Following are some snippets that stood out from Urdu newspapers on August 26, 2020, which The Current takes no responsibility for.
‘Trump Ka Aik Crore Naukriyo Ka Naara’
It has been reported by Daily Jang that Donald Trump has promised to provide one crore (10 million) jobs if he wins the presidential election scheduled for November 3.
‘Wazire Azam K Sath Dhoka’
According to Daily Jang, Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed has said, “Mein zaati taur pr Nawaz Sharif ko bahar janay ki ijaazat denay ka haami tha… woh yahaan rahein yaa Bartania mein, iss se koi farq nahi parrta… yeh sarrkoon pay aanay wali jamaat nahi hai. Wazire azam ko Nawaz Sharif k bahar janay ka afsos hai aur unko andaaza hogya tha inn k sath dhoka hua hai… log deal k beghair bahar nahi jatay, kahin naa kahin mamla tay hota hai.”
‘Usman Buzdar Doosro Se Behtar’
Prominent journalist Saleem Safi, in his column for Daily Jang, has said, “Karkardagi k lihaz se sab se zyada aitraz Usman Buzdar pr ho rha hai halaan k ap kisi bhi mayar pr parkhein tou KP aur Balochistan k wazire aala ki karkardagi Buzdar Sahib se kai guna kharaab hai. Buzdar Sahib ne kuch naya nahi kia tou pehle se bani cheezo ko tabah bhi nahi kia… KP mein pehle se qayim idaaro ko tabah kia gya jab k Balochistan tou har hawaly se tabah-haal hai… lekin siyasat aur media mein tabsara sirf Punjab aur Buzdar Sahib ka hota hai.”
The United States said on Monday it would not allow foreign students to remain in the country if all of their classes are moved online in the fall because of the coronavirus crisis.
“Nonimmigrant F-1 and M-1 students attending schools operating entirely online may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States,” US Immigration and Custom Enforcement said in a statement.
“Active students currently in the United States enrolled in such programmes must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status,” ICE said.
“If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings.” ICE said the State Department “will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programmes that are fully online for the fall semester nor will US Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States.”
F-1 students pursue academic coursework and M-1 students pursue “vocational coursework,” according to ICE.
Universities with a hybrid system of in-person and online classes will have to show that foreign students are taking as many in-person classes as possible, to maintain their status.
“The cruelty of this White House knows no bounds,” tweeted Senator Bernie Sanders. “Foreign students are being threatened with a choice: risk your life going to class-in person or get deported.”
The cruelty of this White House knows no bounds. Foreign students are being threatened with a choice: risk your life going to class in-person or get deported.
We must stand up to Trump's bigotry. We must keep all our students safe. https://t.co/Q2MvmgJPqV
To be clear all students were online-only since March 2020. So this means every single international student is now unsure about their future in the country.
The Trump admin has now decided to *deport* (yes, deport) thousands of foreign students—the most skilled and talented young men and women of the world—already in the US holders of a valid visa.
If that’s not America attempting suicide, please explain what is it.
Most US colleges and universities have not yet announced their plans for the fall semester.
A number of schools are looking at a hybrid model of in-person and online instruction but some, including Harvard University, have said all classes will be conducted online. Harvard said 40 per cent of undergraduates would be allowed to return to campus — but their instruction would be conducted remotely. On the local front, the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) has also announced that it would be conducting its fall semester online.
There were more than one million international students in the US for the 2018-19 academic year, according to the Institute of International Education (IIE).
The largest number of international students came from China, followed by India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Canada.
President Donald Trump, who is campaigning for reelection in November, has taken a bullish approach to reopening the country even as virus infections continue to spike in parts of the country, particularly the south and west.
With more than 130,000 deaths linked to the novel coronavirus, the US is the hardest-hit country in the global pandemic.
While cracking down on immigration is one of his key issues, Trump has taken a particularly hard stance on foreigners since the health crisis began. In June, he froze until 2021 the issuing of green cards — which offer permanent US resident status — and some work visas, particularly those used in the technology sector, with the stated goal of reserving jobs for Americans.
