We don’t like Imran Khan, say Pakistan Taliban

The Pakistani Taliban on Thursday said they had not threatened to kill cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan if he holds a march to Waziristan, and blamed a Western news agency for falsely reporting the threat.

While denying the report, however, the Taliban made it clear they had no love for Khan, whom they view as a “liberal”.

The Associated Press had claimed that Tehrik-e-Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan said they would target Khan because he calls himself a “liberal”. Ahsan also warned they would attack anyone who participates in upcoming elections.

“If he comes, our suicide bombers will target him,” Ahsan said in an interview in the militant group’s South Waziristan stronghold. “We will kill him.”

“We will not accept help or sympathy from any infidel,” said Ahsan, according to AP. “We can fight on our own with the help of God,” he said.

Ahsan, denying the interview, said a militant ‘shura’ (council) will decide on a response to the march planned by Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party only a week before it reaches the tribal areas.

In a statement emailed to the media, Ahsan claimed a reporter of a Western news agency had interviewed him and then “added the death threat himself bypassing the norms of journalism”.

But the Taliban spokesman made it clear that his organisation has no sympathy for Khan.

Veena Malik back with her Ramadan show

KARACHI: The controversial Pakistani model-actor Veena Malik is back to host Hero TV show “Astaghfaar” which was called off after social media protest.

The channel had previously decided not to on-air the show featuring Veena Malik due to public outcry. “TV is for the awaam. If the awaam does not want to see Veena Malik on this Ramadan show, then we will cancel it,” a member of the production team was quoted as saying.

However, now the channel took the risk to on-air the “Astaghfaar” show hosted by Veena Malik in order to cover-up the loss which they had to bear for dropping Malik.

Four minutes short clip is available on Youtube in which the actor is seen as hosting a show along with the religious scholar, the reaction of people is yet to come but the Malik is very excited about her come back.

Malik quoted as saying, “I am very happy that my show Astaghfar is going to be on air I thank ‘Allah’ for giving me such opportunity to host this show. It is people’s loves which has brought me back on the show.”

Total Recall 2012 vs 1990

Supreme Court take Notice of TV Programs

ISLAMABAD: Taking notice of private TV channels allegedly ridiculing the judiciary, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered PEMRA to provide a list of such TV programmes on August 13.

A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, also said TV channels were now airing press conferences and programmes against the judiciary, and that the court was aware of certain talk shows that were aired for the sole purpose of maligning the judiciary.

During the hearing, Advocate Taufiq Asif, representing Qazi Hussain Ahmed, pleaded that TV channels were airing programmes in which the judiciary was being ridiculed, but PEMRA had taken no action against them. He requested the court to constitute a commission that would define obscenity and examine anti-judiciary TV programmes.

The court ordered PEMRA Acting Chairman Abdul Jabbar to submit the record related to TV programmes that were aired during the last week, and asked PEMRA whether it had taken action in this regard.

Deputy Attorney General Dil Muhammad Alizai requested the court to also take notice of the TV shows that run parodies of politicians, but the chief justice observed that such programmes were done "in good humour" and that they "are enjoyed".

Justice Tariq Pervaiz said such parodies were aired across the world and never faced any dissent, adding that parodies of even United States President Barack Obama were aired on TV. However, he said such parodies and cartoons should not be insulting and not target religion.

Hearing a letter filed by Justice (r) Wajihuddin and former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed against alleged obscenity on TV channels, the court also directed PEMRA acting chairman to submit a detailed report on August 13 on the TV programmes spreading vulgarity. It observed that TV channels were "spreading vulgarity" but PEMRA was doing nothing to prevent it.

The chief justice remarked, "We can't watch TV with our families due to this vulgarity." He said PEMRA would be responsible if obscenity was shown on TV channels. He also said some vulgar programmes were being aired even during iftar, which should be avoided.

During the hearing, PEMRA acting chairman stated that Indian channels had been banned in Pakistan to restrain broadcast of any improper programmes. He said six TV channels' licences had been suspended and 17 fined on these grounds. He also informed the court that laws related to regularity of programmes were not well defined. "Something which is vulgar to the complainants might not be vulgar to you and me," he added.

