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Last week the United States imposed rare sanctions on Pakistan while condemning its nuclear-armed long-range ballistic-missile program. This despite Islamabad long being an uneasy ally of Washington. The fresh sanctions on the missile sector were imposed under an executive order that "targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery ," according to the State Department's Matthew Miller. The measures specifically punish Pakistan's National Development Complex and three defense firms. In follow up this week, the Biden administration is warning that Pakistan is on the verge of achieving a long-range ballistic missile which is capable of striking the US mainland . According to a Monday report in The Wall Street Journal : Weeks before it leaves office, the Biden administration said that Pakistan is developing a long-range ballistic missile that could eventually provide nuclear-armed Islamabad with a weapon capable of striking the U.S. The administration disclosed the intelligence about Pakistan’s secret missile activities and imposed sanctions against a state-owned entity involved in the work after repeated efforts to press its concerns in confidential channels fell short, U.S. officials said. Pakistan's foreign ministry has rejected Washington's allegations, blasting them as "unfounded" and "devoid of rationality". Islamabad has further warned that this threatens the health of the "overall relationship" with the US. American officials say that Pakistan's production of such a long-range ballistic missile is not necessarily imminent, but likely remains years away, or possibly up to a decade. Still, Washington has launched a pressure campaign against a country which only twenty years ago was considered a 'major non-NATO ally' . "We’re trying to build this pressure to get ahead of this problem because we don’t want Pakistan to go down this road so far that we are dealing with something that is more imminent," a Biden admin official was quoted in WSJ as saying. Deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said last week "candidly, it is hard for us to see Pakistan’s actions as anything other than an emerging threat to the United States ." After recent sanctions imposed by the U.S. on #Pakistan ’s long-range ballistic missile program. Social media users have shown overwhelming support for Pakistan’s #nuclear deterrence @OfficialDGISPR #PakistanArmy #Shaheen #ISPR pic.twitter.com/IgOEHI1jVN The irony in all of this is that ever since Pakistan achieved status as a nuclear-armed power in the 1980s, Washington's chief concern has been its political and military stability , for which it has handed out billions in foreign aid to Islamabad over the many years. But starting in 2018, then President Trump began cutting all military aid to the country . Relations have remained rocky and strained ever since. The Pentagon still says it cooperates with Pakistan's armed forces on the military level, however.

By Lindsay Shachnow On a recent day in early December, Northeastern University law students gathered in a classroom in Boston to listen to a broadcast of a U.S. Supreme Court case’s oral argument . The high-profile case, the students learned, challenges a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming health care for transgender minors and imposes civil penalties on doctors who violate the restrictions. Similar laws have been passed in several other states. A few hundred miles south of Boston, American Civil Liberties Union attorney Chase Strangio stood before the Supreme Court justices in Washington D.C., asserting that the Tennessee law violates the Equal Protection rights of transgender adolescents. That day, Strangio became the first known transgender person to argue before the highest court in the land. “I don’t think he’ll stop fighting until he’s out of breath,” Strangio’s former Northeastern University Law professor Libby Adler told Boston.com. “ He’s a model for what [law students] are training for, and what they can go out there and do.” Strangio grew up in Newton, in what he described as an “upper middle class suburban community.” For his brother, Noah Strangio, it was an “idyllic place to grow up.” “I think I really struggled as a kid and was really lost,” Chase Strangio told Boston.com in a recent interview. “I had a fire inside me that I knew would eventually find its way out, but I suffered and stressed a lot before it did.” Chase, four years ahead of his brother in school, went to Newton North High School, where he was an avid soccer player. Noah attended Newton South. The family of four was paired off: Chase was constantly with their mother, Joan, while Noah was with their father, Mark. “My mom would often be taking Chase to soccer games,” Noah told Boston.com. “On the average weekend my dad and I would go on hikes and go and see movies.” Chase’s parents divorced when he was in his sophomore year of high school. Joan, a former social worker, remained a constant presence in her children’s lives. Meanwhile, Chase’s father remarried. Tensions brewed. Chase never stayed with his brother at their father’s house, Noah recalled, and the two fought often. “He would stop by our house, and they would have heated discussions,” Noah remembered. “For Chase, that certainly created, I would say, an even further wedge between them.” For years, Chase challenged his father on his political views, but ultimately decided to stop discussing it with him. “My way of approaching it now is to not really talk about it,” he said. “It continues to be one of the things that I just simply don’t understand, but don’t really engage in regular exchange about.” After high school, Strangio was ready to leave New England. He packed his bags and shipped off to Grinnell College, a private liberal arts school in the midwest. In 2004, he moved back to Boston and worked at GLBTQ Advocates and Defenders for several years before enrolling in law school at Northeastern. But Strangio worried he might never be seen as a legitimate courtroom advocate. His fear, he wrote in a recent New York Times op-ed, was reinforced during his first year in law school. “One of my law school professors at Northeastern told our class that we needed to abide by traditional gender norms in court,” he wrote. “She instructed that women should wear skirts to appear before juries, and after a presentation in class she told me that I was too ‘soft-spoken’ to be seen as an effective male advocate.” But Strangio kept his head up. “It gave me a very negative feeling of my first year of law school overall,” he told Boston.com. “But as in all institutional aspects of life, you will encounter people who are bringing in the overall biases and power dynamics of the professions and society in which you’re engaging, and that was what happened in my first year.” While pursuing his law studies, Strangio lived in Jamaica Plain, where, he said, he found comfort in the neighborhood’s “queer community.” After his first year, things got better. He served as a research assistant on a clinical project to support LGBTQ youth for Professor Libby Adler. Over the course of his studies, the two developed a close relationship. As a student, Adler said Strangio suffered from what she described as “chronic dissatisfaction.” “He’s always got his eye on who’s suffering and who’s left behind,” Adler said. “He doesn’t rest.” Strangio came out as transgender while he was attending Northeastern, and had access to medical care that he said made him “feel more at home” in his body. “We talk about this care as life saving,” he said. “To be alive ... also means to have the life you want to lead.” After graduating from Northeastern in 2010, Strangio secured a fellowship at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, where he co-founded the Lorena Borjas Community Fund, which provides bail assistance for LGBTQ immigrants. Strangio spoke about the fund during his job interview for the ACLU. While he was younger than most other applicants, James Esseks of the ACLU said Strangio’s initiative to create the fund won him over. “It’s one thing to have an idea, another thing to make it happen,” Esseks told Boston.com. “That’s exactly the kind of initiative that I prize.” Esseks and Strangio now direct the ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project together. Since he started in 2013, Strangio has worked on his fair share of cases at the ACLU, including a challenge to North Carolina’s law prohibiting transgender people from accessing restrooms and Donald Trump’s ban on transgender service members from serving in the military. “In terms of what it means to be a trans person litigating trans cases, I think, of course, I have a personal connection to the material impact of the work, and I also can relate to my clients’ experiences to an extent,” he said. “We’re all bringing our subjectivity to bear on our interpretation of the law and our interest in how any one or another legal problem impacts us.” Strangio also defended whistleblower Chelsea Manning, a transgender woman who was arrested for disclosing classified documents about the U.S. government to WikiLeaks. While working on Manning’s case, he met documentary filmmaker Nadia Hallgren. The two became fast friends. “His brain is just very sophisticated in the way he thinks and problem solves,” Hallgren told Boston.com. “At the same time, he is self deprecating, down to earth, funny, fun, caring ... there’s not a lot of people like that.” In 2016, Strangio wrote a letter to then-President Barack Obama, pleading for Manning’s release. Strangio’s calls were answered when Obama commuted most of Manning’s remaining sentence the following year. Hallgren was assigned to document Strangio’s work representing Manning in the film “XY Chelsea,” including their first meeting at a military prison in Kansas City. “He’s so magnetic,” Hallgren said of Strangio. “I think people don’t intend on him being the center of a story, and the minute they meet him, it’s just like, it’s so obvious.” On the day of his oral argument at the Supreme Court, Strangio felt at ease. He had reread all