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What’s on TV Saturday: ‘Seeing America With Megan Rapinoe’ and ‘The Last Narc’
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Former Punjab University official killed in Lahore
The former additional controller of Punjab University was shot dead in Lahore on Friday.
Professor Ahmed Ali Chatta was travelling to a dairy farm from his house when he was attacked by armed motorcyclists. He was killed with a single bullet.
The Mustafa Town police have begun investigating and believe the attack might have been personally motivated.
The assailants have not been identified yet.
According to Professor Chatta’s friends he didn’t have any enemies.
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Trump says will ban TikTok in US
President Donald Trump said Friday he will bar fast-growing social media app TikTok from the United States as American authorities have raised concerns the service could be a tool for Chinese intelligence.
US officials and lawmakers in recent weeks have voiced fears of the wildly popular video platform being used by Beijing for nefarious purposes, but the company has denied any links to the Chinese government.
Media reports circulated earlier Friday saying that Trump would require the US operations of the app be divested from its Chinese parent firm ByteDance, but the president announced a ban.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said: “As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States.”
He added he would take action as soon as Saturday using emergency economic power or an executive order.
Trump’s move comes following a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) in the United States, which investigates deals affecting US national security.
TikTok, especially popular with young audiences who create and watch its short-form videos, has an estimated billion users worldwide.
Queried by AFP, TikTok declined to comment on the reports of the forced sales, saying only: “We are confident in the long-term success of TikTok.
“Hundreds of millions of people come to TikTok for entertainment and connection, including our community of creators and artists who are building livelihoods from the platform.”
The firm this week pledged a high level of transparency, including allowing reviews of its algorithms, to assure users and regulators.
“We are not political, we do not accept political advertising and have no agenda — our only objective is to remain a vibrant, dynamic platform for everyone to enjoy,” TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer said in post this week.
“TikTok has become the latest target, but we are not the enemy.”
The popularity of the platform surged after ByteDance acquired US-based app Musical.ly in 2017 and merged it with its own video service.
James Lewis, head of the technology policy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said he believes the security risk of using TikTok is “close to zero” but that ByteDance could face pressure from China to engage in censorship.
“It looks like ByteDance may be getting squeezed by Beijing, so making them divest makes sense,” Lewis said. “They could start censoring stuff.”
Lewis said US authorities under CFIUS have the power to unwind an acquisition previously approved and that a similar action was taken in 2019 with the dating app Grindr after it was bought by a Chinese firm.
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Headlines 9am: Eid prayers offered, petrol prices rise
Here are the headlines from SAMAA TV’s 9am bulletin.
- Most mosques across Pakistan held congregational Eid prayers. Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar, Islamabad and other cities held large congregations where some people followed the government-issued coronavirus precautionary SOPs and some didn’t. Prayers were offered for the end of the coronavirus.
- Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi offered Eid prayers in Multan while Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed offered them in Rawalpindi. Sindh Governor Imran Ismail offered his Eid prayers at Governor House in Karachi while the Punjab governor and chief minister offered their prayers at Governor House in Lahore. The Balochistan governor offered his prayers in Quetta while KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan offered them in Peshawar.
- After offering Eid prayers, the nation began offering animal sacrifices. People went in search of professional butchers but they were flooded with work. In some areas, sacrificial animals made people run around as they fled their captors.
- The government did not allow parks or zoos to be reopened on Eid. Karachi’s beaches are also closed to the public. Planning Minister Asad Umar has asked people to tone down their Eid celebrations in light of the coronavirus.
- Petrol prices were increased in Pakistan by a maximum of Rs6.62. The new price of petrol is Rs103.97 per litre. Diesel is Rs5 more expensive while furnace oil is Rs5.97 more expensive.
- After Eid prayers, opposition leaders criticized the government’s petrol price hike. Yousuf Raza Gilani said the government dropped a petrol bomb on the public in the dead of the night. He also raised the issue of Southern Punjab. Maula Bux Chandio said there is little joy this Eid because of inflation. He called the government incompetent.
- Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed has accused Bilawal Bhutto Zardari of talking of childish things. He said there is no sense left in the country. Speaking after Eid prayers, Rasheed said thieves and robbers want there to be amendments in the NAB law. He said the opposition would make a ruckus in August or September.
- Rain was reported in Sialkot, Attock, Gujrat, Narowal, Kamoki and other areas Saturday morning. The heat index dropped and while the weather became pleasant, many areas lost power.
- Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova has taken up boxing to stay fit. She trains at the LA beach with an instructor.
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Quotation of the Day: China Wields Its Security Law to Crush Hong Kong Dissent
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Kodak’s chief executive was given stock options. Then the share price spiked 1,000 percent.
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US teen charged as ‘mastermind’ in epic Twitter hack
Criminal charges were filed on Friday against the suspected teenage mastermind of an epic Twitter hack and two others who allegedly helped hijack celebrity accounts to swindle people out of more than $100,000 in a cryptocurrency scheme.
Prosecutors in Florida said they filed 30 felony counts against 17-year-old resident of the state identified as the “mastermind” of the cyberattack. He was arrested in Tampa, Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren said.
Separately, the US Attorney’s Office in San Francisco announced charges against three people, one of them from Britain, for roles in the mid-July cyberattack that rocked Twitter.
US officials said 19-year-old Mason “Chaewon” Sheppard of Britain along with Nima Fazeli, 22, of Florida face criminal charges in the case.
Details about the third individual were not released by US officials because he is a minor, but it appeared they were referring to the Florida teenager being prosecuted as adult in that state.
The attack on Twitter involved a combination of “technical breaches and social engineering” that let hackers hijack accounts of politicians, celebrities, and musicians, according to federal prosecutors.
