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Waqas Dar

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Blog Entries posted by Waqas Dar

  1. Waqas Dar
    LAHORE: At least 23 kite flyers were arrested in a crackdown on Sunday by the police and cases were registered against them.
    Despite a ban on kite-flying in Lahore and frequent crackdown operations by the police since three months, some people still continue making and flying kites, while disobeying the law.
    According to police officials, in crackdown operations across various areas of Lahore, the police arrested 42 kite flyers in total, from the areas of Baghbanpura, Gujjar Pura, Mughalpura and Shad Bagh. The police also seized huge amounts of kites, rolls and strings.
    DIG Operations Dr Haider Ashraf said kite flying will be strictly prohibited and action should be taken against those found violating the ban by flying or selling kites and the material associated with the activity. He also appealed that parents should discourage their children from participating in this dangerous activity.

    The ban on the selling and flying of kites will be maintained by any means, added police officials.
    Earlier this month, at least three people were injured as youth in Lahore engaged in kite flying on weekend night, defying the ban.
    In Singhpura area, a 31-year-old man was injured after a kite string slit his neck and hand. The man, Qadeer, was shifted to Mayo Hospital, where he got six stitches on his neck.
    Ali Hassan, 25, and Abrar, 28, were also wounded in similar incidents in Dhobi Ghat and Railway Station areas. They were also shifted to Mayo Hospital.
    Citizens complained that violation of the ban on kite flying during night-time has become a routine in Salamatpura, Harbanspura, Journalist Colony and several other areas.
    In the past three months, over 300 kite flyers have been arrested from several areas of Lahore. Police also seized over 6,000 kites, rolls and strings.


  2. Waqas Dar
    Two baby lion cubs were presented to the public at a zoo in Chile on Thursday, born after a pioneering veterinary procedure that involved a reversed vasectomy of their father.
    The cubs' mother "Masai" became pregnant after the father "Maucho" underwent the procedure, which vets at Buin Zoo in the suburbs of Santiago said took months of planning and a five-hour operation.
    Both parents had been rescued from circuses.
    "This is the first successful reversal of a lion vasectomy reported in the world," said Marcelo Marconi, a urology specialist who joined the zoo vet team to lead the procedure. "It gives a way of preserving and maintaining a species in a zoo."
    The procedure could be copied by other places around the world that have lions in captivity, the zoo said.
    One of the cubs, which were born around three months ago, is named Niara and the other is yet to be named. Both are female.


  3. Waqas Dar
    Light, localized illnesses like a runny nose may not affect distance runners’ performance, but racing within days of an acute, systemic infection raises the odds of never finishing, researchers say.
    Typically, less than half of runners who have been recently diagnosed with acute systemic infections, such as respiratory infections or gastritis, follow their doctors’ advice not to run in a race, the study team writes in British Journal of Sports Medicine.
    “We previously showed that about 10 percent of runners have symptoms of acute illness in the few days before a race,” study coauthor Dr. Martin Schwellnus said by email.
    “Acute illness can affect a number of physiological systems during exercise, and more importantly, can result in medical complications during exercise,” said Schwellnus, who directs the Sport, Exercise Medicine and Lifestyle Institute of the University of Pretoria in South Africa.
    Schwellnus and his colleagues decided to study runners who reported pre-race illness to determine the effects of various symptoms on racing outcome.
    They evaluated runners who thought they might be sick in the three days before the 2013 and 2014 Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathons in Cape Town. Of the more than 53,000 runners who participated in the two events, about 240 asked for the evaluations.
    The evaluations included taking medical histories and referring runners to medical doctors if they reported symptoms such as fever, muscle and body aches, fatigue, coughs, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sore throat, shortness of breath or chest pain.
    A total of 172 runners reported signs and symptoms of acute infective illness with 101 of the runners having localized symptoms such as a runny nose or sinus pain, and 71 runners having symptoms of respiratory tract or other systemic infections. About 140 of the runners were given advice on how to handle their illnesses and doctors advised 23 acutely ill runners not to start the race.
    The study team found that runners with a systemic illness who started the race despite being told they shouldn’t run had an 8 percent chance of not finishing the race, compared with less than 2 percent among healthy runners.
    About 11 percent of runners who were diagnosed with acute illness during the 24 hours just before the race did not finish.
    Runners with systemic symptoms such as fever, generalized muscle pain and joint pain, chest pain, elevated resting heart rate, dehydration from vomiting and diarrhea should not run, said Schwellnus.
    “Runners with no systemic symptoms and only ‘localized’ symptoms such as blocked nose or runny nose can start the race, but be prepared to stop if their symptoms get worse or they develop new symptoms,” he said.
    Schwellnus noted that it is especially important to stop if runners feel chest pain, dizziness, excessive shortness of breath, excessive fatigue or palpitations.
    The study team didn’t examine how well the runners performed in the races, but it’s likely they didn’t do as well as they would if they were healthy.
    “In a previous study in triathletes, we have shown that sick participants are slower than their predicted finishing times. In this study we did not have their predicted finishing times to compare,” Schwellnus said.


