Need range ratings of 350 miles, 400 miles, or more before you can comfortably make the jump to an electric vehicle? Now you have plenty of options. But for many of them, you’d better have a big budget. To take a step back, the market demand for ever-higher range ratings is nested in an inconvenient truth: EPA range ratings represent an...

Redesigned Mercedes-Benz AMG GT enters second year on the market with new powertrain options New entry-level model packs 416-hp 2.0-liter turbo-4 New ranger-topper packs electrified twin-turbo V-8 powertrain with combined 805 hp Mercedes-Benz AMG redesigned its GT sports car for the 2024 model year, and for 2025 it has some new models in the...

The NHTSA last week announced an investigation into 1.4 million Honda and Acura vehicles for potential damage that could result in a complete failure of their 3.5-liter V-6 engines. The bearings on connecting rods that connect the pistons with the crankshaft in certain V-6 engines can fail, causing catastrophic damage. The NHTSA's Office of...

Hyundai on Wednesday confirmed that the Ioniq 9 electric three-row SUV will debut on November 21 at the 2024 Los Angeles auto show. Hyundai used the same event in 2021 to preview the Ioniq 9 with the Seven concept. Hyundai in July said the Ioniq 9 will reach the U.S. as a 2025 model, though a firm date for the start of sales hasn't been announced...

The Federal Government says it will collaborate with the private sector in raising a portion of the $10bn needed to ensure the provision of consistent and reliable electricity across the country. This initiative is part of the government’s broader strategy to address the country’s chronic power supply challenges and is expected to span a period

The Nigerian Bottling Company has partnered with Women in Management, Business, and Public Service to support female entrepreneurship, including awarding an N1 million grant to a pastry chef. In a statement, NBC said it awarded an N1m grant to a pastry chef and entrepreneur, Achiv Ngusurun, in recognition of her innovative business approach at the

Former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, on Wednesday, warned that if Nigeria refused to do away with the 1999 Constitution, it would be hard for anyone to fix the country. He described Nigeria as a pluralistic country that needed to address its diversity with true federal constitutions. “To those who think that the trouble with

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has disclosed that Nigeria’s average daily crude oil production rose marginally to 1.33 million barrels per day (bpd) in October 2024. OPEC disclosed this in its monthly oil market report released on November 12. It said the figure was obtained from direct communication with Nigerian officials. The organisation […]

The post Nigeria’s crude oil production increased to 1.33m bpd in October – OPEC first appeared on Business Hallmark.

-Orders rescue of collapsing Osisioma flyover Pursuant to its declaration of state of  emergency on education and other critical sectors of the state economy, the Governor Alex Otti administration of Abia State has has declared that from 1st January, 2025,  it would be an offence for any parent  in the state  to fail to send […]

The post Gov Otti makes primary, secondary school education free, compulsory  first appeared on Business Hallmark.

Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun state on Wednesday presented the total sum of Three Hundred and Ninety Billion, Twenty Million, Two Hundred and Seventy Seven Thousand, Seven Hundred and Forty Naira Only (390,028,277,740.00) to the state House of Assembly as 2025 budget. Governor Adeleke who tagged the 2025 budget as “Budget of Reconstruction and Recovery” […]

The post Gov Adeleke presents N390bn budget to Osun assembly  first appeared on Business Hallmark.

CEBU CITY, Philippines— Miss Universe coronation night is just a few sleeps away. And with that, many things are starting to slowly unfold for the most beautiful night for 73rd Miss Universe. One of which is the 13th crown that will be  worn by the newly crowned Miss Universe. READ MORE: LIST: Miss Universe Philippines Cebu 2025 candidates Filipina queens share bonding moments at Miss Universe 2024 This will be the first time in the Miss Universe history wherein the crown that will be used for the coronation night is made in the Philippines. This is the “Lumière de l’Infini” […]...

Keep on reading: Miss Universe 13th crown proudly made in the Philippines

new york — A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday threw out a $1.68 billion judgment against Iran's central bank that had been won by family members of troops killed and injured in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut.  The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said a lower court judge should have addressed questions of state law before ruling against Bank Markazi and Luxembourg intermediary Clearstream Banking, a unit of Deutsche Boerse.  In a 3-0 decision, the panel also rejected a claim that a 2019 federal law designed to make it easier to seize Iranian assets held outside the United States waived Bank Markazi's sovereign immunity.  That law "neither abrogates Bank Markazi's jurisdictional immunity nor provides an independent grant of subject matter jurisdiction," Circuit Judge Robert Sack wrote.    The court returned the case to U.S. District Loretta Preska, in Manhattan to address state law questions in the 11-year-old case, and whether the case can proceed in Bank Markazi's absence.  Bombing victims sought to hold Iran liable for providing material support for the October 23, 1983, suicide attack that killed 241 U.S. service members, by seizing bond proceeds held by Clearstream in a blocked account on Bank Markazi's behalf.  Bank Markazi claimed immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which generally shields foreign governments from liability in U.S. courts.  Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Bank Markazi's and Clearstream's lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests.  Iran, other U.S.-designated sponsors of terrorism, and banks accused of providing services to terrorists face thousands of claims in U.S. courts by victims and their families. It is often difficult for these claimants to collect judgments.  In the Bank Markazi case, the plaintiffs sued in 2013 to partially satisfy a $2.65 billion default judgment they had won against Iran in 2007.  Another judge dismissed the case in 2015, but the 2nd Circuit Court revived it in 2017.  Then in 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a fresh review in light of the 2019 law, which then-President Donald Trump signed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.  The plaintiffs have said they hold more than $4 billion of judgments against Iran and have been unable to collect for decades.  The case is Peterson et al v. Bank Markazi et al, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 15-690. 

