The Asia News Network (ANN), an alliance of 20 leading news titles across the continent, has released a new e-book dedicated to celebrating the cultural heritage, modern innovation, and enduring spirit of Asia.

The e-book, titled Inside Asia’s Hidden Heritage Treasures, aims to offer global and regional readers an authentic glimpse into the continent’s shared identity, according to a press release.

The publication explores Unesco heritage sites, tourism attractions both ancient and modern, Asia’s best-kept secrets and unique cultural treasures.

Current ANN Chairperson and Malaysia’s Star Media Group Chief Content Officer Datin Paduka Esther Ng said the e-book celebrated Asia’s unique ability to rapidly modernise, while deeply honouring its roots.

“Asia is living proof of heritage and legacy living on and evolving,” Ng said, adding that the region seamlessly blends ancient legacies with ultra-modern facets and the fastest technology adoption in the world.

“Ng highlighted that the e-book’s focus on Asia’s winning factors that foster global togetherness, and adds that the region has inherited a priceless form of heritage defined by endurance and survival — two traits that she views as the most accurate descriptions of the Asian experience,” the press release said.

The e-book also addresses the long-standing challenge of relying on Western perspectives to tell Asian stories.

Former ANN chairman Mahfuz Anam, editor-in-chief and publisher of Bangladesh’s The Daily Star, was quoted as saying that the network was founded 27 years ago to correct this imbalance, calling the new e-book an integral part of a “journey of rediscovery”.

The US central bank on Wednesday raised rates for the first time since 2023, a widely expected move as it seeks to address persistently above-target inflation, despite repeated public calls by President Donald Trump for rate cuts.

But markets now confront a very different investment backdrop, including a lack of clarity about how tight the Fed will now seek to make monetary policy. In the face of higher rates, some investors said it could make rate-sensitive assets, such as small-cap stocks, less attractive.

The meeting “does make them look independent … it adds trust to the market”, said Matthew Miskin, co-chief investment strategist at Manulife John Hancock Investments.

Yet the Fed “may have come off a little too hawkish in this meeting and we’re just going to have to see how the economy can react in the next couple of months”, he said.

Many investors saw the meeting as a test of independence for new Fed chair Kevin Warsh, who was picked by Trump.

“I hope at least at a very high level, one takeaway that investors have is that economics is trumping politics at the Fed, at least for right now,” said Marta Norton, chief investment strategist at retirement and wealth services provider Empower.

Unanimous hike vote lands hawkish

Higher rates stand to slow the economy, by raising borrowing costs for consumers and companies, and also could pose a headwind for the performance of stocks and other risk assets.

Markets entered 2026 pricing in rate cuts, but that flipped after the late-February US-Israeli war with Iran drove up energy prices and inflation, shifting bets toward possible hikes.

Wednesday’s quarter-percentage-point hike lifted the Fed’s benchmark rate to 3.75-4.00 per cent. Investors took note that the vote among Fed officials was unanimous, following the last meeting in July when the decision to hold rates steady was 9 to 3.

“A unanimous hike materially raises the probability of another move before year-end, and investors positioned for the easing cycle of early 2026 need to fully recalibrate,” said David Krakauer, vice president of portfolio management at Mercer Advisors.

Following Wednesday’s meeting, stocks fell, with the benchmark S&P 500 ending down 0.45pc. Yields on two-year and 10-year Treasuries rose, with the benchmark 10-year yield at 5.02pc late on Wednesday, above the closely watched 5pc level. The US dollar gained sharply against a basket of currencies.

“This meeting landed as hawkish as it could have been — the thoughts, the message, the unanimous decision itself,” said Danny Zaid, portfolio manager at TwentyFour Asset Management.

Investors gauge next rate increase

Forecasts released on Wednesday showed Fed officials expect one more rate increase this year, and expect to hold steady in 2027.

“Much of the tightening risk is already priced in, but the bigger signal is whether the Fed believes this is enough or the beginning of more to come,” said Karen Manna, fixed income strategist at Federated Hermes.

Fed Funds futures late on Wednesday suggested roughly even odds of a hike at the Fed’s next meeting in October, which comes just before the US midterm elections that decide control of Congress. More hikes are priced in for 2027.

“One more hike is on the cards for this year and the risks are well get more rather than less in 2027, said Dustin Reid, chief strategist at Mackenzie Investments in Toronto.

Inflation has been running consistently above the Fed’s annual 2pc target for several years. The latest reading of the core Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, which Fed officials use as a guidepost for inflation’s underlying run rate, came at 3.3pc on an annual basis.

Warsh’s speech late last month at the Fed’s Jackson Hole, Wyoming, conference was seen as hawkish and raised investor expectations for a hike, which were solidified with hotter-than-expected inflation data released last week.

