Current Final

Author: News Desk

  • Trump says he will be arrested on Tuesday, urges supporters to protest on his behalf

    Trump says he will be arrested on Tuesday, urges supporters to protest on his behalf

    Former US President Donald J. Trump, who is facing possible indictment by a Manhattan grand jury, declared on his social media site that he would be arrested on Tuesday and called on his supporters to protest on his behalf.

    The post was made on his site, Truth Social, on Saturday, and read, “THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE AND FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!”

    However, two hours later, a spokesman issued a statement clarifying that Mr. Trump had not written his post with direct knowledge of the timing of any arrest. A lawyer for Trump, Susan R. Necheles, claimed that the post was based on news reports, and accused the Manhattan district attorney’s office of conducting a “political prosecution.”

    Prosecutors working for the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, have signaled that an indictment of Trump could be imminent. Still, they have not informed Trump’s lawyers when the charges would be sought or when an arrest would be made. People with knowledge of the matter said that at least one more witness is expected to testify in front of the grand jury, which could delay an indictment.

    Trump’s post urging his supporters to protest and reclaim the nation has raised concerns about a possible repeat of the violence that occurred on January 6, 2021, when supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Investigators later determined that far-right extremist groups, as well as ordinary Trump supporters, had read Trump’s tweets as a clear-cut invitation to the event.

  • Khan’s arrest warrants finally cancelled

    Khan’s arrest warrants finally cancelled

    After much chaos, drama in Lahore and Islamabad, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s arrest warrants in Toshakhana case were cancelled on Saturday by the Islamabad sessions court.

    The hearing was adjourned till March 30 (Thursday) due to the turbulence and chaos witnessed today, with the judge ordering Imran to appear in personal capacity in the next hearing.

    Imran Khan allowed to mark attendance in car

    Prior to this, Khan arrived at the Islamabad Judicial Complex but didn’t go inside due to security concerns.

    Amid unruly crowds and security concerns, the judge gave permission that Khan can mark his attendance while sitting in the car which he did and then left for Lahore.

    After Lahore, clashes erupt in Islamabad

    PTI supporters started throwing stones at the Islamabad police in the capital when Imran Khan made his way to court for a hearing of the Toshakhana case.

    In the video, supporters carrying sticks can be seen attacking police cars.

    ‘Part of London plan’: Imran lashes out after police raids his Zaman Park residence

    Khan lashed out at Punjab police for raiding his house in Zaman Park, Lahore.

    “Meanwhile Punjab police have led an assault on my house in Zaman Park where Bushra Begum is alone,” he said in a tweet.

    “Under what law are they doing this? This is part of London Plan where commitments were made to bring absconder Nawaz Sharif to power as quid pro quo for agreeing to one appointment.”

    The operation is over, however, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah alleged that contraband was discovered at Khan’s residence

    Police broke into the house in Zaman Park, Lahore, after claiming that they were fired at from inside the house. Using heavy machinery, police smashed the entrance of the house and entered into the premises.

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif, in a tweet, accused Khan of using people as human shields.

    He said that “from using people as human shields to throwing petrol bombs at police to leading ‘jathas’ to intimidate judiciary, he has taken a leaf out of the RSS book.”

    Where is Bushra Bibi?

    Later in the evening, Khan’s sister came forward to give her side of the story of the unfolding situation after police raided her brother’s house in Zaman Park.

    She said that Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi is still inside the house in Zaman Park.

    Khan’s sister said that police aggressively broke into Khan’s house and they even took away some children who were present at home at the time.

    ‘Inhon ne pura plan banaya huva hai mujhe arrest karne ka’: Imran Khan

    Earlier in the day, when Imran was en route to Islamabad, he claimed that he is aware that the government will arrest him.

    “I am going to court despite knowing they’ll arrest me because I believe in the rule of law.”

    He mentioned being delayed due to an accident and claimed that a premeditated plan to arrest him is in place, alleging that it is part of a larger “London Plan” orchestrated by former PM Nawaz Sharif.

