Ashura procession during the month of Muharram in Karachi on August 30, 2020. — AFP
Sindh Home Department writes letter to interior ministry.
Wants suspension of cellular services along routes of processions.
Asks to take decision as per protocols and inform accordingly.
KARACHI: The Sindh government has sought suspension of mobile phone services across the province on the occasion of Youm-e-Ashura falling on the 10th of Muharram (Sunday) to ensure security.
In this regard, the Sindh Home Department has formally written to the Ministry of Interior, urging that mobile internet services be suspended along the routes of Ashura processions to prevent any untoward incidents.
The department further asked the Ministry of Interior to take a decision as per existing protocols and inform the provincial authorities accordingly.
After receiving multiple testimonies of moon-sighting from across the country, the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee on Thursday announced that the moon of Moharram 1447 Hijri was sighted in the country, and Ashura would fall on July 6 (Sunday).
Muharram is regarded as one of the four sacred Islamic months. Ashura falls on its 10th day when the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) along with his family members were martyred in the battle of Karbala.
Faithful hold processions and majalis across the country in Muharram, while religious scholars address huge gatherings amid tight security, with thousands of law enforcers deployed to ensure security.
Last week, the Ministry of Interior greenlighted the nationwide deployment of the Pakistan Army and civil armed forces (CAFs) to bolster security during Muharram.
According to the notification, the federal government’s decision follows formal requests from all provincial administrations, as well as the governments of Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and the Islamabad Capital Territory.
Troops will be deployed under Sections 4 and 5 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. The scale and duration of deployments will be determined by local authorities based on on-ground security assessments, in consultation with federal and provincial stakeholders.
The study focused on three major elements of Martian weather: dust devils, small spinning columns of air…
Representational Image | Photo: AP/NASA
New Delhi: In a groundbreaking study, an international team of researchers led by the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela has explored the impact of spinning dust devils, massive dust storms, and extensive water-ice clouds on the Martian atmosphere. Collaborating with scientists from the UAE University and Sun Yat-sen University in China, the team analysed more than two decades of data from multiple Mars missions, including India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MoM).
Understanding these processes will also help in preparing for human exploration missions. Knowing how Martian weather works can help protect spacecraft, support future astronauts, and improve our understanding of whether Mars may once have supported life, said the researchers in the paper published in the prestigious journal New Astronomy Reviews.
“Advancing the weather prediction on Mars is not just a scientific pursuit; it is the cornerstone of ensuring that future missions can sustain there and realise the past and future habitability of the red planet,” said Prof. Jagabandhu Panda, Professor at the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, NIT Rourkela.
Mars, also known as the Red Planet, is home to some of the most dramatic weather systems in the solar system. The dust raised by local and regional storms can travel far and disturb wind patterns, resulting in changes in temperatures and some cases, reshaping the Martian atmosphere in dramatic ways.
The study focused on three major elements of Martian weather: dust devils, small spinning columns of air that are common during the summer and more frequent in the northern hemisphere; large dust storms, driven by a loop in which sunlight heats the dust, and can grow to cover entire regions or even the whole planet; water-ice clouds, thin, wispy clouds made of frozen water particles.
Using imaging data from over 20 years, the researchers have traced how changing seasons on Mars affect the dust and cloud formation and movement. These findings refine human knowledge and understanding of Mars’ climate system and may be useful for predicting future weather on the planet.
As more missions head to the Red Planet, long-term studies like this one offer essential clues about its ever-changing skies.
“It would be great if ISRO could conduct more missions to Mars and invest more in the university system to carry out such research. It will help in advancing science and technology further,” Panda said. IANS
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A week into the fragile Israel-Iran peace agreement, here’s what we still don’t know
A week into the fragile Israel-Iran peace agreement, here’s what we still don’t know
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — It’s been a week since the United States pressed Israel and Iran into a truce, ending a bloody, 12-day conflict that had set the Middle East and globe on edge.
The fragile peace, brokered by the U.S. the day after it dropped 30,000-pound “bunker-busting” bombs on three of Iran’s key nuclear sites, is holding. But much remains unsettled.
How badly Iran’s nuclear program was set back remains murky. The prospects of renewed U.S.-Iran peace talks are up in the air. And whether U.S. President Donald Trump can leverage the moment to get Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ‘s government and Hamas focused on a ceasefire and hostage deal that brings about an end to the 20-month war in Gaza remains an open question.
Trump says three targets hit by American strikes were “obliterated.” His defense secretary said they were “destroyed.”
A preliminary report issued by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, meanwhile, said the strikes did significant damage to the Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan sites, but did not totally destroy the facilities.