the briefs and relevant cases, and regularly spoke out loud to himself, practicing hypothetical answers to his own hypothetical questions. “At that point I felt like I knew what I knew, and so I was ready to do it and to have it be done,” he said. About two weeks before his court appearance, Strangio spoke on the phone with his brother for an hour and a half. They talked about everything from movies, to parenting, to the election. Strangio sounded noticeably relaxed, a change that Noah observed in his brother over the years in the way he came to approach his work. On the long-awaited day, Strangio traveled to the court alone. He recalled meeting a colleague at security and talking with the opposing council before it was his turn to make his case. “During the argument itself, you are so present, you almost don’t know what is happening,” he said. “You’re so connected to the exchanges.” Noah planned to be in the room with Chase while he spoke before the court. But things took an unexpected turn when his wife went into labor with their second child the day before — three weeks early. The brothers caught up on the phone the following day. “Half the conversation ... was about me. Chase asked me about the baby and the birth, and how my toddler was doing,” Noah recalled. “There was a level of zen or serenity from Chase.” The argument itself went as expected, Chase told his brother. But the most memorable moment of the day, Chase said, took place outside of the courtroom. “I think the really most powerful part for me was coming out of the courtroom to the rally outside, to seeing trans young people and their parents, and seeing so many members of the community just out in the cold reveling in the joy of just being together, being alive, being able to be who they are,” he said. “It was a really beautiful rally, and gave me a lot of hope for the future.” A decision is expected in U.S. v. Skrmetti in the spring or early summer of 2025. Lindsay Shachnow Lindsay Shachnow covers general assignment news for Boston.com , reporting on breaking news, crime, and politics across New England. Boston.com Today Sign up to receive the latest headlines in your inbox each morning.Forteza kicks six field goals to lift Laval to 22-17 win over Laurier in Vanier CupHarris Dickinson toys with ambiguity in ‘Babygirl,’ and keeps a secret from Nicole KidmanTC Energy (NYSE:TRP) Stock Price Expected to Rise, BMO Capital Markets Analyst Says

Campaigners have hit out at a “woefully inadequate” agreed at – with one charity condemning it as a “death sentence for millions”. to help combat the impact of global warming was announced at the summit in Baku, Azerbaijan. It that developing countries were asking for, but is three times the $100bn a year deal from 2009 that is expiring. chief Simon Stiell hailed it as an “insurance policy” for humanity, while energy secretary Ed Miliband described it as a “critical 11th-hour deal at the 11th hour for the climate”. But Christian Aid said people who needed a life raft had been given a plank of wood instead. And the charity WaterAid said it was a “death sentence for millions” and a “mere fraction” of what was needed. Lesley Pories, lead policy analyst for WaterAid, said: “While experts touted needs around one trillion dollars annually for the new collective quantified goal (NCQG), an agreement for $300bn was reached – a mere fraction of the finance we all know is desperately needed.” They said that from hurricanes and flash flooding to wildfires and worsening drought, the global water crisis was a “growing tragedy” and that it was “deeply shameful that ... governments could not set aside their differences for the sake of the most vulnerable”. Jasper Inventor, head of the Cop29 Greenpeace delegation, said: “The agreed finance goal is woefully inadequate and overshadowed by the level of despair and scale of action needed.” “Our true opponents are the fossil fuel merchants of despair and reckless nature destroyers who hide snugly behind every government’s low climate ambition,” he said. “Their lobbyists must be disallowed and leaders need to summon the courage to get on the right side of history.” But Joe Biden said that while “substantial work” remained to be done, the conference had set an “ambitious international climate finance goal”. “While some may seek to deny or delay the clean energy revolution that’s underway in America and around the world, nobody can reverse it – nobody,” the US president said. Friends of Earth head of policy Mike Childs credited the UK delegation for playing a productive role in the talks, but warned that they “failed to solve the question of climate finance”. “Instead they have again kicked the can down the road. Developing countries are being hammered by climate extremes now, predominantly fuelled by the current and historic polluting activities of rich nations, like the UK.” A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion said “Cop29 has failed,” adding: “The clue is in the name. “Next year countries will try for the 30th time. What is clear is the era of oil and gas must end: fast, fairly and forever. “While the fossil fuel industry thrives, billions suffer. Rich nations must stop imposing loans on the poorest who have done the least to get us where we are today, and instead provide grants. Anything less is a death sentence for the planet and people on it.” The Cop29 climate conference in the Azerbaijan capital had been due to finish on Friday but ran on as negotiators from nearly 200 countries struggled to reach a consensus on a climate funding plan for the next decade. The outcome is “reflective of the harder geopolitical terrain the world finds itself in,” said Li Shuo of the Asia Society. He cited Trump’s recent victory in the US – with his promises to pull the country out of the Paris Agreement – as one reason why the relationship between China and the EU will become more consequential for global climate politics. The Cop29 text included a call for all parties to work together using “all public and private sources” to get closer to the original trillion-dollar-per-year goal by 2035. That means also pushing for international megabanks, funded by taxpayer dollars, to help foot the bill. It is also a step toward helping countries create more ambitious targets to limit or cut emissions of heat-trapping gases that are due early next year. That is part of the plan to keep cutting pollution with new targets every five years, which the world agreed to at the UN talks in Paris in 2015; the Paris Agreement set the system of regular ratcheting up climate-fighting ambition as a way to keep warming under 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. The world is already at 1.3C and carbon emissions keep rising.'Shoot them down!' Trump weighs in on mystery drone incidents

On Saturday, the Tampa Bay Lightning faced a club they met in a recent Stanley Cup Final when they played against the Dallas Stars. They get a chance to do so again to start Thanksgiving week when the Lightning play host the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night. While Tampa Bay did get past the Stars to win the title in 2020, coach Jon Cooper's team was unable to fight through injuries in the 2022 Final that slipped away to the Avalanche in six games. Offensive spark plug Brayden Point missed most all of that postseason. The 13th-year Lightning coach is combatting new enemies these days. "One team tried to make six passes and put the puck in the net and turned it over, and the other team made two passes and threw it in the net," Cooper said after Saturday's 4-2 home loss, while comparing his team to the Stars. "One team waited for the other team to make a mistake, they did, and that team capitalized on it. That was it. "We blinked first and we lost." The Lightning's Anthony Cirelli scored twice and extended his goal streak to five games, but Dallas forward Matt Duchene broke a 2-2 tie in the third period and Roope Hintz scored 58 seconds later to sink the Lightning and drop them to 3-4-2 in November. Cooper's frustrations in his group's pass-first play have been noted, but they seemed to reach a boiling point after a second straight setback. "It's almost like the goals don't count unless they make the highlight reel," Cooper said. "We haven't quite figured out that if the puck just crosses the goal line in between the pipes, it counts. It doesn't have to be an all-world play." As they get healthier, the Avalanche demonstrated Saturday against the defending Stanley Cup champions that they have no problem scoring. Mikko Rantanen notched a goal and three assists as Colorado powered past the Florida Panthers in a 7-4 victory. Wingers Valeri Nichushkin (suspension) and Jonathan Drouin (upper-body injury) were playing their fourth games since returning from season-long absences and had their best showings so far. A power forward, Nichushkin notched a goal and two assists, while the slick Drouin scored twice, the first tallies for each this season. Drouin was injured six weeks ago on opening night while playing left wing on the top line against the Vegas Golden Knights and missed 16 games. He said he and his teammates followed the lead of the champion Panthers. "I thought we played well after giving up that first goal," Drouin said. "We tried to play a little how they do: Put the puck in deep, try to make them come 200 feet to our net. I don't think we made many mistakes in that game." The Avalanche are on a three-game winning streak and are 7-3-0 this month. That surge has them in fourth place in the Central Division behind the first-place Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild and Stars, respectively. Colorado turned defense into offense in the win. "We shut down the rush attack and that is important to get above them because they are a dangerous rush team," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "They push north hard. For most of the game, we did a real good job of that. Our defensive play led to good offense." This article first appeared on Field Level Media and was syndicated with permission.‘Gladiator II’ review: Are you not moderately entertained?

