Kiwi Commentator Simon Doull has landed in hot waters after his sharp criticism of Pakistan captain Babar Azam.
Opening up about the one on one conversation he had with Babar Azam during the Pakistan super league match between Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United, Doull said in a video that he thinks Babar Azam is afraid of getting out and that is where he needs to work.
“I told Babar that you are the best player in the country but you are afraid of getting out. At some point of your innigns you need to play aggressive cricket and that was kind of the gist of my whole chat with him,” Doull said in the clip.
“Someone texted me yesterday that Quinton de Kock slows down his innings while close to 100, did they win? Yes it’s ok to slow down the innings when you have a solid start and you are chasing at the home conditions but it’s not a good approach when there is not a set target ahead of you and you slow down the innings just for your personal milestone,” he added.
“That was the whole crux of the comment. At times it gets blown out of proportion.
I’ll never ever hide behind anything that I say. I said it at the time, I stuck by it, and I have no issue that I said it,” Simon concluded.
Babar was criticised by Doull for slowing down to complete his maiden PSL century during the match between Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators in PSL. Doull got a lot of flak from the star batsman’s fans.
On Thursday, the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia announced that it had detained Evan Gershkovich, a US national who works as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, on suspicion of espionage on behalf of the United States.
The FSB has initiated a criminal investigation against Gershkovich, alleging that he gathered information classified as state secrets about a military factory. The FSB did not disclose the name or location of the factory but stated that Gershkovich was apprehended in Yekaterinburg, a city in the Urals, while attempting to obtain secret information. No evidence was provided to support the charges.
The FSB asserted in a statement that Gershkovich was acting on behalf of the American side and had been collecting sensitive information on one of Russia’s military-industrial complexes. The detention of Gershkovich marks the most serious public move against a foreign journalist since Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine.
Russia has implemented tighter censorship laws since its military operation in Ukraine began in February 2022. The Wall Street Journal and the US Embassy in Moscow did not respond immediately to requests for comment from Reuters. A US diplomatic source stated that the embassy had not been notified of the incident and was seeking information from Russian authorities about the case.
Foreign journalists covering Russia expressed their support for Gershkovich online, contending that he was a professional journalist and not a spy. Andrei Soldatov, an author and an expert in Russia’s security agencies, who is currently outside the country, stated on social media that Gershkovich was an excellent and courageous journalist and not a spy. He further noted that the detention of Gershkovich represented a frontal attack on all foreign correspondents still working in Russia and that the FSB was off the leash.
According to Russia’s Kommersant newspaper, Gershkovich will be transported to Moscow and detained in the Lefortovo prison, an FSB pre-trial detention facility. Gershkovich, who has covered Russia since 2017, previously worked at The Moscow Times and France’s Agence-France Presse news agency.
In recent months, he had primarily reported on Russian politics and the Ukraine conflict. On Thursday, his mobile phone was unreachable, and according to the Telegram messenger service, he was last online on Wednesday at 1:28 pm Moscow time.
Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday directed Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar to withdraw the curative review reference filed against Justice Qazi Faez Isa of the Supreme Court.
“On my direction, the government has decided to withdraw the Curative Review Petition against senior most Judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Qazi Faez Isa,” tweeted the PM.
On my direction, the government has decided to withdraw the Curative Review Petition against senior most Judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Qazi Faez Isa. The Curative Review was based on ill-will & meant to harass & intimidate the honourable Judge at the behest of Imran Niazi.
In a tweet posted today, the PM said that the curative review was based on “ill-will and meant to harass and intimidate the honourable Judge at the behest of Imran Niazi”.
Separately, in a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) today, PM Shehbaz said that Justice Isa and his family were “harassed and defamed” in the name of the reference.
“This was not a reference, but a vendetta by Imran Khan Niazi, a vindictive person, against a fair-minded judge who followed the path of the Constitution and the law,” the statement quoted the PM as saying.
“Imran Niazi misused the constitutional office of the president for this criminal act and President Arif Alvi became an instrument in the attack on the judiciary and an accomplice to a lie.”
I’ll be there for you but not when you’re making offensive jokes.
