• Malik Ahmad Khan cites precedent, legal powers to refer cases to ECP • Rejects claims of bias, terms comments on meeting with CEC contrary to facts • Federal law minister backs speaker’s ‘unlimited authority’
LAHORE: Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan on Monday vehemently defended his neutrality and constitutional authority amid ongoing objections from the opposition regarding his powers to forward references to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Meanwhile, Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar also strongly defended Punjab Assembly speaker’s constitutional powers to de-seat members. At a ceremony in Lahore, Tarar asserted that the speaker, as the head of the House, possesses “unlimited powers”.
Addressing a press conference at the Punjab Assembly, Speaker Khan recalled a past precedent where the then-opposition demanded the disqualification of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. “Members now ask, if a prime minister could be removed on the basis of a controversial judgement like Panama, why can’t action be taken against others under similar circumstances?” he questioned, highlighting what he described as a double standard.
He firmly rejected accusations of bias, stating, “I am not a representative of any political party; I listen to everyone’s point of view. My priority is ensuring the smooth and fair functioning of the House. The speaker reiterated his commitment to honestly fulfilling his role as the custodian of the House, admitting that some members were suspended and others served with notices strictly in accordance with the rules and procedures.
He refuted the opposition’s claim that he lacks the authority to send references to the ECP, asserting that such powers had been exercised in the past and were legally valid. He also criticised media editorials for misinterpreting his constitutional role and authority.
Mr Khan lamented the repeated disruptions in the assembly, noting that for the past 22 years, no finance minister has been able to deliver a complete budget speech without interruption. “Is it acceptable that for 22 years neither a finance minister nor the president can speak without constant disturbance?”
He stressed the importance of maintaining discipline within the House, reminding the opposition members that while their rights are protected, government representatives also deserve respect and space.
He noted that many misunderstandings could have been avoided through earlier consultation with the assembly secretariat.
He lamented being labeled as the “opposition’s speaker” merely for granting them extended time and privileges, asserting that he had pledged to serve with honesty and fairness from the onset. While acknowledging that parliament allows for protest, he underscored the importance of setting limits to ensure order.
He urged members to listen to his stance, reiterating his constitutional oath and the need for the assembly to function according to its rules. He also stated that before issuing any suspension orders, he wanted to share his perspective with everyone.
He called on all members to avoid repeating past mistakes and urged both government and opposition to ensure mutual respect and adherence to constitutional boundaries within the assembly.
The speaker clarified that while he is not in favour of expelling any individual from the House, saying he will issue an order regarding the 26 opposition members’ references under the Article 63(2) of the Constitution within the next 27 days.
He expressed optimism that meaningful negotiations between the government and opposition can still improve the assembly’s environment.
Drawing a parallel to the disqualification of a prime minister in the Panama case, the speaker said that if a premier can be removed for violating oath under Article 63(2), then it remains a powerful mechanism for holding elected representatives accountable. “I am not Imran Khan, and I don’t want to disqualify people, but I am bound by the Constitution and the law,” he said.
Addressing concerns about his recent meeting with the Chief Election Commissioner, the speaker dismissed the speculation as factually incorrect.
ECP clarification
An ECP spokesperson, in a statement, clarified that various constitutional and administrative office holders routinely meet with the Election Commission to discuss official matters.
He cited numerous past meetings between former president Arif Alvi ECP members, particularly concerning electronic voting machines (EVMs) and internet voting — issues that were outside the president’s mandate.
Similarly, the CEC has met with numerous PTI leaders, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Pervez Khattak, and former chief minister of KP Mahmood Khan, as well as former Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar.
The spokesperson questioned why such meetings were acceptable at the time but are now being criticised, asserting that no ECP official met anyone for personal reasons and that it is not against protocol for politicians and political parties to approach the Election Commission.
‘Unlimited powers’
On the other hand, Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar strongly defended Punjab Assembly speaker’s constitutional powers to de-seat members. At a ceremony in Lahore, Tarar asserted that the speaker, as the head of the House, possesses “unlimited powers.”
“If any member violates oath, then the speaker can suspend that member,” he stated. While acknowledging the opposition’s right to protest, Mr Tarar warned that “vandalism inside the assembly” would not be considered a peaceful demonstration.
Regarding the reference against 26 MPAs, he affirmed that the speaker has the authority to send such references to the chief election commissioner.
The law minister emphasised that while the speaker must remain neutral, he hoped Mr Khan would find a constructive path forward while upholding democratic traditions.
WASHINGTON: Pakistan told the United Nations on Monday it has credible evidence of growing collaboration between terrorist groups such as the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), and the Majeed Brigade, which aim to target the country’s strategic infrastructure and development projects.
Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, told the General Assembly that these groups were operating from ungoverned spaces inside Afghanistan.