Follow the money
The three defendants are accused of hacking Twitter accounts, creating a scam Bitcoin account, and sending out imposter tweets from hijacked account offering to double Bitcoin cryptocurrency deposits.
“This case serves as a great example of how following the money, international collaboration, and public-private partnerships can work to successfully take down a perceived anonymous criminal enterprise,” said criminal investigation special agent Kelly Jackson of the Internal Revenue Service.
The attack which Twitter said resulted from a “phone spear phishing” attack enabled hackers to take control of accounts of famous people such as Bill Gates, Elon Musk and former US president Barack Obama and dupe people into sending Bitcoin.
“These crimes were perpetrated using the names of famous people and celebrities, but they’re not the primary victims here,” Warren said in a release.
“This ‘Bit-Con’ was designed to steal money from regular Americans from all over the country.”
Scamming by phone
Hackers who accessed dozens of high-profile Twitter accounts in mid-July gained access to the system with an attack that tricked a handful of employees into giving up their credentials, according to a company update.
Twitter said this week that the July 15 incident by Bitcoin scammers stemmed from a “spear phishing” attack which deceived employees about the origin of the messages.
The hackers “targeted a small number of employees through a phone spear phishing attack,” according to a Twitter Support statement.
“This attack relied on a significant and concerted attempt to mislead certain employees and exploit human vulnerabilities to gain access to our internal systems.”
Twitter said that following the incident it has “significantly limited access to our internal tools and systems” and is taking additional steps to tighten security.
The massive hack of high-profile users from Elon Musk to Joe Biden affected at least 130 accounts, with tweets posted by the usurpers duping people into sending Bitcoin to accounts that Warren said were associated with Clark.
The official accounts of Apple, Uber, Kanye West, Bill Gates, Barack Obama and others were also affected.
Faked tweets were sent from 45 accounts, according to Twitter, and the hackers accessed private messages of 36 and downloaded Twitter data from seven.
The incident has raised concerns about the security of the platform increasingly used for conversations on politics and public affairs.
John Dickson of the security firm Denim Group said the latest disclosure did not necessarily suggest a sophisticated attack from a nation-state and noted it may have been possible to find targets through research on LinkedIn or Google.
“This is like the original hackers from the 1980s and 1990s; they were very good at conning people and getting them to give their credentials,” Dickson said.
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Pakistan celebrates Eidul Azha with animal sacrifice and prayers
Pakistan celebrated Eidul Azha on Saturday morning with congregational Eid prayers held at mosques across the country. Some followed coronavirus SOPs while some didn’t.
Prayers were offered for the end of the coronavirus and the prosperity of Pakistan.
Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Arif Alvi have both asked people to follow the government’s precautions on Eid to prevent the spread of the virus. The coronavirus pandemic has negatively affected the economy, said President Alvi in his message, urging people to help the poor and needy during this time.
PM Khan said the whole world is facing a critical situation due to the coronavirus as the pandemic has become a challenge for all of humanity. He said the government is utilizing its capabilities to deal with the pandemic and the nation should also follow precautionary measures.
Experts had predicted a surge in cases during Eid so the government has been urging people to keep their celebrations low-key this year.
Eid prayers offered
Eid prayers were offered at Governor House in Karachi, where Governor Imran Ismail was present.
In Sukkur, over 300 congregations were held for Eid prayers. Most congregations did not follow the government’s social distancing protocols.
In Islamabad the biggest Eid prayer congregation was held at the Shah Faisal Mosque. The government’s SOPs were enforced by the police and the mosque’s imam.
In Peshawar, KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan offered Eid prayers at Governor House. Provincial minister Shaukat Yousafzai, special assistant Kamran Bangash and other officials also offered their prayers there.
The government had issued a list of guidelines for Eid, such as disinfecting slaughter sites and not hugging, but they aren’t being followed in many places.
The government also extended the Eid holidays till August 3.
With reporting by Yasir Hussain in Karachi, Sahil Jogi in Sukkur and Zulqarnain Iqbal in Islamabad.
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Un estudio revela que los niños podrían portar altos niveles de coronavirus
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Canada’s Key Role in Creating a Once Awaited Vaccine
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Federal Agents Don’t Need Army Fatigues
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Kodak’s chief executive got stock options. The next day, the share price spiked 1,000 percent.
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Court Frees Michigan Teen Who Was Held for Skipping Online Schoolwork
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A Better Year for Trump’s Family Business (Last Year, That Is)
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Afridi names Stokes as his favourite all-rounder at the moment
Prolific Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi has named England’s Ben Stokes as his favourite all-rounder at the moment.
The talismanic Pakistan all-rounder made the statement during an interactive session on Twitter.
The all-rounder picked skipper Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as his favourite batsmen from India. He believes MS Dhoni was a better captain than Australia’s Ricky Ponting as “he developed a new team full of youngsters”.
Boom Boom added that West Indies batting legend Sir Vivian Richards is his favourite batsman of all time. He added that former teammate Saeed Anwar was his favourite partner at the crease.
He named South Africa’s AB de Villiers and West Indies great Brian Lara were the favourite batsmen he ever bowled to.
Afridi picked Australians Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch as his favourite hitters in the game. He named Pat Cummins as his favourite bowler.
The all-rounder believes that compatriot Junaid Khan should have been given more chances in the team. He also said that Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah are capable of becoming world-class bowlers if they continue to work hard.
Calling Haider Ali a “talented individual”, Afridi said that his hard work will determine the batsman’s success.
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Pakistan petrol prices expected to increase by Rs7
The petroleum products are likely to become more expensive in Pakistan from August 1 as the Ministry of Petroleum has proposed an increase of up to Rs10 per litre.
A working paper on price hike has been prepared by the Ministry of Petroleum, according to which it has been proposed to increase the price of high-speed diesel by Rs10 and petrol by Rs6.9 per litre.
