Tag: America

  • American retailer sells Pakistani Servis Cheetahs as ‘Taliban’s favourite shoe,’ priced over Rs30,000

    American retailer sells Pakistani Servis Cheetahs as ‘Taliban’s favourite shoe,’ priced over Rs30,000

    An American online shopping platform known as “Americana Pipedream” is offering Pakistani Servis Cheetah high-top shoes, which are advertised as “The Taliban’s Favourite Shoe” and are priced at approximately Rs30,500 ($99). 

    Screenshot from Americana Pipedream Website

    The website lists these shoes for individuals who wish to emulate the Taliban’s style, and the company claims that “the Servis Cheetah is a highly popular running and sports shoe in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Much of its notoriety stems from its use by the Taliban, Mujahideen, and even Afghan Security Forces over the past 40 years. 

    These Servis Cheetahs are brand new and originate from Pakistan, a shoe brand that is not commonly found in the American market. 

    Interestingly, despite the platform’s strong promotion of these shoes as the “Taliban’s favourite,” the details section acknowledges that they are rare to come by in the United States and suggests that the quality may not be top-notch due to their Pakistani origin. 

    Furthermore, upon conducting research, it was discovered that the exact same shoes are sold by Servis Pakistan for Rs2,799. 

    Screenshot from official Servis Pakistan Website

    The website appears to specialise in promoting clothing and accessories associated with the Taliban and similar themes. Other products featured on the website include Afghan War Rugs & Accessories, new apparel and accessories, books, camping and outdoor gear, axes and knives, tactical gear, pipes and accessories, vintage clothing, Phantomleaf camouflage, clearance items, night vision devices, and various military surplus items categorised by style and country of origin, including Swiss Surplus, Balkan Surplus, Greek Surplus, German & Austrian Surplus, Romanian Surplus, Vintage US Military Clothing, and British Surplus. 

  • Khalifa nan-khatai lover, US Ambassador Donald Blome wants more women in the Pakistani workforce

    Khalifa nan-khatai lover, US Ambassador Donald Blome wants more women in the Pakistani workforce

    US Ambassador to Pakistan, Donald Blome, visited Lahore from September 4-6 and The Current got the opportunity to sit down with him and have a little chat.

    And yes, you read it correctly. The ambassador is a lover of Khalifa nan-khatai. He told us that he discovered the biscuits last year when he came to Lahore. Later, during his February trip, he even stopped by Khalifa Bakers in the Walled City.

    Visit to Lahore
    Over the course of his latest tour, Ambassador Blome visited PepsiCo’s FritoLay Snack plant and NetSol Technologies Ltd. While the focus of the ambassador’s trip was to foster the economic ties between the United States (US) and Pakistan, special emphasis was placed upon the importance of human rights and inclusive workspaces — particularly in regards to women.

    “It is not just a matter of simply hiring — there are things you have to change, and ensure a welcoming environment for women with different needs and different requirements to excel in the workforce,” he pointed out.

    Playing a leading role in corporate social responsibility, American-based companies have not only created employability in Pakistan, but they endeavour to cater to the local communities through initiatives that actively work towards women’s empowerment as well as education, health, disaster relief, and skills development.

    Ambassador Blome cited a USAID programme in partnership with PepsiCo that aims its attention on women farmers of Pakistan who are working in one of the more difficult areas, toiling under a strenuous work environment.

    Cultural Barriers
    Taking into consideration the socio-domestic constraints that often restrict women from growing in their careers, Ambassador Blome believes that practical initiatives can make workplaces more inviting for women in Pakistan.

    “It is the simple things; like having child care facilities, providing safe transportation — beyond that is developing a culture that ensures that equal chance is given to women to advance within their jobs and careers, and that they are valued in the same way every other employee is valued.”

    He further stated that he hopes American firms like PepsiCo, which has advanced gender parity in managerial roles globally, are exemplary models providing a leadership structure for the local businesses.

    “A lot of things work through to get there. But many Pakistani companies are also trying to head in that direction,” Ambassador Blome acknowledged.

