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  • Fiza Ali wants you to know even divorced couples can remain on good terms

    Fiza Ali wants you to know even divorced couples can remain on good terms

    Actress and television host Fiza Ali has made an important point on how couples can remain good friends and still choose to end their marriage together.

    Speaking on the morning talk show ‘Good Morning Pakistan’, the actress opened up about her divorce and feeling disheartened by the way her colleagues discussed her ex-husband Fawad Farooq. Fiza said she left acting after feeling upset with how mutual friends of the couple would backbite about him to her, even though there was no bad blood between the two when they separated.

    “Whatever issues I had with Fawad, it doesn’t give an outsider the right to step up and abuse him in this manner. Especially when I haven’t said anything about him, as a friend why are you backbiting about him?”

    Fiza said misbehaviour shown by people was something she couldn’t handle, especially how friends kept urging her to open up about how she suffered during her marriage, when the two remained close after their divorce.

    “I was never abused or beaten during my marriage, Fawad was not that kind of person! There can be several reasons why a couple can end their marriage and it doesn’t solely mean abuse was innvolved.”

    We’re happy to see Fiza being upfront about this issue because too often, Pakistani society loves assuming that the only time a couple should end their marriage is when there is abuse involved. Getting a divorce shouldn’t only be offered as an option in such circumstances, because there are several reasons why couples can feel incompatible and chose to divorce.

    Fizza’s statement is also extremely important for audiences to remember that every person is entitled to their privacy. Rather than making assumptions on her behalf and jumping the gun, learn to leave others alone and mind your business!

  • PM Kakar opens up about DG ISI’s extension

    PM Kakar opens up about DG ISI’s extension

    Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar has said that the service tenure of the current Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmed Anjum Sheikh has been extended to preserve the “continuity” of policy at a time when the country is facing increasing militant attacks.

    This is the first time a Pakistani official has publicly addressed the extension, which comes at a critical juncture for the nation grappling with heightened security challenges.

    “Try to understand the point on continuity [of policy]. Any system prefers and supports the idea of continuity,” Kakar told Arab News in an interview with Mehreen Zahra Malik this week when asked why Anjum was given an extension.

    “You want to have a continuation of the process, and for you the continuation of that process is important so that idea or practice or brand gets entrenched,” the PM added, without disclosing specific details of the policies the government and military wanted Anjum to continue to implement.

    “So, in that context at times in many institutions, you do feel, or the political dispensation feels, that some individual has to continue for any security benefit or otherwise, and they [the state] have got the discretion to do that [grant extension]. There’s nothing unusual and abnormal about it.”

    Lt. Gen. Anjum, initially scheduled to retire later this month, will now continue to lead the ISI for at least another year. While the military has yet to formally announce the extension, speculation has been rife in Pakistani media for weeks that the General will serve for another year.

    The Director General of the ISI holds a pivotal role at the crossroads of national politics and foreign relations, overseeing efforts to counteract militant threats.

    The agency’s influence is not without controversy, as it has played a historical role in military coups and the management of political affairs, leading civilian politicians to regard it with a certain degree of apprehension.

    The last ISI chief to receive such an extension was Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, coinciding with major anti-militant offensives in the country’s northwest.

    Lt. Gen. Anjum’s extension occurs against the backdrop of a surge in militant activities by groups like Daesh and Pakistan’s indigenous Taliban movement, the TTP. The latter, emboldened by the rise of the Afghan Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan, has intensified its activities, posing a significant security challenge for Islamabad.

    Lt. Gen. Anjum assumed the role of DG ISI on November 20, 2022. Since then, the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has renounced a cease-fire with the government, leading to a resumption of attacks on various military and civilian targets, including police compounds and security convoys.

  • Sister Zeph from Gujranwala wins The Global Teacher Prize 2023

    Sister Zeph from Gujranwala wins The Global Teacher Prize 2023

    Sister Zeph, the founder of Zephaniah Education and Empowerment Foundation, received the Global Teacher Prize 2023 worth a million dollars, on November 8.

    Sister Zeph began teaching when she was 13 years old in the courtyard of her home in Gujranwala. Her students were neighbourhood children who couldn’t afford school fees. She has empowered many students from underprivileged backgrounds in a journey spanning 27 years. Her organization is operating two schools and a skills centre primarily in Gujranwala, with students from 11 nearby villages, all of them from humble families.

    She got selected from over 7,000 nominations for the Global Teacher Prize from 130 countries around the world. The ceremony was held at UNESCO’S General Conference in Paris where she accepted her award. “We are delighted to announce that Sister Zeph, an English, Urdu, culture, inter-faith harmony, climate change teacher at Gujranwala, Punjab in Pakistan, has been named the winner of the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize 2023,” the orgnisation announced in a statement.

    UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay congratulated the Pakistani teacher on receiving the prestigious award. “We all remember a teacher who has had an impact on our life and changed our future. It may sound like a truism but it’s true: teachers are life-changers. Congrats to Sister Zeph from Pakistan, 2023 Global Teachers Prize Winner. Thanks to her for her commitment as a life-changer,” she wrote on her Twitter handle.

    With this award, she plans to open another bigger school on a scale of 10 acres where children from poor families can be educated without any discrimination. She has aims of making an orphan house as well where kids will be taught about a range of subjects.

    In an interview, she said that she felt the need to become a teacher because she believed “there should be more people in this profession” and because she thought that there should be more children in school.

  • Indian actress makes conditional marriage proposal to Muhammad Shami

    Indian actress makes conditional marriage proposal to Muhammad Shami

    Indian actress Payal Ghosh has offered a conditional marriage proposal to Indian cricketer Mohammad Shami after he become India’s highest wicket-taker in the ODI World Cup. Ghosh tagged Shami in a tweet and wrote, “Shami, if you improve your English, I am ready to marry you.”

