Norway’s Muslim associations have announced they would distribute 10,000 copies of the Holy Quran with Norwegian translations in an effort to fight racism, hate and extremism.
According to the the Norwegian Muslim Arts and Culture Association reported, it will be a collaboration with the Islam Literature Association and the Minhajul Quran mosque.
“We want to respond to negative actions by spreading love and knowledge as taught by the Holy Quran,” said Muslim Arts and Culture Association in a statement, indicating that the copies would be handed out via the internet.
The decision comes after an extreme right-wing group tried to burn a copy of the holy book during a protest in Kristiansand, a city populated with migrants.
‘Stop the Islamisation of Norway (SION)’ members were prevented from the desecrating by police, however, the group’s leader threw the holy book in the garbage.
Turkey, Pakistan, Iran reacted strongly to the November 16 incident by issuing their formal condemnations.
After receiving reactions from the Muslim community, Norwegian Politician Jøran Kallmyr held a meeting with the Islam Council of Norway and assured them that “Norway has distanced itself from the anti-Islamic organisation and said it does not provide any support to this organisation.”
Kallmyr said that the Norwegian Muslim community’s safety was as important as the Norwegian citizens.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former Sindh governor Muhammad Zubair was muted on-air by a private media outlet when he took property tycoon Malik Riaz’s name in relation with the £190 million settlement of United Kingdom’s (UK) National Crime Agency.
Discussing the issue, Zubair highlighted how the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was hesitating when it came to naming the Bahria Town founder publicly. He then went on to take Malik Riaz’s name twice, but it was censored by the TV channel both times.
WATCH VIDEO:
A news channel shamelessly mutes Malik Riaz’s name whenever the guest on the talk show, Muhammad Zubair, mentions it… pic.twitter.com/7Q2MjRdqIF
Media has largely been ignoring the news of Riaz’s settlement with the National Crime Agency, with majority of the English daily newspapers refraining from posting the news on their front page. While some are avoiding mentioning Riaz’s name, others are not reporting the settlement at all.
Government officials, including the premier’s aide on information and broadcasting, have also been spotted avoiding mentioning the name of the Bahria Town founder.
A reporter asked Firdous Awan yesterday to name the man who has to cough up £190m. Her reply:
Sharing the details of the settlement with the media, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Thursday avoided mentioning Riaz’s name when asked about the family in question. “The report contains the name of the family that made the settlement,” she said.
India is fast building a reputation of being an unsafe place for women, resulting in the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) governments issuing a detailed information sheet for survivours of rape and sexual assault for its citizens travelling or staying in India, Times of India reported.
The advisory by the British government to their citizens was released on its websites, and stated that rape and sexual assault survivours should insist on a police report. It also added that the police are not bound to provide an English translation, but the survivour could get the statement read and explained in English before signing it.
Referring to this, Kartikeya Tripathi, a lecturer from University College London (UCL), said that in an unfortunate case, if a British national is sexually assaulted in India, the advisory tells them about their rights and that it needs to be dealt with by a female police officer, which many are not aware of.
Also, the US government’s India travel advisory, which was issued earlier in March 2019 and which places India at ‘level 2’ security, advises travellers to ‘exercise increased caution’. It also stated that Indian authorities report rape as one of the fastest-growing crimes in India, and violent crime, such as sexual assault, has occurred at tourist sites and in other locations.
The advisories have explained everything in detail, and also urge women to be aware of their rights when they are visiting India.
Sri Lanka have appointed South African Mickey Arthur as their new head coach on a two-year contract before the team’s tour to Pakistan for the two-Test match series, BBCreported.
According to the details, Sri Lanka cricket (SLC) appointed Mickey as head coach and former fast bowler Rumesh Ratnayake as interim coach in August after a fallout with coach Chandika Hathurusingha, who was criticized for Sri Lanka’s exit at the group stage of the 50-over World Cup in England.
