Superman isn’t just a superhero; he is the superhero. Coming up on nearly a century since his introduction in 1938, he has enjoyed a central place in American popular storytelling. Through comic books, radio programs, TV shows, cartoons, and more than half a dozen major motion pictures, he stands out beyond most comic book heroes, and is the tentpole character for one of the two major superhero universes.
On July 11, the latest telling of the classic story of Superman debuted in theaters. While director James Gunn’s comments about Kal-El’s immigrant status drove much of the pre-release conversation, there is another part of Superman’s story and cultural legacy that is important to mention. Superman has defended all of mankind from evil, both human and superhuman, throughout his various stories. (My personal favorite was his saving of Paris from terrorists threatening a nuclear explosion at the beginning of Superman II.) But despite Superman’s love for all humanity, he is still very much a symbol of “Truth, Justice and the American Way.”
This iconic threefold motto was first used in 1942, four years after the character was first introduced in Action Comics, and at a time when America was also being called on to use our power for good. This motto became so identified with the hero that some viewers recoiled when, in 2006, Frank Langella’s Perry White asked his Daily Planet reporters to find out if Superman still stands for “truth, justice, and all that stuff.”
The somewhat dismissive statement by White was one of many recent attempts to modify or “soften” the classic motto. DC Comics officially changed the motto to “Truth, Justice, and a Better Tomorrow” in 2021, and the lead-up to the debut of the most recent movie included a Superman bobblehead with packaging that proclaimed the hero stands for “truth, justice, and the human way.”
These modifications may be attempting to suggest a more global connectedness and shared universal values. But that overly simplistic and, quite frankly, wishful way of looking at things waters down both the virtue of Superman’s cause and the unique character of the United States.
Indeed, both the United States and Superman represent departures from “the human way.” Human nature, as demonstrated throughout history, has often been to collect power and use it for control and self interest. While it’s easy to take for granted that there are so many liberal democracies in the world today, at our Founding, the idea of a government restraining its power and returning it to citizens was truly revolutionary. Likewise, the idea of an extraterrestrial being using his near limitless power to protect and serve mankind, as opposed to conquering it, is something more rooted in human ideals than human nature. And there is no country more firmly based upon ideals than America.
Not only is Superman a symbol of the country in which Clark Kent was raised, he is a product of it. Had his spaceship not landed in Smallville, Kansas, and had he not been raised with Jonathan and Martha Kent as models for upright behavior and moral values (they themselves believers in the American way), Kal-El’s development and ultimate role would have been very different. In fact, DC Comics provided us with just such a thought experiment with the 2003 Red Son alternate storyline, wherein Kal-El’s spaceship lands in the Soviet Union and he grows up to fight for “Stalin, socialism, and the international expansion of the Warsaw Pact.”
The people writing these new slogans are, in many cases, products of the same America that produced Clark Kent. But they may be too close and too used to the freedom, liberty, and virtue produced by the American experiment, brought forth almost 250 years ago, to realize its truly remarkable nature. The United States, like Superman, represents something born with greatness (the beliefs enshrined in our founding documents in America’s case and the superpowers in Superman’s case), but both must continue to choose to strive for virtue, to use their strengths for good, and to be worthy of the power they enjoy.
Beyond those who find Superman’s patriotism outdated or cringe-worthy, there are others who don’t find it believable. Junot Díaz wrote in the New York Times that he finds versions of an all-powerful superhero who are either mad with power (e.g. Homelander from The Boys) or overly destructive (e.g. Alan Moore’s Watchmen and Miracleman) to be the more credible outcomes if superhuman beings existed. But this is exactly the point. It is more likely that such a being would abuse their power, just as it is more likely that a hegemonic superpower would use its might to conquer. This is, in the end, what makes Superman and the United States so unique, and so linked—each one representative of the best traits of the other.
I imagine Mr. Diaz and I would disagree about historical examples of American use of power, in that I believe our country has acted benevolently more often than not. But I believe we would agree that discussion of how America does use its power is an essential conversation now, as there are some who wish America would act more “as we can” rather than “as we should.”
Cynicism is easy, and deep belief is often mocked, but Superman is meant to make us believe—and Gunn’s Superman does call us to overcome our cynicism (made stark in Clark and Lois’s conversation in the middle of the 2025 movie on the very topic). It’s worth nothing that Superman’s first appearance on the big screen in 1978 came in the midst of a nadir in American pride—due to demoralization from the Vietnam War, rising crime, lack of trust in institutions after the Watergate scandal, and economic and energy crises. Despite these, American audiences were able to look at Christopher Reeve’s Superman and believe in the values and virtues he exuded. Superman demonstrates that we can rise above our nature and our interests for the common good—for Truth, Justice, and the American Way. In Superman Returns, Brandon Routh’s Superman confronts Lois Lane over her Pulitzer Prize-winning column, “Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman.”
