Brand, 51, was on Thursday found guilty of rape and three sexual assaults against four women following a high-profile trial, in which he was cleared of two other alleged rapes and one count of attempted indecent assault against two other women.

He was remanded in custody and told by the judge he faced a “significant custodial term” at his sentencing on Monday.

The comedian and Hollywood actor, who became a household name in the UK in the 2000s, also faces further accusations of raping two more women, including a 16-year-old schoolgirl, which the Metropolitan Police is investigating.

“There’s two more cases we’re investigating at the moment,” Met police chief Mark Rowley told the BBC. “I clearly wouldn’t be surprised if many more came forward.”

After the verdicts, the Met paid tribute to the “extraordinary courage, resilience and determination of the women who came forward”.

“Brand used his influence, status and fame to exploit and sexually offend against women,” the Met’s Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy said in a statement Thursday.

Once one of the country’s most high-profile entertainers, Brand had a reputation for lewd humour and promiscuity, passing through major media organisations including the BBC, Channel 4 and MTV.

The companies have come under pressure in recent years – including in the wake of a 2023 joint investigation by Channel 4 and The Times into abuse allegations – for allowing a culture of impunity and even encouraging Brand’s behaviour.

On Thursday he was found guilty of sexual assaults against an MTV worker, a Channel 4 worker and a Capital Radio employee, as well as raping a 21-year-old fan.

After the verdicts, the BBC apologised again for the “culture and failings” when Brand was part of the organisation between 2006 and 2008.

He left amid controversy for sending a well-known actor sexually explicit messages about having slept with their granddaughter.

The undertaking came on Monday, November 2, after the court sought clarity on his position during the hearing of his petition challenging the Foreigners Regional Registration Office’s (FRRO) Leave India Notice.

What Imran Khan told the Bombay High Court

In his written statement, Imran Khan maintained that he had visited the protest site near August Kranti Maidan in South Mumbai only to understand why people’s movement was being restricted and their voices suppressed. He said he had no intention of making demands or influencing the protest.

“I had no intent, as can be seen from my limited remarks to the media on October 10, 2026. I have never made any demands and have categorically stated that I am no one to make any demands,” the actor stated.

However, he agreed to stay away from such demonstrations in the future.

“I volunteer to provide an undertaking to the Union of India that I shall not participate in any protests in the future, nor shall I directly or indirectly influence or instigate others to participate in any such protest,” he added.

The actor also expressed hope that his undertaking would bring an end to the controversy surrounding his alleged participation and the action taken against him afterwards.

HC questions his participation in SIR protest

During the hearing, a bench comprising Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait M Sethna questioned why Imran Khan had joined a demonstration concerning the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) when he was not directly affected by the exercise.

The court observed that, as an OCI cardholder, the actor could not claim the same rights as Indian citizens.

The bench remarked that he was not “remotely affected by the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)” and said he had “no such right to venture into such activities”.

The court also made it clear that OCI cardholders cannot be “put at par with Indian citizens” when it comes to constitutional rights available to citizens.

After taking his undertaking on record, however, the High Court suggested that the authorities show a “big heart” and consider taking a “lenient approach” towards him.

Actor cites 42 years in India, family and professional ties

In his undertaking, Imran Khan also highlighted his long association with India and said he had no criminal record.

He stated that during his 42 years in the country, he had “strictly adhered to the law and honoured the laws of this great nation in their letter and spirit”.

The actor further said that he had immense respect for India and its Constitution despite holding OCI status.

“Being an OCI holder, I have the utmost love and respect for this great nation and its Constitution,” he stated, adding that he had contributed to the country through tax payments and by creating employment opportunities.

Imran Khan also pointed to his personal and professional connections. He said he had married in India and had a daughter from the marriage. His extended family, he added, was Indian by birth.

He also referred to his family’s contribution to the film industry, stating that his life, profession and affiliations were all connected to India.

The Bombay High Court has kept the FRRO’s Leave India Notice in abeyance until December 7.

The court also observed that, during this period, Imran Khan was expected to remain in India as a “law-abiding person” and refrain from associating with or participating in activities and protests.

This story was originally published on The Statesman, an ANN partner of Dawn

The rapper talked about the event’s success in a post on his Instagram account, saying he was “overwhelmed with gratitude and awe” for everyone who was a part of the last show in London, from the musicians to the speakers to the members of the audience.

Macklemore said the tour was an “affirmation” that when people come together to stand for the freedom of others, “something profound happens”. He said the crowd and the performers were equal parts of that.

“We live in an era where advocating for Palestinian life and freedom is controversial. Where saying that Palestine should be free, that Palestinians deserve the same dignity, safety and rights as everyone else, can come at a cost,” Macklemore said.

He said when people stop thinking about those costs and join hands for liberation, “Love is found.” He said he felt that love in London on Friday and he can still feel it.

Talking about his experience organising the tour, the rapper said he had spent “five of the most intense weeks, reaching out to artists, organising, dealing with logistics and constant meetings,” but now felt like he could take a breath.

He acknowledged there was still a long way to go, but thanked everyone who had come along so far. “I feel honoured to have shared that experience with you all,” he said.

The sold-out show at London’s Wembley Stadium followed similarly popular nights in Paris and Dublin, where fans decked out in keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags were seen at the venue.

The proceeds from the shows went to organisations working to support Palestinians through humanitarian relief, medical care, education, advocacy and community initiatives.

Musicians performing at the event included Paloma Faith, Vic Mensa and Nemahsis, while climate activist Greta Thunberg and actors Mark Ruffalo, Susan Sarandon and Javier Bardem addressed the crowd of over 12,500.

The tour materialised as a response to Macklemore being booted off singer Ed Sheeran’s tour of the Americas after he made a pro-Palestine speech during an appearance in New York.

The remarks drew criticism from certain pro-Israel venue owners who threatened to cancel Sheeran’s shows if Macklemore were to perform with him.

The rapper is an outspoken voice for Palestine, often using his platform to highlight Israeli crimes, especially in the aftermath of the country’s brutal invasion of Gaza in 2023.

In 2024, he wrote a song called ‘Hind’s Hall’, celebrating student protesters at Columbia University in the US who took over and renamed one of the campus halls of residence after six-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed by the Israeli military in Gaza.

Now, five years into her acting career, she says social media is a boon for the entertainment industry because it brings forward young talent — like Dananeer Mobeen, who debuted alongside Ali in the drama Sinf-e-Ahan.

She spoke to Hasan Chaudhary on his show Buzz about how, with some people, the lines between influencer and actor “intermingle” if the person has talent.

“The biggest example I have… and I am so glad that social media brought her here, is Dananeer, right? Dananeer is very talented,” she said.

Ali said that if social media weren’t there “kids like us would have a hard time navigating [the industry] and getting where we are”. She said people who enter the television space get criticised if they can’t act and don’t belong where they are.

When Chaudhry brought up Romaisa Khan, another social media star who went into dramas, Ali said she was a “beautiful actor” and had an extensive range. “Her eyes, her… I don’t know, man. Social media has given us [stars like] them too,” she said.

Ali said there was nepotism in the industry, but that could only get someone so far. “You’ll get two projects, at max, maybe three, that too by talking to as many people. Then you’ll be gone.”

She also said that the industry was in need of fresh faces: “There are some actors you see on your screen 24/7. So, even if they are good, you’re still seeing them all the time.”

Earlier in the programme, Ali’s Izzat co-star Atabik Mohsin said the industry suffered from an “accessibility problem” where new entrants didn’t know where to go and what to do. “For example, I have no one in the industry, [so I didn’t know] where to go for auditions and whom to meet.”

