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  • VIDEO: Falak Shabir recites Azaan in daughter Alyana’s ear

    VIDEO: Falak Shabir recites Azaan in daughter Alyana’s ear

    Pakistani actor Sarah Khan shared a delightful video on Friday in which her husband Falak Shabir can be seen reciting the Azaan in his newborn daughter’s ear. It is a ritual practiced by Muslims around the globe when their children are born.

    Taking to Instagram, the Sabaat star shared the video with a Quranic verse.

    Earlier on Friday, the Zindagi singer had announced the birth of their daughter Alyana Falak.

    On the work front, Falak and Sarah were last seen together in music video Lagay Pyaari.

    People Are Loving The Teaser Of Falak Shabir's New Song
  • ‘ICC a politicised body, we need to reduce our dependence on it’: Ramiz Raja

    ‘ICC a politicised body, we need to reduce our dependence on it’: Ramiz Raja

    Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ramiz Raja has disclosed that 50 per cent of the board’s budget is based around the funds it gets from the International Cricket Council (ICC) whose “revenues are generated mainly from India”.

    Appearing before the Senate Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial affairs on Thursday in Islamabad, Ramiz said it was time for PCB to reduce its dependence on funding from the ICC and start tapping the local market.

    “ICC is a politicised body divided between the Asian and Western blocs and 90 per cent of its revenues are generated from India,” the PCB Chairman said.

    Ramiz said the ICC had become more of an event management company and PCB would have to make its voice heard if it does not want a repeat of the cancellation of confirmed series by New Zealand and England.

    What New Zealand did was unacceptable because till now they have not shared any information with us on what led them to abandon the series in Pakistan. But they are now trying to reschedule the series, he said.

    Ramiz hinted of some good news regarding the postponed New Zealand series in a week’s time.

    He indicated that the New Zealand cricket board was working on a new schedule to tour Pakistan.

    Read More – Ramiz Raja ‘erroneously’ tweets about ECB chairman’s resignation, deletes later

    Senator Raza Rabbani suggested that Pakistan should now not play against New Zealand and refuse any series but Ramiz pointed out that this would not be possible as Pakistan was part of the international cricket community.

    The good thing is that they are working on something, which means they want to amend things with us, he said.

    The New Zealand cricket team had arrived in Pakistan on September 11 for the first time in 18 years to play three ODIs and five Twenty20 Internationals but left on September 19 without playing any match after their government and security agencies advised them to return home citing “security concerns”.

    Ramiz, in a candid briefing to the senators, also made it clear that he would unveil his plans for Pakistan cricket and the board in a week or 10-days’ time while in four weeks’ time he would have his team ready.

    Read More – New Zealand cricket chief open to rescheduling of abandoned Pakistan series

    “To me, it is simple if the national team cannot do well and win matches, it means that everyone in the board from the tea man to the top official have failed in their duties,” he said.

  • At least 1 million Afghan children at risk of starvation, warns UNICEF director

    At least 1 million Afghan children at risk of starvation, warns UNICEF director

    At least one million children in Afghanistan will suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year and could die without proper treatment, warned United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund’s (UNICEF) Executive Director Henrietta Fore. “Please help us,” she said.

    According to a report by CNBC, Fore implored the international community and wealthy nations to help avert further suffering after the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.

    “Nearly 10 million girls and boys depend on humanitarian assistance just to survive,” she said at a UN ministerial-level meeting on the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan.

    Fore also emphasised UNICEF’s ability to operate in Afghanistan. She said, “UNICEF has been on the ground in Afghanistan for more than 70 years. We know what needs to be done for children. And we can get it done.”

    According to Fore, during the last week of August, UNICEF provided 4,000 severely malnourished children under five with life-saving therapeutic treatment.

    “Please help us. There has never been a more urgent time to stand with the children of Afghanistan and the people who serve them,” she said.

  • Top civilian, military leadership gather at PM House for NSC meeting

    Top civilian, military leadership gather at PM House for NSC meeting

    A meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) discussed matters of national security, the situation in Afghanistan, and other important issues on Friday, reports Dawn.

