Arunabh.ly__

A massive blast rocked a road near the airport of Karachi, Pakistan's largest city Two Chinese nationals have been killed and at least 10 people injured in a suspected suicide attack near Karachi airport in Pakistan. A third body, not yet officially identified, is thought to be that of the attacker, the BBC understands. The Chinese embassy in Pakistan said the explosion on Sunday night was a "terrorist attack" targeting a convoy of Chinese engineers working on a power project in Sindh province. The separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which has in recent years carried out attacks on Chinese nationals involved in development projects in Pakistan, has said it carried out the attack. The separatist Balochistan Liberation Army has said it carried out the attack In a statement released on Monday, the militant group said it had "targeted a high-level convoy of Chinese engineers and investors" arriving from Karachi airport. A later statement from the group described it as a suicide attack, and named the perpetrator as Shah Fahad, part of a BLA suicide squad called Majeed Brigade. The attack was carried out using a "vehicle-borne improvised explosive device", Reuters news agency quoted the BLA as saying. The explosion happened around 23:00 local time (17:00 GMT) on Sunday. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the attack a "heinous act" and offered his condolences to the Chinese people. "Pakistan stands committed to safeguarding our Chinese friends," he wrote on X. The Chinese embassy said that the engineers were part of the Chinese-funded enterprise Port Qasim Power Generation Co Ltd, which aims to build two coal power plants at Port Qasim, near Karachi. Thousands of Chinese workers are in Pakistan, many of them involved in creating an economic corridor between the two countries as part of Beijing’s multibillion dollar Belt and Road Initiative. The Port Qasim plant is part of the corridor, along with a number of infrastructure and energy projects in Pakistan's Balochistan province, which has a rich supply of natural resources, including gas and minerals. The BLA along with other ethnic Baloch groups has fought a long-running insurgency for a separate homeland. It has regularly targeted Chinese nationals in the region, claiming ethnic Baloch residents were not receiving their share of wealth from foreign investment in the province and natural resources extracted there. The Chinese embassy on Monday reminded its citizens and Chinese enterprises in Pakistan to be vigilant and to "do their best to take safety precautions". The embassy added that it hoped Pakistan would thoroughly investigate the attack and "severely punish the murderer". Link : Clickhere

¤ Name[/nickname]: Arunabh.ly__ ¤ Age: 22 ¤ Country: India ¤ Occupation: Employe ¤ A short description about you: I love to dance and playing cricket, and pc games. ¤ How did you found out Csblackdevil Community: Old player and my friend told me Dod. And Bhooth. ¤ Favorite games: Cs1.6 / PUBG / Csgo ¤ Favorite server [community only]: Newlifezm / streetzm / highlifezm ¤ A picture of you:-

Grant Shapps made his second visit to Ukraine as defence secretary last week. Grant Shapps aborted a trip to southern Ukraine last week for "security reasons", the UK defence ministry said. The defence secretary had to scrap his visit to Odesa last week after UK intelligence reportedly warned Russia had become aware of his travel plans. Mr Shapps was due to travel to Odesa a day after a missile hit the city while the Ukrainian president and the Greek prime minister were visiting. Five people were killed in the strike, Ukrainian authorities said. Mr Shapps had travelled on an overnight train from Poland to Ukraine, accompanied by chief of the defence staff, Adm Sir Tony Radakin, and a small team of British officials. The aim of their journey was to meet Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and senior members of his wartime administration. But having arrived in Kyiv on 7 March, Mr Shapps's onward journey to Odesa was cancelled abruptly at the last minute, following fears surrounding his safety. According to the Sunday Times, which had a reporter travelling with his delegation, the trip was called off after an intelligence update revealed the Kremlin's knowledge of it. Link : https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68589866

