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  • Murtaza Solangi says President Alvi undermining his credibility by speaking for one political party

    Murtaza Solangi says President Alvi undermining his credibility by speaking for one political party

    Caretaker Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, Murtaza Solangi, has said that President Dr. Arif Alvi should represent all political parties in accordance with the law and the constitution, to foster unity in the country.

    Talking to the media on Sunday, Solangi said that the President’s role was not limited to one party, urging him to speak on behalf of all political parties.

    “If the president continues to speak for one political party, it would undermine his own credibility,” he said.

    Highlighting the essence of democracy as a platform for dialogue, Solangi dismissed concerns over complaints and grievances, stating that every party and individual had the right to voice their concerns at appropriate forums including courts and the election commission.

    As regards the upcoming elections, Solangi pledged the caretaker government’s full cooperation and assistance to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), in accordance with the law and the constitution.

    He commended the competence and the sense of responsibility shown by the current ECP management, noting that they adhered to the action plan outlined for the elections.

    The people of Pakistan will determine the country’s future course on February 8, 2024, a date slated for the elections, he added.

  • ‘No merger, only seat adjustment with PML-N’: Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid

    ‘No merger, only seat adjustment with PML-N’: Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid

    Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat has said that the people of Pakistan have pinned many hopes on former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, adding that the future government will have to work for the restoration of the economy, eliminating unemployment and inflation.

    Shujaat Hussain said, ‘By overcoming the bitterness of the past, we should utilize our full capabilities to solve the issues facing the people.”

    “Our collective responsibility is not for revenge politics but for building a strong economy, providing relief to the people, and safeguarding national interests,” he added.

    PML-Q also quashed rumors of an impending merger with PML-N on Sunday.

    Instead, the party confirmed its intention to pursue seat adjustments with the Nawaz Sharif-led faction in specific constituencies.

    Chaudhry Shafay Hussain, PML-Q Punjab General Secretary, clarified the party’s position, asserting its commitment to maintaining an independent identity.

    Notably, PML-Q candidates are set to participate in the upcoming elections, carrying the party’s symbol – the tractor.

    Speculations about a potential merger were rife, with talks centering around seat allocations for Chaudhry Shujaat’s sons and Tariq Bashir Cheema, the party’s secretary-general.

    However, these speculations were dispelled by Chaudhry Shafay Hussain.

    The political landscape is witnessing increased activity, with PML-N actively seeking alliances.

    Last week, they announced a joint participation in the polls with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).

    A recent meeting between a PML-N delegation and MQM-P leadership in Karachi delved into discussions on electoral alliances and future strategies.

    While PML-N explores collaborative ventures, the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) has voiced discontent. Sharjeel Memon, a PPP leader, criticized PML-N’s historical ascent to power, alleging rigging.

    Despite this, Memon expressed confidence in PPP’s electoral prospects, anticipating a clean sweep in the upcoming elections.

    Simultaneously, PML-Q leader Chaudhry Wajahat Hussain and his son, ex-MNA Hussain Elahi, critiqued PML-N’s economic policies.

    They credited the recent improvements in the national economy and currency to strict measures initiated by Chief of Army Staff Gen Asim Munir.

    The criticism of the PML-N by both the former PML-Q lawmakers and close family members of the party chief, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, has surfaced just when the leadership of both factions of the Pakistan Muslim League is hinting at making a seat adjustment in the election on Feb 8, 2024.

    Speaking to a gathering of party workers at his Nutt House in Gujrat, Wajahat said the masses were witness to the statement of PML-N leadership regarding being beggars and that wherever they went to seek financial assistance, the other side would consider them as beggars.

    Wajahat announced to kick off the election campaign of his son, Hussain Elahi, and two Punjab Assembly candidates of his party, Abdullah Yousaf Warraich and Khalid Asghar Ghural, asking his supporters to work for their victory.

    Sources have told Dawn that by criticizing the PML-N policies, the Wajahat camp has tried to attract the PTI vote bank with an anti-PML-N narrative as his traditional rival, Nawabzada family, has already been in the PML-N and the voters might not be easily won by the PML-Q in that constituency.

