Tag: trending

  • Sonam Kapoor speaks out for Palestine, other prominent Bollywood celebrities silent

    Sonam Kapoor speaks out for Palestine, other prominent Bollywood celebrities silent

    Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor is one of the few Indian celebrities to condemn the bombardment of Palestine by Israeli army. The actress shared two post on her Instagram stories, as reported by Indian publication CNN News 18. One was a picture with the caption: “Half of the people in Gaza are children.”

    The other one was a quote from a New York Times article written by Nicholas Kristof which condemned the one-sided apathy towards Palestinian children.

    Most Twitter users lauded the ‘Aisha’ actress for taking a firm stand when Bollywood celebrities, including prominent Muslim actors, refused to speak out publicly against Israel’s atrocities towards Gaza.

    Among the few Bollywood celebrities who have addressed the conflict, Shah Rukh Khan’s 2014 tweet was going viral on social media where he condemned the murder of Palestinian children.

    Actress Swara Bhasker also condemned the brutal attack on Palestinian civilians by Israeli terrorists, and released a statement on her Instagram stories calling out the hypocrisy of those who were “shocked” by the violence of the Hamas.

    “If you have not felt shock and horror at Israel’s unending atrocities on Palestinians, the forcible occupation of Palestinian homes, the forced evictions, the bigotry and violence of settler Israelis, the murder of Palestinian children and teenagers, the decades long blockade and bombing of Gaza and civilians in Gaza, including bombing of schools and hospitals (not to mention the apartheid and occupation), then I’m afraid your shock and horror at Hamas’ attacks on Israel seem a bit hypocritical.”

  • Official Israel account attacks Rizwan for pro-Palestine tweet

    Official Israel account attacks Rizwan for pro-Palestine tweet

    After Pakistan lost to India in the cricket World Cup match yesterday, an official account associated with the government of Israel chose to demonstrate their pettiness with a tweet targeting cricket player Muhammad Rizwan, who, after a match-winning performance against Sri Lanka, dedicated his win to the people of Gaza.

    “We were really moved by Indian friends showing their solidarity with Israel. We are happy that India emerged victorious in the #INDvsPAK match at #CWC23 and that Pakistan was unable to attribute its victory to the terrorists of #Hamas.”

    Many Twitter users criticised the absurdity of how triggered a country has been over a simple tweet by a cricketer. Seriously, y’all lose sleep over anything?

    Truly a King

    Please make this happen PCT In Sha Allah

    Well done Rizwan for living rent free in the minds of an entire nation.

  • Loss-making PIA announced bonuses for employees on their “good performance”

    Loss-making PIA announced bonuses for employees on their “good performance”

    Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), one of the biggest money-losing entities in the country, has ironically announced that they will pay their employees an increment for “good performance”.

    As reported by The News, PIA’s management announced the bonus for the performance of the employees over the last six months, from April to September. The bonus will be implemented by October 2023. The amount that was decided is tantamount to the bonus issued in 2022.

    PIA is going through a monthly loss of Rs 12 billion and a total loss of over Rs 740 billion but the bonus that was announced is Rs 915 million. The increment in salaries will be 5-10 percent paid on March 31, 2023. The employees who are told to leave on or before October were recruited recently or got a promotion or salary increase in these six months are not eligible for it.

    The airline has announced this expenditure while it is grappling with issues of fuel outages and financial loss. According to Caretaker Federal Minister for Privatization Fawad Hasan Fawad, 15 out of 34 PIA aircraft are grounded, the airline is operating with only 19 aircraft and some of them are also not fully operational. The gap between income (22 billion) and expense(34 billion) which is increasing with time.

    Amidst the ongoing debate of privatization, PIA has taken a loan of Rs260 billion from commercial banks on a government guarantee. It is not paying tax of Rs1.25 billion to the FBR and has not been able to pay more than Rs1 billion per month to Civil Aviation.

  • McDonalds Pakistan, Turkey, Lebanon release statements; dissociate themselves from Israel

    On Friday, McDonalds attracted global backlash after its Israel account released statements announcing free food for the Israel Defense Force (IDF) and other soldiers. #BoycottMcdonalds began trending globally, and many twitter users declared they were no longer supporting the fast food franchise.

