Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: The Zimbabwe cricket team, led by captain Sikandar Raza, landed in Pakistan in the wee hours of Thursday to participate in the tri-nation T20I series, also involving Sri Lanka. <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1988735240593109441&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=b92516205a51e2b273fd55920d63a55500dd35e7&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 769px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced a revised schedule for the tri-series, which will now start on Nov. 18 and be played entirely at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The series was earlier scheduled to start on Nov. 17, with matches being played in Lahore and Rawalpindi. <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1988806422612832431&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=b92516205a51e2b273fd55920d63a55500dd35e7&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 714px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div> According to the revised schedule, the opening game of the tri-series will be played between Pakistan and Zimbabwe on Tuesday, Nov. 18. Each team will play four matches, with the top two sides qualifying for the final scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 29.&nbsp;Tri-series schedule:November 18 &ndash; Pakistan v ZimbabweNovember 20 &ndash; Sri Lanka v ZimbabweNovember 22 &ndash; Pakistan v Sri LankaNovember 23 &ndash; Pakistan v ZimbabweNovember 25 &ndash; Sri Lanka v ZimbabweNovember 27 &ndash; Pakistan v Sri LankaNovember 29 &ndash; Final

Cricket

Pakistan Cricket Board says the tri-nation T20I series will now start on Nov. 18 and be played entirely at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

Zimbabwe cricket team lands in Pakistan; tri-series to continue with revised schedule

ISLAMABAD: An Indian news channel, News9 Live, has apologized for wrongfully releasing a Muslim Kerala doctor&rsquo;s picture as a suspect in the November 10 Delhi blast. Although several news outlets carried the picture, only one channel aired an apology. The blast in the Indian capital killed at least eight people, and 19 others were injured when flames ripped through several vehicles, according to AFP. An Indian fact-checking website, Alt News, reported that various Indian media outlets misidentified the accused, Dr Mohammad Arif, and shared the image of his namesake, who had no connection with the incident. Dr Arif Mohammed, whose photograph was used by news channels, is a resident of Kerala. Journalist Mohammed Zubair, who is co-founder of the fact-checking website, in a social media post, stated: &ldquo;Several channels including Aaj Tak, Times Now, ABP &amp; Republic shared a photo they claimed was of the arrested suspect in the Delhi blasts.&rdquo; &ldquo;The picture, however, was actually of Dr. Mohammed Arif from Kerala, who is completely unrelated to the incident,&rdquo; he added.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 712px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=e30%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1989762220847476914&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=241ff128e006ebdef2d0357f9be287583a102012&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" data-tweet-id="1989762220847476914">&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>News9 Live broadcast a &ldquo;corrigendum&rdquo;, a &ldquo;clarification on wrong image used for Dr Arif Mohammed&rdquo; on its YouTube channel. The statement published long with the YouTube video stated: &ldquo;We sincerely apologise for an inadvertent error in our earlier broadcast. The image used in connection with the terror-suspect Dr Arif Mohammed detained from Kanpur was incorrect.&rdquo; &ldquo;The photo shown was of Dr Arif Mohammed A &mdash; a respected cardiologist from Kerala &mdash; who has no connection whatsoever with the ongoing Delhi terror investigation. We regret the mistake and deeply apologise for any distress caused,&rdquo; it said.<div class="fr-embed youtube-embed"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WNcnUA6sRDo" title="CORRIGENDUM | Clarification on Wrong Image Used for Dr Arif Mohammed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="" style="width: 100%; height: auto; aspect-ratio: 16 / 9; max-width: 100%; display: block;">&nbsp;</iframe>&nbsp;</div>A November 14, 2023, Instagram post on KMCT Group of Institutions, Kerala, carries a profile of Dr Mohammed Arif.<div class="fr-embed instagram-embed" style="width: 50%; display: block; max-width: 600px;"><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/reel/Czp78PhpaER/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=14&wp=675&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com&rp=%2Farticles%2Fnew#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A3281371.800000012%2C%22ls%22%3A5319.5%2C%22le%22%3A12647.100000023842%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="1179" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no" style="background: white; max-width: 540px; width: calc(100% - 2px); border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219); box-shadow: none; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 12px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0px;"></iframe></div>

India

Indian channel News9 Live apologized after wrongly showing a Kerala Muslim cardiologist’s photo as the Delhi blast suspect; multiple outlets misidentified him, corrected by fact-checkers, and News9 issued a public corrigendum acknowledging the error.

