The oath-taking ceremony of President Joe Biden, though a low-key affair due to the coronavirus and security concerns, was still a star-studded and historic event.
Donald Trump finally out of the White House; the US getting its first Black-South Asian, woman vice president; and Jennifer Lopez and Lady Gaga mesmerising the crowds: the US citizens had more than one reason to celebrate. But this wasn’t the headline of the event, at least on the internet.
Shortly after the ceremony, tons of memes featuring Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders — who was spotted sitting alone and bored (at least that’s how we see it) started flooding the internet. And we don’t want you to miss them!
Netflix on Tuesday topped subscriber growth expectations in the past quarter, keeping ahead of new streaming rivals competing for viewers stuck in their homes during the coronavirus pandemic.
As per details, the streaming platform added some 8.5 million paid subscribers in the quarter to reach 203 million, topping 200 million despite recent price hikes, its quarterly earning update has revealed.
“COVID-19 has accelerated that big shift from linear to streaming entertainment,” said Netflix chief financial officer Spencer Neumann. “So, the underlying long-term looks good.”
The company’s cash flow was so strong that it will no longer borrow money to pay for operations, and is considering starting to buy back shares, according to a letter to investors.
Netflix shares jumped more than 12 percent in after-market trades following the release. Profits dipped to $542 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $587 million in the same period in 2019. But overall revenue in the quarter surged 21.5 percent to $6.6 billion.
According to the earnings report, Netflix added a record 37 million paid memberships for the full year. Paid membership increased 23 percent in the final quarter of 2020 when compared with the same period a year earlier, but average revenue per membership was flat, according to the Silicon Valley-based company.
While Netflix raised rates slightly in the US late last year, the majority — some 83 percent — of its new subscribers were from outside North America, the earnings report indicated.
Meanwhile, Netflix has invested heavily in original shows and films to make itself a must-have service in the increasingly competitive streaming market. Netflix executives said their productions are back up and running in most regions after being derailed by the pandemic.
Netflix boasted having more than 500 titles in post-production or being readied for release on the service, with the plan being to launch at least one new original film every week.
Already the master of the pandemic-era movie landscape, Netflix last week offered a preview of upcoming 2021 releases, a list with no fewer than 70 star-studded feature films.
From drama, comedy, and science fiction to horror and even Westerns, the slate will take in every major film genre before the year is out, with some releases poised as potential competition for major awards.
At least four policemen have been arrested in Faisalabad for killing a man and injuring three others after they fired at a vehicle that failed to stop at a checkpoint in Dijkot area of the city.
The family of the deceased says that Waqas Ahmed was on his way back from a wedding on Wednesday when the police team on a patrolling duty stopped their car.
There are conflicting reports about what transpired at the checkpoint. Waqas’s cousin says that the deceased had stopped at the checkpoint and answered police’s questions, but policemen still chased him and gunned him down.
However, a police report claims that Waqas “mistakenly” ran over Sub-Inspector Shahid Rasool’s foot and sped away from the check-post in panic. The police officers chased the vehicle and intercepted them in no time. They then pulled out Waqas from the vehicle and shot him multiple times. They even slapped Ahmed after he had passed away as well, his cousin told a media outlet.
The three men accompanying Waqas were taken to an unknown location, but they were released after the Faisalabad police chief intervened. Police claim Waqas was killed in an exchange of fire following his failure to stop on the checkpoint.
Meanwhile, the relatives of Waqas organised a protest on Samundri Road and set tyres on fire. Following this, the Faisalabad CCPO took notice of the incident and launched an inquiry. Ahmed’s body has been sent for a post-mortem examination while the three other men have been sent back home.
Last month, five officials of Islamabad Police were arrested for killing 21-year-old youth, Usama Satti, in cold blood near Srinagar Highway, G-10 sector in the federal capital. According to reports, shots were fired from the front and hit Satti mostly on the face and upper body.
The policemen were subsequently dismissed from the service after a probe.
Uzma and Diya, who own Cannoli Café Soul in Islamabad, are at the receiving end of outrage for mocking and ridiculing their restaurant manager for his English speaking skills.
In a now-deleted video from the café’s Instagram page, the two women explained how their manager has been working at their café for nine years and has taken three language courses until now.
They then asked him to introduce himself in English and when he struggled with speaking fluent English, they made fun of him by commenting on the manager’s salary. The manager, Owais, was visibly uncomfortable in the video.
Soon after the video was posted on social media, people started calling out the women for their elitist behavior.
Makes me feel sick to the core! Disgusting how these ladies are actually enjoying humiliating the poor guy.
