Current Final

Author: News Desk

  • Boris Johnson warns UK could place France on ‘red list’

    Britain could soon place France on a travel “red list” and tighten border controls due to the risk of a new coronavirus variant, Prime Minister (PM) Boris Johnson said on Wednesday.

    France is expanding lockdown due to the rising number of cases after the third wave hit the country.

    The South African and Brazilian variants of the virus prevalent in France are potentially more transmissible, which has caused particular concern.

    United Kingdom’s (UK) Senior Members of Parliament (MPs) asked why France was not on the British’s travel “red list”, to which Johnson said that it was “something we will have to look” at while warning it “would cause disruption, particularly to cross-Channel trade”.

    Placing the country on a red list means barring travellers from entering the UK unless they are British or Irish nationals or have residence rights.

    Johnson acknowledged that “we have to look at the situation at the Channel”.

    “We can’t rule out tougher measures, and we will put them in if necessary,” he said.

    Many lorry drivers were entering the UK and, when MPs raised their concerns, Johnson said that the government has to mitigate the balance of risks. It will cause “serious disruption” to the flow of goods such as food and medicine.

    England’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Chris Whitty and his deputy Jonathan Van-Tam have also reportedly put pressure on Johnson to bring in stricter border controls.

    France is expanding its lockdown due to the rising number of cases after the third wave hit the country.

    When senior members of the Parliament (MPs) asked why France was not on the UK travel “red list”, Johson said that this is “something we will have to look at” while warning it “would cause disruption, particularly to cross-Channel trade.”

    Placing the country on a red list means barring travellers from entering the United Kingdom (UK) unless they are British or Irish nationals or have residence rights.

    Johnson acknowledged that “we have to look at the situation at the Channel. We can’t rule out tougher measures, and we will put them in if necessary,” he said.

    Many lorry drivers were entering the UK and when the MPs raised their concerns, Johson said that the government have to mitigate the balance of risks. It will cause “serious disruption” to the flow of goods such as food and medicine.

    England’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Chris Whitty and his deputy Jonathan Van-Tam have reportedly put pressure on Johnson to bring in stricter border controls.

  • Pakistani who attacked French magazine’s office says PM Imran, Khadim Rizvi influenced him

    The Pakistani man who attacked the former offices of French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, last September was radicalised by videos of preachers in his home country and anti-France demonstrations at the time, AFP reported, citing a local newspaper.

    According to Le Parisien, police investigation has revealed the 26-year-old had spent the days leading up to his knife attack watching extremist preachers on YouTube and TikTok denouncing France and Charlie Hebdo.

    “I couldn’t eat. I was crying watching the videos,” Zaheer Hassan Mahmood told investigators.

    Weeks before, the magazine had republished sketches of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), which were considered blasphemous by Muslims, to mark the start of a trial of men linked to a 2015 attack on its offices.

    Mahmood said he did not realise the magazine had moved offices after the 2015 attack and presumed the two people he slashed with a meat cleaver were employees of the publication, the report said.

    Both victims, who worked for a TV production company with no links to Charlie Hebdo, sustained serious injuries.

    Mahmood, from the village of Kothli Qazi in Punjab province, had entered France with false papers showing him as an unaccompanied minor, enabling him to claim asylum.

    Islamist groups organised demonstrations in Pakistan in September against Charlie Hebdo and French President Emmanuel Macron, who defended freedom of expression and blasphemy, which is legal in France.

    Mahmood watched videos by Khadim Hussain Rizvi, the late founder of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party, and other radical preachers.

    He was also influenced by Prime Minister Imran Khan, who accused Macron of “attacking Islam”, the newspaper said.

    Blasphemy is a criminal act in Pakistan, where laws allow death penalty for anyone deemed to have insulted Islam or Islamic personalities.

    Mahmood said he initially intended to damage the office building, rather than attack people, and has offered to apologise to his victims.

    Investigators have found a video he sent to a friend the day before his attack which called for the decapitation of blasphemers, and he received a call from Greece the same day which appeared to refer to a pre-meditated assault.

    He has been charged with “attempted murder with relation to a terrorist enterprise”.

  • Police file case against four-month-old boy

    Police file case against four-month-old boy

    Police in Chiniot have registered a case against a four-month-old boy for violating the sound system act.