Twitter has removed over 200,000 handles for spreading pro-China and Russia messages while also boosting support for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The company said “a core network” of 23,750 highly active Chinese accounts had been removed, along with another 150,000 “amplifier accounts”.
Amplifier accounts share content to increase engagement that increases word-of-mouth exposure.
Twitter said the Chinese network had links to an earlier state-backed operation dismantled last year by Twitter, Facebook and Google’s YouTube, which had been pushing misleading narratives about political dynamics in Hong Kong.
Twitter said 23,750 accounts were the main focus while other accounts were identified as helping to boost the messages.
Twitter also revealed it has shut down more than a thousand Russian-based misinformation accounts.
In an official statement on fake Turkish Twitter accounts, they said that “those accounts were fake profiles designed to support the president and were single-handedly managed by a central authority”.
However, Erdogan’s Communications Director Fahrettin Altun denied the allegations through his official Twitter handle while stating that it was an “attempt to smear the Turkish government and a popular political movement, which was unacceptable”.
Twitter'ın Türkiye'de bazı hesapları kapatma kararı ve kapattığı hesaplarla ilgili ortaya attığı iddialara ilişkin açıklama: pic.twitter.com/dXaHWYBVn9
In general, the entire network was involved in a range of manipulative and coordinated activities. They were tweeting predominantly in Chinese, Russian and Turkish languages and spreading geopolitical narratives for political agendas.
Last week, Twitter also accused United States (US) President Donald Trump of making false claims in some of his posts, although the platform has come under fire for not removing coronavirus misinformation.
Earlier this week, the company said it was trialing a new “read before you retweet” pop-up aimed to promote “informed discussions”.
A message will appear on articles that users share without actually following the link to the article.
Violent protests have erupted across the United States (US) since after the death of George Floyd who died in police custody, sparking outrage over police brutality, especially the treatment of African-Americans at the hands of authorities.
With people across the country taking to streets, shaking the States to its core as some protests turn ugly, here is everything you need to know about it.
WHO WAS GEORGE FLOYD?
On May 25, George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man suspected of passing a counterfeit $20 bill, died in Minneapolis city of Minnesota after a white cop, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes while the suspect was handcuffed face down in the street.
Two other officers further restrained Floyd while a fourth prevented onlookers from intervening.
During the final three minutes, Floyd was motionless and had no pulse, but officers made no attempt to revive him and Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck even as arriving emergency medical technicians attempted to treat him.
VIRAL VIDEOS & CRIMINAL COMPLAINT:
Several bystanders took videos of the incident, which were widely circulated and broadcastalong with security-camera footage from nearby businesses; two of the officer’s body cams footage has, however, not yet been released.
[GRAPHIC WARNING]
A criminal complaint later filed against Chauvin stated that Floyd repeatedly said he could not breathe while standing outside a police car, resisted getting in the car, and intentionally fell down; he went to the ground face down and, after Chauvin placed his knee on Floyd’s neck, Floyd repeatedly said “I can’t breathe”, “mama” and “please”.
POSTMORTEM EXAMINATION:
Two autopsies determined the manner of Floyd’s death to be a homicide. The Hennepin County medical examiner’s autopsy found that Floyd died from cardiac arrest during the application of “neck compression”, also noting as significant conditions “arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease; fentanyl intoxication; and recent methamphetamine use”.
An independent autopsy commissioned by Floyd’s family found that the “evidence is consistent with mechanical asphyxia as the cause” of death, with neck compression restricting blood flow to the brain, and back compression restricting breathing.
OFFICERS’ FATE & PROBE:
All four officers were fired the day after the incident. On May 29, Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter while on June 3, Minnesota attorney general amended Chauvin’s charges to include second-degree murder, and the other three officers were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is conducting a federal civil rights investigation at the request of the Minneapolis Police Department, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is also investigating.
WIDESPREAD PROTESTS:
After Floyd’s death, demonstrations and protests against use of excessive force by police officers and lack of police accountability were held globally.
