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Author: News Desk

  • Shakib Al Hasan may be banned from playing for Bangladesh

    Shakib Al Hasan may be banned from playing for Bangladesh

    The future of Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan with the national team has come under serious doubt after Sports Advisor Asif Mahmud declared that he will not allow him to play for the country again.

    Controversy erupted on Sunday when Shakib, currently in self-imposed exile, shared an old photo with former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on social media and wished her a happy birthday.

    Shortly after, Bangladesh’s young sports advisor Asif Mahmud posted a message on social media without naming Shakib. He wrote that people had criticized him for not reinstating a certain individual, but he was right in his decision.

    Responding to the post, Shakib wrote, “Finally someone admitted that I cannot wear the Bangladesh jersey again because of him. Maybe one day I will return to my homeland. I love Bangladesh.”

    Speaking to a private TV channel, Mahmud made his stance clear. “We cannot allow him to hold the Bangladesh flag. It is impossible for me to let him wear the Bangladesh jersey. My directive to the Bangladesh Cricket Board is clear. Shakib Al Hasan will never play for Bangladesh again,” he said.

    Mahmud added that Shakib had strong ties with the Awami League.

    Shakib, however, defended himself, saying his post had no political motives. “She was deeply connected with cricket. I wished her a happy birthday only for that reason,” he said.

    Shakib remains one of Bangladesh’s most successful cricketers. He last represented the national team in the October 2024 Test series against India.

    He also served as a member of parliament for the Awami League but has not returned to the country since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government. 

    His name also appeared in a case related to the killing of a protester during anti-government demonstrations last year.

  • ‘If India want Asia Cup trophy, their captain must collect it from ACC office,’ reports quote Naqvi as saying

    ‘If India want Asia Cup trophy, their captain must collect it from ACC office,’ reports quote Naqvi as saying

    Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Mohsin Naqvi has said that if the Indian team wants the Asia Cup trophy, their captain will have to personally collect it from the ACC office.

    According to media reports quoting sources, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Vice President Rajeev Shukla, during a meeting of the council on Tuesday, repeatedly asked for the trophy.

    Naqvi responded that the matter was not on the meeting’s agenda, insisting the Indian captain visited the ACC headquarters to collect it.

    Reports also confirmed that no decision was taken during the meeting on handing the trophy to India.

    The controversy surrounding the trophy erupted after India defeated Pakistan in the Asia Cup final but refused to accept the trophy from Naqvi, who also serves as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). 

    With India refusing to accept it, Naqvi stood firm and the presentation ended without the trophy being handed over.

    The council administration left with the trophy while the Indian players continued waiting on the field.

  • Spanish goalkeeper Raul Ramirez dies after on-field collision

    Spanish goalkeeper Raul Ramirez dies after on-field collision

    The Royal Cantabrian Football Federation (RFCF) confirmed the death of teenage goalkeeper Raul Ramirez after a tragic accident during a fifth-division match.

    Spanish media reported that the 19-year-old Collindres shot-stopper suffered a severe head injury during Saturday’s game against Revilla, which triggered cardiac arrest. Medical staff rushed him off the field by ambulance to a hospital, where doctors later declared him brain dead.

    Ramirez had expressed his wish to donate his organs, according to RFCF.

    In a statement, the federation said, “We regret to announce that Collindres Sports Club goalkeeper Raul Ramirez was left brain dead following an accidental collision during last week’s match.”

    RFCF announced three days of mourning and confirmed that a minute of silence will be observed in upcoming fixtures.

    “Cantabrian football mourns the sudden loss of a young man who left us at just 19,” the statement added. The federation also extended condolences to his family, friends, and Collindres Sports Club.

  • Islamabad administration seals seven illegal sheesha cafés, arrests six

    Islamabad administration seals seven illegal sheesha cafés, arrests six

    The Islamabad district administration has carried out a late-night crackdown on illegal indoor sheesha cafés, sealing seven establishments, imposing heavy fines and arresting six people.

    Deputy Commissioner Islamabad, Irfan Nawaz Memon, said indoor sheesha cafés are banned under Islamabad High Court orders and warned that strict action will continue against violators.

    “No indoor sheesha café will be allowed to operate. Anyone found inside during raids, including customers, will face legal consequences,” DC Memon said.

    He also shared details of the operation on X (formerly Twitter): “Islamabad district administration sealed seven cafés, imposed heavy fines, and arrested six people last night for running illegal indoor sheesha cafés. Indoor sheesha cafés are illegal, and action against them will continue.”

    The administration has directed assistant commissioners to ensure immediate enforcement in their areas and urged citizens to report illegal activity. Surprise inspections will continue across the city.

