Security personnel stand guard in this undated image. — AFP/File
IBO carried out on presence of Fitna al Hindustan: ISPR
Says terrorists killed after intense fire exchange.
Weapons and ammunition recovered from slain terrorists.
RAWALPINDI: Security forces have killed four terrorists during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Balochistan’s Kalat district, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Tuesday.
The military’s media wing, in a statement, said that the IBO was conducted on Jan 12 on reported presence of terrorists belonging to Indian proxy, “Fitna al Hindustan”.
During the conduct of operation, own forces effectively engaged the terrorists’ location, and after an intense fire exchange, four Indian sponsored terrorists were gunned down, read the statement.
Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the slain terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area.
“Sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian sponsored terrorists found in the area,” the ISPR added.
The relentless counter terrorism campaign under vision “Azm e Istehkam” by the security forces and law enforcement agencies of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country, vowed the military’s media wing.
Pakistan has experienced a rise in cross-border terrorist incidents since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021. The provinces of KP and Balochistan, which border Afghanistan, have been particularly affected by these attacks.
ISPR Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, in his presser on January 6, said that law enforcement agencies carried out 75,175 IBOs across the country in 2025.
Giving a breakdown, he said 14,658 IBOs were conducted in KP, 58,778 in Balochistan, while 1,739 operations took place in the rest of the country.
Lt Gen Chaudhry said that 5,397 terrorism incidents were reported nationwide during the last year. Of these, 3,811 incidents, he said, occurred in KP, 1,557 in Balochistan, and 29 incidents were reported in other parts of the country.
He said that 2,597 terrorists were killed during counterterror operations last year. While providing details of 10 major terror attacks across the country, he said that civilians and soft targets had been deliberately targeted, and Afghan militants were involved in all attacks.
LONDON: The UK intelligence has advised a high-profile Khalistani Sikh activist in the UK that he faces a threat to his life from the Indian government agents in the UK.
Paramjeet Singh Pamma — the UK and Europe coordinator for Khalistan Referendum campaign and a close associated of slain Hardeep Singh Nijjar and Gurpatwant Singh Pannun — has been advised by the UK intelligence through several visits to increase his security due to intelligence suggesting threats to his safety. Its understood the security warning to Pamma has come from MI5 — the UK premier intelligence agency for the domestic security.
The Guardian newspaper reported that the threat level to Pamma is so serious that he doesn’t live with his family in West London near Southall Gurdwara on the police advice and is not allowed to share his location with anyone due to the imminent threat he is facing due to his activism for Khalistan and the Khalistan Referendum campaign.
It’s understood that Pamma received the latest safety warning from the UK intelligence – that Indian state agents operating on UK soil are out to kill him — consistently over the last several months.
Pamma told The Guardian the threats were linked to the Indian government as part of the relentless transnational repression by the Indian state. The Indian embassy declined to comment.
“The repression we are going through has been relentless, it is crossing borders and reaching into our families now. This is terror, basically, by the Indian government,” said Pamma, who has been forced to live separately from his family after threats.
Pamma said he has regularly been reporting threats to the UK police but they only began to take his complaints seriously after the 2023 killing of Nijjar, a prominent Sikh activist, in Canada, which the country’s then-prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said intelligence agencies had linked to Indian government agents.
In the same year, US prosecutors accused an agent of the Indian government of directing the attempted assassination of SFJ Counsel General Pannun, an American citizen, on US soil.
A Home Office spokesperson said they did not comment on individual cases or intelligence matters. “We are proud of our diverse communities, and British Sikhs make an immense contribution to the strength of our society. Their safety, like that of everyone in the United Kingdom, remains our highest priority,” the spokesperson said.
The Indian government has long been concerned about the Sikh nationalist movement, which is largely diaspora-led, and campaigns for a Sikh homeland known as Khalistan to be created in the Punjab, in north-west India.
In 1985, Khalistani militants smuggled a bomb onto Air India flight 182, which exploded off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people onboard — the worst act of aviation terrorism before the 9/11 attacks.
Pamma is reported in Indian media to have previously been a fundraiser for Babbar Khalsa International, which investigators believe was responsible for the bombing. He called the allegations “fake propaganda”, condemned the act of terrorism, and welcomed “any inquiry in any case” against him.
