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  • Imran Khan gets ‘more room’ in Adiala Jail

    Imran Khan gets ‘more room’ in Adiala Jail

    The cell of former prime minister and Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan has been extended in Adiala Jail.

    According to sources, the jail superintendent, following the orders of Judge Abul Hassanat Zulqarnain, has extended the PTI Chairman’s cell from approximately 35 feet to 60 feet.

    During the hearing, the PTI Chairman also made two more requests for the provision of home-cooked meals and a bicycle for exercise.

    The judge, while conversing with Imran Khan, stated that the responsibility for providing meals in the jail lies with the prison authorities.

    The judge also ordered the jail superintendent to provide a bicycle for exercise under the jail manual.

    Imran Khan and the PTI vice chairman, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, are facing charges related to the alleged deliberate mishandling of a diplomatic cipher. The special court announced that PTI leaders will be indicted in the cipher case next week.

    Read more: Court postpones indictment of PTI leaders in cipher case

  • Asian Development Bank believes Pakistan is the “least ready” country for digital education

    Asian Development Bank believes Pakistan is the “least ready” country for digital education

    The Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its report titled “Toward mature digital education ecosystems, the Digital Education Readiness Framework”, has stated that Pakistan is the least ready country for digital education among the developing member countries (DMC).

    The report has highlighted major areas of improvement in Pakistan, including low internet connectivity, low fixed broadband speeds, high fixed line broadband costs and low rural electricity supply. Only 34.1 percent of households are connected with an internet connection.

    There is an absence of teacher training in information and communication technology (ICT) skills with a special focus on delivering online education. Pakistan has also the lowest shares of ICT graduates from the total pool of tertiary education graduates-1.1 percent- standing at the lowest among all 10 ADB members.

    However, Pakistan has surpassed all countries in its cable TV subscriptions coverage with over 482 subscriptions per 1000 persons. The country’s household TV coverage rate is at 62.8 percent.

    Six of the ten DMCs are in the “initial category of readiness”. They are Cambodia, Bangladesh, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Pakistan and Fiji in order.

    The other four countries in the “emerging category of readiness” are Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Uzbekistan.

    Fixed broadband prices play an important role in the ranking of these countries. While Cambodia, Indonesia and Pakistan are least affordable in broadband, Bangladesh, Mongolia and Uzbekistan are the most affordable.

    The difference between the model country’s normalized score and the highest-scoring country’s score is almost 45 points.

  • Fatima Bhutto, Kamila Shamsie, 600 authors sign open letter protesting after Frankfurt Book Fair shuts down Palestinian author

    Fatima Bhutto, Kamila Shamsie, 600 authors sign open letter protesting after Frankfurt Book Fair shuts down Palestinian author

    Pakistani writer and columnist Fatima Bhutto and Pakistani-British author Kamila Shamsie were among the 600 writers, academics and translators who signed an open letter in support of Palestinian author Adania Shibli. The ceremony was set to celebrate Shibli’s novel ‘Minor Detail’ by giving her the 2023 LiBeraturpreis, a German literature prize annually awarded to authors from Africa, Asia, Latin American or from Arabia.

    Fatima shared a screenshot of the letter on her Instagram account and urged her followers to read ‘Minor Detail’.

    This outrage arrives after Frankfurt Book Fair postponed the awards ceremony which was due to honour Shibli, providing the explanation “due to the war started by the Hamas, under which millions of people in Israel and Palestine are suffering.”

    In the original statement, LitProm said this was a joint decision made with the author. However, Shibli’s literary agency revealed to The Guardian the decision was not made with her permission, and had the awards ceremony been held she would have taken the moment to reflect on the power of literature during these cruel times.

    The open letter which includes Bhutto, British historian William Darlymple, Shamsie, Irish novelist Colm Toibin, called out the organisers behind the Frankfurt Book Fair writing it holds “a responsibility to be creating spaces for Palestinian writers to share their thoughts, feelings, reflections on literature through these terrible, cruel times, not shutting them down.”

    The event was due to honor Adania’s 2020 novel ‘Minor Detail’ which details the true story about the rape and murder of a Palestinian Bedouin girl by Israeli soldiers. The English translation was nominated for a National Book Award in 2020 and the International Booker Prize in 2021.

    Controversy surrounding the book began this week when the German newspaper, Die Tageszeitung, accused the book for portraying “the State of Israel as a murder machine.”

  • Court postpones indictment of PTI leaders in cipher case

    Court postpones indictment of PTI leaders in cipher case

    The indictment of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi occurred on Tuesday in the cipher case. The special court established under the Official Secrets Act postponed the hearing till next week.

    The hearing took place within Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, during which the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) provided the accused PTI leaders with copies of the challan submitted against them.

    The special court judge, Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, postponed the indictment of PTI leaders until next week as the counsel refrained from receiving the copies of the challan in the last hearing.

    The FIA special prosecutor, Shah Khawar, Khan, Qureshi, and their legal teams were all present in the courtroom during the hearing.

    In the last hearing on October 9, the court shared copies of the challan with the accused submitted by the FIA.

    “The accused had refused to receive a copy of the challan at the previous hearing,” the FIA special prosecutor said.

    The PTI chief’s focal person on legal affairs, Umair Niazi, told journalists outside the Adiala Jail that copies of the challan were not given in the last hearing.

  • Pakistan to send humanitarian aid to Gaza

    Pakistan to send humanitarian aid to Gaza

    Pakistan has announced it will send humanitarian aid to Gaza.

    In the light of severe dearth of food, water and healthcare, about 2.3 million Palestinians are struggling to survive. The spokesperson of the Foreign Office has thus stated that aid will be sent to the Palestinians.

    “In the wake of indiscriminate Israeli aggression and siege of the Gaza Strip, the already oppressed people of the densely populated Gaza are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance,”, the statement read.

