Saima Ayub

A child stands in the middle of the room. Arms folded. Lips pressed tight. Eyes burning with a quiet storm.&nbsp;You say, &ldquo;Pick up your bag.&rdquo;&nbsp;The child says, &ldquo;No.&rdquo;&nbsp;And just like that, the air changes.&nbsp;We call it stubbornness. A difficult nature. A bad habit. A strong will gone wrong.&nbsp;But after years of watching children in classrooms, corridors, playgrounds, and parent meetings, I&nbsp;have learned something unsettling and honest: stubbornness is rarely about defiance. It is usually about&nbsp;distress.&nbsp;A child is not born stubborn. A child becomes stubborn when they feel unheard, unseen, or overpowered.&nbsp;In school, I have seen the quiet child suddenly refuse to write. The cheerful one who refuses to share. The&nbsp;obedient student who one day simply says, &ldquo;I won&rsquo;t.&rdquo; Parents are shocked. &ldquo;He was never like this.&rdquo;&nbsp; &ldquo;She&nbsp;used to listen.&rdquo;&nbsp;Yes. Because something has shifted inside.&nbsp;Children live in a world where almost everything is decided for them, what to wear, when to wake up,&nbsp;what to eat, when to study, how to sit, and how to speak.&nbsp;Their lives are structured by bells and instructions.&nbsp;And while structure is necessary, control without voice breeds resistance.&nbsp;Stubbornness is often a child&rsquo;s small, trembling attempt to say, &ldquo;I want some control too.&rdquo;&nbsp;Psychologists speak of autonomy as a basic human need. Even a four-year-old wants to feel capable. When&nbsp;that need is repeatedly dismissed.&nbsp; &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t argue.&rdquo; &nbsp;&ldquo;Just do as I say.&rdquo; &ldquo;Because I said so.&rdquo;&nbsp; The child&nbsp;learns that the only way to be heard is to resist.&nbsp;And resistance becomes a habit.&nbsp;There is another truth we rarely admit. Sometimes children become stubborn because we are.&nbsp;A rushed parent. A tired teacher. A command given without eye contact. An instruction repeated louder&nbsp;each time. The child mirrors what they see. Stiffness creates stiffness.&nbsp;I remember a boy in my school who refused to participate in group work. Every day, the same battle. His&nbsp;teacher insisted. He resisted. Voices rose. Tears followed.&nbsp;One afternoon, instead of insisting, the teacher sat beside him and asked softly, &ldquo;What worries you about&nbsp;group work?&rdquo;&nbsp;He whispered, &ldquo;They laugh at my English.&rdquo;&nbsp;That was the stubbornness. Not rebellion, fear.&nbsp;Once we understood that, everything changed.&nbsp;A graceful response does not mean permissiveness. It means firmness with dignity. Boundaries without&nbsp;humiliation. Authority without anger. When a child refuses, pause before reacting. Ask yourself: Is this about power, fear, tiredness, or simply a&nbsp;need to be noticed?&nbsp;Offer limited choices. &ldquo;You can start with math or English. Which one first?&rdquo; Choice restores dignity.&nbsp;Acknowledge feelings without surrendering rules. &ldquo;I know you&rsquo;re upset. The homework still needs to be&nbsp;done.&rdquo;&nbsp;Stay calmA calm adult regulates a storming child. A shouting adult creates a hurricane.&nbsp;And sometimes, let natural consequences teach. If a child refuses to pack their bag, allow them to face the&nbsp;discomfort of forgetting a notebook, without rescuing them immediately. Responsibility grows when we&nbsp;step back.&nbsp;Above all, protect the relationship. No lesson is more important than trust.&nbsp;Children who feel safe do not need to fight for control. They learn cooperation because they feel&nbsp;respected.&nbsp;In my years as an educationist, I have seen stubborn children grow into strong leaders, once their will&nbsp;was guided, not crushed. The same firmness that says &ldquo;No&rdquo; at five can say &ldquo;I stand for what is right&rdquo; at&nbsp;twenty.&nbsp;Stubbornness is raw strength. Mishandled, it becomes rebellion. Understood, it becomes resilience.&nbsp;So the next time a child folds their arms and says &ldquo;No,&rdquo; do not see an enemy.&nbsp;See a small human being, struggling to find their voice in a world that often speaks over them.&nbsp;And respond, not with force, but with steady grace.

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Children’s stubbornness is rarely defiance; it signals distress, fear, or a need for autonomy. Control without voice breeds resistance. Calm authority, limited choices, natural consequences, and preserved trust transform defiance into resilience, guiding strong will into future leadership.

Why children become stubborn, and how to respond gracefully

As parents and guardians we think of lying as a moral crack in the wall. But when it comes to children, truth is usually softer, and sadder.&nbsp;Children lie because of fear.&nbsp;They are not afraid of prison or police rather our faces. They are afraid of our silence. Afraid of disappointing the people whose approval feels like everything.&nbsp;A child who breaks a glass does not first think about right or wrong. He thinks about what will happen next. Will there be shouting? Will love feel distant? In that quick, anxious moment, a lie becomes a small shield. &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t me.&rdquo; It is not wickedness speaking. It is fear trying to survive.&nbsp;If we are honest with ourselves, we may remember doing the same.&nbsp;There is also imagination, a bright and restless force in childhood. A five-year-old may&nbsp;insist the cat opened the cupboard or the wind pushed the vase. To us it sounds like&nbsp;deliberate deception. But in a young mind, imagination and reality often sit side by side.&nbsp;The child is not carefully constructing fraud. He is escaping guilt the only way he knows how, through story.&nbsp;As children grow older, their lies change shape.&nbsp;An older child may hide poor marks. A teenager may lie about where she was. These lies&nbsp;are not about spilled milk anymore. They are about identity. About wanting to be seen as&nbsp;capable, responsible, mature.&nbsp;Children care deeply about how we see them. Sometimes more than we realize.&nbsp;When expectations are high and mistakes feel unbearable, truth begins to look dangerous. There is also another quiet reason: children are learningsome point. At some point a child discovers that thoughts are private. That adults cannot see inside&nbsp;their minds. It is a startling discovery. With it comes experimentation. &ldquo;If I say this, will they believe me?&rdquo; It is less a plan to deceive and more a test of the world.&nbsp;None of this means lying should be ignored. Trust, once damaged, is difficult to rebuild. But punishment alone rarely builds honesty. It often builds better liars.&nbsp;If every confession is met with anger, the child learns to hide more carefully next time.&nbsp;What then helps?Calmness helps.&nbsp;When a child admits, &ldquo;Yes, I broke it,&rdquo; and hears, &ldquo;Thank you for telling me,&rdquo; something important happens. The mistake still matters. The consequence may still follow. But the&nbsp;child learns that truth does not cancel love.&nbsp;That lesson stays.&nbsp;We must also look at ourselves. Children notice the small things. When we say on the&nbsp;phone, &ldquo;Tell them I&rsquo;m not home,&rdquo; they are listening. When we exaggerate stories or twist&nbsp;facts, they are watching. We cannot demand honesty in a language we do not speak.&nbsp;A lying child is not a lost child.More often, it is a worried child. Or an ashamed child. Or simply a growing child trying to&nbsp;manage feelings too large for his small hands.&nbsp;If we want honesty, we must make it safe. Safe to fail. Safe to confess. Safe to be imperfect.&nbsp;The real question is not, &ldquo;Why is my child lying?&rdquo;&nbsp;Perhaps it is, &ldquo;What is my child afraid of losing if they tell the truth?&rdquo;&nbsp;When we answer that gently &mdash; not with authority alone, but with understanding, we&nbsp;may find that the lies grow fewer, and the conversations grow deeper.&nbsp;And that is where trust truly begins.