Indian media apologizes for portraying Muslim doctor as suspect in Delhi blast 

BEIRUT:&nbsp;The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Israeli soldiers shot at its troops on Sunday in the south of the country, while Israel&#39;s military said it mistook blue helmets for &quot;suspects&quot; and fired warning shots. The Israeli military blamed &quot;poor weather conditions&quot; and said it had not deliberately targeted UN troops. Earlier on Sunday, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement that Israeli forces &quot;fired on UNIFIL peacekeepers from a Merkava tank from near a position Israel has established in Lebanese territory,&quot; adding that heavy machine gun rounds hit about five meters from their personnel. The force said the peacekeepers were able to &quot;leave safely 30 minutes later&quot; after the tank withdrew inside the Israeli position. &lsquo;Poor weather conditions&rsquo;In a statement, the Israeli military said &quot;two suspects were identified&quot; in the El Hamames area of southern Lebanon. &quot;The troops subsequently fired warning shots, and the suspects distanced themselves. No injuries were reported,&quot; it said. &quot;After a review, it was determined that the suspects were UN soldiers who were conducting a patrol in the area and were classified as suspects due to poor weather conditions. &lsquo;Violation&rsquo; of UNSC resolution&nbsp;&quot;No deliberate fire was directed toward UNIFIL soldiers.&quot; UNIFIL has been working with the Lebanese army to consolidate a truce between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah reached last November. It said the incident &quot;represents a serious violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701&quot;, which ended a 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, and also formed the basis of last November&#39;s truce. That ceasefire sought to end more than a year of hostilities between the parties, which broke out after the start of the Gaza war. Under the deal, Israel was to withdraw its forces from south Lebanon, but it has kept them in five areas it deems strategic. &lsquo;Aggressive behavior&rsquo;It has also carried out regular strikes on targets in Lebanon, arguing it is hitting Hezbollah sites and operatives. The Israeli military said the incident was under examination and was being handled through official military liaison channels. Sunday&#39;s incident was not the first in which UNIFIL accused Israel of endangering its troops. &quot;Yet again, we call on the IDF to cease any aggressive behavior and attacks on or near peacekeepers,&quot; the force said. &lsquo;Violating Lebanese sovereignty&rsquo;&nbsp;Lebanon&#39;s army, meanwhile, accused Israel of &quot;violating Lebanese sovereignty, causing instability and obstructing the full deployment of the army in the south&quot;. The army is meant to deploy to the area alongside UNIFIL as part of the ceasefire agreement. It said it was &quot;working, in coordination with friendly countries, to put an end to the continuous violations&quot;.

Middle East

UNIFIL says the incident "represents a serious violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701", which ended a 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, and also formed the basis of last November's truce.