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Colton Adamski is hoping to launch one of the first alternative app marketplaces on iPhones. This week Apple made the long-awaited landmark move to allow other companies to launch app stores on iPhones. The tech giant was forced to act by EU politicians concerned about it having a market monopoly. The decision is being watched closely around the world and was initially celebrated as an industry victory for businesses and consumers in the EU. But Apple's strict new rules and fees are being heavily criticised, with Spotify calling them "extortion". It is one of many companies, including Fortnite maker Epic Games, that has been pushing Apple to allow alternative app stores on iPhones. 'Grey business' The EU lawmakers hoped their rule change would encourage smaller challengers to enter the lucrative iPhone market. "Apple says it's opening up, but it still has a tight fist around iPhones", says Colton Adamski, a former hacker and businessman who lives near Chicago and is trying to launch one of the first alternative app shops in the EU. The 22-year-old has been running an unofficial iPhone app store for more than six years. It is, in his words, a "grey business" operating on the fringes of what is legal. For everywhere other than the EU, starting an app store is against Apple's terms, and installing apps outside the official App Store is prohibited. The process, known as side-loading, is common practice on Android phones, but Apple has forbidden it since launching the iPhone, arguing it is a security risk. Apps need to be verified through the official App Store, the tech giant has long said. Apple's App Store has been the only accepted way to get apps on to iPhones until now Apple charges an average 30% commission to apps using its store, which it says is for the protection of consumers. Although the fee is controversial, it is true that generally Apple is more successful at keeping malicious apps out than other marketplaces like Google's Play Store. Colton's app shop has attracted hundreds of thousands of downloads of unofficial apps and games. The BBC tried his service and was able to download apps to an iPhone through a simple workaround that changes the phone settings to override security warnings. He has made a decent living operating his under-the-radar app shop, but has long wished to make one legitimately. So when the EU's new laws were announced in January, he jumped at the chance. "It was so exciting we finally had the opportunity to go from a 'grey' store operating in the margins of what's allowed to finally launching a legit store," he says. Fortnite to come back to iPhones in EU Pornhub challenges EU over online content rules Apple is now the biggest smartphone seller globally and has the most affluent user base, so getting his store on to iPhones would be a major win. Colton's excitement diminished though when he and his team started reading Apple's terms and conditions. He compares Apple's rules to a gangster from The Godfather or Sopranos. Yes, you can open your shop on their turf, but you have to do exactly as they say or they will shut you down. Apple insists that new app shops have €1m (£851,000) in the bank, but if their reserves dip below that figure, they can be closed down. Apple did not respond to our questions about why this is needed, but has previously said it is about weeding out dodgy, or scam, stores. In the last few weeks, since Colton secured his line of credit, Apple has said that app developers of "good standing" for at least two years can also build an app shop without the €1m. Colton's next hurdle to overcome is how to make a profit. Apple automatically bills new app stores half a euro for every download after one million. Apple says this Core Technology Fee is about keeping iPhones safe through security updates. But Colton feels this is like a so-called protection fee paid to a mob under the guise of making sure a shop owner's business is safe. So if someone downloads his app shop app but never uses it, he still has to pay Apple 50 cents. Link : Clickhere

The Nova festival was one of the sites of alleged sexual violence on 7 October A UN team says there is "convincing information" that hostages held in Gaza have been subjected to sexual violence including rape and sexualised torture. There were grounds to suspect the abuse was still ongoing, the UN said. The UN team also found "reasonable grounds to believe" sexual violence, including gang rape, took place when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October. Israel's foreign ministry said it welcomed the "definitive recognition that Hamas committed sexual crimes". The UN Security Council should now designate Hamas as a terrorist organisation and impose international sanctions on it, spokesman Lior Haiat said. Hamas rejected the UN report as "baseless and only aimed at demonising the Palestinian resistance". The group denies its gunmen sexually assaulted women during the attacks or mistreated female hostages they took to Gaza. Warning: Contains graphic descriptions of rape and sexual violence Pramila Patten, the UN's Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, said her team had "found clear and convincing information that sexual violence, including rape, sexualised torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment" had been committed against hostages. There were "reasonable grounds" to believe such violence could be "ongoing against those still held in captivity", she told reporters. Hamas gunmen infiltrated southern Israel on 7 October - killing about 1,200 people and taking 253 others hostage. The UN report said "the mission team found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred in multiple locations during the 7 October attacks". These happened in at least three locations - the Nova music festival site and its surroundings, Road 232, and Kibbutz Re'im, it added. Reports of sexual violence carried out by Hamas - which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK and others - began to emerge soon after 7 October and have accumulated steadily ever since. The BBC has also seen and heard evidence of rape, sexual violence and mutilation of women. Israel responded to the 7 October attack by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which 30,500 people have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The UN team visited Israel between 29 January and 14 February. The mission, led by Ms Patten along with nine experts, was not investigative in nature, but designed to gather and verify allegations, the UN said. It added that 33 meetings were held with Israeli representatives, and more than 5,000 photographic images were examined as well as 50 hours of video footage. The report said that "despite concerted efforts to encourage" victims to come forward, the team was unable to interview any of them. Some allegations of rape and sexual violence were "unfounded", the report explained, including the graphically publicised case of a pregnant woman whose womb was reportedly torn open and her foetus stabbed. Other reports could not be verified due to limited imagery, the UN said. It also said it had not been able to establish a discernible pattern of genital mutilation. The UN report also said there had been allegations of sexual violence against Palestinians in Israeli custody, including "unwanted touching of intimate areas" and "prolonged forced nudity" in detention settings, during house raids and at checkpoints after 7 October. The report said that while no instances of rape against Palestinians were reported, conservative cultural norms could have impeded reporting of sexual assault. Israel's foreign ministry rejected this part of the report. "That is a derisive and deliberate Palestinian manoeuvre aimed at creating an intolerable equivalence between the horrific crimes that were committed, and continue to be committed, by Hamas and malicious and baseless claims made against Israel and Israelis," Mr Haiat said. Israel has rejected similar allegations made previously by a panel of independent UN experts as "despicable and unfounded". Mr Haiat also said Israel opposed a recommendation made in the report that the country co-operate with the UN's international Commission of Inquiry, which is trying to conduct an investigation into potential war crimes on all sides. He accused the inquiry of being hostile to Israel. Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Monday recalled the country's ambassador to the UN for "consultations", accusing the UN of an "attempt to silence the grave UN report on the mass rapes". He criticised UN Secretary General António Guterres for not convening the Security Council to discuss the findings and in order to declare Hamas a terrorist organisation. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that Mr Guterres "has fully supported" Ms Patten's work in her visit to Israel. Link : Clickhere