It has also been proposed to increase the price of kerosene by Rs5.8 and light diesel by Rs6 per litre.
Prime Minister Imran Khan will give final approval on the price hike after which the new prices will come into effect from August 1. Prices of petroleum products will be fixed for 15 days.
The OGRA spokesperson said that the agency has not sent a summary to the government, but the government has the power to change the prices.
The international price of oil has been volatile since the coronavirus pandemic gripped the world. This period also saw a historic low in the international price of oil when it dipped below zero.
In Pakistan, the volatility in international prices of oil turned into an oil crisis as several oil companies stopped selling petrol and long queues were seen at the few pumps where the fuel was available.
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Formula One racer Sergio Perez tests positive for coronavirus
Formula One driver Sergio Perez has tested positive for the coronavirus and will miss this weekend’s British Grand Prix, his Racing Point team said Thursday.
Organisers insisted that Sunday’s race will still go ahead as the incident “will have no wider impact on the event”.
“Following the announcement that Sergio has tested positive for COVID-19 at the Silverstone Circuit ahead of the British Grand Prix, the team regrets to announce that he will be unable to participate in this weekend’s race,” said Racing Point in a statement.
The 30-year-old Mexican is the first driver to test positive for the virus since the world championship made its delayed start in Austria earlier in July under strict health protocols.
“Sergio is physically well and in good spirits, but he will continue to self-isolate under the guidelines of the relevant public health authorities, with safety the ultimate priority for the team and the sport,” added his team.
Perez will likely be replaced by either fellow-Mexican Esteban Gutierrez or Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne for Sunday’s race, the fourth round of this season’s truncated calendar.
Earlier, Racing Point said that Perez had returned an “inconclusive Covid-19 test.”
He was absent from Thursday’s official media activities as he awaited the outcome of a second test.
Formula One has a strict protocol for all involved at a Grand Prix with personnel tested before each event and every five days.
The F1 season has so far seen more than 15,000 tests.
Until Thursday, there had been only two positive results, both of which were for local set-up staff.
Racing Point said that Perez had not returned to Mexico since the Hungarian Grand Prix 10 days earlier.
“Perez has entered self-quarantine in accordance with the instructions of the relevant public health authorities, and will continue to follow the procedure mandated by those authorities,” read a statement issued by Formula 1 and the FIA.
“With assistance of the local organiser of the British Grand Prix, local health authorities and the FIA COVID-19 delegate, a full track and trace initiative has been undertaken and all close contacts have been quarantined.
“The procedures set out by the FIA and Formula 1 have provided for swift containment of an incident that will have no wider impact on this weekend’s event.”
Speaking before the Covid-19 delayed season began in Austria, Formula One chairman and chief executive Chase Carey said the sport would not cancel an event if a driver returned a positive test.
“We encourage teams to have procedures in place so if an individual has to go into quarantine, we have the ability to quarantine them at a hotel and then to replace that individual,” he said.
Perez, who made his F1 debut in 2011, is sixth in the 20-driver championship this season after three rounds.
All three races so far — back-to-back events in Austria followed by the Hungarian Grand Prix — have taken place behind closed doors.
Perez had started each of the last 122 races since his absence from the Malaysian Grand Prix in 2014.
The 2020 season should have started in Melbourne in March but the race was cancelled after McLaren withdrew when one of their team member tested positive for the coronavirus.
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Careless young people causing some coronavirus spikes: WHO
The World Health Organisation on Thursday warned that spikes in coronavirus transmission in a number of countries were being driven by young people “letting down their guard”.
“Young people are not invincible,” WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual news conference in Geneva.
While the pandemic, which has killed nearly 670,000 and infected more than 17 million people worldwide, has disproportionately impacted the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions, he stressed that “younger people are at risk too”.
“Young people can be infected, young people can die, and young people can transmit the virus to others.”
Tedros lamented that a major challenge in trying to rein in the novel coronavirus was “convincing younger people of this risk”.
He pointed to evidence that “spikes of cases in some countries are being driven in part by younger people letting down their guard during the northern hemisphere summer”.
“Young people must take the same precautions to protect themselves and protect others as everyone else,” he insisted.
WHO ‘s technical lead for COVID-19 Dr Maria Van Kerkhove lamented in particular that nightclubs in a number of places had become “amplifiers” of transmission.
“We are asking for all people, including young people, to be your own risk manager” and avoid behaviours that could easily increase transmission of the disease.
Long term impacts
Dr Michael Ryan, WHO’s emergencies director, also stressed that very little is still known about the long term effects of even mild COVID-19 infections.
“This disease while it may be mild, it may be moderate, it can affect many organs,” he told Thursday’s briefing.
“We just don’t know what the long-term impact of those infections will be,” he said, pointing to a study in Germany following COVID-19 patients who were never admitted to hospital, which hinted the long-term impacts could be serious.
MRI scans of their hearts had found shown “profound changes, inflammatory changes in the cardiac linings of the heart and the cardiac muscles,” he said.
While those issues will likely pass for most patients once the virus is out of their system, he warned that “inflammatory responses can also in themselves do damage and they can do long-term damage”.
“Any inflammatory process in the cardiovascular system can lead to longer term heart disease and can actually accelerate other chronic heart conditions that may develop much later in life,” he pointed out.
“We just don’t know… Why take the risk?”
Young people, he warned, should of course try to rein in transmission as an altruistic act to avoid spreading the virus to more vulnerable groups, he said, but they should also do so out of consideration for their own health.
“Play it safe,” he said. “Use your brain… Don’t take a risk that you cannot quantify.”
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FBR collects Rs300b in July, Rs57b more than the target
The Federal Board of Revenue was able to collect Rs300 billion during the month of July – the first fiscal month of the financial year – against the assigned revenue target of Rs243b.
