Category: Lifestyle

The lifestyle of millennials is underreported in our mainstream media. The Current’s lifestyle news covers social events and issues that are unique.

  • Tehreek-e-Labaik mob dig up Ahmadi grave in Sheikhupura

    Tehreek-e-Labaik mob dig up Ahmadi grave in Sheikhupura

    In a viral video that emerged on social media, a frenzied mob can be seen exhuming an Ahmadi from his grave, boasting to have done a sacred act while Ahmadis were seen helplessly sitting across the graveyard covering their faces.

    The video has been widely shared and garnered reactions from people all across social media.

    Filmmaker and activist Ali Raza shared the video and said, “Reports coming in that Maulvis in Sheikhupura dug out an Ahmadi grave and destroyed the tombstone. These are same poor people who we help through charity, who comes to the world that Allah is putting them through a test and we feel for them and now we know why!”

    Mona Farooq Ahmed suggested, “State needs to act & rectify, before reaching a point when rectification is impossible.”

    Journalist Kalbe Ali questioned: “Whats the difference btween extremist Right wing RSS type hindus , Zionist /settler Israelis and these Muslims in Pakistan who are vandalising grave of someone Ahmadi of faith.

    TV anchor Rabia Anum shared her thoughts on X, “We can never claim to be better than israelis, some of us are worse than them infact whenever and wherever we get a chance. Whether it’s desecrating graves, mistreating our servants, beating up our spouses OR putting people behind bars because they have different political views. We are not better.”

    Author and Lawyer Yasser Latif Hamdani posted, “While everyone plays election election this is what you are doing to Ahmadis in Pakistan. “Ghairatmand Muslims” attacking dead bodies now. The 2nd Amendment to the Constitution is a crime against humanity. This is what it has led to.”

    A netizen Ali Kazmi tweeted, “Pathetic act of cowardice … Our prophet never imparted any such teachings and neither did his disciples.”

  • Viva Espana; Spain refuses to cut aid for Gaza

    Viva Espana; Spain refuses to cut aid for Gaza

    The Spanish foreign minister has announced that Spain will maintain its support for The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza despite USA, Canada and Australia withdrawing its support and funding, reports Alyssa Mcmurty News Agency.

    During a parliamentary commission meeting, Jose Manuel Albares called the UN agency “‘indispensable,” and said the funding helps “alleviate the terrible humanitarian situation in Gaza.”

    His announcement comes after a growing number of Western nations are freezing funding for the agency amid an internal investigation about some employees’ roles in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel after allegations were made by Israel.

    Around a dozen nations, including the United States, Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Japan Australia, and Austria, have suspended funding. Meanwhile, a minority of Western nations like Ireland, Norway, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Belgium, Kuwait, and Qatar have spoken out against the funding cuts.

    On Monday, Spain’s foreign minister said Spain will be following the agency’s internal investigation closely, but highlighted the inquiry is looking at the acts of “around a dozen people out of UNRWA’s 30,000 workers.”

    On Sunday, the UN agency released a statement saying its “life-saving aid may end” due to the funding freezes, adding that as the primary aid agency in Gaza, it runs shelters for over 1 million people and provides food and healthcare.

    UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese has said that governments suspending funds to the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) represents “double standards” when they continue to support Israel, whose actions “plausibly constitute” genocide.

    We are shocked by the reckless decision to cut a lifeline for an entire population by some of the very countries that had called for aid in Gaza to be stepped up and for humanitarians to be protected while doing their job,” the 21 NGOs said in a statement.

    Spain’s junior coalition party Sumar posted on X that the decision to cut aid is “an attack against humanity” and “collective punishment.” It added that it will pressure the Spanish government to boost funding for the organization.

    Meanwhile, Albares added that Spain has tripled its funding to Palestine in recent months to around €50 million ($54 million), which includes funding for UNWRA.

    The Spanish foreign minister also told politicians that Spain supports Friday’s ruling of the top UN court which calls on Israel to prevent genocide. “We urge the integral compliance with this sentence by all parties. We request an urgent cease-fire and the entrance of humanitarian aid,” he added.

    Albares warned that the violence in Israel and Palestine could spill over to neighboring nations, which could have “devastating effects for those countries, and the entire Mediterranean region, which, of course, includes Spain.”