However, the new chair’s desire to shun forward guidance about the rate path has also bred uncertainty on Wall Street. His press conference following the Fed’s last meeting in July left investors confused about his approach to inflation, and was followed by a rise in long-dated Treasury yields.

“Warsh has given the bond market more clarity … today that underlying trends in inflation are still too strong,” said Collin Martin, head of fixed income research and strategy, Schwab Centre for Financial Research.

Investors are mulling how to adjust portfolios for a higher rate environment.

“We don’t want to overreact to one meeting,” said Phil Blancato, chief market strategist at Osaic.

Still, he said, “if this looks like the start of a hiking cycle, reducing duration and trimming some small-cap exposure could make sense”.

The US legislation targets Russia’s energy and defence sectors, President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials, as well as Moscow’s so-called shadow fleet of tankers used to circumvent Western sanctions.

It also gives US President Donald Trump authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on major buyers of Russian oil and gas — including potentially China and India — in an effort to choke off revenue financing Moscow’s war.

But India’s foreign ministry said it “remains firmly committed to ensuring energy security for its 1.4 billion people”.

“It will continue to do so through diversified sourcing and on the basis of evolving market dynamics.”

Moscow is one of New Delhi’s most important strategic partners and military suppliers.

“The Indian side has also made clear its determination to take all necessary measures to protect its trade and economic interests,” the ministry added.

India has navigated the energy crisis caused by the US-Iran conflict in part by turning to Russia, despite Moscow’s war in Ukraine and pressure from Washington and other Western capitals.

Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks in New Delhi last week ahead of a Brics summit.

“This issue has been discussed at high levels in recent months with various US interlocutors,” the ministry added.

“Its potential implications for not just the bilateral relationship but also the international energy market have been very clearly articulated by the Indian side.”

Indian refiners nearly doubled crude imports from Russia to 2.25 million barrels a day in March — the weeks after the Middle East war erupted — helped by temporary US waivers.

Shipments hit a record 2.81m in July, according to trade intelligence firm Kpler, but have since dropped back to 2.07m last month.

The assertion by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Asim Iftikhar Ahmad came during a Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan five years after the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul.

“Pakistan cannot sit idle in the face of this terrorist onslaught,” Ahmad told the UNSC. “We will respond in self-defence, as and when needed and in accordance with international law. We will defend ourselves against whosoever attempts to harm our citizens and our national security.”

He said that more than 4,700 Pakistanis had lost their lives to terrorism emanating from Afghanistan over the past three years and added that Kabul had failed to take concrete and verifiable action against terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil.

Afghanistan had again become a safe haven for terrorist groups including the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, Baloch Liberation Army and its Majeed Brigade, Islamic State-Khorasan and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, as well as their affiliates, Pakistan’s envoy said.

“The situation [is] made worse by external actors, the spoilers who support proxies inside Afghanistan to target Pakistan and other neighbouring countries,” he added.

A recent report by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres says terrorist groups remain present in Afghanistan, while restrictions on women and girls, exclusionary governance, economic pressures, declining capacity to provide basic services and large-scale returns and migration continue to threaten the country’s longer-term stability.

Armed groups opposed to the Taliban also remain active. According to the report, such groups claimed responsibility for 88 attacks across 21 Afghan provinces between May 1 and the end of July.

The report identifies the institutionalised denial of the rights of women and girls and the authoritarian nature of the Afghan Taliban’s political system among the most serious concerns. It says these policies affect Afghan society and remain obstacles to the country’s reintegration into the international system.

Against this backdrop, Ahmad said Islamabad had supported Afghanistan’s stabilisation through engagement, humanitarian assistance and regional cooperation.

“Despite reservations with regard to certain policies of the Afghan Taliban, Pakistan abided by its international commitments to allow unhindered humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. As noted in the secretary general’s report, at least 687 humanitarian cargo trucks entered Afghanistan from Pakistan during the reporting period,” he said.

But, “unfortunately, the hopes and expectations of the international community at that critical juncture five years ago did not materialise and in fact gradually turned into despair and disappointment”.

“The extent of challenges in Afghanistan is evident … and the secretary general’s report highlights that the semblance of relative stability that the Taliban seek to display ‘masks the accumulating risks that could impact the country’s stability over the short and long term’“, he said.

Ahmad said terrorism had been at the “core of Afghanistan’s problems”.

“This finds its roots in the deep nexus between the Taliban and terrorist groups,” he said, adding that the Afghan Taliban had failed to act against the terrorist groups. He further warned about weapons left behind in Afghanistan by international forces and illegal arms trafficking.

The United States took a similarly critical position on the Afghan Taliban, with Ambassador Mike Waltz focusing on the detention of American citizens, terrorism and restrictions on women and girls.

