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  • Hackers put 200 million Twitter users’ private information for sale on dark web

    Hackers put 200 million Twitter users’ private information for sale on dark web

    Anyone can now download the data of more than 200 million Twitter users for free.

    According to Privacy Affairs‘ security researchers, who confirmed the database that’s currently posted on a hacker forum, this most recent data dump, which contains account names, handles, creation dates, follower counts, and email addresses, turns out to be the same — albeit cleaned up — leak reported last month that affected more than 400 million Twitter accounts.

    According to Privacy Affairs CEO and founder Miklos Zoltan, the removal of duplicate accounts is what caused the number of accounts to be cut in half. But this time, he added, “the data is available for download by anyone for free, as opposed to being marketed for sale at $200,000, as it was in December.”

    According to Zoltan’s blog article detailing the breach, some of the well-known individuals and companies in the new 63GB database leak include Donald Trump Jr., Google CEO Sundar Pichai, SpaceX, the US National Basketball Association, CBS Media, and the World Health Organization.

    There is no information on whether the Christmas Day Twitter account hack of British Education Secretary Gillian Keegan is connected. Miscreants hijacked Keegan’s account in that instance, altered her profile photo to one of Elon Musk, and sent out a string of tweets endorsing cryptocurrency.

    The exposed account owners are still at risk even if the disclosed data does not contain users’ phone numbers, physical addresses, or passwords, according to Zoltan.

    “Privacy Affairs cybersecurity experts reviewed the published data and believe this latest leak could lead to social engineering attacks and doxxing.”

    The genuine names and locations of individuals can be ascertained by combining the hacked email addresses connected to Twitter accounts with other publicly accessible data. Additionally, nation state goons and criminals continue to use phishing emails as a successful entry point for social engineering attacks.

    Of course, spammers or con artists can also utilise the listed email addresses; all they need to do is persuade one victim to click on a harmful link.

    Researchers cautioned that despite this week’s data leak having fewer accounts, it may be more dangerous because the thieves are giving away the entire information for free.

    “It is not certain at this moment how exactly this data was obtained,” Zoltan noted. “The most likely method used could have been the abuse of an application programming interface (API) vulnerability.”

    The data was allegedly hacked in 2021 due to a security flaw that Twitter claimed to have closed last year.

  • ‘Kya baat hai Lahore ki thand ki’: Junaid Safdar returns to Pakistan, talks about future plans

    ‘Kya baat hai Lahore ki thand ki’: Junaid Safdar returns to Pakistan, talks about future plans

    Junaid Safdar, the son of Senior Vice President of Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) Maryam Nawaz, has reached Lahore on Thursday night.

    It was reported earlier this week that Junaid was shifting permanently to Pakistan to assist his mother in her party’s political activities.

    Taking to Instagram, Junaid wrote, “I am not interested in Pakistani politics, for now. I have only moved to Pakistan to fulfil the responsibilities owed to my mother and family. I will be assisting my mother in her work and family matters but I will not be taking part in politics,” he added.

    “Side note: Kya baat hai Lahore ki thand ki [Nothing can come close to Lahore winters]. Have really missed this!” added Junaid.

    On January 2, Maryam Nawaz was appointed the Senior Vice President of PML-N. She will also take on the responsibility of reorganising the party.

    According to news reports, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday left London for a week-long trip to Geneva.

  • ‘I told them about the Nazi uniform to William and Kate and they had a laugh’; here are some revelations from Prince Harry’s memoir ‘Spare’

    ‘I told them about the Nazi uniform to William and Kate and they had a laugh’; here are some revelations from Prince Harry’s memoir ‘Spare’

    Since the bombshell revelation that Prince William had sworn at and physically attacked Prince Harry, anticipation regarding the release of the former Princer’s memoir ‘Spare’ has gone sky high with many media outlets now carrying other excerpts from the book. Here are some of the more juicy bits from the memoir.

    1. Prince William and Kate Middleton were huge fans of the show ‘Suits’ before they had met Meghan Markle

    Prior to her marriage to the former Duke of Sussex, Meghan Markle starred as paralegal Rachel in the popular drama ‘Suits’ which centered around a powerful law firm in Manhattan. Prince Harry writes that around the time he had told his brother and sister-in-law about his relationship, Meghan had already retired from acting.

