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Author: News Desk

  • ‘Disgusted, outraged’: Kim Kardashian condemns Balenciaga’s controversial campaign with children

    ‘Disgusted, outraged’: Kim Kardashian condemns Balenciaga’s controversial campaign with children

    American reality television star Kim Kardashian is “re-evaluating” her relationship with Balenciaga after the luxury fashion brand was widely criticized for a campaign featuring children posing with teddy bears in what appeared to be bondage gear.

    “As a mother of four, I have been shaken by the disturbing images,” she said on Twitter. “The safety of children must be held with the highest regard and any attempts to normalize child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society — period.”

    Last week, photos surfaced of a Balenciaga campaign that showed children holding teddy bears in leather gear resembling that used in BDSM, an abbreviation for bondage, discipline, dominance, submission, and sadomasochism. One photo showed a child holding a bear that was dressed in wrist and ankle restraints with a lock and chain around its neck.

    Fashion house Balenciaga has been heavily criticised over a photoshoot showing child models posing with fetish-themed teddy bears. The shoot went viral, especially in the US among users who object to what they see as “over-sexualising” young children.

    As criticism built, a sarcastic tweet from YouTuber June Nicole Lapine gained a lot of traction and Balenciaga deleted all the images a short time later.

    After this, some right-wing US media channels ran with the story, and accused the fashion house of “endorsing child pornography”. The accusation was fuelled by the campaign for its Adidas collaboration featuring the case notes referring to “virtual child porn”.

    Balenciaga posted an apology to its 14 million Instagram followers and said its plush bear bags “should not have been featured with children”.

    It said it had removed the items from sale and deleted the images from all web platforms.

  • IMF asks Pakistan to reduce expenses before loan talks

    IMF asks Pakistan to reduce expenses before loan talks

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked Pakistan to reduce expenses before talks on the ninth review of a $7 billion loan programme.

    Discussions between Pakistan and the IMF are still underway, but no party has reached a broad agreement on a revised macroeconomic framework for the current fiscal year.

    According to The News, the ninth review’s conclusion and the distribution of the $1 billion tranche might not happen until the following calendar year 2023 as a result of the ongoing negotiations.

    The discussions went on for weeks, but the two parties were unable to agree to begin policy-level discussions to wrap up the approaching ninth review by the end of November.

    Although both Pakistan and the international lender are keeping quiet and refusing to make any public statements, rumours in the background indicate that the talks broke down due to disagreements over the revised macroeconomic and fiscal framework that Islamabad had prepared and shared with the IMF.

    Pakistan must now put in a lot of effort to finish the review by the first week of December 2022. If the negotiations are successful next month, the IMF will ultimately release the next tranche in January 2023 because the Christmas and New Year holidays start after that date. The Executive Board of the multilateral lender will meet the following year to approve Pakistan’s next tranche.

    The News had approached both IMF and Finance Ministry officials to inquire about the exact schedule for the conclusion of the pending review. One close aide of Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar stated that “discussions were going on Zoom. Insha Allah soon (the review will be concluded).”

    The new macroeconomic and fiscal framework for 2022–23 is being contested by the IMF because it thinks the goals are unattainable and at odds with actual conditions.

    The government anticipated nominal growth in the range of 25 per cent, with real GDP growth of 2 per cent and an average inflation rate of 23 per cent, however, the other numbers did not line up with the revised nominal growth estimates.

    The government has not revised the $7.47 trillion yearly objective set by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). The IMF, however, thinks that the reduction of imports may result in a shortfall for the tax collector. Second, assuming FBR met its goal, the tax-to-GDP ratio would decline even lower because it did not equal the nominal growth statistics of 25 per cent. Third, the aim of Rs2 trillion in non-tax revenue also might not be met.

    The government had set a target of Rs855 billion before the next budget, therefore the IMF highlighted that the petroleum development levy may not completely materialise. Because the government was unable to impose a fee of Rs50 per litre on diesel and because the consumption of petroleum products fell by 21 per cent, the levy target may now be reduced downward to Rs500 billion.

    Another obstacle to reaching agreement was the government’s failure to pass legislation and reforms to the energy industry.

    Given that the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) reserves currently stand at $7.8 billion, the delay in finalising the IMF agreement could exacerbate the economic problems already plaguing the nation.