Mohsin did, however, say that there was hope for those who really wanted to get in. “There is enough space in the industry that you can get work, just keep at it,” he advised young actors.

A decree from Judge Zahid Bashir of the Family Court in Lahore dated October 29 ruled in favour of the dissolution as requested by Mahnaz.

She filed for khula on June 22, claiming that she and her daughters had suffered “extreme mental torment” for two decades and that she was “singlehandedly incurring all household expenses” due to the lack of financial support from her husband.

The suit said Mahnaz and her family members had made “numerous attempts to seek reform in [Moammar’s] behaviour”, but the actor “refused to seek treatment for his addiction or cease his violent outbursts”.

Mahnaz’s plea for khula cited Moammar’s physical and mental abuse of his wife and daughters as grounds for the dissolution. One of their daughters was listed as a witness by Mahnaz.

Earlier, both parties had been called for mediation in an attempt to resolve the matter through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). A letter from the ADR Centre III in Lahore said Moammar appeared for mediation, whereas Mahnaz refused, leading to the matter being sent back to the court.

In an Instagram post, Maqsood said he was “heartbroken” to hear of Gupta’s passing and that life was so “fragile and unpredictable”.

“Gupts,” he said, referring fondly to the filmmaker, “had such a big heart and an incredible gift for storytelling”. Maqsood said there was mutual belief between his group Strings and Gupta, “He believed in our music and we believed in his work.”

Strings performed for three of the filmmaker’s films, recording songs ‘Yeh Hai Meri Kahani’ and ‘Akhri Alvida’ for his films Zinda (2006) and Shootout at Lokhandwala (2007). The group also worked on composition for Gupta’s Shootout at Wadala (2013).

Maqsood said there was “always so much warmth and mutual respect” between them when they worked together and that he’d remember Gupta with “great love and fondness”.

“My heart goes out to his family and loved ones. Wishing them strength and comfort through this incredibly difficult time,” Maqsood said, ending the message with “Rest in peace, Gupts.”

Gupta had a long career as a director, producer and screenwriter, with some of his best-known work being action and crime films. He made his directorial debut in 1994 with Aatish starring Sanjay Dutt.

His directing credits also included Ram Shastra, Hameshaa, Jung, Khauff and Musafir. The films reflected a sustained interest in thrillers, with stories built around crime, revenge and conflicted protagonists.

According to reports from Indian media, he died after sustaining a head injury from a fall. Quoting family sources, reports said the death went unnoticed until Saturday morning.

Stewart, knighted in 2010 by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to drama, died at his home in Los Angeles, according to a statement on his X account.

“We announce with great sorrow the passing of Sir Patrick Stewart yesterday at his home in Los Angeles, in the loving care of his beloved wife Sunny following a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia,” it said.

Stewart became an actor at age 18 and gained acclaim on the stage as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company beginning in the 1960s. But it was not until after he was hired at age 47 for Star Trek: The Next Generation — a TV series that ran from 1987 to 1994 as a sequel to the original 1960s Star Trek — that he gained mainstream fame, acting into his 80s.

“Make it so,” his character Picard often said, instructing a subordinate to carry out a command, or sometimes deploying the similar catch phrase, “Engage.”

It was a role he had debated even taking after his longtime friend and fellow Shakespearen Ian McKellen advised him to spurn Star Trek and remain in theatre. Stewart did take the role and became both a fan favorite and an indispensable part of a lucrative sci-fi franchise, playing Picard not only in 176 episodes over seven seasons of that series but also in several Star Trek films and in the later streaming series Star Trek: Picard that began airing in 2020 when he was 79.

“As the seven seasons of TNG (The Next Generation) went by, the distinction between Jean-Luc Picard and Patrick Stewart became thinner and thinner, until it was impossible for me to know where he left off and I began. So much of what I believed and felt went into that show,” Stewart told The Guardian newspaper in 2022.

Stewart also initially balked at being cast as the wheelchair-using mutant Professor X in the X-Men movies, based on the popular Marvel comic book character.

“I said, ‘Look, I know this isn’t science fiction, but it’s fantasy, and I’ve done that.’ But they persuaded me that it wouldn’t be like Star Trek, so I did it. And yet again I was proved wrong,” Stewart told The Guardian.

He became a critical part of another big-money franchise starting with the first entry X-Men in 2000 and followed by several more.

Acting was a safe space

Stewart was born on July 13, 1940, in the English town of Mirfield in Yorkshire. He was raised in poverty, with a father who he said returned from World War II an alcoholic who suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome and physically abused Stewart’s mother. Stewart recalled putting his body between his father and mother to try to protect her.

As a child, Stewart said, acting became a “safe space” after a schoolteacher introduced him to Shakespeare — specifically The Merchant of Venice — during a class when he was 12. He started losing his hair at age 17 and was bald by 19. He was embarrassed at the time, but eventually embraced it.

Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry, presented a hopeful vision of the future, with humankind venturing into the cosmos in spaceships exceeding the speed of light and encountering alien races. The enduring popularity of the original series and the success of spinoff films prompted Roddenberry to create The Next Generation sequel series.

The Picard character was the opposite of the swashbuckling and sometimes unintentionally buffoonish Captain James T Kirk, played by William Shatner, of the original series — envisioned as more cerebral and disciplined, though sometimes coming across as stuffy, humourless, or self-important.

Stewart recalled being a little bit too serious toward his cast mates early on.

“I tell the story of calling a meeting of my principal fellow cast members and telling them that I thought we were not disciplined enough, that we should not be fooling about on the set as much as we were but taking everything seriously,” Stewart told The New Yorker in 2023.

“And one of the cast members said, ‘Oh, come on, Patrick, we’ve got to have some fun.’ And I thumped the chair and said, ‘We are not here to have fun’ — which they have never let me forget. They taught me so much about loosening up and being freer,” Stewart added.

Stewart also felt the series improved as it went along, faulting his own portrayal of Picard in the first two seasons.

“I found it lacking intimacy. It was very authoritative, but there were few other qualities in him,” Stewart said, adding that his work got better in subsequent seasons.

In fact, the finest work for the entire cast may have been the two-part, time-bending series finale.

He became Sir Patrick Stewart when he was knighted by the queen at Buckingham Palace in 2010. He told reporters that his heroes were British actors Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud and Alec Guinness, who also had been knighted, adding that being “in that company is the grandest thing that has professionally happened to me.”

Stewart was married three times and had two children. His third marriage, in 2013, was to American musician Sunny Ozell.

The couturier was being interviewed by former model Frieha Altaf on the podcast FWhy? when the host said millennials were different from older generations since they didn’t believe in buying property. “Even if we did want it, how would we get it?” Parishae responded.

She said her father — veteran fashion designer Amir Adnan — was able to afford a down payment on a house with a few months of his salary when he was her age and could comfortably afford a new car with a year’s wage.

“What’s our average salary? 60, 70, 80k? What are you going to do?”

Parishae said many places didn’t adhere to minimum wage standards, which made the whole situation worse. She agreed that many younger people felt it was better to rent homes than buy them, but that was only because that’s all they could afford.

Continuing the discussion on generational divides, Altaf said her generation also chided younger ones for not working hard enough, but Parishae was exceptionally hard-working.

The guest replied that Gen Z was the one that realised they didn’t have to work constantly and that millennials were stuck in a perpetual grind because otherwise they felt guilty for not working — something she said she experiences too. She said her own younger sister was so much calmer.