His warning came amid a surge in terrorist violence in Pakistan in recent weeks. On June 28, a suicide attacker rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a military convoy in North Waziristan, killing 16 soldiers and injuring several civilians. Days later, five senior officials — including an Assistant Commissioner — were killed in Bajaur when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle during a routine visit.
Ambassador Ahmad noted that many of these attacks are carried out with sophisticated weapons and equipment left behind by international forces following their 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“These weapons have been used by Afghan-based terrorists to launch increasingly sophisticated attacks against Pakistan, including in the last two weeks,” he said.
Pakistan’s envoy said that the TTP, with an estimated 6,000 fighters, was the largest UN-designated terrorist group operating from Afghan soil, and poses a threat, not just to Pakistan, but to regional and global stability as well. He also identified other groups active in Afghanistan, including IS-Khorasan, Al Qaeda, and various Baloch separatist factions.
“We must ensure that Afghanistan does not become a breeding ground for terrorists that threaten its neighbours and the broader international community,” he said, urging the United Nations and regional powers to act against “spoilers” who could reignite conflict in the region.
Secretary-level talks
Meanwhile, Kabul and Islamabad held their first-ever additional secretary-level talks on Monday, in line with the agreement reached during Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar’s visit to Afghanistan in April.
Additional Secretary (Afghanistan & West Asia) Ambassador Syed Ali Asad Gillani represented the Pakistani side while the Afghan side was led by First Political Division DG at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mufti Noor Ahmad Noor. The two sides discussed trade and transit cooperation, security, and connectivity, the FO statement said.
Both sides also termed terrorism a serious threat to regional peace and agreed the region can’t develop without addressing security issues. Emphasising the need for “concrete actions against terrorist groups operating on Afghan soil”, the Pakistani delegation noted that such groups undermine the security and hinder regional development.
The meeting also reviewed measures to boost trade, including the facilitation of Afghan transit trade, the removal of 10 per cent processing fee, provision of an insurance guarantee, reduction in scanning and examination, and operationalisation of the track and trace system.
Iftikhar A. Khan in Islamabad also contributed to this report
KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari appointed the chief justices to the four high courts on Monday, Dawn.com reported.
The Ministry of Law and Justice on Monday issued notifications regarding the appointments. As per the notifications, Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar is appointed as the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Justice Muhammad Junaid Ghaffar is appointed chief justice of the Sindh High Court, Justice Rozi Khan Barrech as chief justice of Balochistan High Court and Justice S.M. Attique Shah as Peshawar High Court chief justice.
The notifications stated, “In exercise of the powers conferred under clause (1) of the Article 193 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is pleased to make aforesaid appointments with effect from the date they (judges) makes oath of their offices.”-APP
The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), last week, nominated them.
President Zardari will administer the oath to Justice Dogar at the Presidency, while the chief justices of other high courts will take the oath from the respective provincial governors.
Understanding the importance of a healthy diet is crucial for managing high blood pressure.
Eat more potassium-rich fruits and vegetables and cut back on sodium.
Cook more of your meals at home and consider following a DASH or Mediterranean diet.
If you know you have high blood pressure, you’re already a step ahead. Although high blood pressure (hypertension) affects nearly half of American adults, it doesn’t cause symptoms at first—so many people don’t even know they have it.
Read on to learn more about what high blood pressure means, the biggest thing to avoid doing if you have it and proven strategies you can take to improve it.
What Is High Blood Pressure?
Your blood pressure is the force of blood pushing through your arteries. Normal blood pressure is below 120/80 mm Hg. The top number, systolic blood pressure, measures pressure when the heart beats. The bottom number, diastolic blood pressure, is the pressure when the heart is at rest between beats.
High blood pressure can lead to several health complications, such as stroke, heart attack, kidney disease, vision loss and more. “If you are diagnosed with high blood pressure, lifestyle modification is key. Assess your diet, weight and exercise habits,” says Maria Elena Fraga, RD, CDCES, director of the Diabetes Alliance at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City.
The #1 Thing to Avoid
The No. 1 thing to avoid if you have high blood pressure is underestimating the impact your nutrition habits can have on your levels. Knowing that you can make a big difference in your blood pressure by changing some aspects of your diet is positive and empowering news.
Actionable habits for lowering blood pressure include limiting sodium, eating fruits and vegetables that are rich in potassium, cooking more at home and following blood-pressure-lowering eating plans. “Getting a handle on your blood pressure requires behavior and lifestyle changes, which can take time, effort, consistency and patience,” says Sarah Currie, M.S., RD, a personal trainer and co-owner of Physical Equilibrium in New York City. With that said, here are the impactful changes you can start making to your diet.
Cut Back on Sodium
Over time, eating a high-sodium diet can narrow blood vessels and increase blood pressure. “You’d be surprised how many food items contain hidden sources of sodium,” says Fraga. Packaged foods are often packed with sodium, and some of the top culprits are canned soups, frozen meals and deli meat, adds Currie.
