Infinity Social Updates

WHEN good men and women can’t speak the truth, when facts are inconvenient, when integrity and character no longer matter, when ego and self-preservation are more important than national integrity, then there is nothing left to stop the triumph of tyranny. I find myself lost in anger and anguish. The answer for how I can go through this inner convulsion is to put pen to paper for the benefit of all those who should be deeply afraid for the future of our nation. What is at stake in our benighted land? To put it bluntly: collective suicide is actually in progress, with conscious efforts at denial, distortion and deceit by the ruling elite, which is bent upon sowing discord and discontent through their ‘psy-ops’ techniques. This recipe for disaster will lead to the unravelling of our state and society. Erasmus wrote in The Praise of Folly (1509) : “The less talent they have, the more pride, vanity and arrogance they have. All these fools, however, find other fools who applaud them.”...

An Islamabad anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Saturday granted bail to senior journalist Matiullah Jan in a terrorism and narcotics case , that was widely derided as being “bogus” on “trumped up charges” amid demands for his release. Jan was booked in the case on Thursday after reportedly being detained in Islamabad on Wednesday night, with his son alleging “unknown individuals” had abducted the journalist. A day ago, the IHC suspended the anchor’s two-day physical remand that was granted to the police on Thursday, following which the court ordered him to be sent on judicial remand. Jan was presented before ATC judge Tahir Abbas Sipra today, after the anchor’s legal team filed his bail petition. Advocates Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, Hadi Ali Chattha and Attaullah Kundi appeared as Jan’s counsels in the court. During the hearing, Judge Sipra ordered Jan to be sent on judicial remand. While prosecutor Raja Naveed opposed the bail petition, the judge approved it on surety bonds worth ...

More than 122,000 people were forced to leave their homes as massive floods caused by relentless rains swept through Malaysia’s northern states, disaster management officials said on Saturday. The number surpassed the 118,000 evacuated during one of the country’s worst floodings in 2014, and disaster officials feared it could rise further as torrential downpours continued. The death toll remained at four recorded across Kelantan, Terengganu and Sarawak. Kelantan state bore the brunt of the flooding, accounting for 63 per cent of the 122,631 people evacuated, according to data from the National Disaster Management Agency. Nearly 35,000 people were evacuated in Terengganu, with the rest of the displacements reported from seven other states. Heavy rains, which began early this week, continued to hammer Pasir Puteh town in Kelantan, where people could be seen walking through streets inundated with hip-deep waters. “My area has been flooded since Wednesday. The water has already reached...

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelled to Florida on Friday for a dinner with Donald Trump at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago estate, as the incoming US leader promised tariffs on Canadian imports. The unannounced meeting came at the end of a week that has seen Canada as well as Mexico scramble to blunt the impact of Trump’s trade threats, which experts have warned could also hit US consumers hard. A smiling Trudeau was seen exiting a hotel in West Palm Beach before arriving at Mar-a-Lago, making him the latest high-profile guest of Trump, whose impending second term — which starts in January — is already overshadowing the last few months of President Joe Biden’s administration. Flight trackers had first spotted a jet broadcasting the prime minister’s callsign making its way to the southern US state. A Canadian government source later told AFP that the two leaders were dining together. Canadian PM Trudeau exits hotel ahead of a meeting with Trump on November 29, 202...

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday suspended the two-day physical remand of senior journalist Matiullah Jan in a terrorism and narcotics case that was widely derided as being “bogus” on “trumped up charges” amid demands for his release. Jan was booked in the case on Thursday after reportedly being detained in Islamabad on Wednesday night. His son said “unknown individuals” had abducted the journalist, before authorities confirmed filing a first information report (FIR) on Thursday. Later in the day, Jan was presented in the Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) where Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra granted the police Jan’s two-day physical remand, denying their request for a 30-day custody. Today, IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir took up a petition filed by Jan’s counsels in the morning. Advocates Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha appeared before the court today as Jan’s lawyers. In a post on X , Imaan had said she has requested for the p...

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti addresses the protesters in Quetta, on Thursday.—PPI • Terms confidential report on kidnapping satisfactory • Quetta protest postponed for over 10 days upon chief minister’s assurance ISLAMABAD/QUETTA: The Supreme Court’s constitutional bench on Thursday expressed satisfaction after examining a confidential progress report on the abduction of a 10-year-old private school student kidnapped days ago from the Multani Mohalla area of Quetta. Meanwhile, a 14-day protest in Quetta over the child’s abduction was temporarily deferred on Thursday until Dec 10 following a visit by Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti to the protest camp. The five-member bench, headed by Justice Aminud Din Khan, directed authorities to ensure the child’s safety and advised that the case should continue in the Balochistan High Court (BHC), where it is currently pending. Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan had requested an in-camera review ...