    In line with PTI’s insistence that Khan’s life is in danger and he needs security, Islamabad Chief Commissioner shifted the hearing from F-8 Court Complex to the Judicial Complex in G-11.

  • Sanitary pads, rifles, bullets: Here are the things that Punjab police found at Imran Khan’s house

    Sanitary pads, rifles, bullets: Here are the things that Punjab police found at Imran Khan’s house

    The Punjab Police on Saturday raided the house of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan shortly after he left for Islamabad to appear before a court in the Toshkhana case.

    Now, the police has left the area and the operation is reportedly over.

    According to media reports, several things have been discovered by the police at Khan’s residence.

    Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah claimed that police found 16 rifles, arms, bombs and a bomb-making factory in Zaman Park.

    He said that Inspector General (IG) will bring all proofs before the nation.

    In a video, which is being shared on Twitter, police can be seen picking up sanitary pads.

    Moreover, the bottles that were used to make petrol bombs have been found along with marbles, slingshots, five kalashnikovs and bullets, reports Geo News.

    Reacting to this news, PTI’s Fawad Chaudhry took a jibe at the police and said that “Cannon, tank shells, anti-aircraft and cocaine, and petrol bombs were recovered from Imran Khan’s residence. But Imran Khan took tanks and cannons with him.”

    To refute the claims made by the government, he in another tweet claimed “that the police has taken food and drinks from the fridge and not even left the biscuits.”

    According to him, a hundred thousand watches have been also taken from the pockets of the employees.

  • Pakistani-born businessman receives MBE from Prince William

    Pakistani-born British entrepreneur and restaurateur Suleman Raza was awarded the MBE by Prince William for his services to the business and philanthropy sector in Britain. Raza revealed on Twitter that he was happy to witness immigrants coming to Britain and becoming successful.

    According to his Medium article, Raza hails from Rawalpindi, but had moved to London where he started working as a chef in an eatery. He went on to open a restaurant in Tooting where he served Pakistani food.

    Raza also launched the project ‘No One Eats Alone’ in 2019 to provide meals to elderly and homeless communities during Christmas. He received public praise for his campaign “One Million Meals” to support National Health Service (NHS) workers in hospitals during the pandemic by providing them with hot meals.

  • Newark mayor duped into partnership with Hindu country that doesn’t exist

    Newark in New Jersey is gaining viral traction for all the wrong reasons. The town has become the brunt of many a jokes after it was revealed that mayor Ras Baraka had been duped into forming a sister city partnership with a delegation from the ‘country’ Kailasa, which was found out to be fake six days later.

    A signing ceremony was held on March 6 between the delegation from the fake country and city officials of Newark where Baraka had said:

     “I pray that our relationship helps us to understand cultural, social and political development and improves the lives of everybody in both places.”

    Last week, Newark officials admitted that they had been scammed by the Indian fugitive Swami Nithyananda, who was the head of the delegation from ‘Kailasa”, but said they were still committed to partnering with people from diverse cultures:

    “Although this was a regrettable incident, the city of Newark remains committed to partnering with people from diverse cultures in order to enrich each other with connectivity, support and mutual respect.”

    The partnership lasted for only six days, until it was dissolved for baseless.

    The head of Kailasa, Swami Nithyananda, is an Indian guru who is currently charged with rape and child abduction by the Indian government. He has denied the accusations.

    Nithyanananda writes that Kailasa was founded in order to ensure the “restoration, preservation and propagation of authentic Hindu culture and civilization after centuries of oppression and subjugation. It is the home and refuge for the international Hindu diaspora.”

    According to its website, Newark is not the first town to be duped into forming the partnership, as so had Virginia, Ohio and Florida.

    Residents of Newark found the incident to be shocking. Shakee Merritt spoke to CBS that he was suprised no one did a simple Google search on whether the country was real or not.

  • ‘Mera Jism Meri Marzi is more than just being about clothes’: Amna Ilyas

    Actor Amna Ilyas was a guest on “The Talk Talk Show’ where she opened up about being a feminist, and clarified the misinformation around the Aurat March slogan ‘Mera Jism Meri Marzi’.

