England cricket chief Tom Harrison flies to Pakistan for meetings with PCB chairman

English cricket's top administrator has flown to Pakistan in a bid to repair relations damaged by the cancellation of October's Twenty20 tour.

A spokesperson for the England and Wales Cricket Board told AFP in London on Monday that Chief Executive Tom Harrison had travelled for meetings with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ramiz Raja.

Former Test batsman Raja said he felt “humiliated” when the ECB announced in September it was calling off the tour.

England, who last played in Pakistan 16 years ago, are due to play a Test series there in 2022.

The ECB cited “increasing concerns about travelling to the region” in cancelling October's tour, just days after New Zealand also pulled out of a tour to Pakistan over security concerns.

However, British High Commissioner to Pakistan Christian Turner had said that the commission had supported the tour, adding that the decision was taken by the ECB over "concerns of player welfare".

The first trip by the England men's side to Pakistan since 2005 was only meant to last four days, with two Twenty20 matches in Rawalpindi on October 13 and 14.

Two women's T20 matches were scheduled on the same days as double-headers, with three women's One-Day Internationals to follow in the same city.

Pakistan travelled to England last year at a time when Covid-19 infection rates in Britain were among the highest in the world for a three-match Test series and T20 series that saved the ECB millions in television rights deals.

Consequently, there was a bitter reaction in Pakistan when England called off the October fixtures.

“It's the feeling of being used and then binned,” Raja told reporters in September. “One feels slighted, one feels humiliated because withdrawal doesn't have an answer,” he added.

Harrison's visit to Pakistan is expected to be brief as he is due in the United Arab Emirates later this week for an International Cricket Council chief executives' meeting.

The confirmation of his trip came on the day that Cricket Australia announced plans for a tour of Pakistan starting in March 2022 that would be their first visit to the country in 24 years.

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T20 World Cup: India thrash Namibia in Kohli's last game as skipper

India hammered Namibia by nine wickets to give Virat Kohli a winning farewell in his last match as Twenty20 captain and finish their disappointing World Cup campaign on a high Monday.

India, who bowed out of the tournament on Sunday, rode on a 87-run opening stand between Rohit Sharma, who hit 56, and KL Rahul, who made an unbeaten 54, to reach their target of 133 in 15.2 overs in Dubai.

India, the 2007 champions, finished the tournament with three wins from five Super 12 matches but missed out on the semi-finals.

Namibia signed off with a single win in their first appearance in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup.

Indian spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin took three wickets each to set up the victory after they kept Namibia to 132 for eight.

David Wiese scored 26 off 25 balls and lifted Namibia from a precarious 94-7 to a respectable total, but it was not enough to challenge a powerful Indian batting line-up which came good towards the business end of the tournament.

Rohit, who remains the frontrunner to take over the T20 duties from Kohli, hit his second half-century of the competition.

Rohit finally fell to Jan Frylinck's left-arm medium pace but only after he smashed seven fours and two sixes in his 37-ball knock.

Rahul kept up the pace to make his third consecutive fifty and struck the winning boundary.

Suryakumar Yadav hit an unbeaten 25 off 19 balls.

India had only managed to post 151 and 110 in their opening two losses against Pakistan and New Zealand that dented their chances of making the semi-finals.

New Zealand beat Afghanistan on Sunday to eliminate India from the competition and join Pakistan as the teams into the final four from Group 2.

In the final Super 12 match, the Indian bowlers took control after pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah sent back Michael van Lingen for 14 to end a 33-run opening stand.

Jadeja struck three times with his left-arm spin and off-spinner Ashwin also rattled the Namibian middle and lower order with figures of 3-20.

Wiese put on 23 for the eighth wicket with Frylinck, who made an unbeaten 15, to add useful runs in the final few overs.

Number 10 Ruben Trumpelmann made 13 from six balls, including a six and a four in the 20th over from Mohammed Shami, but Namibia's total was not enough.

Teams

India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (capt), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rahul Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

Namibia: Stephan Baard, Michael van Lingen, Craig Williams, Gerhard Erasmus (capt), Zane Green (wk), David Wiese, Jan Frylinck, JJ Smit, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz

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WHO, UNICEF launch polio vaccine campaign with Taliban backing

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations children’s agency kicked off a polio vaccination campaign in Afghanistan on Monday, the first nationwide campaign to fight the disease in three years.