Justice Jawwad S Khawaja asked the acting chairman to categorise programmes with proper ratings – like done in the Western media – so that the people would know beforehand what they were watching.

The court also expressed concern over the appointment of a permanent PEMRA chairman as the acting chief had been working for more than a year. The court directed the office to club the petition of Javed Jabbar with the case and put it up for next hearing.

End.

83 Million Facebook Accounts Are Fake. Really, That Few?

This week a shocking discovery was made: Not nearly as many Facebook accounts are as fake as you think. Only 83 million accounts, according to the House of Zuck, are made up. Needless to say, they still want to close all of them.

“So we can sell that information to advertisers,” Sullivan muttered under his breath.
Leaving aside Abby Farle, most of them exist not because of what you’d think but because people are stupid. 45.8 million of these accounts, yes, the majority, are duplicates.

Usually these accounts are made to help other people, like your grandmother, actually get on Facebook, made as a joke, or made by annoying parents who have to fling their offspring into social networking for some stupid reason.
Of the remaining accounts, most of the rest are simply profiles opened by small businesses or “personalities” that wanted to start a Page and screwed up. Amazingly, there are just 14 million spam accounts on Facebook.
So, no, that guy currently insisting that Chick-Fil-A is doing God’s work is probably not fake. Probably.

as seen on uproxx.com

Bol Bachchan is harsh towards crew members

KARACHI: The workers of “Bol Bachchan” still unable to receive their daily wages which is approximately over Rs 2.4 million.

According to Indian media sources, Raju Shah, the financer of project took Ashtavinayak’s production major to court over bounced cheques worth Rs. 80 million and dues worth Rs. 360 million.

Sources added that Ashtavinayak has issued cheques that have bounced not only once but twice. First cheque was an Axis Bank cheque of Rs. 24,55,654 dated June 30 that favoured the Allied Mazdoor Union that disgraced and Second was a Yes Bank cheque dated July 15 for the same amount.  

Vice Chairman of Allied Mazdoor Union, Prem Singh Thakur said, "This money was meant for those who worked on the sets of Bol Bachchan. What to do? The payment due to them amounts to Rs 24,55,654. But we don't get convincing answers from them."

"This is a really sad story. Bol Bachchan is supposed to have earned around Rs 100 crore. So why are they not shelling out what is a miniscule amount from the astronomical sum they've earned? These workers were appointed on daily wages. Eid is round the corner and most of them are Muslims. Should they not celebrate?" he added.

Sources added that Thakur praised Rohit Shetty that he was the only person who helps us in getting the money.

iPhone 5 Rumors

As a technology journalist, I get a lot of questions from family, friends, colleagues, and even total strangers during the year about tech purchases. They're always interesting, but around this time of year one or two questions loudly and powerfully drown out all the others:

"Should I get the current iPhone or should I wait for the new one?"

"When is the next iPhone [or iPhone 5] coming out?"

I've been asked some variation of that question more times than I can count. Even my colleague's 81-year-old mother asked me when the iPhone 5 is coming out. (We don't even know if Apple will call it the iPhone 5.)

WATCH: A Video Guide to the iPhone 5 Rumors

Yes, people of all ages are waiting on Apple's new iPhone or asking if they should wait. In fact, Apple only sold 26 million phones last quarter, down from the 35.1 million they sold the quarter before, because of the speculation around its next phone.

And it makes sense that people are waiting. History has shown that Apple releases a new phone every year. It was on Oct. 4 of last year that the iPhone 4S was announced.

My answer to those who ask if they should wait is a resounding yes. Why? The long-winded answer to that one is below in a rumor round-up.

Design, Screen

The design of the iPhone hasn't changed in the last two years, but that's expected to change with the next phone. Photos have leaked from Asia showing a phone with a two-toned aesthetic. Recent photos showed a grayish version, but there is also a photo of a white version. The phone appeared to have a slightly larger footprint than current models, since it has a longer screen.

Numerous news outlets (The Wall Street Journal, 9to5Mac, iLounge, etc.) have reported that the next iPhone will have a 4- or 3.95-inch screen, as opposed to the 3.5-inch screen that has been a constant on all generations of the iPhone. From the photos, the screen makes the phone taller, though not much wider.