  • Pakistan’s new COAS: Gen Bajwa hands over command to Gen Munir

    Pakistan’s new COAS: Gen Bajwa hands over command to Gen Munir

    Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa handed over the military’s command to General Asim Munir today at a General Headquarters (GHQ) ceremony in Rawalpindi, marking the end of his six-year extended tenure.

    The change of command ceremony marks the time-honoured tradition that symbolises the seamless transition of military leadership. As the ceremony began with a GHQ military band performing national songs and a medley of folk tunes, former heads of the military could also be spotted among the guests.

    Senior serving and retired officers, diplomats as well as government functionaries were in attendance.

    Prior to the ceremony, both Gen Bajwa and Gen Munir laid a wreath at the Yadgar-i-Shuhada (Monument to Martyrs) in GHQ and offered fateha.

    ‘Mein gumnaami mein chala jaon gaa, lekin fauj kay saath rohaani raabta hamesha kayam rahay ga’: Gen Bajwa

    Gen Bajwa congratulated Gen Munir on being appointed his successor and hoped his promotion would help the country and the army progress. He went on to say that his association with Gen Munir goes back 24 years.

    “In addition to being a Hafiz-i-Quran, he is a professional, capable and principled officer. I am certain that under his leadership the army will reach new heights of success,” the outgoing Chief said while paying tribute to his successor.

    Gen Bajwa hoped the appointment of Gen Munir as the military chief would prove to be positive for both the country and the army. He said he was handing over the army to an “expert and capable son”.

    Reflecting on his military journey, Gen Bajwa said the journey which began several decades ago was now coming to an end.

    “I am thankful to God that he gave me the opportunity to work for this great army and gave me the opportunity to lead it,” he said, reiterating that it was a “great honour” for him.

    “Soon, I will walk into obscurity, but my spiritual relationship with the army will be forever,” he said in a rare moment of poignancy, ending his speech with prayers for the success of the new army chief and the Pakistan army.

    The ceremony was also attended by Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu.

    Gen Munir was chosen to lead the country’s army by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on November 24. The summary of his appointment was ratified by President Arif Alvi the same day.

  • Hina Rabbani meets Deputy PM of Interim Afghan Govt

    Hina Rabbani meets Deputy PM of Interim Afghan Govt

    Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hina Rabbani Khar, held a meeting with Deputy PM of Interim Afghan Govt. Abdul Salam Hanafi. Bilateral trade, connectivity & people-to-people contacts were discussed during the meeting.


    In the meeting matters of bilateral importance focused on political consultations between the two governments.

    She also held a meeting with Women Chamber of Commerce. During the meeting Pakistan expressed a keen interest in strengthening linkages between women entrepreneurs of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

    This visit is being perceived as important because it is led by a female minister and that this is a top Pakistani official’s first visit since the April government transition.

  • ‘Was uncomfortable with him even in KAM3’: Iqra Aziz speaks her heart out against Feroze Khan

    ‘Was uncomfortable with him even in KAM3’: Iqra Aziz speaks her heart out against Feroze Khan

    Actor Iqra Aziz in an Instagram post announced last month that she is retracting from a project with Feroze Khan after he was accused of domestic violence.

    “To stay silent in the face of injustice is to side with the oppressor.’ In lieu of the situation regarding domestic violence, I have made the difficult but necessary decision to retract my project with Feroze Khan as a sign of support for victims of domestic abuse. I support Aliza Sultan for seeking justice, more strength and power to you,” she wrote in an Instagram post.

    After Iqra’s announcement, her sister Sidra took to her social media handle to share details of Iqra’s decision-making process while opting out of the project.

    Feroze Khan
    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is gtgfyhtujy-1.jpg

    Now Iqra has opened up on her decision in a chat show, the Ranjha Ranjha Kardi diva said she simply was not comfortable working with him after he was accused of domestic violence by his wife Aliza Sultan. She said everyone has the right to choose how they want to work and who they want to work with.

    Aziz appeared on The Talk Talk Show and talked about her retraction. “For me, it was a very personal decision. I did what I thought was right for me and [it was] what I wanted to do, what according to me was the right choice. I took a decision — I wasn’t comfortable working with him, so I said no. I wasn’t waiting for anything to be proved to take action because, before that, there was a time in which we worked together (Khuda Aur Mohabbat 3) and I wasn’t comfortable with him during that so I said no this time.” she said.

