Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has submitted a list of candidates for reserved seats to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), including party loyalist Sanam Javaid, Aliya Hamza Malik, Yasmin Rashid and others, Geo News reported.
PTI submitted its list to the ECP after the recent Supreme Court verdict regarding the reserved seats case, formally allowing the PTI to have reserved seats in assemblies.
In its ruling, the top court ordered PTI to submit a list of their candidates for reserved seats of minorities and women within 15 days.
PTI’s list includes 67 candidates for reserved seats for women and 11 for minorities.
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Punjab has arrested 38 terrorists in various operations across different cities of the province this month.
According to a CTD spokesperson, the 38 terrorists were apprehended in 449 intelligence-based operations conducted by CTD in various cities of Punjab this month.
During this period, a trained terrorist affiliated with the banned TTP was also reportedly arrested in Lodhran and a main commander of Daesh was captured in Bahawalpur.
Operations were also carried out in Lahore, Rahim Yar Khan, Narowal, Rawalpindi, and Multan.
Intelligence-based operations were conducted in Jhang, Sargodha, Khanewal, Wahari, Bahawalpur, Lodhran, and Bahawalnagar resulted in the recovery of explosive materials, hand grenades, weapons, mobile phones, and cash from the terrorists.
The spokesperson further disclosed that the arrested terrorists were planning attacks on law enforcement agencies and important installations.
With her captivating performances, actress Yumna Zaidi has gained immense fame following the success of her blockbuster drama serial ‘Tere Bin.’ Even before this triumph, Yumna was already a renowned and phenomenal actor, known for delivering stellar performances in numerous hit television dramas.
In a meet-and-greet session with fans in Dallas, USA, alongside co-star Wahaj Ali, Yumna talked about her personal life, revealing the reason why she’s still single.
Responding to a fan’s question, she said, “I am a very difficult sort of a person that is why I am still single. I don’t know why. Yes, it is a weird reason but I love to be single.” Currently, Yumna is starring in the new drama Gentleman, playing the central character of Zarnab.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on July 26 stated that his government won’t allow a military operation in the province as the federal government criticised him for following “a man imprisoned in Adiala Jail.”
“As a chief minister, I announce that we will not allow any operation in this province,” Gandapur said while addressing a gathering of Bannu Aman Jirga.
His statement came after CM Gandapur chaired an apex committee meeting, in which he assured the jirga of their demands, including the increased role of police in KP.
The Aman jirga was held after the Bannu incident in which at least four people were killed while several were injured after a protest turned violent.
In his fiery signatory speech, Gandapur also remarked, “Any highhandedness, if committed in the province, will be perceived as being against me.”
However, Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, responding to CM KP’s statement, said that the Gandapur had to make such remarks because he was answerable to “only one man.”
He also said that the KP government has no plans to deal with terrorism, claiming that terrorism incidents had increased during PTI’s tenure as “they brought TTP back.”
The global anti-Israel movement led by BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions ) and other pro-Palestinian groups are calling for a boycott of the Disney and Marvel film Captain America: Brave New World, featuring Israeli comic-book superhero Sabra (Ruth Bat Seraph).
On July 12, Marvel dropped the first teaser for the film, set to release next February, which portrays Sabra as a “high-ranking US government official” instead of a Mossad agent, which she is in the comics.
The change has come in the context of critique that was showered upon Marvel after it announced that the character will be part of the new movie. The character of Sabra was first introduced in the 1980s Hulk comics but Marvel studios has said that it would be “taking a new approach to the character.”
While this change of approach is criticised by pro-Israel factions, it was also heavily lambasted by pro-Palestinian groups. In a social media post, BDS stated: “Palestinians call for intensifying pressure on Disney and Marvel to drop anti-Palestinian character.”
“We call for boycotting Disney+ subscriptions, Marvel merchandise and all screenings of Captain America: Brave New World,” the BDS National Committee, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Movement for Black Lives collectively posted. “Disney’s superficial changes to the character cannot erase its decades-long complicity in Israeli propaganda,” the post added.
The slider, posted by BDS, emphasised that “By reviving this racist character in any form, Marvel is promoting Israel’s brutal oppression of Palestinians.”
The criticism is also deeply rooted in the casting of Shira Haas, who has previously volunteered for the genocidal Israeli military even though she was exempted due to “stunted growth” because she suffered from a form of cancer while she was a toddler. She voluntarily enlisted herself in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Military Band and theatre unit.
“The character has long glorified violence against Palestinians, working for the Israeli government and military, which are now annihilating Palestinians in Gaza,” the post elaborated.
A user on X shared that “(Marvel) has announced the character on the 40th anniversary of the event. BDS are calling for a boycott. Don’t watch.”
Another user shared her stance by writing, “Just a reminder now that a new Deadpool & Wolverine trailer was released that Marvel is being boycotted just like McDonald’s and Starbucks because the next Captain America movie is going to have an Israeli superhero, Sabra, played by a literal IDF soldier, Shira Haas.”