The American Heart Association suggests that cutting out 1,000 milligrams per day of sodium can have a beneficial impact on blood pressure. For people with high blood pressure, the AHA recommends consuming no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day.
To reduce your sodium intake, try replacing a portion of salt in your recipes with garlic, fresh herbs and spices. Read package labels and restaurant menus before buying or ordering to help make lower-sodium choices. When you’re reading labels, look at the Daily Value percentage for sodium and aim for lower-sodium foods when possible. Foods with a sodium DV of 5% or less per serving are considered a low-sodium foods, while those with 20% DV or more of sodium per serving are considered high-sodium and should be limited.
Eat Potassium-Rich Foods
Potassium counteracts sodium by helping your body excrete it through your urine. (In short, you pee it out.) The mineral also helps relax blood vessel walls, which lowers blood pressure. The AHA recommends consuming 3,500 to 5,000 milligrams of potassium daily to prevent or treat high blood pressure.
Boost your potassium intake by eating more fruits and vegetables. Aim to eat 4½ cups of fruits and vegetables every day. Foods rich in potassium include:
Lentils
Prunes
Bananas
Kidney beans
Orange juice
Cantaloupe
Squash
Apricots
Soybeans
Raisins
Potatoes
Spinach
Chicken breast
Low-fat dairy products
Cook More Meals at Home
Restaurant meals are often high in sodium, which can make it difficult to stay within the recommended limits. One study found that the average sodium content in a fast-food meal was about 1,300 milligrams—nearly all of the recommended sodium limit for someone with high blood pressure. Cooking at home gives you control over all the ingredients. Whole foods, like fruits, vegetables, dried legumes, unsalted nuts and seeds and fresh sources of protein contain little to no sodium. When cooking you can flavor foods with fresh and dried herbs and spices, including basil, oregano, cumin, rosemary, turmeric and more.
This doesn’t mean you can’t eat out—it just takes a little planning. If the restaurant provides nutrition information, check it ahead of time to plan out a meal that’s lower in sodium. Avoid or limit fried foods, which tend to be higher in sodium, says Currie, and ask for sauces and dressings on the side. Opt for baked, broiled, grilled or steamed proteins paired with green and other colorful vegetables.
Consider the DASH or Mediterranean Style of Eating
The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet was created to intentionally treat high blood pressure. This eating style focuses on eating fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, low-fat or fat-free dairy, lean protein and limited saturated fats, red meat, added sugar and sodium. The DASH diet is rich in important nutrients that help lower blood pressure, including potassium, calcium, magnesium, fiber and protein.
The Mediterranean diet is very similar to the DASH eating plan, as it’s full of fresh fruits and vegetables, fiber-rich beans and whole grains, nuts and seeds. This eating plan also recommends limiting foods that contain higher amounts of saturated fat, such as red meat. One food that’s famously associated with the Mediterranean diet is extra-virgin olive oil, which is rich in polyphenols that can protect the heart.
Strategies to Improve Blood Pressure
Improving the quality of your diet is one effective way to manage hypertension. Other lifestyle factors that help bring down blood pressure include:
If lifestyle factors are not enough to keep your blood pressure in a healthy range, you may need medication. Reach out to a health care provider for guidance.
Recipes to Help Lower Blood Pressure
Our Expert Take
High blood pressure is a common condition affecting many Americans, yet, you can take steps to improve your numbers and prevent hypertension. One of the biggest mistakes people make is not realizing how important nutrition is for managing blood pressure and maintaining a healthy heart.
Small, consistent steps—like reading labels to cut down on sodium, cooking at home more often and eating plenty of fruits and vegetables—can make a big difference. For personalized support and guidance, ask a health care provider about working with a registered dietitian who can create an individualized eating plan and set goals that work for you.
[This story contains major spoilers from Part 1 of season two of The Sandman, including episode five, “The Song of Orpheus,” and six, “Family Blood.”]
In the world of The Sandman, the Endless are strictly prohibited from spilling family blood. But in the first volume of the hit Netflix fantasy drama’s second and final season, protagonist Dream a.k.a. Morpheus (Tom Sturridge) decides to break that sacred vow out of love for his estranged son Orpheus (Ruairi O’Connor), even if doing so could force the former to pay the ultimate price.
Adapted from DC Comics’ seventh collection in the Sandman series, Brief Lives, along with single-issue stories such as The Song of Orpheus and Thermidor,the fifth and sixth episodes of Part 1 shed light on the heartbreaking yet heartwarming relationship between Dream and Orpheus, whose mother was the Greek muse Calliope (Melissanthi Mahut).