    Pakistan is currently contacting the Egyptian government, the Red Crescent and the relevant agencies of the United Nations. Moreover, Pakistani missions abroad are also being contacted to finalise the delivery of aid.

    On Monday, Minister for Foreign Affairs Jalil Abbas Jilani spoke to his counterparts in Iran and Egypt and discussed the current atrocities being committed against Palestine.

    The spokesman said that the oppressed people of Gaza are in urgent need of humanitarian aid.

    However, how or if Pakistan would be able to send aid remains unclear as Israel has prevented other regional countries from sending aid. This includes Gaza’s neighbour Egypt whose borders meet the strip. It was proposed that Egypt would send relief goods through Rafah Crossing in exchange for allowing Americans and other foreigners to leave Gaza but Israel has not yet agreed to it.

  • Shahid Afridi’s sister passes away

    Shahid Afridi’s sister passes away

    Former Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi’s sister has passed away.

    According to sources, the deceased was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Karachi, her brother Mushtaq confirmed on social media.

    Her funeral prayer will be offered at Zikriya Mosque of Defense Phase 8 this afternoon after the Zuhr prayer. Yesterday, Shahid Afridi requested users on social media to pray for the recovery of his sick sister.

  • Ushna Shah, Sakina Samoon criticise Pakistani celebrities not speaking out against Palestine genocide

    Ushna Shah, Sakina Samoon criticise Pakistani celebrities not speaking out against Palestine genocide

    As the tide shifts around the world with protests calling for an end to the Palestinian genocide, many global celebrities like Riz Ahmed have joined in the cause. However in Pakistan, there is a noticeable absence of many prominent celebrities whose voices are critically needed during this time, and public figures are calling this silence out.

    Actress Ushna Shah took to her Twitter account to criticise many of her peers who have chosen to remain silent rather than call out the slaughter of Palestinians by Israel.

    “To my peers who haven’t spoken up: Say with me: I don’t support the ethnic cleansing of Palestine or Israel’s illegal occupation. I stand with Palestine.

    No excuses, no ‘both sides’, no vague ‘peace wishes’. Most of Hollywood is using their platform to be clear about their stance; we need to be clear in ours. Vague posts might protect brand deals, but this issue is bigger than ad money. Speak out, take a stand. DISINFORMATION IS EVERYWHERE; If you follow any Hollywood celebrity or western media you’ll see this clear as day. Palestine needs your voice. A massive ethnic cleansing is happening right now, this is bigger than all of us.”

    Veteran actress Sakina Samoon reshared a post by writer Fatima Bhutto on her Instagram account which condemned the silence of brown celebrities and influencers on their silence over Palestine. In the caption, the actress wrote: “Indeed pathetic. They want work from the western industry, endorsements etc.”

  • BBC admits to ‘misleading’ coverage of pro-Palestine protests

    BBC admits to ‘misleading’ coverage of pro-Palestine protests

    British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) News has admitted to “misleading” sentences used to describe recent pro-Palestine protests when one of its presenters, Maryam Moshiri, termed the marches supportive of Hamas.

    Moshiri posted on X (formerly Twitter), “Earlier we reported on some of the pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the weekend.

    “We spoke about ‘several demonstrations across Britain during which people voiced their backing for Hamas’.

    “We accept this was poorly phrased and was a misleading description of the demonstrations.”

    Notably, BBC did not apologise for the statement.

    People around the world have been coming out on the streets against Israeli attacks on Gaza. So far, more than 2,800 Palestinians have been killed while the survivors are deprived of basic necessities including food, water, healthcare, electricity and internet.

  • World Cup 2023: Australia defeats Sri Lanka by five wicket to register first win

    Australia beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in the 14th match of the ICC ODI World Cup, the Kangaroos’ first win in the event after two continues defeats.

    The Sri Lankan team won the toss and decided to bat first, which did not turn out well and the Sri Lankan team was dismissed for 209 runs in 43.3 overs.

    The opening pair of Nissanka and Kaushal Perera gave Sri Lanka a brilliant start of 125 runs, Nissanka scoring 61 runs with eight fours and Kaushal Perera scoring 78 runs with twelve fours.

    As soon as both of them got out, the Sri Lankan batting line fell apart. Charith Asalanka tried to stay at the wicket for a while by scoring 25 runs, but he too got out and the entire team was bowled out for 209 runs in the 44th over.

    Read More: Our prayers are with the victims in Gaza: French footballer Karim Benzema

    Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa took four wickets for 47 runs, with Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc getting two wickets each.

    In the counter-innings, Australia also struggled initially with the first wicket falling at just 24 with Warner 11 and Steve Smith not out. Both were dismissed by Madhu Shanka. Mitchell Marsh and Lebouchen added 57 runs for the third wicket to improve the team’s score. Marsh got out for 52 runs, followed by another good partnership between Lebouchen and Josh Ingles in which both By adding 77 runs, he put the team on the winning track.

    Lebouchen was dismissed with an innings of 40, Maxwell with 31, and Stoins with 20 to get the remaining runs and give Australia their first win in the event after two successive defeats.

    Australia achieved the target in the 36th over with a loss of five wickets. Adam Zampa was declared the player of the match.

  • Five Palestinian accounts to follow for live updates from Gaza

    Five Palestinian accounts to follow for live updates from Gaza

    Here is a list of five Instagram accounts of Palestinians who are currently present in Gaza and have been actively updating on the Israel-Palestine escalation since October 7.

    1. Plestia Alaqad @byplestia

    2. Motaz Azaiza @motaz_azaiza

    3. Ali Jadallah @alijadallah66

    4. Hind Khoudary @hindkhoudary

    5. Lara @gazangirl