Somebody tell these ladies the colonial era is long over. Get a life. https://t.co/dlQn6S6jOd
Making fun of the manager’s english in such a derogatory manner is unacceptable, irrespective of how rich you are. Perhaps the owners of Cannoli need to take their money and enrol in classes on basic human decency. https://t.co/zwZed1clOB
I want to go to #cannoli cafe and place an order in Punjabi. I hope Awais has left the job by now and these two "Ugly" English speakers are serving the customers.#BoycottCannolipic.twitter.com/VaiEYtEngM
Someone in #Islamabad please give Owais bhai a respectable job in the service industry where he’s not ridiculed for entertainment. You can find him at #Canoli
Make sure to never ever visit a place who’s owners have their so-called entertainment at the expense of their employees. If aged feces could talk & record videos this would be it. Now waiting for them to come crying in front of the camera saying they’re sorry when sales plummet. https://t.co/HfmlTervKz
But you'll come up with another sick video, crying that #Cannoli is a family, and that you were joking because you're just that comfortable with your employees, that people misunderstood it for something else entirely, and you're not at fault! Is #Islamabad going to lap that up?
Even Shaniera Akram stepped in to defend Owais and said that she “knows what it’s like being put on the spot to speak another language”.
I know what it’s like being put on the spot to speak another language, even if you know how to speak it, especially if you’re a shy person it’s hard to do when it’s forced, not to mention in front of a camera for someone’s own personal entertainment. Sad to see https://t.co/86jbMBzvcF
Hi Uzma and Dia, please stfu(hope you know English) and can we get this hardworking guy a better job where he doesn’t get ridiculed after 9 years of service. https://t.co/9dikRqUbMJ
A Frontier Corps sepoy, Shadiullah, who was accused of killing a 25-year-old student in front of his parents in Turbat has been sentenced to death by a local court in Balochistan.
During the hearing of the case, Turbat District and Sessions Judge Rafiq Langau decided the case in the presence of Shadiullah and Hayat’s brother Murad Baloch and sentenced the accused to death under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
The family had recognised Shadiullah during the identification parade while the FC soldier also confessed to the killing.
Shadiullah had shot dead Hayat Baloch — a BS student at the University of Karachi, in Aug 2020 following a bomb blast in the area in which three soldiers were wounded. Subsequently, the FC officials picked Hayat up — who was helping his parents at their date orchard — and tortured him before shooting him dead as his family pleaded for mercy.
It was reported that Hayat, who was in Turbat because his university was closed due to the COVID pandemic, had shot more than eight times.
The killing had resulted in outrage on social media, with people, including lawmakers, demanding justice for the slain youth.
After the murder, an inquiry was conducted by the paramilitary force. An internal investigation by the Frontier Corps found that the accused FC man “reacted in haste”, Turbat SSP had told media. After this inquiry, Shadiullah was handed over to the police for further investigation in the case.
US President Joe Biden signed 15 executive actions shortly after being sworn on Wednesday, undoing policies put in place by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, and making his first moves on the pandemic and climate change.
Signing several actions in front of reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon, Biden said there was “no time to waste” in issuing the executive orders, memorandums and directives.
“Some of the executive actions I’m going to be signing today are going to help change the course of the COVID crisis, we’re going to combat climate change in a way that we haven’t done so far and advance racial equity and support other underserved communities” said Biden. “These are just all starting points”
Aides said the actions the Democratic president signed included a mask mandate on federal property and for federal employees, an order to establish a new White House office coordinating the response to the coronavirus, and halting the process of withdrawing from the World Health Organization.
Biden signed a document to begin the process of re-entering the Paris climate accord and issued a sweeping order tackling climate change, including revoking the presidential permit granted to the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Among a raft of orders addressing immigration, Biden revoked Trump’s emergency declaration that helped fund the construction of a border wall and ended a travel ban on some majority-Muslim countries.
The Day One plans were just the start of a flurry of executive actions Biden would take soon after entering office, said his press secretary, Jen Psaki.
“In the coming days and weeks, we will be announcing additional executive actions that confront these challenges and deliver on the president-elect’s promises to the American people,” Psaki said.
Further actions would include revoking the ban on military service by transgender Americans, and reversing a policy that blocks U.S. funding for programs overseas linked to abortion.
On the economic front, Biden asked the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to extend a moratorium on evictions until the end of March, and the Department of Education to suspend student loan payments until the end of September.
Today, all eyes were on Joe Biden being sworn in as the 46th US President. #InaugurationDay was trending at No. 1 on Twitter in Pakistan.
Vice President Kamala Harris made history as the first female, first Black and first South Asian VP.
Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulated President Biden in a tweet:
“I congratulate President @JoeBiden on his inauguration. Look forward to working with @POTUS in building a stronger Pak-US partnership through trade & economic engagement, countering climate change, improving public health, combating corruption & promoting peace in region & beyond.”
