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Category: Lifestyle

  • Israeli soldiers turn mosque to ‘cooking place’ in Rafah

    Israeli soldiers turn mosque to ‘cooking place’ in Rafah

    Israeli soldiers have turned a mosque in Rafah in southern Gaza into a cooking place.

    A clip that emerged on social media showed a mosque being used by soldiers to serve meals.

    The video features large tables inside the mosque on which Israeli soldiers had placed various types of food items.

    A sticker affixed to a cardboard food box used by soldiers is also shown, with a production date of May 22, which is likely when the video was shot.

    Israeli military vehicles also appear stationed inside the Rafah border crossing near the mosque.

    Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

    More than 37,200 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 84,900 others injured, according to local health authorities.


    Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid rampant starvation.

  • Indian customer shocked by human finger in ice cream

    Indian customer shocked by human finger in ice cream


    An online ice cream delivery took a macabre turn in India when a doctor received an order with a human finger in the dessert.


    The incident happened in Mumbai when Brandon, a 26-year-old MBBS doctor, ordered a butterscotch ice cream cone from Yumno’s app.


    In a video statement shared by Dr Brandon on Indian media, he says that when he ate half of the ice cream, he felt something hard in his mouth, which he took out instead of swallowing.


    Brandon says that being a doctor, he soon realized that the hard object coming out of the mouth was a severed human finger with visible fingernails rather than a culinary addition to the ice cream.


    The doctor asserted that instead of throwing the ice cream away, he stored it in the freezer to give it to the police as evidence.


    An FIR has been registered against the company, while the 1.5 cm long piece of the finger recovered from the ice cream cone has been sent for forensics.

  • Coke ad faces backlash in Bangladesh as actors forced to apologize

    Coke ad faces backlash in Bangladesh as actors forced to apologize

    A 60-second-long Coke ad faces backlash in Bangladesh has caused a storm of criticism for the brand over its attempt to distance itself from Israel amid the genocide in Gaza.


    A report by Al-Jazeera says that Coca-Cola sales have declined by about 23 per cent in Bangladesh since the genocide in Gaza started.


    Consequently, the beverage brand’s advertising campaign in the country has moved from full-page newspaper advertisements to prominent placements on news websites in order to convince people otherwise.


    On Sunday, the company released an advertisement on television and social media to dispel the “misinformation” that Coca-Cola is an Israeli product.

    The advertisement argued that the beverage “has been enjoyed for 138 years by people in 190 countries.


    The advertisement opens on a hot day in a market, with a young man approaching a middle-aged shopkeeper as the latter is watching a song from Coke Studio.


    “How are you, Sohail? Should I give you a [bottle of] Coke?” asks the shopkeeper, turning a table fan towards his sweaty customer.
    The man replies: “No, Bablu bhai [brother], I am not drinking this stuff anymore.”


    When the shopkeeper asks about the reason, the young man says: “This stuff is from ‘that place’.” He does not name the “place” — but it soon becomes clear that he is referring to Israel.


    Through a conversation with the man and his friends, the shopkeeper explains that Coca-Cola is not from “that place” and that claims linking it to “that place” are misinformation.


    The shopkeeper tells them: “Listen, guys, Coke is not at all from ‘that place.’ For the past 138 years, people in 190 countries have been drinking Coke.
    They drink it in Turkey, Spain, and Dubai. Even Palestine has a Coke factory.”


    In the end, relieved Sohail asks for a bottle of Coke.


    The ad, which featured famous Bengali actors Saraf Ahmed Zibon and Shimul Sharma, drew intense criticism and threats of boycott, forcing the two of them to issue apologies.

    In an opinion piece for The Daily Star, authors Nahalay Nafisa Khan and Azmim Azran called it the “power of boycott.”

  • Tax dou, phir baahir jao: no vacation abroad if you don’t pay your taxes

    Tax dou, phir baahir jao: no vacation abroad if you don’t pay your taxes

    Pakistan’s budget for 2024-25 was presented on Wednesday by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb.

