A former Karachi administrator has found himself in an awkward situation after a video went viral on social media, in which he is seen hurling invectives and obscenities at police officials for stopping his vehicle at a check post and asking for his identification. The former administrator, Fahim Zaman, however, claimed that the video was “edited” and showed only one side of the picture.
The incident occurred at the PIDC intersection within the limits of Civil Lines Police Station on Tuesday, when a police official, stationed at a check post, flagged Zaman’s car and asked the occupants to show their Computerised National Identity Cards (CNIC).
The events that followed were captured in a video, seemingly by the police official who had flagged Zaman’s vehicle. In the video, Zaman can be seen hurling abuses at the police officials and threatening them of dire consequences. “This is my city. Who are you to ask for my CNIC?” demanded Zaman. In response, the police official can be heard saying, “Sir, we are here for your safety.”
The former administrator continued his tirade saying that the police officials were stationed only to prove their existence. “Let me call [Karachi police chief AIG] Ameer Shaikh,” he warned, demanding the police to tell him what was the red zone and who owned it.
The police official then asked Zaman’s driver to move the car to the roadside. At this, Zaman warned that he would call the Sindh Police chief and hurl obscenities at him.
He signalled his driver not to remove the car from the middle of the road and demanded the police to call their senior officials.
A few seconds later, the car driver moved the vehicle to the side. The former administrator maintained that if the police was not able to recognise the former administrator, they knew no one in the city. “I have been the city’s administrator twice but you don’t recognize me. How would you recognise a common man?” said Zaman.
The video shot by the police officers went viral on social media after which Sindh IG Dr Kaleem Imam took notice of the maltreatment meted out to the cops and demanded a detailed report from the South SSP.
Zaman’s version
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Zaman clarified that the video doing the rounds on social media had been edited by the police officials and did not reveal the complete story. “I was on my way to work when my car was flagged at the PIDC traffic light and asked to stop,” he started. “When I reached for my wallet, I realised that I had forgotten it at home.”
On this, said Zaman, the police official said that he needed to show his CNIC because he was entering the red zone. “I told him that my office was four steps away and asked him what the red zone was and where did it say I needed to carry my CNIC to enter it,” Zaman told The Express Tribune. The police, he said, responded by saying that the governor and chief minister’s residences were in the area.
Then I asked the police officials if they were meant to provide security to only the CM House and Governor’s and why they weren’t also setting up such check posts in Korangi and Nazimabad.
While this was ongoing, said Zaman, one of the police officials stood in front of the car and aimed his weapon at him. “This is what angered me,” Zaman explained. “Will they shoot a common man for not carrying his ID?” he questioned. He added that he was remorseful over his behaviour that was seen in the video but the source of his anger was the outrage that the police official aimed his gun at him simply for not being able to produce his CNIC.
FIR registered
Later that night, Civil Lines Police registered an FIR against Fahim Zaman and his driver on the charges of interference in the discharge of official duty. The FIR, number 31/2019, invokes sections 341, 353, 504 and 506/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The FIR was registered on the complaint of constable Adnan.
In his statement, constable Adnan said that he is posted at Civil Lines Police Station and was deployed at the PIDC intersection from 8 am to 4 pm, along with Saeed Salam, Mohammad Qasim, Shahid Ikhtiar Ahmed, Musawer Shah and constable Saeedullah.
At 11 am on Tuesday, Adnan and the other police officials flagged a Honda Civic, bearing registration number AYY-174, which was coming from MT Khan Road. As the car stopped, Adnan said that he asked the driver to show his CNIC. However, the person seated in the passenger seat, whom he later discovered to be Faheem Zaman, told the driver not to show his CNIC and move forward. On this, Adnan said that he signalled constable Qasim, standing at the barrier, to stop the car.
As Qasim stopped the car, Zaman exited the car in a rage and started abusing and threatening, while interfering in the official work. What followed was captured in the video made by one of the officials.
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), a poverty and hunger watchdog, estimates around one in five of Pakistan's more than 200 million people are malnourished.