    They say Hussain Elahi would assess the ground position of his constituency for the future course of action.

    It’s pertinent to mention that both Chaudhry Wajahat Hussain and his son Hussain Elahi were in the PTI before the May 9 incidents when many of the party leaders had started quitting the party. The duo also quit the PTI and joined the PML-Q.

  • ‘Disgusted’: Timothee Chalamet’s Hamas joke on Saturday Night Live has social media outraged

    ‘Disgusted’: Timothee Chalamet’s Hamas joke on Saturday Night Live has social media outraged

    Hollywood actor Timothee Chalamet guest starred on popular comedy show ‘Saturday Night Live’ in a skit mocking the genocide in Gaza.

    Social media users were outraged at a clip in which Timothee plays a man who is ready to commit suicide and has a band called Hamas. A member of ‘Please Don’t Destroy’ then tells him they can’t share the song on Instagram.

    The joke comes just as the dire situation in Gaza is taking an even darker turn, with hospitals declaring complete collapse without fuel, water and medical supplies. Babies on incubators, as well as several patients in the ICU, risk being killed as a result of Israeli tanks surrounding the Al-Shifa hospital.

    Twitter users were outraged on Timothee Chalamet’s involvement in the insensitive script and criticised him. Many also declared they are boycotting his upcoming films ‘Willy Wonka’ and ‘Dune Part 2’, both of which are set to release in December.

    Several cases of people getting fired or losing gigs because of their support for Palestine have come to light since the genocide began.

    Many also pointed out the difference in how SNL responded to the Ukraine war by inviting a choir to sing a song about peace, in contrast to mocking the deaths of countless Palestinians in which USA is complicit.

    Many also reshared a comedy skit featuring actor Adam Driver playing Aladdin, taking Jasmine on a magic carpet ride. In the scene, when a drone hits Jasmine’s head, Adam remarks “We must be flying over Syria.”

  • Ramiz Raja lashes out at PCB after Pakistan departs from World Cup

    Ramiz Raja lashes out at PCB after Pakistan departs from World Cup

    Former cricketer Ramiz Raja has expressed anger at the bad performance of the Pakistan cricket team in the World Cup and at the selection committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

    Expressing anger, Ramiz Raja, a former head of PCB, said, “When you (your bowlers) will not get wickets with the new ball, expensive bowlers will become more and more expensive, then what will Babar Azam do as captain?”

    He severely criticized the management of the Board, stating, “Now there will be a gathering of cricketers in which they will ask questions about how to fix cricket. Why were you appointed in the cricket board, their job is to change the captain and coaching staff and understand they have done a great job and now everything will be fine. These people are under the misconception that unless there is love and passion for cricket, Pakistan cricket cannot recover an inch.”

    A few days ago, Ramiz Raja slammed the leaking of a provate conversation between Babar Azam and PCB Chief Operating Officer Salman Naseer. “Those who leak news and make some journalists favorites are defaming Pakistan’s cricket and now it should be stopped. The cricket board leaked Babar Azam’s WhatsApp chat, just listen to the recording of the chief selector, how much venom he is spewing against Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan,” he said at the time.

    Without mentioning the name of the head of the cricket board, Zaka Ashraf, he severely criticized him and said, “If cricket has to take a new turn, will we work with a 70-year-old person who does not know anything about selection in Pakistan? Club cricket is over, the people teaching there are doing politics.”

    He suggested that the whole system should be fixed but first, the cricket board should be fixed.

  • Australian Club Cricketer Takes Six Wickets In Six Balls To Win Match

    An Australian club cricketer took six wickets in an incredible final over to clinch victory in a one-day game over the weekend, describing the rare feat as “surreal”.

    Facing almost certain defeat in the Gold Coast’s Premier League Division 3, Mudgeeraba captain Gareth Morgan opted to bowl the last six balls himself with Surfers Paradise needing five runs to win with six wickets in hand.

    They dramatically collapsed with Morgan removing opener Jake Garland for 65 then dismissing the next five batters for golden ducks.

    “It is funny, the umpire said to me at the start of the over that I needed to take a hat-trick or something to win the game,” Morgan told the Gold Coast Bulletin after his exploits attracted national attention.