Bengaluru: An automaker and its dealer in Yelahanka have been told to refund a retired professor more than Rs 12 lakh he had paid to purchase a car which was found to have a manufacturing defect . The 3rd Additional Bengaluru Urban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission also ordered them to pay the buyer a further Rs 50,000 for causing him mental agony and Rs 10,000 in litigation costs. IPL 2025 mega auction IPL Auction 2025: Who got whom IPL 2025 Auction: Updated Full Team Squads Prof N Ravikantha purchased a Kia Sonet HTX 1.5 D car from Epitome Automobiles in Nov 2020. However, in Aug 2021, the Attur Layout resident noticed a problem in the car and it was found that the engine oil was contaminated due to a manufacturing defect. Though the issue was fixed immediately at the Epitome service centre, the engine oil contamination kept recurring. As the dealer failed to rectify the defects, the retired political science professor filed a complaint against Kia Motors India and Epitome at the consumer court. The automaker and the dealer argued that the defect stemmed from improper vehicle use, including failure to follow driving guidelines. They maintained that the car was found roadworthy after routine inspections and replacements, including the catalytic converter. The court concluded that the vehicle had a manufacturing defect that the manufacturer and dealer had failed to address adequately. The court also rejected their claims that the defect stemmed from the vehicle use, noting that the user manual did not clearly outline the driving conditions required to prevent the defect from surfacing. Email correspondence between the parties revealed issues with the vehicle that the dealer failed to resolve adequately. In its order passed on Sept 10, 2024, the commission emphasised that engine oil contamination is a critical defect affecting the vehicle's functionality and safety. Given that the car remained under warranty and was largely unusable, the court determined that a full refund was appropriate. The commission ordered the automaker and dealer must jointly and severally refund Ravikantha Rs 12.36 lakh with an interest rate of 9% per annum with effect from Nov 24, 2021, and pay him another Rs 50,000 for causing him mental agony, and Rs 10,000 in litigation costs. The commission has given 45 days to the automaker and the dealer to comply with the order. "I have not received the money till now. Upon consulting the service manager, they shifted responsibility to KIA, citing that the order was meant to comply with jointly and severally. I plan to initiate crime execution proceedings next week in this matter. The company's behaviour demonstrates its disregard for customer satisfaction. This issue has affected my health as well," Ravikantha told TOI.None

Starbucks is the new Venmo for Gen AlphaBAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — In the wee hours Sunday at the United Nations climate talks, countries from around the world reached an agreement on how rich countries can cough up the funds to support poor countries in the face of climate change. It’s a far-from-perfect arrangement, with many parties still deeply unsatisfied but some hopeful that the deal will be a step in the right direction. World Resources Institute president and CEO Ani Dasgupta called it “an important down payment toward a safer, more equitable future,” but added that the poorest and most vulnerable nations are “rightfully disappointed that wealthier countries didn’t put more money on the table when billions of people’s lives are at stake.” The summit was supposed to end on Friday evening but negotiations spiraled on through early Sunday. With countries on opposite ends of a massive chasm, tensions ran high as delegations tried to close the gap in expectations. Here’s how they got there: read more Here’s what happened when experts at COP29 played a climate change board game Athletes see climate change as threatening their sports and their health. Some are speaking up Papuan women’s mangrove forest in Indonesia is increasingly threatened by development and pollution What was the finance deal agreed at climate talks? Rich countries have agreed to pool together at least $300 billion a year by 2035. It’s not near the full amount of $1.3 trillion that developing countries were asking for, and that experts said was needed. But delegations more optimistic about the agreement said this deal is headed in the right direction, with hopes that more money flows in the future. The text included a call for all parties to work together using “all public and private sources” to get closer to the $1.3 trillion per year goal by 2035. That means also pushing for international mega-banks, funded by taxpayer dollars, to help foot the bill. And it means, hopefully, that companies and private investors will follow suit on channeling cash toward climate action. const iframes=document.querySelectorAll('iframe.ap-embed');const iframeMap=new Map();iframes.forEach(iframe=>iframeMap.set(iframe.contentWindow,iframe));window.addEventListener('message',msg=>{const iframe=iframeMap.get(msg.source);if(!iframe)return;if(msg.data.type==='embed-size'){iframe.setAttribute('height',msg.data.height);iframe.style.height='${msg.data.height}px';return;}});iframes.forEach(iframe=>{const data={type:'embed-size-query'};iframe.contentWindow.postMessage(data,'*');}); The agreement is also a critical step toward helping countries on the receiving end create more ambitious targets to limit or cut emissions of heat-trapping gases that are due early next year. It’s part of the plan to keep cutting pollution with new targets every five years, which the world agreed to at the U.N. talks in Paris in 2015. The Paris agreement set the system of regular ratcheting up climate fighting ambition as away to keep warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. The world is already at 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Fahrenheit) and carbon emissions keep rising. Activists participate in a demonstration for climate finance at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits) Activists participate in a demonstration for climate finance at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More What will the money be spent on? The deal decided in Baku replaces a previous agreement from 15 years ago that charged rich nations $100 billion a year to help the developing world with climate finance. The new number has similar aims: it will go toward the developing world’s long laundry list of to-dos to prepare for a warming world and keep it from getting hotter. That includes paying for the transition to clean energy and away from fossil fuels. Countries need funds to build up the infrastructure needed to deploy technologies like wind and solar power on a large scale. Communities hard-hit by extreme weather also want money to adapt and prepare for events like floods, typhoons and fires. Funds could go toward improving farming practices to make them more resilient to weather extremes, to building houses differently with storms in mind, to helping people move from the hardest-hit areas and to help leaders improve emergency plans and aid in the wake of disasters. The Philippines, for example, has been hammered by six major storms in less than a month , bringing to millions of people howling wind, massive storm surges and catastrophic damage to residences, infrastructure and farmland. “Family farmers need to be financed,” said Esther Penunia of the Asian Farmers Association. She described how many have already had to deal with millions of dollars of storm damage, some of which includes trees that won’t again bear fruit for months or years, or animals that die, wiping out a main source of income. “If you think of a rice farmer who depends on his or her one hectare farm, rice land, ducks, chickens, vegetables, and it was inundated, there was nothing to harvest,” she said. Mukhtar Babayev, COP29 President, applauds as he attends a closing plenary at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) Mukhtar Babayev, COP29 President, applauds as he attends a closing plenary at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Read More Why was it so hard to get a deal? Election results around the world that herald a change in climate leadership, a few key players with motive to stall the talks and a disorganized host country all led to a final crunch that left few happy with a flawed compromise. The ending of COP29 is “reflective of the harder geopolitical terrain the world finds itself