    According to reports, a few religious scholars had delivered their speeches at an event in Chiniot on loudspeakers.

    After the event, the police had registered a case against dozens of people, including a four-month-old boy named Hasnain Shehzada, under Section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

    The police refused to remove the child’s name from the FIR when they were told about the child’s age.

    On Wednesday, his father submitted the papers in the court for interim bail.

  • Harry gets another job as ‘disinformation’ officer

    Harry gets another job as ‘disinformation’ officer

    Britain’s Prince Harry — who is often at war with the British press — was on Wednesday announced as a commissioner for a US study into misinformation online.

    The non-profit Aspen Institute said it was “honoured” to have the Duke of Sussex as one of the 18 members of its “Commission on Information Disorder.”

    The announcement came a day after Harry became Chief Impact Officer at San Francisco life-coaching startup BetterUp as he adds to his growing portfolio of jobs since stepping away from royal duties last year.

    As part of the Aspen study, Harry will help conduct a six-month investigation into misinformation and disinformation in the American digital world that will start in April. The commission aims to identify the biggest causes of the sharing and spreading of false information and find solutions to help the government, private sector and civil society respond.

    “The experience of today’s digital world has us inundated with an avalanche of misinformation, affecting our ability as individuals as well as societies to think clearly and truly understand the world we live in,” Harry said in a statement.

    “It’s my belief that this is a humanitarian issue — and as such, it demands a multi-stakeholder response from advocacy voices, members of the media, academic researchers, and both government and civil society leaders,” he added.

    The prince is likely to bring his own experiences of media coverage of his life to the commission.

    Harry told US talk show host James Corden in February that he left royal life and moved to the United States with Meghan Markle because the British press was “destroying his mental health.”

    The prince has long had a difficult relationship with Britain’s tabloids, blaming press intrusion for contributing to his mother Princess Diana’s death in a car crash in 1997.

    Harry and Meghan have filed several lawsuits against newspapers and last April told Britain’s tabloids that they were ending all cooperation with them due to “distorted, false or invasive” stories.

    An explosive interview they gave to Oprah Winfrey this month — in which they claimed an unnamed royal had asked how dark their baby’s skin would be — plunged the monarchy into its biggest crisis since the death of Diana.

    Meanwhile, Harry’s new boss at BetterUp has said that the British royal likes to be called Harry in the workplace.

    “He’s a colleague, he’s a partner, and so we address him as Harry,” said Chief Executive Alexi Robichaux.

    Robichaux said he met Queen Elizabeth’s grandson, through a mutual friend in late 2020, and talked about how to encourage mental wellbeing.

    “Through a series of conversations over months, (we) really had a lot of shared energy and enthusiasm for how it could be really awesome to find a way to work together and advance the shared mission,” he said.

    As well as being an executive, Prince Harry said in a blog post that he was also a user of the service. Robichaux said he and the coach he was paired with are still working together.

    As for how much Prince Harry is being paid in his new position, Robichaux declined to say.

    “As a private company, you can imagine we don’t disclose compensation information of any of our folks. But I think it’s fair to say he’s deeply invested in the success of BetterUp,” he said.

  • Mahira Khan’s next film to be a biopic

    Mahira Khan’s next film to be a biopic

    Mahira Khan has revealed that her next production after Baarwan Khiladi will be a biopic and that she will be acting in it herself. Mahira recently set up her production company Soulfry Films with close friend and producer Nina Kashif.

    In an interview with a local media outlet, Kashif revealed that Mahira is “acting in our next production”.

    To this, Mahira added: “It’s a biopic but that’s all we can tell you right now!” Further details about this upcoming project are not yet known, though The Current reached out to Mahira for more on the project.

    Meanwhile, Mahira also revealed that her upcoming production venture Baarwan Khiladi will also feature cameos by Fawad Khan and Shoaib Malik.

    “I’m so grateful to the two of them for doing this for us,” said the actor-turned-producer.

