Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has emphasised the need for doing away with the practice of using corruption as a tool for political victimization.

In his message on International Anti-Corruption Day, being observed today, he regretted that the previous government jailed political opponents on the basis of frivolous corruption allegations.

Terming corruption as a major national issue, the Prime Minister said instead of merely using it for political sloganeering and point scoring, serious efforts should be made for its eradication.

Calling corruption a major impediment to Pakistan’s progress, he said it led to the country’s instability by destroying its economy as well as the administrative structure.

The Prime Minister urged all political circles to prepare a clear roadmap to get rid of corruption.

He said in light of Islamic principles, efforts should be made for strengthening the institutions to do away with the scourge.

Multan: England have won the toss and decided to bat first in the second Test against Pakistan in Multan. 

The second test of three-match series between Pakistan and England will start at 10:00 am Pakistan Standard Time.

England lead the series by 1-0.    

Meanwhile, Pakistan and England will start practice sessions from tomorrow.

Pakistan fast bowler Haris Rauf has been ruled out of the remainder of the test series against England. The 29-year old, who made his debut in the first test, stepped on the ball while fielding on the first day in Rawalpindi, leading to a Grade-II strain in his right quad.

Haris Rauf will now travel to Lahore where he will begin his rehabilitation at the National High Performance Centre.

Naseem Shah, who was visibly struggling with a shoulder issue during the first Test, is also sitting out the match for Pakistan, along with Azhar Ali, who had to retire hurt early in the second innings following a blow to the finger, and proved unable to shore up their batting when he returned on the final day.

England, meanwhile, have none of the concerns that dogged them at the same stage of the first Test, when a sickness bug nearly forced a 24-delay to the start of the game.

Despite the pre-match concerns about smog in Multan, the morning has dawned hazy but without any significant visibility issues, and play is set to begin on time.

Pakistan Squad 

Babar Azam (c), Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Agha Salman,  Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf,  Zahid Mahmood, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Ali.

England Squad 

Ben Stokes (c), Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Will Jacks, Ollie Robinson,  Jack Leach, Mark Wood, James Anderson.

San Francisco: Twitter has been hit with another lawsuit stemming from the recent purging of half its workforce, this one accusing the social media company of disproportionately targeting female employees for layoffs.

The proposed class action filed late on Wednesday in San Francisco federal court said that after Twitter was taken over by Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, it laid off 57% of its female workers compared to 47% of men.

Twitter laid off roughly 3,700 employees in early November in a cost-cutting measure by Musk, and hundreds more subsequently resigned.

The gender disparity was more stark for engineering roles, where 63% of women lost their jobs compared to 48% of men, according to the new lawsuit.

The lawsuit filed by two women who were laid off by Twitter last month accuses the company of violating federal and California laws banning workplace sex discrimination.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shannon Liss-Riordan, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said women “had targets on their backs” once Musk acquired the company, regardless of their talent and contributions.

Liss-Riordan represents current and former Twitter employees in three other pending lawsuits filed in the same court since last month.

Those cases include various claims, including that Twitter laid off employees and contractors without the advance notice required by law and failed to pay promised severance, and that Musk forced out workers with disabilities by refusing to allow remote work and calling on employees to be more “hardcore.”

At least three workers have separately filed complaints against Twitter with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board claiming they faced retaliation for advocating for better working conditions.

Twitter has denied wrongdoing in the lawsuit involving advance notice, and has not responded to the other complaints.

SOURCE: REUTERS