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the three Iranian sites with “capabilities in terms of treatment, conversion and enrichment of uranium have been destroyed to an important degree.” But, he added, “some is still standing” and that because capabilities remain, “if they so wish, they will be able to start doing this again.” He said assessing the full damage comes down to Iran allowing inspectors access.
What future US-Iran relations might look like
After the ceasefire deal came together, Trump spoke of potentially easing decades of biting sanctions on Tehran and predicted that Iran could become a “great trading nation” if it pulled back once-and-for-all from its nuclear program.
The talk of harmony didn’t last long.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in his first public appearance after the ceasefire was announced, claimed Tehran had delivered a “slap to America’s face.” Trump responded by suggesting the supreme leader own up to the fact Iran “got beat to hell. The president also said he was backing off reviewing any immediate sanction relief, because of Khamenei’s heated comments.
White House officials say the U.S. and Iran are already in early discussions about resuming negotiations that had ended after Israel began launching strikes. But Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says there’s no agreement in place to restart talks.
It’s unclear if Iran’s leadership is ready to come to the table so soon after the fighting has ended — especially if Trump holds to the position that Iran must give up nuclear enrichment for even civilian use. And Trump has offered conflicting statements about his commitment to talks. “We may sign an agreement,” he said Wednesday at a NATO summit press conference. He added, “I don’t think it’s that necessary.”
What role Iran’s supreme leader will play
Khamenei’s age and recent diminished appearance have raised questions about the scope of his involvement in U.S.-Iran relations and the Islamic Republic’s response to both American and Israeli strikes. But despite having spent the last few weeks in a bunker as threats to his life escalated, there is little indication that the ayatollah does not still reign supreme over the country’s massive military and governmental operations.
Khamenei has ruled three times longer than his predecessor, the late Ruhollah Khomeini, and has shaped life for the country’s more than 90 million people perhaps even more dramatically.
He entrenched the system of rule by the “mullahs,” or Shiite Muslim clerics. That secured his place in the eyes of hard-liners as the unquestionable authority, below only that of God. At the same time, Khamenei built the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard into the dominant force in Iran’s military and internal politics.
How Iran might strike back
Iran’s retaliatory missile attacks on a U.S. base in Qatar following the American bombardment were sloughed off by the White House as a half-hearted, face-saving measure. The U.S. was forewarned and the salvos were easily fended off.
Yet Iran remains a persistent threat, particularly via cyberwarfare. Hackers backing Tehran have already targeted U.S. banks, defense contractors and oil industry companies — but so far have not caused widespread disruptions to critical infrastructure or the economy.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security last week issued a public bulletin warning of increased Iranian cyber threats. And the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, is urging organizations that operate critical infrastructure like water systems, pipelines or power plants to stay vigilant.
Whether the Israel-Iran ceasefire will hold
It remains a fragile peace.
Immediately following the U.S. strikes, Trump got on the phone with Netanyahu and told the Israeli leader not to expect further U.S. offensive military action, according to a senior White House official who was not authorized to comment publicly about the sensitive diplomatic talks.
But even as he agreed to deal, Netanyahu made clear that Israel will strike again “if anyone in Iran tries to revive this project.”
The ceasefire deal came without any agreement from Tehran on dismantling its nuclear program. Khamenei claims the attacks “did nothing significant” to Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Trump expressed confidence that Iran, at the moment, has no interest in getting its nuclear program back up. “The last thing they’re thinking about right now is enriched uranium,” Trump said.
Still, Trump says he expects Iran to open itself to international inspection to verify that it doesn’t restart its nuclear program by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, or some other organization “that we respect, including ourselves.”
Whether Trump can now press Netanyahu on Gaza
The president took a big gamble with his decision to order strikes on Iran’s nuclear fortress.
As a candidate, he promised to quickly end Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, but has failed to find a resolution to either. He also vowed to keep the U.S. military out of foreign conflicts.
But after helping Israel with U.S. strikes on Iran, Trump — in conversations with Netanyahu and other world leaders in recent days — has made clear he wants a deal completed soon, according to two people familiar with the private discussions and were not authorized to comment publicly.
On Friday, Trump told reporters, “We think within the next week we’re going to get a ceasefire.”
Trump didn’t offer any further explanation for his optimism. But Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer is expected to be in Washington this week for talks on a Gaza ceasefire, Iran and other matters, according to an official familiar with the matter. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
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A new type of self-healing and reconfigurable circuit board can withstand heavy damage and still work effectively, scientists say. It can even be completely recycled once it reaches the end of its life.
The new breakthrough is owed to a material called a vitrimer, a special polymer capable of remaining rigid and durable at normal temperatures but malleable and reshapable at higher temperatures. The scientists outlined their findings in a new study published 1 June in the journal Advanced Materials.
