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  • WestJet and Saudia announce interline agreement unlocking enhanced international connectivity to more than 100 destinations

    WestJet and Saudia announce interline agreement unlocking enhanced international connectivity to more than 100 destinations

    WestJet and Saudia announce interline agreement unlocking enhanced international connectivity to more than 100 destinations

    WestJet guests to gain single-connection access to multiple points in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the first time

    CALGARY, AB, June 30, 2025 /CNW/ – WestJet today announced a new interline partnership agreement with Saudia, significantly enhancing global connectivity across both carriers’ networks. The agreement includes single-connection access to Jeddah via Toronto Pearson as well as both Jeddah and Riyadh from London Heathrow and Paris Charles-de-Gaulle.

    “An interline partnership with Saudia marks a major step forward in expanding global connectivity for our guests,” said John Weatherill, WestJet Executive Vice-President and Chief Commercial Officer. “This agreement not only provides WestJet guests with seamless single-connection access to Saudia’s extensive global network but also strengthens inbound tourism and business links. Together, WestJet and Saudia are creating more convenient and diverse travel options for guests on both sides, fostering stronger connections and collaboration across continents.”

    Arved von zur Muehlen, Chief Commercial Officer at Saudia, said, “We value the partnership with WestJet, it reflects Saudia’s commitment to offer our guests more destinations through key international gateways. Canada is now closer than ever, and we are also offering a seamless journey for travellers from Canada to explore Saudi Arabia and experience its unique culture, heritage, and hospitality.”

    The agreement was signed by Arved von zur Muehlen, Chief Commercial Officer at Saudia, and John Weatherill, Executive Vice-President and Chief Commercial Officer at WestJet.

    Guests can now book a single ticket with a connected itinerary between WestJet and Saudia’s networks with single point check-in and through-checked bags. Bookings will be available through a travel agent or third-party ticket sales websites.

    About WestJet      
    WestJet took to the skies in 1996 with just over 200 employees and three aircraft operating service to five destinations. Since then, WestJet has pioneered low-cost travel in Canada, cutting airfares in half, and increasing the flying population in Canada by more than 50 per cent. Following integration with Sunwing in 2025, more than 14,000 WestJetters support nearly 200 aircraft and connect guests to more than 100 destinations across North America, Central America, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia.    

    As a major Canadian employer that includes WestJet Airlines, Sunwing Vacations Group and WestJet Cargo, the WestJet Group is Canada’s leading low-cost airline and largest vacation provider, with a united purpose of providing affordable and accessible air and vacation travel to Canadians.    

    Learn more about WestJet at westjet.com/en-ca/who-we-are (also available in French)  

    Follow WestJet on Facebook at facebook.com/westjet   
    Follow WestJet on X at x.com/westjet and x.com/WestJetNews   
    Follow WestJet on Instagram at instagram.com/westjet/   
    Subscribe to WestJet on YouTube at youtube.com/westjet    

    SOURCE WESTJET, an Alberta Partnership


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  • Study finds patients with interrupted GLP-1 access still achieve significant weight loss

    Study finds patients with interrupted GLP-1 access still achieve significant weight loss

    Popular anti-obesity medications continue to be effective for weight loss even when availability and access is interrupted, according to a study being presented by a private weight-loss company Monday at ENDO 2025, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in San Francisco, Calif. 

    “Patients taking GLP-1 treatments like semaglutide and tirzepatide often face challenges consistently accessing their medications due to supply shortages or insurance coverage obstacles,” said Kaelen L. Medeiros, M.S., director of data and research at privately held weight-loss company Calibrate in New York, N.Y. “While unpredictable GLP-1 medication access is frustrating, the good news is that our research shows effective weight loss can still be achieved if paired with appropriate lifestyle changes and coaching support.”

    Researchers looked at how interruptions to GLP-1 medication access impacted weight-loss outcomes in real-world patients taking part in a commercial metabolic health program that also included intensive lifestyle intervention. Participants followed an intensive lifestyle change curriculum that emphasized the four pillars of metabolic health: food, exercise, sleep and emotional health, while receiving one-on-one health coaching.

