Entertainment
Old video of Minister Marriyum shared as new smog lockdown announcement
A TikTok video circulating online, featuring a news broadcast, claims to show Punjab’s Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb announcing a complete lockdown on the weekends due to rising smog in Lahore and Multan.
The claim is false. The video is not recent, and no such decision has been made by the Punjab government as of October 24.
Claim
“There will be a complete lockdown in Lahore and Multan next Friday, Saturday and Sunday, says Marriyum Aurangzeb,” read an Urdu-language text overlaid on a video posted on TikTok on October 19.
The video includes a graphic from a private news channel with the text: “All types of construction will be banned as well, said Marriyum Aurangzeb.”
At the time of writing, the post had been viewed over 453,000 times, shared more than 1,160 times, and liked over 9,300 times.
A similar claim was also shared on the same platform here.
Fact
The video circulating online is from last year, and the Punjab government has not recently announced a lockdown in Lahore or Multan due to poor air quality.
Geo Fact Check traced the viral video to a press conference by Minister Aurangzeb, aired on November 15, 2024, when she announced a three-day lockdown in Lahore and Multan due to the intense smog.
Furthermore, Punjab Information Minister Azma Zahid Bokhari told Geo Fact Check over the phone: “There is absolutely no possibility of any lockdown and no decision has been made about it [as yet].”
Verdict: The lockdown announcement from November 2024 has been falsely shared as a recent lockdown announcement in Lahore and Multan.
Follow @GeoFactCheck on X and @geo_factcheck on Instagram. To report corrections, contact us at [email protected].
Entertainment
Jon Bon Jovi on Ed Sheeran being a brat
Jon Bon Jovi just called Ed Sheeran a “little brat” for declining a chance to collaborate.
In a recent interview, the 62-year-old rock icon revealed that he had hoped to team up with Sheeran for his latest project, but the timing didn’t work out.
“I wanted him very much on this and that would have been perfect,” Bon Jovi told Sky News.
“But Ed and I discussed it immediately and he said, ‘I’ve done too many things. I need to put my record out before I can do anything else.’ And I said, ‘Alright, you little brat, it’s fine.’ But no, I love him.”
However, this doesn’t rule out a guest appearance. Bon Jovi hinted that Sheeran — or another star collaborator — could show up during his upcoming Forever Tour.
“Who knows?” he teased. “Who knows who’s in town on the day?”
The Forever Tour will kick off in Edinburgh on August 28, 2026, followed by Dublin on August 30 and wrapping up in London at Wembley Stadium on September 4.
It also marks Bon Jovi’s long-awaited return to the stage after his 2022 vocal cord surgery.
Entertainment
East Timor joins ASEAN after 14-year wait, becoming bloc’s 11th member
East Timor joined the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc as its 11th member state on Sunday, after 14 years of campaigning.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, whose country currently chairs ASEAN, said East Timor’s accession “completes the ASEAN family — reaffirming our shared destiny and deep sense of regional kinship”.
“Within this community, Timor-Leste’s development and its strategic autonomy will find firm and lasting support,” Anwar told an ASEAN summit in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.
East Timor, also known by its Portuguese name Timor-Leste, is the youngest country in the region, having gained independence from Indonesia in 2002 after 24 years of occupation.
President Jose Ramos-Horta has long campaigned for ASEAN membership, and an application was first submitted in 2011 during his first term.
The signing of a declaration on East Timor’s admission on Sunday is also seen as one of the crowning achievements of Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship.
East Timor was granted observer status to the regional body in 2022 but its full membership was delayed by various challenges.
The country continues to grapple with high levels of inequality, malnutrition and unemployment.
It remains heavily reliant on oil, with little diversification into other sectors, and some concerns remain over its ability to participate meaningfully in ASEAN’s development agenda.
It also faces challenges in infrastructure development and human resource capacity, seen as critical for effective participation in ASEAN’s economic community.
In September, thousands of student-led protesters demonstrated against a multi-million dollar plan to purchase Toyota Prado SUVs for each of the country’s 65 members of parliament and lifetime pensions for former MPs.
Demonstrators and police clashed for two days, before the parliament cancelled the vehicles’ procurement.
The parliament has also bowed to public pressure over MPs’ pensions.
ASEAN began as a five-member bloc in 1967 and has gradually expanded, with Cambodia the most recent addition in 1999.
Entertainment
Dolly Parton faking smiles as she continues to mourn husband: Source
Dolly Parton is desperately attempting to sound upbeat.
However, insiders revealed the country legend is struggling deeply after her husband Carl Dean’s death.
According to RadarOnline.com, following Dean’s passing in March this year, Parton has been throwing herself into work, which is beginning to take a toll on her health.
“Dolly simply will not stop, and she’s hardly taken a breath since Carl passed away,” confided an insider.
“Only a few days after he died, she made an appearance at Dollywood to celebrate the park’s 40th anniversary, and she’s been going like that ever since.”
The source went on to share that Parton’s nonstop work ethic may be her way of coping.
“She hasn’t broken a single commitment — at least not until she got sick,” they added.
Her friends are reportedly worried that the 79-year-old singer’s grief is catching up to her.
“She’s trying to stay strong, but everyone can see she’s exhausted. Working nonstop isn’t healing her pain — it’s masking it,” the insider explained before moving to a new topic.
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