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  • X gives free blue check to big follower accounts

    X gives free blue check to big follower accounts

    Users with big followings will receive a free subscription to X, formerly Twitter – and the platform’s famous blue check, the company said in another policy U-turn.

    Before Musk, the blue check mark was used as a verification system for major accounts including celebrities, institutions and journalists.

    But Musk saw the system as unfair to regular users and overhauled the blue checks so that they went only to paying subscribers, which meant thousands of holders were stripped of the feature.

    Late Wednesday, some users were surprised and even angry to find the blue tick reinstated.

    A message from the platform explained that they were given free subscriptions because they were an “influential member” of X.

    The site added that it “reserves the right to cancel the complimentary subscription in its sole discretion.”

    Musk said last week that “going forward, all X accounts with over 2,500 verified subscriber followers will get Premium features for free and accounts with over 5,000 will get Premium+ for free.”

    Premium or Premium+ perks include reduced ads and higher placement in the platform’s feeds, as well as access to Grok, X’s AI chatbot.

    Some users who received the blue check saw it as a bid by Musk to revitalize the struggling platform.

    “Translation: Pay $8? Kidding. Help me. But don’t say anything too free speechy about me or my Garbage Tower of Babel,” actor Jeffrey Wright, who received an unsolicited check, said in a post on X.

    Since Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, the platform’s advertising business has collapsed as marketers soured on his leadership and the mass firings at the company that gutted content moderation.

    X on Tuesday named company veteran Kylie McRoberts as the new head of safety in an effort to shore up income from advertising, still the site’s main source of revenue.

    According to most industry-accepted metrics, X has lost users since Musk took ownership, but the company says activity on the site has grown.

  • Heat-wave coming in Punjab and Sindh

    Heat-wave coming in Punjab and Sindh

    The Meteorological Department has predicted that heat waves will hit the plains of Punjab and Sindh in coming days.

    Provincial Disaster Management Authority has cautioned that the plains of Punjab and Sindh will be effected by heat waves, especially big cities due to which there is a possibility of an increase in the intensity of heat this month.

    The spokesperson of the PDMA Punjab has said that the irrigation department has been informed about the situation.

    According to the spokesman, strong winds, dust storms, rain and hailstorms are also expected in April. There is a risk of flooding in rivers due to heavy rains in northern Punjab.

    In Sindh, heat intensity is likely to increase in most places.

    According to the Meteorological Department, the weather is likely to remain hot in most places in Sindh from April 7 to 9.

    Day temperatures in the upper and central areas of Sindh may reach 38 to 40 degrees celsius, while the temperature in lower Sindh is likely to be 36 to 38 degrees celsius.

    During April 7 to 9, temperature in Karachi can also reach 36 to 38 degrees celsius, says the Meteorological Department.

  • Samsung Electronics expects 10-fold rise in Q1 profit

    Samsung Electronics expects 10-fold rise in Q1 profit

    Samsung Electronics said Friday it expects first-quarter operating profits to rise more than 10-fold year on year as chip prices recover.

    The firm is the flagship subsidiary of South Korean giant Samsung Group, by far the largest of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate business in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

    The tech giant said in a regulatory filing that January-March operating profits were expected to rise 931.3 percent to 6.6 trillion won ($4.89 billion). Operating profits in the same period last year totalled around 640 billion won.

    The expectation exceeded the average estimate by 20.5 percent, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, which referenced its financial data firm.

    Sales, meanwhile, are expected to rise 11.4 percent to 71 trillion won, Samsung said.

    South Korean chipmakers, led by Samsung, enjoyed record profits in recent years as prices for their products soared, but a global economic slowdown dealt a blow to memory chip sales.

    However, the semiconductor market had been predicted to recover this year and grow 11.8 percent, according to industry monitor World Semiconductor Trade Statistics.

    The news from Samsung comes after South Korea’s SK Hynix — the world’s second-largest memory chip maker — announced in January that it had returned to profit after four consecutive quarters of losses.

    Samsung’s overall outlook is “fortified by a resurgence in the smartphone market, escalating DRAM (memory chip) prices”,  Neil Shah, vice president of Counterpoint Research, told AFP.

    Samsung is expected to release its final earnings report at the end of this month.

  • Nora Fatehi says early days in Bollywood were ‘painful’

    Nora Fatehi says early days in Bollywood were ‘painful’

    Nora Fatehi, the Canadian-born Bollywood actress and dancer who has shot to fame, reflected on her early days and struggles in Bollywood, describing them as “painful”.
    During a recent interview, Nora discussed the efforts she made to establish herself in the industry, and the challenges she faced during her initial days in India.