Protests in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area were initially peaceful on May 26, and became violent as a police precinct and two stores were set on fire, and many stores were looted and damaged. Some demonstrators skirmished with police, who fired tear gas and rubber bullets.
BREAKING: The third precinct police station is on fire. Rioters have taken over pic.twitter.com/AJg4jDr9Tz
Tens of thousands of people have demonstrated, mainly peacefully, across the US for the ninth night while one of the largest protests, joined by Floyd’s relatives, took place in his hometown of Houston, Texas.
Many defied curfews in several cities, imposed after violence and looting in some districts.
“I’m protecting my business and they’ve robbed us after being closed for 3 months”.
With the episode drawing reactions from across the world, from global leaders, including the Canadian president among others, the Pope has also issued a call for racism not to be ignored.
Addressing his “brothers and sisters in the United States” from the Vatican on Wednesday, Pope Francis condemned the death of George Floyd and lead a prayer for "all those others who have lost their lives as a result of the sin of racism." https://t.co/t2NsjfRz1spic.twitter.com/xZ4718Zh2X
“We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism,” he said, but also condemned the violence.
Police stations and other buildings have been set ablaze, government establishments and offices of media organisations among other prominent structures across the country have been vandalised, and grocery, as well as luxury stores, looted.
While military has now been deployed after President Donald Trump’s warning to protesters, support for protesters and against the regime is widespread.
Cops, at places, have also been spotted lending support to peaceful protests.
As part of the protests, the White House was also almost attacked. The president spent nearly an hour in an underground bunker at the White House last week when hundreds of protesters gathered outside the mansion.
The bunker, also known as the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC), has been used on rare occasions to secure US presidents in times of peril.
Meanwhile, a photo of blackout at White House also started making rounds on the internet with people calling it a “powerful symbol” of Trump’s “lack of leadership”.
Facebook employees have walked away from their work-from-home desks and taken to Twitter to accuse Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg of not taking a stand against United States (US) President Donald Trump’s hateful posts on social media.
As per the details, Reuters observed dozens of tweets against Mark in what was a rare case of the social media giant’s staff publicly standing against its CEO.
Thousands of people, including seven engineers of teams that maintain the react code library critical for Facebook’s apps, were among those who tweeted.
“Mark is wrong and I will endeavour in the loudest possible way to change his mind,” said Ryan Freitas, director of product design for Facebook’s newsfeed. He added that he mobilised more than 50 like-minded people to lobby for internal change.
Katie Zhu, a product manager at Instagram, tweeted a screenshot showing she had entered “#BLACKLIVESMATTER” to describe her request for time off as part of the walkout.
Facebook Inc will allow its employees to take part in the protest and will not draw down their vacation days, said spokesperson Andy Stone.
Talkspace CEO Oren Frank tweeted he would “not support a platform that incites violence, racism, and lies”. The online therapy company also announced that it had ended partnership discussions with Facebook.
It is worth mentioning here that Facebook CEO landed in hot water when he told Fox News that private social media platforms “shouldn’t be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online”.
President Trump retweeted the interview that had come after Twitter flagged his tweet about mail-in ballots as misleading.
It wasn’t later that Twitter responded to another Trump tweet pertaining to countrywide riots, for glorifying violence. Twitter covered up the tweet with a message warning it “violated Twitter rules about glorifying violence”.
The viewers had to click on the message to see the underlying tweet.
….These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!
Trump posted the same message on Facebook, but Mark decided to let it stand unchallenged. “I have been struggling with how to respond to the president’s tweets and post all day,” he wrote in a post Friday.
“Personally, I have a visceral negative reaction to this kind of divisive and inflammatory rhetoric,” he said, adding that the company’s position, however, was that it should enable as much expression as possible unless it would cause an imminent risk of specific harms or dangers spelt out in clear policies.
“I don’t know what to do, but I know doing nothing is not acceptable,” Jason Stirman, a member of Facebook’s research and development team, wrote on Twitter in response to Mark.
I don't know what to do, but I know doing nothing is not acceptable. I'm a FB employee that completely disagrees with Mark's decision to do nothing about Trump's recent posts, which clearly incite violence. I'm not alone inside of FB. There isn't a neutral position on racism.