    With a heavy bailout IMF bailout package weighing on the government, increased taxes have been imposed.

    The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has asserted strict actions against non-filers including disallowing foreign travel, No vacation abroad if you don’t pay your taxes.

    While these people are barred from travelling as per the proposal in the Finance Bill 2024-25, Haj and Umrah travellers, minors, students, overseas Pakistanis and such other classes of persons categorised as non-filers are exempted.

    The implementing agencies can face a penalty of Rs 100 million if they fail to block SIMs, utility connections or bar foreign travel of non-filers for first default and Rs200 million for each following default.

    These impositions are put forward for people failing to show necessary evidence or submitting incomplete information pertaining to tax returns or not filing returns.

    Traders and shopkeepers who did not register under Tajir Dost Scheme, will also be penalised while failure to register could result in imprisonment for six months or a fine, or both.

  • B Form no longer needed for admission to federal government schools

    B Form no longer needed for admission to federal government schools

    The government has abolished the B-form — or Child Registration Certificate (CRC) — requirement for admission to federal government schools.

    Geo reports that according to Education Secretary Mohiuddin Wani, the B-form has been one of the major reasons for the growing number of out-of-school children, disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations.

    All children residing in Islamabad, regardless of their documentation status, will now be eligible for admission to government schools.

  • Gadhe aur Insaan; Massive surge reported in Pakistani donkey, human population

    Gadhe aur Insaan; Massive surge reported in Pakistani donkey, human population

    Pakistan’s Economic Survey 2023-24 has revealed a shocking rise in the population of both donkeys and humans in the country.

    Pakistan’s donkey population has climbed to 5.9 million, marking a significant increase from the previous financial year’s count of 5.8 million, according to the survey.

    The upward trend in donkey numbers has persisted over the past two years, with an additional 0.2 million donkeys born within this time.


    Meanwhile, Pakistan’s population has increased by 16.3 percent to 241.5 million compared to 2017 (excluding Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan), showing that the country is facing a population explosion.


    According to Economic Survey 2023-24, population growth rate at the national level is 2.55 percent. In contrast, the growth rate in urban areas is 3.65 percent, which is higher than the population growth rate in rural areas—1.90 percent—due to rural-urban migration.


    Population density increased from 260.88 persons per square km in 2017 to 303 in 2023. Additionally, the average household size has decreased from 6.39 in 2017 to 6.30 in 2023.


    Pakistan’s urban population increased from 75.67 million to 93.75 million between 2017 and 2023, making it one of the most urbanised nations in South Asia.

    Almost 39 percent of its population lives in urban areas. Urbanisation impacts a country’s economy and development, leading to changes in various areas such as labour market opportunities, family structures, education, health, environment management, security systems, and governance.


    The literacy rate has gone up in all provinces, with Punjab (increased 66.1 percent to 66.3 percent), Sindh (61.6 percent to 61.8 percent), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (52.4 percent to 55.1 percent), and Balochistan (53.9 percent to 54.5 percent).

  • 14 sets of twins and one set of triplets graduate from same high school

    14 sets of twins and one set of triplets graduate from same high school

    Fourteen sets of twins and one set of triplets graduated from Cooper City High School in Cooper City, Florida, on June 5.


    The group comprised about 6 percent of the 543 graduates.


    The school’s principal took the momentous occasion to state, “It was very special as they would come across the stage; I would shake their hand and give one a diploma, and then the second one would come over to do the same thing.”


    “It kind of just symbolized they’re their own person, but also, they have been together all these years as twins,” she adds.


    Gabrielle and Jocelyn Reed are one such set of identical twins.


    The sisters have attended school together since pre-K. Come August, they will go their separate ways for college.


    Gabrielle is headed to Cornell University, while Jocelyn will attend Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.


    “Everywhere I go, I’m lumped together with her and not really seen as my own person, so I’m really excited to be able to have my own experiences,” Gabrielle told TODAY.com.