Earlier in the programme, the designer said Pakistan’s biggest problem was the lack of basic amenities, which kept people frustrated.

“The people [of Pakistan] aren’t bad, but when even the most basic things in your life aren’t there — literally food, clothes, housing, water, gas, electricity, basic stuff — you get so tangled up that you lose patience for everything else.”

Parishae said many of society’s issues boiled down to a lack of patience and that the problems people faced out on the street didn’t end when they got home. “That’s not even a problem of the poor, it’s everybody’s problem.”

She said that if issues surrounding basic necessities were resolved, a lot of people’s tension would go away.

In an interview with Haroon Rashid on the BBC Asian Network, Munawar said his character had some major flaws, including being a people-pleaser.

Explaining his character’s shortcoming, Munawar said he himself was a people-pleaser and had a hard time saying no to others. He also said Abu Bakar had a saviour complex “because the mother’s brought him up in a certain way, where she’s always ingrained in him that this is the right thing to do”.

He asked Rashid to “imagine the pressure this man lives under”.

The actor dropped another bombshell during the interview: Abu Bakar had been crushing on Zaryab for a lot longer than he outwardly lets on — or at least that’s how he played the part.

Munawar revealed to a shocked host that his character had had his eye on the show’s female lead from very early on, when he’d visit her house with his mother and had probably been “sneaking a few looks here and there”.

He said the clash between Zaryab and Abu Bakar’s personalities left him in a dilemma between what his heart wanted and what his mind knew was dangerous.

The actor also said he’d been leaving hints about Abu Bakar’s crush for fans to pick up on: “The first time they go out for lunch and he tells her, you like pasta, right? And she says, how do you know? He says, ‘Kishwar khala had mentioned it once.’ Why would I remember if I didn’t like this girl? I’ve thrown these hints everywhere.”

Abu Bakar has been the talk of the town ever since the show started, with his nice — some would say too nice — guy image being put under the microscope. Earlier, Nadia Afgan responded to naysayers who said Abu Bakar was too good to be true, saying her own husband was a bit like the character, so she found Abu Bakar’s actions fully believable.

Even the show’s writer, Umera Ahmed, weighed into the discourse, asking why her followers felt “basic human traits like kindness, empathy, forgiveness [and] overlooking others’ flaws are [going] extinct from our society” and why, when they are portrayed in the media, people find them unreal.

The 55-year-old said it “sounded like a prank” when he heard the news, adding: “Not in a million years did I think that this would be an honour bestowed on me.”

“I hope this changes everything. I hope it’s just wine and roses, milk and honey from here on out,” he told People magazine with a laugh. “No, I don’t, but I am going to take a lot of ribbing from friends and family for sure.”

Wyle has won two Emmys for best actor in drama for his portrayal of Dr Michael ‘Robby’ Robinavitch in HBO’s The Pitt, the story of life in a Pittsburgh trauma center. He also starred as Dr John Carter in the long-running medical drama ER, which debuted in 1994. His ER co-star George Clooney has received People’s honour twice.

Other actors who have received the title from People magazine include Michael B Jordan, Idris Elba, John Krasinski, and Paul Rudd.

The gap, he believes, is one of compatibility rather than quality.

The producer and actor made his thoughts known during an interview with Ali Salman published on Monday.

“Look, our dramas have a unique style of their own. [Our] writing has a style of its own. When we deliver lines, there’s a particular way to do it because we’re speaking in Urdu. Over-the-top is edgy, different content; we’re not really good at that,” Saeed said, before adding while there are some people in the Pakistani industry who can tell OTT stories, there aren’t any suitable platforms for them.

As the conversation inevitably moved towards Netflix, Saeed acknowledged that political reasons may play a role in Pakistan’s notable absence from it, though he did not elaborate on that line of thought.

Saeed said the local industry should prioritise the creation of its own OTT platform, which can help attract the attention of streaming giants like Netflix.

“Even in India, [domestic] OTT platforms came first. They’ve been developing for the past 12 to 13 years,” he said, before adding the Pakistani government should take steps to “talk to Netflix” for a resolution.

Saeed is one of many celebrities who have weighed in on the subject. Just last week, Urwa Hocane stated that Pakistan doesn’t need to obsess over Netflix because “we’re doing better than that”. Faysal Quraishi, Shamoon Abbasi, and Usama Khan have all offered different opinions on the matter, with the majority agreeing on the part about Pakistani dramas’ potential to attract large audiences.

Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal also announced in July that the government was “in talks with Netflix and other global streaming giants to adjust the regional framework”.

“My heart is heavy. Walter Koenig, our Ensign Pavel Chekov, passed away early today,” George Takei, who starred alongside Koenig in the show and was a long-time friend, wrote on Facebook on Monday. Koenig died at his home in Los Angeles, his talent agent said.

Gene Roddenberry, the Star Trek creator, picked Koenig, who had played only a few prior roles on television, when he decided to add a Russian character to the crew of the fictional Starship Enterprise.

The introduction of a Russian officer who worked harmoniously with a racially and culturally diverse crew came amid the real-world Cold War tensions of the era.

“We were stating tacitly that peoples of all races and creeds, nationalities could not only coexist but care for each other deeply, and in doing so we were heralding a future that was very optimistic,” Koenig once told a BBC interviewer.

While Koenig was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, he used an inauthentic Russian accent that was sometimes played for laughs.

The original TV series ran for three seasons, from 1966 to 1969. Koenig appeared on 36 episodes, and then in seven movies from 1979 to 1994.

“I was informed while I was still there at my audition that I had the role,” Koenig told a newspaper in 2008. “It seemed like an engagement that might work out over several episodes, but I had no idea that it would totally shape my career and my life.”

Originally published in Dawn, October 27th, 2026

The Grammy-winning rapper received a deafening ovation in Dublin, where fans in the overwhelmingly pro-Palestinian country came draped in Palestinian flags, black, red and green football jerseys and keffiyeh scarves being sold by vendors outside.

“I ​am proud to stand here on stage in solidarity with the Palestinian people. We will ​continue to fight for collective liberation until our last breath,” Macklemore said on stage, ⁠where he waved a Palestinian flag for much of his set.

“Six weeks ago, two words is all ​that it took,” he said, referring to the rallying cry of “Free Palestine” and his criticism of the Israeli ​government’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium that led to his removal from Sheeran’s US tour.

“Those two words are so threatening to some people that we’d rather silence those two words than confront what they ​actually mean… Somehow those words have become more controversial than the suffering that made them necessary.”

The crowd, ​which snapped up the 13,000 tickets for Dublin’s 3Arena within minutes, chanted “Free Free Palestine” throughout.

“We need a speaker for our time. ‌It ⁠has to be somebody like that who can reach out to people. He made it feel so alive and I’ve come out feeling I want to be part of something,” said Siobhan Lyons from Dublin, who attended the concert with her daughter.

Irish artists who have spoken out against Israel’s actions played in support ​on Monday, including ‘Take Me ​to Church’ singer Hozier, ⁠rap group Kneecap and Beoga, one of the acts who quit Sheeran’s tour in solidarity with Macklemore.

Palestinian singer Lina Makhoul and Palestinian-American DJ Habibeats also performed ​and pro-Palestine activists such as Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham spoke between ​sets.

Several stars sent in pre-recorded video messages, including Avengers star Mark Ruffalo. “Keep fighting for a free Palestine and humanity all over the world and amongst the people. There will be no peace until there’s equality,” the actor said to enthusiastic applause throughout the stadium. “Lots of love, have a good show. Keep fighting the good fight.”