Naikwali Shah Momim, the National Emergency Operations Coordinator for the polio programme at Afghanistan’s health ministry, told Reuters the campaign had started in various parts of the country on Monday, but added there were several hurdles around a shortage of trained staff.

The campaign, which is aimed at reaching over 3 million children, had received Taliban backing, which would allow teams to reach children in previously inaccessible parts of the country, the WHO said.

“The urgency with which the Taliban leadership wants the polio campaign to proceed demonstrates a joint commitment to maintain the health system and restart essential immunizations to avert further outbreaks of preventable diseases,” said Ahmed Al Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, in a statement.

However, Momim said that more training was needed for teams in remote areas, so the programme would initially start in places such as Kabul.

Polio has been virtually eliminated globally through a decades-long inoculation drive. But insecurity, inaccessible terrain, mass displacement and suspicion of outside interference have hampered mass vaccination in Afghanistan and some areas of Pakistan.

Several polio workers have been killed by gunmen in eastern Afghanistan this year, though it was not clear who was behind the attacks.

According to WHO figures compiled before the collapse of the Western-backed government in August, there was one reported case of the one wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in Afghanistan in 2021, compared with 56 in 2020.

Until the disease is eliminated completely, it remains a threat to human health in all countries, especially those with vulnerable health systems because of the risk of importing the disease, according to health experts.

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Windows 11 bug charges laptop battery to over 100%

Last week, there were a slew of Windows 11 bugs reported, but an unusual one was found that may be pushing laptop batteries beyond their 100 percent charging capacity.

The weird bug was initially spotted by a Redditor named Zondax, who shared a screenshot on the r/Windows11 subreddit, showcasing a laptop with a 103% battery level.

Generally, users report bugs that cause the battery percentage to stop at a certain level or bugs that cause the battery level to drop drastically. This is a bug that, on the other hand, takes the battery level to an unusual point and might damage the battery of the device.

So, if you are running Windows 11 on your device and face similar battery-related issues, you might want to keep an eye on battery health of your Windows 11 laptop. You can also check out our in-depth guide on how to change the power mode settings in Windows 11 to customize the power usage of your device.

 

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TLP announces end to Wazirabad dharna

The Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) announced ending its sit-in protest Monday, after it held successful talks with the government a couple of days ago.

TLP leader Syed Sarwar Shah announced that the party was ending its sit-in protest and its workers would go back to Masjid Rahmatulil Alameen.

"Mufti Muneeb ur Rahman had given us the guarantee and told us to go back to Masjid Rahmatulil Alameen when 50% of our demands are met," Sarwar Shah said, addressing participants of the dharna.

"[He had also guaranteed] that Saad Rizvi will attend the Urs [Khadim Hussain Rizvi's first death anniversary] with us," he said to slogans from the crowd.

"We will not go to our homes, we will go to Masjid Rahmatulil Alameen," he said, reiterating that TLP chief Saad Rizvi will be among his supporters on the occasion of his father's first death anniversary.

TLP no longer proscribed outfit

A day earlier, the TLP ceased to be a proscribed organisation after the government accorded approval to a summary by the Ministry of Interior, asking for its removal from the First Schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

TLP was placed in the said schedule in April 2021 on the recommendation of the Punjab home department.

According to the notification: "The provincial cabinet has considered the request of the organisation and in view of the assurance and commitment by the organisation, is of the opinion that the said organisation shall abide by the Constitution and laws of the country and therefore, keeping in view the larger national interest and long term perspective to ensure that such incidents do not recur in future, the government of Punjab has proposed to the federal government to consider revoking of proscription of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan."

The notice goes on to state that "in exercise of the powers conferred under sub-section (1) of Section 11U of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 (as amended), the federal government is pleased to remove the name of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan from the First Schedule of the said Act as a proscribed organisation for the purposes of the said Act".

On November 4, Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar granted the initial approval to the summary sent to him by the Punjab home department for the revocation of the TLP's proscribed status.

After granting preliminary approval to the summary, the chief minister sent it to the Federal Cabinet to take a final decision regarding the matter through circulation.

