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CAIRO: Qatari, Egyptian and US leaders called on Israel and Hamas to resume urgent talks on Aug. 15 either in Doha or Cairo to bridge all remaining gaps in the proposed Gaza ceasefire agreement and start implementing it without any delay, the three countries said in a joint statement on Thursday.
“It is the time to conclude a ceasefire agreement and release hostages and prisoners,” the statement added.
LANNEMEZAN, France: One of France’s longest-held inmates, the pro-Palestinian Lebanese militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, will be released and deported on Friday, after more than 40 years behind bars for the killings of two diplomats.
At around 3:40 a.m. (01:30 GMT), a convoy of six vehicles left the Lannemezan penitentiary with lights flashing, AFP journalists saw, though they were unable to catch a glimpse of the 74-year-old grey-bearded prisoner.
Abdallah was detained in 1984 and sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for his involvement in the murders of US military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov in Paris.
The Paris Court of Appeal had ordered his release “effective July 25” on the condition that he leave French territory and never return.
He had been eligible for release since 1999, but his previous requests were denied as the United States – a civil party to the case – consistently opposed him leaving prison.
Inmates serving life sentences in France are typically freed after fewer than 30 years.
Once out of prison, Abdallah is set to be transported to the Tarbes airport where a police plane will take him to Roissy for a flight to Beirut, according to a source close to the case.
Abdallah’s lawyer, Jean-Louis Chalanset, visited for a final time on Thursday. “He seemed very happy about his upcoming release, even though he knows he is returning to the Middle East in an extremely tough context for Lebanese and Palestinian populations,” Chalanset said.
AFP visited Abdallah last week after the court’s release decision, accompanying a lawmaker to the detention center.
The founder of the Lebanese Revolutionary Armed Factions (FARL) – a long-disbanded Marxist anti-Israel group – said for more than four decades he had continued to be a “militant with a struggle.”
After his arrest in 1984, French police discovered submachine guns and transceiver stations in one of his Paris apartments.
The appeals court in February noted that the FARL “had not committed a violent action since 1984” and that Abdallah “today represented a past symbol of the Palestinian struggle.”
The appeals judges also found the length of his detention “disproportionate” to the crimes and given his age.
Abdallah’s family said they plan to meet him at Beirut airport’s “honor lounge” before heading to their hometown of Kobayat in northern Lebanon where a reception is planned.
PARIS: Saudi Arabia's National Physics Team won four medals at the 55th International Physics Olympiad held in Paris from July 17 to 25, the Saudi Press Agency reported Friday.
Mazen Al-Shakhs won a silver medal while students Hussein Al-Saleh, Mohammed Al-Arfaj, and Ali Al-Hassan collectively earned three bronze medals.
The latest medal haul has raised the Kingdom's total tally in this international competition to seven silver medals, 23 bronze medals, and 22 certificates of appreciation.
This year's competition saw 425 students from 85 countries competing.
Saudi Arabia’s achievement culminates the intensive training provided to the students by the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba), in strategic partnership with the Ministry of Education, and with support from exclusive sponsor Saudi Aramco.
The IPHO is an annual competition for high school students, with each national delegation allowed up to five student competitors plus two leaders.
Like in other Olympiads, member countries take turns hosting the competition. It was first held in Warsaw, Poland in 1967. Last year, it was held in Isfahan, Iran. In 2026, the host will be Bucaramanga, Colombia.
In the event's 58-year history, China has emerged as the most dominant, with Russia, South Korea, Taiwan and United States completing the top 5.
MIRPURKHAS, PAKISTAN: In the quiet town of Sufi Colony on the outskirts of Mirpurkhas, the hum of 20 sewing machines fills the air each morning as women gather for work at the BRIT Women’s Garment Unit.
Among them is 25-year-old Sanjana Dileep, the fastest stitcher on the floor, a divorced mother of one, and one of the four women who co-own the factory.
“In the factory we manufacture suits and jackets that are exported,” Dileep said, her voice calm but proud. “We do a variety of sewing there.”
Launched with a Rs2 million ($7,000) interest-free loan under the Sindh government’s People’s Poverty Reduction Program (PPRP), BRIT has become a symbol of what financial inclusion can mean for marginalized women, especially in Hindu-majority villages where caste, religion and gender often intersect to limit opportunity.