in,” said Li Shuo of the Asia Society. He cited Trump’s recent victory in the US — with his promises to pull the country out of the Paris Agreement — as one reason why the relationship between China and the EU will be more consequential for global climate politics moving forward. Developing nations also faced some difficulties agreeing in the final hours, with one Latin American delegation member saying that their group didn’t feel properly consulted when small island states had last-minute meetings to try to break through to a deal. Negotiators from across the developing world took different tacks on the deal until they finally agreed to compromise. Meanwhile, activists ramped up the pressure: many urged negotiators to stay strong and asserted that no deal would be better than a bad deal. But ultimately the desire for a deal won out. Some also pointed to the host country as a reason for the struggle. Mohamed Adow, director of climate and energy think tank Power Shift Africa, said Friday that “this COP presidency is one of the worst in recent memory,” calling it “one of the most poorly led and chaotic COP meetings ever.” The presidency said in a statement, “Every hour of the day, we have pulled people together. Every inch of the way, we have pushed for the highest common denominator. We have faced geopolitical headwinds and made every effort to be an honest broker for all sides.” Shuo retains hope that the opportunities offered by a green economy “make inaction self-defeating” for countries around the world, regardless of their stance on the decision. But it remains to be seen whether the UN talks can deliver more ambition next year. In the meantime, “this COP process needs to recover from Baku,” Shuo said. ___ Associated Press reporters Seth Borenstein and Sibi Arasu contributed to this report. ___ The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org .Fans of the long-running ABC soap opera General Hospital are emotional at the thought of saying goodbye to a longtime cast member, as actor Chad Duell announced that he would be leaving the show — at least, for now. The 37-year-old, who has been on the series since he was 23 years old, opened up about the decision in a personal message for fans on social media. 🤩 📺 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter & get the scoop on the latest TV news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🤩 🎥 "After many incredible years with General Hospital, I’ve decided to step away from the show," Duell began his message. "This wasn’t an easy decision for me, but it feels like the right time in my life." He thanked General Hospital executive producer Frank Valentini , as well as the cast and crew, noting that they "have been like family to me throughout this amazing journey." View the original article to see embedded media. Duell included a special note for the fans: "Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your unwavering support and for letting Michael Corinthos be a part of your lives. Your love and encouragement has meant the world to me :)." The actor concluded his announcement with a hint that he might return to General Hospital in the future, giving fans hope as he wrote, "This isn’t a goodbye—it’s a see you later. Much love, Chad." Valentini confirmed the news as well on his social media, writing , "I am sad to confirm the news of Chad Duell’s forthcoming exit from #GeneralHospital. I have loved working with Chad over the years and wish him nothing but the best." He also stated that the show doesn't plan to recast his character Michael Corinthos at this point, but added, "you never know in daytime." Fans reacted to the tough news, sharing support for Duell and his future while also lamenting the loss. "There’s never been a better Michael. You will be missed! Hope to see you on our screens in some other capacity soon," said one loyal fan, as another chimed in, "I’m heartbroken because you ARE Michael Corinthos!...i will support you always. They will miss your talent- very few could pull off the work you’ve done in the past 14 years!!!!" Duell first started on General Hospital in 2010, earning six Daytime Emmy nominations for his performance on the show, taking home the award in 2015. Next: Kelly Monaco Makes a Blunt Confession About Her General Hospital Exit After 21 Years on the Show

‘WHAT is his problem?’ screamed I’m a Celebrity fans as they demanded Dean McCullough is axed after his shock heated bust-up. Tensions erupted in the jungle on tonight as Dean , 32, found himself in a heated argument with Coronation Street star Alan Halsall , 42. Alan became frustrated with Dean after the Radio 1 DJ, 32, skipped his chores and opted for a nap. Dean had indulged in a feast of junk food earlier, which had been won by Maura Higgins and Reverend Richard Coles during a secret mission. Alan’s frustration boiled over when Loose Women panellist Jane Moore was left to collect firewood alone. Jane said, “I can’t do it on my own.” read more on Dean McCullough Alan, who plays Tyrone Dobbs in the ITV soap, attempted to wake Dean, but the presenter barely moved. Alan asked, “You don’t fancy it? No?” before walking off to help Jane himself. Dean eventually joined the pair but wasn’t pleased with Alan’s earlier approach. He said, “Listen to me. If you’re gonna wake me up, you need to give me a minute, alright? It takes a couple of minutes for my contact lenses to get back working again, alright? Most read in Reality "So you don’t need to turn around to me and say, ‘Do you not fancy it, OK?’ And then turn around and walk away.” Alan responded, “I’ve listened to you. Jane was halfway down here, that’s why I went.” ITV viewers were left fuming as they rushed to X, formerly Twitter , to slam Dean. One wrote: "dean sir what is your problem???????" while another added: "Hopefully Dean McCullough will walk out, he’s insufferable." A third commented: "Dean screwed himself on tonight’s show going after Tyrone. #ImACeleb. He has been beyond useless in the trials and then scolds Tyrone like a bold child." One more concluded: "Well Dean can f**k the right off after talking to Alan like that! Shame you don’t put that much emotion into your trials. D**khead." Yesterday, host Ant McPartlin broke his silence after viewers accused him of being in a feud with Dean. Ant and Dec appeared on ITV2 spin-off show Unpacked on Thursday as they discussed the latest Bushtucker Trial. Ant admitted he was "annoyed" at Dean for screaming 'I'm A Celeb' and quitting the task early - and being "unprofessional" in how he dealt with it. Unpacked presenter Joel Dommett said: "It's going to be so nice seeing someone new do a trial tomorrow." Dec replied: "Also Danny is determined, he's enthusiastic, so there's no hiding for Dean - he's going to have to step up." Ant said: "You kind of hope that he's going to raise his game a little bit, I thought he was going to do that today." While Sam Thompson , who won the jungle show last year, admitted he was disappointed by Dean's efforts. He piped up saying: "Fish guts mates, he had a spider on his head." An irritated Ant responded: "I told you not to talk to me about it Sam. My annoyance came across on screen and it was quite unprofessional and I'm not happy about it." Dec sarcastically said: "I think you hid it quite well, Ant...I think you hid it quite well." Ant went on: "You get to the point when you think 'what are you doing?'" He then admitted that he's "going to be kind to him [Dean] today...I'll be good cop today." Dean returned to camp last night, announcing that he’d won just four stars after a gruesome trial. Earlier this week, viewers were convinced that Ant was secretly furious with Dean after he called time on Wednesday's challenge and failed to secure any stars. Ant, known for his playful banter with co-host Dec, appeared unusually stern, hinting at his frustration as he greeted Dean for yet another trial, Lethal Lab. He even warned Dean that he was the "bad cop" in their hosting duo. Dean’s upbeat demeanor after the trial seemed to catch Ant off guard. As the DJ bowled into the clearing, Ant quipped: "Hello, Dean. I didn’t expect that. I thought you’d be a little bit forlorn, a little bit sad. It looks like you’re loving life. Have you been to the pub?" Dean laughed it off, replying: "No, no, I’ve just had a cold shower." Ant then shifted to a more serious tone, confronting Dean about his recent failures, saying: "Now, Dean, I want to have a word with you. What happened yesterday? No stars. What happened the day before? You said, 