Tag: trending

  • President Alvi returns 13 bills

    President Alvi returns 13 bills

    President Dr. Arif Alvi has returned over a dozen bills for reconsideration by the parliament, resulting in an indefinite delay in their progression since a new assembly will be formed after the general elections, to be held later this year. The bills were approved by both houses of the parliament towards the end of the PML-N-led government’s term.

    Among these bills is the recently proposed amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure, aimed at increasing penalties for those found guilty of showing disrespect to the Holy Prophet (PBUH), his companions, and other revered religious figures.

    Additional bills that have been sent back include the amendment to the Press, Newspapers, News Agencies, and Books Registration legislation, which seeks to change the term ‘federal government’ with ‘Prime Minister’ wherever mentioned in the law.

    Similarly, the Bill for the Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals aims to shift the jurisdiction over journalist protection from the Ministry of Human Rights to the Ministry of Information. The National Commission for Human Development (Amendment) Bill is also among the returned bills, proposing revisions to the functions of the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) and changes in its administrative structure to enhance efficiency and facilitate business operations.

    Furthermore, a returned bill linked to the 2023 amendment of the Imports and Exports (Control) Bill.
    This measure addresses instances of economic difficulty and has been prompted by appeals from the business community and other sectors, seeking temporary relief from import/export-related restrictions.

    President Alvi also returned the bill related to the Higher Education Commission (HEC), which seeks to extend the term of the HEC chairman to four years.

    The remaining bills that have been sent back include amendments to the Public Sector Commission legislation, the Institute of Management Sciences Bill, the Horizon University Bill, the Federal University Bill, NFC Institute of Engineering and Technology Multan Bill, and the National Institute for Technology Bill.

  • If Batman was set in Karachi: Pakistani artist’s rendition is wow

    If Batman was set in Karachi: Pakistani artist’s rendition is wow

    We’ve seen how creative Pakistani artists can get. Every few weeks some art form or the other goes viral. Recently, a viral Tiktok trend re-imagined how Wes Anderson films would look if they’re set in Pakistan, enamoring thousands of people. Now, a Pakistani artist who goes by the name Booray on Instagram, imagined how Batman would shape out if he was in Karachi instead of Gotham.

    The results are astounding.

    Christian Bale? Nah, Fawad Khan would play Bruce Wayne to a T.

    And for his seductive lover/enemy Cat Woman, Mahira Khan would indeed put in a show-stopping performance.

    Since the artwork went viral on Twitter, thousands are already hoping that after the success of Maula Jatt, the powerful duo are cast in the film, if it ever gets made.

  • Relief for PTI; IHC issues release orders for Shandana Gulzar and Shehryar Afridi

    Relief for PTI; IHC issues release orders for Shandana Gulzar and Shehryar Afridi

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has on Wednesday ordered the immediate release of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Shandana Gulzar and Shehryar Afridi after suspending their arrest warrants under Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).

    The IHC had previously ordered that both Shandana Gulzar and Shehryar Afridi be presented in court.

    IHC conducted a hearing against the detention of both the leaders under the MPO on Tuesday.

    Afridi’s lawyer Sheer Afzal Marwat told the court that, “This is the seventh MPO order passed against Afridi, and the accused has been in jail for 90 days.”

    IHC judge Justice Babar Sattar asked, “Before this, which MPO order was passed by the deputy commissioner?”. The order against Shehryar Afridi was then read aloud by the counsel.
    The lawyer told the court, “Arrests were made in seven cases, but his client was later released on bail. Seven MPO orders issued against Shehryar Afridi so far have been declared illegal by courts.”

    The court further asked, “Where the MPO has not been issued?” To this question, the lawyer told the court that MPO orders have not been issued in Balochistan and Sindh.

    Justice Babar Sattar remarked, “If you have to keep a citizen in custody, you will have to provide reasons.”

    The court restricted Shehryar Afridi from speaking on media or social media until the trial ends.

  • Turkish journalist jailed fifth time

    Turkish journalist jailed fifth time

    Turkish investigative journalist Baris Pehlivan, who was ordered to return to prison by text message this month, was jailed on Tuesday for the fifth time in three years.

