Author: newsdesk

  • Kubra Khan hits back at media outlet for misreporting her comments

    Kubra Khan has hit back at a local media news outlet for misreporting her comments about un-following Prime Minister Imran Khan on Twitter. Khan, in an interview, had shared that she unfollowed PM Khan (and Hamza Ali Abbasi) on Twitter because she didn’t want any political updates.

    Read more – ‘Masterstroke’: Celebrities, cricketers jubilant over PM Imran’s Vote of Confidence

    Sharing the misreported news on Twitter, Kubra said: “I am and will always one of the biggest supporters of [PM] Imran Khan.”

    “I don’t need to follow him on “social media” to show my support,” said the actor further, adding: “But thanks for adding the negative connotation?”

    Earlier, during the 2018 General Elections, Kubra had said that if she had the option to vote, “it would be no other than PTI.”

    Meanwhile Kubra follows only four people on Twitter: Vasay Chaudhry, Gohar Rasheed, Iqrar ul Hassan Syed and Fahad Mustafa.

  • Riz Ahmed’s family has the most desi response to his Oscar nomination

    Riz Ahmed’s family has the most desi response to his Oscar nomination

    British-Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed’s family reacted to his historic Oscar nod in the most desi fashion ever.

    In a social media post Riz revealed that his cousin was unaware of what the Oscars were and was unable to understand why his nomination was such a big deal.

    “My cousin Adnan legit didn’t know what the Oscars were,” wrote Riz on social media. “‘Why all the gas? I won [the] Best Client Engagement Award for the financial quarter’.”

    “Other cousin steps in ‘Na it’s not as big as that, cos he didn’t win anything. It’s more like getting an email from your boss.’ Thanks, boss,” added the actor.

    For the unacquainted, Ahmed bagged the nomination for Best Actor for his performance in Sound of Metal, making him the first Muslim and Pakistani actor to get the nod in the category.

  • Hareem Shah accuses friend of attempting to assassinate her

    Hareem Shah has registered an FIR against her friend at the Golra Sharif Police Station in Islamabad for attempting to assassinate her.

    As per details, the FIR was registered against Hareem’s friend Ayesha, who was accompanied by Bahadur Sher Afridi. The FIR was lodged from Shah’s real name Fiza Hussain.

    According to the FIR, the assassination attempt was made on March 18 at Hareem’s flat.

    “I, resident of E-11 (III) Omni Arcade, came to Islamabad from Karachi for shooting on March 16 and two people Ayesha Naz and Bahadur Sher Afridi forcefully entered my flat on March 18 (Thursday) and started assaulting me as soon as they entered my residence,” stated the FIR.

    Further details on the FIR and arrests are unknown.

    Hareem, who rose to fame through her TikTok video, often makes headlines. In January 2021, a video of Hareem slapping Mufti Abdul Qavi went viral on social media.

    Speaking exclusively to The Current, Hareem had shared that she had gone to visit Mufti Qavi with her friend. During their meeting, the religious leader passed inappropriate comments and was rude to them prompting Shah to slap him. She said that she left his hotel room after slapping him.

    Meanwhile, Shah is all set to foray into the world of acting with a web series on Pakistan’s first Urdu OTT platform – UrduFlix. According to a press release, UrduFlix will be featuring the TikTok star in a never-seen-before avatar in a new Urdu web series.

  • Twitter blunder: PTI dates Lahore Resolution (1940) as a 1947 event in Pakistan Day post

    Twitter blunder: PTI dates Lahore Resolution (1940) as a 1947 event in Pakistan Day post

    In yet another Twitter blunder from political quarters, the official Twitter handle of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday-Tuesday midnight mistakenly dated the Lahore Resolution of 1940 as a 1947 event, which was passed seven years before actual independence.

    “23rd March: Pakistan Resolution Day Back in 1947, our ancestors resolved on this day to lay the foundation of Pakistan. On this day, once again we resolve to save our homeland from corruption and rebuild Pakistan!” read a tweet that was deleted after netizens pointed out the blunder.

    Here’s the new tweet:

    LAHORE RESOLUTION:

    The Lahore Resolution was a formal political statement of declaration of independence of Pakistan adopted by the All-India Muslim League on the occasion of its three-day general session in Lahore from March 22–24, 1940.

    The resolution called for independent states as seen by this statement:

    That geographically contiguous units are demarcated regions which should be constituted, with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in a majority as in the North Western and Eastern Zones of (British) India should be grouped to constitute ‘independent states’ in which the constituent units should be autonomous and sovereign.

    Today marks 81 years since its adoption that was followed by creation of Pakistan seven years later in 1947.

  • Shashi Tharoor warns app claiming to teach users to speak English like him

    Shashi Tharoor warns app claiming to teach users to speak English like him

    Shashi Tharoor has given a warning to an app that claimed that they could teach users to speak fluent English like him. Tharoor, a member of the Indian National Congress, is known for using extensive English vocabulary during his speeches and interviews.

    The politician took to Twitter to clarify that he had no link with the app ‘Blackboard Radio’ and did not endorse it in any way.

    “I will take legal action to stop the misuse of my name and image for commercial purposes,” warned Tharoor in the tweet.

    Members of Parliament in India are legally not permitted to endorse any private companies.

    Meanwhile, the Bangalore-based company removed the politician’s face from the Facebook page but users can still download the app.

  • AstraZeneca may have provided incomplete efficacy data from the latest COVID-19 trials: US NIAID

    AstraZeneca may have provided incomplete efficacy data from the latest COVID-19 trials: US NIAID

    The US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has expressed concerns that British drugmaker may have provided incomplete data of vaccine’s efficiency.

