Air monitor records pollution level in Lahore 80 times above WHO limit
For days, Lahore has been enveloped by smog, smoke from seasonal crop burning and winter cooling
The level of deadly PM2.5 pollutants peaked at 1,067, before dropping to around 300 in the morning
Updated 7 min 5 sec ago
AFP
LAHORE: Air pollution in Pakistan’s second biggest city Lahore soared on Saturday more than 80 times over the level deemed acceptable by the World Health Organization (WHO), with an official calling it record high.
The level of deadly PM2.5 pollutants — fine particulate matter in the air that causes the most damage to health — peaked at 1,067, before dropping to around 300 in the morning, with anything above 10 considered unhealthy by the WHO.
“We have never reached a level of 1,000,” Jahangir Anwar, a senior environmental protection official in Lahore told AFP.
For days, Lahore has been enveloped by smog, a mix of fog and pollutants caused by low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from seasonal agricultural burning and winter cooling.
“The air quality index will remain high for the next three to four days,” Anwar said.
On Wednesday, the provincial environmental protection agency announced new restrictions in four “hot spots” in the city.
Tuk-tuks equipped with polluting two-stroke engines are banned, as are restaurants that barbecue without filters.
Government offices and private companies will have half their staff work from home from Monday.
Construction work has been halted and street and food vendors, who often cook over open fires, must close at 8 pm.
Smog is particularly pronounced in winter, when cold, denser air traps emissions from poor-quality fuels used to power the city’s vehicles and factories at ground level.
ISLAMABAD: Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Reza Amiri Moghadam on Friday extended his heartfelt gratitude to Pakistan Navy for its swift response to a recent maritime emergency, wherein 23 Iranian fishermen were rescued from a fishing boat in the open sea, Pakistani state media reported.
Pakistan Navy said it had rescued the fishermen this week from a sailing vessel that reported problems in its engine and injury to a crew member in the Gulf of Aden.
Pakistan Navy Ship PNS Zulfiqar deployed on the Regional Maritime Security Patrol responded to a distress call made by Iranian fishing dhow, Al Muhammadi, which was stranded over 1,200 nautical miles from its home port.
In his message of appreciation, Ambassador Moghadam praised the Pakistan Navy’s professionalism and commitment, emphasizing the longstanding spirit of mutual support between Iran and Pakistan in international rescue and humanitarian assistance efforts.
“The people of Iran are truly grateful for Pakistan’s unwavering readiness to assist in times of need, exemplifying the close bonds and mutual commitment that Iran and Pakistan have cherished throughout their history,” he was quoted as saying by the Pakistani state-run APP news agency.
The timely and successful rescue operation was an expression of the Pakistan Navy’s determination to ensure the safety of human life at sea. It has rescued Iranian vessels and their crew members in the past as well.
Ambassador Moghadam recalled a similar incident in March, when the Pakistan Navy provided critical assistance by rescuing eight Iranian fishermen after a fire broke out on their vessel, the report said.
ISLAMABAD: The Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) has invited the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) to a friendly match between their senior women’s national teams on Dec. 7, the PFF said on Friday.
The SAFF had proposed hosting the match between the two teams during their training camp in Qatar, scheduled within the upcoming FIFA match window from November 25 to December 7, according to the PFF.
“The match will take place on December 7, 2024, in Qatar,” it said in a statement. “The PFF has begun preparations and further details will be shared in due course.”
The development comes as Pakistani authorities seek to diversify athletic interests and skills beyond the nation’s predominant passion for cricket, promoting sports like futsal to broaden the athletic landscape.
Despite the cultural and social hurdles, these efforts include encouraging more participation among women, who rarely have opportunities to engage in sports and international competitions.
In Dec. last year, the PFF announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) to foster strong ties for the mutual benefit, promotion, growth and success of football in both federations.
This was the first such collaboration in the history of Pakistani football, according to Haroon Malik, a PFF official who signed the MoU with SAFF President Yasser Al-Misehal in Riyadh.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has reported two more cases of the wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the country’s polio program said late Friday, bringing the nationwide tally to 45 this year.
The regional reference laboratory at the National Institute of Health confirmed the virus in a girl in the Lakki Marwat district and in a boy in Dera Ismail Khan.
