Despite growing local manufacturing, Pakistan’s mobile phone market continues to face headwinds, as locally manufactured and assembled handset sales declined by 8% year-on-year during both the first five months of 2025 and the broader 11-month period of FY25, according to data released by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
Despite a 4% year-on-year rise in production during April and May 2025, reaching 4.84 million units, overall demand remains subdued compared to 2024, when sales were buoyed by pent-up consumer buying following the easing of import restrictions, noted Sunny Kumar of Topline Securities.
Local mobile phone companies manufactured or assembled 4.84 million units during April and May 2025, reflecting a 4% year-on-year increase compared to 4.65 million units produced in the same period of 2024, according to PTA. This brings the total number of locally assembled units in 11MFY25 to 26.09 million, which, however, marks an 8% decline in sales compared to the corresponding period last year. Similarly, for the first five months of 2025, locally manufactured or assembled sales stood at 12.05 million units, also down 8% year-on-year.
Industry sources attribute the decline in overall mobile phone sales to several factors. Firstly, there is a high base effect from 2024, when the industry experienced exceptional growth due to pent-up demand after the lifting of import restrictions. Secondly, the average mobile replacement cycle has extended from 2.5 years to 3.5 years, driven by a lack of compelling new model launches. Lastly, persistently high inflation and weaker rural consumer demand have dampened overall spending on mobile devices.
Despite the volume decline, Pakistan has significantly increased its reliance on local assembly. In the first five months of 2025, 94% of mobile phone demand was met through local manufacturing and assembly, compared to the five-year (2020-2024) average of 77% and the nine-year (2016-2024) average of 52%.
Of the 12.05 million units assembled during the first five months of 2025, 54% (6.53 million) were 2G feature phones, while the remaining 46% (5.52 million) were smartphones. The top 10 locally assembled brands included Infinix (1.34 million units), VGO Tel (1.33 million), itel (1.07 million), Vivo (0.96 million), Samsung (0.67 million), Xiaomi (0.65 million), G’Five (0.64 million), Tecno (0.62 million), Nokia (0.52 million), and QMobile AL (0.5 million).
Within the listed companies, Air Link Communication (AIRLINK), which assembles Tecno and Xiaomi phones, stood out as a key player, with both brands ranking among the top 10 during the first five months of 2025.
The bulk of England’s issues seemed to stem from midfield as Georgia Stanway and Walsh were overrun and their opponents were devastating on the break.
Wiegman admitted sloppiness in possession played into France’s hands as they pressed hard and took advantage of individual errors.
Captain Leah Williamson was visibly frustrated at full-time and described the errors as “some cheap sort of emotional defending”.
France winger Sandy Baltimore won her individual battles with her Chelsea team-mate Lucy Bronze – the England defender losing six duels, the most by any player.
And until Walsh’s 87th-minute strike, the Lionesses had not achieved a shot on target.
“I think we played like we were a little bit scared,” said Carter.
“Maybe we weren’t aggressive enough, maybe we were worrying about their threats in behind and what they can do rather than doing what we can do.
“We didn’t do as well on the ball, or off the ball. The only positive to take is the last 10 minutes. I really believed we would get a [second] goal.”
England’s level seemed to surprise French media, who had largely written off their side’s chances when key centre-back Griedge Mbock was ruled out through injury.
“I didn’t think the French could play at this level already and I didn’t think England could be so disappointing like they were for an hour,” French journalist Julien Laurens told BBC Radio 5 Live.
France manager Laurent Bonadei admitted England’s explosive start, that saw Lauren James create a handful of chances, took them by surprise. But he felt his side controlled proceedings after that and “physically it was not easy for England”.
James’ apparent free role certainly looked exciting at the start – but did it leave her side exposed in midfield?
Wiegman’s response to that question was emphatic.
“[James] didn’t have a total free role. We got exposed by losing balls in moments where we didn’t want to lose the ball,” she said. “That was the main topic we wanted to find a solution for.”
Following the introductions of Chloe Kelly, Grace Clinton and Michelle Agyemang, the Lionesses responded, but too late to change the outcome, and former midfielder Karen Carney was far from impressed.
“It wasn’t good enough. We were bullied all over the pitch. We didn’t win enough duels. We looked like we’ve never played together,” she told ITV.
“This is our trophy and that wasn’t good enough. We played into their hands a little bit too much.”
Puerto Rico’s Ayden Owens-Delerme and USA’s Taliyah Brooks lead after the first day of action at Decastar, but it’s all to play for at the World Athletics Combined Events Tour Gold meeting in Talence.