Jerusalem — Israel suffered one of the deadliest days of its ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon on Wednesday when six of its soldiers were killed in combat near the border.  The soldiers "fell during combat in southern Lebanon," the army said in a statement. Their deaths brought to 47 the number of Israeli troops who have been killed in combat with Hezbollah since September 30, when Israel sent ground forces into Lebanon.  The army's announcement came after Israel Katz, Israel's new defense minister, said there would be no easing up in the war against Hezbollah.  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on X shared an image of the "Golani" Brigade symbol, the unit the soldiers who were killed belonged to, a green olive tree against a yellow background, with a broken heart emoji.  Since September 23, Israel has stepped up its bombing campaign in Lebanon, mainly targeting Hezbollah strongholds in south Beirut and in the east and south of the country. On September 30, it sent in ground troops.  The offensive came after nearly a year of cross-border exchanges of fire, launched by Hezbollah in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas following its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.  Strike at Aramoun Earlier on Wednesday, an Israeli strike hit Aramoun, a densely packed area south of Beirut that is outside Hezbollah's traditional strongholds. The health ministry said the strike killed six people.  Lebanese state media on the same day reported a third wave of Israeli raids on Hezbollah's south Beirut bastion in 24 hours.  The Israeli army, meanwhile, said it had intercepted some of the "five projectiles" that had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory.  Katz told senior military commanders on his first visit to the border region since his appointment last week that Israel would "make no cease-fires, we will not take our foot off the pedal, and we will not allow any arrangement that does not include the achievement of our war objectives."  Katz added: "We will continue to strike Hezbollah everywhere."   Israel's objectives include disarming Hezbollah and pushing the militants beyond the Litani River, which flows across southern Lebanon.  After Katz's address, another airstrike hit a Beirut suburb Wednesday evening after a warning by Israel's military for residents to evacuate.  Hezbollah said on Wednesday it had fired ballistic missiles at the Israeli army's headquarters in the commercial hub of Tel Aviv, which also houses the defense ministry.  Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army spokesperson's unit said it would "not to react to Hezbollah's allegations."  Lebanese authorities say more than 3,360 people have been killed since October 8, 2023, when Hezbollah and Israel began engaging in cross-border clashes.  Rocket fire from Lebanon on Tuesday killed two residents of the northern Israeli city of Nahariya. The deaths brought to 45 the number of civilians killed in northern Israel as a result of rocket fire from Lebanon.  Israeli hostage The Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, an ally of Hamas, released a video earlier on Wednesday of an Israeli hostage held in Gaza, identifying himself as Sasha Trupanov.  Trupanov's mother, Lena, in a statement published by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum campaign group, urged the hostages' immediate release.  When Hamas militants staged their October 7, 2023, attack, they killed about 1,200 people and about 250 hostages into the Gaza Strip. Of those, about 100 remain held hostage, while about a third of them are confirmed dead. Their bodies remain in Gaza.  In the more than 13 months of war, Israel’s offensive has killed nearly 44,000 people, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Wednesday. The health ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says more than half of those killed were women and children. 

SAO PAULO — Two explosions outside Brazil's Supreme Court on Wednesday killed a man and forced the justices and staff to evacuate the building in the capital of Brasilia. The court said in a statement that two very strong blasts were heard at about 7:30 p.m. local time, shortly after Wednesday's session had finished. It added that all the justices and staff left the building safely after the incident. A police statement had said earlier that an artifact exploded outside the court. Local firefighters confirmed that one man died at the scene but did not identify him. Local media reported that the second explosion occurred about 20 seconds after the first. The incident took place in Brasilia's Three Powers Plaza, where Brazil's main government buildings, including the Supreme Court, Congress and presidential palace, are located. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was not in the neighboring presidential palace at the time of the blasts, spokesperson José Chrispiniano said. Police blocked all access to the area, and the presidential security bureau was conducting a sweep of the grounds around the presidential palace. Brazil's federal police force said it was investigating and did not provide a motive. The Supreme Court in recent years has become a target for threats by far-right groups and supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro due to its crackdown on the spread of false information. Justice Alexandre de Moraes in particular has been a focus for their ire. Earlier, another explosion was heard outside Brazil's Congress, but it apparently did not cause damages. 