In a first, Twitter has labelled two tweets by United States (US) President Donald Trump making false statements about mail-in voting as “potentially misleading“.
The two tweets, which were labelled as misleading after Twitter fact-checked Trump’s claims for the first time, had claimed that “mail-in ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent” and would result in “a rigged election”.
The tweets were primarily about California’s effort to expand mail-in voting due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. On Sunday, the Republican National Committee sued California Governor Gavin Newsom over the state’s moves to expand mail-in voting.
Twitter’s spokesperson said that the tweets “contain potentially misleading information about voting processes and have been labelled to provide additional context around mail-in ballots”.
The label attached to tweets of President Trump says “get the facts about mail-in ballots,” that link leads to a collection of tweets and news articles debunking the president’s statement.
There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent. Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged & even illegally printed out & fraudulently signed. The Governor of California is sending Ballots to millions of people, anyone…..
On the fact check page, Twitter writes “Trump falsely claimed that mail-in ballots would lead to a rigged election”. On the contrary, fact-checkers say there is no evidence that mail-in ballots are linked to voter fraud”.
The move by Twitter comes in line with the new policy introduced earlier this month to curb the spread of “misleading content related to the pandemic”, said a Twitter spokesperson.
Brad Parscale, Trump campaign manager, responded to Twitter’s decision in a statement. “Partnering with biased fake news media ‘fact-checkers’ is only a smokescreen Twitter is using to try to lend their obvious political tactics some false credibility.”
Trump responded on Twitter, saying the company is “now interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election” and that the company is “completely stifling free speech”.
….Twitter is completely stifling FREE SPEECH, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!
Federal Minister for Communications Murad Saeed, who had falsely claimed that New York was to follow Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s coronavirus lockdown model, has been trolled by lawyer Reema Omer among others as United States (US) President Donald Trump expressed the desire for his country, worst-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, to reopen.
The tweet by the lawyer came as Trump, who has been voicing his concerns over the adverse effects of the lockdown on the economy, tweeted, “REOPEN OUR COUNTRY!”
The tweet by the US president coincided with PM Imran allowing to ease restrictions across Pakistan ahead of Eid to “wisely” provide relief to the labour class, daily wagers and lower-middle strata of the society.
“Epic trolling,” tweeted senior journalist Abbas Nasir in response to Reema’s dig at the federal minister.
‘NEW YORK TO FOLLOW PAKISTAN’S LOCKDOWN MODEL’:
In a May 11 viral video, Saeed had claimed that the US state of New York was going to follow the “smart lockdown” concept after being inspired by Imran Khan and Pakistan, however, fact checks revealed otherwise. Meanwhile, netizens shared videos and pictures of how the partial lockdown measures were failing even in Pakistan.
The clip instantly gained popularity on social media and was reported by several Pakistani and international news outlets.
Pakistan's communications minister Murad Saeed told a session of Parliament on May 11 that "New York will follow the 'smart lockdown' concept introduced by [Pakistan] Selected Imran Khan" pic.twitter.com/FHkclDL57w
“If you look at the smart lockdown concept implemented by PM Imran Khan even the governor of New York has quoted Pakistan’s contact tracing and tracking concept and are following it now,” the federal minister is heard saying while speaking at the National Assembly.
Saeed also reportedly said that the cluster lockdown concept discussed by Khan is being taken forward by his counterpart Boris Johnson in the United Kingdom (UK).
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump on Friday paid tribute to several American heroes who are helping on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis, including Girl Scouts from Maryland who donated cookies to nurses and firefighters. Among those girl scouts was a ten-year-old Pakistani-American girl Laila Khan.
According to a report in APP, Laila who hails from Maryland was recognised as American coronavirus hero as she had donated cookies to nurses and firefighters. Laila, along with Lauren Matney and Sravya Annappareddy – all 10 years old – had donated 100 boxes of Girl Scout cookies to local doctors, nurses and firefighters. They also wrote 200 personalized cards for health care workers.
