Authorities in Sierra Leone have launched an Ebola vaccination campaign targeting at least 5,000 health workers. Many health workers caught the Ebola virus during the outbreak that hit West Africa a decade ago. Victoria Amunga reports from Kenema, Sierra Leone. Camera: Jimmy Makhulo.

Madrid — New storms in Spain caused school closures and train cancellations on Wednesday, two weeks after flash floods in Valencia and other parts of the country killed more than 220 people and destroyed thousands of homes. Coastal areas of Valencia were placed under the highest alert on Wednesday evening. Forecasters said up to 180 millimeters (7 inches) of rain could fall there within five hours. Cleanup efforts in parts of Valencia hardest hit by the Oct. 29 storm were still continuing, and there were concerns over what more rain could bring to streets still covered with mud and debris. In southern Malaga province, streets were flooded, while 3,000 people near the Guadalhorce river were moved from their homes as a preventive measure. Schools across the province were closed, along with many stores. High-speed AVE train service was canceled between Malaga and Madrid as well as Barcelona and Valencia. There were no reports of any deaths. Spanish weather forecaster AEMET put Malaga on red alert, saying up to 70 millimeters (roughly 3 inches) of rain had accumulated in an hour. Parts of Tarragona province in the east also faced heavy rain and remained under red alert. The forecast in Malaga delayed the start of the Billie Jean King Cup tennis finals between Spain and Poland, which was set for Wednesday. The storm system affecting Spain is caused by warm air that collides with stagnant cold air and forms powerful rain clouds. Experts say that drought and flood cycles are increasing with climate change.

Ukrainian overnight drone attacks have set several non-residential buildings on fire in Russia's Kaluga and Bryansk regions, regional governors said on Sunday. "Emergency services and firefighters are on the site," Alexander Bogomaz, governor of the Russian border region of Bryansk, wrote on the Telegram messaging app, without providing further detail. The defense ministry said its air defense units had destroyed 23 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 17 over Bryansk. Vladislav Shapsha, governor of the Kaluga region, which borders the Moscow region to its northeast, said a non-residential building in the region was on fire as result of Ukraine's drone attack. Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Kyiv has often said its drone attacks on Russian territory are aimed at infrastructure key to Moscow's war efforts and are in response to Russia's continued attack on Ukraine's territory.

Madaxweynaha la doortay ee dalka Maraykanka Donald Trump ayaa u magacaabay xoghayaha gaashaandhiga Pete Hegseth, oo…

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Wasiirka Wasaaradda Deegaanka iyo Isbeddelka Cimilada Amb Khadija Al-Makhzoumi, ayaa heshiis la saxiixatay hay’adda Global Center…

The post Dowladda Soomaaliya oo heshiis la gashay Hay’adda Global Center for Climate Mobility appeared first on Horseed Media.

MANILA, Philippines — Former Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso has left an enduring mark on the city’s Muslim community by establishing Manila’s first Muslim Cemetery and Cultural Hall. Located in the Manila South Cemetery, the 2,400-square-meter site pays tribute to the Muslim community’s deep historical roots in the capital. “This is for all Muslims, particularly those in Manila, who have contributed to our nation’s capital,” Moreno said, stressing the cemetery’s importance as a symbol of Manila’s rich cultural heritage. The site is also a reminder for future generations of Manila’s historical identity as the “Land of the Rajahs,” ruled […]...