Julian Casablancas, the lead singer of rock band The Strokes, said, “Take care of each other and the innocents and continue standing up in this struggle towards a just world system.”

Other celebrities who sent in video messages included actors Ilana Glazer, Cynthia Nixon and Natasha Rothwell.

Sheeran, one of ⁠the world’s top-selling recording artists, said stadium owners on the remaining dates threatened to bar any further shows with Macklemore on the bill.

Palestinian authorities say more than 74,000 people have been killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza, launched ⁠after Hamas-led ​fighters killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on October ​7, 2023.

The Free Palestine tour will continue in Paris and London this week ​, with US dates due to be announced later, Macklemore has said.

The show at the NFL championship game is the most coveted showcase in the world of music. US television ratings for the halftime performance often top 100 million viewers and rank higher than the ​audience for the game itself.

Iconic artists including the Rolling ​Stones, Beyoncé, Madonna, Prince and Bruce Springsteen have taken ⁠the Super Bowl stage over the years. Puerto Rican rapper ​Bad Bunny headlined the show at the last Super Bowl.

Next ​year’s Super Bowl will take place on February 14 in Los Angeles. It will be broadcast on Walt Disney’s ABC and ESPN television networks and ​will stream on Disney+ and the ESPN app.

Jay-Z’s company Roc ​Nation has produced the Super Bowl Halftime Show since 2019, and he plays ⁠a key role in selecting each year’s performer.

“For several years, we’ve had the privilege of working closely with Jay-Z and Roc Nation, and I’ve seen the extraordinary impact he has had on ​the Super Bowl ​Halftime Show,” ⁠NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.

“When we first reached an agreement with Roc Nation ​to produce the show, I had just one ​request: ⁠that Jay-Z take the stage himself one day, whenever the moment felt right to him.”

Jay-Z is known for hits such as ‘99 Problems’ ⁠and ‘Hard ​Knock Life’. The 56-year-old rapper has also ​collaborated with artists including Alicia Keys on ‘Empire State of Mind’ and his wife, ​Beyoncé, on ‘Crazy in Love’.

Brown, 37, was given an eight-month suspended sentence at London’s Southwark Crown Court after he admitted a charge of affray over the attack on Abraham Diaw at the Tape nightclub in February 2023.

The R&B star and his vocal coach Omololu Akinlolu, 40, pleaded guilty in July, having denied more serious charges of attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm and assault causing actual bodily harm.

Judge Tony Baumgartner said: “This was serious, public violence. In your case, Brown, it involved the repeated use … of a bottle, including twice striking Diaw to his head.”

Brown’s suspended sentence means he does not immediately go to prison unless he commits another offence.

Some of Brown’s fans queued outside court from around 7am GMT, about an hour before the building opened, and Brown thanked the judge before leaving the dock and nodding towards his supporters in the public gallery.

Brown, a two-time Grammy winner, was arrested in May 2025 having returned to Britain for the first time since the incident and was initially denied bail, throwing his worldwide Breezy Bowl XX tour into doubt.

But Brown was eventually released after promising to pay a £5 million ($6.68 million) security fee, allowing the tour to go ahead.

This court case is the latest involving Brown since he was charged with assaulting his then-partner Rihanna in 2009, with a photo of her bruised face making headlines around the world.

Prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe said Brown pleaded guilty to the 2009 assault of Rihanna and was sentenced to five years probation. He also admitted a 2013 assault on a fan he was accused of punching when he asked for a photograph.

The actor took to Instagram on Sunday to share his shock over how some people offer their reviews without even watching the movie and sometimes, when it’s an orchestrated effort by more than one person, they even use the same words.

Even though Quraishi didn’t name any movie in his video, his comments come a few days after he and Hareem Farooq raised the alarm over alleged paid negative reviews of their new Punjabi comedy Mango Jutt.

Both the actors shared screenshots on Instagram over the weekend of a conversation claiming that paid campaigns have been initiated to spread negativity about Mango Jutt, which Farooq also produced.

Doubling down on his concerns in his Instagram video, Quraishi spoke about how Pakistani cinema, already battling shrinking audiences and limited screens, can’t afford controversies fuelled by manufactured outrage.

“Because it is a negative thing, which has been fed [to them], you’re saying the same thing. But seriously, while focused on your gains, how many people are you harming?” he asked.

“Whether the film is good or bad is a separate discussion. I know a lot of such serious film critics who wait for two to three days, for Friday, Saturday and Sunday to pass, before writing a review. But when there’s paid propaganda, the reviews start pouring in from the next day,” he added.

Quraishi said nobody but the audience has the right to make a movie a hit or a flop.

“Every film receives mixed reviews. Some of the biggest films in the world don’t get liked by a lot of people. And then there are very strange films, which people like a lot,” he said, before adding that it all depends on how people have perceived the film.

“So the thing is, paid propaganda against anything, whether it’s a drama or a film, it causes loss to the industry. We [already] have a very small industry,” he said.

Quraishi also pointed out how paid negative reviews also decrease trust among moviegoers, who already have to shell out a lot of money to watch films. The actor ended his video with a warning.

“It was very painful for me. But one thing is true, what you’re dishing out to people today, one day you will get a taste of it yourself. Remember this,” he said.

Younger listeners know her for ‘Banjarapan’ — the OST of the recent drama Jinn Ki Shaadi Unn Ki Shaadi — while those with more mature tastes remember her for other soulful renditions, including the popular 2018 ‘Shikwa Jawab-i-Shikwa’ from Coke Studio, with the qawwal troupe of Fareed Ayaz and Abu Mohammad.

But few people know she recently also collaborated with one of China’s most popular singers, Lay Zhang, on a song called ‘Pak-Cheen Dosti Zindabad’ which celebrated the 75th anniversary of Pak-China relations. It is available on major platforms, including YouTube and Spotify.

Despite her Hunzai roots, Natasha behaves more like a Karachiite than many of the Karachiites I know. She was born in the city and raised there in part; however, people often mistake her for a foreigner in her own country. In fact, on her recent trips to China, people mistook her for Chinese.

From Allama Iqbal and Parveen Shakir’s poetry to a collaboration with the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the singer has taken some unexpected turns in her musical journey. Add a Chinese pop star, a love of cricket and a determination to do things her own way, and there’s plenty more to her story than meets the ear

Parveen Shakir and the poetry that stayed

Since making her mark in the music industry, Natasha has released several albums. If her debut album Zariya (2020) introduced her to many new followers worldwide, Khirad (2022) came out as a tribute to the legendary poet Allama Iqbal, whose poetry was the backbone of each song.

The album featured the massively popular ‘Shikwa Jawab-i-Shikwa’, as well as ‘Wajood-i-Zan’, a women’s empowerment song; the title track ‘Khirad’ and ‘Ne Mohra’ were also praised for their Western-style composition with an Eastern touch. However, she admits she knew little of the late Parveen Shakir’s work before starting Khushboo (2026), her third album in six years.

“I hadn’t read Parveen Shakir’s poetry in depth before this album,” she says. “I knew of her, obviously, but when I started working on her poetry, I realised how much there was to it.”

What stayed with her was Shakir’s ability to write about love without losing dignity. “Her writing gave me a lot of validation and dignity. The way she talks about love, accepts love and expresses herself — it empowered me.”

Natasha also mentions the graciousness of Parveen Shakir’s son, Murad, who gave her permission during a video call to use his mother’s poetry and wonders what she would have felt had she been alive. Shakir passed away in a car accident in 1994.

“I don’t know whether she would like it, but I hope she would understand that we are trying to honour her writing,” says Natasha.

