Bangladesh garment industry short on cotton as floods worsen protest backlog

Garment factories in Bangladesh, one of the world’s biggest clothing production hubs, are struggling to complete orders on time as flooding disrupts their cotton supplies -- exacerbating a backlog caused by recent political turmoil.Bangladesh is a leading global cotton importer due to the size of its textile and garment industry, but the devastating floods mean few trucks and trains have been able to bring supplies to factories from Chittagong port over the last week, industry officials and analysts said. The disruption, on top of the unrest and protests that led to factory closures earlier this month, have caused garment production to fall by 50%, said Mohammad Hatem, president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.“The industry is now under immense pressure to meet deadlines, and without a swift resolution, the supply chain could deteriorate even further,” Hatem said. Bangladesh was ranked as the third-largest exporter of clothing in the world last year, after China and the European Union, according to the World Trade Organization, exporting $38.4bn worth of clothes in 2023.At the clothing factory she runs in the capital, Dhaka, Rubana Huq is counting the cost of lost production.“Even for a moderate-sized company like ours, which makes 50,000 shirts a day and if the price of one single shirt is $5, there was $250,000 of production loss,” said Huq, a former president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).She said some garment plants were slowing resuming production, but estimated that complete recovery “would be at least six months away”, warning that Bangladeshi manufacturers could lose 10%-15% of business to other countries. Bangladesh’s readymade garments industry, which supplies many of the world’s best-known fashion brands, accounts for more than 80% of the country’s total export earnings.Buyers are adopting a cautious approach and could potentially delay new orders, said Shahidullah Azim, a director of the BGMEA industry group. “The longer this uncertainty persists, the more challenging it becomes for us to maintain the momentum we have built,” he told Reuters. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department said flood conditions could persist if the monsoon rains continued, as water levels were receding very slowly. Some cotton shipments could get diverted to India, Pakistan and Vietnam, commodity analysts said. “We are already hearing and seeing some cotton for prompt delivery wanted by Pakistan and Vietnam,” said Louis Barbera, partner and analyst at VLM Commodities based in New Jersey.New orders shifted from Bangladesh could also be accommodated in southern India, said Atul Ganatra, president of the Cotton Association of India. Even before the floods and political unrest, the Bangladeshi garment industry was grappling with power shortages that remain a problem, said Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, vice president at the country’s knitwear manufacturers and exporters association.“Energy shortages continue to hamper our operations,” he said.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689648/international/bangladesh-garment-industry-short-on-cotton-as-floods-worsen-protest-backlog

Typhoon Shanshan churns up Japan, up to six dead

Typhoon Shanshan dumped record rains yesterday as it slowly churned up through Japan, triggering transport havoc and widespread warnings of landslides with up to six people killed. The typhoon, one of the fiercest to hit Japan in decades, has weakened and was forecast to ease to tropical cyclone strength by Monday, though gusts were still reaching 126km per hour early Friday.Even before making landfall on the island of Kyushu, a landslide caused by the heavy rains preceding it killed three members of the same family late Tuesday in Aichi prefecture, around 1,000km away. Government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi confirmed four deaths but said that in one case, “the relation to the typhoon was being studied”.Two more were feared dead and two others were missing, Hayashi said.Eight people were seriously hurt and 70 others had light injuries, he said, with many hurt by broken glass after the typhoon smashed windows and ripped tiles off roofs when it slammed into Kyushu on Thursday with gusts up to 252 kph. Almost 200 buildings were damaged.Typhoons in the region have been forming closer to coastlines, intensifying more rapidly and lasting longer over land due to climate change, according to a study released in July.Another published by World Weather Attribution (WWA) on Thursday said that climate change had turbocharged Typhoon Gaemi, which killed dozens of people across the Philippines, Taiwan and China last month.A similar rapid attribution analysis from Imperial College London using peer-reviewed methodology calculated that Typhoon Shanshan’s winds were made 26% more likely by a warming planet.“Without phasing out fossil fuels, the root cause of climate change, typhoons will bring even greater devastation to Japan,” said Ralf Toumi, director of the Grantham Institute at Imperial.Japanese authorities issued their highest alert in several areas, with more than five million people advised to evacuate, although it was unclear how many did.The Japan Meteorological Agency issued alerts for possible landslides in many parts of Kyushu and as far away as Shizuoka on the main island of Honshu, the Tokyo region and nearby Kanagawa. Footage from Japanese broadcaster NHK showed a car park in Kanagawa prefecture with vehicles half-submerged in brown water, with authorities there urging residents to move to higher floors after a local river flooded.Some parts of Kyushu saw record rains for August, with the town of Misato recording a staggering 791.5mm in 48 hours, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.Kitakyushu in Kyushu saw 474 mm in the 24 hours to Friday morning, the most since 2012, when comparative data began to be collected. Nearby Kunimi had 384.5 mm, the most since records began in 1977.The holiday resort of Beppu in Kyushu suffered no major damage, but the typhoon left tourists stranded and bored, with the onsen hot springs, a monkey park and even 24-hour convenience stores shut.“This is my first time (here). I was very looking forward to it,” morose visitor Nobuhiko Takagishi from Tokyo told AFP. “But it will be a trip to remember. A trip when I couldn’t do anything.”“Tourists must be in big trouble. They came here with no preparation, and they are stranded,” said resident Hiroko Handa, 48. Power cuts hit more than 250,000 Kyushu households but the utility operator said Friday that only 6,500 were still without electricity as engineers repaired transmission lines.Overnight, many motorways were fully or partially closed in Kyushu, as well as others further afield, media reports said. Shinkansen bullet trains remained suspended in Kyushu and were also halted on the major route between Tokyo and Osaka, with operators warning of disruptions elsewhere.Japan Airlines and ANA had already announced the cancellation of more than 600 flights between them for Friday, having scrapped a similar number the previous day, affecting almost 50,000 passengers.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689649/international/typhoon-shanshan-churns-up-japan-up-to-six-dead