According to its press statement, the collected revenue was 25% more than the target. The FBR’s Inland Revenue department’s net collection was Rs52 billion more than the assigned target. The Customs Wing exceeded the target by Rs5 billion despite giving relief of Rs25 billion in Customs Duty.
During July 2020, the FBR disbursed Rs15 billion in tax refunds to ease the burden on the business community hit by the novel coronavirus. The amount refund made in July 2019 was Rs7 billion. The Sales Tax refunds are being issued under a centralised and automated system called FASTER, which the FBR claims, is clearing refunds to exporters within 72 hours.
Total Customs Duty collected during July 2020 is over Rs42 billion, which is 6% higher than the duty collected in July 2019.
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Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir participates in training sessions for England T20Is
Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir took part in the T20I team’s preparation for the upcoming three-match series against hosts England.
The Pakistan side have begun its preparations for the fixtures against England.
Pakistan T20I players doing the hard yards in the nets at Derby. pic.twitter.com/M7NusJCtLI
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) July 30, 2020
Amir became available for the upcoming three-match series against England following the birth of his second daughter. He had initially opted to skip the tour due to family commitments.
The left-arm bowler joined the Pakistan squad in Derby after twice testing negative for the novel coronavirus in England as well.
The experienced fast bowler left for England on July 24 and remained in isolation for five days in accordance with the safety guidelines set by the UK government.
The three T20Is will be played in Manchester on August 28, August 30 and September 1, respectively.
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Shah Mahmood Qureshi: We have our eyes set on Srinagar
Pakistan is going to highlight the Indian atrocities in Kashmir on August 5, said Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi while addressing a press conference on Friday.
Last year on August 5, India repealed articles 35A and 370 of its Constitution, revoking special status granted to Indian-Administered Kashmir.
“India removed Kashmir’s identity and disrespected its flag,” he said. The RSF government has divided the State of Jammu and Kashmir into three parts. “They did it forcefully but the Kashmiris didn’t accept it. The Hindu pandits disapproved of it, along with Buddhists in Ladakh, Muslims in the valley.” Kashmir is an internationally-recognized disputed area, the government of Indian PM Narendra Modi tried to make Kashmir its part and now seek to change the demographics of the Muslim-majority area too.
“We have planned a range of activities on August 5 to show how Kashmirs are being exploited by India,” Qureshi shared. “We have our eyes set on Srinagar, which falls in Indian-Administered Kashmir. We have decided to change the name of Kashmir Highway to Srinagar Highway as it will take us there directly.”
We are standing with our Kashmiri brothers till the end, he remarked. “I am no one to tell the story of Kashmir but I want them to tell their story themselves.”
Pakistanis and Kashmiris will reunite this August 5. India tried to break their spirit, conducted search operations, and picked up so many people. So much blood has been spilled. Kashmiris are the real leaders of the movement against Indian occupation and we will stand with them but they have to take the initiative. “We will continue to raise their plight on international forums till they are suffering from communications blackout.”
The world finally knows how it feels to be in lockdown. “We got bored in a few months but people in Kashmir have been living in a double lockdown for a year now,” the foreign minister added.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had more than 120 engagements on Kashmir and it is not a small thing, Qureshi remarked.
“I have written nine litters on the plight of Kashmiris, and three times it was discussed in the UN Security Council session after 55 years,” he claimed. “Our stance has been the same, but no one was listening to them and now they are because of Imran Khan.”
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Lost but not found: The Maharaja and his Cartier necklace
In the 1920s, the Maharaja of Patiala approached the House of Cartier with a very special request. Bhupinder Singh wanted them to create a necklace made from gems he had brought with him to Paris (it is said that the Maharaja brought trunks full of loose gems from India). To date, this has been Cartier’s single largest commission.
The Patiala necklace was thus created with 2,930 diamonds set is five ladis (chains) and a neck collar. The centrepiece of the necklace was the 234.6 carat De Beers – which he had inherited from his father. It also has several Burmese rubies.
According to The New York Times, “The necklace is basically Art Deco in style; Cartier was at the vanguard of designing jewellery, clocks and objets d’art in the Deco style. When the necklace was completed in 1928, Cartier was so proud of the craftsmanship that it asked if the necklace could be exhibited before being sent to India. The maharajah agreed.”
Singh wore the necklace regularly till his death in 1938. It was then passed on to his son Maharaja Yadavindra Singh. It was last worn in public by the young Maharaja in 1941.
After seven years, the necklace was stolen and no one had any idea where it was till a 1982 Sotheby’s auction in Geneva where the De Beers diamond made a dramatic entrance.
More than a decade later, another part of the necklace (the five ladis) was found by a Cartier associate in London, at a second-hand jewellery shop. The skeleton of the necklace was eventually bought by Cartier and they brought the necklace to its former glory by replacing the missing stones with replicas. It took four years to complete the restoration.
To find out more about the necklace and other Princely jewels, check out what Christie’s has to say or check out this documentary on the missing jewels here.
Watch this video of the Maharaja’s son’s wedding and tell us if you can spot the necklace?
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Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf departs for England tour
Pakistan fast-bowler has left for England to join the side for the upcoming Test and T20I series.
The Pakistan Cricket Board shared an image of the fast-bowler’s departure for the England tour on its Twitter account.
Fast bowler Haris Rauf departs for England
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) July 31, 2020pic.twitter.com/cMsmtK79T2
Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf, who tested positive for coronavirus earlier, was cleared to join the team in England after testing negative twice in succession.
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Churails trailer gives Pakistan the heroines it deserves
Is your husband cheating on you? Do you need any help? Then, call the Churails and rest assured. Asim Abbasi’s second project, a web series, Churail’s trailer is out and its finally gives us the heroines we deserve.