  4. Waqas Dar
    MILAN: Edin Dzeko hit a brace and former AC Milan striker Stephan El Shaarawy added a third as Roma secured a 4-1 win that sent the capital side back up to second in Serie A Sunday.
    Roma travelled to the San Siro under plenty of pressure after Napoli's 3-1 win over Cagliari on Saturday took the southerners up to second to sit eight points behind leaders Juventus.
    Lazio also kept Luciano Spalletti's men on their toes with a 7-3 thrashing of Sampdoria that moved them to within three points of third, and a possible Champions League qualifying place.
    But Roma, who have finished runners-up eight times since they last won the scudetto in 2001, were in no mood to give up their chance of securing the league's second automatic Champions League qualifying spot.
    "We had to take the bull by the horns," Spalletti told Mediaset when asked about last week's 3-1 derby defeat to Lazio.
    Dzeko had the visitors 2-0 up by the 28th minute, the Bosnian taking his league tally to 27 goals to move two goals clear of Torino's Andrea Belotti at the top of the scoring charts.
    Milan reduced the deficit in the 76th minute when Mario Pasalic dived low to meet the ball as it was knocked on from a corner, beating Wojciech Szczesny at the 'keeper's back post.
    But Roma hit back immediately.
    El Shaaray had joined the capital club in 2015 after finding fewer opportunities in his final two seasons of a four-year spell at Milan.
    And the 24-year-old made sure Milan knew what they were missing 12 minutes from the end when he beat Gianluigi Donnarumma in the Milan net with a superb curling effort from the edge of the area.
    El Shaarawy refused to celebrate but minutes later punished Milan again when he found Mohamed Salah with a quickly-taken free kick down the right flank.
    The Egyptian easily rounded Gabriel Paletta in the area, but after being pulled back several times by the veteran defender Salah tumbled to the ground as he prepared to pull the trigger.
    The referee pointed to the spot and captain Daniele De Rossi stepped up to beat Donnarumma with a low shot that the 'keeper got a touch on.
    "It's not easy to come here and score four goals, but we had 90 perfect minutes apart from the goal that we conceded," said Dzeko.
    "I'm personally happy because I've worked hard all season, and that's good for my confidence. Even though the team comes first."
    Earlier, Ciro Immobile hit a brace in a 10-goal thriller as Lazio secured Europa League football a week after a 3-1 romp over Roma in the city derby.
    "We played great," said Lazio left-back Jordan Lukaku. "It wasn't easy to produce a repeat of our derby win, but every one of us put everything into this game."
    Keita Balde scored twice for Lazio last week in a win that ruined what was Roma icon Francesco Totti's final derby as a player.
    And the Senegal international fired Lazio into an early lead before winning a penalty that Immobile fired past 'keeper Christian Puggioni.
    Samp reduced arrears through Karol Linetty, who tapped past Strakosha at the back post.
    But Lazio netted three in succession through Wesley Hoedt, Felipe Anderson and Dutch defender Stefan De Vrij before the half-time interval before Senad Lulic then Immobile wrapped up the game after the hour.
    It was the right decision as a defiant Samp reduced arrears with two goals from striker Fabio Quagliarella, one from the spot, in the closing minutes.
    Elsewhere, Inter Milan stretched their winless run to seven games after succumbing 1-0 at Genoa after a 70th-minute strike by Goran Pandev.
    It was Inter's third defeat on the trot, their fifth in their past seven games and left them in seventh place, nine points behind Atalanta and with virtually no chance of qualifying for Europe.
    Coach Stefano Pioli rejected suggestions he could resign, saying: "I haven't seen anyone else before me do it, so I won't."


