n a first for Canada, the country has appointed Amira Elghawaby as the Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the development on Thursday in a statement, stating that this was done to improve government efforts in offering advice on policy making or programs to improve the lives of Muslims living in Canada.
“Diversity truly is one of Canada’s greatest strengths, but for many Muslims, Islamophobia is all too familiar. We need to change that. No one in our country should experience hatred because of their faith,” he said.
Trudeau further added that Elghawaby’s position “is an important step in our fight against Islamophobia and hatred in all its forms. I look forward to working with her as we continue building a country where everyone feels safe and respected.”
Elghawaby is a Muslim journalist who is a contributing columnist for the Toronto Star newspaper, and also works at Canadian Race Relations Foundation. She also serves as a board member for the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, a non-profit that tracks the rise of hate crimes committed towards minorities in Canada.
On Twitter, Elghawaby thanked Trudeau and the Canadian government, promising that she would use her platform to ensure that the interests of Canadian Muslims are represented on the national platform.
“It is my honour to serve in this role. I want to thank the Prime Minister of Canada @JustinTrudeau for working to fight Islamophobia and to ensure Canadian institutions from coast to coast to coast are inclusive of Canadian Muslims, and all people.”
“I look forward to meeting with elected officials, policymakers, and community leaders across the country to amplify the voices of Canadian Muslims and work together to fight discrimination and hate in all its forms.”
Tag: Canada
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Canada appoints Amira Elghawaby as the first Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia
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Chinese President Xi Jinping scolds Canadian PM Justin Trudeau over media leaks
Chinese President Xi Jinping scolded Canadian Prime Minister (PM) Justin Trudeau in an on-camera dressing down at the G20 summit.
Xi Jinping on Wednesday criticised PM Trudeau in person over alleged leaks of their closed-door meeting at the G20 summit, a rare public display of annoyance by the Chinese leader.
In video published by Canadian broadcasters, Xi and Trudeau can be seen standing close to each other and conversing via a translator at the summit on the Indonesian island of Bali.
“Everything we discussed has been leaked to the papers. That is not appropriate,” Xi remarks.
Speaking evenly and wearing a slight smile, he says: “And that’s not the way (our discussion) was conducted, was it?”. As Trudeau listens in silence, the Chinese President addresses him directly, “If there is sincerity, we can have conversations based on an attitude of mutual respect. Otherwise, the results will be unpredictable.”
Xi then appears to try to walk past Trudeau, but the Canadian leader replies: “In Canada, we believe in free, open and frank dialogue, and that is what we will continue to have.
“We will continue to look to work constructively together, but there will be things we disagree on,” he tells Xi.
Raising his hands, Xi cuts him off, saying bluntly: “Create the conditions. Create the conditions.” He then broadens his smile, barely looking at Trudeau as he shakes his hand and leaves his counterpart to make his way out of the room.
Neither the Chinese foreign ministry nor state media have published anything on talks between Xi and Trudeau. The two held a 10-minute informal meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit on Tuesday.
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Urdu, Punjabi among most spoken non-official languages in Canada
Punjabi is the fourth and Urdu is the seventh most widely spoken language — predominantly spoken at home — in Canada according to new data released by Statistics Canada (StatCan), the country’s data agency. This is based on the 2021 census.
Apart from English and French, Mandarin and Punjabi were Canada’s most widely spoken languages. About 4.6 million Canadians (12.7%) speak a language other than English or French predominantly at home. Mandarin and Punjabi are spoken predominantly at home by more than half a million Canadians each.
More than a hundred thousand people each speak Yue (Cantonese), Spanish, Arabic, Tagalog, Persian languages, Urdu, Russian and Korean at home as per the 2021 census.
According to the 2021 census, which was announced on August 18th, Urdu was at the seventh spot out of the top 12 non-official spoken languages in Canada.
In 2021, 520,000 Canadians spoke Punjabi at home, and 530,000 spoke Mandarin at home. According to the census, 290,000 people speak Arabic while 160,000 speak Urdu at home.
Meanwhile, conventional estimates indicate that the number of Pakistani-origin Canadians is a lot more than the official numbers. According to an official of the Pakistan High Commission in Ottawa, around 500,000 to 600,000 Pakistanis reside in Canada.
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VIDEO: Justin Bieber reveals he is suffering from facial paralysis
Canadian popstar Justin Bieber revealed that he is suffering from facial paralysis after cancelling a series of shows on his latest tour. He was on his Justice tour in North America but cancelled performances in New York, Washington DC and Toronto.
In a video posted on his Instagram page, the 28-year-old singing sensation said he had been diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome after a virus had damaged the nerves in his ear.
Justin Bieber revealed: “As you can see, this eye is not blinking. I can’t smile on this side of my face. This nostril will not move, so there’s full paralysis on this side of my face.”
According to the BBC, the Ramsay Hunt syndrome is when a shingles outbreak affects the facial nerve near someone’s ears.
Bieber asked his fans to understand as he will be using this time rest and relax.
“I hope you guys understand, and I’ll be using this time to just rest and relax and get back to 100 per cent so I can do what I was born to do. But in the meantime, this ain’t it.”
READ MORE: By 20 I made every bad decision you could have thought of: Justin Bieber
Bieber’s last album, Justice, released in March 2021, has been certified platinum in the US, and got to second in the UK album charts. Bieber’s Justice World Tour began in February.
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Pakistan to host Cricket World Cup for veteran players in 2023
Pakistan will host Cricket World Cup for veteran players in the next year 2023. The age limit for players to play in the tournament would be 40 and above.
According to Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA), 12 teams will play in the tournament which will commence on September 23, 2023, at six venues in Karachi while the final match will be played on October 8.
