about the rowdy flash mob, the Austrian chancellor said that all Christians in the country must be able to “exercise their faith freely and safely.”
We will resolutely continue the fight against political Islam and will not show any false tolerance here.
No one was injured during the incident and police are currently reviewing surveillance footage. The youths reportedly met earlier in the day at a square, where they shouted “Islamic slogans” and set off firecrackers.
Alle Christen müssen in #Österreich frei und in Sicherheit ihren Glauben ausüben können! Wir werden den Kampf gegen den politischen Islam entschieden weiterführen und hier keine falsche Toleranz zeigen.
Danke an alle Polizisten für ihren Einsatz! https://t.co/1Psz3C82vn
According to Austrian media, law enforcement initially labeled the unsettling disturbance as a “youth prank,” but the case was later referred to the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution and dozens of police officers were dispatched to the area as a safety precaution.
Interior Minister Karl Nehammer vowed to protect Austria’s Christian community “with all our resources” and said that security was being bolstered following a string of violence and attempted attacks in France that have been linked to Islamic extremists.
An attack on Thursday at a church in Nice, France left three people dead. The suspect, a Tunisian migrant who had recently arrived in the country, was accused by French officials of being an “Islamo-fascist,” although his family in Tunisia denies that he holds radical religious beliefs.
France launched a crackdown on extremism following the murder of a schoolteacher, Samuel Paty, who was beheaded by a Chechen refugee after showing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed during a lesson on freedom of speech.
Demonstrators against new restrictions on abortion flooded the streets of Warsaw, in what has been described as one of the largest protests in decades to rock the Polish capital.
Tens of thousands of people marched through Warsaw on Friday night, as part of a week-long series of demonstrations sparked by a court decision that banned nearly all abortions in Poland.
Drone footage published by Ruptly, RT’s video agency, shows a sea of protesters pouring into the city’s roadways. People lit flares, waved lights and held homemade signs as they moved through the capital. The protest was so large that even footage taken from the air doesn’t appear to show the entire demonstration, with columns of people seemingly continuing into the distance.
The massive demonstration was largely peaceful, but there was a noticeable police presence due to concerns that clashes could break out with right-wing counter-protesters.
Poland’s constitutional tribunal ruled earlier this month that abortions in instances where the fetus has a serious birth defect were unconstitutional. The decision makes abortion unlawful in almost all circumstances, as Poland already has some of the most restrictive laws on the procedure in Europe.
Poland’s government has accused the demonstrators of endangering public health by spreading coronavirus. Abortion activists argue that they are fighting for human rights.
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Saturday recommended up to Rs2 decrease in prices of petroleum products for the month of November.
The authority forwarded a summary in this regard to the Ministry of Finance for approval.
According to the details disclosed by the summary, the OGRA has recommended a Rs1.50 cut in the per litre price of petrol and Rs2 in the price of high-speed diesel (HSD). The finance ministry will announce new fuel prices for November after Prime Minister Imran Khan’s approval.
Authorities said the government may keep the prices of petroleum products unchanged by increasing petroleum levy.
On September 30, the government had cut the price of high-speed diesel by Rs2.40 per litre and kept that of petrol and other petroleum products unchanged for a fortnight with effect from October 1.
Later on October 15, the government decided to keep fuel prices unchanged for the rest of the month.
PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq has come in for a lot of flak for his controversial statement on Indian pilot Abhinandan’s release. His accusatory remarks on the floor of the National Assembly have also caused rifts in opposition ranks.
Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a leader of the JUI-F part of the opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), not only strongly condemned the statement but termed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif “aasteen ka saanp” (snake in the grass).
Those who bring such people to power are equally responsible, he thundered. There is a limit to everything, he said, referring to the PML-N supremo’s critique of state institutions.
Speaking to media alongside the JUI-F chief after the meeting, the PML-N leader said he stands by his comments and added his statement was distorted to give a particular colour. Neither he nor anybody has the right to bill him or anyone else a traitor, he opined.
Sadiq said they will give India a befitting response as they have always done. “My comments were given political colour, which didn’t benefit Pakistan. An effort was made to promote one narrative in India,” he said.
“Linking my statement with Pakistan Army is a disservice to the country,” he said, explaining that he had referred to the government in his statement that was misquoted. Putting up banners against him is no service to the country either, he added.
Having previously served on key positions, the PML-N leader said he knew many secrets but neither has he given any irresponsible statement before nor will do so in future.