    Broward County Public Schools believes the graduates have set a county record as most sets of twins to simultaneously graduate from one school.


    Students even created a slogan to remember their unique graduating class: “Twice as nice and triple the fun.”

  • Man sent to hospital after trying to set up gay club in Abbottabad

    Man sent to hospital after trying to set up gay club in Abbottabad

    A man who tried to establish a gay club has been detained in a mental hospital by local authorities.


    He had filed an application to set up the club in Abbottabad.


    In the application filed to the deputy commissioner (DC) of the city, the man said the club was to be a “great convenience and resource for many homosexual, bisexual and even some heterosexual people residing in Abbottabad in particular, and in other parts of the country in general.”


    Homosexuality is illegal in Pakistan and can be punished by two years to life in prison.

    The application stated that in “the envisaged gay club, tentatively to be called Lorenzo gay club, there would be no gay (or non-gay) sex (other than kissing).”

    “A clearly visible notice on the wall would warn: no sex on premises. This would mean that no legal constraints (even obsolete ones like [anti-sodomy] PPC section 377) would be flouted on the premises”.

    Abbottabad’s DC office confirmed to The Telegraph it had received the application for a gay club and was reviewing it like any other proposal.

  • Australian teacher paralysed after Singapore Airline turbulence

    Australian teacher paralysed after Singapore Airline turbulence

    An Australian dance teacher on board the turbulence-hit Singapore Airlines flight last month has suffered severe spine injuries, leading to paralysis.


    Kerry Jordan and her husband were returning from a holiday in the United Kingdom on May 21 when the plane experienced sudden turbulence.


    Jordan, 52 suffered a break in her spine at the C7-T1 segment, which joins the neck with the upper back.


    She also suffered a brain bleed, fractures of the two joining vertebrae at the top of the spine, and fractured ribs.


    Jordan returned to her seat and tried to put on the seatbelt when turbulence hit. The Singapore Airlines flight was heading from London to Singapore when the plane climbed and descended rapidly twice in 62 seconds over Myanmar.


    One passenger died while dozens were injured.


    Jordan, in her own words, descried the incident as “absolutely violent.”


    “Literally everything just started shaking so much… All I remember was being up in the air and everything was absolutely silent and then I was on the floor,” she added.


    Jordan, who faces months of rehabilitation, said she can move her arms but cannot use her hands.


    In May, Singapore Airlines apologized to the couple after Davis complained about the lack of information from the airline after the incident.

    Scientists blame climate change for increased air turbulence incidents.

    Air turbulence often occurs unexpectedly. It is caused by different factors, including atmospheric pressure, jet streams, air around mountains, cold or warm weather fronts, or thunderstorms. It can also occur when the sky is clear.

  • Special trains scheduled to run on Eid 

    Special trains scheduled to run on Eid 

    Pakistan Railways has scheduled special trains on Eid-ul-Azha to accommodate the large number of passengers traveling during the religious holiday.

    The department says the addition of a fourth special train for Eid has been adopted to meet the expected large number of passengers travelling from Karachi to Lahore.

    The carrier will operate four special trains for Eid-ul-Azha, the first of which will depart from Karachi on June 14. 

    The second special train is slated to leave Karachi on June 15 at 9 p.m., while the third will depart for Lahore in the afternoon. 

    The fourth special train will depart on the night of June 15. 

    Previously, on May 31, Pakistan Railways announced that it would run three special trains on Eid-ul-Azha. 

    The first train was set to depart Karachi at 6 p.m. on June 14 for Peshawar, while the second one would travel through Multan, Faisalabad, and Lalamusa.

    Another train was set to leave Quetta for Rawalpindi at 10 am. 

    The train route will be via Multan, Sahiwal, and Lahore. 

    The last Eid train will leave for Lahore on June 15 at 9 am.

    Karachi-Lahore Special route via Multan, Sahiwal has been notified.