“The United States will not tolerate the Taliban taking American citizens hostage. Period,” Waltz said, accusing the Afghan Taliban of using American citizens as bargaining chips.

He called on the Security Council to condemn the detention of US citizens by the Afghan Taliban and demand their release.

Waltz also criticised the Taliban’s sheltering of terrorist groups and cited UN reporting on arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, ill-treatment and extrajudicial killings.

He highlighted the continuing ban on girls’ education beyond sixth grade and restrictions preventing Afghan women working for the United Nations from entering UN compounds.

The envoy questioned how long the international community could continue relying on engagement without seeing concrete changes.

“How many UN reports documenting abuse? How many Council resolutions demanding change? How many years of ‘engagement’ can we pass before we see measurable results?” he asked.

“This Council must demand results from the Taliban,” Waltz said. “We need to see action, not words.”

Russia, on the other hand, argued that engagement rather than pressure remained essential in Afghanistan’s case.

Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said there was “no alternative” to genuine, pragmatic engagement with Afghanistan. Recalling the withdrawal of foreign forces five years ago, he said predictions that Afghanistan would collapse or become a “black hole” had not materialised.

Nebenzia attributed the country’s relative stability to the Taliban’s focus on development, regional cooperation and building a self-reliant state.

He called for trust-based dialogue with the Afghan authorities, “fully free from the language of pressure and blackmail”.

China also argued for continued engagement while acknowledging concerns over the treatment of women.

Deputy Ambassador Sun Lei urged all parties to “cherish the outcomes of engagement and dialogue with the Afghan government, show good faith and stay patient”.

But he said restrictions imposed on Afghan women and girls affected their physical and mental health and undermined social stability and development prospects, making it harder for Afghanistan to gain greater international support.

China called on the Afghan rulers to guarantee the fundamental rights and interests of all Afghans, including women.

Seemingly referring to the US, it called on a “relevant country” to “bear its historical responsibilities” by resuming aid to Afghanistan, lifting unilateral sanctions, returning the overseas assets of the Central Bank of Afghanistan and providing resources for the country’s reconstruction and development.

The debate highlighted the central disagreement over how the international community should deal with Afghanistan five years after the Taliban takeover.

According to a letter issued by the CDA’s Housing Directorate to the Bahria Town management, the layout plan of the two phases, spreading over 2,999-kanal, has been cancelled. The plan had been approved by the CDA in 2010 “subject to fulfillment of terms and conditions.”

The letter alleged that Bahria Town had failed to fulfill terms and conditions and pre-requisite for obtaining NOC (no objection certificate) for the schemes, despite the lapse of about 15 years.

It added that Bahria Town had been directed in 2025 to get all plots designated for public amenities, including parks, playgrounds, open spaces and public buildings, vacated and restore them in accordance with the approved layout plan.

According to the CDA, the management of the scheme submitted a reply to the notice, but the authority did not accept it, terming it not based on facts.

The CDA then issued a final show cause notice to the management in September last year.

“Furthermore, DG of Federal Audit has framed Audit Para in 2023-24, titled, illegal construction of commercial building along Corniche Road, Bahria Town Phase III-E and IV, in Zone 5, without approval from CDA. The Departmental Account Committee headed by the secretary Ministry of Interior has discussed the para and ordered to remove such illegal commercial buildings, constructed in riverbed, graveyard and park/open space,” reads the notice.

“Therefore, the layout plan approved dated 18-12-2010 is herby cancelled/withdrawn with immediate effect.”

Besides this, the CDA has also decided to suspend “approval of other cases of Bahria Town (Pvt) Ltd, being defaulter of CDA”.

Meanwhile, the CDA’s Housing Directorate has asked the enforcement wing of the authority “to take action for demolition/removed of works/buildings/structures constructed in this scheme”.

An official of Bahria Town, when contacted, criticised the CDA’s decision, terming it ‘illegal’.

“We submitted a revised layout plan for approval, but instead of granting approval, the CDA unilaterally canceled our previous layout plan … We will challenge this action before available forums including courts,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2026

ISLAMABAD: The Inte­rnational Atomic Energy Agency and Pakistan on Wednesday signed a safeguards agreement for the 1,200-megawatt Chashma-5 nuclear power plant to bolster the country’s energy security while ensuring international non-proliferation standards.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Raja Ali Raza Anwar signed the pact at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna. The signing took place on the sidelines of the 70th IAEA General Conference.

Shan Zhongde, chairman of the China Atomic Energy Authority, witnessed the ceremony. The agreement, which governs the application of safeguards at Unit-5 of the Chashma plant, was unanimously approved by the IAEA Board of Governors in March.

According to a statement on the signing, the agreement marks a critical step toward implementing safeguards for the new facility.