In 1700 BC, the Endless siblings gathered in Greece to watch Orpheus marry Eurydice (Ella Rumpf) — only for Eurydice to die of a viper bite on the night of their wedding. Consumed by his own grief, Orpheus went against his father’s wishes and made a deal with his aunt, Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste). In exchange for an opportunity to journey to the Underworld to plead for Eurydice’s return, Orpheus naively agreed to become immortal, telling everyone he encountered that he would give anything to spend “a lifetime or an hour more” with the love of his life. Orpheus is even able to charm Hades and Persephone with a love song in the Underworld, but Orpheus’ failure to meet their one condition for Eurydice’s release — he wasn’t allowed to look back at her until they were both back in the living world — meant that the two lovers would be separated forever.
With nothing left to live for, Orpheus put himself in the path of the Sisters of the Frenzy, a vicious cult of Dionysus, who attacked and dismembered him, reducing him to only a severed head. Desperately wanting to be put out of his misery, Orpheus begged his father to kill him, but Dream could not bring himself to administer the coup de grâce. Instead, Dream left Orpheus’ head in the indefinite care of priests on an uncharted island off the coast of Greece and told his son they could never see each other again.
“Orpheus was idealistic, and he hoped he could go down to the Underworld and rescue Eurydice and everything would be OK — and certainly not that he’d be separated from Eurydice,” O’Connor, who was already “really familiar with Greek mythology in general” prior to auditioning for The Sandman, tells The Hollywood Reporter. “If he died in a normal time, he would’ve gone to the Underworld and he would’ve possibly been with Eurydice down there. But now, it’s almost guaranteed he’s one of the only people who will never see Eurydice, and he won’t be able to move his body because it’s gone. His father had warned him that this would happen.”
Like Father, Like Son
As a superfan of the original Sandman comics for decades, showrunner Allan Heinberg had always wanted to adapt Dream’s relationship with Orpheus, whose arrival was teased during the press run for season one. “With Orpheus, Dream is warmer and more unguarded than he is even with Calliope,” Heinberg tells THR, remarking that Dream’s discouragement of Orpheus’ plan to sacrifice his life for Eurydice’s was what any protective parent would have done in Dream’s position. (Read THR’s full interview with Heinberg about volume one here.)
After Orpheus was decapitated in the comics, Heinberg says, Dream always seemed like “an Old Testament God” who was punishing his rebellious son for disobeying an order. But in his two-season adaptation of creator Neil Gaiman’s comics, Heinberg has been more interested in exploring the emotional cost of the King of Dreams’ job on his relationships as a brother, lover and father. In keeping with that theme, although the dialogue onscreen is nearly identical to that of the comics, the showrunner wanted to show Dream’s heartbreak over not being able to help save his son.
“The reason [Dream] says, ‘We will not see each other again,’ is that Dream can’t handle [seeing him like that],” says Heinberg. “From that point of view, as Dream’s walking away from Orpheus, we can see that he is absolutely shattered instead of stone-faced and punishing. You understand how hard this is for him.”
Through his extensive discussions with Heinberg, O’Connor came to understand that Orpheus’ initial, childlike animosity toward Dream stemmed from feeling abandoned by his father, who had chosen to prioritize his responsibilities to humanity over his own family. “It reminded me a bit of, like, if Abraham Lincoln was your father — he belongs to you a little bit because he’s your father, but he belongs to everybody else as well. I think that can be quite hard on a child,” explains O’Connor. “It’s such a surprise for [Dream] to be at [Orpheus’] wedding that it’s a little bit overwhelming — and almost foreboding that he is there as well.”
Heinberg adds, “The way that Dream and Orpheus speak to each other at the end of episode six is very different from the way they speak to each other in episode five. You’ve got hundreds of years of regret and recrimination in episode five. They’re very much father and son — ‘I tell you what to do and how to behave, and you do it because I am your father, and I know more than you.’ By the end of it, there are just two people who love each other enormously.”
O’Connor could feel the weight of that father-son relationship when acting opposite Sturridge, whom he first saw perform opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in the Broadway production of Sea Wall/A Life in 2019. Even though Sturridge is only five or six years older, “it felt like I was coming to play with someone who was a good few steps above me. I had the reverence to feel like, ‘This man’s a thousand years older than me in certain regards,’” O’Connor says. “I think that energy — that struggle — of really trying to live up to him and not being able to do it, but honestly trying to do it, helped [those scenes].”
He adds of Sturridge, “He also looks amazing. You look at his face and you’re like, ‘Why can’t my face look like that?’ I really respect him and am envious of him in many ways, and I hope that gels with what we were trying to do.”
The Song — and Disembodied Head! — of Orpheus
O’Connor, on more than one occasion, tells THR that he thinks the gods were smiling down on him during his time on The Sandman. Last year, after multiple rounds of self-tape auditions, the Irish actor — best known for his work in The Spanish Princess and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It — landed the role just weeks before he was scheduled to begin filming. He began obsessively poring over all the comics involving Orpheus. He even learned how to play the lyre, even though he never had to play his character’s instrument of choice on camera.
