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  • Wilders hails India’s illegal decision, calls Pakistan ‘100% terror state’

    Wilders hails India’s illegal decision, calls Pakistan ‘100% terror state’

    Dutch Politician Geert Wilders, who is known for his anti-Islam rhetoric, has hailed India’s decision to nullify Article 370 of the Constitution in occupied Kashmir and called Pakistan “a 100% terror state”.

    “India is a full Democracy and Pakistan is a 100% terror state [sic],” leader of the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) tweeted after the Indian government paved way for a Muslim genocide in held Kashmir.

    Wilders had earlier made headlines when he had announced his plans to hold a blasphemous caricatures contest as part of his “campaign against Islam”.

    His tweet comes after the Indian government on Monday through a presidential decree abolished Article 370 that gave a measure of autonomy to Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK).

    Now with the special status of Kashmiris repealed, among other feared outcomes is that people from the rest of India would have the right to acquire property in IoK and settle there permanently, which could lead to ethnic cleansing.

    A massive shift in demographics of the Muslim-majority disputed territory can also follow.

  • Model Rabia Butt attempt to troll Nasir Khan Jan backfires

    Nasir Khan Jan is not only famous for his video content and unabashed style but also how he takes criticism and negative comments. Nasir Khan Jan has lately started becoming active on Twitter and has been winning hearts with his tweets. He proved that he has a strong tweet game when he clapped back at model Rabia Butt after she attempted to troll him.

    Nisar Khan Jan recently posted a picture of himself on Twitter with the caption “Cheat your boyfriend and propose me”.

     Soon after, Pakistanis started commenting on NKJ’s picture. Among those was Rabia Butt who jumped in with a most sexist reply.

    “Who should propose you? The boyfriend or the girlfriend?”, Butt wrote in response.

    To which NKJ responded, “Log naam kama gaye mujhe badnaam kartay kartay.” Following NKJ’s tweet, Rabia played it safe and tweeted:

    A friendly banter between the two then ensued.

    Rabia’s comments didn’t sit well with NKJ’s fans who started schooling Rabia. To them, the model tweeted:

    What do you think? Good friends or throwing shade?

  • Islamabad Zoo’s brown bear on the road to recovery

    Islamabad Zoo’s brown bear on the road to recovery

    After the condition of the Himalayan Brown Bear in Islamabad Zoo sparked national outrage, efforts were made by the government and the Ministry of Climate Change to assess the bear’s condition and nurse it back to health.

    And it appears that the outrage and protests were all for good reason because latest reports suggest that the bear has been operated upon and is on the road to recovery. According to a Facebook page, Friends of Islamabad Zoo, a surgery was performed on the brown bear a few days ago by Islamabad’s renowned veterinarian Dr Faisal Khan in consultation with Dr Bilal Khilji, Assistant Director and Veterinarian for the Zoo. The page also shared that the animal will soon return to its enclosure in a few days.

    https://www.facebook.com/friendsofislamabadzoo/posts/106634134018801?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARBVKSNE2gX9qeqpHJGR5y4urquZljyRVxJB1lVxcvymj7mMEX054PXUjWLrFDiDVPszhYRJZcklYdE2JVZ2OwZEEq4lxUhRQopiyt50ClZ7OQylQO-dScz6fq_1m-icTQzoa4Mh-6BQac3C8K4wYStLW5e14dQr6qDQs6njxKotSURUoLBPvvpZjCOAe_4GQbyfZAxYkbcDzBE1vKQ6yKOd5a-TxxDL4SSzWzha_w4zgAl7vUg87t5Cu-7UR-IuaoYK38oCm0bC0cgb4fR2D7Kus_Kk-d7Vos-YqHG_PCUtc32p3yLeI9KO4PH81cyArPO4AzmnmGwDcx1TkAk&__tn__=-R

    The public outrage also resulted in the matter of the zoo’s management being resolved. In compliance with the Islamabad High Court order, the authorised officer from Ministry Of Climate Change visited the Islamabad Zoo and notified the new zoo director Mr Altaf Khuro (Director, Zoological Survey Of Pakistan) to take over management and evaluate the status of each animal, their health, food, hygiene of enclosures and general cleanliness of the zoo.

    https://www.facebook.com/iwmb.org.pk/photos/a.317959482021337/645476579269624/?type=3&__tn__=-R

    It is pertinent to mention here that there is an ongoing tussle between the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation and the Ministry of Climate Change over the management of the zoo. After a petition was filed in the Islamabad High Court against the zoo’s management, the court had handed over management of the city’s zoo to the climate change ministry till August 29. However, the director of Marghazar Zoo is resisting the transfer and is not cooperative. He locked the gates when officials of climate change ministry went to take over control of the zoo.

    Meanwhile, the zoo has also been declared a plastic-free zone and efforts were made to free the zoo from plastic.

