02/18/2025 | UPONSOFT

Pakistan set to host first major cricket event in three decades

By Uponent | 02/18/2025 | No Comments | Business, Entertainment

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan is ready to host the International Cricket Council Champions Trophy 2025 on Wednesday, with eight teams coming together for a major cricketing event in the country for the first time in three decades.

Pakistan last hosted a men’s Cricket World Cup in 1996 under the International Cricket Council.

The Champions Trophy will see players from Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand Pakistan, and South Africa compete over almost three weeks, with the final scheduled for March 9.

All the teams except India will play in three stadiums across Pakistan. All matches involving India will be staged in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, after the Indian cricket board refused to send the team to the archrival country, citing security concerns.

Afghanistan’s cricket team faced boycott calls from politicians in England and South Africa, who did not want their cricket boards to play the team because of the Afghan Taliban’s severe restrictions on women’s mobility, education and ability to work.

The cricket series begins in Pakistan’s biggest metropolis, Karachi, with the host team playing New Zealand.

Long wait for this opportunity

International cricket dried up in Pakistan after a 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan national team in Lahore injured six players. Six Pakistani police officers and two passersby were killed. The incident deprived Pakistan of the chance to host the 2009 Champions Trophy and the 2011 Men’s Cricket World Cup.

International cricket returned with Zimbabwe’s visit in 2015. Since 2019, several major foreign teams have played in Pakistan.

For the nation of cricket lovers, attending a large event at home after more than a decade is nothing short of a dream come true.

“It’s the biggest event for us since 2009, so we are very excited,” said Mohsin Ali. Ali told VOA he paid just over $10 for a ticket to see Pakistan face Bangladesh on Feb. 27 in Rawalpindi, near the capital, Islamabad.

“Pakistani team would play overseas, and we would watch it on TV, which wasn’t much fun,” said Ubaid Hassan, who was a child when international teams shunned Pakistan. Hassan, a captain of the cricket team in his village, has tickets to two matches.

Tight security for the event

Pakistan is deploying almost 20,000 police officials and personnel across Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi for security on game days, with snipers deployed on buildings surrounding the stadiums.

The security situation remains poor in Pakistan with near daily deadly militant attacks in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan provinces. However, the country’s eastern province of Punjab and the southern province of Sindh, where the matches will be played, remain largely calm.

Still, in Karachi, the capital of Sindh, paramilitary troops and the military will be on standby to respond to security emergencies during the event.

Players are receiving state guest-level security. That means a heavy police contingent at hotels where teams are staying, with their travel routes cleared of all traffic. Only personnel with security clearances are allowed to interact with them.

Muhammad Waqas, deputy inspector general of operations for the Punjab police, told VOA that since the 2009 attack, “sports security and security of international events has become very important for us.”

“Even the slightest administrative lapse will cause embarrassment at a very large level, and if we do a good job and manage things efficiently, the same positive impression will go to a billion odd people,” Waqas said. “That is why it’s extremely important and is being planned and monitored at the highest level.”

Fans coming to the stadium will go through several layers of security, including metal detectors and pat downs. Each ticket bears the name and national identity card number of the buyer.

Could be good for nation’s image

While it’s not clear how many visas have been issued to foreign fans, cricket experts in Pakistan say the event will help improve the country’s image, which has suffered partly because of a lack of international exposure.

“When you don’t have tourists, then people will not know how your country is and people will keep thinking poorly of Muslims and Pakistanis,” said Tauqir Zia, former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Although India’s absence from Pakistan’s grounds is a disappointment for many Pakistani cricket lovers who wanted to see the sport’s biggest rivalry play out at home, some say the arrival of other cricketing powers is a vote of confidence.

“Six countries coming to play here is a very big victory for Pakistan. If India doesn’t come, it’s not stopping cricket. The game is still happening,” said cricket journalist Umar Farooq.

The final will be played in Pakistan, unless India qualifies to play the last match, in which case the event will take place in Dubai.

Pakistan has spent millions of dollars in recent months to upgrade the stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi.