Speaking about the recognition, Khan said: “While we are honoured that our troop was invited to be here today, we know that we are just part of the millions of other children out there that are doing amazing things to support their communities, their friends and their families. It is a privilege to be here representing all of them.”
Meanwhile, President Trump in a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden had said: “The men and women we honour today remind us that the bonds that unite us in times of hardship can also raise us to new heights as we reopen and recover and rebuild.”
Ambassador of Pakistan to the US Asad Khan also appreciated Laila and thanked President Trump for honouring her.
Thank you very much Mr President @realDonaldTrump. A moment of pride for the Pakistani Americans who are making important contributions in fighting Covid-19 both in the US and Pakistan. https://t.co/muldkkD5QZ
With the United States (US) continuing to press Saudi Arabia to end its oil price war with Russia, President Donald Trump has given the Kingdom an ultimatum.
According to Reuters, in an April 2 phone call, Trump told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that unless the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) started cutting oil production, he would be powerless to stop lawmakers from passing legislation to withdraw US troops from the Kingdom.
The threat to upend a 75-year strategic alliance, which has not been previously reported, was central to the US pressure campaign that led to a landmark global deal to slash oil supply as demand collapsed in the coronavirus pandemic — scoring a diplomatic victory for the White House.
Trump delivered the message to the crown prince 10 days before the announcement of production cuts. The kingdom’s de facto leader was so taken aback by the threat that he ordered his aides out of the room so he could continue the discussion in private, according to a US source who was briefed on the discussion by senior administration officials.
The effort illustrated Trump’s strong desire to protect the US oil industry from a historic price meltdown as governments shut down economies worldwide to fight the virus. It also reflected a telling reversal of Trump’s longstanding criticism of the oil cartel, which he has blasted for raising energy costs for Americans with supply cuts that usually lead to higher gasoline prices.
Now, Trump was asking OPEC to slash output.
A senior US official told Reuters that the administration notified Saudi leaders that, without production cuts, “there would be no way to stop the US Congress from imposing restrictions that could lead to a withdrawal of US forces”. The official summed up the argument, made through various diplomatic channels, as telling Saudi leaders: “We are defending your industry while you’re destroying ours.”
The White House has unfollowed Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on Twitter, leaving Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi ‘dismayed’ at the American administration’s decision.
Indian media reported on Wednesday that The White House, which has 22 million followers on Twitter, followed the Indian premier till April 11, unfollowed him recently.
“The official Twitter account of White House, the residence and workplace of the president of the US, doesn’t follow Indian PM Narendra Modi anymore on the micro-blogging site,” reported Outlook India.
Modi was the only world leader followed by The White House on Twitter till April 11. Other Indian Twitter accounts unfollowed were those of the president of India, the Indian PM’s Office and the Indian Embassy in Washington D.C.
The move ‘dismayed’ Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, who urged India’s External Affairs Ministry to take note of the incident.
I'm dismayed by the "unfollowing" of our President & PM by the White House. I urge the Ministry of External Affairs to take note.
“I’m dismayed by the “unfollowing” of our President & PM by the White House. I urge the Ministry of External Affairs to take note,” tweeted Gandhi.
The development took place as a US commission recommended India be placed on a list of countries that violate religious freedom.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended that India be re-designated as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ because of the Modi government’s policies and treatment towards the Muslim population.
“Perhaps the steepest, and most alarming deterioration in religious freedom conditions is in India,” the vice-chair of the USCIRF vice had said after the release of the Commission’s annual report.
The report also recommended 13 other countries to the State Department for designation as “countries of particular concern” because their governments engage in or tolerate “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom”.
These include nine that the State Department designated as CPCs in December last year, which were Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. The five others include India, Nigeria, Russia, Syria, and Vietnam.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
According to reports, the White House has explained that its Twitter handle typically follows the accounts of officials from host countries for a brief period during a presidential trip to retweet their messages in support of the visit.
“The White House Twitter account normally follows senior US government Twitter accounts, and others as appropriate. For example, during the time of a presidential visit, the account typically follows for a short time, the host country’s officials to retweet their messages in support of the visit,” a senior administration official told the Press Trust of India.
