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☆ Iran steps up influence campaign aimed at US voters with fake news sites, Microsoft says
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-09 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Iranian operatives have ramped up their attempts to influence and monitor the US presidential election by creating fake news outlets targeting liberal and conservative voters and by trying to hack an unnamed presidential campaign, Microsoft said in research published late Thursday. Microsoft said it notified the campaign of the hacking attempt, but declined to say publicly which campaign it was. CNN has requested comment from the Trump campaign. The Iranian, Russian and Chinese governments routinely deny allegations of election influence operations. As president, Trump ordered the killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, and he withdrew from a multilateral deal aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear program.

Persons: Donald Trump, ” Clint Watts, ”, Kamala Harris ’, Trump, Joe Biden’s, Russia “, China “, “, Qasem Soleimani Organizations: CNN, Iranian, Microsoft, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, CIA, FBI, National Intelligence, Russian, Ukraine, Service, Department Locations: MAGA, Iran, Savannah , Georgia, Russian, Ukrainian, Trump, Russia, U.S, China

☆ Arshad Nadeem: Pakistan celebrates its first Olympic medal in decades as javelin hero breaks Games record
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-09 | by ( Samra Zulfaqar | Sophia Saifi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Islamabad, Pakistan CNN —Pakistan partied late into the night after javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem won the country’s first ever Olympic track and field medal with a Games record throw of 92.97 meters to take gold in Paris. The normally cricket-mad nation stayed up late Thursday night to watch Nadeem clinch Pakistan’s first Olympic medal since the men’s field hockey team won bronze in Barcelona 32 years ago. Supporters and family members of Pakistani athlete Arshad Nadeem celebrate after his Olympic victory at Mian Channu in Khanewal district, Pakistan on August 9, 2024. Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan and Neeraj Chopra of India embrace after their gold-silver medal finish at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. Cricket holds an unofficial but prominent position as the national sport of Pakistan, resulting in increased funding and support.

Persons: Arshad Nadeem, Nadeem, Pakistan’s, I’ve, ”, Shahid Nadeem, Mian Channu, Shahid Saeed Mirza, ” Nadeem, Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen, Arshad, India’s, Neeraj Chopra, Grenada’s Anderson Peters, Chopra, Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, Denis, Andrej Isakovic, Altamish Jiwa, “ Nadeem, ” Jiwa, Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan, Tim Clayton, Corbis, “, Nadeem’s, Shehbaz Sharif, “ You’ve Organizations: Pakistan CNN —, CNN, Getty, Geo, Pakistan, Paris, Stade de France, India, Olympic, Cricket, Pakistan’s Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Pakistan CNN — Pakistan, Paris, Barcelona, Mian, Pakistan’s Punjab, Khanewal district, AFP, Beijing, Indian, Saint, Los Angeles

☆ Pakistani man charged with murder-for-hire plot against U.S. politicians, potentially including Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-06 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Dilanianmug.Jpg | Ken Dilanian | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

A Pakistani man allegedly tied to Iran has been charged with an elaborate plot to assassinate current and former government officials, potentially including former President Donald Trump. The complaint does not name an alleged target or targets, but a senior law enforcement official said Trump was one of the potential targets of this plot. Merchant allegedly told the confidential source that the “people who will be targeted are the ones who are hurting Pakistan and the world, [the] Muslim world. On June 10, Merchant allegedly met in New York with undercover law enforcement officers posing as assassins for hire. Asif Merchant paid the undercover law enforcement officers $5,000 so they knew they were going forward.

Persons: Donald Trump, Asif Merchant, Merchant, Trump, Lester Holt, Christopher Wray, DOJ Merchant, Qassem Soleimani, Butler, General Merrick Garland, “, ” Organizations: NBC, DOJ, NBC News, ., Quds Force, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Service, Trump, FBI Locations: Iran, Pennsylvania, Pa, Texas, New York, Pakistan

