Shiraz, a popular figure in Pakistan’s YouTube community, has gained fame for his uplifting content. His authentic portrayal of local beauty and issues has won hearts nationwide. He and his sister Muskan were featured on TV and are now generously giving back to their community, spreading joy and support to those around them.
Shiraz, who has over a million followers on YouTube and Instagram, distributed essential food packages to those in need in their area.
A Utah mother-of-six who doled out parenting advice on a popular YouTube channel has been sentenced to prison for abusing her children, holding two of them in conditions prosecutors likened to concentration camps.
Ruby Franke, 42, pleaded guilty in December to four counts of aggravated child abuse and was sentenced on Tuesday to one-to-15 years in prison on each charge.
Franke’s business partner Jodi Hildebrandt, 54, whom she described as her “mentor,” received the same sentence.
Beginning in 2015, Franke ran a since-deleted YouTube channel called “8 Passengers” which provided parenting advice. She would later feature on a YouTube channel run by Hildebrandt after separating from her husband.
Utah prosecutor Eric Clarke said Franke and Hildebrandt held two of the children, then aged nine and 11, in a “concentration camp-like setting.”
“The children were regularly denied food, water, beds to sleep in, and virtually all forms of entertainment,” Clarke said. “They were isolated from others, and were hidden when people came to visit the house.
“They were also forced to do manual labor outdoors in the extreme summer heat, at times without shoes or socks,” the prosecutor said. “Both children had extensive physical injuries from the abuse that required hospitalization.”
Clarke also said the children were emotionally abused, “to the extent that each believed, to some degree, that they deserved what was being done to them.
Eventually, the older one “had the courage” to run away and ask a neighbor to call the police, Clarke said, adding “Heaven knows how much longer they could have survived in that situation.”
Franke apologized for her actions at her sentencing hearing before Judge John Walton.
“I was led to believe that this world was an evil place filled with cops who control, hospitals that injure, government agencies that brainwash, church leaders who lie and lust, husbands who refuse to protect and children who need abuse,” she said.
She said her paranoia “culminated into criminal activity for which I stand before you today ready to take accountability.”
Franke and Hildebrandt will serve a minimum of four years in prison but their exact prison terms will be decided by the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole.
Ducky Bhai, the popular YouTuber with six million subscribers, recently fulfilled a promise by shaving his head and face after reaching the follower milestone. However, one of his fans, Sakina, took a rather extreme step to express her devotion.
She uploaded a video on her YouTube channel, showing her trying to cut her hair with kitchen scissors and eventually shaving her head completely with the assistance of a family member.
The situation didn’t stop there. Sakina’s mother scolded and even physically hit her for shaving her hair.
The girl, with once beautiful hair, went bald just to grab her favourite YouTuber’s attention. While there are many ways to show love for celebrities, shaving the head seems to be an extreme one.
The World Economic Forum recently released the Global Gender Gap Report, 2022. Out of the 146 countries ranked on the index, Pakistan is at 145, doing slightly better than Afghanistan. The report gauges how immense the gender gap is in areas including education, economic participation, health, and political empowerment. Pakistan’s second-last position comes as no surprise, at least not for the women in the country.
Earlier this week, a 21-year-old American woman, who is also a vlogger, was allegedly raped by her tour guide and his two accomplices in Dera Ghazi Khan. The woman revealed she knew the man [one of the culprits] for a long time and is hurt by the fact that he could do something like this. “I am deeply hurt by the fact that a friend I have known for such a long time was trying to portray a positive image of this beautiful country to foreign travellers, who seemed so trustworthy, could commit such a vile and horrific act,” she said. Then there was news of a van driver in Dera Ghazi Khan who raped a woman at Rajanpur wagon. Every day, someone somewhere in Pakistan gets raped, either by someone they know or a complete stranger. The women in Pakistan have said it over and over again about how unsafe they feel in this country, including in their homes, offices, and streets. You name it and you will come to know about a story of a woman being raped or sexually harassed. With all that is going on, when will this stop for the women living in the country? Will sanity ever prevail? Will they ever be safe? Will they ever get equality? Will justice and the right care be provided to them? What are our policymakers doing to make the lives of women in Pakistan better?
A new committee against rape has been announced by the Law Ministry in an effort to combat the worrying increase in sexual violence cases across the nation. The special committee’s primary responsibility will be to aid sexual assault victims in getting legal representation, in addition to attempting to stop cases of rape against children. But the question remains: will this be enough? Women in Pakistan are yearning for the day when our society will learn to provide the strength where it is required and stand with the survivors of sexual assaults when no one will be frightened to talk about their horrific experiences and when no woman will be blamed for being a victim and survivor. But until that day arrives, we can all try to bridge the gap and make it better for the women in our country. The leaders and decision-makers can really try and make an effort to make Pakistan safe for women. It is time to stand up for the ones suffering. Home needs to be a safe place, workplaces need to be safe, our streets need to be safe, and our trains and other transportation means need to be safe for women.