    The study reviewed records for 6,392 participants who had at least one month of GLP-1 access and completed at least one year in an obesity and overweight care program. Of these participants, 72.5% experienced at least one disruption in their GLP-1 treatment and 11.1% had multiple disruptions. Participants received an average of 8.13 GLP-1 fills during the first year of research and 15.25 fills during the second year.

    After 12 months, participants who faced access issues achieved 13.7% weight loss in 12 months and 14.9% in 24 months. Those without treatment interruptions had 17% weight loss in 12 months and 20.1% in 24 months. Those who received only 1 to 4 treatments over 12 months also achieved clinically significant weight loss, with more than 10% change in body weight on average.

    “Given the often-unpredictable availability and shifting insurance coverage associated with anti-obesity medications, it’s important that patients understand the significant impact that lifestyle changes and coaching paired with treatment can have on their health outcomes,” Medeiros said.

    While findings indicate that significant weight loss is still possible for those with inconsistent access to GLP-1 medications, Medeiros said the results found that a consistent medication course combined with lifestyle changes and support remains the most effective weight-loss program option. 

    About Endocrine Society
    Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time, from diabetes and obesity to infertility, bone health, and hormone-related cancers. The Endocrine Society is the world’s oldest and largest organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormone-related conditions.

    The Society has more than 18,000 members, including scientists, physicians, educators, nurses, and students in 122 countries. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at www.endocrine.org. Follow us on X (formerly Twitter) at @TheEndoSociety and @EndoMedia.


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  • U.N. nuclear watchdog says Iran could enrich uranium again in ‘a matter of months’

    U.N. nuclear watchdog says Iran could enrich uranium again in ‘a matter of months’

    The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog says Iran could begin enriching uranium again within months following an attack by the U.S. military on three of its facilities earlier in June.

    Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. office that inspects countries’ nuclear programs to ensure compliance with nonproliferation agreements, made the comments in an interview recorded Friday and aired on Sunday by CBS’s Face the Nation.

    “They can have, you know, in a matter of months, I would say, a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium, or less than that,” he said.

    Grossi said he believed the facilities that were hit by U.S. bombs suffered severe but not total damage, and added that Iran had other means of achieving its nuclear goals.

    “Iran had a very vast ambitious program, and part of it may still be there, and if not, there is also the self-evident truth that the knowledge is there. The industrial capacity is there. Iran is a very sophisticated country in terms of nuclear technology, as is obvious,” he said.

    President Trump said shortly after the strikes that the U.S. had “totally obliterated” Iran’s three main nuclear facilities, and other administration officials have echoed a similar assessment of the mission’s success.

    But a preliminary report by the Defense Intelligence Agency suggested Iran’s nuclear facilities may have only suffered “limited” damage, setting back the nuclear program by months.

    On Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that report was a “preliminary, low-confidence report that will continue to be refined” and called the U.S. operation a “a ”historically successful attack.“

    Grossi told CBS that it was possible Iran could have moved canisters of enriched uranium before the attack to a secret offsite location. The IAEA previously reported that Iran had a stockpile of over 400 kilograms — or nearly 900 pounds — of highly enriched uranium.

    But President Trump reiterated in an interview aired on Fox News Sunday morning that he believes that wasn’t the case. ”First of all, it’s very hard to do. It’s very dangerous to do. It’s very heavy, very very heavy,“ Trump said.

    Trump said he believed the attacks also caught Iran by surprise — particularly the strike on its underground Fordo facility. ”And nobody thought we’d go after that site, because everybody said, ‘that site is impenetrable.’“

    Grossi said it was important for the IAEA and Iran to resume discussions, and for international inspectors to be able to continue their work in the country. ”We have to go back to the table and have a technically sound solution to this,“ he said.

    Copyright 2025 NPR


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  • Bryan Mbeumo might stay at Brentford amid Man City interest, say club

    Bryan Mbeumo might stay at Brentford amid Man City interest, say club

    Brentford are in “constant dialogue” with forward Bryan Mbeumo and it is “not impossible” he will stay, says director of football Phil Giles.

