Author: newsdesk

  • Pakistan has the highest number of Hepatitis C patients in the world

    Pakistan now has the highest rate of Hepatitis C infections, with over 500,000 people getting the disease since 2015, Geo has reported.
    According to Dr. Homie Razavi, an epidemiologist at the Centre for Disease Analysis (CDA) in the United States, Pakistan has the highest global prevalence of Hepatitis C infections, with an estimated 10 million persons affected.

    “Pakistan is now home to the world’s largest population of patients living with Hepatitis C, surpassing even China, India and Nigeria. We have been working for the last two years with various provincial health departments in Pakistan and following detailed research and analysis, we found that around half a million new Hepatitis C infections emerged in Pakistan from 2015 to 2021. The total number of Hepatitis C patients is estimated to be 10 million in Pakistan, the highest in the world,” Dr Razavi told a news briefing in Karachi.

    Suggesting that Pakistan should learn from Egypt which has successfully brought down it’s rate of the potentially fatal virus. In 2015, Egypt had the fourth-highest number of Hepatitis C infections; today, it has the seventeenth-highest number. According to Dr. Razavi, Egypt established a national programme to screen its whole population and treated everyone who tested positive.

  • Arjun Kapoor blasts journalist for stating that Malaika Arora is pregnant with his child

    Arjun Kapoor blasts journalist for stating that Malaika Arora is pregnant with his child

    Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor took to his Instagram handle to slam Malaika Arora’s fake pregnancy news report by media outlet Pinkvilla. The portal reported that Malaika and Arjun Kapoor are expecting their first child together.

    Arjun immediately reacted to the news through their social media handles mentioning Pinkvilla and its journalist Nikita Dalvi, and disregarded the reports.

    Arjun Kapoor drops a cryptic post on fake news about Malaikas pregnancy

    He said, “This is the lowest that you could have gone and you have done it by being casual, insensitive, and absolutely unethical in carrying garbage news. This journalist has been writing such pieces regularly and getting away with it because we tend to ignore these fake gossip articles while they spread across media and become the truth. This is not done. Don’t dare to play with our personal lives.”

    In another post, he wrote, “Karma comes after everyone eventually. You cannot get away with screwing people over your whole life, I don’t care who you are. What goes around, comes around. That’s how it works. Sooner or later the universe will serve you the revenge you deserve.”

    Arjun Kapoor drops a cryptic post on fake news about Malaikas pregnancy

    They have been dating each other for over three years now. The two made it Instagram official a couple of years back in 2019 and do not shy away from posting about each other. Rumours about their wedding have been doing the rounds for quite sometime now.

    Arjun initially dated Malaika’s ex-sister-in-law, Arpita and hence Salman Khan broke all ties with him after he started dating Malaika.

    Earlier this year the Ishaqzaade star slammed a media outlet for comparing his wealth with Malaika.

    Hitting out at the news report, he wrote, “It’s sad & shameful to read a daft headline like this is 2021. Of course, she earns well & has worked for so many years to be in a place not be compared to anyone let alone me.”

  • Teaser of Prince Harry, Meghan Markle’s Netflix docuseries creates controversy

    Teaser of Prince Harry, Meghan Markle’s Netflix docuseries creates controversy

    An emotionally charged trailer of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s forthcoming Netflix documentary series has been released, as Buckingham Palace reels from a racism incident and during a key visit to the US by the Prince and Princess of Wales.

    In the 1 min 12 sec “teaser”, Harry and Meghan share previously unseen intimate photographs, some showing the duchess apparently crying, with one scene showing Harry with his head tilted back as his wife appears to wipe away her tears with both hands.

    Calling the Sussexes ‘unpredictable’, Richard Fitzwilliams said that the trailer’s release was ‘obviously timed to take away from the Wales’ trip to Boston’, adding that Meghan and Harry ‘like control their narrative’.

    In the teaser, an unseen interviewer asks: “Why did you want to make this documentary?” a montage of black and white photographs flashes up. One shows Meghan curled up on a chair, head in hands on the phone and seemingly distressed. Harry says: “No one sees what is happening behind closed doors.”