'I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.'" Dean admitted: "Oh, it’s not good, but that’s why I’m ready for it today, because we’re going to change the narrative." But Ant didn’t let him off the hook, firmly responding: "You can only change the narrative by sticking with it and getting on with it." The exchange left Dean momentarily stunned. "I feel like I’m being told off by Ant and Dec ," he joked. READ MORE SUN STORIES Ant was quick to clarify: "Well, by me," while Dec chimed in to reassure, "I’m good cop." Read Rebekah Vardy's latest I'm A Celebrity column here . i'm A Celebrity is back for its 24th series, with a batch of famous faces living in the Aussie jungle. The Sun's Jake Penkethman takes a look at the stars on the show this year.. Coleen Rooney - Arguably the most famous name in the camp, the leading WAG, known for her marriage to Wayne Rooney , has made a grand return to TV as she looks to put the Wagatha Christie scandal behind her. The Sun revealed the mum-of-four had bagged an eye-watering deal worth over £1.5million to be on the show this year making her the highest-paid contestant ever. Tulisa - The popstar and former X Factor judge has made her triumphant TV comeback by signing up to this year's I'm A Celeb after shunning TV shows for many years. Known for being a member of the trio, N-Dubz , Tulisa became a household name back in 2011 when she signed on to replace Cheryl on ITV show The X Factor in a multi-million pound deal. Alan Halsall - The actor, known for playing the long-running role of Tyrone Dobbs on ITV soap opera Coronation Street , was originally signed up to head Down Under last year but an operation threw his scheduled appearance off-course. Now he has become the latest Corrie star to win over both the viewers and his fellow celebrities. Melvin Odoom - The Radio DJ has become a regular face on TV screens after rising to fame with presenting roles on Kiss FM, BBC Radio 1 and 4Music. Melvin has already been for a spin on the Strictly dancefloor and co-hosted The Xtra Factor with Rochelle Humes in 2015 but now he is facing up to his biggest challenge yet - the Aussie jungle . GK Barry - The UK's biggest social media personality, GK, whose real name is Grace Keeling, has transformed her TikTok stardom into a lucrative career. Aside from her popular social media channels, she hosts the weekly podcast, Saving Grace, and regularly appears on ITV talk show, Loose Women . She has even gone on to endorse popular brands such as PrettyLittleThing, KFC and Ann Summers. Dean McCullough - A rising star amongst this year's bunch of celebs , Dean first achieved notability through his radio appearances on Gaydio and BBC Radio 1. He was chosen to join the BBC station permanently in 2021 and has featured prominently ever since. He has enjoyed a crossover to ITV over the past year thanks to his guest slots on Big Brother spin-off show, Late & Live. Oti Mabuse - The pro dancer has signed up to her latest TV show after making her way through the biggest programmes on the box. She originally found fame on Strictly Come Dancing but has since branched out into the world of TV judging with appearances on former BBC show The Greatest Dancer as well as her current role on ITV's Dancing On Ice . Danny Jones - The McFly star was drafted into the programme last minute as a replacement for Tommy Fury. Danny is the second member of McFly to enter the jungle , after Dougie Poynter won the show in 2011. He is also considered a rising star on ITV as he's now one of the mentors on their Saturday night talent show, The Voice , along with bandmate Tom Fletcher . Jane Moore - The Loose Women star and The Sun columnist is braving the creepy crawlies this year. The star is ready for a new challenge - having recently split from her husband . It will be Jane's first foray into reality TV with the telly favourite having always said no to reality shows in the past. Barry McGuigan - Former pro boxer Barry is the latest fighting champ to head Down Under following in the footsteps of Tony Bellew and Amir Khan . It comes after a tough few years for Irish star Barry, who lost his daughter Danika to bowel cancer . He told The Late Late Show in 2021: "She was such an intrinsic part of the family that every day we ache." Maura Higgins - The Irish TV beauty first found fame on Love Island where she found a brief connection with dancer Curtis Pritchard . Since then, she has competed on Dancing On Ice as well as hosting the Irish version of the beauty contest, Glow Up. Since last year, she has been working on building up her career in the US by being the social media correspondent and host of Aftersun to accompany Love Island USA. She even guest hosted an episode of the spin-off, Love Island Games, in place of Maya Jama last year. Rev. Richard Coles - Former BBC radio host the Rev Richard Coles is a late arrival on I’m A Celebrity , and he's ready to spill the beans on his former employer. The former Communards and Strictly star , said the BBC did not know its a**e from its elbow last year. An insider said: "Rev Coles will have a variety of tales to tell from his wild days as a pop star in the Eighties, through to performing on Strictly and his later life as a man of the cloth."MAI Capital Management Has $407,000 Stock Holdings in FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS)A chorus of support is growing behind actress Blake Lively after she filed a complaint alleging sexual harassment and a smear campaign against "It Ends With Us" co-star Justin Baldoni. Actress Amber Heard on Monday became the latest celebrity to speak out on behalf of the "Gossip Girl" alum over what she says was a coordinated social media effort to tarnish her name. Over the weekend, Lively filed a complaint claiming that Baldoni and a lead producer had behaved unacceptably during the filming of box office hit "It Ends With Us." The allegations included that Baldoni -- who also directed the film -- had spoken inappropriately about his sex life, and had sought to alter the film to include sex scenes that were not in the script and had not been agreed to. They also detailed how lead producer Jamey Heath had watched Lively while she was topless, despite having been asked to turn away. But the complaint goes into great detail -- including with texts and emails -- on a PR campaign to wreck her reputation and to divert attention from any public comments she might make about the men's alleged misbehavior. This was "a carefully crafted, coordinated, and resourced retaliatory scheme to silence her, and others from speaking out about the hostile environment that Mr Baldoni and Mr Heath created," the complaint says. It includes allegations that the two men hired a crisis PR team that amplified or planted negative stories about Lively on social media platforms. "You know we can bury anyone," Melissa Nathan, a member of the team, is alleged to have said, according to messages contained in the complaint. Heard's ex-husband Johnny Depp hired the same PR team during the high-profile defamation trial between the couple in 2022, in which a jury unanimously found that Heard defamed Depp over allegations he abused her. "Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying 'A lie travels halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on,'" Heard said in a statement carried by NBC News. "I saw this firsthand and up close. It's as horrifying as it is destructive." Heard's support came on the heels of a joint statement by America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel, who starred with Lively in "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." "As Blake's friends and sisters for over 20 years, we stand with her in solidarity as she fights back against the reported campaign waged to destroy her reputation," they wrote on Instagram. "Throughout the filming of 'It Ends with Us', we saw her summon the courage to ask for a safe workplace for herself and colleagues on set, and we are appalled to read the evidence of a premeditated and vindictive effort that ensued to discredit her voice." A lawyer for Wayfarer, the studio behind the film, said in a statement released to the New York Times that neither the studio, its executives, nor its PR team did anything to retaliate against Lively. "These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media," lawyer Bryan Freedman wrote. The complaint was lodged with the California Civil Rights Department, and is a precursor to a lawsuit. Major Hollywood talent agency WME -- which represents Lively -- has reportedly dropped Baldoni as a client.

