Tag: Immigration officials

  • US immigration officials ask Pakistani traveller about Imran Khan’s release

    US immigration officials ask Pakistani traveller about Imran Khan’s release

    A claim is circulating on social media that immigration officers at New York airport asked about the release of Imran Khan, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), from jail. Khan’s followers interpret this as “evidence” that “Imran Khan has gained worldwide fame.”

    Zubair Ali Khan, a YouTuber, claimed that when he landed in New York to cover the United States elections, an immigration officer at the airport asked him about the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan from jail. The officer’s inquiry led him to think that “Imran Khan has become Pakistan’s international identity.”

    He posted on X (formerly Twitter): “At New York Airport after the immigration officer finished my interview and came to see me off, the Immigration officer asked me, When will Imran Khan be released from jail?

    “In amazement, I asked, Are you Asian? The Immigration officer responded, No, I’m Spanish, then he asked, are protests still happening in support of Imran Khan in Islamabad, or is there peace now? Standing at the door, I was quite surprised by this conversation. I told him that things are now calm in Islamabad. Laughingly, I said that when Trump wins the election, Imran Khan will also be released. The immigration officer, while saying goodbye to me, shook my hand warmly and stated, God bless Imran Khan.”

    The program host, Adil Nizami, made a similar claim on October 27, asserting that when he arrived at New York airport for U.S. election coverage, immigration officers asked him about the release of Imran Khan.

    Social media users lambasted Zubair Ali Khan and Adil Nizami for their made-up claims, which they attributed to immigration officers.

    One social media user, Dr Ayoub Chaudhry, commented on X: “This does not happen in America, brother; they have written questions, each of which must be answered and all conversations are recorded. If immigration officers ask even one unnecessary thing, departmental action is initiated against them. Imran Khan is famous, and there is no doubt about it, but what is the need to fool people by telling false stories?”

    Former Ambassador to the United States, Hussain Haqqani, made a sarcastic comment: “A few days ago, another journalist told a similar story. However, their immigration officer did not come to let them out. The next reporter would claim that the immigration officer offered to drop him off at the hotel.”

    Here are some hilarious reactions:

  • ‘The Notebook’ star Gena Rowlands dead at 94

    ‘The Notebook’ star Gena Rowlands dead at 94

    Gena Rowlands, an award-winning US actress best known for starring in the films of her first husband, director John Cassavetes, died Wednesday at age 94, according to US media reports.

    Rowlands died surrounded by family at her home in Indian Wells, California, US entertainment publication TMZ reported.

    No official cause of death was immediately given, but Rowlands’s son Nick Cassavetes said in June she had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for the past five years, according to the New York Times.

    Rowlands starred in 10 films by John Cassavetes, and was married to him for nearly 35 years until his death in 1989.

    Starting in the 1960s, the couple formed an enchanting and explosive on-screen partnership over three decades that explored themes of passion and self-destruction against a backdrop of alcohol and infidelity.

    In what many consider her finest role, Rowlands captured to devastating effect the descent of a housewife into mental illness in “A Woman Under the Influence” (1974), bringing her the first of two Oscar nominations.

    “Incapable of an unreal moment,” said Woody Allen of the actress, whom he cast in his 1988 film “Another Woman.”

    “Whatever I say about Gena isn’t enough because she’s so incredible,” said Winona Ryder, quoted in the LA Times in 1992 when the two co-starred in Jim Jarmusch’s “Night on Earth.”

    – A storied career –

    Rowlands was born on June 19, 1930, in Cambria, Wisconsin, into a cultured middle-class family. Her father was a state senator and her mother was a painter and occasional actress.

    She enrolled in New York’s American Academy of Drama and in 1953 met Cassavetes, a fast-talking and exuberant Greek-American. A year later they were married.

    It was their collaboration that generated her stand-out performances, the highlight arguably being “A Woman Under the Influence” which also brought an Oscar nomination for Cassavetes as director.

    Rowlands was captivating as housewife Mabel who descends into madness after years of quiet, complicated dominance by her hardworking, silent husband, played by Peter Falk.

    In 1989, Cassavetes died from liver failure after years of alcoholism. Rowlands continued to make films and also worked for television, winning four Emmys.

    She and Cassavetes had three children, all of whom have gone on to work in film and television. Her son Nick directed her in “The Notebook” alongside Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams in 2004.

    In 2012, she married retired businessman Robert Forrest and in 2015 was awarded an honorary Academy Award, the same year she retired from acting.