Actor Usman Peerzada, a respected figure in the world of arts, is shocked by the electricity bill he has received.
Rising electricity bills and increasing taxes have made life difficult for many people in Pakistan. Even those who are financially stable are struggling to cope with growing costs.
This summer, Usman Peerzada expressed his shock over an exceptionally high electricity bill. Despite using only one air conditioner for his entire family, the bill was still very high. He mentioned that even with alternative technologies, the government is imposing taxes on them as well. Peerzada warned that he might disconnect his house from the grid if the situation does not improve.
“I received such a high bill that I don’t know what will happen in the future. I feel like I might have to get my electricity disconnected. And then I think about those who don’t have as many resources; what must they be going through? The heat is so intense that we can’t live without electricity,” he remarked. Here is what he had to say:
YouTuber Iqra Kanwal, along with her sisters, runs the online channel “Sistrology Group’, where they share vlogs about their daily lives and adventures.
However, another YouTuber, Dr. Affan Qaiser has repeatedly targeted Sistrology, and after Iqra Kanwal’s marriage, he criticized a video she shared, calling her bridal look inappropriate in his podcast.
Areeb, without naming Affan, addressed how his wife was targeted for having wet hair in a vlog.
Areeb said, “Such people should think about what they are saying. It was harmless content, and do family members of these people not shower?”She went on to say, “Some people use our names to get views, but my advice to them is to focus on creating positive content and working hard. That’s the way to succeed.” Areeb and Iqra tied the knot in December 2023.
An Anti-terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore has approved a ten-day physical remand of founder Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan in cases related to May 9 violence.
In the written order issued by Judge Khalid Arshad of ATC, the investigating officer has stated that Khan asked his party workers to attack military installations across the country in case he was arrested.
Khan has also been accused of spreading criminal conspiracy through modern technology devices.
The investigating officer requested a physical remand for voice-matching polygraphic and photogrammetric tests.
The court ordered that Imran should be produced in court through video link on July 25.
Authorities in Gaza said dozens of Palestinians were killed in three separate strikes, as Israel pounded the territory despite renewed US criticism of the high civilian toll.
Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the three air strikes killed at least 44 people and wounded dozens within an hour across the war-torn Palestinian territory. Israel confirmed it carried out two of the strikes.
The health ministry said a strike on a fuel station in Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza killed 17 people, and the Palestinian Red Crescent said a separate strike almost simultaneously hit the UN-run Al-Razi School in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing five people.
The civil defence agency said the third strike was on a gathering of people near a roundabout in northern Gaza, but did not provide a breakdown of casualties.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier conveyed Washington’s “serious concern” to two senior Israeli officials regarding deadly Israeli strikes in Gaza, his spokesman said.
“We have seen civilian casualties come down from the high points of the conflict… but they still remain unacceptably high,” spokesman Matthew Miller said after Blinken met Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi.
Washington has been pushing for a truce between Israel and Hamas.
A senior Hamas official said Sunday the group was pulling out of indirect talks for a deal in protest at Israeli “massacres”, including a major strike that Gaza’s health ministry said killed at least 92 people on that day.
Hamas was ready to return to the indirect talks once Israel “demonstrates seriousness in reaching a ceasefire agreement and a prisoner exchange deal”, he said.
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to ramp up pressure on Hamas.
“This is exactly the time to increase the pressure even more, to bring home all the hostages -– the living and the dead –- and to achieve all the war objectives,” he said.
Prisoner abuse allegations
Israel’s military said aircraft struck about “40 terror targets” in Gaza, including “sniping posts, observation posts, Hamas military structures, terror infrastructure, and buildings rigged with explosives”.
It said troops were continuing targeted raids in the southern city of Rafah and in central Gaza.
The UN humanitarian office OCHA said multiple strikes across Gaza on Tuesday killed and wounded dozens.
Hamas seized 251 hostages after October 7, 116 of whom are still in Gaza including 42 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel has killed at least 38,713 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Gaza health ministry.
Israel’s military has also detained scores of Gazans, who have made allegations of torture, rape and other abuses in custody that Israeli authorities have denied.
Palestinian lawyer Khaled Mahajna said Monday that prisoners had recounted guards using “electric prods” on inmates.
In one prisoner’s case, a “fire extinguisher tube was inserted into his buttocks and the fire extinguisher was turned on,” Mahajna said after visiting detained Palestinian journalists.
Mass displacement
Indirect talks on ending the devastating war have been brokered by Qatar and Egypt, with US support, but months of negotiations have failed to bring a breakthrough.
At the end of May, US President Joe Biden outlined a ceasefire roadmap he said had been drawn up by Israel that triggered an intensification of the talks.
But despite meetings in both Cairo and Doha, there has been no sign of progress on how this might be implemented.
Critics in Israel, including tens of thousands of demonstrators demanding a deal to bring home the hostages, have accused Netanyahu of prolonging the war.
The conflict has forced 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.4 million people to flee their homes. Many have sought refuge in UN-run schools, seven of which have been hit by Israeli strikes since July 6.
“Why do they target us when we are innocent people?” asked Umm Mohammed al-Hasanat, sheltering with her family at a UN-run school in Nuseirat, which was among those hit.
“We do not carry weapons but are just sitting and trying to find safety for ourselves and our children.”
The war has also sparked near-daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, which says it is acting in support of Hamas.
Lebanese official media said Israeli strikes Tuesday on southern Lebanon killed five people, including three Syrian children, with Hezbollah announcing rocket fire at Israel in retaliation.
Meanwhile near Tel Aviv ultra-orthodox Jewish protesters fought police, hours after the Israeli military said it would begin issuing draft notices for men in the community from Sunday.
