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‘Pride of the nation’: Two Pakistani female weightlifters win eight gold medals in South Africa

‘Pride of the nation’: Two Pakistani female weightlifters win eight gold medals in South Africa
This photo, shared by Twinkle Sohail, shows Pakistani female weightlifters Twinkle Sohail (right), Cybil Sohail (center) and Veronica Sohail (left) at the Lahore airport as they leave for South Africa to compete at the Asian/African/Pacific Powerlifting Championship. (Photo courtesy: Facebook/TwinkleSohail)
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Updated 11 July 2024
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‘Pride of the nation’: Two Pakistani female weightlifters win eight gold medals in South Africa

‘Pride of the nation’: Two Pakistani female weightlifters win eight gold medals in South Africa
  • Cybil and Veronica Sohail competed in the 52- and 57-kilogram categories, winning four medals each
  • Their third sister, Twinkle Sohail, is scheduled to participate in the weightlifting championship on July 13
Updated 11 July 2024
NAIMAT KHAN
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KARACHI: The top official of the Prime Minister’s Youth Program applauded two professional Pakistani female weightlifters on Thursday for winning gold medals at an ongoing sports championship in South Africa, praising their dedication and describing them as the “pride of the nation.”
The Pakistani sisters, Cybil and Veronica Sohail, competed in the 52- and 57-kilogram categories, winning four gold medals each in the squat, bench press, deadlift, and total categories.
Pakistan is actively promoting various sports fields among male and female athletes amid an environment where cricket is overwhelmingly popular.
Female athletes in Pakistan face significant challenges due to societal norms and limited access to facilities, with sports like wrestling and weightlifting usually not considered ideal for women due to cultural perceptions.
“Our daughters like Cybil and Veronica Sohail are the pride of our nation,” Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Youth Program, Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, said in a social media post. “These girls have proven their abilities on the global stage by winning gold medals.”
Mashhood said the Sohail sisters had also participated in the Punjab Youth Festival, adding that the Prime Minister’s Youth Program was trying to provide full support to such athletes.
“To engage the country’s youth in positive activities, we need to revive the sports fields,” he added. “Encouraging young Pakistani athletes will enable our country to win more gold medals.”
The two sisters went to South Africa to participate in the tournament after being sponsored by the Punjab Sports Board.
Their third sibling, Twinkle Sohail, is scheduled to compete in another weightlifting category on July 13.

Topics: Sohail Sisters

Pakistani security forces kill eight militants in restive northwest

Pakistani security forces kill eight militants in restive northwest
Updated 31 sec ago
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Pakistani security forces kill eight militants in restive northwest

Pakistani security forces kill eight militants in restive northwest
  • Army says six militants also injured during operation in Miran Shah area of North Waziristan
  • South Asian nation blames surge in militancy on TTP fighters operating out of Afghanistan
Updated 31 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Security forces killed eight militants while six others sustained injuries during an intelligence-based operation in Pakistan’s restive northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military’s media wing said on Wednesday.
According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the operation was conducted in the Miran Shah area of North Waziristan district.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan, has witnessed several attacks by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants who have targeted security forces’ convoys and check posts, besides killing and kidnapping officials and civilians in recent months.
“Security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in general area Miran Shah, North Waziristan District on the reported presence of khwarij [militants],” the ISPR said.
“During the conduct of the operation, own troops effectively engaged khwarij’s location, as a result of which, eight khwarij were sent to hell, while six khwarij got injured.”
A “sanitization operation” was also conducted in the area to eliminate any other militants, it added.
Earlier this month on Nov. 10, Pakistani security forces killed four militants in two separate encounters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Prior to that, four Pakistani soldiers and five militants lost their lives in a gunbattle in South Waziristan’s Karama area.
The TTP leadership is said to be based in neighboring Afghanistan, affecting the ties between Kabul and Islamabad since the Pakistani officials have accused the Afghan Taliban of “facilitating” cross-border militant attacks.
Afghanistan denies the allegation and has urged Pakistan to resolve its security challenges internally.
 