“Earlier, we were living in poverty … But now we are doing this work that fetches us a good salary,” Dileep told Arab News, saying she now supports an extended family of eight, including a cancer-stricken uncle.
In rural Sindh, female labor force participation stands at just 10.8 percent, compared with 49.1 percent for men, according to the Pakistan Labour Force Survey 2020‑21.
In Mirpurkhas district, where the BRIT factory is located, over 1.68 million people live, more than 70 percent in rural area, with a literacy rate of just 34.8 percent among women. Social indicators show that 37 percent of children in the district are engaged in child labor, the highest rate in Sindh.
In this context, the BRIT Women’s Garment Unit offering stable income and skill development represents a rare opportunity for personal and community uplift.
On average, women at the BRIT unit earn around Rs25,000 ($88) per month, a life-changing income for families in southern Sindh. The garments they stitch — cargo jeans, jackets, and other apparel — end up in supply chains that serve global brands like Izod and NewYorker, through large Karachi-based exporters such as Apex Garments and H. Nizam Din & Sons.
“We have 20 machines right now that are fully occupied as some of these females are training while others are working,” said Mohan Das, a project supervisor.
He said the unit is planning to scale up to as many as 100 machines.
“WORK WITH DIGNITY”
In Mirpurkhas district, where employment, especially for women, is rare and often informal, the BRIT initiative has opened a new path.
Hindu women, who typically work as housemaids or on farms, now have access to structured jobs and a degree of independence.
“The Hindu community here is very poor and women usually work as housemaids in the village so we thought about setting up a plant like what we have established, this BRIT female garment plant,” said Das.
Eighteen-year-old Madhu Omprakash joined BRIT a month ago. She is now one of its fastest learners.
“This job is giving a lot of [financial] support to my family and we are doing this with dignity,” she said, explaining that she took the job to help pay for her education and support her widowed mother and two younger sisters.
She dreams of becoming a doctor.
Another tailor, Kaushila, was found stitching inner linings for export jackets, her arms wrapped in traditional colorful Thari bangles.
“I am sewing about 15 to 20 pieces daily that are of different rates and fetch me as much as Rs800 [about $3] a day,” she said.
The factory currently produces around 5,000 pieces each month, earning about Rs600,000 ($2,100) for its owners. The CMT (Cut, Make and Trim) model enables them to partner with larger firms that supply pre-cut fabric and export the finished goods.
“Yes, absolutely, we produce export products,” Das said. “We bring [cut clothes] from Karachi’s big companies like Apex, Emaan, Zohra and manufacture it for further exports.”
But the global economic picture is changing.
Das says uncertainty in international textile demand, especially from the US, has affected their export pipeline.
“Our business has shrunk and that’s why we have focused on local sales,” he said. “Our female tailors don’t sit idle.”
Marketing manager Lal Chand said the team is now approaching local brands such as Mama’s Choice and Al Jobat Garments and exploring the possibility of building their own export platform to bypass middlemen.
“We are planning to create our own export platform and manufacture products to directly export,” he said.
Syed Shahanshah, district manager of the Sindh Rural Support Organization (SRSO), which implements the PPRP program, said BRIT is among several microenterprises the eight-year initiative helped launch before it formally concluded in June 2025.
“Our ultimate objective is to promote job creation, livelihood improvement and poverty reduction,” he said. “The kind of awareness this community has got — we are receiving different business plans from them. This project has a future in the eyes of the government and I am sure about its expansion.”
Dileep, too, believes the project is just beginning.
“I belong to the Hindu community and we want to expand this factory as this is benefitting us,” she said.
“Earlier my father and brother used to work, but now we too are working and earning money. That really excites us.”
DHAKA: Paceman Salman Mirza grabbed three wickets and opener Sahibzada Farhan struck an aggressive fifty in Pakistan’s consolation 74-run win in the third T20 on Thursday as Bangladesh took the series 2-1.
Mirza, playing only his third international, demolished Bangladesh’s top order with figures of 3-19 as the home team was bowled out for 104 in 16.4 overs in Dhaka.