From the opening scene to the last bit of the trailer, one thing is confirmed that it’s a job done well. Churail’s trailer tops the expectation and we can’t wait for it be aired.
Taking people on a rollercoaster ride, the Churail’s trailer narrates the story of four self-proclaimed Churails who come together to open a covert detective agency to expose cheating husbands amongst the city’s elite.
The Churails are strong, independent-minded women and as their operations expand, they become saviors women abused, harassed and mistreated by their husbands.
Related: Upcoming web-series Churails is coming for the patriarchy
The show aims to challenge the hypocrisy of patriarchal societies that vanquish women and their rights. The storyline also covers issues including child abuse, sexism, and domination along with class and racial lines.
Directed by the critically acclaimed filmmaker of Cake The Film, Asim Abbasi, Churails brings together a talented cast led by Sarwat Gilani, Nimra Bucha, Mehar Bano, and Yasra Rizvi for this power-packed narrative.
The 10-part show, consisting of 55-minute episodes, can be streamed August 11 onwards. All episodes will be available at the same time, enabling binge-watching.
Churails is the first Pakistan-made original series for the Indian streaming platform Zee5 Global. It will play on Zee5’s Zindagi world cinema strand.
ZEE5 and Zindagi have also released the posters of the web series on their social media handles, giving the audience a glimpse into the world of Churails.
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Azhar ‘lucky’ to have Shaheen, Naseem in squad
Pakistan’s Test captain Azhar Ali has said that he is lucky to have pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah in his side for the upcoming three-match series against England.
“I feel very lucky that they are in my squad with the way they have bowled in the past couple of days,” Azhar said while speaking during a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) podcast.
Azhar said that they have an experienced player in Mohammad Abbas, while Sohail Khan will also share his knowledge of the game with the side. “I think they will have an advantage in the upcoming fixtures.”
Test captain @AzharAli_ previews Pakistan’s three-match Test series.
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) July 30, 2020
https://t.co/O6IYKkXayj
https://t.co/uf2rWDwSqG pic.twitter.com/T4xcG8j939
He went on to say that the guidance of experienced leg-spinner Yasir Shah also matters for the team.
The Test skipper added that his players are looking in good shape ahead of the Test series. “The best thing is that Pakistan always performs well on the England tour.
Azhar added that staying under lockdown during the coronavirus outbreak was challenging for the players. “The pacers are rusty but it will go away eventually. They are getting in shape.
“The workload is increasing but the players are in a good rhythm.”
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Community Shield to be played on August 29
The Football Association announced on Wednesday that the Community Shield, the traditional curtainraiser for the new English season, would take place at Wembley on August 29.
The match between Premier League champions Liverpool and the winners of Saturday’s FA Cup final between Arsenal and Chelsea will be played two weeks before the start of the top-flight season.
It has been reported that the match could serve as a test event to welcome a restricted number of fans into Wembley as part of plans for supporters to make a socially distanced return to sports venues more widely from October 1.
The match will be immediately followed by an international break from September 2 to 10.
The Premier League said last week that the 2020/21 season would start on September 12 and run until May 23, 2022.
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Canadian visa centres in Pakistan to reopen on August 3
The Canadian Visa Application Centre in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi will reopen from August 3 onwards, it confirmed on July 29.
The centre, however, will provide limited services for the time being. This includes biometric verification of instruction letter holders, return decision envelopes to applicants and taking permanent resident travel document via post/courier.
The visa centres were closed because of the coronavirus pandemic. More than 278,240 people have tested positive for the virus in Pakistan.
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Komal Aziz wishes Yumna Zaidi on 31st birthday
Pakistani actor Komal Aziz Khan has wished birthday to her co-actor Yumna Zaidi in the cutest way possible.
Khan took to social media on Thursday and said that Zaidi is the most wonderful, kind, funny, generous and down to earth human being.
“Happy birthday @yumnazaidiofficial . My favourite co-actor to work with,” said Khan.
She remarked that the world might know Zaidi as a fine actor and she had the privilege to know Zaidi as a person.
She ended her wish with prayers for her co-actor.
“May you always continue to shine like a star you were always meant to be. May you always prop other people up and wish the best for them like you always do. You are one of a kind,” said Khan.
They both are currently working together in a drama Raaz-e-Ulfat.
Zaidi celebrated her 31st birthday on June 30 (Thursday). She received a number of heartfelt wishes and prayers from fans and friends.
… She expressed her joy and shahbashi on my work in #2020 MashAllah 
Zaidi also shared pictures from her quarantined birthday celebrations. From cake to decoration to her dress, she made sure that everything was pink.
She is currently sharing the screen with Bilal Abbas in the latest drama serial Pyar Ke Sadqay.
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England defeat Ireland in first ODI
David Willey and Sam Billings guided world champions England to a six-wicket win over Ireland at Southampton on Thursday in the first ODI.
Left-arm paceman Willey, appearing in his first ODI since being left out of England’s World Cup-winning squad for Jofra Archer, took a career-best 5-30 as Ireland were dismissed for a modest 172 in a match that marked the return of white-ball cricket from the coronavirus lockdown.
But an unfamiliar-looking England, in the first of a three-match series that launches the new World Cup Super League to determine qualification for the 2023 50-over showpiece in India, slumped to 78-4 at the Ageas Bowl.
Sam Billings, a late injury replacement for Kent team-mate Joe Denly, made 67 not out including 11 fours at better than a run-a-ball.
Together with World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan, a former Ireland batsman, he shared an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership of 96.
Willey took 4-12 as Ireland slumped to 28-5 after losing the toss.
Curtis Campher held firm with an unbeaten 59 on debut.
Together with Andy McBrine (40) he shared a stand of 66 after Ireland were in danger of being dismissed for under 100 at 79-7.