UN peacekeepers say Israeli forces fired on them in southern Lebanon

KATUNAYAKE: Blind women from India and Pakistan brushed aside political tensions on Sunday, shaking hands in neutral Sri Lanka at a cricket tournament for the visually impaired. At what organizers describe as the world&rsquo;s first blind women&rsquo;s T20 tournament, players from the two South Asian neighbours showed they had sporting vision even if they lacked sight -- unlike their regular national teams.&nbsp; Tensions off and on the field have been high since a deadly military clash between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May. India&rsquo;s men refused to shake hands with their Pakistani opponents at the Asia Cup in September, since then neither side has shown signs of making up. That animosity spread to the women&#39;s sides who declined any greeting at the recent T20 World Cup and also to Sunday&#39;s men&#39;s Rising Stars Asia Cup tie in Doha. India&rsquo;s blind players were expected to mirror the conduct of their sighted teams when there was no handshake after the toss, but at the end of the match both sides warmly greeted each other. The two sides, who travelled to the venue together in the same bus, not only shook hands but also exchanged generous compliments. India won by eight wickets in just 10.2 overs after Pakistan were restricted to 135 for eight in their 20 overs at the Free Trade Zone grounds in Katunayake, 30 kilometres (18 miles) north of Colombo. Pakistan skipper Nimra Rafique congratulated India on their comprehensive victory, while her Indian counterpart TC Deepika said Pakistan had played well. The teams applauded one another loudly but neither set of players was permitted to talk to the press. Biggest opportunityThere were hardly any spectators but the match was shown live on Sri Lanka&#39;s national television, Rupavahini. Blind Sri Lankan officials hosting the tournament &ldquo;watched&rdquo; the match on YouTube by listening to the commentary. Indian team manager Shika Shetty told AFP before the match that the tournament was opening up opportunities for more women. &ldquo;This is the first-ever World Cup for blind women... I think this is one of the biggest opportunities for our entire visually impaired girls,&rdquo; said Shetty, who is not blind. &ldquo;Maybe many girls with disabilities will come out from their villages. Maybe they will come for studies, maybe they will come for the sport. So it is helpful for other girls too.&quot; Blind cricket relies on a sharp ear, as players must detect a white plastic ball -- the size of a tennis ball -- filled with ball bearings that rattle as it moves. Pakistan coach Tahir Mehmood Butt, also speaking before the game, said the launch of women&#39;s blind cricket had created new opportunities for young players in Pakistan. &ldquo;For the totally blind, if they have good hearing, they can become good cricketers,&rdquo; Tahir told AFP. Each team must field at least four completely blind players, three who can see up to two metres, and four partially sighted players able to see up to about six metres. Totally blind batters may have a partially sighted runner. Bowling is underarm, unlike in the traditional game. Four other nations - Australia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the US -- are competing in the tournament which began in India and moved to Sri Lanka for the final stages. The final is scheduled for next Sunday in Colombo.

Pakistan's captain Nimra Rafique (3R) shakes hands with India's players

Blind women cricketers from India and Pakistan set aside political tensions at the world’s first blind women’s T20 tournament in Sri Lanka, promoting sportsmanship and opening new opportunities for visually impaired girls across South Asia.