And yet, the nation is not short of food - in fact, according to the US Department of Agriculture, it is projected to export 500,000 tons of wheat from May 2018 until April 2019, and 7.4 million tons of rice in the same period.
Dawn, the English-language daily newspaper, even reported a potato glut earlier this month.
Extreme deprivation
The issues, experts say, are socio-economic - that is, just because food is available, does not mean people can access it.
"There are four key pillars of food security in Pakistan: The first is availability, then accessibility, utilisation and stability," says Dr Ambreen Fatima, senior research economist at the Applied Economic Research Centre of the Karachi University.
In Tharparkar, where Mithi Civil Hospital is, all four are lacking, she explains, adding that in other parts of the country they are present only to varying degrees.
"Pakistan is quite well off in wheat production," comments Dr Kaiser Bengali, a veteran economist, who has done field research on poverty and hunger in the country, but adds that much of it is sold for export.
This means ordinary people in the country may not have access to it, and if they do they may not have the resources to pay for it.
"Affordability is the biggest challenge here in Pakistan," he says.
Karachi is Pakistan's financial capital, but Bengali says he has seen alarming examples of poverty and deprivation there.
"In our surveys we came across the kids who had never eaten an apple, and when we offered him an apple he was reluctant to take the bite wondering whether it was an edible thing or not," Bengali reveals.
"In another case a family had never had eggs in their whole lives," he adds.
A survey of the state-run Planning Division in 2017 found that 40 percent of Pakistan's population lives in multi-dimensional poverty.
That means they are not just short of money, but are also facing a shortage of basic needs, including health, clean water, and electricity, among other factors - all of which can impact their access to food.
Cycle of malnutrition
"Poor physical infrastructure, particularly in the remote rural areas throughout Pakistan is also a limitation on access to food and influences market prices," according to a recent statement from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
"This is also linked to inadequate water and sanitation, education and health service delivery, which together with the lack of awareness of appropriate dietary intake contributes to greater food insecurity and malnutrition."
Tharparkar district is frequently highlighted in Pakistan's media because of its high rate of child deaths, with politicians blaming the situation on drought - but economists and physicians say that is not the sole explanation.
"Causes of malnutrition are multiple pregnancies, young-aged marriage, iron deficiency in mothers, (lack) of breastfeeding, weak immunization, and early weaning," Dr Kumar insists.
Bearing large numbers of children from a young age takes its toll on women's health, but also impacts the well-being of the foetus and ability to breastfeed a newborn.
In Pakistan, only 38 percent of babies are fed breast milk exclusively during their first six months in line with UN recommendations.
This low figure is blamed on local traditions, the heavy workloads of mothers and powerful marketing by the milk industry.
Many mothers are told to feed their newborns tea, herbs, which can stunt growth.
Some are unnecessarily persuaded to use formula instead of breastmilk by doctors.
This can introduce health problems if the water use to make it is unclean, or if poor families scrimp on the amount of powder to create the drink.
Sindh's high number of child deaths are the result of a vicious poverty cycle that begins with malnourished mothers, agrees Bengali.
He adds: "An infant is not fed with wheat or solid food."
Rancher under investigation in death of cows
AP
An Idaho rancher says 29 of his cows died in winter storms in Washington state, but investigators suspect he let them starve.
James Peter Marek, 42, of Slate Creek, Idaho, appeared in Franklin County Superior Court last week after being arrested for investigation of animal cruelty, the Tri-City Herald reported .
Marek filed a claim with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in February saying he lost an unspecified number of cows.
The Washington State Dairy Association estimates 1,800 dairy cows died during the blizzard on Feb. 9 and 10, at an estimated loss of $3.5 to $4 million.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office said investigators received a report from a witness who spotted dead cattle on Bureau of Land Management property off Highway 395.
Deputies flew over the area and saw the carcasses scattered across less than a third of a square mile (over 0.8 square kilometers), Capt. Monty Huber said.
Deputies said they found no sign that Marek’s cows had been provided any food and there were no tire tracks in the snow suggesting they’d been attended to.
Marek’s attorney, Scott Johnson, said there’s no evidence of what caused the deaths because no necropsies have been conducted. Judge Jackie Shea Brown ordered Marek released from custody Thursday.