    The trailer then cuts to a photograph of a stern-looking Kate, with William sitting beside her, and Meghan behind, taken at the Commonwealth Day service before the Sussexes left the UK.

    Further photographs show Meghan sombre in a black hat, taken at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth, and another of a bank of press photographers, as Harry continues: “I had to do everything I could to protect my family.” A picture shows Meghan seated in a car seemingly wiping away tears.

    Meghan tells the interviewer: “When the stakes were this high, doesn’t it make more sense to hear our story from us?”

    Other, happier, personal photographs show Harry playing guitar for his wife, the couple hiking with him holding picked flowers, wading in a stream with their dogs, a pregnant Meghan in silhouette, dancing at their wedding, and sharing a kiss in their kitchen.

    An image of the couple used in the trailer for the documentary.

    In an accompanying statement, Netflix described “Harry & Meghan” as a “never-before-seen look at one of the most discussed couples in history”.

    The timing of the trailer is not the best for Buckingham Palace, which is still dealing with the aftermath of the resignation of Lady Susan Hussey, one of the late Queen’s ladies-in-waiting, after she questioned the charity founder Ngozi Fulani about where she was “really from” at a palace reception. The palace and William, her godson, described the comments as “deeply regrettable” and “unacceptable”.

  • Twitter approves of Abrar-ul-Haq’s new song for PTI

    Twitter approves of Abrar-ul-Haq’s new song for PTI

    Pakistani singer-turned-politician Abrar-ul-Haq has sung a song titled “Hai Haq Hamara Azaadi” for his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

    The song was released by Haq’s YouTube channel on 26 November and has managed to get more than 70,000 views so far.

    The party chief Imran Khan also shared the song on his official Twitter account and said “it’s a great Tarana about Haqeeqi Azadi”.

    He further wrote that only truly free (Azad) nations “fulfill their immense human potential to rise and become Iqbal’s Shaheen.”

    After the release, Twitter couldn’t help but praise the song while some argued that “Kinnay Kinnay jaana PM day ghar would have been a banger”. Here is how people on Twitter are reacting :

    https://twitter.com/iKarachiwala/status/1598261695549345792?s=20&t=SDVwaOX3JCyDwTeIM40lXw

    https://twitter.com/FaryalG07152520/status/1598275141490073600?s=20&t=SDVwaOX3JCyDwTeIM40lXw
  • Sherry Rehman makes it to list of 25 most influential women of 2022

    Sherry Rehman makes it to list of 25 most influential women of 2022

    Federal Minister for Climate Change, Sherry Rehman, has been included in the Financial Times list of ’25 most influential women of 2022′.

    The first minister of Scotland- Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon—one of the article’s writers—termed Sherry Rehman a “negotiator with grit”.

    Describing the climate minister, Ferguson said, “Rehman’s negotiating skills, her pragmatism in navigating the blocks that developed countries put in her way and her campaigning voice were instrumental in the progress on loss and damage at COP27.”

    According to her, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP27, Sherry Rehman gave a powerful account of the devastating floods in Pakistan

    “I have no doubt that Sherry will continue in her campaign for climate justice, for global financial reform and for the vital funds required to secure a future for those parts of Pakistan that will suffer the impact of this year’s floods for a long time to come”, the Scotland minister added.

    Apart from Sherry, the list also includes the women of Iran who “have been denied for too long: dignity, personal bodily autonomy, the freedom to live safely in their own country”. Women in Iran are protesting since September when a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, was snatched off the street by the “morality police” for allegedly failing to wear the hijab correctly. She died in police custody.

    Tennis player Serena Williams, the world’s youngest elected leader Prime Minister (PM) of Finland Sanna Marin, United States (US) Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and others are also on the list.

  • Why are Iranians celebrating their team’s defeat against the US in FIFA World Cup?

    Why are Iranians celebrating their team’s defeat against the US in FIFA World Cup?

    Many Iranians celebrated their country’s defeat in the Fifa World Cup against the US on November 30. The celebrations have left a lot of people perplexed. The reason behind the merrymaking dates back to September.

    Iran has been rocked by protests since more than two months, after the custodial death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the country’s morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code. The people of Iran have refused to support the national football team, as they think the team represents the government.

