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Blog
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Newsletter – 17th December 2020, Thursday
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Maryam says doctors haven’t stopped Nawaz from eating pizza
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz has defended father Nawaz Sharif after his picture eating pizza went viral on social media, inviting criticism from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and others.
Addressing a press conference in Lahore, the PML-N vice president said that the former prime minister eats pizza once in a while. She made these remarks in response to a question wherein the reporter asked her to comment on the criticism that the photo of the former premier invited for eating pizza despite being a heart patient.
She asked whether any doctor had forbidden a heart or platelets patient from eating pizza. She further said that she did not know Nawaz Sharif to have any particular fondness for pizza.
Maryam also talked about the Senate election. She termed the government’s decision to hold early Senate polls a ‘controversy’. According to Maryam, she was not opposed to the amendment pertaining to the secret ballot, but she would oppose the early polls.
The PML-N leader also warned Prime Minister Imran Khan against pressurising the state institution, saying the PM will have to be answerable to the people of Pakistan for his acts.
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Cher shares motivation behind freeing world’s ‘loneliest elephant’
American pop singer Cher opened up and revealed how she ended up campaigning for and working towards freeing the ‘world’s loneliest elephant’ Kaavan.
In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Cher said, “I didn’t plan to at all. These kids on my Twitter feed started sending this thing and it was ‘Free Kaavan’, and I thought if I will not answer, they’ll stop but they didn’t and it was in Pakistan and then I thought that I’m just an entertainer, how am I gonna go to Pakistan and free an elephant. “
“We had to work through two administrations and when [PM] Imran came in, everything got much easier,” she remarked.
Read more – Cher thanks PM Khan for ‘making her dream come true’
She also said that she worked on the cause for three years.
“As we started doing it, I wasn’t going to give up. So, we went to Pakistan and we saw him, he was beautiful,” said Cher. “We started meeting Pakistani people and they were so nice to me.”
She added: “So, then he landed and we were so excited and after a five hours drive to the sanctuary and I could see him walking around, taking a dirt bath and talking to the girls.”
Cher has proven that she is a star in the best possible way. She worked towards freeing Kaavan, who had been named ‘the world’s loneliest animal,’ after his partner Saheli passed away in 2012. Kaavan was kept in Islamabad’s Marghazar Zoo for 35 years and had been chained after zookeepers complained that he exhibited violent behaviour.
He caught Cher’s attention in 2016, who then fought a long legal battle for his release and transfer.
He was airlifted from Islamabad to Cambodia in a Russian cargo plane and before his departure, Cher visited Pakistan to see him off. She also sang A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes to soothe his nerves.
Later, she also arrived in Cambodia to receive Kaavan and ensure that he settles well in his new home.
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‘Ranjha Ranjha Kardi’, ‘Laal Kabootar’ win big at Lux Style Awards 2020
With everything going online this year due to the ongoing pandemic, the LUX Style Awards office announced the winners for the 19th LUX Style Awards virtually. This is the first time in the nineteen-year history of the LSA’s that the entire judging and awarding process has been conducted online.
According to a press release, this is also the first time winners are being announced ahead of the virtually recorded ceremony, which is to be shown online next week.
Apart from awards in different categories including, fashion, film, television and music, two Lifetime Achievement Awards were also conferred. Anwar Maqsood was honoured with the Unilever Chairman’s Lifetime Achievement Award while the Lifetime Achievement Award in Fashion was awarded to photojournalist and photographer Tapu Javeri.
