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  • Are Ahmed Ali Akbar and Yumna Zaidi getting married? Ahmed addresses rumours

    Are Ahmed Ali Akbar and Yumna Zaidi getting married? Ahmed addresses rumours

    Ahmed Ali Akbar and Yumna Zaidi are one of the on-screen couples having a huge fanbase all over the world and like many other celebrity on-screen pairs audiences root for them to turn into real-life couples. It was Gauzarish which put the two on the map but their scintillating chemistry caught the attention of fans in Yeh Raha Dil as Zaki and Hayat and in Parizad where Ahmed was playing the titular character and Yumna was his ultimate love interest, Annie.

    Ahmed has been promoting his film Gunjal nowadays and in every other interview he is asked about his chemistry with the leading actress Zaidi. While giving an interview he expressed his desire to do a full-blown romantic drama with Yumna for the fans.

    On ARY Zindagi’s talk show, the actor was asked by the host Ayaz Samo with which colleague he would like the rumours to be spread, to which Ahmed instantly replied with Yumna. Later on, he elaborated that thanks to propaganda YouTubers, the rumours of their marriage were already circulating.

    He revealed that he received congratulatory calls from people who believed in the speculated marriage between him and Yumna. However, he promptly debunked the misinformation, asserting that the news of their alleged marriage was entirely false, crushing the hopes of fans who longed to witness their favourite on-screen couple tie the knot in real life.

    Despite refuting the marriage rumour, Ahmed Ali Akbar left room for playful speculations with Yumna Zaidi, hinting that he ‘wouldn’t mind’ such rumours circulating about them.

  • Zardari accuses Jemima of paying UK bloggers to support Khan

    Zardari accuses Jemima of paying UK bloggers to support Khan

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman and former president of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari has accused Jemima Goldsmith, the ex-wife of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, of paying vloggers while sitting abroad.

    In an interview on Aaj News with Asma Shirazi, the former president stated that a lobby with “multiple interests” has been funding and backing vloggers.

    The former president further added that it was a conspiracy to bring Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) ex-Chairman Imran Khan into power, adding that some people wanted to extend his rule until 2035.

    “He [Khan] would have sold Pakistan, and the country would have defaulted if I had not ousted that person… Sometimes a puppet does not know what its handler is doing to it.”

    Asif Ali Zardari also said that “I can be a candidate for prime ministership and Bilawal too. Even Khursheed Shah can be the candidate.”

    On the other hand, PTI supporters are showing support to Jemima on X (previously Twitter), with #StayStrongJemimaKhan trending on the platform.

  • 2023; Year of gain and loss for Babar Azam

    2023; Year of gain and loss for Babar Azam

    Year 2023 is ready to say goodbye now with good and bad memories. The past year has been a mixed year for the Pakistan cricket team. Star batsman Babar Azam lost the captaincy of the team after a disastrous World Cup campaign but his personal performance remained outstanding, with many world records falling in his lap, proof of his being one of the great cricketers of the present era.

    The poor performance of the Pakistan cricket team in the recently held World Cup in India and earlier in the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka was blamed by many on Babar’s captaincy. He resigned from the three-format captaincy last month on his return home. After this, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appointed Shan Masood as the Test captain and Shaheen Shah as the T20 captain.

    In 2023, Babar Azam was the number one One-Day Internationals (ODI) batsman in the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings for almost the entire year and after holding the crown of the number one batsman for more than 900 days, but unfortunately he lost this honor during the World Cup 2023.

    Babar Azam’s abilities were recognized at the government level and for his superior performance, he was awarded the Star of Distinction by President Dr. Arif Alvi on the occasion of Pakistan Day.

    He achieved two world records in a single match of the ODI series against New Zealand. In the second match of the five-match series against the Kiwis, Babar Azam became the fastest batsman to score 5000 runs and the fastest 18 centuries, equaling South African batsman Hashim Amla’s record. Babar reached the milestone in 97 innings while the former Proteas batsman took 102 innings.

    The former captain also became the fastest batsman to score 9000 runs in T20 cricket, accomplishing the feat in 245 innings. This honor was previously held by West Indian batsman Chris Gayle who scored 9000 runs in 249 runs.

    Babar Azam notched up another world record by scoring a magnificent century in the T20 International in New Zealand, playing his 101st match as captain, became the player with the most centuries in T20 as captain. He broke the record of Indian captain Rohit Sharma who was the first with two centuries. Babar Azam has achieved the honor of scoring three centuries as a captain in T20.

    Azam was then awarded the Outstanding Performance Player of the Month award by the ICC in August. This was the third award overall after winning the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year and ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year last year.

