BATTAGRAM: The remarks of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader retired Capt Safdar during his recent visit to the district about the chief of Pakistan Democratic Movement Maulana Fazlur Rehman have angered the local leaders and workers of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl.
Mr Safdar visited Battagram along with his brother MNA Sajjad Awan a couple of days before Eidul Azha to inaugurate separate electricity feeder for Torghar district. During his press talk, he had alleged that Maulana Fazl was utilising development funds of Battagram in Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu districts.
On the occasion, he had also criticised former MNA Qari Mohammad Yousuf, who was twice elected a member of parliament on the ticket of JUI-F, saying he had done nothing for the development of the district,
Soon after Mr Safdar’s visit, Qari Mohammad Yousuf, JUI-F general secretary Maulana Faridud Din, Ijaz Khan, Bakht Munir and others held a press conference and criticised the PML-N leader for his remarks.
Senate Deputy Chairman Mirza Mohammad Afridi has suggested the formation of nine new provinces, one of which includes Karachi.
Afridi made the recommendation in an interview on Dawn News’ programme ‘Doosra Rukh’, which will be aired at 7pm on Monday. Afridi, who is himself from the tribal districts, was elected to the Senate as an independent candidate in 2018.
He advocated for making Karachi, the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and the Hazara district provinces of their own as well as Punjab and Balochistan being divided into three provinces each.
The Senate deputy chairman said: “Look at Balochistan, how vast its area is. There should be three provinces formed in Balochistan as well as three separate ones in Punjab.”
He urged for Karachi to be made an entirely separate province, adding that: “Fata should be made a separate province and one province should also be formed for Hazara.”
Afridi further said the more provinces Pakistan has, the better it will be.
When asked about the objections raised by the PPP when the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan demands the same for Karachi, Afridi said: “The 18th Amendment was made [and] NFC (National Finance Commission) award was done, right? When [new] provinces will be formed, the NFC award will be shared in the same way.”
He went on to explain that if the said provinces are formed, they will continue receiving their share of the fiscal budget under the NFC award.
At one point during the interview, when asked if the decision of merging Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was made in haste, Afridi responded: “We should have obtained a commitment on the promises [made].”
The Senate deputy chairman lamented that the government did not fulfil its promises made to the erstwhile Fata and that its people face many difficulties even today.
He said he had taken up the matter of funds with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar as well and insisted that the problems facing the country will be solved if new provinces are constituted.
Afridi’s statements come months after the matter of forming new provinces resurfaced when in March, PML-N senators moved two bills, seeking the creation of South Punjab and Hazara provinces.
The bill seeking the creation of the south Punjab province had been tabled by PML-N Senator Rana Mehmoodul Hassan as a private member’s bill while the one for Hazara had been moved by PML-N Senator Pir Sabir Shah.
The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice was set to take up the two controversial constitutional amendment bills.
Separately, former prime minister and PPP Vice-Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani said last month that consultations will be held with all political parties in the country to present the bill for the creation of a Seraiki province in the assembly soon.
Elon Musk announced Saturday that Twitter would temporarily restrict how many tweets users could read per day, in a move meant to tamp down on the use of the site’s data by artificial intelligence companies.
The platform is limiting verified accounts to reading 10,000 tweets a day. Non-verified users — the free accounts that make up the majority of users — are limited to reading 1,000 tweets per day.
New unverified accounts would be limited to 500 tweets.
The decision was made “to address extreme levels of data scraping” and “system manipulation” by third-party platforms, Musk said in a tweet Saturday afternoon, as some users quickly hit their limits.
“Goodbye Twitter” was a trending topic in the United States following Musk’s announcement.
Twitter’s billionaire owner did not give a timeline for how long the measures would be in place.
The day before, Musk had announced that it would no longer be possible to read tweets on the site without an account.
Much of the data scraping was coming from firms using it to build their AI models, Musk said, to the point that it was causing traffic issues with the site.
To create AI that can respond in a human-like capacity, many companies feed the programs examples of real-life conversations from social media sites.
“Several hundred organizations (maybe more) were scraping Twitter data extremely aggressively, to the point where it was affecting the real user experience,” Musk said.
“Almost every company doing AI, from startups to some of the biggest corporations on Earth, was scraping vast amounts of data,” he said.
“It is rather galling to have to bring large numbers of servers online on an emergency basis just to facilitate some AI startup’s outrageous valuation.”
Twitter is not the only social media giant to have to wrangle with the rapid acceleration of the AI sector.
In mid-June, Reddit raised prices on third-party developers that were using its data and sweeping up conversations posted on its forums.
It proved a controversial move, as many regular users also accessed the site via third-party platforms, and marked a shift from previous arrangements where social media data had generally been provided for free or a small charge.