Meanwhile, check out the complete list of winners below:
Film
Best Film – Laal Kabootar
Best Film Director – Kamal Khan for Laal Kabootar
Best Film Actor (Viewer’s Choice) – Ahmed Ali Akbar for Laal Kabootar
Best Film Actress (Viewer’s Choice) – Mahira Khan for Superstar
Best Film Actor (Critics) – Rashid Farooqui for Laal Kabootar
Best Film Actress (Critics) – Mahira Khan for Superstar
Music
Best Song – Raavi by Sajjad Ali
Singer of the Year – Hadia Hashmi for Bol Hu
Best Emerging Talent – Big Foot Music (Hamad Khan and Sohaib Lari)
Best Playback Singer – Ali Tariq for Behka Na (Parey Hut Love)
Best Original Soundtrack – Ranjha Ranjha by JB Sisters/Rahma Ali
Television
Best TV Play – Merey Paas Tum Ho
Best Play Director – Kashif Nisar for Ranjha Ranjha Kardi
Best Play Writer – Faiza Iftikhar for Ranjha Ranjha Kardi
Best TV Actor (Critics) – Zahid Ahmed for Ishq Zahe Naseeb
Best TV Actress (Critics) – Iqra Aziz for Ranjha Ranjha Kardi
Best TV Actor (Viewer’s Choice) – Imran Ashraf for Ranjha Ranjha Kardi
Best TV Actress (Viewer’s Choice) – Yumna Zaidi for Inkaar
Best Emerging Talent TV – Shees Gul for Meray Paas Tum Ho
Fashion
Model of the Year (Male) – Hasnain Lehri
Model of the Year (Female) – Zara Abid [posthumous]
Best Fashion Photographer – Shahbaz Shazi
Best Makeup and Hair Artist – Saima Bargfrede
Best Emerging Talent – Sachal Afzal
Laal Kabootar and Ranjha Ranjha Kardi took the lead with four awards each. Mahira Khan was the only actor to win two awards – Best Film Actress for Viewer’s Choice as well for Critics Choice for her performance in Superstar.
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Amir Khan requests Indian govt to allow Sikhs to visit Kartarpur
British-Pakistani boxer Amir Khan visited Kartarpur on Wednesday and requested the Indian government to allow the Sikh community to visit Guru Nanak’s shrine.
Calling the Gurdwara a true symbol of interfaith harmony, Amir in a video, said that Pakistan is giving real religious freedom to all minorities while India is taking steps against its minorities.
“I request the Indian government to allow Sikh people to visit Pakistan Kartarpur and to open the gates,” he said.
The sportsman also posted pictures and videos from his trip on his Instagram account. The boxer can be seen exploring the shrine and interacting with members of the Sikh community.
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Hilary Duff confirms ‘Lizzie McGuire’ reboot cancelled
Hilary Duff has confirmed that the Lizzie McGuire reboot planned at Disney+ has been cancelled, saying that “the stars just didn’t align” for the project.
“I know the efforts and conversations have been everywhere trying to make a reboot work but, sadly and despite everyone’s best efforts, it isn’t going to happen,” Duff wrote in her post.
“I want any reboot of Lizzie to be honest and authentic to who Lizzie would be today,” she continued. “It’s what the character deserves.”
“I’m very sad, but I promise everyone tried their best,” she added.
Meanwhile, Disney in a statement, said: “Lizzie McGuire fans have high expectations for any new stories. Unless and until we are confident we can meet those expectations, we’ve decided to hold off and today, we informed the cast’s representatives that we are not moving forward with the planned series.”
The revival was first announced in August 2019, a few months ahead of Disney+’s launch. Duff was to play a grown-up version of the character living in New York City working as a decorator’s assistant and finding luck in love. Adam Lamberg, Hallie Todd, Robert Carradine and Jake Thomas were set to reprise their roles as well.
Series creator Terri Minsky was also attached to the revival, but she exited the series in January after two episodes had been filmed. “We concluded that we need to move in a different creative direction and are putting a new lens on the show,” a Disney had spokesperson said at the time.
VIDEO: Tom and Jerry are back in action in new trailer
Following Minsky’s departure, Disney+ said it would search for a new showrunner, but none was ever announced. Duff and Minsky both lobbied for the show to reflect the adult Lizzie’s life in full and supported moving the series to Hulu.
“I’d be doing a disservice to everyone by limiting the realities of a 30-year-old’s journey to live under the ceiling of a PG rating,” Duff had written in a February Instagram post. “It would be a dream if Disney would let us move the show to Hulu if they were interested, and I could bring this beloved character to life again.”