    When the placcard was raised at the 2018 Aurat March, it caused outrage after many right-wing critics said that the chant supports promiscuity and challenges family values in Pakistan. Many religious clerics had used the placard as justification to call ‘Aurat March’ un-Islamic and accused it of promoting a Western agenda in Pakistan.

    Many feminist activists have defended the slogan for protecting women’s bodily autonomy, and now Ilyas has also done the same, as she explained that the slogan ‘Mera Jism Meri Marzi’ was more than about clothes, it’s about protecting the rights of women:

    “It’s about having body autonomy rights and consent. It’s about harassment, domestic violence, and concepts like, ‘No one has the right to touch me without my consent, even if I’m married to you’.”

    Ilyas went on to debunk the stereotype associated with feminism that women who support this ideology are promoting vulgarity, when in reality the ideology supports the rights of women to have the same opportunities as men:

    “Whenever I talk about feminism, people always object by saying ‘Oh, Amna is bold, of course, she will spread vulgarity as she’s from the industry, she wants all our daughters to be like her’. No, I don’t want that, I only do what I want to for myself.”

    “When we speak of equal rights, it’s about having the same opportunities to thrive in my career as the man beside me. If you’re a father of four children who excel in your profession, why can’t I do the same? Honestly, it’s not about whether you’re getting permission to wear jeans or not. What we truly need, is the space to work in a cerebral capacity,” she explained.

    Watch the complete interview here:

  • Aima Baig files Rs100 million lawsuit against FMH Pakistan for spreading misinformation

    Aima Baig files Rs100 million lawsuit against FMH Pakistan for spreading misinformation

    Singer Aima Baig has shared on Instagram that she was suing the online celebrity tabloid ‘FMH Magazine’ for spreading misinformation and fake news about her for the sake of likes and traction.

    “This is high time when we should stand against yellow journalism and fake reporting (which is only done for the sake of comments and likes). I have had it enough so here I am standing up for myself and many others to become their next prey.”

    The ‘Washmallay’ singer then shared clips of the defamation notice she has sent to FMH Pakistan for posting a story that was “false, untrue, malicious and highly defamatory.”

    In the next clip, the legal notice read:
    “Being a digital and print media/ news company, you are required under the law to be truthful, honest, correct and highly responsible for the public posts/ stories/ statements / articles/ news you publish…It is evident that the scandalous and false and defamatory statement you have attributed to my client is explicitly intended to harm her reputation and to malign her before the public, for the monetary gain you are getting from clicks, views, comments and shares of your scandalous news..”

    In the last clip, the news organization was directed to pay Rs 100 million for the damages made by their misinforming post, as well as upload a written apology within 48 hours on the receipt of this notice.

  • Pakistan’s proposal to increase number of beneficiaries for BISP rejected by IMF

    Pakistan’s proposal to increase number of beneficiaries for BISP rejected by IMF

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) rejected the Pakistani government’s proposal to increase the number of beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and expand its scope to cover 20-30 per cent of the population living in poverty.

    The proposal aimed to provide quarterly stipends to those below the poverty line. While the IMF approved an increase in the BISP allocation by Rs40 billion, increasing it from Rs360 billion to Rs400 billion for the current fiscal year for 8.9 million beneficiaries, the proposal to expand coverage could not be implemented due to a shortage of budgetary resources.

    According to sources, the IMF refused to increase the Proxy Mean Test (PMT) ceiling for enhancing coverage and providing monthly stipends to around 30 per cent of the population living below the poverty line, citing a lack of budgetary resources. The Finance Ministry official stated that there was no disagreement, and the government has been providing a quarterly stipend of Rs7,000 to 8.9 million beneficiaries.

    The IMF staff suggested increasing tax revenues and abolishing un-targeted subsidies but did not initially oppose the idea of expanding coverage. The IMF high-ups recommended using the National Socio-Economic Registry (NSER) of the BISP to provide targeted subsidies on electricity, gas, and provision of POL for motorcycles and small vehicles.