☆ Justice Dept. Charges Pakistani Man in Alleged Plot to Kill U.S. Leaders
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-06 | by ( Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Officials said they had no evidence indicating the plot was connected to the shooting in Pennsylvania. Merchant allowed them to disrupt what they characterized as a far-ranging plot that also included stealing computer files from U.S. officials. It also included staging protests against American treatment of Muslim countries. U.S. intelligence agencies were tracking a potential Iranian assassination plot against Mr. Trump in the weeks before the assassination attempt that prompted the Secret Service to enhance security for the former president before his outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pa. It is not clear if the scheme made public on Tuesday precipitated those moves.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Asif Raza Merchant, Matthew Crooks, Merchant Organizations: U.S . Investigators, Service Locations: Iran, New York, Pennsylvania, Brooklyn, Butler, Pa

☆ Trump possible target of Pakistani national charged in murder-for-hire plot
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-06 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Federal prosecutors have charged Asif Merchant, a Pakistani national with alleged ties to Iran, in a murder for hire plot of a U.S. politician or government officials. A Pakistani national with ties to Iran was charged in a foiled plot to assassinate U.S. government officials on American soil, the Department of Justice said Tuesday. Merchant unwittingly coordinated with a confidential law enforcement source, who put him in touch with two more undercover agents purporting to be hitmen, the DOJ said. Law enforcement officials do not believe the alleged plot by Merchant is related to the assassination attempt against Trump at the rally in Pennsylvania, NBC reported. Trump's Secret Service protection was increased prior to that rally, after U.S. officials learned of an Iranian plot to kill Trump, NBC reported in mid-July.

Persons: Asif Merchant, Donald Trump, NBC News . Merchant, Trump, Merchant Organizations: U.S, Department of Justice, NBC News ., DOJ, Republican, Trump, NBC Locations: Iran, U.S, Texas, Pennsylvania, Iranian, Iraq

☆ Pakistani national with ties to Iran charged in connection to a foiled assassination plot potentially targeting Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-06 | by ( Evan Perez | Hannah Rabinowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The plot revealed by US prosecutors on Tuesday adds to a growing list of detailed Iranian plans to allegedly kill Trump, according to national security officials. Although Merchant is a Pakistani national, prosecutors say he spent time in Iran and has family there. Once in the United States, Merchant allegedly contacted someone who he believed would assist him in the murder-for-hire plot. Merchant allegedly then told the confidential human source that the work was not a one-time opportunity and made a “finger gun” motion with his hand. Merchant planned to leave the country before the assassination, prosecutors say, but was arrested before he could go.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, Asif Merchant, Merchant, Qasem, John Bolton, ”, General Merrick Garland, ” Merchant Organizations: CNN, The Justice, FBI, US, Service, Iranian, United Nations, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Locations: New York City, Brooklyn , New York, United States, Pennsylvania, Butler , Pennsylvania, Iran, US, Pakistani, New York

☆ As Misery Multiplies, Pakistanis Rise Up Against the Ruling Elite
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-01 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | Salman Masood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In almost every corner of Pakistan, anger at the ruling elite is nearing a boiling point. In a major port city in the southwest, dozens have clashed with security officers over what they described as forced disappearances of activists. In the northwest, protesters have admonished the country’s generals for a recent surge in terrorist attacks. The demonstrations over the past few weeks reflect frustration with Pakistan’s shaky, five-month-old government and with its military, the country’s ultimate authority. And Pakistani politics are more polarized than ever, with the country’s most popular political figure sitting in jail after a bitter rift with the military.

Locations: Pakistan, Islamabad, Afghanistan

☆ She couldn’t stop thinking about the guy she met at the Athens Olympics. Then a message from him changed her life
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-26 | by ( Francesca Street | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +26 min

So I thought, ‘Let me see if I can go to the Athens Olympics. An unexpected opportunityOmaira got to watch the final dress rehearsal of the opening ceremony of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games on August 13, 2004. And then Omaira was off to work at the shooting center, where the Games’ shooting events were held. But while Omaira was cultivating a pretty heady crush, Dimitris didn’t really have time to engage with his potential feelings. Omaira GillThis year marks 20 years since Omaira and Dimitris crossed paths at the Athens Olympics.

Persons: CNN — Omaira Gill, ” Omaira, ‘ I’m, ’, –, Omaira, ’ ”, … ’, “, ”, Omaira didn’t, “ I’d, David Gray MD, she’d, ’ Omaira Gill, Dimitris Athanasiou, Dimitris, ‘, they’re, ” Dimitris, ” Dimitris ’, hadn’t, Dimitris who’d, he’d, Dimtiris, Dimitris didn’t, Dimitris quizzed, “ Will, She’d, I’m, … ’ ”, couldn’t, didn’t, “ You’ve, Dimitris ’, that’s, we’d, Omaira Gill, Paulo Coelho, “ Omaira, ” Here's Dimitris, Omaira Gill Omaira, Hermes, Dimitiris, Hector, Orion, they’ll, “ Hermes, We’re, Dimitris – Organizations: CNN, Olympic, CNN Travel, Athens, “, ‘ Volunteers, Uni, Reuters, Olympics, Olympic Games, Paralympic, MSN, Omaira, ”, Athens Olympics, Stade de France, Disneyland Locations: Athens, Greece, Birmingham, United Kingdom, London, inbox, Omaira, Pakistan, India, Paris, Disneyland Paris, Europe

☆ When Pakistan Tightened a Border, Thousands of Lives Were Upended
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-23 | by ( Zia Ur-Rehman | Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For most of Abdul Manan’s life, the border dividing Afghanistan and Pakistan was little more than a line on a map. Like generations of men before him, Mr. Manan, 55, commuted every day from his mud-brick home on the Pakistan side to the wheat field his family had cultivated for decades in Afghanistan. His four sons crossed the border with him, transporting electronics and groceries from markets on one side to homes on the other. It was a journey shared by tens of thousands of residents in the Pakistani town of Chaman, the site of the last official border crossing where people could pass through using only their national identity card from Pakistan. For the first time since the border was drawn over a century ago, the Pakistani authorities are requiring residents to show a passport and visa before crossing — paperwork that virtually none of them have, they say.

Persons: Abdul Manan’s, Manan Locations: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Chaman

☆ Bangladesh protests: Anger over job quotas escalates into deadly violence. Here’s what you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-19 | by ( Helen Regan | Samra Zulfaqar | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Huge protests across Bangladesh escalated into deadly violence this week with clashes between students, pro-government supporters and armed police fueling widespread anger over civil service job quotas opponents say are discriminatory. Many Bangladeshi students are demanding an end to the government’s quota system, which reserves more than half of civil service posts for certain groups. In 2018, the quota system was scrapped following similar protests but in June the High Court reinstated it, ruling its removal was unconstitutional. Critics and protesters say the quota system creates a two-tier Bangladesh where a politically connected elite benefit by their birth. “This is not just about quota protests anymore, this is much bigger than that, in simple quota protests the government wouldn’t go around hurting and shooting students.

Persons: Sheikh Hasina, Hasina, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina’s, “, ”, Maruf Khan, Stringer, Tahmeed Hossain, –, Hossain, Munir Uz Zaman, Hassan Abdullah, Abdullah, Prothom Alo, ” Hasina, Salman, ” Hossain, Antonio Guterres, Stephane Dujarric, ” Dujarric Organizations: CNN, Bangladesh Television, Mobile, Awami League, Getty, Bank, Dhaka University, Bangladesh Chatra League, Rapid Action Battalion, Wednesday, Agence France, Press, Authorities, Student, State Department, ” UN Locations: Bangladesh, Dhaka, State, Pakistan, Australia, Sydney, “, AFP, United States, ”, New, Melbourne, Copenhagen

☆ Pakistan Says It Will Ban Party of Jailed Former Leader Imran Khan
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-15 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | Salman Masood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Pakistan’s government plans to ban the party of the imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, officials said on Monday, a decision expected to exacerbate the political turmoil that has consumed the country for the past two years. The country’s information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said the government was moving to outlaw Mr. Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or P.T.I., after actions that had posed “a direct threat to the fabric of our nation.”But analysts said the decision — which few expect to be upheld in court — reflected growing desperation by the Pakistani government. It has struggled to assert its authority after an election this year in which the country’s powerful military was accused of rigging dozens of races against the broadly popular P.T.I. “If pushed through, it will achieve nothing more than deeper polarization and the strong likelihood of political chaos and violence,” Asad Iqbal Butt, chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said in a statement.