I congratulate President @JoeBiden on his inauguration. Look forward to working with @POTUS in building a stronger Pak-US partnership through trade & economic engagement, countering climate change, improving public health, combating corruption & promoting peace in region & beyond
Biden took the oath of office from US Chief Justice John Roberts. He said that “democracy has prevailed” and it was a day of “history and hope”. Biden said his whole soul is in “putting America back together again”.
It was interesting to see that former US President Donald Trump did not attend the inauguration ceremony.
Here are some tweets that sum up the inauguration.
In a historic moment for the country, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have officially been sworn into office this #InaugurationDaypic.twitter.com/1XyzHqBMuu
A case has been filed against the producers of Mirzapur, as well as Amazon Prime Video, for allegedly hurting “religious, social and regional sentiments” and “damaging social harmony”.
As per the reports, the complainant, Arvind Chaturvedi, has alleged that the Amazon Prime Video show hurts religious, social, and regional sentiments and damages social harmony. Chaturvedi also claimed that the series has hurt religious beliefs and feelings by focusing on abusive and illicit relationships. It is pertinent to add here that Chaturvedi is a local journalist, who has also written a book on the life of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The makers of the superhit web series have also been accused of spoiling the image of Uttar Pradesh (UP).
An FIR has also been reportedly filed against Mirzapur producers Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, and Bhaumik Gondaliya. They have been charged under IPC sections 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the IPC along with sections of the Information Technology (IT) Act.
This is not the first time that the show has found itself embroiled in a controversy. Last year, a day after its release, Mirzapur’s MP Anupriya Patel had also demanded action against the show.
In a tweet on October 24, 2020, MP Anupriya Patel had written that under the leadership of PM Modi and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the city of Mirzapur has shown development and is “a centre of harmony”.
The complaint against Mirzapur comes days after an FIR was lodged against the makers of Tandav. The recently-released show is facing backlashfor its portrayal of Hindu Gods and it has been alleged that the show depicts them in a poor light. Several BJP leaders have called for a complete ban on the show.
Tandav creator Ali Abbas Zafar on Tuesday announced that the cast and crew of the show has decided to implement changes in the series in order to pacify viewers who have been hurt because of the content.
Zafar shared an official statement from the cast and crew of Tandav on Twitter and asserted that the team had no intentions to hurt or offend the sentiments of any caste, race, community, or religion.
“We have the utmost respect for the sentiments of the people of our country. We did not intend to hurt or offend the sentiments of any individual, caste, community, race, religion or religious beliefs or insult or outrage any institution, political party or person, living or dead,” read the statement.
The team also thanked the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for guiding and supporting them in the matter.
“We thank the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for guidance and support in the matter. We once again apologise if the series has unintentionally hurt anybody’s sentiments,” it added.
Earlier on Monday, the cast and crew of the political-drama had extended their apologies to the viewers for “unintentionally” hurting their sentiments.
Maya Ali and Hira Mani have crossed five million followers on Instagram. The actors shared the news and excitement on social media and thanked their fans for the love.
“Thank you for all the five million family,” wrote Maya on social media, adding: “So grateful for all of you, and for all the love and appreciation you guys show me.”
Similarly, Hira Mani, who recently said that she has become anofficial singer, announced that she has crossed five million followers on the social media application.
Sharing a goofy picture of herself, Mani wrote: “Thank you for liking me and liking my Instagram and liking my song and liking my face and liking my kids and liking my originality.”
Meanwhile, Ayeza Khan and Aiman Khan are the most followed Pakistani celebrities on Instagram with 7.9 million followers each. Mahira Khan follows closely behind with 7 million followers.
The All Girl Band has taken over social media with hit new track Mera Nahi Hai.
The band recently shot to fame, with music aficionados predicting that the girls will usher in a new era in the music industry. The girls’ newest success came after their latest track Mera Nahi Hai scored them an interview on Geo News’ morning show Geo Pakistan.
According to details, the band includes Anna Salman Dar (lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist) Amal Nadeem (violinist) Mishal Faheem (drummer and percussionist) and Sumera Waris (tabla player) – four women in their 20’s, navigating their way through life whilst living their dreams.
Speaking exclusively to The Current, The All Girls Band revealed that their band was formed on Nescafé Basement Season 4.
“Xulfi, who was our mentor and producer on that show had this idea of having female musicians perform on a song called Love Me Again by John Newman. He held auditions all over Pakistan and 10 female musicians were selected,” shared the band, adding that the band now compromises of the above-mentioned four.
When asked if the girls faced any resistance from their family or parents, the band said: “There was no hesitation from the families. Mishal and Sumera have a family background of musicians, so there was support from the immediate family.”
They further shared that the band is the first female band of Pakistan that consists of female singers as well as female musicians.