Historically exempt from compulsory military service, ultra-Orthodox seminary students are being called up as the Gaza war and potential conflict with Hezbollah sap resources and fuel resentment against those who do not have to serve.
The dynamic duo of Pakistani television, Humayun Saeed and Adnan Siddiqui, consistently captivate audiences with their on-screen chemistry.
Recently the two A-listers appeared as guests on ‘Fuchsia Magazine’, where both discussed professional insecurities. “Adnan used to quietly take the good roles,” Humayun said.
Adnan responded by explaining, “If there are three production houses, I pick the role I want from the one that isn’t Humayun’s. At Humayun’s production house, they choose the role for me. Despite this, we never felt insecure or jealous professionally. There was never any bitterness in our relationship. We never thought like that.”
While talking about Meray Paas Tum Ho, Saeed said, “I create dramas for the people, with characters that reflect Pakistani society. Mere Paas Tum Ho showcased middle-class life and achieved unprecedented ratings in the Pakistani drama industry. MPTH had an unmatched impact and became extremely famous. Mehwish’s character wasn’t presented negatively; any lady in her circumstances has the right to move on. In my opinion, I would have acted similarly. Danish was not he right partner since, as a character, he did not satisfy his wife’s desires. I became sympathetic to Danish by the end.”
Humayun and Adnan have worked together in dramas like Ishq Junoon, Deewangi, Mehndi, and Mere Paas Tum Ho. Currently, there are starring in Gentleman, which airs on Green Entertainment’s every Sunday at 8:00 p.m.
Former Sri Lanka Under-19 cricket team captain Dhammika Niroshana was reportedly shot dead at his residence late on Tuesday night.
According to media reports, the former captain was home with his wife and two children when the incident occurred.
Police have sent the body for autopsy while further investigations are underway. He has been killed with a 12-bore gun; the police reached the spot as soon as the incident was reported.
As the federal government finds little support amongst allies for its recent controversial move to ban the single largest party in the National Assembly by number of seats, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur clapped back at the government saying, “No one can dare to ban the PTI.”
The statement was said in a press conference in Peshawar yesterday while visiting the supreme Command Post Kohati Gate with the Peshawar commissioner, the KP Assembly speaker, the CCPO, and others to review security arrangements for Muharram processions.
Gandpur remarked that the current rulers “stole the mandate” to get into power referring to the ruling coalition federal government.
“They are talking about banning a political party [PTI] that secured the highest number of votes,” said the Chief Minsiter criticising the government.
Faisalabad’s Chak Jhumra police on Monday arrested a so-called faith healer who allegedly raped the 16-year-old daughter of his disciple. The girl was reportedly working at his residence.
A city police spokesperson said a police team arrested the suspect in a raid on a place in Faisalabad where he was hiding.
Police say that the girl, the daughter of a follower of the suspect, was left at his house to work as a house-help.
The victim told the police that the suspect had been raping her for the last four months.
Her medical examination also revealed that she was pregnant.
Dawn reports that Punjab Women Protection Authority (PWPA) chairperson Hina Pervez Butt visited the survivor on behalf of the chief minister.
Iran on Wednesday rejected what it called “malicious” accusations by US media implicating it in a plot to kill former US president Donald Trump.
CNN reported Tuesday that US authorities received intelligence from a “human source” weeks ago on an alleged Iranian plot against the former president, prompting his protection to be boosted. Other US outlets also reported the alleged plot.
CNN said the alleged plot was not linked to Saturday’s shooting at a Trump campaign rally in Pennsylvania, in which the former president was wounded and a supporter killed.
The US National Security Council said it had been “tracking Iranian threats against former Trump administration officials for years” after Tehran threatened revenge for the 2020 killing of Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike in neighbouring Iraq.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations called the accusations “unsubstantiated and malicious”.
Foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said Iran “strongly rejects any involvement in the recent armed attack against Trump”.
He added however that Iran remains “determined to prosecute Trump over his direct role in the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani”.
Soleimani headed the foreign operations arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, overseeing Iranian military operations across the Middle East.
Trump ordered his killing in a drone strike just outside Baghdad airport.
The Sindh Food Authority (SFA) has ordered a private company to immediately withdraw 11 packaged snacks from the market after a laboratory test declared them “unfit” for human consumption.
“— Slanty Vegetable, Snackers Hot Masala, Snackers Pizza, Twitch Classic, Potato Sticks, Cheese Ball Masala, Cheese Balls Cheese, Kai Korean Hot, Kai Spicy Mala, Kai Mala Wok and Kai Korean Kimchi have been found by examination not fit for human consumption,” told SFA Director General Muzamil Hussain Halepoto to Imtiaz Ali from Dawn.
Mr Halepoto directed the management of the said company to withdraw the products from the market within three days.
He asserted that after the deadline, legal action would be taken against the company.
He said around two and a half months ago, the said company had submitted 24 products for registration. The SFA had submitted its samples to the Food Testing Laboratory established at the Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Karachi, which had declared 11 of them unfit for human consumption.
The products were submitted for testing on March 6.
“It was found by examination of the test reports dated April 19 that the products did not meet the minimum required safety and quality standards and, therefore, were not fit for human consumption and pose a potentially significant health hazard to the public and it is also a serious violation of the law and regulations,” said the letter addressed to the private firm on Monday.
The SFA chief has issued an order for “initiating full food recall” against the products.
The DG’s order also provides a ‘remedy’ to the accused person /company. “If it feels aggrieved by such order, (the company/person) may pursue appropriate remedy i.e. appeal under relevant law of the said Act to the SFA Board within a period of one week,” says the letter.
Halepoto called for other provincial food authorities to look into the issue in their respective jurisdiction for the safety of public health.
