Pakistan lost to Barbados by 3-1 in the first round of Davis Cup World Group 2. Aisam-ul-Haq and Aqeel Khan lost in the doubles to the Barbadian duo of Darian King and Haydn Lewis.
Barbados’s score was 7-6, 6-7 and 6-2.
After losing in the first round, Pakistan team will now play in the playoffs to stay in Group Two.
Pakistan’s female umpire, Saleema Imtiaz, has been nominated to the International Cricket Council’s( ICC) International Panel of Development Umpires.
After her nomination, Saleema Imtiaz will officiate in women’s bilateral international matches and ICC Women’s events, an important milestone in Pakistan’s cricket history.
Saleema is the first Pakistani woman to receive this honour. After being nominated, she will officiate the T20 home series against South Africa.
She is 52 years old and the mother of Pakistani women cricketer Kainat Imtiaz. She started her umpiring career in 2008 with the PCB Women’s Umpires Panel, and her extensive experience includes umpiring at high-level events under the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).
Her career highlights include the 2022 and 2024 ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup and the 2023 ACC Emerging Women’s Cup Hong Kong. Recently, she was also a member of the playing control team for the ACC Women’s Premier Cup 2024 in Kuala Lumpur.
Pakistani former cricketer Basit Ali has accused Shoaib Malik of match-fixing and slammed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for appointing him as the mentor of Team Stallions for the Champions Cup.
While speaking on his YouTube channel, “If anyone wants proof, I will give it. People who can’t think about the country should not be appointed, and how PCB mentored those who admitted they lost a match on purpose.”
In an interview given to Ramiz Raja, Shoaib Malik admitted to losing a match on purpose.
The former cricketer also criticised Malik for making the young wicket keeper-batsman Muhammad Haris the captain of Stallions instead of Babar Azam. He said, “You can take 10 players like Haris out of Babar Azam’s pocket. Babar should have taken a stand like Umar Akmal or Ahmed Shahzad in these circumstances and refused to play under Haris’ captaincy.”
Babar Azam is part of the stallions, which are participating in the ongoing Champions Cup and playing under Muhammad Haris’s captaincy.
Indian film legend Shabana Azmi has one of the best Urdu dictions in Bollywood. After all, the thespian is the daughter of Urdu poet Kaifi Azmi and the wife of lyricist Javed Akhtar.
She recently made headlines when she corrected the pronunciation of a makeup artist during a fun glam session.
Aafreen makeup artist shared their experience on social media, highlighting Azmi’s gentle correction. Azmi humorously remarked, “Fool nahi hota, phool hota hai,” and added, “Fir nahi, phir hota hai. Kash main tum logo ki Urdu theek kar pati” (It’s not ‘fool’ but ‘phool,’ and not ‘fir’ but ‘phir.’ I wish I could fix your Urdu).
Aafreen from Mumbai expressed admiration for Azmi in a post, calling her the “OG Queen” and writing, “I learned so much from her and am in awe of the knowledge she has to share with us.”
Azmi is often referred to as the “Urdu Queen” for her eloquence.
Rekhta-Foundation, an Indian platform that works to promote Urdu literature and poetry, also shared the video.
A polio worker testified before a Jacobabad court on Friday that she was raped while on duty, after medical reports suggested that the crime potentially did take place.
Jacobabad Deputy Commissioner Zahoor Murri also confirmed that the polio worker was allegedly raped on Wednesday in a nearby village. The DC added that police arrived at the scene of the incident and transferred the victim to a hospital under tight security, where a medicolegal examination was conducted.
A day after the incident, the victim told the media that she was robbed of her phone and valuables. At the same time, she dismissed allegations of sexual assault.
She asserted that when she was returning home after administering polio drops to children at the last house on her list when a man robbed her of her mobile phone and money at gunpoint and escaped. “I was so traumatised and my heart was beating so fast that my team leader immediately took me to Jacobabad Institute of Medical Science,” she had said.
