Tag: trending

  • Tilda Swinton, Steve Coogan along with 2000 artists call for ceasefire in Gaza

    Tilda Swinton, Steve Coogan along with 2000 artists call for ceasefire in Gaza

    Renowned names like Tilda Swinton, Liam Cunningham and Charles Dance are among 2000 artists who have signed an open letter accusing their governments of involvement in Israel’s war on Gaza. The letter states that “the specter of death” hangs over the territory, as Israeli military bombed a Gaza hospital where more than 1000 people are reported dead.

    The letter includes producers, writers, architects, directors and comedians who accused their government of “not only tolerating war crimes but aiding and abetting them. There will come a time when they are held to account for their complicity. But for now, while condemning every act of violence against civilians and every infringement of international law whoever perpetrates them, our obligation is to do all we can to bring an end to the unprecedented cruelty being inflicted on Gaza.”

    “Gaza is already a society of refugees and the children of refugees. Now, in their hundreds of thousands, bombarded from air, sea and land, Palestinians whose grandparents were forced out of their homes at the barrel of a gun are again being told to flee – or face collective punishment on an unimaginable scale.  Dispossessed of rights, described by Israel’s minister of defence as ‘human animals’, they have become people to whom almost anything can be done.”

    The letter ended with the signatories calling for their government to end military and political support for Israel’s actions, and for an immediate ceasefire to commence.

  • Britney Spears reveals she had an abortion after Justin Timberlake got her pregnant

    Britney Spears reveals she had an abortion after Justin Timberlake got her pregnant

    Pop singer Britney Spears has released excerpts of her upcoming memoir ‘The Woman In Me’ which will explore some of the most controversial moments of her career, including the conservatorship she was placed under by father James Spears.

    A clip from the extracts is going viral on social media where the singer talks about her high-profile relationship with singer Justin Timberlake which lasted from 1999 to 2002. The ‘Womanizer’ singer revealed that she got pregnant by Justin, but was later forced to get an abortion as he was “not happy” about the announcement, believing they weren’t ready to become parents yet.

    Spears wrote that had the choice been up to her, she would not have had the abortion at all.

    “For me, [the pregnancy] wasn’t a tragedy. I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day. This would just be much earlier than I’d anticipated. But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young … I don’t know if that was the right decision. If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father.”

    Britney also addressed the conservatorship by writing: “Thirteen years went by with me feeling like a shadow of myself. I think back now on my father and his associates having control over my body and my money for that long and it makes me feel sick … I became a robot. But not just a robot – a sort of child-robot. I had been so infantilized that I was losing pieces of what made me feel like myself … The woman in me was pushed down for a long time. They wanted me to be wild onstage, the way they told me to be, and to be a robot the rest of the time.”

    ‘The Woman In Me’ is set to release on October 24.

  • Israel official account attacks Gigi Hadid on Insta, gets crushed on Twitter

    Israel official account attacks Gigi Hadid on Insta, gets crushed on Twitter

    Last week, the official account of Israel drew backlash on X (formerly Twitter) when it attacked Pakistani cricket player Muhammad Rizwan after he dedicated his performance in the victory over Sri Lanka to the people of Gaza. On Monday, the official account of Israel on Instagram chose to target Palestinian-American model Gigi Hadid for a statement she gave about Palestinian genocide. The model shared a post clarifying that supporting the Free Palestinian movement was not anti-semitic.

    The Israeli account shared Hadid’s post and wrote in the caption: “Have you been sleeping the past week? Or are you just turning a blind eye to Jewish babies being butchered in their homes. Your silence is clear about where you stand. We see you.”

    The ‘Jewish babies butchered’ story stems from unverified claims about 40 babies murdered by Hamas.

    READ MORE: Did Hamas actually decapitate Israeli children and women? No, they did not.

    However, the death toll of Palestinian children killed by Israeli strikes has crossed 1000, according to Defense For Children International Palestine.

    Twitter (or X) users were outraged over the blatant manner a Palestinian woman was being targeted on the internet. One user wrote: “i hope more people will see how disgusting it is for a state affiliated account to attack a celeb like this. she is palestinian, she stands with her own people, she knows what happened and they are afraid of that. stop harassing her and stop k!lling palestinians.”

    Many people were quick to remind other users that Gigi’s father, Mohammad Hadid, was forcibly expelled along with his family during the 1948 Nakba. In a podcast, Mohammad Hadid revealed his family was not allowed to go back to their home in Safa after the expulsion.

