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Hello, my fellow chronically online friends! We’re starting the week off by bringing you the most happening news from social media last week in case you missed any of it!

From Ahsan Iqbal’s live television snafu to AirBlue’s bid to buy PIA, here’s everything we debated, raged about, criticised and celebrated online this past week.

The week started off with the much-awaited auction for PIA’s privatisation, and boy, was the internet having a field day. While the Arif Habib consortium won the auction with a cool Rs135 billion bid, many couldn’t help but chuckle at AirBlue’s ‘measly’ Rs25 billion offer. Free publicity, bargaining tactics, or attention-seeking — people had theories aplenty as memes, jibes, and jokes took over X and Pakistanis sharing comedic gold. Few, if any, appeared to regard AirBlue as a serious contender in PIA’s acquisition.

You know what else netizens couldn‘t take seriously? Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal‘s ‘clarification’ after being interrupted while speaking to Wasim Badami during a live ARY talk show. While he was live on TV, someone appeared to barge into his room and threatened Iqbal to shut off his video interview. Speculation and theories ran rampant before Iqbal took to X and called on people to “avoid unnecessary politicisation” of the incident. He explained that the interruption came “when someone nearby, having an argument, was unaware that I was live on air”. That, of course, made everyone even more curious, and the theories were wild, to say the least.

On the lighter side of things was Lahore, decked-up in all its finery for Christmas. A 42-foot-tall Christmas tree was just one of many highlights for the city’s decor. Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz also took to social media and shared glimpses of the provincial capital, celebrating Christmas and the festive season to its fullest and netizens were all for it! More inclusivity? Yes, please!

Things got stranger as the week progressed when Netflix dropped the second volume of the last season of Stranger Things. While fans waited with bated breath for the last four episodes of the Duffer Brothers‘ offering, the recently released episodes of the second instalment of season five have left most people (those who aren’t boycotting the show) utterly disappointed. Yes, I know the two-hour series finale hasn’t been released yet (I mean, who honestly cares at this point?), but the way the writers completely abandoned the brilliance of this show is tragic. Social media has been set ablaze with all sorts of commentary on the characters in the show (Millie Bobby Brown‘s ‘obvious’ fillers or Noah Schnapp‘s questionable acting skills) and you know what? I concur. There are too many cooks spoiling this simmering broth — it’s become cheesy, cringe and downright disastrous.

Speaking of disasters, the week ended on an unfortunate note when cricketer Imad Wasim shared news of his impending divorce on social media. The all-rounder announced that he has split from his wife of six years, Sannia Ashfaq, adding that he continues to “care for [their] three kids”. His statement, in which he put the onus of separation on long-standing, unresolved conflicts, contradicted Ashfaq‘s own post that mentioned the involvement of a “third party,” whose desire to marry Wasim she described as the final blow to an already fragile marriage. Since then, many on X have rallied behind Ashfaq and are using this as a reason to air their dislike for the cricketer, who hasn’t responded to any allegations.

And that wraps up our week. I’ll be back next week with more updates and social media gossip!