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  • Queen Elizabeth: World leaders remember when they met her

    Queen Elizabeth: World leaders remember when they met her

    Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in British history, breathed her last on Thursday in Balmoral Castle, United Kingdom (UK) at the age of 96.

    In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and the Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.”

    The royal family’s official website carried the message: “Queen Elizabeth II 1926-2022” along with an official statement issued by Buckingham Palace.

    Flags on landmark buildings in Britain were being lowered to half mast as a period of official mourning was announced. Royal residences that are open to the public will be closed.

    Shortly after the official announcement, world leaders took to Twitter to extend their condolences.

    President Arif Alvi expressed his sincere condolences.

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif extends his heartfelt condolences to the Royal Family, people and government of the UK.

    https://twitter.com/PresOfPakistan/status/1567934211637628940?s=20&t=59bb4GrkTNi98ERzhcRB8A

    UK’s newly elected PM Liz Truss mourned the death of her country’s monarch. She released a statement that reads: “With the King’s family, we mourn the loss of his mother. As we mourn, we must come together as a people to support him. To help him bear the awesome responsibility that he now carries for us all.”

    United States (US) President Joe Biden shared a statement on the demise of the Queen. “Queen Elizabeth II was a stateswoman of unmatched dignity constancy who deepened the bedrock of the Alliance between the United Kingdom and the United States. She helped make our relationship special,” Biden said.

    Chinese President Xi Jinping offered “sincere sympathies to the British government and people” following the Queen’s death, adding: “Her passing is a great loss to the British people.”

    Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed his “deep sorrow”. “The loss of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is a great loss not only to the British people but also to the international community. Japan’s thoughts are with the United Kingdom as the British people overcome this deepest sadness”, he said.

    Canadian Prime Minister (PM) Justin Trudeau said, “It was with the heaviest of hearts that we learned of the passing of Canada’s longest-reigning Sovereign, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. She was a constant presence in our lives – and her service to Canadians will forever remain an important part of our country’s history.”

    French President Emmanuel Macron said, “Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II embodied the British nation’s continuity and unity for over 70 years. I remember her as a friend of France, a kind-hearted queen who has left a lasting impression on her country and her century.”

    Indian PM Narendra Modi, in a tweet, said he had memorable meetings with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

    “I had memorable meetings with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II during my UK visits in 2015 and 2018. I will never forget her warmth and kindness. During one of the meetings, she showed me the handkerchief Mahatma Gandhi gifted her at her wedding. I will always cherish that gesture.”

    Finish PM Sanna Marin said, “My deepest condolences to the Royal Family, people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”

    Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto said, “Queen’s sense of duty and devotion to service are an example to us all. Deepest condolences to the Royal Family and the people of the UK.”

    Earlier, it was reported that Queen’s doctors were concerned about her health and she was under observation.

    All the Queen’s children travelled to Balmoral, near Aberdeen, after doctors placed the Queen under medical supervision.

    Her grandson, Prince William, is also there, with his brother, Prince Harry, on his way.

  • Queen Elizabeth II dies at 96

    Queen Elizabeth II dies at 96

    Royal family officials reported that the queen passed away peacefully on Thursday afternoon at Balmoral Castle, her home in the Scottish Highlands.

    She is currently at Balmoral with her son King Charles, who will return to London on Friday.

    The longest reigning British monarch was Queen Elizabeth II, who ruled the United Kingdom for seven decades.

    Here’s the tweet from the royal family:

    The queen has performed fewer official responsibilities in recent years, occasionally skipping engagements where her attendance used to be expected.

    Her recent mobility problems have caused her to spend a lot of time at the family’s rural estate near London, Windsor Castle, and the Scottish castle, Balmoral.

  • British-Pakistani Baroness to the House of Lords Shaista Gohir: ‘Anger drives me’

    British-Pakistani Baroness to the House of Lords Shaista Gohir: ‘Anger drives me’

    Shaista Gohir OBE, CEO of the Muslim Women’s Network UK was appointed Baroness to the House of Lords through her nomination as a non-affiliate peer at the House of Lords. ‘OBE’ [Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire] next to her name refers to the title used for the second highest ranking officer in the order of the British Empire.