    “When it happened he just sort of looked at me.”

    He added to national broadcaster ABC that it was “very surreal”.

    “I remember thinking after I got the hat-trick — I don’t want to lose this game now,” he said.

    “Then it just went crazy. When I saw the stumps go back on the last ball I couldn’t believe it, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

    The first four dismissals were all caught, while the final two were bowled.

    The most wickets in an over in professional cricket is five, achieved by New Zealand’s Neil Wagner (2011), Bangladesh’s Al-Amin Hossain (2013) and India’s Abhimanyu Mithun (2019), according to ABC.

  • Jail trial of Imran Khan in Cipher case approved by caretaker cabinet

    Jail trial of Imran Khan in Cipher case approved by caretaker cabinet

    The caretaker federal cabinet has given the green light for the jail trial of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case, as per Geo News.

    The decision comes in response to security concerns, prompting the Ministry of Law to issue a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the trial on August 29, following requests from the Interior Ministry and Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain.

    The Ministry of Law emphasized that the jail trial for the PTI chairman was deemed necessary due to security considerations.

    This approval sets the stage for an intra-court appeal filed by Imran Khan against the trial, scheduled to be heard by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on November 14. The court has invited arguments from the attorney general.

    Imran Khan, who was ousted from the prime minister’s office in April last year through a no-confidence motion, initially contested the jail trial through a petition in the IHC.

    However, the court’s single bench, led by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, dismissed the appeal on October 16, citing no apparent malice in conducting the jail trial and advising Khan to address his concerns in the trial court.

    The cipher case, invoking the Official Secrets Act 1923, was registered against Khan and Qureshi in August of this year by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), using Section 5 of the aforementioned law.

    The case revolves around a missing diplomatic cable allegedly containing a threat from the United States to overthrow the PTI government, according to the former ruling party.

    Both Imran Khan and Qureshi face allegations under the Official Secrets Act 1923 in the cipher case, related to a missing diplomatic cable, and are currently detained in Adiala jail.

    The IHC had earlier suspended Imran Khan’s three-year sentence in the Toshakhana case on August 29.

  • 27-feet-long Bryde’s whale found dead on seashore in Balochistan

    27-feet-long Bryde’s whale found dead on seashore in Balochistan

    A 27-feet-long whale has washed up on a remote seashore in Balochistan. The animal was identified as Bryde’s whale, a rare species present mostly in tropical waters. The carcass was found in the Pasni region, specifically in Sarbandan.

    There are signs of entrapment on its body, leading to speculation that the whale either got trapped in a fishing net or a fisherman tried to ensnare it, Deputy Director of Environment Department Abdul Raheem Baloch has said.

    Sightings of Bryde’s whale and their entrapment have become frequent in recent times. Detailed records from 2022 indicate that four such whales were entangled along the coast of Pakistan during that year, as reported by the Tribune.

    Technical advisor at WWF, Moazzam Khan, expressed concerns over the rise in the incidents and the threat the species is facing in the Arabian Sea. Solid measures need to be taken to minimise the factors contributing to the vulnerability of Bryde’s whale as well as for its conversation.

  • ‘Not crime to make mistakes’: Babar Azam under pressure after Pakistan crashes out of World Cup

    ‘Not crime to make mistakes’: Babar Azam under pressure after Pakistan crashes out of World Cup

    Captain Babar Azam was described as “depressed” and under pressure to save his job on Sunday after Pakistan crashed out of the Cricket World Cup, failing to make the semi-finals for a second successive tournament.

    A 93-run loss to England sealed Pakistan’s fate, ending the 1992 champions’ already slim hopes of squeezing into the last four.

    Former captain and ex-chairman of the cricket board Ramiz Raja said that 29-year-old Azam was “depressed” over the reaction at home.

    Fans’ anger would have been made more acute by seeing arch-rivals India sweeping to eight wins out of eight, becoming the first team to reach the semi-finals.

    Pakistan lost five of their nine games including a seven-wicket mauling by India in front of more than 100,000 fans in Ahmedabad.

    That was India’s eighth victory in eight World Cup games against their neighbours.

