"Pak Army Officers Touched Nawaz Sharif's Knees...": Son-In-Law's Big Claim

Pakistan's powerful army sent its officers to London in 2022 to convince former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to return to the country to "save" it from destruction under Imran Khan's regime, the ruling PML-N supremo's son-in-law claimed on Wednesday.

Nawaz, 74, had returned from London in October last year after spending four years in self-imposed exile on medical grounds. Upon his arrival, he was acquitted in all the cases he was facing including the Al-Azizia Mills corruption case in which he was serving a seven-year imprisonment before leaving for the UK.

"The Army had gone to London (in 2022) and touched the knees of Nawaz Sharif and requested him to come to Pakistan and save it from the destruction of (former prime minister) Imran Khan," Capt Muhammad Safdar (retd.) while addressing party workers of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). He said when Nawaz returned to become prime minister for the fourth time then the powerful circles (a reference to the powerful military) decided against it.

"To stop him from becoming the premier they ensured that Nawaz lost the election from NA-15 Mansehra," he said and chided the Election Commission of Pakistan for manipulating the result of Nawaz, a three-time former prime minister.

Interestingly, Nawaz had won Lahore's seat in the February 8 general election which Khan's party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf alleged that he had also lost this seat but the ECP declared him successful in the country's worst-ever rigged polls.

Nawaz himself had admitted that he was a candidate to become premier but his party failed to get a simple majority therefore it was decided that his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif should be made the prime minister.

The PTI has alleged that the PML-N had won only six per cent seats of the National Assembly and the military establishment gifted dozens of its winning seats after getting the results changed through ECP to the PML-N so that its puppet setup led by Shehbaz Sharif could come to power and serve its interests.

PML-N sources said that Nawaz had agreed not to contest for the Prime Minister's slot after the military establishment offered him to make his daughter Maryam Nawaz Punjab Chief Minister.

The powerful Army, which has ruled the coup-prone country for more than half of its 75-plus years of existence, has hitherto wielded considerable power in the matters of security and foreign policy. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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"Firing Should Scare Salman Khan": Lawrence Bishnoi's Brother Told Shooter

Fire shots in such a manner that it scares Bollywood superstar Salman Khan -- this was the blunt, one-line message given by jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi's younger brother Anmol to one of the gunmen involved in the shooting outside the actor's Mumbai home, police said in a chargesheet filed in the case.

The Mumbai police's crime branch, probing the sensational firing case, earlier this month filed a 1,735-page chargesheet before the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court.

Conspiracy of firing at the actor's house was hatched with the intention of establishing a stronghold and supremacy in the country's financial capital with the aim of getting pecuniary and other advantages for the Bishnoi gang, according to the chargesheet.

The chargesheet included various investigation papers incorporated in three volumes. One such document is the transcript of an audio chat between Anmol Bishnoi and arrested shooter Vickykumar Gupta.

In one of the conversations, Anmol Bishnoi is heard instructing Gupta to carry out the firing thoughtfully and everywhere, even if it takes more than a minute and should be done in such a manner that it scares 'Bhai' (Salman Khan), the chargesheet said.

Further, he asks Gupta if he smokes. When the latter replies in the affirmative, Anmol Bishnoi tells him to smoke while firing so that he comes across as a fearless individual in CCTV cameras installed in the area, according to the voluminous police document.

"You will create history by doing this job and your name will be there in all newspapers and other media," it said, citing their conversation.

Two motorbike-borne individuals, Gupta and Sagar Pal, had fired multiple shots outside Mr Khan's home in Galaxy Apartment in Bandra on the morning of April 14.

The two, along with three others -- Sonukumar Bishnoi, Mohammad Rafiq Choudhary and Harpal Singh -- are currently in judicial custody in connection with the case.

Lawrence Bishnoi, Anmol and one Rawtaran Bishnoi have been shown as wanted accused in the chargesheet. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Unhappy With Budget 2024, Congress Chief Ministers To Skip NITI Aayog Meet

Calling the Union Budget 2024-25 "discriminatory" and "dangerous", the Congress on Tuesday evening announced that the party's Chief Ministers -- Siddaramaiah (Karnataka), Revanth Reddy (Telangana), and Sukhvinder Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh) -- will not attend the Niti Aayog Governing Council meeting scheduled in the national capital on July 27.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief MK Stalin too has said that he would boycott the NITI Aayog meeting to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 27 as a mark of protest.

"The Union Budget presented today was extremely discriminatory and dangerous, which completely goes against the principles of federalism and fairness that the Union government must follow. In protest, INC CMs will be boycotting the NITI Aayog meeting scheduled for 27th July," Congress General Secretary (Organisation), KC Venugopal said in a post on X.

"This government's attitude is completely antithetical to Constitutional principles. We will not participate in an event that is solely designed to hide the true, discriminatory colours of this regime," he added.

Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman announced a slew of measures during her 80-minute Budget speech, including a hike in standard deduction in the new tax regime from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000, revisions to tax slabs in the new regime, cut in Customs duty on gold and silver, three schemes under employment-linked incentives, and Rs 2 lakh crore for job creation, among others.

However, the Congress took a jibe at the Centre soon after the announcements, calling them nothing but a "Sarkar Bachao" Budget driven by the political compulsions for the survival of this "lame duck" government.

Taking to X, Mr Venugopal said, "The Budget will do nothing to address inflation or solve the farmers' crisis. It has absolutely nothing for the middle classes. Much like the 10 (previous) Budgets, this Union Budget is also far removed from the concerns of the ordinary Indian."

"While the government has belatedly recognised that job creation is the need of the hour, its so-called announcements are totally insincere and non-serious. They could not even properly copy from our Nyay Patra."

According to Mr Venugopal, merely throwing large headline numbers while giving pittances in reality is nothing but a cruel joke on the future of India's youth.

"Every segment of the Indian society is going to be in an even worse situation after this Budget, and this government that is completely cut off from the pain of the people will simply be concerned about its survival," he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Body Camera Footage Shows US Police Shooting Dead Unarmed Black Woman

New body camera footage released by the Illinois State Police shows officers shooting dead an unarmed Black woman in her home after she called for help over a possible intruder.

In the United States, where police shootings of minorities have become painfully common and polarizing events, the killing has attracted national attention, with President Joe Biden saying Sonya Massey "should be alive today."

So far one of the police officers involved in this case has been charged with murder.

Massey, 36, called 911 to report a possible intruder at her home, with police arriving after midnight July 6, according to the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office.

In video footage released Monday, Massey is seen talking to two officers in her home, while they ask for ID and she searches through paperwork.

The sheriff's deputies then ask her to check on a pot of boiling water on her stove, saying "we don't need a fire while we're here."

When one of the deputies steps back, Massey asks why, and he responds with a laugh: "away from your hot steaming water."

Holding the pot, Massey calmly responds "Oh, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus" -- prompting a deputy to respond "You better fucking not. I swear to God I'll fucking shoot you at your fucking face," drawing his weapon.

Apologizing, Massey crouches behind a counter as officers scream "drop the fucking pot." They then round the corner of the counter and open fire.

Afterward, one of the officers said they were afraid of "taking fucking boiling water to the fucking head."

Officer Sean Grayson, who is white, has been charged with murder.

Biden on Monday called Massey "a beloved mother, friend, daughter, and young Black woman."

"When we call for help, all of us as Americans -- regardless of who we are or where we live -- should be able to do so without fearing for our lives," he said in a statement.

High-profile civil rights attorney Ben Crump, representing the family of Massey, called it "one of the worst videos of a police shooting ever."

Police shootings and brutality -- especially instances of white on Black violence in a country with a long history of discrimination -- often attract outrage and protests in the United States, as well as defenses and pushback from ardent police supporters.

America's decentralized policing system, where individual towns and counties are responsible for their own policing, means there are no national training requirements and this makes reform extremely difficult.

Adding to complications, the United States is home to more guns than people, meaning police often train for violent encounters with the general public.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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"I Am Married To Him In My Head": Avika Gor On Boyfriend Milind Chandwani

Avika Gor, who is currently promoting her upcoming film Bloody Ishq, opened up about her relationship with Milind Chandwani in a candid manner on the podcast show of Harsh Limbachia and Bharti Singh. The Balika Vadhu  actor met her boyfriend in Hyderabad and she fell in love with him at first sight. The actor also shared that she is married to him in her head. Sharing the details of their first meet and how Milind friend-zoned her for six months, Avika said, "He is a 9-5 corporate guy who also runs an NGO. We met each other through a mutual friend in Hyderabad. He friend-zoned me for six months. I started liking him since day one. I was very sure about him. In the beginning, I also agreed to being friends. Mera bhi ego agaya ki hum toh hum dost hi rahenge (I also became egoistic and said let's be just friends). But within a few weeks, I was very sure about him," she added.

Avika recalled when she first introduced Milind to her family, the question of marriage popped up instantly. "I introduced him as a friend par Maa toh maa hoti hai. She figured out. I was involved with him in conversations and raising funds for his NGO!" Avika continued, "Maine toh pehle hi bola hua tha (I had proposed to him six months ago). Woh bahot  samjhdar hai (He is very intelligent) After six months, he told me, 'Okay, I love you, too!' So I asked him  'yeh chhe mahine kya drama kya tha?' and like a nice boy he explained it to me that he didn't want to rush things and see we actually liked each other as friends and only then we will take thing forward."

