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  • ‘Stop killing dogs,’ says Hania Aamir after authorities allegedly shoot puppy

    A resident of Defence Housing Authority (DHA), Karachi Mehak Taherani has accused security officials of the private housing society of shooting dead her pet dog outside her house.

    “My puppy was shot dead by DHA outside my house,” said Mehak on Instagram. “Her name was Kobe.”

    Sharing details of the incident, Mehak, in a video, said: “My six-month-old dog was shot dead by DHA [police]. She was out doing her business in the morning [when she was shot] even though the guards of my street told the police that this is a house pet. Yet they shot her. Not once, but three times.”

    “I don’t understand why this happened or what she did to deserve such a thing,” said a visibly distressed Mehak in the video.

    Mehak further said that she will be filling a case against the police of the private housing authority, adding that she does not know how far this case will go.

    “The whole street knew her,” shared Mehak. “She slept right outside our house in a dog bed and was extremely friendly with everyone who came by.”

    “It is not okay that any agency of anywhere gets to get away with this,” remarked the resident. “I am shocked at the inhumanity in our country and its people. They [dogs] are scared of you, you do not need to feel threatened.”

    “What if he was a German Shepherd? Would it have been shot?,” questioned Mehak. “Probably not.”

    Soon after the video started doing the rounds on social media, several celebrities including Hania Aamir and Yasir Hussain condemned the brutal killing of the dog.

    Sharing Mehak’s video, Hania said: “She’s right. If it was a pure bred dog this would have never happened.”

    “Stop killing stray dogs,” she asserted.

    Meanwhile, several journalists and social media users also condemned the incident and urged authorities to take notice.

    Last week, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) imposed a complete ban on shooting stray dogs in the city.

  • VIDEO: Couple dive 60 feet underwater to tie the knot

    VIDEO: Couple dive 60 feet underwater to tie the knot

    A couple tied the knot 60 feet underwater off the coast of Neelankarai in India on Monday. This is reportedly India’s first underwater traditional marriage.

    “We dived in at an auspicious time and exchanged our garlands along with tying the mangal sutra,” said the couple.

    The couple was wearing traditional dresses. The bride wore a sari while the groom wore a Veshti (dhoti). They performed the marriage rites underwater.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vGSuIBQ0WQ&feature=emb_title

    Both the groom, Chinnadurai, and bride Swetha are software engineers. Chinnadurai is a licensed scuba diver while Swetha has also been learning to dive since last month.

  • Obamas to adapt Mohsin Hamid’s ‘Exit West’ for Netflix with Riz Ahmed in the lead

    Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company Higher Ground Productions on Friday announced six new projects in development for Netflix Inc, including a love story with a supernatural twist and a young adult thriller.

    The former president and first lady’s Higher Ground Productions will adapt British-Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid’s novel Exit West into a film, according to a statement from Netflix. The book tells the story of a young couple who find magical doors to transport them to other places and land in the middle of a global refugee crisis. Obama had also named it as one of the best books he read in 2017. According to The New York Times, the upcoming project will star the Pakistani-British actor Riz Ahmed.

    Other film projects include a science-fiction movie called Satellite, which will be produced with T Street, a production company run by Star Wars director Rian Johnson and producer Ram Bergman. Another is Tenzing, the story of the Nepalese-Indian man who first reached the summit of Mount Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand.

    The Young Wife is a feature film that follows a woman on the day of her wedding who feels out of sync as a storm approaches.

    The company also is developing two TV series. Firekeeper’s Daughter is a thriller based on a young adult novel by Angeline Boulley about an 18-year-old Ojibwe tribe member who reluctantly goes undercover in a police investigation on her reservation.

    The other series is a nature documentary about national parks.

    Netflix said the projects will be released over the next few years but did not give exact release dates.

    Read more – Netflix to release a new movie every week in 2021

    The Obamas signed a multiyear production deal with Netflix in 2018. Their earlier Netflix projects include American Factory, which won an Oscar in 2020 for best documentary.

  • European travel vlogger Christian Betzmann accepts Islam

    European travel vlogger Christian Betzmann accepts Islam

    European travel vlogger and YouTuber Christian Betzmann has accepted Islam after staying in Pakistan for around a year.

    Betzmann announced the news on social media, sharing a picture of himself holding a certificate from the Islamic School of Miami.

