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  • Basketball legend Kobe Bryant killed in helicopter crash; Mehwish, Mahira express shock

    Basketball legend Kobe Bryant killed in helicopter crash; Mehwish, Mahira express shock

    NBA legend Kobe Bryant died Sunday when a helicopter he was riding in crashed and burst into flames in thick fog, killing all nine people on board including his teenage daughter.

    According to reports, Bryant, 41, was travelling with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other passengers and crew when their Sikorsky S-76 helicopter slammed into a rugged hillside in Calabasas, west of Los Angeles. They had been expected at the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks for a basketball game.

    Bryant, a five-time NBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist, is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players in history, an iconic figure who became one of the faces of his sport during a glittering two-decade career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

    Dozens of firefighters and paramedics battled across steep terrain to reach the flaming wreckage at the crash site but found no survivors, officials said.

    The National Transportation Safety Board said an 18-strong team of investigators would be sent to California to probe the causes of the crash.

    Bryant’s death sent shockwaves throughout the world and left fans stunned. Tributes to Bryant flooded in from former US presidents, pop stars and athletes from different sports. Local celebrities including Mehwish Hayat, Mahira Khan and Hamza Ali Abbasi mourned Bryant’s death.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B7y9EDTBxPA/

    His complete devotion to his daughter also made headlines. He is quoted as saying “The best thing that happens is when we go out and fans would come up to me and she’ll (Gianna) be standing next to me and they’ll be like, ‘You’ve gotta have a boy … You gotta have somebody to carry on your tradition, the legacy.’ “She’s like, ‘Oy, I got this. Don’t need no boy for that.’ I’m like, that’s right. Yes, you do, you got this.”

    Son of former NBA player Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, the Lakers legend was born in Philadelphia in 1978. The five-time NBA champion began his career in 1996 straight out of high school and lasted until his retirement in 2016. He also was a two-time Olympic gold medalist, helping spark the US squad of NBA stars to titles in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London.

    Bryant bowed out of the NBA in 2016, scoring 60 points in his final appearance before his adoring fans at the Staples Center. It was a fairytale farewell to a sporting career that had begun two decades earlier.

  • Squash legend Jahangir Khan stuns with incredible weight loss transformation

    Squash legend Jahangir Khan stuns with incredible weight loss transformation

    One of the finest squash players of all time, Jahangir Khan has left everyone stunned with his amazing transformation. Khan shared a new picture of himself in which looked fresh and appeared to have lost a great amount of weight.

    https://twitter.com/JK555squash/status/1221080704227971075?s=20

    In case you didn’t know, here’s what the player looked like previously. The squash champion had gained a considerable amount of weight post his retirement from the sport.

    Soon after Khan shared the picture, people began to praise him for his incredible transformation.

    Meanwhile, others attributed his transformation to surgery. However, Khan refuted the claims and said that he “always believed in determination with discipline”. The 56-year-old, who retired in 1993, was known for his never-say-die approach and stamina.

    Khan has had a prolific career. At 17, he became the youngest ever to win the World Open Champion. He won this title a total of six times. The squash legend also won the prestigious British Open a record 10 times. He still holds the record of remaining unbeaten in 555 consecutive matches played over a period of five years and eight months.

    Khan has also been awarded the Pride of Performance and the Hilal-e-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan for his achievements in squash.

  • Modi’s India is intolerant: The Economist

    Modi’s India is intolerant: The Economist

    Magazine covers from the beginning of the previous decade highlight the contrasting fortunes of Pakistan and India as the two neighbouring countries enter a new decade on the back of an eventful past ten years, Geo reported.

    While India has been declared “intolerant”, about a decade ago, as shown in The Economist’s cover, it was portrayed as the fastest growing country that would eventually outpace the growth of China.  

    New edition

    However, on the contrary, Pakistan is “the best holiday destination for 2020” according to the cover of Conde Nast Traveler magazine. 

    Pakistan was known as “one of the most dangerous countries” in the world just about ten years ago, but is now the top tourist destination for travellers as reported by Forbes.

