Carlos Alcaraz withdraws from Cincinnati Masters with wrest injury

QUETTA: A targeted anti-polio vaccination campaign will begin on Monday across 62 high-risk union councils in 13 districts of Balochistan as health authorities intensify efforts to stop the spread of the poliovirus and protect children from lifelong disability. According to the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), the campaign will cover 209,557 children under the age of five. Trained vaccination teams will visit homes and designated centres to administer oral polio vaccine free of charge. Officials said 862 mobile vaccination teams have been deployed to conduct the campaign. In addition, 61 fixed vaccination centres and 72 transit vaccination points have been established to ensure that children travelling with their families or living in hard-to-reach areas are not missed. The EOC said the campaign is focused on high-risk union councils where the threat of poliovirus transmission remains significant. Health authorities noted that the virus continues to circulate in some parts of the province, making regular vaccination campaigns essential to prevent new infections. Officials stressed that polio is an incurable disease that can cause permanent paralysis, but it is completely preventable through timely vaccination. They urged parents to cooperate with vaccination teams and ensure that every eligible child receives polio drops during the campaign. The EOC warned that every child who remains unvaccinated increases the risk of virus transmission within the community. Officials said even a small number of missed children can allow the virus to continue circulating and endanger other children. The campaign will be carried out in Barkhan, Dukki, Jaffarabad, Jhal Magsi, Loralai, Qila Saifullah, Nasirabad, Sherani, Sohbatpur, Usta Muhammad, Zhob, Ziarat and Mastung. Special arrangements have been made in these districts to achieve maximum vaccination coverage. Health authorities said supervisors and monitoring teams will oversee the campaign to ensure transparency, improve performance and address any operational challenges. Officials added that vaccination teams have been instructed to reach every household in the targeted areas.

The exhumation of Karachi youth Mir Raza will be conducted on Saturday to determine the cause of his death after authorities reinstated the previous medical board for his second post-mortem examination. Police and other relevant authorities have been directed to make arrangements for the exhumation. The post-mortem is scheduled to begin at 11am on Saturday. The medical board, which had earlier been reduced to five members, has now been restored to its previous eight-member composition. According to the notification, Dr Samia Syed will serve as the board’s convener. Dow University Professor Dr Naseem Ahmed will perform duties as a pathologist, while Dr Farah Wasim has been included as a forensic expert. CPLC officer Amir Hassan Khan will serve as a forensic identification expert. Dr Kamran, Dr Sri Chand and Dr Daniyal Mirza will also continue as members of the board. The decision came after Mir Raza’s father, Mir Hussain, expressed serious reservations over changes to the medical board. The exhumation had initially been scheduled for Friday but was postponed following the dispute over the board’s composition. Mir Hussain had said he would not allow the exhumation until the previous medical board was restored. His lawyer, Jibran Nasir, also rejected the newly formed board and sent notices to the police and health secretary. He alleged that political interference was affecting the case. Nasir demanded that the exhumation and post-mortem be conducted by the same eight-member board that had originally been constituted by the Karachi police surgeon on court orders. Case background Mir Raza Ali Khan went missing from the Pakistan Employees Housing Society (PECHS) area on July 28. His body was recovered from Gulistan-e-Johar two days later. According to police, Raza had left home at around 4:09am in an online taxi. His body was later found in a severely damaged condition, with a gunshot wound to his chest. Police said all of Raza’s social media accounts had been shut down a day before his body was recovered. Investigators have sought his phone records and information about people who had been in contact with him from the relevant telecommunications company. The driver of the online taxi Raza had used has also been questioned. According to his statement, he dropped Raza at his destination in Gulistan-e-Johar. Raza’s father previously said his son was due to marry on August 30 at Bait-ul-Mukarram Mosque in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. He said Raza had been extremely happy about starting a new chapter of his life.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the government to take coordinated and effective steps to expand employment opportunities for young Pakistanis under the National Youth Employment Policy. Chairing a meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday to review progress on the policy, the prime minister said providing decent jobs to the country’s skilled and talented youth remained a key priority of the government. He called for a comprehensive strategy involving relevant ministries and institutions to ensure the policy delivers practical employment opportunities. He also stressed the need to focus on skills development, particularly for young women, so they can compete for emerging jobs in both Pakistan and international markets. The prime minister directed authorities to give special attention to employment opportunities for young people in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Officials briefed the meeting on reforms introduced in the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA). The reforms are aimed at connecting Pakistan’s skilled workforce with the changing requirements of local industries and international employers. NAVTTC is working to help Pakistani workers obtain internationally recognised certifications and improve their language skills for overseas employment. Training programmes are also being aligned with market demand to increase the chances of young people securing jobs abroad. The meeting was informed that the Digital Youth Hub is providing information about employment opportunities in Pakistan and overseas through a single platform. Youth Development Cells are also being established in educational institutions to offer career counselling, guidance and information about skills and employment opportunities. Shehbaz Sharif ordered the launch of an awareness campaign so that young people can better understand the benefits and opportunities available under the National Youth Employment Policy. Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme Rana Mashhood briefed the meeting on progress made under the government’s directives. Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Khan Cheema, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik, IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja and other senior officials also attended. The government has recently increased its focus on preparing young Pakistanis for a changing labour market through technical education, information technology, artificial intelligence and entrepreneurship. The prime minister has also stressed greater access to quality education and skills training, particularly for disadvantaged youth. Under the youth employment policy, the government has set a target for women to make up 35 per cent of the labour force, while at least 10 per cent of the allocation is intended for startups.