Emirates shared a 32-second clip of a woman in their airline cabin crew uniform standing on top of the Burj Khalifa to celebrate the removal of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from the UK’s Red List.
In the video, the woman can be seen holding boards that read: “Moving the UAE to the UK Amber List has made us feel on top of the world.” The camera then pans out to reveal that the crew member is at the tip of the tallest building in the world, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which stands at 830 meters.
The brave ‘flight attendant’ was played by skydiver and stuntwoman Nicole Smith-Ludvik. She expressed her gratitude on Instagram, “This is, without a doubt, one of the most amazing and exciting stunts I’ve ever done. A big shoutout to Emirates Airlines for your creative marketing idea! It was a pleasure being a part of the team.”
The shoot was carried out with the help of a helicopter and drones.
Nicole was required to stand on the top for hours and the stunt required a vast amount of planning and safety measures to go ahead, as per sources.
Last week, the British government announced that the UAE and Bahrain will be removed from the UK’s travel Red List. The airline will soon resume its services in the United Kingdom.
Unvaccinated passengers arriving from Amber List countries need to isolate for 10 days upon their arrival but can be released after five days with a negative test result. However, those who have been fully vaccinated do not have to self-isolate but must provide a negative Covid-19 test within two days of arrival.
A man reunited with his kidnapped son after a 24-year hunt across China. After travelling half a million kilometres across China on a motorbike, handing out missing-person flyers, which cost him his savings and left him with huge debts, Guo Gangtang was finally reunited with his son.
As per reports, Guo Gangtang, 51, began searching for his then 2-year-old son after he was kidnapped in 1997 from their home in a village in the eastern province of Shandong.
When he tried to find his son, he found no trace but Guo did not give up and began a decades-long search.
Guo travelled China on a motorcycle with a flag that had his lost son’s picture and carrying a bag full of flyers.
Police in June tracked down a man matching his son’s description in central Henan province, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
After a DNA test confirming the relationship, a family reunion with his son Guo Xinzhen was arranged on Sunday.
The 26-year-old, Guo Xinzhen, is now a teacher.
A Chinese man has been reunited with his kidnapped son after a 24-year search that saw him travel 500,000km across China on a motorbike, chasing tip-offs on the boy’s whereabouts | https://t.co/zRI1EAdkpApic.twitter.com/YPGZ2Vcnzx
Guo’s son was found after the Ministry of Public Security launched a nationwide campaign this January to solve cold cases involving child abduction.
Police have located and rescued 2,609 missing or abducted children this year, including adults who had gone missing or were kidnapped as kids. One victim was traced after 61 years.
Guo’s motorcycle journey of around 500,000 km (311,000 miles) took him to most of China’s provinces. He also went through 10 motorcycles.
In 2012, Guo set up a website “Tianya Xunqin”, which translates as “Find your family on the edge of the world”. It has since helped dozens of people locate family members, he told local media.
Guo Gangtang’s story has been covered extensively by local media over the years and inspired the 2015 hit film “Lost and Love” starring Chinese megastar Andy Lau in the role of a character based on Guo.
“I’ve found my son, and I want to get back to normal life as soon as possible,” Guo said in a video on his Tiktok social media page on Tuesday.
The Government of Japan has decided to hire thousands of IT professionals from Pakistan in the coming years. As per details, the Japanese government is looking for people with expertise in cloud computing, data sciences, programming and artificial intelligence (AI).
Delegations from the Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) met officials from the Ministry of Overseas and Human Resources Development and experts from the Pakistan Association of Software Houses for IT and ITES (P@SHA) for recruitment.
It is also mandatory to learn the basic Japanese language besides degrees and required skills to avail job opportunities in Japan.
Furthermore, the above-stated organisations and departments will give visas, funds for travel and other expenses to the hired candidates.
Both countries have collaborated because Japan needs programmers and people with expertise in AI and data sciences. But, they added that the Pakistani government have to arrange boot camps for six months to one year to train people with the required skills.
This step has been taken to balance the cultural diversity as Indians and Bangladeshi IT companies are already dominating the Japanese market.
The Overseas Employment Corporation (OEC) has recently begun to advertise jobs for hiring different professionals.
Pakistan is currently producing over 25,000 IT graduates every year in various disciplines of IT and computer sciences.
Experts say that Pakistan’s export of IT professionals could reach nearly 1,000 per year, which is a good number in the prevailing circumstances.
The local industry has been expanding its businesses in various dimensions in the past one and half years to meet the demand of the local and foreign markets, which has resulted in significant job openings for new graduates in recent months.
