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  • Iran blames Israel, US for deadly blasts near grave of Guards general Soleimani

    Iran blames Israel, US for deadly blasts near grave of Guards general Soleimani

    Iran blamed Israel and the United States on Wednesday for twin bomb blasts that killed more than 100 people in the country’s south, ripping through a crowd commemorating Revolutionary Guards general Qassem Soleimani four years after his death in a US strike.

    The two explosions – labelled a “terrorist attack” by state media and regional authorities – came amid high Middle East tensions over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and the killing of a Hamas senior leader in Lebanon on Tuesday.

    The unclaimed attacks, which sparked fears of a widening conflict in the region, rattled global markets, where oil prices jumped more than three percent and sparked global condemnation.

    “Washington says USA and Israel had no role in terrorist attack in Kerman, Iran. Really? A fox smells its own lair first,” the Iranian president’s political deputy, Mohammad Jamshidi, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

    “Make no mistake. The responsibility for this crime lies with the US and Zionist regimes (Israel) and terrorism is just a tool,” he added.

    The United States had earlier rejected any suggestions that it or ally Israel were involved while Israel declined to comment.

    “The United States was not involved in any way … We have no reason to believe that Israel was involved in this explosion,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

    Asked about the blasts, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said: “We are focused on the combat with Hamas”.

    Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed “evil and criminal enemies” of the country for the attack and vowed a “harsh response”.

    President Ebrahim Raisi, who scrapped a visit to Turkey on Thursday, condemned the “heinous” crime as Iran declared Thursday a national day of mourning.

    The blasts, about 15 minutes apart, struck near the Martyrs Cemetery at the Saheb al-Zaman Mosque in Kerman, Soleimani’s southern hometown, as supporters gathered to mark his killing in a 2020 US drone strike in Baghdad.

    Tehran’s official news agency IRNA quoted Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi as saying that “according to forensic statistics, the number of martyrs from this incident has been announced as 84 so far”.

    The death toll was also confirmed by the head of Iran’s emergency services, Jafar Miadfar, who said an earlier tally of 95 was due to the fact that some bodies had been dismembered and counted “several times”.

    Miadfar said 284 people had been injured and “195 are still hospitalised”.

    Three paramedics who rushed to the scene after the first explosion were among those killed, said Iran’s Red Crescent.

    IRNA said the first explosion took place around 700 metres from Soleimani’s grave while the other was around 1 kilometre away.

    Tasnim news agency, quoting what it called informed sources, said that “two bags carrying bombs went off” and “the perpetrators … apparently detonated the bombs by remote control”.

    Online footage showed panicked crowds scrambling to flee as security personnel cordoned off the area.

    ‘Shocking cruelty’ 

    State television showed bloodied victims lying on the ground and ambulances and rescue personnel racing to help them.

    “We were walking towards the cemetery when a car suddenly stopped behind us and a waste bin containing a bomb exploded,” an eyewitness was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.

    “We only heard the explosion and saw people falling.”

    By nightfall, crowds returned to the Martyrs Cemetery in Kerman chanting: “Death to Israel” and “Death to America”.

    In Tehran, thousands gathered at the Grand Mosalla Mosque to pay tribute to Soleimani.

    “We condemn today’s bitter terrorist incident … I hope the perpetrators of the crime will be identified and punished for their actions,” Soleimani’s daughter, Zeinab, said.

    Soleimani headed the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, overseeing military operations across the Middle East.

    The United Nations, European Union, and several countries including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Germany and Iraq denounced the blasts.

    UN chief Antonio Guterres “strongly condemns” the blasts, his office said, and the EU said: “This act of terror has exacted a shocking toll of civilian deaths and injuries.”

    The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said that he spoke to Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to “convey condolences” and “condemned this terrorist attack in the strongest terms and expressed solidarity with the Iranian people”.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote to Raisi and Khamenei that “the killing of peaceful people visiting the cemetery is shocking in its cruelty and cynicism”.

    Iran ally Hamas denounced the “criminal attack” while the Saudi foreign ministry in Riyadh voiced “solidarity with Iran in this painful event”.

    The blasts came a day after Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri – an Iran ally – was killed in a strike, which Lebanese officials blamed on Israel, in a southern Beirut suburb that is a stronghold of Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.

    Wednesday’s bomb blasts were Iran’s deadliest since a 1978 arson attack at the Cinema Rex in the southwestern city of Abadan, which killed at least 377 people, according to AFP archives.

    Previous plots 

    Iran has long fought a shadow war of killings and sabotage with archenemy Israel while also battling various jihadist and other militant groups.

    In September, the Fars news agency reported that a key “operative” affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group, in charge of carrying out “terrorist operations” in Iran, had been arrested in Kerman.

