Blog

  • Taliban ban barbers from trimming beards in Afghanistan

    Taliban ban barbers from trimming beards in Afghanistan

    The Taliban have banned hairdressers in Afghanistan’s Helmand province from shaving or trimming beards, saying it breaches their interpretation of Islamic law, reports the BBC.

    “Anyone violating the rule will be punished,” Taliban religious police say. Some barbers in the capital, Kabul have said they also received similar orders.

    The instructions suggest a return to the strict rulings of the group’s past tenure in power.

    In a notice posted at salons, Taliban officers warned that hairdressers must follow Sharia law for haircuts and beards.

    “No one has a right to complain,” the notice stated, which was seen by the BBC.

    “Stop following American styles,” said another hairdresser, who received a call from someone claiming to be a government official. 

    A barber said that although he has not received an official order, he stopped offering beard trims.

    “Customers don’t shave their beards because they don’t want to be targeted by the Taliban fighters in the streets. They want to blend in and look like them,” he said.

  • Hiba Bukhari claps back at a troll for accusations of showing-off her latest phone

    Hiba Bukhari claps back at a troll for accusations of showing-off her latest phone

    Hiba Bukhari has responded to a troll with a witty reply after he accused her of showing off her latest phone.

    The Fitoor star posted a mirror selfie and wrote: “For the love of mirror selfies, but [a] blur.”

    One of the netizens said that she is showing off her iPhone 12 pro max.

    Replying to the troll, the Deewangi diva said: “Socha nahi tha mene lekin angle acha hai thanks.”

    Hiba was last seen in Geo TV’s Fitoor, opposite Faysal Quraishi and Wahaj Ahmed.

    BTS from the Sets of 'Fitoor' Featuring Hiba Bukhari and More - Lens

    Earlier this year she clarified speculations regarding her choice of dressing in her hit serial Fitoor, “The wardrobe was presented by 7th Sky. I didn’t made them myself. That’s what it is. We actors alone aren’t responsible for everything. We are just doing our job, we have to do whatever our directors and producers ask us to do.”

  • Former High Commissioner of Pakistan to UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan passes away

    Former High Commissioner of Pakistan to the United Kingdom (UK), Wajid Shamsul Hasan, has passed away. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) stalwart Wajid Shamsul Hasan was a veteran journalist and a columnist. He was seriously ill and critical for the past few days.

    Condolences and tributes poured in for the deceased’s soul.

    PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said Wajid Shamsul Hasan was a national asset.

    Aseefa Bhutto Zardari in a tweet said, “He was a brave man who held to his convictions and has stood by three generations of our family”.

    PPP leader Senator Sherry Rehman tweeted, “He spent a lifetime of devotion to democracy, human rights, free press and the PPP. What a loss! Heartfelt condolences to his family and the broader civil society community he was deeply involved with.”

    Member of Parliament for Gillingham and Rainham, Rehman Chishiti, tweeted about Wajid Shamsul Hasan’s death. He also shared a picture of him with Benazir Bhutto.

    Ziauddin Yousafzai in a tweet said that Wajid Shamsul Hasan had been a great support to their family when they moved to the UK.

  • Video: Jemima Goldsmith enjoys a ‘magical rikshaw ride’ on sets of her film

    Jemima Goldsmith has shared video of a Pakistani rickshaw from the sets of her forthcoming feature film. “The magic of filmmaking in the era of Covid,” wrote Jemima in the caption.

    She thoroughly enjoyed this experience.

    Earlier, Jemima Goldsmith shared a video of live performance by veteran singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.

    She also shared a picture with the Ishqiya crooner.

  • Girl kills boyfriend after hitting with smartphone

    Girl kills boyfriend after hitting with smartphone

    A woman in Argentina killed her boyfriend by hitting him with a smartphone on his head, ARY News reported.

    A criminal court in Argentina is hearing the case of 22-year-old Roxana Adelina Lopez for murdering Luis Dario Guantay. The incident took place at the victim’s rented home. Luis suffered a blow on his head and he was rushed to a hospital where he underwent surgery for brain injuries but could not make it. 

    The reason for the row is not yet known. An investigation is underway and Roxana Adelina Lopez is out on bail.