Children often lie from fear, imagination, or growing identity, not malice. Honesty grows when adults respond calmly, model truth, and make mistakes safe, showing that truth never cancels love, trust, or belonging for children everywhere.

The psychology behind kids lying

Many adults believe that raising one&rsquo;s voice is a normal part of parenting, saying, &ldquo;Children don&rsquo;t listen otherwise.&rdquo; &nbsp;In homes and schools, shouting is often treated as a form of discipline. Yet shouting does not teach children to behave better; rather, it teaches them to be afraid, confused, or equally loud. As an educationist, I have seen this pattern repeated over the years and across classrooms. &nbsp; A raised voice may stop a child in the moment, but it never builds understanding.&nbsp; Silence after shouting is not obedience. It is an emotional shutdown.&nbsp; Research on child psychology and emotional regulation shows that children learn&nbsp;to manage their feelings by watching adults. When adults shout, children&rsquo;s stress hormones rise. The brain moves into survival mode, during which learning stops.&nbsp; The child may comply, but nothing is understood or remembered.&nbsp; Consider a common morning scene.&nbsp;A child is slow to get ready for school; his shoes are missing, and his breakfast is unfinished. Consequently, the parents&rsquo; voice rises with every minute. The child freezes, cries, or becomes stubborn, and by the time the child reaches school, he is already anxious.&nbsp; Teachers later complain that he is inattentive or aggressive, but the problem did not start in the classroom; it began at home, with raised voices.&nbsp; Neuroscience supports this observation. Research from Harvard&rsquo;s Center on the Developing Child shows that repeated exposure to stress &mdash; such as frequent shouting &mdash; can affect a child&rsquo;s developing brain, weakening the areas responsible for attention, memory, and emotional control.&nbsp; In simple words, shouting makes it harder for children to behave well in the future.&nbsp; Some people, however, argue that &ldquo;our parents shouted, and we turned out fine.&rdquo;&nbsp; This statement avoids an honest question: Did we truly turn out fine, or did we simply learn to hide fear and repeat the same behavior? Many adults admit they now struggle with anger, anxiety, or communication. These patterns often begin in childhood. In schools, the difference between loud authority and calm authority is clear.&nbsp; I recall a teacher who never raised her voice, even in a noisy classroom. She paused, stood still, and waited. Slowly, students noticed. Silence followed. Her calm was stronger than shouting. The children respected her not because they feared her, but because they trusted her.&nbsp; Another example comes from a parent who decided to change one habit: no shouting in the morning. Instead of repeated instructions, she created a simple routine chart with pictures. The first week was difficult. The second week was quieter. Within a month, her child became more independent.&nbsp; The parent did not lose control. She gained cooperation. Research on positive discipline confirms this.&nbsp; According to studies published in the Journal of Family Psychology, children raised with calm, consistent guidance show better self-control and fewer behavioral problems than those disciplined through yelling or threats. Calm discipline teaches responsibility, whereas loud discipline teaches fear.&nbsp; Raising your voice also damages the relationship between an adult and a child, as children may listen to a shouting adult but stop sharing their thoughts.&nbsp; They learn that mistakes bring anger, not guidance.&nbsp; Over time, this creates distance. Power should never be loud to be effective. True authority is quiet and steady. The same is true in parenting and teaching. A calm voice shows confidence. A raised voice shows loss of control. This does not mean children do not need boundaries. They do.&nbsp; But boundaries delivered calmly are clearer and stronger.&nbsp; &ldquo;We do not hit.&rdquo;&nbsp; &ldquo;We finish our homework before play.&rdquo;&nbsp; Short sentences, firm tone, no shouting. Children understand this language.&nbsp; Never raising your voice does not mean being weak.&nbsp;It means being aware. It means choosing long-term growth over short-term silence.&nbsp; Children are not broken machines to be fixed with noise. They are learning humans. When adults lower their voices, children learn to regulate theirs. When adults stay calm, children feel safe enough to listen.&nbsp; In the end, the goal is not quiet children. The goal is confident, emotionally healthy adults. And that lesson begins with a calm voice today.

Children are not broken machines to be fixed with noise. They are learning humans. When adults lower their voices, children learn to regulate theirs. When adults stay calm, children feel safe enough to listen. 

Never raise your voice at your children

Every morning tells a story. Some mornings begin with light, routine, and quiet purpose. Others begin with shouting. In many homes, the day opens not with sunlight but with raised voices. &ldquo;Hurry up.&rdquo; &ldquo;You&rsquo;re late again.&rdquo; &ldquo;How many times have I told you?&rdquo; These words are spoken quickly, often without cruelty, often with worry behind them. Yet their effect is deeper than we imagine. A child who begins his day with scolding does not leave those words at the doorstep. He carries them into the classroom, into his notebook, into his behavior, and into his sense of self. A child&rsquo;s mind in the morning is not prepared for battle. It is soft, just waking, trying to gather itself. When the first sound it hears is anger, the body reacts before the brain can reason. The heart beats faster. Muscles tighten. The mind shifts into defense. By the time the child reaches school, he is already tired. Teachers often notice this without knowing the cause. The child is distracted, restless, unusually quiet, or unusually aggressive. He forgets his books, avoids eye contact, or argues over small things. We label him careless, lazy, or illmannered. But often, he is simply recovering from his morning. Academics suffer quietly. A mind that is anxious cannot focus deeply. Reading requires calm attention. Writing requires confidence. Mathematics requires patience. A child who has been shouted at begins the day believing he is already wrong. When the teacher asks a question, he hesitates. When he makes a mistake, it confirms what he was told at home. Slowly, learning becomes a place of fear rather than curiosity. Behavior follows the same pattern. Some children withdraw. They sit silently, trying not to be noticed, afraid that attention will bring more criticism. Others do the opposite. They talk back, disturb the class, or pick fights. Both behaviors come from the same root: emotional imbalance. A shaken child will either shrink or shake others. Morning scolding shapes how a child thinks about himself for the rest of the day. Repeated often, it becomes a quiet belief: &ldquo;I am always late. I am always wrong. I always disappoint.&rdquo; Parents do not intend this. Morning is genuinely difficult. Time is short. Responsibilities are many. Yet discipline delivered in shouting loses its purpose. It may speed the child for a moment, but it slows him for the whole day. Parent&#39;s roleThere is another way, simpler but requiring effort. First, prepare the night before. School bags packed, uniforms laid out, shoes placed where they belong. A prepared morning needs fewer words. Second, wake children earlier than necessary. Rushing creates shouting. Time creates calm. Third, replace commands with reminders. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s time to wear your shoes&rdquo; works better than &ldquo;Why are you still sitting?&rdquo; Fourth, lower your voice intentionally. A calm voice demands attention more effectively than a loud one. Children mirror tone before they understand meaning. Fifth, offer one sentence of encouragement before they leave. &ldquo;Have a good day.&rdquo; &ldquo;I know you&rsquo;ll do well.&rdquo; These words travel with the child far longer than scolding ever will. Lastly, remember this: school tests knowledge, but mornings shape character. A child who leaves home feeling safe will face the world with confidence. A child who leaves home feeling small will spend the day trying to protect himself. We cannot control everything that happens to our children outside. But we control the first hour of their day. And often, that hour decides the rest. The morning does not need perfection. It needs peace.