Fighter jet deal at centre of Macron’s Serbia trip

France’s President Emmanuel Macron arrived yesterday in Serbia where the two countries hope to sign a deal worth billions of euros for Paris to supply fighter jets to the Balkan nation.The Rafale fighter jet deal is looming large over the French leader’s two-day visit, after Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic told AFP that he hoped to seal the agreement this week.The deal to purchase the French Rafale jets would be one of several agreements inked during the visit, according to Vucic.“There are thousands of things that we’ll have to discuss tomorrow. There are many memorandums of understanding and many contracts that we’re going to sign tomorrow,” Vucic said in an interview Wednesday.“I believe that we’ll finish everything successfully regarding our military-technical co-operation, which means that Serbia might become a member of (the) Rafale Club, which is a huge, huge contract.”A source with the French presidency said “intense discussions” were ongoing and hoped a deal could be reached during Macron’s visit.Macron arrived in Belgrade late yesterday afternoon, where he was greeted with a hug by Vucic and a traditional honour guard. Vucic told a Serbian state broadcaster late Wednesday that financing for the fighter jet agreement was no longer an issue, while adding that some unspecified “guarantees” still needed to be ironed out.France has been strengthening its economic ties with Belgrade in recent years, with trade between the two countries tripling in the past 12 years, according to Serbia’s finance ministry.French company Vinci has been overseeing a years-long renovation of Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla airport, and French groups are set to build the capital’s first metro station and a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant.Belgrade-based analyst Vuk Vuksanovic said that Vucic likely saw the Rafale deal as crucial for ensuring France’s support in the future.The president “believes that by purchasing these Rafales, which are an extremely expensive product of the French military and industry, he will buy President Macron’s favour and political protection,” Vuksanovic, a senior researcher at the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, told AFP.If signed, the agreement would mark the latest in a string of moves by Serbia to curry favour with Europe.In July, the European Union and Serbia signed a deal to develop the country’s supply of lithium — seen as a crucial building block to achieve Europe’s transition to a green economy.The Serbian government reinstated the licences for a controversial lithium mine this summer after revoking in 2022 the permits granted to Rio Tinto following a string of demonstrations over environmental concerns.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689579/international/fighter-jet-deal-at-centre-of-macrons-serbia-trip

