Fires are raging at a record rate in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, and the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, has accused environmental groups of setting fires, international news media outlets have reported.
According to the reports, the skies darkened over San Paulo, Brazil, for an hour Monday afternoon after winds carried smoke from about 1,700 miles away.
Dramatic images and videos on social media show giant plumes of smoke rising from the greenery and the hashtags Pray for Amazonas and Amazon Rainforest started trending on Twitter soon after.
🌎Just a little alert to the world: the sky randomly turned dark today in São Paulo, and meteorologists believe it’s smoke from the fires burning *thousands* of kilometers away, in Rondônia or Paraguay. Imagine how much has to be burning to create that much smoke(!). SOS🌎 pic.twitter.com/P1DrCzQO6x
Environmental groups blame Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, for the endangerment of the vital rainforest as they accused him of relaxing environmental controls in the country and encouraging deforestation.
The scientists have warned that the increasing number of fires will strike a devastating blow to the fight against climate change.
The research data shared from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) shows that Brazil has seen 72,843 fires this year, with more than half in the Amazon region, making it an 80% increase compared with the same period last year.
The Amazon is often referred to as the planet’s lungs, as it produces 20% of the oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere and is considered vital in slowing global warming.
It is the largest rainforest on the planet and is home to uncountable species of fauna and flora.
There is a new diet in town. It’s called the ‘Laddoo Diet’. We all love laddoos — especially the moti-choor variety — but we thought it only piles up pounds! Well, maybe that’s not the only thing it does. The Laddoo Diet can also lead to divorce.
An Indian man from Uttar Pradesh has sought divorce on the grounds that his wife was feeding him laddoos every day.
The couple has been married for 10 years and they have three children. Unfortunately, due to the advice of a tantric (shaman), the UP man’s wife was giving him four laddoos to eat in the morning and four laddoos in the evening. He was not allowed to eat anything else in between. The man approached a family court and said that he wasn’t feeling well for some time and his wife approached the ‘tantrik’ who asked her to make her husband eat only laddoos.
Officials at the family counselling centre don’t know what to do about the wife’s superstitions.
“We can call the couple for counselling, but we cannot treat the woman for being superstitious. She firmly believes that laddoos will cure her husband and is unwilling to accept otherwise,” said a counsellor.
Well, who thought yummy sweets can actually lead to divorce!
We are all obsessed with tea, coffee, soft drinks and juice. But which drink is good for your heart?
Coffee and Tea are good for you says Harvard University
The Harvard Medical School, in its Health Publishing article, says that tea and coffee are actually good for you. They contain healthy compounds which help with artery inflammation and some studies show that people who regularly drink either coffee or tea have lower rates of heart disease. Over time, caffeine also raises your resting metabolic rate which can help with weight control (if you don’t add cream or sugar).
Juices isn’t really the best for you. Better to eat fruit
Juices, even 100 percent juice boxes, are not good for you. They have lots of sugar which are easily broken down in your body and spikes your insulin. You’re better off eating whole fruits than having them in liquid form.
Soft drinks are terrible for you
Soft drinks are terrible for your diet (but you knew that already). The added sugars contribute to weight gain, heart disease and diabetes.
Popular Sport drinks aren’t the best for your body
Sport drinks also have added sugars and artificial flavors and even though the electrolytes are good for your body, you’re better off drinking water and getting electrolyte nutrients from food.
DISCLAIMER: This review is not sponsored. The Current has done its own independent research for this review.
After Pakistanis became candle crazy, different local companies started introducing their own scented candle lines as an alternative for people who were used to lugging candles from abroad to fulfill their candle needs. We tried four scented candles from different Pakistani brands to find which one has the most long-lasting smell.
Not taking how long the candle lasts or the type of smell into account, our only focus was, can you actually smell the candle for a long period of time. They rank as follows:
4. AURA
Aura, a natural, toxin-free skincare brand branched out into candles and we tried out their scented candle called Eden. Sadly, it didn’t smell of anything, despite being lit for a few hours. Sticking your nose close to the candle won’t help much either. It emits a faint scent of flowers (or are we imagining that?)
Price – Rs 700
3. BATH AND BODY WORKS
YES, believe it or not, two local candle brands outranked the foreign candle giant, Bath and Body Works. We tried out their Fresh (spring blue skies) scent and although you can smell it (and it smells a lot like the men’s cologne Aqua Di Gio and should be a huge hit with the boys) it doesn’t beat the top two.
Rs 3900 (but if you get it from abroad, its usually on sale for half price)
2. Karachi Candle Company
We are very sure you thought the Karachi candles would win. We were surprised by the results too. As loyal Karachi candle company followers, we love their Motia Noir scent which took Karachi (and then other cities) by storm. It smells exactly of Karachi Jasmine nights and lingers and lasts for a long time.
Price – Rs 2000
1. Meem
A young company, we bought the candle on a whim, after hearing murmurs of how good their Mulberry scent was. It smells exactly like bubble gum and can fill an entire office space with its scent. Strong and powerful, Meem is not one for the weak and lives up to its promise. We can’t wait to try other scents from them.
Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed was spotted buying what looks like aromatherapy essential oils with PM Imran Khan’s buddy Aneel Mussarat in London. While we don’t exactly know what he bought we can recommend oils we think would work best for his personality and job.
Sandalwood Oil
Used to calm nerves. Sheikh was in big trouble after the Railway’s Rs 28.62 billion loss was made public. So he could do with something to calm his nerves.
Lavender Oil
Helps with stress relief. Opposition parties were asking for Sheikh’s resignation after 80 train accidents took place in his first year.
Rosemary Oil
Helps with focus. We all need more of Sheikh’s famous predictions.
It’s a trend now. To talk about the non-conformists, the ones who don’t fit in and the ones who don’t want to.
In her 10th novel, Japanese fiction author Sayaka Murata doesn’t make up a story. She calmly and incredibly coolly takes us into the world of the straight face life of a “convenience store woman” in her internationally best-selling book of the same name.
Stores of Convenience
It’s a weird book and it’s so much fun. We enter the world of a convenience store worker, Keiko, who is 36 years old and single, has never dated anyone and has worked part-time at the same store for the past 18 years.
No one seems to understand why she has worked in the Smile Mart for so long, why she yearns to be there and how it literally becomes her day and her night. But then she isn’t one to do things normally.
The first blow that Keiko gives us is a memory of her childhood, when, to break up a fight, she hits one of the boys on the head with a spade and doesn’t understand when everyone is shocked by what she does. They did say they wanted the fight to stop.
Deadpan and almost robotic, Keiko is the person we would tend to avoid — lacks emotion, copies emotion, and doesn’t get angry. You can’t trust Keiko but you can’t help but like her. Murata has so beautifully carved out Keiko’s character that you somehow don’t feel bad for her at all. Perhaps because you know that she already has everything; a job she lives for, a convenience store she loves and that’s enough for her.
Murata, through Keiko, takes us through the experience of milestones that are part of every single society in the world. Work, life-partner, marriage, children and how we tend to isolate and judge people who don’t fit in society’s norms.
Keiko’s counter, the young, lanky, and smelly Shiraha, is full of disdain. He joins the store and soon gets fired from the Smile Mart for not doing his duties. Figures that his only reason for taking the job was to find a woman, stalk her and marry her.
The utter stench his words produce when we meet him is more effective than repellent. He is a loathsome character and as we move through the book, and discover that he might be important, we try to like him when there is nothing at all to like.
But to be fair, Murata rushes through the existence of Shiraha. Maybe because she doesn’t want to marry the crazy beauty she has created with Keiko and perhaps she realises that the reader might relate more to Shiraha; whether they like him or not.
It’s a short read, ends in 162 pages, bound to finish in a few hours because of how perfectly normal it is. It’s not at all a judgey book but it takes us into such a quirky and strange journey through Keiko that we can’t help but reflect on how judgemental we can be. How she, without question, anger, regret, tries to adapt to her society, where she doesn’t fit in. She cleverly and poignantly highlights what we all do: mirror others, judge others for not fitting in molds and feel happy for them when they do.
At one point of the book, Keiko is told off by Shiraha who says, “You’re not human” to which Keiko thinks, “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!” a thought which will leave you with a smile and simple reflection on life’s ambitious rat race and the simplicity of the convenience store worker. For a moment you’ll want her contentment, her creepy thoughts (inertly thinking that you might have had one or two of those yourself) until you conveniently forget and go back to ignoring the simple, convenient things.
International public policy and gender reforms specialist Salman Sufi has appealed to the masses to donate for the well-being of hundreds of Punjab Shehre Khamoshan Authority (PSKA) staffers, working unpaid for months.
Lahore’s Shehre Khamoshan Model Graveyard, an initiative of chief minister’s Strategic Reforms Unit (SRU), contains all burial and funeral-related services required by families facing the loss of a loved one.
These include hearse service, janazgah, ghusal and mortuary services, free of cost.
While the project was considered a milestone achieved in facilitating the masses as it aimed to establish cemeteries and crematoriums to facilitate all citizens irrespective of any religious, socio-economic or caste-wise distinctions, it continues to face an uncertain future as its employees remain unpaid amid “lack of funds”.
Continuing to highlight PKSA employees’ ordeal over the past few months, ex-SRU director general (DG) and founder of the project, Salman Sufi, has now appealed for donations for the staff.
Tweeting his video message, Sufi wrote:
My appeal to all friends and foes.
Death is inevitable for all of us. The staff of #ShehreKhamoshan graveyards will be there to help our families when we pass away.
Urgent appeal: Friends as you are aware employees of #ShehreKhamoshan graveyards are without salary since months. As govt isnt stepping in, We are collecting donations so they can spend #Eid. Plz donate whatever you can in following account. 50267900213003 Bank: HBL Shahzeb Naeem pic.twitter.com/1pMuK6vEsR
No Lies Fries is late to the game. The gourmet burgers and fries came into existence a century ago and left Karachi two years ago with Burger Lab, Oh My Grill and Juicy Lucy. Though some did come close to the Holy Grail of burgers – Shake Shack – others were a miss. After hearing rave reviews on No Lies Fries, I wondered could it be? Had they cracked the Shake Shack code?