    The host summarised her point saying that the bottom line is it’s okay for an actor to have the liberty to say no if they’re uncomfortable working with someone. “Of course!” Aziz responded. “I think that we live in an era where, whether it’s a woman or a man, working in this industry or anywhere, other than the choice of career, they have the right to say yes or no to however they want to work according to their comfort level and to who they’re comfortable working with.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=votNCjjDXxI&t=1s

    The interviewer then asked her if her take would be any different if in the future the allegations proved to be false in court. “I think we have to wait for that time then. We can only decide that then, we can’t decide before time thinking what if this happens, just based on assumptions,” replied the Suno Chanda actor.

    When the host tried to dig into the matter some more, Aziz put a stop to it with an uncomfortable chuckle and asked him to leave it at that instead of delving deep into it.

  • Osman Khalid Butt hits out at trolls for calling him ‘bika hua’, slams Feroze Khan amidst controversy

    Osman Khalid Butt hits out at trolls for calling him ‘bika hua’, slams Feroze Khan amidst controversy

    Actor Osman Khalid Butt is always advocating for relevant topics, especially women rights and misogyny. The Baaji star came under scrutiny post his performance at LSA’22, where alleged domestic abuser Feroze Khan was awarded in the Best Actor category.

    I could not attend LSA If Feroze was there' says Osman Khalid Butt

    After his performance, he received a hefty amount of criticism for ‘siding with abusers’ about which, he has released a statement today that clears the air about his stance. He stated that he was contacted more than a week before the ceremony to perform and co-host a segment. At that time, nominations weren’t announced.

    ‘My only reservation, which I made clear before agreeing was that I could not attend, let alone perform at the ceremony if Feroze was present there (which has nothing to do with his acting prowess, and everything to do with the very serious allegations levied by his ex-wife), and I was assured that he would not. That commitment was honored.” He wrote.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=votNCjjDXxI&t=3s

    He further elaborated that he got his hosting segment freed of ‘controversial nominations’.

    ‘I will continue to raise my voice: feminism is not a brand I wear, it is ingrained in my very being.’ He concluded.

    Earlier this year Osman clapped back to an age-shaming troll on his Instagram handle. The netizen took a dig at the Chupke Chupke star by stating that he has started to look like an “uncle.”

    The Diyar-e-Dil hero replied by saying, “Catching up to you, aren’t I?”.

    Last year, Butt shared a comment by Zahid Ahmed in which the latter said that Pakistani television is okay with showing violence but not intimacy, Butt received a message from a social media user who alleged that the actors use this as a “pathetic excuse to get physical with female actors”.

    “We can slap women on TV but can’t show intimacy,” Zahid had said in a recent interview. Osman shared his colleague’s statement with the caption: “Strange indeed.”

    Replying to Butt’s story, an Instagram user messaged: “Just a pathetic excuse to get physical with female actors. Not to mention the influence it has on society and especially on young children and teens.”

    Instead of ignoring the comment, Osman decided to school the troll explaining that “intimacy is just not sex”.

    “Yeah so reactions like this are wholly predictable,” said Butt.

    Elaborating further, the actor said: “First off: intimacy is not just sex. Secondly, I’d rather my child see a healthy intimate relationship between fictional spouses than, you know, physical abuse being normalized.”

    “The nerve to talk about ‘influence’,” he concluded.

    In a separate interview, while sharing where the desire to speak about women-related issues comes from Butt said: “Artists have a responsibility [to speak out] because art is very socially relevant, and I think good art creates empathy and empathy is required to bring [social] change.”

  • Pakistani delegation leaves for Russia to hold discussions on cheaper oil

    Pakistani delegation leaves for Russia to hold discussions on cheaper oil

    Minister of State for Petroleum Dr Musadik Malik and the petroleum secretary have flown to Russia to hold talks over oil and gas, a source with knowledge of the situation said on Monday on the condition of anonymity.

    The trip comes as the country struggles to meet domestic gas supply demands as winter approaches while battling to contain a current account deficit swelled by energy payments, mostly for oil.

    Ishaq Dar, the federal minister of finance, had already stated that the delegation will discuss an oil contract with Moscow.

    “We should pray the visit is successful and the government manages to secure a deal on favourable terms and conditions,” Dar said during an interview.

    Given the sharp rise in the cost of energy commodities in recent months, buying Russian oil at lower prices has gained popularity. This has been difficult, especially for emerging economies like Pakistan, whose energy requirements are mostly met by imports of petroleum.

    The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said that during the first four months of the current fiscal year, Pakistan imported petroleum products worth $7.547 billion.