WASHINGTON — Republicans have won enough seats to control the U.S. House, completing the party’s sweep into power and securing their hold on U.S. government alongside President-elect Donald Trump. A House Republican victory in Arizona, alongside a win in slow-counting California earlier Wednesday, gave the GOP the 218 House victories that make up the majority. Republicans earlier gained control of the Senate from Democrats. With hard-fought yet thin majorities, Republican leaders are envisioning a mandate to upend the federal government and swiftly implement Trump’s vision for the country. The incoming president has promised to carry out the country’s largest-ever deportation operation, extend tax breaks, punish his political enemies, seize control of the federal government’s most powerful tools and reshape the U.S. economy. The GOP election victories ensure that Congress will be onboard for that agenda, and Democrats will be almost powerless to check it. When Trump was elected president in 2016, Republicans also swept Congress, but he still encountered Republican leaders resistant to his policy ideas, as well as a Supreme Court with a liberal majority. Not this time. When he returns to the White House, Trump will be working with a Republican Party that has been completely transformed by his “Make America Great Again" movement and a Supreme Court dominated by conservative justices, including three that he appointed. Trump rallied House Republicans at a Capitol Hill hotel Wednesday morning, marking his first return to Washington since the election. "I suspect I won’t be running again unless you say, 'He’s good, we got to figure something else,'" Trump said to the room full of lawmakers who laughed in response. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who with Trump's endorsement won the Republican Conference's nomination to stay on as speaker next year, has talked of taking a “blowtorch” to the federal government and its programs, eyeing ways to overhaul even popular programs championed by Democrats in recent years. The Louisiana Republican, an ardent conservative, has pulled the House Republican Conference closer to Trump during the campaign season as they prepare an “ambitious” 100-day agenda. "Republicans in the House and Senate have a mandate," Johnson said earlier this week. "The American people want us to implement and deliver that ‘America First’ agenda." Trump's allies in the House are already signaling they will seek retribution for the legal troubles Trump faced while out of office. The incoming president on Wednesday said he would nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz, a fierce loyalist, for attorney general. Meanwhile, Rep. Jim Jordan, the chair of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, has said Republican lawmakers are "not taking anything off the table" in their plans to investigate special counsel Jack Smith, even as Smith is winding down two federal investigations into Trump for plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Still, with a few races still uncalled the Republicans may hold the majority by just a few seats as the new Congress begins. Trump's decision to pull from the House for posts in his administration — Reps. Gaetz, Mike Waltz and Elise Stefanik so far — could complicate Johnson's ability to maintain a majority in the early days of the new Congress. Gaetz submitted his resignation Wednesday, effective immediately. Johnson said he hoped the seat could be filled by the time the new Congress convenes January 3. Replacements for members of the House require special elections, and the congressional districts held by the three departing members have been held by Republicans for years. With the thin majority, a highly functioning House is also far from guaranteed. The past two years of Republican House control were defined by infighting as hardline conservative factions sought to gain influence and power by openly defying their party leadership. While Johnson — at times with Trump's help — largely tamed open rebellions against his leadership, the right wing of the party is ascendant and ambitious on the heels of Trump's election victory. The Republican majority also depends on a small group of lawmakers who won tough elections by running as moderates. It remains to be seen whether they will stay onboard for some of the most extreme proposals championed by Trump and his allies. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, meanwhile, is trying to keep Democrats relevant to any legislation that passes Congress, an effort that will depend on Democratic leaders unifying over 200 members, even as the party undergoes a postmortem of its election losses. In the Senate, GOP leaders, fresh off winning a convincing majority, are already working with Trump to confirm his Cabinet picks. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota won an internal election Wednesday to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell, the longest serving party leader in Senate history. Thune in the past has been critical of Trump but praised the incoming president during his leadership election bid. "This Republican team is united. We are on one team," Thune said. "We are excited to reclaim the majority and to get to work with our colleagues in the House to enact President Trump’s agenda." The GOP’s Senate majority of 53 seats also ensures that Republicans will have breathing room when it comes to confirming Cabinet posts, or Supreme Court justices if there is a vacancy. Not all those confirmations are guaranteed. Republicans were incredulous Wednesday when the news hit Capitol Hill that Trump would nominate Gaetz as his attorney general. Even close Trump allies in the Senate distanced themselves from supporting Gaetz, who had been facing a House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. Still, Trump on Sunday demanded that any Republican leader must allow him to make administration appointments without a vote while the Senate is in recess. Such a move would be a notable shift in power away from the Senate, yet all the leadership contenders quickly agreed to the idea. Democrats could potentially fight such a maneuver. Meanwhile, Trump's social media supporters, including Elon Musk, the world's richest man, clamored against picking a traditional Republican to lead the Senate chamber. Thune worked as a top lieutenant to McConnell, who once called the former president a "despicable human being" in his private notes. However, McConnell made it clear that on Capitol Hill the days of Republican resistance to Trump are over. 

Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers: 1. The Federal Government says it needs $10 billion Public-Private-Partnership investment in the power sector, in the next five to 10 years, to achieve 24 hours power supply. Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu disclosed this when the Director-General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Dr Jobson Ewalefoh, […]

Nigerian Newspapers: 10 things you need to know Thursday morning

Seplat Energy Plc has announced that the Nigerian government has finally given consent to its $1.3 billion acquisition of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) assets. The oil company disclosed this in a statement released on Wednesday through its official X account. Seplat said that the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has confirmed the consent […]

Seplat announces Nigerian govt approval for $1.3bn acquisition of MPNU

1. Best camera phones under ₹20,000: Samsung Galaxy A16, Moto G85 and more | Mint  Mint
2. Best smartphones under 20,000 with good cameras: Redmi Note 13 Pro, Vivo T3 5G and others  Hindustan Times
3. 5 Affordable Camera Phones To Consider For Vlogging  Times Now
4. Vivo T3 to Redmi Note 13 Pro: Top 5 budget camera smartphones under Rs 20,000  Asianet Newsable

1. SENSEX rises over 100 points, NIFTY50 trades above 23,600; Eicher Motors climbs over 6%, Swiggy up 5%  Upstox
2. Stock Market LIVE Updates: Sensex, Nifty erase gains, trade flat; mid, samllcaps shine  Moneycontrol
3. Sensex Today | Stock Markets Live Update: Sensex, Nifty turn red after giving up opening gains, Eicher up 7%  CNBCTV18
4. Stock Market LIVE Updates: FMCG, Oil, financial stocks drag Sensex 200pts to 77,500; Nifty at 23,500  Business Standard
5. Eicher Motors leads Indian shares higher at the open  Mint

1. Republicans win 218 House of Representatives seats, completing party's sweep into power alongside Trump  Deccan Herald
2. U.S. Republicans complete power takeover with House majority  The Hindu
3. Republicans win control of House, cementing a GOP trifecta under Trump  Deccan Herald
4. After Senate Win, Republicans Retain House Majority; Trump Secures Clear Path To Enact His Policies  The Times of India

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump chose loyalists with little experience for several key cabinet positions on Wednesday, stunning some allies and making clear that he is serious about reshaping – and in some cases testing – America’s institutions. Trump’s choice of congressman Matt Gaetz, 42, for U.S. attorney general, America’s top law enforcement officer, was a […]

Greece’s intelligence service on Wednesday declassified 58 intelligence reports connected to the Greek-led coup in Cyprus in 1974 and the subsequent Turkish invasion, giving an inside account of the historic events for the first time. The redacted documents shed light on the Greek perspective between July and August 1974 and have been released with the […]

England skipper Harry Kane has hit out at several players who withdrew from the national team ahead of their Nations League crucial matches against Greece and Ireland, saying that country must always come before club football. England play Greece away on Thursday followed by Ireland three days later at Wembley but nine players, some of […]

[allAfrica]

Kristin Chenoweth expresses feelings of being a wife of 14 years younger husbandKristin Chenoweth, the Emmy-winning actress and singer, spoke from the heart revealing how it feels to be older than her husband, Josh Bryant.Despite the 14 years of age difference between them, the couple have been...

KARACHI: The stock market bounced back on Wednesday as investors indulged in value-hunting, helping the benchmark KSE 100 index partially recover overnight losses.

Ali Najib, Head of Sales at Insight Securities, attributed the market’s positive performance to continued buying activity from high-net-worth individuals and mutual funds, supported by improvements on the macroeconomic front, a stable rupee, and a decline in bond market yields.

In early trade, the benchmark KSE-100 index lost 281.49 points to 92,943.59 but rebounded on renewed buying interest, adding 579.02 points to hit an all-time high at 93,803.59 intraday. How­ever, the index settled at 93,355.43 with a trimmed gain of 130.86 points or 0.14pc day-on-day.

Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corporation said stocks showed recovery led by second and third-tier scrips on strong valuations.

He added that upbeat data on car sales surging 112pc year-on-year in October and the FBR assurance to IMF for dropping contingency measures on revenue, reversing fears about mini-budget were other factors that supported the positive performance at PSX.

Topline Securities Ltd said the market exhibited a consolidation phase, with the index reaching a peak of 93,804 and dipping to a low of 92,943.

The index was boosted by positive contributions from Mari Petroleum, Lucky Cement, The Searle, Engro Corporation, and POL, which collectively added 461 points. Conv­ersely, Oil and Gas Dev­elop­ment Company, Fauji Fertiliser, and Meezan Bank experienced some profit-taking, resulting in a combined loss of 213 points to the index.

The trading volume was up 1.78pc to 807.06m shares, and its value by 2.92pc to Rs31.68.