Keep on reading: Manila's first Muslim cemetery: Isko Moreno’s legacy

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for "real and extended pauses" in the Gaza war to allow aid delivery to residents. During a visit to Brussels, Belgium, Blinken told reporters the United States wants to see "real and extended pauses in large areas of Gaza, pauses in any fighting, any combat, so that the assistance can effectively get to people who need it."  He said Israel has taken steps to address the humanitarian problem, and it has also "accomplished the goals that it set for itself," he said. "This should be a time to end the war." Earlier, six people were killed in an Israeli airstrike in an area south of Beirut Wednesday, and the Israeli army issued another warning for people in parts of the southern suburbs to leave. Lebanon's health ministry said an additional 15 people were wounded in the airstrike, which followed heavy pounding by Israel on Tuesday.  Overnight attacks in Lebanon were "intelligence-based strikes on Hezbollah weapons storage facilities and command centers in the Dahieh area, a key Hezbollah terrorist stronghold in Beirut," Israel Defense Forces stated in a post on the Telegram messaging app Wednesday. The Israeli military said before the strikes, "numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk to civilians, including issuing advance warnings to the population in the area." IDF also stated Wednesday that several Hezbollah field commanders have been killed in recent strikes in Lebanon. "At the beginning of the month of October, the IAF struck and eliminated Hezbollah's Commander of the Khiam area, Muhammad Musa Salah, in the area of Khiam," IDF posted. "Salah directed many terror attacks against the State of Israel, and was responsible for the launches of more than 2,500 projectiles toward the areas of the Golan Heights, the Upper Galilee, the Galilee Panhandle, and toward IDF troops operating in southern Lebanon." On Sunday, the commander of an anti-tank missile array in Hajir was killed, and field commanders of the Ghajar and Tebnit areas were also killed "during additional precise strikes," IDF stated. Russia's request in Syria Russia asked Israel to avoid launching airstrikes near one of its bases in Syria, Agence France-Presse reported.  In October, Israel reportedly hit the port city of Latakia, a stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad, who is supported by Russia and backs Hezbollah. Latakia, is close to the town of Hmeimim, which hosts a Russian air base. "Israel actually carried out an airstrike in the immediate vicinity of Hmeimim," Alexander Lavrentiev, Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy in the Near East, told the RIA Novosti press agency. "Our military has of course notified Israeli authorities that such acts that put Russian military lives in danger over there are unacceptable," he added. US response to aid in Gaza The United States said Tuesday that Israel has made limited progress on increasing the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip as Washington requested, so the Biden administration will not limit arms transfers to Israel. State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters that "we at this time have not made an assessment that the Israelis are in violation of U.S. law." The administration told its ally on October 13 that it had one month to increase aid to Gaza, where the situation after 13 months of war between Israel and Hamas militants has unleashed a catastrophic humanitarian situation, or face a reduction in military aid. The deadline was Tuesday. "We are not giving Israel a pass," Patel said, adding that "we want to see the totality of the humanitarian situation improve, and we think some of these steps will allow the conditions for that to continue to progress." At the United Nations, U.S. envoy Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council that Israel has taken some important steps, including restoring aid deliveries to the north, but that it must ensure its actions are "fully implemented and its improvements sustained over time." "And we continue to reiterate, there must be no forcible displacement nor policy of starvation in Gaza, which would have grave implications under U.S. and international law," she said. A senior U.N. human rights official said at the same meeting that the entry and distribution of aid into Gaza has fallen to "some of the lowest levels in a year" and criticized Israel's conduct of military operations in the north. Israel denies it is limiting aid to Gaza, blaming the U.N. and aid agencies for slow distribution and Hamas for stealing it. The war in Gaza was triggered when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, although about one-third of them are believed to be dead. Israel's counteroffensive has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to local health authorities. The Israeli military says the death toll includes thousands of Hamas militants. The war spread to Lebanon in mid-September, after months of rocket fire from Hezbollah into Israel and drone and airstrikes by Israel's military in south Lebanon escalated. More than 3,200 Lebanese have been killed, most of them in the past six weeks. Both Hamas and Hezbollah have been designated as terrorist organizations by the United States.

While some parts of Gaza are on the verge of famine, Palestinians in the West Bank are also suffering. They are unable to work in jobs in Israel, and the entire economy of the West Bank is contracting. Linda Gradstein reports from the West Bank town of Ramallah. Camera: Ricki Rosen

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. 