Since its debut in 1993, the popular American sitcom ‘Friends’ has won hearts of generations across the world with its hilarious depiction of the struggles of five adults living in an apartment near Central Park. Neat-freak Monica, the line “JOEY DOESN’T SHARE FOOD!”, Rachel and her lewks, but especially Ross and the line “PIVOT!” are part of our psyche.
But it turns out, not all that glitters is gold because recent generations have found the popular sitcom to be insensitive for the copious amounts of sexism, body shaming, and especially Joey and his creepy flirting.
Jennifer Aniston, who starred as the fashionista Rachel Green on the show, has addressed these controversies in an interview with AFP, while she was promoting her upcoming Netflix film ‘Murder Mystery 2’ which will co-star Adam Sandler. The actress lamented the dearth of comedy shows and criticism of ‘Friends’.
“There’s a whole generation of people, kids, who are now going back to episodes of ‘Friends’ and find them offensive,” Aniston said. “There were things that were never intentional and others… well, we should have thought it through — but I don’t think there was a sensitivity like there is now.”
The ‘Dumplin’ star went on to lament how difficult it is to make humor today.
“Now it’s a little tricky because you have to be very careful, which makes it really hard for comedians, because the beauty of comedy is that we make fun of ourselves, make fun of life,” she said. “[In the past] you could joke about a bigot and have a laugh — that was hysterical. And it was about educating people on how ridiculous people were. And now we’re not allowed to do that.”
Anniston went on to stress that it was necessary now more than ever that more shows like ‘Friends’ are made:
“Everybody needs funny! The world needs humor! We can’t take ourselves too seriously. Especially in the United States. Everyone is far too divided.”
The Senate has passed the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023 on Thursday, setting in motion limiting of Chief Justice of Pakistan’s discretionary powers to take suo motu notice.
Upon voting, the bill received 60 votes in favour and 19 in opposition, breezing through the Upper House despite Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) opposition to it.
A day earlier, the National Assembly (NA) passed the bill after fiery speeches by government members in parliament, criticising former chief justices.
The bill states that any matter that comes before the Supreme Court shall be heard and disposed of by a bench constituted by a Committee comprising the Chief Justice of Pakistan and two senior most judges, in order of seniority.
Moreover, it says that any application pleading urgency or seeking interim relief filed in a cause appeal or matter, shall be fixed for hearing within fourteen days from the date of filing.
The development has taken place after two top judges—Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah—criticised CJP Umar Ata Bandial, saying that the Supreme Court can’t rely on him for its decision. Using strong words against the CJP, both of them were of the view that institutions should review this “one-man power show”.
The Supreme Court was set to resume the hearing of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) plea against the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to defer the elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 11:30 but the hearing was delayed following Justice Amin-Ud-Din’s recusal.
At the outset of today’s hearing, when the five-member bench came to the courtroom, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial said Justice Amin wanted to say something.
“I recuse myself from the instant case in light of SC order issued by Justice Qazi Faez Isa,” the judge stated.
The original bench comprised CJP Bandial, Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Aminuddin, and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail.
Justice Amin-Ud-Din concurred with Justice Isa while Justice Shahid Waheed dissented with the majority order of 2-1 in a suo moto case regarding the grant of 20 marks to Hafiz-e-Quran students while seeking admission to MBBS/BDS Degree under Regulation 9(9) of the MBBS and BDS (Admissions, House Job and Internship) Regulations, 2018.
Everyone can agree that desi culture may have the finest food or the grandest weddings, but will also have the biggest closet full of family secrets and important discussions we need to talk about.
It’s incredibly important that adults and children in the family learn to keep their communication open with each other and discuss things that we often prevent opening up about.
So when a Twitter user asked their followers tat if given an opportunity, what are the things they wished desi culture would change?
Your children are not your second chance at life, stop implementing your takes on "life" and "profession" on them. Not everything needs to be controlled https://t.co/RBn9sHWlQM
Activist, screenwriter and producer Jemima Khan has shared a picture of two unidentified men who were caught trying to break into her London flat a few days ago. Khan asked her followers to identify the men so they could be reported to the police.
Speaking to Geo News, Khan said that she had immediately called the police and a report was registered with Scotland Yard.
“And then these two guys captured on camera trespassing a few weeks later in the day,” Khan revealed about the men whose pictures she had shared online.
