Malala’s recovering friends
A month after the attack, which sparked a global outcry, young Shazia remained fearless and optimistic.
“Islam gives equal opportunity to males and females to get an education, so we will continue our education. Education is indispensable for both men and women as it gives awareness to mankind. I will become a doctor and serve my nation,” she told The Express Tribune.
Earlier, Interior Minister Rehman Malik announced that he would recommend the Sitara-e-Shujaat for Shazia and Kainat. (complete news)
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Muhammad Asif victorious in World Snooker Championship finals
BULGARIA: Pakistani cueist Muhammad Asif won the IBSF World Snooker Championship finals, beating his opponent, England’s Gary Wilson.
Asif maintained a strong lead against Wilson, being up 6-3 at the break.
Asif had earlier sailed into the IBSF World Snooker Championship finals, crushing Malta’s Alex Borg, seven frames to one and secured his place in the final. He had reached the semi-finals after beating Syria 6-2.
The Pakistani cueist had triumphed against Australia’s Vinnie Calabrese 5-0 in their last 32-match played on Friday in Sofia, Bulgaria. Asif showed great confidence as he beat Calabrese 63-40, 115-14, 69-65, 67-55 and 67-15.
Asif remained unbeaten in the tournament.
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Furthering diplomatic ties: Japanese wrestler Inoki arrives in Pakistan
Antonio Inoki, a former Japanese professional wrestler, arrived in Pakistan on late on Friday to participate in an international wrestling competition, Express News reported.
Talking to reporters at the Benazir International airport in Islamabad upon his arrival, Inoki said that he was visiting Pakistan as part of the 60-year celebrations of diplomatic ties between Pakistan and Japan.
Expess News added that during the brief press talk, the Japanese wrestler revealed that he had accepted Islam and that his Muslim name was “Muhamamd Hussain”.
Inoki, who has previously visited Pakistan to take on late wrestler Akram, reminisced that the Japanese wrestler had managed to break the Pakistani challenger’s arm. Inoki said that he would visit the graves of late wrestlers Gama and Akram and pay his respects. (Complete news)
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An old picture of now slain ex-PM of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto (on left) with her family.
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Asma Jilani Jahangir: Why she kicks ass
- She is a leading Pakistani lawyer, advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, President Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan and human rights activist, who works both in Pakistan and internationally to prevent the persecution of religious minorities, women, and exploitation of children.
- She was the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief from August 2004 to July 2010 (first attached to the former Commission on Human Rights, now to the Human Rights Council). Previously, she served as the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Arbitrary and Summary Executions.
- She is a founding member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, and has served as Secretary-General and later Chairperson of the organization.
- Jahangir and her sister, joined with fellow activists and lawyers to form the first law firm established by women in Pakistan.
- In the same year they also helped form the Women’s Action Forum (WAF); a pressure group campaigning against Pakistan’s discriminatory legislation, most notably against the Proposed Law of Evidence, where the value of a woman’s testimony was reduced to half that of a man’s testimony, and the Hadood Ordinances, where victims of rape had to prove their innocence or else face punishment themselves.
- On February 12, 1983, the Punjab Women Lawyers Association in Lahore organised a public protest (one of its leaders was Jahangir) against the Proposed Law of Evidence, during which Jahangir and other participating WAF members were beaten, teargassed, and arrested by police.
- In 1982 Jahangir earned the nickname “little heroine” after leading a protest march in Islamabad against a decision by then-president Zia ul Haq to enforce religious laws and stated: “Family laws [which are religious laws] give women few rights” and that “They have to be reformed because Pakistan cannot live in isolation. We cannot remain shackled while other women progress.”
- In 1986 Jahangir and Hina set up AGHS Legal Aid, the first free legal aid centre in Pakistan. The AGHS Legal Aid Cell in Lahore also runs a shelter for women, called ‘Dastak’.
- She won the Supreme Court Bar Association election by defeating her competitor Ahmed Awais and securing 834 of total votes and became the first ever women President of SCBA in the history of Pakistan.
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She has recived; the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders as well as the Ramon Magsaysay Award for “greatness of spirit shown in service of the people”, the Millennium prize, by UNIFEM (the United Nations Development Fund for Women) in collaboration with the non-governmental organisation International Alert, the Freedom of Worship Medal for her human rights and religious freedom activism in a ceremony held in the Nieuwe Kerk in Holland, the Hilal-i-Imtiaz, the second highest civilian award of Pakistan and the 2010 UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights, recognizing her efforts as a human rights defender. (via womenwhokickass)
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Ancient tombs discovered in Pakistan’s Swat (AFP)
Italian archaeologists say they have discovered a cemetery that reveals complex funeral rites dating back more than 3,000 years in Pakistan’s Swat valley, recently controlled by the Taliban.
The Italian mission began digging in the 1950s at Udegram, a site of Buddhist treasures in Swat, the northwestern district formerly known as the Switzerland of Pakistan for its stunning mountains, valleys and rivers.
Archaeologists were aware of a pre-Buddhist grave site in Udegram, but only recently discovered the collection of almost 30 graves, tightly clustered and partially overlapping.
“Some graves had a stone wall, others were protected by walls and enclosures in beaten clay,” Luca Maria Olivieri, head of the Italian mission, told AFP.
“The cemetery… seems to have been used between the end of the second millennium BCE and the first half of the first millennium BCE,” he added.
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Students stand up for better wages of janitorial staff (In LUMS, a battle over fired janitorial staff brews)
A group of students from the Lahore University of Management and Sciences, with help from a few instructors, have been campaigning for the re-hiring of 16 members of the janitorial staff relieved of their duties on October 23, 2012.
The incident unfolded when the entire janitorial staff comprising of 101 people protested outside the campus demanding an increase in their minimum wages, as announced by the government in July 2012. Eventually students joined in support and began campaigning on campus. (complete news)
Inspiring!
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