Morning scolding quietly shapes a child’s emotions, learning, and behavior. Anxious beginnings drain focus and confidence all day. Calm preparation, gentle reminders, time, and encouragement create mornings that help children learn, behave, and face school.

How mornings shape children’s behavior

In modern households and classrooms, a rising issue causing tension between generations is the hyperactive child. Found in every other classroom and home, these children are often loud and chaotic, and they tend to fidget or hit their siblings. While many parents and teachers respond with yelling and label these children as &quot;bad&quot; or &quot;disrespectful,&quot; experts argue that this behavior is entirely outside the child&#39;s conscious control. The &lsquo;internal bucket&rsquo; overflowHyperactive children act as emotional &quot;sponges,&quot; absorbing chaos, stress, and constant instructions from adults around them. Whether it&rsquo;s pressure about academic performance or household stress, these feelings build up until the child&rsquo;s &quot;internal bucket&quot; overflows. Since their small bodies can&rsquo;t hold all this emotional weight, they often release it through physical actions &mdash; leading to the loudness, running, and classroom disruptions that frustrated adults frequently observe. A search for connection in a busy worldThe increase in hyperactivity is also connected to a lack of connection in busier lives. As parents spend less one-on-one time with their children, hyperactive outbursts can be seen as a cry for attention, essentially telling the parent: &quot;I exist; see me, hear me.&quot;&nbsp; The science of overstimulationModern environmental factors are further &quot;boosting&quot; children&#39;s energy levels to levels that are uncontrollable. There can be several key triggers, such as: - Fast-paced cartoons and bright visual colors.- Constant noise and screen time.- High-sugar diets that provide an artificial energy spike. When a child&rsquo;s brain becomes overstimulated by these factors, it enters a &quot;high alert mode.&quot; In this physiological state, the child&rsquo;s heart beats faster and their breathing changes, making it nearly impossible for them to process instructions or stay still.&nbsp; A call for channelled energyInstead of relying on discipline and labels, adults should view these behaviors as reflections of the nervous system. The focus should move away from punishment and toward channeling the child&#39;s energy to support their physiological and emotional well-being.

The ‘Bad Child’ myth: Why hyperactivity is a physiological cry for help

Articles

Hyperactive children are frequently misunderstood and unfairly labelled as 'bad' or 'disrespectful' by parents and teachers. However, their behavior — such as being loud, fidgeting, or hitting — reflects their nervous system and is not something they can consciously control.

Walk into any classroom today and the effects of modern parenting are obvious. Some children sit rigidly, waiting for instructions; others move through the day as if limits are optional. After years of observing families and schools, one truth is clear: both strictness without explanation and freedom without structure fail to cultivate the character parents and teachers aim to build. We want to raise thoughtful, self-disciplined adults. Yet many homes swing between the iron fist and the open palm, between command and negotiation, producing not maturity but confusion. Neither extreme teaches children to govern themselves. The tyranny of fixed rules Strict parents value order and respect. Their homes run on directives delivered from on high, &quot;Do your homework now,&quot; with little warmth or explanation. The short-term results can be impressive: obedient children, polite manners, quiet households. But this discipline is rooted in fear, not understanding. Research shows that rules without reasoning create compliance that collapses once the authority figure disappears. Children raised under constant control often develop anxiety, resentment, or outright rebellion.&nbsp; They learn to obey, not to comprehend. And obedience without comprehension is easily abandoned the moment independence arrives. The chaos of unbounded love At the opposite end are permissive parents, warm, loving, and eager to avoid conflict. But in their quest to preserve peace, everything becomes negotiable: bedtimes, homework, even basic routines. Consequences feel &ldquo;too harsh,&rdquo; and boundaries soften into suggestions. This feels compassionate in the moment, yet it leaves children unprepared for life beyond the living room. Educators see the results daily: difficulty with limits, poor self-control, impulsivity, and lower academic performance.&nbsp; Freedom without responsibility may feel gentle, but it ultimately traps children in their own impulses. Love without limits is simply another form of chaos. The path to self-discipline Both extremes overlook the real goal: helping children develop an inner compass. The most effective approach, supported by research and common sense, is the balanced model psychologists call authoritative parenting: firm but warm, structured but respectful. This style replaces punishment with guidance. It means offering clear rules but explaining the reasoning behind them. It means granting autonomy within boundaries, &lsquo;Turn off the phone at nine so your brain can rest for school, or Do your homework before or after dinner&mdash;you choose&rsquo;. These small choices teach judgment and build confidence. Children raised this way learn not only what to do, but why. And once they grasp the &ldquo;why,&rdquo; they carry the rule with them even when no one is watching. Ultimately, every child needs three assurances: That they have a voice. That they are capable. That they are loved. A strict home creates brittle obedience. A permissive home breeds drifting freedom. The middle path, love with limits, creates adults who can steer themselves. Parenting, at its best, is neither dictatorship nor friendship. It is guidance: steady, warm, and firm, teaching children that life has rules, and those rules have reasons. Only then do they learn to watch themselves, not because someone demands it, but because they have learned to do so.

Strict parenting breeds fear and rebellion, while permissiveness creates chaos and poor self-control. A balanced, authoritative approach best develops children’s inner discipline by combining clear rules, explanations, and meaningful autonomy.