Blind women cricketers from India, Pakistan show spirit with handshakes

ISLAMABAD: The International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) of Bangladesh on Monday convicted and sentenced ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death in the crimes against humanity case over their superior command responsibility for offences committed during the July Mass Uprising, according to state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS). The three-member panel, headed by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, pronounced the judgment as it found them guilty of the charges framed against them.&nbsp; The court also found another accused, former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, guilty, but opted for a &quot;lenient sentence&quot; of five years behind bars for his full disclosure of the events relating to the case as a state witness. The tribunal began pronouncing the judgment at 12:50 pm (local time). &quot;This judgment is 453-page, divided into six parts. We will read out the summary in parts, and I will read the final portion. This will take around 40 minutes,&quot; the tribunal chairman said while reading out the judgment. The three-member ICT-1 panel, headed by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, pronounced the judgment in the crowded courtroom.&nbsp;The first tribunal on November 13 had fixed Monday to pronounce the judgment. Extra security measures were taken in and around the tribunal, with personnel from the Bangladesh Army, BGB, RAB, and police guarding all entrances to the court premises. This is the first case filed with the ICT regarding the state&#39;s crackdown during the July Mass Uprising to reach a verdict, BSS reported.<figure class="fr-media"><img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/4e8bb2bb-b041-4372-a5c9-ca70ac6cf87c-Bangladesh.jpg" alt="Bangladesh.jpg" class="fr-fil fr-dib"><figcaption class="caption-cover-image text-sm text-gray-600 italic">DHAKA: Border Guard Bangladesh personnel stand guard outside the High Court in Dhaka on November 12, 2025. -- Photo by AFP/File</figcaption></figure> Hasina, 78, defied court orders that she return from India to attend her trial about whether she ordered a deadly crackdown against a student-led uprising that ousted her in August 2024, according to AFP. Up to 1,400 deaths &nbsp;The United Nations says up to 1,400 people were killed in crackdowns as Hasina tried to cling to power, deaths that were central to her trial.&quot;Justice will be served according to the law,&quot; chief prosecutor Tajul Islam, earlier told reporters when the verdict date was set last week. Charges against Hasina&nbsp;Prosecutors have filed five charges, including failure to prevent murder, amounting to crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law.According to BSS, the five charges framed against the ousted prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and former inspector general of police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, are as follows: 1. Inciting the crimes through provocative speech: Following Sheikh Hasina&#39;s speech at a press briefing on July 14, 2024, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, former IGP Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, and other senior officials of the then government abetted, assisted and were complicit in launching a severe and coordinated attack on unarmed student protesters. 2. Ordering the extermination of protesters using lethal weapons: Sheikh Hasina is accused of ordering the extermination of student demonstrators through the use of helicopters, drones, and lethal weapons. The then home minister and the then IGP facilitated and implemented this directive by issuing instructions to law enforcement personnel under their command. 3. Killing of BRUR student Abu Sayed: This charge concerns the July 16, 2024, killing of Begum Rokeya University student Abu Sayed, who was shot multiple times at close range in the chest. 4. Chankharpul killings: The shooting and killing of six unarmed protesters in Dhaka&#39;s Chankharpul area on August 5, 2024, has been brought as a separate count of crimes against humanity. 5. Ashulia mass killing: The prosecution also cited the shooting of six student protesters in Ashulia on August 5, 2024 - five of whom were later burned after death, while the sixth was allegedly set on fire while still alive. &#39;Preordained&#39;&nbsp;The trial has heard months of testimony in absentia alleging she ordered mass killings. She has called the trial a &quot;jurisprudential joke&quot;, according to AFP. Her co-accused include former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal -- also a fugitive -- and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who is in custody and has pleaded guilty. Hasina was assigned a state-appointed lawyer for the trial, but she refused to recognize the court&#39;s authority and said she rejected all charges. Hasina said in a written interview with AFP in October that a guilty verdict was &quot;preordained&quot; and that she would &quot;not be surprised when it comes&quot;. High alert&nbsp;Security forces surrounded the court when the verdict date was set on Thursday, with armored vehicles manning checkpoints. Dhaka Municipal Police spokesman Talebur Rahman said the force would be on high alert for Monday&#39;s verdict, with checkpoints at key intersections across the capital. Almost half the city&#39;s 34,000 police would be on duty, he said. Interim interior ministry chief Jahangir Alam Chowdhury told reporters the government was prepared and there was no cause for concern. Crude bombs have been set off across Dhaka this month, mainly petrol bombs hurled at everything from buildings linked to interim leader Muhammad Yunus&#39;s government to buses and Christian sites. Bangladesh&#39;s foreign ministry summoned India&#39;s envoy to Dhaka this month, demanding that New Delhi block the &quot;notorious fugitive&quot; Hasina from talking to journalists and &quot;granting her a platform to spew hatred&quot;. Ruthless bid to maintain power&nbsp;She said in October she &quot;mourned all the lives lost during the terrible days&quot; when students were gunned down in the streets. Her comments enraged many who said she had made a ruthless bid to maintain power at all costs. Hasina also warned that the ban on her former ruling party, the Awami League, by the interim government was deepening the political crisis in the country of 170 million people before the elections.

In this handout photograph taken and released on July 25, 2024 by Bangladesh Prime Minister's Office, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addresses the media at a vandalized metro station in Mirpur, after the anti-quota protests. -- Photo by AFP/File

Bangladesh

The three-member ICT-1 panel, headed by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, pronounced the judgment in the crowded courtroom; the first tribunal on November 13 had fixed Monday to pronounce the judgment; extra security measures were taken in and around the tribunal.

