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  • ‘JUI-F’s Mufti protecting Mansehra child molester’; family registers FIR

    ‘JUI-F’s Mufti protecting Mansehra child molester’; family registers FIR

    A chilling child abuse case takes a surprising turn as political party, Jamaet-e-Ulema-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F)’s leader Mufti Kifayatullah is accused of harbouring the child molestor and forcing the victim’s family to take back their accusation.

    The case took place in Mansehra in December, when a ten-year-old student was sexually abused by a madrassah teacher. According to the medical report, the child was sexually abused multiple times, the child’s eyes had bloody wounds and he had also been tortured. After the medical report the madrassah was sealed as the alleged molester went into hiding. Police said that raids were being conducted to find the alleged rapist.

    In an update on the case, the family of the victim filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Mufti Kifayatullah and Qari Abdul Maalik for trying to force the family to drop the case and for hiding the alleged abuser, Shamsuddin.

    The family has registered an FIR and is not giving up

    The family says that Mufti Kifayatullah threatened them to settle out of court or face the consequences. He also offered them money to settle the case. The family has refused and is asking for justice.

    READ MORE: Jemima Khan reacts to being called ‘Wiki’s’ cousin

  • Rights groups denounce PEMRA’s efforts to regulate web content

    Rights groups denounce PEMRA’s efforts to regulate web content

    Digital rights activists on Tuesday rejected the proposal of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to regulate digital content and Over the Top TV (OTT).

    According to the details, PEMRA on Tuesday released a document titled “Consultation on Regulating the Web TV & OTT Content Services” on its website, seeking comments on the matter by February 14, which drew strong reactions.

    The document proposes a number of regulatory guidelines, including licensing, inspection, content regulation and putting a complaint handling mechanism in place for web TV and OTT platforms.

    In response to the document, the participants were of the view that any such measures would cause regression in Pakistan’s digital growth. Furthermore, that the measures would curb freedom of expression, increase censorship and diminish digital rights for Pakistanis.

    A press release in this regard said that the draft regulations “are thinly disguised as draconian attempts to discourage new media journalism, including YouTube/website channels being run by Pakistani journalists who have been forced out from mainstream media over the past two years by the authorities to curtail their professional and/or entrepreneurial work or dozens of entrepreneurial and non-legacy current affairs news and current affairs websites that are filling the gaps in information from legacy media and providing useful local community information”.

  • Israelis thought they could visit Saudi Arabia: Saudi says No

    Israelis thought they could visit Saudi Arabia: Saudi says No

    Israel had officially given its citizens the right to travel to Saudi Arabia for religious and business visits but the Saudi foreign minister, in response, said that Israelis are not welcome to Saudi Arabia “at the moment”.

    The Israeli interior ministry announced the decision saying that they approve the travel to Saudi Arabia for Hajj or Umrah and also that business travellers must have an invitation and arranged visitation approval.

    Although Israel has made the decision, the gesture was seen as a warming of ties between the two countries since Saudi Arabia does not recognise the State of Israel.

    Travelers to Middle Eastern countries would use this border crossing into Jordan to go to other countries

    Israelis travel to Saudi Arabia through countries like Jordan and Egypt, which have peaceful ties with Israel. The visits were never official but nonetheless, they take place.

    Israel has had difficult ties with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries due to its illegal occupation of Palestine and the atrocities it has committed against the Palestinian people.

  • Aurat March 2020 is looking for poster designs

    Aurat March 2020 is looking for poster designs

    Social change activist and artist Shehzil Malik took to social media to call for poster design submissions for this year’s Aurat March.

    The march was organized by feminist collective Hum Aurtain in Karachi last year to bring women together in a public space to raise voice for their rights in the country.

    Shehzil shared a poster with the caption “Be part of Aurat March 2020 by designing a poster that shows why you think womxn should march for their rights in Pakistan.”

    She also explained the meaning of the term ‘womxn.’ In a separate tweet.  “Womxn is a term that is used to be inclusive of trans and non-binary women.”

    Aurat March started in 2018, where many women, children and men got together in Karachi only. Last year, the march extended to other cities such as Lahore, Islamabad, Hyderabad, Quetta, Peshawar and Faisalabad. Many people took part in the movement for gender justice. The march across different cities of Pakistan is held to celebrate International Women’s Day that is on March 8.