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included WorldCall Tele­com (43.29m shares), Waves Home Appliances (33.20m shares), Pakistan Refinery (31.52m shares), K-Electric (27.45m shares) and Pak Elektron (26.99m shares).

The shares registering the most significant incre­ases in their prices in absolute terms were Rafhan Maize (Rs64.96), Philip Morris (Rs38.17), Mari Pet­ro­leum (Rs30.13), Lucky Cement (Rs28.64) and Packages Ltd (Rs28.37).

Foreigners remained net sellers as they offloaded shares worth $5.01m.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2024

ATHENS: Greece’s state intelligence agency on Wednesday said it had declassified a set of archival documents for the first time in its history, covering the period of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974.

Turkiye invaded the island of Cyprus in 1974 in response to a coup against the government led by a military dictatorship in Athens. Cyprus has since been divided between the Greek-speaking UN-recognised republic in the south and the Turkish Cypriot north, which unilaterally declared independence in 1983.

Evanthis Hatzivassiliou, a professor of postwar history at the National University of Athens, in a statement said the archives cover the period of the invasion from July to August 1974.

One conclusion that can be drawn from the documents is that the intelligence agency EYP was “not informed” of the attempted coup organised by the Greek dictatorship against Archbishop Makarios, the president of Cyprus, Hatzivassiliou said. “The (dictatorship) … informed only those absolutely necessary,” he said.

After the coup, the agency was “quite accurate” in describing Turkish preparations for war, but the warnings were ignored in Athens, he said.

The failure to defend Cyprus led to the fall of the Greek dictatorship in July 1974. A second Turkish invasion followed weeks later in August.

EYP director-general Themistoklis Demiris on Wednesday said that the agency would go on to declassify additional documents referring to “dark” periods of Greek history, without elaborating.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2024

• Matters include review of Justice Isa’s appointment as BHC CJ, pollution caused by industries in Islamabad
• SCBA says 26th amendment has rendered ‘fundamental rights a mere farce’, executive can’t pick and choose judges

ISLAMABAD: Amidst the backdrop of deteriorating air quality, the Supreme Court’s constitutional bench will take up on Thursday (Nov 14) as many as 18 human rights cases, including one related to air pollution as well as a review petition against the 2018 judgement on the appointment of Justice Qazi Faez Isa as Balochistan High Court chief justice.

Likewise, a six-judge constitutional bench, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, will resume hearing around 10 cases, including suo motu cases such as lady health workers programme, harassment case of singer Meesha Shafi and similar other harassment case.

Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Musarat Hilali and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan will be part of the bench.

The six-judge bench was formed in view of unavailability of the seventh judge, Justice Ayesha A Malik, on Nov 14 and Nov 15.

The cause list was issued after a meeting of the three-judge committee constituted as per Article 191A (4) under the chairmanship of Justice Aminuddin Khan to discuss matters related to the composition of the constitutional bench. The committee had resolved that priority should be accorded to the oldest cases.

The SC had constituted a three-judge committee to determine fixation, issuance of court roster, sitting of benches and number of cases to be heard in a week by the constitutional benches, which the top court had formed recently.

On Thursday, the constitutional bench will also resume the 2007 hearing of a public petition against pollution caused by industrial units in Islamabad’s Sectors I-9 and I-10. The petitions were filed by one Nazir Ahmed and other residents of I-9 and I-10 about environmental degradation causing asthma, respiratory infections, allergies and heart ailments since the establishment of industrial units, especially steel furnaces and marble units, in the Federal Capital Industrial Estate.

In 1993, the CDA had developed a negative list of undesirable industrial plants working in the industrial estate. It encouraged them, especially the steel furnaces, to switch to some other trade and offered not to charge the normal fee.

According to earlier reports, 1,500 tonnes of effluents generated by the pharmaceutical industry, flour mills, oil and ghee mills, marble factories and plastic extrusion mills are thrown into the Leh nullah every day, heavily polluting underground water. Around 500 factories in the I-9 and I-10 industrial estates were causing water and air pollution in the area like the steel melting furnaces, re-rolling mills, flour mills, oil and ghee mills, marble cutting and polishing units and metal working and engineering units, GI pipes, soap, chemical, plastic, marble, spices and printing, a report had suggested.

A number of applications by different industrial units in the affected sectors were also pending before the court against the decision to de-seal these steel and casting units. Overall air pollution in the country was also on the table of the constitutional bench.

Some cases concern the restoration of the trial court under the control of narcotic substance act, or appointment of certain officers, though most of the cases have become infructuous.

One of the review petitions relates to the appointment of Justice Isa as BHC chief justice. The review petition was filed by Advocate Riaz Hanif Rahi against the July 7, 2018, SC judgement in which the court, while rejecting the petition, had held that the appointment was done in view of the extraordinary circumstances when all the judges, including the then chief justice, had resigned and the high court had become vacant. As such the initiation of the name of Justice Isa as BHC CJ was made in an exigency and thus not hit by any illegality, former CJP Mian Saqib Nisar had held in a seven-page verdict.