These are the second polio cases reported from DI Khan and Lakki Marwat this year, where environmental samples have tested positive in recent months.
The development comes amid an ongoing polio vaccination campaign to inoculate more than 45 million children from Oct. 28 till Nov. 3 across Pakistan.
“It is critical for parents to open their door to vaccinators and ensure that all children in their care receive OPV [oral polio vaccine] to keep them protected from the devastating effects of polio,” the polio program said in a statement.
So far this year, 22 polio cases have been reported from Balochistan, 12 from Sindh, nine from KP and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
WPV1 has been detected in environmental samples in 76 districts from all four provinces, indicating widespread circulation of the virus and a continued serious risk to children’s well-being from the disease, according to the polio program.
Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five is essential to keep them protected.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio remains an endemic. Since late 2018, Pakistan has seen a resurgence of cases and increased spread of poliovirus, highlighting the fragility of gains achieved in the preceding three years.
QUETTA: Police in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province have arrested a school clerk accused of gambling away Rs2.3 million ($8,282) in exam fees, collected from over 800 students, a senior official confirmed Friday.
The clerk, Shahzad Jamal, worked at Government Model High Secondary School in Zhob district, located about 335 kilometers from Quetta, the provincial capital.
Tasked with gathering annual matriculation exam fees from 9th and 10th-grade students and depositing them in a bank, Jamal instead used the funds for online gambling.
Superintendent of Police in Zhob Saboor Agha told Arab News on phone that Jamal was detained during a raid on his residence on Tuesday night.
“Shahzad Jamal had already shifted his family to Peshawar and was planning to escape, but we apprehended him from his residence in Zhob,” he said.
In this photo, taken on October 25, 2024, Principal Wazir Khan meets students at the Government Model Secondary High School in Zhob district, Balochistan. The clerk, Shahzad Jamal, worked at Government Model High Secondary School has been arrested for gambling away Rs2.3 million ($8,282) in exam fees, collected from over 800 students, according to police. (Photo courtesy: Wazir Khan)
“During the interrogation, he confessed to his crime,” he added. “Jamal had previously won around Rs500,000 [$1,800] through online gambling, which emboldened him and made him hope for another big win.”
A conversation with the school authorities revealed that Jamal had been collecting examination money for several weeks.
“The clerk had been collecting the annual exam fee from the students since the beginning of October,” Wazir Khan, the school principal, said. “He kept the money in a safe inside his office, but after the school hours, he started using the Rs2.3 million on an online gambling app called 1Xbet where he lost it.”
1Xbet, an international online gambling platform operated from Cyprus, has thousands of users worldwide, including in Pakistan.
When Khan discovered the loss, he reported it to the police.
According to Zaki Khalid, a Rawalpindi-based analyst who studies online gambling, such platforms operate within the shadows of the global financial system.
In this photo, taken on October 26, 2024, students and local tribesmen protest outside the Government Model Secondary High School in Zhob district, Balochistan, against the clerk, Shahzad Jamal, who gambled away Rs2.3 million ($8,282) in exam fees, collected from over 800 students, according to police. (Photo courtesy: Wazir Khan)
“These gambling companies avoid using traditional banking channels for deposits and withdrawals, instead encouraging users to use mobile cash-transfer apps,” he explained.
Khalid added that online gambling saw a boom in Pakistan during the coronavirus pandemic, driven by increased Internet usage.
“Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are major advertising spaces for these companies,” he continued. “In Pakistan and India, YouTubers even promote earning money through apps like 1Xbet.”
Abdullah Khan, a 17-year-old 10th-grade student at the school, was devastated to learn his exam fees were lost to gambling.
In this photo, taken on October 26, 2024, students and local tribesmen protest outside the Government Model Secondary High School in Zhob district, Balochistan, against the clerk, Shahzad Jamal, who gambled away Rs2.3 million ($8,282) in exam fees, collected from over 800 students, according to police. (Photo courtesy: Wazir Khan)
“I worked hard to save Rs2,800 ($10) to pay for my matriculation exams after 10 years of my education career,” he told Arab News, adding that he earns his living selling fruit from a pushcart.
Khan, who dreams of becoming a successful businessman, said many of his classmates come from families with limited means, making it difficult to pay the exam fees again.