“All that the witness knows is that there is possibly 29 dead cows. But there is no evidence of how these cows died,” Johnson told the judge.
Franklin County Prosecutor Shawn Sant said he has not decided whether to file charges.
“The investigation is ongoing, and as additional information is obtained, the prosecutor’s office will evaluate what charges, if any, are appropriate,” Sant said.
“The allegations are concerning and warrant further investigation for all interested parties.”
Marek has faced legal trouble in Idaho and Washington before. In 2016, he was accused of stealing cattle in Idaho from a South Dakota rancher.
He bought the cattle for the rancher, then used his own brand to brand them and sell them, according to the Idaho County Free Press. He was ordered to pay nearly $3,200 in restitution.
On Feb. 26, Franklin County deputies found him in a warehouse parking lot on the Pasco-Kahlotus highway hitching up a $9,000 trailer and 500-gallon (1,893-liter) stainless steel water tank.
Marek told deputies he was letting the water in the tank thaw, but didn’t tell them that he borrowed the trailer in 2015 and never returned it, according to court records.
He’s awaiting trial on four charges, including possessing stolen property, obstructing law enforcement and resisting arrest.
It is sad but true that many of the best tasting foods are the worst for us. That’s because they are artificially constructed to ramp up the flavors we naturally crave – sugar and salt – to levels never found in nature. In other cases, it is the growing or packaging processes that cut corners and put consumers’ health at risk.
Don’t let the mega-food producers of the world play around with your family’s safety! Check out our list of 15 cancer causing foods to avoid, or at least consume in moderation.
**Microwave Popcorn**
Popcorn in general is a relatively healthy snack, so it’s really too bad that the most convenient way of popping it actually makes it extremely unhealthy. The reason is that those microwave bags are lined with a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).
Many studies have revealed that consuming PFOA can cause cancers of the kidney, bladder, liver, pancreas, and testicles.
** Soda*
You already know that soda in general is not the healthiest due to shockingly high levels of sugar, which contributes to weight gain, inflammation, and insulin resistance.
But you may not have realized that soda also contains artificial colorings and chemicals, such as derivative 4-methylimidazole (4-MI), that are known to increase cancer risk.
** Cannehttps://www.blogger.com/blogger.gd Foods**
You already know that soda in general is not the healthiest due to shockingly high levels of sugar, which contributes to weight gain, inflammation, and insulin resistance.
But you may not have realized that soda also contains artificial colorings and chemicals, such as derivative 4-methylimidazole (4-MI), that are known to increase cancer risk.
** Potatoe Chips**
Not only are chips exceedingly high in fat and sodium, they also contain artificial flavors, preservatives, and food colors that the body just can’t recognize as food.
The method of preparation – frying at high heat – achieves that desirable crispy texture but also creates acrylamide, which is a recognized carcinogen that’s also found in cigarettes.
^^ Processed, Smoked And Red Meat**
This list includes things like steak, hamburgers, hot dogs, bacon, sausage, and lunch meat. Processed meats are a problem because they contain preservatives like sodium nitrate, which is great for keeping the product looking fresh but can cause cancer. Smoked meat is dangerous because it takes on tar during the smoking process!
And red meat in general, eaten every day, has been shown in studies to up your cancer risk by as much as 22%.
** Farmed Salmon**
Your body needs the healthy Omega-3 fats in most fish, but farmed salmon is fed an unnatural diet full of pesticides, chemicals, antibiotics, and other known carcinogens. As a result, their meat is full of cancer-causing PCBs, mercury, and dioxins. Unfortunately, nearly 60% of salmon in the stores today is farmed.
To be safe, look for labels that specifically indicate wild-caught sockeye salmon.
** Hydrogenated Oils**
Vegetable oil sounds like something that should be healthy, but the problem is that it cannot be extracted from its source naturally. The chemical extraction process is what makes it hydrogenated, and then the oil is further colorized and deodorized to make it look palatable to people.
Hydrogenated oils are found in a ton of processed foods to keep them fresher longer, but in the body they affect your cells’ structure and flexibility, which can cause cancer.