Farhan’s 41-ball 63 studded with five sixes and six fours got Pakistan off to a strong start and Hasan Nawaz clubbed 33 off 17 balls to help them to 178-7 after they were sent in to bat.
Mirza struck with the second ball of the innings, dismissing Tanzid Hassan caught behind for nought which triggered a batting collapse. Only Mohammad Saifuddin contributed a score of note as he made an unbeaten 35.
Mohammad Naim (10) was the only other Bangladesh batsman to reach double figures.
Seamer Faheem Ashraf took 2-13 and Mohammad Nawaz wrapped up the win with the final two wickets.
“I am very proud of my team,” said Pakistan captain Salman Agha.
“This is what we talked about as a team, no matter what situation we are in, we want to show character.”
Bangladesh skipper Litton Das praised his’s team effort in the series win.
“We played some good cricket and it’s great to win a series against Pakistan,” said Litton, who also led the team to a T20 series win in Sri Lanka last week.
Having already won their first-ever T20 series against Pakistan with victories in the first two matches, Bangladesh rested five of their main players including spearhead Mustafizur Rahman.
Pakistan had scored 110 and 125 in the first two matches — also in Dhaka — losing by seven wickets and eight runs respectively.
Farhan, who replaced Fakhar Zaman as one of two changes for Pakistan, put on 82 for the opening stand with Saim Ayub (21).
Farhan fell in the 12th over to spinner Nasum Ahmed who finished with 2-22 in his four overs. Pace bowler Taskin Ahmed took 3-38.
Mohammad Nawaz chipped in with 27 off 16 balls down the order to help Pakistan add 46 runs in the last five overs.
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan this week said he did not see any “meaningful momentum” building behind his party’s anti-government protest scheduled for Aug. 5, urging members of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to set aside their differences and unite.
Reports of a rift within the party began to emerge after Ali Amin Gandapur, a close Khan aide and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) chief minister, announced on July 13 that a 90-day “do-or-die” protest drive against the government is underway. The protest call, however, appeared to contradict an earlier demand for a nationwide protest posted on Khan’s official X account, which the party says will reach its “peak” on Aug. 5. The day marks the second anniversary of Khan’s imprisonment on corruption charges.
Speculation of conflicts within the party further grew after senior PTI leader and Punjab Chief Organizer Aliya Hamza Malik publicly voiced concerns on X about a lack of clarity around the campaign after Gandapur’s announcement. Malik questioned the origin of the 90-day plan and asked for details on the party’s strategy to secure Khan’s release.
In a message shared last week through his official X account— which Khan does not operate as he is in jail— the PTI founder instructed his party leaders and supporters to avoid airing their personal differences on media.
“Let me make this absolutely clear: every member of the party must immediately set aside all internal differences and focus solely on the movement planned for August 5th,” a message shared from Khan’s account read on Thursday. “I do not see any meaningful momentum building behind this initiative at present.”
Khan’s message said the public had voted for the PTI in the 2024 February national election despite the party losing its electoral symbol. He said after receiving such a “clear mandate,” it is the moral and political responsibility of every party member to “become the voice of the people.”
“It will be nothing short of disgraceful and condemnable if PTI leaders waste time on internal conflicts at this critical juncture,” his message read. “Anyone found engaging in factionalism within the party will be expelled.”
The PTI alleges it won the 2024 national election but was denied victory through massive rigging, a charge the election commission and Pakistan’s government have both vehemently rejected. The party also accuses the government of denying Khan basic human rights in prison, allegations that have also been rejected by authorities.
Pakistan’s government accuses Khan’s party of sabotaging its efforts aimed at reviving the country’s economy by staging violent protests. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar earlier this month dismissed the PTI’s protest call as a “political gimmick.”
“PTI has lost street power and its credibility, and is heading toward irrelevance,” the minister had said.
Khan’s party has led several anti-government protests since the cricketer-turned-politician was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April 2022 and jailed in August 2023. One of these protests included a march by thousands of supporters to Islamabad in November 2024 to demand Khan’s release from prison and challenge the legitimacy of the February 2024 general election.
The government says four troops were killed during the protests after clashes between Khan supporters and law enforcers erupted in several parts of the country. The PTI denies it instigated its workers to clash with law enforcers.