Willey struck with just the fourth ball of the match when Paul Stirling chipped him to Morgan at midwicket.
Ireland were 7-2 when skipper Andy Balbirnie was caught behind driving at Willey.
Gareth Delany hit five fours in his 22 before he struck Willey straight to backward point.
Next ball, the 30-year-old Willey, the son of former England batsman and umpire David Willey, had Lorcan Tucker lbw for a duck to leave Ireland 28-5.
Campher carries on
The 21-year-old Campher, a former South Africa youth international qualified for Ireland through his mother, survived the hat-trick delivery and went on to complete an admirable 103-ball fifty.
Kevin O’Brien, whose stunning 50-ball hundred set up a remarkable Ireland win over England during the 2011 World Cup, made 22 before he holed out off leg-spinner Adil Rashid.
McBrine pulled Tom Curran to deep square leg before Willey dismissed last man Craig Young to end the innings.
Willey’s return was his best in 47 ODIs, surpassing his 4-34 against Sri Lanka in Cardiff in 2016.
Ireland suffered a blow in the first over of England’s reply when Barry McCarthy walked off after bowling five balls with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
Off-spinner McBrine, however, had Jonny Bairstow lbw for two before fellow opener Jason Roy fell leg before to Young.
As happened before each of the recent England-West Indies Tests, players from both sides took a knee before play in support of the Black Lives Matter campaign.
This was England’s first home ODI since they beat New Zealand in last year’s World Cup final at Lord’s.
England’s red and white-ball fixtures are overlapping in a season cut short by the Covid-19 outbreak and they are maintaining two separate squads, meaning several World Cup winners including Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Archer won’t feature against Ireland.
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Hajj goes virtual for families of lucky pilgrims
Faridah Bakti Yahra travelled alone to Mecca when she won the lottery of a lifetime to join this year’s Hajj, the smallest in living memory, but her family is relishing the experience virtually.
Thanks to her smartphone, and the 5G towers that loom over the holy city, the Indonesian housewife is sharing every step of the pilgrimage with her husband and three daughters back home in the Saudi coastal city of Khobar.
“I am so happy he joined me virtually, spiritually, with my daughters also. May my dear husband come here together with me again for Hajj — inshallah (God willing),” the 39-year-old told AFP.
In the first days of the pilgrimage, many of the faithful were seen holding their phones aloft to snap selfies and livestream their progress to friends and family back home.
Super high-speed 5G technology was rolled out in Mecca last year, allowing pilgrims to transfer data at breakneck speeds, and the network is now prevalent across much of Saudi Arabia.
But this year the shared religious experience has even greater resonance, with the gathering scaled down from more than two million people to just a few thousand, and at a time when many prayers are being offered for a world gripped by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Tears of joy
Yahra opened a video call on the first day of the Hajj at Mecca’s Grand Mosque when she approached the Kaaba, a large cubic structure draped in gold-embroidered black cloth, towards which Muslims around the world pray.
“When my wife entered the Kaaba area and she showed me the Kaaba, I felt very, very cheerful, joyful, with tears,” her husband Hendra Samosir said.
“It was very truly a holy journey I would say, even though I wasn’t there, but looking at my wife attending this Hajj, it feels like I was there.”
Hundreds of thousands of Indonesians usually take part in the Hajj, many waiting and saving for years before their turn comes up.
This year, there are believed to be hardly more than a dozen in Mecca.
Yahra was selected in a process that for the first time excluded pilgrims from outside the kingdom.
Muslims worldwide were disappointed, even though most accepted that a Hajj on the usual scale was out of the question.
Foreign residents make up 70 percent of the group and Saudi citizens make up the remainder, drawn from medical professionals and security personnel who have recovered from the virus.
There were grumbles over what was seen as an opaque system, and those who missed out swamped the Hajj ministry’s Twitter account with anguished queries.
But for Samosir, who opted to stay at home and look after the couple’s children, his wife’s selection was “very good news” after months of bad news due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The virus crisis triggered months of lockdown in Saudi Arabia and a slump that saw the 44-year-old lose his job in the oil industry.
But he said the virtual pilgrimage left him feeling “like an empty bowl filled up with water”.
Digital worship
In recent years, the Hajj has been at the centre of an acceleration in the growth of digital worship, with a slew of religious apps and tablet Korans.
Some pilgrims now prefer reading Quranic verses from their smartphones — rapidly replacing traditional printed holy books.
But the tech is not limited to reading on screens and sharing stories. It has rapidly evolved to offer pilgrims the possibility of performing religious duties from their homes.
Online platforms have emerged allowing worshippers to virtually perform the year-round umrah, or minor pilgrimage, which usually takes only a few hours.
The service is based on the concept of outsourcing the pilgrimage — asking someone in Saudi Arabia to perform umrah on their behalf, and experiencing it through a live virtual reality tool.
Some Islamic clerics support the idea, while others say only the sick are entitled to such an option.
And the situation is different with the Hajj, a journey made over several days that requires walking for kilometres, praying for hours, and sleeping outdoors.
Some of this year’s pilgrims have reported that performing the pilgrimage on such a small scale has been an intensely spiritual experience.
“I am praying for my husband to get back to work again,” Yahra said.
“And I pray for the situation to get back to normal again, for the pandemic to stop, and for coronavirus to be gone.”
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Today’s outlook: Army summoned in Karachi, petrol price may increase
Here are some of the stories we are expecting to follow today (Friday):
- The Pakistan Army has been summoned to help the civil administration in Karachi. According to the ISPR, the Pakistan Army has been summoned to control the urban flooding situation in the city.
- NDMA chairperson has reached Karachi on the instructions of PM Imran Khan. Lt Gen Muhammad Afzal will visit the areas affected by recent monsoon rains.