    READ MORE: There is a painful history behind why supermodels Gigi, Bella Hadid support the Palestinian cause

  • Iphones lost, bags stolen at Narendra Modi Stadium during Pakistan-India match

    The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad witnessed a high-octane World Cup clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan on Saturday. The world’s biggest cricket stadium was filled to capacity as more than one lakh spectators came to watch the most anticipated match of the year.

    But while the majority of the fans got what they wished for and went back home with smiles on their faces after India’s resounding victory, a section of the crowd was left wondering who stole their mobile phones.

    Bollywood actress Urvashi Rutela couldn’t see Naseem Shah bowl due to his recent injury and unfortunately lost her phone during the match too.

    “Lost my 24 carat real gold i phone at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad! If anyone comes across it, please help. Contact me ASAP! Tag someone who can help,” Urvashi tweeted on Sunday.

    A video by Indian sports journalist Vikrant Gupta is currently going viral on social media, wherein he disclosed incidents of mobile phone and purse thefts during the Pakistan-India match in Ahmedabad.

    Gupta stated, “While entering the ground, my friend’s mobile phone was stolen from his pocket, and several other spectators also reported incidents of mobile and purse theft.” Criticizing security officials, he highlighted the possibility of mismanagement and security issues in handling such a massive crowd. He emphasized that thefts taking place in the ground surpass the concerns of mismanagement and security glitches.

    Many other people lost their phones that day.

    Meanwhile, there was one fan who even got his iPhone back as a security guard managed to catch the thief.

    Another X user, @tricatrio also lost her phone. She wrote, “Lost my iphone 15 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad!”

    User @shizmaite wrote, “Chaos at the gates & no one to handle the crowd. A good day ended on a bad note! #indvpak”

  • Jordan’s King refuses to meet Biden after Israeli strike on hospital

    Late on Tuesday night, following a deadly attack by Israel on the Baptist Hospital in Gaza, Jordan announced that a summit involving US President Joe Biden has been canceled. Earlier, President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine also announced that he will not meet Joe Biden as the fallout from the deadly strike continues to reverberate across the world.

    The summit will be held “when the decision to stop the war and put an end to these massacres has been taken”, the Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi had said in an unusually harsh worded statement.

    ‘Nothing can justify targeting civilians’: President of France on Gaza hospital strike

    Macron has also demanded humanitarian access to Gaza ‘without delay’. He took to X (former Twitter) and said, “France condemns the attack on the Al-Ahli Arabi hospital in Gaza which caused so many Palestinian victims. We think of them. All the light must be shed.”

    Protests have erupted all over the world against Israel’s heinous and brutal attack on a Palestinian hospital which killed more than 800 people. From Sweden to Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Tunisia, Jordan, Lebanon, and the West Bank, people are taking to the streets and protesting against the genocide in Palestine. Protestors in Jordan have surrounded the Israeli embassy with calls to end the genocide.

    After the recent attack, Scotland becomes the first country to offer refuge to the people of Gaza.

  • ISRAEL CELEBRATES ATTACK ON HOSPITAL, LATER BLAMES HAMAS FOR ATROCITY

    ISRAEL CELEBRATES ATTACK ON HOSPITAL, LATER BLAMES HAMAS FOR ATROCITY

    After a heinous attack on a hospital in Gaza, Israel, initially taking credit for killing more than 800 innocent civilians, blamed the attack on Hamas.

    According to Al-Jazeera, an Israeli spokesman said that the hospital and five others could be a target by Israel.

    After the attack and the extreme backlash around the world, Israel retracted it’s statement and said that Hamas had hidden weapons in the hospital and then had misfired their own rockets onto the hospital. According to journalists, official Israeli accounts even posted footage of a rocket misfire – but the timing of the footage didn’t match the time of the attack – and was deleted by the Israeli accounts.

    Pressure mounts on US President Biden who is expected in Israel tomorrow to see if he will now go to the country after the Israeli state bombs a hospital – the most heinous crime in the history of the conflict.

    X (former Twitter) users have called out Israel and their supporters on the retraction of their statement and trying to put the blame of their atrocities on Hamas.

    Protests have erupted all over the world against Israel’s heinous and brutal attack on a Palestinian hospital which killed more than 800 people. From Sweden to Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Tunisia, Jordan, Lebanon, and the West Bank, people are taking to the streets and protesting against the genocide in Palestine. Protestors in Jordan have surrounded the Israeli embassy with calls to end the genocide.