    Gohir has been a trailblazing women’s rights campaigner, especially as an ambitions Muslim woman striving to achieve progressive attitudes amidst Islamophobia and the response of active gendered Islamisation. She joined the Muslim Women’s Network UK (MWNUK) in 2005 and spent almost 17 years developing the organisation from a handful of volunteers to a nationally acknowledged charity, becoming Executive Director, then Chair and eventually Co-Chair so she can diversify her efforts.

    In a report for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Gohir writes, “More Muslim women need to be empowered with information to be able to challenge religious extremist rhetoric… More resources need to be created to highlight role models and relevant role models need to be included in the education curriculum.” Shaista Gohir has done extensive work on building the epistemic necessity of female Muslim role models in society.

    On January 15, 2015, Gohir launched a national helpline for Muslim women to help those who are stuck in situations of domestic violence or sexual abuse from family members. Born to parents who hailed from Daultalla, Tehsil Gujarkhan in Rawalpindi, they moved to England in the 1960s, where she was raised by a single mother who worked long hours in a clothing factory. Growing up, even as a child, she had to take care of her siblings and feed them as her mother continued to labor to financially sustain the family. On this subject she tells The Guardian, “Even in a single-parent family, I saw how women would take responsibility for men’s bad behaviour.”

    Her organisation MWNUK has researched extensively the sexual exploitation of Asian girls and their ability to report and on child sexual exploitation and how it can be reported by the members of the service industry. She has also written for The Guardian, advocating Muslim women’s rights, where she talks about a comprehensive report compiled in 2015 by her organisation on the subject of shariah councils and Muslim divorce for women, titled “Information and Guidance on Muslim Marriage and Divorce in Britain”.

    Shaista Gohir has extensively advocated for the rights of Muslim women and given a way of articulation to the problems they face in the West. And so naturally, in light of her relentless efforts, she was appointed as a Baroness to the House of Lords earlier today. Talking to The News and GEO, she emphasised that through her organisation Nisa Global Foundation in Pakistan she wants to expand her mission of supporting and empowering women.

    “A lot of these women are suffering in silence, and they aren’t strong enough to vocalise that they want help,” Gohir says in an interview with The Guardian, “I don’t mind taking the flak.”

  • Texas school shooting: 19 children, 2 adults killed inside Robb Elementary School

    Texas school shooting: 19 children, 2 adults killed inside Robb Elementary School

    On Tuesday, May 24, an 18-year-old gunman, Salvador Ramos, who killed at least 19 children and two adults in a school shooting at Robb Elementary School, in Uvalde, a small city west of San Antionio. The school had second through fourth grade kids attending and apart from those killed, several were injured.

    Only ten days ago, 10 people were brutally killed by another gunman in an aggressive racist attack, inside a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.

    Addressing the American nation on the night of Tuesday, President Biden called for action and severely lamented that the attack had taken place, but did not clarify his policy decision or vote. “Where in the God’s name is our backbone, the courage to do more and then stand up to the lobbies? It’s time to turn this pain into action,” says President Biden

    Some images of students and teachers who were killed in the shooting at Robb Elementary School – [Top L to R]: Xavier Lopez (10 y/o), Nevaeh Bravo (4th grade), Tess Mata (4th grade). [Bottom L to R]: Makenna Lee Elrod (10 y/o), Amerie Garza (10 y/o), Eva Mireles (17 years of teaching)

    Eva Mireles, a fourth grade teacher who had been teaching at the school for almost 17 years now. She had one daughter and was married to a law enforcement officer in Uvalde. Her daughter was diagnosed with Down Syndrome and she was trying harder every day to provide a better future for her. Parents of her students tweeted in her memory.