  5. Waqas Dar
    LOS ANGELES: And just like that, Star-Lord and his band of super buddies are back on top of the box office.
    "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" blasted into domestic theaters this weekend to kick off the summer box office to the tune of $145 million at 4,347 locations. The latest from Disney and Marvel was expected to make $140 million, but possibly more by some analysts considering the studio's track record and enthusiasm that the first go-around generated.
    "We feel great. It is a spectacular number, period," said Disney's distribution chief Dave Hollis. "This is such a fresh and exciting film ... it's the kind of event that gets people excited about going to theaters."
    Returning to deliver more bright colors, wise-cracks and another groovy soundtrack, James Gunn directed and scripted the movie starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper as the titular guardians. The film also features expanded roles for Karen Gillan and Michael Rooker, as well as prominent new characters played by Kurt Russell and Pom Klementieff. The movie functions as an escape thriller, and an origin story for Pratt's Peter Quill (aka Star-Lord). Gunn is already attached to write and direct the third "Guardians" movie.
    "Guardians 2" came into its opening domestic weekend with well over $100 million in the bank from international ticket sales. It made more than $106 million in its first weekend at 58% of overseas territories. This weekend the movie earned an estimated $124 million abroad after opening in several more major foreign markets including Korea, Russia and China. That raises the global weekend total to about $269 million and the movie's total global take so far to $428 million.
    The latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe entered theaters with high expectations. When the original was released in 2014, it was a relatively unknown property that managed to smash records for the month of August when it opened to more than $94 million domestically (still modest by Disney/Marvel standards). But word-of-mouth kept building, and by the end of its theatrical run, it had raked in $333 million domestically and $440 million overseas.
    "The strength of the brand is a license to take risks," Hollis said, noting that the "Guardians" films are the perfect counter to any notion of superhero movie fatigue. "These films have never just been superhero films, they are genre films. Each of these movies feels wholly and uniquely different."
    Now the rag-tag group of heroes has entered the public consciousness. "Guardians 2" was struck with the double-edged sword of familiarity -- the original spawned a fondness and a fandom for the characters and their world (that led to a much larger opening for the second installment), but a sequel is hard-pressed to recreate or recapture the same type of surprise and enthusiasm that struck audiences in 2014.
    "It's all about strategy when it comes to Marvel and with 'Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2,' the notion of moving what was an August release for the first film to the key summer kick off spot in May clearly paid huge dividends for Disney," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at comScore. "For this 'Guardians' to post the sixth best bow for the month is incredibly impressive given the Cinderella story of the title's ascension from being a little known question mark of a movie, to a global phenomenon."
    "Guardians 2" enjoyed the widest Imax opening ever -- 1,088 screen in 69 markets. The film made $25 million on Imax screens including $13 million in North America. $174 million of the movie's global earnings this weekend came from 3D ticket sales, according to RealD, which was responsible for about $72 million of the take.
    There isn't much of note at the box office this weekend apart from "Guardians." Universal's "Fate of the Furious" cruised into second with $8.5 million at 3,595 theaters. The film now has over $207 million at the domestic box office. "The Boss Baby," from Fox, took third with $6.2 million from 3,284 locations. Pantelion's "How to be a Latin Lover," which seduced its way past "The Circle" last weekend to post strong numbers and a second place finish, slides into fourth with $5.3 million from only 1,203 spots. And Disney's other box office animal "Beauty and the Beast," rounds out the top five with $5 million at 2,680 locations -- the movie is now in its eighth weekend of release.
    In limited launch, the Orchard's "The Dinner" made $669,000 from 509 locations. The new release is a thriller toplined by Richard Gere and Laura Linney, adapted from the Dutch novel of same name by Herman Koch about two couples with family issues. "3 Generations" got a six-theater limited release from the Weinstein Company, and made $20,000. The drama about identity and acceptance stars Naomi Watts, Susan Sarandon, and Elle Fanning as a transgender teen.
    Get used to seeing "Guardians 2" on top. The big-budget superhero flick should coast past Warner Bros.' "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" next weekend, and possibly the following frame as well when it will face the long-awaited reboot from Fox, "Alien: Covenant."


