Britain’s Queen Elizabeth was photographed riding a 14-year-old Fell pony in Windsor Home Park as the country eases lockdown to control the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The Queen has been living at Windsor Castle, west of London, during the lockdown with her 98-year-old husband Prince Philip.
As per reports, Windsor is said to be the Queen’s favourite royal residence and the 94-year-old regularly rides in the grounds of Windsor.
She has issued several rallying messages to the nation from there, including televised addresses that have been a rarity during her 68-year reign.
The last public picture of the Queen was taken as she was driven away from Buckingham Palace to her Windsor Castle home.
The Queen leaving Buckingham Palace for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic
274,762 cases have been reported in the UK so far and a lockdown has been imposed to curb the virus spread.
Waqar Younis has urged all-rounder Shahid Afridi and cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir to end their social media war and has called for India and Pakistan to resume playing cricket.
After being fierce on-field rivals, Pakistan’s Afridi and former Indian opener Gambhir have often been involved in heated social media exchanges over the troubled Kashmir region. Gambhir is now a lawmaker in the Indian parliament, while Afridi has his own foundation and is a vocal activist.
According to AFP, Waqar advised the pair to “calm down” in an online chat show.
“The banter between Gautam Gambhir and Shahid Afridi has been going on for a while now. I think they both got to be smart, sensible, and calm down,” said Waqar.
“It has been going on for way too long. My advice to them is to maybe catch up somewhere around the world and talk it out if you cannot really calm it down.”
India and Pakistan have not played a series since 2012-2013 and have hit a new peak in tensions over Kashmir, which they have fought over since their independence in 1947.
Waqar, 48, said a cricket series would boost relations between the arch-rival neighbours.
“I think that it would be the biggest hit of the world,” said Waqar. “I think Pakistan [and] India should play and should play on a regular basis to avoid depriving cricket lovers.”
Earlier, Shoaib Akhtar had also proposed a three-match Indo-Pak series to raise funds to help the governments of India and Pakistan fight the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
The murder of a black man George Floyd, allegedly by a police officer, in Minneapolis has sparked protests and outrage all over the world. While in the United States, people are taking to the streets to protest, in other parts of the world people are expressing their anger on social media. Celebrities and prominent personalities across the world are also raising their voice on the matter.
Among those celebrities in Pakistan who raised their voice was Zara Noor Abbas who said that “racism is a war. Not a threat to humanity”.
“It’s a war that we have to fight against so much so that we have to re-invent, re-grow, re-think every thought and idea about classism. Differences. Sexism. Everything,” she wrote.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CA4ovechb6H/
Under Zara’s post, a social media user called her out for promoting a fairness product. In response, Zara commented that the products she endorses do not “promote killing or racism”.
“Stop making this out of context when it is not the agenda,” she remarked.
Celebrities across the border are facing similar flak for promoting fairness products. Social media users have called Priyanka Chopra and Disha Patani “hypocrites” for condemning the murder of Floyd on one hand and promoting fairness creams on the other.
A summary forwarded to Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar by Primary & Secondary Health Secretary Captain (r) Usman last month estimated that there could be 670,000 cases of the new coronavirus — COVID-19 — in Lahore alone.
The summary was forwarded to Buzdar on May 15, Geo quoted the secretary as saying, and reported that it contained results of samples collected from hotspots, residences and offices in Lahore.
As per the summary, 6 per cent of the total samples collected, tested positive for COVID-19. In some towns, the percentage of positive cases went up to 14.7 per cent. The report said that there wasn’t a single area in Lahore where the infection had not reached.
Members of the Technical Working Group — formed to ascertain the number of coronavirus affected persons in the city — have recommended imposing a complete lockdown for four weeks and quarantining persons aged above 50 years. The group has also advised the government to declare it essential for people to stay inside their homes.
Lockdown restrictions have, however, only been eased since before Eidul Fitr last month.
Amid soaring cases, the Punjab government has decided to further ease lockdown restrictions that were imposed to contain the outbreak. Buzdar last week chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Anti-Coronavirus Measures, wherein it was agreed that recommendations for the opening of the different departments and institutions, according to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) defined by the government, would be forwarded to the federal government.
In the meeting, Buzdar said that a request would be made to the federal government to provide 1,500 ventilators. He added the instructions of the federal government regarding opening of restaurants, cafes etc, would be followed by the provincial government.
The Cabinet Committee allowed the Punjab Public Service Commission to conduct interviews of one thousand lady doctors. It was also decided in the meeting that the Drug Regulatory Authority Of Pakistan (DRAP) would be approached for permission to prepare ventilators and respirators at the local level.