Owens-Delerme amassed 4469 points on Saturday (5) to hold an overnight lead of 117 points over Kendrick Thompson of The Bahamas in the men’s decathlon. But several athletes in the field, including 2019 world champion Niklas Kaul and European champion Johannes Erm, have the potential to produce big scores on day two, so nothing is guaranteed.
The situation is similar in the women’s heptathlon; Brooks – a strong day-one performer – has a 59-point lead with her current score of 3850. But just 84 points separate the next six athletes in the standings.
Owens-Delerme took an early lead in the decathlon with a 10.48 run in the 100m, but Thompson moved into the lead after the long jump, leaping 7.70m to Owens-Delerme’s 7.44m.
The Puerto Rican regained pole position thanks to a 16.13m heave in the shot put, but again it was short-lived as France’s Teo Bastien jumped to the top of the standings after clearing 2.06m in the high jump.
Owens-Delerme ended his day with a meeting record of 46.43 in the 400m to finish the day with a leading tally of 4469. Thompson covered a lap of the track in 48.56 to move into second place. Erm’s 48.13 was one of the fastest of the day and the Estonian currently sits in fourth behind Bastien.
Kaul ended the day in seventh overall, but is only marginally behind his pace from Götzis, where he went on to score 8575, so the German is certainly one to watch on Sunday.
The women’s heptathlon got off to a strong start with Michelle Atherley equalling the meeting record of 12.88 in the 100m hurdles. US compatriot Brooks was marginally behind in 12.91 with defending champion Martha Araujo also breaking 13 seconds (12.97).
World U20 champion Jana Koscak moved up the standings after the high jump with her 1.82m leap being the best of the day, but a 1.79m clearance from Brooks kept the world indoor bronze medallist in the lead. Araujo and Atherley were third and fourth overall, within touching distance of Koscak.
Koscak took a brief lead after the shot put, thanks to the Croatian’s throw of 13.91m. Brooks threw 13.39m and held on to second place overall, ahead of Araujo (13.55m). 2019 world bronze medallist Verena Mayr (14.70m) and Germany’s Vanessa Grimm (15.03m) were among the leading performers in the shot put and they moved into fourth and fifth overall.
Brooks regained her lead in the final discipline of the day, the 200m, running a solid 23.87 to bring her leading tally to 3850. Araujo ended with 24.11, giving her a score of 3791 – slightly ahead of her pace from Götzis, where she set her recent PB. Koscak’s 24.94 kept her in contention, while Lithuania’s Beatrice Juskeviciute (23.64) and Atherley (23.66) made up some ground in the 200m.
Heading into day two, Brooks may well be able to hold her own in the long jump, but the javelin could be the turning point as Araujo appears to have the advantage there. Atherley, meanwhile, is capable of making up ground in the 800m.
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ISLAM QALA: Tens of thousands of Afghans streamed over the border from Iran in the days before a return deadline set for Sunday, the United Nations said, sparking an “emergency” situation at border points.
In late May, Iran said undocumented Afghans must leave the country by July 6, potentially impacting four million people, out of the six million Afghans Tehran says live in the country.
Numbers of people crossing the border have surged since mid-June, with a peak of more than 43,000 people crossing at Islam Qala in western Herat province on July 1, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Friday.
The UN migration agency IOM said more than 250,000 Afghans returned from Iran in June.
Over 230,000 Afghans left Iran in June ahead of return deadline: IOM
UNICEF country representative Tajudeen Oyewale said this was an “emergency” situation in a country already facing a “chronic returnee crisis”, with 1.4 million Afghans returning from traditional hosts Iran and Pakistan this year.
“What is concerning is that 25 percent of all these returnees are children… because the demographics have shifted” from individual men to whole families, crossing the border with scant belongings and money, he told AFP on Thursday.
He noted Islam Qala could accommodate the vast numbers but was inadequately equipped in terms of services, saying, “When you start hitting more than 20,000 people (a day) that is completely beyond the planning scenario that we have”.
The agency has engaged emergency processes to ramp up water and sanitation systems built for 7-10,000 people a day, along with vaccinations, nutrition and child-friendly spaces.
Many people crossing reported pressure from authorities or even arrest and deportation.
“Some people are so afraid that they don’t leave the house themselves… They send their young children out just for a piece of bread, and even those children get arrested sometimes,” said 38-year-old Aref Atayi of the pressures Afghans face in Iran.
“Even if I have to beg in my own country, it’s still better than staying in a place where we’re treated like this,” he told AFP on Saturday, as he waited at the IOM-run reception centre for some support to help his family resettle.