Jolie ‘terribly nervous’ about playing diva in new film

Angelina Jolie confessed she was afraid about being able to “live up” to Maria Callas in her new biopic about the great diva’s extraordinary yet tragic life that premieres yesterday at the Venice Film Festival.In Maria, the American movie star tackles the tormented final years of the 20th century’s most celebrated opera singer who mesmerised audiences around the world.“The bar in this... are the Maria Callas fans and those who love opera,” Jolie told a press conference ahead of the premiere of the movie by Chilean director Pablo Larrain.“And my fear would be to disappoint them.”“I really came to care for her so I felt I didn’t want to do a disservice to this woman,” she added.Jolie said she hoped to honour the “legacy” of the diva, who died nearly alone in 1977 aged 53, after a whirlwind life and career that was nevertheless marked by great sadness.The film’s premiere last night on the festival’s second day is the last in Larrain’s trilogy of movies about iconic women — after 2021’s Spencer about Princess Diana and 2016’s Jackie about Jacqueline Kennedy.The director has said only a larger-than-life star in her own right could play the role of the American-born Greek singer, whose successes at La Scala, La Fenice, Covent Garden and New York are the stuff of opera legend 100 years after her birth.“This movie would not have existed without Angelina,” said the director.Absent from the screen since 2021, the 49-year-old American actress and director has kept a relatively low profile even as her lengthy, acrimonious divorce from Brad Pitt continues to make headlines.The public’s fascination with Jolie’s private life has parallels with Callas, whose stormy life and loves — including her relationship with the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, who left her for Jacqueline Kennedy — were similarly fodder for the tabloids.But while the paparazzi will be out in full force yesterday for her premiere, Jolie will not cross paths with Pitt during her visit.Pitt’s action comedy Wolfs, in which he and George Clooney play rival professional fixers, is playing out of competition on the Lido on Sunday, as purposely planned by festival organisers to avoid awkward encounters.One of 21 films in competition for Venice’s prestigious Golden Lion prize, Maria opens with a whirlwind look at the highlights of Callas’ life as seen through the eyes of the paparazzi, with Jolie here singing Casta Diva in Paris in her red silk wrap, there accepting ovations at La Scala or frolicking with Aristotle Onassis on his yacht.Jolie said she studied for nearly seven months ahead of filming, training herself to mimic the great artist’s cadences and tones as the film mixes in her own singing voice with that of the celebrated soprano.“I was terribly nervous,” Jolie said. “I was frightened to live up to her.”Taped master classes taught by Callas served as a guide, however: “I got very lucky because the best way in, I got to be taught by Maria.”Jolie said she related to Callas’ softer side, “the part of her that’s extremely soft and doesn’t have room in the world to be as soft as she truly was, and as emotionally open as she truly was.”“I share her vulnerability more than anything.”While some critics found flaws with Callas’s voice, it was nevertheless deeply expressive, able to impart dramatic intensity to any role, which combined with her beauty and presence often brought frenzied standing ovations.A towering talent with a tireless work ethic, Callas was often portrayed as a “temperamental” star, a label she rejected, defending herself as a disciplined perfectionist with high standards.She single-handedly revived the 19th-century bel canto operas of Donizetti, Rossini and Bellini — whose Norma was one of Callas’s signature roles.But the diva’s voice began to fail and even as she struggled to rekindle it, the “critics were so cruel”, said Jolie.“I don’t know if she passed knowing that she did her best and she was appreciated and loved. I think she may have died with a lot of loneliness and pain.”

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689580/international/jolie-terribly-nervous-about-playing-diva-in-new-film

25 militants killed, 11 Injured in infiltration qttempt on Pakistan-Afghan Border

Twenty-five militants were killed and 11 others were injured in an attempt to infiltrate Pakistani territory across the Afghan border.Radio Pakistan quoted a statement by the Pakistani army on Thursday as saying that militants tried to infiltrate across the border last night, but Pakistani forces confronted them and managed to eliminate them during an exchange of fire.The land border between the two neighboring countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, is witnessing the infiltration of armed elements in both directions, as authorities in Islamabad and Kabul are seeking to control the border through preemptive combing operations.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689553/international/25-militants-killed-11-injured-in-infiltration-qttempt-on-pakistan-afghan-border

Venezuelan opposition vows to make Maduro ‘yield’ on election ‘fraud’