    He writes that when he announced he was dating Meghan, the two starred at him in complete shock.

    “Willy turned to me and said ‘F—k off?’” Harry said.

    I was baffled, until Willy and Kate explained that they were regular — nay, religious — viewers of ‘Suits,’” he continued.

    Harry recalled being amused by his brother and sister’s excited responses, as they kept badgering him for details but he only gave them a limited description of their relationship. He further confessed that his brother’s lukewarm warning hurt him, even though he was excited to introduce Meghan to the family.

    “I confessed, for the umpteenth time, that this had long been my dream — to join them with an equal partner. Well, now I felt that it was going to happen and I told him so — but he still said to slow down. ‘She’s an American actress after all, Harold. Anything might happen.’ I nodded, a bit hurt.”

    2. It was Prince William and Princess Kate who had told him to wear the Nazi costume in 2005.

    One of the anecdotes in the book includes Prince Harry’s controversial choice dress up in a Nazi uniform to a Halloween party where the theme was “Native and Colonial”. Prince William was going dressed as a lion. Harry writes that when he had phoned both of his brother and Kate and told them he was going to wear a Nazi uniform, they laughed about it.

    “I phoned Willy and Kate, asked what they thought. Nazi uniform, they said. They both howled. Worse than Willy’s leotard outfit! Way more ridiculous! Which, again, was the point.”

    The former Duke had expressed remorse over his actions in the Netflix documentary ‘Harry and Meghan” and had said he ‘felt so ashamed afterwards.” However, this revelation has brought criticism for the disgruntled Duke of Sussex, with many commenting on how he’s refusing to take responsibility for his scandalous choice of costume.

    3. Prince Williams hair loss was alarming and his resemblance to their mother, the late Princess Diana, had completely faded.

    In a section discussing meeting his family at Prince Phillip’s funeral, Prince Harry recalls realizing that his elder brother’s ressemblance to their mother had completely faded with time. As he writes
    “I looked at Willy, really looked at him, perhaps for the first time since we were little,” Harry recalls, referring to his brother’s “familiar scowl” that “had always been the norm” during their interactions.

    In another section of the book, he wrote how alarmed he was by the way his brother William’s hair was fading, even though the Duke of Wales was only three years older than him.

    4. Both Prince Harry and Prince Williams had begged their father, Prince Charles, not to marry ‘wicked step mother Camila’.

    Writing about his father’s marriage to longtime lover Camila Parker-Bowles, with whom he was involved in an affair while married to Princess Diana, Harry writes that he and his brother had begged their father not to proceed with the wedding.

    “Despite Willy and me urging him not to, Pa was going ahead. We pumped his hand, wished him well. No hard feelings.
    We recognized that he was finally going to be with the woman he loved, the woman he’d always loved.”

    He also writes about his relationship with his stepmother, saying that he was always suspicous about her becoming another wicked stepmother

    “I remember wondering … if she would be cruel to me; if she would be like all the evil stepmothers in the stories. Willy had been suspicious of the Other Woman for a long time, which confused and tormented him. When those suspicions were confirmed, he felt agonizing remorse for not having done or said anything before.”

    5. What had actually happened regarding the infamous ‘Meghan had made Kate cry’ revelation

    Prince Harry opened up about Meghan’s revelation that it was Kate who had made her cry at the Sussex’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, after it was widely reported that it was Markle who had made Kate cry during the preparations for the wedding.

    He wrote in the biography that during the preparation of the wedding, the now Princess of Wales had texted Markle about needing altercations to the younger Princess Charlotte’s dress, saying it was too big, too long and baggy because of which the young one began crying. She had also added that all of the younger bridesmaid’s dresses had to be remade, with only four days left for the wedding.

    When the Duchess of Sussex had agreed to visit the tailor along with Kate and her daughter Charlotte, Harry writes that he later found Meghan in tears on the floor after their meeting. The next day, Kate had sent flowers with a card apologizing for what she had said.

    ‘Spare’ will be released in bookstores worldwide from 10th January onwards.