    In July, Iran’s intelligence ministry said it had disbanded a network “linked to Israel’s spy organisation” that had been plotting “terrorist operations” across Iran, IRNA reported.

    The alleged plots included “planning an explosion at the grave” of Soleimani, it said.

    Soleimani, whom Khamenei years ago declared a “living martyr”, was widely regarded as a hero in Iran for his role in defeating IS in both Iraq and Syria.

    Long seen as a deadly adversary by the United States and its allies, Soleimani was one of the most important powerbrokers across the region, setting Iran’s political and military agenda in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

  • Gold sees Rs1,800 per tola dip in local market

    Gold sees Rs1,800 per tola dip in local market

    Gold continued its decline for the second consecutive session on Thursday, mirroring the international downtrend.

    In the local market, the price of gold reached Rs218,200 per tola, registering a loss of Rs1,800 during the day.

    According to data from the All Pakistan Gems and Jewellers Sarafa Association (APGJSA), 10-gramme gold was traded at Rs187,071, reflecting a decrease of Rs1,543.

    Notably, Wednesday witnessed a Rs1,300 decrease in gold prices per tola in Pakistan.

    The international gold rate, accompanied by a $15 decline in the global market, stood at $2,067 per ounce on Thursday, with a $20 premium, as reported by APGJSA.

    In a parallel development, silver experienced a modest decline of Rs20, settling at Rs2,660 per tola.

  • Wahab Riaz slammed for calling Dhani’s behavior inappropriate

    Wahab Riaz slammed for calling Dhani’s behavior inappropriate

    Chairman Selection Committee for the national cricket team, Wahab Riaz, is facing criticism for calling fast bowler Shahnawaz Dhani’s behavior inappropriate.

    While speaking on a Geo News on Thursday, Wahab Riaz said, “There were complaints about Shahnawaz Dhani’s behaviour, that he did not want to bowl during net practice and tried to avoid it.’

    The pacer was defended by former Local Government Minister of Sindh and leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Nasir Hussain Shah. “The management should not make such statements about the players. Shahnawaz Dhani is an excellent bowler, he was also the man of the match in the final of the National Cup. Surprisingly, you are calling Shahnawaz Dhani unfit,” the PPP leader said  to Geo Super.

    Social media was also up in arms about Wahab Riaz’s criticism of the beloved bowler. Here is how social media is reacting;

  • Seat adjustment expected between PML-N, PML-Q on multiple seats

    Seat adjustment expected between PML-N, PML-Q on multiple seats

    Former rivals Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) are expected to agree to seat adjustments for the upcoming general elections set to take place on February 8, 2024, as discussions on the matter between the two Punjab-based parties is in process, The News has reported.

    According to the report, PML-Q wanted seat adjustment on multiple seats in Punjab as well as on the seats where the party won in the 2018 polls. PML-Q won four National Assembly (NA) seats and eight provincial assembly seats in 2018.

    PML-Q leaders Salik Hussain, Monis Elahi, Hussain Elahi, and Tariq Bashir Cheema succeeded in those NA constituencies.

    PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat’s son Shafay Hussain submitted nomination papers for two provincial assembly seats from the family stronghold of Gujrat.

    Sources claimed that seat adjustment is expected on Salik and Shafay Hussain’s seats.

    On the other hand, PML-Q leader Tariq Bashir Cheema will face PML-N’s Saud Majeed in Bahawalpur.

    However, discussion on the matter of seat adjustment between PML-N and the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) are still going on.

  • Harvard’s first female black president resigns for not taking action against pro-Palestine students

    Harvard’s first female black president resigns for not taking action against pro-Palestine students

    The first black woman president of America’s Harvard University, Claudine Gay, has finally resigned in the face of pressure by the university administration over accusations of plagiarism and her refusal to stop pro-Palestine protests on campus.

    Her resignation marks the end of the presidency of the first Black president and second woman in Harvard’s nearly 400-year history.

    Claudine, under intense pressure to resign since the Israeli attacks on Gaza, said in her resignation that it was in the best interest of Harvard University because of her commitment to combating hate speech and upholding academic standards.
    Gay did not say when she plans to formally step down but she described the decision as “difficult beyond words.”

    It is important to note that in December 2023, Harvard University decided to retain Dr. Claudine in her position after the American University Board ruled in favor of the head of the institution on the issue of not taking action against pro-Palestinian students.

    After Harvard’s president was accused of not taking a strong stance on what was being called anti-Semitism but was anti-Zionism, in an appearance before the Congress Committee, Harvard University was under pressure to demand the resignation.

