Sarah Khan and Noor Zafar Khan’s father has passed away.
Photographer Abdul Samad Zia, who covered Sarah and Falak Shabir’s wedding, initially shared the news on social media, asking the actor’s fans to pray for her father’s maghfirat. The cause of his death is not yet known.
Amid speculations of rifts in the Pakistan Democratic Movement, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman has declined an invitation by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari to attend a rally in Garhi Khuda Baksh on Dec 27.
Instead of Fazl, who also heads the PDM, a five-member delegation of the party will attend the gathering that marks the death anniversary of slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto, reported Dunya TV.
The refusal to attend the gathering by Fazl comes at a time when the JUI-F is facing internal turmoil following the expulsion of its top leaders, including Maulana Sheerani, who questioned the JUI-F’s commitment to the party.
Similarly, the JUI-F and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are not happy with the PPP. They believe that the PPP was in contact with the powers-that-be to reach a deal. “Both parties are not reacting to this development because of the alliance, but the PPP has been told that if it wants to gain results via backdoor talks, it can go ahead,” said a senior journalist recently.
Meanwhile, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has reached Naudero House to attend the death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto. The PPP chief will stay in Naudero for three days and will address a rally in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh on December 27.
PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz will also attend the rally on the invitation of Bilawal. Both opposition leaders will hold a meeting at Bilawal House, Naudero.
A picture of two widowed penguins appearing to comfort each other in Australia has won Oceanographic magazine’s Ocean Photography Awards.
The photo was taken by German photographer Tobias Baumgaertner in Melbourne.
He was told that the two penguins had recently lost their partners and they often appeared to be comforting each other through a warm hug.
The German photographer won the magazine’s Community Choice Award.
“A volunteer approached me and told me that the white one was an elderly lady who had lost her partner and apparently so did the younger male to the left,” the photographer wrote in an Instagram post.
“Since then they meet regularly, comforting each other and standing together for hours watching the dancing lights of the nearby city.”
The photographer spent three nights with the penguin colony to capture this very moment.
“Between not being able or allowed to use any lights and the tiny penguins continuously moving, rubbing their flippers on each other’s backs and cleaning one another, it was really hard to get a shot,” he said.
The Indian police in Uttar Pradesh arrested a Muslim teenager for walking home with his former classmate, a Dalit girl, from a birthday party after a case was registered for ‘love jihad’ under the state’s new ‘anti-conversion’ law. The boy has been in the custody for a week.
The Love Jihad law in India is an Islamophobic conspiracy theory alleging that Muslim men target women belonging to non-Muslim communities for conversion to Islam by feigning love.
According to details, the 16-year-old girl has constantly rubbished the allegations of ‘love jihad‘, telling the police that the boy was a friend of hers.
“I have told this to the magistrate and I will say this again. Those men had a problem with me walking with my friend. They made videos of me and are now calling it love jihad. I did nothing wrong. I went of my own free will.”
The complaint was allegedly registered by the girl’s father and stated that the accused “induced the girl to elope with him” with the “intention to marry and convert her”.
However, the girl’s father has denied filing any complaint.
“I trust my daughter completely. What wrong did she do? Why must she be made part of politics? Is it unlawful for a boy and a girl to walk together now?”
As per details, the two were walking home from a friend’s birthday party around 10 pm on December 14 when they were allegedly chased by a group of right-wing Hindu men, beaten with sticks and questioned. When the group came to know that the two belong to different religions, they forced them to go to a police station.
The Muslim boy works as a welder’s apprentice in Dehradun. The police say he is 18 years old but his family says is 17. They have no documents to prove his age.
“The accused is in judicial custody. If he is a minor, they will have to produce documents to show that. We have invoked appropriate sections in this case after questioning the girl and based on her father’s complaint,” Station House Officer, Dhampur Arun Kumar told The Indian Express.
Forty odd episodes after Nand lost her mind, she has come back with a bang and brand new face.
