Tag: United States

  • EXCLUSIVE: Ali Sethi reveals something special about ‘Pasoori’ and a truck

    EXCLUSIVE: Ali Sethi reveals something special about ‘Pasoori’ and a truck

    Coke Studio’s latest song features singers Ali Sethi and Shae Gill.

    The song ‘Pasoori’ is a fusion of pop and folk music. It makes you want to dance to its magical tune.

    ‘Pasoori‘ has been written by Sethi and Fazal Abbas, while the composition has been done by Sethi and Zulfiqar J Khan, popularly known as Xulfi. The music has been produced by Abdullah Siddiqui and Xulfi.

    The Current reached out to Ali Sethi and he revealed that the song is warm and familiar. “It makes one feel good.”

    Sethi revealed that he was driving back from Faisalabad, Punjab when he saw a quote written at the back of a truck, “Aag lavaan teri majbooriyan nu [ set fire to your worries]. I felt that this was such an amazing expression of the Punjabi language. This should be part of a song somehow.”

    Sethi said that this line made him think further about the combination of words that would be suited for the lyrical completion of the song. And that’s when the words, “Aan jaan di pasoori nu [the business of coming and going]” came to his mind.

    Sethi during the Behind the Scenes (BTS) of Coke Studio’s song Pasoori says that unfortunately, we live in a very polarised world. “Where borders and boundaries of all sorts have become more rigid.”

    Sethi during the BTS says that he is a modern-day gypsy living between Pakistan and United States (US). “It would be interesting to make a case for the alternative, which is the right to free movement of ideas and melodies through a song. Our music already embodies that alternative.”

    ‘Pasoori’ turns all angst into art, with its lyrics signifying the need to celebrate artistic self-expression.

  • Israeli star Gal Gadot’s ‘Death on the Nile’ gets banned in Kuwait

    Israeli star Gal Gadot’s ‘Death on the Nile’ gets banned in Kuwait

    Kuwait’s government has banned the upcoming Hollywood film Death on the Nile starring Israeli actress Gal Gadot. This film is the adaptation of whodunnit written by Agatha Christie.

    The decision was made after the outcry on social media over the casting of Israeli actress Gal Gadot who served two years in the Israel Defense Forces as a soldier.

    A spokesperson for Information Ministry, Anouar Mourad, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that cinemagoers will not be able to watch Death on the Nile.

    This film will be released on February 11 in the United States (US) which is directed by and co-starring Kenneth Branagh.

    An Indian film actor, Ali Fazal is also starring along with Game of Thrones star Rose Leslie alongside Gadot and other lead actors.

  • Masood Khan’s appointment as Pakistan envoy being delayed by the US

    Masood Khan’s appointment as Pakistan envoy being delayed by the US

    Former Azad Jammu Kashmir President Masood Khan’s appointment as Pakistan’s ambassador-designate to the United States (US) is being delayed.

    Khan was nominated as ambassador to the US in November. He had previously served as Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva and New York and as ambassador to China.

    Khan was to replace the outgoing ambassador of Pakistan in Washington Asad Majeed Khan.

    A former foreign secretary, while speaking to Dawn, said that the State Department took four to six weeks to issue agrément for Pakistani ambassadors in the past.

    Another diplomat told the news outlet, “This time they are taking unusually long.”

    US President Joe Biden in October 2020 also nominated a new ambassador to Pakistan, Donald Armin Blome, who is said to be an expert on Middle East affairs.

  • Taliban meet Afghan women activists and journalists in Oslo

    Taliban meet Afghan women activists and journalists in Oslo

    A delegation of the Afghan Taliban, led by Foreign Minister (FM) Amir Khan Muttaqi, met women activists and journalists in Oslo, Norway.

    “It was a positive icebreaking meeting,” feminist activist Jamila Afghani told AFP.

    “They listened patiently and responded to most of our concerns. Let’s see what their actions will be, based on their words,” she added.

    Anas Haqqani, a leader of the most violent faction of the Taliban movement, is also a part of the delegation.

    Following the talks, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted: “Afghanistan is the shared home of all Afghans. They need to work together for the political, economic and security prosperity of the country.”

    Taliban representatives will meet delegations from other western nations [United States (US), France, Britain, Germany, Italy and the European Union (EU)] today (Monday) and will be certain to press their demand to unfreeze $10 billion by the US and other western countries as the country is currently facing a humanitarian crisis.