    READ MORE: #BoycottMcDonalds trends as the fast food giant opens five new restaurants for Israeli security forces, donates 4,000 daily meals

    Several outlets from Pakistan, Turkey and Lebanon have released statements on their Instagram accounts where they have distanced themselves from the Israeli brand.

    Pakistan’s McDonalds wrote they were not affiliated with the Israeli brand, stressing that the brand made decisions in respect with their own country.

    Meanwhile, McDonalds Turkey, in their statement, condemned the support for Israel and announced they were donating aid worth $1 million dollars to the people of Gaza.

    After several unverified reports claimed the McDonalds franchise in Lebanon was attacked and raided by Palestine supporters, the franchise posted a statement disassociating themselves from the Israeli branch.

  • Natalie Portman ignores 583 Palestinian children’s death in video about Israeli kids

    Natalie Portman ignores 583 Palestinian children’s death in video about Israeli kids

    Actress Natalie Portman shared a video on her Instagram account where she called for justice for the kidnapped babies and children taken hostage by Hamas. In the video, children can be seen holding up placards saying ‘Save Israeli Children’. However, none of the placards bear any mention of Palestinian children and babies killed by the Israeli bombs and airstrikes over these last few days.

    According to Defense For Children International Palestine, more than 583 children have died because of Israel’s onslaught on Palestinians, which continues to rise as Israeli forces cut off electricity, water, food and gas supplies for Gaza.

    “Israeli officials’ statements combined with widespread and systematic attacks carried out by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip raise extreme concern that this is now a campaign of genocide against the Palestinian people,” Brad Parker, attorney and senior policy adviser at Defense for Children International – Palestine said in a statement. “Israeli military assaults have reached an intensity where they are seemingly intended to deliberately kill large numbers of Palestinians in Gaza, and combined with Israeli total closure policies, show the aim is to destroy Palestinian life in Gaza.”

    Tellingly, Portman disabled comments on her post.

    Actress Jennifer Garner also released a statement on her Instagram page, where she wrote about the atrocities of war being unbearable for both Israeli and Palestinian children. The actress said she is donating to Save The Children, an organisation who are providing supplies for people in need.

    Save The Children has slammed Israel for ordering one million people from North Gaza to move South within 24 hours.

    We are extremely worried by Israeli military orders to evacuate 1 million people out of northern #Gaza in 24 hours which will have enormous consequences for #children.

  • Pakistan team hailed by compatriots as India keeps fans away from match

    As the high-voltage World Cup 2023 Pakistan – India match plays out in Ahmedabad, there are no Pakistani fans at the Narendra Modi stadium.

    Pakistani fans were not given a visa by the Modi government but the Green Shirts have all the support off the ground from home with the public glued to the screen and politicians, along with celebrities, cheering for them on social media.

    Caretaker PM Anwar-ul-haq Kakkar extended his support to the team in a tweet saying, “Let’s bring it home”.

    Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also took to X to show his enthusiasm by saying that he is “Rooting for Team Green”.

    Asma Sherazi lamented the visas not being issued but wished the team well.

    Ex-cricketers seemed to be equally excited as Mohammad Hafeez posted about the “Match of the year” and expressed his wish for the team to win.

    Wasim Akram reminded the team that “at the end of the day it’s just a game, go out there and do what you do best”.

    Shaharyar Ejaz, a journalist tweeting live from the ground, wrote that he hoped to see the team win on Indian soil.

    Filmmaker Nabeel Qureshi hoped for team Pakistan to play out a “suprise”.

    Fahad Mustafa cheered the team with, “Let’s do this boys”.

    On the other side, there are people vehemently criticizing the Indian Government for not issuing visas to Pakistani fans.

    Professor Ashok Swain lambasted the Government by saying that “It’s not Cricket, It’s Low-life’s Politics”.

    Another user criticised the crowd for trampling the spirit of the game as videos of them booing Pakistan captain Babar Azam circulated on social media.

  • Pakistan is powerful enough to fight with TTP for 100 years, says PM Kakar

    Pakistan is powerful enough to fight with TTP for 100 years, says PM Kakar

    Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has firmly rejected the possibility of engaging in negotiations with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), emphasizing that Pakistan is powerful enough to fight them for the next 100 years.

    “Don’t you see that their people are being killed daily? Our people are also being martyred. So what kind of talks or impediments [you are talking about]? They are killing my children and I am killing them,” he told the media during his visit to Peshawar on Friday.