    A man has been also reported to have been killed in Iran by security forces in northern Iran.

    Mehran Samak, 27, was shot dead after honking his car horn in Bandar Anzali, a city on the Caspian Sea coast, north-west of Tehran.
    According to the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR) Samak “was targeted directly and shot in the head by security forces … following the defeat of the national team against America.”

    Videos shared on Twitter show Iranians dancing on the streets in a rare display of joy after the videos of burning tires and protesting crowds that have emerged from the country in recent months. But the dancing and celebratory honking was also a show of protest as they denounced the football team’s participation in the World Cup at such a tumultuous time.

  • Farhan Saeed reacts to netizen’s demand of ‘Boycotting Tich Button’ because of Feroze Khan

    Farhan Saeed reacts to netizen’s demand of ‘Boycotting Tich Button’ because of Feroze Khan

    Singer-actor Farhan Saeed has reacted to a netizen’s demand of ‘Boycotting Tich Button‘ because of his co-star Feroze Khan.

    The Mere Hamsafar star took to Twitter and shared his two cents about Feroze Khan’s inclusion in the rom-com. 

    Farhan reacts to 'Tich Button' boycott call over Feroze

    A Twitter user while addressing Saeed shared, “I would like to request to you all people. Do not watch this movie Tich Button because it features a ‘wife beater’.” She went on to tag Khan in the said tweet as well. 

    The Suno Chanda star then replied to the tweep and commented, “Well Ayesha, I respect your opinion but before you just put a cross on the hard work of almost 300 people for almost three years, you should know this movie was shot in 2019.” Saeed further shared, “You don’t just cancel the hard work of so many people.”

    Actress Mathira shared her two cents on Farhan’s statement.

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 767a12c5-5490-48ef-badd-d1c563967e42.jpg

    Feroze has been accused of physically abusing his former wife, Syeda Aliza Sultan.

  • Azam Swati turns to Supreme Court for help

    Azam Swati turns to Supreme Court for help

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Azam Swati has approached the Supreme Court (SC) to request the transfer of all cases registered against him in Sindh and Balochistan to Islamabad.

    In a petition to the apex court, Swati has said that Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested him in a false case, adding that multiple cases were registered against him in the country, and he faces a security threat when appearing in various courts.

    The senator also appealed to the court that the “operation of FIRs” registered against him be suspended till his plea is heard.

    In Lahore, PTI leader Dr Yasmin Rashid also filed a petition against Swati’s arrest at the SC registry in the provincial capital, terming it “illegal”. Rashid claimed in her petition that the senator was arrested on political grounds.

    On Sunday, Swati was once again arrested from his farmhouse in Islamabad by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for speaking against senior military officers. Later, on Tuesday, his physical remand was extended for four more days.

  • OGRA hikes LPG price by Rs11.79 per kg for December

    OGRA hikes LPG price by Rs11.79 per kg for December

    The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has increased the prices of Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by Rs11.79 per kilogramme for this month.

    The price of a domestic cylinder (11.8 Kg) has gone up by Rs139 while the price of a commercial cylinder increased by Rs535, according to a notification from OGRA.

    As per the new pricing, the domestic cylinder will now be available at Rs2,548 and the commercial cylinder will be available at Rs9,804.

    LPG Prices OGRA

    The federal government earlier announced to keep the prices of petrol and diesel unchanged for the next 15 days, despite a global reduction in oil prices.

    Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced to keep the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel unchanged for the next 15 days.

    However, Dar announced a reduction of Rs10 per litre in the price of kerosene oil and Rs7 per litre in light diesel.

  • World AIDS Day: PM vows to end stigma attached with HIV

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has shared a message on World AIDS Day, calling the increasing incidence of HIV “deeply worrying”.

    From his twitter, the Premier wrote, “The increasing incidence of HIV & AIDS among the children & adolescents is deeply worrying. I urge the Ministry of Health to focus on awareness about testing, prevention & treatment to fight scourge. On World AIDS Day today, let us all vow to end the stigma attached with HIV.”

    The number of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections is on the rise in the country, particularly in Sindh and Islamabad.

    Sindh government on Monday announced launching a mobile application for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening test.