  • Shoaib Malik becomes the first Pakistani to play international cricket over four decades

    Shoaib Malik becomes the first Pakistani to play international cricket over four decades

    Shoaib Malik, whose surprise return to the squad and unbeaten half century – which helped Pakistan chase down Bangladesh’s 142-run target at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Friday – has become the first Pakistani and eighth player to play international cricket over four decades.

    Other players who have played over four decades include Wilfred Rhodes, Brian Close, Frank Woolley, Sachin Tendulkar, Jack Hobbs, George Gunn and Sanath Jayasuriya, according to sports journalist Saj Sadiq.

    Despite earlier criticism, Malik manged to win his fans and hearts of the cricket audiences when he led the host team to victory by scoring a match-winning 58 not out in the first T20I. The win further consolidated Pakistan’s chances of hanging on to their world No. 1 ranking in the shortest format.

    Following his successful innings at the match, Malik shared a picture of himself with his Man of the Match trophy.

    The 37-year-old, who made his debut in 1999 against West Indies in an ODI, played his 434th international game on Friday in Lahore.

    Malik is, however, only the third Pakistan player to play over 20 years. The other two are Imran Khan and Mushtaq Mohammad. Prime Minister Imran played for 20 years and 218 days while Mushtaq played for 20 years and 3 days.

  • VIDEO: PML-N’s Azma Bokhari hits back, tries to find atta at stores; PTI files lawsuit

    VIDEO: PML-N’s Azma Bokhari hits back, tries to find atta at stores; PTI files lawsuit

    The PML-N Azma Bokhari vs. Punjab Food Authority Chairman Umar Tanveer continues as Azma searches stores for the atta promised by PTI. The two had a big argument on a talk show which led to Umar dropping off bags of atta outside Azma’s house. Azma and Umar sparred once more on talk shows after the event, with Azma saying that PTI was trying to harass her and Umar saying that Azma lied and tried to malign PTI by saying atta was not available in stores.

    Umar Tanveer filed a defamation suit against Azma, saying that she had made false allegations against him in a talk show, alleging that he had given and taken bribes for political gains. He has filed a 10 crore law suit against her.

    The legal notice to Azma
    Umar Tanveer is askign for 100 million rupees in damages

    Meanwhile Azma visited stores, asking shopkeepers if they had any atta.

    WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:

    Azma Bokhari at stores asking for atta
  • Cloud kitchen startups make Indian housewives major economic force

    Cloud kitchen startups make Indian housewives major economic force

    At a time when South Asian women long to demand their basic rights in the face of hardships such as a convincing their families for proper access to education and the world for better employment opportunities, it appears that technology has transmuted their dreams into a reality.

    In India, new smartphone apps like Curryful, Homefoodi and Nanighar are tapping the skills of housewives to prepare meals for hungry urbanites and millennials who cannot manage both office and domestic work simultaneously.

    These cloud kitchen restaurants have no physical presence but they deliver delicious home-cooked food right at your doorstep.

    “Housewives were a huge untapped resource and we want to be the Uber of home-cooked food,” said Ben Mathew, who launched Curryful in 2018.

    His company has five people for the app’s daily maintenance and operations, who work with 52 women and three men. This 31-year-old web entrepreneur hopes to get one million women chefs on board by 2022.

    Here is an interesting drill that they do, they usually train employees in processes of sanitisation, cooking, prep time and packaging, and then launch them on the platform.

    With India’s cloud kitchen sector expected to reach $1.05 billion by 2023, according to data platform Inc42, other companies are also keen to get a slice of the action.

  • Pictures of Switzerland tagged as North Waziristan trending on Twitter

    Pictures of Switzerland tagged as North Waziristan trending on Twitter

    This tweet from Khalid Wazir, whose bio on the popular social platform says that he is a ‘Pushtun, Engineer-Photographer’ has gone viral.