housands queued for hours to hear the former president speak in Richmond, Virginia Thousands queued for hours to hear the former president speak in Richmond, Virginia Donald Trump won a string of Republican presidential contests on Saturday, edging closer to becoming the party's candidate in November's election as he attacked his likely opponent Joe Biden. The former president won the Missouri, Michigan and Idaho caucuses comprehensively, continuing his clean sweep of states so far. Mr Trump, 77, told supporters at a rally in Virginia that he was "on a rocket to the Republican nomination". His last remaining rival in the race, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, is still seeking her first victory and is without a clear path to the nomination given Mr Trump's commanding lead. He is projected to win all of the delegates available in Missouri and all in Idaho, according to the BBC's US partner CBS news, as well as all of those remaining in Michigan. A third of delegates in that state were awarded earlier this week after a primary that Mr Trump won. Delegates represent their state or district at the respective party's national convention, and decide who its presidential nominee will be. So far Mr Trump has secured 247 Republican delegates, according to CBS, far more than Ms Haley's 24. In the Virginia capital of Richmond on Saturday, thousands queued for several hours to hear Mr Trump speak. He vowed to "win big" on Tuesday, when 15 states will choose their presidential candidate on a day that could put him within striking distance of the nomination. "We got numbers today that were unbelievable," he told the crowd. But his speech in Virginia - and at an earlier event in Greensboro, North Carolina - largely focused on migration at the US-Mexico border, a message which polls show resonates well with his base. In more than a dozen interviews with the BBC on Saturday, his supporters said the issue was among their primary concerns. Link : Clickhere

The US Senate has approved a long-awaited $95bn (£75.2bn) aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan after months of political wrangling. While Democrats were in favour of passing the bill, Republicans were divided and previously voted it down. The package includes $60bn for Kyiv, $14bn for Israel's war against Hamas and $10bn for humanitarian aid in conflict zones, including in Gaza. The bill will now go to the House, where its fate remains uncertain. The package, which also includes more than $4bn in funds for Indo-Pacific allies, passed the Senate despite criticism from Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and former President Donald Trump. Lawmakers voted 70 to 29 to approve the package. In the end, 22 Republicans joined most of Democrats to vote for the legislation, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. "History settles every account," Mr McConnell said in a statement following the vote. "And today, on the value of American leadership and strength, history will record that the Senate did not blink." Ukraine's president also said he was "grateful" to senators for passing it. "For us in Ukraine, continued US assistance helps to save human lives from Russian terror. It means that life will continue in our cities and will triumph over war," Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. The vote came after an all-night Senate session during which several Republicans made speeches criticising the measure. Consideration of the bill dragged on for days, as a group of right-wing Republicans led by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky vowed to slow down the process. "Shouldn't we try to fix our own country first?" he said on the floor on Monday as he began filibustering the bill. Some progressive lawmakers, including Democrat Jeff Merkley of Oregon and independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont, also voted against the bill over concerns about supporting Israel's bombing of Gaza. The aid package is a stripped down version of a $118bn package that Senate Republicans voted down last week. Republicans had initially demanded that any foreign aid be tied to more security measures at the southern border. But after Mr Trump came out against the measure, Republicans were divided on the package. Some lawmakers suggested that border security measures could be added back into the current version of the legislation. Mr Johnson suggested in a statement on Monday night that the new bill would not pass the Republican-controlled House without such provisions. "House Republicans were crystal clear from the very beginning of discussions that any so-called national security supplemental legislation must recognise that national security begins at our own border," he said. Mr Johnson said lawmakers "should have gone back to the drawing board" with the legislation to focus on border security provisions. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, hailed the passage of the bill on Tuesday. He said the Senate was "telling Putin he will regret the day he questioned America's resolve". The US is one of the largest providers of aid to Ukraine. The White House asked Congress months ago to pass a bill that included foreign aid. Link : Clickhere