The Metropolitan Division-leading New Jersey Devils look to continue their hot streak when they host the Nashville Predators on Monday in Newark, N.J. The Devils have won their last two games and are 7-2-0 in their last nine games. This impressive stretch includes two wins over the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, as well as other wins over last season's Stanley Cup finalists, the Edmonton Oilers, and two division rivals in the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals. "We've had to be on our toes," said Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon following Saturday's 3-2 road win over Washington. "We've had to kind of take in a little bit of water at certain points, and kind of bend but don't break. ... A tough stretch of hockey here against some really good teams, and I think we've found ways to win in a tough league." Despite the 13-point gap between the Devils and Predators in this season's standings, recent history is on Nashville's side. The Predators have a dominant 11-1-1 record in their last 13 games against New Jersey, dating back to the 2016-17 season. Though the struggling Predators find themselves near the bottom of the NHL standings, they're also coming off a victory over top-tier competition. In perhaps Nashville's best overall performance of the season, the Predators scored three unanswered goals in the third period of Saturday's 4-1 win over the league-leading Winnipeg Jets. "I thought that was a pretty good recipe of what we have to do and understand we've got to continue this," Predators forward Steven Stamkos said. "The story of this year has been we have efforts like this and then we don't follow it up. So let's follow it up and get on a little roll here." Nashville began the season with a five-game (0-5-0) losing streak but has shown signs of life with a 3-2-2 record in its last seven games. The battle between two elite special-teams units could decide Monday's game. The Predators lead the NHL with a 91.7 percent penalty-kill percentage, while the Devils' 31 percent power-play percentage is second to Winnipeg's 33.9 percent. New Jersey is 7-for-17 on the power play in its last four games, while Nashville has killed 20 of 21 penalties over its last seven games. Since goaltender Jake Allen started Saturday against the Capitals, Jacob Markstrom should face Nashville if New Jersey sticks to its usual rotation of having Markstrom start two of every three games. Markstrom is 9-5-1 with a .907 save percentage and 2.54 goals-against average in 15 starts this season. Juuse Saros has started 17 of Nashville's 21 games, but the workhorse goalie should be back between the pipes on Monday. Saros has an outstanding .937 save percentage and 1.90 GAA over his last nine games, though with just a 4-4-1 record in that span due to a lack of help from the Predators' lackluster offense. Filip Forsberg (eight goals, eight assists) and Roman Josi (four goals, 12 assists) share the Predators' team points lead with 16 apiece. By comparison, the Devils have five players who have 17 or more points this season. Jesper Bratt leads New Jersey with 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists). This article first appeared on Field Level Media and was syndicated with permission.Chuck Woolery, smooth-talking game show host of ‘Love Connection’ and ‘Scrabble,’ dies at 83

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Stocks closed higher on Wall Street at the start of a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% Monday. Several big technology companies helped support the gains, including chip companies Nvidia and Broadcom. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1%. Honda’s U.S.-listed shares rose sharply after the company said it was in talks about a combination with Nissan in a deal that could also include Mitsubishi Motors. Eli Lilly rose after announcing that regulators approved Zepbound as the first prescription medicine for adults with sleep apnea. Treasury yields rose in the bond market. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. Major stock indexes rose on Wall Street in afternoon trading Monday, after a choppy start to a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 rose 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered from an early slide to gain 29 points, or 0.1% as of 3:40 p.m. Eastern time. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 0.8%. Gains in technology and communications stocks helped outweigh losses in consumer goods companies and elsewhere in the market. Semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes, rose 3.3%. Broadcom climbed 5.5% to also help support the broader market. Walmart fell 2% and PepsiCo slid 1.2%. Japanese automakers Honda Motor and Nissan said they are talking about combining in a deal that might also include Mitsubishi Motors. U.S.-listed shares in Honda jumped 13.4%, while Nissan slipped 0.2%. Eli Lilly rose 3.5% after announcing that regulators approved Zepbound as the first and only prescription medicine for adults with sleep apnea. Department store Nordstrom fell 1.6% after it agreed to be taken private by Nordstrom family members and a Mexican retail group in a $6.25 billion deal. The Conference Board said that consumer confidence slipped in December. Its consumer confidence index fell back to 104.7 from 112.8 in November. Wall Street was expecting a reading of 113.8. The unexpectedly weak consumer confidence update follows several generally strong economic reports last week. One report showed the overall economy grew at a 3.1% annualized rate during the summer, faster than earlier thought. The latest report on unemployment benefit applications showed that the job market remains solid. A report on Friday said a measure of inflation the Federal Reserve likes to use was slightly lower last month than economists expected. Worries about inflation edging higher again had been weighing on Wall Street and the Fed. The central bank just delivered its third cut to interest rates this year, but inflation has been hovering stubbornly above its target of 2%. It has signaled that it could deliver fewer cuts to interest rates next year than it earlier anticipated because of concerns over inflation. Expectations for more interest rate cuts have helped drive a roughly 25% gain for the S&P 500 in 2024. That drive included 57 all-time highs this year. Inflation concerns have added to uncertainties heading into 2025, which include the labor market's path ahead and shifting economic policies under an incoming President Donald Trump. "Put simply, much of the strong market performance prior to last week was driven by expectations that a best-case scenario was the base case for 2025," said Brent Schutte, chief investment officer at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company Treasury yields rose in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.59% from 4.53% late Friday. European markets were mostly lower, while markets in Asia gained ground. Wall Street has several other economic reports to look forward to this week. On Tuesday, the U.S. will release its November report for sales of newly constructed homes. A weekly update on unemployment benefits is expected on Thursday. Markets in the U.S. will close at 1 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday for Christmas Eve and will remain closed on Wednesday for Christmas. Damian J. Troise And Alex Veiga, The Associated Press

As PTI convoys from across the country were en route to Islamabad on Sunday for the party’s much-touted power show — despite a court order and government warnings against it — the party claimed its workers were being arrested and dispersed using teargas. On Nov 13, Imran Khan issued a “ final call ” for nationwide protests on Nov 24 (today), denouncing what he described as the stolen mandate, the unjust arrests of people and the passage of the 26th amendment, which he said has strengthened a “dictatorial regime”. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ruled that PTI’s planned protest is unlawful and directed the federal government to take all necessary measures to maintain law and order in Islamabad without disrupting public life, particularly as the Belarusian president is scheduled to arrive over the weekend with a high-profile delegation. As PTI supporters, who had set off on their journey earlier in the day, began reaching Islamabad despite government warnings of arrests, the party claimed the police was detaining its workers and using teargas to disperse them. In a post on X at 7:10pm, the PTI shared what it said were “visuals of the extreme shelling by fascist regime against own citizens at Islamabad Express”. Earlier, a Dawn.com correspondent in Islamabad said mobile internet services were down across the city, while major roads, including motorways, were blocked with containers. Pictures shared by the correspondent showed mostly deserted roads and people on motorbikes making their way from a narrow corner of a road blocked by trucks. Trucks block a road in Islamabad. — photo by Umar Bacha “These constant protests are destroying the economy and creating instability ... we want the political leadership to sit together and resolve these matters,” Muhammad Asif, 35, a resident of Islamabad told Reuters in front of a closed market. Separately, in a notification seen by Dawn.com , the office of the district magistrate in Islamabad ordered the closure of all public and private educational institutions in the capital territory tomorrow. The PTI, in a post on X , claimed that