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  • Fact Check: Did Pakistani parents lock daughter’s grave to prevent rape?

    Fact Check: Did Pakistani parents lock daughter’s grave to prevent rape?

    Claim

    Last week, a photo of a padlocked grave with a metal grate was being widely shared on social media and in news reports. It was being reported that the grave was in Pakistan and was the result of purported increase in necrophilia cases. The claim suggests that the grave is an illustration of how Pakistani mothers use locks to secure the graves of their daughters and protect the corpse from being raped.

    Indian media outlets also carried the story.

    .

    Fact

    Indian fact-checker Mohammed Zubair has said that the photo is, in fact, from Hyderabad city in India. “The image used by the media outlets was actually from a cemetery in Hyderabad. The cemetery is located opposite Masjid E Salar Mulk, a mosque in Darab Jung Colony, Madannapet, Hyderabad,” read the fact check piece written by Mohammed Zubair and Shinjine Majumder.

    “Alt News also spoke to a local resident whose house is near the mosque. He informed us that the grave belonged to an aged woman who had passed away in her seventies. Her son constructed the grille over the grave about 40 days after she had been buried.”

    The grill and padlock was installed to stop the grave from being reopened to put a fresh corpse inside.

    Several indian media outlets picked up the story while crediting Twitter for the image. The picture ANI picked up was tweeted by author Harris Sultan. He has now deleted the tweet.

    The EU DisinfoLab in a report published this year said that ANI repeatedly quotes non-existent bloggers, experts, journalists and think tanks spreading anti-Pakistan/China narratives in India.

    Verdict

    The claim is false.

  • Pakistan free of monkeypox?

    Pakistan free of monkeypox?

    On Sunday, Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel announced that the country had been declared free of monkeypox as the only verified patient who was suffering from the disease had fully recovered.

    A statement released by Ministry of National Health Services spokesperson Sajid Shah on Sunday confirmed that there had been only one reported case of mpox in the country, and that the patient was being treated at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims). Patel mentioned that the patient was given top-notch medical care and had successfully recuperated.

    “The patient has been discharged after testing negative [for the virus]. There are no cases of mpox in Pakistan. Kudos to the hospital staff for taking the best measures,” he said.

    He further said that the government was taking all essential precautions to ensure the safety of the public and that the country’s institutions were prepared to handle any type of epidemic or illness. Patel also shared that out of the 22 suspected mpox cases and all of the samples sent for testing came back negative.
    The Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination confirmed the first case of monkeypox in the country on April 25.

    The infected person was deported from Saudi Arabia and arrived in Pakistan on April 17 with symptoms of the viral disease. The patient has recovered now.

  • Iranian minister impeached over rising inflation

    Iranian minister impeached over rising inflation

    Iranian lawmakers have voted to impeach Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Reza Fatemi Amin over his poor performance.

    The country is under a financial crisis because of international sanctions and rising inflation.

    Reza Fatemi Amin failed to gain enough support in a vote of confidence that saw 162 MPs vote in favour of his removal and 102 against it.

    The development took place due to the rising price of domestically manufactured vehicles after foreign imports dried up because of sanctions.

  • ‘Revenge’: Twitter roasts Sonam Kapoor for upcoming performance at Charles’ coronation

    King Charles’ crowning coronation is only a week away. Media reports revealed how big names like Adele and Harry Styles had turned down the opportunity to play at his coronation, but it seems like there is a line-up of powerhouses ready to be part of the big day. The final list shows impressive A-listers like Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Tom Cruise, and Bollywood star Sonam Kapoor.

    Some Twitter users are dumbstruck that a citizen from a former colonised nation is coming to celebrate the Royal Family, and that of all the people it was Sonam Kapoor?

    But, Twitter would take up any opportunity to provide some hilarious memes and delivered beautifully.

    We’re solely tuning in if this happens

    https://twitter.com/ProfPinkman/status/1652619378142367746?s=20
    https://twitter.com/phoolandtanhai/status/1652587879024181248?s=20

  • ‘Spark Notes version of an action series’: Critics blast Priyanka Chopra’s Citadel

    Game of Thrones actor Richard Madden has teamed up with Bollywood turned Hollywood diva Priyanka Chopra for Amazon Prime’s action series ‘Citadel’, with the episodes already streaming online. Both actors went on the traditional promotional tour, gushing about each other, with Chopra revealing that this was the first time she was getting the same pay as her male co-star, and Madden praising Chopra as a ‘brilliant improvisor’ who is fully committed to her roles.

    However critics are not impressed with the $300 million spectacle, calling it a ‘flop’, ‘poorly-paced’ and a cheap copy of James Bond movies, without anything much to say about the current affairs of the world.

    Time magazine called the series ‘all spectacle, no substance’ and shared how aside from the glamorous locations, as well as the charming performances of both Chopra and Madden, who star as former lovers and top agents working for an elite international spy agency ‘Citadel’, the show didn’t offer much:

    “But when the smoke clears, geopolitical window dressing aside, the show has little to say on the state of the world. Whether it’s due to behind-the-scenes turbulence, including the replacement of a showrunner and extensive reshoots, or comes out of the difficulty of making a spy thriller palatable to people in all of the 200-plus countries and territories where Prime Video is available, the absence of substantive ideas, or even much Bond-style humor, makes Citadel feel pretty pointless. Maybe it’s possible to make a great show that appeals to everyone without offending anyone, but this isn’t it.”