Arthur had been the head coach of Pakistan cricket team for three years from 2016 to 2019. Later in Ausgust, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decided not to renew his contract, after the country failed to reach the semi-finals of this summer’s World Cup.
PCB later appointed former captain Misbahul Haq as the cricket team’s head coach and chief selector.
Arthur said: “It had been three very good years with Pakistan and I needed a little bit of time away. The Sri Lankan job became available and I started discussions”.
“I looked at the talent that’s available and that’s the key motivating factor – to help these young players fulfil their potential”, Mickey added.
Mickey Arthur’s first assignment will see him return to Pakistan for a two-match Test series starting on 11 December.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (PM) for Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan refrained from naming Malik Riaz in front of the media while giving details about £190 million property settlement case in the United Kingdom (UK).
Firdous avoided saying Malik Riaz’s name when a journalist asked her about the family who had settled with the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA).
A reporter asked Firdous Awan yesterday to name the man who has to cough up £190m. Her reply:
The special assistant while replying to the question said, “The report contains the name of the family who made settlement”.
The UK’s crime agency had earlier agreed to a settlement worth £190 million with the family of property tycoon Malik Riaz. The statement from the agency said, “The £190 million settlement is the result of an investigation by the NCA into Malik Riaz Hussain, a Pakistani national, whose business is one of the biggest private sector employers in Pakistan”.
Meanwhile, the special assistant to the PM on Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar has said, “The money has been transferred to the Supreme Court and we have already filed a request before the apex court that the money should be given to us [state of Pakistan]”.
However, Mirza Akbar did not remove the ambiguity as to how the money can be transferred to the Supreme Court, if the NCA announced in its official press release that it will be given to the state of Pakistan.
The Lahore High Court has set free a man accused of murdering his own daughter citing lack of evidence against him.
According to reports, a sessions court in October 2016 had handed down death sentence to Khalid Mehmood, who had allegedly murdered his daughter Aneeqa and then dumped the body outside Mayo Hospital in 2015. The court had also imposed a fine of Rs 500,000 on the convict.
The convict registered an FIR, claiming his daughter might have been abducted as she had gone out to buy some food but did not return.
Later, the Shadbagh police learnt the girl found dead outside Mayo Hospital was actually killed by her father for not making gol roti (round flatbread). Police had arrested the deceased’s father after interrogating their neighbours.
The lawyer representing the accused said that the police have not produced enough evidence to support the charges, thus he should be released immediately.
“The session court passed judgment in hast despite lacking credible evidence against him.” said the lawyer, following which the man was set free.
Test captain Azhar Ali has said that all the focus will now be on the upcoming Test series in Pakistan against Sri Lanka.
As per reports, Azhar made these comments while addressing a press conference at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore following Pakistan’s humiliating defeat by Australia in Adelaide, earlier in the week.
On Monday, Australia defeated Pakistan by an innings and 48
runs in the second Test at Adelaide Oval to sweep their two-Test series 2-0.
Australia earlier won the first Test in Brisbane by an innings and five runs.
The Test captain said that the players will take time to
recuperate and get back in form, adding that this will be the first Test in
Pakistan for many of the players.
“It is important for us to play well in this series. We
have a fresh batting line up,” Azhar said.
Commenting on criticism regarding his decisions as captain,
Azhar said that one needs to make changes when required, depending on the
situation.
“You have to use your backups. You cannot keep depending
on Shaheen Shah and Yasir Shah,” he added.
With these recent defeats, Pakistan have now been defeated
in 13 consecutive Tests on Australian shores.
With Sri Lanka’s visit, Test cricket is set to return to
Pakistan after a long gap of 10 years. The international team will tour the
country for a two-match series at Rawalpindi and Karachi on Dec 11 and Dec 19,
respectively.
Sikhs visiting the Data Sahib at the recently opened Kartarpur Corridor are bringing tomatoes from India as a gift for the langar khana which provides a free vegetarian meal to all visitors.
