January 2023 has become the deadliest month with the maximum number of terror attacks since July 2018, with 134 people losing their lives in at least 44 militant attacks across Pakistan, data released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) has shown.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) residents remain in the eye of the storm after two suicide bombings were rocked the province — one in Peshawar and the other one in the tribal district.
Although the number of terrorist attacks declined slightly in January, fatalities increased by 139 per cent, attributed mostly to the Peshawar Police Lines suicide blast on Monday which resulted in the death of over 100 people.
The data mentions that KP Police was the primary target of the militants operating in the province bordering Afghanistan.
Militant attacks declined in Balochistan during January, however, Punjab saw four incidents in which three security forces personnel were killed while two low-profile attacks were reported in Sindh in which one person died.
Welp! It looks like Valentines Day has arrived early, with Netflix acting like a kabab mein haddi for you and bae’s downtime. The streaming giant has released a new set of rules and regulations to stop users from sharing their passwords. The streaming giant has updated their Help Center page with details of how users will be stopped from borrowing their sister’s, friend’s or elder brother’s account from now onwards.
According to the new guidelines as reported by Streamable, Netflix accounts are only shareable within a household. To ensure that devices are connected to the original Wi-Fi, users are required to log in to the app from their primary location, and watch something every 31 days. If a user’s device has been blocked incorrectly, they can contact Netflix in order to get it unblocked.
To prevent outsiders from sharing an account with someone who isn’t a part of the Netflix household, the app revealed they would block access if the user signs in to their account from elsewhere.
One of the most controversial rule introduced has been surrounding requirements for travelling users, who wondered how they can log in to the streaming website through their devices.
Netflix will block your access if users sign in to the app outside their home. For traveling users to work around this, if they wish to use the app on a hotel television, they can request the company to send them a temporary code while signing in. This will allow them access to their account for seven days.
To track users on whether they’re using internet within their household, Netflix will be using information like IP addresses, device ID’s and account activity.
However, these list of rules as uploaded by Streamable, are not currently present on the Netflix Help Center page, but they are accessible through Wayback Machine, which means that the app is changing a few rules before enforcing the password protection policy.
According to the new update on their Password Sharing Page, if users logged in to their device outside their homes, then they would be asked to verify their device by sending a verification code to the primary owner’s email address before using Netflix.
Especially if a user is travelling, they will no longer be blocked from access if they logged in to Netflix from a different Wi-Fi, but they must occasionally verify their device after a few days.
The year is 2023. The Pakistani entertainment industry is as terrified of a woman who exercises her own free will and independence, as it was in 1973. After encouraging the bitch and bechari trope, the gold digger, the women fighting over a man trope, here comes another interesting plot device to keep viewers entertained: humiliation nikkahs.
What is this term and why do we bring this up? Humiliation nikkahs is a trope that are apparently suppose to make the enmity to lovers story even more spicier, simply by pressurizing the girl to marry the man for the sake of keeping her izzat intact. Bring up an excuse like the man the woman was suppose to marry bailed, and what could be more precious for a woman than diamonds, jewelry or a worthwhile lifestyle? Her honor! Because dear children, if a woman has no honor, punish her by marrying her off instantly to a stranger, popping out a ready made husband good to go!
Recently, the drama Mujhe Pyar Hua Tha has been gaining a lot of attention on social media because of Wahaj Ali’s brilliant performance, but his smolder and Nice Boy™️ vibes isn’t enough to divert us from the regressive story line. A love affair is stopped because women do not appreciate caring and nice boys apparently. From the start, the drama keeps us invested in the love story between two cousins (not enough coffee on this planet to get in to how messed up this is). The male lead, Saad (excellent name choice, five points for the writer) is the good boy next door. He’s the one who has always listened to your problems, is only a call away when you need to go out, but not the one you want to fall in love with. . He’s Devdas without the dimples or the long hair strand in front of the face, but the slouch who moans about no one liking him.
Then there’s the girl, Meerab, who is vain, self-centered, and consistently ignoring Nice Boy’s™️ kindness. She also taunts him for not doing enough when in the first episode, she chastises Saad for not owning a nice enough car and making her late to her cousin’s wedding. Meerab falls in love with a rich man Areeb, for which she is repeatedly condemned by her family, because she begs them not to force her to marry Saad, the man she had literally grown up next to. She and her mother are painted as villains in the drama because of their aspirations to marry above their station.
