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Barren reforms

PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s assertion that agriculture and livestock hold the key to Pakistan’s quick economic revival is spot-on. The sector contributes almost a quarter of GDP, employs well over a third of the labour force and remains the largest source of livelihoods. Livestock alone accounts for more than 60pc of agriculture’s value addition, while Pakistan ranks among the world’s largest milk producers, and possesses considerable untapped potential in both milk and meat exports. Few sectors offer comparable opportunities to generate growth, reduce poverty, improve food security and earn foreign exchange simultaneously. But the PM’s declaration that the economy can be revived within a year through agriculture highlights the gap between ambition and policy execution. The agricultural crisis has never been about the absence of potential. It is the consequence of decades of policy neglect and inconsistency, institutional decay and distorted incentives. ...
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Gaza reconstruction plan under Trump’s Board of Peace reduced to pilot project: British publication

The recovery plan for war-battered Gaza, under US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace (BoP), has been significantly scaled back and, instead of reconstructing the entire territory, now envisions a small pilot project in the south of the besieged territory, the British publication The Guardian reported on Thursday. The board was initially proposed in September 2025 and formally established in January. Under its charter, the US government serves as its official depository and Trump has designated the Donald J Trump Institute of Peace in Washington as the Board’s headquarters. A UN Security Council resolution adopted in mid-November last year authorised the board, along with cooperating states, to establish an international stabilisation force in Gaza following a ceasefire that began in October under a Trump-backed plan accepted by Israel and Hamas. According to the publication, the new pilot project now aims to construct a small temporary camp for a fraction of Gaza’s populat...
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Generative AI’s power sparks fears of dumbing humans down

• Studies suggest memory, decision-making, critical thinking are most at risk • Experts say artificial intelligence removes ‘learning opportunities’ • Studies suggest AI boosts short-term gains, but weakens long-term learning • Long-term impact on human brain remains unclear PARIS: Generative AI chatbots capable of writing emails and computer code, translating, organising a trip or coming up with gift ideas are now readily available, prompting some to ask whether human brainpower could suffer for lack of use. A simple natural-language prompt is usually enough to draw a useable response from a service like ChatGPT or Claude, with the effects making themselves felt in schools and universities, workplaces from offices to courtrooms and our personal lives. Recent scientific studies suggest there could be harmful consequences to farming out cognitive tasks to AI. They highlight memory, decision-making and critical thinking as particularly at risk. One American-British study of 1,222 pe...
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Frontline communities face longer wait for funds

• FRLD board defers funding decisions till December, receives 176 requests from 119 states • Pakistan submits three proposals on agriculture, health, flash flood losses • Civil society concerned over ‘lack of transparency’, red tape ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and other climate-vulnerable countries will have to wait longer for disbursements from the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) after its board decided to allow more time to assess an overwhelming number of funding proposals amid limited financial resources. The ninth meeting of the FRLD Board, held in Manila from July 8 to 10, ended without making any significant headway — a development that drew criticism from civil society groups, which said the Fund was failing vulnerable communities increasingly expo­sed to climate-related disasters. The Fund was established at COP27 in Egypt in 2022. A decision to operationalise it was taken at COP28 in Dubai, followed by its full operationalisation at COP29 in Azerb­aijan. With nearly...
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Holders of invalid, expired NICOPs barred from boarding flights to Pakistan: official

ISLAMABAD: Pakistanis residing abroad who hold an invalid, expired or cancelled National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP) will no longer be allowed to board flights to Pakistan, official sources said on Wednesday. According to official sources, the government has issued immediate directives to all zonal directors of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to convey the decision to every airline operating inbound flights to Pakistan. A government official told Dawn that the practice of allowing travel on invalid NICOPs had been going on for a long time and that it had been decided to stop it with immediate effect. “Airlines should be instructed to verify the validity of NICOPs prior to boarding and refuse carriage to any passenger presenting an invalid, expired or cancelled NICOP,” the official said. He added that passengers travelling on a foreign passport with an expired or otherwise invalid NICOP would not be allowed to board flights to Pakistan unless they held a va...
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Majestic Spain stun France to reach FIFA World Cup final

Spain stunned tournament favourites France 2-0 to reach the World Cup final on Tuesday, producing a tactical masterpiece to shatter Les Bleus’ dreams of winning the title for the third time. A first-half penalty from Mikel Oyarzabal and a 58th-minute Pedro Porro goal sealed an utterly clinical victory for the European champions at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Spain, World Cup winners in 2010, will now face either Argentina or England in Sunday’s final in New Jersey. France had entered the showdown as the overwhelming favourites for the tournament after a dazzling, goal-laden run to the semi-finals. But France’s vaunted front four of captain Kylian Mbappe, Ballon D’Or winner Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola and Michael Olise were snuffed out by a combination of Spanish poise and power. Spain, who had beaten France in their previous two competitive meetings, had vowed to go on the front foot in the pre-match build-up and they proved as good as their word. A commanding ...
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What to know about the US outbreak of cyclospora parasite intestinal illness

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US cases of an intestinal infection from the cyclospora parasite that causes diarrhoea, nausea and other gastrointestinal symptoms have surged in recent days, with 34 states reporting infections, according to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Michigan, which reported its outbreak in May, recorded 3,309 cases on Tuesday. What is it? Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal infection that can be contracted by consuming food, typically raw fruits and vegetables, or water contaminated with faeces, that transmit the cyclospora parasite, according to the CDC. Symptoms can range from mild to severe, with children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems facing a higher risk of serious illness. A crate of iceberg lettuce. — Reuters/File While cyclosporiasis is rarely life-threatening, untreated infections can persist for weeks and may lead to hospitalisation, particularly because of dehydration. The US has had previous outbreaks of...
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