    “I have accepted Islam,” wrote Betzmann in the caption. “I started this channel last December and spend almost one year in Pakistan. During this time I met so many incredible people and learned a lot about the religion and the lifestyle.”

    “Growing up in Europe the word Islam was always connected with negativity, war, terrorism and to be completely honest I was never a religious person before so I didn’t really care what people thought back then. My best childhood friends were Muslims and deep inside we are all human beings in the same simulation we call life,” Betzmann added.

    Calling Islam a religion of peace he further said: “Islam is the religion of peace and I felt a deeper connection and something I want to experience and explore deeper for myself.”

    He also posted a vlog on his YouTube channel titled I ACCEPTED ISLAM | MY SHAHADA.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hxDOfNm-u0

    YouTubers Zaid Ali, Sham Idrees and people from entertainment industry including Zoya Nasir, Minal Khan and Zara Noor Abbas congratulated him on the big decision.

  • Carmat introduces artificial hearts for heart patients

    Carmat introduces artificial hearts for heart patients

    Artificial hearts will be available on sale for those suffering from critical heart diseases in Europe.

    French medical company Carmat has developed the technology and named it Aeson. According to details, it will be available for purchase in the second quarter of 2021. The company has also received approval for it from regulatory authorities.

    The 900g machine created to mimic the biological characteristics and functioning of a normal heart is fully capable of facilitating blood circulation in the body.

    “The idea behind this heart, which was born nearly 30 years ago, was to create a device which would replace heart transplants, a device that works physiologically like a human heart, one that’s pulsating, self-regulated and compatible with blood,” said Stéphane Piat, Carmat’s CEO.

    The device is designed to replace a real heart for years in patients with end-stage biventricular heart failure. For now, it has only been approved as a temporary implant for those awaiting a heart transplant.

    According to several estimates, around 2,000 biventricular heart failure patients are on transplant waiting lists across Western Europe.

  • Ahmed ‘The Wolverine’ Mujtaba destroys India’s Rahul Raju in 56 seconds

    Ahmed ‘The Wolverine’ Mujtaba destroys India’s Rahul Raju in 56 seconds

    Mixed martial arts (MMA) star Ahmed ‘The Wolverine’ Mujtaba destroyed India’s Rahul Raju in ONE Championship’s first round in only 56 seconds.

    The MMA fighter, who hails from Quetta and debuted in 2013, ducked an overhand right and countered his opponent with a punch of his own, finishing him in just the opening minute of their fight.

    The referee had to intervene as Raju immediately fell to the canvas and Mujtaba followed up with another strike. The Pakistani fighter’s win in the first round of One Championship — Asia’s biggest MMA promotion — took his career record to 8-2, while his Indian counterpart fell to 7-6.

    A graduate of the Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences (BUITEMS), the 35-year-old’s return marks his first fight in nearly three years when he lost to China’s Jia Wen Ma.

    After March 2018, several bouts, including two with Raju and one with Eduard Folayang, were scrapped. In 2016, he toppled Singapore’s highly-rated Benedict Ang, continuing his four-year spree of wins until losing to Keanu Subba in 2017.

    Taking to Twitter, Mujtaba dedicated his victory to the people of Kashmir and his fans in Pakistan and across the world.

    “Alhumdulillah. Thankyou everyone, much love and respect. A small gift to the people of Kashmir on Kashmir day,” he wrote on Twitter.

  • Pakistan’s biggest data scammers arrested

    Pakistan’s biggest data scammers arrested

    A gang stealing sensitive data of Pakistani citizens for various crimes, ranging from ATM hacking to online scams got busted in Karachi by the team of a popular television show. 

    As per details, the gang is an expert in making rubber thumb expressions based on data of Pakistani citizens. The gang has allegedly also collected data by selling sim cards on roads to citizens.

    “The gang has paralysed the entire system after breaching databases of NADRA, Ehsaas Program and even the Benazir Income Support Program”, said the team which busted them.

    The rubber made thumb impressions were used for a range of crimes like bank and ATM fraud, obtaining SIM cards, terror financing and other crimes.

    The police conducted a raid at a house in Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Maymar and apprehend the suspects. The police recovered data registers, hundreds of phone SIMs and a machine used in making rubber thumbs from their possession.