  • VIDEO: 23yo Pakistani’s sajda after ‘World’s Best Tekken Player’ title will give you goosebumps

    VIDEO: 23yo Pakistani’s sajda after ‘World’s Best Tekken Player’ title will give you goosebumps

    A 23-year-old youngster from Lahore has been crowned the world’s best Tekken 7 player at 2019 Evolution Championship Series (EVO) in Las Vegas.

    According to the details, Arslan Siddiqui aka Arslan Ash, who was relatively unknown in the competitive circuit a year ago, has edged out Jae-Min Bae aka Knee in the grand finals of one of, if not the biggest, fighting game tournament series in the world.

    He was also awarded a cash prize of around $14,000.

    According to VICE, it’s the third time Siddiqui has bested South Korea’s Jae-Min, who many from the gaming community considered a “god” of the game. It’s a monumental win, considering the former was virtually unheard of a year ago.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    The 23-year-old had previously also won the second Evo Japan in February, becoming the first-ever unified EVO champion.

    EVO hosted nine official fighting games this year, including Tekken 7, whose competitive scene is centered around a few countries: Japan, the United States (US), and South Korea.

    This year’s top eight consists of players from those very same countries: four players from Japan, two players from South Korea and one player from the US, however, Siddiqui is the exception.

  • Indian-occupied Kashmir: Articles 370 and 35A explained

    Indian-occupied Kashmir: Articles 370 and 35A explained

    The Indian government has rushed through a presidential decree to abolish Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave a measure of autonomy to the Muslim-majority Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK).

    Here is everything you need to know about Article 370 and what could follow the development that comes as tensions mount in the troubled valley.

    WHAT IS ARTICLE 370?

    Article 370 was the basis of Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to the Indian union at a time when former princely states had the choice to join either Pakistan or India after their independence from the British rule in 1947.

    The article, which came into effect in 1949, exempts Jammu and Kashmir state from the Indian Constitution.

    It allows IoK to make its own laws in all matters except finance, defence, foreign affairs and communications. The article established a separate constitution, a separate flag and denied property rights in the region to the outsiders.

    That means the residents of the state live under different laws from the rest of the country in matters such as property ownership and citizenship.

    WHAT IS ARTICLE 35A?

    Article 35A is a branch of Article 370, which was introduced through a presidential order in 1954 to continue the old provisions of the territory regulations.

    The article permits the local legislature in IoK to define permanent residents of the region. It forbids outsiders from permanently settling, buying land, holding local government jobs or winning education scholarships in the region.

    While Article 35A has remained unchanged, some aspects of Article 370 have been diluted over the decades.

    WHY ARE THEY BEING ABOLISHED?

    The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its right-wing allies have challenged Article 35A which it calls discriminatory. Last month, a senior BJP leader had hinted that the government was planning to form exclusive Hindu settlements in the region.

    With the special status repealed, people from the rest of India would have the right to acquire property in IoK and settle there permanently.

    Kashmiris fear the move would lead to a demographic transformation of the region from majority-Muslim to majority-Hindu, paving way for Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s hardliner BJP in the disputed territory.

  • Walmart to keep selling guns despite recent shootings at its store

    Walmart to keep selling guns despite recent shootings at its store

    Despite two deadly shootings at its stores in less than a
    week, American retail giant Walmart has no plans to stop selling guns and
    ammunition, Agence France-Presse (AFP)
    has reported.

    A man opened fire with an assault rifle at a Walmart in
    Texas on Saturday, killing 20 people, just four days after a disgruntled
    employee shot dead two coworkers and wounded a responding police officer at one
    of the massive chain’s stores in Mississippi.

    “We are focused on supporting our associates, our customers and the entire El Paso community,” reports quoted Walmart spokesperson Randy Hargrove as saying.

    Following the El Paso shooting, Walmart Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Doug McMillon posted a note on Instagram saying he “can’t believe” it was the second such in a week.

    “My heart aches for the community in El Paso,
    especially the associates and customers at store 2201 and the families of the
    victims,” he wrote.

    “I’m praying for them and I hope you will join
    me.”

    Walmart founder Sam Walton loved guns — so much so that the
    American gun manufacturer Remington named a hunting rifle model after him. But
    the retail giant maintains that its target audience is sport shooters and
    hunters.

    Walmart has made gun policy changes over the years, such as
    in 1993, when it stopped selling handguns.

    The company stopped selling semi-automatic rifles in 2015,
    and after the Parkland, Florida shooting in February 2018 — which saw 17
    people killed at a high school — Walmart raised the minimum age to buy guns
    and ammunition in its stores to 21.

    Additionally, “Walmart goes beyond federal law
    requiring all customers to pass a background check before purchasing any
    firearm,” said Hargrove.

    He also noted that all new Walmart employees are required to
    complete an active shooter training program, which they then must pass on a
    computer four times a year.

    But since it is the largest retail chain in the United
    States, Walmart continues to attract criticism for its enduring stock of
    firearms.