Venezuelan opposition supporters gathered in Caracas yesterday, chanting “Liberty!” as their leader came out of hiding to lead a protest against what they call President Nicolas Maduro’s re-election fraud.Maria Corina Machado, who has kept a low profile amid threats from Maduro after the July 28 presidential vote, vowed in front of followers to not stop fighting until the opposition’s claim to victory is recognised.“They say that the regime will not yield. You know what: we are going to make it yield and (that) means respecting the will expressed on July 28,” Machado told a rally that attracted hundreds of supporters in an atmosphere of fear.“This protest is unstoppable,” she added.Machado arrived at the demonstration hiding her face under a black hoodie, which she took off only when she clambered onto the truck that served as her stage.“Brave! Brave!” supporters chanted as the truck passed them.“I’m fighting for Venezuela, to recover our democracy. We don’t want to live in a dictatorship,” demonstrator Laidy Molina, a 60-year-old nutritionist, told AFP.“We are afraid. We fear that they will put us in prison, that they will not respect the constitution but we must continue the struggle,” she added.Maduro has called for the arrest of Machado and the opposition’s presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who replaced her on the ballot after the regime barred her from running.Venezuela’s CNE electoral council — with most of its members loyal to 61-year-old Maduro — declared him the winner hours after voting closed, giving him 52 percent of ballots cast without providing a full breakdown.The opposition has published its own polling station-level records, which it says show that Gonzalez Urrutia, a 74-year-old retired diplomat, won by a landslide.Spontaneous protests erupted in the hours after Maduro’s claimed victory, with at least 25 civilians killed and more than 2,400 arrested.Several Latin American countries, the United States and the European Union have called on the CNE to release voting data that proves Maduro’s re-election to a third, six-year term until 2031.The CNE said it was unable to provide the data due to a computer hack, though election observers said there was no evidence of this.Yesterday’s rally was the fourth organised protest called by the opposition to denounce Maduro’s election “fraud.”“We have to protect ourselves, take care of ourselves,” Machado told supporters.“Every passing day we are making progress... We have succeeded in turning the cause for freedom in Venezuela into a global cause.”The ruling “Chavista” movement, named after Maduro’s socialist predecessor Hugo Chavez, had also called for demonstrations on Wednesday to mark its “victory.”Gonzalez Urrutia, last seen in public at an opposition rally on July 30, ignored summons on two successive days this week in an investigation by Maduro-aligned prosecutors into his alleged “usurpation” of official powers, disseminating false information, and incitement of insurrection, among other charges.The probe stems from the opposition publishing election results that the CNE claims only it has the right to do. The opposition coalition says Gonzalez Urrutia is the target of “judicial harassment.”The charges against him carry a potential 30-year sentence.On Tuesday, Maduro reshuffled his cabinet and named two of his closest allies to key positions.Diosdado Cabello, the number-two in the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), will now head the interior ministry, which is responsible for policing and security matters.Vice President Delcy Rodriguez will take over the role of oil minister in a country with the world’s largest crude reserves but an industry bent under US sanctions.Also on Tuesday, Machado accused the regime of “kidnapping” her lawyer.The authorities have not commented on the reported arrest, which would add to the more than 100 opposition activists taken into custody in recent months.Six of Machado’s most trusted collaborators, including her campaign chief, have taken refuge in the Argentine embassy in Caracas.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689547/international/venezuelan-opposition-vows-to-make-maduro-yield-on-election-fraud

