Entertainment
Opposition to all terror outfits, not only TTP, says KP CM Sohail Afridi
- Sohail Afridi to meet Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah: Shafi Jan.
- KP’s development being reversed, says chief minister.
- KP CM laments treatment meted out in Lahore.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said on Thursday that he opposes all terrorist organisations, not just the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — also referred to as ‘Fitna al-Khawarij’.
The chief minister’s clarification comes after the government accused the government in KP of facilitating terrorists, with Information Minister Ataullah Tarar calling PTI the “political wing” of TTP. The military’s spokesperson has also said that the provincial government was responsible for rising terrorism.
Speaking to reporters at the Karachi Press Club, the chief minister stressed that he would also meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, if invited, to address the issue of terrorism.
“I will meet the PM 100%. I will meet him because my province is being affected by terrorism,” he assured the journalists and noted that the “development” in the province was “being reversed” due to the menace.
He also mentioned that terrorists were relocated in the province earlier. The KP CM stated that all parties, including provincial and federal governments, as well as law enforcement agencies, will need to join forces to address the issue of terrorism.
“A decision made collectively, with our input included, will be effective,” he added.
The KP CM is in Karachi for his party’s street mobilisation campaign. After his Punjab tour, he is now in Sindh. From the airport, the KP chief minister reached Karachi Press Club in six hours along with large crowd of party supporters.
Speaking to journalists at the press club, Afridi said that he had also visited Punjab but was not treated well there. “In Lahore, wherever we went to eat, the market would be shut,” Afridi said, questioning where the Constitution barred a chief minister from engaging in politics in another province.
Commenting on Sindh, the chief minister said the legacy of Benazir Bhutto and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was still visible in the province. He added that Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had assured him of cooperation during his visit to Karachi. He said that if the Sindh chief minister visited Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he would be accorded full respect and hospitality.
Afridi said welfare initiatives, including programmes under Ehsaas, were ongoing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, providing free medical treatment of up to Rs2 million to citizens. He alleged that the federation was not releasing the province’s due share of funds.
The chief minister said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was producing the cheapest electricity in the country, benefiting all of Pakistan. He added that if the province received funds according to its constitutional rights, it would have progressed more than other provinces.
Afridi said only a party with 17 seats was sitting in the federal government, alleging that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was being treated unfairly. He claimed that while other provinces had received their NFC shares from 2018 to 2025, KP had not.
Upon arrival at Karachi airport, the KP CM was welcomed by Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Saeed Ghani at the airport, who presented him with Sindhi topi and Ajrak.
“I will hold a rally at Mazar-e-Quaid in Karachi at 4:30pm on Sunday,” said CM Afridi in a message ahead of his Sindh visit, which has commenced after he landed at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport today.
The KP chief minister said he will spread the message of jailed PTI founder Imran Khan to every nook and corner of Sindh and urged the people of Sindh to extend all-out support to the PTI in the preparations for the street movement. “We will hold the largest rally in Karachi’s history,” CM Afridi said.
However, contrary to the KP CM’s announcement, the district administration has said that no permission has been given to the PTI yet to hold a public rally.
Permission to hold a rally will be granted after security clearance is received, added the administration.
Meanwhile, KP CM’s aide on information, Shafi Jan, said that CM Afridi will also meet Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah on Monday (January 12), and will also hold meetings with party leadership at the Insaf House, followed by a visit to the press club during his stay in Sindh.
“A big rally will be held at the Mazar-e-Quaid on January 11. [KP] CM’s visit to Sindh is important to further accelerate the street movement,” Jan remarked.
Afridi will travel to Hyderabad today, his office has said. According to Jan, the chief minister will address members of the Hyderabad Bar Council and the Press Club.
After his addresses, he is expected to attend the ISF Convention, meet with the party cabinet and hold discussions with local community leaders on the same day. Afridi will also lead rallies in both Hyderabad and Kotri, according to Jan.
Sindh govt assures facilitation
Meanwhile, speaking on KP CM’s visit on Geo News’ programme “Geo Pakistan” today, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Memon said that the provincial government will ensure free movement of CM Afridi and welcome him.
“KP CM will have full liberty to go wherever he wants [during Sindh visit] and take part in political activities,” Memon said, while adding that the dignitary will be provided due security and protocol.
When asked about repercussions of possible political activities, such as traffic jams, the Sindh minister said that the provincial government’s stance is that the PTI should inform them about their political activities, and if needed, they would be provided ground to hold any public gathering.
However, Memon warned against any activity contrary to the law or which causes nuisance for the public.
“[KP CM] can undertake whatever activities he wishes while adhering to the law,” he remarked.
Pointing out the ideological differences with the PTI, Memon said that criticism is part of politics, but it should not result in intolerance.
PM’s aide warns of FIRs
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah claimed that the PTI was not in a position to launch any street movement, warning that its planned wheel-jam strike on February 8 was illegal and would not be allowed under the law.
The PM’s aide, speaking on Geo News programme “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath”, said that the Imran Khan-founded party wanted to paralyse traffic on February 8, but such a strike had no legal cover.
He cautioned that if the party resorted to any disruptive actions, it would face legal consequences, including the registration of FIRs, and would later have no grounds for complaint.