Avika, who wants to get married as early as possible, said Milind wants to take things slow and in a more matured way. "Mere haath mein hota toh main sadhe chaar saal pehle shaadi kar chuki hoti (If it were in my hands, I would have got married four years ago). Kuch sochna nahin tha (I didn't need to think much). Ab jo hai yahi hai. Mere dimaag mein ho chuki hai shaadi (I am married to him in my head). But he was sensible enough. He told me, "You're still 26 and I am 32. You take your time to work and see life," she added.

Avika and Milind started dating in 2020. They treat their social media fans with their pictures together on a regular basis. Avika Gor became a household name after she played Anandi in the serial Balika Vadhu. She also played the lead in the serial Sasural Simar Ka. She acted in Telugu films like Lakshmi Raave Maa Intiki, Cinema Choopistha Mava, #Bro, Net to name a few.

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"Very Extreme": Why Janhvi Went Back To The Person She Broke Up With

Janhvi Kapoor, who is rumoured to be dating Shikhar Pahariya, opened up about her first heartbreak during an interview with Hauterrfly. The Dhadak actor also talked about the mood swings she would experience during her menstruation cycle when she was young and how it would affect her romantic relationship. Speaking about her first heartbreak, Janhvi said the same person reconciled with her. Janhvi recalled, "I have genuinely experienced heartbreak only one time in life but the same person came back and put my heart together. So it was all good."

Recalling the days when her hormonal changes would affect her relationship, Janhvi said, "In the couple of years of my periods, every month I would break up with this person. The first two or three months, he would be in shock, but after that, he would be like "Yes, okay" and after two days, I would go back to him crying and saying sorry. I wouldn't understand why my brain was working like this. It was very extreme."

Meanwhile, Janhvi Kapoor walked the ramp at Paris Fashion Week. Janhvi Kapoor shared pictures from the event. The carousel post features some candid shots in which Janhvi can be seen savouring an ice cream. She also shared some off-the ramp pictures. Sharing the clicks, Janhvi wrote, "A first  thank you @rahulmishra_7 for having me as a part of your spectacular show that encapsulated energies and auras so beautifully. There was a meditative zen like vibration in the room that felt like such a change of pace compared to the exciting but hectic madness at Paris Couture Week that was contagious right till the door of your show. The slow soulful music, the patiently gliding models in your intricate garments and most importantly you and your family and teams sincerity, simplicity, unadulterated creativity and passion made this a perfect first." Take a look:

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On the work front, Janhvi Kapoor was last seen in Mr & Mrs. Mahi alongside Rajkummar Rao. She will next be seen in Ulajh alongside Gulshan Devaiah and Roshan Mathew. 

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US Billionaire Buys Dinosaur Skeleton For $45 Million, Sets Auction Records

Billionaire investor Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of hedge fund Citadel, has shattered auction records by splurging $44.6 million for a dinosaur skeleton. According to the New York Post, Mr Griffin purchased the largest and the most intact stegosaurus skeleton at Sotheby's on Wednesday, making it the most valuable fossil ever sold at auction.

Estimated to be 150 million years old, the behemoth dubbed "Apex," was excavated just outside present-day Dinosaur, Colorado, in May 2022 by palaeontologist Jason Cooper. According to Sotheby's, the Apex stegosaurus is the largest ever discovered, standing at an impressive 11 feet (3.3 meters) in height and 27 feet (8.2 meters) in length, with a remarkable 254 out of an estimated 319 bones preserved, making it nearly complete.

Mr Griffin secured the skeleton by outbidding six other participants in an auction that lasted 15 minutes. The skeleton, initially anticipated to sell for around $6 million, was purchased for $44.6 million, 11 times its lower estimate, marking a new record for dinosaur fossils. 

Watch the auction video here:

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A post shared by Sotheby's (@sothebys)

''Apex' lived up to its name today, inspiring bidders globally to become the most valuable fossil ever sold at auction. This sale has been years in the making, and at every turn, we have worked closely with Jason Cooper, from the moment of its discovery in Dinosaur, Colorado, to its sale in New York,'' said Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby's global head of science and popular culture in a statement.

According to Forbes, the hedge fund chief is a regular donor to the Republican party and has a net worth of approximately $37.8 billion. He now plans to loan the skeleton to institutions across the United States instead of keeping it for his private collection.

The first ever Stegosaurus fossil just hit auction and it fetched a whopping $44.6m USD when it sold at Sotheby's New York — the largest sum paid for a dinosaur skeleton in history. pic.twitter.com/O7unz0vXSs

— HYPEBEAST (@HYPEBEAST) July 18, 2024

"Apex was born in America and is going to stay in America!" he said following the sale, according to CBS News.

In 2017, he donated $16.5 to Chicago's Field Museum to fund an exhibit featuring the largest tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered.

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