Latest news with #Younis
Express Tribune
7 days ago
- Sport
- Express Tribune
'Home environment, Karachi life groomed me'
Meeting the legendary Younis Khan is a reminder that humility and greatness can coexist. He speaks softly but thinks deeply. On the field, though, it was his bat that did all the talking in an illustrious career that spanned nearly 17 years. Indeed, his astounding records and monumental achievements makes the man worthy of knighthood. Over 10,000 Test runs, 34 centuries, six double centuries, one triple century, centuries against nine Test playing nations, hundred catches as a fielder, 23 centuries outside Pakistan, victorious skipper of the 2009 T20 World Cup — and the impressive list of milestones goes on. The affable player from Mardan blushes when complimented about the many feathers in his cap. "Achievements are one thing, but when people remember you with love and call you a true Pakistani — that's the real legacy," says Younis in an exclusive interview with the Express Tribune recently. Younis credits his early life in Mardan and a close-knit family of six brothers for nurturing his love for cricket. "We all played cricket," he recalled, "and I was lucky to have their support. My family never saw it as a waste of time. They saw my passion." The prolific right-hander, who has been an ideal for millions in Pakistan and abroad, was inspired by his elder brother Sharif Khan who encouraged him to professionally take up the game. "For me, it was my elder brother Sharif Bhai who was the ultimate role model," says Younis as his eyes light up. "He (Sharif) was the complete package — captain, wicketkeeper, opening batsman, even an occasional off-spinner, and a brilliant fielder. He led from the front and had a great personality. From Steel Mills to steely nerves Besides his batsmanship, Younis maintained remarkable composure in career through crises - be it personal tragedy, Pakistan's international cricket drought, or high-stakes matches. "That sort of mental toughness was a part of my grooming at home," says Younis. "There's something powerful about the right environment and I found that environment at home which shaped me more than I can explain." His family had migrated from Mardan to Karachi in the early 80s and Younis Khan's father decided to settle down near the Steel Mills area. Growing up in Karachi during the volatile years of the early '90s contributed, too, in Younis acquiring his steely nerves. "Yes indeed, violence and unrest were rampant in those days, but the dream stayed alive," he says. The former Pakistan Captain recounts incidents where his team's vehicles came under fire, and they had to duck and hide. "I saw those dark days firsthand. Once you've played cricket through that, nothing fazes you." "When I joined Malir Gymkhana in 1992, it was a powerhouse — Waheed Mirza, Tariq Alam, Rashid Latif — they all played there. Suddenly, I was surrounded by top-class cricketers and mentors. That competitive environment, too, worked wonders." "It's that background that helped in developing my temperament. When I debuted for Pakistan against Sri Lanka at the National Stadium in Karachi in 2000, my captain asked me how I handled pressure. I was surprised. Pressure? After what we'd seen growing up, this is nothing." Unfazed by comparisons In the recent comparisons carried out by a renowned website on modern greats, Younis Khan held sway over his contemporaries with his astounding achievements and handsome run aggregate. So does it rankle with him when the Kohlis and the Smiths get to hog the limelight. "Not in the slightest," he replies. "I honestly don't believe in comparisons. My Allah knows how hard I worked and what I was able to accomplish. Besides, the love of my fans is the real reward. Having said that, I wish our cricket administrators could make greater, sincere efforts to ensure we were given our due in terms of respect, reward and recognition after having served our country with distinction." Asked about his cricketing idols, Younis names Rashid Latif as someone he learned from directly, but holds special reverence for two legends — Javed Miandad and Imran Khan. "Miandad bhai was someone we all wanted to emulate — the way he built his innings, carried the team, guided youngsters, and performed under pressure. As for Imran Khan, of course, he was a national icon who literally inspired every cricketer in the country who played the game after him." In what could be termed as poetic justice, Younis fulfilled his childhood dream while emulating Imran in 2009. "I always wanted to be part of a World Cup-winning team, just like Imran Khan in 1992. And in 2009, I was the captain when we won the T20 World Cup. It was proof that dreams backed by will and discipline do come true."