The Chinese connection

In her mind, if the Shakir album requires her to stay attuned to Urdu’s nuances, her international collaborations demand the opposite — communicating through music even when words fail.

The songstress made two trips to China this year: first to record the Pak-China Friendship song, and second to perform as a showstopper at an international event. She was overwhelmed to realise that, by sharing the recording booth and the music video with Chinese sensation Lay Zhang, she became huge in China, where local girls apparently told her, ‘You must be big in Pakistan to record a song with Lay Zhang!’

Her collaboration in China led her to a well-equipped international studio, where she recorded material in Chinese and Urdu as part of celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of Pakistan-China friendship.

“The Chinese were looking for someone from Pakistan who could sing a few verses in Chinese and found me on YouTube,” Natasha explains. “At first, I wasn’t that thrilled, because I viewed it as just another collaboration with any other artist. But when I saw their internationally equipped studio and their passion for their work, my perception changed.”

She adds that during the music video shoot, she filmed at the Great Wall of China, a feat no other Pakistani artist can claim.

“Thank God Lay Zhang could speak English because of his K-Pop connection. Despite being a major star in China, he served as an interpreter during the song’s production.”

Then there was Jimmy Choo…

On her second trip to China, she was invited to appear as a showstopper at the World Dance Competition. She tells me, in her usual rapid-fire style, that while she was responding to the many people who came to congratulate her on her performance, an older gentleman approached her, took her hand and asked for a picture.

He then directed his friend to take the photo, beaming with pride. Only later did Natasha discover who they were. The friend who took the photo was an ambassador attending the event; the polite older gentleman was none other than the legendary designer Jimmy Choo.

“I had no idea who he was at the time. He was just a very sweet and humble person who wanted a picture with me. Later, when someone asked me, ‘Do you know who that was?’ I was like, ‘What!’” Natasha is nothing if not expressive.

“That is one of the things I love about travelling and performing,” she adds. “You meet people from completely different worlds, and sometimes you don’t even realise who you are standing next to.”

Canada, Karachi, Hunza and everything in between

Natasha also had a successful tour of Canada this year, where she performed for a crowd that featured many people who didn’t understand Urdu. Their reaction afterwards surprised her.

“I couldn’t believe how they were meeting me,” she says. “Their eyes were almost bursting with excitement and appreciation. And I thought, ‘You don’t even understand the language.’ They informed me that it didn’t matter to them whether they understood the language or not. They loved the way I performed.”

She adds that by going to different countries and interacting with locals, she can safely vouch for the saying that music is a universal language. It does not need known words to connect.

Natasha is a happy-go-lucky soul who embraces cultures wherever she goes, and credits her upbringing in both north and south Pakistan for it. “I am a very good blend of a Hunzai and a Karachiite,” she offers. “I wear the route I have come from as a badge, because it made me unique.”

Karachi, meanwhile, instilled in her the confidence and independence that became central to her personality. “Karachi has made me who I am. This personality — it has been given to me by this city.”

Before music, there was cricket

Natasha credits her perseverance, adap­­tability to different surroundings, and never-say-die attitude to sports, particularly cricket, which taught her a lot.

Cricket? Natasha Baig? That was news to me, even though I was active in the sports scene. I realised why it was a miss — she represented the Karachi region as an off-spinner at the Under-15, Under-17, and Under-19 levels in the domestic circuit as Natasha Zakir, not Natasha Baig.

“Cricket was my first love,” she enthuses. “I didn’t want to leave it, but it was difficult for me because, when you play, the player’s mind is focused on the game.”

She believes playing with the best, including Sana Mir, who later captained the national side, helped her a lot. However, despite her potential, her career was cut short because she lacked support at home. Natasha still had another year of under-19 cricket remaining and was offered another trial with the Karachi team, but she declined. Another reason was that music had already entered her life.

“I was very depressed after leaving sports,” says Natasha, then adds: “I was basically dating sports. So when I broke up with sports, music entered my life as a friend. I fell in love with music. I think I was meant to do this.”

It’s an analogy that amuses me. But I hold off on asking her about her personal life.

Finding a voice of her own

But how did the young Natasha find her voice? Unlike youngsters who know they want to become a singer when they grow up, Natasha was late to the party; only in her teens did she consider her voice a singer’s voice.

“In my mind, Lata Mangeshkar, Noor Jehan, Nayyara Noor and Alka Yagnik — these were voices. When you hear them, you think, ‘This is what a singer sounds like.’ I never thought I could sing.”

Only after people who listened to her sing in private told her she had a good voice with a unique tone did she believe it. “And I thought, okay, there are so many singers. Will people accept me?”

Hassan Ali Effendi, her manager and long-time collaborator, played a key role in helping her understand her talents. Their creative partnership also extended to Laal Series, the production company and media consultancy firm they co-founded, which has released all her albums and promotes original music, folk tunes and artistic projects.

She also credits Sounds of Karachi with her early musical development, when Ahsan Bari invited her to join the ensemble soon after she appeared on the scene in 2013.

Although she has performed all kinds of songs, Natasha is still largely regarded as a Sufi singer. “I don’t want to put myself in that bracket where I’m just a Sufi singer,” she says honestly. “However, when I perform a Sufi song, the fun comes naturally. It is very effortless.”

The fear of a powerful woman

How does she see herself as a female artist, I ask. “I have never tried to see myself as a woman artist,” she responds immediately. “I have only seen myself as an artist.”

But she believes powerful women still make people uncomfortable. She says her voice has sometimes made other musicians reluctant to collaborate because they fear she might overpower them.

“People think I will overshadow them. I used to ask, why? How? You bring your expression, and I will bring mine.”

Her recent collaboration with Kashmir reinforces the point. The band approached her for ‘Kyun’ because they heard something in her voice that she couldn’t initially recognise.

“I was amazed when they approached me for a collab because they could hear only me singing those verses. Even though I felt the song could have done better with another artist, they saw in me what I couldn’t see.”

She also joined a project called Ustad: Chapter One that centres on the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s music and reimagines his work with a new generation of artists.

“The project was offered to a lot of individuals a few years ago by Universal Music, who were reviving Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s music, and I was part of one of the collaborations. I worked with Haider Ali and Bol Jani and we chose ‘Maikhana’ as it was one of my favourite Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan songs.”

Natasha adds that she nearly forgot about the whole episode until she learned her collaboration was selected as the best and that they would digitally add her voice to Nusrat sahib’s.

“I didn’t even ask about the money. I just heard Nusrat and thought, ‘I want to do this.’ Now it has made my checklist. Even Nusrat sahib is with me. I got to collaborate with him. It’s a big deal.”

The people who stayed

Natasha’s journey has not been effortless or without its heartbreaks. Her father never accepted her decision to pursue music. They remained estranged over it, and he died during the Covid pandemic without the two resolving their differences.

“Some people came and told me he was really proud of me, but maybe he didn’t have the heart to say so,” she says, subdued for the first time in our talk.

She attributes her success to her mother, who has been instrumental in her journey. “If she hadn’t supported me and believed in me, I wouldn’t have made it here today.” Natasha reveals that her mother was a huge Nazia Hassan fan in her youth and loved music, but an early marriage ended her dreams.

“Maybe that’s why she supported me and my younger brother, Sameer, who is less active on the scene these days. By making music and performing together, we fulfil the dream my mother had before it was taken away.”

What keeps her grounded

For someone who represented her city at the national level in cricket and continues to be a proud ambassador of her country through music, Natasha’s ability to stay grounded is a remarkable achievement. She credits her ‘faith’ for it.