    Many at Twitter are attributing the exit of Dr. Claudine to the outrageous questioning in the Congressional hearing where she was brutally cornered leading to the withdrawal of donors and adding pressure to the administration to ask the president to resign.

    Her resignation has divided the internet largely into three debates. One group sees it as another manifestation of racism in America. The other is celebrating her exit for believing her to be a plagiarist and anti-semitic. The last viewpoint is seeing the whole scenario as a depiction of how America treats voices that are not aligned with the state’s pro-zionist and fake-liberal policy using anti-semitism and plagiarism as an excuse.

    Editor and Analyst Mara Gay called the move blatant racism, “This is really an attack on academic freedom … This is an attack on diversity. This is an attack on multiculturalism, & … I don’t have to say that they’re racist, because you can hear and see the racism in the attacks.”

    Fox News anchor CJ Pearson asserted that “Claudine Gay wasn’t fired for being black. She was fired for being an anti-Semitism-enabling plagiarist. I’m so tired of the black community using the color of our skin to shield people from accountability.”

    Mo Torres called out the duplicity in the resignation of Dr Caludine by saying, Gay should not have been forced to resign but it’s unfortunate to see that she still misses an obvious point: students on her campus never called for genocide against Jewish people. “Liberals seem strangely addicted to assuming good faith from their detractors on the right.”

    Professor of sociology Heba Gowayed, commented, “Do not cower just to be beaten away”. She added, “And with that Claudine Gay ends her tenure disliked on both the right and the left. Whew.”

    Pro-zionist voice Ben Shapiro outrightly called her a grifter, “Claudine Gay’s defenders are calling her a martyr for one reason and one reason only: if they admit she’s an unqualified grifter who became powerful thanks to DEI, their own grift is endangered.”

    Journalist Mehdi Hassan shared the Guardian’s article about how the hedge-fun manager, Zionist and billionaire Bill Ackman is behind the forced exit of Professor Gay.

  • 13-year-old boy became first player to beat computer game Tetris

    13-year-old boy became first player to beat computer game Tetris

    A 13-years old boy Blue Scuti became the first-ever player to beat famous computer game Tetris.

    If you’ve played Tetris, you’ll know that as the levels progress, the pieces fall quickly, making it impossible to think and check where you should fit them. It is a very original and practical mechanism that turns the experience into a real challenge, even as the game keeps increasing the level of difficulty until it squeezes the man’s abilities and leads him to defeat.

    But a 13-year-old Tetris-loving boy with great skill and technique managed to achieve what no one had achieved before.

    Secret behind this record:

    He built an Artificial intelligence (AI) program so that he could recognize the piece and place it perfectly in its place so that the levels keep increasing and you know how far the game can go, which happened and caused the game to crash.

    The interesting thing about all of this is that no one has ever been able to replicate artificial intelligence, because these pieces fall at such a speed that it is almost impossible to get them into the right place to advance in the game but someone has finally got it.

    Blue Scuti has a channel on YouTube, here is a video of when he achieved this feat;

  • Maryam Nawaz kay pass kitna paisa hai?

    Maryam Nawaz kay pass kitna paisa hai?

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz owns assets worth more than Rs842.58 million, Geo News reported on Thursday.

    According to details submitted by Maryam Nawaz alongside her nomination papers, she owns 1500 kanal land in Lahore. Her assets increased by Rs4 million in one year.

    As per the submitted documents, Maryam Nawaz has a degree of masters in English literature. She doesn’t own a vehicle. She also has to give more than Rs 28.9 million to her brother Hassan Nawaz.

    The PML-N senior vice president also has Rs 10 million in different bank accounts, as well as shares worth Rs 12.2 million in different companies.

    The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) approved Maryam Nawaz’s papers from multiple constituencies in Lahore and Sargodha.

    The scion of the Sharif family had submitted nomination papers for two National Assembly constituencies—NA-119 and NA-120—and four Punjab Assembly constituencies—PP-159, PP-160, PP-165, and PP-80.

  • Ira Khan, Aamir Khan’s daughter, weds Nupur Shikhare in stylish ceremony

    Ira Khan, Aamir Khan’s daughter, weds Nupur Shikhare in stylish ceremony

    Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan’s daughter Ira Khan has gotten married! The junior Khan is beginning a new chapter of her life with longtime beau Nupur Shikhare after a legally registered ceremony. The wedding took place on January 3, 2024, at Taj Lands End in Bandra, Mumbai.

    After becoming husband and wife, Nupur and Ira appeared publicly together for the first time and posed for photographers. Ira wore a traditional outfit in blue and baby pink, consisting of a golden dhoti, a black embroidered blouse, and a beautiful dupatta. She left her hair open and adorned herself with a maang teeka, a heavy necklace, and matching earrings. Completing her look with a black watch and black footwear, Ira looked stunning.