But the most challenging aspect of the role was learning how to sing in Greek. “It was just impossible, so I ended up chanting and listening to it. It became hypnotic, almost like mantras in my head,” O’Connor recalls. “I felt like I was going crazy just trying to get the Greek into me, and then knowing on the day that I was going to have to sing it and that it’s going to have to certainly match my mouth movements and everything as much as possible.”
In addition to singing live on the day, the actor recorded the final version of Orpheus’ songs at Abbey Road Studios. “I’m not religious, so music is probably the closest thing. My voice was a bit rough that day, so [the producers] were like, ‘Come down to studio two where the Beatles recorded, and we’ll warm up your voice,” O’Connor recalls, sheepishly revealing that he ended up bringing his best friend that day and the two sang “Hey Jude” on the piano as a warm-up. “I don’t know — it made me feel like music does have the power that Orpheus imbues in it, that it changes lives.”
Ruairi O’Connor as Orpheus and Barry Sloane as Destruction in season two, episode five.
Courtesy Of Netflix
To play Orpheus after his body has been ripped apart, O’Connor had to get a cast made of his own head. “The amazing thing with the casts is they have all the other heads they’ve done over the years. I had Brad Pitt’s head in my hands, and I was looking at the shape of his head to see why he’s so handsome,” O’Connor quips. “It is a surprisingly small head! I was like, ‘Maybe that’s the key.’
“They had three heads that they made up, and one of them was impeccably me and the others were for more wide shots, and I was like, ‘Is that what people think I look like? Hopefully not!’ But the main one was definitely a better version of me,” he continues. “It was great because my costume before [the decapitation] had all of these spindly bits. I was wearing four wedding dresses basically on the side of a mountain, often tripping up over it. And now, I was just wearing a green bodysuit, but, of course, I was locked in with a thing around my neck so I wouldn’t move.”
While some actors in his position may have been daunted, O’Connor found the experience of acting with just his head to be “strangely liberating.” The crew found creative ways to maintain the illusion of a literal talking head — holes were cut into tables at perfect angles, his co-stars had to pretend to lift his head while he stood up slowly — which was then improved in post-production.
“My hands didn’t have to be onscreen at all, so I could do whatever I wanted because they would take it out. It took away a lot of the avenues for mistakes you could make or for going over the top,” O’Connor says, adding that he’d “actually love to do another role” like that. “If Return to Oz 2 ever happens or something where they need a king that changes his heads, maybe I could get that to be my niche,” he jokes.
A Bittersweet Reunion
Episode six began with Dream contacting Lady Johanna Constantine (Jenna Coleman) in the late 18th century with an urgent request: He needed her to go to Paris and retrieve Orpheus’ head, which Maximilien Robespierre had confiscated during his Reign of Terror and was planning to destroy for being “an object of superstition and decadence.” Upon being found out, Johanna was thrown in prison and even faced the threat of being executed by guillotine, but she had cleverly chosen to hide Orpheus in a pile of heads belonging to Robespierre’s other victims. At Dream’s suggestion, Johanna asked Orpheus to sing in front of Robespierre and his men, who were then left frozen in their tracks, allowing Johanna to flee with Orpheus’ noggin.
As they began the journey back to Orpheus’ temple, Johanna and Orpheus took a special liking to each other as friends. In fact, Johanna’s sole request for successfully completing her mission was to spend more time with Orpheus — a wish that Dream clearly granted, since she was buried near the temple after her death.
Speaking about what Johanna saw in Orpheus, O’Connor points out that his character seemed to have “found a peace, a maturity and an acceptance to living and existing possibly forever with no means to do anything for himself.”
“I think Johanna comments that there’s something inspiring about what he’s been able to do,” O’Connor says. “I watched that [documentary] recently with Christopher Reeve, and of course he had his horse accident and you can see it’s awful, but there’s a liberation as well in knowing he could overcome that for so long. Orpheus has been doing something akin to that for thousands of years, and he can appreciate Johanna because she’s the opposite. She’s alive and vivacious, and moving and tricking people. I think they appreciate the opposite in each other.”
Heinberg adds, “Orpheus, at that point, is so philosophical about his fate and trying to spend his days as best he can. Even though he longs for the peace of death, he’s not an unhappy man. He’s not suffering, and Dream is suffering and has been suffering since he left him on the beach.”
In the present day, Dream has no choice but to visit Orpheus, because he is the only living person who can locate Dream’s brother, Destruction (Barry Sloane), who abandoned his realm some 300 years ago. While Orpheus would have good reason to be angry or resentful with his father, he chooses instead to be “loving, accepting and forgiving,” Heinberg says. “It’s such a relief for Dream in that moment because he’s been dreading having to face the biggest mistake he’d ever made.”