    Baarwan Khiladi, which features young and upcoming actors including Danyal Zafar, Shahveer Jafry, Kinza Hashmi and Khaqan Shahnawaz, has a cricket-themed story. According to Mahira, the web series is “a coming of age story about friendships, relationships, unity, failure, success, love and courage.” It has been written by Shahid Dogar and directed by Adnan Sarwar, the man behind Motorcycle Girl. Saba Faisal, Mira Sethi and Sarmad Khoosat are also part of the cast.

    Talking about the cast selection, Nina said that they “didn’t want to bank on well-known actors for our cast.”

    “We wanted to select boys of a certain age because the story is about a young cricket team. We also opted for new actors because they are yet to have any characters associated with them from previous projects,” added the producer.

    Much of the series has been shot inside the Walled City of Lahore, though Mahira couldn’t be part of most of the filming because she had tested positive for COVID-19.

    Nina and Mahira were hoping to release the series at the end of the sixth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) but their plans were thwarted when the matches were postponed. They now hope to release it before Eid-ul-Fitr.

    Baarwan Khiladi will stream on Tapmad, a South Asian streaming service.

  • Afridi believes cricket can improve relations between Pakistan and India

    Shahid Afridi believes that cricket can play an important role in normalising the relationship between Pakistan and India.

    According to a report in Cricket Pakistan, the former captain of the Pakistan Cricket Team, while speaking to media said: “Cricket between Pakistan and India is very important. Sports should be kept away from politics. Relations between the two countries can improve because of cricket.”

    Afridi further said: “I have said this before as well, Indian cricketers enjoy coming to Pakistan. You can improve relationships through sports but if you don’t want to improve them then they will remain the same.”

    Afridi enjoys good relations with Indian cricketers and even hosted them at his home when they visited Karachi.

    Read more – Afridi says he has ‘old and strong relations’ with Yuvraj, Harbhajan

    Last year in February, Shoaib Akhtar had also highlighted the importance of bilateral series between India and Pakistan saying: “It is very important for India and Pakistan to play a bilateral series because it generates money, revenue, fan following and inspiration.”

    Meanwhile, it is being reported that two neighbouring countries might soon be engaged in a bilateral series.

    According to a report published in Jang, “India and Pakistan might soon get involved in bilateral cricket series again with a possibility of the six-day window for a three-match T20I series later in the year.”

    The last bilateral series between India and Pakistan was held in 2012-13.

  • Babar Azam grabs second spot in latest ODI batting rankings

    Babar Azam grabs second spot in latest ODI batting rankings

    Pakistan’s all-format captain Babar Azam has dethroned Rohit Sharma to grab the second spot in the latest ICC ODI rankings for batsmen. With 837 rating points, Babar has gone past Rohit’s tally of 836 points after the latter failed to play big innings in the first ODI against England.

    Captain of the Indian cricket team Virat Kohli is still at the top with 868 rating points to his name. England’s opener Jonny Bairstow played an innings of 94 in the 1st ODI to clinch his career-best 7th position in the ODI rankings.

    The English captain Eoin Morgan has moved to 24th place whereas all-rounder Ben Stokes has moved up from 75th to 64th in the ICC ODI rankings for bowlers.

    Stokes also went past his fellow all-rounder Chris Woakes to clinch the third spot in the ODI rankings for all-rounders. After a match-winning knock of 98, India’s opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan has moved two places to 15th and pace bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has gained five places to get into the list of top 20.

    The rankings are updated after taking into account the performances in the 1st England-India ODI and the first two matches of the New Zealand-Bangladesh series.

    On the other hand, Azam is on the same spot of three in T20I rankings with 801 rating points followed by Kohli who moved up one spot with 762 rating points.

    On the contrary, thePakistani skipper is at sixth place in the ICC Test Batting Rankings.

  • Humayun Saeed ‘overwhelmed beyond words’ with Pride of Performance award

    Humayun Saeed ‘overwhelmed beyond words’ with Pride of Performance award

    Humayun Saeed is “overwhelmed beyond words” after receiving the Pride of Performance award from President Dr Arif Alvi for his contribution to the Drama and Film industries of Pakistan.

    Sharing a picture of himself with his medal on Instagram, Saeed said: “Extremely very grateful and humbled by all the messages of love and adulation I have been receiving. Thank you so much my beloved fans, friends and family for your constant support and encouragement.”

