The endorsement is the first in a contested Senate primary by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this year, in a state that Democrats believe they must hold this fall to win a Senate majority.
Beijing authorities said the pilot who hit a building in the city had suffered from insomnia and anxiety and had expressed a desire to end his life.
Wimbledon. It is a place synonymous with the ‘proper’ British sporting event – from players who can only wear white to the quintessentially strawberries and cream combination for spectators. But for fans, at least, no element represents this esteemed tournament better than ‘The Queue’.
This is where tens of thousands descend upon the hallowed SW19 grounds to camp out or arrive in the pre-dawn light, desperate for the chance to bag themselves a ground pass.
Of course, The Royal Box is home to Hollywood’s finest, along with the highest echelons of society and monarchy, but the Patron of The All England Club was not always granted preferential treatment.
In fact, Princess Kate once revealed how her passion for the event was actually forged on the very same queue all other fans use to access the grounds.
“It was part of coming to see Wimbledon and the anticipation,” Princess Kate, as she is most known to people around the world, said recently of the grounds where the tournament is played, explaining just how “central” sport was within her family throughout her childhood.
Before being handed over royal patronage in 2016 – Queen Elizabeth II having performed the role previously since 2007 – the Princess of Wales, whose first name is Catherine, would line up with her family to catch a glimpse of her idols play.
“I used to do that… maybe not overnight, but crack of dawn,” the mum of three explained when asked how dedicated one had to be to get a ticket into the popular event.
“I loved it when I was younger” she added recalling how she would queue with her dad, Michael, and her sister, Pippa Matthews. “I loved it when I was younger. It was part of coming to see Wimbledon and the anticipation.”
Naturally, her relationship with the Wimbledon tournament has dramatically changed since becoming a “working royal.” Having first presented winner’s trophies on the iconic Centre Court in 2019, her keen awareness of and profound respect for the staff and the throngs of spectators awaiting their entry continues to remain a core tenet of her involvement.
During visits to the event over the years, the princess has been known to pause to chat with everyone from security staff to the ball boys and girls. In fact, on one occasion, she light-heartedly asked paramedics if they had noticed “how many people drink Pimm’s, rather than water” during the particularly sweltering summers, that the UK is famed for.
To all tennis lovers, her childhood tale serves as an important reminder that whether you’re royal or not, the magic of Wimbledon has always been conjured the same way: with an incredibly early alarm, an unwavering amount of patience, and the tantalizing promise of world-class sport at the end of a very, very long line.
Congo lost, 2-1, to England on Wednesday, after spending most of the game winning.
LAHORE: A child was killed, and at least four people were injured after the roof of an under-construction house caved in Lahore’s Baghbanpura neighbourhood on Thursday.
As per a statement issued by Rescue 1122, the roof of the third floor of an under-construction house collapsed, killing a child and leaving four injured, while another person still remained buried under the rubble.
It said that the child’s age was between eight and ten years.
It added that the rescue operation was under way with seven rescue vehicles and 25 personnel engaged. The injured were rushed to the Services Hospital after being provided with first aid, it added.
The incident comes two days after a roof collapse incident at a tuition centre claimed the lives of 14 children in Lahore’s Kahna area.
On Wednesday, hundreds of mourners took part in funeral prayers at the local mosque before the dead children, mostly aged between four and 12, were carried to the graveyard for burial.
Roof and building collapses are common across Pakistan, mainly due to poor safety standards and the use of substandard construction materials in the South Asian country of more than 240 million people.
South Asia teeters precariously upon a powder keg of existential volatility, ironically fuelled by water itself. This dangerous moment has been propelled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagitious and untenable proclamation that the waters of the Indus basin belong exclusively to India.
One reaches this sombre conclusion after reading the incisive column by Ahmar Bilal Soofi, titled “Dams on Chenab — a target?”. A leading jurist, Soofi has consistently advocated rigorous legal remedies against Modi’s malevolent suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) of 1960 — an act tantamount to de facto abrogation, devoid of legitimacy under the principle of pacta sunt servanda.
This assertion by New Delhi not only repudiates solemn treaty obligations but weaponises a vital shared resource, imperilling the agrarian lifelines of downstream Pakistan.
Indian policy discourse seeks to cloak accelerated projects on the Chenab, including the colossal Sawalkote endeavour, under the guise of legitimate upper-riparian rights and energy needs. While claiming adherence to run-of-the-river constraints, such literature conveniently ignores the foreseeable consequences: diminished flows, ecological devastation, and an existential threat to food sovereignty for over 250 million people dependent on the Indus irrigation system.
The hypocrisy stands glaringly exposed when juxtaposed against India’s vehement remonstrations as a lower riparian state in regards to river Brahmaputra on its north-eastern border. As a lower riparian, New Delhi invokes principles of equitable utilisation and the duty to cause no significant harm — yet behaves with unrestrained imperiousness when occupying the upper riparian position.