In exchange for Orpheus’ help in locating Destruction, Dream agrees to grant Orpheus the one boon he has always wanted. So, after Dream and Delirium (Esmé Creed-Miles) track down Destruction to confirm that he will not helm his realm again, Dream returns to the temple and — out of love — ends his son’s life.
“I think him saying, ‘I’m ready now, father,’ was the important thing — for him to have agency,” O’Connor says of shooting Orpheus’ final moments. “He wasn’t begging him to kill him. He knows that he will do it for him, but he gets to finally make a decision and be the adult, and asks his father to do it. His father was robbed of being a father because of who he was, and in this moment, it’s clear that he’s doing something that only a father would do for his son.”
Dream solemnly bids farewell to Delirium and returns to his palace, where he instructs his librarian and property manager Lucienne (Vivienne Acheampong) to relieve the priests of their duties after they bury Orpheus’ head in an unmarked grave. He then returns to his own room and finally breaks down while washing Orpheus’ blood off his hands.
Heinberg reveals that Dream’s decision to hide behind a bookcase while delivering the orders to Lucienne was not scripted: “It was our DP Will Baldy’s idea in the moment, like, ‘What if it’s too much for him and he can’t face her? And his not showing himself to her shatters her.’ It was such a lovely collaborative idea, and it sets up that scene in his private quarters where he’s washing the blood off his hands in such a beautiful way.”
In volume two, Dream will inevitably have to answer to the Fates — a.k.a. the Furies — for spilling family blood. But, true to form, he will not take his fate lying down. “Dream is going to do everything he possibly can to keep his life and his kingdom, and the people who work with him, whole and safe and alive,” Heinberg teases. (He is specifically hinting at a line in the season premiere where Dream says he has made arrangements for the Dreaming to survive, even if he does not.) “He’s going to fight for the next five episodes, because that’s who he is. So it’s not over, and there are lots of surprises along the way.”
***
The Sandman is now streaming on Netflix. The next five episodes, which will conclude Dream’s story, will drop on July 24, with a bonus episode centered around Death dropping on July 31.Read THR’s full interview with Heinberg about Part 1.
In a breakthrough that could transform the understanding of quantum magnetism, scientists have shown that a spinon, which was once believed to exist only in pairs, can travel alone.
The discovery further enhances understanding of magnetism and could help pave the way for future technologies, including quantum computers and advanced magnetic materials.
When spin flips ripple
Spinons are quasiparticles that arise as quantum disturbances behaving like individual particles within magnetic systems.
They emerge in low-dimensional quantum materials, particularly in one-dimensional (1D) spin chains, where electrons are arranged in a linear sequence and interact through their quantum spins.
In such systems, flipping a single spin doesn’t just affect one electron; it creates a ripple across the chain. This ripple can act as a discrete entity, carrying a spin value of ½. That entity is the spinon.
Today, magnets are central to a wide range of technologies, including computer memory, speakers, electric motors, and medical imaging devices.
The idea of spinons dates back to the early 1980s, when physicists Ludwig Faddeev and Leon Takhtajan proposed that a spin-1 excitation in certain quantum models could fractionalize into two spin-½ excitations.
These were named spinons, which are considered exotic because they behave as if an indivisible quantum of spin has split into two.
However, all experimental observations until now had detected spinons only in pairs, reinforcing the belief that they could not exist independently.
That assumption has now been challenged.
One spin to rule
In a new theoretical study, physicists from the University of Warsaw and the University of British Columbia showed how to isolate a lone spinon using a well-known model of quantum magnetism, the Heisenberg spin-½ chain.
By adding a single spin to this system, either in its ground state or in a simplified model known as the valence-bond solid (VBS), they demonstrated how a single unpaired spin can move freely through the spin chain, acting as a solitary spinon.
What makes the finding more impactful is that it’s not purely theoretical. A recent experiment led by C. Zhao and published in Nature Materials observed spin-½ excitations in nanographene-basedantiferromagnetic chains that reflect the lone spinon behavior described in the study.
This experimental validation confirms that the phenomenon can occur in real quantum materials, not just in simulations.
Understanding how a single spinon can exist has far-reaching implications. Spinons are closely linked to quantum entanglement, a core principle of quantum computing and quantum information science.
They’re also involved in exotic states of matter like high-temperature superconductors and quantum spin liquids.
By gaining better control over spinon dynamics, scientists could open new pathways for developing advanced magnetic materials and potentially qubit systems for quantum computers.
“Our research not only deepens our knowledge of magnets, but can also have far-reaching consequences in other areas of physics and technology”, said Prof Krzysztof Wohlfeld of the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw.
The study was published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have uncovered how to manipulate electrical flow through crystalline silicon, a material at the heart of modern technology. The discovery could lead to smaller, faster, and more efficient devices by harnessing quantum electron behavior.
