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  • Oppenheimer tops Golden Globes on bittersweet night for Barbie

    Oppenheimer tops Golden Globes on bittersweet night for Barbie

    Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan’s drama about the inventor of the atomic bomb, topped the Golden Globes on January 7 – but its fellow summer smash hit Barbie missed out on best comedy film honours to Poor Things.

    Oppenheimer took five prizes, including best drama, best director for Nolan, best score, as well as acting wins for Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr.

    Emma Thomas, the film’s producer and Nolan’s wife, said her husband’s three-hour epic about “one of the darkest developments in our history” is “unlike anything anyone else is doing”.

    Murphy, who plays brilliant scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, hailed his “visionary director”, while Downey Jr, portraying the protagonist’s bitter rival, praised the movie as a “masterpiece.”

    In winning best director, Nolan fended off Greta Gerwig, who helmed Barbie – the other half of the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon that grossed a combined US$2.4 billion (S$3.2 billion) last year at the box office.

    Turning nostalgia for the beloved doll into a sharp satire about misogyny and female empowerment, Barbie was the leading film heading into the night with nine nominations, but ended the gala with just two prizes.

    It won the award for best song, for a tune written by Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas. And as the year’s highest grossing movie, it claimed a newly created trophy for box office achievement.

    “We would like to dedicate this to every single person on the planet who dressed up and went to the greatest place on Earth, the movie theatres,” said Margot Robbie, the film’s star and producer.

    “Thank you to all the Barbies and Kens in front of and behind the screen,” added Gerwig.

    But Barbie surprisingly lost out on best comedy to Poor Things – a surreal, sexy bildungsroman which also earned Emma Stone best actress for her no-holds-barred turn as Bella Baxter.

    “Bella falls in love with life itself, rather than a person. She accepts the good and the bad in equal measure, and that really made me look at life differently,” said Stone.

    After an annus horribilis in which the industry was crippled by strikes, A-listers turned out in force to celebrate Sunday.

    Stars who were unable to promote their movies during the months-long Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) walkout used the occasion to make up for lost time on the Oscars campaign trail.

    Along with movie stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, attendees included big names from the world of music such as Bruce Springsteen and Dua Lipa – both nominated for best song – and Taylor Swift representing her recent concert movie.

    “The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL – on the Golden Globes, fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift,” joked host Jo Koy.

    The ongoing hype surrounding “Barbenheimer”, even months after the films’ releases, is a welcome boon to the new owners of the high-profile but consistently scandal-dogged Golden Globes.

    Private investors including US billionaire Todd Boehly purchased the awards after years of controversy and declining audiences, and have invested heavily in resetting a night once billed as “Hollywood’s biggest party”.

    The Globes were boycotted by the industry after allegations of corruption and racism rose to the surface in 2021, and the show was taken off air entirely a year later.

    Since then, the controversial group of Los Angeles-based foreign journalists that created the Globes 80 years ago has been disbanded, and a wider net of overseas critics was brought in to choose this year’s winners.

    “Golden Globes journalists, thanks for changing your game,” said Downey Jr as he collected his prize.

    The Globes provide a timely boost for the Oscars. Nominations voting for the Academy Awards begins Thursday, with the Oscars taking place this year on March 10.

    Indigenous actor Lily Gladstone won best actress in a drama for her role in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, delivering some of her emotional speech in the native language of the Blackfeet Nation.

    “This is an historic win, it doesn’t belong to just me,” she said.

    “This is for every little res kid.”

    Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph bolstered their Oscars campaigns with wins for The Holdovers, in which they starred as a curmudgeonly history teacher and cook of a 1970s prep school, respectively.

    Best screenplay and best non-English language film went to French courtroom drama “Anatomy of a Fall.”

    That film’s director and co-writer Justine Triet said she had assumed that “nobody is going to see this movie” about “a couple fighting, suicide, a dog vomiting… I mean, come on!”

    “This movie is about the truth, the impossibility of catching it,” she added.

    Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy And The Heron won best animated film.

    The Globes also honour television.

    Succession (2018 to 2023) dominated, claiming best drama series, and acting wins for stars Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook and Matthew Macfadyen.