    The Spanish government continues pushing for an international peace conference, which would, in effect, see the entire international community recognizing a “viable” Palestinian state. Albares said that 88 nations now back the idea.

    “We will not resign ourselves to watching more innocent women, men, and children killed in Gaza and more suffering of Palestinian families,” he said. “We will not resign ourselves to keep watching the suffering of the families of hostages. The violence must stop.”

  • Woman arrested for smuggling 130 poisonous frogs

    Woman arrested for smuggling 130 poisonous frogs

    BOGOTA: Authorities in Colombia seized 130 poisonous frogs being trafficked through the Bogota airport on Monday and arrested the Brazilian woman carrying them.

    The woman was transporting the colorful harlequin poison frogs (oophaga histrionica) inside film containers while travelling to Sao Paulo with a stopover in Panama.

    She “claimed that a local community had given them as a gift,” Bogota Environment Secretary Adriana Soto said in a video shared with media.

    Harlequin frogs are venomous, measure less than five centimetres (two inches) and live in damp forests along the Pacific coast between Ecuador and Colombia, as well as in other countries in Central and South America.

    “This endangered species is sought after in international markets,” said Bogota Police Commander Juan Carlos Arevalo, adding that private collectors might pay up to $1,000 for each.

    The police reported that the woman carrying the frogs was arrested “for the crime of wildlife tracking” before being handed over to the prosecutor’s office.

    Animal trafficking is common in Colombia — one of the most biodiverse countries in the world — especially of amphibians, small mammals and marine animal parts, such as those of sharks.

  • 103-year-old man in India marries for third time to a woman half his age

    A 103-year-old man from Bhopal, India, has gone viral after marrying a woman almost half his age.

    Habib Nazar tied the knot with 49-year-old Firoz Jahan in a ceremony in the Itwara region of Bhopal, reported India Today.

    The wedding came to light after a video of them returning back to their home in an autorickshaw circulated on social media, almost an year after the wedding.

    Mr Nazar’s second wife passed away, prompting him to get married for a third time as he felt lonely.

    Speaking to reporters, Mr Nazar said: “I’m 103 years old, and my wife is 49. I got married for the first time in Nashik.

    “After she passed away, I went to Lucknow to tie the knot again. My second wife also left for the other world. I was feeling lonely. So I married again.”

    The couple have been married since last year, but it wasn’t until January this year that their wedding went viral. In the video clip, Mr Nazar and his wife can be seen returning home after the marriage ceremony.

    In the video, a person behind the camera is heard congratulating the couple while Habib is seen saying: “Kisi cheez ki kami nahi hai. Kami hamare dilon mein hai”, which translates to “I don’t feel a shortage of anything. I only feel loneliness”.

    NDTV reports Mr Nazar’s first marriage was held in Maharashtra’s Nashik and his second marriage was held in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow.

    As for Ms Jahan, this is her second marriage after her first husband passed away. She reportedly agreed to the marriage with Mr Nazar as he has no one else to take care of him.

    On her decision to marry Mr Nazar, Ms Jahan said: “My husband is absolutely fine and has no medical issues”.

  • Indian court allows Hindus to pray inside disputed mosque

    Indian court allows Hindus to pray inside disputed mosque

    An Indian court weighed in on one of the country’s most sensitive religious disputes Wednesday by permitting Hindu worshippers to pray inside a mosque in the city of Varanasi.

    The Gyanvapi mosque is one of several Islamic houses of worship that Hindu activists, backed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, have sought for decades to reclaim for their religion.

    It was built in the 17th century by the Mughal empire in a city where Hindu faithful from across the country cremate their loved ones by the Ganges river.

    The court in Varanasi ruled that Hindu worshippers — who believe the mosque replaced a destroyed temple to the deity Shiva — could pray in the building’s basement.

    Its verdict ordered district authorities to “make proper arrangements within the next seven days” to facilitate worshippers.

    The decision is the latest in a long-running legal saga over Gyanvapi’s future.

    This month, India’s official archaeological agency said a survey of the site appeared to corroborate the belief that it was originally home to a temple, according to local news reports.