    After the recent attack, Scotland becomes the first country to offer refuge to the people of Gaza.

  • Local bodies election happening after 18 years in Gilgit-Baltistan  

    Local bodies election happening after 18 years in Gilgit-Baltistan  

    Long awaited local bodies elections are going to take place in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) for the first time in 18 years. Preparations are in full swing for the upcoming polls.

    GB Chief Election Commissioner Raja Shahbaz Khan has said that local body elections will be held in the last week of November. The process of delimitation is in progress, but the demarcation process is already complete.

    The Local Bodies Act 2014 took place on July 20, 2023, in GB. Raja Shahbaz Khan also described that, after door-to-door verification, the voter list has been compiled and will soon be made public.

    On the other hand, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has also arranged a training workshop for government officials in the region.

    The workshop’s fundamental purpose was to provide training to commissioners, deputy commissioners, and assistant commissioners from Gilgit, Diamer, and Baltistan divisions.

    While addressing the closing ceremony of the workshop, GB Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan said that local bodies election is the priority of the government.

  • PIA flight operation resumed after deal with PSO

    PIA flight operation resumed after deal with PSO

    Update: After intense deliberation, PIA has cracked a deal with PSO due to which flight operations are slowly restarting. The delay in reaching an agreement caused the cancellation of more than 19 flights and delayed more than 20 others. 

    According to the deal, PIA is to pay Rs.100 million to the PSO on a daily basis. Flight operations have resumed since then. 

    Previously, the feud between Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) continues while the passengers bear the brunt.

    Flight operations were adversely affected with 14 flights being cancelled and four others being delayed due to a halt in the supply of fuel to the airline, over the issue of non-payment of dues.

    The domestic cancelled flights were from Islamabad to Gilgit, one from Islamabad to Quetta, one from Karachi to Sukkur, one from Islamabad to Multan and one from Karachi to Faisalabad.

    Pk 304 from Karachi to Lahore, Pk308 from Karachi to Islamabad and Pk 309 from Islamabad to Karachi were delayed due to fuel unavailability. Pk 305 from Lahore to Karachi was delayed after its delayed arrival in Lahore.

    Hundreds of people, including passengers and flight crew, are facing inconvenience in the face of these partial suspension and delays in flight operations.

    To mitigate the severe issues of PIA’s flight operations, the Airline company has already requested the Aviation Division in a letter to arrange for them a loan of over Rs 7.5 billion from banks to keep itself afloat. The letter further states that fuel supply in Jeddah and Dubai was halted due to PSO’s refusal of fuel supply. This letter has been sent by the General Manager Funds Management to the Deputy Director Division and is now directed to the Ministry of Finance, urging them to intervene.

    Interestingly, no bank has shown any interest in providing loan to the loss-making national flag carrier.

    Earlier, in the mid of September, caretaker PM Anwarul Haq Kakar had aimed to sell-off the airline but the Interim Minister of Finance Dr. Shamshad Akhtar had said that the Government would support PIA to keep it in the skies. This was followed by the Caretaker Privatization Minister Fawad Hasan Fawad announcing later on that the government would not ground the PIA. He claimed to have already worked out a plan in a press conference.

    On the contrary, a plan is currently lying on his table as shared by the PIA which involves a debt restructuring program (which has reached 260 billion), blocking tax payment to the FBR and not paying fees and charges of the Civil Aviation Authority but does not address the mammoth of issues in administrative affairs.

    Dr. Shamshad has vowed to support the airline as the government has 92% stakes in it implying the saga of PIA going downhill seems to linger on for it has also announced bonuses of 915 million for its employees amidst all of this.

    Read more on this: https://thecurrent.pk/loss-making-pia-announced-bonuses-for-employees-on-their-good-performance/

  • ‘Hitman’ Rohit raises India’s World Cup hopes

    ‘Hitman’ Rohit raises India’s World Cup hopes

    Rohit Sharma has led India from the front in their three unbeaten matches of the World Cup to boost his cricket-mad nation’s hopes of winning the title at home.

    The Indian captain has already amassed 217 runs including a record century against Afghanistan, showing no signs of the pressure on his shoulders.

    Rohit succeeded superstar Virat Kohli as white-ball captain in 2021 with the aim of securing the national team a third World Cup and first international title since the 2013 Champions Trophy.

    Australia great Ricky Ponting lavished praise on Rohit for handling the pressure of the job with ease.