    The Bear swept the comedy categories, while road-rage saga Beef did the same in limited series.

    Past Globes host Ricky Gervais, who did not attend, won best stand-up comedy performance, a new category. AFP

    List of winners at the 80th Golden Globes

    Film

    Best Drama: Oppenheimer

    Best Musical or Comedy: Poor Things

    Best Actor, Drama: Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer

    Best Actress, Drama: Lily Gladstone, Killers Of The Flower Moon

    Best Actor, Musical or Comedy: Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers

    Best Actress, Musical or Comedy: Emma Stone, Poor Things

    Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr, Oppenheimer

    Best Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

    Best Director: Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

    Best Screenplay: Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, Anatomy Of A Fall

    Best Non-English Language Film: Anatomy Of A Fall

    Best Cinematic and Box Office Achievement: Barbie

    Best Animated Feature: The Boy And The Heron

    Best Original Score: Ludwig Goransson, Oppenheimer

    Best Original Song: What Was I Made For? from Barbie, music and lyrics by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell

    Television

    Best Drama Series: Succession

    Best Actor, Drama Series: Kieran Culkin, Succession

    Best Actress, Drama Series: Sarah Snook, Succession

    Best Musical or Comedy Series: The Bear

    Best Actor, Musical or Comedy Series: Jeremy Allen White, The Bear

    Best Actress, Musical or Comedy Series: Ayo Edebiri, The Bear

    Best Limited Series or TV Movie: Beef

    Best Actor, Limited Series or TV Movie: Steven Yeun, Beef

    Best Actress, Limited Series or TV Movie: Ali Wong, Beef

    Best Supporting Actress: Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown

    Best Supporting Actor: Matthew Macfadyen, Succession

    Best Performance in Stand-up Comedy on Television: Ricky Gervais, Armageddon

  • National team coach Grant Bradburn parts ways with Pakistan cricket

    National team coach Grant Bradburn parts ways with Pakistan cricket

    National cricket team coach Grant Bradburn, who worked with the Pakistan team in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s Cricket World Cup played in India, has parted ways with Pakistan cricket.

    In a post on ‘X’, Grant Bradburn announced his resignation, stating, “Time to close the amazing chapter that has been Pakistan Cricket. 3 roles over 5 years, I’m proud of what’s been achieved & and grateful to have worked with so many outstanding players, coaches & and staff. Wishing the teams, staff & and everyone at Pakistan Cricket continued success & and growth.”

    Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)’s former management appointed Bradburn as the team’s coach for two years in May and he was asked to report to the National Cricket Academy.

    Grand Bradburn will soon take over the coaching of Glamorgan County.

    The former batting coach of the Pakistan Cricket Team, Andrew Puttick, had also parted ways with the PCB and joined the Afghanistan cricket team without informing the Board.

  • Bangladesh’s Hasina wins re-election after polls without opposition

    Bangladesh’s Hasina wins re-election after polls without opposition

    Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina won re-election for a fifth term Sunday, officials said, following a boycott led by an opposition party she branded a “terrorist organisation”.

    Hasina’s ruling Awami League “has won the election”, an Election Commission spokesman told AFP in the early hours of Monday morning, after a vote that initial reports suggested had a meagre turnout of some 40 percent.

    She has presided over breakneck economic growth in a country once beset by grinding poverty, but her government has been accused of rampant human rights abuses and a ruthless opposition crackdown.

    Her party faced almost no effective rivals in the seats it contested, but it avoided fielding candidates in a few constituencies, in an apparent effort to avoid the legislature being branded a one-party institution.

    The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), whose ranks have been decimated by mass arrests, called a general strike and, along with dozens of others, refused to participate in a “sham election”.

    While the final result and exact figures will be formally announced at a ceremony later on Monday, election commission officials said Hasina’s party had won around three-quarters of seats, at least 220 of the total 300.

    But support of other lawmakers including from allied parties could push Hasina’s control over parliament even higher.

    ‘Disgrace’

    Hasina, 76, had called for citizens to show faith in the democratic process.