    Emboldened right-wing Hindu groups have laid claim to several Muslim sites of worship they say were built atop ancient temples during Mughal rule.

    Last week, Modi presided over a grand inauguration ceremony in the nearby city of Ayodhya for a Hindu temple built on grounds once home to the centuries-old Babri mosque.

    Hindu zealots had torn down that mosque in 1992 in a campaign spearheaded by members of Modi’s party, sparking sectarian riots that killed 2,000 people nationwide, most of them Muslims.

    The decades-long court battle that ensued over the future of the Babri site ended in 2019 when India’s top court permitted the construction of a temple to the deity Ram, who according to Hindu scripture was born in the city.

    Members of Modi’s party routinely refer to India’s history of Muslim rule under the Mughal emperors as a time of “slavery”.

    The prime minister described last week’s opening of the temple as “the advent of a new era”.

    Calls for India to enshrine Hindu supremacy have rapidly grown louder since Modi took office in 2014, making its roughly 210-million-strong Muslim minority increasingly anxious about their future.

  • ASI suspended for assaulting foreign tourists in Sadiqabad

    ASI suspended for assaulting foreign tourists in Sadiqabad

    Update: The DPO in Sadiqabad issued an order for departmental action while suspending the ASI for misbehaving with a foreign cyclist.

    Explaining the incident, DPO Rahim Yar Khan Rizwan Omar Gondal said that 3 foreign cyclists entered Sadiqabad from Rahim Yar Khan limits from Sindh on Saturday and they were provided security as per SOP.

    The cyclists were adamant that no security should be provided to them, upon which the fight took place, says the DPO.

    According to the police spokesperson, the foreign cyclist sprayed the ASI in anger, on which the ASI slapped the foreign tourist.

    Moreover, departmental action is being taken against the concerned police official by suspending him for inappropriate behavior.

    Previously, it was reported three foreign tourists cycling in the Sadiqabad area of South Punjab have raised serious allegations of assault and sexual harassment against the Punjab police. They claim to have entered their jurisdictions on January 25.

    A video of the attack on the tourists surfaced on Saturday where a policeman was seen using foul language and snatching the camera from the one documenting it. It was one of many alleged assaults that the cycling tourists, namely Alex Sidney of Italy, Charlie West of the UK, and Motahhareh Abbasi of Iran, had been facing since they entered Punjab. They have always been having a Punjab police escort supposed to ensure their security but the police allegedly attacked them.

    Dawn talked to the tourists and the details narrated by them included horrific details of abuse and being manhandled brutally by a policeman, earlier identified as ASI Liaqat. Alex said the situation escalated as the officers reportedly grabbed him by the hair and subjected him to physical abuse.

    Regarding the version of police, the tourists were stopped from going to Kashmore, Sindh, an unsafe area, when the confrontation happened. However, Alex said they were not going towards Kashmore but Lahore. He said they had cycled in Sindh, mostly escorted by police, but did not face any such incident there. In Punjab, he claimed, they had taken the same route as was told by police. According to him, it was not the first assault by police. “We entered Punjab on January 25 and started having assaults and harassment from January 26. In earlier assaults, we were hit by police vehicles and motorcycles as they continued telling us that we were going the wrong way. We told them that we were going to a hotel on the national highway. They would try to knock us down.”
    Motahhareh said the policemen in Punjab would drive their vehicles or ride motorcycles very close to her, sometimes making her get off the road. “On January 26, I fell down and got injured when a policeman stopped his motorcycle suddenly in front of her. And it was quite deliberate. I fell down and injured my leg while my heavy bags fell on me.” Motahhareh later got medical treatment for her leg.

    About this alleged assault, Alex said they went to Ahmedpur Lamma Police Station and asked the policeman on the desk to register a complaint, but he refused to do so, asking them to take help from social media.

    Motahhareh also raised serious allegations of sexual harassment against police in Pakistan. “Many times, they asked me for my WhatsApp number and kept on insisting. When I asked them the reason, they would start insulting me. At the start I gave my phone number to some of them and they started asking for pictures and sending creepy messages. For the last one month, I have been receiving creepy messages from Pakistani policemen.” She alleged that policemen from all three provinces they travelled in harassed her and the situation was worse in Punjab.