The NLF: beef patty, lettuce and secret sauce
Sadly, no. They’re close. But they’re drying their meat out by overcooking it and assuming their secret sauce will hold it together. But those extra 40 seconds on the grill only shock the patty into becoming plain boring. The ‘secret sauce’ doesn’t really need to be a secret since it’s nothing earth-shattering.
The only shake in their shack is that perfectly perfect potato bun. Oh my, what a bun. I disassembled the burger and tried the soft potato goodness on its own and it’s legit, the best bun in town.
The Crispy Chick: fried chicken, secret sauce, jalapenos and cheese
The Crispy Chick, a fried chicken burger, didn’t get the slather of the secret sauce that was needed but it was fried to perfection. Depends on how crisp you like your chicken though. This was perfect. A not so thin layer of breadcrumbs resulted in a perfectly cooked chicken breast with that oh-so-delicious potato bun. The Crispy Chick isn’t KFC level, but then again I don’t particularly enjoy the fat layer of crispy crumbs which tend to overcook the chicken.
Coming onto their main item. The guy taking the order recommended the Authentic Canadian Poutine but I really wish he hadn’t. The dish on its own didn’t come together and it seemed that the creators of this one expect that customers, (mostly Canadian returns) will be wowed by the thought of Canadian poutine rather than the work that goes into it.
A decent (but too thick) beef gravy, cheese curds and fries, it lacked the flavour of traditional Canadian poutine, which is made by the gravy.
Authentic Canadian Poutine Fries
So are they lying? People expect that the juiciest details, the final verdict is usually delivered in the first few paragraphs. But something as inconsequential, as common, as Alanis Morrisette Ironic can be picked up, bitten into and make you do a 180.
Belgian Frites
No Lies Fries Belgian Frites are out of this world. Thick cut fries, Gordon Ramsay level cooked, crisp and aggressively seasoned, they are without an atom of a doubt, the best fries in Karachi. Their burgers might lie, but those simple fries definitely don’t. This just goes to show that secret sauces, shake shack references, Canadian copies won’t get you anywhere but a side item can make you live up to your name.
(On a side note: the burger doesn’t come with fries; they are sold separately. And with a burger starting at Rs. 560, it’s really not the best deal in town).
Neighbouring India has been left divided ever since a Hindu man refused to accept his order from a Muslim food delivery guy.
“Just cancelled an order on @ZomatoIN. They allocated a non-Hindu rider for my food they said they can’t change rider and can’t refund on cancellation [sic],” Amit Shukla of Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur city tweeted Tuesday.
Zomato is an Indian restaurant search and discovery service that operates in 24 countries. It provides information and reviews of restaurants as well as images of menus where the restaurant does not have its own website and also online delivery.
Shukla, through the app’s customer support, requested another rider and when asked what was wrong, he replied, “We have Shravan [month of fasting] and I don’t need a delivery from a Muslim fellow.”
The company refused to change the rider on the basis of religion and the customer care executive’s response was widely shared over social media.
“Food doesn’t have a religion. It is a religion,” Zomato tweeted.
The company’s founder, Deepinder Goyal, also tweeted:
We are proud of the idea of India – and the diversity of our esteemed customers and partners. We aren’t sorry to lose any business that comes in the way of our values. 🇮🇳 https://t.co/cgSIW2ow9B
“We are proud of the idea of India — and the diversity of our esteemed customers and partners. We aren’t sorry to lose any business that comes in the way of our values,” he wrote.
While Zomato’s stand against religious intolerance won many hearts, some stood up in Shukla’s support.
Food has a religion. You are wrong. Halal and Jhatka. Now most of butchers are muslims they only do 'jibah' but if i ask them to go for Jhatka they say its against their religion. Don't be biased.
Unity in diversity is the culture of India. And we as it's citizens are the ones who need to protect it.#Zomato episode proves, barring a few, we are all one. We are Indians first. So proud of being an Indian.
Comedian and “official United States (US) Ambassador of Pindi boys”, Jeremy McLellan, has said he wants to go back to his country and run for president “so that he can meet Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan”.
Known for his love for Pakistan and its people, Jeremy is currently visiting the country for the second time in three years.
He was spotted enjoying desi cuisines, cherishing the culture, eating mangoes and playing street cricket among other desi activities in and around Islamabad over the past two weeks.
However, he is only left with two more days in the country and it does not look like he will be able to meet PM Imran on this trip.
Expressing his disappointment on Twitter, Jeremy wrote:
Only two days left in Pakistan and it looks like I won’t be able to meet @ImranKhanPTI on this trip. My only option is to return to the United States and run for President so I can arrange for his return visit to the White House.
“Only two days left in Pakistan and it looks like I won’t be able to meet @ImranKhanPTI on this trip. My only option is to return to the United States and run for President so I can arrange for his return visit to the White House [sic],” he wrote.
Here are some of his most memorable moments from the ongoing trip.