Chemical structure of bulk silicon, with the simplest building block of the solid highlighted in blue. (Tim Su/UCR)
At the quantum scale, electrons behave more like waves than particles. And now, scientists have shown that the symmetrical structure of silicon molecules can be fine-tuned to create, or suppress, a phenomenon known as destructive interference. The effect can turn conductivity “on” or “off,” functioning as a molecular-scale switch.
“We found that when tiny silicon structures are shaped with high symmetry, they can cancel out electron flow like noise-canceling headphones,” said Tim Su, a UCR chemistry professor who led the study. “What’s exciting is that we can control it.”
Published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the research breaks ground in understanding how electricity moves through silicon at the smallest possible scale, atom by atom.
The finding comes as the tech industry hits a wall in shrinking conventional silicon chips. Traditional methods rely on carving tiny circuits into silicon wafers or doping, which means adding small amounts of other elements to control how silicon conducts electricity.
These techniques have worked well for decades, but they’re approaching physical limits: you can only carve so small, and added atoms can’t fix problems caused by quantum effects.
By contrast, Su and his team used chemistry to build silicon molecules from the ground up, rather than carving them down. This “bottom-up” approach gave them precise control over how the atoms were arranged and, critically, control over the way electrons move through their silicon structures.
Electrodes along the blue path correspond to a high conducting state. With electrodes along the red paths, an insulating state was observed. (Tim Su/UCR)
Silicon is the second most abundant element in Earth’s crust and the workhorse of computing. But as devices shrink, unpredictable quantum effects, like electrons leaking across insulating barriers, make traditional designs harder to manage. This new study suggests that engineers might embrace, rather than fight, this quantum behavior.
“Our work shows how molecular symmetry in silicon leads to interference effects that control how electrons move through it,” Su said. “And we can switch that interference on or off by controlling how electrodes align with our molecule.”
While the idea of using quantum interference in electronics isn’t new, this is one of the first demonstrations of the effect in three-dimensional, diamond-like silicon — the same structure used in commercial chips.
Beyond ultra-small switches, the findings could aid in the development of thermoelectric devices that convert waste heat into electricity, or even quantum computing components built from familiar materials.
“This gives us a fundamentally new way to think about switching and charge transport,” Su said. “It’s not just a tweak. It’s a rethink of what silicon can do.”
How can CD4 T “helper” T cells be leveraged for advanced therapeutics for cancer treatment?
In a recent study, researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE; Switzerland) have demonstrated that CD4 T lymphocytes, a type of helper T cell, have strong cytotoxic capabilities that can be leveraged for therapeutic applications. By modifying a specific subtype of CD4 T cells, the researchers were able to target an antigen found in many cancer types, including melanoma, lung, ovarian and brain cancer. Their findings may offer an alternative immunotherapy strategy for treating a broad range of tumor types and demonstrate the strong potential for gene transfer of T-cell receptors (TCR) in CD4 T cells for cytotoxic applications.
T cells play a crucial role in the body’s immune system, helping to protect the body from infection and disease. Immunotherapies have leveraged the functionality of T cells, primarily CD8 T “killer” cells – cytotoxic cells that target and eliminate diseased and cancerous cells. By modifying these naturally occurring cytotoxic T cells, researchers have harnessed patients’ own immune systems to provide an alternative approach in cancer treatment for many patients.
CD8 T cell-based immunotherapy has been a promising strategy in cancer treatment, but growing interest in CD4 T “helper” cells is opening new avenues. As interest in their role grows, researchers are exploring how they could strengthen the fight against cancer. According to the study’s paper, “…emerging evidence suggests that the polyfunctional and cytotoxic subsets of CD4 T cells may be crucial in the immune response against cancer.” From being considered as helper cells – supporting the function, migration and proliferation of other immune cells – the researchers, led by Camilla Jandus, have revealed that CD4 T cells can also be cytotoxic.
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A key barrier to translating CD4 T cells into effective therapies has been the complexity of their antigen recognition. Unlike CD8 T cells, which recognize peptides presented by HLA class I molecules, CD4 T cells interact with peptides bound to HLA class II molecules – structures that are both polymorphic and expressed in different variations. Moreover, on-target off-tumor toxicity remains a concern, as some target antigens are also expressed in healthy tissues, risking autoimmune responses from CD4 cell-based therapies.
To mitigate these challenges, the researchers focused on NY-ESO-1, an antigen with limited expression in normal tissues (primarily testis and ovary) but abundantly expressed in multiple tumor types such as melanoma, lung and ovarian cancer.