  • Goodbye Dear; Veteran comedian Lucky Dear passes away after long health battle

    Goodbye Dear; Veteran comedian Lucky Dear passes away after long health battle

    Veteran stage actor and comedian Lucky Dear has passed away on Tuesday after a long battle with multiple ailments. 

    Family members told the media that Lucky had been receiving treatment for diabetes and lung disease since a few weeks in Lahore’s Mayo Hospital. His condition deteriorated rapidly, after which he fell into a coma. 

    Lucky had acted in dozens of stage plays and in the last decade of his life, had transitioned to television with ease. 

    His funeral, scheduled to be held in Baghbanpura in Lahore on Tuesday afternoon, is expected to be attended by other luminaries of the stage.

  • Upcoming Bollywood film slammed for trying to depict Taj Mahal as ancient temple

    Upcoming Bollywood film slammed for trying to depict Taj Mahal as ancient temple

    Bollywood is continuing its dangerous trend of rewriting history to appease Hindutva narratives with an upcoming film that will present an “alternative history” of the iconic Taj Mahal. 

    The Taj Story, starring the once-beloved-now-reviled Paresh Rawal, will be released in cinemas on October 31, 2025. The courtroom drama will focus on alternative histories of the Taj – built by Muslim Mughal king Shah Jehan as a mausoleum for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal- including one conspiracy theory that says that the monument was originally an ancient temple called Tejo Mahalaya. 

    A promotional video shows Lord Shiva emerging from the dome of the Taj, with Paresh Rawal staring grumpy into the camera. The video was slammed immediately after it was posted online. Netizens were swift to condemn what they said was yet another attempt by the Indian film industry, and Paresh Rawal, to stoke communal fires. 

    One X (formerly Twitter) account laid it out straight, saying, “I won’t be surprised if these people issue a (sic) permission to demolish Taj Mahal in the coming years.” 

    Tech wizard Sabeer Bhattia joined the growing list of people offended by the premise of the film, writing on X: “The film The Taj Story revives the debunked claim that the Taj Mahal was once a Hindu temple. Historians reject it as pseudo-history, but critics fear it fuels communal divides.” 

    One netizen pointed out that the ruling BJP thrives on issues that create communal rifts: “After Babri, now sanghis are going to claim Taj Mahal. This would probably be the main election agenda of BJP in 2029.” 


    Paresh Rawal, accused by many of being a bigot, came under direct fire, angering many with the video he shared on his account. One social media user called him a “sick Sanghi”:  “A sick Sanghi like @SirPareshRawal can think about acting in a propaganda movie & try to convince Indians to demolish India’s pride “Taj Mahal” in the name of Lord Shiva.”

    Another account didn’t mince any words when addressing Paresh Rawal, calling him an “imbecile”. 

    “Oh, Paresh Rawal, you absolute relic of recycled outrage—look at you, perched there like a discount wizard, plucking the dome off the Taj Mahal like it’s a goddamn party hat hiding a cheap magic trick.” 

    “Paresh Rawal has become evil personified. Look at his eyes. They aren’t the eyes of a human but a demon,” one person wrote. 

  • ‘She started arguing with her husband’: Madiha Imam recalls being confused with Yumna Zaidi by fan abroad

    ‘She started arguing with her husband’: Madiha Imam recalls being confused with Yumna Zaidi by fan abroad

    Pakistani actor Madiha Imam has recalled a hilarious mix-up when she was mistaken for fellow actress Yumna Zaidi, leading to an unexpected confrontation between a fan and her husband.

    Appearing on Geo News’ Hasna Mana Hai, hosted by Tabish Hashmi, the actress recounted the incident that took place abroad. “I was shopping overseas when a woman rushed up to me, expressing admiration for my dramas and enthusiastically listing several titles,” she recalled.

    To her surprise, none of the dramas mentioned were hers. “As the woman continued naming hit serials, I realised she had mistaken me for Yumna Zaidi, as all the shows she named featured Yumna.”

    “I stayed quiet intentionally,” Madiha said, adding that she thought the fan would take a selfie and later realise it wasn’t Yumna.

    “But that didn’t happen. She even asked for an autograph, and I didn’t know how to tell her I’m Madiha, not Yumna.”

    The situation escalated when the woman’s husband arrived and tried to clarify the mix-up, telling his wife that she was speaking to Madiha Imam, not Yumna Zaidi. “However, the woman refused to believe him and started arguing… insisting she knew her dramas better than he did.”

    “I just wrote ‘love’ on the autograph and left,” Madiha said, laughing about how the fan walked away mid-argument with her husband.