Why both strict and lenient parents fail to build character

After years in classrooms, offices, and parent meetings, I have learned one truth: multitasking destroys children&rsquo;s focus. Their minds are delicate, like quiet rooms that need peace to stay bright. Yet today, those rooms are rarely quiet anymore. Almost every day, I hear the same concern from parents. They walk into their child&rsquo;s room and see a familiar scene: homework on the table, a YouTube video playing beside it, the phone buzzing every few minutes, a game notification flashing like a small firecracker. Sometimes the TV hums in the background. The child insists, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m studying.&rdquo; And in a way, they believe they are. This chaos has become normal. We adults call it multitasking, Children call it life, But the brain has its own opinion and it disagrees with both. What I Have Seen in ChildrenChildren today remind me of runners told to stop every few seconds. Start. Stop. Start again. No matter how strong the runner is, eventually they collapse. Their energy leaks away in little drops. One boy in Grade 6 once told me during a break, &ldquo;Ma&rsquo;am, I sit to study, but then my mind starts itching for my phone. I check one message and suddenly it is 40 minutes later.&rdquo; He said it with embarrassment, as if he were confessing a crime. But it wasn&rsquo;t a crime, it was a symptom. Inside the Mind: A Simple PictureImagine a chalkboard. You write on it, wipe it off. Some dust remains. You write again, erase again soon the board becomes smudged, unclear, hard to read. That is what happens to a child&rsquo;s mind when they switch from homework to notifications, from reading to reels, from solving to scrolling. The brain does not leap; it limps from one task to another, carrying the dust of the previous one. I have seen children stare at a single paragraph for ten minutes not because they don&rsquo;t understand, but because part of their mind is still sitting inside a TikTok video they watched two minutes earlier. Why Children Struggle More Than AdultsPeople say, &ldquo;This generation is smarter. They can handle screens.&rdquo; It sounds comfortable, but it is wrong. The part of the brain that controls focus the prefrontal cortex matures slowly. It doesn&rsquo;t fully grow until the mid-20s. Expecting a 12-year-old to &ldquo;just ignore the phone&rdquo; is like asking a bicycle to outrun a car. Children are more vulnerable to distraction. They fall faster, and they fall harder. A teenage girl once told me, &ldquo;Miss, I don&rsquo;t even enjoy scrolling anymore, but my brain doesn&rsquo;t let me stop.&rdquo; Her voice cracked not from wanting more, but from losing control. What This Looks Like at HomeParents often tell me, &ldquo;My child sits with books for hours but learns nothing.&rdquo; One mother described her son doing math homework with cartoons playing behind him. He kept saying, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not watching.&rdquo; But his eyes blinked every time the sound changed. His brain was listening. A task that should take one hour now takes three. In the end, the child feels slow, frustrated, and strangely exhausted. The Greater CostBeyond grades, something deeper is weakening the child&rsquo;s ability to sit with a thought. Children jump from idea to idea like stones skimming over a lake, never sinking long enough to see what lies beneath. This constant half-awareness is linked to anxiety, poor sleep, and a fading emotional connection with family. One father told me, &ldquo;My son sits with us, but he lives somewhere else inside his screen.&rdquo; What We Can DoProtecting single tasks is essential: short, 25-minute focus sessions can help rebuild a child&rsquo;s ability to sit still. This works best when the phone is removed entirely from the study area, because even a silent phone lying face down weakens focus.&nbsp; Just as important is showing children what real attention looks like when we scroll while they talk, they learn distraction, but when we listen fully, they learn presence. Some children say they need background noise. Soft instrumental music is fine. But screens, lyrics, and videos always take more than they give. Multitasking feels modern, but its cost is ancient:a child who cannot think deeply loses clarity, creativity, and confidence. If we protect their focus now, we return to them the one thing every growing mind needs a quiet inner room where ideas can bloom.

After years in classrooms, offices, and parent meetings, I have learned one truth: multitasking destroys children’s focus. Their minds are delicate, like quiet rooms that need peace to stay bright. Yet today, those rooms are rarely quiet anymore.


How multitasking is quietly harming children’s minds

Teenagers often see sleepovers as part of a &lsquo;normal&rsquo; childhood. Children talk about them with excitement: popcorn, late-night chatter, and whisper secrets under blankets. Many of us remember our own sleepovers with fondness, too, but are sleepovers really as harmless as they seem? The fun and the hidden risksThe moment children stay overnight at someone else&rsquo;s home, parents lose a great deal of agency. Every household has its own rules about food, bedtime, screen use, and discipline. For a child, less supervision often means late nights, poor sleep, exposure to inappropriate media, or even unhealthy peer pressure. What looks like &ldquo;harmless fun&rdquo; can sometimes leave behind worries or habits that show up much later. What research reminds usMany parents tell me something along the lines of, &quot;I went on sleepovers and turned out fine.&quot; I always remind parents that personal anecdotes cannot be the only metric for assessing risk. Times have also changed, and so have risks. Research shows that children rarely sleep well when away from home. Even losing two or three hours of good sleep can affect mood, immunity, and school performance. A 2020 report by Common Sense Media revealed something worrying: one in four children said their first experience of being bullied or humiliated happened during a sleepover. What some children remember as &ldquo;funny pranks,&rdquo; others carry as painful memories. Many young people report that they first came across explicit or disturbing material not at home, but during unsupervised group settings like sleepovers. Ergo, while the laughter is real, research shows that the hidden costs are real too. Do sleepovers build friendships?One common argument is that sleepovers help children bond. And it is true, spending extra time together strengthens friendships. But do they have to bond overnight? Child development studies tell us children build deep connections through teamwork, games, sports, creative clubs, and playdates. In Japan, overnight stays usually happen at schools under trained supervision. In Scandinavian countries, its nature camps with structured guidance. Friendship doesn&rsquo;t require risk. Children can bond just as well, and sometimes more meaningfully, through safe, supervised activities. Healthier alternativesSaying no to sleepovers doesn&rsquo;t mean saying no to fun. Parents can offer other options that give children the same joy without the risks: Late-night playdatesChildren can watch a movie, eat snacks, and play till 9 p.m. or 10 p.m., then head home for proper rest. Supervised group eventsCamping trips, movie nights, or school retreats allow for bonding in a safe, structured way. Family-based overnightsStaying with cousins or trusted relatives gives the same excitement but within familiar boundaries and values. As an educator, I believe traditions should be revisited regularly in light of children&rsquo;s well-being. Sleepovers are not categorically &ldquo;bad&rdquo; in themselves, but they carry risks that cannot be ignored. Tradition alone should not decide what is right for our children. Our choices should be guided by what protects them today and prepares them for a better and more secure tomorrow. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this section are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or editorial policy of Pakistan TV Digital. The writer, an educationist with over 26 years of experience, is the founder of P.E.A.K.S School, Islamabad.

Teenagers see sleepovers as childhood staples. Children talk about them eagerly. While many recall theirs fondly, are sleepovers truly harmless as they seem?

Why parents shouldn’t allow children ‘sleepovers'