When asked whether he will apologise over his statement, Ayaz Sadiq said: “I have not done anything wrong that I have to apologise for.”
Fissures emerge in PML-N's Balochistan chapter over PDM rally in Quetta.
The PML-N may be taking on the government, but the party’s Balochistan chapter is in turmoil after the party decided not to invite former chief minister Sanaullah Zehri to the October 25 gathering of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) in Quetta.
According to sources, the PML-N’s central leadership had decided not to invite Sanaullah Zehri to the PDM gathering in Quetta, which did not go down well with its leaders in the province.
Sources also alleged that the president of PML-N’s Balochistan chapter, retired Lt Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch, had also expressed his reservations over the hardline stance adopted by PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif. He decides to left PML-N over PDM rally in Quetta.
On the other hand, PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal clarified that the PML-N decided not to invite Zehri as there is a rift going on between the former chief minister and BNP-M leader Akhtar Mengal.
PDM power show in Quetta
The differences emerged after the PDM, in a show of defiance coupled with street power, held its third anti-government rally in the Balochistan capital and reiterated their resolve to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan, saying "the sun is about to set" on his government.
The gathering was held at Quetta's Ayub Stadium.
Among the PDM leadership, PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, as well as JUI-F chief and PDM leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman, all addressed the large show of supporters who gathered to hear the Opposition speak.
As many nurses have died from Covid-19 as during the whole of World War I, the International Council of Nurses (ICN) has said, adding that health worker fatalities in the pandemic were likely hugely under-reported.
At least 1,500 nurses have lost their lives since the novel coronavirus outbreak was first reported in China's Wuhan some 11 months ago, according to ICN figures. The same amount is believed to have been killed during World War I, which lasted for four years between 1914 and 1918.
“The fact that as many nurses have died during this pandemic as died during World War I is shocking,” ICN head Howard Catton said during an online conference earlier this week.
However, the council believes that the actual numbers of Covid-19 deaths are far greater than what is currently registered, as the data on fatalities among nurses was only available from 44 countries.
It's a “scandal” that a systematic and standardized collection of data on coronavirus infections and deaths among healthcare workers hasn't yet been implemented internationally, Catton said, adding that his organization had been calling for this for months.
Analysis by ICN suggests that 10 percent of those infected with the virus are medical workers. Judging by the number of Covid-19 cases worldwide and the death rate, it is estimated that over 20,000healthcare workers could have succumbed to the disease to date.
Some 150 people gathered in Berlin for a rally denouncing France’s President Emmanuel Macron’s anti-Islamist crackdown, carrying banners and chanting “Allahu akbar.” It took place in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Nice.
The crowd held a roughly 30-minute demonstration in the city’s Hermannplatz, to protest against the showing of cartoons of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed across France, as well as Macron’s ongoing crackdown on Islamism.
Auf dem Hermannplatz in Berlin Neukölln haben heute Abend mehrere Dutzend unter anderem mit "Allahu Akbar"-Rufen gegen Emmanuel Macron und das Zeigen von Mohamed-Karikaturen demonstriert. Laut einem Polizisten vor Ort von einer Einzelperson angemeldet pic.twitter.com/eXRCW4ttfJ
Tensions within French society have been ramping up in the wake of the beheading of school teacher Samuel Paty earlier this month, after he’d shown his history pupils Charlie Hebdo cartoons depicting the prophet.
Eyewitness video from the Berlin rally purports to show the protesters chanting “Allahu akbar.”
There was a heavy police presence in the area and the protest passed without incident. It took place just hours after the terrorist attack in Nice in which three people were killed, two of whom were decapitated.
On Friday, protesters from the Muslim Interaktiv organisation also gathered outside the French Embassy in Berlin following the deadly knife attack. The group paraded around the German capital, carrying banners reading "Not Islam but France is in crisis!" during the demonstration.
Earlier this week, French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published a satirical caricature of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, fanning the flames of an ongoing diplomatic spat between the leaders of France and Turkey.
However, in a reconciliatory gesture President Erdogan offered his condolences to the Nice victims and their families.
The Italian interior minister on Friday strongly opposed suggestions that the government in Rome should be blamed for allowing a Tunisian migrant accused of killing three people in a Nice church to enter neighboring France.
Brahim Aouissaoui, the suspect in Thursday’s attack in Nice, reached the Italian island of Lampedusa in September and spent two weeks on a quarantine boat. He was later transferred to Bari, on the mainland, and, in early October, was ordered to leave Italy within seven days.