If we were to divide Pakistan’s water crisis into two categories, they would be: (i) water scarcity and (ii) water quality degradation. Over the past several years, by all indicators, Pakistan is quickly and alarmingly becoming a water-scarce country.
In 1950, the per capita water availability in Pakistan was over 5,000 m3. In 1990, that capacity fell, bringing the country dangerously close to the “water-stress line” and in 2005, it crossed the “water-scarcity line”.
If the present situation continues, it will approach the absolute “water-scarcity line” by 2025. In other words, Pakistan will run dry and no one of its 207 million population will be immune from the disaster.
Figure 1: Per capita water availability vs. population
The gap between water availability and demand is widening. In 2004, it was 11 per cent. By 2025, that number will go up to 35 per cent, which is worrying for a country that is considered to have the most water-intensive economy in the world.
The main reasons for depleting water resources are: (i) population growth, (ii) inadequate storage facilities (iii) silting up the existing reservoirs due to lack of watershed management activities (iv) low system efficiency, as more than 60 per cent of the water is lost during conveyance and application in the field (v) groundwater depletion and (vi) unutilised potential of hill torrents.
Another issue is the quality of the surface and groundwater that has a direct impact on the health and well-being of the people.
According to the survey conducted by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), during 2015-16, about 70 per cent of the samples were found unsafe for human consumption in 24 major cities. That figure alone should make jolt us to take notice. The major contaminants found were bacteria, arsenic, nitrate and fluoride.
Interestingly, Pakistan is dependent on a single source for water — the Indus Basin, where water flows downstream from India to Pakistan. More than 90 per cent of the country’s drinking water comes from groundwater, which is being recharged by the extensive irrigation network of the Indus Basin.
The monitoring of the surface water bodies, particularly the eastern rivers of Ravi and Sutlej shows the presence of all kind of contaminants such as microbiological, physicochemical, heavy metal and even Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). These contaminants have severe impacts on human health and aquatic life.
Pakistan can learn from other water-stressed countries that have taken adequate water management measures. Also, countries like Singapore and Japan put a price on water consumption. A 2017 UN water report states that in “a country like Pakistan water is almost a free commodity. Unlike electricity, there are no water meters in houses where people pay according to usage. Thus, there is enormous, unmeasured water wastage. To sensitise the public on water wastage it is critical that water usage is metered.”
As grim as the picture maybe, there is, however, a way forward. The government of Pakistan can work towards (i) controlling the increase in population and, (ii) constructing new reservoirs.
A water shortfall of over 30 per cent in 2025 means further storage requirements of the order of 22 million acre-feet (MAF) i.e. 3-4 large dams. Therefore, there is dire need to develop new storage reservoirs.
The Pakistan Vision 2025, a policy document prepared by the Ministry of Planning Development and Reform, set a target of improving the efficiency in existing water usage in agriculture by 20 per cent. This can be achieved by improving the conveyance efficiency through canals and watercourse improvements, improving farm layouts and levelling of fields, using high efficiency irrigation systems such as bed and furrow irrigation, restricting the high delta crops such as rice and sugarcane to areas of high rainfall, adopting proper irrigation scheduling (when to apply water and how much to apply to a crop?) and stopping the practices of keeping water standing in the rice fields, since now it has been established that rice does not need standing water. Rather it can be grown on bed and furrows and even with sprinklers.
Other measures include developing a groundwater regulatory framework. A regulatory framework should be developed and implemented for the installation and operation of tubewells to reduce and control the over-extraction of groundwater. Then, Pakistan can work towards recycling the wastewater and drainage water. There is a potential of over 10 MAF of drainage effluents.
Similarly, the wastewater generated from sixteen major cities exceeds four MAF. The wastewater is being thrown into the water bodies without any treatment, which in turn threatens ecosystems. A part of the raw wastewater is being used for irrigation in the peri-urban areas. On one hand drainage water and wastewater are nuisances and on the other hand, these are resources that can be used to narrow the gap between water demand and supply.
Lastly, the country needs an urgent mass awareness campaign. Most of the problems associated with the water sector have risen from illiteracy and lack of knowledge and understanding of water conservation practices and high-efficiency irrigation systems. An extensive social awareness campaign is required using mass and social media.