Massive foreign aid cuts have impacted the response to the crisis, with the UN, international non-governmental groups and Taliban officials calling for more funding to support the returnees.
The UN has warned the influx could destabilise the country already grappling with entrenched poverty, unemployment and climate change-related shocks and urged countries not to forcibly return Afghans.
“As hard as it was to do it, I had to push myself to focus on what my job and role was. I tried to do it as best as I could, but it was difficult and I am not going to lie about that.
“[Jota] was one of my close friends – and I am sure that’s what he would have wanted me to do. I’m sure we would have had a laugh and joke about the assist as well. He was there with me, I am sure.”
Alexander-Arnold said the Portuguese forward was “someone who lit up the room when he was in it”.
“I shared the dressing room with him for five years – amazing memories on and off the pitch,” he added.
“It goes without saying he will never be forgotten by anyone. He will live long in all our memories for the amazing man and the player he was.”
Alexander-Arnold said it had been “very emotional and heartwarming to see the footballing world come together to show their love and support for [Jota], his brother and their family”.
“I’ve been around him, his brother, his family, his amazing wife, his amazing parents and his amazing children. It’s truly, truly heartbreaking to wake up to news like that,” added the England international.
“It’s something you never expect.”
Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe was among the players who paid tribute to Jota on Saturday, with the France forward indicating number 20 after scoring an acrobatic late goal, in recognition of Jota’s Liverpool shirt number.
Frenchman Ousmane Dembele also paid a tribute to the Portuguese by copying his Fifa gaming celebration after sealing a 2-0 win for Paris St-Germain against Bayern Munich, which set up a last-four meeting with Real Madrid.
Under the floodlights of a roaring Stade Olympique de Rabat in Morocco, the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) got underway. But amidst the packed stadium, it was a voice from the south that broke the rhythm. That of Barbra Banda.
Expected to shine like the star that she is, targeted like a threat, sometimes heckled, the Zambian striker never lowered her gaze. For her very first appearance in a TotalEnergies CAF WAFCON finals, the Copper Queens’ captain wasted no time in making her mark. A goal in the opening 58 seconds, an unforgettable performance, and a bossy outing crowned her perfect debut. The 2-2 result against the host nation may not paint the entire picture, but it sends the essential message – Banda is here. And she intends to leave her mark. She wants to stay.
The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, finally
It is an almost paradoxical event. Barbra Banda, a global star of African Women’s Football, had never played a single minute at the WAFCON – the most prestigious competition on the continent. From the very first minute, the Zambian number 11 commanded attention. Everything was directed to her. Positioned upfront, but constantly mobile, she harassed the Moroccan defense, dropping back to emerge better, and relentlessly provoked one-on-ones. “She is a complete player, a true leader. Her presence gives courage to the whole team,” explained Zambia’s coach Nora Häuptle before the match.
A draw snatched with courage
Facing Jorge Vilda’s Morocco, spurred on by a home crowd wholly behind them, Zambia could have given in. Twice they took the lead and twice they conceded equalizers and then battered in transition but yet the Copper Queens held firm. And at every key moment, Banda was there. With the first opportunity, Banda struck. Barely a minute into the game: a lightning transition triggered by Margaret Belemu in an aggressive run forward resulted into a sharp, low left-footed shot that nestled in the side netting. The roar of the Olympic Stadium was cut short. Morocco had just been caught cold. Banda, for her part, barely celebrated. Her gaze was fixed and focused. She knew the fight was only just getting started.
A presence, a style, a weight
There is something inevitable about Banda. A gravitas. She attracts play, she attracts fouls, she attracts attention. Against Morocco, she was the most fouled player in the match (five fouls drawn), and the one who attempted the most shots (six shots). But beyond the statistics, it is her attitude that remains impressive: calm, determined and always focused. “She perfectly embodies the evolution of African Women’s Football,” said Ireen Lungu, one of her teammates on the national team, before the match. “She plays at a higher pace, and she forces her team to raise their level.”
An AFCON to make history
The 24-year-old, now shining with Orlando Pride in the NWSL, has already experienced almost everything: the Olympic Games (with her six goals in Tokyo including back-to-back hattricks), the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand, national and regional titles. But the WAFCON remained a thorn in her flesh. A gap. This July 5 in Rabat, she ticked that box with authority.
So, what’s next? Zambia will face Senegal and then the Democratic Republic of Congo in a bid to reach the quarterfinals. “We still have a lot to improve but this match shows that we are ready to fight until the end,” she said at the post-match press conference, holding the TotalEnergies Woman of the Match trophy. Banda did not just put in a great performance; she has made her mark on the WAFCON from the very first day. She will now be a force to be reckoned with. Above all, for her opponents, they will have to try and stop her going forward.
