Imran Khan vows to improve Pakistan’s education system

Pakistan’s government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan says it will step up efforts to improve school attendance.

Pakistan’s prime minister is promising to increase efforts to get more children into the classroom.

Millions of kids do not go to school because they come from poor families.

Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder reports from Islamabad.

1000 Best Buy Stores Offer Repair And Service For Apple Products

Apple partnered with consumer electronics retailer Best Buy to expand their repair service for products including iPhones and MacBooks.

Now, Best Buy’s around 1,000 stores across the US will offer service and repairs. Nearly 7,600 newly Apple-certified technicians at Best Buy’s Geek Squad will provide same-day iPhone repairs or service other Apple products.

Earlier, a few selected Best Buy stores were part of Apple’s authorized service program.

In a blog post, the Tech giant said its certified repairs are done by trained experts at an Apple store or an authorized service provider with genuine Apple parts. Every repair is backed by Apple.

Along with Apple’s around 272 retail stores, there are over 1,800 third-party Apple authorized service providers in the US. The company said that with the expanded service offering, eight out of ten Apple customers at present will be within 20 minutes of an authorized service provider.

Tara Bunch, Apple’s vice president of AppleCare, said, “If a customer ever needs to repair their products, we want them to feel confident those repairs are done safely and correctly. We’re always looking at how we can reliably expand our network of trained technicians and we’re excited to partner with every Best Buy store so it’s even easier for our customers to find an authorized repair location near them.”

Australia's Scentre sells Sydney office towers for $1.1 bln

June 27 (Reuters) – Scentre Group Ltd on Thursday said it disposed of its Sydney CBD office towers for A$1.52 billion ($1.06 billion) and announced a share buyback programme worth A$800 million.

The shopping mall owner sold the office towers to certain funds managed by Blackstone Group, the company said in a statement. ($1 = 1.4302 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Rashmi Ashok in Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

Oregon sheriff’s office goes fishing in Willamette River, pulls out 57 electric scooters and bikes

A sheriff’s office in Oregon went on a unique fishing expedition this week — and ended up needing a bigger boat.

The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office’s dive team spent two days in the Willamette River in Portland, recovering 57 e-scooters and bikes, so many that they had to quit at one point because they ran out of space to get them back to shore.

MCSO Sgt. Brandon White said there was concern from the sheriff’s divers the batteries from the scooters could leak into the river, The Oregonian reported. 

“We advise those people not to park scooters in the river,” White said. He added the river patrol and the dive team first noticed the scooters last month. 

MCSO’s Dive Team used their training days to go ? hunting.

Here is the haul: 57 scooters/bikes in 2 days!

The whole team did a great job removing these from our waterways! pic.twitter.com/CRDw3rj9YR

The sheriff’s office tweeted on Tuesday that divers pulled out five scooters and expected to find 15 more. Wednesday, the total ballooned to 57, including the bikes. 

KGW-TV in Portland reported a since-deleted Instagram account posted videos of people tossing e-scooters off bridges and into the Willamette River. 

According to The Oregonian, the e-scooters were from Lime, Bird and Razor. The bicycles appeared to be from local bike-sharing system Biketown, the newspaper reported. 

Palestinian journalist facing deportation

Six years ago, Mustafa al-Kharouf appeared in a documentary describing the difficulties of living stateless and under occupation in East Jerusalem.

A Palestinian photo-journalist arrested by Israeli police is due to hear whether he will be deported.

Rights groups say Mustafa al-Kharouf is being punished for his work but officials argue he is in occupied East Jerusalem illegally.

Harry Fawcett reports.

The importance of astrology in Thai culture

During the recent coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, royal astrologists inscribed the king’s official titles and a horoscope for his reign on a golden tablet.

In many cultures, fortunetelling is dismissed as a form of superstition.

But in Thailand, astrology plays a prominent role, touching nearly all walks of life.

Al Jazeera’s Scott Heidler reports from Bangkok.

Cory Booker Reveals Why He Shot ‘The Look’ At Beto O’Rourke During The Debate

It was the side-eye glance seen ’round the internet. 

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) fired off a look at rival Democratic presidential contender Beto O’Rourke when the former Texas congressman spoke Spanish during his first answer in Wednesday night’s 2020 presidential primary debate. 

Did observers blow it out of proportion in an age when any quick glance can be turned into a screengrab and a meme? 

Or was there a deeper meaning to it? 

Turns out Booker did have something on his mind when he fired off the now-infamous look.

He told CNN’s Anderson Cooper: 

“I just knew he had laid a gauntlet down and I was talking a little bit with (Julián) Castro. Both he and I knew, as people who can speak Spanish, that now we were gonna bring it as well.”

He said he didn’t quite remember what was on his mind but said he “realized that there’s a lot of bilingual people, some even trilingual, in this race, and I’m happy to have those skills.”  

He made similar comments to MSNBC’s Chris Matthews: 

Booker responded later in the debate with a little Spanish of his own.