the convoy of National Assembly opposition leader Omar Ayub was targeted near Taxila and shells were fired at it. PTI MNA Sher Afzal Marwat shared a video of his brother Khalid Latif Khan saying his convoy was stopped at Daud Khel and was fired at with “strict teargas shelling”. However, he asserted, “We will reach D Chowk in any circumstance.” In another video , Khalid said that police had been shelling the convoy for over an hour and a half. “We had to face heavy shelling for an hour-and-a-half to two hours,” he said. “Thankfully now, the path has been cleared and we should leave (for D Chowk) within an hour-and-a-half to two hours.” Earlier today, the PTI claimed a “family that had reached D Chowk last night” had been arrested, sharing a video of a woman speaking from inside a prisoner van while another was taken inside too. The woman asked for the reason for being detained, saying, “Okay, we can say sorry that we should not have come to this area.” In another post, the PTI shared a video without specifying the location, saying: “The fascist regime has started, as expected, tear gas shelling against peaceful Pakistanis.” A Dawn.com correspondent present at D-Chowk reported that protesters had not entered the capital until midnight. The PTI posted an update on social media stating that all convoys from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have entered Punjab through different motorways. Senior PTI member and former KP minister Shaukat Yousafzai told Dawn.com that his convoy had managed to reach Taxila via GT Road, but the police blocked the motorway at Burhan. He said that his convoy will turn around to join Gandapur’s. “Opposition leader Umar Ayub, Ali Asghar and others from Kohistan, Mansehra, Battagram, Torghar, Abbottabad and Haripur are in their convoys but they have to join the Gandapur rally to ... reach D Chowk in [a] peaceful manner,” he said. Yousafzai added that the Punjab Police are ready to clash but maintained that the PTI “have one agenda — to hold our peaceful rally”. He also warned that if anything happened, the Punjab Police would be responsible. Meanwhile, Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza posted on X that his convoy had reached Sargodha. “Proceed towards Islamabad. Overcome all hurdles from management,” he wrote. Speaking at D-Chowk, the final destination of PTI’s main convoy, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said, “One option is that we let them come and [...] paralyse Islamabad. The other option is to protect Islamabad. View this post on Instagram “The area where they (the PTI) have called the protest is a protected area of Islamabad, monitored by the IG and DIG,” Naqvi said, referring to the Red Zone. “Any protesters who enter that area will be arrested,” he warned. View this post on Instagram Despite the security apparatus in place, Naqvi maintained that the blockades were “not as bad as last time” and that the government was trying to give as much relief as possible to those inconvenienced. Referring to the arrival of a Belarusian delegation in the capital, Naqvi said PTI supporters were coming on to the route through which the delegation was supposed to pass. He criticised the PTI for organising protests today instead of attending the funerals being held in Kurram, referring to violent clashes there in the past few days. Addressing the PTI demonstrators, he said: “If you wish to protest, that is your right, but you know exactly who is coming and you have been blocking off roads and causing trouble.” Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IGP) Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi said a “comprehensive security plan” had been formed to prevent mischief. Police personnel align before being deployed near a Red Zone area blocked with shipping containers to hinder a rally by members of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s PTI demanding his release, in Islamabad on Nov 24, 2024. — AFP “If a road is closed, a lane has been kept open along it,” the IG said while speaking to the media, stressing that the purpose of the security plan was to secure the people’s lives and property. “There are obstacles, but the movement of people has not been stopped,” he claimed, adding that action would be taken against people carrying weapons or prohibited items. In a post on X earlier today, the Islamabad police said Rawat T Cross was closed for traffic on both sides and only one lane was open at Chungi No.26 for traffic heading both ways. “However, internal roads are partially open for traffic in Islamabad which can be used in case of extreme need,” the police said, urging citizens to avoid unnecessary travel. In a separate post , the police shared pictures of its personnel stationed at various points to “ensure the imposition of Section 144”, which prohibits gatherings. State broadcaster PTV News shared a post on X pointing out how there were “neither any people nor any flags” on Lahore’s Liberty Chowk, compared to previous instances “when the PTI used to hold its musical shows every other night”. Punjab, especially Lahore, came to a grinding halt on Saturday after the entire intercity bus operation — particularly routes leading to Islamabad and Rawalpindi — were suspended. The security at the Lahore railway station was also beefed up after a huge number of passengers thronged it in a bid to reach their destinations. Internet tracking monitor Netblocks said WhatsApp backends have been restricted in Pakistan, according to a post on X at 1:07am. “Live metrics show WhatsApp backends have been restricted in Pakistan corroborating reports of media sharing issues; the measure comes as authorities tighten security ahead of protests planned by opposition party PTI calling for the release of former PM Imran Khan,” Netblocks said. View this post on Instagram Addressing the media later today, interior minister Naqvi said: “Mobile services are working. The internet has been shut down.” A day ago, the interior ministry said that WiFi and mobile internet services would be suspended only in areas with “security concerns” and remain operational as normal in the rest of the country. In a televised statement, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar termed the PTI responsible for Islamabad’s closure and for “causing damage to businesspeople and the economy”. He asserted that while some routes in the city were closed, others were still open. “The main highway is closed, but despite that people are out and about,” Tarar said. The minister added, “When a party tries to spread division, they do so through violence and property damage. We saw it during the 2014 sit-in, PTV was set on fire and the gates of Parliament were broken down.” Separately, while speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said “PTI’s act will be exposed today”. “I am sure their act will be exposed today [...] why are they spreading anarchy? “Barrister Gohar said [the protest was to] release Imran Khan but he hasn’t been arrested by a deputy commissioner, [through] detention orders or any administrative orders [...] the cases are in the courts and he will have to get himself cleared in those cases.” “If he thinks he is innocent that doesn’t mean you start causing destruction, it means you face your cases in court and tell your lawyers to get the cases disposed quickly,” he said, referring to Imran’s legal challenges. Rallies from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the PTI is in power, left for Islamabad early in the morning, according to the Dawn.com correspondent. MPAs and MNAs of their respective constituencies were leading their convoys and would join the rallies at Burhan near Hazara interchange, the correspondent said, citing PTI leader Shaukat Yousafzai. View this post on Instagram However, a heavy police contingent was present on GT Road and motorway at Attock’s Hassanabdal to stop the procession from reaching Islamabad. Several convoys are en route to the capital, PTI shared in multiple posts on X. According to a post on X , a main convoy led by KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur departed from CM House in Peshawar. CM Gandapur, expected to lead the largest convoy into Islamabad, earlier called on people to gather near the entrance of the city’s red zone, known as “D Chowk”. And aerial view of the PTI convoy led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on November 24. — Photo by Umar Bacha Another video posted by the PTI showed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur’s convoy approaching Colonel Sher Khan Interchange outside of Mardan. The video showed a top-down view of the convoy which stretched over some distance. Islamabad’s red zone houses the country’s parliament building, important government installations, as well as embassies and foreign institutions’ offices. “[Imran] Khan has called on us to remain there till all our demands are met,” he said in a video message yesterday. A post on PTI MNA Asad Qaiser’s X account said his convoy will reach Swabi’s Ambar Interchange, where it will join CM Gandapur. Supporters led by Omar Ayub also set off on their journey from Haripur, the PTI said. Rehana Dar , mother of former PTI leader Usman Dar and who contested the Feb 8 general elections against PML-N’s Khawaja Asif, also set off with her convoy from Sialkot. Other convoys include those of PTI’s Peshawar president Irfan Saleem , KP health minister Pakhtunyar Khan’s convoy from Bannu, KP minister Dr Amjad Ali and law minister Advocate Aftab Alam . In a post on X , former KP minister