- The price of petrol is expected to increase by Rs6.90 per litre and of diesel by Rs10. The summary of the price change has yet to be approved.
- Sugar now costs Rs100 per kilogramme in Pakistan. Its price was Rs24.52 per kilogramme last year.
- The National Assembly passed on Thursday two bills relating to the FATF–the Anti-Terrorism Act Amendment Bill, 2020 and United Nations Security Council Amendment Bill, 2020. The bills sailed through the Senate and Senate Standing Committee on Law the same day. The ATA Amendment Bill included suggestions from the opposition, including the penalty for terrorism increased from Rs10 million to Rs50 million.
- Online game Players’ Unknown Battle Ground has been unblocked in Pakistan after nearly a month, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority confirmed on Thursday. The ban was imposed on July 1. The PTA said, in a statement, that the decision was made during a meeting between the authority and lawyers of the Proximae Beta Pte Ltd, which runs the game in Pakistan.
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Muslims in Saudi Arabia, Gulf states celebrate Eidul Azha
Muslims in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Indonesia, Malaysia among other countries are celebrating Eidul Azha today (Friday).
The festival marks the end of Hajj, an annual pilgrimage that all Muslims are obliged to perform once in their lifetime.
Just 10,000 Muslims, all residents of Saudi Arabia, performed Hajj this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The numbers are just 0.4 percent of last year’s 2.5 million attendees from across the globe.
Eidul Azha is celebrated to commemorate the sacrifice of Prophet Ibrahim (AS). In line with the tradition of Prophet Ibrahim (AS), Muslims across the world slaughter animals as a sacrifice for Allah. The meat of sacrificed animals is distributed among relatives and the poor.
Many countries have even instructed their Muslim residents to offer Eid prayers with social distancing to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) in Saudi Arabia will hold three days of festivities and activities for Eidul Azha, which will be themed around discovery and exploration, reported Gulf News.
In Dubai, the police have said that they will monitor residential areas and bolster road safety and security to ensure people comply with COVID-19 safety measures.
People have also been advised to avoid large home gatherings and follow all precautionary measures while visiting shopping centres or relatives during the festival.
Pakistan will celebrate Eidul Azha on August 1. The government has announced holidays from July 31 to August 2 for the festival.
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Virus rules leave Bollywood’s low-paid army stricken
India’s coronavirus lockdown made little difference to Bollywood superstars but for the industry’s vast army of low-paid, unskilled workers it meant unemployment, hunger and homelessness — with no end in sight even as shoots gradually resume.
Fahim Shaikh used to earn 800 rupees ($11) a day as a “spot boy” on sets, doing odd jobs such as making tea. When Bollywood hit pause on productions in March, the 23-year-old could no longer pay rent.
“I just wandered up and down, asking strangers for help and sleeping outside cafes,” he told AFP.
Like many starry-eyed newcomers, he came to Mumbai in pursuit of an acting career before his dreams gave way to the pressures of the daily grind in India’s most expensive city.
The hugely successful Hindi film industry is tentatively coming back to life but with strict rules including curbs on the number of people allowed on set.
This means that jobs for people like Shaikh are now few and far between.
“I am ready to do anything, I desperately need work,” he said.
‘The littlest players’
The lockdown cast a spotlight on India’s extreme inequality with well-heeled citizens able to hibernate safely at home while watching shocking scenes of a huge migrant worker exodus play out on their television and smartphone screens.
That chasm between the haves and have-nots is perhaps even more pronounced in Bollywood, where jet-setting megastars rub shoulders with tens of thousands of extras, spot boys and other junior crew members who exist on the margins of the glamorous industry.
“The spot boys are considered the littlest players, till food arrives late on a set,” actress Richa Chadha wrote on her blog highlighting the “disastrous” effects of the lockdown.
During her half-century-long stint as an extra, Sayeda Mumani has worked alongside virtually every major actor, from 1970s matinee idol Rajesh Khanna to superstar Shah Rukh Khan.
In a good month, the 68-year-old scraped together around 14,000 rupees. But her income dried up after shoots came to a standstill, and she has not worked for months.
Unlike the younger Shaikh — who has few industry contacts — Mumani’s long association with leading studios meant that she could count on at least a little help, with top actors such as Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan sending her grocery vouchers and cash.
But relying on the piecemeal generosity of individuals has severe limitations, as Mumani found out, when mounting medical and household expenses left her with a debt of 100,000 rupees.
“I feel so useless and helpless,” she told AFP.
No safety net
Despite generating billions of dollars in revenue, the world’s most prolific film industry has no established scheme to protect its most vulnerable members.
The vast majority of the tens of thousands of industry workers lack access to medical insurance or pension plans.
Director Anubhav Sinha, who paid salaries to his production staff and offered financial aid to other crew members during the lockdown, said the absence of a safety net reflected the fact that the industry’s workforce is largely freelance.
“My employees… comprise about 10 percent of the entire size of my film unit. Ninety percent are freelancers who work on the production and then move on,” he told AFP.
And although the industry is home to multiple unions, they lack the deep pockets to look after their members, said Amit Behl, senior joint secretary of the Cine & TV Artists Association.
The organisation, which has more than 9,000 members including top stars, had to request donations to support actors who “are virtually living hand to mouth”, Behl told AFP.
“We produce twice the content of other filmmaking countries but we are not structured,” he said.
Furthermore, he warned that fresh restrictions, which include a ban on filming crowd scenes, hiring large crews or actors over 65, meant that the crisis was set to worsen, leaving workers like Mumani fearing for their future.
“We can’t carry on like this,” she said, bursting into tears.
“I feel like I am dying already.”
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Madonna post blocked by Instagram for false coronavirus video
Superstar singer Madonna has been censored on Instagram for spreading false information about a supposed cure for COVID-19 after she shared clips from a video also re-tweeted by Donald Trump.
