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Author: News Desk

  • Dubai Princess Sheikha Latifa releases video from ‘villa jail’

    Dubai Princess Sheikha Latifa releases video from ‘villa jail’

    The BBC’s investigative news programme Panorama on Tuesday published a video it said was of Sheikha Latifa, one of the ruler of Dubai’s daughters, saying that she was being held against her will in a barricaded villa.

    According to a report of Reuters, Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum drew international attention in 2018 when a human rights group released a video made by her in which she described an attempt to escape Dubai.

    Last March, a London High Court judge said he accepted as proved a series of allegations made by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum’s former wife, Princess Haya, in a legal battle, including that the sheikh ordered the abduction of Latifa. The sheikh’s lawyers rejected the allegations.

    “I am a hostage and this villa has been converted into a jail,” Latifa, 35, said in the video published by the BBC as part of a Panorama programme airing on Tuesday.

    “All the windows are barred shut, I can’t open any window.” She said she was making the video in the bathroom of the villa, the only room she could lock herself into.

    Reuters could not independently verify when or where the video was recorded.The Free Latifa campaign, which has lobbied for her release, said it had managed to smuggle a phone to Latifa.

    David Haigh, one of the campaign’s co-founders and her lawyer, called for Latifa’s immediate release and an end to “a horrendous period of parental and human rights abuse that has significantly damaged the reputation of the UAE.”

    The Dubai government’s media office referred questions about the video to Sheikh Mohammed’s law firm, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    David Pannick, a lawyer in London representing Sheikh Mohammed in the legal battle with Princess Haya, said: “As one of the lawyers in current legal proceedings, I cannot comment.”

    Appearing alert and speaking calmly, Latifa said in the video that there were police officers stationed outside and inside the villa. “I just want to be free,” she added.

    In December 2018, the UAE foreign ministry said Latifa was at home and living with her family, after rights groups called on authorities in the Gulf Arab state to disclose her whereabouts and condition.

    Later, BBC News shared a detailed report on the matter, check out the video below:

  • Boy from Thar sets world record for fastest Periodic Table arrangement

    Boy from Thar sets world record for fastest Periodic Table arrangement

    A Pakistani boy has set the world record for arranging the fastest periodic table. The existing record was two minutes and 42 seconds while the youngster from Thar arranged the table in one minute and 58 seconds.

    The school student, namely Rohan Khatwani, set the record at the Islamabad Science Festival. The event was arranged at the Pakistan National Council of Arts on February 13.

    In an official tweet, the government also congratulated Khatwani, saying that he had made the nation proud by setting the new world record.

    According to the details of the event, around 80 schools participated in the festival and displayed their projects.

    A range of innovative ideas, including walk-in sanitising stations, precautions against coronavirus, and myth-busting related to COVID-19 remedies, were also featured.

  • Nawaz signed NRO to go to London, claims ex-minister

    Nawaz signed NRO to go to London, claims ex-minister

    The establishment allowed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to go to London for medical treatment as a part of an NRO [National Reconciliation Ordinance] deal struck between the two parties, claimed Ijazul Haq, former minister and son of military dictator Gen Ziaul Haq.

    In an interview with Samaa, the ex-minister claimed the change in platelets count was an NRO deal. “Certainly, there was establishment involved,” Haq claimed.

    Haq claimed that he knew the “platelets and blood report of Sharif was changed to facilitate his escape from Pakistan”.

    “I know that the platelet or blood report was something else and the report on paper was something else,” he said. Haq said the information is “authentic” and he has “proof” to substantiate his claim, reported Samaa.

    It may be noted that the former premier was rushed to hospital from jail after a drastic decrease in his platelets. Subsequently, he was allowed to go abroad for treatment in Nov 2019 after submitting an assurance in the court.

    Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is in London for more than one year due to medical reasons and his passport is also expired.

    The government has refused to renew his passport, saying it could issue an emergency travel document on his request for returning back to the country.

    However, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has tried all means to bring Nawaz back but without any success. PM Imran had announced that he would go to the UK himself to bring Nawaz back.

    His statement was followed by Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed saying that only Allah can bring Nawaz Sharif back. But eventually, the government decided that it won’t renew the passport of the ex-PM in an attempt to force his hand.

  • PML-N Senator Mushahidullah passes away at 68

    PML-N Senator Mushahidullah passes away at 68

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Senator Mushahidullah Khan, 68, passed away in Islamabad in the wee hours of Thursday.

    The PML-N senator was not well for quite some time; however, the cause of his death was not immediately clear. Senator Mushahidullah’s funeral prayers will be held after Zuhr in Islamabad’s Sector H-11 on Thursday, according to his family.

    The death of the senator was shared by PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz in a tweet. She prayed tribute to the senator’s services, calling him the “loyal and exceptional companion” of former premier Nawaz Sharif.

    “I am shattered to hear the sad news. Will never be able to forget his fatherly affection and love. Huge, huge loss,” she said.