    When the company tweeted it was “in shock” after
    the tragedy in El Paso, many Twitter users replied: “Stop selling
    guns.”

  • Chinese company to provide millions of job, business opportunities to Pakistani women

    Chinese company to provide millions of job, business opportunities to Pakistani women

    Chinese services company, Timesaco, will be providing millions of jobs and business opportunities to women through different e-commerce platforms in six major cities of the country, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.

    Reports quoted Timesaco Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Donald-Li as saying that the company plans to introduce different e-commerce platforms for women, through which they will be able to do different online businesses.

    He said Timesaco’s e-services platform would create millions of jobs for women and help them start their own businesses without any investment.

    Li said that Timesaco’s platform will uplift women living in poverty and facing greater challenges in earning a steady income, educating and feeding their children.

    Earlier it was reported that the company is looking to invest $600m in the country in service sectors. Eyeing opportunity in the country’s transport business, Timesaco has prepared to launch a new ride-hailing service called Buraq Taxi Service across 10 major cities on August 10.

    Devised using a comprehensive strategy to take on the current titans in the market, the taxi service will provide five types of services to customers, including taxi service, heavy cargo delivery, orders delivery, moving automated teller machines (ATM) and vehicle advertisement facilities.

  • Tour de Hajj: A group of cyclists reach Makkah from London

    Tour de Hajj: A group of cyclists reach Makkah from London

    After cycling 4,000 miles through 17 countries for 60 days, the Tour De Hajj team arrived in Saudi Arabia from London on Saturday. The group of cyclists travelling for Hajj received a hearty welcome upon their arrival in Medina.

    Announcing the completion of their mission, the team shared an emotional video of themselves on social media.

    They added, “Hajj begins next week and we touched down Masjid Nabawi just after the Maghreb! The hospitality we received today was incredible. Huge thanks to the Saudi Ministry for looking after us.”

    People admired and we in awe of the dedication of the cyclists and wished the team all the very best.

    The
    Tour De Hajj (TDH) challenge for Penny Appeal from London to Makkah was hoping
    to raise tens of thousands for charity. The money collected will fund a model
    village consisting of schools, places of worship and a water well in four
    countries – Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Uganda.

  • Hamza Ali Abbasi, Mehwish Hayat among others raise their voice for Kashmir

    Hamza Ali Abbasi, Mehwish Hayat among others raise their voice for Kashmir

    With tensions mounting in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) as the government revokes special status granted to the valley, calls in additional troops and orders tourists to evacuate the region, there is panic in countries on both sides of the borders. Information regarding what exactly is happening the disputed territory is limited resulting in rising fears.

    A plethora of Pakistani actors are among those raising their voice against the Indian atrocities and are calling for the world to support those in the valley.

    It comes as no surprise that the first person to raise his voice on the matter was none other than Hamza Ali Abbasi who also encouraged his fellow actors to use their popularity to create awareness against the “zulm.”

    Following Hamza’s tweets, several actors took to Twitter to voice their concerns and Hamza even thanked a few of them.

    The situation in the Himalayan territory has been worsening as Indian armed forces martyr at least 10 Kashmiri youth within the last three days and the government announcing its decision to scrap Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.

    ARTICLE 370

    Article 370 of the Indian Constitution is a “temporary provision” that grants special autonomous status to occupied Kashmir. All the provisions of the constitution that are applicable to other states are not applicable to the disputed territory.

    According to this article, except for defence, foreign affairs, finance and communications, the Indian Parliament needs the state government’s approval for applying all other laws.

    The residents of occupied Kashmir, therefore, live under a separate set of laws as compared to Indian citizens elsewhere in the country, including those related to citizenship, ownership of property, and fundamental rights.

    As a result, Indian citizens from other states cannot purchase land or property in occupied Kashmir. With the government moving to revoke the article, the fate of IoK’s 13 million population hangs in balance.

  • PML-N MPA ‘rapes, records, blackmails’ university student

    PML-N MPA ‘rapes, records, blackmails’ university student

    Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Attaur Rehman has been accused of raping, recording and blackmailing a university student in Multan, The Express Tribune has reported.

    According to reports, the Punjab Assembly lawmaker was sexually assaulting the girl for over 11 months and was blackmailing her on the basis of the video he had recorded of the victim’s ordeal.

    The police, under political influence, initially refused to lodge a complaint despite repeated attempts made by the victim, reports said and added that she was a first-year student at National College of Business Administration & Economics (NCBAE) in Multan.

    Due to studies, she relocated from Lahore to Multan over a year ago and had been working at Pakistan Human Development Foundation (PHDF), a local non-government organisation (NGO) run by the accused lawmaker.

    The accused took her to an undisclosed location, around 11 months back, in the guise of office work, where he allegedly raped and filmed her.

    Rehman later threatened her of dire consequences if she refused to obey him.

    The victim has filed an application with a local magistrate for her medical examination and attached medical records of the hospital she was recently admitted to after sodomy.