“If people see any talent in me, it’s because of sports,” she says. “I have played so much that it has kept me very grounded. God has blessed me.”

I finally ask her about her personal life. Away from music, her life is surprisingly quiet, she tells me. Happily single, she spends time with her rescued cats, declutters when she feels overwhelmed and sometimes picks up a guitar.

“My favourite thing to do when I have nothing planned is to open YouTube and watch an artist play the handpan for hours,” she says. “It’s a kind of meditative therapy that relaxes me. I sing along to the songs or sometimes create one.”

Perhaps that is the best way to understand Natasha Baig at this stage in her career: an artist who keeps moving between worlds without feeling the need to choose one.

She can return to Parveen Shakir’s Urdu, sing Sufi music for an audience that cannot understand the words, reproduce a Chinese phrase after hearing it once, collaborate across borders, be mistaken for a local in China — and then return to a Karachi coffee shop to speak perfect Urdu in the fast-paced Karachi style, as if none of it were unusual.

“I once left music to prepare for the CSS exam, but music never left me behind,” Natasha informs me.

The detour was temporary, but the music wasn’t.

Originally published in Dawn, ICON, October 25th, 2026

The star posted a story on Sunday saying he had overworked himself and needed to take a break for his health after reaching a “breaking point”.

He explained that the last two years had kept him on the road “consistently”.

“Between shoots, shows, album recordings and everything in between, I’ve barely remained in one place for more than a few days.”

Zafar said managing two careers in parallel was “a tumultuous feat” and it had taken a toll on him. With a picture of an intravenous infusion bag, he said he had been “ordered to put my health above everything else for now” and that he intended to comply with the instructions.

“Everything must go on hold,” the star said, adding that he’ll be taking a break to “rest, recover and find my way back to full health”.

Zafar has been busy, as his Instagram account — which he uses as a digital diary — shows. He has said he will be releasing his next studio album STORMS & serenity on Saturday. This is after he worked as the lead character in two dramas — Green Entertainment’s Raqaas and the popular HUM TV series Zanjeerain.

Earlier, in a post from October 6, the star wrote he had had a fever that left him “alive” but “broken”. He said he needed a break but had no days off after 415 days on the road.

At the time, he thanked his fans for giving him the strength to move forward.

Speaking at a press conference in Karachi alongside PPP Sindh President Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Saleem said: “Since my childhood, I’ve been a big fan of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. Every girl who has seen her journey is definitely impressed by her. I’m very happy and proud to be a part of the Pakistan Peoples Party.

“She was the first female elected leader of the Muslim world at just the age of 35. She faced exile, prison, threats, but she still chose to come back home, because her people mattered more to her than her own safety,” she added.

Saleem said Benazir’s journey had taught her from a young age that a girl’s dream is never too small, and that dreams have no gender.

“That is why I’m here,” she said.

Saleem, however, was careful to frame her decision as more than just a political move.

“I would like to say that this is not a political decision for me, personally. This is a promise for me. It’s a promise that I want to make to my country, my people and my people. I’m very grateful for the platform that is being provided to me. With this platform, inshallah, I will sincerely work for my country and my people,” she added.

Saleem also invoked her family background, noting that Khuhro had mentioned her father earlier during the press conference.

“He [Yousuf] played cricket for Pakistan for over a decade. So it’s not wrong to say that patriotism is in my blood to a large extent. I have always had the passion to do something for my country. And inshallah, with the help of my education and the experiences I have gained, I would like to take full advantage of this opportunity.”

She closed by thanking the party leadership, including President Asif Ali Zardari and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Saleem joins a growing list of actors who have entered Pakistani politics, among them several who have affiliated with Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in recent years such as Farhan Ally Agha and Shamoon Abbasi.

Reinventing herself is nothing new for Saleem. She used to work in investment banking and consulting in New York before transitioning into entertainment. But in 2021 she decided to temporarily step away from acting after the overwhelming success of her breakthrough drama Chupke Chupke, announcing on Instagram that she would “no longer be acting” before eventually returning to the screen.

In an official statement shared with her Instagram followers on Friday, the actor announced her permanent departure from the entertainment industry, revealing she had quietly stepped away five years ago.

While Khan was away, she focused on building her business and securing her financial independence.

“I also needed time to see whether I could build a successful business and find the strength to stay away from a world that had once been such a big part of my life,” she wrote.

But Khan’s time away wasn’t just focused on her professional development.

“These past five years have been a deeply personal journey of healing and self love. I had to step away from the limelight and go inwards to meet myself on a soul level. Sometimes you have to walk away from everything you have ever known to find the peace your soul has been searching for,” she wrote.

Khan said she waited until she was truly thriving before sharing the news, so she could finally give her fans “the closure they deserve”.

She also took a moment to address her personal life, noting that while she has not yet entered “the beautiful chapter of marriage,” she has faith that things will happen when it’s meant to be.

“I humbly ask you all to remember me in your prayers and pray for my good naseeb and barkat in my business,” she wrote.

In her closing Urdu caption, she thanked her fans for a level of love she felt she “was perhaps not even worthy of”.

Surprising as her announcement may be for many, the signs had been there for some time. In June 2021, during a Q&A session, Khan said she didn’t understand “what’s so inspiring about our Pakistani actors,” questioning the shallowness of it all: “Their looks, money, or readiness to make more money?” It was a rare, candid moment that hinted at her disillusionment with the industry.

While her fans will undoubtedly miss Khan, here’s hoping she thrives in the new role she’s written for herself.

Skerritt, a Detroit native whose Hollywood career spanned from the 1960s to the 2020s, died on Wednesday of natural causes, his family said in a statement.

“While the world knew Tom through his remarkable acting career, we knew him for his humour, curiosity, wisdom, generosity, and the love he brought into our lives,” they said. “He cared deeply about imagination, creativity, storytelling, service, veterans, the natural world, and helping others find and share their own voices.”

Known for his rugged good looks and ability to shine in a variety of genres, Skerritt delivered memorable performances in leading and supporting roles in film and television.

Skerritt’s breakthrough role was a roguish US Army surgeon in director Robert Altman’s 1970 Korean War black comedy MAS*H, a film whose ensemble cast also included Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould and Sally Kellerman. Skerritt played Southerner Duke Forrest as the doctors at the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital stitched up wounded troops.

The film, whose popularity coincided with American unease over the Vietnam War, was nominated for five Academy Awards.

In director Ridley Scott’s claustrophobic 1979 sci-fi horror Alien, Skerritt played Dallas, the captain of an ill-fated spacecraft whose crew encounters a deadly parasitic extraterrestrial creature with a surrealist look and a bad attitude. In the film’s famous and bloody ‘chestburster’ scene, Skerritt’s character is seated next to cast mate John Hurt when a baby alien violently exits the torso of Hurt’s character.

Alien, an influential masterpiece whose ensemble cast also included Sigourney Weaver and Ian Holm, earned two Oscar nominations.

“It is spontaneity and impulse that make the difference, and that is what I felt we had with Alien. Every one of us had that immediate rapport with each other — the respect that I had for the other actors and the respect that they had for me,” Skerritt told interviewer Peter Sobczynski in 2019, while also lauding Scott’s directorial brilliance.

Alien was one of several films in which Skerritt appeared that featured strong female characters, in this case Weaver’s courageous character Ripley. That was considered pioneering at the time.

“When I read the script, one of the things that I liked most about it was that the woman becomes the hero. I loved that,” Skerritt said.