After the Nice attack, Matteo Salvini, the leader of Italian right-wing opposition Lega Nord party and former interior minister, said the government was failing to prevent people arriving from Africa. He lashed out at current Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese, claiming she bore responsibility for the killings in the French city, and demanding her resignation.
Responding to the critique, Lamorgese said Aouissaoui had not been flagged as a potential threat by the Tunisian authorities or the Italian intelligence service prior to the attack. “This is an attack on Europe. We have no responsibility in this,” she added.
The minister said a security decree introduced by Salvini, when he was in her place, had made it harder for the government to deal with migrants. Immigration centers were closed down, and 20,000 people had to leave them overnight, she noted.
Italy’s official data states that more than 27,000 migrants have reached the country by sea so far this year, and 11,195 have come from Tunisia, making it the largest single national group in the statistics.
Lamorgese visited Tunisia in August in a bid to limit the flow of migrants, but then admitted it was difficult, as the African country is facing a major economic crisis, since further complicated by the coronavirus pandemic.
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Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has warned that French citizens face a security risk “everywhere,” after three people were murdered in a suspected jihadist attack at a church in Nice.
On Friday, a day after he stated that France is a “country of tolerance” that extends “a message of peace to the Muslim world,” Le Drian issued the warning to his fellow citizens, particularly individuals who are abroad.
The remarks came as Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin warned of the danger of more attacks inside France, adding that the country is “in a war” against Islamic extremism “inside and outside,” following the murder of three individuals in a suspected terrorist attack at Nice’s Notre-Dame basilica on Thursday.
The Foreign Ministry had issued safety advice on Tuesday to its citizens in a number of Muslim-majority countries around the world, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iraq, Mauritania and Turkey, advising them to “exercise the greatest vigilance” and avoid any protests and public gatherings.
That move in itself came in the wake of a backlash in several Muslim countries to President Emmanuel Macron’s clampdown on Islamic extremism following the beheading of French teacher Samuel Paty last month. Paty had shown Charlie Hebdo cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, which devout Muslims consider blasphemous, to pupils shortly before his murder.
Macron defended the publication of the cartoons as freedom of expression, prompting outcry and a boycotting of French goods by some Muslim states.
France was placed on its maximum security alert after the Nice attack, with Macron pledging to increase security patrols of French churches and schools, providing 4,000 more troops to protect them – raising the total number to 7,000.
The attack in Nice is the latest in a string of terrorist incidents in the country in recent weeks, following an attempted stabbing in Avignon on October 29, schoolteacher Paty’s murder near Paris on October 19, and the stabbing of four people outside the old offices of the Charlie Hebdo magazine in September.
An oxygen support machine caught fire at a coronavirus field hospital in a Mumbai neighborhood. Medics were able to put out the flames and no one was hurt in the accident.
A video released by Indian local authorities on social media shows an oxygen system, identified as high-flow nasal cannula, in a Covid-19 treatment facility in Dahisar, a northern suburb of Mumbai, suddenly catching fire.
Clad in personal protective gear, one medical worker is then seen rushing to the patient’s bed. Although initially startled, the nurse remained remarkably calm and was quickly aided by colleagues. One medic poured liquid on the fire, extinguishing the flames, and the power was cut off promptly from the machine. No one was hurt in the incident, according to local media reports.
दहिसर कांदरपाडा आयसीयू केंद्रात वैद्यकीय संयंत्राला लागलेली आग वेळीच विझवली
Earlier this month, an 82-year-old Covid-19 critical patient at another Mumbai hospital died while being shifted, as the ventilator he was connected to caught fire.
Another similar incident occurred last month at a hospital in Vadodara, also in India, after a ventilator went up in flames at that facility’s Covid-19 ward. One patient had to be lifted up by medical personnel and evacuated as smoke and flames poured out from the machine.
The wall and part of the roof of an Orthodox church on the Greek island of Samos caved in during Friday’s deadly earthquake, which also triggered a ‘mini-tsunami’ that led to localized flooding in coastal areas.
Two teenagers who were walking home from school were killed by falling rubble when the ferocious quake hit the Greek island. In Turkey at least six people were killed and 120 injured in the earthquake, which struck off in the Aegean Sea. The quake was felt on both shores of the sea, and in Istanbul and Athens.
The Church of the Dormition in Neo Karlovasi on the Greek island of Samos partially collapsed as a result of the temblor. Shocking photos from the scene show the damage the quake wrought on the beautiful building.