However, on Friday, Jacobabad District and Sessions Judge Syed Sharafuddin Shah presided over a hearing where the victim retracted her old statement and testified that she was sexually assaulted at gunpoint three days ago while she was on duty in the village.
She also appealed to the judge to allow her to go to her parents’ home, whereupon the court ordered the police to escort her there.
A District Health Officer report submitted in the court also suggested that the polio worker “might have been sexually assaulted”.
On the other hand, the court rejected the police report submitted by the local police, observing that it was incomplete. The judge ordered the police to submit a complete report by the next hearing on September 23.
The court ordered the police to submit a “transparent” report “on [the] basis of ocular and medical evidence”.
Additionally, the DHO was ordered to submit five years’ worth of records for the polio worker before the court adjourned until the next hearing on September 23.
After the hearing, the victim’s lawyers held a press conference where they alleged that the police wanted to “spoil the case as they had submitted an incomplete report before the court”.
The lawyers also alleged that the polio worker had been pressured to give a different statement while in police custody, adding that influential people wanted to protect the suspect as he belonged to the powerful Jakhrani clan.
On the other hand, local police stated that they ensured the safety of the victim and confirmed that the polio worker was assaulted but she could not give a statement as she was traumatized by the incident.
Zimbabwe will cull 200 elephants as it faces an unprecedented drought that has led to food shortages while also tackling a ballooning population of the animals, the country’s wildlife authority said Friday.
The country has “more elephants than it needed”, Zimbabwe’s environment minister said in parliament on Wednesday, adding that the government had instructed the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority (ZimParks) to begin the culling process.
The 200 elephants will be hunted in areas where they have clashed with humans, including Hwange, home of Zimbabwe’s largest natural reserve, ZimParks Director General Fulton Mangwanya told AFP.
Zimbabwe is home to an estimated 100,000 elephants and has the second-biggest elephant population in the world after Botswana. Thanks to conservation efforts, Hwange is home to 65,000 of them, more than four times its capacity, according to ZimParks. Zimbabwe last culled elephants in 1988.
Neighbouring Namibia has already killed 160 in a cull of more than 700 elephants to cope with its worst drought in decades.
Zimbabwe and Namibia are among a swathe of countries in southern Africa that have declared a state of emergency because of drought.
However, the move to hunt the animals for food was not welcomed across the board.
“[The] Government must have more sustainable eco-friendly methods to dealing with drought without affecting tourism,” said Farai Maguwu, director of the nonprofit Centre for Natural Resource Governance. “They risk turning away tourists on ethical grounds. The elephants are more profitable alive than dead.”
He added, “We have shown that we are poor custodians of natural resources, and our appetite for ill-gotten wealth knows no bounds, so this must be stopped because it is unethical.”
On the other hand, Chris Brown, a conservationist and CEO of the Namibian Chamber of Environment, said that “elephants have a devastating effect on habitat if they are allowed to increase continually, exponentially”.
“They really damage ecosystems and habitats, and they have a huge impact on other species which are less iconic and therefore matter less in the eyes of the eurocentric, urban armchair conservation people,” he said. “Those species matter as much as elephants. “
Safdar Ali Soomro, a talented artist from Daharki in Ghokti, Sindh, never imagined that his paintings would be featured in the smash hit drama Kabhi Mein Kabhi Tum.
The trending serial has captured the hearts of viewers both in Pakistan and abroad, with its characters and storyline receiving widespread praise.
However, an unexpected twist occurred when artist Safdar Ali Soomro recognized his lost paintings hanging in the background in one of the episodes.
In an exclusive conversation with The Current, Safdar shared the story of his missing artwork. Graduating from the University of Sindh with a focus on fine arts, Safdar created 16 paintings for his thesis, all in blue monochrome, under the theme ‘Innocent Faces.’ These works were displayed at his university’s Benazir Art Gallery, after which he sought exhibitions in Karachi.
“After the display, I took my paintings to Karachi to explore the market. I had already participated in two or three local exhibitions while I was at the university. I saw an ad on Frere Hall’s social media inviting artists to submit their paintings for an exhibition. I submitted my paintings to their Sadeqain Art Gallery, and they made an entry in their book. I might have received a receipt, but I don’t have it anymore.”
Before bringing his paintings to Karachi, he had already showcased his work in a few university exhibitions.
Safdar submitted his paintings to Frere Hall, but to his dismay, he was informed that they had gone missing. Seven years later, in 2024, he was surprised to see his artwork featured in episode 17 of Kabhi Main Kabhi Tum.
“ I want to say that whoever’s paintings they are, they should get the credit. No third party should take credit for my work. I am the owner of those paintings, and I have proofs and my signature on them,” Soomro added.
The Current reached out to Big Bang Productions, who clarified that they had nothing to do with the paintings and only paid rent for the scene shot at Frere Hall. The problem now lies at Frere Hall’s doorsteps, with many questions still unanswered.
Supreme Court Justice Munib Akhtar walked out of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) meeting, which was held to review the JCP Rules 2024 concerning the elevation of judges to the superior judiciary.
The News reported that Justice Akhtar asked Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan about the progress of the government’s intended legislation on superior court judges. AGP Awan responded that he should direct his question to Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and stated that the meeting was not the appropriate forum for such questions.
Following these remarks, Justice Akhtar suggested postponing the meeting but faced disagreement from fellow judges, prompting him to walk out alone. The JCP meeting continued without him.
The commission, led by the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, discussed various clauses of the rules. The meeting was attended by four provincial law ministers and top court judges, including Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, retired Justice Manzoor Malik, and AGP Mansoor Usman Awan.
There has been no official confirmation regarding Justice Munib Akhtar’s departure from the meeting.
Earlier, the commission wrote to the chief justices of the five high courts, requesting nominations for candidates to be elevated as additional judges under the 2024 Rules.
Veteran actor Waseem Abbas is one of the most successful actors to have made a name for himself in TV dramas, films and theater. But it wasn’t always like this.
During an appearance as a guest on Showtime with Ramiz Raja, Abbas shared a story about his film career, revealing that 18 of his films flopped.
Ramiz Raja asked “So your track record in films is also quite something. We’ve heard that out of 19 films, 18 were flops.”
Waseem Abbas replied, “Out of 19, 18 didn’t work. When my film would flop, and I would be sitting in the studio because we had our own production house, I wasn’t cast by my own production house. I used to tell my father, I don’t want to work in this, and he would ask, ‘Why?’ I would reply, ‘Because the film will fail.’ So, when a producer would come to sign me, I would look at his face and think, ‘Why has he come here? I’ve already given 15 flops, and now he’s back again?’ Then, when the film would be released, I’d ask, ‘Why isn’t that guy showing up at the studio?’ and they’d say, ‘He’s left.’”
A minor girl identified as Muskan was allegedly tortured to death in her Baghbanpura home on Shalimar Road in Lahore.
The body of eight-year-old Muskan showed clear signs of torture.
Dawn reports that police took her father and stepmother into custody for interrogation after neighbours claimed they had previously abused the girl over trivial matters.
A police official told Dawn that a next-door neighbour alerted them when they heard the girl crying.
However, when they arrived at the scene, police found the girl with severe wounds all over her body.
She succumbed to the injuries including deep cuts on her neck. Her swollen limbs indicated she had been beaten with a hard object. There were signs of burns on her arms.
Additionally, police cordoned off certain areas of the house for forensic analysis.
Muskan’s father had remarried and the young girl had reportedly occasionally faced brutal treatment from her stepmother, according to the neighbours.
A police investigation is going on to determine the father’s role in the alleged abuse leading to Muskan’s death.
An autopsy report is awaited.