    The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and attended by senior cabinet members, Pakistan’s national security adviser, and the services and intelligence chiefs. However, the new director-general of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) Nadeem Anjum was not there, as the official take-over takes a few days.

    PM Imran was given a detailed briefing on the evolving regional security situation, “particularly the recent developments in Afghanistan and their possible impact on Pakistan”, according to the statement issued by the Prime Minister Office (PMO).

    “The participants noted, with concern, the dire humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and emphasised the urgent need for the international community to provide assistance to avert a humanitarian crisis,” the press release said.

    Committee members stressed that the evolving situation in the region was “extremely complex”, and that any instability in Afghanistan could have severe implications for Pakistan.

    “Agreeing with this view, the prime minister stressed the need for a coordinated policy effort,” the PMO said. It added that the premier issued directions for the establishment of a dedicated cell to synergise various streams of efforts on Afghanistan across the government, including international coordination for humanitarian assistance and effective border management to prevent “any negative spillover” into Pakistan.

  • Bride sues wedding venue after she slips on dance floor

    A newly-wed bride has sued one of the top marriage venues in the United Kingdom (UK) for £150,000 (approximately Rs 34,935,942) after she slipped on a spilt drink on a dancefloor and broke her elbow.

    As per reports, bride Cara Donovan — who is a teacher by profession — has sued the company after she slipped on the ‘highly slippery’ laminated plastic floor, lit by underfloor LED lights.

    Donovan alleged that she slipped on spilled drinks after the staff failed to stop guests from taking their drinks onto the floor. She added that the tables were positioned by the edge of the floor, allowing guests to dance and drink. Even after people spilled drinks on the floor, no one came to mop it up.

    Read More: Photographer deletes all wedding pictures after being denied food

    The incident happened in September 2018 but left the bride with a badly broken elbow. Despite three operations, the woman says she has been suffering from permanent arm pain.

    Since then, she hasn’t been able to get back to work as a special-needs teacher. Blaming the company for what happened to her, she has now sued Country House Weddings Ltd, which was once voted the Best UK Wedding Venue by magazine readers.

  • 90 per cent institutions, including PM Khan’s office, decline RTI requests

    The majority of government institutions and departments have declined to respond to hundreds of queries by Geo News, which were sent to them under the Right To Information (RTI) laws, Investigative Reporter Zahid Gishkori reports for The News.

    According to the Punjab Information Commission, RTI is the right that you have, as a citizen, to access information from your government and private bodies that receive public funds. It is based on the principle that information belongs to the people. Under Article 19-A of the Constitution, RTI is a fundamental right in Pakistan.

    The media outlet reportedly sent approximately 400 different queries to 36 key institutions in the last nine months but 90 per cent of them didn’t respond or simply declined. Only 10 per cent of queries were partially responded to by the institutions, providing either very little or patchy information.

    According to the report, a few of the institutions provided factually incorrect and cooked-up information.

    Over 100 queries were sent to the governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Punjab, both have not responded. Similarly, Sindh and Balochistan did not receive the correspondent’s queries.

    The departments that simply refused to share any information includes the offices of the Prime Minister, President, Chief Ministers, Cabinet Members, Supreme and High Courts, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority, National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Assets Recovery Unit (ARU), Parliament, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the report states.

    The Cabinet Division (CD) refused to share any information regarding gifts and the use of helicopters by PM Khan. The ARU and NAB refused to share information on the Broadsheet scandal, as per the report.

    Furthermore, it says that the Ministry of Interior even shared false information by saying no official is facing inquiry in issuing bogus visas to Chinese nationals. despite the fact that the interior ministry itself referred an inquiry against its own officials allegedly involved in a visa scam to the FIA for probe.

    During the process, Gishkori was approached by four cabinet members and half a dozen senior civil servants to withdraw the requests.

  • Wajahat Rauf jokingly hints on remaking Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ starring Humayun Saeed?

    Wajahat Rauf jokingly hints on remaking Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ starring Humayun Saeed?

    Pakistani director Wajahat Rauf has reacted on a netizen’s pun that if Korean web series Squid Game is to be remade in Pakistan, he will cast Humayun Saeed in it.

