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  • US apologises for killing civilians, children in Kabul drone attack

    US apologises for killing civilians, children in Kabul drone attack

    Head of the US Central Command General Frank McKenzie, has apologised for a drone strike in Kabul last month at Hamid Karzai Airport that killed as many as 10 civilians, including seven children.

    “Our investigation now concludes that the strike was a tragic mistake,” McKenzie told reporters. Earlier, while defending the attack, the US had said that the strike was targeting a suicide bomber of the militant Islamic State group and had described it as “righteous”, reports Al Jazeera.

    The US general offered his condolences to the families of the victims and stated that those who were killed had no connection with local Islamic State affiliates or posed any direct threat to US forces.

    Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the drone strike had killed a civilian, Mr Ahmadi, who worked for a non-profit called Nutrition and Education International.

    “They were innocent, helpless children,” Aimal Ahmadi, whose nieces and nephews were killed in the attack, told Al-Jazeera.

    Ahmad Naser who was among the victims had been a translator for the US forces. The youngest child, Sumaya, was just two years old, as per BBC.

    Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, confirmed at the time that the strike had killed seven people.

  • Shehbaz Sharif proposes new names for vacant ECP posts

    Shehbaz Sharif proposes new names for vacant ECP posts

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif proposed names for the appointment of new provincial members in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), in response to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s letter suggesting names for the ECP members.

    Shehbaz suggested the names of Justice (retd) Tariq Iftikhar Ahmed, Justice (retd) Mushtaq Ahmed, Muhammad Javed Anwar, Khalid Masood Chaudhry, Irfan Qadir, and Irfan Ali for Punjab.

    While the names of Syed Afsar Shah, Sardar Hussain Shah, and Sohail Altaf have been suggested for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, by the Opposition leader.

    Earlier on August 27, Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry had said that Prime Minister Imran Khan wrote a letter to Shehbaz Sharif for the appointment of members to the ECP.

  • ‘I am Sorry’: Priyanka Chopra apologises after severe backlash

    ‘I am Sorry’: Priyanka Chopra apologises after severe backlash

    Transnational actor Priyanka Chopra has apologised for her participation in the CBS show The Activist in the wake of controversy and social media backlash. She said she has been “moved” by the criticism.

    The Quantico actor acknowledged that the show “got it wrong”.

    Earlier CBS had announced a change in The Activist’s format. It will be changed from a competition show to a one-time documentary.

    “I’m happy to know that in this new format, their stories will be the highlight, and I’m proud to collaborate with partners who have their ear to the ground and know when it’s time to hit pause and re-evaluate,” Priyanka said.

    The Activist was announced as involving six “inspiring activists” who will team up with three public figures, namely Usher, Priyanka, and Julianne Hough. The announcement was met with shock, ridicule, and in a few cases, outright disbelief. Many accused the makers of “performance activism” and trivialising the very concept of activism by turning it into cheap entertainment.

    Earlier, a joint statement from CBS and co-producer, non-profit Global Citizen read, “The Activist was designed to show a wide audience the passion, long hours, and ingenuity that activists put into changing the world, hopefully inspiring others to do the same. However, it has become apparent the format of the show as announced distracts from the vital work these incredible activists do in their communities every day. The push for global change is not a competition and requires a global effort.”

    Meanwhile, The White Tiger star has series Citadel and movie The Matrix 4 in her kitty.

  • Netizens troll Yasir Hussain for statement on Aagha Ali: ‘Better looking than Hrithik Roshan’

    Netizens troll Yasir Hussain for statement on Aagha Ali: ‘Better looking than Hrithik Roshan’

    Netizens have trolled actor Yasir Hussain for his statement on Aagha Ali’s looks. The Jhooti star commented under a picture of Mere Meherbaan hero and stated that he is better looking than Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan who is termed to be a ‘Greek God’ by Indian media.

    Many social media users found Yasir’s statement inaccurate.

    On the work front, Yasir is currently directing his forthcoming web film, Koel featuring Mansha Pasha and Fahad Sheikh.

  • Bollywood’s Jacqueline Fernandez summoned in money laundering case

    The Enforcement Directorate (ED) of India has summoned Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez in connection with a money laundering case lodged against conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar, Indian Media has reported.

    According to Indian Media sources, the Kick star has been summoned to appear before the agency on September 25 in Delhi, the bureau is currently investigating if the conman and the actor had any finical dealings.

    The Roy diva was spoofed by a conman Sukesh from Tihar jail who hid his identity while chatting with her.

    Sukesh randomly started sending extravagant gifts to Jacqueline like flowers and chocolates.

    In addition, another Bollywood actor was also questioned by ED officials recently in connection with the case.

    On August 30, the actress was interrogated for almost 5 hours in the same case.

  • A Punjabi female doctor faces harassment at Karachi hospital

    A Punjabi female doctor faces harassment at Karachi hospital

    A senior female doctor who works at a major public sector hospital in Karachi says that she is being harassed and blackmailed for the last several months on gender and ethnic grounds and being forced to quit her job.

    The doctor is in-charge of the hospital’s gastroenterology and hepatology ward. She claims she is the only female gastroenterologist working at any public sector hospital in Pakistan.

    “I’m in charge of the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Ward at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and the only female gastroenterologist working at any public sector hospital in entire Pakistan. I have been harassed and blackmailed for the last several months on the basis of my gender and ethnicity,” Dr Nazish Butt told Waqar Bhatti of The News.