    “The BNP is a terrorist organisation,” she told reporters after casting her vote. “I am trying my best to ensure that democracy should continue in this country.” 

    First-time voter Amit Bose, 21, said he had cast his ballot for his “favourite candidate”, but others said they had not bothered because the outcome was assured.

    “When one party is participating and another is not, why would I go to vote?” said rickshaw-puller Mohammad Saidur, 31.

    BNP head Tarique Rahman, speaking from Britain where he lives in exile, told AFP he feared “fake votes” would be used to boost voter turnout.

    “What unfolded was not an election, but rather a disgrace to the democratic aspirations of Bangladesh,” he wrote on social media, alleging he had seen “disturbing pictures and videos” backing his claims.

    Among the victors was Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh cricket team captain, who won his seat for Hasina’s party in a landslide, local officials said.

    Fear of ‘further crackdown’

    The BNP and other parties staged months of protests last year, demanding Hasina step down ahead of the vote. Officers in the port city of Chittagong broke up an opposition protest Sunday, firing shotguns and tear gas canisters.

    But election officials said voting was largely peaceful, with nearly 800,000 police officers and soldiers deployed countrywide.

    Meenakshi Ganguly, from Human Rights Watch, said Sunday that the government had failed to reassure opposition supporters that the polls would be fair, warning that “many fear a further crackdown”.

    Politics in the country of 170 million people was long dominated by the rivalry between Hasina, the daughter of the country’s founding leader, and two-time premier Khaleda Zia, wife of a former military ruler.

    Hasina has been the decisive victor since returning to power in a 2009 landslide, with two subsequent polls accompanied by widespread irregularities and accusations of rigging.

    Zia, 78, was convicted of graft in 2018 and is now in ailing health at a hospital in Dhaka. BNP head Rahman is her son.

    ‘Dangerous combination’

    Hasina has accused the BNP of arson and sabotage during last year’s protest campaign, which was mostly peaceful but saw several people killed in police confrontations.

    The government’s security forces have been dogged by allegations of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances — charges it rejects.

    Economic headwinds have left many dissatisfied with Hasina’s government, after sharp spikes in food costs and months of chronic blackouts in 2022.

    Pierre Prakash of the International Crisis Group said before the vote that Hasina’s government was clearly “less popular than it was a few years ago, yet Bangladeshis have little real outlet at the ballot box.”

    “That is a potentially dangerous combination.”

  • Wasim Akram teaching Aussie commentators to pronounce ‘Fakhar’ is the funniest thing you will see

    Wasim Akram teaching Aussie commentators to pronounce ‘Fakhar’ is the funniest thing you will see

    Former Pakistani fast bowling legend Wasim Akram is known for being one of the wittiest men in international cricket. The great bowler once again reinforced his sense of humour in a video that’s going viral.

    In the video, Akram can be seen teaching his fellow Australian commentators how to pronounce the name “Fakhar” – a word that sounds strikingly similar to THAT English swear word.

    The renowned Pakistani pacer, who was a part of the commentary panel during the recently finished Test series between Australia and Pakistan, shared his witty insights and requested the other commentators to pronounce the word ‘Fakhar’, which resulted in a humorous debate.

    On social media, the conversation’s video has become extremely popular. In the video, Akram says, “There’s another name you guys mess up too, try pronouncing Fakhar.”

    Akram’s request made the other two burst into laughter, clearly showing Aussies’ struggle to pronounce the word correctly. Akram went on to share an incident about his Australian wife. “So Shaniera came to Pakistan and my son’s friend’s name was Fakhar. He brought his 12-year-old friend and he said, ‘This is my friend, Fakhar’. She said, ‘Hang on a minute’. Because Australians can’t pronounce khay in their language, it took her about two years to pronounce his name.”

    Akram and the Australian commentators also discussed the amusing incident where the legendary former batsman Mark Waugh struggled to pronounce the name ‘Fakhar Zaman’ during a show.

    The viral video moment occurred during the third and final Test match in Sydney.