There's also more info out there about the screen: It will apparently use the second generation of Corning's tough Gorilla Glass, which is thinner but still just as durable. Also, The Wall Street Journal has reported that Apple has engineered a liquid crystal display with the touch screen built right into it (called in-cell technology). Currently the touch screen is a layer on top of the LCD.

New Dock Connector

The dock connector -- another major iPhone constant -- is expected to change. The dock connector or charging port on the phone is rumored to be smaller than the one on the iPhone 4S. This has been reported by a number of sources and the leaked images show a smaller port (Reuters reported that the 30-pin port would be replaced by a 19-pin connector). Additionally, the leaked photos show that the headphone jack will be relocated to the bottom of the phone.

Apple recently changed the charging port on its new MacBook Pro with Retina Display and sells adaptors so you can use old charging cables with the laptop. It's likely that Apple will do the same for the next iPhone.

Faster Internals

The next iPhone will be faster. Some sources suggest that the phone will have an A5 processor, the same one in the new iPad. The new chip brings faster processing power and higher-end graphics. This really seems like a no-brainer, considering every iPhone has been faster than its predecessor.

Rumors of an LTE/4G iPhone have persisted for a long time, but it looks like this will finally be the year. Many believe it will use the next generation of Qualcomm chips; the head of Qualcomm told analysts in April that demand far exceeded what they expected for its upcoming chip.

There's one outlier in terms of internal parts: NFC (near-field communication). NFC, which enables tap-to-share or tap-to-pay functionality, has been rumored to be included in the next iPhone by 9to5Mac and the China Times. The technology would assist with mobile payments, another area Apple has been rumored to be jumping into with its new Passbook app.

Other reports, though, including one from The Independent, say that the technology was scrapped. Some have said it could have been cut because of shortened battery life.

As for battery life, there aren't any concrete rumors on the size of the battery. While all these new performance parts would use more juice, it's not likely that Apple would release a phone with less battery life than the current iPhone 4S.

Software

Apple has confirmed a lot more about the software for the next iPhone than about the hardware. (Apple declined to comment on any of the future iPhone rumors.)

Microsoft launches revamped Hotmail

Microsoft has unveiled a revamped, Facebook-friendly version of its free online email service in an attempt to reverse market share losses to Google's fast-growing Gmail.

The world's largest software company is renaming its Hotmail service Outlook, giving it a sharp new look, social network links, and new features for handling the tide of junk and mass mail that swamps many users.

Hotmail was still the world's largest online mail service as of June, according to the latest comScore figures available, with 324 million users, or about 36 per cent of the global market.

But it is losing customers to Google's Gmail, the fastest-growing rival, which now has about 31 per cent of the market. Yahoo Mail is static with about 32 per cent.

In a bid to recapture growth, Microsoft is renaming the service Outlook, a name familiar to most corporate workers who use Microsoft's Office email application, and sprucing up the whole experience. Hotmail users will be prompted to switch over to the new service over the next few months.

Hotmail, launched in 1996, was one of the first online email services, but it has not been updated significantly by Microsoft for eight years.

"A lot has changed in the last eight years, and we think it's time for a fresh look at email," Chris Jones, Microsoft's corporate vice president of Windows Live, said in a blog post on Tuesday.

The new look is clean and uncluttered, featuring lots of white space, reminiscent of Google's recent makeover of Gmail. Relatively unobtrusive advertisements appear in a column to the right of the screen when looking at folders. They do not appear when a message is open.

Users can link up with their Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ accounts, to see the latest updates from friends and contacts. Online chat is available via Facebook.

Newsletters, offers, daily deals and social updates make up over 80 per cent of a typical inbox, according to Microsoft's own research. To help combat that overflow, the new service automatically detects mass messages and puts them in separate folders. Users can customise the process to sort mail any way they want.

The new mail service also allows easy use of Microsoft's internet-based products, such as SkyDrive for storing documents, Office Web Apps for working away from a PC, and will eventually have Skype video chat built in.

Users can access the service at outlook.com. Microsoft said the service is currently a "preview", meaning more features will likely be added before the final version is fully launched.

via reuters. 

