Pak’s Arshad Nadeem calls Neeraj Chopra a ‘friend forever’; Neeraj’s mother says ‘Arshad is like our son’

News Network
August 9, 2024

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Millions across two nations split by a contentious border stayed up well past midnight, glued to their television sets as a battle for the ages unfolded in Paris. In the end, the men’s javelin gold medal changed hands, and countries, at the Olympic Games with an unassuming Pakistani grabbing the ultimate prize from a celebrated yet modest and humble Indian champion. Arshad Nadeem was a popular winner after unleashing a sequence of monster throws punctuated by a new Games record; defending champion Neeraj Chopra was beaten but not defeated.

Neeraj Chopra, who got India its first silver medal at the games, fell short of retaining his Olympic gold medal, finishing with a best throw of 89.45 metres. Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem won the gold medal – first for his country in the games. Nadeem threw an astonishing 92.97 metres for victory.

As the two great rivals sank into each other’s arms, it was hard to remain unmoved. They might belong to countries that espouse differing ideologies and often are at loggerheads politically and otherwise, but they were united by the bond of competitive spirit and mutual respect. The camaraderie was obvious, but clearly, this was more than just professional respect. With their careers running parallel to each other, Neeraj and Arshad have managed to transcend boundaries and strike up a grand friendship that shouldn’t really come as a surprise to anyone who has a sporting bone in their body.

In a post on X, Nadeem compared the competition between him and Chopra to the famous cricket battles between India and Pakistan. He shared a picture with Chopra, captioning it with the words, "We are always natural friends," along with the flags of both nations.

"The rivalry is there when it comes to cricket matches and other sports, definitely. But at the same time, it is a good thing for youngsters in both countries who are pursuing a sport to follow us and follow their sports icons and bring laurels to their countries," Nadeem told reporters after his historic win.

Meanwhile, Neeraj Chopra's mother, Saroj Devi, told news agency ANI that she was happy with the way his son delivered at the Olympics and pointed out that she was eager to cook her son's favourite meal upon his return.

She also lauded Arshad Nadeem's performance, adding that he is also like their "son”. “We are very happy. For us, silver is also equal to gold. The one who got the gold (Arshad Nadeem) is also like our son,” Soroj Devi said.

"He (Neeraj Chopra) was injured, so we are happy with his performance. I will cook his favourite food," she added. Chopra's father, Satish Kumar, said it was Pakistan's day in the men's javelin throw final.

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News Network
August 28,2024

Trichy: A teenage girl died of complications after consuming an excessive amount of medication to alleviate her menstrual cramps in Pulivalam area of Tamil Nadu’s Trichy.

Police said the 18-year-old girl used to experience frequent menstrual cramps. On Aug 21, she endured severe abdominal pain. In an attempt to alleviate the pain, she ingested a significant quantity of pills.

However, she began to vomit shortly after. Her parents rushed her to the primary health centre (PHC) in Omandhur, where she received treatment and was subsequently discharged. Upon returning home, she lost consciousness. 

She was admitted to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Govt Hospital (MGMGH), where she underwent further treatment but ultimately died on Monday. A postmortem examination was performed.

Police said that the consumption of an excessive dose of medication to manage menstrual cramps resulted in fatal health complications. Based on a complaint by her father, a case of unnatural death has been registered. 

The girl had recently cleared her higher secondary education, and was awaiting the counselling process to secure admission to an engineering programme.

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News Network
September 5,2024

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The United Nations has warned that Israel is using “lethal war-like tactics” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, more than a week after the occupying entity launched a massive military aggression in the Palestinian territory, killing dozens of people.

At a press conference in New York on Tuesday, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Stéphane Dujarric, said that the Tel Aviv regime had resumed its aggression in Tulkarm and Jenin.

“The UN has recorded more than two dozen fatalities over the past week, including children,” he said, adding that multiple organizations mobilized by the OCHA were set to carry out an assessment in Jenin but were denied access by the Israeli authorities. 

“OCHA warns that access impediments are impacting the ability to provide meaningful humanitarian response,” Dujarric said, noting that the movement of ambulances and medical teams has been impeded and delayed since the onset of the current aggression.

In the early hours of August 28, the Israeli military conducted its biggest operation – dubbed “Camps of Summer” – in the West Bank in over 20 years, deploying hundreds of troops and airstrikes on Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas, which are major centers of Palestinian resistance against the occupying entity.

The ongoing military aggression in the West Bank is currently concentrated in the city of Jenin, whose streets and infrastructure have been damaged by over 70 percent since the onset of the “Camps of Summer”, according to its municipality.

Dujarric also warned that Israeli forces continue to employ “lethal war-like tactics” in the West Bank, including airstrikes, with people being killed, injured and displaced.

While in Tulkarem on Saturday, OCHA teams verified that 120 Palestinians, including over 40 children, were displaced due to the destruction of their homes.

“At the time of the assessment, 13,000 people in Nour Shams refugee camp experienced water cut-offs, attributed to damages caused to the water network, and sewage overflow was observed. The teams also noted that the population was traumatized and in need of psychosocial support,” the OCHA report said.

Since the onset of the current aggression in the West Bank, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces has increased to 34. This includes 19 in Jenin, 8 in Tulkarm, 4 in Tubas, and 3 in al-Khalil. The total death toll in the occupied West Bank has now reached 685 since October 7 last year.

The heightened tensions in the occupied West Bank come as the Israeli regime has since October been conducting a barbaric onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip, claiming the lives of more than 40,000 people, most of them women and children. 

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News Network
August 28,2024

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Israel's foreign minister says Palestinians will be ordered to evacuate parts of the northern occupied West Bank, amid unprecedented bloody raids in the area as similar measures have been taken by the regime’s military in the Gaza Strip, which is subjected to a genocidal war since October.

In a post on social media platform X on Wednesday, Israel Katz said the Israeli military is working “intensively” to thwart what he alleged to be “terrorist infrastructures” in the Jenin and Tulkarm refugee camps, claiming that “an eastern terrorist front” is being established against Israel in the West Bank.

Katz noted that the raids see "temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents" in areas in the northern West Bank in measures akin to those imposed in Gaza.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Israeli army launched raids in the cities of Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas in the northern West Bank, killing at least 11 Palestinians.

Since the start of Israel’s aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip in October, the West Bank has also seen a rise in violence from Israeli forces and settlers that has claimed the lives of hundreds of Palestinians.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 662 Palestinians were killed and about 5,400 others injured by Israeli fire since October 7, considering the new deaths.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

The regime’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed at least  40,534 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 93,778 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under rubble.

In a landmark ruling, the United Nations’ top court said last month Israel’s presence in the 1967- occupied Palestinian territories is “unlawful” and must end.

In a 1967 war, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East al-Quds, which it subsequently annexed.

The 83-page advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice also outlined a wide list of policies that it said violated international law, including the building and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east al-Quds. 

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