Gunmen seized six hostages this month while exchanging fire with troops in India’s northeastern state of Manipur after a rocket-propelled grenade reduced vehicles and homes to charred hulks in the hilly district of Jiribam. Ethnic clashes over land and quotas in education and government jobs have killed at least 258 people and displaced more than 60,000 since last year in the biggest law-and-order failure for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, which rules the state. Retaliatory fire by troops killed at least 10 gunmen in the Nov 11 attack , which authorities blamed on the Hmar group among the ethnic Kuki minority, as a response to the prior burning of their village and the killing of one of their number. “We want peace, but if they attack us, we have to defend ourselves,” said 55-year-old Khuma Hmar, an elder in the village of Zairawn, as he examined ash, burnt toys and bullet holes in the home of a 31-year-old Hmar woman who, authorities said, was shot, raped and set ablaze on N...

The PTI on Thursday issued a list of supporters that it alleged were still missing since party protesters were cleared from Islamabad in a state crackdown that the Rawalpindi police denied saw any open firing on the crowds. A day of pitched battles between security forces and PTI protesters across the federal capital ended in a hasty retreat of the party’s top leadership and supporters from the Red Zone in the early hours of Wednesday. At least six lives were lost in the three days of protests, which included a policeman and three Rangers officials who were knocked down by a speeding vehicle, officials and hospital sources said. Claims and counter-claims over deaths purportedly caused by law-enforcement action against the PTI marchers remained a major bone of contention between the government and the opposition party on Wednesday. Following their retreat from Islamabad’s Blue Area, PTI leaders alleged that a number of the party’s supporters had perished, allegedly due to firing by s...

A new report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) has revealed that two-thirds of digital content creators do not check their facts before sharing content. The report, titled ‘Behind the Screens’ and released on Tuesday, is the first global analysis of digital content creators’ motivations and practices, as well as the challenges they face, according to a Unesco press release . It involved 500 influencers in 45 countries, with the expertise of a dedicated research team at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, United States. According to the report, in terms of sharing content with their audience, 62 per cent of the surveyed digital content creators “admitted to not verifying the accuracy of information before sharing it with their audiences”. Screengrab from Unesco’s ‘Behind the Screens’ survey released on Nov 26, 2024. About one-third of them (33.5pc) reported that they would share content without checking if they trusted the sour...

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and World Bank Country Director Najy Benhassine met in Islamabad on Thursday to discuss joint initiatives to tackle smog and advance sustainable development in the capital. Caused by toxic pollutants, smog has engulfed several cities in Punjab over the past month , with Lahore and Multan being the worst hit. The AQI reading in Multan has already crossed 2,000 twice, setting a new record for air pollution. The Punjab government has declared an emergency in Lahore and Multan, while the effects have also been felt in the federal capital, where the air quality became “ very unhealthy ” two weeks ago. During their meeting, Naqvi and Benhassine decided to form a joint team of the World Bank and the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to work together on an anti-smog plan, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. Minister Naqvi emphasised the urgency of addressing the alarming AQI figures, which reached 271 this year in the federal capital. “Befor...

Bangladeshi police have arrested six people in connection with the murder of a lawyer during clashes between Hindu protesters and security forces, the government said on Wednesday. Another 21 people have been arrested “for vandalism and assaults on police” during the violence on Tuesday in the port city of Chittagong, the government statement said. Angry supporters of outspoken Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari — arrested a day earlier on charges connected to disrespecting the national flag during a rally — battled with police on Tuesday after he was denied bail. Protesters hurled rocks as security forces fired tear gas canisters, and police said a public prosecutor was killed in the chaos, naming him as Saiful Islam Alif, a Muslim. Religious relations have been turbulent in the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million people since a student-led August revolution forced long-time autocratic prime minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to India. Brahmachari is the spokesman of a ne...

PESHAWAR/LAKKI MARWAT: Dengue virus remained on prowl in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and provincial metropolis registered the highest number of cases, said a report of health department. The report, released here on Tuesday, said that the number of people affected with dengue virus was 2,891 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while Peshawar recorded 978 cases in the current year. It said that the number of active dengue cases in the province was 446. It said that Mansehra recorded 235 dengue, Abbottabad 212 and Hangu registered 97 dengue cases. The report said that high fever, aches in backbone and legs, strong headache and vomiting were initial symptoms of dengue fever. With further intensity in fever, patients may also experience bleeding from gums and nose. Authorities order implementation of control plan The dengue fever also causes dizziness and breathing problems besides affecting blood flow and heartbeat. In Lakki Marwat, a total of 196 dengue cases have been reported in in the ongoing year....

