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  • Gold price reaches Rs234,000 per tola, nearing new record high

    Gold price reaches Rs234,000 per tola, nearing new record high

    Gold prices in Pakistan continued to rise on Tuesday, influenced by the Pakistani rupee’s decline against the US dollar and an uptick in global prices. 

    According to the All Pakistan Gems and Jewellers Sarafa Association, the cost of 24-carat gold settled at Rs234,500 per tola, marking a substantial increase of Rs4,600. Similarly, the price of 10 grammes of gold rose by Rs3,944 to reach Rs201,046.

    It is expected that the price of gold might reach unprecedented levels due to the relentless and rapid decline of local currency against the greenback.

    The movement of gold prices in Pakistan closely follows the path of the US dollar due to the country’s reliance on gold imports. 

    The Pakistani rupee saw a notable decrease, falling to a new all-time low against the US dollar. It ended at Rs299.01 rupees per dollar, reflecting a decline of Rs1.88, as reported by the State Bank of Pakistan.

    Currency experts attribute the surge in gold prices to the recent depreciation of the rupee. 

    With growing concerns about the country’s economic situation, investors are turning to gold as a safe-haven asset. This shift has resulted in a significant increase of Rs12,700 per tola in just one week.

    Read more: PKR to USD rate

    Notably, the hike in gold prices coincided with political turmoil and a decrease in the local currency’s value, leading to an all-time high valuation of Rs240,000 per tola on May 10, 2023. On the international front, the price of gold saw a $10 increase, reaching $1,901 per ounce on Tuesday.

  • Elon Musk’s X plans to remove headlines from links to news articles

    Elon Musk’s X plans to remove headlines from links to news articles

    (Reuters): Elon Musk is pushing for a change in news links on his social media platform X, formerly called Twitter, in a move that could potentially undermine the ability of news publishers to draw an audience.

    X is planning to remove the headline and text while retaining just the lead image from links to news articles shared on the platform, Musk said in a post late on Monday.

    The move is likely an attempt by Musk to get users to spend more time on X and push them to opt for the subscription service for more details.

    It is not immediately clear how the move will impact advertisers on the platform that Musk claimed in July had 540 million monthly users.

    Currently news links come up on the timeline of users as “cards” along with an image, source address and an abridged headline. Such a packaging helps draw clicks and helps publishers gain readers.

    But with the shortened links, users might end up writing some text along with their posts and eventually they could consider X’s premium service that allows a single post of up to 25,000 characters.

    With the changes, Musk is pitching X as a more relevant platform for content creators. Premium subscribers can now post longer videos, their posts are shown higher up and they also receive a cut of ad sales.

  • Pakistan beat Afghanistan by 142 runs in first ODI

    Pakistan beat Afghanistan by 142 runs in first ODI

    Pakistan have beaten Afghanistan by 142 runs in the first ODI of a bilateral series between the two neighibouring countries. Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first, losing the early wicket of Fakhar Zaman on the second ball of the first over. Captain Babar Azam fell on the last ball of the 2nd over, adding to Pakistan’s troubles. In the first power play (first 10 overs) Pakistani team scored only 41 runs with three early wickets lost.

    After drinks, Pakistan was at 59/3, completing 100 runs in 25.1 overs. Imam-ul-Haq scored 61 runs while Muhammad Rizwan put up 21 runs. Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab scored 30 and 39 runs, bringing Pakistan to a total of 170 runs. At the tail end, Nasim Shah contributed 18 runs, finishing the inning with a total of 201 runs in 47.1 overs.

    Mujeeb ur Rehman took three wickets while Rashid Khan and Muhammad Nabi took two wickets each. Fazal Haq Farooqi and Rehmat Shah also took a single wickets each.

    The second innings was dominated completely by Pakistani bowlers, as the team made it difficult to play for Afghan batters. The Afghan side lost four early wickets with the score at 21 in the first power play. Afghan batters struggled in the whole match and finished at a total of 59 runs in 19.2 overs.

    Haris Rauf took a five-wicket haul with an economy rate of 2.84. Shaheen Afridi picked up two wickets while Nasim Shah and Shadab Khan succeeded in taking a single wicket each.

  • All still stuck in cable car after 10 hours; gusty winds and nighttime will make rescue process more difficult

    All still stuck in cable car after 10 hours; gusty winds and nighttime will make rescue process more difficult

    Another Pakistan Army’s Special Services Group (SSG) team has reached Battagram to rescue eight people who have been stuck in a cable car for about 10 hours now. They have not been able to rescue anyone so far even though a couple of rescue attempts have been made. However, they have supplied them with water and food.

    According to witnesses, gusty winds and with the night approaching, rescue process will get more difficult.

    At least eight students and two teachers are stuck in a chair lift 2000 meters above ground level in the Alai district of Battagram, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the two of the three cables of the pod snapped midway through their journey, ARY has reported.