  6. Waqas Dar
    The euro rallied to a six-month high against the dollar Monday after pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron's victory in the French presidential election eased concerns about the country's future in the eurozone.
    The single currency briefly reached $1.1023, its highest level since November and up from $1.0998 on Friday, in response to the 39-year-old former investment banker's victory over far-right rival Marine Le Pen.
    In other Asian trading, the European single currency rose to 124.59 yen from 124.05 yen on Friday.
    But the currency's gains were short-lived and modest compared to the reaction following Macron's first round victory last month with markets largely pricing in Le Pen's defeat.
    The vote result effectively eliminates any risk of France leaving the single currency bloc -- a departure advocated by the eurosceptic Le Pen.
    "It's probably a more measured response than I would have expected," Imre Speizer, senior markets strategist at Westpac NZ, told AFP.
    "It's the expected outcome. It's more emphatic than expected but there's no surprise element for the market in Macron winning."
    The euro's brief rally was exaggerated by thin trading in early Asian deals, said Yukio Ishizuki, senior currency strategist at Daiwa Securities.
    "As more players return to the market, the euro will come off a bit as they sell it to lock in profits," he said.
    "But I don't expect the euro to face serious selling.
    "With a solid bottom, the euro could weather profit-taking and start picking up again."
    Sigh of relief

    Phil Borkin, senior economist at ANZ Bank, said markets were breathing "a collective sigh of relief" at the result.
    But there are still concerns over whether Macron will be able to push economic reforms through the National Assembly without a majority.
    "The bigger question is how much of a mandate will Macron's party get in the parliamentary elections coming up next month," he told AFP.
    "That calls into question any longevity in a rally at this stage."
    Initial estimates showed Macron winning between 65 percent and 66.1 percent of the ballots -- a higher than expected score - and Le Pen scoring between 33.9 percent and 35 percent.
    Unknown three years ago, Macron is now poised to become one of Europe's most powerful leaders, bringing with him a hugely ambitious agenda of political and economic reform for France and the European Union.
    But many observers are sceptical about Macron's ability to win a parliamentary majority, meaning he might have to form a coalition of lawmakers committed to his agenda.
    The philosophy and literature lover is inexperienced, has no political party and must try to fashion a working parliamentary majority after legislative elections next month.
    Furthermore, his economic agenda, particularly plans to weaken labour regulations to fight stubbornly high unemployment, are likely to face fierce resistance from trade unions and his leftist opponents.
    He also inherits a country which is still under a state of emergency following a string of Islamist-inspired attacks since 2015 that have killed more than 230 people.
    Le Pen, 48, had portrayed the ballot as a contest between Macron and the "globalists" -- in favour of open trade, immigration and shared sovereignty -- and her "patriotic" vision of strong borders and national identities.