But what possible flaw could Saad have, aside from the fact that he is literally her blood relative? He’s the Nice Boy™️! Could it be perhaps that she doesn’t owe to him that she gives up her independence simply because he loves her? Or perhaps she has different desires than what Saad is offering her, and would like to have a wealthy and luxurious lifestyle? But by the end of the day, Meerub is a selfish, manipulating bitch for wanting more than just a mere home, and Saad is the Sad Boy who got played with because for once, a woman reminded him that she doesn’t owe him anything.
And then we come to the part that has inspired this rant: the shotgun wedding that is apparently the genius twist used to put two enemies together. Apparently the writer thought they were one-upping the great minds of writers like Agatha Christie or Emily Henry, who couldn’t write a better love triangle than forcing a woman to quickly marry her cousin because log baatien kar rahay hain? One would have to question why do television shows still presume that a woman’s honor and respect is completely destroyed when they are raped or assualted, but there is never a question about the man’s sense of respect. Especially in a country where more women are beaten or murdered by family relatives because they made videos on Tik Tok or even rejected a man’s proposal, this kind of message actively perpetuates the ever present misogyny women in Pakistan still deal with.
‘Log Kya Kahengee’ is a mantra women have been sacrificing their dreams and existence to, and it’s shameful that to this day, drama creators cannot recognize how damaging their depictions can be for women trying to survive in Pakistan.
The humiliation nikkah isn’t brand new, but a beloved trope. Popular dramas like Chupke Chupke abruptly put the opposing lovers together without any proper chemistry because it was another great idea hatched by respectable elders. Dear children, marriage is the magic wand that magically evaporates any anonymity or prejudice two people who never have interacted before in their lives might have, and then suddenly they’re the new Majnu Laila in town. Chupke Chupke executed this trope in a brilliant manner. Faaz and Meenu, the opposites in the Hum Tv Ramzan drama, had never interacted before, and were also STUDENT and TEACHER before this happened. Meenu tragically happened to have been engaged to a con-man, who was quickly caught by the brilliance of family members who were pushing her to get married in the first place. In a stroke of brilliance, they quickly decide that Meenu must marry her cousin, and teacher, Faaz Ibrahim, to save her respect. Before Faaz can even interject with some logic, Meenu’s brother quickly shushes him by reminding him ‘Meenu ki izzat ka sawal hai.’
Because worse than marrying the wrong man or even being abused and humiliated in a toxic relationship, is getting bailed on your wedding day.
What’s more worrying to witness is how the humiliation nikkah trope is supposed to be a way writers are trying to convince the audience that a toxic male lead, who repeatedly stalks, harasses and crosses boundaries with a woman, is actually truly in love with her. Taking an example of the ever green Ishq Hai where Danish Taimoor”s character is driven to madness when he realizes that the woman he loves (played by Minal Khan) is getting married to someone else. So he kidnaps her, drives her to an isolated home, where he holds a gun to his head and threatens this woman that she must marry him, or he will kill himself.
Swoon, right? Shah Rukh Khan should take notes. He only gently reminded his female lead that he wouldn’t force her to run away with him, because he loved her too much, and would never want her to live a life of shame and cut off from her loved ones.
But what’s going to change by shouting our frustrations in the air this way because by the end of the day, this is the same entertainment industry willing to demonize Aurat March as a Western agenda movement, designed to break apart the family system.
The family system, that is maintained because women have kept quiet for centuries about being abused, mistreated, cut off from their family members, forced to clean and cook for the entire household, will suddenly collapse overnight because one girl made the choice to marry according to her own free will.
We sincerely hope that Pakistani drama creators would maybe stop chasing their own tales and spinning out the same regressive storylines, and maybe for once, listen to the women living in Pakistan, who deserve much better than consistently being denied their humanity and self worth.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has said that it has restricted access to Wikipedia for Pakistanis for 48 hours.
In a series of tweets from its official Twitter account, PTA said that the free online encyclopedia had “sacrilegious” content, despite being asked by PTA to remove it.
The restoration of its services will only be considered if they block or remove unlawful content. However, PTA did not specify which contents it deemed unlawful.
The authority also hinted that Wikipedia may face a permanent block in Pakistan if the platform does not remove or block the content as directed by PTA.
