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After the news of a 13-year-old domestic worker in Islamabad being tortured by a judge and his wife went viral, many social media users were shocked and expressed outrage for what the girl went through. Now prominent actors like Sajal Aly and Nadia Jamil have spoken out against the injustice and demanded that the domestic worker gets immediate justice.

READ MORE: Police ‘reluctant’ to register 13-year-old housemaid torture case against civil judge

Nadia Jamil shared a clip of actor Sajal Aly who demanded that the act of forcing small children to carry out domestic chores is banned:

“For the love of God, stop forcing little children to do all of your work. Child labor is wrong. It is illegal. It is punishable under the child protection laws.”

The ‘Kuch Ankahi’ actress urged her followers to report anyone forcing little children to work as slaves and call the Child Protection Bureau to take strict action.

Nadia Jamil, a long time advocate for children’s rights, herself also shared a strongly-worded message slamming those who hire children as domestic slaves:

“You and both know the truth. Often these tiny children are made to carry rich babies, clean rich peoples homes, serve them and press them. They are beaten, starved and NEARLY ALL are deprived of an education! An education which is their constitutional right AND their deeni right. Remember poverty alleviation IS NOT the job of innocent children. Robbing them of their childhood is criminal. Too many of our children suffer. Too many.”

Warning: Spoilers

Happy Barbenheimer Eve!

The showdown of the decade begins tomorrow: Greta Gerwig’s Barbie versus Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. The anticipation is mounting as fans of both Nolan and Gerwig are placing bets on which film will dominate the box office and acquire cult status for the years to come. Critics are already praising the performances by Margot Robbie and Cillian Murphy by declaring them Oscar-worthy.

But in the midst of all this excitement, a lot of people have been questioning if both films are age appropriate for family members to attend, and what essential things should they know before watching the films.

Regarding Barbie, the Motion Picture Association Grant has granted it a “PG-13” rating, citing “suggestive references and brief language”. This remark alludes to the heavy themes the film will be exploring as shown by the trailer how Barbie deals with an existentialist crisis and begins to doubt the way she had known the world.

Another things parents can look out for is that there will some explicit language used in the film, like People magazine reports that there are some curse words used in the film like “b**” or “crap” and there is a sexually explicit line delivered by Kate Mckinnon when she makes a comment about Ryan Gosling’s character Ken: ” “I’d like to see what smooth blob he’s packing in those shorts.” So if your kids are below the ages of 15, children are not recommended to watch Barbie.

Coming to Oppenheimer, we would recommend you not to take your children under 18 to watch the film, as it has received an R rating due to nudity, explicit language as well as sex scenes between Florence Pugh and Cillian Murphy.

Pakistani-American Grammy winning singer Arooj Aftab has taken to Twitter to slam US based music magazine Down Beat for its racist review of her new album ‘Love In Exile’, released in March 2023. The ‘Mohabbat’ singer shared screenshots of the review written by the music critic John McDonough, who said the album had “Urdu chants” and then wrote “maybe music should not be a universal language.”

Aftab shared a clip of the review on her Instagram, criticising the critic as a “fossilised white man” who was allowed to publish his racist views.

“What’s monotonous is fossilized white men having platforms and safety to publish their racist views”

‘John Mcdonough’s unapologetic racial prejudice and Islamophobia is deeply troubling and quite frankly should get him fired @downbeat_mag I can’t believe this even went to print.”

The ‘Udheero Na’ singer further wrote:

“If you are having trouble understanding the outrage because you’ve never had to think about any of this before. He says he is ‘obliged’ for the ‘sake of diversity’ THAT IS INSANE. And he reduces what is a new contemporary jazz music album to CHANTING. Only because we are brown people and he does not believe we are allowed to exist in a contemporary music space. We are only meditation, yoga, chanting and Bollywood. And then he says music is not a universal language. I have never seen this many problematic words strung together so well in a short sentence.”

Vijay Iyer, an Indian-origin musician, who collaborated on the album with Aftab, lent his support to the Grammy winner by tweeting, “This is what passes for okay in jazz journalism. Love to my dear sis Arooj”.