Circuit boards are traditionally built with thermosets, such as silicone or epoxy resins, a type of plastic that becomes permanently rigid and hard after being heat cured. But vitrimer can be altered by reapplying heat, meaning that the circuit boards can be adapted into entirely new configurations.
Using vitrimer also allows circuit boards to be repaired if damaged, while making them easy to break down and reclaim materials from.
“Our material is unlike conventional electronic composites,” said Michael Bartlett, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech who co-led the study, in a statement. “The circuit boards are remarkably resilient and functional. Even under mechanical deformation or damage, they still work.”
Researchers used a universal testing machine, a machine that pulls or compresses a material to measure its strain at break (how much a material stretches before it breaks), to evaluate the new material.
Related: Scientists break down cheap plastic using the air — and turn it into something far more valuable
Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.
Adding just 5% by volume of liquid metal droplets to the vitrimer approximately doubled the strain at break versus vitrimer alone.
The team also used a device called a rheometer, which measures the flow and deformation behavior of materials, to test the liquid metal-infused material.
They applied 1% deformation at temperatures between 170 °C and 200 °C and found that the vitrimer was able to “relax” back to its original state, something traditional thermosets are incapable of doing.
‘Modern circuit boards simple cannot do this’
The vitrimer is blended with droplets of liquid metal, which replicate the function of rigid metal wires in traditional circuit boards, enabling conductivity. The resultant material is so conductive that only 5% of the blend needs to be liquid metal, the scientists said.
It combines the best qualities of traditional thermosets, which are mechanically strong and chemically resistant, with the reconfigurability and recyclability of thermoplastics.
The new type of circuit board can remain fully operational despite significant stress, deformation and “thermally triggered shape-memory transformations,” the scientists said.
The scientists designed the new circuit board to combat the rise of electronic waste. Presently, electronics, including circuit boards, are discarded due to damage or difficulty in reclaiming materials.
Electronic waste has doubled in the past 12 years, according to a 2024 report from the United Nations, from 34 billion kilograms to 62 billion kg.
Currently, only a small percentage of discarded circuit boards, like gold electrodes or select other precious minerals and metals, are recovered during the recycling process, which involves chemical treatment involving strong acids.
Because the base material of most boards is high-performance composites featuring non-recyclable thermosetting plastics, such as epoxy-laminated fiberglass sheets, the majority of the discarded material ends up in landfills.
“Traditional circuit boards are made from permanent thermosets that are incredibly difficult to recycle,” Josh Worch, an assistant professor of chemistry at Virginia Tech and co-lead author of the study, said in a statement.
“Here, our dynamic composite material can be healed or reshaped if damaged by applying heat, and the electrical performance will not suffer. Modern circuit boards simply cannot do this.”
While the team acknowledged that further work is necessary to allow recovery of a higher percentage of some of the materials, they said their work represented an important step forward in creating a circular economy for core electronic materials in everyday devices from cellphones and laptops to wearables and televisions.
Palestinians in northern Gaza reported one of the worst nights of Israeli bombardment in weeks after the military issued mass evacuation orders on Monday, while Israeli officials were due in Washington for a new ceasefire push by the Trump administration.
A day after US President Donald Trump urged an end to the 20-month-old conflict, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected at the White House for talks on a Gaza ceasefire, Iran, and possible wider regional diplomatic deals.
But on the ground in the Palestinian enclave, there was no sign of fighting letting up.
“Explosions never stopped; they bombed schools and homes. It felt like earthquakes,” said Salah, 60, a father of five children, from Gaza City. “In the news, we hear a ceasefire is near, on the ground, we see death, and we hear explosions.”
Israeli tanks pushed into the eastern areas of the Zeitoun suburb in Gaza City and shelled several areas in the north, while aircraft bombed at least four schools after ordering hundreds of families sheltering inside to leave, residents said.
At least 25 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Monday, health authorities said, including 10 people killed in Zeitoun.
The Israeli military said it struck militant targets in northern Gaza, including command and control centres, after taking steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians.
The heavy bombardment followed new evacuation orders to vast areas in the north, where Israeli forces had operated before and left behind wide-scale destruction.
The military ordered people there to head south, saying that it planned to fight Hamas fighters operating in northern Gaza, including in the heart of Gaza City.
Later on Monday, health officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said at least 13 people had been killed southwest of Gaza City, bringing Monday’s death toll to at least 38.
Medics said most of the casualties were hit by gunfire, but residents also reported an airstrike. There was no immediate comment by the Israeli military on the incident.