  • The weekend of fashion fails

    The weekend of fashion fails

    While the rest of us were glued to our TV screens to catch the last episode of Meray Paas Tum Ho, our celebrities were attending the Hum Style Awards in Karachi. The same weekend the Grammys took place in Los Angeles which means that there were a lot of red carpet looks to debate over. However, there was little to no ‘fashion inspo’ considering that our stars did not exactly put forward their best fashion fronts.

    Here is the fashion rundown from the past weekend.

    Nay – Momina Mustehsan

    Red seems to be Momina’s favourite colour. Either her hair is red or her outfit is – and in this case the amount of red in this outfit is a bit too much. Plus her hairstyle is just too basic and her makeup typical. Considering it was the Hum Style Awards, the singer could have experimented with her look.

    Yay – Ayesha Omar

    Ayesha Omar is the ultimate style icon and here’s proof in case you needed it. Ayesha looks absolutely glam in this outfit by Elan.

    Nay – Mansha Pasha

    From the stockings to that embroidery to that boring hairstyle, Mansha’s look failed to hit the mark.

    Yay – Mahnoor Baloch

    Mahnoor Baloch can make anything look good.

    Nay – Ghana Ali

    First of all, what is that design? And secondly, what is that fitting?

    Also can we take a moment to discuss how bad the background wall. Totally takes the attention away from the person.

    Nay – Rubya Chaudhry

    No words.

    Yay – Reema

    The evergreen Reema can give the younger lot a run for their money with her sophistication.

    Nay – Sana Fakhar

    The hair, the makeup, the dress, the yello Chanel clutch – so many things wrong with this look.

    Now that we’re done dissecting the Hum Style Awards celebrity looks, onto the Grammys now.

    Priyanka Chopra

    Priyanka has been trolled enough for that look, so we’re not going to say more.

    Cardi B

    Uhm, from that purple eyeshadow to the hairstyle, what was Cardi B was thinking?

    Camila Cabello

    This outfit is a mess and not a hot one.

  • It’s official: Aima Baig is Shahbaz Shigri’s ‘better half’

    It’s official: Aima Baig is Shahbaz Shigri’s ‘better half’

    Shahbaz Shigri has finally put to rest all rumours and speculations surrounding his relationship with Aima Baig.

    After months of teasing fans, the actor, in an Instagram post, made things official and revealed that Aima is indeed his “better half”. Sharing a picture of himself and the singer in Los Angeles, Shigri swooned over Baig’s smile adding that she is his “partner in crime, homie, companion and a whole bunch of other things which, if I began listing down, would turn up the cringe level to a million”.

    Shigri ended his note by using the hashtags ‘Better Half’ and ‘Embrace the Cringe’.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B73FaIpl4uV/

    Earlier, Aima had shared the same picture with the caption, “Rollin’ with the homie”.

    Friends and members of the entertainment industry showered their love and good wishes on the couple.

    Rumours surrounding Aima and Shabaz being a couple have been doing the rounds for a while now. The two have often set the internet on fire with their cute pictures. But neither one of them confirmed or denied the rumours.

    Read more – Just friends or more? Aima Baig & Shahbaz Shigri

    In an interview, when Aima was asked about Shahbaz, she replied that they are just good friends and people are speculating their relationship because Aima rarely shares pictures of herself with guys. She added that Shigri is “someone she connects with”.

  • VIDEO: PM says ‘nurses appeared like hoors after injection’

    VIDEO: PM says ‘nurses appeared like hoors after injection’

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that nurses at Shaukat Khanum Hospital, who looked after him after he fell from the stage back in 2013, looked like hoors (companions from paradise) following painkillers.

    “I was in deep pain due to injuries after I fell from the stage. The injection by Shaukat Khanum Hospital not only removed the pain but enabled me to make a speech as well. The nurses who made my pain go away looked like hoors at that time,” he can be heard as saying in a video doing rounds over the internet.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Imran also said he repeatedly asked the doctor to give him more of that painkiller injection but he refused. At one point the premier recalled threatening the doctor to do his bidding but he did not allow another injection.

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan had in May 2013 sustained serious injuries on his head and back after falling from a lifter while climbing up the stage installed for an election rally in Lahore.