This is not the first time Khan’s house has been targeted by critics, as last year she shared a picture of the protests organized by PMLN supporters outside her home, who were targeting her and two children, Suleiman and Kasim, with anti-semitic slurs.
Protests outside my house, targeting my children, antisemitic abuse on social media…. It’s almost like I’m back in 90s Lahore. #PuranaPakistanpic.twitter.com/0R2YOPcQrJ
Justice Shahid Karim of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday annulled Section 124-A, of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), dealing with sedition.
The order of the court came on a set of petitions filed by citizens challenging sedition laws on grounds that the government used it against its opponents.
It was stated in the petition that the Constitution of Pakistan gives every citizen the right to freedom of expression but still, Section 124-A is imposed for making speeches against the rulers.
According to the petitioners, Section 124-A of sedition is being used for political purposes and should be struck down.
What is Section 124-A of PPC?
The law states: “Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, the Federal or Provincial Government established by law shall be punished with imprisonment for life to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine.”
Are you worn out and tired by constantly hustling under capitalism? Adulting can be incredibly hard, especially when you’re working from 9 to 5 on a regular basis, its hard to find a good show to bring some peace of mind.
With the constant flow of sexist and repetitive plot lines and utlra-cringey jokes that Pakistani dramas can’t seem to put a cap on, we can understand the frustration our audiences could be going through to find something they can binge watch.
Especially now that one has to fast, you might be looking for a good show to help pass the time.
So ranging from some iconic Pakistani dramas to a spooky murder mystery and even some captivating Korean dramas, we have carefully crafted a list of shows we know our followers will drain in a day!
1 Dolly Ki Ayegi Baraat
How can we forget the iconic Saima Chaudhry, the fashion designer from Faisalabad? The hilarious comedy drama may have aired in 2010, but years later fans still binge watch the iconic drama and its sequels every Ramzan. The series starts with Dolly’s wedding preparations and the cultural clashes between two families as relationships form, misunderstanding emerge and discrimination based on class are pointed out.
2 Akbari Asghari
This one is for the ‘Dastaan’ fans, if you couldn’t get enough of Sanam Baloch and Fawad Khan’s jorri in a tragedy, then get prepared to wheeze in this hilarious family drama. A modern adaptation of the popular Urdu novel ‘Meerat-ul-Aroos’, the story follows two sisters, Akbari and Asghari living in the US, and their parent’s plan to get them married to their cousins living in Pakistan. While Akbari is a wild child who is unafraid to be bold in front of her parents, Asghari tries to be a dutiful daughter but resents the idea of marrying her cousin, when she actually wants to marry Roger.
3 The Haunting of Hill House
Not a fan of light-hearted comedy? Do you need something dark and spooky to beat the work fatigue? Then this is the perfect series that blends in the works of popular Gothic writers like Shirley Jackson, Edgar Allan Poe and explores themes like trauma, mental health and love. The series drifts between the present and the past, following the lives of five siblings and the aftermath of a tragedy they suffered in a house they moved into for the summer of 92. Slowly, strange events begin occurring, leading to each family member begins doubting each other.
4 Abbott Elementary
Have memorized ‘The Office’ and ‘Friends’ and now need another feel-good comedy series that makes you giddy in the same way? This comedy drama has received rave reviews from audiences for its stellar writing and especially performances from the likes of Quinta Brunson. Set at a Philadelphia public school, it follows five teachers who are passionate about their job, despite the limited funding they receive from the district to provide supplies to their children.
5 Mr Queen
We obviously cannot form a list of good television shows without including Korean dramas, because literally every one has a comfort K-drama on their list. And this is the one we want our audience to look up, for a feel-good time travel rom-com involving gender bending and romance. When modern chef Na In-Woo accidentally falls from a building while trying to escape cops, he wakes up to realize he’s in the body of a woman, who is set to become the queen in the Joseon era.
6 Tomorrow
Need something dark and broody to really draw you in? Fans of heartthrobs Rowoon and Lee Soo-Hyuk would definitely want to include this show in their watch list. When an accident causes Choi Joon-Woong to go into a coma and turn into a half-spirit, he is enlisted in a team of Grim Reapers whose job is to counsel people struggling with suicidal thoughts. Brilliantly performed with a gripping script that engages with a dark topic with humour and gentleness, this is definitely a drama you should look up.