“People are panicking and have spilled out into the street,” Samos Deputy Mayor Giorgos Dionysiou said.
Dionysiou confirmed numerous, mostly old buildings had been damaged in the quake. Coastal areas of the island were struck by a miniature tsunami, which flooded low-lying areas, adding insult to injury for an already shaken-up local population.
The mayor of eastern Samos, George Stantzos, told reporters the authorities were working to “organize the situation.” “We are on the side of the residents. The next hours are crucial,” Stantzos said.
A live stream by a local media outlet showed cracks in multiple buildings, as concerned residents took to the streets as a precaution in anticipation of aftershocks.
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Tunisia is investigating the existence of the ‘Mahdi Organization’, after a group by that name reportedly took credit for the attack in Nice, France. The suspect is from Tunisia but his family insists he is not an extremist.
The counter-terrorism division of Tunisia’s public prosecutor’s office has ordered a probe into whether the alleged terrorist cell, “Al Mahdi in southern Tunisia,” is real, and if so whether it played any role in Thursday’s attack in Nice.
The Tunisian press agency TAP said that the investigation was prompted by a social media post in which an individual who claimed to be part of the group took responsibility for the knife rampage that killed three people.
The suspect in the incident is a Tunisian migrant who recently arrived in France from Italy. The 21-year-old, identified as Brahim Aouissaoui, was shot and seriously wounded by police after allegedly carrying out the attack at the city’s Notre Dame church. Police claim that they found several blades, two phones and a copy of the Koran at the crime scene.
The French government has described the attack as an act of Islamic terrorism.
His family in Tunisia, however, insists that Aouissaoui showed no signs of extremism. In an interview with Reuters, his sister said that he had come to the church on Thursday morning soon after arriving in Nice and was planning on sleeping nearby. In a video call with his family, Aouissaoui reportedly said that he planned to sleep in a building opposite the church.
The entire family is now under investigation, and their phones have been confiscated by Tunisian security officials, Aouissaoui said.
On Friday, French police detained a 47-year-old man who was reportedly in contact with the suspect a day before the attack.
The French government has vowed to crack down on Islamic extremism and has said the country should brace for further attacks on its soil.
An accountability court in Lahore has taken notice of the absence of Hamza Shehbaz in the hearing of Ramzan Sugar Mills case today and sought written response from the jail officials.
Judge Amjad Nazir Chaudhry conducted the hearing of Ramzan Sugar Mills corruption reference against Hamza Shehbaz today.
A judicial officer apprised the accountability court that the accused rejected to travel by bullet-proof van to appear in the hearing. He said that a bullet-proof vehicle is present inside the jail, however, Hamza is not coming out of his prison cell. He added that the warrants against Hamza were presented in the court.
The court took notice of Hamza Shehbaz’s absence in the hearing and ordered the jail officials to submit a written response to clarify the reasons for not producing him.
Judge Amjad Nazir Chaudhry also directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to produce its witnesses in the next hearing and asked authorities to modify the date on the warrants of Hamza.
The accountability court adjourned the hearing till November 10.
Later, the deputy superintendent of Kot Lakhpat Jail submitted a written response to the court for mentioning the reasons for Hamza’s absence in the hearing.
Ramzan Sugar Mills case
The NAB had filed a reference accusing former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif, his son Hamza Shahbaz and others for causing losses to the national exchequer and misusing authority by sanctioning construction of a bridge to facilitate the sugar mills.
NAB officials say, Shehbaz Sharif, being the chief minister of Punjab, misused his authority by issuing directives for the construction of a 10-kilometre-long drain in Chiniot primarily to benefit the sugar mill owned by his sons. Shehbaz and Hamza have been accused of fraudulently causing a Rs 213 million loss to the national exchequer.
The popular Turkish chef Burak Ozdemir, who is known for his gigantic sized portions of Middle Eastern Foods worldwide, has arrived in Pakistan on Saturday.
With over 476,000 followers on Twitter and a whopping 17.2million followers on Instagram, Burak has now become a global sensation.
Upon his arrival in Pakistan, the celebrated chef said that both countries share an extraordinary harmony when it comes to cultures and food and he has traveled all the way from his country to experience what Pakistan actually looks like in reality.
On the other hand, Burak’s fans on Twitter are over the moon as they welcome their favourite chef to Pakistan.
