LOCAL Pakistan said it shall “exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps” taken in Indian-occupied Kashmir In a press release, the Foreign Office (FO) strongly condemned and rejected the move by the Indian government, stressing that IoK was internationally recognised as a disputed territory. “No unilateral step by the Government of India can change this disputed status, as enshrined in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions,” read the statement. “The decision will never be acceptable to the people of IoK and Pakistan. As the party to this international dispute, Pakistan will exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps,” the statement read while reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to the Kashmiri cause. COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa has called a Corps Commanders Conference today On the Corps Commanders Conference’s agenda is to analyse India’s illegal move to revoke Article 370 and the situation along the Line of Control (LoC) as well as impact in occupied Kashmir.Back on Saturday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had termed India’s use of “cluster ammunition along LOC deliberately targeting Civilian population” as a “violation of Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law”. The ISPR had further said: “This blatant Indian aggression against all international norms exposes true character of Indian Army and their moral standing. “It’s time for international community to take notice of this Indian blatant violation of international laws on use of cluster ammunition targeting innocent citizens.”
Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s Prime Minister said that India had lost its control over the region after repealing the special status granted to Indian-occupied Kashmir In a press conference held in Islamabad today, Haider said that New Delhi had always maintained that it had provided special status to IoK under Article 370 of India’s constitution. “They [India] have lost their own stance through this move,” he said, adding that a session of the AJK assembly had been summoned to discuss the situation. “India has formally lost Kashmir today. We were never a part of India but today it has lost Ladakh, Jammu and the valley as well,” he declared. Kashmiris in IoK are “fighting for their lives”, the AJK premier said, adding that he feared India “would commit a genocide” in the region. He said that the government should “not only counter India’s propaganda but also present its own viewpoint before the world”, cautioning that the revoking of IoK’s special status will not only affect the held territory but also “spill over into Azad Kashmir, and that can create a situation between Pakistan and India”. An accountability court issued non-bailable arrest warrants against Salman Shahbaz in a money laundering case Judge Amir Mohammad Khan ordered police to arrest Salman, a son of PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif, and produce him before the court by August 10. The arrest warrants were issued on an appeal of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). NAB Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal had issued arrest warrants for the suspect on April 3. In June, an alleged frontman of Salman and his brother, Leader of the Opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz, had confessed to have laundered over Rs600 million for the two brothers.
GLOBAL Amnesty International India has criticized India’s decision to repeal Indian-occupied Kashmir’s special status, saying it could lead to increased tension in the region “The unilateral decision of the Government of India to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) under the Constitution of India without consulting J&K stakeholders and amidst a complete clampdown on civil liberties and communications blackout is likely to inflame prevailing tensions, alienate the people in the state and increase the risk of further human rights violations,” read a press statement that was released after Indian President Ram Nath Kovind signed an order revoking Article 370 of the constitution. The rights group pointed out that the revocation of Article 370 is “expected to cause unrest and wide-scale protests in the state” but the Indian government’s “heavy-handed” approach to curb protests and demonstrations had “led to gross human rights violations such as blinding, killing and traumatising people over the past few years”. The statement noted that thousands of additional troops had been deployed in the territory and a blanket curfew had been imposed that restricted residents’ movements and denied them their right to peaceful protest. Australian woman with terminal cancer has become the first person to end their life under new assisted dying laws Kerry Robertson, 61, died at a nursing home in the state of Victoria in July. She was granted permission to use the controversial legislation – which exists only in Victoria but is being considered in other states – after a 26-day approval process. Her family said she was able to have “the empowered death that she wanted”. Ms Robertson was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, and it later spread to her bones, lungs, brain and liver. She decided to stop chemotherapy and radiation treatment in March after the side effects and pain became “intolerable”, her family said. Victoria’s legislation, which came into effect in June, allows terminally ill patients who meet certain requirements the right to access lethal drugs. Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, former chief ministers of Indian-occupied Kashmir, were arrested yesterday night “J&K People’s Conference leaders Sajjad Lone and Imran Ansari were also arrested,” a Hindustan Times report said, citing officials. According to a notice issued to Mufti, the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party chief, she has been detained because her activities “are likely to cause breach of peace”. Earlier in the day, Mufti and Abdullah had condemned BJP’s revocation of the special constitutional status of occupied Kashmir. “Today marks the darkest day in Indian democracy. Decision of Jammu and Kashmir leadership to reject two nation theory in 1947 & align with India has backfired. Unilateral decision of Government of India to scrap Article 370 is illegal & unconstitutional which will make India an occupational force in J&K,” Mufti said in the first of many tweets. The Mexican government may take legal action against the United States after six Mexican nationals were killed in the El Paso mass shooting “Mexico would like to express its utmost profound condemnation and rejection of this barbaric act where innocent Mexican men and women were killed,” Secretary of Foreign Affairs Marcelo Ebrard said. “We are outraged. We do not support the culture of hate.” Ebrard also said Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador instructed him to take swift legal action in order to first protect the families who were affected and then “so that Mexico can demand that the United States protect the Mexican community in the United States.” López Obrador confirmed earlier Sunday in a televised statement that six Mexican nationals were killed and seven were injured. The shooting at an El Paso shopping center left a total of 20 people dead and 26 injured. SPORTS Dale Steyn has decided to retire from Test cricket in the hope of extending his longevity in the the T20’S “Today I walk away from a format of the game I love so much,” said the 36-year-old Steyn, his country´s leading Test wicket-taker of all time and one of the top 10 in the history of the game. “In my opinion Test cricket is the best version of this game. It tests you mentally, physically, emotionally. It´s terrible to consider never playing another Test again but what´s more terrifying is the thought of never playing again at all. So I will be focusing on ODIs and T20s for the rest of my career to maximise my full potential and ensure my longevity in this sport… I look forward to continuing to play for the Proteas in the shorter formats.” Manchester United has signed Harry Maguire for £80 million, the highest for a defender The 26-year-old has agreed a six-year contract at Old Trafford, with the option of a further year. The fee for Maguire eclipses the £75m Liverpool paid Southampton for Virgil van Dijk in January 2018. “When Manchester United come knocking on your door, it is an incredible opportunity,” said Maguire.Maguire is the second most expensive signing in English top-flight history after new team-mate Paul Pogba (£89m), and becomes the second most expensive British player after Wales winger Gareth Bale, who joined Real Madrid from Tottenham for £85m in 2013. Australia destroys England on the final day of the first Ashes Test, giving Australia a 1-0 lead in the series Needing to bat out the day to earn a draw – chasing 398 to win was never in the offing – England at one stage lost six wickets for 37 runs on the way to being bowled out for 146 at Edgbaston. Off-spinner Nathan Lyon took advantage of the worn pitch to claim 6-49, while paceman Pat Cummins picked up 4-32 as the tourists surged to victory just before tea.It puts them ahead in an Ashes series in the UK for the first time in 14 years. TECHNOLOGY Web Forum 8chan, used to celebrate mass shooting, has been forced offline after losing its cyber-security protection Cloudflare, a San Francisco-based firm that provides added security for websites to prevent cyber-attacks, said it would stop protecting 8chan at midnight Pacific Time (08:00 BST) on Monday. The 21-year-old suspect in this weekend’s shooting in El Paso, Texas, is understood to have used 8chan to spread his manifesto. Previously, the site was also used by the suspect in March’s shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand, as well as the suspect in April’s synagogue shooting in Poway, California. Losing Cloudflare’s protection has made 8chan vulnerable to a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, whereby a website is bombarded with traffic that overwhelms its servers, rendering it inaccessible. UK starts to test out e-cigarettes that can be locked to prevent anyone but its owner puffing on it The Juul C1 e-cigarette pairs with an Android smartphone to limit who can use it as well as to provide a way of monitoring how often the user vapes. Juul said the C1 could only be used if people got through age-verification and face-recognition checks.But anti-smoking campaigners said it was too soon to say if the tech would do much to prevent underage vaping.Juul has previously faced criticism that its products are being widely used by teenagers.
Google says it will use recycled materials in all of its hardware products by 2022 Google said it had begun using recycled plastic in Chromecast devices and used plastic bottles to create the fabric on Google Homes and cases. The move follows Apple’s green initiative to use recycled materials in its products, with the company going so far as to make an in-house robot that disassembles old hardware for parts. Earlier this year, Samsung also announced a similar pledge, promising to use sustainable materials in its product packaging. In addition to using recycled materials, Google also said that it would pledge to make all its shipments carbon neutral by 2020 to promote sustainability in its hardware division. In an interview with Fast Company , Google’s head of sustainability for hardware, Anna Meegan, said the team was able to reduce emissions by 40 percent by switching from air shipments to cargo. (The article is unclear about the time period during which the reduction occurred.) That mission means the team needs to better forecast their development and production process since cargo shipments take longer than air. ENTERTAINMENT Pakistani pro-gamer becomes the first ever unified EVO champion after winning his second EVO Championship in Tekken Pakistani pro-gamer Arslan Siddique took home the championship for Tekken 7. While the best players for Tekken 7 usually hail from South Korea, Arslan beat South Korea’s Knee in the grand finals, using Kazumi for his victory. Arslan, known as Arslan Ash, had previously also won the second Evo Japan in February, becoming the first ever unified EVO champion. That’s right, not the first Pakistani, the first gamer.”I feel like I’ve done something unbelievable,” said Arslan after winning the finals. “I’m just so proud and happy.” Pakistani celebrities have joined together and criticised the Indian government’s decision to repeal article 370 Amidst the chaos, Pakistani celebrities took to social media to condemn New Delhi’s actions.It started with Hamza Ali Abbasi appealing to Pakistani artists to publicly condemn human rights violations in occupied Kashmir. UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Mahira Khan also expressed her dismay at the situation. Mawra Hocane, Hareem Farooq and Ali Rehman Khan took to Twitter to call out global powers such as the United Nations and the Human Rights Council for their failure to do anything about the situation. Angelina Jolie Is ‘Very Proud’ that her son Maddox Will Attend South Korean University for Biochemistry 17-year-old Maddox Jolie-Pitt is set to start classes at South Korea’s Yonsei University where he will be studying bio chemistry.. “He got accepted to other universities but choose Yonsei,” the source says. “He has been studying Korean language. He has lessons multiple times a week to prepare.” And the oldest in the Jolie-Pitt clan is starting classes this month, with Jolie, 44, making the trip to help him get started. “Mom is dropping him off in August,” the source says of Jolie. “She is very proud. She will miss seeing him as much, but he’s ready.”