    As per a report in Dawn, Mushahidullah had remained a trusted comrade of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif ever since the latter was forced into exile after the military coup in 1999. First appointed party information secretary and later made a senator in 2009, he also served as the party spokesperson for many years.

    The PML-N leader was also awarded a ticket to contest the upcoming Senate elections on a general seat.

    The senior PML-N leader also was the chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Aviation and a member of the Council of Chairpersons and various others standing committees. He was also part of the parliamentary committees on Appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and Members of the Election Commission of Pakistan, Kashmir, and National Security.

  • South Africa’s Faf du Plessis announces retirement from Test cricket

    South Africa’s Faf du Plessis announces retirement from Test cricket

    South Africa batsman Faf du Plessis on Wednesday announced that he is retiring from Test cricket. 

    The former South Africa captain wrote in a post on Instagram, where he also shared a statement on his decision. “My heart is clear and the time is right to walk into a new chapter.”

    With two T20 World Cups in the next two years, Du Plessis said he is shifting his focus to the shortest format of the game. “It has been an honour to play for my country in all the formats of the game, but the time has come for me to retire from Test cricket,” he wrote.

    “The next two years are ICC T20 World Cup years. Because of this, my focus is shifting to this format and I want to play as much of it as possible around the world so that I can be the best player I can possibly be.”

    He represented South Africa in 69 Tests and scored 4,163 runs at an average of 40.02. He scored 10 centuries and registered his highest score of 199 in 2020. He had a memorable Test debut against Australia in Adelaide in 2012, when he scored 78 in the first inning and followed it up with a maiden Test century in the second.

    His final Test came in Rawalpindi against Pakistan earlier this month.

    The International Cricket Council (ICC) also thanked the veteran cricketer on Twitter for “the memories”.

    Meanwhile, The Pakistan Super League (PSL) announced the replacement picks for the teams that will lose some players due to international commitments.

    The teams made replacement picks for the players who have either become fully or partially unavailable due to international cricket commitments. Du Plessis, who was earlier part of the Peshawar Zalmi in PSL 2020 play-offs, returns to the league as a partial replacement player in the Quetta Gladiators outfit in place of the West Indian Chris Gayle.

  • British-Pakistani-American Designer Tan France collaborates with shoe brand ‘Atoms’

    British-Pakistani-American fashion designer Tan France has collaborated with shoe brand Atoms to launch their signature collection, “Atoms x Tan France”.

    The story of the couple behind the brand, went viral few weeks ago after it was shared by Humans of New York. The couple hails from Okara.

    Sidra and Waqas started Atoms armed with ambition, curiosity, and a passion for making shoes. Despite coming from a modest, traditionally conservative upbringing, that drive took them from Okara, Pakistan, to Lahore, and then to Silicon Valley in the United States, and now in Brooklyn, New York where Atoms is currently based.

    As per details shared on the official website of the shoe brand, Atoms has joined forces with fashion designer and Queer Eye style expert Tan France for their latest limited-edition sneaker. “The collaboration is inspired by two of Tan’s favorite things — white sneakers and stripes.”

    “I am thrilled to introduce my very own Atoms — they fuse together stripes and white sneakers, two of my favorite things,” stated Tan France.

    The collection will be available for pre-order for one week only from February 23 to March 2, 2021 for $129 (21 thousand rupees).

    In a recent interview with a local media publication  Tan opened up about being a queer Pakistani-Muslim and shed light on his love for his home country.

    Talking about taking the burden of representation, Tan said, “I think the pressure on me is a little different – I am the only member of the LGBTQ community, who is also South Asian and very open about the fact that I am Muslim also. And so, I’m a few things in America – I’m an immigrant, I’m Muslim, I’m South Asian and I’m gay – and there hasn’t been anybody like that on TV in the US before, or entertainment in general, so the pressure is really, really great. It’s the hardest part of this job without a doubt.”

  • Senate polls cannot remain ‘secret forever’, says SC judge

    Senate polls cannot remain ‘secret forever’, says SC judge

    Supreme Court judge Ijazul Ahsan, while hearing presidential reference pertaining to the secret ballot in the Senate elections, said that the votes cast in the election cannot remain “secret forever”.

    A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed urged Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja to consider recommendations presented by Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan and submit a response to the top court. Raza Rabbani, who is representing the opposition in the case, opposed this, saying the attorney general would share the government’s point of view on the issue.

    The SC had grilled the Election Commission of Pakistan over its response on the secret ballot on Tuesday. Today, the ECP in its reply maintained that the Senate elections can only be held through secret voting under Article 226 until an amendment is made.

    As per the article, the voting in the election would “always remain secret”, the ECP informed the bench. Justice Ahsan remarked that the “secrecy of the vote till the Day of Judgement is neither in the law nor in court judgements”.

