Education Minister denies "false news'' regarding Schools opening date

Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood tweeted on Friday that some fake social media accounts in his name are peddling false news claiming that schools will remain shut until Oct.

“Not true. Education ministers meet on 7th to finally decide [on reopening of educational institutions] with likelihood of opening on Sept 15 in a phased manner,” he said.

Some fake accounts in my name are spreading false news that schools will remain closed till Oct. Not true. Education ministers meet on 7th to finally decide with likelihood of opening on Sept 15 in a phased manner

— Shafqat Mahmood (@Shafqat_Mahmood) September 4, 2020

On Aug 21, Shafqat Mahmood had said a final decision to reopen schools that were closed in March to prevent the spread of coronavirus would be taken at an interprovincial education ministers’ conference on Sept 7.

Speaking at a press conference, he said the Ministry of Health will devise standard operating procedures (SOPs) for educational institutions to follow to prevent the spread of the virus. Schools will reopen from Sept 15 given that the coronavirus situation improves, he added.

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Lebanese army finds 4.35 tonnes more explosive chemicals outside Beirut port

Lebanon’s army said on Thursday it had found 4.35 tonnes of ammonium nitrate near the entrance to Beirut port, the site of a huge blast last month caused by a large stockpile of the same highly explosive chemical.

Army engineers were “dealing with it,” according to an army statement carried by the state news agency NNA. The statement said the chemicals were found outside entrance nine to the port.

The catastrophic explosion on Aug. 4 that ripped through the city killed about 190 people. The authorities said it was caused by about 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been stacked in unsafe conditions in a port warehouse for years.

The blast smashed entire neighbourhoods, gutting buildings and injuring 6,000 people.

Read more: Huge blast in Lebanon, 78 killed, nearly 4,000 injured

Lebanon’s government quit amid public anger in a nation already brought to its knees by an economic crisis. The public remains anxious that more hazardous materials are being stored badly, putting them at risk.

Earlier on Thursday, President Michel Aoun ordered repairs to be made to old refuelling infrastructure at Beirut airport and called for an investigation into a report that thousands of litres of fuel had leaked from the system.

Beirut airport head Fadi el-Hassan told a news conference that a leak of 84,000 litres of fuel had occurred in March 2019 and repairs were completed in two months. He said international investigators had described the repairs as “satisfactory”.

News of the leak added to concerns about public safety. “No explosion is awaiting us,” Hassan told the news conference.

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Major crack down will be launched on all illegal housing societies: Zulfi Bukhari

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on overseas Pakistanis Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari said Thursday a "major crack down will be launched on all illegal housing societies" that engaged in hoodwinking expatriates.

Making the announcement on Twitter, Bukhari said the crackdown was aimed at "all illegal housing societies selling to Overseas Pakistanis through external channels", such as expos, as well as digital and overseas offices, and promising them fake investment opportunities.

"No one will be allowed to cheat innocent OPs [overseas Pakistanis]," he said. "Will share mechanism to provide better real estate investment channels."

According to a senior official at the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development (OP&HRD), most of the complaints lodged by the expatriates were related to the property disputes.

That was why the government had been moving forward briskly with its plan of setting up the first-ever "fast-track" court in Islamabad to ensure a speedy retrieval of the expatriates’ properties from land grabbers, the ministry official told APP.

The project had entered its final stages as the Ministry of Law and Justice would finalise the related summary shortly by approving the official definition of an "overseas Pakistani", he added. One that was done, a final draft would be presented to the cabinet and the parliament for approval.

The official said his ministry had submitted the summary to its Law and Justice counterpart a couple of months ago on Bukhari's instructions. The SAPM had originally come up with the idea of establishing a dedicated fast-track court for the overseas Pakistanis.

Speaking to APP, the special assistant said the primary goal was "to move forward for swift retrieval of valuable properties of Pakistanis living abroad from mafias and bring them to justice".