Press Release: PTA has degraded Wikipedia services in the country on account of not blocking / removing sacrilegious contents. pic.twitter.com/h6ZWuf8TnR
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Wednesday submitted a reply to Islamabad High Court (IHC) in reply to a disqualification petition filed against him for not disclosing details about his daughter Tyrian Jade White in his nomination papers.
In the reply, Khan requested the court to dismiss the petition, arguing that he is not a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) anymore, therefore such a petition is “not maintainable and may not be proceeded”.
Moreover, he said that the IHC could not examine the “veracity or otherwise of any declaration or affidavit issued” in the exercise of its constitutional jurisdiction, especially with respect to a person who had ceased to hold public office.
Last year, Sajid Mehmood filed a petition in the IHC claiming that although Imran made arrangements for Tyrian White in the United Kingdom (UK), he did not disclose information about her in his nomination papers or in affidavits filed by him, a pretext necessary for contesting elections in the country.
Tyrian, born in 1992 to the late American heiress Sita White, is alleged to be Khan’s biological child. Her mother passed away in 2004 when Tyrian was 12 years old.
Netflix dropped the trailer for the upcoming documentary ‘The Romantics’, a film about the legacy of legendary director Yash Chopra, maker of some of Bollywood’s most critically acclaimed films like ‘Silsila’, ‘Chabdni’ and ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayienge’.
Chopra, called the ‘Father of Romance’ for his penchant for love stories, died in 2012 at the age of 80.
The documentary is a four part series which will interview three generations of actors such as Amitabh Bachchan, the late Rishi Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, who will talk about their experience of working with Chopra, and how he helped them gain stardom and success in Bollywood.
This will also be the first time Chopra’s son, Producer Aditya Chopra will be present for an interview, after refusing to come on camera for 20 years.
Directed by Smitri Mundhra, the documentary shall release on Netflix platforms on 14th Feb.
Years after private photos of Maria Wasti were leaked online, the actor has talked about the scandal that followed on Nadir Ali’s podcast.
Wasti opened up about how her’s and Ayesha Omer’s photos in swimsuits at a vacation were leaked online. She said that there wasn’t any way people could ensure their personal photos weren’t leaked to the public. “These were some personal pictures, and this happened a long time ago when there wasn’t much awareness of privacy settings. But it was someone who was Ayesha’s personal friend, who had leaked our pictures to the press. It was sad that it happened.’
Wasti defended her choice to wear a bikini back then, saying that she won’t apologize for wearing clothes of her choice. The actress also revealed that she received a lot of negative comments on social media over her photos, but she chooses not to let it effect her. “My life, my choice…Yes people did troll me. I do intend to check who is criticizing and what are they saying. I make sure what words I should be effected by and what I shouldn’t. Again that’s your own choice. I was not happy about it, because it was stealing my personal pictures or personal life that you hadn’t shown to the media. So it shouldn’t be done, but it happened.’
Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s (PML-Q) and former Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Pervaiz Elahi has condemned the raid on his family house ‘Kunjah Gujrat’ and held the incumbent government responsible.
In a tweet, he claimed that the staff at their house was harassed in the middle of the night. The former CM also threatened the caretaker government with legal action and said that the matter will go to court.
کنجاہ ہاؤس، گجرات پر غیر قانونی پولیس چھاپے کی مزمت کرتا ہوں۔ ملازمین کو رات کے اندھیرے میں حراسہ کیا گیا۔ 2 ماہ کی نگراں حکومت ان اوچھے ہتکنڈوں سے باز رہے۔نگراں حکومت کی ان غیر قانونی حرکات پر ہم عدالت جائیں گے۔ ہمیں آزاد عدلیہ پر پورا بھروسہ ہے۔
Addressing Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and caretaker CM Punjab Mohsin Naqvi directly in another tweet, Elahi urged Shehbaz to “respect the sanctity of the home” and warned him that “people would protest outside his own home”. To Naqvi, he said that his job is to ensure fair and transparent elections
He also regretted that “the rulers have directed police and administration to engage in vengeful actions” while the country is dealing with terrorism.
شہباز شریف چادر اور چاردیواری کے تقدس کا خیال کرے۔ اب لوگ ان کے گھروں کے سامنے بھی احتجاج کریں گے۔ محسن نقوی کا کام صاف و شفاف الیکشن کروانا ہے۔ ملک میں دہشت گردی ہو رہی ہے اور حکمرانوں نے پولیس اور انتظامیہ کو انتقامی کاروائیوں پر لگا رکھا ہے
Earlier in the day, his son and former federal minister Moonis Elahi claimed that his family home in Gujrat was raided by the police in the early hours of Wednesday “without having a warrant, nor a case”.