Persons: Imran Khan, Attaullah Tarar, —, ” Asad Iqbal Butt Organizations: Human Rights Locations: Pakistan

☆ ‘Show the violated work’: Artist requests vandalized sculpture remains on view
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-12 | by ( Leah Dolan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —A controversial statue by Pakistani-American sculptor Shahzia Sikander — one of a handful of public pieces by the celebrated artist — has been beheaded at the University of Houston. The intact work of art, seen while on display in Madison Square Park in 2023. The university cancelled an opening celebration of Sikander’s work along with a scheduled talk from the artist. “And I hold the University of Houston accountable for their inadequate response and failure to protect the art. I have asked the university to remove the tarp and show the violated work.

Persons: Shahzia Sikander —, —, Lynda Churilla, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Beryl, Sikander, ”, “ Organizations: CNN, University of Houston, “, Madison Square, Madison Square Park, Houston, University of Houston Police Department Locations: Madison, Manhattan, New York, Madison Square, Texas, Houston

Rights groups are furious the Taliban meeting is going ahead without Afghan women, and say it legitimizes Afghanistan’s leaders and fails to hold them to account for grave injustices. Whatever we had, we spent it,” Arzo’s brother Ahamad, a 27-year-old journalist under threat from the Taliban due to his occupation, told CNN in November. Arzo told CNN what drove her suicide attempt. Pakistan’s policy on “illegal foreigners” is no different to that of other nations, Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told CNN. CNNArzo doesn’t want a life like that for herself, her sister, or the women and girls still in Afghanistan.

Persons: ”, Arzo, Javed Iqbal, ” Richard Bennett, Zabihullah Mujahid, “, Richard Bennett, weren’t, – they’ll, They’re, Mahsa, Ahamad, Doctors, Arzo’s, CNN Arzo hadn’t, ” Mahsa, they’ve, can’t, Moniza Kakar, Rain, Kakar, Abbas, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, Baloch, hadn’t, ” Amanullah, He’s, Amanullah, he’s, CNN Arzo, Heather Barr, ” Barr, “ It’s, Bennett, she’ll, “ I’m Organizations: CNN, Lifeline, International Association for Suicide Prevention, Befrienders Worldwide, Pakistan CNN —, United Nations, Human Rights, UN, Security, “ ACC ”, Afghan, ACC, Pakistani Ministry of Foreign, “, Taliban, Human Rights Watch, International Court of Justice, Criminal Court, ICC Locations: Karachi, Pakistan, Pakistani, Afghanistan, CNN Pakistan, Doha, Qatar, Afghan, Kabul, Islamabad, –, Soviet, ”, Canada, Israel, Gaza

☆ Afghanistan enjoys historic run to T20 World Cup semifinals: ‘Cricket is the only source of happiness back home’
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-26 | by ( Ben Morse | Masoud Popalzai | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Afghanistan fans celebrate the team's win against Bangladesh at the T20 World Cup. Gurbaz is the leading run scorer at the T20 World Cup. “That Afghanistan team got into the semis for the first time,” the 25-year-old told the International Cricket Council (ICC) website. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”Khan (middle) celebrates the dismissal of India's Rishabh Pant at the T20 World Cup. And in a statement posted online, the Afghanistan Cricket Board expressed its “disappointment” towards Australia’s decision and “reiterates its stance on neutral and politics-free cricket across the globe.”

Persons: – couldn’t, Ashraf Ghani, Mullah Amir Muttaqi, Mullah Khairullah Khairkhah, Rashid Khan, ” Khan, cramp, Jonathan Trott, Ricardo Mazalan, Raees Ahmadzai, Khan –, Mohammad Nabi, Hashmatullah, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Ramon Espinosa, Trott, Khan, Nabi, Noor Ahmad –, bamboozled, Gurbaz, “, ”, India's Rishabh Pant, Randy Brooks, Barney Ronay, Suhail Shaheen, ” Shaheen Organizations: CNN, Pakistan, Afghanistan Cricket Board, Bangladesh, AFP, Getty, Australia, Afghan national cricket team, International Cricket Council, ICC, Afghanistan, United, Guardian, ACB, FIFA, International Olympic Committee Locations: Australia, Afghanistan, Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Bangladesh, “, AFP, Taliban, United States, Doha