    The justice ministry informed him on August 2 via an SMS message that he had to surrender himself by August 15 to the prison in Silivi on the outskirts of Istanbul, where many of the government critics are held.

    Pehlivan’s latest book, “SS”, accuses former interior minister Suleyman Soylu of having links to organised crime.
    “Baris might be released on parole,” his lawyer Huseyin Ersoz told AFP. “A decision could be made at any time,” he said.
    A former editor in chief at Oda TV and contributor to daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, Pehlivan has already been imprisoned four times.
    Two of those incidents involved him spending a day behind bars — once in February and once in May.

    Pehlivan and six other journalists were sentenced to three years and nine months in prison in 2020 for reporting the funeral of a member of Turkey’s MIT secret services who was operating in Libya, where Ankara supports the UN-recognised Tripoli government.
    While his death has never been denied by the Turkish authorities, the reporters were charged with revealing “state secrets”.
    Pehlivan was recalled this time to serve eight months of the 2020 sentence for violating the country’s national intelligence laws.

    “People go to jail (in Turkey) just for writing the truth, just for doing journalism,” Pehlivan said before being sent to prison.
    “Mine is a drop in this ocean, in this big fight,” he said.

    Press freedom advocates last week condemned the “judicial harassment” of the journalist and urged the Turkish government to respect media freedom.
    Erol Onderoglu of Reporters Without Borders said Pehlivan was the 13th journalist to be jailed this year.
    “Arresting a reporter is an anachronistic attack on public opinion,” he commented on Twitter, recently rebranded as X.

    Turkey is ranked 165th out of 180 countries in the RSF’s latest press freedom index.

  • ‘While we were dating, Ranbir told me not to wear lipstick’: Alia’s Vogue interview sparks outrage

    ‘While we were dating, Ranbir told me not to wear lipstick’: Alia’s Vogue interview sparks outrage

    Alia Bhatt’s recent Beauty Secrets interview with Vogue has gone viral, but for all the wrong reasons. A clip from the interview has sparked backlash, in which the actress reveals that while she was dating her now husband, Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor, he didn’t allow her to wear lipstick when they were going out.

    “When we used to go out at night he would say ‘Wipe that off’”, the actress commented.

    It should be good to mention here that there is a 10-year age gap between the two. Alia was 17 years old when she began working on ‘Student Of The Year’ when Ranbir dropped by on set, and joked to director Karan Johar about whether he should marry her.

    Since the clip went viral on Twitter, users have expressed outrage on Ranbir’s relationship with his wife. A few months ago, the actor was slammed for body shaming Alia during a livestream, while she was pregnant with their daughter Raha. Then, he was criticized for saying that he hopes Raha doesn’t have Alia’s personality, because “she talks quite loud and is vivacious.”

    READ MORE: Ranbir Kapoor under fire once more after comment on Alia Bhatt goes viral

    “I would dump his a**,” one user commented.

    Many users pointed out how Ranbir Kapoor has qualities similar to a toxic boyfriend, as one user put it:

    “Ranbir is one of those toxic men who finally settle with much younger women they can easily manipulate. she might be happy doing whatever he wants but it’s still a sad situation esp with her background.”

    https://twitter.com/rubypinkpark/status/1691663918530535450?s=20
  • Rana, Raja say general elections will be held next year in February

    Rana, Raja say general elections will be held next year in February

    Former interior minister Rana Sanaullah and ex-opposition leader Raja Riaz have said that it is probable that general elections will be held next year in February, Geo News has reported.

    Rana Sanaullah, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), has said that PML-N supremo and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will return to Pakistan very soon and will lead his party’s electoral campaign.

    While speaking in Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath’, Rana Sanaullah stated that the establishment also wanted general elections to be held in 90 days, however, due to the delimitation of constituencies, the polls will be held in February next year.

    On the other hand, Raja Riaz has also said that general elections will be held at the start or middle of February next year.

    He also mentioned that there are chances that elections could be delayed due to the present economic situation in the country.

    “It is time to save the country, not politics,” he added.

    Without explaining much, he said that “elders” had decided to conduct elections next year.

    On the other hand, the president of the PML-N, Shehbaz Sharif, has high hopes from caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, expecting him to conduct transparent, free, and impartial elections.