After ruining everyone’s lives and getting exposed Gohar (Faiza Hassan) got perfect retribution for her evil deeds – she lost her mind and started living on the streets following which audiences believed the drama was close to an end. But turns out the makers had other plans up their sleeves. They turned the drama into a Pakistani version of Star Plus dramas.
After Saqib (Shahroz Sabzwari) found Gohar and had her admitted to the hospital, Gohar had an accident which destroyed her face and left her unrecognisable because of which she had to undergo reconstructive surgery.
The surgery gave her a brand new face. According to details, Faiza is no longer part of the drama and has been replaced by Javeria Saud, who will now be playing ‘Nand’.
In a recent interview, Javeria Saud revealed why she replaced Faiza and shared her experience of working in the drama.
“It happens in life, man does many things and then leaves them. For many years I have left acting in a way that I haven’t worked with other production houses. I just worked in my own production house JS,” said Saud.
“I last worked for a Humayun Saeed production in drama serial Anna and now 20 years later I am working on a Fahad Mustafa production,” she continued. “I really liked this character and Faiza has played it really well. She had some personal reasons due to which she couldn’t continue.”
“When I was approached for the character, I talked to Saud about it and he told me to do whatever I want,” added Javeria.
Nand is one of Pakistan’s most popular dramas particularly because of its storyline. The drama has been trending ever since it started. Faiza’s power-packed performance remained the highlight of the serial but Javeria has also done well as Gohar in the comeback episode of Nand.
The US State Department has said that it’s “deeply concerned” over the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) decision to release the suspects in the Daniel Pearl murder case.
“We are deeply concerned by the reports of the December 24 ruling of Sindh High Court to release multiple terrorists responsible for the murder of Daniel Pearl. We have been assured that the accused have not been released at this time,” said the State Department in a series of tweets in response to the ruling of the high court.
According to the State Department, the US government has been following this case closely. “We continue to stand with the Pearl family through this extremely difficult process,” it said, adding that it would continue to honour Pearl’s legacy.
On Thursday, the high court asked the Sindh government to release the suspects, including prime accused Omer Saeed Sheikh, who were convicted by an anti-terrorism court in 2002 for the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. The court had also ordered the government to place their names on the no-fly list.
However, the federal government said that it would challenge the ruling and that the suspects would remain behind the bars till the decision on its review appeal.
The family of the slain US journalist also denounced the high court’s decision. Pearl’s parents said that they refused to believe that the Pakistani government and the Pakistani people will “let such a travesty of justice tarnish the image and legacy” of Pakistan.
Pearl was working on a story about religious extremists in Pakistan in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks, when he was kidnapped in Karachi.
‘Tis the season to make merry and celebrate the end of a terribly challenging year. To commemorate the occasion, several celebrities including Mawra Hocane, Yasir Hussain, Adnan Siddiqui and Bilal Ashraf took to social media to extend warm wishes for Christmas.
Mawra Hocane shared a Boomerang of herself sitting next to a beautifully decorated Christmas tree, wishing everyone a “Merry, merry Christmas.”
Adnan Siddiqui also wished everyone a Merry Christmas, saying: “It’s the season to be jolly and spend time with your loved ones. To all my Christian brothers and sisters may this Christmas bring you to cheer, joy and lot of blessings.”
It’s the season to be jolly and spend time with your loved ones. To all my Christian brothers and sisters may this Christmas bring you cheer, joy and lot of blessings. #MerryXmas and stay safe.🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/4idAXEodvP
Merry Christmas to all those celebrating today! ♥️ I hope that where-ever you are, like me you are able to be with your loved ones and able to cherish these precious moments even more. Please excuse me looking like a Christmas present lol 🎀 pic.twitter.com/6JTTIgMkV7
Ahsan Khan, who is a pro as far as hosting shows is concerned, is coming back to our TV screens with a new show called Time Out with Ahsan Khan.
Speaking exclusively to The Current, Ahsan shared that his new show is a “weekend celebrity show full of entertainment”.