brussels — As China and Peru prepare to sign an updated free-trade agreement at this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to inaugurate a Chinese-financed mega port in Peru, known as Chancay, while attending the APEC meetings. China promotes the Chancay port on Latin America's Pacific coast as a key hub to boost trade connectivity with South America. The plan includes using infrastructure projects to link Chancay, reducing shipping times for goods. A senior U.S. official downplayed the port’s implications for the United States, stating that it does not complicate U.S. relationships in the region and that it is natural for Latin American countries to have diverse trade and investment partnerships beyond the U.S. Matt Murray, the U.S. senior official for APEC, spoke to VOA on Wednesday from Lima, Peru, outlining the U.S. agenda for this year’s APEC meetings. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. VOA: Could you unpack for us the agenda of APEC 2024? Matt Murray, U.S. senior official for APEC: APEC, as you know, is a multilateral forum with 21 member economies that account for half of global trade and 60% of global GDP. Each year, APEC is hosted by a different member economy. The United States was delighted to host in 2023, and this year, the forum has moved to Peru for 2024. APEC always focuses on three key areas: trade and investment, innovation and digitalization, and sustainable, strong, secure, inclusive and balanced growth. Peru has continued these priorities by bringing APEC economies together to discuss these issues and make progress on specific initiatives, including a renewed focus on sustainability. This year, during the energy ministerial meeting in August, Peru launched the Just Energy Transition Initiative within APEC. They have also supported new programming, focused on curbing food loss and waste in the region, which is crucial for the sustainability of our agricultural sectors. VOA: Chinese President Xi Jinping will sign an updated free-trade agreement with Peru and inaugurate a new mega port north of Lima, called Chancay. Can you talk about the implications for the United States? Murray: I think we expect countries, including APEC economies like Peru, to engage in trade and investment relationships with a variety of partners, including the People’s Republic of China. As President Xi arrives in Lima, attention will be given to areas where China has invested in Peru, as well as the trade and investment ties between the two countries. However, from the U.S. perspective, our primary focus is on our own relationship with Peru and with Latin America, particularly in terms of trade, investment and broader engagement. I don’t necessarily see this as complicating our relationship in the region. We view it as a natural part of business that Latin American countries will have diverse trade and investment partners. VOA: Given President-elect Donald Trump's stance on tariffs and the potential withdrawal from the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, and with several IPEF members also part of APEC, how might the U.S. reassure global leaders about its commitment to deepening economic ties with other nations? Murray: Since 1989, both Democratic and Republican U.S. administrations have engaged with APEC. We view it as an opportunity to engage a wide range of partners in a consensus-based, nonbinding way. One of the key ways we reassure leaders is simply by showing up. This week, we’re showing up in a big way. The best way to demonstrate our commitment to deepening economic ties with the region is by having the president, secretary of state and U.S. trade representative all come to Lima to participate in APEC Economic Leaders Week. That, I think, demonstrates leadership and our willingness to continue engaging. VOA: What does the future look like for APEP, or Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, an economic initiative for Latin America, and IPEF? Murray: I don't think I can speculate on the future of these particular arrangements. As you know, this is part of our democracy. We have administrations in power that transition to new ones, which may make different or sometimes similar decisions. There are, in fact, areas where we've seen continuity from the Obama administration to the Trump administration and then to the Biden administration, and there may continue to be such continuity. So, I don’t think it's possible to speculate on any one particular issue.

Bayelsa United technical adviser, Ladan Bosso has said it is important for his team to maintain consistency in their performance. The Prosperity Boys will take on Katsina United in a matchday 12 fixture on Sunday. The encounter will take place at the Samson Siasia Stadium, Yenagoa. Bosso said that he will approach the game with […]

NPFL: Bosso reveals plan for Bayelsa United’s clash against Katsina United

Benin Republic captain, Steve Mounie has sent a strong warning to the Super Eagles ahead of their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying tie, DAILY POST reports. The big forward will lead his teammates out against their fellow West Africans at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium, Abidjan on Thursday night (today) hoping for a repeat […]

AFCON 2025Q: Mounie upbeat Benin Republic can beat Super Eagles again

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike has justified the recent clamp down on beggars in the city of Abuja. DAILY POST recalls that the Minister had in October this year, “declared war on beggars because Abuja is returning to the beggar’s city”. His action attracted condemnation from those who believe that the move […]

They can be terrorists’ informants – Wike justifies war against beggars in FCT

137 | Marco Galea, 56, theatre historian

"Israel has to meet these [humanitarian] responsibilities, and we will be tracking this every single day," Blinken said.

Gadot will play a lawyer whose son has been kidnapped. Her character must run all over London, carrying out demands from a mysterious caller who has taken her child.

Gaetz, who faced a federal probe and opposed key bills, would oversee deportations and Jan. 6 pardons while dismantling what Trump calls a 'weaponized government.'

Borrell cited "serious concerns about possible breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza" in a Wednesday letter.

