November 2023 – Page 803 – Safir News Agency

Middle East

Iran, Turkey foreign ministers hold meeting on Gaza situation

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During the meeting, the top Iranian and Turkish diplomats conferred on the latest developments in Palestine and its occupied territories.

The top Iranian diplomat is also scheduled to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the daylong trip.

He has traveled to Turkey after a trip to Doha where he and top Qatari officials, including the Arab country’s Emir, and exchanged views on efforts needed for an immediate stop to the Gaza war.

In Turkey, the Iranian top diplomat will continue his diplomatic efforts to help find a solution to the crisis in Palestine.

SD

Nations backing Israel experience surge in hacking activities, including India

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Pro-Palestinian cyber activists have expanded their targets to include countries seen as allies of Israel in the conflict against Hamas.

Updated On – 03:16 PM, Wed – 1 November 23

Nations backing Israel experience surge in hacking activities, including India

New Delhi: Nations supporting Israel in the ongoing war with Hamas, that includes India, have seen a notable uptick in cyber activities against them, a report showed on Wednesday.

Pro-Palestinian cyber activists have broadened their scope beyond Israel, targeting countries perceived as Israeli allies in the war against Hamas.

The US, France, India, and more recently, Italy have seen a significant rise in hacking attempts against their interests, according to the report by cyber-security firm CheckPoint.

Groups like ‘Cyber error system’, which typically concentrate their efforts in Asia, particularly India, continued to maintain their focus on the region.

“They justified their ongoing attacks by citing the ongoing conflict as a rationale. The number of attacks on India exceeded 230,” said the report.

Mysterious Team Bangladesh, a group that has regularly participated in various cyber operations against France for its colonialist past, as well as against India and Sri Lanka, declared its readiness to initiate cyberattacks against Israeli targets and promoted collective action with the hashtag #OpIsraelV2.

They collaborated with ‘Team_insane_Pakistan’, exchanging target information and successes.

“Their attacks targeted various Israeli entities including the space agency, port authorities, media outlets, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and financial institutions, yet the inflicted damage was minimal,” the report mentioned.

French digital infrastructure experienced over 300 incidents, predominantly DDoS attacks and website defacements with minimal impact.

“Since the beginning of the conflict, in particular as foreign leaders expressed their solidarity with Israel, additional nations were added to the roster of potential targets,” the findings showed.

The EU’s suspension of financial aid to the Palestinians on October 10 led to a flurry of cyber operations targeting European organisations.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s personal website experienced a DDoS attack by the hacktivist actor SYLHET GANG-SG. Similar attacks were also launched against the Cyprus police, several Canadian entities, the British military, and other targets. Even UNICEF has been listed as one of their targets.

“While the direct damage inflicted by these cyberattacks remains relatively contained, the broader implications are significant. The persistence and evolving nature of these threats underscore the need for robust cybersecurity measures,” said the researchers.

India

India logs 39 new Covid cases in a day

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The death toll was recorded at 5,33,294, the data updated at 8 am stated.

Published Date – 02:22 PM, Wed – 1 November 23

New Delhi: India saw a single-day rise of 39 new COVID-19 infections, while active cases have been recorded at 252, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

The death toll was recorded at 5,33,294, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The country’s Covid case tally was 4.50 crore.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,44,67,783 and the national recovery rate stands at 98.81 per cent, according to the health ministry’s website.

The case fatality rate stands at 1.19 per cent.

According to the ministry’s website, 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far.

Sports

Shaheen Afridi becomes No.1 ICC ODI bowler

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His three-wicket haul was crucial in ensuring Pakistan’s triumph over Bangladesh in Kolkata on Tuesday which has kept his side’s semi-final hopes alive.

Published Date – 03:09 PM, Wed – 1 November 23

Shaheen Afridi becomes No.1 ICC ODI bowler

New Delhi: Pakistan’s star pacer Shaheen Afridi asserted his dominance in the ODIs by becoming the No.1 50-over format bowler in the latest rankings as he continues to lead the charge for the Men in Green in the ongoing World Cup.

Afridi has lived up to the expectations for Pakistan at the ODI World Cup and his three-wicket haul against Bangladesh made him the joint leading wicket-taker for the tournament alongside Australia spinner Adam Zampa as the pace spin duo have claimed 16 wickets each in the campaign. It also helped him leapfrog to claim the No.1 spot in the ICC ODI bowler rankings.

His three-wicket haul was crucial in ensuring Pakistan’s triumph over Bangladesh in Kolkata on Tuesday which has kept his side’s semi-final hopes alive.

On the other hand, Australia’s Josh Hazlewood (second), India’s Mohammed Siraj (third) and South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj (fourth) all lost one place in the rankings. The spin duo Kuldeep Yadav (seventh) and Mujeeb Ur Rahman (eighth) both gained two places inside the top 10. Afridi for the first time in his career moved to the No.1 ranking in any format.