But all these options require political will, commitment and continuous efforts by all stakeholders, from the policymakers to the end users, before the water taps run dry.
Pakistanis may face a myriad problems day to day, but they appear to face them in their stride – at least that is what the United Nations World Happiness Index suggests.
The latest iteration of the rankings sees Pakistan jump up eight spots from last year to become the 67th happiest country in the world. This year’s report – which traces countries’ evolution since 2005 – also names Pakistan among the top 20 gainers listed on the index.
Rival India, meanwhile, was named among the 20 biggest losers after it dropped seven spots from last year to 140 on the list.
Like last year, Pakistan remained the happiest nation in South Asia, followed by Bhutan which was ranked 95. As for other countries in the region, Nepal was ranked 100, Bangladesh was ranked 125, Sri Lanka came in at 130 and Afghanistan, the unhappiest nation in South Asia, came in at 154.
Scandinavian countries remained the happiest, like last year as well, with Finland securing first place ahead of Denmark and Norway. Iceland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, New Zealand, Canada and Austria were other countries who made it to the top ten on the index.
happiest countries of the world
At 156, South Sudan was ranked the least happy country in the world where, according to the UN, more than 60% of the population has been facing food insecurity and effects of civil war.
The survey ranks 156 countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be and each year, different indicators are used to evaluate people’s happiness. The latest survey focused on six variables that support well-being, namely income per capita, life expectancy, social support, freedom, generosity and corruption.
Although the survey to assess people’s happiness has been successfully conducted for the seventh time, the initiative is not without its critics. Many question how a feeling as abstract as happiness can be ‘measured.’ Others point to high suicide rates prevalent in the developed world together with the ever-increasing consumption of anti-depressants in countries like Denmark and Iceland.
Authors of the report, however, say tha
Shedding light on the matter, associate professor at Karachi University’s Institute of Clinical Psychology, Dr Salman Shahzad said that factors related to good income, a healthy lifestyle and a strong sense of community add to the overall well-being of individuals. “On the surface, it appears as if Pakistanis face a lot of problems but we have to understand that every society works differently,” he said.
“Pakistanis, for example, might not look at the concept of freedom the same way as someone from the West. As long as people feel they are free to make choices according to their norms and values, they are satisfied.”
Similarly, Dr Shahzad said that someone might not be financially strong but when they receive strong communal support from friends, family and through the institution of marriage, the value system helps them stay happy.
“In the absence of a strong sense of communal support, people are at a high risk of developing mental health problems,” he explained. “That apart, religion also plays an important role in engendering a positive outlook towards life.”
As mentioned in the report, people believe that behaving generously can significantly increase happiness, especially when they are connected to people that they are helping and can see how their help is making a difference.
“The idea of being charitable makes people feel good about themselves and when they tie the concept up with religious teachings, it makes them more satisfied and happy,” Dr Shahzad said.
Similarly, when it comes to a healthy life expectancy, it is not necessarily related to happiness but a positive outlook and a higher purpose in life often keep people satisfied with their lives.
“A healthy life expectancy doesn’t necessarily make someone happy as there could be a variety of problems in their lives, but people in Pakistan generally tend to associate things with religion and a higher purpose in life, which stops them from complaining,” explained Dr Mamoona Shafiq, associate professor in physiology at the Islamabad Medical and Dental College.
“Sometimes, patients are in a lot of pain and distress but they attribute their illness to their worldly tests and keep a positive approach towards life. Such an attitude towards life may help people feel more satisfied and happy with their lives,” she said.
Ariana Grande has insisted her new leaf tattoo is not a "cover up".
The 'Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored' singer had a leafy design added to her 'Always' ink on her ribcage, which she got last June, when she was with her ex-fiance Pete Davidson.
The 25-year-old pop superstar went to her regular tattooist Mira Mariah on Sunday to extend the body art, and claimed she was not trying to hide the tattoo, which is thought to have been in the 'SNL' star's handwriting, instead she said the piece is "evolving".