First, they isolated CD4 T cells from the blood, tumor tissue and lymph nodes of melanoma patients with the HLA-DRB3*02:02 allele and from healthy donors and studied their molecular characteristics. The researchers selected this HLA type due to is prevalence in 50% of the Caucasian population. This enabled them to assess the anti-tumor potential of CD4 T cells in a broader population group, avoiding the challenges associated with the polymorphic nature of CD4 T cells. From this, they identified and isolated a subset if these CD4 T cells (dominant alpha and beta chains) that possessed a TCR that was able to recognize the NY-ESO-1 antigen. Next, these specific TCRs were cloned into lentiviral vectors and transduced into human CD4 T cells and expanded in vitro. Analysis against positive and negative tumor cell-lines revealed that these modified CD4 T cells were able to eliminate NY-ESO-1–positive tumor cells and produced cytotoxic molecules like granzyme B (a protease that induces apoptosis). Additionally, the researchers assessed the modified CD4 T cells in human samples of lung, ovarian and neuroblastoma tumors, and the analysis revealed that the modified T cells could be applied to other tumor types.
Following this, the team evaluated these CD4 T cells modified with the relevant TCRs in both in vitro and in vivo systems using immunodeficient mice with NY-ESO-1 tumors. Encouragingly, analysis revealed significant tumor regression, with no off-target cytotoxicity observed.
The findings from this study suggest that modified CD4 T cells can potentially efficiently target cancer cells in an addition to their “helper” role. “This dramatically expands the pool of patients who could benefit, especially since the targeted antigen is expressed in many types of cancer,” according Jandus.
Looking ahead, the team is preparing a clinical trial involving patients with confirmed HLA-DRB3*02:02 expression and NY-ESO-1–positive tumors. A personalized workflow will involve isolating CD4 T cells from patients, modifying to express the NY-ESO-1 TCR, expanding them ex vivo and reintroducing them as a therapeutic product.
Additionally, the team is exploring the development of allogeneic TCR-modified CD4 T cell banks from healthy donors, matched by HLA typing. They hope this off-the-shelf approach could accelerate treatment initiation, particularly for patients with rapidly progressing or pediatric cancers.
08 July 2025 | Sydney, Australia – MUFG Pension & Market Services (MPMS) has announced a five-year strategic partnership with Microsoft aimed at accelerating the global adoption of AI-powered solutions across its MUFG Retirement Solutions and MUFG Corporate Markets business divisions.
The long-term agreement is built on a co-investment model, with Microsoft providing expertise, technology and enablement to drive innovation at scale across MPMS operations in Australia, New Zealand, India, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. The partnership reflects a shared commitment to building modern, secure and intelligent financial services that deliver tangible outcomes for superannuation & pension funds and their members, and listed entities and their investors.
“This collaboration with Microsoft is about creating smarter, AI-powered experiences for our clients – while keeping the human experience at the centre. Whether it’s using advanced AI to help a member access their pension or giving listed companies intelligent tools to better engage with shareholders, we’re focused on solutions that remove friction and add value,” said Vivek Bhatia, CEO & Managing Director, MUFG Pension & Market Services.
“The scale and certainty of a five-year strategic partnership allows us to confidently leverage Microsoft’s cutting-edge AI capabilities, modernise rapidly, and deliver innovations across the member and investor journey on behalf of our clients. It also allows us to invest in our people as we create the ‘roles of the future’ to deliver solutions that matter most to our clients.”
“At Microsoft, we believe AI has the potential to redefine every industry – and financial services is no exception,” said Rodrigo Kede Lima, President, Microsoft Asia.
“Our partnership with MUFG Pension & Market Services is a powerful example of how AI can be used responsibly and at scale to deliver meaningful outcomes for people – from simplifying pension access to modernising investor engagement. We’re proud to bring the full strength of Microsoft’s technology and expertise to help MPMS lead with innovation across the markets they serve.”
The partnership will focus on two key areas of transformation, member experience and investor experience:
MPMS will harness Microsoft’s AI technologies to enhance and automate core superannuation processes, to enhance service-levels and member experience overall. This will enable faster, more accurate, and more personalised support during critical life events.
MPMS will deploy AI to streamline investor communications, reduce manual handling, and enable straight-through processing. These will deliver a simpler, more transparent experience for listed companies and their shareholders.
As part of the transformation, MPMS has already begun rolling out Microsoft 365 Copilot and GitHub Copilot to uplift productivity, enhance knowledge management, and embed AI literacy across its workforce. These tools are enabling faster delivery of digital services and smarter ways of working, particularly in frontline and client-facing functions.
All AI and cloud initiatives will be built on Microsoft’s secure-by-design principles to ensure compliance with data governance, privacy, and regulatory requirements across jurisdictions. The roadmap includes joint investment in AI governance frameworks, capability building, and production-grade deployment of agent-based services.
This five-year agreement builds on MPMS’s recent investments in cloud modernisation and positions the organisation to lead the next wave of transformation in superannuation and investor services.