    A policeman in Punjab held her hand forcibly for many minutes, said Alex. When asked whether there was a language barrier between the policemen and the tourists, Alex said some of the policemen spoke good English. “Whenever we stopped at some point to have a break, they would continue telling us it’s not safe here and it would be safe after a few kilometers. In fact, they wanted us to go out of their jurisdictions quickly but the next escort would do the same, telling us lies about the route as well.”

    Alex said they felt safer without police as the common Pakistanis were very good and hospitable towards them and added that many times in Sindh, they did not have police escort and it was very safe.

    Alex said they were staying in Sadiqabad near the site where they were assaulted by police as Motahhareh’s leg was recovering, rejecting the earlier police report that they had left the area for Lahore. He said he wanted to cycle through Punjab and meet the people who are very good. He said they felt safe when they were on their own without police and were in fact more in danger in presence of their escort, which ironically was there to protect them.
    Charlie West wanted to cycle separately towards Lahore as he rides it fast but the situation is unclear now.

    Police in Rahim Yar Khan and Sadiqabad have not provided their official version. However, Dawn’s sources in Rahim Yar Khan police said the tourists had left Sadiqabad hotel they were staying in on Saturday and now they were staying at a restaurant along a filling station in the middle of Sadiqabad and Rahim Yar Khan. The sources denied the allegations of assault but insisted that police escort was there for the tourists’ security.

    Alex started his travel on bicycle from Italy in 2022 and cycled through Europe during the last two years. He was joined by Mohtahhare in Tehran when he was travelling towards Pakistan. They entered Pakistan from the Balochistan-Iran border and cycled through Balochistan and Sindh. In Karachi, they were joined by Charlie West who landed in Karachi from the UK.

  • Late winters turn northern areas into snowland

    Late winters turn northern areas into snowland

    As late winter tightens its grip on the northern parts of the country, Naran, Kaghan, Shogran, and Murree, are transforming into winter wonderlands. The recent snowfall has not only captivated tourists but also prompted local authorities to ensure the safety and comfort of visitors.

    In Naran, Kaghan, and Shogran, heavy snowfall has persisted for the third consecutive day, with Babusar Top expected to remain under its winter coat until the coming Sunday, according to Kaghan Development Authority (KDA) official Mozam Ali.

    Notable snowfall accumulations include 1.5 feet in Shogran, 2.5 feet in Naran, 3.5 feet in Babusar, and seven inches in Kaghan.

    The Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad (MNJ) road has been opened up to Rajwal, allowing tourists to explore beyond this point. To assist both tourists and locals, the KDA has established a tourist facilitation center at Balakot.

    The typical winter pattern in these areas involves initial rains in the last 10 to 15 days of November, followed by snowfall in December.

    However, climate change has disrupted the pattern, resulting in a lack of rain and snow. This deviation has significantly decreased tourist activity in the region, causing concern among those involved in the sector.

    Meanwhile, in the popular hill station of Murree, the Rawalpindi Waste Management Company (RWMC) has proactively initiated snow clearing and garbage removal operations following the season’s first snowfall.

    The efforts of the RWMC have allowed motorists to move easily in and around Murree, ensuring normal traffic flow.

    RWMC CEO Rana Sajid Safdar’s instructions to deploy additional workers during the snow season have proven effective in maintaining cleanliness despite the influx of visitors.

    The Murree district administration, under the directives of Deputy Commissioner Zaheer Abbas Sherazi, has finalized arrangements for the snowfall season.
    Tourists are being provided with weather updates and travel advisories at all entry points, with a special control room set up to facilitate inquiries and assistance.

    The district administration advises tourists to take necessary precautions, follow traffic rules, and stay informed about weather conditions before traveling to Murree.

    Strict actions are being taken against parking rules violators to ensure the smooth flow of traffic. In case of difficulties, tourists can seek assistance from dedicated tourist facilitation centers and the 24/7 operational control room.

  • Israeli forces disguised as doctors kill three in West Bank hospital

    Israeli forces disguised as doctors kill three in West Bank hospital

    Israeli forces disguised as doctors, nurses, and paramedical staff burst into a hospital in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday and shot three Palestinians dead, one of whom was lying paralysed in bed.