Taimur Khan Jhagra said: “To assume that unjust laws should just be followed, that try to protect state capture and make the judiciary subservient, is wrong.” However, he appealed to all protesters: “Stay peaceful. At all costs. Do not let anyone sabotage your protest.” Another post showed a convoy led by PTI South Punjab president Senator Aoun Abbas and MNA Zartaj Gul had departed for Islamabad. A video shared by the party showed Gul standing atop a vehicle, waving a white flag and chanting “Imran Khan Zindabad. Release, release Imran Khan”. A convoy led by the president of PTI’s Balochistan chapter was also on its way to Islamabad. View this post on Instagram A convoy led by PTI leaders Usama Mela and Ansar Iqbal Haral also departed from Sargodha’s Kot Momin. A post by the PTI on X called for protesters to carry signs and placards in English “in order to amplify our message globally.” “Let our voices echo loud and clear as we stand united for justice, democracy, and a constitutional Pakistan!” PTI leader Malik Ahmad Khan Bhachar, the Punjab Assembly opposition leader, had earlier said protesters would not leave Islamabad until their demands were accepted. Since Imran’s arrest in August 2023 on several counts, his party has been holding protests across the country for his release and against the alleged rigging of the Feb 8 elections. The last protest in Islamabad by the PTI in early October turned violent with one policeman killed, dozens of security personnel injured and protesters arrested. Both sides accused the other of instigating the clashes. Also on Saturday, the Nat­io­nal Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) issued an alert for possible terrorist attacks during the PTI’s march towards Islamabad, reliable sources told Dawn . According to sources, the alert was issued after “technical and human” intelligence gathered by the apex counter-terrorism body revealed that terrorists were planning “major activities” in big cities of Pakistan. Multiple sources confir­med “necessary preparat­ions” by the terrorists in Afgh­a­n­istan, who “ent­ered into Pak­istan” on the night bet­ween Nov 19 and 20. They were expected to station themselves in big cities, the sources added. The terrorists, whom the government and the military refer to as Fitna-al-Khawarij , will possibly target the PTI’s protest “for their vested interest”, as per the sources. Nacta has sugge­sted authorities ensure ex­t­reme vigilance and he­i­ghten security measu­res to prevent the att­ack. The government has vowed to suppress the power show with full force, deploying massive security forces, enforcing a sweeping ban on gatherings, blocking highways and motorways and launching a crackdown on leaders and workers of the opposition party. Paramilitary soldiers stand guard at the Red Zone area blocked with shipping containers ahead of a protest rally by PTI in Islamabad on November 24. — AFP The capital police have prepared a list of over 1,500 PTI leaders and workers in Islamabad and constituted 27 teams to arrest them so they could not participate in the protest. The police also arrested 350 other workers of the party, including leader Nafisa Khattak as well as a nephew and brother-in-law of the party’s Islamabad chapter president Amir Mughal. An overnight crackdown was also launched in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, where some elected councillors were among those held. Besides Muzaffarabad police arresting 26 people , the houses of various leaders were also raided, including of AJK Assembly’s opposition leader Khawaja Farooq Ahmed. The government has also put all public sector hospitals in Islamabad on high alert in order to meet any emergency situation. Among methods to curtail the protest is the closure of various motorways and key arteries of Punjab, severing paths to Islamabad at multiple points. The National Highways and Motorway Police (NHMP) announced that six key motorways would be closed for all types of traffic “due to maintenance” from Friday night, advising travellers to avoid unnecessary travel during this period. The motorways closed to traffic are: M1 from Peshawar to Islamabad, M2 from Lahore to Islamabad, M3 from Lahore to Abdul Hakeem, M4 from Pindi Bhattian to Multan, M11 from Sialkot to Lahore, and M14 from Yarik to Hakla. Meanwhile, local autho­ri­­ties blocked bridges over the Chenab and Jhelum rivers in Gujrat district to restrict PTI protesters’ movement towards Islam­abad. The closure caused significant inconvenience to commuters who found themselves stuck in long queues of trucks and other vehicles on both sides of the rivers. Heavy containers and trolleys were parked on both sides of the bridges. More to follow Additional input from Reuters

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Online fraud cases surge in south Punjab‘What is his problem?’ scream I’m a Celeb fans as they demand campmate is AXED after shock heated bust-upBlackpool set out in search of their first League One win since September when they go head to head with Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium on Tuesday. Having lost the last three meetings between the teams, the Pirates will head into the game looking to get one over the visitors and make it five straight home games without defeat in the league since the start of October. © Imago Bristol Rovers snapped their run of three back-to-back defeats on the road on Saturday as they edged out a resilient Mansfield Town side 1-0 when the two teams squared off at the One Call Stadium. A combined 32 shots were fired in the end-to-end contest, but Luke McCormick 's 49-minute efforts made the difference as the visitors held on to their narrow lead to hand Mansfield a second consecutive defeat. Prior to that, Bristol Rovers avoided an upset in the FA Cup first round on November 2, when they picked up a 3-1 extra-time victory over National League side Weston Super Mare, before playing out back-to-back stalemates against Lincoln City and Crawley Town in the league. Matt Taylor 's men now return home, where they are unbeaten in five of their last six matches across all competitions — claiming three wins and two draws — with a 3-2 defeat against Exeter City in the EFL Trophy on October 29 being the exception. Bristol Rovers have picked up 21 points from their 16 League One matches to sit 13th in the standings but could move level with 10th-placed Mansfield with a win on Tuesday. © Imago Blackpool, on the other hand, were left spitting feathers at the weekend as they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Bolton Wanderer after conceding a 94th-minute winner at the Toughsheet Community Stadium. Kyle Joseph 's 32nd-minute strike saw Blackpool go into half time with the lead for the first time in five games but George Thomason restored parity in the 53rd minute before Aaron Collins completed the Bolton comeback in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Following Saturday's result, the Seasiders have now gone eight back-to-back league matches without a win, losing five and picking up three draws, having won each of their four games preceding this run. This drop-off in form has been owing to their struggles at the defensive end of the pitch, where Blackpool have managed just one clean sheet in the league since a 3-0 victory over Burton Albion on September 28 and have conceded the most goals in the division (30). Off the back of finishing eighth last season and missing out on the playoffs by just three points, Steve Bruce 's side currently sit 19th in the League One table, level on 17 points with Rotherham United and Wigan Athletic. While Blackpool will be looking to stop the rot on Tuesday, they have lost each of their last four league games on the road, conceding 12 goals and scoring twice since the start of October, and will need to show their mettle at the Memorial Stadium. © Imago Bristol Rovers remain without the services of 33-year-old Jack Hunt , who is set to sit out his fourth consecutive game after coming off injured against Weston Super Mare on November 2. Teenage defender Lino Sousa has missed the last two games and is a doubt for Tuesday's clash while 25-year-old Joel Senior continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines after picking up an injury in August. Blackpool will be without several key players down the spine of the team as the midfield trio of Albie Morgan , Sonny Carey and Irishman CJ Hamilton have been ruled out through injuries. English forward Jake Beesley has missed the last four games since coming off injured against Liverpool Under-21 on November 6 while the defensive duo of Elkan Baggott and Andy Lyons continue their spells on the sidelines. With his strike against Bolton, Joseph now has seven league goals under his belt this season and we expect the 23-year-old striker to spearhead the Seasiders' attack once again. Bristol Rovers possible starting lineup: Griffiths; Moore, Taylor Wilson, Mola; Lindsay, Conteh; Forde, McCormick, Hutchinson; Martin Blackpool possible starting lineup: O'Donnell; Gabriel, Offiah, Casey, Husband; Evans, Norburn; Coulson, Apter, Embleton; Joseph Buoyed by their hard-fought win over Mansfield, Bristol Rovers will head into Tuesday's clash with renewed confidence as they look to end their three-game losing streak against Blackpool. The Seasiders' form on the road is currently nothing to write home about and we see them struggling at the Memorial Stadium, where Taylor's men are unbeaten in four straight league matches. For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here .