  • ‘I will not do it’: Punjab CM refuses to take vote of confidence

    ‘I will not do it’: Punjab CM refuses to take vote of confidence

    Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi Thursday ruled out following Governor Baligh-ur-Rehman’s orders for taking a vote of confidence and termed the directions “illegal”.

    “I don’t accept the governor’s letter for the vote of confidence. If I take the vote of confidence, then it means that I am accepting the letter,” he told the media.

    “The governor wants me to follow his illegal order, but I will not do it,” the chief minister said, as the ruling coalition in Punjab scrambles to ensure he maintains his seat.

    Lahore High Court (LHC) reinstated Elahi as CM Punjab following his de-notification by the governor.

    The court reinstated Elahi on December 23 and adjourned the next hearing till January 11. Although it restricted the CM from dissolving the assembly, the court said its order would not stop Elahi from taking a vote of confidence.

    It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry had told media on January 4, that the ruling coalition would go for a vote of confidence before January 11, the day when an LHC bench resumes hearing into a petition by Pervaiz Elahi challenging the governor’s move.

  • Govt launches paid internship programme to support 30,000 unemployed graduates

    Govt launches paid internship programme to support 30,000 unemployed graduates

    Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal announced on Thursday that the government is initiating the “Talented Youth Internship Program” for 30,000 graduate students who are unemployed.

    The minister announced the internship would last six months and pay a monthly stipend of Rs25,000 to the youngsters while presiding over a meeting of representatives from the private sector.

    He claimed that because two-thirds of Pakistan’s population is under the age of 30, the future of the nation hinges on the youth acquiring meaningful education and skills.

    According to Ahsan Iqbal, the Ministry of Planning’s primary responsibility is to prepare for the youth’s future, and he said that the private sector and the youth’s active participation are essential for Pakistan’s growth.

    He claimed that with this scheme, 30,000 young people would have the chance to work in the industry.

    The minister emphasised the necessity of putting aside differences and cooperating to end the country’s economic problems.

    He said, “When there is a fire in the house, the first thing to do is to extinguish the fire. The economy of a country with a population of 220 million does not sink in 8 months.”

    Every Pakistani, according to him, should contribute to the effort to end the nation’s economic predicament. “Every Pakistani citizen must support the Turnaround Pakistan Campaign.”

  • ‘Used to go to school in the same weather, never complained’ Murad Raas thinks school holidays should not be extended despite smog

    ‘Used to go to school in the same weather, never complained’ Murad Raas thinks school holidays should not be extended despite smog

    Punjab Minister for School Education Murad Raas has criticised the parents, students and teachers who are requesting an extension in school winter holidays.

    “Why are parents/teachers/students wanting more winter holidays? We used to go to school in the same weather and never complained. What is wrong with this generation – no one wants to do anything! Especially study,” the minister wrote in a tweet.

    The School Education Department held a meeting on Thursday in which the participants decided to not extend winter vacations. Education officials indicated that it would not be advantageous to extend the holidays because of upcoming examination schedules and declared that the schools will reopen on January 9.
    Lahore and parts of central Punjab are in the grip of intense smog, with reduced visibility in the early hours of the morning.

  • Netflix drops teaser for second season of ‘Wednesday’

    Netflix drops teaser for second season of ‘Wednesday’

    Netflix dropped a teaser on their social media pages for the second season of its surprise November smash hit Wednesday. It features the titular teenager typing on a typewriter in her room. The girl is seen writing ‘THE END?” and then smirks to herself at the end of the video.

    Wednesday’s season two has been the subject of much speculation recently with some news sources claiming that the show was moving to Amazon for its second season. The specualtion was fulled by Netflix not imemdiately announcing that the show was being renewed for a second season.

    The Addams Family spin-off was created by Alfred Gough and Miles Miller, and directed by Tim Burton.

    It stars Jenna Ortega, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzman, Gwendoline Christine, and Christina Ricci, who starred as Wednesday in the 90’s movie.