“The sight of women being in positions of strength and fortitude to make the right connections and decisions was what appealed to me. I experienced that as well in Steel Magnolias, with the women in that. I liked the idea of women being tough and strong and influential.”

In Steel Magnolias (1989), Skerritt played Drum Eatenton, husband of Sally Field’s M’Lynn Eatenton.

Tony Scott, the brother of the Alien director, cast Skerritt in the key supporting role of naval aviation instructor Viper Metcalf in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun that helped star Tom Cruise soar into Hollywood’s stratosphere.

Skerritt also played Shirley MacLaine’s husband in director Herbert Ross’s 1977 ballet drama The Turning Point, and starred alongside another emerging star in Brad Pitt in Robert Redford’s beautifully shot 1992 period drama A River Runs Through It.

Among other films in which he appeared were: Harold and Maude (1971), Ice Castles (1978), The Dead Zone (1983), Poltergeist III (1988), Contact (1997), Tears of the Sun (2003) and Ted (2012).

On the small screen, Skerritt starred in the offbeat CBS series Picket Fences from 1992 to 1996, playing a Wisconsin town sheriff and claiming an Emmy as outstanding lead actor in a drama series in 1993.

Born on August 25, 1933, in Detroit, Skerritt served in the US Air Force before becoming an actor, making his film debut in 1962 alongside a young Redford in War Hunt. He was a father of five children and was married three times.

Dench, 91, has had macular degeneration for more than a decade.

“I can’t be on stage, I can’t do a play anymore, I can’t do a film anymore, I can’t read anymore,” she told BBC Radio on Thursday.

“So you’ve got to adjust to all that, and make allowances for it and just get on and don’t think about it too much.”

She said she could no longer recognise faces from a distance meaning she often nearly hugged strangers, mistaking them for people she knew.

Dench has had a seven-decade career on stage, film and television, receiving critical acclaim, including an Oscar, a Tony and seven Olivier awards. She appeared as the character ‘M’ in eight James Bond films.

She has played many of Shakespeare’s major roles, including Juliet, Lady Macbeth and Cleopatra, and spoke of her enduring love for his poetry.

“I am besotted by the sonnets, I just love them,” she said.

“The way he summed up so simply the way that any of us feel about, well, anything,” she added.

Reflecting on her career, Dench said she had taken risks in choosing roles, adding that performing was always a daunting experience.

“For me, always frightening, but that’s part of it,” she said. “It’s part of what that fear generates, an energy that you can use up, use the energy.”

“It’s always ‘work in progress’, always.”

Nasir’s comments come two days after Haris Waheed, her co-star from the hit drama Bas Tera Saath Ho, posted a clip of his interaction with Baron Cohen.

In the video, Waheed interacts with the Hollywood comedian, who was dressed up as his character for the new film Ali G: Who Iz I, telling him he’s a fan, before mentioning he’s from Pakistan.

“Yo, big up the Pakistan, man,” Baron Cohen says, as the surrounding crowd cheered.

Waheed’s video attracted hundreds of likes, with many appreciating Baron Cohen’s shoutout to Pakistan.

Nasir’s response, however, has shifted the conversation.

Taking to her Instagram stories, she reminded people of Baron Cohen’s history of being “hostile towards Muslims”.

“I’m sorry but the sheer lack of awareness is staggering. Sacha Baron Cohen has been openly hostile towards Muslims. Majority of his movies back that up.”

Without referencing Waheed’s video, she slammed Baron Cohen’s “smug, dripping sarcasm” and “theatrical sense of superiority,” concluding: “This was not a positive interaction in anyway, shape or form. Why are we excited about that again?”

While Baron Cohen continues to claim his work satirises Western ignorance, his comedy has more or less relied on racial and religious stereotypes to rake in laughs. His characters in Borat and The Dictator are two glaring examples of the use of cheap ethnic caricatures as political satire.

Even the character Ali G has been criticised for appropriating Black culture, while using a Muslim-sounding name.

Critics argue Baron Cohen often serves the very prejudice he claims to expose — making minorities the punchline.

Baron Cohen in a Time article defended his comedic Ali G persona, saying: “I’ve always designed my characters and comedy as vehicles to expose prejudice, bias and stupidity, though I realise not everyone sees them that way. Ali G is a white imbecile – a delusional cultural appropriator – who steals the fashion and lyrics from his favourite gangsta rap and dancehall idols, from Compton to Kingston,” Baron Cohen wrote.

“The joke is on him, and on the predominantly white male establishment who take him seriously,” he added.

Nasir’s take is a sharp reminder that not everyone is laughing.

The actor, who recently received widespread praise for her role as Beena, made the comments during an appearance on Gloss Etc by Maliha Rehman.

Hocane said a lot of reviewers, while meaning well, often use the adjective “Netflix-quality” to describe a good project.

“I find that so lame. We’re doing better than that. It’s just because there was a portal or an app that just came out and it worked for a couple of years,” she said, adding she doesn’t think Netflix knows “what they’re doing anymore”.

“The stories that we’re telling and the quality that we’re showing, we don’t need no Netflix and why are we comparing ourselves to that anyway?” Hocane continued.

The actor said the Pakistani drama industry doesn’t prioritise “glam” over the story, which, she believes, is “the soul” of a project.

“We’re really narrating stories and then we’re like let’s commercialise it. That’s a cherry on top,” she added.

Citing Aap Ki Izzat as an example, Hocane said Pakistani dramas attract audiences without any pomp.

Hocane’s comments are the latest addition to a discourse that has been simmering across the industry for a while, with celebrities such as Faysal Quraishi, Shamoon Abbasi, and Usama Khan — all offering a wide range of opinions.

In July, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal also announced that the government was “in talks with Netflix and other global streaming giants to adjust the regional framework”.

Cover: Muhammad Azeem Sani for Dawn

The actor went through an emergency outfit crisis, which she described in colourful detail in an Instagram post on Sunday.

Farooq wrote about how she spent an entire week planning for the big day, including preparations for what she was supposed to wear — and that’s where things went wrong.

“A premiere to remember. A night of lessons, resilience & surrender,” she wrote.

“We’d spent a week planning every detail: clothes, jewellery, makeup, photography. Everything was ready for Thursday at 7pm… until 5pm, when an issue with my outfit meant I couldn’t wear it! Two hours to go. No backup. All hell broke loose,” the actor added.

It was in this moment of chaotic adrenaline that Farooq found a moment of clarity.

“When things aren’t going according to your plan, they’re going according to His,” she shared, noting that the sudden change in course was a reminder to surrender.

With the team scrambling, a quick decision had to be made.

“The chaos, the energy, everyone pulling together on hope… and somehow, it became one of my favourite looks, loved by so many of you too! We made it on time, in full desi glam,” she wrote.

Farooq then went on to thank her glam team for working tirelessly behind the scenes to make the cast look their best.

“Thank you for making Mango Jutt’s premiere so special with your love and warmth. Now playing in cinemas across Pakistan, take your loved ones, and keep the love coming!”

In the movie, Farooq shares the big screen opposite Faysal Quraishi. The cast also includes Shamoon Abbasi, Ayesha Jehanzeb and Qaiser Piya.

The Lawrence Bishnoi gang has reportedly claimed responsibility for firing at the actor’s car, according to The Statesman.

Anil Pandit, described as a notorious member of the gang, stated he carried out the attack along with an accomplice, Harman Sandhu.

Around five rounds were fired at Shroff’s BMW car. The incident occurred outside the Juhu home of filmmaker Rohit Shetty.

“A firing incident has been reported under Juhu police station. Actor Tiger Shroff is safe and has not sustained any gunshot injuries. Further investigation is underway,” a Mumbai police statement said, according to ANI.