    According to Geo, different proposals to start a targeted subsidy mechanism were discussed but ultimately dropped due to various reasons. The weekly Sensitive Price Index (SPI) touched 45.64 per cent on a weekly basis, and Consumer Price Index (CPI) crossed 31.5 per cent on a monthly basis in February 2023. Both the CPI and SPI are expected to rise further in the weeks and months ahead of the current fiscal year.

    To protect vulnerable segments from falling below the poverty line, there is no other option but to implement a targeted subsidy mechanism over the short and medium-term period. Pakistan and the IMF will need to place a target subsidy mechanism, given the possibility of a new IMF program after the expiration of the current one under the Extended Fund Facility in June 2023.

  • Gong Yoo, Lee Min-Ho named among ‘world’s most favourite Korean actors’ list

    Gong Yoo, Lee Min-Ho named among ‘world’s most favourite Korean actors’ list

    A survey conducted by the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE) ran a survey to determine the most popular Korean entertainers, with 25,000 participants of ages 15 to 59 from 26 different countries taking part in it.

    According to Next Shark, the results showed that actors Lee Min-Ho and Gong Yoo were the top five most popular Korean actors globally.

    Gong Yoo rose to international fame with romantic comedy ‘Coffee Prince’ in 2007, in which he played a playboy bachelor who falls in love with a boy who is actually a girl.

    Lee Min-Ho rose to fame for his dramas ‘The Legend of the Blue Sea’, ‘The King: Eternal Monarch’ and ‘Pachinko’ which released in 2022.

    Another actor included in the top five list was Song Hye-Kyo, whose Netflix drama ‘The Glory’ is currently among the top ten most popular dramas worldwide, and had also received praises for her other dramas like ‘Descendants of the Sun’ and ‘Encounter’.

    Among the most popular musical groups, it was BTS and ‘Black Pink’ that were the most common answers, according to the survey.

    The all-girl Kpop band Black Pink was recently named by Time Magazine as the “Entertainer Of The Year”

    Among the most popular musical groups, it was BTS and ‘Black Pink’ that were the most common answers, according to the survey.

    The all-girl Kpop band Black Pink was recently named by Time Magazine as the “Entertainer Of The Year”

    Among the most popular Korean dramas, the most popular answer was the thriller series ‘Squid Games’ which was about contestants competing in a dangerous game to win a large cash prize.

  • Urwa Hocane speaks out after being labelled as ‘difficult to work with’ by director Nadeem Baig

    Urwa Hocane speaks out after being labelled as ‘difficult to work with’ by director Nadeem Baig

    Nadeem Baig made national headlines when, on talk show ‘The Fourth Umpire’, he was asked which actress was the most difficult to work with on set, and he revealed it was Urwa Hocane.

    Hocane and Baig was worked together in ‘Punjab Nahi Jaungi’ in 2017.

    Now, Hocane has responded in a post on Friday where she addressed the allegation that she was ‘difficult’ by revealing her side of the story:

    “Nadeem bhai and I have only done one project together and had one difference of opinion about the song ‘Lak Hilna’ where we eventually went with his aesthetics, choice of song and dance step as I sensed he was unwilling to hold a discussion probably because as a society we have become so intolerant to difference of opinion, specially when it’s a woman.”

    Hocane revealed that despite being trolled heavily for the past few days since Baig’s comment on the show, she had never thrown him under the bus out of respect for him.

    “Despite being extremely trolled for the song I never threw my director under the bus out of respect for him. I am so hurt with how my personality is being misrepresented publicly merely for holding a healthy discussion on set which I believe is a basis to team work while in all these years it was never pointed out to me in person.”

    You can read her complete statement here:

    Other celebrities had applauded Hocane’s post, including her husband, Farhan Saeed, who had writtten:

    “Tu shaheen hai basera kur paharon ki chatanon par ❤️”

    Nadia Jamil applauded Hocane for her ‘values and authenticity’

    Hocane’s sister, Mawra, also commented that she was proud of the strength and grace her sister had shown