    The Ringer had also shared criticism of the lack of dramatic tension, and called the show “a spark notes version of an action series” because of the limited attention given to detail and narrative, recounting how the original showrunner Josh Applebaum exited the series in 2020 over creative differences.

    Rolling Stones has labelled Citadel as “$300 million disaster for Amazon,” and harshly calling it “bland, generic and almost shockingly cheap-looking, given the price tag.” The performances by Chopra and Madden were called ‘charming but also not popping off the screen.

  • Fawad or Marriyum: Whose idea was PTV Flix anyway?

    Federal Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb on Sunday announced the launch of the online platform PTV Flix, which will allow users to access thousands of movies, television shows and documentaries online. In a tweet, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) politician revealed that the was an initiative quite close to her heart, as countless iconic shows like ‘Dhoop Kinaray’, ‘Tanhaiyaan’ and ‘Ainak Wala Jin’ can now be easily accessed online.

    Aurangzeb also thanked the team at PTV and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, who had helped in making this idea in to a reality:

    “I would like to thank and congratulate the team at PTV and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for all their hard work which has made this idea a reality. I would also like to thank our entertainment legends Bushra Ansari Sba, Javed Sheikh Sb and Khalid Abbas Dar Sb for joining me at the launch event.”

    However, many tweeps began tagging Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former Information Minister, Fawad Chaudhry, crediting him for the initiative. Chaudhry later put up a tweet revealing that this was a project he had began during his tenure.

    To which Aurangzeb had a cheeky response, but really who was the person to kickstart PTV Flix?

    If we look back, it was Chaudhry who during his tenure as the Minister of Science and Technology, had announced in 2020 in a tweet that his team was working on setting up Pakistan’s version of Netflix, and had already asked regulatory authorities to draft a guideline about the content.

  • Boy, 8, raped by teacher and his friend

    Boy, 8, raped by teacher and his friend

    Police have reported that a boy aged eight was sexually assaulted by his teacher and the teachers’s friend in a village near Khanewal in Punjab.

    The rape survivor was aken to a hospital after losing consciousness.

    The suspects have been apprehended by the authorities on charges of rape.

    The Current records the tally of rape cases that are reported in news outlets on a daily basis to highlight the alarming situation. We have used many different sources as listed. When will it stop?

  • Dar tells PTI that govt has nothing to do with raid at Elahi’s residence

    Dar tells PTI that govt has nothing to do with raid at Elahi’s residence

    Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has talked to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President Shah Mahmood Qureshi via telephone, discussing last night’s raid at former Chief Minister (CM) Pervaiz Elahi’s residence in Lahore.

    Dar distanced the federal government from the incident and blamed the Punjab government for it, while expressing grief over the raid that has been criticised for using excessive force.

    The minister said that he would forward PTI’s reservations to the ruling alliance and would get back to them.

    Meanwhile, Dar’s party fellow and Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal criticised the PTI leaders for “using women and children” as a shield to evade arrest.

    Apparently justifying the raid, the minister said both PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Elahi were not arrested when police conducted a raid at their residence.

    The raid has put talks between PTI and the government, to reach a consensus on a date for election, in jeopardy. The final and third round of negotiations will be held on May 2 (Tuesday).

  • Woman hangs herself after husband stops her from going to beauty salon

    Woman hangs herself after husband stops her from going to beauty salon

    Trigger warning: Suicide/Self-harm

    A 34-year-old woman named Reena from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, has committed suicide after her husband prevented her from going to a beauty salon, police officials have confirmed.

    The woman hanged herself on Thursday in her home located in Scheme Number 51 of the city.

    The Sub-Inspector in charge of the case stated that the husband told the police that he had stopped her from going to the salon, after which she hanged herself in a fit of anger.

    The case is currently under investigation from all possible angles, while the post-mortem has already been conducted.

    Balram, the husband of the deceased said, “I just asked her not to go to the beauty parlour. I informed the police.”

    As per media reports, family members of the couple stated that the Barlam and Reena were constantly engaging in fights and arguments.

  • Saudi Arabia and Iran to reopen embassies soon

    Saudi Arabia and Iran to reopen embassies soon

    Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian announced on Friday that Saudi Arabia and his country will soon reopen their embassies in each other’s capitals, Reuters has reported. The minister didn’t provide exact dates for the reopening of the embassies, which have been closed since 2016, during a news conference held in Beirut, Lebanon.

    “During the last phone call between the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia on Eid al-Fitr, we agreed to work in the coming days on the reopening of the Iranian and Saudi embassies in Tehran and Riyadh,” Amirabdollahian said, according to an official Arabic translation.

    China mediated a deal last month that led to the restoration of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which had deteriorated since 2015.

    The conflict in Yemen began when the Houthi movement, aligned with Iran, overthrew the Saudi-backed government and took control of Sanaa, causing tension between the two countries. This tension has contributed to conflicts in other areas of the region, such as the Syrian civil war.