Next steps
A day after Trump called to “Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back”, Israel’s strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, a confidant of Netanyahu’s, was expected on Monday at the White House for talks on Iran and Gaza, an Israeli official said.
In Israel, Netanyahu’s security cabinet was expected to convene to discuss the next steps in Gaza.
On Friday, Israel’s military chief said the present ground operation was close to having achieved its goals, and on Sunday, Netanyahu said new opportunities had opened up for recovering the hostages, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive.
Palestinian and Egyptian sources with knowledge of the latest ceasefire efforts said that mediators Qatar and Egypt have stepped up their contacts with the two warring sides, but that no date has been set yet for a new round of truce talks.
A Hamas official said that progress depends on Israel changing its position and agreeing to end the conflict and withdraw from Gaza. Israel says it can end the offensive only when Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that Israel has agreed to a US-proposed 60-day ceasefire and hostage deal, and put the onus on Hamas.
“Israel is serious in its will to reach a hostage deal and ceasefire in Gaza,” Saar told reporters in Jerusalem.
The US has proposed a 60-day ceasefire and the release of half the hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the remains of other Palestinians. Hamas would release the remaining hostages as part of a deal that guarantees the end of the conflict.
The conflict began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took 251 hostages back to Gaza in a surprise attack that led to Israel’s single deadliest day.
Israel’s subsequent military assault has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, has displaced almost the whole 2.3 million population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis.
More than 80 per cent of the territory is now an Israeli-militarised zone or under displacement orders, according to the United Nations.
Pressure mounts on Netanyahu to end Gaza campaign
Netanyahu’s rise in popularity during the war with Iran may already be fading, as pressure mounts at home to end the conflict in Gaza.
Netanyahu claimed victory over the Islamic Republic in the 12-day war that ended with a ceasefire last week, after Trump ordered US warplanes to join in bombing Iranian nuclear sites.
Political scientist Assaf Meydani, in a column on Israeli website Ynet on Saturday, said that alongside a “victory for both Trump and Netanyahu” in Iran, the Israeli leader “will have to explain a series of failures”.
Most notable among them, according to Meydani, is Netanyahu’s “failure to end the campaign in Gaza”.
“Hamas, though battered, has not been destroyed, and ‘Swords of Iron’ has become prolonged attrition,” Meydani said, using Israel’s name for its military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
“The people of Israel are strong, but tensions are simmering.”
Israelis fearful of the threat of a nuclear Iran rallied behind Netanyahu as he led the campaign against Israel’s longtime rival. Now that the war is over, domestic and international pressure has resumed to secure an end to the fighting in Gaza.
A public opinion poll published by Israel’s Kan public broadcaster the day after the ceasefire with Iran suggested a rise in support for Netanyahu.
But while his approval ratings went up compared to previous polls, 52pc of respondents in the Kan survey still said they wanted Netanyahu — Israel’s longest-serving prime minister — out of office.
Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said they wanted the Gaza campaign to end, compared to 22pc who favoured continuing the fighting.
Israeli newspaper Maariv said on Friday that its polling showed a “surge” for Netanyahu immediately after the ceasefire with Iran had “evaporated almost entirely” within days.
In the coastal hub of Tel Aviv on Saturday, thousands of people gathered to demand a ceasefire deal that would bring home the dozens of hostages still held in Gaza.
Liri Albag, who was released from captivity in January under a short-lived truce, told the crowd that Netanyahu and Trump “made brave decisions on Iran. Now make the brave decision to end the war in Gaza and bring [the hostages] home”.
Netanyahu has also faced renewed pressure from one of his political rivals, former prime minister Naftali Bennett.
Criticising the Netanyahu government’s “inability to decide” on Gaza, Bennett called for “a comprehensive agreement that includes the release of all the hostages” to end “the terrible impasse and political confusion”.
“Netanyahu must step down. He has been in power for 20 years … that’s far too long,” Bennett told Israel’s Channel 12 in an interview that aired on Saturday.
“The people want change, they want calm,” added Bennett, who is widely expected to run for office again in the next elections, scheduled for late 2026.
Gil Dickman, a prominent activist demanding action by Israel to secure the release of the hostages, said that while “the operation in Iran was a success”, Netanyahu had “failed” to “make people forget his responsibility” for failing to prevent Hamas’s unprecedented 2023 attack.
Dickman, whose cousin Carmel Gat was killed in captivity and her body retrieved from Gaza in August, told AFP that Netanyahu’s “terrible failures and the abandonment of the hostages will not be forgotten”.
Expressing “cautious optimism” after Trump’s recent remarks, Dickman said there was “apparently an opportunity to end the war”.
“We couldn’t save my cousin, but we can still save those who are still alive in Gaza. “