Topics: TTP Pakistan Taliban Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan Inter Services Public Relations militancy in Pakistan

Maxwell’s power-hitting and Australia pace flatten Pakistan in a rain-shortened T20

Maxwell’s power-hitting and Australia pace flatten Pakistan in a rain-shortened T20
Updated 9 min 23 sec ago
AP
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Maxwell’s power-hitting and Australia pace flatten Pakistan in a rain-shortened T20

Maxwell’s power-hitting and Australia pace flatten Pakistan in a rain-shortened T20
  • Match started after a three-hour delay and was shortened to seven over per side
  • Pakistan made 64-9 in response to Australia’s 93-4, losing five wicket in first 15 balls
Updated 9 min 23 sec ago
AP

BRISBANE: Glenn Maxwell’s robust 43 off 19 balls helped Australia thump Pakistan by 29 runs in a rain-shortened first Twenty20 on Thursday.
After a nearly three-hour delay due to lightning and rain, the match was shortened to seven overs per side.
Maxwell powered Australia to 93-4 and Pakistan reached only 64-9 after slumping to 16-5 inside the first 15 balls.
Nathan Ellis (3-9) and Xavier Bartlett (3-13) ran through the top order before No. 8 batter Abbas Afridi’s unbeaten 20.
“Certainly had a lot of fun out there,” Maxwell said. “We thought we had enough on the board … the bowlers did a great job. There was a few of us who had packed our bags expecting the game to be called off, so it was a mad rush to get ready.”
Maxwell followed scores of 0, 16, 0 in the preceding one-day international series won by Pakistan 2-1 by smacking three sixes and five boundaries. He played some extravagant lap shots to third man against the pace of Haris Rauf (1-21) and Naseem Shah (1-37).
Maxwell fell in the penultimate over when he hooked Abbas Afridi (2-9) to backward square leg but Marcus Stoinis provided a final flourish with an unbeaten 21 off seven balls. Stoinis smashed 20 runs in Shah’s last over with two fours and six.
None of the top six Pakistan batters reached double figures.
Sahibzada Farhan hit Spencer Johnson for two successive boundaries off the first two balls he faced before mistiming a pull shot off the fourth ball and holing out at midwicket.
Mohammad Rizwan, in his first match as the Pakistan skipper, fell to the first ball when he top-edged Bartlett to point. Usman Khan was caught at third man in the same over.
Ellis struck twice in his first over when Babar Azam was caught in the deep and Jake Fraser-McGurk snapped his third catch as Irfan Khan also offered a tame catch at deep midwicket.
Pakistan was 24-6 in the fourth over when Salman Ali Agha scored only 4 in his debut T20, guiding a sharp, short Bartlett delivery to Australia first-time captain Josh Inglis on the run.
Leg-spinner Adam Zampa clean-bowled Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah off successive balls in the last over to complete the rout.
“It was difficult to keep things normal in a seven-over game,” Rizwan said. “Got to give credit to Maxy, his style worked really well.”
The second T20 is in Sydney on Saturday, and the last in Hobart on Monday.
 

Topics: Pakistan cricket Pakistan cricket team Pakistan vs Australia T20I match

ICC Champions Trophy promo confirms Pakistan as host

ICC Champions Trophy promo confirms Pakistan as host
Updated 14 min 59 sec ago
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ICC Champions Trophy promo confirms Pakistan as host

ICC Champions Trophy promo confirms Pakistan as host
  • The video comes days after the ICC informed Pakistan that India had declined to play in the country
  • Pakistan has said it is not interested in a hybrid hosting model adopted during last year’s Asia Cup
Updated 14 min 59 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The International Cricket Council’s promotional video for the Champions Trophy 2025 has portrayed Pakistan as the tournament host, with the global governing body for cricket promising a “thrilling competition” in a statement released on Wednesday.
The video comes just days after the ICC informed Pakistan that India had declined to play tournament matches in the country, prompting Pakistani authorities to rule out the hybrid hosting model adopted last year for the Asia Cup, where India played all its matches in Sri Lanka.
Political tensions between the two countries have led the Indian team to avoid traveling to Pakistan since 2008, with both sides only competing in multination tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
The ICC has not directly commented on the situation, though the promotional video clearly showed visuals communicating that the tournament will be arranged in Pakistan.
It promo displayed an unconventional logo, which the ICC said was designed to be “bold, loud, confident, and fun,” saying the visual identity was digital-first while calling it a dynamic, typographic logo.
“The two weeks of thrilling competition the event is renowned for is reflected in the bold and loud edge to the brand,” ICC Chief Commercial Officer Anurag Dahiya said in a statement. “The new elements are accompanied by the distinctive white jackets which nod to the history of the Champions Trophy and its unique, global appeal.”
The men’s Champions Trophy is set to return in 2025 after about eight years, with Pakistan clinching the title in the 2017 final against India.
The tournament was last held in England.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi that are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games scheduled to be held between February 19 and March 9.
 