  • Shaheen Afridi gets dedicated fan zone at Brisbane Heat for BBL

    Shaheen Afridi gets dedicated fan zone at Brisbane Heat for BBL

    Big Bash League side Brisbane Heat have announced a special fan zone named the “Shaheen Shah Afridi Fan Bay” to honour Pakistani pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, who is expected to represent the franchise for the first time this season.

    Tickets for the Shaheen Bay will go on sale soon with the exclusive zone active during all five of Brisbane Heat’s home games at the Gabba. The matches are scheduled for December 19, December 27, January 2, January 10 and January 18.

    The franchise said the fan zone has been created to celebrate Shaheen’s arrival in the BBL and to allow the Pakistani community and cricket fans to show their support.

    The honour, however, comes at a time when the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has suspended the No Objection Certificates (NOCs) of national players for foreign leagues.

    The decision, confirmed through an official notification issued by PCB Chief Operating Officer Sameer Ahmed, came a day after Pakistan lost to India in the final of the Asia Cup.

    The board had earlier granted NOCs to several players for participation in BBL, but those approvals have now been put on hold.

    The move directly affects Pakistan’s leading cricketers, including Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan and Faheem Ashraf.

  • PTI, PML-N at odds over Trump’s Gaza plan; divided over Imran Khan’s support for two-state solution

    PTI, PML-N at odds over Trump’s Gaza plan; divided over Imran Khan’s support for two-state solution

    United States (US) President Donald Trump has announced that Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir, among other leaders of Muslim and Arab nations, are on board with his 20-point Gaza peace proposal.

    Pakistan has also welcomed the initiative at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), saying that Islamabad would actively participate in the consultative process to support a sustainable resolution to the conflict.

    The same, however, didn’t sit well with critics in Pakistan, who accused the government of “selling Palestine out” by supporting the plan that aims to achieve a two-state-solution to the issue.

    While several netizens took to social media to accuse the government of “caving under pressure to accept Israel” as “predicted” by former prime minister Imran Khan after his ouster, others are posting excerpts from Khan’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) from 2020 wherein he himself had also advocated for the two-state solution.

    “Whoever recognises Israel against the will of the Palestinians will deserve a greater curse than Israel itself, but it should be remembered that Pakistan has always supported the two-state solution for Israel and Palestine,” journalist Iqrar Ul Hassan said while setting the record straight in a post on X.

    “Imran Khan, as prime minister, also supported the two-state solution in the UNGA session,” he added.

    Journalist and anchor Mansoor Ali Khan also shared an old video of Khan wherein he had accepted the two-state solution.

    “Palestine remains a festering wound. A just and lasting settlement is indispensable, for the Middle East and actually the world. Illegal annexations of Palestinian territory, the building of illegal settlements and the imposition of inhuman living conditions on the Palestinian people especially in Gaza cannot bring peace to a troubled region,” Khan had said while addressing the 75th session of the UNGA.

    He had gone on to reiterate Pakistan’s long-standing support for a two-state solution in line with the UNGA and UNSC resolutions.

    People, however, called out both journalists, saying that Khan had spoken of the state of Palestine and Israel as per UN resolutions that mentioned pre-1967 borders and Al-Quds Al-Sharif as the capital of Palestine, which were missing in Trump’s proposed plan.

  • ‘Out of this world’; Indian duo Salim-Sulaiman can’t stop praising Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

    ‘Out of this world’; Indian duo Salim-Sulaiman can’t stop praising Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

    It has been 28 long years since the legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan passed away at a relatively young age, leaving his fans from across the world devastated by the loss. 

    But the great singer’s admirers still remember him in glowing words, including his fans and collaborators from across the border. 

    Salim-Sulaiman Merchant, the sibling duo who has composed music for many hit Indian films, recounted their experience working with Nusrat in a recent interview. 

    Told by an audience member that he and his colleagues in office listen to Nusrat when their headphones are on, Salim replied, “He was too good.” 

    He then went on to recount that though he didn’t remember the year, he worked with Nusrat in Mumbai on Aur Pyar Ho Gaya. “He would have lunch and then start around 4 pm. And then the session would continue till 12 am or 1 am. His style was unique and obviously, his singing was lajawaab.” 

    At this point Sulaiman chimed in to say that when the duo worked with the iconic singer on the smash hit song Piya Re, his voice was “like a small child’s, full of truth and honesty. He had a very spiritual voice.” 

    He also said that the qawali king talked to everyone with “a lot of love and respect.” 

    At this point the host interjected to say that he often imagines Nusrat singing in a huge concert in one of the newer large venues in India. “What an atmosphere that would have been,” he mused.