Bukhari said the fast-track court would ensure disposal of cases within a one-month period. "On special directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the government would extend all possible facilities to expatriates for investment in diverse fields of economy.

”The special assistant said the fast-track court in the capital city would be taken as a pilot project after which similar courts would be set up in other cities of the country," he added.

He regretted that the previous government had not paid any attention towards the overseas Pakistanis' challenges despite the fact that they repeatedly highlighted their miseries.

Moreover, the SAPM said a special desk had been set up at Islamabad's police facilitation centre to make sure the overseas Pakistanis' issues were swiftly resolved.

The Overseas Pakistanis Foundation's officials had been working at the special desk round the clock to establish a strong connectivity among the concerned departments to instantly resolve the expatriates' complaints.

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Major crack down will be launched on all illegal housing societies: Zulfi Bukhari

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on overseas Pakistanis Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari said Thursday a "major crack down will be launched on all illegal housing societies" that engaged in hoodwinking expatriates.

Making the announcement on Twitter, Bukhari said the crackdown was aimed at "all illegal housing societies selling to Overseas Pakistanis through external channels", such as expos, as well as digital and overseas offices, and promising them fake investment opportunities.

"No one will be allowed to cheat innocent OPs [overseas Pakistanis]," he said. "Will share mechanism to provide better real estate investment channels."

According to a senior official at the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development (OP&HRD), most of the complaints lodged by the expatriates were related to the property disputes.

That was why the government had been moving forward briskly with its plan of setting up the first-ever "fast-track" court in Islamabad to ensure a speedy retrieval of the expatriates’ properties from land grabbers, the ministry official told APP.

The project had entered its final stages as the Ministry of Law and Justice would finalise the related summary shortly by approving the official definition of an "overseas Pakistani", he added. One that was done, a final draft would be presented to the cabinet and the parliament for approval.

The official said his ministry had submitted the summary to its Law and Justice counterpart a couple of months ago on Bukhari's instructions. The SAPM had originally come up with the idea of establishing a dedicated fast-track court for the overseas Pakistanis.

Speaking to APP, the special assistant said the primary goal was "to move forward for swift retrieval of valuable properties of Pakistanis living abroad from mafias and bring them to justice".

Bukhari said the fast-track court would ensure disposal of cases within a one-month period. "On special directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the government would extend all possible facilities to expatriates for investment in diverse fields of economy.

”The special assistant said the fast-track court in the capital city would be taken as a pilot project after which similar courts would be set up in other cities of the country," he added.

He regretted that the previous government had not paid any attention towards the overseas Pakistanis' challenges despite the fact that they repeatedly highlighted their miseries.

Moreover, the SAPM said a special desk had been set up at Islamabad's police facilitation centre to make sure the overseas Pakistanis' issues were swiftly resolved.

The Overseas Pakistanis Foundation's officials had been working at the special desk round the clock to establish a strong connectivity among the concerned departments to instantly resolve the expatriates' complaints.

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Kremlin tells West not to rush to judge it on Navalny as sanctions talk starts

Peskov said Russia was eager to know what had happened to Navalny, but couldn’t do so without receiving information from Germany about the tests that had led to Berlin’s conclusions about Novichok.

OPCW, the global chemical weapons agency, said the poisoning of any individual with a toxic nerve agent would be considered use of a banned chemical weapon.

The European Commission said the bloc could only slap new sanctions on Russia after an investigation revealed who was responsible for Navalny’s poisoning. Lithuania said it would ask EU leaders to discuss the poisoning at their next summit.

Merkel said that any German or European response would depend on whether Russia helped clear up the case.

After her strong statement on Wednesday, she is under pressure at home to reconsider the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will take gas from Russia to Germany.

“We must pursue hard politics, we must respond with the only language (Russian President Vladimir) Putin understands - that is gas sales,” Norbert Roettgen, head of Germany’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee, told German radio.