It has been a year since Noor Mukadam was brutally murdered by Zahir Jaffer in Islamabad. We hope that Noor finds justice. We hope that women who are killed in the name of so-called ‘honour’ find justice. We hope that men who commit crimes against women are caught and punished. We hope that our justice system does not betray are women constantly. We hope that women are allowed to study, work, marry of their own choice, stay unmarried if they wish to, and are able to live in a society that does not treat them like second-class citizens. Because enough is enough!
Popular YouTuber and vlogger Abdullah Khattak passed away on Wednesday morning following a road accident. Abdullah’s friend Bilal Siddiqui announced the news of his death on his Instagram handle.
“I don’t know how to announce this, but tragically Abdullah Khattak has passed away in a road accident last night,” he added.
“There are few words to express the deep pain and sorrow of losing such an angel,” he added. “I still don’t believe death would come to you this early.”
Abdullah was famous for making academic videos and was studying medicine at Aga Khan University Hospital.
Aga Khan University also announced Abdullah’s death on Twitter.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our dear student and friend, Abdullah Khattak (MBBS ‘24), who met with a motorcycle crash earlier today,” AKU’s official account tweeted. “Our heartfelt condolences and prayers go out to his family and friends.”
His burial and funeral will take place in Rahat Abad Madrassa, Peshawar, today (Wednesday) at 10:45pm.
YouTube vlogger from Scotland, Dale Philip, recently visited Karachi’s Seaview beach. As per Philip, he was ‘cheated’ by horsemen there. Darakhshan police detained the horseman, and a picture of one of the horsemen was shared by Philip on his Twitter.
“He tried to earn a living by cheating people, but now he’s living behind metal bars thanks to Karachi Police. Hopefully, he learns there’s no need to cheat foreign tourists. Most will give extra payment if they were shown a good experience and treated in an honest way,” he wrote while sharing the picture.
Philip made a YouTube vlog on how he was “scammed”. The summary of the scam, as per Philip, was that the horsemen asked him to pay Rs 5,000 for a ride after agreeing to the ride for only Rs 200.
“It was very quiet, with it being a Friday. As soon as I entered the beach, two guys on horses sprinted towards me. I had planned on taking a horse or camel ride at some point so I negotiated a price of 200 rupees with one of them for a ride to the Chunky Monkey amusement park. He didn’t take me to Chunky Monkey, though. He took me down to the water and then handed me off to another guy on a horse. I felt like I was getting scammed in some way. Maybe they were going to ask for double the money because the second guy was taking me for a second ride or something. He was taking me towards Chunky Monkey, which is where I wanted to go though. As I rode with this guy, I tried to reconfirm the price with him, so there would be no disputes afterwards. He made it clear that 200 was for, what he called ‘one ride’, and that I’d have to pay for multiple rides. I immediately asked him to stop and said I’d walk the remaining distance but he refused to stop. Not only would he not let me get off the horse but did a u-turn and took me back to where I started the ride. I was screaming at him telling him that was not the way I wanted to go but he made the excuse that if he takes the horse back himself without a rider that the two horses would fight. After finally getting off the horse, the two scammers asked me for Rs5,000. As if I was just going to give them 25 times the price that we had agreed. How stupid did they think I was.”
People on social media are not happy with Dale Philip’s tweet and video.
YouTubers Sham Idrees and Queen Froggy took to social media to call out Canadian cafe chain Demetres for not serving them because of their faith and promoting Islamophobic behaviour. The cafe has denied the allegations, claiming that the argument was over seating restrictions.
Idrees shared a video detailing the incident and wrote in the video: “We just had the worst experience of our lives. The racist servers told us they will not serve ‘people of your kind’. My wife and family members included hijabis.”
“I am so heartbroken,” Queen Froggy shared a video with the caption, “Demetres Oakville didn’t take our order and told us to leave because we are Muslim and wear hijab.”
“I am so disgusted. Go to Google Maps, click review and give 1 star [to Demetres] and write #Banislamophobia. Let’s make sure it never happens to anyone again!” she added.
Demetres denied the accusations and released a statement. “We believe there was a misunderstanding between employees and our guests regarding seating arrangements due to Covid-19 restrictions,” they wrote. “The situation became escalated, and the guests were asked to leave.”
Kanwal Ahmed, founder of the well-known Facebook group Soul Sisters Pakistan, shared a few posts including the posts from the customers who were present when the incident happened.