    Under the leadership of Babar Azam, Pakistan became the number one ODI team in the ICC rankings this year. Pakistan won the ODI series against New Zealand after 12 years. Pakistan whitewashed Sri Lanka in the Test series and Afghanistan in the ODI series. The Test and T20 series against New Zealand remained a draw, but the Pakistan team’s performance in the last two assignments in the Asia Cup 2024 and the World Cup was disappointing due to unavailability of Naseem Shah in bowling attack.

    Babar Azam’s Overall Performance in International Cricket:

    Babar Azam has scored a total of 12986 runs in all three formats (Test, ODI & T20) of international cricket so far, 3772 runs in 49 Test matches, including nine centuries and 26 fifties.

    He has scored 5729 runs in 117 one-day matches, including 19 centuries and 32 fifties, while in 104 T20 matches, he has scored 3485 runs with the help of three centuries and 38 fifties.

  • Online learning driving license app launched

    Online learning driving license app launched

    Caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab, Mohsin Naqvi, has inaugurated an online learning driving license app.

    The inauguration ceremony of the online learning driving license app was held at the Chief Minister Office in Lahore, with Information Minister Amir Mir and Inspector General of Punjab Police Usman Anwar present at the event.

    Chairman Punjab Information Technology Board Faisal Yusuf and related officials were also present in the ceremony.

    Speaking at the ceremony, Chief Minister Naqvi said that learning license facility is being provided at patrol posts, service centers and police stations. Citizens will be able to benefit from the facility of online learning license while sitting at home. Learner license facility has also been started at the front desk of police stations.

  • I had to leave: Pakistani-American Hamna Zafar escaped forced marriage to pursue dreams in America

    I had to leave: Pakistani-American Hamna Zafar escaped forced marriage to pursue dreams in America

    At age 19, Hamna Zafar knew she would lose her family unless she agreed to an arranged marriage with her cousin in Pakistan. However, the dutiful daughter rebelled and opted to escape to a future in America. She is now serving in the US Air Force.

    Recounting her journey to PEOPLE, Hamna says, “I always thought about my parents. I always thought about my family. I always thought about my sisters, but that night I thought about me.”

    As a child, Hamna Zafar says, her parents didn’t mind her getting an education but insisted that she would eventually settle down as a wife and mother with a husband chosen by them.

    “I was just expecting my family to kind of get used to the culture in the United States,” she says. “Growing up, they never really mentioned arranged marriage.”

    That all changed when the college freshman went to visit Pakistan for a family trip in 2019, only to discover she was there for her engagement.
    On her return to the U.S., Hamna tried to reason with her mom.

    “My parents are very traditional and never adapted to American culture,” Hamna says. “That’s why they took me to Pakistan to get me engaged.”
    When her parents learned of her plan to join the military to escape her fate, Hamna panicked.

    “I was completely dependent on them,” Hamna says. “But I knew I had to leave.”

    Her friend’s family sheltered her and they have been with her to date.

    She knew that by taking that step, she would lose her extended family in Pakistan and that her parents would never forgive her — and deny her contact with her two beloved younger sisters.

    It was a route that Hamna, who grew up in Maryland in an immigrant family, never thought she would have to take. An obedient child who got good grades, Hamna — who now spends her days protecting the base as an Air Force Security Defender — says she stayed close to home, cared for her sister with autism, and planned on starting a career after college.

    Hamna shares that she faced a culture shock when she started training for the Air Force.

    “I didn’t have any idea of what boot camp was going to look like. I watched a few videos to give myself an image of what was going to happen,” Hamna says. “It was definitely an eye-opening experience.”

    The most difficult point for her was when she graduated from basic training and wanted her family to see her and all that she had accomplished. She says she has tried to contact her family many times, but they have not responded.

    “I wanted them to be proud of me for who I am and share that with them,” Hamna says. “I really wanted them to see that their daughter has so much potential in her.”

  • Pictures of Imam-ul-Haq sightseeing with wife in Australia are taking over the internet

    Pictures of Imam-ul-Haq sightseeing with wife in Australia are taking over the internet

    Recently married cricketer Imam-ul-Haq and his wife Anmol Mehmood are in Australia these days where the Pakistan cricket team has gone to play a three-match test series. The pictures and videos of this couple’s wedding were liked by social media users. Now the latest pictures are also very viral. Apart from professional engagements, Imam-ul-Haq is also touring Australia with his wife.

    On Instagram, Imam-ul-Haq and his wife have shared some adorable pictures and videos after their wedding. In the pictures and videos, the couple can be seen enjoying the pleasant weather there.

    Anmol Mahmood had shared some pictures from the wedding ceremony with Imam-ul-Haq before these pictures, in which both can be seen in orange dresses.

    It should be noted that the marriage of Imam-ul-Haq and Anmol was held in Lahore last month, where many famous personalities including Pakistan cricketers attended the wedding ceremony.