“If the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is completed now, it would be the maximum confirmation and encouragement for Putin to continue this kind of politics,” Roettgen, a member of Merkel’s conservatives, told German television separately.

Nord Stream 2 is set to double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream 1 pipeline in carrying gas directly from Russia to Germany. Led by Russian company Gazprom with Western partners, the project is more than 90% finished and due to operate from early 2021. This may complicate efforts to stop it.

It is fiercely opposed by Washington and has divided the European Union, with some countries warning it will undermine the traditional gas transit state, Ukraine, and increase the bloc’s reliance on Russia.

Peskov said the Kremlin regarded talk of trying to thwart Nord Stream 2 as being based on emotions. He said the project was a commercial one which benefited Russia, Germany and Europe.

“We don’t understand what the reason for any sanctions could be,” said Peskov.

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All KK’s foreign, local players to be available for remaining PSL matches: Dean Jones

Karachi Kings head coach Dean Jones has said that all the foreign and local players of his franchise would be available for the remaining four HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020 matches, which were postponed on March 17 due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced that the four matches would be held in Lahore on November 14, 15 and 17 with only the Qualifier and Eliminator 1 to be a double-header. Eliminator 2 would be played on the following day, while the event will conclude on Tuesday, November 17.

The final four matches of the event would be played under COVID-19 protocols, including bio-secure bubble for the players, match officials and event-related staff. The matches were currently planned to be held behind closed doors, though the situation would be closely monitored and will be reviewed in October.

“My understanding is that all of our Karachi Kings overseas and local boys will be available for the PSL playoffs from Nov 14-17,” Jones tweeted

 

My understanding ALL of our @KarachiKingsARY Overseas and local boys will be AVAILABLE for the #PSLPLAYOFFS Nov 14-17#Lahore #PSLV #PSL5

— Dean Jones AM (@ProfDeano) September 2, 2020

Kings’ owner Salman Iqbal also appreciated the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) decision to announce the schedule and said that his franchise was ready to compete in the playoffs.

“Great decision by PCB regarding the eliminators and finals. Karachi Kings is ready!” he wrote.

 

Great decision by @TheRealPCB regarding the eliminators and finals . @KarachiKingsARY is ready !!!

— Salman Iqbal ARY (@Salman_ARY) September 2, 2020

South African cricketer Cameron Delport was also keen to return to Pakistan to represent Karachi Kings. “Yes Boss, so is your boys,” Delport wrote in his reply to Iqbal.

 

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With hand-wash and emotional support, pupils return to London school

Primary school children returning to the Harris Academy in London on Thursday will find themselves sitting in rows, regularly washing their hands and supported by teachers who have been trained to provide emotional support after lockdown.

Children started to return to schools this week - for many the first time they have been back in full-time education since the spread of COVID-19 forced classes to shut in March.

To prevent large gatherings, schools are staggering arrivals, keeping pupils in smaller groups, controlling where they walk in communal areas and requiring the provision of water bottles and pencil cases to prevent sharing. Desks are likely to be placed in rows so pupils do not sit in groups on a table.

Sam French, executive principal at Harris Academy, said the staff were delighted to be back and while there have been many challenges, they wanted the school to look as normal as before.

“We’ve done our very best to keep (the challenges) at our level so when the children came back today, as far as possible they were coming back to the school that they left in March,” she told, over the sound of pupils in the playground.

Children were greeted by a teacher providing hand sanitizer when they arrived to an archway of balloons on Thursday.

While schools kept in touch with pupils during lockdown and provided regular work, teachers will now need to use the first term to assess how many children have fallen behind, and how many have pulled ahead in their learning.

“These first few weeks are just about finding out where the gaps are, finding out where the strengths are and then building, so that by October half-term we’re all back where we need to be and we can continue with the year,” French said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government is under pressure to ensure that schools can stay open after the long break and following a debacle over estimated exam results that affected whether some students went to university this year.

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