“You wrote that the world doesn’t need a savior,” he says. “But every day I hear people crying for one.”
Superman is a symbol, but he’s also a representative of us, of our ability to share a belief in good. And despite the cynicism by those who mock the idea of patriotic pride and America acting as a force for good around the world (from those would say the world doesn’t need America, despite the fact that we hear people cry out for it), a belief in good does not disappear as long as there are those who hold it dear.
In the words of Superman as he says goodbye to Lois at the end of Superman Returns, “I’m always around.”
King Charles makes big decision after peace summit with Prince Harry
King Charles has made a big decision to approve the appointment of rugby legend as Honorary Colonel of Welsh battalion.
According to the British military, “His Majesty King Charles III has approved the appointment of Alun Wyn Jones OBE as Honorary Colonel of 3rd Battalion, The Royal Welsh.”
The former Wales and British and Irish Lions captain is the most capped rugby player in history, with 170 caps for appearances between 2006 and 2023.
Alun Wyn became Wales’ 129th captain when he led the side against Italy in the Six Nations tournament in 2009 and is one of only four players to have been selected on four British and Irish Lions tours, achieving 12 caps between 2009 and 2021.
In his role as Honorary Colonel, Alun Wyn Jones will serve as an ambassador for Wales, inspiring current and future generations of the Royal Welsh with his wealth of experience and leadership credibility.
He takes over the position from Brigadier Russ Wardle OBE DL, the former head of the Army in Wales.
King Charles decision came days after reports his and Prince Harry’s private aides held crucial meeting in London.
An international study found that diets low in fiber may contribute to a higher risk of heart attacks, offering another reason to eat more plants.
Researchers analyzed heart scans from nearly 1,400 people across Europe and Australia and discovered a clear link between low fiber intake and the buildup of dangerous plaques in the arteries. These plaques were more likely to rupture and lead to serious cardiac events. The study was published in the journal Cardiovascular Research and focused on people with existing coronary artery disease.
“Our findings strengthen the importance of cardioprotective dietary recommendations,” the researchers noted in the study’s conclusion. The benefits of fiber were consistent even among those already taking heart medications or cholesterol-lowering drugs.
While fiber has long been associated with improved digestion, reduced inflammation, and better blood sugar control, this study is among the first to directly connect fiber intake to the makeup of arterial plaques. Specifically, people who ate less fiber were more likely to have lipid-rich plaques, which are softer and more prone to rupture than fibrous or calcified plaques. That rupture risk can trigger heart attacks, even in people already on medication, making fiber an important yet often overlooked part of long-term heart care.
A 2025 report from the American College of Cardiology linked plant-based eating patterns to a reduced risk of heart disease and stroke, indicating that other researchers have come to similar conclusions. And a long-term study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that replacing red meat with legumes, nuts, or whole grains significantly lowered the risk of heart-related death, especially in younger adults.
There are several health benefits.
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Fiber-rich diets are tied to reduced inflammation, improved cholesterol control, and more stable blood sugar, all of which can help prevent artery damage over time. Heart-healthy eating patterns such as the Mediterranean and DASH diets emphasize whole grains, vegetables, and legumes not only for weight control but also because they support long-term cardiovascular health.
These findings align with other recent research that shows how dietary changes, even small ones, can lower the risk of chronic illness.
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Karachi/Ottawa, July 19, 2025 – The Canadian Dollar (CAD) is trading at 207.65 Pakistani Rupee (PKR) today, marking a recovery from 206.34 PKR earlier this week, though still below the weekly high of 208.31 PKR and slightly up from 206.98 PKR on June 21, according to open market data.
This uptick in the CAD/PKR exchange rate highlights ongoing volatility driven by global and domestic economic factors affecting both currencies.
CAD to PKR- Latest Updates
Introduction to CAD and PKR
The Canadian Dollar (CAD), symbolized as Can$ or C$, is Canada’s official currency, managed by the Bank of Canada under a floating exchange rate system. Divided into 100 cents, the CAD is a globally significant currency, heavily influenced by Canada’s commodity-based economy, particularly oil and metals, as well as monetary policy and trade dynamics. Its value reflects Canada’s economic stability and global market conditions.