    A border police counter-terrorism unit and a unit from the internal security forces, known as the Shin Bet, entered Ibn Sina hospital on the outskirts of the city’s refugee camp early Tuesday, CCTV footage of the aftermath of the operation showed.

    The shooting was carried by undercover operatives while the men were sleeping at the hospital, according to the statements issued by the Palestinian Ministry of Health and the Israeli army.

    The Israeli military identified one of the men killed as Mohammad Jalamneh, aged 27, who it claimed was planning an imminent attack and had been transferring weapons and ammunition to other members, Al Jazeera reported.

    The two other men killed, brothers Basil Ayman Al-Ghazzawi and Mohammad Ghazzawi, were hiding inside the hospital and were involved in attacks, the military alleged. “A gun was found on a wanted person, which was confiscated by the forces.”

    CCTV footage from the hospital showed a group of about 10 people, dressed in civilian clothes, pacing through a corridor, armed with assault rifles and moving into the hospital.

    The hospital’s director, Dr Naji Nazzal, said the Israeli team had entered the hospital at around 5:30 am and made its way stealthily to the third floor, ringing the bell to enter the ward where the men were sleeping.

    “They executed the three men as they slept in the room,” he told Reuters.

    Hours later, a bloodied blue hospital pillow pierced by a bullet remained on a bed, while a folding bed nearby was also stained with blood, apparently from a shot to the head.

    Targeted attacks

    Dr Nazzal said Mr Basil had been receiving treatment since October 25 for a spinal injury which had paralysed him.

    According to the medical staff, one of the three Palestinians killed in the hospital was being treated for an injury received during a previous army raid months ago, Al Jazeera reported.

    “The Israeli army often surrounds and in some instances has attacked the three Palestinian hospitals in Jenin during nightly raids on the city,” he said.
    “But this is the first time they have entered a civilian medical facility in what seems to have been a well-planned, targeted assassination operation that Palestinian authorities are calling another violation of international law,” he said, adding that there were no attempts to arrest these men.

  • Man burnt ex-girlfriend alive in town square

    Man burnt ex-girlfriend alive in town square

    A Venezuelan man accused of burning his ex-girlfriend alive in a town square in Peru last year has been extradited to Lima, authorities said Tuesday.

    Sergio Tarache Parra stands accused of dousing 18-year-old Katherine Gomez with gasoline and setting her alight on a central square in the Peruvian capital in March 2023.

    She had broken up with him days earlier.

    Tarache was tracked down and arrested in Colombia the following month.

    Security cameras captured Gomez’s attacker fleeing the scene of the crime, and Peruvian police offered a reward equivalent to $12,500 for information leading to his capture.

    Gomez was admitted to hospital with burns to 60 percent of her body and died after six days of agony in a case that shocked Peruvians.

    Prosecutors are requesting life in prison for Tarache.

    The country has one of the region’s highest femicide tallies in absolute numbers, according to the UN’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, though not one of the highest rates per 100,000 people.

    In a crime similar to the one that claimed Gomez, a man boarded a bus in Lima in 2018, poured gasoline on his ex-girlfriend Eva Agreda, and set her alight. She died days later.

  • Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to provide e-textbooks to students in future

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to provide e-textbooks to students in future

    The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has approved the recommendations of the reform committee regarding textbook size and the format in which they will be provided to students in the future, reports Geo.

    According to the official announcement, the heads of government schools will collect the old books from the students and will encourage them to keep the books in good condition. It also said that 100 per cent of new books will be published for nursery to third class, 80 per cent new books will be published for fourth and fifth class and 20 per cent old books will be used.

    Similarly, 50 per cent new books will be published for sixth to twelfth standard while 50 per cent old books will be given to students of sixth to twelfth standard.

    The declaration also stated that the size of government textbooks will be reduced up to 8th grade in the year 2025-26 and the size of textbooks will be reduced without changing the syllabus.

    The reform committee has suggested to use soft copies of books on mobile phones and laptops of students in the year 2025-26.

    Previously, it was decided that to cope with the financial crunch in the country, the size of textbooks will be reduced and half of schoolchildren will be given old course books hoping this will save over three billion rupees for printing books.

    To read more: Financial crunch in KP: Textbook size to be cut down