Hilarity ensues on social media as Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem wins Olympic gold

The collage of screengrabs created on August 9, 2024, shows Pakistanis posting memes on Arshad Nadeem's wins at the Paris Olympics. (X)
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Updated 09 August 2024
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Hilarity ensues on social media as Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem wins Olympic gold

  • Pakistanis took to social media platforms in the wee hours of Friday, flooding them with funny and ironic posts
  • Many memes focused on Nadeem’s triumph despite a lack of resources, funds and facilities for his sport in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistanis took to social media platforms in the wee hours of Friday, flooding them with memes as Arshad Nadeem won the Olympic men’s javelin title in Paris, his country’s first individual gold at a Summer Games.

Nadeem threw an Olympic record of 92.97 meters for victory, India’s defending champion Neeraj Chopra taking silver with 89.45. Grenada’s Anderson Peters claimed bronze with 88.54m.

Pakistanis, from Nadeem’s native hometown to other parts of the world, had believed in his talent and cheered for his success at the Olympics and his fans flooded social media with funny and ironic memes as he claimed victory. 

One popular post showed a clip from the popular TV show Game of Thrones, with a white walker throwing an ice spear to kill a dragon. 

“That Arshad Nadeem Throw,” the X user wrote:

“Who would’ve known the cure to our collective hopelessness was watching a dude from Mian Chunnu hurl a spear across the sky,” an X user said, referring to Nadeem’s hometown in the eastern Punjab province. 

Many memes focused on Nadeem’s triumph despite a lack of resources, funds and facilities for his sport in Pakistan. 

While others had modern machines and workout routines, “King Arshad Nadeem got the power of Desi Ghee.”

As government officials sent congratulations to Nadeem, X users called them out for trying to take credit for his victory when he had hardly received state support. 

One user showed Nadeem’s javelin throwing the prime minister to the moon.

Another posted a famous picture of former President Arif Alvi sleeping at an airport with the words: “PML N’s role in Arshad Nadeem’s victory,” referring to PM Shehbaz Sharif’s ruling party.

Users also made fun of Information Minister Ataullah Tarar for trying to take credit that Nadeem had been discovered at a youth festival arranged by his government in Punjab:

An Instagram user posted a collage of Nadeem and incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan’s picture from the 1992 cricket World Cup final, comparing the year “92” of Pakistan’s first-ever WC win with Nadeem’s 92.97 meters javelin throw.

Comparisons with the poor performance of the Pakistan cricket team, especially captain Babar Azam, were also found in plenty.

Users also posted memes of cricket players massaging and serving Nadeem. 

 


Pakistani man to appear in US court on assassination plot charges

Updated 6 sec ago
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Pakistani man to appear in US court on assassination plot charges

  • Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn say Asif Merchant, 46, spent time in Iran before traveling to the United States to recruit people for the plot
  • Merchant told a confidential informant he also planned to steal documents from one target and organize protests in the US, prosecutors said

NEW YORK: A Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran is set to appear in US court on Monday on charges of scheming to assassinate an American politician in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards top commander Qassem Soleimani.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn say Asif Merchant, 46, spent time in Iran before traveling to the United States to recruit people for the plot.
Merchant told a confidential informant he also planned to steal documents from one target and organize protests in the United States, prosecutors said.
The defendant named Donald Trump as a potential target but had not conceived the scheme as a plan to assassinate the former president, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Court papers do not name the alleged targets, and no attacks were made. As president, Trump had in 2020 approved the drone strike on Soleimani.
There are no suggestions that Merchant was tied to an apparent assassination attempt on Trump at his Florida golf course on Sunday, or a separate shooting of the Republican presidential candidate at a rally in Pennsylvania in July.
Merchant faces one count of attempting to commit terrorism across national boundaries and one count of murder for hire.
He is expected to enter a plea before US Magistrate Judge Robert Levy in Brooklyn at 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT). Merchant was arrested in Texas on July 15.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations said in August that the “modus operandi” described in Merchant’s court papers ran contrary to Tehran’s policy of “legally prosecuting the murder of General Soleimani.”


Pakistan says global commodities trader Gunvor Group ‘keen’ to invest in petroleum sector

Updated 4 min 48 sec ago
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Pakistan says global commodities trader Gunvor Group ‘keen’ to invest in petroleum sector

  • Last month, Gunvor Group signed an agreement to acquire 50 percent shares of Pakistan’s Total Parco oil marketing company
  • PM Shehbaz Sharif informs Gunvor Group chairman of reforms undertaken to increase foreign investment in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Global commodities trader Gunvor Group has expressed its “keen” interest in investing in Pakistan’s petroleum sector, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said on Monday.
The statement came after Sharif’s meeting with Gunvor Group Chairman Torbjorn Tornqvist and Total Energies Vice President Oceania & Southeast Asia Mehmet Celepoglu
During the meeting, the prime minister highlighted the rapid reforms that were underway to increase investment and business activities in Pakistan, according to PM Sharif’s office.
“Chairman Torbjorn Tornqvist expressed the Gunvor Group’s keen interest in investment in the petroleum sector of Pakistan,” it said in a statement.
The prime minister was informed that the Gunvor Group had signed an agreement in August to acquire 50 percent shares of Total Parco Pakistan Limited, a subsidiary of French oil giant Total Energies.
A joint venture between Total Energies and Pak-Arab Refinery Limited in Pakistan, Total PARCO Pakistan Limited has a retail network of more than 800 service stations and is involved in fuel logistics and lubricants.
“The prime minister directed the relevant authorities to provide all possible facilities to the Gunvor Group,” Sharif’s office said.
Since avoiding a default last year, Islamabad has been making attempts to boost foreign investment and trade to drive economic growth in the South Asian country.
In recent months, Pakistan has reached multiple investment deals with a number of countries, mainly the Gulf states, in infrastructure, energy, maritime, ports and other sectors.