    Cameroon international Mbeumo is the subject of serious interest from Manchester United, who have had two offers for the striker rejected – the second of which was worth up to £62.5m.

    Mbeumo, 25, wants to join United and is understood to have told the west London club that.

    Speaking on Monday, Giles told BBC Sport there had been “not so much” progress regarding a potential deal.

    “He had a fantastic season,” he said. “We expected big interest in him, we have had big interest in him.

    “He has his ideas about where he wants to take his career. He is well within his rights to do that.

    “It is not impossible he is still a Brentford player next season if we agree he is going to stay.”

    Giles said Mbeumo would only be sold if it was “the right deal” for Brentford.

    “Any club will tell you that,” he added. “If it’s not right deal, why would we do it?

    “He is certainly one of our best players, if not our best player, and we need our best players. There’s no harm in keeping your best players.”

    Meanwhile, Giles also confirmed captain Christian Norgaard was close to joining Arsenal.

    BBC Sport revealed last week the two Premier League clubs had agreed a fee – believed to be up to £15m inclusive of add-ons – for the Denmark midfielder.

    “We have been in conversations with Arsenal for the last week to 10 days,” said Giles. “As it stands it hasn’t been completed yet but it is heading in that direction.

    “If that happens for him then fantastic, he’s earned it. He’s been a brilliant captain for us.

    “Let’s see how that story ends but we are pretty open about that interest there.”

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  • BBC Verify Live: Verifying video from Gaza after wave of Israeli air strikes

    BBC Verify Live: Verifying video from Gaza after wave of Israeli air strikes

    Construction activity visible at Iran’s bombed Fordo nuclear facility

    Kayleen Devlin and Benedict Garman
    BBC Verify

    Satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies shows heavy construction equipment operating at the Fordo nuclear facility in Iran – one of the sites targeted by the US military.

    Images from 29 June show an excavator and crane at the top of a newly constructed access road close to an area targeted by the American bunker-busting bombs. Further down the mountainside, a bulldozer and lorry are visible.

    Construction vehicles are also working at the entrance to the site and at a bombed building on the east side of the complex – both of which were damaged in Israeli strikes the day after the US attacks.

    According to nuclear weapons expert David Albright, who analysed imagery of the same site taken on 28 June, the construction work may include backfilling the craters, carrying out engineering damage assessments and radiological sampling.

    Following the US strikes President Donald Trump said they had “obliterated” Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities.

    Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on Friday that Iran could resume uranium enrichment “in a matter of months.”

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  • PCB appoints Azhar Mahmood as red-ball head coach

    PCB appoints Azhar Mahmood as red-ball head coach

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the appointment of Azhar Mahmood as the acting red-ball head coach for the Men’s cricket team.

    The former assistant coach will hold the position until the end of his current contract, according to a statement issued by the PCB on Monday.

    Azhar Mahmood, a seasoned cricket professional, brings a wealth of experience to the role. Having served as the assistant head coach of the national team, he is well-versed in the team’s strategies and operations, the statement added.

    The PCB also stated that his experience extends beyond coaching, with a distinguished career in international cricket and a successful stint in the English county circuit.

    “Mahmood’s red-ball credentials are highlighted by two County Championship titles, showcasing his leadership skills, tactical insight, and dedication to the sport,” it said.

    The PCB is confident that his expertise will contribute significantly to the team’s continued growth, performance, and discipline on the international stage.

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  • Crystal defies Pasteur’s chirality rules in breakthrough discovery

    Crystal defies Pasteur’s chirality rules in breakthrough discovery

    Expectations over optical behaviour that have been widely held since Louis Pasteur’s seminal discoveries in 1848 have been upended by a new study. Researchers observed optical behaviours linked to chirality in crystalline lithium cobalt selenium oxide (Li2Co3(SeO3)4), a centrosymmetric crystal that as such cannot be chiral. ‘Within the inorganic crystal community there’s been a strong sentiment that you cannot have chiroptical effects under centrosymmetry,’ says Roel Tempelaar, a researcher at Northwestern University’s chemistry department who led the new work.