It was decided the National Command and Operation Centre ( NCOC ) would take final decision to reopen the parks’ proposal, new working hours for the commercial enterprises and two-day holidays.
While the accused have filed for pre-arrest bails, Uzma Khan has issued a statement condemning “all sort of character assassination and personal attacks on myself and anyone involved in this case, even those nominated in the FIR”.
Uzma said that her fight is legal and the “blatant maligning and mud slinging is only reflective of our society’s deep-rooted misogyny and patriarchy”.
“It is also an attempt to make me withdraw from the case,” she said, adding that she will continue to fight for justice.
The actor further said that she is “totally shattered. Probably beyond repair”, but begged her followers to “not make this a fight of women attacking other women”.
“It is in fact a symbolic reflection of how women are categorically taught to malign and blame solely other women rather than also hold men accountable.”
“This is a fight of mighty powerful against the weak and vulnerable,” she said, requesting everyone to her support her till she lasts.
Earlier, Uzma’s lawyers Khadija Siddiqui and Hassaan Khan Niazi had also urged everyone to refrain from character assassination.
Plz keep this #UzmaCase legal. It’s humble request don’t attack any female’s character. Putting videos pictures of females who have families and futures. Let’s keep this debate legal. I condemn personal attacks on Both the complainant and accused of the case.
Niazi also shared that the accused have applied for a pre-arrest bail and clarified that there has been no settlement between the two parties.
In Naya Pakistan… no one is above the Law. Although police had multiple opportunities to arrest them. However, bail is the right of accused. We will contest this bail with prayers of people of Pakistan #uzmakhanpic.twitter.com/RpQm3qY1iH
Thank you for the support. And I promise you there has been no deal dheeel or anything with my clients and malik riaz. Middle people panicking Bcz they are looking for money. This is a cause. Not a casino people. We want justice #womenRights#UzmaKhan
On May 23 (Chaand Raat) Malik Riaz’s daughters – Amber and Pashmina – along with Usman’s wife Aamna stormed into Uzma’s house with 12 gunmen where they assaulted and injured Uzma and her sister and threatened to kill them.
They vandalised the house, broke things and even attempted to sexually assault the girls by telling their armed guards to touch them. Moreso, they filmed everything including the women which is a breach of their privacy. The lawyer added that Riaz’s daughters took away all the belongings of the two sisters, including their clothes and shoes and said that they will set them on fire.
Videos of the incident went viral on social media, sparking public outrage. Uzma, in her official statement, named her perpetrators and vowed that she will stand up against their tyranny.
“I have been shamed, blackmailed, harassed, been threatened to kill in the past three days. I feel I have nothing to lose now and I have decided to fight the strongest people of Pakistan. For me, it is either I get justice or I will be killed but there is no turning back now.”
“I will fight against daughters (Amber Malik & Pashmina Malik) of Malik Riaz, who stormed into my house around midnight with 12 men,” she added.
Netflix has started censoring meat for its Indian audiences. Netflix users took to social media to highlight how meat is being censored in Vikings on Netflix India.
Netflix India has censored meat (among quite a few other things) from Vikings. Same scene from India and Italy. pic.twitter.com/NXCE9Kzmh4
People started debating on the issue on Twitter. Some people even turned this into a Hindu-Muslim debate.
Not at all. They’ll glorify in your face scenes about beef eating (incredibly unappetizing to the 80% Hindus in India). The fact that they’ve censored pork is not only insane, but plays on a deep divide by both imposing never before seen censoring and catering to Muslim community
Netflix India did issue a formal explanation when the debate heated up. Netflix is just trying to be respectful towards the Hindu religious sentiments of not eating meat.
However, it is unclear that this censorship was voluntary or demanded by the Indian government. This wouldn’t be the first time India went heavy-handed with censorships demands.
Previously there have been demands for the streaming platform’s original series Sacred Games and Leila to be censored for hurting political sentiments.
Leila on @Netflix is a Hindu Hate series, using Hindu sacred terminology and symbolism to create dystopian propaganda. Would India have allowed such a series attacking Islam?
India censor board blocks much more benign stuff, yet this is allowed? No FIRs for “outraging feelings”?
Just when we thought that the matter of Diriliş: Ertuğrul being aired on national television was settled, it sparks up again. And this time, it is not just the actors who are debating, it is members of the government including Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry and Senator Faisal Javed Khan.
The debate started Fawad Chaudhry commented that he was “surprised” that PTV is taking pride in other countries’ productions and urged the state-owned channel to focus on Pakistani productions.