☆ A Vegas investor says he was invited to go on OceanGate's submersible but made up an excuse to get out of the trip because he didn't trust Stockton Rush's safety claims
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-19 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewJay Bloom, a Las Vegas investor, says he was offered seats on OceanGate's Titan submersible but got nervous about safety and lied about a scheduling conflict to get out of it. "And he's telling me that it's safer than flying helicopters, it's safer than scuba diving, and safer than crossing the street." AdvertisementBloom told Newsweek that he and his son then made up a scheduling conflict and bowed out of the June 2023 dive. The Titan submersible set off to explore the Titanic wreck on June 18 but lost contact with its support ship within two hours. AdvertisementStill, Bloom told Newsweek that he might be willing to venture to the wreck of the Titanic if it were a Navy expedition or one guided by James Cameron.

Persons: —, Jay Bloom, Bloom, Sean, Stockton Rush, Rush, OceanGate, Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, Suleman, Paul, Henri Nargeolet, James Cameron, Elon Musk, let's, I'd, he's, Let's Organizations: Service, Newsweek, Business, Facebook, Stockton, US Coast Guard, Navy, Stockton Rush Locations: Las Vegas, British, British Pakistani

☆ Against the odds, the USA cricket team is capturing hearts and minds with historic run through Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-16 | by ( Ben Morse | Patrick Snell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Saurabh Netravalkar (left) bowled the decisive Super Over to help the USA to its famous victory over Pakistan at the Men's T20 Cricket World Cup. A momentous dayBorn and raised in Mumbai, India, USA bowler Saurabh Netravalkar began playing cricket from an early age. Such was the promise he showed that he was selected for India’s team for the Under-19 World Cup in 2010, finishing the tournament as the country’s leading wicket taker. Not only is the US one of the co-hosts for the T20 World Cup for the first time, but it is making its debut appearance on this stage. The USA's success at the T20 World Cup has captured the hearts and minds of supporters at its home games.

Persons: Saurabh Netravalkar, Matt Roberts, Netravalkar, “, ”, Andrew Caballero, Reynolds, Aaron Jones, ” Jones, CNN’s Patrick Snell, Jones, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Adam Hunger, Ali Khan, Nosthush Kenjige, ” Kenjige, Stuart, ‘, ’, –, US –, We’ve Organizations: CNN, USA men’s, India, Pakistan, ICC, Ireland, India national, Cornell University, Cricket Council’s, USA, BBC, Veteran USA, USA Cricket, Stuart Law, Major League Cricket, US, Canada Locations: Pakistan, Mumbai, India, USA, New York, San Francisco, AFP, Queens , New York, Barbados, Caribbean, Dayton , Ohio, South Africa, New Zealand

☆ James Cameron says the OceanGate submersible rescue morphed into a 'crazy' operation when 'we all knew they were dead'
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-12 | by ( Aditi Bharade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewA year on from the OceanGate implosion, filmmaker and Titanic expert James Cameron called the rescue operation "crazy" — because people involved in the rescue likely already knew that the victims were all dead. In an interview with "60 Minutes Australia" released on Sunday, Cameron commented on the sprawling four-day rescue operation that followed the submersible's disappearance on June 18. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Cameron, who has visited the Titanic wreck 33 times, has vocally criticized OceanGate, the company behind the ill-fated submersible. Cameron's representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular working hours.

Persons: —, James Cameron, Cameron, We'd, OceanGate, Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, Suleman, Paul, Henri Nargeolet Organizations: Service, Business, Guard, Coast Guard, Stockton Rush, Business Insider Locations: British, French

☆ How the USA’s shock cricket triumph reflects a global sporting and geopolitical transformation
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-08 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

A national cricket team that most Americans didn’t even know they had beat one of the sport’s global powers Pakistan, for whom the game is a national obsession. “There is this pivot from global north to global south,” said Chadwick. The first ever international fixture was between the United States and Canada in 1844 in New York. The World Cup is being carried in the US on Willow TV, a streaming service that is also available on cable systems for an extra fee. The global game, soccer, has several times hubristically tried to conquer the US and it’s taken years to reach its current level with strong pro leagues the MLS and the NWSL.

Persons: didn’t, ”, Monank Patel, Corey Anderson, “ It’s, “, Peter Della Penna, Donald Trump, Narendra Modi, Simon Chadwick, “ You’ve, You’ve, It’s, Virat Kohli, Germain, LIV, Modi, Chadwick, Donald Bradman, Michael Jordan, Pakistan –, Saurabh, Milind Kumar, hubristically, it’s, Della Penna, you’re, ” Della Penna Organizations: CNN, team, Cricket, Pakistan, USA Cricket, New Zealand, Indian, , Indian Premier League, Major League Cricket, IPL, US, America, United Arab Emirates, Manchester City, Paris Saint, Formula One, Hindu, FIFA, Beijing, Bowlers, Down, England, Elite US, Willow, MLS, England’s Premier League, Manchester United, Arsenal, tailgates, Women’s National, TV, South Locations: Pakistan, United States, Caribbean, Texas, American, America, Long, , New York, India, Australia, Nassau County, Ahmedabad, Gulf, United Kingdom, Europe, East, South Asia, British, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Zealand, England, North Carolina, Manchester, Qatar, Paris, Germain . Middle, Saudi Arabia, Los Angeles, There’s, Canada, New York, Sri Lankan, California, New Delhi, China, Belgium, Commonwealth

☆ Opinion: If you opposed the pro-Palestinian protests, here’s why you should reconsider
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Opinion Haroon Moghul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The media line fed to the public about weeks of protests at Columbia — and the administrative crackdown that followed — has been selective at best. Columbia students have made clear that that’s what drives their protests. Why, even as numerous students at Columbia and elsewhere have been doxxed, harassed and bullied, were no congressional hearings called? But if Columbia students didn’t care about their university and the values it claims to uphold, they wouldn’t have risked so much with their protests. By the same token, if students didn’t care about our country, they wouldn’t protest so vocally against its policies.

Persons: Haroon Moghul, I’ve, —, What’s, we’ve, Minouche Shafik, Shafik, aren’t, maters Organizations: The Concordia Forum, CNN, Columbia University’s Department of, Studies, Columbia, Columbia University, Columbia —, UCLA, Israel, Police, Ivy League, America, Twitter, Facebook Locations: Islam, Eastern, Europe, Columbia, Gaza, Washington , DC, America

☆ Violent Unrest Over Economic Strife Erupts in Pakistan’s Kashmir Region
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Salman Masood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Vast protests have broken out in the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir, driven by outrage over soaring electricity bills and flour prices in a region that has long suffered economically because of its status as a conflict zone. In an attempt to quell the growing unrest — which has led to a widespread strike and left one police officer dead and 90 injured — Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called an emergency meeting for Monday in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. As protesters planned to march this week to Muzaffarabad, the regional capital, the authorities suspended internet service in many areas and shut down schools in the city. “I have never seen such a large-scale uprising in Pakistan-administered Kashmir,” said Mubashar Naqvi, a Muzaffarabad resident and a teacher at the University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. “This protest is unique because it unites people from all walks of life in demanding basic necessities.”

Persons: Shehbaz Sharif, ”, Mubashar Naqvi Organizations: —, Monday, University of Azad Locations: Pakistan, Kashmir, Islamabad, “, University of Azad Jammu

☆ How a Novelist Became a Pop Star
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Emily Lordi | Philip Cheung | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“I hope you fall in love, I hope it breaks your heart” is the refrain (in English translation) of “Pasoori,” Ali Sethi’s 2022 global hit. The song, performed as a duet with the Pakistani singer Shae Gill, defies such simple classifications — it’s a pop banger sung in Urdu and Punjabi, punctuated with flamenco handclaps and driven by a reggaeton beat. It’s now been viewed some 850 million times on YouTube, including by countless Indian fans. Sethi, 39, is a master of microtonal singing, gliding between the notes of the Western tempered scale. In 2009, he published “The Wish Maker,” a semiautobiographical coming-of-age novel set in his home city.

