Malakand’s Deputy Inspector General of police (DIG) confirmed on Tuesday that attackers killed six people, including five Chinese nationals, when they targeted the foreigners’ vehicle in Shangla’s Besham city.
The attackers crashed their vehicle, loaded with explosives, into the car carrying the Chinese nationals, as reported by the DIG.
The DIG also said that the driver sustained injuries and was transferred to the local hospital.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Senator Talha Mahmood has joined the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Tuesday, announcing his joining at a press conference in Islamabad.
Talha Mahmood said that Pakistan is going through a crisis, and the PPP always tried to do better for the country.
While shedding light on his tenure, he said that he had been a member of the Ministry of Interior’s cabinet committee for nine years, and was elected as the chairman of the Senate’s largest committee, the Standing Committee on Finance, in 2021 for three years.
On the other hand, PPP leader Faisal Karim Kundi has said that the party will strengthen after the inclusion of Senator Talha Mahmood. He also said multiple politicians from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) are in contact with the PPP to join the party.
Farhan Ali Waris, known for his beautiful renditions of Naats and Nauhas, has hosted numerous shows throughout his career, including this year’s transmission on Express TV. This time, he received a surprise call, which delighted him.
During the show, Farhan Ali Waris received a call from India. It was Abbas Aly, fitness trainer to Bollywood superstar Salman Khan. Abbas met Farhan Ali Waris during Arbaeen and has been watching his transmission this year too. He conveyed Salman Khan’s greetings to Farhan Ali Waris and mentioned that he has been showing the transmission to Salman as well. Abbas said, “Salman Khan admires your Noor Ramzan transmission as much as I do, I assure you. I’ve told Salman bhai about it, he is a fan of yours.” Salman Khan said, “Give my regards to Farhan bhai.”
Pakistan’s sweetheart Hania Amir finished her Umrah journey and hopped over to Dubai for some fun in the sun! But hold on to your hats, folks, because it seems like not everyone’s cheering her on.
Hania’s been keeping us entertained with her daily activities, sharing every little detail of her life like a true social media queen
But wait, there’s a twist! .After posting some pics from her Dubai escapade, where she’s not sporting her usual hijab, the internet went into a frenzy. Turns out, some fans weren’t too thrilled about her wardrobe choice post-Umrah.
As usual, trolls think they can dictate apparel choices to female entertainers and actresses. Really folks, give it a rest. Find something else to do, like a job or a creative project. What a woman wears is none of your business.
This is what people are saying to Hania:
Cricket Australia has released the schedule of Pakistan tour. The series of three ODIs and three T20 matches between Pakistan and Australia will start from November 4.
All the ODI matches of the series will be played in day and night, while three T20 matches between Pakistan and Australia will be played at night.
The first ODI between the two teams will be played in Melbourne on November 4, the second ODI in Adelaide on November 8 and the third in Perth on November 10.
The T20 series between Pakistan and Australia will start from November 14 in Brisbane, the second T20 between the two teams will be played in Sydney on November 16 and the last one in Hobart on November 18.
A Muslim family in India was targeted by a group of young men and boys who sprayed water and Holi colors on them without their consent.
The incident, captured on video, shows the group forcibly applying colors to the family while chanting religious slogans, ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Har Har Mahadev’.
Despite the family’s protests, the harassment persisted, with the perpetrators seen laughing as they continue.
The Bijnor police arrested one individual and detained three juveniles. Authorities have intervened, emphasizing the necessity of obtaining consent before putting colors on people during the holy festival.
In a meeting held on Monday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has authorised that swift action be taken against tax evaders and defaulters. He tasked the committee to identify all obstacles and delays in the implementation of Trace and Track System (TTS) in tobacco, sugar, cement and fertilizer industries.
The PM also said that action should be taken within seven days against tax evaders. PM Shehbaz emphasized that all legal obstacles in the implementation of trace and track system should be removed and that this system should be enforced at all production lines of cement factories. Those factories who refuse to follow the rules, should be immediately sealed, the Premier ordered.
He was of the opinion that besides an increase in revenue, the trace and track system could also be used for identification of counterfeit products.
The premier also called for an end to fake and unregistered cigarettes. The meeting was apprised that TTS was fully operational in 14 tobacco factories whereas 12 other factories had been sealed for non-compliance.
The system faced problems in sugar and cement industries due to technical issues while it was working in fertilizer industry. The PM also stressed action against smuggling that was causing serious loss to the national exchequer.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah strongly criticised the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for its attitude towards the coalition government in the centre.
“The attitude of the PPP will remain the same throughout the tenure of the government. Look at their reaction to the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) chairman [appointment] issue,” Sanaullah said while speaking on Geo News’ programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath.
“It is clear; they will have their own position on everything. An impression is coming from allies to have the same attitude. However, we will try to move forward,” he added.
His remarks came after the PPP strongly objected to the decision of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to appoint Zafar Mahmood, a retired grade 22 federal government officer.
The PPP declared the appointment of Zafar Mahmood for a three-year tenure under the IRSA ordinance against the constitution.