Surprised on @PTVHomeOfficial taking pride on other countries productions,you guys must focus on Pak productions otherwise foreign dramas ll ruin Pak productions,its always cheap to import foreign dramas but this ll have devastating long term effect on our own programming
When a follower reminded the minister that he had earlier praised the drama series, Chaudhry clarified that he does not have anything against the drama and thinks it is brilliant. Instead, his stance is that foreign dramas must be taxed so that TV channels do not import them in large numbers and negatively affect the local drama industry.
ارطغرل زبردست ڈرامہ ہے میری Tweet میں ارطغرل کا معاملہ ہی نہیں، میری پوزیشن ہمیشہ یہ رہی ہے کہ آپ غیرملکی ڈرامہ چلائیں لیکن اس پر اتنا ٹیکس ضرور ہو کہ ہمارا مقامی ڈرامہ متاثر نہ ہو اگر تمام ٹیوی باہر سے سستے ڈرامے خرید لیں گے تو ہماری تو پوری انڈسٹری بیٹھ جائیگی https://t.co/mDJ1ldGoEA
Following Fawad’s tweet, Senator Faisal Javed Khan explained that “great productions like Ertuğrul will help our industry,” adding that such exchange of content should be bilateral. He further said that the local drama industry needs to work on its substance and content.
1/3 Such great productions like Ertugrul @DirilisDizisi will help our industry. We shld show some amazing work that has already been produced – Presenting Islamic History, Culture, Faith. Also this should be bilateral – exporting our content abroad. It’s a win win trade. Cont.. https://t.co/6sZf4vM2Hi
— Faisal Javed Khan (@FaisalJavedKhan) May 31, 2020
….3/3 Awwww wish we had reacted when rubbish Indian content (low standard dramas, films, songs) was aired across our tv channels, cinema & radio. Our own people promoted “Games of Thrones” here. Why shld we object Ertugrul type content. Even PTV used to air Good English film
— Faisal Javed Khan (@FaisalJavedKhan) May 31, 2020
Soon enough, actors including Ahmed Ali Butt and Vasay Chaudhry stepped in to share their thoughts on the debate. While Butt said that the television industry doesn’t mind foreign content and only wants the government to assist them in production, Fakhr-e-Alam agreed with Fawad’s point of view.
Thank you @fawadchaudhry for boldly stating something the brutal truth. PTV output compared to its cost of running operations makes absolutely NO sense what so ever. This organization must realize it is already obsolete. Govt must not burden tax payer with it. https://t.co/xwZhDCTFNu
Meanwhile, Vasay reminded Khan that the industry had protested against Indian content in the past, adding that the issue is not with the play itself but is instead with “PTV and the laws related to the entertainment business”. Chaudhry urged the lawmaker to resolve the issues regarding the laws which Khan agreed with.
1/1 Just for the record Faisal Sb, we protested against indian dramas always, since the last 10 years or more.Back then twitter or social media n all wasnt that influential but that doesnt mean that the Protest or reactions never happened.
Yes Dear Brother! First we need to being the audience back on PTV as people had forgotten this channel due to poor content & quality. Substance, Content, Quality get you audience. Like all other institutions Our predecessors ruined PTV as well. PTV must revive itself now.
— Faisal Javed Khan (@FaisalJavedKhan) May 31, 2020
Diriliş: Ertuğrul is being aired on the recommendation of Prime Minister Imran Khan. Set in 13th century Anatolia and based on the struggle of Ertuğrul Gazi, father of Osman I – the founder of the Ottoman dynasty, Diriliş: Ertuğrul has been trending in the country ever since its first episode aired on the first of Ramzan. According to PTV, 133.38 million people have watched the drama series from April 25- May 14. PTV’s YouTube channel has also registered an exponential rise in its viewership with 4.75 million subscribers and episodes trending every day on the social media platform.
In an exclusive interview with The Current, Senator Faisal Javed Khan had revealed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had gifted the drama series to Pakistan as a goodwill gesture.
Shahroz Sabzwari and Sadaf Kanwal have announced their marriage on social media, putting all rumours and speculations to rest.
According to details, the couple tied the knot in an intimate ceremony. While Sadaf wore a red outfit – reportedly her mother-in-law’s – with minimal makeup and jewellery, Shahroz donned a plain white shalwar kameez. Shahroz’s parents Behroze Sabzwari and Safina Behroze were also part of the celebrations.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CA2o3vQgoGF/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CA2o0gfj17R/
Sadaf has also changed her name from Sadaf Kanwal to Sadaf Sabzwari on social media.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CA2mDsapB-z/
Check out more pictures from their nikkah below:
Sadaf’s close friends Fouzia Aman and Tabesh Khoja also joined in the celebrations.