The United Nations has been clear, The last eight years have been the hottest on record globally. This staggering reality is not lost on our children. As an educator, I witness their subtle anxiety every day, expressed through questions like: &quot;Why is it so hot?&quot; and &quot;Why did the flood ruin my uncle&rsquo;s house?&quot; These are not casual questions. They are children grappling with the new, harsh reality of their lives. The time for debating climate change is over. We are living through it. Every summer seems to break the record of the last. Devastating floods, such as those that affected more than 33 million people in Pakistan this year, are now a seasonal expectation. At the same time, parts of Europe saw temperatures cross 40 degrees Celsius for the first time. This is not bad luck. It is accelerating climate change, driven by human activity: burning fossil fuels, deforestation and pollution. The issue isn&#39;t about distant glaciers. It is about our daily survival: the quality of the air we breathe, the stability of our food supply and the safety of our families. When floods wipe out crops, food prices jump. When heatwaves intensify, outdoor play becomes dangerous. Climate change is a local, public health and economic emergency. Currently, most schools only touch on climate change in Science or Geography classes. But this coverage is typically superficial. It stops at defining the problem and fails entirely to teach students what to do about it. This is a failure of responsibility. We need to move past defining the crisis and start actively preparing students to be critical thinkers and contributors to the solutions. We urgently need a formal, standalone curriculum for climate change built around action, not just memorization. Imagine a generation of students who graduate knowing:<ul type="disc"><li style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">How to conserve water and electricity to save resources and money.</li><li style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The local environmental impact of reducing plastic and household waste.</li><li style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The effective ways planting trees can cool their neighborhood and mitigate flood risk.</li><li style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">How their everyday choices about energy, finance and consumption are globally connected.</li></ul>This would not be another subject; it would be a manual for navigating the world they are about to inherit. By focusing on climate education now, we give the next generation the skills to adapt, innovate and lead. The students in our classrooms today are tomorrow&#39;s policymakers, business leaders and parents. The choices they make will determine whether society moves toward a sustainable future or further destruction. By prioritizing this education, we equip them to act responsibly. More importantly, we give them hope. We show them they don&#39;t have to be passive victims of the crisis; they can be powerful agents of change. Climate change is the great challenge of our time. Let&rsquo;s use it as an opportunity to teach responsibility, empathy and courage. I believe, unequivocally, that climate change must be formally integrated into our national school curriculum. We must stop limiting ourselves to raising awareness. We must give our students the tools and knowledge to act&mdash;to save water, reduce waste, plant trees and advocate for the planet. This is not an abstract debate. It is a fundamental choice about our children&rsquo;s survival, right here in Pakistan. If we act now, we can prepare them to build a cleaner, safer and healthier world. Let us, as parents and educators, support this critical curriculum change. Our children are ready to learn and act. It is our responsibility to give them the right education. Climate change is not just another subject; it is the fundamental reality of their future. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this section are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or editorial policy of Pakistan TV Digital. The writer, an educationist with over 26 years of experience, is the founder of P.E.A.K.S School Islamabad.&nbsp;

The United Nations confirms the past eight years as the hottest on record. Climate change now defines children’s lives, demanding urgent, action-based education in Pakistan’s schools to equip students with skills to adapt, act, and lead sustainably.

Why climate education should be part of our national curriculum

JESSORE: Rice farmer Mohammad Ismail Hossain fears violence could blight his quiet fields in southwestern Bangladesh, on the front line of a growing Indian push to expel undocumented migrants. The countries share a porous 4,096-kilometre (2,500-mile) border, with communities on either side often so interwoven that crossings -- illegal or not -- are common. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has been stepping up deportations of illegal migrants to Bangladesh, a campaign that critics say unfairly targets Bengali-speaking Muslims. Rights groups say those efforts have gathered more momentum since Modi&#39;s Hindu-nationalist party won power in West Bengal state, which borders Bangladesh, for the first time last month. &quot;(India) says that those found to be Bangladeshi would be sent back after verifying their documents,&quot; Hossain, 66, told AFP at a tea stall in the border region of Khulna-Jessore. &quot;But no one seems to be verifying anything. They are pushing people in, left, right and centre,&quot; he said. Authorities say many people in the border region lack proper documents to prove their citizenship, mainly due to poverty, a lack of awareness, and a long history of informal movement. &quot;If the situation escalates, there could be a bigger conflict, with shots being fired... India, being the larger country, can forcefully do anything,&quot; said a worried Hossain. &nbsp;&#39;Infiltrators&#39;&nbsp;The borderland communities long predate the 1947 partition of British India, which delineated the frontier of the nation now called Bangladesh. Along some stretches, it is often difficult to distinguish one country from the other. Family networks straddle both sides. Some homes may even have their kitchen in Bangladesh and their courtyard in India. India has informally &quot;pushed back&quot; illegal migrants into Bangladesh for decades, but activists say the political changeover in West Bengal has boosted the deportation campaign. The state government has set up detention centers and claimed to have forced out nearly 5,000 &quot;Bangladeshi infiltrators&quot;. The escalation has riled Bangladesh, which is equally reluctant to absorb groups of people whose identities are not immediately clear. Bangladeshi border guards have increased patrols and issued warnings through loudspeakers that no one may enter without verification, Mahmudul Hasan, a regional commander, told AFP. &quot;We are willing to accept our citizens once their nationality has been verified by both countries, but we are not taking unidentified nationals,&quot; Hasan said. &quot;Rules must apply even to undocumented people.&quot; Since June 5, Bangladeshi guards have thwarted at least 35 attempts by India to force migrants over the border, a Bangladeshi spokesman told AFP. West Bengal police official Subrata Saha insisted Indian authorities were only handing over deportees &quot;after it is proved that they crossed the Indian border illegally and they are Bangladeshi nationals&quot;. Battered, bruised&nbsp;Meanwhile, many undocumented migrants remain in limbo, and humanitarian concerns are mounting. At a hospital in the city of Satkhira, Mohammad Mohiuddin lay recovering from injuries he says were inflicted by Indian guards as he was trying to wade across a lake into Bangladesh. &quot;They hit me in the eye with the butt of a rifle and shot me,&quot; he told AFP from his bed. &quot;I don&#39;t deserve such cruelty.&quot; A senior official from India&#39;s Border Security Force refused to comment when contacted by AFP. Women and children have reportedly spent days stranded along the &quot;zero line&quot; -- the narrow buffer zone separating Bangladesh from India -- relying on villagers for food and water. Viral videos show frightened families huddled near border fences while Indian and Bangladeshi personnel argue over who should take responsibility for them. Rights groups say the crisis exposes the gruelling poverty that drives many Bangladeshis to cross illegally. They also worry that India could arbitrarily decide to push Rohingya refugees, who are mainly Muslim, across the border. Bangladesh already hosts more than one million Rohingya refugees from neighboring Myanmar, a huge economic and social burden for one of the world&#39;s less-developed countries. Torn apart&nbsp;Many villagers do not see illegal border crossings as criminal because of the deep historical and family ties linking communities on both sides, said A.B.M. Mohid Hossain, who works with the non-profit Justice and Care. &quot;Some people cross in search of work because they have family members on the other side,&quot; he told AFP. For some families, the suffering continues long after they are detained. At least 20 Bangladeshi children were repatriated in May while their parents were jailed in India on charges of illegal entry, according to police and human rights groups. Among them was 14-year-old Sumi Khatun, who said she and her younger sister were separated from their family after being detained a year ago. Sumi, whose parents are Bangladeshi, says she was born in India but lacks the documents to prove that. &quot;They arrested us and separated my little sister and me from our mother and brother,&quot; she said. &quot;My father&#39;s grave is in Delhi, my mother and brother are in jails in different cities in India, and my sister and I are in Bangladesh,&quot; she said. Sumi said she no longer wants anything to do with the country where her family was torn apart. &quot;I will never go to India again... Just bring my mother and brother back so that we can all live together again.&quot;

This photograph taken on June 3, 2026 shows Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel patrolling near the Benapole-Petrapole frontier crossing between Bangladesh and India in Benapole (AFP)

India

Bangladesh

Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has been stepping up deportations of illegal migrants to Bangladesh, a campaign that critics say unfairly targets Bengali-speaking Muslims; Rights groups say those efforts have gathered more momentum since Modi's Hindu-nationalist party won power in West Bengal state, which borders Bangladesh, for the first time last month.