Students have smuggled in textbooks and notes into the examination centres despite tight security India's parliament has passed a stringent new law to prevent cheating in exams for government jobs and admission to public colleges. The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 - which was passed on Tuesday - carries a jail sentence of three to 10 years for those who facilitate cheating. It also carries a fine ranging between 1 million rupees ($12,040; £9,551) and 10 million rupees. The new law does not impose penalties directly on test takers; instead, their punishments will be determined by the rules set forth by their respective testing authorities. A jobs crisis in India is driving workers to Israel The law will be applicable to most exams conducted by the federal government and its test agencies. All offences are non-bailable and will be investigated by senior police officials. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government has said the act will bring "greater transparency, fairness and credibility" as it is the first federal legislation to prevent malpractices in examinations. But critics argue that severe punishment alone won't effectively address the issue, noting instances of cheating and impersonation already punishable under India's criminal laws. Aspirants protesting against exam paper leaks in India "The new law could prove to be ineffective because coaching centres collude with students to help them pass entrance examination," says Ghanta Chakrapani, former chairman of a state-run organisation which recruits people for state government jobs. In 2022, India's top investigative agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), arrested a Russian hacker for reportedly breaching the entrance exam for admission to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). The hacker allegedly worked for a coaching institute. Cheating is prevalent in India due to the intensely competitive nature of government jobs and top college admission tests, where millions vie for a limited number of positions. Cheating plagues India jobs coveted by millions For the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam, the entrance test for the federal civil service, over a million people applied last year for just over 1,000 job vacancies. The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), which determines admissions to IITs, sees tens of thousands of applicants annually for just over 15,000 available seats. In response to exam mani[CENSORED]tion, several states have implemented laws to curb cheating. Rajasthan enacted an anti-cheating law two years ago, while Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have had such laws since 1998 and 1997, respectively. Last year, Gujarat and Uttarakhand also introduced laws to prevent cheating. Despite the existence of these laws, cheating cases have persisted in each of these states until recently, indicating their limited effectiveness. Link : Clickhere

Grindavik's residents were told to leave before lava swept through their town Over the past three years, the peninsula - approximately the size of the West Midlands in the UK - has witnessed five volcanic eruptions. On 10 November, faced with an alarming number of earthquakes and suspicions of magma beneath the town, Iceland's authorities ordered the evacuation of Grindavik, home to approximately 3,800 residents. Over the following days it became clear that several homes had been completely ruined by seismic activity. Residents hoped to return home as the frequency of the earthquakes diminished - but in mid-December, a strong eruption began in the nearby Sundhnuks crater series, lasting three days. I witnessed the eruption myself then three hours after it had begun I drove home. Along the road from the capital, Reykjavik, to Keflavik airport which leads to my town, Reykjanesbaer, I caught sight of fissure almost 4km in length, spewing molten lava. It felt as though I was watching the gates of hell opening. Grindavik was spared for the time being -the eruption took place about 3km (1.85 miles) away - but additional fissures were subsequently discovered in the town, prompting authorities to close them and begin repairing damaged infrastructure. Tragedy struck on 10 January when a man working in the town fell through one of the crevasses. After a brief search, the operation was halted due to the dangers involved. Four days later, another eruption began perilously close to Grindavik. From the Icelandic civil protection's central command centre in Reykjanesbaer, I witnessed the live feed of the eruption from the Sundhnuks crater series. In the weeks leading up to the January eruption, the government had decided to erect protective walls in an attempt to prevent lava flowing towards Grindavik and the nearby Svartsengi geothermal power plant. For the first few hours the protective walls proved helpful, though the fissure had to some extent opened through one of the walls. That meant some lava flowed toward the town, but the walls kept most of it at bay. Around noon on 14 January, I was watching with other reporters next to the protective walls in Grindavik, when I and others caught sight of smoke appearing from behind the walls, from the town itself. Link : Clickhere