Earlier on April 5, a three-judge SC bench rejected the petition of Advocate Rahi challenging the appointment and later elevation of Justice Isa to the Supreme Court.

The detailed judgement had observed that the appointment of Justice Isa directly as BHC CJ was legal because it was made by the President and the then-Balochistan governor conferred it, thus meeting the requirement of Article 193.

SCBA sees threat to democracy

Meanwhile, in a statement, the recently elected secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Salman Mansoor categorically condemned the 26th Amendment as being against ordinary citizens and a direct threat to democracy and freedom in Pakistan.

The 26th Amendment was in violation of the principle of separation of powers and independence of judiciary, which “now stand altered, repealed and abrogated”, he said, adding those principles were guardians of fundamental rights of ordinary citizens and ensure a free, fair and democratic society and state.

The executive is the strongest adversary of ordinary citizens and their daily opponent in courts, he said, adding that the executive, enjoying majority in parliament, could not be allowed to select judges of its choice in all litigation where challenges are made to constitutional authority of executive and parliament.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2024

PESHAWAR / QUETTA: An important ‘commander’ of a banned organisation was among 16 terrorists killed and six others injured in gun battles, retaliatory attacks and operations carried out in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it was officially announced on Wednesday.

Security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation (IBO) on the reported presence of khwarij (the military’s terminology for the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan) in the Miramshah area of North Waziristan district between Nov 12 and 13, said a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

The security forces effectively engaged the terrorist locations during the operation. Eight terrorists were killed and six others injured during the exchange of fire.

In the Kech area of Balochistan, four terrorists, including an important ‘commander’, were killed in a gun battle during an operation, the ISPR said.

Majeed Brigade man was responsible for choosing suicide bombers, says ISPR

In a statement, the military’s media wing said that on the night between Nov 12 and 13, security forces conducted IBOs in the general area Balgatar of Kech district on the reported presence of terrorists.

After an intense exchange of fire between the troops and the terrorists, a high-value target, terrorists’ ringleader Sana alias Baru was killed along with three other terrorists.

The ISPR said that Sana was the focal recruitment agent, especially for suicide bombers, for the so-called Majeed Brigade wing of the banned Balochistan Liberation Army in Kech district and was highly wanted by the law enforcement agencies.

Weapons and ammunition were recovered from the killed terrorists.

Sanitisation operations were being conducted in Miramshah and Kech to eliminate any other terrorists found in the areas, the ISPR said, adding that security forces were determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country and thwart attempts to sabotage peace, stability and progress of Balochistan.

Earlier in the day, four terrorists were killed in two encounters conducted by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel in Malakand, officials said.

Arms and ammunitions were seized after the gun battles, they added.

In the first encounter, three terrorists were killed when the CTD personnel retaliated against attackers in the Sher Khana Palai area. The dead militants were identified as Rizwan alias Bodagay, Salman, and Abdur Rehman alias Shadmani.

Rizwan was wanted by the police and security forces for his involvement in various terrorism-related cases, and was also involved in the firing incident at the historic Churchill Packet, they said.

Deputy Inspector General CTD Hassan Raza told a press conference in Batkhela that his department had received information on Oct 23 that some terrorists had sneaked into the country from Afghanistan and they were planning to carry out subversive activities in different districts of Malakand Division, including Bajaur, Malakand and Swat.

He said that terrorists attacked a CTD team, which had placed barricades on a road at the Sher Khana Palai area to check their movement. In a retaliatory action, the CTD personnel killed three terrorists.

The CTD personnel recovered three Kalashnikovs, hand grenades, pistols and live rounds from the dead militants.

During the other encounter, security forces killed a terrorist, identified as Abdullah.

DIG Raza, flanked by SP Malakand Amjad Ali Khan, stated that the killed terrorists, who belonged to the Sher Khana Palai area, were wanted by the police and security forces for their involvement in several terrorism-related cases. He said a search operation continued in the area.

Gohar Ali Gohar in Malakand also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2024

“Republicans in the House and Senate have a mandate,” Johnson said earlier this week. “The American people want us to implement and deliver that ‘America First’ agenda.”

Blizzard Entertainment has announced and released Warcraft: Remastered and Warcraft II: Remastered for PC. They are available on Battle.net for $9.99 each.

The Warcraft Remastered Battle Chest is also available on Battle.net for $39.99. It includes Warcraft: Remastered, Warcraft II: Remastered, and Warcraft III: Reforged.

View a trailer below:

Read details on the two remasters below:

Warcraft: Remastered

Relive the original Warcraft tale of Orcs & Humans.

Journey back to the beginning of a 30-year legacy with the first Warcraft story created in 1994, now remastered with vivid, all-new visuals and modernized controls!