    Chirality refers to two versions of a structure – be that light, molecules or crystals – that are almost identical but cannot be superimposed on each other, just like your left and right hand. When a structure displays centrosymmetry it has lines of symmetry in every direction from a central point, ruling out any possibility of chirality.

    Chiral materials have a chiroptical response – they rotate linearly polarised light and absorb circularly polarised light differently depending on whether it is left-or right-handed – as a result of the molecule or crystal’s shape. Pasteur was able to explain why artificially synthesised tartaric acid did not rotate linearly polarised light, while that derived from biological processes did, as life only produces one version of the molecule. Where both versions are present in equal measure in artificially synthesised tartaric acid, the chiroptical responses cancel out. As centrosymmetric crystals have no chirality in the first place, no-one expected to see chirality in their optical response at all. However, the researchers showed that centrosymmetric crystalline Li2Co3(SeO3)4 transmits more left circularly polarised light than right.

    ‘This is a really beautiful study that challenges the boundaries of conventional thinking,’ says Richard Robinson, a materials scientist at Cornell University in the US. ‘This result is sure to open exciting new avenues in chiroptic material design.’

    How a centrosymmetric crystal shows chiral behaviour

    Although, by definition, a centrosymmetric crystal structure does not meet the criteria for a chiroptical response, it turns out that the interference of two other linear polarisation phenomena also results in different absorption of left- and right-handed circularly polarised light. In fact, while the result came as a surprise, reports date back decades when it comes to chiroptical responses based on interference between linear dichroism – polarisation dependent absorption – and linear birefringence – polarisation dependent refraction.

    Crystal

    The research community has now come to recognise the effect as a physical mechanism with potentially useful features that differ to the optical activity attributed to chiral molecular or crystal structure. As such it could be exploited for engineering chiral light for quantum information applications, where qubits are encoded in spin states of photons instead of electrons or nuclei. Tempelaar was particularly intrigued by the possibility of exploiting the effect to produce compact chiral lasing. But while there are reports of the effect in organic thin films, metal-halide perovskites and nanostructures, Tempelaar and his team were unable to find any reports of the effect in inorganic crystals, where the prevailing mindset still maintains that chiral crystal structure is a prerequisite for chiroptical responses.

    Classy discovery

    Being mostly a molecular scientist, Tempelaar was lucky enough to find himself in conversation with a colleague at Northwestern University, Kenneth Poeppelmeier, who has long worked in the realm of inorganic crystals. The two eventually found themselves exploring crystal symmetries theoretically to see in which types of crystal the effect could manifest. ‘To our surprise, we found that it will survive under certain centrosymmetric classes,’ Tempelaar says.

    Even so there remained a ‘healthy dose of scepticism’ among the team as they began searching for chiroptical centrosymmetric crystals. A close collaboration between graduate students Katherine Parrish and Andrew Salij, as well as postdoctoral researcher Kendall Kamp, ultimately predicted, synthesised and characterised the candidate crystal Li2Co3(SeO3)4. To their excitement, the measured effect was very large.

    ‘The magnitude of the effect has significant technological implications,’ says Garth Simpson, who specialises in novel light–matter interactions at Purdue University in the US, but was not involved in this research. He adds that tabulation of crystal classes supporting this effect could be a ‘particularly useful practical guide’ – more so if the table includes all the relevant crystal classes.

    Haipeng Lu, whose research at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology focuses on inorganic functional materials, also notes that the interaction is ‘not new to researchers but has been overlooked for many years’. He says that optoelectronics, photonics, spintronics and quantum information science could all benefit from this discovery. ‘It makes researchers in the field re-think the general idea that only non-centrosymmetric materials can produce circular dichroism.’

    Furthermore, Tempelaar is confident the effect is widespread. ‘I don’t think we got particularly lucky – I think this is the tell-tale that there is a whole class of centrosymmetric materials that will be extremely good chiroptical materials,’ he says.