The Pakistani Rupee (PKR), symbolized as ₨ or Rs, is Pakistan’s official currency, overseen by the State Bank of Pakistan through a managed floating exchange rate. Subdivided into 100 paise (though rarely used), the PKR has faced ongoing depreciation pressures due to high inflation, trade deficits, and limited foreign reserves. Introduced in 1948, it serves as Pakistan’s primary medium of exchange and is sensitive to both domestic economic challenges and global financial trends.
Valuation Dynamics
Today’s CAD/PKR rate of 207.65 reflects a rebound from the recent low of 206.34 PKR earlier this week, though it remains below the weekly peak of 208.31 PKR. The CAD’s recovery is likely driven by renewed strength in global oil prices, a key driver of Canada’s export economy, and stable monetary policy from the Bank of Canada. Meanwhile, the PKR continues to face headwinds from Pakistan’s macroeconomic challenges, including inflation rates of 12-15% and constrained foreign exchange reserves.
Key factors influencing the CAD/PKR exchange rate include:
Commodity Prices: Rising oil prices have bolstered the CAD, as Canada’s economy relies heavily on energy exports. This has supported the CAD’s recovery to 207.65 PKR today.
Monetary Policy: The Bank of Canada’s steady interest rate policy continues to underpin CAD stability, while the State Bank of Pakistan’s efforts to curb inflation through tighter policy have had limited success, keeping the PKR under pressure.
Trade and Remittances: With limited direct trade between Canada and Pakistan, remittances from Pakistani expatriates in Canada significantly influence PKR demand. The CAD’s uptick to 207.65 PKR enhances remittance value, benefiting Pakistani households.
Economic Impacts
The CAD’s rise to 207.65 PKR has notable implications for economic interactions between Canada and Pakistan:
Remittances: Pakistani expatriates in Canada benefit from the stronger CAD, as remittances convert to more PKR at 207.65 compared to 206.34 earlier this week. This provides a boost to household incomes in Pakistan, though the gain is modest compared to the weekly high of 208.31 PKR.
Trade and Imports: Pakistani importers of Canadian goods, such as canola oil, wheat, or machinery, face slightly higher costs at 207.65 PKR compared to earlier this week. Conversely, Canadian importers of Pakistani textiles benefit marginally as the PKR weakens slightly.
Travel and Education: Pakistani students and travelers in Canada face increased costs for tuition and living expenses due to the CAD’s strength. The rise from 206.34 to 207.65 PKR adds pressure to budgets, though it’s less severe than at the weekly high of 208.31 PKR.
Inflation and Cost of Living: A stronger CAD contributes to imported inflation in Pakistan, as goods priced in CAD become more expensive. However, Pakistan’s broader inflationary pressures, driven by domestic factors, overshadow this effect.
Outlook
Analysts expect continued fluctuations in the CAD/PKR exchange rate, with the CAD likely to track global oil prices and Canada’s economic indicators, such as inflation and employment data. For the PKR, potential stabilization could depend on increased remittance inflows or progress in securing external financing, such as IMF support, though domestic challenges like inflation and low reserves remain significant hurdles.
Stakeholders, including traders, policymakers, and expatriates, should stay vigilant as the CAD-PKR rate evolves. Its impacts on remittances, trade, and inflation will continue to shape economic ties between Canada and Pakistan.
ARY News provides real-time updates on currency markets and economic trends. Stay tuned for 24/7 coverage.
Saiyaara, starring newcomer Ahaan Panday, has collected Rs 21.25 crore at the domestic box office on day one of it’s theatrical release, the makers announced on Saturday.
The romantic drama, helmed by Mohit Suri and produced by YRF has garnered positive reviews from critics and audiences. It also stars Aneet Padda, who has acted in the web series Big Girls Don’t Cry and the Kajol-starrer film Salaam Venky.
The film released in theatres on Friday. “YRF & Mohit Suri’s Saiyaara has a historic opening for a debutant film with 21.25 crore in India on Day 1,” the production banner said in a statement.
The makers said Saiyaara, which was released in 8,000 screens, is the biggest opening day release ever for a debutant-led film, career-best opening for director Suri, and the highest opening day for a love story.
ALSO READ:‘Saiyaara’: Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta praises YRF’s promotional strategy of Mohit Suri film
“Achieved all this without the actors being opened up to public gaze and without any traditional publicity and marketing approach – so zero interviews, zero city visits, no reels, no influencer content, no visibility. Just the power of strong content marketed to the entire nation,” the statement read.