Last month, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador urged Latino voters in the United States to vote against Ron DeSantis, accusing him of seeking to acquire votes at the price of migrants
French authorities deployed reinforcements to flashpoint cities and had made hundreds of arrests by early Sunday, on the fifth night of unrest sparked by the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old who was laid to rest the day before.
A total of 486 people had been arrested across France as of 3am (0100 GMT) on Sunday, the interior ministry said, though the level of violence appeared to have declined since rioting first broke out over the death of Nahel M. in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday.
“A calmer night thanks to the resolute action of the security forces,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin tweeted early on Sunday.
Darmanin had told reporters earlier that 45,000 members of the security forces would be deployed overnight — the same number as the night before.
But extra forces and equipment were sent to Lyon, Grenoble and Marseille, which had previously seen intense rioting.
In Paris and its nearby regions, where around 7,000 officers were out in force, 194 people had been arrested as of 3am on Sunday.
In Marseille, police dispersed groups of youths on Saturday evening at Canebiere, the main avenue running through the centre of the city, AFP journalists said.
By midnight, the authorities in Lyon and Marseille were reporting fewer incidents than the previous night, with 77 people arrested as of around 1:30am in the two cities.
A number of towns have imposed overnight curfews.
‘Reflection’
The protests over the death of Nahel, who was of Algerian origin, have again exposed the severe racial tensions in modern France, increasing scrutiny on the police, who have long been accused of singling out minorities.
The crisis is a hugely unwelcome development for President Emmanuel Macron, who was looking forward to pressing on with his second mandate after seeing off months of protests that erupted in January over raising the pensions age.
In a sign of the seriousness of the crisis, he postponed a state visit to Germany scheduled to begin on Sunday.
Nahel’s funeral ceremony was held on Saturday in Nanterre, where he lived, with hundreds gathering peacefully along with his mother and grandmother.
A ceremony took place in the early afternoon at the mosque in Nanterre, and he was interred in the giant Mont Valerien cemetery in the area.
It finished at 1530 GMT and was marked by “reflection and without incidents”, a witness told AFP.
Extraordinary measures
In a bid to limit the ongoing violence, buses and trams in France have stopped running after 9pm and the sale of large fireworks and inflammable liquids has been banned.
The port city of Marseille has been the scene of intense clashes and looting, including in long-neglected low-income neighbourhoods visited by Macron at the start of the week.
Authorities there went a step further by halting all urban transport from 6pm, including metros, and banning all protests up until Sunday.
Police reinforcements have been sent to the city, including armoured vehicles and two helicopters.
Macron has urged parents to take responsibility for underage rioters, one-third of whom were “young or very young”.
Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said on Saturday that 30 per cent of those arrested were minors, while Darmanin said the average age of those arrested was just 17.
The unrest has raised concerns abroad, with France hosting the Rugby World Cup in the autumn and the Paris Olympic Games in the summer of 2024.
Britain and other European countries updated their travel advice to warn tourists to stay away from areas affected by the rioting.
China’s consulate in Marseille similarly warned its citizens to “be vigilant and exercise caution” after state-run media reported that a bus carrying Chinese tourists in the southern city was pelted with stones on Thursday.
The unrest has had a major impact on cultural events in France, with singer Mylene Farmer forced to call off stadium concerts and French fashion house Celine cancelling its menswear show in Paris scheduled for this weekend.
A 38-year-old policeman has been charged with voluntary homicide over Nahel’s death and has been remanded in custody.
The UN rights office said on Friday that the killing of the teen of North African descent was “a moment for the country to seriously address the deep issues of racism and racial discrimination in law enforcement”.
The French foreign ministry dismissed the criticism, saying any suggestion of systemic discrimination in the police force was “totally unfounded”.
KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board formally reached out to the country’s government earlier this week for it to provide the national team clearance to visit India for the upcoming ICC World Cup.
The PCB confirmed Saturday that it wrote to its patron-in-chief Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif along with two relevant government departments after the International Cricket Council (ICC) released the official schedule of the 50-over showpiece.
“Soon after the World Cup schedule was announced last Tuesday, we wrote to our Patron, Honourable Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, through the Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Ministry, copying the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Interior, requesting clearance to participate in the World Cup,” a PCB spokesperson told Dawn.
Pakistan are scheduled to play their World Cup matches at five venues; Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata. The PCB had sought the government’s advice regarding several aspects about playing at each of the said venues.
The Babar Azam-led unit, if it makes it to the semi-finals, will also not play in Mumbai, one of the venues for the last-four fixtures. The team, instead, will play the match in Kolkata after the ICC accepted the PCB’s demand to avoid Mumbai as one of Pakistan’s destinations.