    It has been confirmed by Norwegian FM Anniken Huitfeldt that the meetings are not for legitimation or recognition of the Taliban.

    So far, the Taliban have visited Russia, Iran, Qatar, Pakistan, China and Turkmenistan.

  • Man’s dead body found surrounded by 124 snakes

    Man’s dead body found surrounded by 124 snakes

    A dead body of a man was found inside his home surrounded by 124 snakes in Maryland, United States (US).

    According to the police, the deceased man had kept the snakes in a cage inside his home, some of which were venomous.

    A neighbour reported to the police after he peeped into the house through a window to check on the man as he had not been seen by the neighbour for the whole day.

    Police said that the cause of death has yet to be found and added, “No obvious signs of foul play have been found so far.”

    “Inside the house, more than 100 venomous and non-venomous snakes of different varieties were discovered in tanks situated on racks,” said the Charles County Sheriff’s Office.

    The man had kept snakes as pets, including pythons, rattlesnakes, cobras, and black mambas.

    The police official further added, “Charles County Animal Control is coordinating rescue efforts relating to the reptiles with assistance from reptile experts from North Carolina and Virginia.”

    The law of Maryland forbids people to keep snakes as pets in their residence.

  • Shah Mehmood refuses to directly answer question about Biden not calling Khan, says it’s irrelevant

    Shah Mehmood refuses to directly answer question about Biden not calling Khan, says it’s irrelevant

    Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mahmood Qureshi, while speaking on Samaa News programme, revealed that talks of Pakistan with the President of United States (US) Joe Biden are now irrelevant.

    Speaking on ‘Nadeem Malik Live’, Qureshi said, “These talks with America have no weight, they are irrelevant.”

    Nadeem interjected and said that Pakistan does not want to talk to America, to which Qureshi said, “We will talk to them, whenever required we will talk to them [America]. When they need to talk to us, they do so.”

    “When we require we engage with them. When I was in New York I met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, we had a great meeting,” said Qureshi.

    Nadeem questioned Qureshi if the relationship between America and Pakistan had scaled down? Qureshi negating the question said, “No, the relationship has scaled up now.”

    “Why can’t you talk to Biden?” questioned Nadeem. “Biden as a personality has many institutions and has many channels of communication. Those channels of communications are open to us and we use them,” responded Qureshi.

    Later when Nadeem reminded him that there was a time when foreign office used to actively work to get a call for the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) assembly, now Qureshi was stating that the Biden call is irrelevant.

    Negating his previous statement, Qureshi said, “There is no harm in meeting Biden. But if he [Biden] thinks that he is busy with things and he might have is own preferences, so we have no hurry as well.”

    “Why has Biden kept us away from him as a policy, and has disengaged with us,” questioned Nadeem?

    “[Biden] can give the answer to this,” said Qureshi.

  • Can only travel visa free to 31 countries, Pakistani passport ranks 4th worst in 2022

    Can only travel visa free to 31 countries, Pakistani passport ranks 4th worst in 2022

    The Pakistani passport has been placed at 4th position in the category of the world’s worst passport for international travel in a list released by the Henley Passport Index 2022.

    Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria ranked the top 3 worst passports in the world respectively.

    Overall, the Pakistani passport ranks at 108th position in the world for the third consecutive year with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 31 destinations around the world.

    India climbed up seven positions and ranked at 83rd on the list this year. India had previously ranked at 90th place after slipping from 85 in the year 2021.

    East Asian and European countries as usual dominated on the passport global ranking this year as well.

    Japan and Singapore have been placed at the top of the list of powerful passports in the global ranking which allows travel visa-free to 192 destinations.

    South Korea and Germany are placed in second place with total of 190 points whereas Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, and Spain gained 189 scores which made them into third place.

    France, Netherlands, and Sweden moved up at one spot and joined Austria and Denmark in fourth place with a score of 188.

    Ireland and Portugal received total scores of 187 and placed them in fifth place, and the United States and the United Kingdom rank in at number 6.

    Since 2006, the international firm, Henley & Partners has been regularly monitoring the world’s most travel-friendly passports under the “Henley Passport Index”.