He went on to say that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister was himself engaged in unlawful activities, adding that his travel was illegal. He maintained that there was no possibility of success for PTI’s protest movement.
He said there was no objection to PTI’s political activities in Karachi; however, he made it clear that the Sindh government would not grant permission for any wheel-jam strike.
Well, that soft launch has officially become a full-blown hard launch.
Sydney Sweeney just made things very Instagram official with Scooter Braun – and fans wasted approximately three seconds before turning the comments section into a full FBI investigation.
The Euphoria star dropped a Stagecoach photo carousel on Friday that looked innocent enough at first: cowboy vibes, festival lights, karaoke chaos. Then came the cuddling photos.
One snapshot showed the pair squeezed together in a photo booth making goofy faces, while another featured Braun literally carrying Sweeney bridal-style through the crowd like this was the final scene of a rom-com nobody saw coming.
There was also a clip of them singing karaoke together and another of Sweeney perched on his shoulders during a performance because apparently subtlety has officially left the chat.
“cowboy kind of weekend,” she captioned the post — which may be the understatement of the year.
Braun had already hinted at the romance weeks earlier after posting Sweeney on his Instagram Story, but this is the clearest confirmation yet that the two are no longer trying to keep things low-key.
The pair reportedly started dating in September 2025 after meeting at the lavish wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez in Venice.
Since then, they have been spotted on multiple dates and holding hands publicly.
Now? The internet has officially upgraded them from rumour to relationship status.
The wardrobe is officially open again – and this time, Greta Gerwig is leading the way.
Netflix has finally confirmed the title and release dates for Gerwig’s long-awaited Chronicles of Narnia reboot, and fantasy fans already sound emotionally unwell online.
The first film will be called Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew and arrives in theaters on February 12, 2027, before landing on Netflix on April 2.
And yes, the cast is stacked.
Meryl Streep, Daniel Craig, Carey Mulligan, Emma Mackey and Denise Gough are all set to appear in the fantasy epic based on C.S. Lewis’ classic books.
Gerwig, who writes, directs, and produces the film, got deeply personal while explaining why this story matters to her.
“I was a child when I first read The Magician’s Nephew, and I fell in love with the gorgeously improbable but completely brilliant concept of a cosmic lion singing the world of Narnia to life,” she said.
“I didn’t know that I would grow up to make films… but a universe built out of music is an idea that always lived in my heart.”
Unlike the earlier Narnia movies, Gerwig’s film starts at the very beginning of the timeline, exploring Aslan’s creation of Narnia itself – essentially the fantasy franchise’s origin story.
In other words: Greta Gerwig is about to make an entire generation cry over a lion all over again.
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday broadening US sanctions against the Cuban government, two White House officials told Reuters, as he seeks to put more pressure on Havana after ousting Venezuela’s leader.
The fresh sanctions target people, entities and affiliates that support the Cuban government’s security apparatus or are complicit in corruption or serious human rights violations, as well as agents, officials or supporters of the government, the officials said.
It was not immediately clear who exactly had been hit with sanctions under the order, which was first reported by Reuters.
But a copy of the order released by the White House said the sanctions could apply to “any foreign person” operating in the “energy, defence and related materiel, metals and mining, financial services, or security sector of the Cuban economy, or any other sector of the Cuban economy.”
The order authorises secondary sanctions for conducting or facilitating transactions with those targeted under the order, the officials said.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the new “coercive” measures reinforce the US’s “brutal, genocidal” blockade against the island.
“The blockade and its reinforcement cause so much harm because of the intimidating and arrogant behaviour of the world’s greatest military power,” Diaz-Canel wrote on social media.
Cuba’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, said the sanctions measures, which were announced as the island held its traditional May Day celebrations, aim to impose “collective punishment on the Cuban people” and that Cubans would not be intimidated.
Ratcheting up pressure on Cuban government
Jeremy Paner, a former sanctions investigator at the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, said the move was the most significant one for non-American companies since the US embargo against Cuba began decades ago.
“Oil and gas, mining companies, and banks that have carefully segregated their Cuba operations from the United States are no longer protected,” said Paner, who is now a partner at Hughes Hubbard & Reed, a law firm.
The new sanctions are the latest broadside by the Trump administration against Cuba, which the president has repeatedly declared is near a state of collapse.
Under Trump, US forces have launched strikes on boats allegedly carrying drugs off Venezuela and gone into Caracas to seize President Nicolas Maduro. Trump has said, without providing specifics, that “Cuba is next.”
The officials said Trump’s order contained an implicit warning to Cuba, accusing the Havana government of aligning itself with Iran and groups like Hezbollah.
“Cuba provides a permissive environment for hostile foreign intelligence, military, and terrorist operations less than 100 miles from the American homeland,” one official said.
The US has long demanded Cuba open its state-run economy, pay reparations for properties expropriated by the government of former leader Fidel Castro and hold “free and fair” elections. Cuba has said its form of socialist government is not up for negotiation.
The US heaped additional sanctions and pressure on the island early this year, when it halted Venezuelan oil exports to Cuba after ousting Maduro on January 3. Trump later threatened to slap punishing tariffs on any other country that sent crude to Cuba, prompting Mexico, another top supplier, to stop shipments to the island.
The fuel shortage in Cuba has contributed to major national-level blackouts and prompted many foreign airlines to suspend flights to the island.
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