Experience the inciting war between Orcs and Humans that shook Azeroth to its core. Defend the realm as the noble Alliance, or seek to conquer it as the bloodthirsty Horde across thrilling faction campaigns or custom skirmish games. Whichever side you take, there has never been a better time to charge into the legendary battles of Azeroth’s greatest heroes in the Warcraft universe.

Rediscover Iconic Sights and Sounds

Toggle between the classic art and the lovingly updated hand-painted artwork. Take in the full view of epic battles with widescreen support and numerous visual updates for the user interface. Enjoy the classic musical themes, now uncompressed and rebalanced.

Classic Gameplay, Modern Controls

Modern improvements, such as health bars, increased unit selection, hotkey indicators, and more have been added to build a seamless experience for a modern audience.

A Preservation Of History

Having excavated original concept art from 1994, Warcraft: Remastered includes a plethora of never-before-seen pieces that heralded the beginnings of the Warcraft legacy! Enjoy the lore and history as it was told in the past.

Warcraft II: Remastered

Master the tides in Warcraft‘s second iconic title.

Captain your own fleet in the second Warcraft title created in 1995, now remastered with vivid, all-new visuals and modernized controls!

War between orc and humans rages on across the seas, and the fate of the world hangs in the balance as the great tacticians of the Horde and the Alliance clash. Only one thing is certain: winning this war will demand unprecedented cunning, courage, and nerves of steel.

The Tides of Darkness Rise Again

After you’ve experienced the campaign for Tides of Darkness, prepare to take your honed skills into the Beyond the Dark Portal campaign, which is also included in this complete Warcraft II: Remastered package.

Rediscover Iconic Sights and Sounds

Toggle between the classic art and the lovingly updated hand-painted artwork. Take in the full view of epic battles with widescreen support and numerous visual updates for the user interface. Enjoy the classic musical themes, now uncompressed and rebalanced.

Join the Frenzy

Integrated with your Battle.Net account, test your friends in multiplayer on classic or custom maps that support up to eight players at once! Connect globally with players around the world by hosting or joining custom game lobbies.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/463061/warcraft-1-and-2-remasters-out-now-for-pc/

The future president of the United States has announced a new era for the nation. I propose 10 goals that will make the next Trump administration as solid

At 8:30 p.m. on 16 May 1916, John J. Carty banged his gavel at the Engineering Societies Building in New York City to call to order a meeting of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. This was no ordinary gathering. The AIEE had decided to conduct a live national meeting connecting more than 5,000 attendees in eight cities across four time zones. More than a century before Zoom made virtual meetings a pedestrian experience, telephone lines linked auditoriums from coast to coast. AIEE members and guests in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco had telephone receivers at their seats so they could listen in.

The AIEE, a predecessor to the IEEE, orchestrated this event to commemorate recent achievements in communications, transportation, light, and power. The meeting was a triumph of engineering, covered in newspapers in many of the host cities. The Atlanta Constitution heralded it as “a feat never before accomplished in the history of the world.” According to the Philadelphia Evening Ledger, the telephone connections involved traversed about 6,500 kilometers (about 4,000 miles) across 20 states, held up by more than 150,000 poles running through 5,000 switches. It’s worth noting that the first transcontinental phone call had been achieved only a year earlier.

Carty, president of the AIEE, led the meeting from New York, while section chairmen directed the proceedings in the other cities. First up: roll call. Each city read off the number of members and guests in attendance—from 40 in Denver, the newest section of the institute, to 1,100 at AIEE headquarters in New York. In all, more than 5,100 members attended.

Due to limited seating in New York and Philadelphia, members were allowed only a single admission ticket, and ladies were explicitly not invited. (Boo.) In Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago, members received two tickets each, and in San Francisco members received three; women were allowed to attend in all of these cities. (The AIEE didn’t admit its first woman until 1922, and only as an associate member; Edith Clarke was the first woman to publish a paper in an AIEE journal, in 1926.)

These six cities were the only ones officially participating in the meeting. But because the telephone lines ran directly through both Denver and Salt Lake City, AIEE sections in those cities opted to listen in, although they were kept muted; during the meeting, they sent telegrams to headquarters with their attendance and greetings. In a modern-day Zoom call, these notes would have been posted in the chat.

The first virtual meeting had breakout sessions

Once everyone had checked in and confirmed that they all could hear, Carty read a telegram from U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, congratulating the members on this unique meeting: “a most interesting evidence of the inventive genius and engineering ability represented by the Institute.”

Alexander Graham Bell then gave a few words in greeting and remarked that he was glad to see how far the telephone had gone beyond his initial idea. Theodore Vail, first president of AT&T and one of the men who was instrumental in establishing telephone service as a public utility, offered his own congratulations. Charles Le Maistre, a British engineer who happened to be in New York to attend the AIEE Standards Committee, spoke on behalf of his country’s engineering societies. Finally, Thomas Watson, who as Bell’s assistant was the first person to hear words spoken over a telephone, welcomed all of the electrical engineers scattered across the country.