Pakistan reports sixth case of mpox virus in Islamabad

Updated 16 September 2024
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Pakistan reports sixth case of mpox virus in Islamabad

  • Patient admitted to the isolation ward of Islamabad’s Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences
  • Mpox is mild but people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk of complication

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani health authorities on Monday confirmed a sixth case of mpox virus in the federal capital of Islamabad, saying the patient was admitted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital.

The Border Health Staff (BHS) detected mpox symptoms in a 44-year-old man during screening at the Islamabad International Airport, according to the federal health minister.

Since confirming its first mpox case last month, Pakistan has implemented stringent screening protocols at all airports and border crossings for the screening of travelers.

“The sixth case of mpox has been reported in Pakistan,” a health ministry spokesperson said in a statement. “The travel history of the 44-year-old man is from Gulf countries.”

Patients who contract mpox get flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. Mpox is usually mild but can kill. Children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk of complications from the infection.

On Sept. 8, health authorities declared Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province mpox-free after all four patients previously infected with the virus recovered.

Dr. Mukhtar Bharath, the prime minister’s coordinator for health, said the health ministry was working closely with provincial authorities to monitor new cases and around 630,000 passengers had so far been screened at airports.

“Effective measures are being taken to protect people from mpox,” Dr. Bharath said.

The World Health Organization has declared a global health emergency over the spread of a new mutated strain of mpox named clade I, which first emerged in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has since spread to several countries, leading to increased monitoring and preventive measures worldwide.


Sindh minister orders security for polio worker who says she was raped on duty

Updated 16 September 2024
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Sindh minister orders security for polio worker who says she was raped on duty

  • The polio worker testified before a local court on Friday that she was raped while she was on duty
  • But the woman later retracted her statement amid threats by her husband for being an ‘adulteress’

KARACHI: Provincial Health Minister Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho on Monday took notice of alleged rape of a polio worker in the Jacobabad district of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province and instructed police to provide her round-the-clock security.
The incident occurred in Allah Baksh Jakhrani village of Jacobabad. The polio worker testified before a local court on Friday that she was raped while on duty, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported. A day later, the polio worker retracted her statement and said she was robbed, reportedly amid threats by her husband for being a ‘Kari,’ an adulteress, who deserves death. 
The Sindh health minister has instructed police to provide security around the polio worker’s current residence and requested Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to provide the woman with monetary compensation to help her take care of her children.
“Our female polio workers are the backbone of the polio program and protecting them has always been the utmost priority of the program,” Dr. Pechuho said. “I am taking every necessary action to ensure that she gets the justice she deserves.”
On Sept. 9, Pakistan launched a week-long, nationwide polio campaign amid a spike in militant attacks. The potentially fatal, paralyzing disease mostly strikes children under the age of five and typically spreads through contaminated water.
Two days later, a roadside bomb hit a vehicle carrying officers assigned to protect health workers conducting polio immunization in the northwestern South Waziristan district, in the same province, wounding six officers and three civilians. The militant Daesh group later claimed responsibility for the attack.
Anti-polio campaigns in Pakistan are regularly marred by violence. Militants target vaccination teams and police assigned to protect them, claiming that the campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.
Since January, Pakistan has reported 17 new cases of polio, jeopardizing decades of efforts to eliminate polio in the country. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in which the spread of polio has never been stopped.


Pakistan recorded 44% rise in workers remittances from July-August— state media

Updated 16 September 2024
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Pakistan recorded 44% rise in workers remittances from July-August— state media

  • Pakistan’s workers remittances have reached $5.94 billion dollars this fiscal year, says state media
  • Credits country’s investment-friendly policies, government crackdown against smuggling of dollars for surge

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has seen a “significant increase” in workers remittances at the beginning of the current fiscal year from July-August, state-run media reported on Monday, crediting the surge to the Special Investment Facilitation Council’s (SIFC) policies and the government’s crackdown on the smuggling of foreign currency. 

Workers remittances form a cornerstone of Pakistan’s economy, significantly contributing to the country’s foreign exchange reserves and reducing the current account deficit. Remittances also play a major role in supporting Pakistan’s external account, especially at a time when the country is recording small gains after a prolonged economic crisis that diminished its foreign reserves and weakened its national currency. 

“There has been a significant increase of forty-four percent in remittances at the beginning of the current fiscal year due to the support of the SIFC,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. 

“According to the statistics released by the State Bank of Pakistan, remittances have reached 5.94 billion dollars with an increase of 1.81 billion dollars compared to 4.12 billion dollars in July-August last year.”

The SIFC was set up in July last year to serve as a “one window operation” to address any concerns of foreign investors, with a special focus on attracting funds from Gulf nations. The government has recently actively promoted the employment of Pakistanis abroad, especially in the Middle East, to ensure a steady increase in investments, crucial for the country’s economic growth.

The state broadcaster said that the government’s crackdown against illegal money transfer systems such as Hundi and the smuggling of dollars led to a stable exchange rate and increase in foreign reserves. 

Pakistan’s government last year launched a crackdown against currency smugglers and hoarders when the cost of the US dollar soared, as people preferred informal banking channels to remit money to relatives in Pakistan.