Thursday, November 28
Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen clashed in various parts of the Gaza Strip over the weekend, both the sides reported on Sunday. Efforts to reach a ceasefire and secure the release of hostages held by Hamas remained uncertain. Israel expressed its intention to expand its operations to destroy Hamas, while the Islamist group demanded a permanent end to the ongoing conflict.
A 25-year-old British Indian doctor whose passion for music resulted in a band with some of his fellow medical colleagues has embarked on his first UK-wide tour, with the launch show in London recently proving a sell-out. Gulzar (Gulz) Singh Dhanoya started the indie-rock band named Gulz during his university days as a medical student.
Zong Qinghou, a Chinese business magnate whose leading beverage firm once made him the richest person in the country, died on Sunday, according to an official statement released by his company. Zong, 79, was the founder of the Wahaha conglomerate, which specialises in bottled water, soft drinks, tea and other products.
The body of Alexei Navalny, a Russian opposition leader and Putin critic, who died in an Arctic prison colony, has been handed over to his mother. The funeral is pending, and the authorities have given an ultimatum for a secret funeral without a public farewell. Navalny's mother refused to negotiate with the IC regarding the burial.
On Saturday, Russian police detained numerous people, including journalists, during a weekly demonstration outside the Kremlin by wives of soldiers fighting in Ukraine. The women, who have been demanding the repatriation of their husbands from Ukraine, held rare demonstrations in Moscow. Women's organization 'Put Domoy' (The Way Home) had called for protests in Russian cities at noon, according to social media.
Popular social media platform 'X' remains inaccessible to Pakistanis for almost a week, with the government yet to provide an explanation for the prolonged disruption, as per Geo News. The shutdown, which started last Saturday, has prevented users across the country from sharing information. Caretaker Minister for Information and Technology did not comment on the matter, and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has not issued a statement yet.
The Pakistan government has given approval for the construction work on its section of the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline. The approval for the initial phase of the 80-km segment within Pakistan was granted by the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) of the interim government, just days before the new government takes office after the February 8 elections.