Implying that intelligence agencies were involved in the raid, he said “I can wrap my head around the 25 police vehicles, but why were there two black Vigos?”.
Moonis then asked if the police were looking for Indian agents.
کل رات پولیس نے ہمارے گجرات کے گھر پر ریڈ کی۔ نہ کوئی وارنٹ نہ کوئی کیس۔ پولیس کی 25 گاڑیوں کی تو سمجھ آتی ہے پر یہ ساتھ 2 کالے ویگو کیا کر رہے تھے؟ انڈین جاسوس ڈھونڈ رہے تھے ؟ pic.twitter.com/ykP5pOKBBD
The raid has taken place after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday declared that PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain would remain the president of the party months weeks after he was ousted following rifts with his cousin Pervaiz Elahi.
Earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) accused the caretaker Punjab government of ‘political persecution’.
Falak Shabir and Sarah Khan appeared on the ‘Mirza and Malik Show’ where among many things, the singer opened up about how he will keep supporting his wife in pursuing her career.
During a round of questions where the couple revealed that it was Khan who used her phone more, Shabir said that he never had a problem with Sarah’s dedication to her career because he doesn’t want to waste her hard work and talent.
“When we were about to get married, this was her biggest fear that I would object to her working so much. I have gone through the struggle of not finding work, and luckily she has not. But I still want to ensure that someone who works so hard, and with the blessings of Allah, has so many fans who send her love, shouldn’t be told to sit at home. This is just like finding a doctor who has completed their practice, and you’re telling them to give up everything and sit at home… So I assured her that i won’t stop her from succeeding in her career, you can do whatever you like. So I am never effected by her social media following or her work. I just know that if she is incredibly happy with her work, then so am I,” the supportive husband said.
Shabir went on to further emphasize that it’s not necessary that every woman wants to work, but husbands should respect the woman’s choice.
‘I think that every husband should be like this. Unless, there are also some women who prefer to become home makers rather than work outside. It is their choice and we should learn to respect that.”
Actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas finally revealed the face of her infant daughter Malti Marie. The Baywatch star, who welcomed her first child with her husband Nick Jonas in 2022, made her first-ever public appearance with her daughter on January 30, Monday.
Malti Marie made her public event debut as her father Nick Jonas and his brothers received the Hollywood Walk of Fame Star. Priyanka Chopra and Maltie Marie attended the event with Joe Jonas’s wife Sophie Turner.
The star kid looked super adorable in a white top, which is paired with a cream sweater and matching shorts. Malti Marie’s look was completed with a cute bow. Proud mom Priyanka Chopra, who was visibly excited about her daughter’s first public appearance, looked stylish in a brown bodycon dress. The popular star completed her look with earthy-toned makeup, a pair of statement glasses, and golden earrings. Along with the mother-daughter duo, the Jonas family members including Sophie Turner, Kevin Jonas’s wife Danielle and their daughters, and the Jonas brothers’ parents attended the ceremony. Priyanka Chopra and Malti Marie’s pictures from the Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony are now setting social media on fire.
Nick Jonas, who joined his brothers on stage as they accepted the Hollywood Walk of Fame Star, gave a special shout-out to his wife Priyanka Chopra, and daughter Malti Marie. “To my beautiful wife, you are the calm in the crazy, the rock in the storm and I love being married to you. It is the greatest gift. And I love being a parent with you, so Malti Marie, ‘Hi, babe.’ I can’t wait to come back here with you in 15 years and embarrass you in front of your friends,” said the actor-singer as he addressed the audience.
Recently, Priyanka Chopra opened up about her surrogacy journey in her interview with Vogue. “I had medical complications. This was a necessary step. And, I’m so grateful that I was in a position where I could do this,” stated the celebrated actress. For the unversed, the new mother was accused of ‘outsourcing’ her pregnancy and even ‘renting’ a womb and opting for a ‘ready-made’ baby.
On the work front, Priyanka Chopra will next be seen in the Russo Brothers-backed spy thriller series Citadel, It’s All Coming Back To Me alongside Sam Heughan and Farhan Akhtar’s Jee Le Zaraa with Katrina Kaif and Alia Bhatt.
