The Pakistan Army has proffered its earnest felicitations to the populace on the largely serene and devoid-of-violence orchestration of the general suffrages, as articulated by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

"Our sincere accolades are directed towards the citizenry for the predominantly tranquil and unmarred execution of the general suffrages," articulated the military's communicative branch.

The announcement further elucidated: "The martial forces, in concert with other Custodians of the Peace, take immense pride in having been instrumental in fortifying security throughout the sanctified electoral proceedings, in support of the civilian dominion, and in alignment with the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

"With an assignment of 137,000 military and civil defense personnel across roughly 6,000 meticulously selected, highly sensitive balloting stations and the deployment of over 7,800 Quick Reaction Forces, a safeguarded and secure ambiance for the electorate was guaranteed.

"In spite of 51 dastardly terrorist incursions, predominantly within KP and Balochistan, with the intention of thwarting the electoral process, the servicemen stood firm and efficaciously maintained peace and security throughout the nation.

"Twelve individuals (encompassing 10 members of the security and law enforcement cadre) were martyred, and 39 others sustained injuries in these assaults.

The communiqué persisted: "Through anticipatory intelligence operations and brisk interventions, numerous imminent perils were mitigated, highlighting the unyielding dedication of our security establishments in preserving the democratic entitlements of our constituents. During various undertakings, five malefactors were also dispatched.

"Appreciation is due to the auxiliary law enforcement entities that collaborated shoulder to shoulder with the armed forces in the protection of the democratic procedure. It is our ardent aspiration that our endeavors will bear fruit, that this election will act as a propellant for the fortification of democracy within Pakistan, and that it will herald the fruition of the Pakistani populace's ambitions. For more Information click here. 

"The armed forces remain steadfast in their commitment to maintain peace and security within the country and are ever prepared to extend their staunch support in the protection of the democratic ethos of our nation," ISPR concluded.

"The five per cent tax on a range of food products — which remained tax-free so far — and hike in rates on other household items has increased the inflation burden on the public and traders," said Pravin Khandelwal, president of the Confederation of All India Traders, which represents more than 10 million small shopkeepers and wholesalers.

He said the group's members would launch a nationwide series of protest meetings on July 26, starting in Bhopal, a state capital in central India and a stronghold of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Small traders and shopkeepers are a key constituency for Modi, who introduced the Goods and Services Tax (GST) system in 2017 to replace about 20 federal and state taxes and to help unify Asia's third-largest economy.

A tax increase was approved last month to 18pc from 12pc for certain goods and services, including kitchenware.

A finance ministry statement on Monday said the tax measures would include extending a five per cent tax already imposed on branded food items such as rice, wheat, flour, pulses, and dairy products to unbranded items sold in packages of up to 25 kilogrammes or 25 litres.

Analysts have said that higher taxes would put an additional burden on households that already face surging food and energy prices.

India's consumer price inflation hit an eight-year high of 7.79pc in April and remained above 7pc in May and June.

While traders have said Modi's GST was an improvement over the previous complicated tax regime, they have also raised objections to some elements, such as the compliance burden for small retailers.

On Thursday, Modi had taken to Twitter and shared photos with Sen, announcing that he is dating her. He took everyone by surprise as he made the revelation with series of photos of him and the Main Hoon Na actor and called her his “better looking partner”.

In another tweet, the businessman clarified that he is not married to Sen and said they are simply dating right now. “That too it will happen one day,” he wrote.

His posts sent netizens and the Indian media into a frenzy, especially since Sen had not announced news herself and it followed a very public breakup with model Rohman Shawl. Taking to Instagram on Friday, the winner of Miss Universe 1994 shared a photo with her daughters and wrote, “I am in a happy place! NOT MARRIED…NO RINGS…Unconditionally surrounded by love. Enough clarification given, now back to life & work.”

She also thanked everyone for sharing her happiness and for those who don’t “it’s NOYB [None of Your Business]”.

Her post received comments from her fans who longed for her response as well as model and Bigg Boss contestant Gauahar Khan who sent her “blessings” for Sen.

The Biwi No.1 star was very open about her relationship with Shawl, which she made Insta official in 2018. They parted ways in 2021. Since then, Sen has been mum about her personal affairs on social media and has kept her life more private.

"Covid positive," she shared in a short tweet.

The PML-N leader has addressed several rallies in recent days as part of the party's campaign for the upcoming by-polls in Punjab.

This is not the first time she has contracted the coronavirus. She previously tested positive in July last year.

Since the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic in Pakistan in February 2020, several top politicians and government officials have tested positive, including President Arif Alvi, PTI Chairman Imran Khan and PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. They have since recovered.

Health experts have cautioned of a sixth coronavirus wave and stressed that there is a dire need for people to resume wearing face masks and maintain social distancing at public places to prevent the fast transmission of the new variants.

During the last 24 hours, the country reported 737 new cases and 10 fatalities. The positivity rate was recorded at 3.3 per cent.

 Fresh off his highly publicised, controversial defamation suit, actor Johnny Depp sought to show his creative career was back on track, releasing an album with English rocker Jeff Beck on Friday.

The 13-track album 18, on which Depp sings and plays guitar, features mainly covers, and so far it has been critically panned.

It’s a record unlikely to figure prominently in the repertoire of Beck, the 78-year-old former member of The Yardbirds.