India migrant evictions seed fear in Bangladesh border towns

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: India&rsquo;s &quot;Cockroach Janta Party&quot; founder Abhijeet Dipke arrived at Lucknow airport on Friday to participate in a peaceful protest at Eco Garden against the Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.&nbsp; In a post on X, Dipke said he was traveling to the Uttar Pradesh capital after participating in what he described as two successful and peaceful protests in New Delhi and Pune. <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2065095286754553911&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Flogin%2F&sessionId=c024945361eba3518781b87b0926dd27ab26d6ee&theme=light&widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 321px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div> &quot;Will join the students there tomorrow to demand resignation of Education Minister,&quot; he wrote on Thursday. According to a post by his party, if local authorities denied permission for the demonstration, Dipke would personally approach police officials and request approval for the gathering. <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2065236086230569226&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Flogin%2F&sessionId=c024945361eba3518781b87b0926dd27ab26d6ee&theme=light&widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 897px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;"></iframe></div></div> The party held its first major street protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, calling for Pradhan&#39;s resignation over major exam irregularities, including question paper leaks and technical glitches. Within weeks, the movement has amassed more than 22 million followers on Instagram, making it one of the most prominent youth-driven online campaigns in India.

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke addresses his supporters during a protest over alleged irregularities in the country's major examinations, in New Delhi on June 6, 2026 (AFP).

Abhijeet Dipke says he will join a student-led protest in Lucknow to demand the education minister's resignation and approach the police himself if permission for the demonstration is denied.

India's 'Cockroach Party' founder arrives in Lucknow to join protest demanding minister's resignation

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&rsquo;s President Asif Ali Zardari has approved the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (Conversion) (Repeal) Bill, 2026, paving the way for PIA&#39;s privatization. According to the details, following the president&#39;s approval, the legal requirements necessary for the completion of the&nbsp;<a href="https://pakistantv.com/article/pia-nears-full-privatization-as-consortium-moves-for-remaining-stake" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">privatization</a>&nbsp;process of Pakistan International Airlines Company Limited have been fulfilled, said a post shared on&nbsp;<a href="https://pakistantv.com/article/from-18-to-60-aircraft-new-owners-unveil-pia-expansion-plan" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">President</a>&nbsp;of Pakistan&#39;s X handle on Friday.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2065282559559537061&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fdashboard%2F&sessionId=08b9253216cdb53baaa53f1d414c3a108e4996d7&theme=light&widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 393px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;"></iframe></div></div>The bill was approved by the Senate of Pakistan on June 10, 2026, and by the National Assembly of Pakistan on June 11, 2026.

Economy

After the approval of the bill, the legal requirements necessary for the completion of the privatization process of Pakistan International Airlines Company Limited (PIACL) have been fulfilled, said a post shared on President of Pakistan's X handle on Friday.


Pakistan president approves law paving the way for PIA’s privatization

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif have reaffirmed Pakistan&rsquo;s commitment to eliminating child labor, stressing that every child has the right to protection, education, and a safe future free from exploitation. In their separate messages, released in connection with the celebration of World Day Against Child Labor on Friday, the two leaders referred to Article 11 of the Constitution of Pakistan, which prohibits forced labor and exploitation of children. At the same time, Article 25-A guarantees free and compulsory education to all children. President Zardari, in his message, said child labor not only deprives children of their childhood but also damages their future and education.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 921px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfdGltZWxpbmVfbGlzdCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOltdLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2ZvbGxvd2VyX2NvdW50X3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9iYWNrZW5kIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19yZWZzcmNfc2Vzc2lvbiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZm9zbnJfc29mdF9pbnRlcnZlbnRpb25zX2VuYWJsZWQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib24iLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X21peGVkX21lZGlhXzE1ODk3Ijp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRyZWF0bWVudCIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3Nob3dfYmlyZHdhdGNoX3Bpdm90c19lbmFibGVkIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19kdXBsaWNhdGVfc2NyaWJlc190b19zZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdXNlX3Byb2ZpbGVfaW1hZ2Vfc2hhcGVfZW5hYmxlZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdmlkZW9faGxzX2R5bmFtaWNfbWFuaWZlc3RzXzE1MDgyIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRydWVfYml0cmF0ZSIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfbGVnYWN5X3RpbWVsaW5lX3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9mcm9udGVuZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9fQ%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2065149075553730881&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=6c5db4e6cd2d8e8ee9390e0d4c633e78823e05cd&theme=light&widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&width=550px">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div> He said steps are being taken at both federal and provincial levels to eliminate child labor, but added that effective implementation of laws is essential to protect vulnerable children from exploitation. The president said children trapped in exploitative labor must be brought back into schools and provided a safe and supportive environment. He also called on parents, teachers, religious leaders, civil society, and employers to play their role in protecting children and ensuring that no child is deprived of education.&ldquo;No one should be allowed to exploit children,&rdquo; the President said. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sharif, in his separate message released from the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office (PMO) in Islamabad, said that Pakistan joins the international community in reaffirming its commitment to protecting every child from exploitation and providing them opportunities for a brighter future through education. He went on to say that this year&rsquo;s theme, &ldquo;Red Card to Child Labor: Fair Play for Children, Decent Work for Adults,&rdquo; highlights the need for collective action against child labor. Citing International Labor Organization estimates, he said, &ldquo;nearly 138 million children worldwide remain engaged in child labor, including around 54 million in hazardous work.&rdquo; The prime minister said that Pakistan has ratified relevant ILO conventions on minimum age for employment and elimination of the worst forms of child labor. He added, &ldquo;The government is pursuing a comprehensive strategy focused on legal reforms, enforcement, social protection, education, and economic empowerment to address the root causes of child labor.&rdquo; Sharif said that institutions such as the National Commission on the Rights of Child, Child Protection Institute, provincial child protection bodies, and welfare bureaus are working to support vulnerable children.

Education

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan’s resolve to eliminate child labor, stressing constitutional protections, education, law enforcement, rehabilitation, and collective national action to protect children from exploitation.

