Islamabad: Pakistan is committed to the promotion of an environment of peace and stability in South Asia while preserving its capability to ward off aggression or adventurism in any form.

In a press release in connection with Youm-e-Takbeer being observed on Saturday, Foreign Office Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said the tests conducted in 1998 not only demonstrated the resolve of the Pakistani nation to safeguard the country's territorial integrity, independence, and sovereignty, but also the desire to preserve strategic balance in South Asia.

He said we are partners in international efforts to strengthen the global non-proliferation regime based on the principles of non-discrimination and equal security for all states.

The spokesperson said Pakistan adheres to the latest international standards on export controls and maintains the highest standards of nuclear safety and security.

He also paid tributes to its scientists, engineers and technicians in ensuring Pakistan's security saying that the nation also deeply appreciates the contributions of Pakistan's nuclear programme to the country's socio-economic development.

Casts old and new return for more dinosaur misadventures in "Jurassic World Dominion", in a final outing concluding the second trilogy of films in the popular franchise.

The movie is set four years after the destruction of the remote island of Isla Nubar, and dinosaurs roam the entire world, living and hunting among humans.

"Jurassic Park" actors Laura Dern and Sam Neill reprise their roles as paleobotanist Dr Ellie Sattler, now a soil and climate change scientist, and paleontologist Dr Alan Grant, reuniting with their castmate from the 1993 movie Jeff Goldblum, who plays mathematician Dr Ian Malcolm.

The movie sees them join forces with Chris Pratt's animal behaviourist Owen Grady and Bryce Dallas Howard's activist Claire Dearing, who have helmed the more recent "Jurassic World" trilogy of films.

"Both of them (Dern and Neill are) terrific friends... and changed my life for having known them for all these 30 years... We were in a movie that got people's attention and entertained people," Goldblum, who featured in 2018's "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom", told Reuters at a London press event for the movie on Friday.

"And now, for the first time, being reunited on screen and getting a chance to work together under these interesting circumstances with this new cast... what a parade and a cobb salad of lucky teammates for me."

The film, which begins its global cinema roll-out on June 1, features plenty of stunning visual effects showing the dinosaurs living alongside humans. Soon enough, threats emerge.

"What I'm so grateful for and why I felt privileged to come back as Dr Ellie Sattler is it has a deeply rooted environmental message as the entire franchise does, because ultimately it's about corporate greed and previous extinction," Dern said.

 
Howard, whose character was former operations manager at the now closed dinosaur park in the first "Jurassic World" movie, said wrapping up the trilogy which began in 2015 was emotional.

"I cried so much," she said.

"There was some of the actors on my flight home, and they messaged everyone going like, 'Bryce cried the entire 10 hours home.' I'm like, 'I know'."

SOURCE: REUTERS

At least seven Indian soldiers were killed and 19 others injured in a road accident in the remote Ladakh region, close to the country's disputed border with China, police said on Friday.

The world's two most populous nations redirected tens of thousands of additional troops into the high-altitude Himalayan region after a deadly hand-to-hand battle in June 2020 left at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead.

“Seven soldiers killed, 19 injured in the remote Nubra area,” a senior police officer in Ladakh told AFP.

The incident happened early Friday when a vehicle carrying the soldiers for deployment close to the contested frontier skidded off the road and plunged about 15 metres (50 feet) into the Shyok River, according to the official.

“Anguished by the bus accident in Ladakh in which we have lost our brave army personnel,” India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.

“My thoughts are with the bereaved families. I hope those injured recover at the earliest. All possible assistance is being given to the affected.”

India and China, after fighting a full-scale border war in 1962, have long accused each other of trying to seize territory along their unofficial divide, which is known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Relations have soured dramatically since a June 2020 clash along one section between Ladakh and Tibet.

Both sides have since reinforced the region with extra soldiers, military hardware and new infrastructure as multiple rounds of military and diplomatic talks have failed to de-escalate tensions.

SOURCE: AFP