Bangladesh court sentences ex-PM Hasina to death for crimes against humanity

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Sunday he backed lawmakers&#39; efforts to release more files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, despite previous opposition to the measure. &quot;House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide,&quot; Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. <div class="fr-embed"><iframe src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115562626931599548/embed" class="truthsocial-embed" style="max-width: 100%; border: 0;" width="600" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen">&nbsp;</iframe></div> The 79-year-old Republican has accused Democrats of pushing an &quot;Epstein hoax&quot; after emails emerged in which the disgraced financier suggested Trump &quot;knew about the girls.&quot; Some critics have accused Trump of trying to conceal details about his own alleged wrongdoing -- something the president denies -- by looking to block the vote. The issue has divided his typically loyal Republican party and driven a rift between Trump and some of his closest allies within his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement. Over the weekend, Trump withdrew his endorsement for Congresswoman and MAGA stalwart Marjorie Taylor Greene&#39;s 2026 re-election bid. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he would hold a vote this week on a bid to force the Justice Department to release the remaining files relating to the Epstein probe. &quot;Some &#39;members&#39; of the Republican Party are being &#39;used,&#39; and we can&#39;t let that happen,&quot; Trump said in his post, in reference to lawmakers who backed a call by Democrats to release the files. Justice Department probe&nbsp;After the longest-ever US government shutdown ended last week, lawmakers in the US House of Representatives released a trove of emails obtained from Epstein&#39;s estate. In one, Epstein wrote that Trump &quot;spent hours&quot; with one of the victims at his house, and another referred to the president as &quot;dirty.&quot; Democrats on the House Oversight Committee said the messages &quot;raise serious questions about Donald Trump and his knowledge of Epstein&#39;s horrific crimes.&quot; After the email trove&#39;s release, Trump demanded Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI investigate links between Epstein and ex-president Bill Clinton, a Democrat, along with former Harvard president Larry Summers, who served as Clinton&#39;s treasury secretary. The order for a probe comes even though the FBI and Justice Department said in a memo in July that they had not uncovered evidence that would justify an investigation of uncharged third parties. With the help of Ghislaine Maxwell, who acted as a recruiter, Epstein brought underage girls to his residences -- notably in New York and Florida -- where they were sexually abused. Before Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial in a pedophile trafficking case, he had been required to register as a sex offender in Florida after pleading guilty in 2008 to solicitation of prostitution, including from a minor. Trump&#39;s conspiracy-minded supporters have been obsessed with the Epstein case for years and have been furious since the FBI and Justice Department said on July 7 that Epstein had killed himself while in jail, did not blackmail any prominent figures and did not keep a &quot;client list.&quot;

Americas

Trump reverses stance, backing House vote to release Jeffrey Epstein files, amid party divisions and past allegations. He urges investigations into Clinton and Summers, denying wrongdoing, following emails linking him to Epstein’s victims.

In reversal, Trump supports House vote to release Epstein files

India&rsquo;s Chief of Defense Staff General Anil Chauhan has publicly criticized domestic defense companies for failing to deliver weapons and equipment on time, warning that their behavior undermines national security. Speaking at the &ldquo;Brainstorm Session&rdquo; in New Delhi, General Chauhan said, &ldquo;Many defense companies have over-promised and failed to deliver what they committed to the Army.&rdquo; He highlighted cases in which firms claimed their equipment was &ldquo;70% made in India,&rdquo; but Army inspections revealed that most components were imported and only assembled domestically. The General emphasized that such delays and misleading claims pose serious risks, stating, &ldquo;Companies must act with honesty rather than merely chasing profits. False claims jeopardize our defense capabilities.&rdquo; He also criticized the domestic defense industry for being uncompetitive internationally and charging excessively high prices. According to General Chauhan, some companies secure contracts without real manufacturing capacity, &ldquo;simply importing foreign equipment, rebranding it, and selling it to the Indian military.&rdquo; Analysts say these comments expose persistent weaknesses in India&rsquo;s defense production system. Despite New Delhi&rsquo;s ambitions to become a global military power and produce everything &ldquo;Made in India,&rdquo; the reality shows weak planning, slow production, and companies struggling to meet their own commitments.

India’s Chief of Defense Staff General Anil Chauhan has called out domestic defense companies for delayed deliveries, exaggerated “Made in India” claims, high costs, and reliance on imported equipment, revealing significant flaws in the country’s defense system.

