Islamabad: Pakistan has strongly condemned the storming of courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli settlers under the protection of Israeli occupying forces.

In a statement, Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said this provocative action has blatantly violated the sanctity of Qibla-e-Awwal and hurt the sentiments of Muslims across the world.

He said such incidents are flagrant violation of international law, international norms and practices and any attempt to change the historical and legal status of Al-Aqsa Mosque must stop.

The Spokesperson called upon international community to take urgent action to put an end to the Israeli aggression and violations, which continue to fuel violence, tension and instability in the region.

He said for a lasting and just solution of the Palestinian issue, Pakistan renews its call for a viable, independent and contiguous Palestinian State, with pre-1967 borders, and Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, in accordance with the relevant UN and OIC resolutions.

Pakistan’s ace Javelin thrower Nadeem bagged gold in Commonwealth Games Javelin with record throw of 90.18 meters. The Olympian’s throw was also the games' record—registered in his fifth attempt. 

In the ongoing Commonwealth Games at Birmingham, Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem has won gold medal in the Javelin throw competition with a monstrous throw of 90.18 meters.

During the first round of the javelin throw final, the athlete created a record through an 86.81-metre throw. However, in the fifth attempt, Nadeem set a new CWG record of 90.18m throw—becoming first Pakistani to hold the record.

This is the second gold for Pakistan in Commonwealth Games 2022. 

Previously, Arshad had a career-best throw of 86.38, which he pulled off during the Imam Reza Cup held in Mashhad Iran, in 2021.

Earlier, weightlifter Nooh Dastagir Butt had won the gold medal for Pakistan in the Commonwealth Games 2022 with a record lift of 405 kilogram.

Pakistani athletes have complained of not receiving enough support from sports authorities in the form of training and infrastructure, yet have continued to perform impressively in global tournaments. 

Last month, Arshad Nadeem became the first Pakistani to secure the fifth position in the men’s javelin competition at the World Athletics Championship held in the United States. 

Nadeem's exceptional performance brought Pakistan’s medals tally in the ongoing games to eight.

Any attack on a nuclear plant is “suicidal”, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Monday after fresh shelling hit a huge atomic power complex in southern Ukraine.

Moscow and Kyiv blame each other for the latest strike at the Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power site, which has been under Russian control since the early days of the war.

The fighting on Friday at the plant has prompted the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to warn of “the very real risk of a nuclear disaster”.

At a press conference in Tokyo, Guterres condemned such attacks without saying either side was responsible.

“We support the IAEA on their efforts in relation to create the conditions of stabilisation of that plant,” he said.

“Any attack to a nuclear plant is a suicidal thing. I hope that those attacks will end, and at the same time I hope that the IAEA will be able to access the plant.”

His comments followed a visit to Hiroshima over the weekend, where Guterres gave a speech to mark the 77th anniversary of the world’s first nuclear bomb attack.

In the Japanese city on Saturday, he warned that “humanity is playing with a loaded gun” as crises with the potential for nuclear disaster proliferate worldwide, from Ukraine to the Middle East and the Korean peninsula.

The Portuguese 73-year-old also delivered a stark warning against the horrors of atomic weapons a week ago in New York at a key nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty conference, which he reiterated on Monday.

“We are witnessing a radicalisation in the geopolitical situation that makes the risk of a nuclear war again something we cannot completely forget,” he said.

When asked about China’s massive military exercises around Taiwan, sparked by a visit last week to the self-ruled island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Guterres said the UN “abides by a resolution of the General Assembly, the so-called One China policy”.

“But we all want that resolution to correspond to a peaceful environment,” he said, calling for common sense and restraint to allow for an “extremely important” de-escalation.

SOURCE: AFP