A few posts stated that the YouTubers came with 22 people and wanted to combine the tables, which were against Covid-19 guidelines.
Idrees responded to the criticism and shared another video about the incident “with proof”.
German travel vlogger Christian Betzmann is at the receiving end of flak for his insensitive take on the Palestine issue and criticism on Pakistan.
The Israeli armed oppression against the defenseless Palestinians has been making headlines all over the world. The catastrophic bombing in Gaza is being fearlessly conducted by the Israeli forces while the poor Palestinians continue to suffer from the worst humanitarian crisis. Amidst the ongoing violence in the Palestinian region, many common people, celebrities and social media influencers all across the world have shown support for the Palestinians.
Christian shared his views on his Instagram stories and people were not happy with his take on it. One of the netizens used foul language with the YouTuber and Christian, instead of ignoring him, insulted Pakistani people and the country as a whole.
Meanwhile, in a conversation with an influencer Muznah, the Vlogger shared his opinion regarding the Palestine issue, saying he believes that social media has never helped in any political event.
He further added the strikes of third world countries are useless and waste of time , while also commenting that this thought is “naïve.”
The German Vlogger even openly wrote that you have no power and concluded his statement, saying: “It’s better to go pray as praying is the only thing third world countries can do.”
Whereas, “first world countries are based on doers,” he declared.
Christian who recently embraced Islam said: “Prayers do nothing” and “you can’t do anything.”
The Vlogger also said that the people of Pakistan must enjoy as long they can because “you never know your country might be next.”
Here is the conversation of the two:
Tiktoker Romaisa Khan also confronted Betzmann regarding his statement
Romaisa explained that Pakistan has its own sets of problems but they can’t be wrongfully compared to what the Palestinians are going through, as Christian had. She even called Christian a selfish man who now is talking trash about the country which warmly welcomed him with love.
The Tiktok star also shared how she was unfollowed by Christian even though he was the one who had initially followed her on Instagram.
Instagram influencer Khaqan Shahnawaz, who is soon to be seen in Mahira Khan’s Baarwan Khiladi also bashed the Vlogger and asked him to go back to his country if he hates this “Third World Country” so much.
“If you don’t want to protest, then don’t. But don’t you dare say anything about my country, otherwise I will eat you alive,” said Khaqan jokingly.
Christian responded to the backlash by saying that he condemns whatever is happening in Palestine but choosing to not speak about an issue should not be treated as an opportunity to insult him.
He continued to press upon his own point of view and said in his own words, ”calling people bad words just because they don’t want to share their opinion is stupid.” He further said that if social media was as powerful as people were saying it was then it would have helped Pakistanis to fix their issues too.
Later, Betzmann said that he stands with the people of Palestine.
Meanwhile, Christian’s fiancée and Pakistani actress Zoya Nasir has not yet commented on the matter. However, she lauded Bella Hadid for her bravery and refusing to “bow down and stand for what is right.”
Despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which was announced early Friday morning, Israel ruthlessly attacked worshippers at Al-Aqsa during Friday prayers.
Shahveer Jafry recently surprised Zoya Nasir and Christian Betzmann with a dholki.
“Surprised these beautiful people by throwing a surprise dholki for them,” said Shahveer while sharing a picture from the event.
Zoya and Christian also shared pictures from the celebration on social media, thanking Shahveer and their other friends for arranging the surprise dholki.
Shahveer also vlogged the entire event. Watch the video below:
Zoya and Christian got engaged earlier this year in February. The news of their engagement came just a few days after Christian announced that he has converted to Islam.
To celebrate one year of her YouTube channel and her birthday, Saba Qamar has released a new song Chingariyan in collaboration with Mustafa Zahid and Emmad Irfani.
“Celebrating the first year anniversary of my YouTube channel and my birthday with the release of an episode very close to my heart,” said Saba, while sharing a clip from the song.
“I’ve put my sweat, blood, heart and soul into this project, I really hope that this story connects with you all exactly like I felt it while doing this because ‘Life goes on’,” she said further.
The actor also thanked her “two favorite people for making my dream project come to life”.
“This was not possible without Mustafa Zahid and Emmad Irfani,” said Saba.
Chingariyan, which has mostly been shot underwater, features Saba and Emaad. It has been composed by Saad Sultan and Zahid, while the lyrics have been penned by Shakeel Sohail, Mustafa Zahid, Ali Aftab and Saad Sultan.
Saba launched her YouTube channel last year during the COVID-19 lockdown with an episode on isolation. Titled Isolation, the episode followed the actor as she embraced her loneliness. She narrated her feelings as she walked around the house and raised some thought-provoking questions.
Meanwhile, Saba recently also called it off with Azeem Khan due to “personal reasons,” just a week after announcing that she is getting married to him.