More than 16,000 Pakistanis reside in various cities of Japan. This community maintains a positive image in Japan and linkages with the department of the host country that help Pakistani students in the pursuit of their careers and businesses.
If you’ve recently been active on social media, chances are you might have come across two pictures of a white woman standing with a group of men and claiming that Pakistan “is a country that loves and respects women”.
The pictures were tweeted from an account by the name of Katherine George, which has now been deleted. Katherine’s tweets were widely shared by social media users, with some endorsing her statement and others sceptical with her comments and identity.
Turns out that Katherine George does not exist and her Twitter account was fake. Because pictures shared from that account were actually of Polish travel blogger Aleks Mroz, who took to her Instagaram account to clear the air and set the facts right.
“I can personally talk about my own experience and the hospitality and kindness I received and it’s true,” said Alex while talking about her experience in Pakistan. “But I can never speak for the Pakistani women and I will never do.”
“As any other foreigner here, I am the guest in Pakistan and and I can not speak out for local people,” she said further. “The amount of hate spread by one FAKE Twitter post influenced many people’s opinions causing huge harm not only to me (as my face was used in the highly-biased post), to other foreigners who are fully aware of the difference between the perception of a tourist and a local, but also to Pakistani people facing a FAKE white tourist who undermines their voice.”
“Spreading hatred, ignorance and colour-oriented posts is the LAST thing I would like to do,” she added.
Mroz also busted Katherine’s pretence, shared her own experience of being a tourist in Pakistan and what she thinks about the safety of local women in Pakistan.
The Henley Passport Index has released its annual report ranking the world’s strongest and weakest passports despite there being limited travel in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Henley Passport Index is based on data provided by the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) and covers 199 passports and 227 travel spots. Asian residents continue to have the world’s most powerful travel documents.
As the report doesn’t take temporary restrictions into account, Japan tops the list offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival service to tourists from 191 destinations around the world.
The best passports to hold in 2021 are of Japan with 191 destinations, Singapore with 190, South Korea and Germany with 189, Italy, Finland, Spain and Luxembourg with 18, and Denmark along with Austria with 187 destinations.
Followed by Denmark are Sweden, France, Portugal, Netherlands and Ireland with 186 destinations.
Many countries around the world have visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to less than 40 countries.
Passports with the lowest ranking include North Korea with 39 destinations on the 103rd rank, Libya and Nepal with 38 destinations, 105 Palestinian territories with 37, and Somalia along with Yemen on the 106th rank with 33 destinations to offer visa-free arrival.
Pakistan ranks 107th on the list with 32 destinations for the second time in a row, followed by Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, India, and Tajikistan.
UAE is on the 16th position rising from 62nd position from 2006 back when the index began. UAE provides visa-free/visa-on-arrival access to 173 destinations.
You can apply online for renewal of your machine readable passport if it has been expired.
What documents are required?
The following documents are required while applying for renewal of Machine Readable Passport through online passport service provided that your current passport is expiring within a period of seven months :
Color scanned copies of valid CNIC or NICOP or Smart CNIC or NICOP both sides
Color scanned copies of existing Passport (First two pages and one random page asked by system).
Color scanned copy of Valid Visa/ Aqama/ Residence Permit/ Asylum card/ Other Nationality Passport
For minors (less than 18)
The following documents are pre-requisite for issuance of passport to minors below 18 years:
Color scanned copies of valid NICOP or Smart card (both sides) or Computerized B- Form or Family Registration Certificate
Color scanned copies of mother and father valid National ID Cards (both sides)
Guardianship certificate/ court decision in case of separation.
Color scanned copy of minor’s attestation form ( available in the download tab).
Color scanned copy of Death Certificate if mother or father has passed away.
Color scanned copy of Valid Visa/ Aqama/ Residence Permit/ Asylum card/ Other Nationality Passport
Government employees
f the applicant is an employee of the Government of Pakistan, the following documents will be required:-
Color scanned copies of valid CNIC or NICOP or Smart CNIC or NICOP both sides
Applicant must provide No-Objection Certificate (NOC) in case he/ she is working as Government Officer/ Official, Armed forces Officers/ or employee of employee of Semi Government/ Autonomous Bodies/ Corporation. The NOC with be subject to confirmation/ verification by the department concerned.
Color scanned copies of existing Passport (First two pages and one random page asked by system).
Color scanned copy of Valid Visa/ Aqama/ Residence Permit/ Asylum card/ Other Nationality Passport.
Note:
Online portal is only for renewal of Machine Readable Passport. Following categories of passports cannot be applied through online portal.
New:
Issuance of Machine Readable Passport first time.
Modification:
In case applicants wants any changes in existing Machine Readable Passport i.e. name, father name, husband name, date of birth, caste, profession, dual nationality, marital status, religion and official to ordinary.