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. Trump names firebrand lawmaker Matt Gaetz U.S. Attorney General  The Hindu
2. Donald Trump selects Matt Gaetz to be attorney general, Republicans ‘stunned and disgusted’ at ‘reckless pick’  Hindustan Times
3. Why Matt Gaetz's momination as attorney general in Trump’s cabinet has left many Republicans 'shocked'  The Times of India
4. Video | US Election: Trump Taps Gaetz For Attorney General, Gabbard For Intel Chief  NDTV

[Shabelle] Mogadishu, Somalia -- The National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) said it has made a significant breakthrough in the investigation into the murder of three businessmen in Mogadishu's Darusalam neighborhood last month.

The Limassol art scene is about to welcome a new exhibition. The Larnaca-born artist, Nikolas Antoniou, returns to Lumiere Gallery in Limassol for the second time to present his exhibition titled Vibrations of Being. The showcase will run from November 20 to December 7, inviting viewers into the artist’s vivid creative journey of expression. “Antoniou’s […]

The Paris prosecutor on Wednesday requested a five-year prison sentence and a five-year ban from public office against far-right leader Marine Le Pen, at a trial where she and 24 others are accused of embezzling European Union funds. The trial, which comes almost a decade after initial investigations started, threatens to undermine her party’s efforts […]

British shoppers faced renewed pressure on their budgets in October after grocery price inflation edged higher for the second month in a row, industry data showed this week. Market researcher Kantar said annual grocery price inflation was 2.3 per cent in the four weeks to Nov. 3, having been 2.0 per cent in the previous […]

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 […]

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 […]

Riad Meddeb, Director of the Sustainable Energy Hub at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), stressed the urgency of finding innovative financial solutions during COP29. Meddeb was speaking to IPS in an exclusive interview at the conference. He said the negotiations were expected to focus heavily on finance—a core issue that has historically hampered climate […]

[Leadership] The NNPC Gas Marketing Limited (NGML), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), has successfully executed a Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) with Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE.

[Liberian Observer] A six-member ECOWAS delegation visiting Liberia yesterday concluded a consultative meeting with the leadership of the Liberian Senate, with the Speaker assuring Senators that the delegation was here to seek clarity, and facilitate mediation.

[RFI] The EU says it will not renew a fishing agreement between Brussels and Dakar following "shortcomings" over illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

[AI London] French-manufactured military technology incorporated into armoured personnel carriers made by the United Arab Emirates is being used on the battlefield in Sudan in what likely constitutes a violation of the UN arms embargo on Darfur, Amnesty International said in a new investigation.

[allAfrica]

Gabriel Macht reveals his brother believed he was just like his character from 'Suits'Gabriel Macht, American actor, wanted to be as far away as possible from his beloved fictional persona, Harvey Specter. The actor revealed the reason why he holds no interest in living the life the way...

Nadhmi Al-Nasr’s successor, Aiman al-Mudaifer, currently head of PIF's Local Real Estate Division, will serve as Neom’s acting CEO.  

IDF soldiers operated in both Gaza and southern Lebanon, where they eliminated terrorists and terror infrastructure.

CAIRO: Israeli military strikes killed at least 22 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, as Israeli forces deepened their incursion into Beit Hanoun town in the north, forcing most remaining residents to leave.

Residents said Israeli forces besieged shelters housing displaced families and the remaining population, which some estimated at a few thousand, ordering them to head south through a checkpoint separating two towns and a refugee camp in the north from Gaza City.

Men were held for questioning, while women and children were allowed to continue towards Gaza City, residents and Palestinian medics said.

Israel’s campaign in the north of Gaza, and the evacuation of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the area, has fuelled claims from Palestinians that it is clearing the area for use as a buffer zone and potentially for a return of Jewish settlers.

Students occupy defence firm Leonardo’s headquarters in Italy to protest against assistance to Tel Aviv

“The scenes of the 1948 catastrophe are being repeated. Israel is repeating its massacres, displacement and destruction,” said Saed, 48, a resident of Beit Lahiya, who arrived in Gaza City on Wednesday.

“North Gaza is being turned into a large buffer zone, Israel is carrying out ethnic cleansing under the sight and hearing of the impotent world,” he said via a chat app.

Protest

Around a hundred students occupied Leonardo’s Turin headquarters to denounce what they say is the Italian defence group’s complicity in Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

The students, who unfurled a flag of the Palestinian territories from the roof of Leonardo’s offices, said the company was supporting Israel by providing remote technical assistance and spare parts to Israel’s air force. Leonardo declined to comment.