President, PM reaffirm Pakistan’s commitment to ending child labor

BUSHBUCKRIDGE: In a remote South African village, Paulina Mhlongo sits in the yard as health workers in green protective gear move briskly through her home, soaking the walls with anti-mosquito insecticide. Her teenage grandson fell critically ill last year from malaria, the disease that kills more than a quarter of a million people annually and is surging in southern Africa as the climate shifts. Before this spraying, the family&#39;s &quot;only defense&quot; against malaria-carrying mosquitoes was a rattling fan, said Mhlongo, a 63-year-old retiree. Her village of Calcutta is in Mpumalanga, one of three provinces in South Africa&#39;s malaria belt experiencing changing rain patterns and rising temperatures that favor mosquito breeding. Heavy rains leave pools for eggs, while warmer temperatures speed up mosquito development and shorten the malaria parasite&#39;s incubation period. Malaria cases in Mpumalanga jumped fourfold in January compared with a year earlier, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD). The upsurge jeopardises South Africa&#39;s goal of eliminating the disease by 2029. Gauteng the powerhouse province home to Johannesburg and Pretoria, and where malaria is not endemic logged more than 400 cases and 11 deaths in the first three months of 2026, according to the NICD. While most infections were imported into the province from known hotspots, these figures are &quot;concerning&quot; even if the disease is not being transmitted between people, the public health body said. Supercharging hotspotsHuman‑driven climate change has increased the likelihood and intensity of extreme weather, while the naturally occurring La Nina weather phenomenon brought above‑average rains to parts of southern Africa in early 2026, causing flooding that created more mosquito breeding sites, the group said. Namibia reported 8,760 cases in the first four weeks of 2026, a 68% increase from a year earlier. Flood-hit Mozambique recorded more than 1.35 million cases in the first six weeks of the year, up 55% alongside dozens of deaths. The outlook offers little reassurance as climate volatility deepens. The increase in malaria cases does not mean the disease is migrating, said Jantjie Taljaard, head of infectious diseases at Stellenbosch University. Instead, climate change is supercharging existing hotspots and lengthening transmission windows, fueling far more intense outbreaks. &quot;Rural environments and areas on the margins of established malaria risk areas are at highest risk,&quot; Taljaard said. The effects are being felt on the front line at Cunningmoore Clinic, where technicians Nicholas Skhumbane and Armstrong Mgiba swiftly process a steady stream of blood samples from surrounding villages. Working out of a threadbare laboratory, the two men, clad in white coats and latex gloves, move systematically from slide to slide. They add a drop of Giemsa stain -- a purplish-blue dye that reveals malaria parasites -- before placing each sample under a microscope. The results are returned just as quickly as at Tintswalo Hospital, a modern facility some 50 kilometers (30 miles) away. &nbsp;&#39;Even in winter&#39;&nbsp;For health officials, the shifting weather patterns are forcing a rethink of malaria planning beyond traditional hotspots and seasons. &quot;Climate change is a complex thing to deal with,&quot; said Sharon Lindiwe Nyoni, malaria program manager at the Mpumalanga department of health. &quot;When you plan as a department, you need to anticipate what is coming your way, but with climate change everything is just unfolding.&quot; The old assumption that malaria is confined to summer no longer holds, she warned. &quot;Even in winter, we continue to see transmission.&quot; It is not only local health systems that are coming under strain, experts say, but also intervention efforts. &quot;Flooding can mean we simply cannot reach communities to deliver control measures,&quot; virologist Edina Amponsah-Dacosta told AFP. Apart from heavy rains, extreme heat is a challenge as it can break the strict cold chain required before vaccines, which need refrigeration, ever reach remote clinics, she said. Despite the rising case numbers, health workers say that some locals remain skeptical about the safety of the insecticide spray and refuse to let health workers inside their homes. &quot;It is very painful to see someone dying of something that is preventable and again curable,&quot; Nyoni said. Back in Calcutta, Mhlongo waited outside as the sharp scent of insecticide drifted from her freshly sprayed nine-room house, which she shares with eight relatives. Empty beer cans littered the back of a nearby pickup truck propped on rocks -- a place the sprayers warned could harbor mosquitoes. &quot;I am happy because mosquitoes are a problem,&quot; Mhlongo said, serving the spray team a homemade snack of maize meal, sugar and groundnuts as a neighbor&#39;s music drifted across the farming village.

Medical technologist and laboratory manager at the National Health Laboratory Service Rirhandzu Mashale points to a malaria-positive blood sample projected from a microscope at Tintswalo Hospital in Bushbuckridge on May 26, 2026. (AFP)

Africa

Climate change and extreme weather are driving a sharp rise in malaria cases across southern Africa, straining health systems and threatening disease elimination efforts.

As climate shifts, malaria gains ground in southern Africa

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has expressed support for the Muscat Plan of Action, describing it as an innovative and timely pathway to counter hate speech, prevent incitement to genocide and other atrocity crimes, and promote peace through dialogue, mediation and local peacebuilding. The Muscat Plan of Action is a UN-backed framework aimed at strengthening the role of traditional and indigenous leaders and communities in countering hate speech and preventing genocide, atrocity crimes and their incitement. Speaking at the launch of the Muscat Plan of Action at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Pakistan&rsquo;s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar, said that the initiative comes at a time when the world is witnessing a sharp rise in exclusion, intolerance and discrimination. &ldquo;Pakistan supports initiatives such as the Muscat Plan of Action and appreciates the urgency shown by the United Nations in addressing these disruptive and dangerous trends,&rdquo; added the Pakistani envoy.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 640px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2065227854917345717&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=ef5545f1c212c27393391d5ca5361035a9d8eaba&theme=light&widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&width=550px">&nbsp;</iframe></div></div> The launch ceremony was attended by UN Secretary-General Ant&oacute;nio Guterres, along with representatives of member states, international organizations and peacebuilding networks. Ambassador Iftikhar further said that the plan draws strength from the cultural legitimacy, credibility and influence of traditional and Indigenous leaders, particularly in societies where local mechanisms continue to play an important role in conflict prevention and dispute resolution. Inclusive and peaceful societies&ldquo;By mobilizing traditional knowledge, cultural practices, and local mechanisms, the Plan of Action reinforces States&rsquo; efforts for establishing just, inclusive and peaceful societies,&rdquo; he said. He noted that hate speech and incitement to genocide and atrocity crimes are driven by complex social, political and ideological factors, requiring an effective and holistic response at national,&nbsp;international and community levels. The Pakistani envoy said that heads of clans, tribal chiefs and Indigenous leaders have historically played a leading role in local governance, mediation and conflict prevention. Even today, he said, such leaders remain at the forefront of peacebuilding, dispute resolution and humanitarian relief efforts in many parts of the world. Ambassador Iftikhar reaffirmed that Pakistan would continue working with international partners to counter the ideology of hate speech and promote societies based on peace, equality and dignity. He said Pakistan remained committed to supporting collective efforts to transform communities into &ldquo;oases of peace, equality and tranquility.&rdquo; The ambassador also congratulated the Sultanate of Oman, the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the Peacemakers Network for compiling and finalizing the Muscat Plan of Action. Pakistan said the initiative can serve as an important platform for linking global prevention frameworks with community-based peacebuilding efforts, especially in areas vulnerable to hate-driven violence and social fragmentation.

Foreign Affairs

Endorses the Muscat Plan of Action at the UN; Calls it an innovative framework to counter hate speech, prevent genocide incitement, and promote peacebuilding through traditional and Indigenous leaders.