Earlier, Burak in a video message on social media had said that he would visit Pakistan this month. Sharing his plans, the renowned chef had said that he wanted to come to Pakistan and meet the people himself.
A Danish daily credited with starting a debate over criticism of Islam has said it will not print cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed as part of a political advertizing campaign, due to alleged safety concerns.
Jacob Nybroe, editor-in-chief of Jyllands-Posten, said his newspaper will not participate in an ad campaign launched by a Danish political party, the New Right, which will feature caricatures of the founder of Islam as a way to “show support for the victims of Islamic violence” and make it clear that Denmark won’t “bend when we are threatened with violence, murder, and terror.”
The adverts, run in collaboration with the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, will include cartoons used by French schoolteacher Samuel Paty in a lesson about freedom of speech. A radicalized Chechen refugee beheaded Paty earlier this month in retaliation for the lesson.
Nybroe told Danish media he sympathized with the “declaration of solidarity” from the right-wing party, but his paper would not be able to print the ads, after the authorities foiled four separate attacks planned against the news organization.
The paper’s staff have also been targeted in the past. Contributing cartoonist Kurt Westergaard survived a 2010 assault when an armed man broke into his home.
“Security for us is unfortunately not a theoretical, moral, or political consideration,” Nybroe said in an email to Denmark’s Journalisten.
He argued that his newspaper had to operate in the open and therefore could not afford to take unnecessary risks that would put its staff in direct danger.
I wish it was different, that we could express ourselves freely, as we do in all other matters. But violence works.
“Only in one circumstance do we show caution – that is, in fact, a censorship inflicted on us by threats: we do not show drawings of the Prophet Muhammad [sic],” Nybroe said.
Three other Danish papers have said they will need to review the adverts before making a decision about whether to publish them or not.
Jyllands-Posten’s decision not to run the provocative political messages has particular significance, however. The Copenhagen paper made international headlines after printing 12 editorial cartoons in 2005, most of which depicted the Prophet Mohammed. The Danish prime minister at the time, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, described the ensuing international scandal, including violent protests worldwide, as “Denmark’s worst international crisis since World War II.”
The paper said the collection of cartoons was meant to spark discussion about criticism of Islam and self-censorship. Charlie Hebdo later republished some of the cartoons, leading to an attack on the French magazine’s Paris offices by a group of Islamist militants.
France has vowed to crack down on Islamic extremism following Paty’s murder. The country has suffered from a string of knife attacks, with the latest, a terrorist rampage at a church in Nice leading to the death of three people. French officials have raised the nationwide terror-alert system to its maximum level as the government warns that further attacks are expected.
In a sweet gesture, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said he could not have survived without his wife Bushra Khan.
Speaking to German magazine Der Spiegel's Susanne Koelbl, the premier said his wife has great wisdom. "I discuss everything with her," he shared. "Also problem [that] I face in the government, dealing with complex situations."
PM Imran said "only a fool doesn't talk about everything with his wife".
“She is my soulmate. She is my companion," he said. "I would not have survived without her."
The prime minister frequently praises his wife for her wisdom. Upon the completion of PTI government's first 100 days, he credited her for "such a difficult life".
The couple got married in February 2018. PM Imran was previously married to Jemima Khan, with whom he shares two children, for nine years and Reham Khan for 10 months. Before tying the knot with Imran, Bushra Bibi was married to Khawar Maneka.
A speeding car driven by a Saudi citizen rammed into the outer gates of the Grand Mosque in Makkah late Friday, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
Visuals posted on social media show the car ploughing through the barricades in the courtyard before driving straight into one of the large doors.
In a tweet, the Makkah region confirmed that there were no casualties, adding that the driver was in an unusual condition. It added that the accident was caused by a car drifting and traveling in high speed at nearby roads in the southern square of the Grand Mosque.
متحدث #إمارة_مكة سلطان الدوسري :
الجهات الأمنية بمكة تُباشر حادثة ارتطام مركبة بأحد أبواب #المسجد_الحرام نتيجة انحرافها أثناء سيرها بسرعة عالية بأحد الطرق المحيطة بالساحة الجنوبية اللحرم، ولم يصب أي شخص بأذى
..المقبوض عليه مواطن بحالة غير طبيعية ، وجارٍ إحالته للنيابة العامة pic.twitter.com/wOAPnq2YPf
Twenty two people were killed and more than 800 injured in the Turkish city of Izmir after a powerful earthquake rocked its Aegean coast. Images coming from the city show significant damage, suggesting the death toll may rise.