This is Shahroz’s second marriage. The actor was previously married to Syra Yousuf, with whom he also has a daughter Noorey. Syra and Shahroz had announced their separation in February and shared that they were parting ways due to “irreconcilable differences”. They were married for seven years.
When the news of Syra and Shahroz’s split had first come to light, it was rumoured that the couple had parted ways because of a third person, namely Sadaf.
At that point, Shahroz had said, “Another rumour claims that they’re not together because of a girl, Sadaf. Again, who said this? Was it me, or was it Syra, or our family, or our cousins, or our friends, who said this? No one! But you all still decided to drag someone’s sister, daughter, into the matter and became the jury and judge yourself.”
He had said that he met Sadaf a month before the episode and that too only for work.
“Just because she danced with me does not mean we have something going on, and it’s so bold of you all to assume that a person I met one month ago is responsible for a separation that happened six months ago.”
Sadaf and Shahroz are said to have met while rehearsing for their performance at the third IPPA Awards held in December last year in Oslo, Norway.
IPPA Awards 2019
While Shahroz and Sadaf mostly kept their relationship lowkey after Shahroz’s divorce, the two were recently spotted cycling in Karachi.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_K1dP-J341/
Meanwhile, Sadaf’s friends took to social media to congratulate the couple.
Last week, we witnessed how power and privilege can make people go blind as they think they can break the law and get away with it.
Videos of armed guards and three women breaking and entering the house of actor Uzma Khan went viral on social media.
The three women belong to the family of all-powerful property tycoon Malik Riaz. Two are said to be his daughters while the third is related to his wife. Pakistani media, with a couple of honourable exceptions, did not even air the news.
We can well imagine why.
The clout Malik holds over those running the affairs of the state is quite evident so it is inevitable that the media, which is already going through a financial crunch, will not alienate him.
There are many angles to the story. Many in our society latched on to the ‘cheating husband’ and ‘gold digger’ narrative about Usman Malik and Uzma Khan. What they failed to acknowledge was the criminal and vile aspect of this whole incident.
Those videos were made to humiliate Uzma Khan and this is why they were released and circulated by the very women who broke the law. How can someone enter another’s house with armed guards, breaking and vandalising everything in sight, asking one of the guards to sexually assault Uzma, threatening the girls that ‘we’ will get you picked up by the ISI, throwing alcohol or some other liquid on them (we don’t know yet what exactly was thrown on them) and threatening to burn them, taking away their clothes/bags/shoes and other valuables, beating them up, breaching their privacy and much more?
Usman Malik’s wife, Aamna Usman, had the audacity to make another video where she is admitting to the crime but says she did it because she had no other choice. Well, she did have a choice: she had the choice of confronting her husband and if he did not want to end the relationship, leaving him should have been her obvious choice. And if she did not want to leave him, even then the family should have resolved the issue among themselves instead of bringing Uzma into disrepute. What Aamna Usman chose to do was not a choice. It was a decision taken because she knew she wields more power, has more money and more privilege than an actor/model in this society.
We hope that justice will be served. These three women and their armed guards should not be allowed to get away scot-free. Some say an out-of-court settlement is possible. We cannot rule it out but we would still like to say kudos to Uzma Khan and her sister Huma Khan for braving this out and standing up to privileged brats. Our society hardly ever does it. More power to Uzma and Huma!
The All Pakistan Private Schools Federation (APPSF) has demanded the government to reopen educational institutes in the country from June 1.
As per reports, APPSF office-bearers, teachers and owners of school also took out rallies in various areas of Punjab to protest against shutting down the schools for too long.
The protestors, who raised the slogan of “Education for All”, requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan, the army chief, the prime minister and the provincial authorities to open the schools on June 1 after issuing the standard operating procedures (SOPs).
In Lahore, the people gathered outside the Civil Secretariat to protest against Punjab Minister for School Education Murad Raas.
“We are unable to pay the teachers,” the All Pakistan Private Schools Federation (APPSF) President Kashif Mirza said at a press conference in Lahore. “We must be allowed to open schools from June 1.”
He described the concept of online education as a “flopped project”.
He further said the closure of schools till July 15 would result in the permanent closure of 50 percent of the private schools and around one million people would lose their jobs. He said even the worst-hit countries were letting educational institutions work.
“We have formulated SOPs following international standards,” he said, suggesting the government to talk with them. He demanded that the government announce a relief package for private schools.
Educational institutes in Pakistan have been closed since March. The measure was taken to curb the spread of coronavirus
The number of reported coronavirus cases in Pakistan has gone to 66,457. The virus has claimed 1,395 lives in the country so far.