India’s defense firms criticized for delays, false “Made in India” claims

The UN Security Council is set to vote Monday on a US-drafted resolution bolstering Donald Trump&#39;s Gaza peace plan, especially the deployment of an international force, as Washington warns that a failure to act could lead to renewed fighting. The draft, which has been revised several times as a result of high-stakes negotiations, &quot;endorses&quot; the plan, which allowed for a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to take hold on October 10 in the war-wracked Palestinian territory. The Gaza Strip has been largely reduced to rubble after two years of fighting, sparked by Hamas&#39;s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The latest version of the text, seen by AFP, authorizes the creation of an International Stabilization Force (ISF) that would work with Israel and Egypt and newly trained Palestinian police to help secure border areas and demilitarize the Gaza Strip. The ISF also would work on the &quot;permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups,&quot; protecting civilians and securing humanitarian aid corridors. In addition, it would authorize the formation of a &quot;Board of Peace,&quot; a transitional governing body for Gaza &mdash; which Trump would theoretically chair &mdash; with a mandate running until the end of 2027. Unlike previous drafts, the latest version mentions a possible future Palestinian state. Once the Palestinian Authority has carried out requested reforms and the rebuilding of Gaza is underway, &quot;the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood,&quot; the draft says. That eventuality has been firmly rejected by Israel. &quot;Our opposition to a Palestinian state on any territory has not changed,&quot; Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting on Sunday. The UN Security Council vote is set for 5 pm (2200 GMT) Monday. Russian objections Veto-wielding Russia has circulated a competing draft, saying the US document does not go far enough towards backing the creation of a Palestinian state. Moscow&#39;s text, seen by AFP, asks the Council to express its &quot;unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution.&quot; It does not authorize a Board of Peace or the deployment of an international force for the time being, instead asking UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to offer &quot;options&quot; on those issues. The United States has intensified its campaign to earn support for its resolution, hitting out at &quot;attempts to sow discord&quot; among Council members. &quot;Any refusal to back this resolution is a vote either for the continued reign of Hamas terrorists or for the return to war with Israel, condemning the region and its people to perpetual conflict,&quot; the US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, wrote in The Washington Post. The US has made known that it has the backing of several Arab and Muslim-majority nations, publishing a joint statement of support for the text signed by Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan, and Turkey. Several diplomats told AFP that despite Russian criticism and hesitance on the part of other member states, they expect the US draft to be adopted. &quot;The Russians know that while a lot of Council members will go along with the US plans, they share concerns about the substance of the US text and the way Washington has tried to fast-track it through New York,&quot; Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group told AFP. He, however, said he doubts that Moscow will use its veto on a resolution backed by Arab nations. &quot;I think it is more likely that China and Russia will abstain, register their skepticism about the plan and then sit back and watch the US struggle to put it into action,&quot; Gowan said.

The draft "endorses" Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan; authorizes the creation of an International Stabilization Force that would work with Israel and Egypt and newly trained Palestinian police to help secure border areas and demilitarize the Gaza Strip.

UN Security Council set to vote on international force for Gaza

Saima Ayub

After years in classrooms, offices, and parent meetings, I have learned one truth: multitasking destroys children&rsquo;s focus. Their minds are delicate, like quiet rooms that need peace to stay bright. Yet today, those rooms are rarely quiet anymore. Almost every day, I hear the same concern from parents. They walk into their child&rsquo;s room and see a familiar scene: homework on the table, a YouTube video playing beside it, the phone buzzing every few minutes, a game notification flashing like a small firecracker. Sometimes the TV hums in the background. The child insists, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m studying.&rdquo; And in a way, they believe they are. This chaos has become normal. We adults call it multitasking, Children call it life, But the brain has its own opinion and it disagrees with both. What I Have Seen in ChildrenChildren today remind me of runners told to stop every few seconds. Start. Stop. Start again. No matter how strong the runner is, eventually they collapse. Their energy leaks away in little drops. One boy in Grade 6 once told me during a break, &ldquo;Ma&rsquo;am, I sit to study, but then my mind starts itching for my phone. I check one message and suddenly it is 40 minutes later.&rdquo; He said it with embarrassment, as if he were confessing a crime. But it wasn&rsquo;t a crime, it was a symptom. Inside the Mind: A Simple PictureImagine a chalkboard. You write on it, wipe it off. Some dust remains. You write again, erase again soon the board becomes smudged, unclear, hard to read. That is what happens to a child&rsquo;s mind when they switch from homework to notifications, from reading to reels, from solving to scrolling. The brain does not leap; it limps from one task to another, carrying the dust of the previous one. I have seen children stare at a single paragraph for ten minutes not because they don&rsquo;t understand, but because part of their mind is still sitting inside a TikTok video they watched two minutes earlier. Why Children Struggle More Than AdultsPeople say, &ldquo;This generation is smarter. They can handle screens.&rdquo; It sounds comfortable, but it is wrong. The part of the brain that controls focus the prefrontal cortex matures slowly. It doesn&rsquo;t fully grow until the mid-20s. Expecting a 12-year-old to &ldquo;just ignore the phone&rdquo; is like asking a bicycle to outrun a car. Children are more vulnerable to distraction. They fall faster, and they fall harder. A teenage girl once told me, &ldquo;Miss, I don&rsquo;t even enjoy scrolling anymore, but my brain doesn&rsquo;t let me stop.&rdquo; Her voice cracked not from wanting more, but from losing control. What This Looks Like at HomeParents often tell me, &ldquo;My child sits with books for hours but learns nothing.&rdquo; One mother described her son doing math homework with cartoons playing behind him. He kept saying, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not watching.&rdquo; But his eyes blinked every time the sound changed. His brain was listening. A task that should take one hour now takes three. In the end, the child feels slow, frustrated, and strangely exhausted. The Greater CostBeyond grades, something deeper is weakening the child&rsquo;s ability to sit with a thought. Children jump from idea to idea like stones skimming over a lake, never sinking long enough to see what lies beneath. This constant half-awareness is linked to anxiety, poor sleep, and a fading emotional connection with family. One father told me, &ldquo;My son sits with us, but he lives somewhere else inside his screen.&rdquo; What We Can DoProtecting single tasks is essential: short, 25-minute focus sessions can help rebuild a child&rsquo;s ability to sit still. This works best when the phone is removed entirely from the study area, because even a silent phone lying face down weakens focus.&nbsp; Just as important is showing children what real attention looks like when we scroll while they talk, they learn distraction, but when we listen fully, they learn presence. Some children say they need background noise. Soft instrumental music is fine. But screens, lyrics, and videos always take more than they give. Multitasking feels modern, but its cost is ancient:a child who cannot think deeply loses clarity, creativity, and confidence. If we protect their focus now, we return to them the one thing every growing mind needs a quiet inner room where ideas can bloom.