    The speculations increased when several patients developed blood clots after jabs of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. There are rumours that AstraZeneca may have given outdated information from the trials, resulting in an inaccurate view of the efficacy of the vaccine.

    “We urge the company to work with the Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) to review the efficacy data and ensure accuracy by presenting updated as quickly as possible,” said the NIAID, in a statement.

    However, AstraZeneca defended the safety of the vaccine shots. The firm stated that the “safety of the vaccine has been extensively studied in Phase III of the clinical trials and peer-reviewed data confirms the vaccine has been generally well-tolerated.”

    Meanwhile, several European and Scandinavian states like Denmark, Norway and Iceland temporarily suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine after fears of developing post-jab blood clots. Later, they resumed AstraZeneca vaccinations after The European Medicines Agency (EMA) rebutted the assumption by stating that there “no chances of developing blood clots after using AstraZeneca vaccination.”

    In September 2020, AstraZeneca had suspended global trials of its experimental coronavirus vaccine after an unexplained illness in a participant in Britain.

    The vaccine had been described by the World Health Organization as probably the world’s leading candidate and the furthest developed.

  • ‘Too-weak-to-fight-establishment Zardari’ has also apologised to Maryam, Rana Sanaullah claims

    ‘Too-weak-to-fight-establishment Zardari’ has also apologised to Maryam, Rana Sanaullah claims

    Punjab president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Rana Sanaullah, has revealed that confusion prevails among ranks of the joint opposition ever since Asif Ali Zardari, co-chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) — also a member of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), said he is weak and cannot fight the establishment on his own.

    The PML-N leader, speaking to Geo News’ programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath, said he was unable to understand what the former president meant by that statement.

    Sanaullah said the joint opposition had decided that office of the leader of opposition in Senate would be set aside for the PML-N but the PPP kept saying it deserved to appoint him or her from within their ranks.

    “During Zardari’s speech, someone came inside [his room] and said that there is chaos outside. After that, Zardari changed his stance,” he said.

    Following the disturbance, according to Sanaullah, Zardari said he is weak and cannot fight the establishment on his own. “I have only one son, and no one else.”

    Sana also said PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz was upset over some words of the former president’s speech, adding that the PPP co-chairman even apologised to Maryam Nawaz for it.

    The PML-N leader was talking about the key PDM meeting from last week during which opposition parties were unable to achieve a breakthrough on the issue of resignations from the parliament before the long march as the PPP remained the only party reluctant to resign.

    Following the meeting, rumours of the PPP backstabbing the joint opposition went rife, as they remained at crossroads over the appointment of the Upper House’s Opp leader.

    “It was not my intention to hurt your feelings,” Zardari said to Maryam after the meeting during which Zardari had spoken at length to PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif via videoconferencing and urged him to return to Pakistan if he was ready to wage a war against the government.

    Maryam and Bilawal have reportedly since been trading barbs.

  • Fake COVID-19 reports, vaccines being sold on darkweb

    Fake COVID-19 reports, vaccines being sold on darkweb

    Anonymous traders are selling fake COVID-19 negative test reports, vaccines and vaccine passports on the darkweb.

    According to reports, the price for vaccine shots ranges between $500 to $750 for AstraZeneca, Sputnik, Singopharm and Johson & Johson.

    The vaccines advertised include the Oxford-AstraZeneca at $500, Johnson & Johnson and Sputnik each at $600 and Sinopharm at $750.

    Moreover, fake vaccination certificates are being sold by traders on the for as little as $150.

    The vaccine-related advertisements have tripped after January. One seller offers next-day delivery, saying, “For overnight delivery/emergency leave us a message.”

    Another advert on a hacking forum is offering fake negative tests and reads, “We do negative COVID tests, for travellers abroad, for getting a job etc. Buy two negative tests and get the third for free!”

    Sellers of vaccines appear to be from the US, Spain, Germany, France and Russia. Multiple adverts in Russian Cyrillic text as well as in English were discovered.

    The mode of payment used for a transaction between buyers and sellers is through cryptocurrency.

  • Manchester City of English Premier League launches cryptocurrency for fans

    Manchester City of English Premier League launches cryptocurrency for fans

    Amid the record high performance of cryptocurrencies in the financial market, Manchester City of the English Premier League has launched their own “$CITY-crypto” token in the market.

    The English club and Socios.com partnered to launch the cryptocurrency that offers fans the option to claim huge club promotions, rewards, AR-enabled features, and other exciting stuff.

    The football club has partnered with a digital entertainment company ‘Animoca’ to develop and circulate blockchain games for the fans. These will be the first-ever digital assets created for Manchester City.

    The $CITY token can be traded like any other cryptocurrency and redeemed for goods and services available across the global crypto-market.

    Moreover, football clubs of Italy, Juventus and AC Milan, Spain’s Barcelona and France’s Paris Saint-Germain have all put out tokens through the company before, which is run by a Maltese group called Chiliz.

  • UN honours PIA official who went viral for soothing baby during flight

    A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) official, Touheed Daudpota, who went viral for soothing a restless baby on-flight has been honoured by the United Nations (UN).

    Sharing the news on social media, PIA said that Daudpota was declared the ‘He for She’ champion by the UN Women Pakistan for “displaying empathy, gender sensitivity, respect and care to a woman passenger, upholding long traditions of ‘Great People To Fly With’.”

    A senior flight attendant, Daudpota was praised on social media after photos of him helping an exhausted mother calming her crying baby during a flight went viral.

    Touheed, the cabin crew manager on board, held the baby in his arms and walked to make the baby fall asleep.

    This act of the PIA staffer won hearts of many people as the national flag carrier’s flight was moving towards Karachi from Islamabad.