In her post to 15.4 million followers, Madonna claimed that a proven vaccine had been available for months but it was being kept secret “to let the rich get richer and the poor and sick get sicker.”
She attached a video of US physician Stella Immanuel who praised hydroxychloroquine as a miracle coronavirus cure.
Various clips of Immanuel’s speech have spread rapidly on the internet in recent days, but hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug, has not been proved effective against COVID-19.
“We’ve removed this video for making false claims about cures and prevention methods for COVID-19,” a company spokeswoman for Facebook, which owns Instagram, told AFP on Wednesday.
“People who reacted to, commented on, or shared this video, will see messages directing them to authoritative information about the virus.”
Madonna’s post was deleted, but screengrabs showed it had earlier been blurred by Instagram and tagged “False Information — reviewed by independent fact-checkers” with a link to a page debunking the video.
President Trump this week tweeted several clips of the video to his 84 million followers, before the tweets were removed.
His son Donald Trump Jr was temporarily halted from tweeting Tuesday after he also shared parts of the video.
“Nobody needs to get sick. This virus has a cure — it is called hydroxychloroquine,” Immanuel exclaimed in the video, standing on the steps of the Supreme Court in Washington with likeminded physicians.
She also railed against face masks and lockdowns.
Madonna said in May she had recovered from the coronavirus which forced her to pull out of concerts in Paris earlier in the year.
AFP and other media companies, including Reuters and the Associated Press, work with Facebook’s fact-checking program, under which content rated false is downgraded in news feeds so that fewer people see it.
If someone tries to share such a post, he or she is presented with an article explaining why the information is not accurate.
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Emmy Awards ceremony to be held online due to pandemic
A day after announcing nominations for the Emmy Awards, the Television Academy on Wednesday informed top nominees that the ceremony in September will be held online because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The announcement was expected given the restrictions and lockdowns imposed since the virus outbreak which has wreaked havoc in the entertainment industry.
The Emmys — television’s equivalent of the Oscars — will take place on September 20 and will be the first major awards show in Hollywood since the coronavirus crisis began.
Late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel is set to host the festivities broadcast on ABC.
In the letter sent to select nominees and the contents of which were confirmed to AFP by an Academy spokesman, organizers said they were forced to make the tough decision to hold the ceremony online given the circumstances.
“Aside from NOT being able to come together in one place, we also acknowledge that our world is going through a challenging moment in many ways,” according to the letter signed by the producers of the event and Kimmel.
“We’ll be producing an event that is filled with warmth and humanity, which celebrates the power of television to bring us together and to help us shape our world,” they wrote.
The letter said that organizers would work closely with the nominees, filming them at home and other locations, to ensure they stand out on the big night.
“We’re going to make you look fabulous — we’re exploring the cutting edge of technology to allow us to use good cameras and lighting and look forward to working with you to produce your unique ‘on screen’ moments,” the letter added.
As to the dress code, the letter said given the informal theme of the ceremony, nominees could decide what to wear.
“If you want to be in formal wear, we’d love that, but equally if you’re in the UK and it’s 3 a.m., perhaps you want to be in designer pajamas and record from your bed!,” the letter said.
“We want to work with you to style your moments, but want you to guide us on your levels of comfort — where you want to be, who you want to be with, what you want to wear, etc.”
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Pakistanis scrub Eid animals at car cleaners
In the run-up to the Muslim festival of Eidul Azha, Karachi car-wash owner Sheikh Sagheer sees much of the traffic at his business switch from four wheels to four legs.
Locals bring him their cattle, sheep and goats for a thorough scrub down ahead of the animals’ sacrifice during the three-day religious holiday, which begins Friday in Pakistan.
Sagheer, 42, said the cow wash started when he was spotted cleaning his sacrificial animal ahead of Eid after opening his business a few years ago.
“The people who saw me washing the animal came to me with their own… that’s how this trend started,” Sagheer told AFP.
Many of the animals come from a huge market on the outskirts of Karachi — reputed to be the largest Eid cattle bazaar in Asia — that is packed with goats, cows, bullocks, sheep and camels.
The creatures are often dirty, dusty and speckled with dung after being transported then packed together at the market.
Sagheer charges just 100 rupees (about 60 cents) for a wash — which includes a soak with a pressure hose, a lather with suds, a scrub and a rinse.
“The charge is 100 rupees, which is nothing,” said Mohammad Uzair, who brought in a large grey cow for a wash.
Across Pakistan, between eight and 10 million animals are sacrificed over Eidul Azha, according to the Pakistan Tanners Association.
Sagheer says cleanliness is especially important because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I make it a point to sanitise the animal with disinfectants,” he said.
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Today’s outlook: Joint parliamentary session called, PM orders Karachi cleaning
Here are some of the news stories we are following today (Thursday).
- Prime Minister Imran Khan has asked the Pakistan Army to help clean streets across Karachi that are inundated with rainwater. The PM has also directed the National Disaster Management Authority chairperson to urgently head to the city. Sindh Governor Imran Ismail has also assured the PM that he is ready to help.
- A joint session of Parliament will be held at 4pm. PTI MNA Aamir Liaquat Hussain is likely to speak about online video game PUBG, which the Islamabad High Court recently ordered to have unblocked.
- Federal Maritime Affairs Minister Ali Zaidi has said he will tweet “evidence” against Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani.
- The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority will issue a summary on petrol prices.
- The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice will meet to review two bills that were recently approved by the National Assembly.
- Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood has said the government hasn’t made any decision to ban O-Level, A-Level or Baccalaureate exams.
- ICYMI: Special Assistant to the PM on Health Dr Zafar Mirza and Special Assistant to the PM on Digital Pakistan Tania Aidrus have resigned. Click here to read the full story.
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