Tag: Top News

  • Coke Studio expresses solidarity with Tezgam train victims

    Coke Studio expresses solidarity with Tezgam train victims

    Following the tragic Tezgam train accident which killed at least 74 people and injured over 40 others, Coke Studio has announced that they will not be releasing the third episode of Season 12 on Friday (today) as per the schedule.

    In a video message posted to social media, Coke Studio said: “In solidarity with the families affected by the Tezgam train tragedy, Coke Studio Season 12 Episode 3 will not be releasing today.”

    “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and individuals who were affected by this tragic incident,” the message read.

    The third episode of the ongoing Season 12 was scheduled to release on November 1. The episode was set to feature songs by Fareed Ayaz and Abu Muhammad, Umair Jaswal, Banur’s Band and Atif Aslam.

    Read more: Abrar Ul Haq serves major nostalgia with ‘Billo’ for Coke Studio 12

    Meanwhile, as per reports, the train, Tezgam, was on its way from Karachi to Rawalpindi when a gas cylinder carried by a passenger exploded, resulting in hundreds of casualties on Thursday morning. The fire destroyed three of the train’s carriages, including two economy class and one business class carriage.

  • Railways’ Rs213 million reduced to ashes in train fire

    Railways’ Rs213 million reduced to ashes in train fire

    Pakistan Railways (PR) has suffered a loss of whopping Rs213 million as three of Tezgam’s carriages were reduced to ashes in the fire that shook the entire nation on Thursday, a private media outlet reported.

    At least 74 people were killed and over 40 others injured after three gas cylinders exploded in a train travelling from Karachi to Rawalpindi. The fire destroyed three of the train’s carriages, including two economy class carriages and one business class carriage.

    Footage over both mainstream and social media showed flames engulfing the ill-fated train as people cry for help following the mishap near Punjab’s Rahim Yar Khan district.

    It wasn’t later that Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed blamed passengers for the fire, while people across the country stepped up to condemn the minister’s remarks and accuse PR of criminal negligence.

    “It isn’t PR’s fault and passengers are to be blamed for it,” the minister said while speaking to journalists after the tragedy.

    “It is unfortunate that passengers take cylinders with them. They don’t fear the law,” he said, adding that several people jumped to their deaths from the burning train.

    While Rasheed promised an inquiry to ascertain how the passengers had managed to carry cylinders with them, his statements were not very well received by the people who demanded the minister’s resignation amid rising number of train mishaps.

  • Osman Khalid Butt throws shade at Qamar for his misogynistic statements

    Osman Khalid Butt throws shade at Qamar for his misogynistic statements

    Khalil ur Rehman Qamar and his directorial feature Kaaf Kangana may not have been a box-office success but the film and its maker has been dominating headlines for one reason or another.

    First the film and its ‘interesting’ trailer, then Neelum Muneer’s bizarre item song, then DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor defending the item song and lastly Qamar himself saying that women should rape men if they want equality.

    Yup, our head is spinning as much yours is.

    Nonetheless, Qamar’s statements stirred up a social media storm and everyone began to call him out for his misogynistic and outdated comments.

    Read more: Kaaf Kangana writer says ‘women should rape men if they want equality’

    Osman Khalid Butt, who is touted to be one of the most ‘woke’ celebrities to exist in the Pakistan film industry also called out Khalil ur Rehman for his comments.

    Usman Mukhtar called for a boycott on Qamar.

    Armeena Khan also called out Qamar for his statements.

    https://twitter.com/ArmeenaRK/status/1189937410169290752?s=20

    In an interview, the renowned screenwriter had said, “A few weeks ago, a feminist group had a conversation with me regarding equality. I asked them if they’ve ever heard about a gang of men kidnapping a woman? They assured me they have. I asked them then why don’t women do the same?”

    “If you wish to strive for equality then kidnap men as well. Rob a bus, gang rape a man, so that I can understand what you [women] mean by equality.”

    Qamar has several successful dramas to his credit including the current superhit Meray Paas Tum Ho.

    Defending his ideas and “philosophy” around how he sees society, Qamar said that Meray Paas Tum Ho was “the story of several men, not just one”.

    “I have come across multiple married couples who go through the same ordeal. I’ve observed when a married woman cheats, she doesn’t feel ashamed at all. The reason behind her not feeling guilty is because she has been backed by another man. When an unmarried woman cheats, she feels guilty.”