    “The Pride of Performance is my most special accolade for it is a recognition by the State,” said Humayun. “I have always firmly believed that being Pakistani is my only true identity and have tried my utmost best to make Pakistan proud.”

    “Any award that Pakistan gives to me thus will always remain closest to my heart,” he added.

    Humayun also promised to work even and do everything in his capacity to “serve our beloved country.”

    “I once again, in all humility, thank each and every one of you for your love. I am overwhelmed beyond words.”

    Many of Humayun’s friends and colleagues including Mahira Khan, Adnan Siddiqui, Ahmed Ali Butt, Sajal Aly, Vasay Chaudhary and Shaan Shahid congratulated the super-hit actor-director-producer for receiving the ‘deserving award.’

    Meanwhile, several other notable Pakistanis were also recognised for their contributions in different fields at the investiture ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

    President Alvi presented various awards to 88 recipients including six Nishan-e-Imtiaz, three Hilal-e-Imtiaz, 24 Sitara-e- Shuja’at, eight Sitara-e-Imtiaz, 14 President’s Award for Pride of Performance, one Sitara-e-Quaid-e-Azam, one Sitara-e-Khidmat, one Tamgha-e-Pakistan, 22 Tamgha-e-Shuja’at and eight Tamgha-e-Imtiaz.

    Prominent personalities who received the Nishan-e-Imtiaz include Sadiqain Naqvi (Art), Abida Parveen (Singing), Ahmad Faraz (Literature) while Bushra Ansari (Art), Syed Farooq Qaiser (Art) and Sultana Siddiqui (Art) received the Sitara-e-Imtiaz. Maulana Tariq Jameel (Religious Scholar), Muhammad Ali Shehki (Singing), Resham (Acting), Humayun Saeed (Acting) and Ali Zafar (Singing) were conferred the President’s Award for Pride of Performance. Meanwhile, Zaiba Shehaz (Acting) and Faisal Edhi (Public Service) were awarded the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz.

  • Nearly 100,000 trees cut down in Multan to pave way for DHA?

    Nearly 100,000 trees cut down in Multan to pave way for DHA?

    Netizens are fuming ever since it was claimed that over 90,000 trees were cut down in the City of Saints to pave way for Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Multan.

    However, it has emerged that the trees were chopped and mango orchards destroyed but not for the military-run locality.

    According to a report by BBC Urdu, the multiple videos doing the rounds on social media were recorded last year when culling actually took place. It was carried out by the City Housing Society near Bosan Road among other locations.

    Another media outlet reported that the Mango Growers Cooperative Society had also then demanded a complete ban on mango orchard cutting as the growers were perturbed by the rapid annexation of thousands of acres of mango plantation in the district.

    But with the videos going viral over the internet with the false claim, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) among others, including activists and senior journalists, has expressed grave concern over reports of denuding of mango orchards and conversion of them into an urban property over the past years by DHA, and sought a transparent inquiry into the matter.

    “Reckless conversion of mango orchards and farmlands into urban property will have a disastrous impact on agriculture, food security and the environment,” said PPP secretary general and former senator Farhatullah Khan Babar in a statement.

    “Food security is far more important than building housing authorities,” Babar said while calling for a transparent inquiry into these reports.

  • AR Rahman turns writer and producer with ’99 songs’

    Allah Rakha Rahman, professionally known as A. R. Rahman, has donned the writer-producer hat with his upcoming film 99 songs.

    According to Sony Music South’s official YouTube channel, the film has been directed by Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy and “marks the debut of Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman as a writer and producer.”

    “The movie follows the journey of a young man named Jay whose life centers around his two great loves: music and his girlfriend Sophie,” adds the description.

    Speaking about 99 Songs, AR Rahman, in a statement said: “As part of my production company, YM Movies, I’m happy to collaborate with Jio Studios in bringing together this experiential movie. 99 Songs is about one man’s struggle against the old and the new world. And the antidote is music.”

    “It’s my pleasure to introduce the film’s director Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy and a talented cast comprising Ehan Bhatt and Edilsy Vargas. It was a great experience working with icons like Manisha Koirala and Lisa Ray, and music legends Ranjit Barot and Rahul Ram,” added Rahman.

    99 songs is expected to release on 16 April in three languages, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu.