KARACHI: The US Consulate General, Karachi, in partnership with The Asia Foundation and the National Incubation Center (NIC), Karachi, hosted Built by Her, a two-day virtual hackathon for female programmers, ARY News reported.
Women participated in the virtual hackathon from cities across Pakistan and represented academia, private and public sectors, and provincial governments.
Amy Christianson, Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Consulate General, Karachi, Sofia Shakil, Country Representative at The Asia Foundation, and Syed Azfar Hussain, Program Manager at the National Incubation Center, Karachi, virtually welcomed the participants at the program’s launch event and reiterated the importance of encouraging women to participate in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and the country’s ever-growing startup ecosystem to help unlock Pakistan’s economic potential.
The National Incubation Center, Karachi, in coordination with The Asia Foundation’s team, will review each team’s submission after the hackathon and will identify the top twenty teams to receive mentorship as part of the NIC Cohort.
A concluding event will be held on November 05, 2020, during which the 20 shortlisted teams will present their ideas to a panel of judges. The two teams with the best solutions will each receive $5000 of seed money to further develop their winning ideas.
The purpose of Built by Her is to identify innovative solutions to post-COVID-19 challenges on the themes of increasing women’s economic and political participation, developing technological advancements, improving access to education, strengthening local governance, and increasing environmental resilience and sustainability.
The Built by Her hackathon program is empowering Pakistani women and girls around the country to build sustainable solutions to further Pakistan’s development and future.
LONDON: British National Crime Agency (NCA) and police smash thousands of criminal conspiracies after infiltration of the encrypted communication platform, EncroChat, in United Kingdom’s (UK) biggest ever law enforcement operation, Operation Venetic.
British police and NCA officers have made a massive breakthrough in the fight against serious and organised crime after the takedown of a bespoke encrypted global communication service used exclusively by criminals.
A press release released by NCA stated that EncroChat was one of the largest providers of encrypted communications and offered a secure mobile phone instant messaging service, but an international law enforcement team cracked the company’s encryption.
There were 60,000 users worldwide and around 10,000 users in the UK – the sole use was for coordinating and planning the distribution of illicit commodities, money laundering and plotting to kill rival criminals.
Since 2016, the National Crime Agency has been working with international law enforcement agencies to target EncroChat and other encrypted criminal communication platforms by sharing technical expertise and intelligence.
Two months ago this collaboration resulted in partners in France and the Netherlands infiltrating the platform. The data harvested was shared via Europol.
Image Courtesy: BBC
Unbeknown to users the NCA and the police have been monitoring their every move since then under Operation Venetic – the UK law enforcement response.
Simultaneously, European law enforcement agencies have also been targeting organised crime groups.
The EncroChat servers have now been shut down while the Crown Prosecution Service is leading all the prosecutions.
The British authorities said that ‘Operation Venetic is the biggest and most significant operation of its kind in the UK.
The NCA, Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs) and police forces have punched huge holes in the UK organised crime network so far by arresting 746 suspects and seizing over £54million in criminal cash, 77 firearms, including an AK47 assault rifle, sub machine guns, handguns, four grenades, and over 1,800 rounds of ammunition.
Image Courtesy: BBC
They also confiscated more than two tonnes of Class A and B drugs, over 28 million Etizolam pills (street Valium) from an illicit laboratory, 55 high value cars and 73 luxury watches.
In addition, a specialist NCA team, working closely with policing partners, has prevented rival gangs carrying out kidnappings and executions on the UK’s streets by successfully mitigating over 200 threats to life.
Organised crime groups in the UK have been using EncroChat, communicating freely believing the technology made them secure. The criminal group behind EncroChat operated from outside the UK.
On June 13, EncroChat realised the platform had been penetrated and sent a message to its users urging them to throw away their handsets.
The phones – which have pre-loaded apps for instant messaging, the ability to make VOIP calls and a kill code which wipes them remotely – have no other conventional smart phone functionality and cost around £1,500 for a six-month contract.
The NCA created the technology and specialist data exploitation capabilities required to process the EncroChat data, and help identify and locate offenders by analysing millions of messages and hundreds of thousands of images.
NCA Director of Investigations Nikki Holland.
NCA Director of Investigations Nikki Holland, said: “The infiltration of this command and control communication platform for the UK’s criminal marketplace is like having an inside person in every top organised crime group in the country.
“This is the broadest and deepest ever UK operation into serious organised crime.
“The NCA is proud to have led the UK part of this operation, working in partnership with policing and other agencies. The results have been outstanding but this is just the start.
“A dedicated team of over 500 NCA officers has been working on Operation Venetic night and day, and thousands more across policing. And it’s all been made possible because of superb work with our international partners.
“Together we’ve protected the public by arresting middle-tier criminals and the kingpins, the so-called iconic untouchables who have evaded law enforcement for years, and now we have the evidence to prosecute them.
“The NCA plays a key role in international efforts to combat encrypted comms. I’d say to any criminal who uses an encrypted phone, you should be very, very worried.”
Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “This operation demonstrates that criminals will not get away with using encrypted devices to plot vile crimes under the radar.
“The NCA’s relentless targeting of these gangs has helped to keep us all safe. I congratulate them and law enforcement partners on this significant achievement.
“I will continue working closely with the NCA and others to tackle the use of such devices – giving them the resources, powers and tools they need to keep our country safe.”
A father-of-three who launched an arson attack on a 5G tower after reading conspiracy theories about its supposed links to the current coronavirus pandemic has been jailed for three years.
Michael Whitty, 47, was so concerned about the potential dangers he perceived to his young children from 5G that he and two other men set fire to an equipment box next to a mast in Coopers Lane, Kirkby, Merseyside.
The April 5 incident caused £15,000 worth of damage and rendered the mast out of action for 10 days.
Whitty, who engaged in chatroom discussions about the supposed link between 5G and coronavirus, admitted arson and was today jailed for three years at Liverpool Crown Court.
There have been 13 reported arson attacks on telecom masts on Merseyside between March 29 and April 14 this year and many more nationally causing a total of £250,000 worth of damage, the court was told.
Theories linking 5G to coronavirus have been condemned by scientists as baseless, with Public Health England explaining that there is no evidence exposure is harmful.
Whitty is believed to be the first person in Britain to be jailed for arson at a 5G tower.
The court was told that when Whitty’s mobile phone was examined by police it revealed he had been researching theories on the internet ‘about the alleged connection between 5G and the current Coronavirus pandemic’.
His two accomplices have not been traced but fire fighters found a partly burnt glove left behind at the scene in Coopers Lane, Kirkby, and analysis revealed his DNA.
A 19-year-old Muslim woman was shot dead in a suspected drive-by shooting outside a Lidl supermarket in Blackburn, England.
Aya Hachem, 19, was gunned down in broad daylight less than a mile from her home in Blackburn, at around 3pm yesterday and died later in hospital.
Hachem was reportedly shot by a man as she was out grocery shopping.
Miss Hachem, whose family moved to the UK from Lebanon, had just passed her second-year law exams at the University of Salford and since April 2014 had been a young trustee with the Children’s Society.
Police have now launched a murder investigation following the death of the woman, Lancashire Constabulary has announced.
“An investigation has been launched and we are determined to find those responsible — and we are asking for the public’s help identifying the offender or offenders,” Lancashire Police said.
The police are appealing for information from the public to track down those responsible.
Detective Superintendent Jonathan Holmes of the Force Major Investigation Team, said: “This is a truly shocking and senseless killing which has robbed a young woman of her life.”
She was active in a number of charities and had won awards for her volunteer work, and was pursuing her dream of studying international law, heartbroken friends said.
The new leader of the UK’s Labour Party has shifted its stance on the Kashmir dispute, insisting it’s a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan after meeting with an Indian lobby group.