Down Beat magazine responded to both Aftab and Iyer’s criticism by writing that Mcdonough didn’t like the album but the rest of the editors did which shouldn’t subject him to so much public humiliation:

“Three other DB reviewers LOVED this record, as do I. John McDonough doesn’t. OK. It doesn’t fit his definition of jazz — period — hence the term “diversity.” He has no other malice. No one should be cancelled for so little. — @frankalkyer, DB editor”

However, Aftab pointed out that intolerant and racist behavior should not be shrugged off as “having an opinion”.

“Frank, we appreciate all the love for this record, but these lines you printed are racist. To not like the record and offer criticism is one thing. But he wrapped it in race by pointing out “diversity,” wrote Aftab.

Social media users had also lent their support to Aftab, and criticised the magazine editors for publishing such racist views

Shah Rukh Khan’s 1994 blockbuster film ‘Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa’ is regarded as one of the best Bollywood rom-coms, and among the many classics that have cemented the Bollywood Badshah’s legacy.

Recently, actress Suchitra Krishnamoorthi, who played the female lead Anna, revealed in an interview that during filming, Khan’s wife Gauri visited the sets. The actress gushed about how Shah Rukh was loving and devoted to his wife, and noted that it was his vulnerability that the director, Kundan Shah, utilised in the film which made it the cult classic it is today.

“We were witnessing it on the set with Gauri. The way he was with Gauri, he used to be like she is made of rose petals, you know the way he used to treat her. It was just so beautiful,” she said.

Recalling her time shooting the film, Suchitra revealed that the Bollywood Badshah was completely reserved, and was especially very shy around women:

“Shah Rukh was very reserved. I used to hang out with Gauri. He used to be quite shy and quiet with me. I think he was shy with women.”

Shah Rukh and Gauri married in October 1991, facing some hurdles because Khan was a Muslim while his wife was from a Hindu family. In a recently resurfaced interview that went viral on the internet, Shah Ruhk chuckled about how he played a prank on Gauri’s family by making them think he would make his wife change her religion after marriage.

“I remember, when their whole family, old fashioned people, I respect them all and respect their beliefs but at that time, in that old-fashioned reception, all of them were sitting there when I came in at 1:15, whispering “Hmmm.. He’s a Muslim boy. Hmm.. Will he change the girl’s name? Will she (Gauri) become a Muslim,” Shah Rukh was seen saying in the video.

“Then, I said ‘OK Gauri, put on your ‘burqa’ and let’s recite the namaaz now’. The whole family stared at us wondering if I had changed her religion already. So I told them, ‘From now on she will wear a burqa all the time, she won’t ever leave the house and her name will be changed to Ayesha and she will be like this’.”

Shah Rukh certainly proved that everything could change but he will remain the king of wit, but what was incredibly moving about this clip is how he declares that all religions must be respected, but it shouldn’t come in the way of love.

“I had a lot of fun, but the lesson in all of this was that one should respect religions, but it should not come in the way of love. But it was a great wedding and it’s still going on strong,” SRK concluded.

Researchers have indicated that the outer regions of the Solar System may harbor a greater number of interstellar objects than previously hypothesized.

As reported by The Independent, scientists are speculating that large Jupiter and Uranus-sized planets could be concealed within our solar system, potentially located at its outer fringes.

These planets are believed to be trapped within the Oort Cloud, a theoretical shell that astronomers propose marks the gravitational border of the Sun and its associated satellites.

To investigate the ejection and capture of large planets within solar systems, scientists employed sophisticated computer simulations. Such simulations demonstrate that when a planet is flung out of its host star’s gravitational orbit, it requires a significant amount of kinetic energy. Conversely, for another system to capture such a planet, a comparable amount of energy is necessary.

Based on their observations, scientists assert that Oort Cloud planets situated at the solar system’s edge are more likely to have originated from interstellar space rather than being born of the Sun itself.

The researchers estimate that approximately “one in every 200-3000 stars could host an Oort Cloud planet.”