Rescue authorities on Saturday safely evacuated 25 people, including women and children, who were stranded in the Indus River near Shadi Khan, Attock, after a sudden surge in water levels due to monsoon rains and the opening of Tarbela Dam’s spillways.
According to rescue officials, the group became trapped when the river’s flow intensified unexpectedly, leaving them isolated and unable to return to safety.
The operation, which lasted five hours, was carried out by emergency teams who acted swiftly to prevent any casualties. Livestock also stranded in the river was secured during the operation. Rescue sources stated that the rise in water level at the Shadi Khan point was triggered by the monsoon-fed release of water from Tarbela Dam’s spillways.
The prompt response ensured that all individuals were moved to a secure location without injury.
A day ago, amid relentless rainfall in the upper regions and the water level in Tarbela Dam surging, prompting authorities to open the dam’s spillways to manage the inflow. The authorities had warned that the spillway release was likely to result in flood-like conditions in the Indus River.
According to a spokesperson for the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the opening of the spillways could cause the flow of water to increase significantly, ranging between 260,000 to 270,000 cusecs. The authority strongly advised residents in adjacent regions to stay clear of riverbanks and water channels.
Tourists visiting scenic spots near the Indus River have also been urged to exercise caution and cooperate with local authorities to avoid any untoward incidents.
A new trailer for a game that looks like a mix of Call of Duty and The Last of Us has just dropped on YouTube.
The Midnight Walkers is a first-person shooter that blends the deadly zombie-like enemies of The Last of Us with the tactical shooter gameplay of Call of Duty.
It’s set in a modern mega-complex that’s been overrun by zombies, where you must scavenge, loot, and craft weapons to help yourself survive.
The game is intended as a co-operative and competitive experience, but you can also play it alone if you don’t have any friends to jump on with. Taking a page out of Elden Ring: Nightreign’s book, the game is playable in solo and trios mode, but not duos. It’s interesting that the game also doesn’t offer quads as an option for your squad, considering four playable characters have been revealed in the lineup.
The new trailer shows off a little of the game’s cinematics, as well as a few snippets of gameplay at the end.
In terms of what it actually shows, we see some dude training in what looks like some underground bunker where he’s been holed up. I can only assume this guy’s name is John Ghoulslayer or something like that.
“Liberty Grand Center mega-complex is overrun by dangerous zombies, mutated variants, deadly bosses, and desperate survivors using any means necessary to scavenge for the same loot as you,” the official game description reads for The Midnight Walkers.
“Utilise elevators to explore shopping mall, hospital, and casino floors, and plan escape route from dangers, including the countdown-triggered poison gas system.”
The Midnight Walkers is expected to release later this year on Steam. At the moment, there’s no concrete release date but developer Oneway Ticket Studio has cited Q4 2025 as the rough window for launch right now.
If you want to get your hands on it sooner, the developer is running a closed beta playtest which you can sign up for.
All you need to do is head to the Steam store page listing and navigate to “Join the The Midnight Walkers Playtest”. Hit Request Access and you’ll be notified if you’re selected to participate.
A console launch is expected to follow in 2026.
Featured Image Credit: Oneway Ticket Studio
Topics: Call Of Duty, Indie Games, The Last Of Us, PC, Steam, PlayStation, Xbox
Is it possible to understand the Universe without understanding the largest structures that reside in it? In principle, not likely.
In practical terms? Definitely not. Extremely large objects can distort our understanding of the cosmos.
Astronomers have found the largest structure in the Universe so far, named Quipu after an Incan measuring system. It contains a shocking 200 quadrillion solar masses.
Astronomy is an endeavour where extremely large numbers are a part of daily discourse. But even in astronomy, 200 quadrillion is a number so large it’s rarely encountered.
Related: Largest Structure in The Universe May Be 50% Larger Than We Thought
And if Quipu’s extremely large mass doesn’t garner attention, its size surely does. The object, called a superstructure, is more than 400 megaparsecs long. That’s more than 1.3 billion light-years.
A structure that large simply has to affect its surroundings, and understanding those effects is critical to understanding the cosmos. According to new research, studying Quipu and other superstructures can help us understand how galaxies evolve, help us improve our cosmological models, and improve the accuracy of our cosmological measurements.
The research, titled “Unveiling the largest structures in the nearby Universe: Discovery of the Quipu superstructure,” has been accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. Hans Bohringer from the Max Planck Institute is the lead author.