Pamma’s elder brother was killed by Indian police for his Khalistan activism in 1991. Pamma was picked up multiple times and tortured by police before leaving India and being given political asylum in the UK in 2000. He was arrested in 2010 after authorities in Punjab said they suspected him of involvement in a murder but UK counter-terrorism police could find no evidence against him.
In 2015, he was detained while on holiday in Portugal, but a judge threw out India’s attempt to make him stand trial on terrorism charges.
In the same year, senior Indian diplomat Samant Goel approached Pamma in London and asked him to quit Khalistan or face dire consequences. Pamma refused and reported the threats to the UK intelligence. After returning from London, Goel became the chief of India’s external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). From his new position, Goel ordered assassination plots of Khalistan Referendum activists in USA, Canada and UK.
According to MI5, foreign governments are increasingly targeting dissidents on UK soil, and the number of investigations into state threats has grown by 48% since 2022. In its 2024-25 report on transnational repression, the Joint Committee on Human Rights listed India as a country of concern.
The Guardian wrote that Pamma’s threat issue has risen as the UK pursues a closer relationship with Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government, seeing it as a key partner to balance China’s growing power.
In 2023, a Birmingham-based Sikh activist, Avtar Singh Khanda, died suddenly after complaining that Indian police were harassing him over the phone and threatening his family in Punjab. A pathologist found that the result of the postmortem did not mean “that a poisoning can be completely excluded”.
Gurcharan Singh, a Sikh nationalist activist, has also been told by UK police that they know of credible threats to his safety.
In West London’s Slough, Singh has a private security team and receives visits from officers nearly every two months. Two days before a planned protest in March against the Indian foreign minister’s visit to London, Singh said he was told in person by two officers that it was not safe to attend and that his safety could not be guaranteed, the Guardian wrote.
Singh’s wife died in May 2023, and he feels there are striking similarities between the circumstances of her death and those of Avtar Singh Khanda.
The High Commission of India in London did not respond to a request for comment.
Stock prices in London closed mostly lower on Tuesday, following news of slowing US core inflation and a raised forecast from the World Bank.
The bank has raised its global growth forecast by 0.2 percentage points for 2026, now expecting world GDP growth of 2.6%, but this still marks a slowdown from the 2.7% pace seen in 2025.
And the World Bank warned that the 2020s are “on track to be the weakest decade for global growth since the 1960s”.
Meanwhile, in the US, annual consumer price inflation was steady as expected in December, and private-sector employers added slightly more jobs the week before Christmas.
Back in London, the FTSE 100 index closed down 3.35 points at 10,137.35. The FTSE 250 ended down 104.89 points, 0.5%, at 22,931.97, and the AIM All-Share closed up 2.29 points, 0.3%, at 799.15.
Whitbread remained at the top of the FTSE 100, up 7.1%, having reported “continued strong trading momentum” in the third quarter.
Group sales rose 2% year-on-year to £781 million, supported by 2% accommodation sales growth in the UK and 16% accommodation growth in Germany.
And looking ahead, the Premier Inn owner raised its financial savings target to between £75 million and £80 million, from between £65 million and £70 million.
In smaller caps, Brave Bison rose 3.2%, after the advertising and communications agency reported net revenue of “not less than” £33.5 million for 2025, up 57% from £21.3 million the year before and ahead of consensus expectations.
Adjusted Ebitda and adjusted pre-tax profit also rose more than anticipated.
Looking ahead, Brave Bison is “comfortable” with consensus expectations for 2026, which include net revenue increasing to GBP45 million and adjusted Ebitda to £9.4 million.
Intuitive Investments was down 7.9%, after it raised £20.0 million through an equity fundraise, issuing 21.9 million new shares at 91.5 pence each.
IIG said the proceeds would be invested in Hui10, its largest holding, which focuses on the digital transformation of the Chinese lottery sector.
In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed down 0.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended marginally higher.
The pound was quoted lower at 1.3428 dollars at the time of the London equities close on Tuesday, compared to 1.3468 dollars on Monday. The euro stood at 1.1638 dollars, lower against 1.1677 dollars. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at 159.17 yen, higher compared to 158.12 yen.