    Videos show the chair lift suspended high above a valley, tethering at a precarious angle, connected to land via a single cable. The cables reportedly snapped around 6 am, with the children’s ordeal spanning five hours as of the time this report is being filed.

    Local police have said that Rescue teams have run out of options, prompting Sultan Aamir, the Commissioner of Hazara, to ask the caretaker government for a helicopter.

    The Commissioner has said that a helicopter of the Pakistan Army will arrive soon to begin a rescue attempt.

    Caretaker Prime Minister (PM) Anwaar ul Haq Kakar took to X (former Twitter) on Tuesday and said that the chairlift incident is “really alarming”. He has directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to “urgently ensure safe rescue and evacuation of the 8 people stuck in the chairlift”.

    Caretaker PM Kakar further added that he has also directed authorities to “conduct safety inspections of all such private chairlifts and ensure that they are safe to operate and use”.

  • Amidst legal conflicts, teaser for the upcoming Shoaib Akhtar biopic ‘Rawalpindi Express’ released

    Amidst legal conflicts, teaser for the upcoming Shoaib Akhtar biopic ‘Rawalpindi Express’ released

    In an unexpected surprise, the trailer for the Shoaib Akhtar biopic ‘Rawalpindi Express’ has been released online, with Mirza Gohar Rasheed replacing Uzair Jaswal to play the legendary cricket star. The film, directed by Muhammad Faraq Qaiser, and written by Qiaser Nawaz, will explore the struggles through which Shoaib Akhtar went from a small town boy to becoming one of the biggest cricket stars Pakistan has ever seen.

    The cast comprises of Faran Tahir, Usman Peerzada, Adnan Shah Tipu, Rahim Pardesi, Hammad Siddique, Baatin Farouqi, Saleem Mairaj, Raheela Agha, Salman Shahid and Shafqat Cheema.

    The film’s production was mired with numerous controversies, as Shoaib Akhtar had announced he had left the pre-production, citing “failure to resolve disagreements amicably and constant contractual violations finally resulted in us cutting ties with them,” as the reason. In his detailed Instagram post, the former cricket legend said he completed all legal protocols and revoked the rights to the story of his life.

    In July, Shoaib shared a screenshot of the legal notice issued against the filmmakers behind ‘Rawalpindi Express’ warning that anyone innvolved in the production would be held responsible by authorities.

    “I have issued a stay order against the filming and release of the supposed biopic being made on my life by a certain group of people. I had to do this because they had threatened in writing of continuing filming regardless of the legal termination of the agreement. Any person involved in the project should know that its completely illegal and they will be responsible for any reputational loss.”

  • ‘I hope my Muslim friends can live in peace forever in India’; Times of India removed Zubin Mehta’s comment from interview

    ‘I hope my Muslim friends can live in peace forever in India’; Times of India removed Zubin Mehta’s comment from interview

    Distinguished classic music conductor Zubin Mehta has claimed that The Times of India omitted one line from an interview he recently gave to them. Mehta had said, “I hope my Muslim friends can live in peace forever in India”.

    He made the allegation towards the end of a conversation with journalist Karan Thapar. Mehta gave the statement after he was asked about his views on the “sort of country” India was becoming, especially in view of its treatment towards the minorities, particularly Muslims.

    “It [the line] was cut off, and the writer couldn’t give me a reason why”, he added, to which Thapar responded, “They don’t want to offend Mr. Modi and the government,”

    “How would that offend anybody? …This morning I read that they were burning churches in Pakistan. One has to get over this madness of religious persecution. Hopefully, things will change,” Mehta expressed.

    According to The Wire, Mehta’s excluded comment was not incorporated in the print version of The Times of India. But on Monday, August 21, the online version included the quote after Mehta publicly pointed it out.

    The Times of India responded to Zubin Mehta’s on X that the interview had been “trimmed to fit the page” and “the line being referred to was towards the end of the interview and got left out in that process”.

    But The Wire evaluated that the 33 worded line that was cut actually fits and got restored in middle of the interview rather than the end of it.

    X users respond

    While some praised the censorship, many Indians criticized The Times of India and showed their concern about the increasing hatred towards Muslims in the country.

  • Was Asad Umer under arrest in the Cipher case?

    Was Asad Umer under arrest in the Cipher case?

    Pakistan Thereek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former federal planning minister Asad Umar has dismissed claims of his arrest by the FIA in the Cipher case. Meanwhile, he was able to secure pre-arrest bail.

    While exclusively talking to Geo News reporter Arfa Feroz, Umar said that the reports regarding his arrest are false, as he has appeared before FIA twice to record his statement and answer their questions during the investigation. He was confident that his name will be cleared.

    Umar asserted that this is a politically motivated case with intentions to harass and blackmail him. He assured the court about his availability and readiness to depose before the inquiry agency and cooperate with investigators.

    The Official Secrets Act Court has granted him bail until August 29 against a Rs100,000 surety.