“The decision to visit India and identify venues at which we should play our matches is the prerogative of the Government of Pakistan,” said the PCB spokesperson. “We have absolute trust in the judgement of our government and will follow whatever is advised.”
According to a report by the Press Trust of India news agency on Saturday, the Government of Pakistan is set to send a security delegation to India for inspecting the venues before giving clearance for the national team’s travel across the border.
The report added that an official source in the IPC Ministry said that the government, including the foreign and interior ministry would decide when to send the security delegation to India once the new chairman of the PCB was elected after the Eid holidays.
“The security delegation will go with representation from the PCB to inspect the venues where Pakistan will play and also the security and other arrangements made for them in the World Cup,” he said.
“Before any tour to India it is standard practice for the cricket board to seek permission from the government which normally sends a delegation to India,” the official said.
“The delegation will interact with the officials there and discuss and inspect with them the security and other arrangements for our players, officials, fans and media, who will go for the tournament.”
He said if the delegation feels it would be better for Pakistan to play at some other venue instead of a designated one, it will mention that in its report before the PCB shares it with the ICC and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The PCB spokesperson did not confirm if the government has informed the board about any decision to send a security delegation to India but said it would welcome any step former takes to conduct its due diligence.
“It is entirely up to the Government of Pakistan on the process it wants formulate and follow before advising us on the next steps,” noted the PCB official. “If this requires sending an advance team to India to inspect the venues and hold meetings with the event organisers, then it will solely be the government’s decision.”
In 2016, Pakistan government had sent a three-person delegation to India on a recce tour for the T20 World Cup, following which the ICC moved Pakistan’s match against India from Dharamsala to Kolkata due to security reasons.
Enquired if the PCB was interested in participating in the World Cup, the spokesman said: “Who doesn’t want to feature in a World Cup and give their side a chance to make history? But this is a slightly different scenario as Pakistanis every cricket tour to India — be it for a bilateral or multi-team series — requires government clearance. We’re now following the process and have been open and transparent about this in our communications to the Event Authority and Event Hosts.”
Most recently, the Pakistan government allowed the national football team to participate in the SAFF Championship in Bangalore, while the Pakistan Hockey Federation has already written for clearance to play in the Asian Champions Trophy, which is set to be held next month in Chennai.
The World Cup will be played across 10 Indian cities from October 5 to November 19.
Maryam Khan, a Pakistan-born US lawmaker from the state of Connecticut, was attacked after attending Eid ul Azha prayers with her family in the state’s capital city of Hartford, the American media has reported.
According to The New York Times, police have arrested a man in connection with the attack that took place on Wednesday, during which Khan — the first Muslim elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives and a Democrat — sustained minor injuries.
The suspect was formally charged in state court on Thursday, the report said, quoting police.
“Andrey Desmond, 30, from New Britain, Connecticut, is being held on a $250,000 bond. He was charged with unlawful restraint, assault, breach of peace and interfering with the police,” the report stated.
Police are yet to confirm the motive behind the attack.
The attack
The New York Times report, quoting police, said the attack took place around 11am outside the XL Centre, an arena and conference centre, where congregational prayers were held.
The suspect approached Khan while she was taking pictures with her family outside the centre and made “several suggestive comments”, police said.
He then allegedly tried to prevent her from leaving and assaulted her, a report by NBC News said.
The suspect tried to flee, but another worshipper chased him and held him down, the report quoted the police as saying.
Codemnations
Connecticut House Speaker Matt Ritter and Majority Leader Jason Rojas, among several others, have condemned the attack.
“It is especially painful that Representative Khan was attacked on a holy day of peace and prayer — on a day she should spend with her friends and family. Rep Khan is an amazing leader and person who is committed to faith, love and service — we are sending our well-wishes and support to Maryam and her family,” they said in a joint statement.
They added that State Capitol Police had assured them that they would work with Hartford Police to conduct a “full and thorough investigation”.
Separately, Ritter told a press conference that he had been in touch with Khan since the attack but “she still needed time to recover both mentally and physically”, The New York Times reported.
“It was a very, very scary incident,” the report quoted him as saying.
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont also issued a condemnation, saying: “It’s disturbing to me that this happened on a holy day meant to be marked with peaceful prayer. The details of the assault are still unfolding but I know our law enforcement personnel will conduct a thorough investigation into what happened.”
Meanwhile, head of civil rights and advocacy group Council on American–Islamic Relations’ Connecticut chapter Farhan Memon urged law enforcement departments to “investigate a possible bias motive” behind the attack and “to ensure the safety of the Connecticut Muslim community during the ongoing Eid ul Azha celebrations.”
“All too often we have seen American Muslims, or those perceived to be Muslim, targeted by hate because of their attire, race or ethnicity,” Memon highlighted in a statement.