The album includes renditions of Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ and John Lennon’s ‘Isolation’, as well as the Velvet Underground classic, ‘Venus In Furs’.

The choice to include a song focused on sado-masochism might seem bizarre to some, given the ultra-mediatised trial centred on alleged domestic abuse between Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard, the actor best known for her role in Aquaman.

The album includes a song the 59-year-old Pirates of the Caribbean star penned himself, ‘This is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr’.

“Erased by the same world that made her a star / Spun out of beauty, trapped by its web,” Depp sings of Lamarr, who secluded herself in the final years of her life.

A source confirmed to The Sun that this film will be her “most insightful work yet” as it will cover both her life with Paul as well as the sudden halt of her Las Vegas residency for which she faced heavy backlash.

“Adele feels she let fans down somewhat with how the past 12 months have panned out, particularly the last-minute postponement of her Las Vegas residency, and sees [making a documentary] as a way of making up for that,” the source said.

The documentary is expected to be an intimate peek into her life offstage, excluding all the drama.

They added, “One thing is for certain, it will be must-watch TV. Even though everyone knows her name, Adele is still quite mysterious as a person. Her life now compared to when she released her debut album is unrecognisable.”

The documentary might play a part in bringing Adele back into the limelight and everyone’s good graces after she postponed the residency after deeming it “not good enough.” In an interview with BBC Radio 4 she had said that despite the backlash leaving her “a shell of a person for a couple of months,” postponing was the right choice to make.

“I was devastated and I was frightened about letting them down, and I thought I could pull it together and make it work and I couldn’t, and I stand by that decision. You can’t buy me, you can’t buy me for nothing. I’m not going to just do a show because I have to or because people are going to be let down or because we’re going to lose loads of money,” the ‘Easy On Me’ singer had said.

She called the fan reaction “brutal” in the same radio interview. Earlier this month she had her first public event in five years in the form of a concert where she confirmed to the crowd that the rearranged dates for Las Vegas will be announced “very, very soon”.

 A motorcade carrying the body of former prime minister Shinzo Abe arrived at his home in the Japanese capital on Saturday, a day after he was assassinated by a lone gunman in a rare act of political violence that has shocked the country.

Mourners gathered at his residence and at the scene of Friday’s attack in the western city of Nara, where Japan’s longest-serving modern leader was gunned down while making a campaign speech, a murder decried by the political establishment as an attack on democracy itself.

Authorities are reviewing security arrangements at the event where Abe was shot from close range by a 41-year-old unemployed man armed with a homemade gun. Police say the man held a grudge against Abe.

Elections for seats in Japan’s upper house of parliament are going ahead as scheduled on Sunday.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was back on the campaign trail visiting regional constituencies after making an emergency return to Tokyo on Friday after the shooting.

A metal detector, not normally seen at election events in largely crime-free Japan, was installed at a site in Fujiyoshida city where Kishida was due to give a campaign speech. There was also a heavy police presence.

In Nara, some 450 km southwest of Tokyo, a stream of people queued up to lay flowers on a table, that also held a photograph of Abe.

“I’m just shocked that this kind of thing happened in Nara,” Natsumi Niwa, a 50-year-old housewife, said after offering her flowers, with her 10-year-old son, near the scene of the killing outside a downtown train station.

Niwa explained how Abe, a conservative and architect of the “Abenomics” policies aimed at reflating the economy, had inspired the name of her son, Masakuni.

Abe used to hail Japan as a “beautiful nation”. “Kuni” means nation in Japanese.

A night vigil will be held on Monday. Abe’s funeral will take place on Tuesday, attended by close friends, media said.

There was no immediate word on any public memorial service.

Police are scrambling to establish details of the motive and method of Abe’s killer.

The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, arrested immediately after the attack, told police he believed Abe was linked to a religious group he blamed for ruining his mother financially and breaking up the family, media reported, citing police sources.

Police have not identified the group.

The man told investigators he had also visited other spots where Abe had made campaign appearances, including in the city of Okayama, more than 200 km from Nara, media reported.

Big election turnout expected

Sunday’s election is expected to deliver victory to the ruling coalition led by Kishida, an Abe protege.

Abe’s killing “heightens the prospect for stronger turnout and greater support for his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)”, Eurasia Group analysts wrote in a note.

The LDP, where Abe retained considerable influence, had already been expected to gain seats before the assassination.

Abe, 67, served twice as prime minister, stepping down citing ill health on both occasions.

But he remained a member of parliament and influential leader in the LDP after stepping down for the second time in 2020.

A strong election performance by the LDP “could catalyse Kishida to push for Abe’s unfulfilled goal of amending Japan’s constitution to allow for a stronger role for the military”, James Brady, vice president at advisory firm Teneo, wrote in a note.

Kishida visited Abe’s residence in Tokyo to pay his respects on Saturday, the Kyodo news agency reported, alongside mourners clutching flowers and party officials who bowed as the hearse carrying his body arrived.

Abe’s death has drawn condolences from across political divides, and from around the world.

The Quad, a group of countries aimed at countering China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region which Abe was key in setting up, expressed shock at the assassination in a joint statement.

“We will honour Prime Minister Abe’s memory by redoubling our work towards a peaceful and prosperous region,” said the group which includes Japan, India, Australia and the United States.

China’s President Xi Jinping also paid tribute to Abe who he said worked hard to improve relations between the neighbours, Chinese state media reported.