    “The state of Pakistan is powerful enough to fight the TTP, not just for one year, rather a 100 years,” the interim premier said.

    When questioned about the challenges in negotiations with the TTP, the Prime Minister emphasized that the primary hurdle was the absence of any willingness on their part to engage in dialogue. “We don’t want to talk to them. Who told you that we have any intention to talk with TTP,” he asked. Pakistan has witnessed a notable increase in terrorist activities, Kakar observed, particularly in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan in recent months. This surge has seen TTP militants targeting both security forces and innocent civilians.

  • In pictures: Fawad Khan spotted at Mahira Khan’s wedding

    In pictures: Fawad Khan spotted at Mahira Khan’s wedding

    Mahira Khan has uploaded a video of the Qawali night held at PC Bhurban during her wedding celebrations. Among the star-studded celebrity guests was her Humsafar co-star Fawad Khan.

    Screenshots show Fawad Khan lounging among the celebrity guests as they enjoy a performance by Abida Parveen.

    Instagram users were overjoyed over the five second cameo of the heart throb, who co-starred opposite Mahira in the blockbuster ‘Maula Jatt’.

    Other celebrities spotted at Mahira’s wedding in the video were Sarmad Khoosat, Sheheryar Munawar and Momal Sheikh.

    READ MORE: Here are all the celebrities who were present at Mahira Khan, Salim Karim’s wedding

  • Actor-in-Law; Fake Kenyan lawyer won every case he contested

    Actor-in-Law; Fake Kenyan lawyer won every case he contested

    This is not a movie plot-line but a baffling revelation of an imposter working as a lawyer with a streak of 26 victories in a row. Brian Mwenda Njagi, an alleged advocate, now faces arrest and unsettling questions about the country’s judicial credibility.

    The unmasking happened when Njagi dared to represent former leader Maina Njenga. A video of the courtroom went viral, prompting the Law Society of Kenya(LSK) Nairobi Branch to dig deep into the matter only to find out that Mwenda was never registered as a member of the society. On top of that, he also had no legal qualifications.

    He had been presenting himself as a lawyer for three years and had handled 26 cases before High Court Judges, Magistrates, and Court of Appeal Judges. He won all the 26 cases before his arrest.

    This shocking expose has garnered a range of reactions, from shock to amusement that someone without any qualification outperformed established lawyers in the court.

    One social media user posted “So he won 26 cases against Lawyers who went to the law school but he’s rather being punished? Those lawyers should rather be punished for letting one who hasn’t attended a law school win cases against them,”

    Other pleaded to give him the lisence. “Fair enough. Winning 26 cases isn’t beans. He deserves that license.”

    Another user pointed out the forgery of Law Schools. “Brian Mwenda has proved that Law School is a Scam and Law Bar Examination is a Scam too these are Standards made by the Colonial systems this man litigated and won all his cases give him the Law license to practice Law.”

  • Indian travel ad degrading Pakistani cricket fans faces criticism, backlash

    Indian travel ad degrading Pakistani cricket fans faces criticism, backlash

    The most-anticipated match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup is being played on Saturday.

    Billions of cricket fans from around the world will tune in to watch great rivals, Pakistan and India, play at the biggest cricket stadium, the Narendra Modi Stadium.

    The contest will mark the first instance of Pakistan and India playing a One-Day International against each other on Indian soil after 10 years. Their last bilateral meeting resulted in Pakistan defeating the hosts 2-1.

    In these exciting times, Make My Trip, an Indian travel company, has launched a newspaper ad campaign, mocking Pakistani cricket fans by promising discounts if Pakistan loses the match.

    Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag took to X (former Twitter) and wrote, “Na Ishq mein na Pyaar mein. Jo mazza hai Pakistan ki haar mein.”

    But let’s be honest here, the ad, published in Bangalore Times, Ahmedabad Times and other newspapers, would’ve made sense if the Modi Government had issued visas to Pakistani fans.

    Senior editor of CNN News 18, Pallavi Ghosh, believes that the ad is violating sporting spirit.

    Another X user, Rahul Fernandes, says that this ad doesn’t represent Indian values.

    Sumit also criticizes the campaign by saying, “We are terrible people. First, we deny them visas and then this.”

    It is pertinent to mention that Pakistani journalists got their visas on October 12 and 13, facing unexplained delays by the Indian government, and were not allowed to be in the media box throughout the World Cup.