Ariana, who kicks off her 'Sweetener World' Tour tonight at the Times Union Center in New York, captioned the post of her new ink on Instagram: "post run thrus, 3 am with @girlknewyork :) not a cover up just evolvin also, our show opens tomorrow. i love u and i'm so grateful. see u soon."
The 'No Tears Left to Cry' hitmaker had a number of inkings done whilst she was with Pete - who is now dating actress Kate Beckinsale - including the numbers '8418' on her foot, a tribute to Pete's dad who died on 9/11, which she later covered up with a dog.
She also had a black heart inked over her 'Pete' tattoo and the comedian also had his Ariana bunny ears on his neck covered up with the same black heart shape.
Earlier this year, Ariana had a major tattoo fail when her '7 Rings' inking on the palm of her hand ended up spelling out a charcoal grill in Japanese, reading "shichirin".
Ariana laughed off the mishap and was reportedly offered $1.5 million to get her tattoo removed.
The 'Dangerous Woman' hitmaker had the tattoo amended from "shrichirin", but it ended up translating to "Japanese BBQ finger", and a tattoo removal company offered to help her remove it for the huge sum of money.
Acknowledging the error on her Twitter account, she wrote in a since-deleted message: "Indeed, I left out some characters which should have gone in between. It hurts but still looks tight. I wouldn't have lasted one more symbol lmao. But this spot also peels a ton and won't last so if I miss it enough I'll suffer thru the whole thing next time"
The singer added: "also....huge fan of tiny bbq grills"
Beyonce is planning to write a new album with a women's rights theme.
The 37-year-old singer - who has kids Blue Ivy, seven, and 21-month-old twins Sir and Rumi with husband Jay Z - has reportedly been working on an album in secret and has already completed three "killer" tracks for the record.
A source told The Sun on Sunday newspaper: "Beyonce is on a break right now, but she has secretly been working on an album and has completed three songs which are all about women supporting women and lifting each other up."
"They are fierce dancefloor fillers, which her fans will love."
As well as writing and recording her new album, Beyonce is also set to voice the part of Nala in the computer-animated remake of Disney's 'The Lion King'.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Solange - Beyonce's younger sister - revealed she wants her music to inspire "young black girls" for the next five decades.
The 32-year-old star - who recently released her fourth album, 'When I Get Home' - said her goal is to make "astounding work" that will stand the test of time.
Solange shared: "I'm thinking about the possibility of maybe some young black girl in 20 years needing to reference a black sculptor who's making work that large, and in landscape like that, and the blessing and privilege [that] I might come up in that search.
"Of course, I want to make these massive landscapes and express these parts of me ... because it's beautiful, and I want to make astounding work. But I really want to make work to be discovered 50 years from now."
Western countries term Muslims only as terrorists, while they fight against against the atrocities done by the occupants like in kashmir, Palestine and other Muslim countries, why do not call their killers terrorists. Their terrorists kill innocent men, women, children in schools, in shopping malls and in the streets. Muslim will never kill an innocent person because they believe that a muder of a human is the murder of humanity. Islam is the religion of peace. Now the Australian man who martyred 49 Muslims in mosques, who were bowing to Almighty Allah, claims that he one day will become Nobel Laureate like Nelson Mandela.
The white supremacist terrorist who methodically massacred 49 worshippers at New Zealand mosques on Friday has likened himself to Nelson Mandela and believes he will one day become a Nobel laureate.
“I do not just expect to be released,” wrote 28-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant in his manifesto which circulated online as he was on his wanton killing spree at two mosques in Christchurch.
“I also expect an eventual Nobel Peace Prize, as was awarded to …Nelson Mandela once his own people achieved victory and took power.”
Likening his own heinous actions to the South African anti-apartheid leader’s iconic struggle, he also wrote that he expected he would be released from incarceration in 27 years, “the same number of years as Mandela.”
Tarrant unleashed a venomous rant against immigration into Western countries, claiming the influx of migrant populations ‘threatened white people with extinction’. “High fertility immigrants will destroy us now, soon it is a matter of survival we destroy them first,” he claimed.