“We must not allow issues of the sub-continent to divide communities here,” Keir Starmer said on Thursday after a meeting with the executive team of the Labour Friends of India (LFIN).
“Any constitutional issues in India are a matter for the Indian Parliament, and Kashmir is a bilateral issue for India and Pakistan to resolve peacefully,” he added.
Starmer, newly elected to the leadership position, intends to distance himself from his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, who was criticised by sections of the UK’s Indian community for putting forward an emergency motion saying there was a “major humanitarian crisis taking place in Kashmir”.
Corbyn’s stance on Kashmir was clear in his August 2019 tweet: “The situation in Kashmir is deeply disturbing. Human rights abuses taking place are unacceptable. The rights of the Kashmiri people must be respected and UN resolutions implemented.”
Speaking exclusively to ARY News, permanent member of House of Lords, Lord Nazir Ahmed expressed great dismay at the development and said that Starmer’s letter is nowhere near the facts on ground.
Ahmed said that the Kashmir issue was infact not an internal issued of India rather a humanatarian issue which has multiple united nations resolutions on the matter.
Ahmed also said that he will keep on raising and representing the plight of innocent Kashmiris in the world till the resolutions of UN are taken in to affect and the matter resolved according to the wishes of the Kashmiri people.
Member Labour Party from Leeds, Richard Bergen also opposed the development saying that as a party candidate he is upholding the previous legislations on the atrocities of Kashmir at the hands of India and would continue to raise his voice for the people of Kashmir till they get respite.
Former member European Parliament, Sajjad Haider Karim also expressed great sadness over the development saying that Starmer has gone against Labor Party’s very own resolution which was tendered by Corbyn in the past.
Haider said that the Kashmir issue was in no way a constitutional matter for India but rather a glaring humanitarian crisis which needed resolution according to the UN resolutions on the matter.
MANCHESTER: British MP and Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, Afzal Khan, has thanked Prime Minister Imran Khan for supporting Britons to return home in the difficult time amid coronavirus crisis, ARY News reported on Monday.
The British Member of Parliament Afzal Khan wrote a letter to PM Imran Khan for cooperating and helping overseas Pakistanis trapped in Pakistan due to suspension of flight operation following coronavirus crisis.
He said that 7,700 Britons were able to return to the United Kingdom (UK) following the joint efforts of Pakistani authorities and Air Marshall Arshad Malik, the CEO of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
Afzal Khan said that he wrote a letter to the British foreign secretary regarding the matter which was signed by over 90 cross-party MPs. He added, “I am pleased that the UK Government has confirmed 10 charter flights from Pakistan to UK.”
Mr Khan requested the premier to initiate flights for the British citizens from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad as thousands are still stranded. He also requested to allow passengers who are willing to take bodies of deceased persons from UK to Pakistan through the return flights besides granting travel permission to the people booked advance tickets of PIA flights.
“No doubt, the relationship between the diaspora community and Pakistan is as strong as ever, and we must do everything we can to help them during this difficult time.”
“The diaspora present in the UK helps strengthen the bilateral and economic ties between the two countries and with the month of Ramadan fast approaching, I know the community will continue their charitable donations, including to your recent coronavirus relief fund.”
It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had been allowed on April 18 to partially restore its flight operations for the United Kingdom (UK) in order to repatriate stranded Pakistanis.
The aviation authority granted permission to the national flag-carrier to operate some special flights to the UK for bringing back nationals. The special flights will be operated from Lahore and Islamabad airports from April 19.
The PIA flights will also transport British citizens from Pakistan and brought back nationals trapped in the UK due to suspension of flight operation following coronavirus pandemic.
MANCHESTER: The United Kingdom (UK) government has decided to operate chartered flights to repatriate British citizens trapped in Pakistan due to the suspension of international flights following coronavirus pandemic, ARY News reported on Wednesday.
British High Commissioner Christian Turner announced that the UK government will commence a series of chartered flights from the next week to bring around 7,500 citizens back home.