    Read more: The episode that’s breaking Pakistan’s internet – Meray Pass Tum Ho’s climax

    Social media was not buying his explanations and statements and called out the director for his misogynistic comments.

    https://twitter.com/ayeshakhalid7/status/1190006151594872832?s=20

    https://twitter.com/BillieJien/status/1189979238067326976?s=20
  • VIDEO: Saudi Arabia hosts its first WWE women’s wrestling match

    VIDEO: Saudi Arabia hosts its first WWE women’s wrestling match

    Saudi Arabia has hosted its first women’s wrestling match, as it takes steps towards relaxing strict rules on entertainment, BBC News reported.

    According to the details, the contest took place in Riyadh, featuring WWE stars Natalya and Lacey Evans. The duo fought in body suits and a t-shirt on top, in line with requirements for visitors to “dress modestly.”

    Thursday’s wrestling match was part of the WWE Crown Jewel event which took place at Riyadh’s King Fahd International Stadium, which can seat 68,000 spectators. Former boxing champion Tyson Fury also competed, defeating Braun Strowman.

    Ahead of the match, wrestler Natalya wrote on Twitter: “The world will be watching. I am so incredibly proud to represent our women’s division tomorrow night at #WWECrownJewel. It’s time to bring your best, Lacey.”

    Saudi wrestler Mansoor, who will be squaring off against Cesaro, during an interview before the event said that many female members of his family could not wait to watch the match live.

    https://twitter.com/KSAMANNY/status/1189656804386594821?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1189656804386594821&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fworld-middle-east-50248949

    Mansoor said, “I cannot even begin to describe how much that means to me, how much that means to my little sisters, who love WWE, how much it means to my nieces, who love WWE and who fantasise and dream about being wrestlers”.

    Watch Video:

  • Award-winning Pakistani director gets life sentence in murder case

    Award-winning Pakistani director gets life sentence in murder case

    Award-winning director Mansoor Mujahid and his friend Anab Zehra Hameed were handed life imprisonment for murdering their friend Faisal Nabi. The court also ordered them to pay Rs200,000 each as compensation to the legal heirs of the victim.

    According to reports, a sessions court in Karachi found Mujahid and his friend Anab guilty of killing banker Faisal Nabi Malik, in an apartment in Defence Housing Authority in June 2013.

    The prosecution, in their arguments, said that Mansoor and his friends were consuming drugs at Anab’s apartment when he allegedly shot dead the victim after they got into a heated argument on June 20, 2013.

    They further added that the male accused along with his female partners shared a common intent to kill the victim. They shot the deceased with an unlicensed weapon and dumped the body in the parking lot of an apartment complex after stabbing and burning it with acid in order to hide his identity.

    Sharing further details, the prosecution said that when an inquiry officer along with some relatives of the deceased questioned the accused, Mansoor confessed to having shot his friend twice while Anab disclosed to have stabbed the victim and poured acid over his body to confuse his identity. They led the police to a place where the body, pistol, daggers, bloodstained pillow and bedspread were found.

    It added that Anab further disclosed during interrogation that the deceased had assaulted her a few days before the incident and she wrote it in her diary which was read by Mansoor.

    Meanwhile, the victim’s driver had also seen the accused coming out of the place where he had dropped the victim.

    Mansoor is the director of the award-winning film Seedlings, whose Urdu title was Lamha. The film stars Mohib Mirza and Aamina Sheikh in the lead while Gohar Rasheed was also part of the film. It won the ‘Best Feature Film’ (People’s choice) and ‘Best Lead Actress’ awards for Aamina Sheikh at its World Premiere in The New York City International Film Festival 2012.

    It also bagged the ‘Best Feature Film’ award at the DC South Asian Festival in Washington in May 2013.

    Mansoor was also involved in the making of numerous documentaries, music videos and narrative work for television.

    In an earlier interview, Mujahid had said that he did not intend to kill his friend but it was in fact an accident.

  • Gandapur threatens to fire missiles at countries backing India

    Gandapur threatens to fire missiles at countries backing India

    Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan, Ali Amin Gandapur, is no stranger to controversy. From claiming that the previous government had let go of Kulbhushan Jadhav. He was also unaware of the Jadhav case at the International Court of Justice.