San Francisco Chronicle
17-05-2025
- General
- San Francisco Chronicle
AP PHOTOS: Clashes between India and Pakistan upend lives in a Kashmiri village
GINGAL, India (AP) — Mohammad Younis Khan was among 40 residents seeking shelter in a cowshed when shelling began in Gingal, a scenic mountain village in north Kashmir on the Indian-controlled side of the de facto border with Pakistan. Men, women and children sought refuge in the 3-meter-by-4.2 meter (10-feet-by-14 feet) space, which they felt offered greater safety than their brick and cement homes. Huddled together, they heard the swoosh and thunder of the projectiles being fired from both sides of the border. When they heard a very loud sound from just outside the shelter, they held their breath and expected the worst. But the projectile had landed on soft earth and detonated a couple of feet below the ground sparing them. Younis, who could tell the outgoing projectiles from the incoming ones by the sound they made, described the impact outside 'as if a lightning bolt had struck the ground.' They all feared that India and Pakistan were at war and they would not survive the night. 'We were so scared that we didn't dare go out to a water tap just four feet away from the door even when the children were crying of thirst,' Younis told The Associated Press. Mohammad Shafi and four family members were having dinner in their kitchen when they heard explosions and ran outside. They had just managed to reach the road when they saw a blast damage the kitchen they had been dining in. They ran down a slope and hid among trees. It was the night of May 8, and the shelling had intensified from the previous evening. Nasreena Begum rushed out, leaving her special-needs son behind as he was too heavy to be carried. She was tormented but was relieved to find him safe at home the following morning. Most residents left Gingal for the town of Baramulla about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south, where some saw their homes destroyed on TV or social media. Naseer Ahmad, a Jammu & Kashmir police officer posted in south Kashmir, learned via Facebook that shelling damaged his Paranpillan home, instantly recognizable by the surprisingly intact large walnut tree beside it. Following the May 10 ceasefire, residents of Gingal returned to assess the damage, finding their homes riddled with shrapnel. Those with intact or livable houses sheltered neighbors who had lost theirs. About 160 kilometers (100 miles) south, the usually bustling tourist spot of Pahalgam is now quiet, its residents facing a different challenge. It was here when, on April 22, militants killed 26 tourists in the worst assault in years targeting civilians in the restive region. Pahalgam, usually lively with May holidaymakers, is now deserted. Businesses are shuttered and tourist attractions within a 30-kilometer (18-mile) radius of the massacre site are closed to locals and visitors alike. Back in Gingal, Younis prays for peace. 'Where will we go if the clashes continue? Drones can reach anywhere,' he said. 'Those who want war have never experienced it.' ____ Bhatia reported from Dharamshala, India.
Hamilton Spectator
17-05-2025
- General
- Hamilton Spectator
AP PHOTOS: Clashes between India and Pakistan upend lives in a Kashmiri village
GINGAL, India (AP) — Mohammad Younis Khan was among 40 residents seeking shelter in a cowshed when shelling began in Gingal, a scenic mountain village in north Kashmir on the Indian-controlled side of the de facto border with Pakistan. Men, women and children sought refuge in the 3-meter-by-4.2 meter (10-feet-by-14 feet) space, which they felt offered greater safety than their brick and cement homes. Huddled together, they heard the swoosh and thunder of the projectiles being fired from both sides of the border. When they heard a very loud sound from just outside the shelter, they held their breath and expected the worst. But the projectile had landed on soft earth and detonated a couple of feet below the ground sparing them. Younis, who could tell the outgoing projectiles from the incoming ones by the sound they made, described the impact outside 'as if a lightning bolt had struck the ground.' They all feared that India and Pakistan were at war and they would not survive the night. 'We were so scared that we didn't dare go out to a water tap just four feet away from the door even when the children were crying of thirst,' Younis told The Associated Press. Mohammad Shafi and four family members were having dinner in their kitchen when they heard explosions and ran outside. They had just managed to reach the road when they saw a blast damage the kitchen they had been dining in. They ran down a slope and hid among trees. It was the night of May 8, and the shelling had intensified from the previous evening. Nasreena Begum rushed out, leaving her special-needs son behind as he was too heavy to be carried. She was tormented but was relieved to find him safe at home the following morning. Most residents left Gingal for the town of Baramulla about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south, where some saw their homes destroyed on TV or social media. Naseer Ahmad, a Jammu & Kashmir police officer posted in south Kashmir, learned via Facebook that shelling damaged his Paranpillan home, instantly recognizable by the surprisingly intact large walnut tree beside it. Following the May 10 ceasefire, residents of Gingal returned to assess the damage, finding their homes riddled with shrapnel. Those with intact or livable houses sheltered neighbors who had lost theirs. About 160 kilometers (100 miles) south, the usually bustling tourist spot of Pahalgam is now quiet, its residents facing a different challenge. It was here when, on April 22, militants killed 26 tourists in the worst assault in years targeting civilians in the restive region. Pahalgam, usually lively with May holidaymakers, is now deserted. Businesses are shuttered and tourist attractions within a 30-kilometer (18-mile) radius of the massacre site are closed to locals and visitors alike. Back in Gingal, Younis prays for peace. 