    “When I arrived in India, I had only 5,000 rupees, and at that time, I had no idea what 1,000 dollars meant. I used to live in an apartment with nine mentally ill girls, two of whom I shared a room with.”
    She alleged that the agencies through whom she wanted to enter the showbiz world were also involved in her harassment.
    “While living with nine girls in an apartment, I used to question myself about the difficult situation I had put myself in. Even today, those initial dreadful days still shock me,” she recalled.

    “In the beginning, talent hunting agencies made me work more and paid me less. I survived for a long time on just one egg and bread. It was one of the most difficult times for me. I also needed treatment after moving to India, but I did not have enough money to go to a good hospital for my treatment.”

  • India’s Congress party promises minority protection and jobs

    India’s Congress party promises minority protection and jobs

    India’s main opposition party Congress vowed Friday to protect minorities – generally seen as a reference to the country’s Muslims – while accelerating growth and jobs in a manifesto for an election it is widely expected to lose.

    Nearly a billion Indians will vote to elect a new government in six-week-long parliamentary elections starting on April 19, the largest democratic exercise in the world.

    Many analysts see Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s re-election under his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) banner as a foregone conclusion.

    Congress led India’s independence struggle and dominated politics for most of the next seven decades but its secularist vision has since struggled against the BJP’s appeal to members of India’s majority faith.

    In its manifesto, Congress promised to protect “linguistic and religious minorities”.

    “The plurality of religions represents the history of India,” it said. “History cannot be altered.”

    India has a long and grim history of sectarian clashes between the country’s Hindu majority and Muslims, its biggest minority faith with 200 million members.

    Party leader Rahul Gandhi — the son, grandson and great-grandson of prime ministers — said the upcoming election was “fundamentally different” from any other in India’s history.

    “It is between those who want to end India’s constitution and democracy and those who want to save it,” he said.

    The Congress manifesto, titled a “justice document”, offered “concrete guarantees unlike Modi’s empty promises”, said lawmaker and lead author P Chidambaram.

    The party has promised to address India’s “massive unemployment” on a “war footing”, adding that it would earmark half of all government jobs for women.

    Young people voted for Modi in droves when he was first elected a decade ago after he said he would create 10 million jobs a year.

    But a recent International Labour Organization (ILO) report warned that India was hamstrung by a “grim” crisis, with unemployment on the rise.

    Congress proposed an unconditional annual cash transfer of Rs 100,000 ($1,200) “to every poor Indian family”, without precisely defining who would qualify.

    The BJP is yet to publish its own manifesto.

  • Pakistani man convicted for murdering UK police officer in 2005

    Pakistani man convicted for murdering UK police officer in 2005

    A Pakistani man was convicted on Thursday of murdering a UK police officer in 2005, nearly two decades after the killing.

    PC Sharon Beshenivsky was a 38-year-old mother of three who was shot dead by Piran Ditta Khan as she was responding to an armed robbery call.
    Khan, 75, who has been wanted by British authorities since 2006, was found guilty by the court. He was the last of seven men involved in the robbery to be convicted.

    The incident

    The incident unfolded on Nov 18, 2005, when Sharon Beshenivsky along with another constable responded to an alarm call at a travel agency. Upon arrival, they were met with gunfire by three robbers, resulting in Beshenivsky’s fatal shooting and injuries to the ither constables.

    Khan was the group’s ringleader and, although he did not leave the safety of a lookout car during the raid, he played a “pivotal” role in planning it and knew that loaded firearms were to be used, asserts the prosecutors at the court.

    They told jurors this made him guilty of Beshenivsky’s murder “as surely as if he had pulled the trigger on that pistol himself”.The convict was the only one of the group who was familiar with agency and had used them in the past to send money to family in Pakistan, the court heard.

    The stance of the convict

    Khan told the court that he had no knowledge that a robbery was going to be carried out, or that weapons were going to be taken. He claimed the business’s owner, Mohammmad Yousaf, owed him £12,000 and that debt collector Hassan Razzaq offered to get his money back after the pair met through a business associate.

    Khan said he thought the men Razzaq sent would “intimidate” the staff at staff, or at worst, “slap them”.

    Prosecutor Robert Smith KC said Khan’s claim of being defrauded was an “entirely false” attempt to explain why he was in Bradford at the time of the robbery and murder.

    The court heard Khan, who was living in Enfield, London, at the time, was driven to Yorkshire by Razzaq on a reconnaissance trip five days before the raid.

    The day before the robbery, they travelled up again to a “safe house” where they spent the night.

    A witness later told police he had heard the robbers discussing the plot in one of the bedrooms.

    Mr Baron said he heard gunman Muzzaker Shah asking Khan: “Uncle, is it safe?” Khan was said to have replied: “Yes, it’s safe. Genuine.”

    Jurors heard Shah asked: “How much can we get?” and Khan replied: “Minimum £50,000, maximum target 100 grand.”

    The group were said to be “elated” and “confident,” shouting: “Let’s go do it.”