    Pakistan also lost to Afghanistan for the first time.

    Azam made 320 runs at the World Cup with four fifties at an average of 40 and remains the world’s second-highest-ranked batsman. He has almost 13,000 runs in all international cricket.

    However, it was his captaincy in India which was questioned when he faced accusations of lacking aggression in field settings.

    “I get behind Babar. Babar is very, very close to me. He’s a young guy that needs to be taken on the journey, he needs to be shown the ropes,” said team director Mickey Arthur.

    ‘Time to grow’

    Azam has been captain of the Test and ODI teams since 2020.

    “He’s still learning all the time. We know he’s a very, very fine batsman. He learns every day with his captaincy,” added Arthur.

    “We have to allow him the time to grow. And in order to do that, you make mistakes. It’s not a crime to make mistakes as long as you learn from those mistakes,” he said.

    Despite the despondency of fans at home, Azam and his team found sympathy in India.

    Only a smattering of fans — mostly expatriates — were at the venues as visa complications effectively meant a ban on those wishing to cross the border.

    As a Pakistan squad playing in India for the first time in seven years, they were virtually confined to hotel rooms once playing and training commitments were completed.

    Security details would accompany players and squad members if they wanted to venture outside their hotel.

    Arthur compared the situation to touring “in Covid times”.

    Raja believes that Azam may become the first victim of bloodletting in a cricketing environment often plagued by infighting.

    “There’s so much pressure on him that he may leave the job,” Raja told the BBC’s Test Match Special.

    “Back home there has obviously been a massive backlash, as expected. The Pakistan media have targeted certain players, especially Babar Azam.

    “It’s just a World Cup so you have to take the heat somehow. The problem with this team is it has the potential to play modern-day cricket but they have been a bit shy and timid with their approach,’ Raja added.

  • New survey: Large number of Pakistanis boycotting pro-Israel brands

    New survey: Large number of Pakistanis boycotting pro-Israel brands

    People across the world have been calling for a boycott of brands and companies affiliated with Israel as the onslaught on Gaza continues.

    The purpose of boycotting the Israel-affiliated brands is to economically hurt its government that is committing what many experts have now termed a genocide.

    Pulse Consultant conducted a survey to deduce the response of Pakistanis towards the boycott — to judge how many are willing to stop buying such products.

    Titled the ‘Consumer Sentiments Sway Towards Boycott’, the survey revealed that eight out of 10 respondents (83%) in the top 12 cities of Pakistan “agreed with the appeal of boycotting brands of those companies who are allegedly supporting the occupied army”.

    Amongst those who agreed to boycott, 79% claimed that they did it. Additionally, the females (85%) ratio is higher than males (78%).

    The survey is based on more than 1200 respondents, both genders, with age groups of 16-55+.

    The interviews were conducted through Computer Assisted Telephonic facility, from November 5th to 11th.

  • Vikrant Gupta asks Wasim Akram whether Babar’s captaincy was more disappointing or his batting

    Vikrant Gupta asks Wasim Akram whether Babar’s captaincy was more disappointing or his batting

    Indian sports journalist Vikrant Gupta asked Wasim Akram on X (formerly Twitter) whether it is fair to blame only Pakistan captain Babar Azam when the team’s fast bowlers are taking only three wickets with the new ball in nine matches.

    He also asked what was more disappointing, Babar’s batting or his captaincy in the World Cup, and how the two things interlink with each other.

    Waseem Akram answered the question on ‘A Sports’, saying, “Some mistakes may have been made by Babar Azam as a captain in Asia Cup and World Cup, but the captain alone should not play cricket, it is the fault of the whole system, you can’t just make the captain a scapegoat. The boys don’t know who is the coach, who is coming and who is going, it is not only the captain’s fault but everyone’s fault.”

    In response to the second question, Wasim Akram replied, “When Babar Azam scores a big score, we are happy along with the entire public. There is no doubt that his captaincy has affected his batting, he has seen pressure during the Asia Cup and the World Cup.”

    He said, “When you are captaining, obviously there will be pressure, but when you are batting then you should focus only on scoring runs, it is easy to say but difficult to do”.