    TV footage showed him tumbling down along with three or four personal bodyguards on a pickup truck. The PTI chief was seen bleeding when he was taken away by his party supporters to the city’s Liberty Hospital.

    The then 60-year-old, who had undertaken a punishing schedule of daily rallies but is known for his physical fitness, tumbled from the riser, seemingly after one of them lost their balance.

  • Fathers to get paid paternity leave

    Fathers to get paid paternity leave

    The Senate on Monday passed ‘The Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill, 2018’ that was moved on private members’ day by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Quratulain Marri.

    According to the details, while the bill was passed by the Upper House with a majority, the treasury benches opposed it. The bill will now go to the National Assembly for a vote.

    The said bill increases paid maternity leave of working mothers both in public and private sectors, and for the first time in the country, also grants paid paternity leave to fathers.

    The bill says that employees of every establishment should be provided six months paid maternity and three months paternity leave as and when applied by employees, separately from their leave account, commencing from the date as applied by the applicant in the application and supported by a medical certificate.

    It adds that the employees shall also be provided with an additional three months optional unpaid maternity and one-month paternity leave, separately from their leave account, if required by the employee.

    The Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government opposed the bill saying that such long maternity leave was not allowed anywhere in the world. Economic Affairs Minister Hammad Azhar said mothers can get 90-day maternity leave under the already-existing law.

  • Adnan Siddiqui says some dialogues of ‘Meray Paas Tum Ho’ were problematic

    Adnan Siddiqui says some dialogues of ‘Meray Paas Tum Ho’ were problematic

    Blockbuster Meray Paas Tum Ho has ended but the hype surrounding it certainly hasn’t. While at one point audiences are unable to get over Danish’s unexpected death, on the other end the debate surrounding problematic dialogues in the drama also continues.

    Adnan Siddiqui who played the suave Shehwar Ahmed in the drama serial, while thanking his fans for their response and appreciation, said that he understands that “the dialogues had some problematic leanings, and sometimes went a little far, sometimes quite far in painting women with a single brush stroke”, adding that he “wishes the drama had consciously added nuance to the storyline”.

    Adnan also said that he will focus on improving storylines which is why in his own production company, he will be “giving women writers the chance and space to create good content”.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B72Vy8iHwUi/?utm_source=ig_embed

    While the drama was a phenomenal success and went onto become television’s highest-rated drama, it did stir up controversy with its problematic dialogues and comments by the writer Khalil ur Rehman Qamar in his various interviews. The writer was accused of being misogynist and anti-women.

    A few days before the finale, upcoming actor, Rehmat Ajmal, who plays Danish (Humayun Saeed) and Mehwish’s (Ayeza Khan) friend Aisha in the drama, said that she is “not proud to be part of something that is so compromising and ill-informed”.

    Read more – Rehmat Ajmal says she is not proud to be acting in Meray Paas Tum Ho

    Taking to Instagram, she wrote that she watched Qamar’s interview and “got to know about his problematic views on very many things WAY after the project was completed” and that “I absolutely do not endorse the concepts and viewpoints of Mr Khalil Ul Rehman”.

  • Careem lays off over 150 employees

    Careem lays off over 150 employees

    Dubai-based Careem has laid off over 150 employees to cut down on costs due to financial constraints. The ride-hailing app’s co-founder and CEO Mudassir Sheikha in an interview confirmed the news and said “that cuts are being made to support its [the company’s] expansion strategy.”

    He further added, “The expansion will require cost-cutting that will involve the loss of five percent of existing roles and the reassigning of ten percent of staff to more critical technology development areas.”

    The layoffs come just three weeks after Uber completed $3.1 billion acquisition of Careem.

    An employee who was laid off spoke to MENAbytes, a leading tech news company in the Middle East, and shared, “Careem was a fantastic company but things started deteriorating after the deal with Uber was announced. The uncertainty hiked since the acquisition but I didn’t see this coming. We could have been informed earlier. It would have given us more time to look for an alternative but nevertheless it has been a good journey.”

    Another ex-employee remarked, “It is sad to see a company that used to have great culture and values, lose everything. It has become a highly political organisation where performance is not the criteria to progress anymore”.

    Uber, that now owns Careem, has also laid off over 1,000 people from its different teams across the world in a bid to cut down on costs. According to stats, it lost approximately $1.1 billion in the third quarter of 2019.