“For a precise determination of cosmological parameters, we need to understand the effects of the local large-scale structure of the Universe on the measurements,” the authors write.
“They include modifications of the cosmic microwave background, distortions of sky images by large-scale gravitational lensing, and the influence of large-scale streaming motions on measurements of the Hubble constant.”
Superstructures are extremely large structures that contain groups of galaxy clusters and superclusters. They’re so massive they challenge our understanding of how our Universe evolved. Some of them are so massive they break our models of cosmological evolution.
Quipu is the largest structure we’ve ever found in the Universe. It and the other four superstructures the researchers found contain 45 percent of the galaxy clusters, 30 percent of the galaxies, 25 percent of the matter, and occupy a volume fraction of 13 percent.
The image below helps explain why they named it Quipu. Quipu are recording devices made of knotted cords, where the knots contain information based on colour, order, and number.
“This view gives the best impression of the superstructure as a long filament with small side filaments, which initiated the naming of Quipu,” the authors explain in their paper.
A wedge diagram in declination and distance of the Quipu superstructure. The distance is in units of megaparsecs, with red dots showing the superstructure members and the black lines show the friends-to-friends linking. (Bohringer et al., Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2025)
In their work, Bohringer and his co-researchers found Quipu and four other superstructures within a distance range of 130 to 250 Mpc. They used X-ray galaxy clusters to identify and analyze the superstructures in their Cosmic Large-Scale Structure in X-rays (CLASSIX) Cluster Survey.
X-ray galaxy clusters can contain thousands of galaxies and lots of very hot intracluster gas that emits X-rays. These emissions are the key to mapping the mass of the superstructures. X-rays trace the densest regions of matter concentration and the underlying cosmic web. The emissions are like signposts for identifying superstructures.
Galaxy distribution in density gradients. The density ratio to the average density is shown by six contour levels: 0 – 0.23 (black), 0.23 – 0.62 (dark blue), 0.62 – 1.13 (light blue), 1.13 – 1.9 (grey), 1.9 – 3.7 (olive), and > 3.7 (white). The clusters of the five superstructures are overplotted with filled black circles. (Bohringer et al. 2025)
The authors point out that “the difference in the galaxy density around field clusters and members of superstructures is remarkable.” This could be because field clusters are populated with less massive clusters than those in the superstructure rather than because the field clusters have lower galaxy density.
Regardless of the reasons, the mass of these superstructures wields enormous influence on our attempt to observe, measure, and understand the cosmos. “These large structures leave their imprint on cosmological observations,” the authors write.
The superstructures leave an imprint on the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), which is relic radiation from the Big Bang and key evidence supporting it. The CMB’s properties match our theoretical predictions with near-surgical precision.
The superstructures’ gravity alters the CMB as it passes through them according to the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect, producing fluctuations in the CMB. These fluctuations are foreground artifacts that are difficult to filter out, introducing interference into our understanding of the CMB and, hence, the Big Bang.
The full-sky image of the temperature fluctuations (shown as colour differences) in the cosmic microwave background is made from nine years of WMAP observations. These are the seeds of galaxies from a time when the universe was under 400,000 years old. (NASA/WMAP)
The superstructures can also impact measurements of the Hubble constant, a fundamental value in cosmology that describes how fast the Universe is expanding. While galaxies are moving further apart due to expansion, they also have local velocities, called peculiar velocities or streaming motions.
These need to be separated from expansion to understand expansion clearly. The great mass of these superstructures influences these streaming motions and distorts our measurements of the Hubble constant.
The research also notes that these massive structures can alter and distort our sky images through large-scale gravitational lensing. This can introduce errors in our measurements.
On the other hand, simulations of the Lambda CDM produce superstructures like Quipu and the four others. Lambda CDM is our standard model of Big Bang cosmology and accounts for much of what we see in the Universe, like its large-scale structure.
“We find superstructures with similar properties in simulations based on Lambda-CDM cosmology models,” the authors write.
It’s clear that these superstructures are critical to understanding the Universe. They hold a significant portion of its matter and affect their surroundings in fundamental ways. More research is needed to understand them and their influence.
“Interesting follow-up research on our findings includes, for example, studies of the influence of these environments on the galaxy population and evolution,” the authors write in their conclusion.
According to the study, these superstructures won’t persist forever. “In the future cosmic evolution, these superstructures are bound to break up into several collapsing units. They are thus transient configurations,” Bohringer and his co-researchers explain.
“But at present, they are special physical entities with characteristic properties and special cosmic environments deserving special attention.”
This article was originally published by Universe Today. Read the original article.
An earlier version of this article was published in February 2025.