The cabinet wing of the services department sent the summary to all the ministers of the province for their signatures, with sources saying that the summary needs the support of at least 18 ministers to be approved.

As per the rules, if no reply is received within three days, the summary was to be considered approved.

Meanwhile, in compliance with a secretive deal between the government and the proscribed TLP, the Punjab government had decided to remove the names of at least 90 activists of the proscribed outfit from the fourth schedule.

The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by Law Minister Punjab Raja Basharat in Lahore.

The meeting also decided to release 100 other activists of the organisation from different jails in the province and reviewed the decisions taken by the steering committee formed to deal with all TLP-related matters.

Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Rao Sardar Ali Khan, Additional Chief Secretary Home Zafar Nasrullah and others were present in the meeting.

 

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Govt decides to put up entire sugar stock for sale

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said that the government is taking all possible steps to reduce the burden on the poor and has introduced several schemes, including the Ehsas Ration programme, Kamyab Pakistan programme, Kissan Card, and other programmes to provide relief to the masses.

During a meeting chaired by Imran Khan on price control, it was decided to put up the entire sugar stock for sale in the market and start sugarcane crushing across the country from November 15, during which strict enforcement of crushing laws would be ensured.

The premier was informed that, at present, there is an ample supply of sugar in the country. The meeting also decided to initiate strict legal action against hoarding and profiteering.

Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Imran Khan directed relevant authorities to implement the Sugar Factories (Control) Amendment Act 2021, Punjab Prevention of Hoarding Act 2020, and the Punjab Registration of Godowns Act 2014 against sugar mafia and hoarders.

The premier categorically stated that "profiteering and hoarding will not be tolerated under any circumstances."

Alluding to the increase of commodities in the international market and Pakistan's dependence on imported products, he said the government is taking every possible step to reduce the burden on the poor segments of the society.

He pointed out that Ehsaas Ration, Kamyab Pakistan, Kissan Card, Sehat Card and other schemes of the Ehsaas programme have been launched to provide relief to the poor.

Imran Khan said the government is cognizant of the impact of inflation and is focussing to serve the people, adding that since people should be apprised about the real facts, and an effective awareness is launched.

The ministers and advisers present during the meeting were briefed about the stock and prices of sugar. It was informed that an adequate quantity of the commodity is available in the market.

However, the closure decision of Sindh's sugar mills increased the prices of sugar.

The meeting was attended by Federal Ministers Hammad Azhar, Fawad Chaudhry, Khusro Bakhtiar, Fakhar Imam, Farogh Naseem and Adviser to PM on Finance Shaukat Tarin.

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New Zealand mosque shooter, who killed 51 worshippers, considers appealing life sentence

The man who killed 51 Muslim worshippers at mosques in Christchurch is considering appealing against his life sentence, saying his guilty plea after the 2019 attack was obtained under duress, his lawyer told state radio on Monday.

White supremacist Brenton Tarrant, 31, was sentenced to jail for life without parole last year for the murder of 51 people and attempted murder of 40 others at two mosques in Christchurch on March 15 2019 — the worst mass shooting in the country's history.

It was the first time a court in New Zealand had sentenced a person to prison for the rest of their life.

Tarrant's lawyer, Tony Ellis, told Radio New Zealand he was advised by his client that he pleaded guilty last year because of “inhumane and degrading treatment” he experienced while awaiting trial.

Ellis, who only took over as Tarrant's lawyer recently, has made the claim on his client's behalf in a memo to the coroner's court that has launched an investigation into all aspects of the Christchurch attack and whether due processes were followed.

“He said because of how he was treated while he was awaiting trial and afterwards, (that affected) his will to carry on and he decided that the simplest way out was to plead guilty,” Ellis said.

“By this, he means he was subject to inhuman or degrading treatment whilst on remand, which prevented a fair trial.”

Ellis said he had advised his client to appeal against his life sentence without parole, because it is what is called a “sentence of no hope” and breached the Bill of Rights, and he was considering it.

Asked for comment, Ellis told Reuters by email that he was instructed by his client only to speak to selected domestic media outlets.

Tarrant, an Australian national, stormed two mosques in Christchurch armed with military-style semi-automatics, indiscriminately shooting at Muslims gathered for Friday prayers and livestreaming the killings using a head-mounted camera.

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