Entertainment
NAB exposes trillions lost in KP placer gold mining deals

- NBA concerned over minimum price fixed for gold blocks’ auction.
- Leaseholders openly engaging in subletting: NAB.
- KP govt auctioned placer gold blocks at high prices: Gandapur.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), expressing strong reservations over the minimum price fixed for auction of gold blocks along the Indus and Kabul rivers, has stated the province is suffering losses worth trillions. It has also exposed irregularities during gold exploration operations.
According to official documents of provincial government, NAB maintains leaseholders are openly engaging in subletting and charging Rs500,000 to Rs700,000 per excavator per week. Their weekly income is estimated between Rs750 million to Rs1 billion, amounting to trillions, while the government is receiving only a meager amount.
Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur told this correspondent his government auctioned the placer gold blocks at high prices. Previously, the auction price of a single block had reached Rs650 million, but his government fixed the minimum price at Rs1.10 billion and sold four blocks for around Rs4.6 billion for ten years. For the past 20 years no auction had taken place, and people had been extracting gold illegally, he said.
The chief minister said the project was advertised two to three times, but the bids were low. His government auctioned it at higher rates. He questioned why the study started in 2023 was stopped and who stopped it.
He said when the auction was held, a letter was sent to the NAB and one of its officers was also present. He said all legal requirements were fulfilled. The CM said operations are continuing to stop illegal mining.
According to available documents, in a high-level meeting held at NAB headquarters on August 7 and attended by top provincial officials, including Chief Secretary KP and Secretary Minerals, the NAB’s inquiry disclosed reserve price of gold blocks was deliberately miscalculated. The 2015 study by the National Centre of Excellence in Geology, Peshawar, which had identified gold reserves ranging from 0.21 to 44.15 grams per ton, was also ignored. Instead of following KP Auction Rules 2022, the department intervened to benefit specific bidders.
Furthermore, the geological mapping project launched in 2022 for new mineral resource estimates was halted in November 2023 only in the case of placer gold, raising suspicions of deliberate concealment. Previous auctions had also failed due to poor publicity which failed to attract international investors.
The documents show under the auction rules, if an agreement is not finalised within 14 days, the offer should be withdrawn. However, despite delays of months, contracts and allotment letters were issued. Mining operations even continued in November 2024 despite a stay order from the Peshawar High Court.
The NAB highlighted serious violations by the leaseholders, such as not conducting environmental impact assessments, not obtaining NOCs from Environmental Protection Agency, failing to install processing plants, not following exploitation schemes, not submitting production or sales records, dangerously using mercury and illegally employing unskilled miners.
According to the NAB, more than 1,500 excavators are operating illegally in the area. Leaseholders are charging Rs500,000 to Rs700,000 per excavator weekly, thus earning Rs750 million to Rs1.05 billion per week. It is estimated trillions have already been earned, while the government is being paid only a token amount.
Originally published in The News
Entertainment
Major update on ‘Gremlins 3’ revealed

Gremlins is a well-known black horror comedy franchise that has released two installments, but for the third, there is much anticipation among fans about when it will come.
Now, Chris Columbus, the screenwriter of the original movie, has shared an update on the threequel, as the last film was released in 1990.
“There’s a bunch of scripts for Gremlins,” he teased in an interview with GamesRadar+. “I mean, nothing has been approved. We’re working on something, but we’re always [working on something]. Gremlins is a never-ending writing assignment.”
Besides the update, Chris also weighed in on his initial stance against the making of sequels.
“Back in the early 80s, when we had finished Gremlins, there was the opportunity to do Gremlins 2, but I was of a mind that once I’ve said it, I’ve said it, there’s no reason to do a sequel,” he recalled.
This mindset, he said, led him to consider making other movies instead of Gremlins 2.
“So Steven and I could have worked on Gremlins 2, but I said, ‘No, I’ve done that. I’m going to move on.’ And I moved on to Goonies and Young Sherlock Holmes. So we still worked together,” the director noted.
However, since then, Chris’s views on the sequels definitely evolved as he had made Home Alone two and the first two films in the Harry Potter franchise.
Meanwhile, his latest-directed film, The Thursday Murder Club, is streaming on Netflix.
Entertainment
Hunter Biden goes after George Clooney with ruthless plan