    Success stories
    While a number of US businesses have actively countered gender inequality, Ambassador Blome particularly highlighted the digital sector as a success. He mentioned that not only more women are being employed by IT firms but certain institutes have been accommodating by providing opportunities for flexible work like allowing to work partly at home, partly in office.

    NetSol Technologies, an American software company, is known for being an “equal opportunity employer with the largest concentration of female employees in Lahore”.

    This year, they took an initiative to encourage women back into workspaces — women who are married or left the job after having a baby. This was carried out by creating women-exclusive jobs which catered them through on-office facilities.

    Ambassador Blome, however, also hailed a number of “impressive” Pakistani women-led organisations that are in the lead when it comes to facilitating women.

    “It is a whole constellation of different issues that come together,” he underlined.

    “If companies are able to make that work [i.e. create inclusive workspaces], it would be incredibly effective because it brings unique talents and energy, and it is something badly needed for Pakistan. The participation of women in force is too low here and it hurts the country in many ways — to forgo this incredible resource the country has.”

  • Lizzo counter-sues backup dancers for ‘malicious prosecution’

    Lizzo counter-sues backup dancers for ‘malicious prosecution’

    Pop singer Lizzo has been sued by former backup dancers of her troupe for sexual harassment, unprofessionalism and body shaming. In the suit filed earlier this month, Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez detailed instances of being shamed for weight gain, being coerced into touching nude dancers.

    On Wednesday, Lizzo’s lawyer said in a statement sent to The Independent, that the singer was now counter suing the dancers for ‘malicious content’, describing the lawsuit as a sham.

    The statement included photos of the three plaintiffs Davis, Williams and Rodriguez with “the performers after the topless cabaret show at the Crazy Horse cabaret in Paris” on 5 March, 2023. In their lawsuit, the dancers had claimed they were not informed by Lizzo that the dancers performing would be naked, “robbing them of the choice not to participate”.

    The plaintiff’s also described Lizzo pressurising cast members to take turns touching the nude performers “catching dildos launched from the performers’ vaginas, and eating bananas protruding from the performers’ vaginas”.

    However, Lizzo’s statement said the images released show the plaintiff’s happily spending time in the club they had complained about in the lawsuit:

    “These images showing the three plaintiffs gleefully revelling backstage after the topless show were taken after their February 2023 visit to Bananenbar in Amsterdam that they complain about in their lawsuit.”

    Neema Rahmani, representing the three dancers in the lawsuit, responded to the images, and said they had previously addressed all the instances where the plaintiff’s appeared to be happy alongside Lizzo, during the time the

    “Of course, they wanted to keep their jobs. They had bills to pay just like everyone else but they finally had enough of the abuse. We stand by every claim in the lawsuit and look forward to trial.

    “We’ve been hearing from other former employees sharing similar stories, and as seen in the Los Angeles Times article today about how Lizzo used intimate footage of her dancers without their approval in the 2022 HBO Max Love Lizzo documentary, we’re seeing even more of a pattern of just how much Lizzo thinks of those who work for her. Clearly, not very much.”

    Furthermore, Rahmani slammed the singer’s statement as an “empty threat” and said they were ready to meet the lawyer and his client in the courtroom because they had no plans of backing down.

    “I’ve handled thousands of cases, including prosecuting drug cartels so we have no plans to back down. Let’s see if Singer can actually try a case in a courtroom instead of the media,” said Rahmani.

  • Trump indicted for racketeering over 2020 election interference

    Trump indicted for racketeering over 2020 election interference

    By Christian Monterrosa with Frankie Taggart in Washington

    Donald Trump was indicted Monday on charges of racketeering and a string of election crimes afer a sprawling, two-year probe into his eforts to overturn his 2020 defeat to Joe Biden in the US state of Georgia.

    The case — relying on laws typically used to bring down mobsters — is the fourth targeting the 77-year-old Republican this year and could lead to a watershed moment, the first televised trial of a former president in US history.

    Prosecutors in Atlanta charged Trump with 13 felony counts — compounding the legal threats he is facing in multiple jurisdictions as a firestorm of investigations imperils his bid for a second White House term.