    She showed several messages sent to her, accusing her of being a “non-Sindhi” and “a draconian lady”, who is not allowing ‘natives’ to work at the hospital. She said she was constantly receiving calls from unknown numbers.

    “First of all, I’m a Pakistani citizen who was born in Karachi. I have studied in this city and graduated from the Sindh Medical College. I even married a person who is Sindhi-speaking, but still, some people, including some staff members [of the hospital], are harassing me. They are doing negative propaganda against me, which has made me mentally disturbed,” the publication reported her as saying.

    “I have filed several complaints with the relevant authorities against this harassment and blackmailing. but now I want to make my ordeal public and urge the high authorities to take notice of this hooliganism. They call me a Punjabi woman, hurl abuses at me, put baseless posts on Facebook, and then send it to me and my colleagues on WhatsApp. This should end now,” she added.

    Dr Butt stated that she was bringing this issue to the notice of the newly-appointed executive director at the JPMC, Dr Shahid Rasool. She also urged provincial health minister Dr Azra Pechuho to take notice of this harassment.

    According to a recent study, Pakistan lacks trained and qualified female gastroenterologists even though more than 80% of students who graduate from medical colleges are women.

  • India spied on Pakistan and China, says US-based intelligence company

    India spied on Pakistan and China, says US-based intelligence company

    Texas-based Exodus Intelligence believes India used its “zero-day” security vulnerabilities, which hackers can use to attack systems, to spy on Pakistan and China, according to a report published in Forbes.

    Exodus Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and co-founder Logan Brown said that after an investigation, he believes India handpicked one of the Windows vulnerabilities from the feed—allowing deep access to Microsoft’s operating system—and Indian government personnel or a contractor adapted it for malicious means.

    The Exodus CEO maintained that India was subsequently cut off from buying new zero-day research from his company in April and it has worked with Microsoft to patch the vulnerabilities.

    Earlier this year, researchers at Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky witnessed a cyberespionage campaign targeting Microsoft Windows PCs at government and telecom entities in China and Pakistan.

    Aspects of the code looked like some the Moscow antivirus provider had previously seen and attributed to a company it gave the cryptonym “Moses”.

    Beyond the two zero-days already abused, according to Kaspersky, “at least six vulnerabilities” made by Moses have made it out “into the wild” in the last two years. Also according to Kaspersky, another hacking crew known as DarkHotel — believed by some cybersecurity researchers to be sponsored by South Korea — has used Moses’ zero days. South Korea is not a customer of Exodus.

    “We are pretty sure India leaked some of our research,” Brown said. “We cut them off and haven’t heard anything since then . . . so the assumption is that we were correct.”

  • Sajal Aly receives love from Sonam Bajwa and Rabia Butt on latest pictorial outing

    Actor Sajal Aly took to her Instagram account to share a picture of her with the caption, “The Sky is my favourite part of life”.

    The Yaqeen Ka Safar star received love from both transnational celebrities. Famous Punjabi superstar Sonam Bajwa left a comment under Sajal’s post saying, “And you are born to touch the sky.”

    Sonam is amongst the most sought after Punjabi actresses of her generation, in an interview with  BBC Asian Network’s Haroon Rashid, the Carry On Jatta 2 actress said, ” I am the biggest, biggest fan of Sajal Aly, she is phenomenal and I feel so happy sharing that I’ve learnt so much from her, she’s extraordinary and I think you’d agree. She’s the best actress and the finest actress of our times and I really look up to her”.

    Actor Rabia Butt and singer Zeb Bangash also expressed their love by commenting.

     Th BTS pictures from the sets of Sajal Aly’s upcoming drama  Sinf-e-Aahan  was released. Leading ladies Sajal Aly and Kubra Khan can be seen donning the military cadet uniforms.

    On the work front, Sajal will be seen next in Amin Iqbal’s Ishq-e-Laa opposite Azaan Sami Khan and Yumna Zaidi.

  • ‘It wasn’t cute’: Nida Yasir breaks silence on ‘Formula 1’ parody video by Yasir Nawaz

    ‘It wasn’t cute’: Nida Yasir breaks silence on ‘Formula 1’ parody video by Yasir Nawaz

    Morning show host Nida Yasir has opened up about the ‘Formula 1’ parody video made by her husband Yasir Nawaz. Actors Junaid Khan and Hiba Bukhari appeared on the show to promote their forthcoming drama Berukhi, while discussing social media, Junaid asked Nida about her response to the parody video.

    He also asked, ‘Yasir ko apne kuch kaha to nahi?” The Nadaniyaan diva revealed that more members of the family, including her own children were involved in the process and they helped him record the parody video which she wasn’t very happy about.

    When Hiba added that she found it to be cute, Nida was quick to mentioned that she didn’t find it cute.

    Earlier this month Yasir recreated Nida’s viral video, he can be seen in two getups.

  • iPhone 13 launch triggers meme fest

    Apple recently launched it’s iPhone 13 and people cannot see a major difference between iPhone 13 and iPhone 12. The unveiling of the latest Apple model has started a meme fest on social media — not just in Pakistan but around the world.

    Here are a few hilarious ones.

    https://twitter.com/aimeerydizzy/status/1437952773589389314?s=20

    https://twitter.com/IhrVortrag/status/1437952133123297281?s=20