Irpiguda (India) (AFP) – Church walls crumble in India’s Kandhamal district, where brutal attacks on Christians 16 years ago means many survivors still worry about their minority’s place in a Hindu-majority nation.
With India’s election on the horizon and Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi widely expected to win, many Christians fear they may once again become targets.
Deepti was among those attacked in 2008 when mobs rampaged through parts of India’s eastern state of Odisha after the murder of a Hindu priest and his four followers.
The murder was widely blamed on Christians, and the ensuing revenge rampage left at least 101 people dead.
Aged 19 at the time, she was gang raped by a mob enraged that her uncle had refused to recant his Catholicism.
“I remember it every minute,” the 35-year-old domestic worker said in tears, using a pseudonym because she feared being identified.
“I had been living there since childhood, I recognised them from their voice,” said Deepti, who moved to the state capital Bhubaneswar after the attack.
“I can still remember each one of them.”
She was one of scores of women who, according to community leaders, were sexually assaulted across the district.
Mobs targeted dozens of churches, prayer halls and Christian homes, forcing tens of thousands to flee.
Last year, the Vatican greenlighted the start of the beatification process towards potential sainthood for 35 of those killed in the violence, a group the church calls the “Kandhamal martyrs”.
Local Odisha Archbishop John Barwa calls the move a “source of renewed faith and hope”.
A simple memorial for those who were killed has been erected in the village of Tiangia.
“Where there is hatred, let me sow love”, the memorial reads, quoting Saint Francis of Assisi.
Prasanna Bishnoi, head of Kandhamal’s survivors’ association, said church recognition that people had “died because of their faith” was welcomed — but that honouring the dead did nothing to address the worries of the living.
“Otherwise, I don’t think it is going to benefit our people,” Bishnoi said.
Six weeks of voting in marathon general elections begin on April 19, but few doubt the June 4 result — with the ruling Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in power for a decade, widely tipped to win again.
Critics accuse Modi’s BJP of wanting to turn officially secular India into a Hindu nation, something he denies.
But many Christians worry.
Right-wing Hindu groups have long accused Christians of forcibly converting Hindus and these allegations, which the community has vehemently denied, have resulted in attacks.
India has 1.4 billion people and according to the last census, more than two percent are Christians.
Believers say the religion has been present in the country for nearly two millennia, since the apostle Thomas arrived in the year AD 52.
The New Delhi-based United Christian Forum (UCF) rights watchdog recorded 731 attacks against Christians in India last year, warning of “vigilante mobs comprising religious extremists”.
In Kandhamal, the trauma of the 2008 attack haunts survivors, fearful they could be targeted again.
“Even now the danger persists,” said Raheli Digal, 40, showing AFP the charred walls of what was once her house in Irpiguda village, where the church also lies in ruins.
“When we remember those old scenes, and watch the news (about ongoing incidents of violence against Christians), we feel scared,” she added.
“They have been saying for a long time that they won’t let Christians live here.”
The housewife said she has lived since the 2008 violence in a resettlement camp nearby, and rarely returns to her village.
“We do not come here… we are still scared to talk to them (Hindus),” she said.
She sobbed as she described how she hid in the surrounding forested hills, watching as a mob chanting anti-Christian slogans came with blazing torches.
“They destroyed our home, set it on fire,” she said.
“We had nothing, not even a piece of cloth, not even water or food,” she added. “We had small children with us — we grabbed them, and ran into the forest.”
When Modi in January inaugurated a grand temple to the deity Ram in the northern city of Ayodhya, sparking Hindu celebrations nationwide, Digal and her neighbours stayed home.
The temple was built on the site of a centuries-old mosque whose destruction by Hindu zealots in 1992 sparked sectarian riots that killed 2,000 people nationwide, most of them Muslims.
The BJP admits there is a “level of threat perception”, but says it is trying to change that.
“It is important that we dispel that,” said BJP national spokesman Mmhonlumo Kikon.
Modi has been “engaging with the Christian community and the leaders to reassure them this country is for everyone — it is not just for the majority community”, Kikon said.
Bishnoi, from the survivors’ association, said seeing Modi meeting Christians helped him feel “safe”.
But he also said that reports of violence worried him and cast doubt in his mind.
“If this government comes to power, then I think minorities will be under pressure,” he said.
TikTok star Hareem Shah has been given protection by Scotland Yard after receiving threats from people there, police have confirmed. A London police spokesman confirmed that Hareem Shah, whose real name is Fiza, had made a complaint to the police about people following and threatening her with blackmail.
“I contacted the police after having a strained relationship with some people I had met in Manchester and had been with,” Hareem Shah stated.
“It should be noted that last week some videos and photos of mine were released on social media through anonymous accounts,” she added.
“The controversy began after a group of British Pakistanis approached members of the Pakistani media alleging that I had stolen £6,000 in Manchester and fled the city to London,” Hareem continued.
“I denied stealing the money, and I believe the accusers should go to the police and investigate me, instead of defaming me on social media through abuse, threats, and blackmail,” she emphasized.