Thousands told to evacuate as ‘strong’ typhoon nears Japan

Japan braced yesterday for its strongest typhoon of the year, with authorities advising tens of thousands of people to evacuate and issuing the highest warning level for wind and storm surges on the main southern island of Kyushu.“Typhoon Shanshan is expected to approach southern Kyushu with extremely strong force through Thursday and it may make landfall,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters.“It is expected that violent winds, high waves, and storm surge at levels that many people have never experienced before may occur,” said Hayashi, the top government spokesman.The approach of the storm, packing gusts of up to 252km per hour and already bringing widespread heavy rain, prompted auto giant Toyota to suspend production at all 14 of its factories.Two people remained unaccounted for on Wednesday after a landslide buried a house with five family members inside in Gamagori, a city in central Aichi prefecture. Rescuers worked around the clock and on Wednesday afternoon they pulled out a woman in her 70s.“She wasn’t breathing and was unconscious,” a Gamagori official told AFP. They were still searching for a man in his 70s and another in his 30s.For southern Kyushu the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) predicted 1,100mm of precipitation in the 48 hours to Friday morning, around half the annual average for the area comprising Kagoshima and Miyazaki regions.The JMA also issued its highest “special warning” for violent storms, waves and high tides in parts of the Kagoshima region of Kyushu, with authorities there advising 56,000 people to evacuate.Video on public broadcaster NHK TV showed roof tiles being blown off houses, broken windows and felled trees. “Our carport roof was blown away in its entirety. I wasn’t at home when it happened, but my kids say they felt the shaking so strong they thought an earthquake happened,” a local resident in Miyazaki told NHK. “I was surprised. It was completely beyond our imagination,” she said.The warnings indicate the “possibility that a major disaster prompted by (the typhoon) is extremely high,” Satoshi Sugimoto, chief forecaster of JMA, told a news conference.Japan Airlines cancelled 172 domestic flights and six international flights scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, while ANA nixed 219 domestic flights and four international ones on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The cancellations affected around 25,000 people.Kyushu Railway said it would suspend some Shinkansen bullet train services between Kumamoto and Kagoshima Chuo from Wednesday night and warned of further possible disruption.Trains between Tokyo and Fukuoka, the most populous city on Kyushu, may also be cancelled depending on weather conditions this week, other operators said. Shanshan comes in the wake of Typhoon Ampil, which disrupted hundreds of flights and trains this month.Despite dumping heavy rain, it caused only minor injuries and damage. Ampil came days after Tropical Storm Maria brought record rains to northern areas. Typhoons in the region have been forming closer to coastlines, intensifying more rapidly and lasting longer over land due to climate change, according to a study released last month.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689541/international/thousands-told-to-evacuate-as-strong-typhoon-nears-japan

Starmer warns Oct 30 budget will be ‘painful’

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned yesterday that his new government’s first budget in just over two months will be “painful”, asking the country to “accept short-term pain for long-term good”. Starmer, whose Labour Party won a landslide parliamentary majority on July 4, used his first major speech since then to lay the ground for the much-anticipated fiscal event on October 30.He also used the address, from the Downing Street garden, to attack the ousted Conservatives, reiterating claims they had left a £22-bn ($29-bn) “black hole” in the public finances. “There is a budget coming in October, and it’s going to be painful,” Starmer said.“Those with the broadest shoulders should bear the heavier burden,” he added, hinting at tax rises for some after October 30.Labour has pledged not to hike taxes on “working people”, which would appear to rule out raising income tax, other social security and VAT rates. But there is growing speculation that other taxes, like capital gains, could be targeted. Starmer insisted the UK must look beyond tinkering with taxes and that growing the economy remained the “number one mission”. But he also cautioned that his government’s fiscal inheritance would not be “easily fixed”. “We’re going to have to take tough decisions, I did not cater for a £22bn black hole,” he added. Political opponents have argued that the government was aware of the country’s perilous financial plight months ago and is preparing the ground for unpopular announcements.Labour has insisted the Tories misled the public and others on the issue, including the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).The independent fiscal watchdog has said it is investigating the last government’s spending forecasts in light of Labour’s black hole claims. In his speech, Starmer also addressed the recent anti-immigration riots sparked by the deadly Southport knife attack.Officials have blamed far-right elements for helping to stir up the disorder, which targeted mosques and hotels housing asylum-seekers as well as police officers and other properties. Attempting to link the disturbances to the Conservatives’ legacy, the UK leader said they “didn’t happen in a vacuum” and had “exposed the state of our country”. They “revealed a deeply unhealthy society...weakened by a decade of division and decline, infected by a spiral of populism which fed off cycles of failure of the last government”.“Every time they faced a difficult problem, they failed to be honest, they offered the snake oil of populism, which led to more failure,” Starmer argued.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689458/international/starmer-warns-oct-30-budget-will-be-painful