    The arrest of Khan-the convict

    Dawn’s Atika Rehman reports that the convict fled to Pakistan two months after the murder to evade capture and remained free till he was apprehended in 2020 in Islamabad. While there, his lawyer said Khan wanted to be tried in his home country.

    Despite the absence of an extradition treaty, the British and Pakistani authorities worked together to facilitate Khan’s return to the UK in April 2023, where he was arrested and charged.

  • Fawad Khan ,Sanam Saeed spotted at Atiqa Odho’s Iftar party

    Fawad Khan ,Sanam Saeed spotted at Atiqa Odho’s Iftar party

    As Ramadan nears its end, people continue to gather for Suhoor and Iftar, sharing blessings with loved ones.

    Celebrities are coming together for Suhoor, Iftar, and game nights. Atiqa Odho too hosted an Iftar dinner recently.

    Stars like Fawad Khan, Mawra Hocane, Mohib Mirza, Sanam Saeed, Asim Raza, Maria Wasti, Vaneeza Ahmed, Leila Zuberi, and others attended the event, delighting fans.

    Check out some pictures here:

  • PM Shehbaz set to visit Saudi Arabia for two days  

    PM Shehbaz set to visit Saudi Arabia for two days  

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif will depart for a two-day trip to Saudi Arabia for Umrah on Saturday night. During his stay in Jeddah, he will also meet his Saudi Arabian counterpart, The News reported on Friday.

    The Premier will discuss various projects during a meeting with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

    Shehbaz Sharif will also invite MbS to visit Pakistan soon.

    During his stay in Saudi Arabia, both countries will finalise multiple development projects, and continue bilateral cooperation in various sectors, including agriculture. 

    The sources of The News claimed that Saudi Arabia will also invest $1 billion in the Reko Diq project.

    The schedule for PM Shehbaz’s visit will be finalised on Friday (today), said the sources.

  • Abrar Ul Haq makes musical comeback

    Abrar Ul Haq makes musical comeback

    Abrar Ul Haq made Bhangra popular in Pakistani pop music. His songs ‘Aaja Ni Baija Cycle Tey,’ and ‘Billo De Ghar’ are timeless hits played at every wedding. Bollywood recently remixed his song ‘Nach Punjaban.’ After quitting politics last year, Abrar Ul Haq has returned to making music.
    Abrar was a guest on Ahmed Ali Butt’s show where he said, “If we put a little effort into it, just like my songs from 15 to 20 years ago,
    such as ‘Jatt Charya Kacheri,’ at that time, no such songs were coming from India.

    They followed this trend, and after that, they started making songs in the same way. Anwar Aziz, our respected politician from Narowal, once met me in court and said there is a compliment for you, especially this Sikh guy is following your music style. Basically, Pakistan should take pride as we started the trend.”
    He was of the opinion that old singers are always angry at new talent. “This used to happen to me, and now singers of my generation are doing it to youngsters. Music of every generation should be respected and enjoyed.”

  • I’ve signed a paper saying I won’t play Momo’s character anywhere else: Hina Dilpazeer

    I’ve signed a paper saying I won’t play Momo’s character anywhere else: Hina Dilpazeer

    During a recent Ramadan show, Pakistani actress Hina Dilpazeer, famous for playing the beloved character of Mumtaz, also known as Momo, in the popular sitcom ‘Bulbulay,’ revealed something surprising. She said she’s not allowed to play the ditzy Momo anywhere else. This includes not just on TV or in movies, but also at events or award shows. It’s part of her contract.

    Momo’s character is an older lady who’s sweet but forgetful. She often forgets names, even of her own family and everyday things around the house. Her mix-ups and funny mistakes are loved by viewers. When she messes up, she says “oof” and puts her hand on her forehead, which has become a famous reaction on the show.

    Talking about her situation, Dilpazeer said, “I have it written down that I can’t play this character (Momo) anywhere else. Yes, I did a commercial where I was asked if I could play Momo, and they said yes, but it was only for the commercial.”

    Apart from Dilpazeer, the main cast of Bulbulay includes Nabeel, Ayesha Omar, and Mehmood Aslam. The show debuted in 2009 and has become one of Pakistan’s most successful TV series. It holds the record for being the longest-running TV show in the country.
    Momo’s character has gained a big fanbase over time, becoming one of Pakistan’s most loved and well-known TV characters. Her funny timing and actions have made her popular with viewers of all ages, making Dilpazeer’s role a key part of Bulbulay’s success.

    Talking about Momo, she praised the writer Ali Rehman for creating such a great character and her funny chemistry with on-screen son Nabeel. Since they had worked together before, it was a lot of fun. “A lot of times, we had to do multiple takes,” reminisced Dilpazeer, “which would often irritate Khoobsurat (Ayesha Omar) because Nabeel, Mehmood, and I would constantly laugh at each other’s gestures and cues.”