Officials noted that it reflects the international community’s continued confidence in Pakistan’s commitment to the peaceful use of nuclear energy and its adherence to global non-proliferation obligations.

Construction of the Chashma-5 (C-5) facility is progressing rapidly, with early completion of the reactor’s dome placement among its recent milestones.

Scheduled for commissioning in 2028, the unit is expected to add a substantial source of low-carbon, low-cost electricity to Pakistan’s national grid to support climate objectives and sustainable economic growth.

Pakistan currently operates six nuclear power plants with a combined installed capacity of 3,530 megawatts. According to the Atomic Energy Commission, these plants have maintained an average capacity factor exceeding 90pc.

Officials highlighted that the country possesses more than 100 reactor-years of operational experience, maintaining a strong record of safe, secure and safeguarded operations under international standards.

Prior to the signing ceremony, Pakistani and Chinese delegations met to discuss ongoing and future cooperation in the peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology.

Anwar led the Pakistani delegation, while Zhongde headed the Chinese group. Mohammad Kamran Akhtar Malik, Pakistan’s ambassador to Austria and permanent representative to the IAEA, also participated in the bilateral discussions.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2026

Responding to queries, a spokesperson for the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) said that Madhubala suffered from “acute weakness and low immunity levels” following prolonged treatment for tuberculosis and that’s what caused her sudden fall.

“While all her laboratory tests are just fine, she is being given antibiotics as a precautionary measure on the advice of a senior local vet. No fracture has been detected in the X-ray,” KMC spokesperson Daniyal Alishan Siyal told Dawn, adding that all medical reports were emailed to Sri Lankan wildlife health specialist Dr Buddhika for final assessment.

When asked why she is being given antibiotics when no bacterial infection has been detected, he said, “I am told that she has elevated infection markers, though no specific cause has been detected.”

The African elephant is suffering from ‘acute weakness and low immunity levels’

Madhubala, he pointed out, could now stand on her feet and the supporting crate belt had been removed.

On the swelling on her right hind thigh, he claimed that, “It was caused by her fall.”

He rejected the information that Madhubala was acutely dehydrated on the day of her fall because there wasn’t sufficient water to keep her cool on hot days.

“There were no power breakdowns that could lead to water issues,” Mr Siyal said.

Foot abscess recovery?

Safari Park Director Amjad Zaidi two days ago stated that it’s apparently the swelling on her right thigh, which was preventing her from using her leg. He had also stated that Madhubala had “recovered” from a foot infection.

Sources stated Madhubala’s swelling on her right hind thigh might be indicating spread of abscess from the foot (on the same affected leg) that she had been fighting for some period.

“Elevated infection markers mean her body’s immune system is reacting to a problem, though her test results cannot tell the exact cause,” a senior vet shared.

Steady signs of improvement: KMC

The KMC released a press statement on Madhubala’s condition, stating that the elephant is showing steady signs of improvement and continues to receive round-the-clock veterinary care and close medical monitoring.

“The latest health assessments have revealed several encouraging signs of improvement. Madhubala is now able to stand independently without harness support, marking a positive development in her recovery. Her vital parameters remain stable, while she continues to maintain a good appetite and remains alert and responsive,” it says.

It further adds that Madhubala is undergoing daily health assessments and blood tests, while X-rays of her hind quarters are also being conducted regularly.

“These diagnostic procedures are being carried out with the support of the Sindh Institute of Animal Health, enabling veterinary experts to closely monitor her physical condition and evaluate her progress.

“Madhubala’s dedicated keeper team remains with her around the clock. The keepers, who have been closely involved in her daily care, are working in close coordination with the veterinary team to ensure that she receives appropriate nutrition, care, supervision and support throughout her recovery,” it adds.

Madhubala had been in solitary confinement at Karachi Zoo following the tragic death of her companion Noor Jehan who died in 2023 after a tragic fall in her enclosure.

Noor Jehan’s autopsy report released by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) showed that she died from a severe blood parasitic infection and internal trauma combined with a lack of proper medical care.

Left alone at the zoo, Madhubala was successfully relocated to Safari Park where she was reunited with her sisters, Sonia and Malika, in November 2024, under the supervision of Four Paws — an international animal welfare organisation that worked extensively with the KMC for elephant care.

The success story of her reunion faded soon as Sonia died a month later after collapsing in her Safari enclosure.

Lab reports later showed that she suffered from multiple chronic illnesses, affecting almost all vital organs, indicating prolonged neglect in her care and failure in timely diagnosis.

Successive deaths of captive elephants raised public outcry, forcing the KMC to set up an 18-member body to look after Madhubala and Malika, both of whom were diagnosed with tuberculosis.

The four female elephants were brought to Karachi from Tanzania in 2010 at a very young age under a controversial arrangement.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2026