Reprint Exhaust:
In case applicant wants a new passport as all pages of previous passport utilized due to several visas/ frequent travelling.
Loss of Passport:-
In case applicant’s existing passport has been lost (misplaced and not in his possession) and they want a new passport.
In the above cases, the passport applicants are requested to approach nearest Pakistan Embassy/ High Commission/ Consulate General where MRP facility is available
How to upload documents?
You can upload supporting documents from the ‘Document’ tab in your e-Services Portal application session.
Before you start attaching files to your application, please remember:
There is a limit to the type and size of file that you can attach.
If you attach low quality scanned documents, it might slow down the processing of your application.
Type of files
We are able to accept the following types of files:
.JPEG
.JPG
.PNG
Size of files
We are able to accept the following sizes of file types:
Supporting document: 1MB
Fingerprint Form: 3MB
Photograph: 5MB
Naming tips
When naming your files to be attached to an online application only use numbers 0–9 and letters A–Z (upper and lower case), dashes ‘–’ and underscores ‘_’.
You must avoid using spaces ‘ ‘, periods ‘.’, ampersand ‘&’, hash ‘#’, star ‘*’, exclamation marks ‘!’, quotations ” “” and any other character that is not a letter, a number, a dash or an underscore.
How much will it cost?
How long will the Online Application Process take?
The Punjab government has introduced a new rule for controlling the spread of the pandemic: authorities have made it compulsory for recovered patients to get a permission letter before travelling in and outside the province.
As per reports, the home department announced that the recovered patients of coronavirus will now need a special permission letter for travelling including those belonging to parts of the country and willing to enter into Punjab.
The citizens of Punjab, who have recovered from the virus, will need a permission letter from the concerned authorities to travel to other provinces. The patients discharged from the quarantine centres in other provinces will also need a permission letter to enter into Punjab.
According to the home department, the recovered people could get permission from deputy commissioners from their districts. The home department issued the directives to the chief secretaries and police chiefs of the provinces.
Israel had officially given its citizens the right to travel to Saudi Arabia for religious and business visits but the Saudi foreign minister, in response, said that Israelis are not welcome to Saudi Arabia “at the moment”.
The Israeli interior ministry announced the decision saying that they approve the travel to Saudi Arabia for Hajj or Umrah and also that business travellers must have an invitation and arranged visitation approval.
Although Israel has made the decision, the gesture was seen as a warming of ties between the two countries since Saudi Arabia does not recognise the State of Israel.
Travelers to Middle Eastern countries would use this border crossing into Jordan to go to other countries
Israelis travel to Saudi Arabia through countries like Jordan and Egypt, which have peaceful ties with Israel. The visits were never official but nonetheless, they take place.
Israel has had difficult ties with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries due to its illegal occupation of Palestine and the atrocities it has committed against the Palestinian people.
In case you missed it, Pakistan was included on the Forbes list of ‘Best under-the-radar’ tourist spots in 2020. Needless to say, Pakistanis were overjoyed at this.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting celebrated the news by sharing a picture of the 7th-century Zvartnots Cathedral in Armenia.
Here are some more pictures of the cathedral. Built in the middle of the 7th century CE, under the instructions of the Catholicos Nerses III, Zvartnots is the oldest and largest aisled tetraconch church in historical Armenia.
The tweet was later retweeted by Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry and has close to 1000 likes.
A video inviting tourists and travellers to come visit Pakistan in 2020 will be aired on London’s New Year’s Day Parade (LNYDP) 2020, the World’s great street spectacular.
According to APP, the special video will include a message from Prime Minister Imran Khan, pictures of Pakistan’s scenic beauty and popular tourist spots and glimpses of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s recent visit to Pakistan. The background tune of the video will be the National Anthem.
Pakistan is among the 12 countries/brands which are being showcased on the Giant Screens covering the LNYDP throughout the day. The LNYDP screens will be located along the parade route of London at Piccadilly Circus, Pall Mall, Trafalgar Square and Big Ben/Houses of Parliament.
The Pakistan High Commission in London shared that the video message will be played in front of as many as 650,000 street spectators in addition to more than 1 million viewing audience throughout the day.
Apart from that, TV channels across the world will also be airing the footage of the giant screens.
“Visit Pakistan” Video on “London’s New Year’s Day Parade”
Giant Screens to Showcase Tourism Opportunities in Pakistan.
Pakistan has recently been named a tourist hotspot by the number one travel magazine Conde Nast Traveller. The British Backpacker Society (BBS) also rated Pakistan as a a must-visit adventure spot in the upcoming decade.