Before the suspension of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) daily flights to the UK, 7,758 British citizens had been departed home through 22 flights during nine days since April 4, said Turner.
The high commissioner said that British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab agreed to operate a series of chartered flights to repatriate UK citizens from Pakistan. The British authorities will also settle the matters related to the repatriation process besides providing financial assistance to its citizens, he added.
On April 9, Pakistan had extended its ban on all flight operations besides barring chartered and private planes till April 21 due to coronavirus pandemic.
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had notified the extension for the closure of all kind of flight operations including domestic and international following the orders of the federal government.
MANCHESTER: Great Britain embattled with the scourge of novel coronavirus like the rest of the world has been having a very rough time dealing with it lately, recovery rates of infected patients is almost negligible, ARY News reported.
According to details, patients continue to suffer the effects of COVID-19 in the country and have seen minimal improvement since the past one week.
The British government had announced that they would regularly carry out close to 100,000 coronavirus tests per day but the figure for daily testing has not gone above 12,000.
The novel coronavirus continues to wreak havoc across the globe leaving 88,502 deaths in its wake since initial outbreak.
British-Pakistani boxer Amir Khan has offered his under construction luxurious building to be turned into a makeshift hospital amid coronavirus outbreak.
He has offered the four-story building to UK’s National Health Service (NHS) to accommodate COVID-19 patients as part of the country’s fight against the virus.
“I am aware of how difficult it is for the public to get a hospital bed in this tragic time. I am prepared to give my 60,000 square foot 4 story building which is due to be a wedding hall and retail outlet to the @NHSuk to help people affected by the coronavirus. Please keep safe,” the boxer tweeted.
I am aware of how difficult it is for the public to get a hospital bed in this tragic time. I am prepared to give my 60,000 square foot 4 story building which is due to be a wedding hall and retail outlet to the @NHSuk to help people affected by the coronavirus. Pls keep safe. pic.twitter.com/MSpaEwPFuw
Meanwhile, a makeshift hospital is being built in London which will accommodate 4,000 patients. Around 500 ventilators will be available at the facility.
London’s ExCel centre is being converted into this hospital which will only treat coronavirus patients.
UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged public to ‘stay home’ and stop the spread of Covid-19. More than 400,o00 people have signed up to be NHS volunteers following a call for help.
LONDON: The drafted emergency Coronavirus Bill 2019-21 is said to allow designated local authorities to disregard section 46(3) of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, which is designed to prevent a local authority from being able to cremate a body against the wishes of the deceased, ARY News reported on Sunday.
The Muslim community and advocacy group (MEND) have issued a statement on the proposed burial measures in the COVID-19 emergency legislation.
Member of Parliament for Bradford West Naz Shah is leading a cross-party amendment to address the issue of burial rights as part of the Coronavirus Bill.
With concern from Muslim and Jewish communities in Bradford and across the UK, around the rising situation concerning burials of Coronavirus Covid-19 victims – I asked the Minister what conversations he has had on this issue. pic.twitter.com/4UYUWhKm36
Talking exclusively to ARY News on the matter, British-Pakistani MP Naz Shah said that she was well aware of the concerns that the Muslim and Jewish communities share regarding cremation and she will present a well-rounded opposition to the clause in the next session of parliament.
Mosques and Imams across the UK have raised an alarming concern around the Covid Bill presented to the Parliament.
The concern is about a draft subsection in SCHEDULE 27 – PART 2 relating to ‘dispose of bodies which includes removal of the deceased’s wishes and enforced cremations’.
The British Board of Muslim Scholars and Imams has urgently called upon all legislators to carefully consider an amendment to the Coronavirus Bill to ensure that a suitable alternative to cremation is diligently considered in cases of extreme emergencies. We support the amendment to the Coronavirus Bill tabled by Naz Shah MP.
The Muslim community in the UK has been managing burials in accordance with their faith for decades and has built a thorough network of teams to manage this emergency situation.