According to the latest data, 20 people were killed in Izmir alone and as many as 800 were wounded in the quake.
Search and rescue operations have been ongoing at 17 collapsed or severely damaged buildings around the city. Izmir's governor said some 70 people had so far been rescued from under rubble.
The Turkish authority has measured the earthquake at 6.6 in magnitude, while both the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said it was 7.0.
Shortly after the quake, Izmir’s Ege University urged the public to donate blood at its blood center as a “precaution,” signaling that the number of injured may potentially overwhelm the city’s emergency units.
At least 33 aftershocks followed the destructive earthquake, with 13 of the jolts exceeding a magnitude of 4.0, the Turkish data said. The epicenter of the primary quake was located at a depth of around 16km off the Aegean coast, affecting both the Turkish mainland and Greek islands in the Aegean Sea. The tremor was even reportedly felt in Athens.
The moment a building collapses in #Izmir after powerful earthquake wrecks western #Turkey
Turkey’s Izmir and its namesake province have apparently experienced the worst impact. Izmir is Turkey’s 3rd largest city, with a population of some 3.7 million. Up to 20 buildings were destroyed by the quake across the province, Izmir’s Governor Yavuz Selim Kosger said in a statement.
A complete separation of the US and Chinese economies is utterly unrealistic, a senior Chinese official has said, emphasizing the need for cooperation between various nations amid the pandemic-induced global economic uncertainty.
Speaking at a news briefing in Beijing on Friday, the deputy director of the Office of China’s Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs, Han Wenxiu, argued against severing ties between the world’s two largest economies.
“Decoupling is basically not realistic, and there’s no benefit for China or the US, or the entire world,” Han stated.
Those who want decoupling are few. Those who want collaboration are far more.
The official explained that the US and China will be able to maintain their positions as the largest economies only if they complement each other. Moreover, the two should be operating in an open global environment, as it provides more opportunities for the rest of the world, Han added.
While the US and China remain major business partners, the duo have been locked in an open economic standoff for over two years already. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened a “complete decoupling” of the American economy from China, accusing Beijing of using unfair trade practices. While the president insisted it was not only possible, but even beneficial for the American economy, other top US officials have doubted his idea was even remotely realistic.
The US-China economic standoff, which has already escalated into a full-blown trade war, is further reinforced by various geopolitical tensions. The most recent flashpoint came last week, after the US approved a $1.8 billion arms sales to Taiwan, which Beijing considers to be an integral part of China. China demanded Washington abandon its arms sales plan and immediately “stop military contact” with Taiwan, threatening sanctions against the American arms manufacturing giants if the deal goes through.
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Pakistan reported 11 more coronavirus-related fatalities during the past 24 hours, taking the death toll from the disease to 6,806.
According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 807 fresh infections emerged during this period, lifting the national tally of cases to 332,993. Around 21,688 samples were tested on Tuesday.
There are a total of 12,121 active cases of the coronavirus as 314,066 patients have so far recuperated from the disease.
Thus far, Sindh has reported 145,475 cases, followed by Punjab reporting 104,016 cases while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 39,458, Balochistan 15,896, Islamabad 19,818, Gilgit Baltistan 4,248 and Azad Jammu and Kashmir 4,082.
669 of the patients under treatment in hospitals across the country are said to be in critical condition.
Famed mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov on Friday reacted strongly to French President Emmanuel Macron's recent statements on Islam that have offended Muslims across the globe.
The MMA star, taking to Instagram, shared a photo that has a boot print over the face of the French president.
"May the Almighty disfigure the face of this creature and all its followers, who, under the slogan of freedom of speech, offend the feelings of more than one and a half billion Muslim believers," Khabib wrote.
"May the Almighty humiliate them in this life, and in the next. Allah is quick in calculation and you will see it," he added.
The post went on to state: “We are Muslims, we love our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) more than our mothers, fathers, children, wives and all other people close to our hearts. Believe me, these provocations will come back to them, the end is always for the God-fearing.”
The MMA fighter, who has 25 million followers on Instagram, has received almost two million likes on his post.
Muslims around the globe are incensed at Macron after the French president referred to Islam as a religion "in crisis" and refused to "give up" caricatures depicting Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
For Muslims, any depiction of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) is seen as an insult and deeply offends the community.
Following Macron's comments, several Muslim countries, including Turkey, Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait, and Pakistan have responded strongly, with some calling for a boycott of French products.