  • Disney to shut Lucasfilm studio in Singapore

    Lucasfilm’s visual effects and animation studio in Singapore will close down in the coming months due to economic reasons, parent firm Disney said on Tuesday.

    The Singapore studio was set up in the 2000s by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), which was founded by Star Wars creator George Lucas and is a division of Lucasfilm.

    For years, its home in Singapore was the striking Sandcrawler building, named after the Star Wars transport that inspired its design. Lucasfilm sold the building in 2021.

    “Over the next several months, ILM will be consolidating its global footprint and winding down its Singapore studio due to economic factors affecting the industry,” Disney said in a statement.
    It did not say how many employees will be affected in Singapore.

    Disney said in February it was cutting 7,000 jobs worldwide — part of a reorganisation as its traditional television business erodes and in the face of stiff competition and eroding subscriber numbers for its streaming service, Disney+.

    “Lucasfilm’s decision to wind down its Singapore operations is in response to changes in the industry and business conditions,” Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Economic Development Board (EDB) said in a joint statement.

    “The global media industry is facing disruption from rapid technological advancements, while studios are coping with challenges relating to talent and profitability.”

    The Singapore studio was involved in high-profile Hollywood productions including “Iron Man”, “The Avengers” and Star Wars films, according to the EDB’s website.

  • Exclusive: Man who made fake bomb threat on Malaysian flight is former Pakistani model Arif Ali

    Exclusive: Man who made fake bomb threat on Malaysian flight is former Pakistani model Arif Ali

    On August 14th, a Malaysia Airlines flight from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur was forced to turn back when an agitated man claimed he had “explosives” in his backpack, Australian police said.

    The 45-year-old was arrested after the plane returned to Sydney and has been charged with one count of making a false statement about a threat to damage an aircraft.

    Videos of the man went viral where he can be seen praying on a prayer mat in the airplane’s aisle and repeatedly asking people if ‘they are a slave of Allah’.

    The Current has confirmed with multiple sources that the man is a former Pakistani model and actor, Muhammad Arif Ali. According to his LinkedIn profile, he graduated from NCA in 2002. He worked as an architect at a number of firms in Karachi and Lahore from 2002-2016.

    He was also featured in renowned Pakistani singer Abrar-ul-Haq’s song, “Preeto” and as an actor he was in a Pakistani sitcom, “Kollege Jeans”, which revolves around the campus life of the National College of Arts, directed by Jawad Bashir.

    Most of his entertainment industry friends say that they lost contact with him while one of our sources confirmed that, “I lost contact a long while ago but I heard that he has developed extremist views”.

    We followed his social media and here is what we found:

    His Behance profile as an architect was made in January 30th, 2012, where he shared different projects he worked on during his career.

    His Facebook profile is open and shows that he lives in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. People have started commenting on his public posts.

    His YouTube channel “food for thought” is made up of shorts and videos, mostly based on his religious views. The last video on August 12 2023.

    His Instagram profile was made in June 2014 and has a throwback video with his “Kollege Jeans” co-actors. His former colleagues and his lawyer say they hope he is given a psychological assessment and is dealt with in a fair manner, saying that he likely suffers from mental health issues.

  • Is Babar Azam getting married?

    Is Babar Azam getting married?

    Kya paya cricket team to stan karke? One by one, all the boys including Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan have been hitched just this year. Aur jo thori hope reh gayi thi, khatam hogayi because now rumors are surfacing that the captain himself, Babar Azam, is getting married.

    According to Geo’s sources, Pakistan cricket team’s belobed captain is set to tie the knot after the upcoming World Cup and a wedding will be held in November, according to the cricketer’s close friend.

    The source said Babar’s family want him to get married before the team jets off for their Australia tour in December.

    The news publication further said the cricket player is set to marry his maternal aunt’s daughter.

    Previously, Shadab Khan got married in a star-studded ceremony where close teammates like Babar and Shaheen were present.

    Prominent sports management agency has called all the news surrounding Babar Azams wedding false in a tweet posted today.

  • Life in Afghanistan: Two years since the Taliban takeover

    Two years since the Taliban stormed back to power on 15 August 2021 after two decades of war against the US and its allies, life has changed dramatically for many Afghans. A businesswoman, a former Taliban fighter and a farmer tell AFP how the changes have impacted them.