  • American gets modified pig’s heart by Pakistani doctor

    American gets modified pig’s heart by Pakistani doctor

    An American citizen, aged 57, David Bennet received a genetically modified pig’s heart which was implanted successfully by a Pakistani doctor, Dr Mansoor Mohiuddin along with a surgeon team from the University of Maryland in the United States (US).

    A pig’s heart implantation in the human body is a landmark in the field of medical sciences.

    Dr Mansoor Mohiuddin hails from Karachi and is a graduate of the Dow University of Health Sciences.

    While talking to the Geo News, he said, “Experiments have been done on a monkey’s heart for heart transplants for humans in the past, but they did not work out. However, the experiment on a pig’s heart did.”

    He further added, “We examined all animals to find which of them is closest to humans and found a pig suitable for the experiment.”

    While talking about the expenditure he said the main expenses were incurred on the genetical modification of the pig’s heart as it a long procedure and doctors took seven genes from different pigs for modification that cost around $500,000 while the transplant surgery is insured in the US and other foreign countries.

    Meanwhile, doctors are closely monitoring the health of the patient after the pig’s heart was implanted. The surgery took seven hours. Three days have passed and the recipient is doing well.

  • Missing infant during United States evacuation from Kabul reunites with family

    Missing infant during United States evacuation from Kabul reunites with family

    A two-month-old baby boy, Sohail Ahmadi who separated from his family during the United States (US) evacuation from Kabul, Afghanistan in August last year has been reunited with his parental grandfather, Mohammad Qasem Razawi.

    The video of the boy went viral when the two-month infant was handed to the US soldier over the fence on August 19, 2021. Due to chaos, the infant was separated from them. However, his father, Mirza Ali Ahmadi desperately searched for his baby boy everywhere in the airport.

    Due to the uproar situation, officials told him that his son might be taken out separately from the country and could be reunited later in the US.

    Other family members including his wife and four other children went inside the plane and successfully landed at the military base in the US state of Texas but they were not able to find their son, Ahmadi for several months.

    When the international media outlet, Reuters covered the story of the missing infant of Ahmadi in November, the 29-years-old taxi driver, Hamid Safi was traced through online posts where his whereabouts got confirmed.

    The grandfather of the baby boy who resides in the north-eastern province of Badakhshan, made a long journey to Kabul to reunite with his grandson.

    The taxi driver, Safi said that the infant baby was found crying on the ground of the airport by him when he dropped off his brother’s family for evacuation to the airport.

    Safi took the baby boy to his home and decided to raise him alone along with three daughters. His mother’s greatest wish was to have a grandson before she died.

    His family also named the baby boy, Mohammad Abed.

    While giving an interview to Reuters in late November, ” I am keeping this baby. If his family is found, I will give him to them. If not, I will raise him myself.”

    Initially, Safi refused to hand over the baby and demanded to evacuate him and his family to the US as well.

    The baby boy was returned to his grandfather after long negotiations. The Taliban police also briefly detained Safi and arranged settlements between the families by the Taliban police to compensate around 100,000 Afghani ($950) to the taxi driver for raising their infant for about five months.

    His parents expressed their happiness while witnessing the reunion of their son through online video chat.

    “There are celebrations, dance, singing,” Mr Razawi said. “It is just like a wedding indeed.”

    His family hoped that the arrangements would soon be made to bring their baby to the US state of Michigan, where they have now settled.

  • America forced IMF to impose strict conditions on Pakistan: Shaukat Tarin

    America forced IMF to impose strict conditions on Pakistan: Shaukat Tarin

    Federal Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin termed the geo-political situation of the region as a reason for the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) to impose strict conditions on Pakistan.

    The finance minister spoke about a number of issues, including the Supplementary Finance Bill 2021, inflation, State Bank Amendment Bill, prior actions demanded by IMF, and other core issues related to finance on Geo News‘ programme ‘Naya Pakistan’.

    The minister, terming the geo-political situation of the region as a reason for the IMF being forceful, said that the talks with the lender aiming to restore the United States (US) $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) were not a piece of cake after the US pullout of Afghanistan.

    Tarin admitted that America was behind IMF to impose strict conditions on Pakistan.

    The finance minister said that the petroleum levy in fuel prices has been increased as per the IMF’s demand.

    “We had cut down the sales tax on petroleum products to zero but were compelled to apply the petroleum levy due to IMF’s strict behaviour,” said Tarin, adding that the IMF had lent the country some money back in March 2021 on account of an increase in the petroleum levy.