Persons: ” Ali, Shae Gill, Sethi, —, ” Sethi, It’s, He’s, Ustad Saami, Farida Khanum, “, ”, Jane Austen, Zadie Smith, Indiana Jones, Mariah Carey, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Organizations: Pakistani, YouTube, Harvard Locations: Pakistani, Manhattan’s East, Lahore

He was a model to me of artistic labor and discipline, even if those early paintings were painfully amateurish. IT WASN’T MY intention to start an essay about artistic beginnings with a story of artistic death. No one captured the massive cultural and economic disparities of my life in Delhi (and his in Lahore) like Toor. But quite unbeknown to me, Toor’s life in New York had opened up a new vein of material. Not everyone who sees a Michelangelo can go off and paint a Michelangelo.”THERE ARE SO many ways to begin.

Persons: Naipaul, Neil Shah, James Wood —, Zack, who’d, ”, Artemisia Gentileschi, Susanna, Elders ”, I’m, ” Gustave Flaubert, “, ” Zack, it’s, Bruce Chatwin, Paul Gauguin, Salman Rushdie, Somerset Maugham, Kathryn Bigelow, Philip Glass, Arundhati Roy, Booker, Joseph Conrad, Conrad, Jacques, ” Conrad, brimming, ’, ’ ”, Clarice Lispector, Benjamin Moser, ” Lispector, Maugham, eludes, Jan van Kessel, Elder, — Pieter Bruegel, —, Rebecca West —, “ Black Lamb, J.R, Hammond, Wells, Rebecca West ”, sloughed, Henrik Ibsen’s, Rosmersholm ”, Karan Mahajan, Salman Toor, what’s, ” Hemingway, Anoushka Shankar, Ravi Shankar, Harold Bloom, Ravi, Uday, René Daumal, Rasa ”, ” Anoushka, Norah Jones, Norah, I’ve, “ Raphael, Rachel Cusk, Italy ”, Perugino, Raphael, Cusk, J.M, Samuel Beckett, Gabriel García Márquez, Thomas Pynchon’s, James Joyce, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Marcel Proust’s, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Read, Emma Kehlbeck, Quinton Kamara Organizations: Amherst College, Elders, Fayerweather, ”, Google, Sunday Times, Somerset, Yugoslavia, The, “, . Locations: Delhi, ”, Massachusetts, Italian, Topeka, Kan, Amherst, New York, London, Patagonia, New Delhi, Torrens, Cambridge, Polish, Ukrainian, Brazil, Flemish, Victorian England, “ H.G, Fairfield, United States, “, East, Lahore, Europe, America, Texas, Side, Manhattan, India, Italy

He was a model to me of artistic labor and discipline, even if those early paintings were painfully amateurish. The painting followed me from Amherst to my first job in New York, and on to London and Delhi. IT WASN’T MY intention to start an essay about artistic beginnings with a story of artistic death. I’m especially moved by those first moments of validation by which an artist comes out to himself, as it were. It’s this, the inexorability of the correspondence between an artist and the world, that gives those first steps their magical quality.

☆ This Ramadan, queer and transgender Muslims made their own community
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Shahamat Uddin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Queer and transgender Muslims came together to break their Ramadan fasts. But for queer and transgender Muslims, this practice of ummah, or the connectedness Muslims feel while exercising their faith together, has often made them feel excluded from traditional Ramadan celebrations. Courtesy of Dinean RobinsonThe iftar — which included prayers led by a queer Muslim community member named Shiffa, and joyful drag-queen performances — was just one of many ways queer and transgender Muslims fostered community this Ramadan. Dena Igusti celebrated this Ramadan with fellow queer Muslims, saying it helped them get back in touch with their faith. In New York City, queer Muslims joined in song and dance at the LGBT Community Center's iftar to celebrate their layered identities.

Persons: —, affirmations, I've, Armana Khan, Dinean Robinson, Khan, Islam, Reimagining, they'd, Kahani, Dinean Robinson Sophia Uppal, Uppal, wouldn't, Dena Igusti, Ramie Ahmed, Ramadan, Igusti, Imam Daayiee Abdullah, We're, MASGD, Shiffa, Center's iftar, Yaffa Organizations: Service, LGBT Community, The, New York, LGBT Community Center, BI, Mecca Institute, Muslim Alliance, Sexual, Diversity, Queer, Shia, LGBT Locations: New York, queerness, Queens , New York, New, Hajj, Mecca, Palestinian, New York City

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