Islamabad, June 2: Pakistan has confirmed its 11th case of wild poliovirus this year after the virus was detected in a child from the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination said in a statement on Monday.

According to the ministry, the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad confirmed the presence of the virus in stool samples collected from a child in Diamer district.

The detection came shortly after the conclusion of the third nationwide polio vaccination campaign of the year, which took place from May 26 to June 1. The campaign reached more than 45 million children under the age of five across 159 districts, including high-risk areas, according to health officials.

Health officials have urged parents and caregivers to ensure their children receive multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine, calling the current campaign a vital opportunity to shield children from the crippling virus, Xinhua news agency reported.

Pakistan reported 74 polio cases in 2024, according to official data.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where wild poliovirus remains endemic. Polio workers have frequently been targeted in attacks, particularly in the northwest and southwest regions.

One of the reasons for the presence of the virus is the refusal of the majority of people to have their children vaccinated. Polio health workers have been victims of targeted killings and attacks by militant groups, who have opposed anti-polio campaigns in the country.

According to the World Health Organization, Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that largely affects children under 5 years of age. The virus is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (e.g. contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis.

In 1988, the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution for the worldwide eradication of polio, marking the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, spearheaded by national governments, WHO, Rotary International, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), UNICEF, and later joined by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Wild poliovirus cases have decreased by over 99 per cent since 1988, from an estimated 350,000 cases in more than 125 endemic countries to 6 reported cases in 2021. Of the 3 strains of wild poliovirus (type 1, type 2 and type 3), wild poliovirus type 2 was eradicated in 1999, and wild poliovirus type 3 was eradicated in 2020. As of 2022, endemic wild poliovirus type 1 remains in two countries: Pakistan and Afghanistan.

United Nations, May 31: The Security Council adopted a resolution to renew for a year, until May 31, 2026, an arms embargo against South Sudan as well as targeted sanctions of travel ban and asset freeze against individuals and entities.

According to media reports, Resolution 2781, which was adopted with nine votes in favour and six abstentions, also extends until July 1, 2026, the term of the panel of experts, which assists the work of the South Sudan sanctions committee.

The African members of the Security Council — Algeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia — abstained, along with China, Pakistan and Russia.

The resolution reiterates the Security Council’s readiness to review arms embargo measures, through modification, suspension, or progressive lifting of these measures, in light of progress achieved on the key benchmarks as set out in Resolution 2577 of 2021, and encourages the South Sudan authorities to achieve further progress in this regard.

It also decides to keep the targeted measures under continuous review and expresses the Security Council’s readiness to consider adjusting the measures, through modifying, suspending, lifting or strengthening measures to respond to the situation.

The resolution requests the UN secretary-general, in close consultation with the UN Mission in South Sudan and the Panel of Experts, to conduct, no later than April 15, 2026, an assessment of progress achieved on the key benchmarks.

It also requests the South Sudanese authorities to report, by the same date, to the Sanctions Committee on the progress achieved in this regard.

Washington, May 31: US President Donald Trump has said that he planned to double tariffs on foreign imports of steel to 50 percent starting next week, further casting a cloud on steelmakers around the globe.

“We are going to be imposing a 25 per cent increase. We’re going to bring it from 25 per cent to 50 per cent — the tariffs on steel into the United States of America — which will even further secure the steel industry in the United States,” Trump said on X social media platform.

He later posted on social media that the higher tariff rate would take effect from June 4, Yonhap media reported.

“It is my great honour to raise the Tariffs on steel and aluminum from 25% to 50%, effective Wednesday, June 4th. Our steel and aluminum industries are coming back like never before. This will be yet another BIG jolt of great news for our wonderful steel and aluminum workers. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The planned rate hike is the latest in his trade policies that focus on tariff hikes, and came days after a trade court ruled his sweeping reciprocal tariffs illegal, which was later blocked by an appeals court to leave the tariffs temporarily alive.

The 25-percent tariffs on most steel imported to the U.S. went into effect in March as part of the Trump administration’s broader tariff scheme aimed at reducing America’s trade deficits and bolstering local manufacturing.

Data showed earlier Seoul’s U.S.-bound exports of steel products declined nearly 19 percent from a year earlier in March.

Outbound shipments of steel products to the U.S. came to US$340 million in March, down 18.9 percent from the same month last year.

It is difficult to assess the impact of U.S. tariffs on Seoul’s steel exports as transactions are usually made months ahead, but there may still have been some influence.

Korean steelmakers have been devising response measures to the U.S. tariffs, with some companies planning to increase their production in the U.S.

Hyundai Steel Co. plans to invest $5.8 billion to construct an electric arc furnace-based steel mill in Louisiana by 2029, its first overseas production facility.