Hunter Biden is reportedly plotting fresh attacks on George Clooney after he distanced himself from the former president of the United States.
According to Radar Online, the 64-year-old American actor and filmmaker is worried about the secrets which might be revealed after the 55-year-old son of former United States president Joe Biden spoke against him in an interview and seems poised to say more.
For the unversed, Clooney wrote an op-ed article, I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee, stating that Biden should withdraw himself from the 2024 presidential race.
The Wolfs star claimed because of his ‘cognitive decline,’ Joe could not stay the same, which clearly showed in his debate with current president Donald Trump.
An insider told the same outlet that “Hunter considers George a misinformed interloper who kicked Joe while he was down and sabotaged the Democratic Party.”
“He feels the world would be a better place if Joe was in office, and he’s saying George wrecked everything,” the source noted.
“Now he’s planning on delving deep into George’s history and shining a light on anything that looks remotely suspicious – from past relationships to business practices and even his marriage to Amal [Clooney],” the insider reported.
“Everyone has skeletons in the closet, especially a Playboy turned political bigmouth! George is nervous about what Hunter could spill, and he should be. If any story that’s remotely unsavory gets out, he’ll have a hot mess on his hands,” the source stated.
Entertainment
YouTube TV in “short-term extension” to keep Fox channels on it for now

New York — YouTube TV says it’s reached a “short-term extension” in its contract dispute with Fox, meaning subscribers of the Google-owned streamer won’t see immediate disruptions of Fox channels on the platform.
The current carriage agreement between YouTube TV and Fox originally faced a Wednesday afternoon deadline – with YouTube previously warning that networks like Fox Sports, Business and News would become unavailable on its streaming platform if the two sides didn’t reach a new deal by 5 p.m. ET.
That would have left YouTube TV customers without Week 1 of some college football games and other broadcast programming from Fox. But shortly after the clock hit 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday, YouTube said it was able to “prevent disruption” as it continues to work toward a new agreement.
“We are committed to advocating on behalf of our subscribers as we work toward a fair deal and will keep you updated on our progress,” YouTube said in a brief update announcing the extension.
A spokesperson for Fox had no addition comment, but confirmed that the broadcast giant had agreed to the short-term extension. It wasn’t immediately clear how long the extension would be.
In a statement earlier Wednesday, Fox said it was “disappointed that Google continually exploits its outsized influence by proposing terms that are out of step with the marketplace.” Fox also directed subscribers to a site called keepfox.com for more information and to call on YouTube to come to an agreement.
In addition to Fox Sports, Business and News, keepfox.com notes that YouTube TV may no longer carry FS1 and the Big Ten Network (which is majority-owned by Fox) if a deal isn’t reached.
Meanwhile, in blog post earlier this week, YouTube said Fox was “asking for payments that are far higher than what partners with comparable content offerings receive.” The company added that it hoped to reach a deal that’s “fair for both sides” without “passing on additional costs to our subscribers.”
If Fox content becomes unavailable on YouTube TV “for an extended period of time,” YouTube also noted it would provide members with a $10 credit. YouTube TV’s base plan – which currently boasts access to over 100 live channels – costs $82.99 a month.
Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, also chimed in on the dispute leading up to Wednesday’s deadline – while appearing to target Google particularly. He called on the tech company to “get a deal done” in a post on social media.
“Google removing Fox channels from YouTube TV would be a terrible outcome,” Carr wrote in a Tuesday post on X. “Millions of Americans are relying on YouTube to resolve this dispute so they can keep watching the news and sports they want-including this week’s Big Game: Texas Ohio State.”
From sports events to awards shows, live programming that was once reserved for broadcast has increasingly made its way into the streaming world over the years – as more and more consumers ditch traditional cable or satellite TV subscriptions for content they can get online. But renewing carriage agreements can also mean tense contract negotiations – at times resulting in service disruptions.
YouTube TV has been down this road before: In 2021, YouTube TV subscribers briefly lost access to all Disney content on the platform, including networks like ESPN and local ABC stations, after a contract breakdown between the two companies. That outage lasted less than two days, with the companies eventually reaching an agreement.
Beyond deals with YouTube TV and others, Fox last week launched its own streaming platform, “Fox One,” which has a starting price of $19.99 a month.
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