LEGANES: Kylian Mbappe ended his goal drought with a close-range strike and midfielder Jude Bellingham scored a header as Real Madrid thrashed Leganes 3-0 on Sunday. With a game in hand, Real are second in the standings on 30 points, four behind Barcelona. Mbappe latched on to Vinicius Jr’s through ball and found the net after 10 minutes, but his celebration was short-lived as the goal was ruled out for offside. Mbappe was goalless in his last four games in all competitions, his last goal coming in a win over Celta Vigo last month. However, the former Paris St Germain striker netted his seventh league goal of the campaign after combining again with Vinicius to give Real the lead two minutes before the break following a Leganes defensive error that Bellingham capitalised on. “We switched the position of the strikers a bit, with Mbappe on the outside and he did well,” said coach Carlo Ancelotti after the match. Real enjoyed most of the possession in the second half, giving goalkeep...

French prosecutors said on Monday they were seeking the maximum 20-year jail term for the man charged with enlisting dozens of strangers to rape his heavily-sedated wife, in a trial that has shaken France. Dominique Pelicot has since September been in the dock in the southern city of Avignon with 49 other men for organising the rapes and sexual abuse of his now ex-wife Gisele Pelicot. One man is being tried in absentia. The case has shocked a France still working through its version of the #MeToo movement, with a prosecutor telling the court that the trial needed to herald a fundamental change in relations between men and women. “Twenty years is a lot because it is 20 years of a life … But it is both a lot and too little. Too little in view of the seriousness of the acts that were committed and repeated,” prosecutor Laure Chabaud said, outlining the case against Pelicot. Pelicot has himself said he wants to go to prison for plying Gisele with anti-anxiety drugs regularly from J...

AS Pakistan embraces the digital age, women face a troubling new reality: technology-facilitated violence. Digital platforms, intended to open opportunities in education, employment, and civic engagement, have also become instruments for gender-based abuse. This threat — from cyber harassment and stalking to deepfake pornography — is more than a personal affront; it is an assault on women’s digital freedom, mental well-being, and societal participation, demanding urgent and targeted reforms to reclaim online spaces for all. This rise in technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) against women mirrors a troubling global trend that intensified during the Covid-19 pandemic as women increasingly turned to digital platforms for work, education, and social connection. This surge in abuse has exposed critical gaps in legal protections, calling for urgent regulatory reform. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, 85 per cent of women worldwide report experiencing some form o...

Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant became the most expensive player in Indian Premier League (IPL) history on Sunday when he sold for a record $3.2 million, as teams splashed out on world-class cricketers for the lucrative T20 tournament. A total of 577 players are up for grabs at the two-day auction in Jeddah, with Pant, England veteran James Anderson and New Zealand all-rounder Rachin Ravindra among the top names. The 2023 record of $2.98m Kolkata paid to Australian Mitchell Starc was first breached by Punjab Kings, who the IPL said snapped up Shreyas Iyer for a “handsome” $3.17m. Iyer, 29, captained Kolkata Knight Riders to their third IPL crown this year. But that record rapidly tumbled. The IPL reported Lucknow Super Giants paid a “gigantic” $3.2m for 27-year-old star keeper Rishabh Pant. The auction started on a sizzling note when Indian quick Arshdeep Singh’s name began a bidding war, which ended with Punjab getting the left-arm pace bowler for $2.13m. This year, Aust...

LAHORE: The provincial metropolis continued to top the chart of world’s most polluted cities, with an overall air quality index (AQI) of 382 on Saturday. The city witnessed its first winter rain but very light in different areas bringing no significant improvement in the air quality. The city reported a maximum of 505 AQI at 1am to 2am, while the air quality in its different areas varied. At Pakistan Engineering Services (Pvt) Ltd. 459, Syed Maratib Ali Road 449, Kickstart Co-Working Spaces 441, US Consulate 424, Askri-10 398, CERP office 376, LAS 332, WWF-Pakistan 328 and Valancia Town, it was 322 at 7pm. The AQI measures the level of fine particles (PM2.5), larger particles (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and Ozone (O3) in the air. Of 4,500 patients in Lahore, 3,690 complain of respiratory issues Earlier, in the day the city also received first winter light rain in different parts including Bund Road, Babu Sabu, Sherakot and Yateem Khana Chowk. Other areas also received scatt...

SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: Curfew has been imposed in Shakai valley of Lower South Waziristan and Ladha tehsil of Upper South Waziristan from Saturday (today) for an indefinite period due to movement of security forces to overcome the growing incidents of militancy. According to a notification issued from the office of Lower South Waziristan deputy commissioner Nasir Khan on Friday, the decision was taken due to unstable security situation prevailing in the region for the last several days. He appealed to the people of Shakai for cooperation at this critical time, advising residents to stay indoors. The security situation in the area has been tense for last several days with reports of targeted killing and terrorist activities in North Waziristan and both the Lower and Upper South Waziristan districts, the notification said. The security forces are working to restore peace and stability in the area and curfew is imperative to ensure public safety, he said, adding the curfew would be lifted ...