Stocks in New York were lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.7%, the S&P 500 index down 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.2%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.18%, narrowing from 4.19%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was unchanged at 4.84%.
In US data, compared with a year earlier, consumer prices were 2.7% higher in December, matching the increase recorded in November and in-line with the FXStreet-cited consensus.
On-month, prices rose 0.3% in December from November on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Core consumer price inflation, which strip out food and energy, was 0.2% on-month, in-line with the FXStreet-cited consensus. Annual core inflation was 2.6% in December, in line with November, but slightly below the 2.7% FXStreet-cited consensus.
US private sector employers added slightly more jobs in the week to December 20.
According to payroll processor ADP’s latest tracker, US private employers added an average of 11,750 jobs, up from 11,000 in the week to December 13.
ADP’s national employment report showed the US private sector added 41,000 jobs in December, improving from November when 29,000 roles were shed, but shy of the FXStreet-cited forecast of a rise of 47,000.
In geopolitical news, US president Donald Trump has said Iranians should continue nationwide protests, take over institutions and record names of “killers and abusers”, as authorities cracked down on mass demonstrations.
“Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY.”
“The Trump administration’s announcement of a 25% tariff on countries doing business with Iran, and continuing suggestions of potential military intervention amid the escalating protests in the country, do not seem to be spooking markets too much right now,” commented AJ Bell’s Dan Coatsworth.
Brent oil, which has firmed amid the rising tensions in Iran, was quoted at 65.65 dollars a barrel at the time of the London equities close on Tuesday, up from 63.55 dollars late Monday.
Gold was quoted lower at 4,598.33 dollars an ounce, against 4,621.38 dollars.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Whitbread, up 183.00p at 2,767.00p, Pershing Square, up 153.66p at 4,875.66p, Mondi, up 23.14p at 918.14p, BP, up 10.30p at 436.90p, and Melrose Industries, up 14.80p at 645.80p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Glencore, down 32.61p at 435.89p, Kingfisher, down 12.10p at 312.80p, Smith & Nephew, down 44.33p at 1,209.67p, Convatec, down 8.00p at 236.00p, and Entain, down 23.40p at 726.00p.
On Wednesday’s economic calendar, the US has several releases, including producer inflation and the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book.
On Wednesday’s UK corporate calendar, there are half-year results from MS International and full-year results from Ramsdens. Also, Hays and Vistry release trading updates.
Jennifer Lawrence reveals how husband Cooke Maroney handles her unorganized behaviour
Jennifer Lawrence is revealing the secret to her healthy marriage with husband Cooke Maroney.
During an appearance on the SmartLess podcast, Jennifer noted that she and Maroney are “the opposite” of each other.
“I married somebody who is the opposite of me. Yeah. He is so organized,” she told hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett. “Everything is ordered. Like, I have to keep the closet doors closed, and I have my little jobs that I work really hard to do.”
“I get it now, I get it,” she said. “[The kids are] on a very strict schedule. You know, it’s like breakfast, 7:30.”
Lawrence said Maroney is “good at keeping [the family] schedule” while she tends to get late.
“We’ve learned, to keep our marriage alive, I have a 15-minute wiggle room,” the Die My Love star shared.
Lawrence is currently promoting her film Die My Love, in which she plays a new mom struggling with post-partum depression and spiraling into madness. Robert Pattinson plays her husband.
The Hunger Games star was first linked to Maroney in 2018 and got engaged to him the next year.
The same year, she showered praise on her then-fiance at the X-Men: Dark Phoenix premiere, telling Entertainment Tonight, “Well, he’s just the best person I’ve ever met in my whole life,” confessing that it was “a very, very easy decision” to say “yes” when he proposed.
Jennifer Lawrence and Cooke Maroney tied the knot in Rhode Island in October 2019. They share two children: son Cy, 3, and a baby, born in early 2024.