    Nupur, the groom, wore a blue sherwani with brown footwear, looking handsome beside his bride. The couple’s simple yet elegant appearance enchanted many hearts and created a magical moment.

    Aamir Khan appeared beaming with pride in a pink turban as he posed with Ira’s mother, his ex-wife Reena who was dressed in a blue-green heavily worked dress.

  • Imam shot dead outside mosque in New Jersey, suspect still at large

    Imam shot dead outside mosque in New Jersey, suspect still at large

    An imam who was shot Wednesday outside a mosque in New Jersey has died, the US state’s attorney general said, adding that the killing did not initially appear to be driven by “bias” or domestic terrorism.

    The shooting was reported at Masjid Muhammad-Newark at South Orange Avenue.

    Imam Hassan Sharif was shot multiple times near a mosque in Newark, just west of New York, before being taken to hospital where he later died, New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin said.

    “We do not yet know the motivation for this crime (but) the evidence collected thus far does not indicate that this was an act motivated by bias, or an act of domestic terrorism,” said Platkin.

    He added that “in light of global events, and with a rise in bias that many communities are experiencing across our state — particularly the Muslim community — there are many in New Jersey right now who are feeling a heightened sense of fear.”

    The state is home to 300,000 Muslim Americans, he said.

    Since the outbreak of the War on Gaza, there has been an increase in Islamophobic and anti-Semitic attacks across the United States.

    The Essex County prosecutor, Ted Stephens, confirmed Sharif was shot more than once, and that “it does not appear the imam was the victim of a bias crime or that this is related to terrorism.”

    “We are dedicated to bringing justice for the imam’s family,” said Stephens, who called it a “dastardly crime.”

    Famous Muslim scholar Dr. Omar Suleiman posted about the death of the Imam and paid tribute to him as a beloved Imam of the Newark Community.

    The United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA) earlier confirmed that Sharif had worked as a security screener at Newark airport since 2016.

    “We are deeply saddened to learn of his passing and send our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues,” said Lisa Farbstein, a TSA spokeswoman.

    Images published by the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) showed police vehicles deployed outside the Masjid Muhammad-Newark, a two-story yellow and green complex.

    In a statement, CAIR described Sharif as “a beacon of leadership and excellence.”

    “As always, and irrespective of this specific incident, we advise all mosques to keep their doors open but remain cautious, especially given the recent spike in anti-Muslim bigotry,” the organization said.

  • US judge begins to unseal Epstein contacts

    US judge begins to unseal Epstein contacts

    A New York judge on Wednesday began to unseal the identities of people linked in court documents to Jeffrey Epstein, the US financier who killed himself in 2019 as he awaited trial for sex crimes.

    Notably included in the unsealed documents, which include almost 1,000 pages of depositions and statements, were former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, who have not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case.

    The list of around 150 people includes a host of Epstein associates previously identified as John or Jane Does in a lawsuit brought against Epstein’s former mistress, Ghislaine Maxwell. It carries no allegation of complicity in Epstein’s crimes.

    The disclosure is part of a defamation proceeding between Maxwell, sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in prison, and a plaintiff against the duo, Virginia Giuffre.

    Last month a judge listed in a 50-page document some 180 cases — under pseudonyms — ordering that their identities be made public within 14 days of the order.

    Some individuals have objected to the disclosure of their identities in the case.

    Lawyers for one individual, “Doe 107”, wrote to the judge in the case arguing they could face victimization in their home country, and requested time to submit grounds for their name to remain sealed.

    Accomplices in sex crimes

    According to British media, Giuffre’s defamation claim against Maxwell, 62, dates back to 2016 and was settled the following year. But the Miami Herald then took legal action to access the file and investigate the Epstein network.

    A number of documents in the case were made public in 2019, days before Epstein hanged himself in prison while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

    Maxwell and Epstein were a couple in the early 1990s before becoming professional collaborators and accomplices in sex crimes for almost three decades.

    Epstein, a financier with a powerful network in the United States and abroad, was himself accused of raping young girls, but his suicide by hanging in a New York prison in August 2019 halted his prosecution.

    Fabricated lists and doctored photos of Epstein have circulated in conspiratorial internet circles for years, fueling speculation about the financier’s potential associates.

    The anticipated release of names from court documents reignited that frenzy.

    Comedian Jimmy Kimmel threatened Aaron Rodgers with legal action after the American football star suggested the late night host could be on the list.

    It was a baseless allegation echoed across platforms such as X, where numerous posts also drew actor Tom Hanks into the fold.