  • Apple resolves iPhone slowdown controversy: Users receive $92.17 settlement

    Apple resolves iPhone slowdown controversy: Users receive $92.17 settlement

    In a resolution to the 2017 controversy surrounding Apple’s deliberate slowing down of iPhones with older batteries, recent reports indicate that affected users are now receiving settlements. 

    According to MacRumors, individuals impacted by this matter are finding deposits of $92.17 in their bank accounts, as confirmed by the website and corroborated by embedded posts from readers. 

    The settlement website, updated in December, indicated that payments were scheduled for this month, effectively bringing closure to the issue.

    The “batterygate” incident originated in 2017 when a developer exposed iOS 10 updates slowing down the performance of older iPhone models like the 6S and 7, with Apple initially withholding the purpose of this slowdown. 

    Subsequently, the company revealed that it aimed to prevent spontaneous shutdowns as the battery degraded. 

    This led to multiple class action lawsuits, alleging that Apple’s actions forced premature phone upgrades rather than allowing users to replace their batteries.

    In 2020, Apple reached a settlement, and by August of that year, legal hurdles were cleared, paving the way for impending payouts. 

    While initially expected to be around $65 for approved claims filed by October 6th, 2020, recent reports suggest the actual payments are higher, averaging $92.17, as reported by The Verge. 

    Noteworthy is the inclusion of the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, 7, 7 Plus, and the original iPhone SE in the list of affected models. If you fall into this category, monitor your bank account for the settlement deposit.

  • Can’t access your social media? Services are down all over Pakistan

    Can’t access your social media? Services are down all over Pakistan

    Social media platforms are down across Pakistan. Millions of users suffered due to the sudden shutdown of services of social media platforms across the country.

    For the past few hours, users have been facing trouble accessing social networking sites Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok. YouTube’s service is also extremely slow.

    Users are unable to access social media platforms Facebook, X, Instagram, and video-sharing site YouTube due to the shutdown. Apart from this, users are also facing difficulties in accessing other websites due to slow internet speed.

    It should be remembered that on December 17, 2023, social media networks and internet services were down in different cities of the country.

  • Four dead, 40 hospitalised in Tunisia alcohol poisoning

    Four dead, 40 hospitalised in Tunisia alcohol poisoning

    Four people have been killed and 40 hospitalised after consuming tainted alcohol in southern Tunisia, an official said.

    An inquiry has been opened and the person who supplied the alcohol has been arrested, Fethi Baccouche, a spokesman for the Medenine court, told AFP.

    An analysis of the alcohol is underway to determine what was behind the mass poisoning.

    Of the 40 surviving victims, most left hospital but some were transferred to the capital Tunis for treatment, Baccouche said, without providing exact numbers.

    Poisonings from incorrectly produced or adulterated alcohol are common in Tunisia and often fatal.

    In 2021, Tunisian health authorities announced five deaths and the hospitalisation of 25 more in Kasserine in the country’s west after they drank contaminated alcohol.

    And in May 2020, 39 people were poisoned, including six who died, after drinking methanol near the city of Kairouan.

    The consumption of home-made alcohol is common in some working-class neighbourhoods of Tunis and remote regions of the country where poverty rates are high.

    The alcohol, which is illegal, is often much cheaper than that sold in shops.

  • Here is an update on Naseem Shah’s fitness

    Here is an update on Naseem Shah’s fitness

    Islamabad United released a fitness report on their latest acquisition, right-arm fast bowler Naseem Shah, who joined the Islamabad team after being part of Quetta Gladiators.

    The franchise shared on its social media platform that Naseem Shah is bowling regularly in the nets and his recovery is going well.

    Last month, Pakistan chief selector Wahab Riaz expressed hope that Naseem would be fit and ready to represent Islamabad United by the time the Pakistan Super League (PSL) Season 9 begins on February 17.

    According to reports, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is reluctant to allow Naseem’s inclusion in the entire PSL season after his return from injury.

  • India’s Ambani no more the richest man in Asia. Who has grabbed the title?

    India’s Ambani no more the richest man in Asia. Who has grabbed the title?

    India’s Mukesh Ambani lost the title of Asia’s richest man after almost a year. He has been replaced by Gautam Adani who once again became Asia’s richest man after cracking a deal worth over half a billion dollars for the Adani group.