    After Luis’ death, his mother reported the case to the police and asked for action against the woman.

  • Ushna Shah lashes out at Sanjay Leela Bhansali for making a film on Lahore’s Heera Mandi

    Ushna Shah lashes out at Sanjay Leela Bhansali for making a film on Lahore’s Heera Mandi

    Actor Ushna Shah has lashed out at Bollywood director Sanjay Leela Bhansali for making a film on Lahore’s Heera Mandi.

    The Balaa actor said: “Culture collaboration is one thing but this is appropriation. Mimicking ours will make the project lose authenticity! India has a plethora of rich culture and history to film, this isn’t theirs to make.”

    According to reports in the Indian media, the period drama titled Heera Mandi will revolve around the lives of sex workers, working in Lahore’s red-light district.

    Vibhu Puri who is Bhansali’s former assistant will direct the project, which will feature Alia Bhatt in the lead. However, other names like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, Deepika Padukone, Parineeti Chopra, Manisha Koirala, and Vidya Balan are also under consideration.

    Earlier, actor Yasir Hussain slammed the Ram Leela director for his Netflix debut.

  • ‘Pretty impressive swag’: PPP’s Sharmila Faruqi all praise for Maryam Nawaz’s fashion choices

    ‘Pretty impressive swag’: PPP’s Sharmila Faruqi all praise for Maryam Nawaz’s fashion choices

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Sharmila Faruqi took to Twitter to praise Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz’s fashion choices.

    Sharmila Faruqi commented on how Maryam Nawaz’s floral kameez and pants were complementing the heels she wore.

    “Can’t decide which came first? The shoe or the dress but pretty impressive swag,” tweeted Sharmila.

    The floral patterned white kameez and pants Maryam wore is by designer Sania Maskatiya. She wore the perfectly matched outfit to a PML-N divisional meeting in Sahiwal recently.

  • Lahore woman sentenced to death for claiming to be prophet

    A woman from Lahore has been sentenced to death by a sessions court after claiming to be a prophet, Wajid Ahmad Sheikh reported for Dawn. She has been charged under section 295C of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The court has also fined the convict with Rs50,000.

    “It is proved beyond reasonable doubt that accused Salma Tanveer wrote and distributed the writings which are derogatory in respect of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and she failed to prove that her case falls in exception provided by section 84 of PPC,” ruled Additional District & Sessions Judge Mansoor Ahmad Qureshi in his 22-page verdict.

    Section 84 deals with crimes committed by those who are mental.

    A case against Salma Tanveer was registered at Nisthar Colony Police Station in 2013.

    The court record shows that the FIR was lodged by the prayer leader (Khateeb) of Jamia Masjid Anwar-e-Madina in Bahadurabad neighbourhood of Lahore. The prayer leader, Qari Iftikhar Ahmad Raza, alleged that Salma Tanveer, principal of a local school, had published and distributed pamphlets in the area “whereby she denied khatam-e-nubuwat of the Holy Prophet (PBUH)”.

    The FIR alleged that the woman had used derogatory remarks and claimed “her own nubuwat”, according to the court record.

    The woman’s counsel, Mian Muhammad Ramzan, had argued that the suspect was of unsound mind at the time of occurrence. He said the magistrate concerned had ordered mental examination of the suspect, which remained pending without any fault on the part of the suspect.

    The defence counsel further argued that the comparison of writing from photocopies was not possible as tampering had been made in the photocopies of the alleged documents.

    A report by the Punjab Institute of Mental Health (PIMH) declared Salma Tanveer fit to stand trial.

    “The question, however, that arises for consideration is whether in law such abnormality can be treated as sufficient to exculpate the accused for the serious crime committed by her, even though it falls short of legal insanity,” held the judge.

    The judge ruled that the law in the country did not recognise such lesser forms of mental abnormality and the plea of diminished responsibility was not available as a defence in a criminal prosecution.

  • ‘Verbal diarrhea’: Zarnish Khan blasts Maira Khan for classist statements

    ‘Verbal diarrhea’: Zarnish Khan blasts Maira Khan for classist statements

    Actor Maira Khan took to her Instagram handle to call out a certain outsiders for entering Defence Housing Authority (DHA). The Jalan star has been trolled online for her classist comments in the video.