Pakistan’s position rests on firm juridical foundations. The IWT’s annexures strictly limit Indian activities on the western rivers to preserve perennial flows. By explicitly linking dam construction to punitive objectives, as evidenced by ministerial declarations that not a single drop will reach Pakistan, India has converted ostensibly civilian infrastructure into instruments of strategic coercion. This is no longer a technical infraction or legal nicety; it constitutes a brazen act of war — a deliberate assault upon the sovereign lifeblood of a nation.
Under jus ad bellum, Pakistan holds the inherent right of anticipatory self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter when facing existential threats to its agriculture and societal survival.
Under jus in bello, Article 56 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions (1977) offers conditional protection to dams and installations containing dangerous forces. This protection lapses where such works are used for other than their normal functions in regular, significant and direct support of military operations, and where attack is the only feasible way to terminate that support (Article 56(2)).
Likewise, Article 52 designates as military objectives those structures whose purpose or use makes an effective contribution to hostile action. When a nation’s survival hangs by a thread, history delivers its thunderous verdict.
In 1943, as Nazi war machine ravaged Europe, the Allies executed Operation Chastise — the legendary Dam Busters raid. In a breathtaking feat of courage, 617 Squadron of the Royal Air Force breached the Möhne and Eder dams using revolutionary bouncing bombs. They acted not from vengeance but necessity, to cripple the industrial heart powering a campaign of annihilation. Those dams, civilian in appearance, had become instruments of totalitarian aggression.
It is precisely for such moments of existential peril that the drafters of Additional Protocol I inserted the critical exception in Article 56(2). When a dam or dyke is transformed into a weapon of war — deployed to slowly suffocate an entire population — its legal protection is extinguished.
Water is not a mere commodity; it is the sacred essence of life, explicitly recognised as a fundamental human right under the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and international covenants. When every peaceful remedy is exhausted and a downstream nation confronts deliberate hydrological warfare aimed at engineering famine and national collapse, Article 56(2) stands as the international community’s solemn acknowledgment: in the final extremity, a sovereign people possess both the moral right and legal justification to destroy the structure that threatens their very existence.
Geostrategic realities further amplify Pakistan’s options. Several of these Indian projects on the Chenab lie at distances of mere tens of kilometres from the Line of Control. Nestled in precipitous, sediment-choked Himalayan gorges, they offer limited fortification and dangerously short reaction windows. India’s air defence system, despite augmentation, faces inherent topographic and temporal constraints against low-level or standoff threats. These vulnerabilities render calibrated interdiction both feasible and potentially decisive.
Pakistan has and must pursue a robust legal encirclement. This includes invoking IWT Article IX for arbitration, seeking provisional measures at the International Court of Justice under Statute Article 41, approaching the International Criminal Court over starvation tactics prohibited by Rome Statute Article 8(2)(b)(xxv), and engaging the UN Human Rights Council on rights to water, food, and life.
These steps reaffirm the primacy of rules-based order over unilateral fiat. As a country, we must endevour for a peaceful resoltion. The IWT survived past conflicts through mutual forbearance, not inherent strength. Its current crisis arises from politicised hydrology rather than actual scarcity.
PM Modi’s selective riparian ethic — imperious upstream, plaintive downstream — gravely weakens India’s moral and legal standing.
For Pakistan, confronting hydrologically induced existential coercion, the full panoply of lawful measures persists: diplomatic, adjudicatory, and, where thresholds of imperative necessity are traversed, proportionate defensive action to safeguard the corpus of national survival.
International law, far from enjoining supine acquiescence, equips sovereign nations with doctrinal instruments to repel existential duress. The Indian ignition of the Indus basin, emblematic of intertwined geography, law, and power, now tests whether precept or predation shall govern transboundary waters in an era of climatic flux.
While Pakistan must continue to navigate this crucible with juridical precision and strategic clarity, extending every reasonable opportunity for peace, the belligerent designs of India may ultimately compel the rights of Pakistan over the Indus basin to be determined not by treaties alone, but by the cold Bismarckian logic of Eisen und Blut — iron and blood.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit Iran and Turkiye from July 3 to July 5, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi confirmed on Thursday.
Addressing a weekly briefing, Andrabi said that during his visit to Iran, the premier would participate in the funeral of late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in US-Israeli strikes on February 28.
The FO spokesperson said PM Shehbaz will travel to Iran first for Khamenei’s funeral. Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, cabinet members and senior officials will accompany the premier on his visit.
“The prime minister will convey condolences on behalf of the people and government of Pakistan to the Iranian leadership and the bereaved families while reaffirming solidarity with the brotherly nation in their hour of profound grief,” he said.