    Shami is married to model Haseen Jahan, however, Indian media reports state that the two have been estranged since 2019.

    Haseein Jahan accused Shami of torture, after which the bowler and his brother were detained and later released on bail, although the allegations were denied by Mohammed Shami.

    In May this year, Muhammad Shami’s wife once again approached the Supreme Court of India against her husband.

  • Senators and LG representatives might be allowed by ECP to campaign for their parties

    Senators and LG representatives might be allowed by ECP to campaign for their parties

    The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is working on rules that will determine whether senators and local government representatives can actively support and promote their political parties during election campaign, as the February 8 national elections approach.

    As per ECP guidelines, politicians must follow the rules closely, with legal consequences, including facing contempt charges under Section 10 of the Elections Act 2017, applicable on violations.

    This behavior also holds political parties, candidates, and election agents responsible for preventing their supporters from putting too much pressure on newspapers, TV, and radio stations, including avoiding violence against journalists.

    The electoral watchdog has recommended a total prohibition on having or showing any weapons or guns during public gatherings, rallies, on polling day, and up to 24 hours after official results are finalized by the returning officers.

    Violation will be treated as an illegal practice. The condition will not apply to guards of political parties’ leaders or candidates, but they will need a valid license for carrying weapons and prior permission from the concerned authority.

  • No Hollywood celebrity showed up to Gal Gadot’s propaganda film screening, and Twitter is in fits

    No Hollywood celebrity showed up to Gal Gadot’s propaganda film screening, and Twitter is in fits

    Social media was outraged when it was announced that former IDF soldier, actress Gal Gadot, will be hosting a private screening for celebrities at the Museum of Tolerance, depicting the attacks of October 7. However, Twitter was in fits when Israeli supporter Eve Barlow complained that no Hollywood celebrity-including Gadot herself- had shown up for the event. Viral videos showed protests erupting outside the museum with Palestinian supporters calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza.

    “Last night at the Museum of Tolerance, Hollywood was supposed to gather to watch the footage from October 7. Not a single celebrity showed up. F*** their ribbons, and their marches and their signatures. There is no fortitude in Hollywood. They are all a bunch of cowards.”

    cowards.— Eve Barlow (@Eve_Barlow) November 9, 2023

    Twitter users were in fits at Barlow’s tweet.

  • Rana Sanaullah thinks MQM-P will help PLM-N get up to four seats in Karachi

    Rana Sanaullah thinks MQM-P will help PLM-N get up to four seats in Karachi

    Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah has stated that his party’s alliance with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) could result in three to four candidates securing seats in Karachi in the general elections, The News has reported.

    Sanaullah passed the opinion after a joint announcement by PML-N and MQM-P that they intend to collectively participate in the elections scheduled for February 8.
    Speaking on Geo News’ programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada kay Sath’ on Thursday, Sanaullah said that a lot of matters were yet to be decided but the MQM-P will give PML-N space where its candidates could succeed.
    “We will strengthen PML-N in Balochistan,” he said.

    “A hung parliament after the election will add to the country’s problems,” he warned and said the future government must at least have a simple majority.
    He mentioned that the current situation in the country requires a widespread agreement on policies. The upcoming government, regardless of which party leads it, will need to collaborate with all other parties to navigate the country through its challenges.

  • Karachi Fishermen catch Sowa fish worth Rs. 700 million

    Karachi Fishermen catch Sowa fish worth Rs. 700 million

    Fishermen from Ibrahim Haideri in Karachi caught a whole lot of Sowa fish, reportedly worth Rs. 700 million, says a report by Geo.

    According to the Coastal Media Centre in Karachi, Sowa fish is extremely expensive. One fish costs around 70 hundred thousand to 10 million in Pakistani rupees. Its meat costs a thousand rupees per kg.

    The fat in its stomach is rare and is used to form sutures used in surgeries.

    Fishermen were extremely excited and happy as the news broke out.

  • BBL: Special area of Melbourne Stadium dedicated to Pakistan

    BBL: Special area of Melbourne Stadium dedicated to Pakistan

    During Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL), a stand at the Melbourne Cricket Stadium (MCG) has been named ‘Pakistan Bay’.

    Melbourne Stars fans will be able to sit in the ‘Pakistan Bay’ and watch the first three home matches. Haris Rauf and Osama Mir will represent Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League.

    The opening three matches of the Big Bash League will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 13, January 2, and January 6.

    Melbourne Stars has also started a membership in the name of Pakistani fast bowler Haris Rauf.

    Fans with memberships will be able to watch the match sitting in the Pakistan Bay at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Exclusive MCG seat sales have also been launched from the name of Pakistan Bay.

  • New Delhi schools go on early winter break as smog suffocates Indian capital

    New Delhi schools go on early winter break as smog suffocates Indian capital

    Amidst its fight to reduce suffocating levels of smog, the Indian capital, New Delhi, has announced a ten-day-long winter break in schools throughout the city.

    Over in Pakistan, the hazardous air has worsened to the extent that the government announced a four-day health emergency from November 9 to 12 in Lahore, Gujranwala, and Hafizabad. Schools, markets, offices, and restaurants shall remain closed in these cities.

    Following the trail, New Delhi announced an early winter break for the session of 2023-24 in schools from November 9-18. The notification asserted that the step has been taken after observing “severe air quality prevailing in Delhi” and that there is “no respite from such adverse weather conditions in the near future”.

    Lahore and New Delhi have been vying with each other in the charts of air quality index, being the top two most polluted cities in the world.