“The kind of stuff we are doing, the way we have designed the show is very very different from the run of the mill stuff you see on television,” said Ahsan. “It’s nothing like what has been done before in Pakistan. It has a new feel, new set and a few fun games.”
“I think it will be very entertaining and enjoyable,” he added.
When asked how he has not yet gotten bored with hosting, considering he also hosted the hugely popular Bol Nights with Ahsan Khan recently, the actor said: “Bol Nights was 40 minutes long but did not cover the entire lives of my colleagues and celebrities. A lot of them are very interesting and I would like to have them on my show again.”
Giving a sneak peek into the show’s format, Ahsan went onto say that his upcoming show is different from his previous experiences.
“We have introduced a few new games on the show, so we will be playing a lot. This new show also has a very different kind of feel to it which you’ll see when you watch the episodes.”
“At the same time we are considering new people,” shared Ahsan. “We have so many celebrities. I mean if I interviewed around 125 people [for Bol Nights], we still have another 500 to go.”
“I think there is still so much left to explore,” stated Ahsan. “So many of my colleagues have new things and projects happening in their lives which I would love to talk to them about.”
Khan went onto say that he also plans to invite people from different walks of life on his show including sportspersons and other high achievers.
Time Out with Ahsan Khan is expected to start in January. According to Ahsan, it is a “new year gift” from him to everyone.
Meanwhile, Khan also has his hands full with various acting projects. He is currently shooting for his upcoming film Chakkar with Yasir Nawaz, Neelam Muneer and Javed Sheikh and his drama serial Qayamat also with Muneer is scheduled to go on-air in the coming weeks.
Shoaib Malik has revealed that his two favourite things include spending time with son Izhaan and sunsets.
Posting pictures of himself and Izhaan enjoying time together at the Desert Safari in Abu Dhabi, Malik wrote: “Sunsets and Izhaan have to be two of my favourite things in the world.”
Malik’s wife Sania Mirza also shared some pictures of their vacation. Former fast bowler Azhar Mahmood and his family were also part of the Mirza-Malik’s trip.
After four “wonderful” seasons, Misbah-ul-Haq and Islamabad United have parted ways. The PSL franchise will now have to select players without him.
In a tweet, the current Head Coach of the Pakistan Cricket Team, Misbah wrote: “Thank you IU for four wonderful seasons. Best of luck for PSL 6.”
Thank you @isbunited for 4 wonderful seasons. Best of luck for PSL 6. An amazing franchise, thank you to the owners, management and players. #UnitedWeWin
Similarly, Islamabad United also thanked him from their official Twitter account.
“IU will not be renewing Misbah already expired head coach contract given his commitments with the national team,” read an official statement. “We thank him for his great contribution to ISLU. We wish him the very best of luck with the national team.”
#ISLU will not be renewing @captainmisbahpk’s already expired head coach contract given his commitments with the National team. We thank him for his great contribution to ISLU. We wish him the very best of luck with the 🇵🇰 National Team.
Owner of Islamabad United Ali Naqvi also thanked Misbah for his “immense contribution to the team” and wished him the best for his future endeavours.
On behalf of #ISLU, I would like to thank Misbah for his immense contribution to the team. He captained us to 2 PSL trophies & was a mentor/coach in all seasons. We wish him the best in his professional as well as personal life. #Kaptaan, you’ll be #RedForever#UnitedWeWin 🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/n1u2b0fUiI
Multan Sultans and HBL PSL 2020 finalists Lahore Qalandars will have the second and third pick, respectively.
Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators, the champions of the 2017 and 2019 editions, will have the next two picks. Defending champions Karachi Kings will have the sixth pick.
The pick order for round one of the HBL PSL 2021 Player Draft was decided after a random draw in the presence of representatives of all six franchises at the PCB headquarters in Lahore.
According to reports, the drafting for season 6 will be held in the second week of January with the matches starting from February 20. The board is yet to decide on the involvement of players in the draft. It is also expected that the draft may be held virtually due to the rising coronavirus cases.