    It should be noted that in January 2023, American short-selling company Hindenburg said in a report that Adani Group has been involved in stock market manipulation and fraud accounting for decades. It called Gautam Adani the biggest fraudster in corporate history.


    Gautam Adani’s wealth declined after the report, pushing him to the bottom of the list of the world’s richest people in 2023, while Mukesh Ambani took the title of Asia’s richest person.


    But in recent days, the Supreme Court of India has issued an order that there is no need for a new investigation on Hindenburg’s allegations. Gautam Adani’s assets consequently increased and now he has once again become the richest man in Asia.


    According to a Bloomberg report on January 4, Gautam Adani’s net worth increased by $7.7 billion to $97.6 billion, after which he overtook Mukesh Ambani to become Asia’s richest man. Ambani currently owns $97 billion.


    Gautam Adani started 2023 as the third richest person in the world with $119 billion and then went down after a steady decline in wealth. Now, a year later, he has become the richest person in Asia and the 12th richest person in the world.


    Syed Mohammad Ali wrote in an article for The Express Tribune that the deal with the USA is part of the greater scheme of countering China’s growing influence in the region. Half a billion dollars is a sign of the restoration of confidence for the Adani conglomerate-backed Colombo seaport project in Sri Lanka.


    “This American deal with Adani seems compelled by growing great power competition across South Asia. The US government intends to use its International Development Finance Corporation to counter the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative in the Indo-Pacific, and its investment in Sri Lanka is part of that plan,” asserts Ali.
    Adani is closely linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he has long been accused of benefitting from this friendship for the growth of his business. Like Modi, Adani has emerged unscathed from a potentially devastating storm of alleged wrongdoings. And both these men have the US to thank for helping them not only survive but thrive, due to America’s own vested interests, Ali explains.

  • India’s solar observation mission reaches its final orbit

    India’s solar observation mission reaches its final orbit

    India’s solar observation mission on Saturday entered the Sun’s orbit after a four-month journey, the latest success for the space exploration ambitions of the world’s most populous nation.

    The Aditya-L1 mission was launched in September and is carrying an array of instruments to measure and observe the Sun’s outermost layers.

    India’s science and technology minister Jitendra Singh said on social media that the probe had reached its final orbit “to discover the mysteries of Sun-Earth connection”.

    The United States and the European Space Agency have sent numerous probes to the centre of the solar system, beginning with NASA’s Pioneer programme in the 1960s.

    Japan and China have both launched their solar observatory missions into Earth’s orbit.

    But the latest mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation is the first by any Asian nation to be placed in orbit around the Sun.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed it as yet another “landmark” in the country’s space programme.

    “It is a testament to the relentless dedication of our scientists,” he said on social media.

    “We will continue to pursue new frontiers of science for the benefit of humanity.”

    Aditya, named after a Hindu Sun deity, has travelled 1.5 million kilometres (932,000 miles) from the Earth — still only one percent of the distance between humanity’s home planet and the star at the centre of our solar system.

    It is now at a point where the gravitational forces of both celestial bodies cancel out, allowing it to remain in a stable halo orbit around the Sun.

    The orbiter, which reportedly cost $48 million, will study coronal mass ejections, a periodic phenomenon that sees huge discharges of plasma and magnetic energy from the Sun’s atmosphere.

    These bursts are so powerful they can reach the Earth and potentially disrupt the operations of satellites.

    The mission also aims to shed light on the dynamics of several other solar phenomena by imaging and measuring particles in the Sun’s upper atmosphere.

    India has a comparatively low-budget space programme, but one that has grown considerably in size and momentum since it first sent a probe to orbit the Moon in 2008.

    In August last year, India became the first country to land an uncrewed craft near the largely unexplored lunar south pole, and just the fourth nation to land on the Moon.

    India became the first Asian nation to put a craft into orbit around Mars in 2014, and it is slated to launch a three-day crewed mission into Earth’s orbit later this year.

    It also plans a joint mission with Japan to send another probe to the Moon by 2025 and an orbital mission to Venus within the next two years.