Dr Jamileh-Sadat Alamolhoda, wife of the Iranian President, on Monday said that Islam had enlightened the whole world by highlighting important of knowledge 1400 years ago.

“Knowledge without ethics has no value,” she made the remarks her address at the National University of Modern Languages (NUML).

Earlier, Dr Jamileh inaugurated a cultural festival at the university. She took round of various national and international stalls showcasing different cultures and their traditions.

Rector NUML Major General (retd) Shahid Mahmood Kayani, Director General Brig Shahzad Munir, faculty members and a large number of students were present on the occasion.

Addressing the students, Dr Jamileh said that during the colonial era, religious leaders of Iran and this part of the region played a significant role in keeping the nations united.

She admired the role of Poet of the East Muhammad Iqbal in spreading the Islamic message of knowledge and ethics through his poetry.

She also spoke at the launch of her own book “The Art of Living Femininely”, which, she said, was being translated into Urdu as well.

She praised NUML’s role in knowledge production and dissemination and also desired to explore the possibilities of mutual academic collaboration in the field of science and technology and languages.

Dr Jamileh thanked the NUML administration for a warm welcome and on providing her an opportunity to interact with the students and faculty.

Speaking on the occasion, the Rector NUML said that Pakistan and Iran enjoyed historic, brotherly, and mutually trusted bilateral relations, and they also had deep-rooted people-to-people ties.

The honourable guest was conferred on an honorary PhD degree in educational sciences by the NUML Rector. 

Former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has filed appeal for acquittal in May 9 cases.

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) of Rawalpindi on Tuesday heard three cases relating to May 9 incidents against Sheikh Rashid and nephew Sheikh Rashid Shafique.

The Awami Muslim League chief appeared in court with his lawyers Sardar Raziq and Sardar Shehbaz.

During proceedings of the case, Rashid’s lawyer filed an application for acquittal of the AML chief. The court while issuing notice on the acquittal plea, adjourned hearing of the case till May 14.

It may be recalled that three cases were registered with police stations Cantt, Morgah and Taxila against the senior politician.

Speaking to media person outside the court, Sheikh Rashid said all the cases registered against him were fake and bogus.

He said he was appearing in court almost daily. He further said he would fight his cases as per law and Constitution and courts will decide all the cases in his favour.

Asia was the world’s most disaster-hit region from climate and weather hazards in 2023, the United Nations said Tuesday, with floods and storms the chief cause of casualties and economic losses.

Global temperatures hit record highs last year, and the UN’s weather and climate agency said Asia was warming at a particularly rapid pace.

The World Meteorological Organisation said the impact of heatwaves in Asia was becoming more severe, with melting glaciers threatening the region’s future water security.

Read more: Pakistan too at risk as Himalayan glaciers on track to lose up to 75pc of ice by 2100: report

As for precipitation, it was below normal in the Himalayas and in the Hindu Kush mountain range in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, southwest China suffered from a drought, with below-normal precipitation levels in nearly every month of the year.

The High-Mountain Asia region, centred on the Tibetan Plateau, contains the largest volume of ice outside of the Polar Regions.

The WMO said Asia was warming faster than the global average, with temperatures last year nearly two degrees Celsius above the 1961 to 1990 average.

“The report’s conclusions are sobering,” WMO chief Celeste Saulo said in a statement.

“Many countries in the region experienced their hottest year on record in 2023, along with a barrage of extreme conditions, from droughts and heatwaves to floods and storms.Climate change exacerbated the frequency and severity of such events, profoundly impacting societies, economies, and, most importantly, human lives and the environment that we live in.”

Read more: Health-harming heat stress rising in Europe — world’s fastest-warming continent

The State of the Climate in Asia 2023 report highlighted the accelerating rate of key climate change indicators such as surface temperature, glacier retreat and sea level rise, saying they would have serious repercussions for societies, economies and ecosystems in the region.

“Asia remained the world’s most disaster-hit region from weather, climate and water-related hazards in 2023,” the WMO said.

The annual mean near-surface temperature over Asia in 2023 was the second highest on record, at 0.91 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average, and 1.87 C above the 1961-1990 average.

Particularly high average temperatures were recorded from western Siberia to central Asia, and from eastern China to Japan, the report said, with Japan having its hottest summer on record.

Over the last several decades, most of these glaciers have been retreating, and at an accelerating rate, the WMO said, with 20 out of 22 monitored glaciers in the region showing continued mass loss last year.

Read more: Global warming and Pakistan: UN report warns glaciers and dependent people are at risk

The report said 2023 sea-surface temperatures in the northwest Pacific Ocean were the highest on record.

Last year, 79 disasters associated with water-related weather hazards were reported in Asia. Of those, more than 80 percent were floods and storms, with more than 2,000 deaths and nine million people directly affected.

“Floods were the leading cause of death in reported events in 2023 by a substantial margin,” the WMO said, noting the continuing high level of vulnerability of Asia to natural hazard events.

Hong Kong recorded 158.1 millimetres of rainfall in one hour on September 7 — the highest since records began in 1884, as a result of a typhoon.

The WMO said there was an urgent need for national weather services across the region to improve tailored information to officials working on reducing disaster risks.

“It is imperative that our actions and strategies mirror the urgency of these times,” said Saulo.

“Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the evolving climate is not merely an option, but a fundamental necessity.”