Google’s John Mueller and Martin Splitt discussed making changes to a web page, observing the SEO effect, and the importance of tracking those changes. There has been long-standing hesitation around making too many SEO changes because of a patent filed years ago about monitoring frequent SEO updates to catch attempts to manipulate search results, so Mueller’s answer to this question is meaningful in the context of what’s considered safe.
Does this mean it’s okay now to keep making changes until the site ranks well? Yes, no, and probably. The issue was discussed on a recent Search Off the Record podcast.
Is It Okay To Make Content Changes For SEO Testing?
The context of the discussion was a hypothetical small business owner who has a website and doesn’t really know much about SEO. The situation is that they want to try something out to see if it will bring more customers.
Martin Splitt set up the discussion as the business owner asking different people for their opinions on how to update a web page but receiving different answers. Splitt then asks whether going ahead and changing the page is safe to do.
Martin asked:
“And I want to try something out. Can I just do that or do I hurt my website when I just try things out?”
Mueller affirmed that it’s okay to get ahead and try things out, commenting that most content management systems (CMS) enable a user to easily make changes to the content.
He responded:
“…for the most part you can just try things out. One of the nice parts about websites is, often, if you’re using a CMS, you can just edit the page and it’s live, and it’s done. It’s not that you have to do some big, elaborate …work to put it live.”
In the old days, Google used to update its index once a month. So SEOs would make their web page changes and then wait for the monthly update to see if those changes had an impact. Nowadays, Google’s index is essentially on a rolling update, responding to new content as it gets indexed and processed, with SERPs being re-ranked in reaction to changes, including user trends where something becomes newsworthy or seasonal (that’s where the freshness algorithm kicks in).
Making changes to a small site that doesn’t have much traffic is an easy thing. Making changes to a website responsible for the livelihood of dozens, scores, or even hundreds of people is a scary thing. So when it comes to testing, you really need to balance the benefits against the possibility that a change might set off a catastrophic chain of events.
Monitoring The SEO Effect
Mueller and Splitt next talked about being prepared to monitor the changes.
Mueller continued his answer:
“It’s very easy to try things out, let it sit for a couple of weeks, see what happens and kind of monitor to see is it doing what you want it to be doing. I guess, at that point, when we talk about monitoring, you probably need to make sure that you have the various things installed so that you actually see what is happening.
Perhaps set up Search Console for your website so that you see the searches that people are doing. And, of course, some way to measure the goal that you want, which could be something perhaps in Analytics or perhaps there’s, I don’t know, some other way that you track in person if you have a physical store, like are people actually coming to my business after seeing my website, because it’s all well and good to do SEO, but if you have no way of understanding has it even changed anything, you don’t even know if you’re on the right track or recognize if something is going wrong.”
Something that Mueller didn’t mention is the impact on user behavior on a web page. Does the updated content make people scroll less? Does it make them click on the wrong thing? Do people bounce out at a specific part of the web page?
That’s the kind of data Google Analytics does not provide because that’s not what it’s for. But you can get that data with a free Microsoft Clarity account. Clarity is a user behavior analytics SaaS app. It shows you where (anonymized) users are on a page and what they do. It’s an incredible window on web page effectiveness.
Martin Splitt responded:
“Yeah, that’s true. Okay, so I need a way of measuring the impact of my changes. I don’t know, if I make a new website version and I have different texts and different images and everything is different, will I immediately see things change in Search Console or will that take some time?”
Mueller responded that the amount of time it takes for changes to show up in Search Console depends on how big the site is and the scale of the changes.
Mueller shared:
“…if you’re talking about something like a homepage, maybe one or two other pages, then probably within a week or two, you should see that reflected in Search. You can search for yourself initially.
That’s not forbidden to search for yourself. It’s not that something will go wrong or anything. Searching for your site and seeing, whatever change that you made, has that been reflected. Things like, if you change the title to include some more information, you can see fairly quickly if that got picked up or not.”
When Website Changes Go Wrong
Martin next talks about what I mentioned earlier: when a change goes wrong. He makes the distinction between a technical change and changes for users. A technical change can be tested on a staging site, which is a sandboxed version of the website that search engines or users don’t see. This is actually a pretty good thing to do before updating WordPress plugins or doing something big like swapping out the template. A staging site enables you to test technical changes to make sure there’s nothing wrong. Giving the staged site a crawl with Screaming Frog to check for broken links or other misconfigurations is a good idea.