PM Shehbaz will then visit Istanbul at the invitation of Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Andrabi said.
He added that the premier will “hold discussions on the entire gamut of bilateral relations with a special focus on giving impetus to bilateral trade and investment cooperation between the two brotherly countries”.
“The leadership meeting will also reflect on issues concerning regional peace and security.”
The prime minister will also address a business conference hosted by Pakistan to “spotlight Pakistan’s trade and investment potential in priority areas, including SEZs (special economic zones), energy, trade, IT and privatisation sectors”, Andrabi said.
He noted that the conference would bring together leading Turkish businessmen and investors alongside senior officials, dignitaries and other distinguished participants from the business community.
The FO spokesperson highlighted that PM Shehbaz’s visits to Iran and Turkiye “reflect Pakistan’s deep-rooted, historic, cultural and fraternal ties with the two brotherly nations”.
More to follow
LAHORE – Actors Tauseeq Haider and Farah Saadia shut down rumours that they secretly got married in a humorous Instagram video while also highlighting the consequences of AI-generated misinformation. The two actors shared a collaborative post on Instagram to clarify that they have not tied the knot, captioning it, “Happily single”. “So we are happily married,” Haider joked, before adding, “Many congratulations to you, Farah.” Keeping up the playful tone, he continued, “We both wanted to break the news to you, but there are so many amazing YouTubers who are so professional that they made it go viral before we could. I also just found out that we got married.” Saadia joined in, poking fun at the AI-generated wedding image. “They used such good AI. Tauseeq, you are looking so good in it,” she said. Haider agreed, joking that fans deserved credit for creating such an “attractive bride and groom”. The pair also joked that they deserved a share of the revenue earned from the fake story. “We were just talking about this before recording. If you’ve already earned Rs200,000 from this fake news, please give us at least Rs50,000 each,” Haider said, adding, “Do a deal with us. Tell us this is the business plan behind your fake wedding and how much money we can make too.” Taking on a more serious tone, Saadia spoke about the real-life consequences of spreading fabricated stories. “You guys are making money and ruining our image. We have our own families, kids and relatives. This is not the way. Jokes apart, these things can be a disaster for families,” she said. The actor added, “Come on, guys, please have some respect. Have a life and do something meaningful to make money.” The two concluded by reiterating that they are simply good friends. “We will always just be friends, and we’ve learned that the wedding stuff is your line of work,” Saadia said. The actors received praise from social media users for their light-hearted yet measured response, with many describing them as “cool” and “sophisticated”.
The Knesset approved a bill on Wednesday that seeks to ban the broadcasting of the call to prayer in Israel on loudspeakers, according to media reports.
The Israel Hayom newspaper reported that the Knesset approved the bill in its preliminary reading to tighten law enforcement against what it described as “mosque noise”.
The bill passed 50-36 in the 120-member parliament, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
Introduced by the Otzma Yehudit party, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the bill was backed by the opposition Yisrael Beiteinu party of right-wing politician Avigdor Lieberman.
Rawhi Fattouh, head of the Palestinian National Council, described the move as a “crime” and a “legislative terrorism”.
It is “a blatant violation of freedom of worship and belief”, Fattouh said in a statement.
The bill must pass three additional readings before becoming law.
According to Israel’s Channel 14, the proposed legislation stipulates that no sound system may be installed or operated in any mosque without explicit prior authorisation.
KARACHI: The weather in Karachi likely to remain humid and cloudy, Met Office said in its weather report on Thursday.
Light drizzle is expected sporadically in different areas of the city with gusts of winds in infrequent intervals.
The weather office has recorded 78 percent humidity in the city as minimum temperature in the city recorded 29-degree Celsius as the mercury could soar to 33 Celsius in the daytime.
The southwesterly winds are blowing at the wind speed of 18 kilometers per hour, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department.
The Met Office in a recent advisory said that in Sindh, rain is expected in Sukkur, Larkana, Dadu, Jacobabad, Shaheed Benazirabad, Kashmore, Shikarpur, Ghotki, Khairpur, Qambar Shahdadkot, and Naushahro Feroze on July 3 and July 4.
PMD said that Pakistan is likely to experience a split monsoon this year, with hot and dry conditions expected in most plains and heavier rainfall forecast for the northern highlands.
According to the forecast, temperatures across the country will remain warmer than usual throughout the summer, regardless of region. However, rainfall patterns will vary sharply between the plains and the mountains.
In the agricultural plains of Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan and southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the coming months are expected to be hotter and drier than normal. Rainfall in these areas is likely to stay below average, while daytime temperatures may rise above seasonal levels.
The northern mountainous regions including Gilgit-Baltistan, the Northern Areas and upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, are expected to receive slightly above-normal rainfall. Despite the increased rain, temperatures there will also remain higher than in previous years, making the weather feel more humid and uncomfortable.