    A netizen said: “To everyone who’s tweeting stuff like ‘if Squid Game was made in Pakistan.’ Bro stop giving them ideas, next thing you know Wajahat Rauf will cast Humayun Saeed as player 456 in Pakistani Squid Game.”

    The Karachi Se Lahore director simply laughed at it with the smiling emoticons.

    Earlier, Ahmed Ali Butt had slammed big international productions for not casting Pakistani actors to play the character of a Pakistani in international series and films.

    The Punjab Nahi Jaungi actor also criticised the production houses for casting Indian actors instead.

    Wajahat is currently directing Farhan Saeed and Hania Aamir for a web series produced by an Indian production house.

    Hania Aamir and Farhan Saeed set to star in new drama - Cutacut.com
  • ‘Kuchikoo karna talent nahi’: Laiba Khan lashes out at jury for awarding TikToker Rebeeca Khan

    ‘Kuchikoo karna talent nahi’: Laiba Khan lashes out at jury for awarding TikToker Rebeeca Khan

    Mera Dil Mera Dushman fame actor Laiba Khan has criticised a private awards show’s jury for awarding TikTokers, primarily Rabeeca Khan.

    Laiba in an Instagram story said, “Mein ye nahi keh rae kay TikTok bnana ghalat hai, Lekin TikTok pe acting karny wala har TikToker talented nahi hai.”

    She continued by saying, “TikTokers, actors, bloggers yeh award deserve kartay hain.”

    Rabeeca Khan's Birthday Bash- Adorable Pictures | Reviewit.pk

    “Agr tuntun kuchikoo or laddu jaesi harketin krna talent hai, tw Allah pak har insan ko aise talent say mehfooz rakhein.”

    TikToker Rebeeca Khan won best emerging talent award at a private award ceremony.

    On the work front, Laiba played Yasir Nawaz’s daughter in ARY’s Mera Dil Mera Dushman co-starring Alizeh Shah and Noaman Sami.

    Laiba Khan Dramas List

  • Ramiz Raja ‘erroneously’ tweets about ECB chairman’s resignation, deletes later

    Ramiz Raja ‘erroneously’ tweets about ECB chairman’s resignation, deletes later

    Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ramiz Raja on Thursday issued an apology for “erroneously” tweeting about his English counterpart’s resignation from his office.

    Read More – ‘ECB announcement to visit Pakistan a welcome step forward’: Fawad

    England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Chairman, Ian Watmore, resigned earlier in the day after increasing pressure since the cancellation of England’s tour to Pakistan, The Times had reported.

    “The earlier tweet was erroneously put on my Twitter account. Apologies,” Raja said, who had given strong remarks after England had decided to cancel their tour of Pakistan following New Zealand’s pull out.

    England’s men and women teams were due to play two Twenty20s in Rawalpindi on October 13 and 14. The women’s team were also due to play three ODIs in Pakistan on October 17, 19, and 21.

    In his now-deleted tweet, Raja shared the news of ECB chief’s resignation as a breaking news.

    Tweeple were not happy with him for expressing his views as the Chairman of PCB.

    https://twitter.com/zeeshanali38/status/1446399752225136643?s=20

  • Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov win 2021 Nobel Peace Prize

    Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov win 2021 Nobel Peace Prize

    The Nobel Peace Prize 2021 has been awarded to journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia.

    “Free, independent, and fact-based journalism serve to protect against abuse of power, lies, and war propaganda,” Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said as she announced the prize in Oslo on Friday.

    “Without freedom of expression and freedom of the press, it will be difficult to successfully promote fraternity between nations, disarmament, and a better world order to succeed in our time.”

    “Maria Ressa uses freedom of expression to expose abuse of power, use of violence, and growing authoritarianism in her native country, the Philippines,” said Andersen.

    ” Dmitry has four decades defended freedom of speech in Russia under increasingly challenging conditions,” announced Andersen.

    Ressa is the CEO of Rappler, a news outlet critical of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s regime, while Muratov heads the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. Ressa becomes the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize this year.

    It is the 102nd time the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded. Previous winners include Malala Yousafzai, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr, Polish dissident Lech Walesa, United Nations World Food Programme, the Soviet Union’s last leader Mikhail Gorbachev, and four US presidents.