Day: May 14, 2023

A South Australian man is feared dead, after being attacked by a shark while surfing, local media reported, today.

The 46-year-old man was surfing at a popular beach on the Great Australian Bight, more than 350 km west of Adelaide, the capital city of the Australian state of South Australia (SA), when he was attacked, at approximately 10.00 a.m. local time, yesterday.

Police and the State Emergency Service (SES) were called to the spot by multiple witnesses to the attack, and more than half a dozen boats and jet skis were deployed to search the area all day, before resuming today.

Authorities today confirmed, they recovered the man’s surfboard.

Trevlyn Smith, the local SES unit manager, said, up to 16 fellow surfers witnessed the attack.

“There were obviously several people in the water, and from what I hear, there were witnesses that saw evidence of the attack,” he was quoted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“We’ve got a missing person, they’ve already got the surfboard, we’re just looking for anything that relates to that person.”

The Great Australian Bight spans more than 1,000 km and is notorious for large shark populations, including great white sharks.

Jaiden Millar, 22, was in the water surfing yesterday, when the man was attacked.

He described the incident as tragic.

“It was such a confronting incident. I saw his board tombstoning, which means he’s underwater and his board’s getting dragged under … trying to fight his way back up to the surface,” he told News Corp Australia.

“It’s something that all surfers think about, but you never want it to happen to anyone, and it’s something that you never want to experience. I’m still in a lot of shock and it hasn’t quite hit me yet

Source: Nam News Network

The 17th anniversary of the historic Charter of Democracy, signed by former Prime Minister in exile Nawaz Sharif and Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed in 2006, was observed today.

The document envisioned establishment of a new political system of harmony and reconciliation in Pakistan with the aim to ensure continuity of a strong democratic system.

Setting aside differences of the past, the two mainstream parties, the PML-N and the PPP had adopted the thirty-six point COD, declaring that they would respect electoral mandate of representative governments and that they shall not undermine each other through extra constitutional ways.

Under the Charter, they pledged that no party shall solicit the support of military to come into power or to dislodge a democratic government.

The significant features of the CoD were constitutional amendments, code of conduct, free and fair elections and civil-military relations. It is a detailed document, covering most aspects which had been hampering the growth of democracy in Pakistan.

Later, some other parties of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy, including Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan, Jamhoori Watan Party, Pakistan Democratic Party, Jamiat Ahle Hadith and Pakistan Christian Party signed the CoD document.

Ever since its adoption, the polity of Pakistan has witnessed some positive outcomes such as completion of terms by the last two Assemblies.

Following the elections of 2008, the PPP formed government in the center and completed its term in 2013. Similarly, the PML-N completed its five-year tenure from 2013 to 2018.

The historic18th Amendment is also an outcome of the COD under which infringements on the constitution of Pakistan were reversed.

Greater autonomy was given to the provinces with the devolution of many subjects and abolishment of the concurrent list.

Under the 18th amendment also, the powers of the President were shifted to the parliament and the NWFP was given the nomenclature of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Source: Radio Pakistan

Naila Kiani became first Pakistani woman climber to summit five peaks of over 8,000m height when she successfully ascended Mt Everest (8848m), the world's tallest mountain, today.

Secretary Alpine Club of Pakistan, Karrar Haidri said in a statement said she reached the summit point at 8:02 am.

Source: Radio Pakistan

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar has called for enhanced cooperation between Europe and Asia-Pacific particularly in trade, investment and sustainable development.

Speaking at the roundtable discussion on EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum in Stockholm on Sunday, she underscored Pakistan's role as a trade, investment and connectivity hub in the heart of Asia which seeks to deepen its engagements with the European partners.

She appreciated European sustainability and connectivity initiatives like the EU Global gateway Strategy and the Green Deal.

She expressed the hope that the new EU GSP Plus facility would continue to focus on its primary aim of promoting sustainable development and poverty alleviation.

The Minister of State stressed on the importance of recognizing the symbiotic relationship between sustainability and inclusivity in line with UN Sustainable development goals.

She also called for avoiding distortions, economic de-coupling, new forms of protectionism and selective application of norms which can undermine free trade, win-win economic cooperation and interconnectedness.

The Minister of State emphasized the need for partnerships to deal with emerging global challenges and non-traditional security threats such as climate change, pandemics, water, energy and food security.

She proposed greater collaboration between the EU and Asia-Pacific countries for research and capacity building with focus on sustainability, green economies, agriculture and digital connectivity.

In Stockholm, the Minister of State also held bilateral meetings with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Tobias Billstrom, EU High Representative Josep Borrell, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of UAE Noura Alkaabi, UK Minister of State Lord Tariq Ahmad, Counsellor of the US Department of State Derek H. Chollet, and Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Thailand Vijavat Isarabhakdi.

Source: Radio Pakistan