Pakistan backs Muscat Plan of Action against hate speech, genocide incitement

BUENOS AIRES: Temperatures in the Antarctic Peninsula have reached a record-breaking high of 15.4C for June, and ice is melting at abnormal rates during the current winter, climate scientists told AFP on Thursday. Esperanza Base, an Argentine research station located in the north of the peninsula, recorded the unprecedented figure on June 6. The previous highest temperature on record for that month -- 13.3C -- dates back to 1998. The current heat also significantly exceeds Esperanza&#39;s June average of -6.2C. Such a figure is &quot;very unusual for this time of year,&quot; Jose Luis Stella, a climatologist at Argentina&#39;s National Meteorological Service, told AFP. Argentine bases Marambio and San Martin also recorded unequalled temperatures between June 5 and 6. Marambio recorded 11.8C, surpassing a previous high of 9.2C and its June average of -10.7C. San Martin meanwhile saw 9.4C compared to its previous 7.8C record and June average of -5.6C. &#39;Confirms a trend&#39;The northern Antarctic heatwave is not an isolated event, University of Groningen professor Raul Cordero told AFP. &quot;It confirms a trend,&quot; he said, warning that &quot;these kinds of events will continue to occur with increasing frequency&quot; if global warming is not derailed. Thomas Caton Harrison, a polar climate scientist at the British Antarctic Survey, believes a combination of factors including climate change resulted in the current heat. &quot;There is credible evidence that climate change is playing a role, but the effect is complex in this region,&quot; he said. &quot;Because Antarctica sees such big swings in temperature, we have to collect lots of data over many years to build a picture of the underlying climate.&quot; Both specialists agree that regional temperatures have been rising for years and are already showing visible effects. &quot;A surprising amount of precipitation has been falling as rain rather than snow,&quot; Caton Harrison said. &quot;This has implications for polar ecosystems such as penguin colonies,&quot; he said, adding that &quot;it poses a challenge to my colleagues working on Antarctic bases because a lot of liquid rain has been falling and creating runoff and ice.&quot; Esperanza Base has been recording above-zero temperatures daily for three consecutive weeks. This trend has caused &quot;large areas in the far north of the white continent to remain free of snow,&quot; according to Cordero, who called it &quot;an unusual scene in the Antarctic landscape during winter.&quot;

Climate

Temperatures in the Antarctic Peninsula reach a record-breaking high of 15.4C for June, as ice melts at abnormal rates during the current winter.

Antarctic Peninsula sees record high June temperatures

MEXICO CITY: Mexico ignited their World Cup party with a dominant 2-0 victory over nine-man South Africa on Thursday as the biggest ever edition of the global footballing showpiece kicked off at the iconic Estadio Azteca. Julian Quinones scored the opening goal of the tournament and veteran striker Raul Jimenez added a second as the co-hosts&#39; bid for qualification from Group A got off to smooth start. South Africa meanwhile never looked like spoiling the opening day fiesta, and finished with only nine men after Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane were sent off. The Mexican-colored red, green and white smoke from pre-game fireworks had barely dissipated before Quinones fired the hosts into the lead on nine minutes, drilling a low shot through the legs of South Africa&rsquo;s goalkeeper and captain Ronwen Williams. A deafening roar cascaded down from the stands of the Azteca, the footballing cathedral that became the only stadium to host games at three different World Cups. South Africa coach Hugo Broos had warned his players to be ready for the intimidating atmosphere created by a capacity 80,824 crowd at the imposing concrete arena. But South Africa&rsquo;s players looked to have a bad case of stage fright as Mexico&#39;s fans &nbsp;greeted each completed pass with a raucous chorus of &quot;Ole!&quot; in the opening minutes Sithole seemed particularly affected, being caught in possession trying to play out of the back for Quinones&#39; opening goal. Sithole&#39;s miserable afternoon ended with a 49th minute dismissal after bundling over Mexico&rsquo;s Brian Gutierrez when clean through on goal. Mexico rammed home their advantage in the 67th minute, with a fine counter attack culminating in Roberto Alvarado crossing for Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Jimenez to nod home at the far post. It got worse for South Africa in the 84th minute when Zwane was dismissed after a VAR review for flinging an arm into the face of Alvarado. There was still time for late drama when Mexican defender Cesar Montes was shown a red card for a clumsy challenge on Khulisa Mudau on the edge of the penalty area.

Football

Mexico launches World Cup campaign with a 2-0 win over South Africa at a packed Estadio Azteca, while the visitors finish with nine men after two red cards.

Mexico beat South Africa to kick off World Cup

NEW YORK: Taylor Swift on Thursday became the youngest woman ever inducted into the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame, another milestone in the 36-year-old US pop star&#39;s record-breaking career. The female record was previously held by Carole Bayer Sager, who was 43 when she joined in 1987. Stevie Wonder remains the youngest person ever admitted, at age 32 in 1983. Artists become eligible for the Hall of Fame 20 years after the release of their first commercial track. For Swift, that was &quot;Tim McGraw,&quot; released in June 2006. Her success since is undeniable: the American artist has recorded 12 albums spanning country, pop, and folk, earning her 14 Grammy Awards in the United States, including four Album of the Year trophies -- a record. &quot;Swift&#39;s ability to shapeshift as a songwriter, to inhabit different sonic landscapes and write as credibly in the world of one genre as she does another is part of her superpower as a songwriter,&quot; reads her bio on the Hall of Fame website. &quot;It also represents the boldness and bravery of her artistry: to explore new frontiers when the most practical next step would be to keep mining the material that has gotten you the success in the first place.&quot; Swift appeared on the red carpet in New York on Thursday wearing a strapless black dress with floral motifs ahead of the naming ceremony. &#39;Great honor&#39;Also inducted on Thursday were Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS, the band behind hits such as &quot;Rock and Roll All Nite&quot; and &quot;Detroit Rock City.&quot; &quot;It doesn&#39;t suck,&quot; Stanley told AFP when asked how it felt to join the prestigious songwriting ranks. &quot;It&#39;s really hard to digest the idea. I certainly don&#39;t consider myself in that rarified air of some of the writers, but if you wanna be in that club, I&#39;m there.&quot; Kenny Loggins, the hitmaker behind movie soundtrack classics like &quot;Footloose&quot; and &quot;Danger Zone&quot; from &quot;Top Gun,&quot; was inducted into the Hall of Fame as well. &quot;It&#39;s a great honor and I appreciate it,&quot; Loggins told AFP. &quot;It&#39;s the culmination of a lifetime writing, and that&#39;s exciting for me.&quot; Canadian singer Alanis Morissette, inescapable in the 1990s, and American record producer Walter Afanasieff were also among the total of nine songwriters joining the Hall of Fame this year. Estimates put Taylor Swift&#39;s worldwide sales at over 250 million album-equivalents. Her most recent tour in 2023 and 2024, titled &quot;The Eras Tour,&quot; brought in a record sum of around two billion dollars. She is also the female artist with the most songs ever to reach the top 10 list compiled by Billboard, the leading US music magazine. Swift is omnipresent in the media. After unveiling a country track for the soundtrack of the film &quot;Toy Story 5,&quot; she was at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday for a game of the NBA Finals.

Entertainment

Taylor Swift becomes the youngest woman ever to be inducted into the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame, another milestone in the 36-year-old US pop star's record-breaking career.

Taylor Swift becomes youngest woman in Songwriters Hall of Fame

Middle East

Americas

Says a 'great settlement' with Iran has been reached and approved by Iran's Supreme Leader; Trump praises Pakistan for a 'fantastic role' in mediation, calling Field Marshal Asim Munir a 'great general'; Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson denies that any final decision on a deal with the US has been made.

Articles by Saima Ayub