    Gandapur has made another faux pas — this time he has threatened countries supporting India over the Kashmir issue.

    Addressing a public gathering, Gandapur said, “If tensions with India rise on Kashmir, Pakistan will be compelled to go to war. Those countries backing India and not Pakistan [over Kashmir] will be considered our enemy and a missile will be fired at India and those nations supporting it.”

    What’s even more interesting is that when challenged on Waseem Badami’s show, Gandapur did not back down from his threats.

  • Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor reacts to Cyril Almeida’s ‘RIP ISPR’ tweet

    Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor reacts to Cyril Almeida’s ‘RIP ISPR’ tweet

    Reacting to journalist and former Dawn assistant editor Cyril Almeida’s tweet, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) chief Major General Asif Ghafoor has called him out over his “unwarranted assertion”.

    “RIP ISPR, PTI [Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf], etc…” Almeida tweeted Thursday while quoting a statement by Twitter Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jack Dorsey, who had announced the microblogging website’s decision to block political advertisements all across the globe.

    https://twitter.com/cyalm/status/1189640211493478403

    Retweeting the journalist with a comment, the ISPR director general (DG) challenged him to prove his claims pertaining to alleged adverts by the military’s media wing.

    https://twitter.com/peaceforchange/status/1189771746251071488

    “Dear @cyalm [Almeida], quote one such instance by ISPR [so as] to validate your unwarranted assertion. In case you fail, I wishfully expect a moral obligation from you. Should you succeed, I will take your advice,” Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor tweeted.

    It wasn’t later that the journalist responded to the ISPR chief.

    https://twitter.com/cyalm/status/1189784213194715136

    “Was a joke, Gen sb… a bit of (apparently failed) humour in this space where we are all prisoners of Twitter and its policies… maybe @jack [Dorsey] will turn his attention to the trend wars next… [sic],” Almeida said.

    TWITTER BANS POLITICAL ADS:

    Earlier, CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted that the social networking site will be banning all political advertisements — albeit with “a few exceptions” like voter registration.

    “We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought,” Dorsey said.

    While it’s not totally clear how broad those exceptions will be, it sounds like the ban will apply to both ads endorsing candidates and ads advocating a position on political issues.

    Dorsey said the company will share the final policy by November 15, and that it will start enforcing the same on November 22.

    “Internet political ads present entirely new challenges to civic discourse: machine learning-based optimization of messaging and micro-targeting, unchecked misleading information, and deep fakes,” he wrote. “All at increasing velocity, sophistication, and overwhelming scale.”

    This came after Facebook faced heavy criticism around its refusal to fact-check political advertising (even as it took steps to fight election-related misinformation elsewhere), with employees of the social media giant writing an open letter objecting to the company’s stance.

    Dorsey didn’t mention Facebook by name in his tweets, but he seemed to allude to the company’s position when he wrote, “For instance, it‘s not credible for us to say: ‘We’re working hard to stop people from gaming our systems to spread misleading info, buuut if someone pays us to target and force people to see their political ad…well…they can say whatever they want! ????‘ [sic].”

  • ‘Ye Dil Mera’ is off to a mysterious start

    ‘Ye Dil Mera’ is off to a mysterious start

    The anticipation for Ahad Raza Mir and Sajal Aly’s latest drama Ye Dil Mera was high. Even though the drama’s teasers made headlines for all the wrong reasons and were touted to glorify workplace harassment, fans and audiences were excited to see the real-life couple on the big screen.

    The first episode of the drama aired this Wednesday and it was off to a mysterious start as audiences are introduced to the characters.

    Noor-ul-Ain, played by Sajal Aly, is a happy-go-lucky girl with a dark past – viewers are just shown snippets of it. She lives with her overprotective Agha Jaan, played by Adnan Siddiqui, who has his daughter followed by guards at all times. Agha Jaan is so possessive of his daughter that he has his men beat up Aina’s university colleague because he flirted with Noor. So we’re a little wary of Agha Jaan’s character – he seems dubious.

    On the other hand, we are introduced to Amaan, played by Ahad Raza Mir. From the glimpse the audiences are given, we’re assuming that he also has a mysterious past. Amaan is confident, successful and rich and Ahad gives off strong Christian Grey vibes as Amaan. There is more to Amaan than what meets the eye.