Articles

After years in classrooms, offices, and parent meetings, I have learned one truth: multitasking destroys children’s focus. Their minds are delicate, like quiet rooms that need peace to stay bright. Yet today, those rooms are rarely quiet anymore.


How multitasking is quietly harming children’s minds

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump suggested on Sunday that future talks with Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro could be on the table, as a regional US military buildup has whipped up tensions between the nations. The US president spoke after Washington further upped the ante by announcing plans to designate as a terrorist group a cartel that it claims Maduro runs. &quot;We may be having some discussions with Maduro, and we&#39;ll see how that turns out,&quot; Trump told reporters in Florida, adding: &quot;They would like to talk.&quot; Pressed for more details, he replied: &quot;Venezuela would like to talk. What does it mean? You tell me, I don&#39;t know... I&#39;d talk to anybody.&quot; Earlier Sunday, the US State Department said it would classify Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns) &mdash; which it claims is headed by Maduro &mdash; as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). &quot;Cartel de los Soles, by and with other designated FTOs, including Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel, are responsible for terrorist violence throughout our hemisphere as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe,&quot; Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. The designation, effective from November 24, follows a huge US military mobilization in the Caribbean which Washington states is necessary to prevent drug smuggling into the United States. But Caracas claims it is really a ploy to overthrow its leftist President Maduro, who the United States considers an illegitimate leader and a drug lord &mdash; a charge that he denies. Deadly US strikes Rubio reiterated an established US stance on Sunday that Cartel de los Soles is led by Maduro and other high-ranking officials &quot;who have corrupted Venezuela&#39;s military, intelligence, legislature, and judiciary.&quot; &quot;Neither Maduro nor his cronies represent Venezuela&#39;s legitimate government,&quot; he added. The US Treasury in July announced sanctions against Cartel de los Soles after it was classified as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity for allegedly providing &quot;material support&quot; to other Latin American crime groups. Rubio also said on Sunday the United States &quot;will continue using all available tools to protect our national security interests and deny funding and resources to narco-terrorists.&quot; Since launching the anti-trafficking military campaign in September, US forces have killed at least 83 people accused of ferrying drugs in international waters, according to an AFP tally of publicly released figures. The United States has released no details to back up its claims that the people targeted &mdash; in both the Caribbean and eastern Pacific &mdash; in the more than 20 strikes were actually traffickers. Experts say the deaths amount to extrajudicial killings even if they target known traffickers. The US military also on Sunday confirmed the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier was now in the Caribbean Sea for the anti-smuggling campaign &mdash; dubbed &quot;Operation Southern Spear&quot; &mdash; along with two guided-missile destroyers and other support vessels and aircraft. The arrival announcement came a day after the latest US strike in the eastern Pacific, which killed three people.