At precisely 9:00 p.m., the telephone portion of the meeting was suspended for 30 minutes so that each city could have its own local address by an invited guest. Let’s call them breakout sessions. These speakers reflected on the work and accomplishments of engineers. Overall, they conveyed an unrelentingly positive attitude toward engineering progress, with a few nuances.

In Boston, Lawrence Lowell, president of Harvard University, said the discovery and harnessing of electricity was the greatest single advancement in human history. However, he admonished engineers for failing to foresee the subordination of the individual to the factory system.

In Philadelphia, Edgar Smith, provost of the University of Pennsylvania, noted that World War I was limiting the availability of certain materials and supplies, and he urged more investment in developing the United States’ natural resources.

Charles Ferris, dean of engineering at the University of Tennessee, praised the development of long-distance power distribution and the positive effects it had on rural life, but worried about the use of fossil fuels. His chief concern was running out of coal, gas, and oil, not their negative impacts on the environment.

More than a century before Zoom made virtual meetings a pedestrian experience, telephone lines linked auditoriums from coast to coast for the AIEE’s national meeting.

On the West Coast, Ray Wilbur, president of Stanford, argued for the value of dissatisfaction, struggle, and unrest on campus as spurs to growth and innovation. I suspect many university presidents then and now would disagree, but student protests remain a force for change.

After the city breakout sessions, everyone reconnected by telephone, and the host cities took turns calling out their greetings, along with some engineering boasts.

“Atlanta, located in the Piedmont section of the southern Appalachians, among their racing rivers and roaring falls, whose energy has been dragged forth and laid at her doors through high-tension transmission and in whose phenomenal development no factor has been more potent than the electrical engineers, sends greetings.”

“Boston sends warmest greetings to her sister cities. The telephone was born here and here it first spoke, but its sound has gone out into all lands and its words unto the ends of the world.”

“San Francisco hails its fellow members of the Institute…. California has by the pioneer spirit of domination created needs which the world has followed—the snow-crowned Sierras opened up the path of gold to the path of energy, which tonight makes it possible for us on the western rim of the continent of peace to be in instant touch with men who have harnessed rivers, bridled precipices, drawn from the ether that silent and unseen energy that has leveled distance and created force to move the world along lines of greater civilization by closer contacts.”

That last sentence, my editor notes, is 86 words long, but we included it for its sheer exuberance.

Maybe all tech meetings should have musical interludes

The meeting then paused for a musical interlude. I find this idea delightfully weird, like the ballet dream sequence in the middle of the Broadway musical Oklahoma! Each city played a song of their choosing on a phonograph, to be transmitted through the telephone. From the south came strains of “Dixie,” countered by “Yankee Doodle” in New England. New York and San Francisco opted for two variations on the patriotic symbolism of Columbia: “Hail Columbia” and “Columbia the Gem of the Ocean,” respectively. Philadelphia offered up the “Star-Spangled Banner,” and although it wasn’t yet the national anthem, audience members in all auditoriums stood up while it played.

For the record, the AIEE in those days took entertainment very seriously. Almost all of their conferences included a formal dinner dance, less-formal smokers, sporting competitions, and inspection field trips to local sites of engineering interest. There were even women’s committees to organize events specifically for the ladies.

I suspect no one in attendance would have predicted that in the 21st century, people groan at the thought of another virtual meeting.

After the music, Michael Pupin delivered an address on “The Engineering Profession,” a topic that was commonly discussed in the Proceedings of the AIEE in those days. Remember that electrical engineering was still a fairly new academic discipline, only a few decades old, and working engineers were looking to more established professions, such as medical doctors, to see how they might fit into society. Pupin had made a number of advancements in the efficiency of transmission over long-distance telephone, and in 1925 he served as the president of the AIEE.

The meeting concluded with resolutions, amendments, acceptances, and seconding, following Robert’s Rules of Order. (IEEE meetings still adhere to the rules.) In the last resolution, the participants patted themselves on the back for hosting this first-of-its-kind meeting and acknowledging their own genius that made it possible.

The Proceedings of the AIEE covered the meeting in great detail. Local press accounts offered less detail. I’ve found no evidence that they ever tried to replicate the meeting. They did try another experiment in which a member read the same paper at meetings in three different cities so that there could be a joint discussion about the contents. But it seems they returned to their normal schedule of annual and section meetings with technical paper sessions and discussion.

And nowhere have I found answers to some of the basic questions that I, as a historian 100 years later, have about the 1916 event. First, how much did this meeting cost in long-distance fees and who paid for it? Second, what receivers did the audience members use and did they work? And finally, what did the members and guests think of this grand experiment? (My editor would also like to know why no one took a photo of the event.)

But in the moment, rarely do people think about what later historians may want to know. And I suspect no one in attendance would have predicted that in the 21st century, people groan at the thought of another virtual meeting.

Republican Rep. Ken Calvert won re-election to the U.S. House in California's 41st Congressional District.

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