Drawing on nationalist pseudo-historical accounts of European history, Tarrant singled out Muslims as a particular ‘threat to Western civilisation’. “They are also one of the strongest groups, with high fertility, high in-group preference and a will to conquer.”
His writings also displayed an obsession with the birth-rates of non-white communities, which he saw as a threat to the environment.
“I … consider myself an Eco-fascist by nature… the environment is being destroyed by overpopulation, we Europeans are one of the groups that are not overpopulating the world. The invaders are the ones overpopulating the world,” wrote Tarrant, referring to immigrants as ‘invaders’. “Kill the invaders, kill the overpopulation and by doing so save the environment.”
Tarrant also justified the killing of children, writing “children of invaders do not stay children… They grow up and vote against your peoples own wishes.”
He confessed that his actions were terrorist in nature but showed a startling lack of remorse. “By the definition… it is a terrorist attack… I only wish I could have killed more invaders, and more traitors,” he wrote.
Tarrant held up London mayor Sadiq Khan as “an open sign of the disenfranchisement and ethnic replacement of the British people” and singled out Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel as “having done more to racially cleanse Europe of its people”.
In contrast, he praised US President Donald Trump as a “symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose”, even though he placed no faith in him as a policymaker and leader. He also claimed China was the only country with which he shared political and social values.
Tarrant also described Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a ‘warlord’ and the leader of the ‘oldest enemies’ of European people and attempted to incite his assassination.
“His death will drive a wedge between Turkish invaders currently occupying our lands and the ethnic European people whilst simultaneously weakening Turkey’s hold on the region,” he said.
Regarding why he chose to carry out his terror attack with guns, Tarrant wrote he intended to influence social discourse and eventual polarisation in the US.
“With enough pressure, the left wing within the US will seek to abolish the second amendment, and the right wing within the US will see this as an attack on their very freedom and liberty,” he wrote. “This will result in a dramatic polarisation of people in the US and eventually a fracturing of the US along cultural and racial lines.”
New Zealand’s Muslim community was in shock Friday after 49 were killed in deadly attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, on what the prime minister described as one of the nation’s “darkest days”.
Here are some facts about the Muslim minority in the South Pacific nation, where a majority of citizens consider diversity desirable:
There were just over 46,000 Muslims in New Zealand during the last census in 2013, a mere one per cent of the total population. The number of people identifying as Muslims rose by 28 per cent between 2006 and 2013, according to Stats NZ, and just over a quarter of them were born in New Zealand.
Many in the New Zealand Muslim community are converts from other religions and from local or European ethnic backgrounds.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern sought to reassure the country’s Muslims after the Christchurch attack.
“We are a proud nation of more than 200 ethnicities, 160 languages. And amongst that diversity we share common values,” she said.
“And the one that we place the currency on right now is our compassion and support for the community of those directly affected by this tragedy.”
After the Christchurch attacks, Mustafa Farouk, president of the Islamic Associations of New Zealand, stressed that the community has always felt safe in the South Pacific nation.
The Islamic community feels “that we are living in the safest country in the world, we never expected anything like this could happen”, he told TVNZ.
“Muslims have been living in New Zealand (for) over 100 years and nothing has ever happened to us like this, so this is not going to change the way we feel about New Zealand at all.”
Research showed that young people from the Muslim community were “adapting well to life in New Zealand” and were enjoying more positive outcomes compared with both Maori and European peers, the Victoria University of Wellington’s Centre for Applied Cross-cultural Research reported in 2010.
The Muslim community does, however, face challenges in New Zealand. The CACR found that Muslims immigrants are viewed “less favourably” by New Zealanders.
Immigrants from Muslim-majority nations like Pakistan and Indonesia face more negative attitudes than those from other Asian countries like China and the Philippines, the centre added.
And a 2015 investigation by the New Zealand Herald newspaper found that Muslims as a group were better qualified than other religious groups but found it more difficult to find jobs.
One of the major flashpoints for the community in recent years was the reproduction in 2006 by New Zealand newspapers and TV stations of cartoons considered blasphemous by Muslims.
It sparked outrage in the nation’s Islamic community, and there were demonstrations against the move, including one that drew hundreds of participants in Auckland.