US president’s comments come after Washington upped the ante by announcing plans to designate as a terrorist group a cartel that it claims Maduro runs.

Trump signals possible US talks with Venezuela's Maduro

LONDON: Britain&#39;s interior minister on Sunday defended plans to drastically reduce protections for refugees and end automatic benefits for asylum seekers, insisting that irregular migration was &quot;tearing our country apart.&quot; The measures, modelled on Denmark&#39;s strict asylum system, aim to stop thousands of migrants from arriving in England from northern France on small boats &mdash; crossings that are fueling support for the anti-immigrant Reform UK party. But the proposals are widely seen as an attempt to counter a hard-right surge in popularity.&nbsp; They are likely to be opposed by left-wing lawmakers within Prime Minister Keir Starmer&#39;s embattled Labor government and the Refugee Council charity has already branded them &quot;harsh and unnecessary.&quot; The center-right opposition Conservatives also criticized the measures, their home affairs spokesman Chris Philp saying the government was just &quot;tinkering with the edges.&quot; Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood hit back, telling BBC television she rejected the idea that the proposals meant Labor was &quot;engaging in far-right talking points. &quot;This is a moral mission for me, because I can see illegal migration is tearing our country apart, it is dividing communities,&quot; she said. &#39;Block endless appeals&#39;Presently, those given refugee status have it for five years, after which they can apply for indefinite leave to remain and eventually citizenship. Mahmood&#39;s ministry, the Home Office, said it would cut the length of refugee status to 30 months. That protection will be &quot;regularly reviewed,&quot; and refugees will be forced to return to their home countries once they are deemed safe, it added. The ministry said it now intended to make people granted asylum wait 20 years before applying to be allowed to live in the United Kingdom indefinitely. It said the reforms would make it less attractive for irregular migrants to come to Britain, and make it easier to remove those already in the country. Mahmood&#39;s reforms will also include new legislation to make it harder for irregular migrants and foreign criminals to use the European Convention on Human Rights to stop deportation, the Home Office announced late Sunday. In a statement, Starmer said the reforms would &quot;block endless appeals, stop last-minute claims and scale up removals of those with no right to be here.&quot; Asylum claims in Britain are at a record high, with around 111,000 applications made in the year to June 2025, according to official figures. Benefits crackdown A statutory legal duty to provide support to asylum seekers, introduced in a 2005 law, will also be revoked, the Home Office said. That means housing and weekly financial allowances will no longer be guaranteed for asylum seekers. It will become &quot;discretionary,&quot; meaning the government could deny assistance to any asylum seeker who could work or support themselves but did not, or those who committed crimes. More than 39,000 people, many fleeing conflict, have arrived on small boats this year &mdash; more than for the whole of 2024 but lower than the record set in 2022, when the Conservatives were in power. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot welcomed the proposals, saying asylum seekers risked their lives crossing the Channel because the conditions they get in Britain &quot;are more permissive.&quot; &quot;We told the UK it was necessary to align certain conditions they give arriving immigrants with European standards,&quot; he said. However, Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, urged the government to reconsider, warning that the plans &quot;will not deter&quot; crossings. &quot;They should ensure that refugees who work hard and contribute to Britain can build secure, settled lives and give back to their communities,&quot; he said. The Danish model Labor is taking inspiration from Denmark&#39;s coalition government &mdash; led by the center-left Social Democrats &mdash; which has implemented some of the strictest migration policies in Europe. Senior British officials recently visited the Scandinavian country, where successful asylum claims are at a 40-year-low. Refugees in Denmark are entitled to a one-year renewable residency permit, and are encouraged to return as soon as authorities deem their countries are safe. Family reunions are also subject to strict requirements, including a minimum age for both parents, language tests and guarantees of funds. Labor has trailed Reform, led by firebrand Nigel Farage, in opinion polls for most of this year but it&rsquo;s tougher stance on immigration risks losing voters to progressive alternatives such as the Greens.

Europe

Measures, modelled on Denmark's strict asylum system, aim to stop thousands of migrants from arriving in England from northern France on small boats; proposals widely seen as an attempt to counter a hard-right surge in popularity. 

Zimbabwe cricket team lands in Pakistan; tri-series to continue with revised schedule

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