Topics: ICC Champions Trophy 2025 champions trophy ICC Cricket

Explosion in house kills 2 children in former stronghold of Pakistani Taliban

Explosion in house kills 2 children in former stronghold of Pakistani Taliban
Updated 14 November 2024
AP
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Explosion in house kills 2 children in former stronghold of Pakistani Taliban

Explosion in house kills 2 children in former stronghold of Pakistani Taliban
  • Police investigating what caused the blast including whether someone was handling explosives to make bombs
  • Blast happened in Mir Ali where Pakistani Taliban often target security forces with suicide bombings 
Updated 14 November 2024
AP

PESHAWAR, Pakistan: A powerful explosion ripped through a house in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban on Thursday, killing at least two children and wounding some others, police said.

Police were still investigating what caused the blast including whether someone was handling explosives to make bombs, local police chief Irfan Khan said.

The blast happened in Mir Ali, a city in the northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan and where Pakistani Taliban and other insurgents often target security forces with suicide bombings and other violence.

Elsewhere in the province Thursday, a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle set off an explosive device prematurely on a deserted road in Charsadda district, killing himself but harming no one else, police said.

Local police official Masood Khan said the intended target was unclear and bomb disposal experts and police were still investigating whether the man was wearing the explosives or they were attached to his motorcycle.

The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, are separate from the Afghan Taliban but have been emboldened by the group’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.

Topics: Pakistan Pakistani Taliban TTP Mir Ali

‘Media speculation,’ foreign office says on Beijing wanting own security staff in Pakistan

‘Media speculation,’ foreign office says on Beijing wanting own security staff in Pakistan
Updated 14 November 2024
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‘Media speculation,’ foreign office says on Beijing wanting own security staff in Pakistan

‘Media speculation,’ foreign office says on Beijing wanting own security staff in Pakistan
  • Reuters reported this week Beijing and Islamabad in talks to set up a joint security management system
  • Beijing has been angered by recent attacks on Chinese nationals, has publicly raised security concerns 
Updated 14 November 2024
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: The foreign office on Thursday rejected as “media speculation” reports by a foreign news agency that Beijing is pushing Pakistan to allow its own security staff to provide protection to thousands of Chinese citizens working in the South Asian nation.

Reuters, citing five Pakistani security and government sources speaking on condition of anonymity, reported this week that a string of recent attacks on Chinese nationals had angered Beijing and pushed Pakistan to begin formal negotiations for a joint security management system. 

Last month’s airport bombing in the southern port city that killed two Chinese engineers returning to work on a project after a holiday in Thailand was the latest attack on Beijing’s interests in Pakistan.

“Let’s not get carried away with speculation,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at a weekly news briefing in Islamabad when questioned about the Reuters report. 

“I would not like to respond to media speculations that are based on unreliable sources and motivated by an agenda to create confusion about the nature of Pakistan-China relationship.”

She added that Pakistan had raised a security force to protect Chinese nationals and projects, particularly those operating under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) umbrella, and “this security apparatus continues to provide security to Chinese CPEC projects inside Pakistan.”

Longtime Pakistan ally China has thousands of nationals working on projects grouped under the CPEC, a $65-billion investment in President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, which seeks to expand China’s global reach by road, rail and sea.

The Reuters report said there was now a consensus on setting up a joint security management system, and that Pakistan was amenable to Chinese officials sitting in on security meetings and coordination but there was no agreement as yet on their participating in security arrangements on the ground.

One official said Pakistan had asked China for help in improving its intelligence and surveillance capabilities instead of direct involvement.

“We advise the media to ascertain the motivation of individuals who are feeding them this story,” Baloch said. 

“Pakistan and China have a robust dialogue and cooperation on a range of issues including counterterrorism and security of Chinese nationals in Pakistan … We will continue to work with our Chinese brothers for the safety and security of Chinese nationals, projects and institutions in Pakistan.”

Baloch said as close allies, Pakistan and China had the resolve and capability to foil “any attempts to harm Pakistan-China relations, including by spreading stories about the nature of this relationship.”

Topics: Pakistan China Ties Pakistan Beijing

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