In ODI batting rankings, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam’s lead at the top has taken a further hit and he is ahead by just two rating points. His nine runs against Bangladesh also played a role in his downslide.

His closest competitor Shubman Gill has failed to capitalise on the opportunity as he has just scored 104 runs from four knocks in the World Cup. But he is slowly making gains.

Experienced Australia opener David Warner rose one place to fourth on the back of his 413 runs at the World Cup while India skipper Rohit Sharma improved three spots to move to the fifth spot following his 398 runs scored in the tournament.

Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards has shown major improvement on the list of ODI batters as he moved 11 places to move to the 16th spot.

Coming to the all-rounder rankings Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan maintains his lead at the top, while South Africa left-armer Marco Jansen has shown improvement as he moved two spots up to ninth and New Zealand youngster Rachin Ravindra climbed 14 spots to reach 17th place.

Chinese giant techs remove Israel from their digital maps

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an Israeli tank driving near the border with the Gaza Strip on October 31, 2023. (AFP photo)

Chinese tech companies Baidu and Alibaba have reportedly removed Israel’s name from their online maps as the regime’s brutal massacre of Palestinians entered its 25th day on Tuesday.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on Monday that the tech giants show Israel’s borders and cities on their digital maps available online, but they dropped the name “Israel.”

“Baidu’s Chinese language online maps demarcate the internationally recognized borders of Israel, as well as the Palestinian territories, plus key cities, but don’t clearly identify the country by name,” wrote the Journal.

Social media users also shared maps they said confirmed the report.

The report comes as Beijing said it will work with the international community to help end the ongoing Israeli violence in the Gaza Strip.

The Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement that Beijing “always stands on the side of fairness and justice, condemns and opposes all moves that harm civilians and violate international law.”

The Chinese media has also been reprimanding the United States for standing “on the wrong side of history on Gaza.”

Israel has been raining bombs on the Gaza Strip since the regime was caught off-guard by Operation Al-Aqsa Storm by the resistance movement Hamas on October 7.

The regime has also cut off fuel, electricity, food and water to more than two million Palestinians living in the coastal territory. Israeli forces have killed more than 8,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, ever since.

Sports

Iranian fighters bag 3 bronze in Asian Boxing C’ships

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Ashkan Hashemi (60 kg), Amir-Mohammad Rostampour (63 kg), and Abbas Garshasbi (+80 kg) each won bronze medals in the sporting event.

Other Iranian boxers, Mohammad-Saleh Mesbahi (66 kg) and Abdulrahman Dara (75 kg) defeated their opponents in the semifinals and reached to the final.

Mesbahi and Dara will compete with their rivals from Kazakhstan in the finals.

The new edition of the ASBC Asian Youth & Junior Boxing Championships is underway in Astana, Kazakhstan from October 21 to November 3.

The ASBC Asian Youth & Junior Boxing Championships is one of the greatest ever boxing competitions in the continent with the participation of around 500 boxers from 28 countries and all regions.

AMK/IRIB4037698

PCB "Issuing Removal Warnings To Captain Babar Azam": Ex-Pakistan Star

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PCB "Issuing Removal Warnings To Captain Babar Azam, Downgrading Morale": Ex-Pakistan Star

The Pakistan cricket team’s underperformance hasn’t just earned Babar Azam‘s men constant criticism but the nature of the results has also put the board in the line of fire. While Babar and several other splayers have seen questions being raised over their credentials, there are those too who believe that the PCB deserves as much flak as the team following the poor World Cup campaign in India. Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria is one such player.

Drawing comparisons between Pakistan and Afghanistan teams, Kaneria said while the latter has its focus on ‘geopolitics’, the former is delivering results by concentrating on cricket.

“While Team Afghanistan is focusing more on cricket and less on politics, Team Pakistan is focused less on cricket and more on geopolitics. @TheRealPCB is downgrading the morale of its cricketers by constantly issuing removal warnings to the captain in case of poor performance. This is happening when team selection is already in question,” he tweeted.

In his post, Kaneria also shed light on the off-field controversies, involving the release of Babar Azam’s personal chats in the media.

“Babar Azam’s private chats have been leaked and Inzamam-ul-haq has stepped down as chief selector after his alleged involvement in player management company. Pakistan team is going through a worse phase. It time for some major changes in PCB as well as the team,” Kaneria further said in his post.

While Team Afghanistan is focusing more on cricket and less on politics, Team Pakistan is focused less on cricket and more on geopolitics. @TheRealPCB is downgrading the morale of its cricketers by constantly issuing removal warnings to the captain in case of poor performance.…

— Danish Kaneria (@DanishKaneria61) October 31, 2023

No matter the result in Pakistan’s remaining World Cup games, it does look like Babar Azam could struggle to hold on to his role as the team’s ODI skipper after the conclusion of the World Cup. A number of other players in the team might also face the axe as the selectors and team management look to give opportunities to a new breed of players.

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