According to reports, Sikh pilgrims coming to the Gurdwara from India brought bags of tomatoes as a present for the langar khana. Not only tomatoes, they also brought other vegetables for the community kitchen.
A yatree Sardar Hari Chand said they brought tomatoes to the Gurdwara from India because they heard that the fruit was being sold at a very high price in Pakistan – tomatoes were being sold for Rs300 to Rs400 per kg in Narowal while in India tomatoes are available for only Rs20.
Another pilgrim said: “We’ve heard the rates of vegetables are very high in Pakistan; while coming from Amritsar, we also brought ginger, green chilli, garlic and onion.”
Pilgrims said that they feel happy bringing food for the Gurdwara and that langar dishes are incomplete without tomatoes.
Pilgrims shared that they feel happy when they contribute their share in the form of cash or anything, adding that no Sikh would like to visit anyone’s home without a gift, so how could they forget to bring something to their guru’s house.
Indian police on Friday shot dead four detained gang-rape and murder suspects as they were re-enacting their alleged crime, prompting celebrations but also accusations of extrajudicial killings.
The men, who had been in custody for a week over the latest gruesome case of violence against women to shock India, were shot in the early morning as they tried to escape during the staged re-enactment in Hyderabad.
Deputy police commissioner in the southern city Prakash Reddy revealed that “They were killed in crossfire. They tried to snatch weapons from the guards but were shot dead.”
The four were accused of gang-raping and murdering a 27-year-old veterinary doctor Dr Priyanka Reddy before setting fire to her body with petrol underneath an isolated bridge late on November 27.
The woman had phoned her sister saying she was scared of the men before her phone went dead. She said police did not take her seriously when she said her sister was missing.
The victim
Like in the infamous 2012 rape and murder of a woman on a Delhi bus, the case sparked demonstrations and calls for swift and tough justice, with social media swamped with demands for them to be put to death.
Shortly after their arrest hundreds of protesters also tried to storm the Hyderabad police station where the four accused were held. One lawmaker in the parliament called for the men to be “lynched” and another for rapists to be castrated.
Several hundred people flocked to the scene of the men’s deaths on Friday, setting off firecrackers to celebrate and showering police with flower petals.
The victim’s sister also welcomed the killings.
“I am happy the four accused have been killed in an encounter. This incident will set an example. I thank the police and media for their support,” the sister told a local television station.
Women in technology hub Hyderabad, home to Google, Apple and Microsoft, distributed sweets and tied Hindu ritual threads on the wrists of policemen to thank them.
On the other hand rights activists were aghast with the killing – police in India are often accused of using extrajudicial killings to bypass the legal process, often as a cover-up in botched investigations or to pacify public anger.
India’s former federal minister for women and child developement, Maneka Gandhi termed the incident as dangerous, saying killings cannot be an alternative to the process of law.
“They would have anyway got hanging for their heinous crime, but you can’t just pick up guns and kill people because you want to. Because law is tardy, you can’t kill people. What has happened is dangerous,” Gandhi told reporters.
A Supreme Court lawyer is reported to have said, “This is murder in cold blood. Fake encounter is not the solution, reforming criminal justice system is.”
“Now no one will ever know who really raped and murdered the Hyderabad woman.”
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has fixed Rs50 as price of the tickets for the upcoming two-Test series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Dawn reported.
According to the details, the PCB has announced that the tickets for both the Tests will be available online through website www.yayvo.com from Saturday.
The Test series is part of the ICC World Test Championship with the first Test starting in Rawalpindi from December 11 and the second in Karachi from December 19.
For the Rawalpindi Test, the fans can buy tickets from the TCS sale centres from Saturday and in Karachi, sale of tickets from the TCS sale centres will commence from Monday.
The board in its news release said, “The PCB, in an effort to encourage the fans to be part of return of Test cricket in Pakistan, have fixed price of Shoaib Akhtar Enclosure at the Pindi Cricket Stadium at Rs50”.