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  • Siemens and EnPot join forces to power China’s aluminium industry using renewables – News

    Siemens and EnPot join forces to power China’s aluminium industry using renewables – News

    EnPot’s technology preserves the electrochemical process of aluminium production while allowing smelters to modulate energy by up to 30%

    SIEMENS has signed a deal with EnPot, developer of a novel heat exchange technology, to help China’s huge aluminium industry use more renewable power.

    EnPot, a New Zealand-based process development company, has developed a technology that allows aluminium smelters to modulate their power use. This would open the door for smelters to reduce their reliance on more dependable fossil fuels while contributing to grid stability.

    Traditional smelter design requires a constant power supply to sustain the electrochemical reaction that produces aluminium and to maintain the heat balance within the pots – a reduction in power can cause severe damage.

    EnPot’s technology uses a mechanical system of heat exchangers that preserve the electrochemical process while allowing smelters to modulate energy by up to 30% without disrupting the internal heat balance. This makes smelting more compatible with variable supplies of renewable power.

    Siemens Energy designs energy management systems that integrate renewable power generation into existing facilities and optimise power use. Together the partners aim to help manufacturers integrate more renewable energy, improve energy efficiency and reduce operating costs.

    China has strict targets for renewable energy to power 30% of its aluminium industry by 2027.

    Karyna Young, CEO of EnPot, said: “China boasts more than 55% of the world’s aluminium smelters and counting. Like the rest of the world, they also see an urgent need to power the process with more energy from the sun, wind and lakes.

    “This means they need to produce aluminium more flexibly by turning power consumption up or down on demand to match the availability of renewables. Numerous smelters in China have told our team they have an abundance of renewable energy that is next to impossible to take full advantage of without being able to dynamically balance the heat in the pots.”

    EnPot’s technology was commercialised at a smelter in Essen, Germany in 2014 and expanded to a full potline of 120 pots in 2019.

    For more on the technology, read a feature written by its developers.

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  • Pixalate Reveals Global Q1 2025 Ad SDK Market Share

    Pixalate Reveals Global Q1 2025 Ad SDK Market Share

    London, June 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pixalate, the leading ad fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform, today released the Q1 2025 Global Mobile App Ad SDK Market Share Rankings Reports for the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The Q1 2025 reports analyze the estimated market share of third-party ad software development kits (SDKs) used across apps on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

    Third-party SDKs are created by companies that are different from the app developer. App developers utilize third-party advertising SDKs to perform various advertising-related functions, including mediation, measurement, attribution, and more.

    Top Android Ad SDKs Apps in the Google Play Store

    Market share estimates are based on SDK presence. Pixalate identifies ad impressions on an app and attributes them to every SDK integrated into that app. Because many apps utilize multiple SDKs, this metric reflects an SDK’s footprint and potential access to impressions, not a direct confirmation of its participation in each ad sale.

    Download the full report to explore the estimates based on the number of apps and impression volume.

    Top Android Ad SDKs by Global Estimated Market Share (March 2025):

    • IAB OM Open Measurement OMSDK (95% estimated ad market share)
    • Meta Audience Network (89%)
    • Unity Ads (86%)
    • AppLovin (85%)
    • Vungle (Liftoff) (83%)

    Top Android Ad SDKs by North America Estimated Market Share (March 2025):

    • IAB OM Open Measurement OMSDK (96%)
    • Meta Audience Network (92%)
    • AppLovin (89%)
    • Unity Ads (88%)
    • Vungle (Liftoff) (86%)

    Top Android Ad SDKs by EMEA Estimated Market Share (March 2025):

    • IAB OM Open Measurement OMSDK (95%)
    • Meta Audience (88%)
    • Unity Ads (86%)
    • AppLovin (86%)
    • Vungle (Liftoff) (82%)

    Top Android Ad SDKs by APAC Estimated Market Share (March 2025):

    • IAB OM Open Measurement OMSDK (93%)
    • Meta Audience Network (86%)
    • Unity Ads (83%)
    • Mintegral (78%)
    • AppLovin (77%)

    Top Android Ad SDKs by LATAM Estimated Market Share (March 2025):

    • IAB OM Open Measurement OMSDK (98%)
    • Vungle (Liftoff) (90%)
    • Meta Audience Network (88%)
    • Unity Ads (86%)
    • AppLovin (85%)

    Top Android Ad SDKs on ‘Video Gaming’ Apps by Estimated Market Share (March 2025):

    • IAB OM Open Measurement OMSDK (99%)
    • Unity Ads (99%)
    • AppLovin (98%)
    • Meta Audience Network (96%)
    • Vungle (Liftoff) (96%)

    Download the full Android Ad SDK Market Share Rankings for the Google Play Store here.