  • Samosa recipes, Oppenheimer and Aliza Sahar; Pakistan’s most searched topics on Google in 2023

    Billions of topics are searched on Google every day and at the end of every year, the search engine releases a list of the most popular searches.

    Google has now released a list of the most searched topics in Pakistan during 2023.

    The eight different categories disclosed include cricket matches, events/occasions, how-to, news, recipes, TV shows and movies, technology and personalities.

    So, what has been searched under these categories?

    Cricket games

    Pakistan vs New Zealand was the most searched match in this category followed by the match between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

    Pakistan versus Australia in third, then India versus New Zealand, followed by Pakistan versus Netherlands in fifth place.

    Events/Occasions

    Pakistan Super League is at the top of this category followed by the Cricket World Cup, Asia Cup, Indian Premier League while the Ashes is on the fifth, respectively.

    Movies and TV shows

    This year in Pakistan the most searched movie was surprisingly from Hollywood rather than a Pakistani or Indian movie.

    Oppenheimer was the most searched followed by Shahrukh Khan’s Jawan (second) and Pathaan (third).

    Hollywood film Barbie was at the fourth position while Bollywood film Tiger 3 came fifth in the category.

    News

    The Gaza war topped the category in news that Pakistanis searched on Google.

    This was followed by Ehsaas program, Aliza Sahar, Akshay Kumar while Kajol came fifth, respectively.

    Recipes

    Forever-food-lovers, Pakistanis searched for samosa recipes followed by kaleji and then sheer khurma.

    Recipes for namkeen gosht and tomato ketchup recipes came in fourth and fifth respectively.

    Technology

    The top search in this category is not surprising as it has attracted people from all over the world over the past year: ChatGPT — chatbot based on artificial intelligence (AI) technology, which was introduced in November 2022 and went global in 2023.

  • Supreme Court approves live telecast of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto reference case

    Supreme Court approves live telecast of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto reference case

    The Supreme Court (SC) has approved a live telecast of a 12-year-old presidential reference regarding the contentious death sentence of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

    On Monday, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari requested live broadcast of the hearing of the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto reference.

    The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa is heading a nine-member, larger SC bench that is going to hear the 12-year-old presidential reference regarding the controversial death sentence awarded to the former prime minister.

    The decision to fix the case was made under Section 2(1) of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023, by a three-member committee comprising CJP Isa, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Ijazul Ahsan.

    Last week, the SC appointed a panel of two judges, Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, to decide on the issue of the live broadcasting of 12-year-old presidential reference after former president Asif Ali Zardari the approached SC in 2011 to revisit the trial of the former prime minister.

    Previously, an 11-member apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry conducted five hearings on the presidential reference. The last hearing in the said case was on November 11, 2022.

  • Jemima Khan calls for unconditional ceasefire in Gaza

    Jemima Khan calls for unconditional ceasefire in Gaza

    Screenwriter and film maker Jemima Khan has called for an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza on Monday, citing the “unprecedented” number of children killed in Israeli airstrikes on the besieged strip.

    The ex-wife of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote:

    “The number of children being killed in Gaza is unprecedented.

    Fewer children were killed in Iraq in 14 years of war (2008- 2022) than in one single month in Gaza.

    The civilian death toll is significantly higher than in all the conflicts around the world during the C20th.

    Ceasefire now!”

    Jemima Khan, who is mother to two Muslim children from her marriage to Imran Khan, was heavily criticised at the beginning of the Israeli bombardment for what was perceived by her followers as an attempt to “both-sides” the war. Since then, she has steadily posted about the conflict, speaking out against Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

    Another tweet posted yesterday said, “I really don’t like the terms, “pro- Israel” or “pro- Palestine,” as it infers the choice has to be binary. You can be pro- Israel’s right to exist in safety and pro- Palestinian freedom. Those two things are not only mutually inclusive; they are contingent upon one another.”

    This one, however, got her backlash for what followers said was an attempt to conflate the oppressor and the oppressed.

    Here are some reactions:

  • Caretaker Prime Minister assures of all possible facilities for PSL 9

    Caretaker Prime Minister assures of all possible facilities for PSL 9

    Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has said that all possible facilities will be provided for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season nine.

    Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Management Committee Zaka Ashraf met Kakar today. In the meeting, PSL, Champions Trophy, recent performance of the team, and various matters related to cricket were discussed.

    The Caretaker Prime Minister expressed his satisfaction with the briefing, directing Zaka Ashraf to take further steps for the improvement of the game, stating, “We want the improvement of Pakistan’s cricket, the government will provide all possible facilities for PSL.”

    Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said, “Diplomatic relations can be improved through cricket diplomacy, the government will provide all possible support for the promotion of cricket.”

    He asked that PSL dates should be adjusted so as not to clash with the elections. He asked the Board to work together for the success of 2025 Champions Trophy, with all stakeholders and security agencies.