Former Pakistani cricketer Mushtaq Ahmed said he hopes the arrival of heavyweights will usher in a new era for international cricket in the country.

“It’s the first step,” said Ahmed, who is a spin bowling coach for Bangladesh. “I am very hopeful that this will open more doors.”

VOA Urdu’s Naveed Naseem contributed to this report.
…

Uganda discharges last Ebola patients; No new deaths from contagious virus reported

By Uponsci | 02/18/2025 | No Comments | Business, Science, Silicon Valley

KAMPALA — Uganda discharged on Tuesday the last eight patients who recovered from Ebola, health authorities reported, and there were no other positive cases in the outbreak declared last month.

World Health Organization described the recoveries as a milestone that “reflects the power of Uganda’s quick and coordinated response.”

Most of the Ebola patients were treated at the main referral facility in the Ugandan capital, Kampala.

The lone Ebola victim was a male nurse who died the day before the outbreak was declared in Kampala on Jan. 30. His relatives are among those later hospitalized with Ebola.

Tracing contacts is key to stemming the spread of Ebola, which manifests as a viral hemorrhagic fever. Ugandan officials documented at least 265 contacts, and at least 90 of them have completed a period of quarantine during which they were monitored for signs of Ebola, Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng told reporters in Kampala.

There are no approved vaccines for the Sudan strain of Ebola in Uganda’s outbreak. But authorities have launched a clinical study to further test the safety and efficacy of a trial vaccine as part of measures to stop the spread of Ebola.

The last outbreak of Ebola in Uganda, which began in September 2022, killed at least 55 people by the time it was declared over four months later.

Ebola is spread by contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated materials. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and at times internal and external bleeding.

Scientists suspect that the first person infected in an Ebola outbreak acquires the virus through contact with an infected animal or eating its raw meat. Ebola was discovered in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks in South Sudan and Congo, where it occurred in a village near the Ebola River, after which the disease is named.
…

Philippines reports intrusions targeting intelligence data

By Uponsil | 02/18/2025 | No Comments | Business, Science, Silicon Valley

Manila, Philippines — The Philippines has detected foreign attempts to access intelligence data, but its cyber minister said on Tuesday no breaches have been recorded so far.

Attempts to steal data are wide-ranging, said minister for information and communications Ivan Uy. Advanced Persistent Threats or APTs have repeatedly attempted but failed to infiltrate government systems, suggesting the country’s cyber-defenses have held firm.

APTs are a general term for cyber actors or groups, often state-backed, that engage in malicious cyber activities.

“These have been present for quite some time, and threats come from many actors, but a big majority of them are foreign,” Uy told Reuters.

Some of these threats, which Uy referred to as “sleepers,” had been embedded in systems before being exposed by government’s cyber security efforts.

“Why are these things operating in those systems, without even anybody calling it out?,” he said.

So far, the government has not seen any cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure, he said.

“Hopefully it’s because our cyber defenses and cyber security are strong enough,” he said.

Uy acknowledged the difficulty of attributing cyber intrusions to specific attackers, as they sometimes leave misleading digital traces.

However, the government is working through diplomatic channels and sharing intelligence with the military, including with other countries, to validate threats and strengthen defenses, he said.

Last year, the Philippine said it thwarted attempts by hackers operating in China to break into websites and e-mail systems of the Philippine president and government agencies, including one promoting maritime security.

Uy described the escalating cyber threats as part of a global arms race, where nations and criminal organizations exploit digital vulnerabilities for financial or strategic gain.

“World War III is happening and it is cyber,” Uy said. “These weapons are non-kinetic. They are cyber, digital, virtual, but it’s happening. The attacks and defenses are happening as we speak, without any physical manifestation.”

Beyond cyberattacks, Uy has also flagged a surge in deepfakes and what he referred to as “fake news media outlets” aiming to manipulate public opinion ahead of the Philippines’ mid-term elections in May, and the ministry has deployed tools to combat them.

“Misinformation and disinformation are riskier with respect to democracies like ours, because we rely on elections, and elections are based on personal opinion,” Uy said.
…