Pakistan will not restrict mountaineering expeditions despite the recent deaths of climbers
Pakistan has issued no warnings or restrictions for mountaineering expeditions in the north, an official said Sunday, despite the recent deaths of climbers, Associated Press reported.
Climbers were well aware of the harsh weather and all the other risks and challenges, said Faizullah Faraq, a spokesman for the government of Gilgit-Baltistan, the northern region home to some of the world’s highest mountains. “Despite that, they willingly accept these challenges and come here to attempt these summits.”
Chinese climber Guan Jing, 37, was the latest person to perish on one of Pakistan’s mountains. She died last Tuesday after being hit by falling rocks on K2, the world’s second-highest peak known for its treacherous slopes and extreme weather conditions. Rescue teams recovered her body on Saturday.
Her body was still in the mortuary of the Combined Military Hospital in Skardu on Sunday. Contact has been made with Chinese authorities in Islamabad, and “now it is up to them to make further decisions in this regard,” said Faraq, according to Associated Press.
Afghans resettled in UK hit by new data breach
Thousands of Afghans brought to safety in the UK have had their personal data exposed, after a Ministry of Defence (MoD) sub-contractor suffered a data breach, BBC reported.
The names, passport information and Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) details of up to 3,700 Afghans have potentially been compromised after Inflite The Jet Centre, which provides ground-handling services for flights at London Stansted airport, suffered a cyber-security incident.
It comes just a month after it was a revealed another major data breach in 2022 exposed the details of almost 19,000 people who had asked to come to the UK in order to flee the Taliban, according to BBC.
The government said the incident "has not posed any threat to individuals' safety, nor compromised any government systems".
Palestinians flee IDF attacks on Gaza City as Israelis protest occupation plan
Thousands of residents have fled Gaza City's southern Zeitoun neighbourhood, where days of continuous Israeli bombardment have created a "catastrophic" situation, the city's Hamas-run municipality has told the BBC.
At least 40 people were killed by Israeli attacks across the territory on Saturday, Gaza's civil defence agency said.
The Israeli military said it would begin allowing tents to be brought into Gaza by aid agencies again. Israel plans to forcibly displace a million people from Gaza City to camps in the south, according to BBC.
In Israel, a one-day general strike is due to be held in Sunday in protest of the government's plan to seize Gaza City.
Bolivia heads to the polls as its right-wing opposition eyes first victory in decades
Bolivians headed to the polls on Sunday to vote in presidential and congressional elections that could spell the end of the Andean nation’s long-dominant leftist party and see a right-wing government elected for the first time in over two decades, Associated Press reported.
The election on Sunday is one of the most consequential for Bolivia in recent times — and one of the most unpredictable.
Even at this late stage, a remarkable 30% or so of voters remain undecided. Polls show the two leading right-wing candidates, multimillionaire business owner Samuel Doria Medina and former President Jorge Fernando “Tuto” Quiroga, locked in a virtual dead heat, according to Associated Press.