    Fellow actor Zarnish Khan schooled Maira in her Instagram stories.

    Video: Maira Khan has an issue with ‘paindu’, ‘neech’ people shifting to DHA, gets trolled

  • British court orders unfreezing of Shehbaz Sharif, son’s UK bank accounts

    British court orders unfreezing of Shehbaz Sharif, son’s UK bank accounts

    A United Kingdom (UK) court has ordered to unfreeze Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif and his family’s bank accounts for lack of evidence of corruption and money laundering, reported Geo News.

    The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) unfroze the bank accounts of former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif and those of his son, Suleman Shehbaz, on Monday.

    The NCA had conducted a 17-month long probe in which it examined Shehbaz Sharif’s financial transactions over the past 20 years. It said that no evidence of money laundering or criminal activities against the PML-N president or his family was found.

    The UK’s top anti-corruption agency filed a unilateral application before Judge Rimmer to declare that its two-year high-profile investigation in the jurisdictions of Pakistan, UK, and Dubai found no evidence of money laundering and criminal conduct on part of the two Sharifs who were investigated. 

    The NCA had initiated the probe after Pakistan’s Asset Recovery Unit (ARU) had shared evidence with the UK crime agency.

    After the Westminster Magistrates Court allowed the accounts to be frozen and issued a probe consent to the NCA on December 19, 2019, Suleman Shehbaz’s declared Barclays account, Shehbaz Sharif’s HBL UK and Barclays account were immediately probed, seized and monies were frozen.

    Usually, anti-money laundering investigations go back only six years, but in this case, the NCA used its excessive powers and investigated Shehbaz Sharif and his son’s transactions dating back to around 20 years.

    NCA’s investigators started the probe from the first flat that Shehbaz Sharif bought in 2004 on Edgware Road when he was in exile and asked him to produce evidence of the clean origin of the money, including mortgage payments, sources of proceeds in his accounts, salaries and dividends, and full proceeds of the property purchase in the UK bought during exile.

    The NCA investigated Suleman Shehbaz’s Barclays account declared in Pakistan with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and looked into all transfers that were made from Pakistan after the State Bank of Pakistan’s approval. The NCA went through each receipt of transfers from the official money exchangers.

    The court documents obtained by this correspondent from credible sources show that the NCA received a letter from the ARU on December 11, 2019, in which it levelled allegations of criminal conduct against Shehbaz Sharif and Suleman Shehbaz.

    The government of Pakistan had requested the UK government to seize all assets and funds of Shehbaz Sharif and his family and asked them to return the same to Pakistan and extradite Suleman Shehbaz with his family.

    Advisor to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar said that reports of Shehbaz Sharif being acquitted by the British court were incorrect, clarifying that neither had the ARU nor NAB requested the UK government to initiate a probe against the PML-N leader.

    “[These transactions] were declared as a suspicious transaction by the UK authorities and the NCA secured an asset freezing order(AFO) from the court against these funds,” he tweeted.

    “The news about the alleged acquittal of Shehbaz Sharif or his son Suleman run by one news channel is incorrect and misreporting. It was a result of a suspicious transaction reported by a bank to NCA. The investigation by the NCA against Suleman Shehbaz and some of his family members was not initiated at the request of Asset Recovery Unit (ARU) or National Accountability Bureau (NAB),” tweeted Akbar, who had been keeping a low profile for the last couple of months.

    PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said: “The UK court’s decision has unequivocally exonerated Shehbaz Sharif and his family of all malicious and vexatious claims of corruption and money laundering by Imran Khan. The NCA conducted a 21-month global investigation spanning across a 20-year timeframe whilst overcoming unprecedented jurisdictional challenges.”

    “Never in the history of Pakistan has such a public office-holder been subjected to global scrutiny and multi-jurisdictional probing. Imran Khan has been exposed as a charlatan, willing to malign and assassinate characters of honest public office-holders. False corruption narrative exposed as nothing more than a smokescreen and Imran Khan to be an unscrupulous ringmaster of a circus built on incompetence, deceit and stained by the indignation of the innocent and the poor,” she said.