United States Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now running for candidacy in the upcoming presidential election, has asserted that she will not remain “silent” on the suffering in Gaza.
“What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating. The images of dead children and desperate hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time,” Harris said while speaking to reporters following her meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington DC.
At the same time, she maintained that “Israel has a right to defend itself”, deeming Hamas as a “brutal terrorist organisation” that led to the “war” and had carried out ‘“horrific acts of sexual violence”.
Harris later added that “We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies [in Gaza]. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering and I will not be silent.”
She also urged the creation of a Palestinian state, further calling for Netanyahu and Hamas to accord a ceasefire and hostage release deal to end a war that has killed “far too many” civilians.
“As I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done,” she said.
The opening ceremony of the Olympics is always a highly anticipated moment, marking the beginning of a global event that unites countries in the spirit of sportsmanship and unity. Olympics 2024 aimed to break new records in Paris with an innovative approach, but many sports fans slammed it as unrehearsed.
For the first time in history, organizers decided to hold the ceremony along the famous Seine River instead of in a stadium.
The bold move was adopted to showcase Paris’s beauty, but many viewers were left disappointed. Fans especially didn’t like the boat parade, feeling it lacked the impressive style expected for an Olympic opening.
The streaming quality could have been better with fleeting and distant shots.
Most Malaysian fans were disappointed with the ceremony. One fan expressed frustration, saying, “I’ve been waiting for more than one hour, and they just gave us a few seconds of screen time? I sacrificed my sleep for nothing and have work at 7 a.m.”
Another fan criticized the planning and execution of the ceremony, stating, “Worst Olympic opening ceremony ever… super boring. It was a waste of beautiful outfits, but they didn’t match the occasion. Where are the lights to showcase the gold colour? @MSNMALAYSIA and @KBSMalaysia didn’t check the opening details before choosing the outfits for the contingent?”
However, some fans appreciated the ceremony, praising the picturesque backdrop of the Seine River and the creative use of boats for the parade.
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories responded to a post on X, formerly Twitter, displaying a picture of Hitler being celebrated by a crowd with Nazi salutes and cheers above a shot of Netanyahu appearing to be greeted by US congressmen this week.
“History is always watching,” Craig Mokhiber, another former UN human rights official who resigned late last October accusing the world body of failing to prevent the “genocide” of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, wrote in the post.
“This is precisely what I was thinking today,” Albanese, an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2022 but who does not speak on behalf of the United Nations, said in her response on Thursday.
Israel’s foreign ministry was quick to respond, slamming her on X as being “beyond redemption.”
“It is inconceivable that (Albanese) is still allowed to use the UN as a shield to spread anti-Semitism,” it said.
“When a current UN ‘expert’ endorses Holocaust distortion spread by the former (UN rights office) director in New York… the system is rotten to its core,” it said.
“It’s high time to #UNseatAlbanese!“
Israel’s new ambassador in Geneva, Daniel Meron, used the same hashtag, decrying that “Francesca Albanese abuses her (UN) title to spread hatred and inflammatory rhetoric.”
Israel’s top ally the United States also weighed in.
“UN Special Rapporteur’s comparison of Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler is reprehensible and antisemitic,” US ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva Michele Taylor said on X.
“There should be no place for such dehumanizing rhetoric. Special rapporteurs should be striving to improve human rights challenges, not inflame them.”
Albanese on Friday hit back at the criticism, insisting that “the memory of the Holocaust remains intact.”
“Institutional rants and outburst of selective moral outrage will not stop the course of justice, which is finally in motion.”
Israel’s has killed at least 39,175 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) worker Aneela Riaz, aka Neeli Pari, has been sent to jail on judicial remand by a local court in Lahore for assaulting comedian and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) worker, Tahir Anjum, on Thursday.
The arrest comes after a day police registered a case against Aneela and sought her physical remand following the complaint by the victim.
However, the court rejected the police’s request for physical remand.
Videos emerged on social media in which Neeli Pari was seen assaulting Anjum by stopping his car and even tearing his clothes outside the Punjab Assembly.
Javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem, Pakistan’s only hope for a medal, proudly lead the country’s delegation at the Paris Olympics 2024. He recently got a chance to train in South Africa for a few weeks, after practicing most of the time at the Punjab Stadium in Lahore. Due to this, he had to undergo surgery on his knee in London.
Arshad won gold in the Commonwealth Games and silver in the World Athletics Championship, which was Pakistan’s first medal in the championship’s history.
Pakistan has not won a medal in the Olympics in athletics until now. Kishmala Talat will participate in the shooting event. The 21-year-old, who started shooting as a hobby at 13, will try to become Pakistan’s first woman to win a medal at the Paris Olympic Games.
Pakistan’s hockey team has missed the Olympics for the third time. This is the third consecutive Olympics in which the team has not participated. They last participated in the 2012 London Olympics, in which they finished seventh.