    The judge further said if any party got less number of seats in the Senate as compared to its seats in the provincial assemblies then the ECP will be responsible. “If [any party] does not get [the number of seats] in relation to its seats in the provincial assemblies, it will be the ECP’s defeat.”

    At this, the election commission tried to assuage the court’s concerns, saying the ECP has set up a vigilance committee and an online complaints centre. All election candidates will be required to take an oath that they would not buy or sell votes, the ECP representative added.

    He informed the court that more than 1,100 complaints had been received since September. “Whatever complaints the ECP receives regarding elections, action is taken on them immediately.”

    Justice Mushir Alam observed that the matter of secrecy was part of the Elections Act 2017 but the question was to what extent would secrecy be applicable.

    During the hearing, the attorney general said ECP needs to wake up from its slumber and formulate a mechanism to stop horse-trading. AGP Khan said the ECP should ask the heads of political parties whether any seat adjustment was done. Barcodes or serial numbers could be printed on ballot papers, he suggested.

    Meanwhile, the chief justice refused to entertain the Pakistan Bar Council’s plea, saying the PBC won’t be heard on political matters.

  • Cow barges into hospital, attacks visitors

    Cow barges into hospital, attacks visitors

    An escaped cow attacked people in a hospital’s waiting room in Colombia resulting in a panic.

    The incident took place at the Hospital, San Rafael, in the northwestern Colombian department of Antioquia on Saturday.

    CCTV footage shows visitors running to a corner for safety after being attacked by the cow.

    A woman got hurt after being pinned to the wall by the cow.

    Two men came in and pulled the animal towards the exit but could not get it out of the hospital. The cow again attacked the woman in the corner. 

    One of the men ran in and distracted the cow and the animal finally left the hospital.

    Local newspaper Vanguardia wrote nobody was seriously injured in the incident. The wounded woman was treated for minor injuries and pain while the rest of the patients did not need any treatment.

    The cow also damaged two motorcycles at the hospital’s entrance and some chairs in the waiting room.

    Later, the cow’s owner went to the hospital to apologize for the damage and asked about the woman’s health. There have been no reports on the police initiating an investigation.

  • Actor Randeep Hooda joins in on Pawri Ho Rai Hai, goes viral

    Actor Randeep Hooda joins in on Pawri Ho Rai Hai, goes viral

    Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda has joined the #PawriHoRaiHai bandwagon by sharing a video from the sets of his upcoming debut web series, Inspector Avinash.

    Sharing a version of the now popular social media trend on his Instagram account, the actor wrote, “Shoot par Bacha Pawri Ho Rai Hai.

    In the now-viral video, Hooda says, “Ye hum hain” (This is me) and then pans his camera to show the staff on the set and says, “Ye humare log hain” (These are my people). He once again pans his camera to reveal a group of children, cheering and says “Shoot par ye pawri ho rahi hai” (Party is going on during the shoot).

    The maker of this video, an Instagram influencer, Dananeer Mobeen also commented under his post, saying: “Dream come true.”

    The trend began after Mobeen’s video of having fun with her friends went viral. In the video, she was heard saying: “Yeh humari car hai, Yeh hum hain, aur yeh humari pawri ho rai hai” (This is our car, this is us, and this is our pawri going on).

    As ‘Pawri Ho Rai Hai’ became a major memes trend in Pakistan, the fever caught on in India after Yashraj Mukhate of Rasode Me Kaun Tha-fame dropped a funky mash-up of the viral video.

    With many celebrities and even Hassan Ali with the Pakistan Cricket team joining in on the trend, making the most out of it, Mobeen took the trend a notch higher after releasing a video of herself, grooving on Mukhate’s version of her clip.

  • 2018 vs 2020: Is Karachi done with Imran’s PTI?

    After a rather troubled polling day, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has managed to secure a comfortable win in Karachi’s PS-88 Malir by-election for a seat in the Sindh Assembly, unofficial results issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) have revealed.

    But does that mean that the people of Karachi are done with Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) amid economic among other challenges faced by the country?

    According to journalist Ajmal Jami, that might be the case, at least in Malir, and here’s why…

    The PPP was the only party that not only retained the number of votes received in the 2018 general election, but went on to secure even more.

    The PPP secured 24,251 votes in the 2021 by-election as compared to 22,561 in 2018, whereas the PTI and its allied Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) received merely 4,870 votes against 2018’s 16,386 and 2,635 votes against 5,207, respectively.

    Hardliner Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), which had received 7,694 votes in 2018, bagged only 6,090 this year.

    Earlier, polling for the PS-88 by-election — that was slated to be a hot contest between the PPP and PTI — was marred by allegations of vote rigging, violence and intimidation as all contesting parties traded charges against each other.

    The winning candidate, PPP’s Yousuf Murtaza Baloch, is the son of Murtaza Baloch, the former minister for human settlement.

    The seat fell vacant after Murtaza died of COVID-19 in June last year.