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  • Pakistan vs Zimbabwe: PCB announces ODI squad

    Pakistan vs Zimbabwe: PCB announces ODI squad

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced a 15-member squad for Pakistan vs Zimbabwe One Day Internationals (ODI).

    The list includes Imam ul Haq, Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (c), Haris Sohail, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Faheem Ashraf, Imad Wasim, Usman Qadir, Wahab Riaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Musa Khan.

    Meanwhile, the expected ODI Squad of Zimbabwe will be Chamu Chibhaba (c), Ryan Burl, Brian Chari, Tendai Chatara, Elton Chigumbura, Tendai Chisoro, Craig Ervine, Faraz Akram, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, Wesley Madhevere, Wellington Masakadza, Carl Mumba, Richmond Mutumbami, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Milton Shumba, Sikandar Raza, Brendan Taylor, Donald Tripiano, and Sean Williams.

    The ODI series against Zimbabwe also marks the beginning of Babar Azam’s reign as the skipper, having appointed by the PCB in May. The men in green will start as overwhelming favorites since not only they are playing on their soil but also the lopsided head to head record. Of the 17 ODIs played between them, the men in green have won 13 of them while one resulted in a tie.

    Read more – ‘Azhar Ali’s captaincy to be reviewed’

    On the other hand, Pakistan’s newly-appointed limited-overs vice-captain Shadab Khan has reportedly been ruled out of the first ODI against Zimbabwe due to fitness issues. According to Geo News, Shadab was feeling discomfort and pain at the upper side of the thigh which restricted his movement.

    “This is not hamstring injury but muscle problems at the upper portion of the thigh. He could not attend the practice session on Tuesday as he was feeling pain and discomfort,” the official told the publication.

    Pakistan will play three ODIs with Zimbabwe and it would be the hosts’ first ODI since October 2019 when they square off against Sri Lanka in Karachi. Zimbabwe last visited the country back in 2015 when they played white-ball games.

    First ODI will be played in Rawalpindi on October 30, 2020, while the second ODI will be played on Sunday November 1 and last will be played on November 3.

  • ‘Corona se darna nahi, larrna hai’ declared un-Islamic as top religious body says virus is Allah’s will

    ‘Corona se darna nahi, larrna hai’ declared un-Islamic as top religious body says virus is Allah’s will

    The popular anti-coronavirus slogan “Corona se darna nahi, larna hai [we have to fight, not fear corona]” has been declared un-Islamic by the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) that says the virus outbreak is Allah’s will.

    According to Dawn, the Lahore High Court (LHC), while hearing a petition filed by a lawyer against the use of these words in national print and electronic media and official sources of communication, was on Wednesday informed that the top religious body has advised the government against using the slogan.

    The petitioner-lawyer, Salman Idrees, had argued that no one could fight against God’s will but the national media and government communication sources had been using “un-Islamic” and “immoral” words challenging the supremacy of God. He asked the court to ban the use of the words “corona se darna nahi, larrna hai”.

    In the last hearing, LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan had directed the CII to give its opinion on the choice of words in the anti-COVID-19 slogan.

    On Wednesday, a government lawyer informed the court that the CII after considering the slogan had stopped the government from using it.

    The council had advised the government to refer the matter to the federal cabinet to come up with a new anti-virus slogan, Deputy Attorney General Asad Ali Bajwa said.

    An official at the CII told the English daily that the reason the council had opposed the slogan was that in its view, humans could not fight God’s will and the term “fighting corona” should be replaced with “protecting against corona”.

    The hearing has been adjourned until next week.

  • COVID-19: Shopping malls, restaurants, shops & marriage halls to close by 10 pm

    COVID-19: Shopping malls, restaurants, shops & marriage halls to close by 10 pm

    The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has announced new coronavirus restrictions for cities and districts where COVID-19 cases have increased.

    According to a notification issued by the NCOC, all shopping malls, restaurants, shops and marriage halls are to shut by 10 pm from Thursday. The authority also directed public parks and recreational spots to be closed by 6 pm from Thursday.

    The cities where there restrictions have been imposed include Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Hyderabad, Gilgit, Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Peshawar and Quetta.

    Meanwhile, the NCOC has also made it mandatory to wear face masks in confined spaces (indoors, public transport, outdoor crowded settings like markets and bus stands, railway stations, etc) and ordered the provincial governments to take strict actions against violators. The government has also said that those violating the order will be fined Rs6,000 to Rs35,000 and punishment of six-month imprisonment.

    NCOC Chairman Asad Umar also appealed to the people to take the virus seriously and follows the SOPs.

    It has emerged that a rise in coronavirus cases was recorded up to 80 percent in eleven major cities including Karachi, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Quetta, Multan, Hyderabad, Gilgit and Muzaffarabad.

    Pakistan has reported 331,108 coronavirus cases so far with with 3.08% positivity rate.

  • Top Islamic council allows construction of Hindu temple in Islamabad

    Top Islamic council allows construction of Hindu temple in Islamabad

    The Council of Islamic Ideology, a top constitutional body responsible for giving legal advice on Islamic issues to the government, has ruled that there were no constitutional or sharia constraints against constructing a Hindu temple in Islamabad or any other place in the country.

    The CII, in a meeting on Wednesday, also allowed the government to hand over the temple site as well as its adjoining Dharamshala (community centre) in Saidpur village of Islamabad to the Hindu community “so that it can offer religious rites as per their beliefs”.

    However, briefing media about the recommendations of the three-day CII meeting, council chairman Dr Qibla Ayaz said that there was no tradition of constructing places of worship with public money so the Hindu temple could not be constructed with public money.

    The CII recommended to the government to establish a ‘special welfare fund’ for minorities which they can utilise without any outside hindrance.

    The constitution provides right to all citizens to practice their religion freely and perform last rituals of members of their community in accordance with their religious belief, it said.

    The Hindu community was allowed to perform last rituals of a deceased person in shamshan ghat (a mortuary where corpses are cremated).

    The CII contended that the Hindu community was allowed to construct a community centre to perform their religious rituals and marriage ceremonies and there was no harm in it as per the sharia.

  • Pakistani makeup artist recreates Halime Sultan’s look

    Pakistani makeup artist recreates Halime Sultan’s look

    Pakistani celebrity makeup artist, Shoaib Khan has been taking Instagram by storm recently with his incredibly mind-blowing transformations. In his most recent transformation, Khan recreated the look of Halime Sultan, a character played by Esra Bilgiç in the popular Turkish series Diriliş: Ertuğrul.

    Khan posted the pictures on his Instagram handle with the caption:” A woman so strong who can be gentle, so simple who can be beautiful, so high in a character who can be humble, so fierce, she can be compassionate, so passionate who can be rational and so disciplined yet so free. Such is an inspiring character of Halima Sultan whom I paying this tribute today!”

    This is not the first time Khan has wowed everyone with his incredible makeup skills by recreating a character’s look. Earlier, he honoured acid attack victims by recreating Deepika Padukone’s character from the film Chhappak.

    The artist has also recreated Joker, Angelina Jolie from Maleficient and the iconic Madam Noor Jahan look.

  • English Football League to now be called Papa John’s Trophy

    English Football League to now be called Papa John’s Trophy

    The English Football League (EFL) Championship and Papa John’s have announced a three-year deal that will see the United Kingdom (UK) pizza takeaway company become the official title sponsor of the EFL Trophy.

    EFL Championship is the highest division of the English Football League and second-highest overall in the English football league system after the Premier League. The league is contested by 24 clubs.

    The exclusive partnership, which will run until at least the end of the 2022/23 season, sees the competition, become known as the ‘Papa John’s Trophy’ with immediate effect.  In addition to the title sponsorship, Papa John’s will also be the official pizza of the EFL.

    The EFL has a unique reach into communities, offering local activation on a national scale with clubs spanning every corner of the country from Colchester to Carlisle and Plymouth to Sunderland, often sharing locality with at least one of Papa John’s 450 branches. 

    EFL Chief Commercial Officer, Ben Wright, said the EFL is delighted to welcome Papa John’s as title sponsor of the EFL Trophy and a new addition to the league’s portfolio of partners.

    “As we continue to navigate through the challenging times that the coronavirus pandemic presents, it is testament to the growing appeal of the EFL that we are able to attract new partners and invest the sponsorship fee into the competition through payments to clubs, which is important during this difficult period.  

    “We look forward to working with Papa John’s over the next three years to build on the success of the competition and create Papa John’s Trophy moments for us all to celebrate.”

    Commenting on the launch, Papa John’s UK Marketing Director, Giles Codd said, “We’re very excited to be named title sponsors of the EFL Trophy. It’s a real honour to be able to support EFL clubs in what is undoubtedly a tough time for everyone involved.

    “It’s always been our goal to serve the best ingredients for the most memorable occasions so we’re incredibly proud to be supporting such a great football competition.”

    Supporters will see Papa John’s feature for the first time in the buildup to the next round of EFL Trophy group stage matches, which will take place on November 10-11, with opportunities to win match passes, signed merchandise and exclusive discounts off orders.  The competition concludes with a showpiece Wembley Final on March 14, one of five EFL Finals held at the national stadium every season.

    The competition was sponsored by car leasing company Leasing.com last season

  • Imran gets clean chit in PTV, Parliament House attack case

    Imran gets clean chit in PTV, Parliament House attack case

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has been acquitted by an Islamabad anti-terrorism court (ATC) in a case pertaining to an attack on Parliament House in 2014.

    The verdict announced by ATC judge Raja Jawad Abbas Hassan absolved the prime minister of all the charges filed against him by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government. The court said it would indict Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Pervaiz Khattak, Shafqat Mahmood at the next hearing on Nov 21.

    The court had on October 26 reserved its verdict on the PM’s acquittal plea in the case. The prime minister through his counsel Babar Awan had pleaded that court to quash the case against him. He had said the prosecution was no longer interested in pursuing the case.

     Awan had maintained that there was no evidence proving the involvement of the prime minister in the case. He had also mentioned that no eyewitness has come forward regarding this.

    In September 2014, hundreds of PTI and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers had attacked parliament premises and the PTV office in Islamabad during the 126-day protest against the then PML-N government.

    During the riot, at least 50 people were injured, including police officer Asmatullah Junejo. Subsequently, the government pressed terror charges against the PTI chairman and PAT chief Dr Tahirul Qadri.

  • New study reveals ‘all messengers are leaking your personal information’

    New study reveals ‘all messengers are leaking your personal information’

    All messaging applications have support for link previews, this feature expands any website links you send or receive in a chat with images and any brief description. A recent study has shown that these previews can leak all your sensitive data, drain your battery and consume bandwidth.

    To preview, you have to visit the link through the app, open the file that’s in there and survey it. This can leave you vulnerable to malware or force an app to download files that are too big, causing it to crash and drain the battery.

    Surprisingly, the list of apps included messengers from Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Line and few others. Some cases of these apps were found with issues such as leaking IP addresses, unnecessarily downloading gigabytes of data in background and exposing links sent in end to end encrypted chats.

    Facebook Messenger and Instagram showed the worst results as they would download a copy of a linked file in its entirety, even if it was gigabytes in size. Most other apps would cap the amount of data anywhere from 15MB to 50MB.

    These findings are quite alarming; your personal information isn’t safe on any online platform. Private messages are not so private.

  • Unmasked model tests positive for COVID-19 days after walking the ramp

    Unmasked model tests positive for COVID-19 days after walking the ramp

    Model Farwa Ali Kazmi tested positive for COVID-19 less than a week after walking the ramp for Hussain Rehar’s solo show in Lahore. According to writer and stylist Haiya Bokhari, the model “frolicked sans mask throughout the event” after assuming it was seasonal flu.

    “Super-spreader event but make it fashion,” wrote Bokhari on Twitter.

    Later it emerged that the model in question was Farwa Kazmi, who announced in an Instagram story that she has tested positive for coronavirus and is in quarantine.

    She also advised people who were in contact with her or husband Ali to quarantine themselves.

    “All those with cough, body aches and headaches but no fever, please get yourself tested. I had delayed it thinking its seasonal cold but it’s not,” added the model.

    Farwa further said that she thinks she got it by “sharing food and cigar with a COVID-positive”.

    The model also shared her quarantine experience.

    Designer Hussain Rehar had organised a solo fashion show in Lahore in which he showcased his traditional wedding-wear. The show was a glamorous event attended by celebrities, critics and socialites.

    According to details, Hussain’s brides, bridegrooms and a colourful entourage of baraatis twirled to the tunes of popular wedding songs and the beats of the shehnai played out by a live wedding band, enacting the events that are inherent to the big fat Pakistani wedding.

  • Early COVID-19 Vaccine ‘likely to be imperfect’: UK Task Force

    Early COVID-19 Vaccine ‘likely to be imperfect’: UK Task Force

    UK Vaccines Taskforce Chair Kate Bingham said on Tuesday that the first generation of COVID-19 vaccines “is likely to be imperfect” and that they “might not work for everyone”.

    “However, we do not know that we will ever have a vaccine at all. It is important to guard against complacency and over-optimism,” Bingham wrote in a piece published in The Lancet medical journal.

    “The first generation of vaccines is likely to be imperfect, and we should be prepared that they might not prevent infection but rather reduce symptoms, and, even then, might not work for everyone or for long,” she added.

    Bingham wrote that the Vaccine Taskforce recognises that “many, and possibly all, of these vaccines could fail”, adding the focus has been on vaccines that are expected to elicit immune responses in the population older than 65 years.

    She said that the global manufacturing capacity for vaccines is vastly insufficient for the billions of doses that are needed and that the United Kingdom’s manufacturing capability to date has been “equally scarce”.

    Earlier on Tuesday, a study by scientists at Imperial College London found that antibodies against the novel coronavirus declined rapidly in the British population during the summer, suggesting protection after infection may not be long-lasting and raising the prospect of waning immunity in the community.

    The Telegraph newspaper reported that the British government is working on the assumption that the second wave of coronavirus will be more deadly than the first.