In response to the incident, provincial education authorities extended the exam fee deadline to November 11 to support affected students.
“We have extended the form submission date, but the school must pay the exam fees and recover the amount from the clerk, which is mandatory,” said Ejaz Baloch, Chairman of the Balochistan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, while speaking to Arab News.
Details in trial for murder of British-Pakistani girl shock UK
Sara Sharif, 10, was found dead in bed with fractured bones, bites and burn marks
Her father, step-mother and uncle have been put on trial for murder since mid-October
Updated 01 November 2024
AFP
LONDON: The trial of three family members accused of murdering a 10-year-old British-Pakistani girl has shocked the UK, as details of the horrific abuse she endured have emerged in court.
Sara Sharif was found dead in bed — with fractured bones, bites and burn marks throughout her body — at her family’s home in Woking, southern England, in August 2023.
The discovery sparked an international manhunt for the relatives accused of the killing, after they had fled to Pakistan the previous day along with five of Sara’s siblings.
Her father, 42-year-old taxi driver Urfan Sharif, step-mother Beinash Batool, 30, and uncle Faisal Malik, 29, returned to Britain the following month and have been on trial since mid-October. They deny the charges.
London’s Old Bailey court has heard how Sara had 25 fractures, including the hyoid bone in the neck.
Pathologist and bone specialist Anthony Freemont told the jury he had concluded that was the result of “neck compression” most commonly caused by “manual strangulation.”
The youngster had dozens of bruises, including bite marks, while her DNA as well as that of her father and uncle were detected on a cricket bat and both ends of a belt.
Sara’s blood was found inside a carrier bag believed to have been put over her head, while blood and hairs were detected on a piece of brown tape.
Jurors heard Friday that Batool was the only defendant who had refused to provide dental impressions of her teeth.
The court had previously learned of WhatsApp messages she had sent her sister over several years in which she reported that Sharif had hit Sara for being “rude and rebellious.”
This combination of pictures created on September 13, 2023 shows undated handout photos released by Surrey Police in London on September 6, 2023, of Urfan Sharif (L), Beinash Batool, and Faisal Malik. Urfan Sharif, the British-Pakistani father of 10-year-old Sara Sharif, who was found dead at her home in England last month. (Photo courtesy: SURREY POLICE via AFP)
“She’s covered in bruises, literally beaten black,” one message stated.
“She’s got a jinn in her,” Batool had added, referring to genie-like supernatural beings from mythology.
Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones revealed Friday that four months before her death, Sharif had told Sara’s school that she would be homeschooled “with immediate effect.”
Around the same time the family relocated the short distance from the town of West Byfleet to Woking.
By then, teachers had noted bruising on her body, in June 2022 and March 2023.
Asked about the injuries, Sara had not wanted to answer and hid her head in her arms, the court has heard.
Giving evidence earlier in the trial, teacher Helen Simmons described her as a “happy child,” who at times would be “sassy.”
Simmons recounted how she twice saw bruises on her face, and when the girl had not given a consistent account of her injuries the school had made a referral to watchdog services.
That had prompted Batool to confront her at the school two weeks later and claim the marks had been made by a pen, jurors have heard.
Meanwhile neighbors regularly heard shouting, commotions and crying.
Rebecca Spencer, who lived below the family, said she would hear Batool “screaming.”
“I would hear the stepmother shout at Sara,” she testified.
Spencer also said she heard noises that sounded like someone “locked in a bedroom,” with “the constant rattling of the door” as they were “trying to get it open.”
Sitting in court behind plexiglass, the three defendants listened Friday morning with their heads bowed.
Sharif — a short, thin man with hard features — looked up to watch clips of their arrests at Gatwick Airport in September 2023 being shown to jurors.
In the footage from arresting officers’ body-cameras, Batool raised her hand and said: “I think you are looking for us.”
The day after fleeing Britain a month earlier, Sharif had called UK police from Pakistan to explain that he had “legally punish(ed) my daughter and she died.”
“I beat her, I didn’t want to kill her but I beat her too much,” he added, claiming she had been “naughty.”
Police found Sara’s body on a bunk bed covered with a sheet, alongside a note in which her father claimed he had not intended to kill her but wrote: “I lost it.”
The trial continues next week.