    10-year-old Amerie Jo Garza, who was in fourth grade was also shot this Tuesday, and had celebrated her birthday only two weeks ago before the shooting. It is reported that she was attempting to call 911 for help. Finding out about her death, her father said, “My little love is now flying high with the angels above. Please don’t take a second for granted. Hug your family. Tell them you love them. I love you Amerie jo. Watch over your baby brother for me.”

    10-year-old Makenna Elrod’s father Brandon Elrod spoke to ABC News on Tuesday afternoon, and said that he was searching for his 10-year-old daughter but he feared that she might not be alive. Unable to find her initially, he headed towards the funeral home.

    Parents of the children who were shot have given several statements to the national media expressing disbelief and denial in having lost their children in this manner. Although the gunman also died on the spot, the family members of these children were left extremely traumatized.

  • Teenager sells young wife to 55-year-old man to buy smartphone

    Teenager sells young wife to 55-year-old man to buy smartphone

     Police arrested a 17-year-old man in India’s Odisha for selling his young wife to a 55-year-old man to buy a cellular phone, India today has reported.

    The teenager got married in July this year. He met a 55-year old man at his work in a brick kiln to whom he sold his wife.

    Police have rescued the 26-year-old wife from the south-eastern Rajasthan district of Baran after facing “great difficulty” because the villagers resisted handing over the woman to the police, saying that they had paid for her.

    Police officials said that the man took his wife to Rajasthan with him in August when he started a job there but only a few days later, he decided to sell her to the 55-year-old man for INR 1.8 lakh (PKR 4.18 lakh).

    Read More: Man asks police to put him behind bars to escape ‘unbearable’ life with wife

    After getting the money, the man splurged money on dining and then bought a smartphone. Later on, he returned to his village and when the woman’s family asked about her, he lied that she had run away.

    Police said that the woman’s family did not believe him and decided to register a complaint with the police. Upon further investigation, it turned out that the boy had sold his wife off.

    The report says that since the boy was under 18 years of age, he was sent to a juvenile court. The court ordered the man to be taken to a correctional facility.

  • US envoy to Afghanistan resigns two months after chaotic withdrawal

    US envoy to Afghanistan resigns two months after chaotic withdrawal

    United States envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad is stepping down, the State Department has announced, less than two months after the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover of the country, reported Al Jazeera.

    Zalmay Khalilzad led the US dialogue with the Taliban. The Taliban took control in August after capturing the capital Kabul.

    In a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Zalmay Khalilzad acknowledged that “the political arrangement between the Afghan government and the Taliban did not go forward as envisaged”, reports BBC.

    “The reasons for this are too complex and I will share my thoughts in the coming days and weeks,” he wrote, saying he was stepping aside as the US entered the “new phase of our Afghanistan policy”.

    He added that he was “saddened” for the Afghan people given the current outcome.

    Khalilzad will be replaced by his deputy, Tom West, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Monday, noting that West will work closely with the US embassy, which is now based in Doha, on US interests in Afghanistan.

  • Bride sues wedding venue after she slips on dance floor

    A newly-wed bride has sued one of the top marriage venues in the United Kingdom (UK) for £150,000 (approximately Rs 34,935,942) after she slipped on a spilt drink on a dancefloor and broke her elbow.

    As per reports, bride Cara Donovan — who is a teacher by profession — has sued the company after she slipped on the ‘highly slippery’ laminated plastic floor, lit by underfloor LED lights.

    Donovan alleged that she slipped on spilled drinks after the staff failed to stop guests from taking their drinks onto the floor. She added that the tables were positioned by the edge of the floor, allowing guests to dance and drink. Even after people spilled drinks on the floor, no one came to mop it up.

    Read More: Photographer deletes all wedding pictures after being denied food

    The incident happened in September 2018 but left the bride with a badly broken elbow. Despite three operations, the woman says she has been suffering from permanent arm pain.

    Since then, she hasn’t been able to get back to work as a special-needs teacher. Blaming the company for what happened to her, she has now sued Country House Weddings Ltd, which was once voted the Best UK Wedding Venue by magazine readers.