  • Amna Ilyas highlights ‘show off charity culture’ in new video

    Amna Ilyas highlights ‘show off charity culture’ in new video

    Amna Ilyas has highlighted show off charity culture in a new video.

    Read more – ‘You don’t hit women’: Osman Khalid Butt reacts to Bilal Saeed’s video

    In the video posted on Instagram, the model turned actor threw light on the prevailing show off culture in the society.

    “They say do charity silently or else the charity is you,” wrote Amna in the caption. “Remember, you’re doing it to fill someone else’s void not yours.”

    “The next time you give, the camera doesn’t need to follow,” she added. “Sadqa aese do ke dayen hath se karo toh bayen hath ko pata bhi na chaley.”

    In the video, Amna can be seen giving money to the poor in front of the camera. When the cameras turns off, she stops pretending to be nice with the poor and pushes them away.

    Read more – Mani hits back at those labelling his charity efforts a ‘cheap publicity stunt’

    This is not the first time Ilyas has made such a video. Earlier, she shared a video in which she highlighted the culture of exercising ‘power’ to avoid taking responsibility and stressed the need for respecting the rule of law.

    Meanwhile, Shaniera Akram praised Ilyas for smashing this culture.

    “Unfortunately this exists! Well done Amna, smash this culture for six,” she wrote.

  • Azaan Sami Khan says upcoming album ‘Main Tera’ is ‘extremely personal’

    Azaan Sami Khan says upcoming album ‘Main Tera’ is ‘extremely personal’

    Azaan Sami Khan has announced that his upcoming solo album will debut on February 10.

    The music composer of Superstar unveiled the album cover on Instagram, along with an exciting tracklist. Titled Main Tera, the album is Khan’s way of branching into something far more intimate than just producing music for chart-topping movies of recent times.

    According to a press release, the first single from the album, also titled Main Tera, is expected to release on February 10. Khan will be taking over the vocals and song-writing units for the very first time in this album.

    “I wanted it to be extremely personal. It’s almost biographical in some ways. I have delved into the first time I fell in love with somebody, the first crush, the first heartbreak, you’d basically witness a lot of firsts in this as it’s my first album,” said Khan while talking about Mera Tera.

    The singer also revealed that the 9-song track list includes a collaboration with Ustaad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.

    Read more – Hadiqa Kiani’s ‘Jaanay Iss Dil’ is Indo-Pak’s first female qawwali

    “For me, the fans and the listeners are the most important,” stated the singer. “So far, they have given me so much love for my compositions in films, so it is equally important for them to know that I haven’t compromised anything when it came to sharing my own album with them. The idea is to give them the absolute best experience that I can,” he said.

    The album announcement completes what has been a remarkable period for Khan, who gave us hits after hits in films like Parey Hut Love, Superstar, and Parwaaz Hai Junoon.

    While a release date for the complete album is yet to be announced, we’re looking forward to seeing what the single has in store for us. The album will be released under the banner of HUM Music.

    Meanwhile, Bilal Ashraf, Mahira Khan, Maya Ali, Amanat Ali and Shafaat Ali congratulated Khan on his new feat and wished him luck.

    “Super excited for you Azaan. All the best my bro,” wrote Bilal on Instagram.

    “Mubarak! Can’t wait to hear this one,” said Maya.

  • Two white tiger cubs die at Lahore Zoo ‘due to negligence’

    Two white tigers cubs aged 3 months have died in Lahore Zoo, Geo News has reported.

    According to Director Lahore Zoo Chaudhry Shafqat, the cubs died because the mother could not take proper care of them. The director said the tigress gave birth to three cubs and while one died during the birth, “the remaining two cubs were sick for the past two months”.

    On the other hand, another report has claimed that the caretakers of the tiger cubs were not able to take proper care of the animals due to shortage of funds resulting in their death.

    This is not the first incident of mistreatment of animals by zoo authorities.

    Two months ago Peshawar Zoo lost its fourth giraffe in 2020, just a few days after a black bear’s alleged death.

    Islamabad zoo shuts down after last animals moved

    Meanwhile, Islamabad’s Marghazar Zoo — which drew international condemnation for its treatment of lonely elephant Kaavan — shut down in December 2020 after its final occupants Babloo and Suzie were relocated to Jordan.

    The two Himalayan bears were the last to leave the Islamabad facility, almost three weeks after the country’s only Asian elephant was flown to a wildlife sanctuary in Cambodia.