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123 killed, 100 injured as oil tanker explodes in Pak

Agencies
June 25, 2017

Lahore, Jun 25: At least 123 people were charred to death and over 100 others injured after an oil tanker overturned and burst into flames on a highway in Bahawalpur district of Pakistan's Punjab Province.

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The tanker exploded after fuel leaking from its damaged container caught fire. The blaze from the oil spill engulfed scores of residents who had rushed to collect leaking fuel.

Punjab government spokesman Malik Ahmad Khan said at least 123 people were killed and over 100 others injured in the explosion.

The tanker was on way to Lahore from Karachi when the driver lost control and crashed. Nearby villagers rushed toward the overturned tanker with cans to take the leaking fuel.

The fire brigade arrived on the site of the incident shortly after the blaze started and rescue operations were initiated.

Two fire engines battled the fire and eventually doused it, local media said. At least six cars and 12 motorcycles were burnt in the blaze.

The injured were transferred to District Headquarters Hospital and Bahawal Victoria Hospital, rescue officials said.

Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa ordered the Army to assist the civil administration in the rescue effort.

Army helicopters have been deployed in the rescue operations.

"COAS expresses grief on losses in oil tanker incident. Directed provision of full assistance to civil administration in rescue (and) relief efforts," Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major Gen Asif Ghafoor tweeted.

"Army Aviation helicopters sent for evacuation of casualties to hospitals (and) burn centres. Hospitals placed on high alert," he added. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif ordered government officials to file a report over the incident.

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Agencies
August 3,2020

Manila, Aug 2: The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines has exceeded the 100,000 marks with a record 5,032 new infections registered on Sunday, the Health Ministry's data showed.

With the total cases now reaching 103,185, the spread of COVID-19 in the Southeast Asian nation is steeply rising. The daily growth rate just this Thursday set a record at over 3,800 cases, the next day there were nearly 4,000 new infections detected and on Saturday, over 4,800 cases were detected.

More than 65,000 people have recovered from the ailment, while 2,059 people have died.

The Philippines' epidemiological dynamic mirrors that of many Southeast Asian nations, where COVID-19 infections have only recently begun to climb. 

Most other nations in Europe and the Americas experienced an initial spread of the virus which later tailed off only to begin climbing again after easing of restrictions.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Washington, Aug 7: US President Donald Trump on Thursday (local time) signed executive orders halting all transactions with Chinese applications TikTok and WeChat within 45 days, citing national security concerns, further escalating the tensions between Beijing and Washington.

"WeChat, a messaging, social media, and electronic payment application owned by the Chinese company Tencent Holdings Ltd., reportedly has over one billion users worldwide, including users in the United States. Like TikTok, WeChat automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users. 

This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) access to Americans' personal and proprietary information," Trump said in a statement.

Citing reasons for the ban on WeChat, the US President said that the application captures the personal and proprietary information of Chinese nationals visiting the US, thereby providing the CCP a mechanism to keep tabs on the Chinese citizens who may be "enjoying the benefits of a free society for the first time in their lives".

"In March 2019, a researcher reportedly discovered a Chinese database containing billions of WeChat messages sent from users in not only China but also the United States, Taiwan, South Korea and Australia. WeChat, like TikTok, also reportedly censors content that the CCP deems politically sensitive and may also be used for disinformation campaigns that benefit the CCP. 

These risks have led other countries, including Australia and India, to begin restricting or banning the use of WeChat. The US must take aggressive action against the owner of WeChat to protect our national security," he added.

Earlier, Trump had issued an order banning TikTok as it "reportedly censors content that the CCP deems politically sensitive, such as content concerning protests in Hong Kong and China's treatment of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities. 

TikTok may also be used for disinformation campaigns that benefit the CCP."
US politicians have repeatedly criticised TikTok, owned by Beijing-based startup ByteDance, of being a threat to national security because of its ties to China.

The development comes as China and the US are at loggerheads on a variety of issues including Hong Kong national security law, the South China Sea, the novel coronavirus and trade.

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News Network
June 3,2020

Islamabad, Jun 3: Pakistan has reported a record 4,132 fresh cases of the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of infections to 80,463, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

The Ministry of National Health and Services said the new infections were detected after conducting a maximum of 17,370 tests in a day.

Of the total cases, Sindh has so far detected 31,086 patients of the coronavirus, Punjab 29,489, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 10,897, Balochistan 4,747, Islamabad 3,188, Gilgit-Baltistan 779 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir reported 289 patients of the viral disease.

"In total 67 patients died in the last 24 hours, taking the tally of deaths to 1,688. Another 28,923 people have fully recovered from the disease," the ministry said in a statement.

The authorities have so far carried out 595,344 tests in the country.

Officials said that Pakistan has more than 100 labs that can conduct over 30,000 tests per day and the number of daily tests will be gradually increased to the maximum level.

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