The newly elected Mayor of Karachi, Murtaza Wahab, on Monday said that action will be taken against road defacers who put up banners and advertisements blocking the tidiness and beauty of the area.

Murtaza Wahab pointed out that the posters culture, the ever popular ‘Mehboob apk Kadmoo may’ and such other ads written on the walls destroy the clean view, making the area look displeasing. He shared his thoughts during the foundation ceremony of beautification and restoration project of Shahrah-e-Faisal.

Wahab asserted that the condition of Shahrah-e-Faisal was very bad until a few years ago and so the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government decided to improve the drainage with new drains installed at different places, rain water did not accumulate on road in the recent spells.

Karachi Mayor said the beautification and improvement project of Shahrah-e-Faisal will cost about Rs20 crore and will be completed in one year.
“You won’t find the flag of any political party on the Shahrah-e-Faisal,” he said and further warned of action against road defacers.

The birth of a Somali Wild Ass foal was celebrated by a zoo in Chile as a significant development for the conservation of a critically endangered species.

The rare kind of baby donkey was born last week, as reported by Reuters. There are fewer than 200 mature individuals remaining worldwide, with drastic decline in populations attributed to habitat loss and hunting for consumption or traditional medicinal purposes.

The Buin Zoo, located in the outskirts of Santiago, is actively participating in an international endeavor aimed at revitalizing the Somali Wild Ass population, which has been classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The founder and director of the Buin Zoo expressed immense joy in sharing the news. He remarked, “It’s great news for the conservation of a wild donkey that is vanishing from the face of the Earth, and we have the capability to breed it here, at the edge of the world, in Chile.”

The recent arrival of the foal marks the fifth specimen of its kind at the zoo.

In a surprising turn of events, accountability tsar in the previous government, Shehzad Akbar, has changed tune on political opponent, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, calling him a “good man”, Neo has reported.

Talking informally to journalists in London, Akbar, who spent his time in government trying to prove corruption cases against leaders of PML-N, blamed former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa for the “destruction” of the country.

“I knew beforehand that our government will be overthrown. General (retd) Bajwa is responsible for the present state of the country,” he stated, before targeting the Prime Minister.

“He has become addicted to the Prime Minister post,” Akbar said.

A solar storm anticipated for Thursday is set to provide residents in 17 American states with an extraordinary opportunity to witness the Northern Lights, AP has reported.

A stunning celestial phenomenon known as the Northern Lights or aurora borealis results from the interaction of solar wind with the Earth’s atmosphere. Northern Lights materialize when a magnetic solar wind collides with the Earth’s magnetic field, leading to the luminosity of atoms in the upper atmosphere. These lights manifest abruptly and vary in intensity.

The phenomenon is typically observed in regions such as Alaska, Canada, and Scandinavia, but are now becoming visible in more southerly locations due to the culmination of an 11-year solar cycle projected to peak in 2024. Approximately three months ago, these captivating light displays were witnessed in Arizona, marking the occurrence of the third severe geomagnetic storm since the commencement of the current solar cycle in 2019.

The Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks has predicted heightened auroral activity on Thursday in Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Indiana, Maine, and Maryland. Additionally, Canada, including Vancouver, has also been forecasted to experience auroral activity.

Auroral activity is assessed using the Kp geomagnetic index, which ranges from zero to nine, with zero representing minimal activity and nine indicating a vibrant and active display.

The Geophysical Institute has predicted a Kp 6 ranking for Thursday’s upcoming storm.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman, head of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) has revealed on Sunday that former spy chief General (retd) Faiz Hameed offered him the post of Chairman of the Senate during the tenure of the previous government.

Talking with media personnel in Peshawar, Fazl quoted the former Director General (DG) of Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) as saying, “I want to see you a member of the Senate and then chairman [of the upper house of parliament].”

Fazlur Rehman then accused the former members of the establishment of dividing the opposition after he refused to take up the spy master on his offer.

He also confirmed that the current government will likely end it’s tenure next month. However, he expressed displeasure on not being taken into confidence by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on the recent meetings that took place between party head Nawaz Sharif and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).