'Where will we go if the clashes continue? Drones can reach anywhere,' he said. 'Those who want war have never experienced it.' ____ Bhatia reported from Dharamshala, India.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Inside Washington's tech summit, Silicon Valley's elite gently make the case for skilled immigration to keep an edge in the AI arms race
During a day-long conference in Washington D.C., leaders from government and the tech industry discussed how the U.S. could keep its lead against China in the AI race. Several speakers mentioned the need for the U.S. to attract the best tech talent from around the world. Those comments come at a time when the country has seen widespread immigration crackdowns that have swept up legal immigrants. In an auditorium in the lower levels of Capitol Hill, tech leaders and policymakers gathered to discuss the AI arms race against China. At the conference, known as the Hill and Valley Forum, luminaries from the tech world—Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Palantir CEO Alex Karp, and venture capitalist Keith Rabois—sat for interviews, while top government officials like Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson gave keynote addresses. Attendees heard panels about self-driving submarines, training warfighters to use AI drones, and AI-powered rare-earth mines. As part of the conference's theme of 'Rebuilding America,' much of the conversation focused on the need for the U.S. to outcompete China in developing the suite of new technologies for the AI age. To do so, the U.S. would need to generate more power, build countless new data centers, and revitalize the Department of Defense's innovation-averse organizational culture, according to conference's speakers. The U.S. would also need to maintain its advantage in recruiting the world's best technologists, including from other countries. 'We need to make sure that the best people in the world are here and that they are building alongside our companies,' said Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner. Elected officials in attendance also said the same. During a panel on AI policy, Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said if the U.S. could 'keep the brightest minds here,' it would 'win this game' against China. 'Number one, it is a matter of being inviting to other people that can actually create the future with us,' Rounds said. Others at the conference made more overt calls to attract qualified people from the U.S.'s rivals to strengthen the domestic talent pool, while weakening theirs. Lux Capital founder Josh Wolfe, who moderated a panel on the use of AI in national defense, said he hoped to see a 'brain drain coming from China and maybe other adversarial countries' to the U.S. During the same session, Qasar Younis—founder and CEO of Applied Intuition, which develops autonomous vehicles, including for military purposes—pointed to the fact that many companies in Silicon Valley had large numbers of immigrants. 'There should be no question if you're a doctoral student, or if you have a PhD in China, or a PhD in Russia and you want to come to the United States, we should find ways to attract that talent,' Younis said. Younis also said that because of Applied Intuition's close ties to the Pentagon, he worried about espionage from China. He called for an immigration policy that protected U.S. companies from potential Chinese spies but that didn't 'throw the baby out with the bath water.' 'We have to have nuanced policies that specifically address China or other countries, other adversaries, but not everybody,' Younis said. Younis saw sourcing talent from across the world as a boon for the U.S. tech industry. 'There are 8 billion people and we need to continue to attract them,' he said. 'That's our edge.' Vinod Khosla, the founder of Khosla Ventures who is also a major investor in OpenAI, said 'not getting the right amount of immigration' was one of the biggest risks to U.S. tech's lead against China. 'America's advantage is we get the best talent from anywhere in the world. If there's one thing I'd say we could do, it's to get people who have PhDs in math or physics or AI to [come] here. Proactively go woo them to be here because it will be our largest advantage.' Immigration policy in the tech industry became a flashpoint earlier this year when different factions of the Republican party fought over whether to curb H-1B visas for highly-skilled workers that Silicon Valley usually employs. Some immigration hardliners advocated for reducing the levels of both illegal and legal immigration, while conservative tech leaders, like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, thought that H-1B visas were critical for the industry's continued success. It was a rare rift in an otherwise tight-knit Republican party. (None of the speakers at the Hill and Valley Forum mentioned the months-old H-1B visa controversy.) Immigration is one of President Donald Trump's signature issues. Since taking office, the administration has targeted both illegal and legal immigrants, and particularly those at colleges and universities. International students across the country have been stripped of their legal status. Some have sued the government in court to have their student visas reinstated. Other international students have been detained by authorities. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. On Wednesday, Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.) alluded to the administration's actions toward international students. He said the administration 'threatening people with immigration' is going to 'cut down on our talent and on our institutional capacity to innovate.' He also highlighted funding cuts to academic institutions, which had halted ongoing research projects. This story was originally featured on
Saba Yemen
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Saba Yemen
Israeli army escalates aggression on Tulkarm for 92nd day
Tulkarm - Saba: Israeli enemy forces continue their aggression against the city of Tulkarm and its camp in the northern occupied West Bank for the 92nd consecutive day, and for the 79th day against the Nour Shams camp. Palestinian media reported that the continued Israeli aggression comes amid an ongoing escalation of raids, incursions, arrests, and the seizure of homes, exacerbating the suffering of Palestinian citizens. They indicated that Israeli enemy forces continued to carry out large-scale raids in Tulkarm and its surrounding areas, coinciding with intensive movements of their foot and mobile patrols, amid an escalation in the field and attacks on citizens and their property. Local Palestinian sources reported that Israeli forces stormed the Abu Laifa building in the eastern neighborhood near Tulkarm camp, in addition to other homes, and detained their residents for long hours. They explained that the forces searched a number of residential apartments before forcing residents to leave the building, under the pretext that the area surrounding the homes was a closed military zone. On Nablus Street, a Palestinian citizen in his seventies was injured with bruises after being assaulted by Israeli forces while trying to inspect his home. The soldiers set fire to it after deploying around the house, closing off Nablus Street and preventing the movement of vehicles and civilians. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that its crews transported the elderly man, Younis, to the hospital after being severely beaten by Israeli soldiers. In the same context, Israeli soldiers deployed around the Shuweika roundabout north of the city, firing heavy gunfire and sound bombs, and seizing citizens and vehicles in the area. Israeli forces arrested a young Palestinian man from Nour Shams camp while he was in the eastern neighborhood of the camp. Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli forces raised their flag over the home of the Yazid Abu Diya family in Jabal al-Nasr in Nour Shams camp, which they have recently converted into a military barracks. They are tightening their siege on the camp and closing its entrances with earth mounds. Israeli enemy forces continue to send military reinforcements to the city of Tulkarm, its suburbs, and its two refugee camps via the Shuweika roundabout and Al-Alimi Street from the Nitzanei Oz gate to the west, with an infantry force deployed in the Rashid neighborhood in the Dhanaba suburb. The enemy continues its tight siege of the Nour Shams refugee camp, which is witnessing the forced displacement of residents of Jabal al-Nasr and Jabal al-Salihin after forcing them to evacuate their homes at gunpoint. The city of Tulkarm is witnessing a daily escalation in raids and arrests, as part of its ongoing aggression against it, its two refugee camps, and its suburbs. This escalation includes the deployment of foot and mobile vehicles in its main neighborhoods, the pursuit of young men, assaulting them with beatings, arresting them, and detaining them for long hours after confiscating their ID cards and mobile phones. Over the course of 92 days of ongoing aggression, Israeli enemy forces completely destroyed 396 homes and partially destroyed 2,573 in the Tulkarm and Nour Shams refugee camps, in addition to blocking their entrances and alleys with earth mounds. The ongoing aggression on the city of Tulkarm and its two camps resulted in the deaths of 13 Palestinian citizens, in addition to the injury and arrest of dozens. It also resulted in the forced displacement of more than 4,000 families from the Tulkarm and Nour Shams camps, comprising more than 24,000 citizens, along with hundreds of citizens from the northern neighborhood of the city after their homes were seized and a number of them converted into military barracks. In this context, the Tulkarm refugee camp is witnessing a heavy presence of enemy forces, who continue to bulldoze, vandalize, and destroy the demolished streets and citizens' property, and close its entrances with earth mounds and barbed wire. The camp has become empty of its residents after they were forcibly displaced from their homes and converted into military barracks. The Israeli enemy continues to seize homes and residential buildings on Nablus Street and the adjacent northern neighborhood, converting them into military barracks after forcibly evacuating their residents. Israeli forces position their vehicles and bulldozers around them. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print more of (International)