Mueller said that changes for SEO can’t be tested on a staged site, which means that whatever changes are made, you have to be prepared for the consequences.
Listen to The Search Off The Record from about the 24 minute mark:
Héctor Bellerín’s summer holidays look a little different from your typical footballer. Rather than pictures from a recent jaunt to Ibiza clubs such as Ushuaia or questionable birthday parties, his Instagram is dominated by books.
Images of paperbacks he’s read are all over his feed, a mix of classics and contemporary novels, with a majority from Spain and South America.
Alana Portero’s celebrated (and Pedro Almodóvar-approved) novels about queer life in 80s Madrid feature on his read pile, alongside the Mexican Juan Rulfo’s classic surrealist novel Pedro Páramo, which inspired a young Gabriel García Márquez to write One Hundred Years of Solitude, and Federico García Lorca’s Gypsy Ballads.
Bellerín, who played for Arsenal for nine years before moving back to his native Spain with Real Betis, talks about literature’s transformative power.
Héctor Bellerín Photograph: H&M
“Literature has become something that has – and I know it’s a cliche – but to me, it has completely changed my life,” he said from a Betis training camp in Portugal.
Bellerín’s love of literature was sparked during the Covid-19 lockdowns, when the young full-back was isolating in his home in St Albans, Hertfordshire. He began reading the novels of Charles Bukowski while he was still playing for Arsenal.
He made his way through Hollywood and Post Office, the American writer’s autobiographical debut, which follows the life of the sardonic anti-hero Henry Chinaski. “I was miserable in quarantine,” said Bellerín. “I didn’t know when football was going to come back. I was even drinking a lot … I had a bit of a tough time. Literature, I’m not gonna say made me survive, but it made my life way easier.”
Some footballers might shy away from sharing their love of reading, especially in a climate when anything outside the football bubble is deemed a “distraction”, but Bellerín has made no secret of his interests beyond sport.
He’s flirted with fashion, and even started his own label. He loves photography, and believes passionately in the power of art to help with mental health. He has been a vocal advocate for sustainability in football, and in 2022 he criticised the lack of media coverage of conflicts in Palestine, Iraq and Yemen compared with Ukraine.
Bellerín grew up in a house of books. His father had a passion for ancient Greece, which inspired Bellerín’s first name. But between the ages of 19 and 26 he read mostly nonfiction (mirroring the habits of many young men).
Bellerín spent 11 years at Arsenal. Photograph: Catherine Ivill/Reuters
Reading was something he did to learn something, rather than for pleasure. “When I read something, it had to have a purpose and then I realised it was the other way around,” he said.
The work of the German-Swiss novelist Hermann Hesse followed Bukowski, but after making his way through 10 books, the Spaniard realised that he’d only read male writers and made a conscious decision to read more women.
He moved on to The Vegetarian by the Nobel prize winner Han Kang, and Naomi Klein’s Doppelganger, while cool, contemporary Spanish writers such as José Luis Sastre, Adrian Daine, Marta Jiménez Serrano, Carolina Yuste and the Granta young writer Cristina Morales dominate his book piles.
Bellerín during an H&M shoot. Photograph: H&M
Sergio C Fanjul, a culture writer at the Spanish daily El País, said the list showed Bellerín was “closely attuned to the pulse of the publishing world”, with writers such as Portero, Leila Guerriero, Marta Jiménez Serrano, Juan Tallon and Alejandro Zambra being some of the “most critically acclaimed writers” of recent years. “I think Bellerín is a reader who doesn’t simply follow mainstream trends,” Fanjul added.
On his Portuguese training trip he’s brought a book of Leslie Jamison essays, Mary Karr’s Art of Memoir, Sara Mesa’s Cara de Pan, Simon Critchley’s What We Think About When We Think About Football and Samanta Schweblin’s Little Eyes, which the Guardian called “ingenious”.
Bellerín playing for Sporting. Photograph: Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images
The footballer gets recommendations from a writing group he attends every Tuesday night in Seville. Made up of students, doctors and engineers, the group has introduced him to the contemporary Spanish literary scene.
“We feed off each other, recommending books and movies. My taste has also changed, because the people I’ve got around me have great taste and give great recommendations, new names and new faces and new ways of writing.”
There’s only one book that’s defeated him.
He tried Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights in the original English before reverting to the Spanish translation, titled Cumbres Borrascosas. “I couldn’t get through that in English,” Bellerín confessed. “I tried it, but couldn’t.”