  • Japanese princess to marry commoner boyfriend despite dispute

    Japanese princess to marry commoner boyfriend despite dispute

     Japan’s Princess Mako will marry a commoner, her former classmate, this month after years of controversy as she will give up her royal status, BBC News reported.

    The couple is all set to tie the know on October 26.

    The couple initially planned their wedding in 2018, but this was put off, reportedly after Mako’s boyfriend, Mr Komuro’s family had run into financial difficulties.

    They are expected to move to the US after marriage where Mr Komuro works as a lawyer.

    This excessive media coverage around the princess — whose father is Crown Prince Fumihito — and Mr Komuro’s family over the years has caused the princess to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, the Imperial Household Agency said, according to news outlet Kyodo.

    Her aunt, Empress Masako, also suffered from a stress-related illness, due to intense pressure to produce a male heir. There is often a stigma around mental illnesses in Japan. The couple first met in 2012 when they were students at the International Christian University in Tokyo.

    They were engaged in 2017 and were set to marry the following year. But news of Mr Komuro’s mother’s financial problems started doing the rounds; she had reportedly taken a loan from her ex-fiancé and not paid him back.

    Read More: Photographer deletes all wedding pictures after being denied food

    The palace denied the delay was linked to this, though Crown Prince Fumihito said it was important for the money issues to be dealt with before they got together.

    Princess Mako will reportedly forego a traditional lump-sum payment of up to 150 million yen ($1.3m), which is normally gifted to a member of the royal family upon their departure from the household.

    She is also expected to skip the usual rites associated with a royal family wedding. If she skips both the payment and the rites, it will make her the first female member of the Japanese royal family to do so.

    Under Japanese law, female imperial family members forfeit their status upon marriage to a “commoner” although male members do not.

  • Son reunites with mother after 70 years

    An 80-year-old man in Bangladesh has been reunited with his nearly 100-year-old mother after about 70 years with the help of social media, AFP reported.

    As per details, Abdul Kuddus Munsi in his childhood was sent to live with his uncle but lost touch with his family after running away and being adopted by two sisters.

    “This is the happiest day of my life,” the 82-year-old said from Brahmanbaria, the eastern border district where he was born in 1939.

    Read More: Father reunited with kidnapped son after 24-year search

    In April, a businessman shared a video of Kuddus on Facebook, requesting help finding his parents. Kuddus only remembered the name of his parents and his village from the first decade of his life.

    A distant relative in the village spotted the post and informed Kuddus that his mother, Mongola Nessa, thought to be in her late 90s, was still alive.
    So Kuddus — himself a father to three grown-up sons and five daughters — travelled about 350 kilometers (220 miles) from the western city of Rajshahi, to end the decades of estrangement.

  • Man strips naked to win bet, spreads horror among villagers

    Man strips naked to win bet, spreads horror among villagers

    A man in his 40s allegedly stripped naked and walked around in an Egyptian village to win a bet from a friend, Gulf News reported.

    The villagers tried to cover him up but the man refused to get covered, leading people to question his mentality and motives.

    “Children gathered around him as he walked naked across the village. People thought he had been caught doing something immoral and had not enough time to put on his clothes,” Mohammed told Egyptian newspaper Al Watan.

    “The scene was nauseating. He prevented anyone from covering him. He refused to put on any clothes,” added the witness.

    Later, he received 25,000 Egyptian pounds from a person who had earlier made a bet with him. “He then sat down while still naked in front of his house, counting the money,” Mohammed said.

    Read More: Wife steals frozen human bodies after fighting with husband

    “He is not a poor person,” Nabil Awwad, another local of the village, said. “The alleged offender owns a flock of sheep worth thousands of pounds,” he told Egyptian news portal Masrawy.

    “What struck our attention was that whenever we tried to cover him with clothes, he took them off, insisting to continue walking naked,” Awwad added.

    The act forced the village’s shocked women to stay indoors, the portal said.