Zelensky to present Biden a plan to end Russia war

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday that the war with Russia would eventually end in dialogue, but that Kyiv had to be in a strong position and that he would present a plan to US President Joe Biden and his two potential successors.The Ukrainian leader, addressing a news conference, said Kyiv’s three-week-old incursion into Russia’s Kursk region was part of that plan, but that it also comprised other steps on the economic and diplomatic fronts.“The main point of this plan is to force Russia to end the war. And I want that very much — (that it would be) fair for Ukraine,” he told reporters in Kyiv of the war launched by Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.He did not elaborate further on the next steps, but said he would also discuss the plan with Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris and probably also with Republican Donald Trump, the two nominees for the US presidential election.Zelensky said he hoped to go to the United States in September to attend the UN General Assembly in New York and that he was preparing to meet Biden.His remarks indicated that he sees the main potential forum for talks as a follow-up international summit on peace, at which Ukraine has said it wants Russia to have representatives.The first summit to advance Kyiv’s vision of peace, held in Switzerland in June, pointedly excluded Russia, while attracting scores of delegations, but not from China, the world’s second largest economy, despite Kyiv’s push to win over the global south.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on August 19 that talks were out of the question after Ukraine launched a major cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk region on August 6.Zelensky has been adamant that Russia wants to dictate terms to Ukraine in any settlement of the war, something that Kyiv sees as unacceptable.Putin has said any deal needs to start with Ukraine’s acceptance of “realities on the ground”, that would leave Russia with possession of substantial chunks of four Ukrainian regions as well as Crimea. Now Ukraine says it controls more than 1,200 square km of Russia’s Kursk region.“There can be no compromises with Putin, dialogue today is in principle empty and meaningless because he does not want to end the war diplomatically,” Zelensky said at the news conference.He said the offensive into the Kursk region had reduced the number of governments around the world calling for Ukraine to make compromises with Russia to end the war and give up swathes of territory.On the battlefield, Zelensky mocked Putin, who he said was prioritising the capture of Ukrainian land over the defence of Russia’s own territory.He pointed to Kursk region where Ukraine has claimed the capture of 100 settlements, while Russian forces continue to inch forward in the eastern Donetsk region.The Ukrainian leader also said that Kyiv was continuing to make progress on its domestic weapons production and that it had conducted its first test of a domestically-produced ballistic missile.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689456/international/zelensky-to-present-biden-a-plan-to-end-russia-war

Railway track hangs off bridge after attacks

The mangled track of a Pakistan railway line hung over a dry river bed yesterday, after it was targeted in a series of co-ordinated attacks that killed dozens of people.The colonial-era bridge — a key link between Balochistan province and the rest of the country — was blown apart on Monday, with a section of a fallen tack blocking a motorway below and another hanging from a damaged column.Separatist militants killed dozens on Monday in several early morning attacks in the province which included taking control of a highway and shooting dead 23 people, mostly from Punjab province.Six people travelling on the motorway near to the Kolpur bridge were also shot dead after militants checked their IDs, according to government officials.“Explosives were used to attack our main bridge routes yesterday, which has stopped trains from travelling to other parts of the country,” Mohamed Kashif, a senior railway official in Balochistan, told AFP.“We’re working to clear the road as quickly as possible to ease traffic for the public,” he said.“We do not know how much time it would take to restore the bridge in Bolan.”The fallen tracks and rubble from the bridge that blocked the road below was being cleared by authorities.“It’s a steep mountainous area and fear is natural, but the journey has to go on. We often pass through here in a convoy of three or four vehicles,” a truck driver from the neighbouring province of Sindh told AFP, while waiting for the road to reopen.The Balochistan Liberation Army, which claimed responsibility for the attacks, is waging a war of independence against the state, which it accuses of unfair exploitation of resources by outsiders in the mineral-rich region.The BLA’s operation mostly targeted Punjabis, the largest and most dominant ethnic group in Pakistan.Security forces have been battling sectarian, ethnic and separatist violence for decades in impoverished Balochistan, but the co-ordinated attacks that took place in several districts throughout the province were one of the worst in the region’s history.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689455/international/railway-track-hangs-off-bridge-after-attacks

Apple to unveil its New iPhone in September

Apple is set to unveil its latest iPhone and Apple Watch models early next month as it will host its fall event on September 9 in Cupertino, California.Apple will likely unveil a series of new iPhones and updates to other devices and apps. Analysts see a strong upgrade cycle for the new iPhone series with AI features expected to be the key selling point for the new devices.At its developers conference in June, Apple announced a slew of AI features under the umbrella 'Apple Intelligence,' including a revamped Siri and an integration with ChatGPT.The upcoming launches are crucial for Apple as it looks to reverse a global sales slowdown, particularly in China, and lay out its artificial intelligence roadmap.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689409/international/apple-to-unveil-its-new-iphone-in-september