Nawaz involved in money laundering, has dubious assets

ISLAMABAD: Reacting to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) allegations, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday said the PML-N chief was involved in money laundering and that the charges the PML-N had levelled against him were baseless, adding that not a single penny of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital was misused.

In a tit-for-tat response to the press conference of Khawaja Asif of the PML-N at the Punjab House earlier in the day, Khan called a press conference wherein he said the PML-N was power hungry and could go to any extent for its interests.

Rejecting the allegations against him, Khan said that Nawaz Sharif had assets in foreign countries and the PML-N leadership was misusing public money in Raiwand and in their personal projects. “I am openly saying Nawaz Sharif is involved in money laundering and has dubious assets worth millions in foreign countries,” said Khan and challenged Khawaja Asif to go to court against him.

Terming the PML-N press conference of Khawaja Asif a drama, the PML-N chief said its aim was to damage the Shaukat Khaman Memorial Trust.

He said he had not used a single rupee of the donations for personal purposes, adding that the accounts of the hospital were transparent and their details were available on its official website. Khan said the PML-N had also levelled allegations against him in the past and damaged the cause of the SKMH.

Myanmar unleashed violence against Muslims: HRW

BANGKOK: Myanmar security forces opened fire on Rohingya Muslims, committed rape and stood by as rival mobs attacked each other during a recent wave of sectarian violence, a rights watchdog said on Wednesday.

The authorities failed to protect both Muslims and Buddhists and then "unleashed a campaign of violence and mass roundups against the Rohingya", New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report.

The violence which erupted in June in Rakhine, state between Buddhists and Rohingya, has left about 80 people dead from both sides, based on official figures - an estimate that HRW said appeared "grossly underestimated".

Hundreds of Rohingya men and boys have been rounded up and remain incommunicado in the western region of the country formerly known as Burma, it said.

Members of both Muslim and Buddhist communities committed horrific acts of violence with reports of beheadings, stabbings, shootings and widespread arson in Rakhine, also known as Arakan state, the report added.

"What is remarkable is that if the atrocities that we saw in Arakan had happened before the government reform process had started, the international reaction would have been swift and strong," said HRW Asia Deputy Director Phil Robertson.

"But the international community appears to be blinded by a romantic narrative of sweeping change in Burma, signing new trade deals and lifting sanctions even while the abuses continue," he told a news conference. The report, based on dozens of witness interviews, said that the events in Rakhine "demonstrate that state-sponsored persecution and discrimination persist" despite the government's pledge to end ethnic unrest.

Police and paramilitary forces "opened fire on Rohingya with live ammunition", it added.

It quoted one Rohingya man in the Rakhine state capital Sittwe as saying that security forces watched as a Buddhist mob started torching houses. "When the people tried to put out the fires, the paramilitary shot at us. And the group beat people with big sticks."

Another Rohingya man said, "I was just a few feet away. I was on the road. I saw them shoot at least six people." Decades of discrimination have left the Rohingya stateless, and they are viewed by the United Nations as one of the world's most persecuted minorities. Myanmar's government considers the estimated 800,000 Rohingya in the country to be foreigners while many citizens see them as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh and view them with hostility.

Myanmar's President Thein Sein in July told the United Nations that refugee camps or deportation was the "solution" for the Rohingya. HRW also criticised Bangladesh for turning away "hundreds and perhaps thousands of asylum seekers" fleeing the recent deadly unrest in Myanmar.

The clashes erupted following the rape and murder of a Rakhine woman and the subsequent lynching of 10 Muslims by a crowd of angry Buddhists.

The violence, along with fighting in northern Kachin state, has cast a shadow over widely praised reforms by Thein Sein over the past year, including the release of hundreds of political prisoners and the election of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to parliament.

Myanmar's government this week rejected accusations of abuse by security forces in Rakhine, after the United Nations raised fears of a crackdown on Muslims.

Myanmar's Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin told reporters on Monday that the government had exercised "maximum restraint" in bringing an end to the violence. Fears about the situation have spread across the Islamic world, with threats of violent reprisals against Myanmar from extremists from Pakistan to Indonesia. afp