Did you know there’s a city in India often called the “San Francisco of India”? Much like its American namesake, this city exudes a unique charm and vibe, blending scenic beauty, hilly landscapes, and a cosmopolitan feel that makes it truly special. (Image: Pexels)
Bengaluru, Karnataka’s capital, is often called the “San Francisco of India” due to its status as the country’s leading tech hub. Much like the San Francisco Bay Area hosts Silicon Valley, Bengaluru has earned its reputation as India’s own Silicon Valley, driving innovation and technology. (Image: Pexels)
The city is home to thousands of IT firms, global tech giants, and innovative startups. Nestled on the Deccan Plateau at over 900 meters above sea level, Bengaluru enjoys a pleasant, mild climate throughout the year, adding to its appeal as both a tech and lifestyle hub. (Image: Pexels)
Beyond its tech prowess, Bengaluru is famously called the “Garden City” for its sprawling green spaces, including Lalbagh and Cubbon Park. Today, it represents India’s rapid modernization and economic growth, seamlessly blending natural beauty with urban development and innovation. (Image: Pexels)
Bengaluru is often dubbed the “San Francisco of India”, a nod to the bustling, entrepreneurial energy that drives its tech scene. The comparison goes beyond vibes—like its American counterpart, Bengaluru truly embodies innovation, ambition, and a culture that constantly pushes the boundaries of technology. (Image: Pexels)
Both cities are teeming with engineers and startup founders, fuelled by abundant venture capital and a culture that encourages bold risk-taking. (Image: Pexels)
While San Francisco remains a global leader in AI and big tech, Bengaluru closely follows, emerging as Asia’s top hub for IT exports and startups. (Image: Pexels)
Francois Arnaud joins “CBS Mornings” to talk about the popular series “Heated Rivalry,” based on the “Game Changers” book series. It follows rising hockey stars Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov. What begins as a fling between two rivals turns into a yearslong journey of love, denial and self discovery. Arnaud plays Scott Hunter, a closeted gay professional hockey player in the same league who has fallen in love with a smoothie shop worker. He talks about the message in the series and how it developed into a hit show.
“If you wind up with weakly supported directives to radically change our business that aren’t justified, you have to assume that everything’s on the table,” Barnum said on a call with reporters following JPMorgan’s fourth-quarter earnings report. “We owe that to shareholders.”
Barnum was responding to a question about whether banks would choose to litigate to block Trump’s demand, made late Friday, that card companies cap interest rates at 10% for a year. Last year, the industry successfully fought efforts by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to cap card late fees.
Banks and industry insiders say that an interest rate limit would result in fewer credit card accounts for Americans and a dip in spending for the U.S. economy, as companies would simply pull accounts rather than offer them at an unprofitable level.
The average credit card rate nationally is 19.7% as of this month, according to a weekly survey from Bankrate.com, while rates for subprime borrowers and store-specific cards are typically higher.
“Our belief is that actions like this will have the exact opposite consequence to what the administration wants for consumers,” Barnum said. “Instead of lowering the price of credit, we’ll simply reduce the supply of credit, and that will be bad for everyone: consumers, the wider economy, and yes, at the margin, for us.”
The CFO declined to directly answer a question on whether JPMorgan would comply with Trump’s demand, which has a proposed Jan. 20 start date. Banks that don’t follow the directive are “in violation of the law,” Trump told reporters Sunday.
Still, it’s unclear how Trump’s mandate would be enforced. There is no U.S. law capping card rates, though a bill was introduced last year from Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that would limit card APRs at 10% for five years. That bill is stalled in Congress.
Other voices in the corporate and political realms began addressing the possible impact of Trump’s rate cap on Tuesday.
Beyond banks, airlines and retailers rely on revenue from card partnerships to bolster profit. For instance, Delta Air Lines said Tuesday that its American Express partnership produced $8.2 billion in revenue last year.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian said on an earnings call that the cap would “upend the whole credit card industry … I don’t see any way we could even begin to contemplate how that would be implemented.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson struck a note of caution when asked about the issue at a news conference.
“We have a lot of work to go [on] consensus around it, but you got to be very careful as we go forward in that in our zeal to bring down costs — you don’t want to have negative secondary effects,” Johnson said.
— CNBC’s Emily Wilkins and Leslie Josephs contributed to this report.
Scott Adams, the cartoonist who created the “Dilbert” comic strip, has died at the age of 68, his first ex-wife revealed on Tuesday. Adams said last year that he was diagnosed with an aggressive prostate cancer.