    Viral tweet showing pictures of Switzerland with the caption “My cows, Razamk North Waziristan”

    Khalid tweeted pictures of Switzerland saying, ‘My cows, Razamk North Waziristan’. The tweet went viral and was misleading. Khalid tweeted the pictures and then, replying to his own tweet said:

    In an obvious jab at analyst Saleem Safi, Khalid seems to have meant that Safi is trying to say that all is perfect in Waziristan.

    His first tweet went viral and politicians retweeted the pictures, not realizing the context of the tweet.

    Khalid then clarified why he had posted the pictures.

    https://twitter.com/Kwazir01/status/1219976133837352960

    Despite his clarification, the pictures are still trending on Twitter.

  • Businesses in Saudi Arabia will no longer shut down during namaz

    Businesses in Saudi Arabia will no longer shut down during namaz

    The Saudis, known for their strict adherence to Shariah laws, have recently progressed in technology and societal aspects as they attempt to rebrand themselves as a modern state. Keeping that in mind, concerned authorities have decided not to close businesses during prayer time because they want to create a 24 hours business environment and a promising economy.

    Dr Al Gaith, a member of Saudi Arabia’s Shoura Council, expressed “There is no legal base for closing shops for prayer after amending the bylaws of the authority. Forcing shops to close their doors and people to pray right at the beginning of prayer time, and to do this in a mosque, stands no ground – neither in Shariah nor in law.”

    “Rather is rather a breach of both of them, and an infringement on people’s religious rights (right of Ijtihad freedom to follow a reference) and worldly rights (freedom of movement, shopping, benefiting of services round the clock without being forced to abide by judicial matters subject to conflict and differences.” 

    Saudi Arabia is now aiming to become tourist-friendly. Non-Muslims are allowed to visit the country and last year the government granted permanent residence to a foreigner. A few years back, it was near to impossible.

  • 31% Pakistanis lost their jobs in 2019: report

    31% Pakistanis lost their jobs in 2019: report

    A global research company, IPSOS, conducted the second Global Consumer Confidence Index survey which revealed that about 31% of Pakistanis have either lost their jobs or know people who lost their jobs in 2019.

    It also stated that around 83% of Pakistanis are fearful of losing their jobs and inflation, unemployment and increasing poverty were the problems that were the most worrying for them.

    People are also uncomfortable making big expenditures. According to the survey, 91% of people are less comfortable buying a car or a home compared to a year ago. 90% are scared of making major household expenses.

    The survey also stated that 17% of businessmen fear going into a loss and only 21% believe that the country is going in the right direction.

    Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan is hopeful that 2020 will be the year of jobs in Pakistan right after the economy stabilization plan. He said that the media had tried to ‘insult’ and attack him for his goals.

    Results of the survey are based on a nationally representative sample of 2,900 people aged between 19 and 65. It was conducted in December 2019.

  • I have more money than he has hair: Shoaib Akhtar about India’s Sehwag

    I have more money than he has hair: Shoaib Akhtar about India’s Sehwag

    Former Pakistani bowling star Shoaib Akhtar has dismissed former Indian batsman Virender Sehwag’s claim that Rawalpindi Express showers praise on India because “it makes business”.

    An old video, showcasing Sehwag, had recently resurfaced and made waves on social media in which the former Indian sportsman says Akhtar praises cricket rivals as it would make him a quick buck, The News reported.

    Akhtar, while speaking to a private media outlet on Wednesday, explained that the video was taken out of proportion and sarcastically remarked that he had “more money than Sehwag had hair on his head”.

    “Sehwag is a great friend of mine. He spoke these words in a light-heartened way but people were quick to take things out of context,” he said. “I mean, I have more money than he has hair on his head.”

    Furthermore, Akhtar clarified that other big names in Pakistan cricket would share kind words for the neighbours and added that “jealous” people want to divide the two cricket nations.

    “I have fans across the world, not just in India. That’s why I have the fastest growing YouTube channel. It does not mean that I’m looking to make money if I compliment them. Ramiz Raja and Rashid Latif say good things about India as well.”

    “I do think that there is a factor of jealousy, I have been targeted time and time again we are already politically divided but now people want to divide cricket as well,” he said.