    Top iOS Ad SDKs Apps in the Apple App Store

    Download the full report to explore the estimates based on the number of apps and impression volume.

    Top iOS Ad SDKs by Global Estimated Market Share (March 2025):

    • AppLovin (83% estimated ad market share)
    • Amazon Ads (74%)
    • Meta Audience Network (64%)
    • Vungle (Liftoff) (62% )
    • ByteDance TikTok (60%)

    Top iOS Ad SDKs by North America Estimated Market Share (March 2025):

    • AppLovin (84%)
    • Amazon Ads (80%)
    • Meta Audience Network (68%)
    • Vungle (Liftoff) (66%)
    • Appodeal (65%)

    Top iOS Ad SDKs by EMEA Estimated Market Share (March 2025):

    • AppLovin (83%)
    • Amazon Ads (74%)
    • ByteDance (TikTok) (59%)
    • Vungle (Liftoff) (55%)
    • Meta Audience Network (54%)

    Top iOS Ad SDKs by APAC Estimated Market Share (March 2025):

    • AppLovin (75%)
    • ByteDance TikTok (71%)
    • Meta Audience Network (67%)
    • Amazon Ads (56%)
    • Vungle (Liftoff) (52%)

    Top iOS Ad SDKs by LATAM Estimated Market Share (March 2025):

    • AppLovin (79%)
    • Meta Audience Network (64%)
    • Vungle (Liftoff) (63%)
    • Amazon Ads (59%)
    • ByteDance TikTok (56%)

    Top iOS Ad SDKs on ‘Video Gaming’ Apps by Estimated Market Share (March 2025):

    • AppLovin (99%)
    • Amazon Ads (85%)
    • Vungle (Liftoff) (82%)
    • Meta Audience Network (80%)
    • Appodeal (79%)

    Download the complete iOS Ad SDK Market Share Rankings for the Apple App Store here.

    Pixalate’s data science team analyzed over 3.8M mobile apps downloadable from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store and 28 billion open programmatic advertising transactions during March 2025 (Q1 2025).
    Download the reports for a complete analysis and review of SDKs:

    About Pixalate

    Pixalate is a global platform specializing in privacy compliance, ad fraud prevention, and digital ad supply chain data intelligence. Founded in 2012, Pixalate is trusted by regulators, data researchers, advertisers, publishers, ad tech platforms, and financial analysts across the Connected TV (CTV), mobile app, and website ecosystems. Pixalate is accredited by the MRC for the detection and filtration of Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT). pixalate.com

    Disclaimer

    The content of this press release, and the Global Mobile App SDKs Market Share Rankings Report, reflect Pixalate’s opinions with respect to the factors that Pixalate believes can be useful to the digital media industry. Any data shared is grounded in Pixalate’s proprietary technology and analytics, which Pixalate is continuously evaluating and updating. Any references to outside sources should not be construed as endorsements. Pixalate’s opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees. Pixalate is sharing this data not to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but, instead, to report findings and trends pertaining to the time period studied.

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  • Ambassador Kamran elected as President of 53rd session of IDB – RADIO PAKISTAN

    1. Ambassador Kamran elected as President of 53rd session of IDB  RADIO PAKISTAN
    2. Pakistan’s PR to UN in Vienna elected UNIDO president  The Express Tribune
    3. 4:00 pm Headlines on 24Digital channel  24 News HD
    4. Kamran Akhtar leads 53rd UNIDO meeting, Pakistan marks historic win  Daily Times
    5. Ambassador Kamran Akhtar elected President of UNIDO Industrial Development Board  Islamabad Post

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