The gang linked to the shooting has been tied to a series of high-profile incidents in India, most notably the 2022 killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, the 2024 murder of politician Baba Siddique in Mumbai, and a firing incident outside Salman Khan’s Bandra residence in April the same year.

The same network has also been associated with attacks on figures perceived as close to Khan, including opening fire at a Delhi gym linked to singer Guru Randhawa in June. In 2025, the gang was linked to multiple firing incidents outside Indian comedian Kapil Sharma’s café in Canada.

American prosecutors have described Lawrence Bishnoi as a transnational organised crime syndicate using public claims of violence to intimidate targets and fuel extortion operations.

In a story posted to her Instagram account, Afgan said, “People like Abu Bakar and his mother do exist. When Jodi and I got married, I was as shocked as Zaryab.”

The actor said her husband and his family were still “the loveliest, most decent and kindest people in the world” and that she loves her mother-in-law “like my own mother”.

Abu Bakar (Sheheryar Munawar) and his mother Khushbakht (Sania Saeed) are shown in Dar-e-Nijaat to be incredibly nice and patient — some have said too much so — with Zaryab (Durefishan Saleem), whose past continues to haunt her after even her marriage to Abu Bakar.

Afgan said early in her marriage, she had asked her husband, “Are you guys really this good? And why do you never fight amongst yourselves, are you aliens?” She said she could relate to Zaryab and that “good humans do exist”.

Earlier, the show’s writer, Umera Ahmed, had also asked why people in the audience had such a hard time believing people could be good to one another.

The writer said people had said her characters seemed “out of [this] world” and “AI-created”, implying that people like this don’t exist in the real world.

In her post, Ahmed asked why her followers felt “basic human traits like kindness, empathy, forgiveness [and] overlooking others’ flaws are [going] extinct from our society” and why, when they are portrayed in the media, people find them unreal.

Ahmed ended the post questioning if we were “deteriorating as a society on basic human morality and goodness”.

Speaking to content creator Bilal Hassan — popularly known as Mystapaki — Khan said Zamil wasn’t just a person, he was a mindset, one which he had seen personally in men and boys he grew up with.

Quoting one of his earlier social media posts, the actor said he would often wonder how these young men, who had mothers and sisters at home, could allow themselves to objectify women the way they did. “I used to question how they allowed themselves… how their mindsets allowed them to speak this way about a woman.”

Hassan brought up how people who are part of these discussions, even if they don’t necessarily agree with what is being said, don’t call out their friends, which is also part of the problem. Both men agreed that many of these boys then tell tall tales to try and top each other in becoming “Zamil Pro Max”.

“What they don’t realise,” Khan said, “is that that in doing this, they are ruining the girl’s life”.

The content creator brought up Zamil’s crisis of faith, which sees him blame Zaryab for his own moral failings, to which Khan said you could pull out anything about his character on the show and it will be problematic.

Khan said his core issue was an identity crisis, which was the result of getting everything he wanted in life with relative ease. He said Zamil really started questioning himself when he failed to succeed as a student and that got worse when he crossed paths with Abu Bakar (Sheheryar Munawar) — whom he saw as a rival.

Faith, said Hassan, was also a matter of competition for Zamil, something his guest completely agreed with.

“Zamil’s exploitation of Zaryab with regards to his faith… it’s an absurd thing, an absurd mindset and I have seen such people in life, Bilal. They exist and I feel sorry for them,” the actor said.

When asked whether there was a message in all of this and how we can stop producing more Zamils as a society, Khan said the development of such people and their mindsets began in their childhoods. He said a lot of the damage came from sitting with peers who objectified women and engaged in locker room talk, which boys engage in to “fit in”.

The actor said the way to fight that was through better parenting and trying to deter such behaviour in schools.

Hassan added to this, saying there was a need to raise boys who were “emotionally in touch” but also knew they could be “held accountable” for their actions. He said this also had to start at home, with boys being taken to task for misbehaving with girls and women in their households.

Khan said another important thing to instil in men and boys was empathy, which would allow them to put themselves in other people’s shoes. “If I have empathy and I am about to talk about a girl, I will think, ‘If this happened to my sister or my mother, how would I feel?’ So that’s the point where, whatever wrong course of action you were about to take, you stop.”

Both men agreed that society often told men who didn’t participate in its misogyny they were “boring”, but that it was “better to be boring and better to be alone than to become a Zamil-like character”.

The film will be screened in theatres in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington DC on October 28.

The Eyes of Ghana follows Ghanaian cinematographer Chris Hesse, who, as his eyesight declines, attempts to rescue more than 1,000 films capturing Africa’s fight for independence in the 1950s and 60s.

“It is a great honour to be part of The Eyes of Ghana and help bring this extraordinary piece of history to the big screen,” IShowSpeed said. He said he felt a great connection to Ghana after having visited the country this year on his Speed Does Africa tour.

Talking about Hesse’s work, the streamer said, “His camera captured the birth of African independence and his determination to preserve those images has ensured that future generations can witness it for themselves. I’m humbled by his legacy and proud to help bring his story to my community.”

IShowSpeed, whose real name is Darren Watkins Jr, was granted Ghanaian citizenship after his visit to the country brought positive attention. Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, announcing the decision to issue the streamer a passport, told him to “keep making our great nation Ghana, and our beloved African continent proud”.

He has a massive follower base of over 200 million across social media and is known for his high-energy content and livestreams. He was on TIME magazine’s inaugural TIME 100 Creators list last year.

Online creators have been making inroads into cinema, with YouTube star Markiplier directing, producing, starring in and distributing the horror film Iron Lung earlier this year. The film made $50m at the global box office, a massive amount compared to its $3m budget.

Also this year, YouTubers Kane Parsons and Curry Barker released their films The Backrooms and Obsession, both of which went on to become box office successes.

The American actor, best known for playing Michael Corleone in The Godfather films is the 62nd recipient of the SAG-AFTRA Life Achievement Award. The union will present the award to him in Los Angeles at the 33rd Actor Awards on February 28, next year, as part of a ceremony to be live-streamed on Netflix.

Pacino’s recognition follows a career spanning more than six decades across film, television and stage. He is known for numerous memorable characters, including real-life police officer Frank Serpico in 1973’s Serpico, Miami mobster Tony Montana in 1983’s Scarface and more recently Hollywood agent Marvin Schwarz in Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 film Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.

The award is presented annually to an actor who embodies the “finest ideals of the acting profession”, according to the union.

“I wondered and wandered most of my life but have always felt at home with a script and my fellow actors,” Pacino said in a statement from the actors’ union.

“It’s the work and the actors along the way that have been among the greatest joys of my life. It’s an honour to be recognised by SAG-AFTRA in celebrating the journey,” he added.

Pacino won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade in the 1992 film Scent of a Woman, and has also won multiple Emmy, Tony and Golden Globe awards.

“Like so many actors, I have spent my life in awe and appreciation of the force of nature that is Al Pacino. When you watch him perform, you are witnessing a student and a master,” SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin added in the statement.

Pacino also participated in the ‘America: A Tribute to Heroes’ telethon following the September 11 attacks in 2001, and in 2009 received the Arthritis Foundation’s Jane Wyman Humanitarian Award for his charitable work.

The 86-year-old actor was born Alfredo James Pacino in New York. He struggled throughout the 1960s to find steady work before his eventual film breakthrough in 1972’s The Godfather.

SAG-AFTRA represents approximately 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, programme hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists, influencers and other entertainment and media professionals.