  • Karma is a queen: Swifties rejoice after Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato part ways with Scooter Braun

    Karma is a queen: Swifties rejoice after Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato part ways with Scooter Braun

    Look what you made her do

    If anything has been proved by history time and time again: Taylor Swift gets the last word, always.

    In 2019, the singer made international headlines when she publicly called out the owner of her former record label Big Machine Records, Scott Borchetta, for selling the masters of her first six albums to Scooter Braun. In a long Tumbler post, the singer detailed how she had pleaded for a chance to own her original work, but it was sold to a man who she described as an “incessant, manipulative bully”. Her musical legacy was about to “lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.”

    “Like when Kim Kardashian orchestrated an illegally recorded snippet of a phone call to be leaked and then Scooter got his two clients together to bully me online about it. (See photo) Or when his client, Kanye West, organized a revenge porn music video which strips my body naked. Now Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy. Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.”

    The disagreements surrounding the masters between Taylor and her former record label and Scooter led on for a while, and the ‘Vigilante S***” singer was banned from playing her old music at the 2019 American Music Awards, and then from her Netflix documentary ‘Miss Americana’ (2019).

    Afterwards, in October 2020 Swift publicly expressed her distaste at Scooter selling her masters once more to Shamrock Holdings for $405 million without her approval. She later announced that she would be rerecording all six albums in order to gain complete ownership over them, and has so far released three of the six albums including Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), Red (Taylor’s Version) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) to release in October.

    It seemed like Tay-voodo began getting after Scooter Braun right away because since 2021, he was hit with a $200 million lawsuit in June by Peter Comisar, the vice chairman of investment banking at Guggenheim Securities, accused the businessman of fraud and breach of contract. Afterwards, his divorce to wife of seven years, Yael Cohen, who also publicly supported Scooter during his feud with Taylor, and called the singer a bully. Some Swifties even theorised that the track ‘Mad Woman’ from Taylor’s album ‘Folklore’ indirectly addressed Scooter’s cheating on his wife.

    Now, speculations are rife that some of music executive’s biggest clients like Justin Bieber, had parted ways with him, although it was shut down by sources speaking to Page Six.

    However, on Tuesday BBC has reported that pop singers Ariana Grande and Demi Lovato have parted ways with Braun and are both seeking new managers, firmly shutting any one down who thinks the woman who wrote ‘Karma’ was even joking about it.

    Since this news hit social media, Swifties lauded the popstar for publicly revealing the truth about Scooter and his corrupt nature before anyone else had, remaining steadfast in her truth despite the bullying she had to endure.

  • Pakistani rupee declines to new historic low of Rs299 per US dollar

    Pakistani rupee declines to new historic low of Rs299 per US dollar

    The Pakistani rupee continued its downward trend on Tuesday, closing at an all-time low of Rs299.0070 against the US dollar. This represents a decline of 0.63 per cent or Rs1.873.

    On Monday, the rupee continued to struggle against the US dollar, closing at Rs297.13. This drop in value is due to several reasons. One is the country’s current account deficit, which has widened because it’s now easier to open letters of credit. This change has affected the availability of foreign exchange, putting pressure on the rupee’s value in the local market.

    Another factor is the lack of foreign exchange coming into the country. This shortage has also contributed to the rupee’s decline.

    Experts say that the increase in import payments is tied to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) demand to remove import restrictions. This has led to a higher demand for the US dollar.

    Political uncertainty is also playing a role in the rupee’s decline. There are concerns that the general elections might be delayed. This delay could also mean a hold-up in fulfilling promises made to the IMF and other international lenders. With a caretaker government in place, questions arise about who will invest in and lend money to the country.

    To add to these challenges, there’s a need to bridge the gap between the rates in the inter-bank and open markets, which has been getting wider lately.

  • FIA arrests harasser, Iqra University denies any connection

    FIA arrests harasser, Iqra University denies any connection

    Iqra University Islamabad has denied association with its former director Rizwan Barri. 

    The Current has received an official email from Iqra University in which they denied any connection with Barri. 

    The university has claimed that Barri procured his appointment at Iqra University on 11 October, 2022 through “fraud and misrepresentation” based on fake educational documents and degrees. Five months later, on March 10, 2023, he was terminated from the university. They claim that the on-going case pertains to conduct committed in his personal capacity and has nothing to do with Iqra Univeristy.

    On August 20, however, 24 News, Jang News, and PNN reported the case and referred to Rizwan Barri as the director of Iqra University. It was reported that he was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on charges of harassing female students.

    As per FIA sources, Barri had made an email address as well as social media accounts in the name of a girl. By pretending to be a girl on social media, he sent objectionable content to several people.

    The case was registered under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) Act and further investigations were underway.

    Source: PNN

    According to PNN news, Director Rizwan Bari had harassed more than 70 female students and resultantly, some girls left their degree midway due to the constant blackmail. Despite these cases, Barri continued to work there.

    When asked about Barri’s exact job description during his appointment at Iqra University, the university refused to provide the information.