    Eighteen co-defendants were indicted in the probe, including Trump’s former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who pressured local legislators over the result afer the election, and Trump’s White House chief of staf, Mark Meadows.

    With Trump already due to go on trial in New York, south Florida and Washington, the latest charges herald the unprecedented scenario of the 2024 presidential election being litigated as much from the courtroom as the ballot box.

    “Rather than abide by Georgia’s legal process for election challenges, the defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia’s presidential election result,” Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis told reporters.

    Willis said Trump and his co-defendants had until noon on August 25 to “voluntarily surrender” to authorities, adding that she would like to go to trial within six months.

    “So, the Witch Hunt continues!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

    “Sounds Rigged to me! Why didn’t they Indict 2.5 years ago? Because they wanted to do itright in the middle of my political campaign. Witch Hunt!”

    His lawyers’ statement took issue with the “leak of a presumed and premature indictment before the witnesses had testified or the grand jurors had deliberated”, in what they say has been a “flawed and unconstitutional” process.

    In response to similar allegations by the Trump campaign, Willis said: “I make decisions in this ofice based on the facts and the law. The law is completely nonpartisan.” The twice-impeached Trump was charged with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, as well as six conspiracy counts over alleged eforts to commit forgery, impersonate a public oficial and submit false statements and documents.
    He is also accused of lying in statements and filing fake documents, as well as soliciting public oficials to break their oaths.

    -Most serious threat –

    Georgia, which Biden won by fewer than 12,000 votes, presents perhaps the most serious threat to Trump’s liberty as he leads the field comfortably for his party’s nomination to bid for reelection.

    Even if he is returned to the Oval Ofice, he would have none of the powers that presidents arguably enjoy in the federal system to pardon themselves or have prosecutors drop cases. The harsh penalties associated with RICO cases can be an incentive for co-defendants to seek cooperation deals, and the statutes are usually used to target organized crime. Thirty unindicted co-conspirators were mentioned in the indictment.

    Under federal law, anyone who can be connected to a criminal “enterprise” through which offenses were committed can be convicted under RICO. The broader Georgia law doesn’t even require the existence of the enterprise.

    Atlanta-area authorities launched the probe afer Trump called Georgia officials weeks before he was due to leave the White House, pressuring them to “find” the 11,780 votes that would reverse Biden’s victory in the Peach State.

    Meadows, who is accused of trying to get a public oficial to violate his oath, was on the call.

    Secret report –

    Willis empaneled a special grand jury that heard from around 75 witnesses before recommending a raf of felony counts in a secret report in February.

    She alleges that Trump’s team worked with local Republicans on a scheme to replace legitimate slates of “electors” — the oficials who certify a state’s results and send them to the US Congress — with fake pro-Trump stand-ins.

    The indictment lists a litany of telephone calls made by Trump, Giuliani and others to various state oficials for the purpose of unlawfully appointing fake electors to swing the Electoral College in Trump’s favor.

    Giuliani faces 13 felony counts, including over accusations of harassment of two Fulton County poll workers.

    Other Trump allies were charged over the accessing of sensitive data from an election office in a rural county south of Atlanta one day afer the 2021 Capitol riot.

    Trump is already facing dozens of felony charges afer being federally indicted over the alleged plot to subvert the election, and further prosecutions over his alleged mishandling of classified documents and keeping allegedly fraudulent business records.

    Authorities in Atlanta installed security barricades outside the downtown courthouse in anticipation of a potential influx of Trump supporters and counter-protesters in the latest case.

    Lawmakers investigating Trump’s eforts to cling to power heard evidence in a series of congressional hearings last summer that would challenge his potential defense that he genuinely believed he had been cheated of the election.

  • Taylor Swift announces 1989 (Taylor’s Version)

    She never goes out of style

    Taylor Swift really knows how to keep cruising. On Wednesday she announced that her next rerecorded album will be 1989, on the sixth L.A show of the Era’s tour at SoFi Stadium.