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Police arrest Engin Altan’s Pakistani host for having criminal record
The police have arrested Mian Kashif Zameer, the man who hosted Diriliş: Ertuğrul star Engin Altan Düzyatan throughout his Lahore for having a criminal record.
As per reports, Zameer was allegedly booked in nearly eight cases pertaining to matters of fraud, betrayal of trust, car theft and robbery.
Earlier it was reported that Zameer struck a deal worth one million dollars with the Turkish actor but paid only half of it.
Zameer later denied the allegations of deal violation and has said that the media is spreading rumours.
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PML-N leader thinks BBC Urdu is more credible than BBC News
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hina Pervaiz Butt seems to think that BBC Urdu is a credible source of information compared to BBC News.
The PML-N leader was talking about the number of people present in the Lahore jalsa during her appearance on Mansoor Ali Khan’s show on Express News when she made this faux pas.
According to Hina Butt, independent media outlets, such as Al Jazeera and BBC Urdu, did “good reporting” on the jalsa compared to the local news channels.
At this, Mansoor said if she has no qualms about the credibility of the BBC then its programme HardTALK, wherein Ishaq Dar was grilled for allegedly owning assets beyond means, was credible too.
Hina quickly cut her off, saying no, she only “meant the BBC Urdu“, prompting laughter in the studio. Firstly, I didn’t call BBC’s English channel credible or compromised,” she said, adding that she only raised questions about the ban on Dar’s interview on the Pakistani media.
DAR ON HARDTALK:
Last month, Ishaq Dar, who is in a self-imposed exile after corruption cases were filed against him, had said that he and his wife owned only a single property that’s located in Pakistan.
Dar had made these comments during his appearance in BBC show, HardTalk.
During the show, the host had asked Dar: “Is it your contention that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has no integrity? To this, Dar had responded that NAB has lost its integrity. “It is an institution that has been used against political opponents.”
Dar, 69, is currently in London, “undergoing medical treatment”. He is absconding from several cases in Pakistan since 2017 and has been declared a proclaimed offender by the courts. He is facing charges of accumulating assets beyond known sources of income.
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‘I have been tortured’: Mohammad Amir announces retirement from international cricket
Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir has said that he is retiring from international cricket.
Speaking to journalist Shoaib Jatt, Amir said that he will release a detailed statement sharing his reasons behind his retirement when he arrives back in Pakistan from Sri Lanka, where he has been playing for Galle Gladiators in the Lanka Premier League. However, he made it clear that he cannot continue playing under the current management which is why he made this announcement.
“I have been tortured,” says Amir in the video.
Amir, who had an impressive campaign for Galle Gladiators in Lanka Premier League, said he will be playing franchise cricket but has made up his mind not to carry on playing for Pakistan. Amir had retired from Test cricket last year citing workload issues.
“No, I am not going away from cricket. If you have seen the way the atmosphere over here and the way I have been sidelined,” said an emotional Amir. “I got a wake-up call there when I was not selected in 35 boys. If I don’t get selected in the 35-member squad, then it is a wake-up call for me.”
“I don’t think I can play cricket under this management. I think I should leave cricket this time. I am being tortured mentally,” he continued. “I don’t think I can tolerate any more torture now. I have seen a lot of torture from 2010 to 2015. I was away from the game and sentenced for my mistake.”
Read more – Kyun Nikala?: ‘Misbah Saab he bataa saktay hain,’ says Mohammad Amir
According to a press release issued by PCB, Pakistan Cricket Board chief executive Wasim Khan spoke with Amir this afternoon following reports that the fast bowler had announced his retirement from international cricket.
The 29-year-old confirmed to the PCB chief executive that he has no desires or intensions of playing international cricket and as such, he should not be considered for future international matches.
“This is a personal decision of Mohammad Amir, which the PCB respects, and as such, will not make any further comment on this matter at this stage,” stated the press release.
Amir made his debut for Pakistan in a T20I match against England in June 2009 and was part of the team which won the 2009 T20 World Cup.
However, his career went downhill after he was found guilty of spot-fixing and was banned for five years. He made his international comeback in 2015 and went on to play an instrumental role in Pakistan’s Champions Trophy triumph in 2017.