Fawad Ijaz Khan, Chairman PVCA told the media: “Pakistan will be joined in the World Cup by old rivals – India, Australia, England, New Zealand, West Indies, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Canada, USA, Zimbabwe, Wales, UAE, and Namibia.”
He added, “It is going to be a major event and we will take all steps to make sure that we host it successfully.”
“We have a number of leading cricketers who would be eligible to compete in the World Cup. We are hoping that top players like Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, and Mohammad Hafeez will play for Pakistan. We are going to field a very strong team and will be the favorites to win the World Cup,” he further said.
There is a new concept that will give an opportunity to former cricketers to play on the fields again while young audiences and players will also get another chance to see their seniors playing on the grounds.
Every match will be of 45 overs and local TV channels will broadcast the matches of Pakistan including the semi-finals and finals live.
The Veterans World Cup, aged above 50, was first launched in Australia in 2018. However, its second edition was canceled due to a covid pandemic.
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PKR declines against US Dollar after winning for a week
The winning days for Pakistani currency are over. On April 18, the Pakistani Rupee (PKR) overturned gains against the US Dollar (USD) and registered losses in the interbank market.
At the completion of the session, the local currency had lost 99 paisas against the US dollar. It declined by 0.54 per cent versus the US dollar, closing at Rs182.54.
The rupee declined by 0.54 per cent versus the US dollar, closing at Rs182.54 after winning three paisas and settling at Rs181.55 on Saturday, April 16. During the open market session, the Indian rupee (INR) touched an intraday high of Rs181.00 versus the US dollar.
After the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decided to resume talks with Pakistan under the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme, the rupee’s seven-day winning streak versus the dollar ended today.
Considering global variables influencing the local currency, crude prices declined as concerns about slowing demand in China outweighed support despite a constrained global supply situation and the escalating Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Read more: Global oil prices climb to highest in three weeks
It is worth noting that the local currency has depreciated by 15.85 per cent (Rs24.98) since the beginning of the current fiscal year on July 1, 2021.
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PM Khan likely to attend Beijing Olympics 2022 in China next month
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan could well be one of the leading dignitaries watching the Winter Olympics, which start in Beijing on February 4.
The government of China and China Sports Authority are looking forward to Pakistan’s PM Khan’s attending the opening or the closing ceremony or attending during the event. The invite was sent to the Pakistan Cricket Board, reports The News.
“Yes, we are in contact with the Chinese authorities and have received a communication. We have forwarded that to the foreign ministry through the official channel,” said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official.
The United States, Britain, Australia, and Canada have announced a diplomatic boycott of the event, while North Korea was the latest country to pull out, citing the pandemic.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Khalid Mansoor, a couple of days back, had revealed the prime minister’s plan to visit Beijing early next month.
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Examinations will be held on time despite new covid variant: Shafqat Mahmood
Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood said on Monday that the government has no plans to suspend educational activities. He said that examinations will be taken on time and the full curriculum will be covered in it, reports Geo.
When he was asked about the policy of the education department regarding precautionary measures against the Omicron variant, the federal minister said, “I don’t know about the new variant of coronavirus in detail, but the government wants to continue educational activities.”
The new variant named Omicron, which was first discovered in South Africa is spreading drastically into various parts of Europe including Canada and Australia. On Saturday, Pakistan imposed a complete ban on direct/indirect inbound flights from six African countries and Hong Kong.
Moreover, while talking about the smog situation in Lahore, Shafqat Mahmood said it will decrease by the closure of private and government schools thrice a week.
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Shahzeb Khanzada visits Niagara Falls for the first time
Pakistani celebrity anchorperson Shahzeb Khanzada and his wife Actor Rushna Khan are beating the summer blues as they jet off for their vacation in US and Canada.
Rushna is sharing every special moment of their trip. Earlier, Rushna celebrated her husband’s birthday in New York and now the couple is off to see the picturesque view of Niagara Falls in Canada.
Read More – EXCLUSIVE: The real deal to Shahzeb Khanzada’s six pack
We have collected some amazing posts by Rushna Khan, in which the anchor’s wife has shared their trip on her Instagram stories.
Rushna shared her tour pictures and short clips after getting ready and leaving for Niagara Falls.
We’re loving her diamond rings, Gucci bag and Jimmy Choo shoes.
She also shared a series of videos from traveling to the Falls in which Shahzeb can also be seen. Rushna posted two more stories in which they are trying different cakes. She posted a video which shows Shahzeb having a brownie.
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FO condemns ‘malicious smear campaign against Pakistan’ by former Canadian minister
The Foreign Office (FO) strongly objected to the remarks made by a former Canadian minister, saying his comments betrayed a lack of understanding of the Afghan peace process as well as showed ignorance about facts on the ground.
In a series of tweets, the Foreign Office addressed the matter and said, “We strongly condemn the unwarranted comments by former Canadian minister Chris Alexander, making unfounded & misleading assertions about…Pakistan’s role in #AfghanPeaceProcess.”
Chris Alexander, former Canadian minister posted on Twitter, “Taliban fighters waiting to cross the border from Pakistan to Afghanistan… anyone still denying that Pakistan is engaged in an ‘act of aggression’ against Afghanistan is complicit in proxy war & war crimes.”
The FO also reiterated Pakistan’s policy on Afghanistan and said that international powers had begun to appreciate what Prime Minister Imran Khan had been saying for a long time. “Now when the world has acknowledged what…Pakistan & PM @ImranKhanPTI has consistently maintained abt there being no military solution to the conflict in #Afghanistan & the need for an inclusive, broad-based & comprehensive political settlement, such gratuitous commentary is deplorable,” it added.
The FO further said that Pakistan had taken up the matter with the government of Canada. “The matter has been taken up with the Canadian side. We have urged the Canadian authorities to take steps to address this motivated and malicious smear campaign.”