Images released by the students show them in Leonardo’s offices waving Palestinian flags and carrying spray cans. Outside they hung banners on the buildings saying ‘no arms to Israel’ and accusing the group of complicity in genocide. They also clambered on top of a plane in the grounds of the company’s headquarters.

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto condemned the protest, saying on X that the students were “destroying and defacing” the offices where an “important meeting with the staff of the defence ministry” was taking place.

“These people must be treated for what they are, dangerous subversives. Criminals have no political colour, they are just criminals,” he said.

No plans for settlers’ return

The Israeli military has denied any such intention, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he does not want to reverse the 2005 withdrawal of settlers from Gaza. Hardliners in his government have talked openly about going back.Speaking on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel “has accomplished the goals that it set for itself” by taking out Hamas’ leadership and ensuring the group is unable to launch another massive attack. “This should be a time to end the war,” he said.

“We also need to make sure we have a plan for what follows,” he said, “so that if Israel decides to end the war and we find a way to get the hostages out, we also have a clear plan so that Israel can get out of Gaza and we make sure that Hamas is not going back in.”

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Blinken’s comments showed: “We are facing one enemy and that the US enmity against the Palestinian people is no less than that of the occupation.”

Medics said five people were killed in an Israeli strike that hit a group of people outside Kamal Adwan Hospital near Beit Lahiya, while five others were killed in two separate strikes in Nuseirat in central Gaza Strip where the army began a limited raid two days ago.

In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, one man was killed and several others were wounded in an Israeli airstrike, while three Palestinians were killed in two separate Israeli airstrikes in Shejaia suburb of Gaza City, medics added. Later on Wednesday, an Israeli strike on a house in western Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip killed eight people, medics said.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2024

MANSEHRA: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl provincial emir Maulana Attaur Rehman on Wednesday said that his party was going to launch a protest movement against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

“I am here to invite you to our Dec 8 conference in Peshawar to demand an end to the killing of Palestinian men, women, and children by Israeli forces in Gaza,” Mr Rehman told a gathering here.

JUI-F district emir and former senator Hidayatullah Shah and provincial acting general secretary Maulana Nasir Mehmood also addressed the gathering.

Mr Rehman said JUI-F central emir Maulana Fazlur Rehman would address the Peshawar conference.

“We expect over one million people will attend the moot from across the country, especially Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to show solidarity with Palestinians against Israeli brutalities,” he said.

Moot to be held in Peshawar to show solidarity with Palestinians

The JUI leader said his party was striving for the enforcement of Shariah in the country through peaceful and political means, hoping that the struggle would eventually succeed.

He said the party chief, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, helped steer the country out of constitutional and political crises and played a pivotal role in the enactment of 26th Constitutional Amendment, which carried a clause for the elimination of usury from the country.

Mr Rehman acknowledged rifts in the party’s Mansehra chapter and promised corrective measures.

DRIVE AGAINST ENCROACHMENT: The tehsil municipal administration on Wednesday launched a campaign against encroachments in Mansehra city and its suburbs.

“We have removed temporary and permanent illegal structures to ensure the smooth flow of traffic,” tehsil municipal officer Mazhar Muzzaffar Awan told reporters.

A joint team from the police and TMA cleared encroachments from along Abbottabad Road, Kashmir Road, and Shinkiari Road.

It also took away handcarts and goods placed outside shops and markets, and warned traders of strict legal action in case of road and pavement encroachments in the future.

“This anti-encroachment drive will be extended to the areas where traders have already been given notices to voluntarily remove structures obstructing traffic,” he said.

Mr Awan said handcarts and fruit and vegetable stalls outside the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital were also removed.

“We are also taking strict action against TMA’s officials who either remained absent or failed to attend to their duties regularly and a biometric system has been installed that verifies staff attendance using facial recognition,” he said.

The TMO said that officials still absent from duty were served with show-cause notices.

“We will terminate employees who remain absent and fail to respond to the notices,” he said.

The official said dumping sites were being relocated to protect people’s health and life.

“With the rainy season underway in the district, we have cleared all choked drains and sewage lines along the Karakoram Highway,” he said.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2024

This week’s episode tidies up a lot of the season’s conflicts: Sean and his dad, Gaby and her sister, Alice and her guy-who-killed-my-mom.

Season two ends in a catfight cliffhanger and a Margaret Thatcher namedrop. Bleak.