Then Prime Minister Helen Clark, while defending the right of the press to publish what they want, called the cartoon decision “ill-judged” and “gratuitous”.
Clark on Friday described the Christchurch shootings as “a heinous hate crime”.
Indian police filed charges on Thursday against fast bowler Mohammed Shami, who has been accused of various crimes including assault and sexual harassment by his estranged wife.
Shami, who is expected to lead India’s pace attack in the upcoming cricket World Cup in England and Wales, has been locked in a protracted legal battle with Hasin Jahan since March 2018.
Jahan, a former model, publicly accused Shami of having numerous affairs and harassment.
“The chargesheet has been filed against Shami under IPC 498A (for mental and physical torture, and dowry harassment) and 354A (for sexual harassment and assault,” Dip Narayan Pakrashi, public prosecutor in the eastern city of Kolkata, told AFP.
“If charges are proved (in court), the punishment may amount to five years imprisonment and fine,” Pakrashi added.
Shami has dismissed all the accusations as a campaign to defame him.
Jahan has also accused Shami of corruption.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had withheld Shami’s contract pending a review into a series of allegations made by his wife, including corruption and even attempted murder.
Shami was soon cleared of corruption charges by the BCCI and offered an annual retainership contract by the world’s richest cricket board.
Scientists have found a way to reverse the direction of time with the help of a quantum computer, according to a breakthrough study.
The study obviously contradicts the basic law of physics while it also shows an advancement in the understanding of the quantum computer.
With the use of electrons and quantum mechanics, scientists were able to turn back time in an experiment that was as impossible as causing a broken rack of pool balls to go back in their original formation.
Anyone watching the computer would see the event as if time was moving backwards.
The research includes Lead researcher Dr Gordey Lesovik, head of the Laboratory of the Physics of Quantum Information at the Moscow Institute of Physics & Technology (MIPT) who was helped by colleagues in Switzerland and the US. The researchers hope that the technique will improve with time and eventually be more reliable and precise.
“We have artificially created a state that evolves in a direction opposite to that of the thermodynamic arrow of time,” said Lesovik.
The second law of thermodynamics describes the progression from order to disorder.
If you were to see a video of someone breaking an arranged triangle of pool balls into a mess, then watching that backwards would obviously look absurd.
The new experiment, however, is like giving the pool table such a perfectly calculated regression that the balls roll back into an orderly pyramid.
As the time machine is described in the Scientific Reports consists of a quantum computer which is made up of electron qubits. A qubit is a unit of information described by a zero, one or can be a mix of both the states in which case it becomes a superposition.
In the experiment, the qubits were made to form a complex changing pattern of zeros and ones during which the order was lost and they were all scattered. The program modified the state of the quantum program in such a way that it went back from chaos to an ordered pattern. This state meant that the qubits were rewound back in its original starting pattern.
The scientists have found that working with only two qubits makes time reversal more achievable with a success rate of 85 per cent but when more than two qubits are involved, the chances of it forming a time reversal modified pattern lessens to 50 per cent.
With time, scientists and researchers are hoping to use better devices to reduce discrepancies in results.
A Saudi airlines aircraft turned around and returned back to the airport after taking off from Jeddah after a passenger forgot her baby at the airport, Gulf News reported on Monday.
After the Kuala Lumpur bound flight took off, the Saudi mother informed the cabin crew that she had forgotten her baby at the boarding area of the terminal of the airport.
A video went viral on social media showing the pilot requesting permission to head back to the airport, while talking to ATC operators – who were surprised at the unusual request and tried to figure out the protocol to be observed in such a case.
“May God be with us. Can we come back or what?” the pilot was heard talking to air traffic controller.
“This flight is requesting to come back…a passenger forgot her baby in the waiting area”.
The operator then asks the pilot to re-confirm the reason for turning back.
The pilot was overhead speaking: “We told you, a passenger left her baby in the terminal and refuses to continue the flight.”
“Ok, head back to the gate. This is totally a new one for us!”
The pilot was lauded on agreeing to return to the airport after takeoff and considering the situation as an ’emergency case’.