  • Zaheer Ahmed child marriage case: Court give temporary custody of girl to parents

    Zaheer Ahmed child marriage case: Court give temporary custody of girl to parents

    The Sindh High Court (SHC) has given temporary custody of the Karachi girl who was allegedly abducted last year to her parents. The case was heard on the request of the girl’s mother and father.

    However, SHC reminded the mother of the girl that she and her husband have a huge responsibility.

    “Alhumdulillah after a 7 month long battle today the victim child is finally going home. She unequivocally informed Honourable High Court that she wants to reside with her parents. There are many lessons to be learnt from this case & reforms are needed to curb child marriages,” Lawyer Jibran Nasir wrote in a tweet.

    “I would like to thank respectable Advocates Nabeel Kolachi, Ahmed Ali Hussain, Amna Usman, Ahmed Sher Jutt, Fahad Ahmed Siddiqi, Zaheer Hussain and Rafique Ahmed who all provided their services pro bono to ensure safe recovery and return of the child for sake of justice, the tweet added.

    The 15-year-old minor was allegedly kidnapped from Karachi. She later married 21-year-old Zaheer Ahmed in Lahore. A case was registered against Zaheer and his brother Shabbir for orchestrating the marriage of a minor.

  • Pakistan’s biggest tractor manufacturer announces to shut down operations

    Pakistan’s biggest tractor manufacturer announces to shut down operations

    The biggest manufacturer of agricultural machinery in Pakistan, Millat Tractors Limited, has stated that it will cease operations starting on January 6 and continuing till further notice, citing weak demand and cash flow issues.

    Details indicate that Millat Tractors, a producer of agricultural machinery and tractors, informed the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) of the situation in a letter.

    “Due to continuing reduced demand for tractors and cash flow constraints, the company will remain closed from Friday, January 6, 2023, till further notice,” the statement added.

    The development occurred as a number of other businesses recently declared a shutdown or reduction in operations in Pakistan due to a decline in demand, a scarcity of inventory, or issues with the supply chain.

    The federal government’s import restrictions forced KSB Pumps Company Limited (KSBP) to close its production facility in Pakistan earlier on January 3.

    Due to the import ban, KSB announced that operations at its Hasanabdal factory would be temporarily suspended beginning January 2, 2023. The company also informed the Pakistan Stock Exchange of their decision.

  • Sindh high Court directs PTA, FIA to remove offensive content regarding Kubra Khan

    Sindh high Court directs PTA, FIA to remove offensive content regarding Kubra Khan

    Actor Kubra Khan announced on her social media page on Thursday that she was officially filing a case against Adil Farooq Raja, who runs the twitter and Youtube account @soliderspeaks. In her post, Khan revealed that these past four days were incredibly difficult for her and her family, after she suffered from ferocious bullying and watched her pictures being used inappropriately.

    The actress further elaborated that she was exercising her constitutional rights as a Pakistani and relying on the law to protect her own dignity, as well as other hard working, independent women who were facing the same slander. Here is her full statement:

    “The past four days.. have been so difficult for me and my family that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to explain in words. I couldn’t wrap my head around as to why anyone would do this to me.. even after it was clarified that my name or initials were misinterpreted why was I still getting bullied so ferociously. Even before I reacted.. why were my pictures being used in such a inappropriate manner.. and then I realized.. because no one’s ever put a stop to it. Because we’re so used to being quiet. Until this story die, another arises to do the same damage just because we didn’t speak up. But enough is enough
    So This is me, exercising my constitutional rights as a Pakistani and relying on our law to protect my dignity and this is me saying what I want to say for all the hard working independent woman out there who are insulted daily. I’m not gonna stand here and say I stood up for every woman out there but I will say that I stood up so that from now on if a situation like this arises, every woman and man out there knows that standing up for yourself is your RIGHT!

    So now.. I leave it in your hands, Our law Implementors and God’s Hands. I rest my case.”

    The actress had also posted a picture of the order of Sindh High Court to PTA and FIA to remove the offensive content and pictures related to Khan.

    On her Instagram account, other Lollywood actors like Usman Mukhtar, who had previously worked with Khan in Hum Kahan Kay Sachay Thay, and celebrities like Osman Khalid Butt, Yumna Ziadi and Aima Baig sent their love and support to the actress.