    “Someone like Virat, who is a bit more heart-on-the-sleeve, and probably listens to the fans and plays up with the fans a little bit more, someone with his personality would probably find it a bit harder,” Ponting wrote in an International Cricket Council column on Tuesday.

    “But I think Rohit will be fine with it. He’s a terrific bloke and has been a great player for a long time, and he’s done a great job as leader of India.”

    Rohit, 36, has enjoyed franchise success as a skipper with five IPL titles with the Mumbai Indians and then led India to the Asia Cup title last month in a key test of form ahead of the World Cup.

    That success would have helped ease a little of the pain suffered when, under his captaincy, India were defeated in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in Australia last year.

    Rohit has never let expectations get to him and Ponting, once his captain at Mumbai and then coach, said the veteran batsman takes pressure in his stride.

    “He’s very laid back,” said Ponting. “You can even see that by the way that he plays. He’s a pretty laconic sort of batsman as well, and that’s the way he is both on and off the field.”

    – ‘Nothing is impossible’ –

    Rohit, an opening batsman nicknamed “Hitman” for his ability to get big scores quickly, was out for a duck in the team’s opening win against Australia, but was lauded for his captaincy moves.

    He soon regained form with 131 against Afghanistan as he surpassed compatriot Sachin Tendulkar with a record seventh World Cup century.

    His ton in 63 balls was the fastest by an Indian in a World Cup to better Kapil Dev’s hundred in 72 balls against Zimbabwe in 1983.

    Rohit took his form to the hotly-anticipated clash with arch-rivals Pakistan and smashed a match-winning 86 to thrash the opposition as India climbed to the top of the 10-team World Cup table.

    In his career, he has accumulated 10,329 ODI runs including 31 centuries in 254 matches since his debut in 2007.

    Rohit, who was not selected for India’s last World Cup triumph at home in 2011, said he relishes the role of being leader.

    “Nothing in life is impossible, you can make it possible if you have the belief,” Rohit said.

    “If you trust in it, if you have the will to go forward, it’s everyone’s dream firstly to be part of the team and then to captain the team is definitely the icing on the cake. I never thought I would be captain one day.”

    “I also believe that good things happen to good people. I kept my head straight, kept working hard on my game. I am sitting here today with a wonderful opportunity to bring glory to this beautiful country.”

    Rohit’s deputy in the World Cup, Hardik Pandya praised the leader for his ability to bring the best out of players through his faith in them.

    “Since he has come, he has backed a lot of boys and we see the result now as well with how the boys are going and expressing themselves,” all-rounder Pandya said.

    “So that’s why Rohit has been special in giving them enough opportunity and at the same time telling them that ‘you know what, I got your back’.”

  • Jemima publicly scolds brother Ben Goldsmith over Palestine genocide comments

    Jemima publicly scolds brother Ben Goldsmith over Palestine genocide comments

    British screenwriter and producer Jemima Goldsmith drew backlash last week over her neutral stance on Palestine genocide, getting criticised for refusing to condemn the brutality of the Israeli military.

    However, on Tuesday, Khan took to social media to condemn her brother, British financier and environmentalist Ben Goldsmith, tweets. Goldsmith, a vocal proponent of Israel, has criticised growing pro-Palestinian support in the UK. Ben shared a post on X (formerly Twitter) calling out the irony of Arabic countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Egypt condemning Israel while treating their own civilians in the same manner. However, Jemima responded in the comments saying:

    “On the contrary- Many of us have repeatedly called attention to the bombing of Yemenis by the Saudis. You just didn’t notice or care. Why do some innocent lives count more than others?”

    Ben later shared another tweet, saying: “Can anyone out there point me towards any genuine and rational suggestions from the pro Hamas, sorry pro Palestine mob as to what exactly Israel should have done in the wake of the atrocities inflicted on Israeli civilians last week? I’ve seen none. Clearly they can’t dismantle the borders and welcome the terrorists in. And they can’t very well do nothing either: There’s no country in the world that would do nothing. So what are they to do exactly? Answers on a postcard please.”

    To which Jemima responded by sharing a video of a retired Israeli soldier openly advocating to slaughter Palestinian women and children

    She further responded his comments writing: “No one really believes – least of all you- that flattening Gaza, killing 1000 innocent children (so far) will save hostages or bring peace.”

    Social media users applauded Jemima’s vicious take down of her brother’s comments. One user wrote: “Jemima schooling her brother publicly is a definitely queen shit.”