• CM Afridi cites persistent non-implementation of court orders.
• No conceivable basis for mishandling immediate family members.
• Urges accountability of those responsible for mishandling visitors.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has called on his Punjab counterpart Maryam Nawaz to hold those accountable for mistreating Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s sisters and ensure implementation of court orders for meetings with the former prime minister.

In a letter addressed to CM Maryam, Afridi highlighted that “clear and binding” judicial directions governed Imran’s visitation rights, allowing close family members and nominated individuals to meet him on certain days.

“Despite the unambiguous nature of these instructions, repeated reports indicate persistent non-implementation by authorities responsible for compliance,” the KP’s chief executive complained.

The letter also refers to the breif detention and alleged mistreatment of Khan’s sisters — Aleema Khan, Noreen Khan Niazi and Uzma Khanum — by the authorities after they hey refused to end their sit-in near Central Jail Rawalpindi on Adiala road following failure to secure permission to meet the PTI founder.

The sisters of the incarcerated PTI founder, along with dozens of party workers, staged a sit-in on Adiala Road after being denied permission to meet him and his wife, Bushra Bibi.

Meanwhile, the police asked Khan’s sister to clear the road, but the talks failed, and Aleema refused to call off the sit-in. After that, police sprayed water on the road and detained around 8 to 10 PTI activists, including Khan’s sisters.

Aleema has been visiting her incarcerated brother at Adiala and has served as a key channel for conveying Imran’s messages to PTI workers through the media.

Expanding on the incident termed “disturbing” by CM Afridi, he said that these individuals were “apolitical private citizens” only seeking to meet their brother in line with court’s directives.

“[….] there is no conceivable legal or administrative basis for obstructing or mishandling immediate family members whose presence is neither political nor disruptive. Their obstruction, physical restraint, or temporary detention is therefore wholly unacceptable,” the letter reads.

The KP’s provincial chief executive, while lamenting that “such actions create clear impression that judicial directives are being disregarded” and that the situation was “untenable and irreconcilable with basic expectations of due process, rule of law”, urged CM Maryam to ensure that a safe and dignified area for authorised visitors is ensured.

He also urged the Punjab government identify and hold accountable individuals responsible for obstructing, insulting or physically mishandling peaceful visitors including Imran’s family members, issue clear and enforceable directives to prison and police authorities and establish a transparent mechanism ensuring that future meetings are facilitated in orderly, respectful and legally compliant manner.

Furthermore, the KP CM remarked that any deviation from court-mandated procedures or disrespectful treatment of his immediate family “becomes a matter of direct institutional concern” and said that as he could not remain indifferent when dignity of a former head of government and his lawful rights were compromised.

“I am therefore constrained to demand that these issues be addressed promptly, decisively and in full conformity with judicial directions.

“I would appreciate your [CM Maryam] attention to the above so that dignity of all concerned is upheld and the rule of law remains unimpaired,” CM Afridi concluded.

Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly are reportedly in one of their most stable phases yet following the arrival of their daughter, Saga Blade.

According to a new report by Us Weekly, the couple’s lives are now “much more integrated,” and sources have claimed that “as long as” MGK “commits to proving himself,” Fox is open to “give him another chance.”

With their first holiday season as a family of four approaching, the Jennifer’s Body star and the Grammy nominee are said to be prioritizing unity. 

“They are planning on spending the holidays together and are working toward getting back together. They want to be unified as the holidays approach and want to make their family dynamic harmonious,” an insider shared.

In 2020, MGK and Megan sparked romance while working on the Midnight in the Switchgrass set. 

Two years later, the couple announced their engagement, only to call it quits in late 2024, but now they are together again.

The source further noted that the couple is focused on rebuilding trust and stability as they move forward.

“He’s made mistakes and they are hoping to get back to where they were. They want their family dynamic to work.”

Grammy-winning rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of the Fugees was sentenced on Thursday to 14 years in prison for a case in which he was convicted of illegally funneling millions of dollars in foreign contributions to former President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. 

Michel, 52, declined to address the court before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced him.

In April 2023, a federal jury convicted Michel of 10 counts, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. The trial in Washington, D.C., included testimony from actor Leonardo DiCaprio and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Justice Department prosecutors said federal sentencing guidelines recommended a life sentence for Michel, whom they said “betrayed his country for money” and “lied unapologetically and unrelentingly to carry out his schemes.”

“His sentence should reflect the breadth and depth of his crimes, his indifference to the risks to his country, and the magnitude of his greed,” they wrote.

Defense attorney Peter Zeidenberg said his client’s 14-year sentence is “completely disproportionate to the offense.” Michel will appeal his conviction and sentence, according to his lawyer.

Zeidenberg had recommended a three-year prison sentence. A life sentence would be an “absurdly high” punishment for Michel, given that it is typically reserved for deadly terrorists and drug cartel leaders, Michel’s attorneys said in a court filing.

“The Government’s position is one that would cause Inspector Javert to recoil and, if anything, simply illustrates just how easily the Guidelines can be manipulated to produce absurd results, and how poorly equipped they are, at least on this occasion, to determine a fair and just sentence,” they wrote.

Michel, a Brooklyn native whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Haiti, was a founding member of the Fugees along with childhood friends Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean. Their hip-hop band won two Grammy Awards and sold tens of millions of albums.

Michel obtained more than $120 million from Malaysian billionaire Low Taek Jho — also known as Jho Low — and steered some of that money through straw donors to Obama’s campaign.

Michel said during trial that he viewed Low’s payments as “free money,” and accepted the millions over the course of nine months to help Low secure a photo op with Obama. He said under oath at the time that no one told him such payments toward political donations could have been unlawful or violations of campaign finance laws.  

The Justice Department also charged Michel with serving as an unregistered foreign agent for China, alleging that in 2017 he sought to sway the Trump administration to halt its probe into Low and to extradite a Chinese government target living in the U.S. That individual, dissident Miles Guo, was charged in New York in a billion-dollar fraud case and is still in custody.

Low, who has lived in China, was one of the primary financiers of “The Wolf of Wall Street,” a movie starring DiCaprio. Low is a fugitive but has maintained his innocence.

“Low’s motivation for giving Mr. Michel money to donate was not so that he could achieve some policy objective. Instead, Low simply wanted to obtain a photograph with himself and then-President Obama,” Michel’s attorneys wrote.

In August 2024, the judge rejected Michel’s request for a new trial based in part on his defense attorney’s use of a generative artificial intelligence program during his closing of the trial’s arguments. The judges said that and other trial errors didn’t amount to a serious miscarriage of justice.