Adams’ ex-wife, Shelly Miles, announced the news of his death during a live stream of his YouTube show, “Real Coffee with Scott Adams.”
She read a “final message” from Adams on the show, in which he wrote that he had “an amazing life” and gave it everything he had. He urged people to “be useful” and said, “please know I loved you all to the very end.”
Scott Adams, cartoonist and author and creator of “Dilbert,” poses for a portrait in his home office on Jan. 6, 2014 in Pleasanton, California.
Lea Suzuki/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
Adams said on an episode of his show last May that he had “the same cancer that Joe Biden has … prostate cancer that has also spread to my bones.”
He made the announcement a day after Biden announced his own diagnosis.
President Trump posted about Adams’ death on Tuesday, calling him “a fantastic guy, who liked and respected me when it wasn’t fashionable to do so.”
“He bravely fought a long battle against a terrible disease,” Mr. Trump said on Truth Social. “My condolences go out to his family, and all of his many friends and listeners. He will be truly missed. God bless you Scott!”
Dilbert the comic strip first appeared in 1989, poking fun at office culture. It ran for decades in numerous newspapers until 2023, when it was canceled by most newspapers over comments by Adams that various publishers denounced as racist, hateful and discriminatory.
Among other things, Adams referred to Black people as members of a “hate group” and urged White people “to get the hell away from Black people.” Newspapers such the Los Angeles Times and the USA Today network as well as distributor Andrews McMeel Universal announced they would no longer work with the cartoonist or run his strip.
Adams took to YouTube at the time to defend himself and disclosed details about the impact of losing business, saying he was likely to lose 80% of his income from Dilbert due to the cancellations.
In the message Miles read on the show Tuesday, Adams said that he wanted to explain his life. He said he spent the first part of it focusing on making himself a worthy husband and parent as a way to find meaning, then later “donated” himself to the world and evolved from Dilbert cartoonist to “an author of what I thought would be useful books.”
“From that point on I looked for ways I could add the most to peoples’ life, one way or another,” he wrote.
NEW DELHI: Mutual fund investment through systematic investment plans (SIPs) has surged to an all-time high of Rs 3.34 lakh crore in 2025, driven by growing investor appetite for disciplined, long-term wealth creation.This came following investments of Rs 2.68 lakh crore through this route in 2024 and Rs 1.84 lakh crore in 2023, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed.“The data suggests that investors have consistently used market corrections as opportunities to invest more. Total SIP contributions of Rs 3.34 lakh crore in CY25 reflect long-term intent and confidence, rather than short-term speculation,” said Feroze Azeez, Joint CEO, Anand Rathi Wealth.SIP contributions remained the backbone of mutual fund flows, consistently crossing Rs 29,000 crore in September, October and November, and peaking at an all-time high of Rs 31,000 crore in December.Industry experts believe that SIPs have been gaining popularity among investors, as they help with Rupee Cost Averaging and investing in a disciplined manner without worrying about market volatility or timing the market.A Balasubramanian, Managing Director & CEO, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, said that continued SIP investments, even amid global volatility and market fluctuations, point to rising financial awareness, reflecting disciplined investing.Ankur Punj, MD – Business Head, Equirus Wealth, suggested that continuing SIPs, diversifying across asset classes and aligning investments with long-term goals will be far more effective than trying to time markets in an uncertain global environment.Overall, net inflows into equity-oriented schemes stood at Rs 3.8 lakh crore, which was driven by strong SIP contributions and continued confidence in India’s long-term growth story.These inflows lifted the industry’s assets under management (AUM) by 21 per cent from Rs 67 lakh crore at the end of 2024 to Rs 80.23 lakh crore by December-end.Venkat Chalasani, Chief Executive Officer of AMFI had said that the mutual fund industry’s outlook remains positive, with steady SIP inflows continuing to offset foreign portfolio investor outflows and strengthening market resilience.“Systematic investing continues to be a strong anchor for flows, with SIPs providing stability during periods of uncertainty,” he had told PTI.Notably, SIP is an investment tool offered by mutual funds that allows an individual to invest a certain amount in a chosen scheme at fixed intervals, such as once a month, instead of a lump-sum investment. SIP instalments can be as small as Rs 250 per month.