    Noor and Amaan cross paths at a dholki where Amaan draws a sketch of Noor. What’s puzzling to both Aina and the viewers is that Amaan in his sketch drew a mark on Aina’s neck, a reminder of a haunting past, that she has covered up. The two later meet again when Amaan visits Aina’s university for an internship drive.

    The pace of the first episode was a little slow while the flow was slightly bumpy because of weak editing. But considering it was only the first episode, we’re prepared to give it some time.

    As far as the acting is concerned, Sajal, Ahad and Adnan delivered strong performances. Particularly noteworthy was Ahad’s performance as Amaan. Amaan has many shades to him and Ahad played them all finely – his expressions, mood and body language changed swiftly according to the mood of the show and deserve a round of applause. Looks like all his theatre work has polished his acting skills – not that he didn’t have them before.

    Ye Dil Mera has been penned by the award-winning Farhat Ishtiaq and directed by Aehsun Talish of Suno Chanda fame. Along with Ahad, Sajal, and Adnan, the drama’s cast also includes Rabia Butt, Zarnish Khan and Mira Sethi.

    Hum TV has described it as a tale of “love and revenge” and from the look of it, the drama will be a thrilling one – unusual for the Pakistani screens.

  • Cracks emerge among PML-N ranks as ‘leadership disobeys Nawaz’

    Cracks emerge among PML-N ranks as ‘leadership disobeys Nawaz’

    Amid reports of a rift between opposition parties as the
    Azadi March of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) to Islamabad continues, cracks
    are also emerging among ranks of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), The Current has learnt.

    According to sources, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s orders were disobeyed by the Punjab leadership of his party on Wednesday as 70,000 people were not mobilised to welcome Fazl’s caravan in Lahore.

    The Current reached
    out to several PML-N leaders to confirm or deny what rumour had and on the condition
    of anonymity, one of them rejected the same.

    “Both MNAs and MPAs of the PML-N were in Lahore to receive
    Maulana’s caravan and they did. We even distributed food among his buses, which
    were over a thousand in number,” the PML-N leader added.

    “There were six different points in Lahore where our party
    members gathered to welcome and facilitate Maulana Fazl. Our workers gathered to
    welcome the caravan hours before its arrival.”

    When asked why the PML-N leadership was nowhere to be seen at the Lahore stage of the Azadi March as JUI-F leaders addressed a mammoth gathering, the PML-N leader said they were asked to come on stage at the last minute and that too by a junior party worker.

    “Not Maulana or any other JUI-F leader invited us on stage and we told them that we will come in an hour. However, later we were told that the caravan will not stop for us.”

    The PML-N leader also said that they are on their way from Lahore to Islamabad with a huge crowd and plan on holding a small rally in the federal capital even though their leadership has been told by the JUI-F that the Azadi March will commence tomorrow.

    When The Current reached out to other PML-N leaders for confirmation of the postponement, former National Assembly (NA) speaker Ayaz Sadiq said, “Akram Durrani Sahib called me today and said that Maulana will address Azadi March at 2 pm tomorrow after Friday prayers in Islamabad.”

  • Pakistani social media is seriously debating why we celebrate Halloween

    Pakistani social media is seriously debating why we celebrate Halloween

    On Halloween Day, while the world is breaking the internet by posting their pictures of themselves in their Halloween costumes, Pakistan is debating why a ‘foreign holiday’ being celebrated in our country?

    Wasim & Shaniera Akram with Sharmila Faruqi and Hisham Riaz at a Halloween party last year

    The debate ranges from people discussing how it’s against Islam to celebrate a ‘pagan’ holiday and others saying that ‘The West’ does not celebrate Eid, so why is Pakistan celebrating their holidays? The counter-argument to this is that if that’s the case, then we should also not celebrate birthdays.

    Sheheryar Munawar at a previous Halloween party

    Others are pressing the fact that Pakistanis need to live and let live and if people want to celebrate Halloween they should be allowed to do so; the counter to which is that celebration of the event is ruining our culture and should not be promoted.

    Ahmed Ali Butt at a Halloween celebration

    Despite people passing judgement against the celebration of Halloween, there are many events happening in major cities for children to dress up and enjoy the holidays. Some people are planning small trick or treating events in their areas, hoping it also promotes their children to get to know their neighbours.