    Dar had earlier stated, speaking to a crowd in Dubai on November 13, that Islamabad hoped to clinch an import pact with Moscow on conditions comparable to those of New Delhi. He said that Pakistan could purchase oil from Russia since India was doing the same, and the US had been informed of this.

  • Farwell visits: General Bajwa meets PM, President one day before retirement

    Farwell visits: General Bajwa meets PM, President one day before retirement

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif met the outgoing Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa in Islamabad on Monday as a part of the army chief’s farewell visits.

    During the meeting between the two, the Premier commended General Bajwa’s services and said that he played an exemplary role in bringing Pakistan out of the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list as well as during the COVID-19 pandemic and floods, reports Radio Pakistan.

    He said the Pakistan Army under the leadership of General Qamar Javed Bajwa played a valiant role in crushing terrorism in the country.

    “You got the honour of leading the world’s best army,” the prime minister told COAS Bajwa.

    In response, General Bajwa thanked PM Shehbaz for his support in handling matters of national importance.

    Before meeting the Premier, the army chief paid a farewell visit to President Dr Arif Alvi at the Aiwan-e-Sadar where the president also commended Gen Bajwa’s services in the field of defence and also appreciated his services to the country and the Pakistan Army.

    The president also expressed best wishes for Gen Bajwa in his future endeavours.

    Pakistan Army’s change of command ceremony will be held tomorrow (November 29).

    Gen Bajwa will hand over the “baton of command” to General Asim Munir, who was selected to become the new army chief by PM Shehbaz on November 24. General Asim will be the 17th army chief to assume the command of the Pakistan Army.

    General Bajwa is set to retire on November 29 after six years in office. He was appointed in 2016 by then-PM Nawaz Sharif and later granted an additional three-year extension in 2019 by former PM Imran Khan.

  • Sheikh Rasheed ne Rawalpindi ko Los Angeles bana diya

    Sheikh Rasheed ne Rawalpindi ko Los Angeles bana diya

    Former interior minister and Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rasheed on Sunday posted a video of an aerial view of a double-carriage road jammed with cars on both sides.

    Sheikh Rasheed posted the video on his Twitter handle, claiming that it showed traffic gridlocked during Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s power show held in Rawalpindi on November 26. The video clip had a PTI anthem as the background which made it appear as if the clip was an aerial shot of the PTI’s march to Rawalpindi.

    However, the claim is wrong, as the shared visuals are actually of a traffic jam in Los Angeles, California. This clip was first shared back in 2017 as part of live coverage by US broadcaster ABC News.

    Following this blunder, Twitterati not only corrected the senior politician but also relished in the chance to mock him.

    This is not the first time that a fake video/picture of PTI’s rally has been posted.

    Earlier, PTI leader Qasim Suri shared a fake screenshot of CNN, claiming it was covering Imran Khan’s rally in Haripur.

    In April, PTI leader Ali Muhammad Khan also shared fake visuals claiming to show a photo from the United States (US) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), stating that it was from the party’s rally.

    The picture shared by Ali actually shows the lights in the Iberian Peninsula, which falls in-between Spain and Portugal.

  • KP launches AI-based attendance system for schools

    KP launches AI-based attendance system for schools

    Due to an upsurge in complaints about teachers’ absences, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has deployed artificial intelligence (AI)-based video systems in schools to monitor students’ and teachers’ live attendance.

    According to Zarif-ul-Mani, MD of the Elementary Schools Education Foundation (ESEF), the AI-based attendance system in the foundation schools would uphold the standard of instruction and improve student performance.

    He also described how the School Management Information System (SMIS) works to guarantee quality, accountability, and a simple transfer of scholarship cash to partners.

    He also commended the ESEF’s e-governance division for reviving this project, which had been mismanaged in the past.

    Additionally, the project would reduce dropout rates while guaranteeing that professors are present and that classes start on schedule.

    Prior to that, the government of Sindh made the decision to take strong action against teachers who were getting their wages while staying at home and neglecting their jobs.

    The provincial education agency reportedly stopped more than 2,000 “ghost teachers” being paid across the province.

    According to Express Tribune, Akbar Laghari, the education secretary for Sindh, said in a statement on the choice that they have filed a letter to the AG for Sindh asking him to cease paying the wages of 2,019 ghost teachers.

    He added that the department would fire the “ghost teachers” and would do everything it took to ensure that teachers showed up for work.