    The new rerecording comes after Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version)- in an effort to own the original masters of her own albums after she spoke publicly about cutting ties with her own record label when they sold it to Scooter Braun.

    Swift said the album will be released internationally on October 27, calling it a dream to own her music:

    “Since I was a teenager, I wanted to own my music and the way to do it was to re-record my albums and call them Taylor’s Version. And the way that you have embraced that, the way that you have celebrated that, you really decided that it was your fight, too, and that you were 100% behind me and that if I cared about it, you cared about it,” the ‘Anti-Hero’ singer. “I will never stop thanking you for that. It was so generous. And so now here we are at the last night of the US leg of the Eras Tour in the eighth month of the year, on the ninth day of the month.”

    “There’s something that I’ve been planning for a really, really long time… and I think instead of just like telling you about it, I think I’ll just sort of show you,” and Swift gestured to the screen which showed the album artwork for 1989, along with the release date.

    Along with a post on her social media account, Swift called this her ‘FAVOURITE re-record’ and said that the 5 From The Vault tracks are ‘insane’.

    Released in 2014, the album featured critically acclaimed tracks like ‘Blank Space’, ‘Style’ and ‘Wildest Dreams’, and had gone on to win Swift’s second Album of the year award at the Grammy’s.

  • US finally defends Donald Lu against PTI allegations

    US finally defends Donald Lu against PTI allegations

    More than an year after Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu was named by the then Prime Minister Imran Khan as a conspirator who got his government removed from power, a senior US official has publicly defended him.

    Elizabeth Horst, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, said that the allegations levelled by the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were “categorically false”.

    The American government has repeatedly denied Imran Khan’s allegations, however, they have never named him before Tuesday.

    Horst made the remarks at a conference held in Houston to discuss the future of American and Pakistani relations. “We do not let propaganda, misinformation, and disinformation get in the way of any bilateral relationship, including our valued partnership with Pakistan,” she said, adding that her speech was an “opportunity to address disinformation”.

    Horst also reiterated her administration’s stance of working with any government elected by the Pakistani people as the National Assembly is expected to be dissolved next month.

    “We do not have any position on any political candidate or party,” Horst said during the conference, stressing that the US supports democratic principles, freedom of speech, and the rule of law.

    The statements come in the backdrop of looming general elections, after media reports have said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) have decided to dissolve the National Assembly before the completion of its tenure.

    However, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb tweeted on Tuesday that the date for dissolution of the National Assembly has not been decided yet. She has also said that the date would be decided after consultation with allied parties of the coalition government.

  • Pak-US relations back to normal: PM Shehbaz

    Pak-US relations back to normal: PM Shehbaz

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday that Pakistan wants to improve its mutual relations with the US in multiple fields. He further added that the relations between the nations are “back to normal” now.

    Addressing a ceremony of celebration of the 247th Independence Day of the US, Sharif said that Pakistan and the US made many efforts to make their relations better by putting aside any misgivings and misunderstandings.

    “Over the last 75 years, our relations have had ups and downs, but on the whole, we have been very good friends,” he stated.

    He said that the US was the largest trading partner of Pakistan, and both countries have played a major role in the war against terrorism.

    The prime minister also appreciated US support for 2022 flood victims. “We value the support of the US, which had been the biggest donor and very helpful in providing relief to millions of flood-affected people,” he observed.

    The US ambassador to Pakistan, Donald Blome, said in his remarks that the economic partnership between the countries is expanding.

    Shehbaz Sharif also congratulated US President Joe Biden and the people of the United States on their 247th Independence Day.

  • Miami girl shifts to Hunza, says its more comfortable than ‘toxic’ America

    Samantha Shea, a Miami native, has penned a loving essay about her adopted home Hunza, saying that her quality of life here is infinitely better.

    “I save thousands each month compared with living in a US city, and my quality of life is infinitely better,” Shea wrote for Business Insider.

    Stating that she finds American hustling culture “toxic”, Shea said that the people in Hunza are generally polite and respectful.

    “I breathe clean air and eat organic, home-cooked food for every meal,” she writes.

