Infinity Social Updates

Baloch protesters demanding an end to enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings in their province issued a three-day ultimatum to the state on Saturday, calling for the immediate release of all demonstrators detained so far and quashing of charges against them, failing which they would be “compelled to take harsh steps and the state and its administration shall be responsible for this”. The demands were issued as the protesters claimed that over 100 previously detained members were not presented in courts and thus “missing” while they continued their rally outside Islamabad’s National Press Club (NPC) amid the presence of the police. The long march led by Baloch women — which started in Turbat on December 6 after the alleged “extra-judicial killing” of a Baloch youth by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) officials — had reached the federal capital on Wednesday. However, the police had blocked entry points of the city along with major arteries to prevent the protester

Khalil Sayegh lives in the United States and for days he anxiously awaited news of his family who had taken refuge in Gaza churches to escape the Israel-Hamas war. A few days before Christmas, he learned his father had died due to a lack of medical care, Sayegh said by telephone from Washington DC where he works as a political analyst. “I was told by a relative… who had learned it from a priest,” he said. The news left him feeling shattered, he said, adding that he has yet to speak with other relatives stuck in Gaza which has been under heavy Israeli bombardment since Hamas’ October 7 attacks . Mobile and internet services, as well as electricity, have been largely disrupted in the Palestinian territory since the war broke out. “Days go by without us having any news,” said Sayegh, 29. “We live with fear… not knowing if they are dead or alive, if they have food and water or if they are hungry.” Sayegh’s family — his parents, two sisters and a brother — are among the 1.9 million p

Domestic cricket structures around the world are designed to provide the best possible emulation of the sport at the international level as it is here that the cricketers are polished into the final products and their performances at this level determine who amongst them go on to represent the country in arenas where the lights shine the brightest. The health of a country’s first-class cricket usually serves as a barometer of the performances of its Test sides. Therefore, the fact that Australia, India, England and New Zealand have been the most consistent teams of late is not a surprise for any cricket follower as they boast quality first-class structures. India, who played the finals of the ICC World Test Championship in 2021 as well as 2023, have turned into a behemoth since the turn of the century. New Zealand’s Kane Williamson celebrates with the trophy after winning the final against India to become the ICC World Test Champions, Rose Bowl, Southampton, Britain, June 23. — R

Czech authorities sought a motive on Friday in a student’s gun attack that killed 13 people at a Prague university, where tearful mourners have left a sea of candles to grieve for the victims. The gunfire on Thursday at the Charles University’s Faculty of Arts sparked frantic scenes of students running from the attack that was the Czech Republic’s worst shooting in decades. A makeshift memorial of hundreds of candles flickered outside the university on Friday as police pursued the investigation at the campus in Prague’s historic centre. The gunman, a 24-year-old student, killed himself after the attack, shooting dead 13 people and wounding 25 others. “We know all 14 dead and their identity. It’s 13 victims of the mad gunman and the gunman himself,” Interior Minister Vit Rakusan told public broadcaster Czech TV , revising down a previous toll of 14 victims. He added that three of the wounded were foreigners. The Dutch foreign ministry said earlier that one of them was a Dutch nati

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday was dominated by bears that dragged its benchmark KSE-100 index down by nearly 1,000 points. According to the PSX website, the KSE-100 index fell by 988.47 points to close at 61,705.09, down 1.58 per cent from the previous close of 62,693.56. Saad Bin Naseer, director of Mettis Global, attributed today’s losses to “mutual fund redemptions” and corporate realising of profits. “On the other hand, the activity of foreign inflows slowed down due to the holidays,” he said, noting that the downward spiral was specially visible after the Supreme Court’s decision to grant bail to former prime minister Imran Khan. On a positive note, Naseer added that the market would perform once again when the corrective stage was over. Arif Habib Corporation’s Ahsan Mehanti said stocks had fallen sharply late in the session due to “pre-poll uncertainty and major concerns for surging industrial power tariff to resolve power sector circular debt crises”. He fu

In a critical development, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is poised to gather in New York today to vote on an updated resolution addressing the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Following a week of intense closed-door negotiations, ambassadors from the 15-member Security Council continued discussions into Thursday evening, focusing on a draft resolution put forth by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The proposed resolution, initially drafted by the UAE, underscores the urgent need for measures to ensure the safe and unimpeded delivery of aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip. Notably, the United States has expressed support for the latest draft, contingent on the text remaining unchanged. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, representing the US, emerged from a closed-door meeting on Thursday evening and informed reporters, “We have worked hard and diligently over the course of the past week with the Emiratis, with others, with Egypt, to come up with a resolution that we can support. A

India’s parliament on Thursday rushed through the country’s biggest criminal justice overhaul since the British colonial era, alarming rights campaigners who say the new laws give authorities too much power. Sweeping changes to the colonial-era Penal Code and two other laws remove archaic references to the British monarchy, redefine the scope of “terrorism” offences, and introduce new punishments for mob lynchings and crimes against women. Home Minister Amit Shah said when unveiling the three proposed laws in August that the old statutes had been designed to “strengthen colonial rule” and had outlived their purpose. “The motive of the three bills is not to give punishment but to give justice,” he told lawmakers on Thursday. The new laws quickly passed through both houses of parliament over two days with minimal debate, after nearly 150 opposition lawmakers were suspended over the past week for protesting an unrelated issue. New provisions in the laws would impose the death pen