    Shea writes that people from back home think Pakistan is a desert, and she herself didn’t know much about it before travelling to the country after college.

    When she first came to Pakistan in 2019, she had never lived outside of the US.

    “In Hunza, electricity comes on for only a few hours a day, you walk to the local market if you need anything – Amazon doesn’t deliver to the mountainous valley region – and running hot water isn’t guaranteed,” she says.

    However she writes that the valley is now her home:
    “Here, I don’t lock up my bike or my front door, I can walk everywhere, and my recent major home renovation cost me only $3,000.”

    And though she travelled to Pakistan from India, she says she found it easier to travel here.

    “I found it easier and more fun to travel here than in India, a much more ‘mainstream’ backpacking destination. I encountered fewer scammers traveling in Pakistan. I also found Pakistan had less trash on the streets, and the roads were in better condition.”

    Samantha, who is now a travel blogger, says she has learnt Urdu and is now learning Burushaski, one of the two major languages spoken in Hunza.

  • Pakistani contestant at ‘The Voice’ moved social media, judges with her voice

    A Pakistani contestant on the popular Hollywood singing show ‘The Voice’ is garnering praise on social media for her powerful singing, which even received applause from the judges on the show!

    https://twitter.com/superkhadijaman/status/1635330298446778368?s=20

    Tasha Jessen, who was born in Faisalabad, Pakistan, sung ‘Rivers’ by Leon Bridges. Three judges on the show, Chance The Rapper, Niall Horan and Blake Sheldon, all turned around and wanted Jessen to become a member of their team.

    At her audition, Jessen revealed that she came from a family of singers but as a Christian born in Pakistan, it was incredibly hard for her to chase her dreams:

    “Growing up, my parents were super musical; my whole family sings,” said Jessen. “But life was hard in Pakistan because Pakistan is an Islamic country, and I was the one Christian kid in school.”

    Jessen explained that she stuck out like a ‘sore thumb’ and because of the ongoing religious persecution against Christians in Pakistan, her family fled to Thailand.

    “We had so much chaos happening around us, and we forgot about music,” she explained.

    Jessen later married Maverek and moved to United States last year, and often collaborated with her husband to sing at a local church in Colorado.

  • Another U-turn? Khan claims ‘conspiracy’ to remove him was ‘exported’ from Pakistan to US

    Another U-turn? Khan claims ‘conspiracy’ to remove him was ‘exported’ from Pakistan to US

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has yet again come up with another narrative regarding his version of “regime change”. The former Prime Minister has now said that former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa told United States (US) that Khan is anti-America, which resulted in his ouster.

    In an interview with Voice of America, aired on Saturday, Khan said, “As things unfolded, it wasn’t the US who told Pakistan, it was unfortunately, from what evidences have now come out, it was General Bajwa who actually somehow managed to tell the Americans that I was anti-America and so it was not imported from there actually it was exported from here to there.”

    The former premier was of the view that “International relationships shouldn’t be based on personal egos, they should be based on the interest of the people of your own country”, adding that it is in the interest of Pakistanis to have good relations with US.

    Talking about his relationship with Bajwa, Khan said that his government and the military were on the “same page”, which meant that “we had the organised strength of Pakistan army to help us”.

    However, Imran contended that Gen Bajwa “favoured some of the biggest crooks in the country” and didn’t think about corruption as a big problem.

    “He wanted us to work with them. What that meant [was] giving them immunity from their corruption cases,” he claimed, adding that Gen Bajwa has a “very close” relationship with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

    In response to another question, Imran said that he was sure that the new military leadership had realised that the “experiment of regime change” has gone wrong.

    Addressing the worsening law and order situation, he blamed the “negligence” of Pakistan’s security forces and intelligence agencies for the rising incidents of terrorism in the country.

    Reacting to the disclosure, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif said, “Imran Niazi’s antics & somersaults continue to disappoint the nation. The only constant is his desperation to get back into power even if it involves plunging the country into a protracted period of instability. His politics is based on lies which are getting exposed by the day.”