  7. Waqas Dar
    Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives secured a strong win Sunday in state polls in northern Germany, partial results showed, giving a boost to her bid to retain power in national elections in September.
    Voters in the small, northern state of Schleswig-Holstein handed her CDU party 32.3 percent, leaving the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) trailing with 26.9 percent, partial results showed.
    The vote outcome marked a blow for the Social Democrats who had earlier this year seen a surge in support since new leader Martin Schulz was chosen in February.
    But this enthusiasm appeared to be fading, and Schulz's supporters are increasingly fearful that the momentum he had been surfing on will not carry him into the chancellery, which Merkel and her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) have held since 2005.
    The blow to the Social Democrats' confidence also came one week ahead of a far bigger regional vote in their stronghold of North Rhine-Westphalia, also Germany's most populous state.
    Schulz 'sad'

    Schulz expressed disappointment, saying: "This is something that goes under the skin and makes us sad. We all expected a better result."
    Merkel's CDU meanwhile was confidently looking to next Sunday's polls, where surveys show the conservatives and the SPD running neck and neck.
    "A good election result gives us motivation to go on fighting," said lawmaker Michael Grosse-Broemer, who heads the CDU parliamentary group in the Bundestag.
    Merkel's party has seen a comeback, after losing a string of state elections over the past two years as voters punished the German leader for her liberal refugee policy that allowed more than one million asylum seekers into Germany since 2015.
    But with the pace of new arrivals slowing sharply, surveys show the conservatives gaining ground.
    "The CDU is catching up regionally, and that lends momentum to Merkel ahead of the vote in North Rhine-Westphalia next week and before the national elections in the autumn," said Spiegel Online.
    The populist AfD (Alternative for Germany), which has railed against the migrant influx, scraped through on Sunday with 5.9 percent support, winning its first seats in the state parliament in Kiel, despite a vicious falling-out between moderates and hardliners inside the party.
    The result was however a far worse showing than at the end of last year, when it was the third most popular party nationwide.
    'In good hands'

    Beyond its significance as the last-but-one regional election before the September general elections, there were plenty of local peculiarities in Sunday's vote.
    Popular SPD state premier Torsten Albig, 53, has led a coalition of SPD, Greens, and local Danish minority party SSW since 2012.
    His CDU challenger Daniel Guenther is 10 years younger and has been an energetic opposition leader in the regional parliament.
    The centre-right group there has sparked debate across Germany in recent years with populist proposals like requiring pork to be served in school canteens -- a nod to voters fearful of Islam's influence on public life.
    This year's campaign has seen battles over education, policing and roads, a top concern in a state with a population of 2.8 million thinly spread across almost 16,000 square kilometres (6,100 square miles).
    Another battleground is wind farm construction near residential areas -- no small matter in a windy coastal region whose turbines are a key element in Germany's "energy transition" away from nuclear and fossil fuels.
    Both major parties sent their heaviest hitters to Schleswig-Holstein in recent days, with Schulz making appearances in Kiel and Luebeck on Thursday.
    But his interventions have done little to counteract criticism that the former president of the European Parliament has so far failed to offer concrete attacks against Merkel and the right.
    Schulz has an uphill battle ahead to defeat Merkel, a leader so popular that one CDU election poster in 2013 simply showed her fingers clasped in their habitual diamond shape alongside the slogan "Germany's Future In Good Hands".
    Conservative-leaning daily Die Welt looked ahead to next Sunday's vote in North Rhine-Westphalia, warning that "if the SPD were to lose in seven days, then Schulz would be finished as the beacon of hope" for the party.


  8. Waqas Dar
    When St. Paul, Minnesota, police early Friday searched a GMC Yukon Denali that had crashed following a chase, they found an unlikely victim in the cargo area.
    Four people fled the sports-utility vehicle, but Gordy the goat was found lying down with an orange electrical cord around his neck.
    Police said Gordy had been abducted at Indian Mounds Park from a herd of goats that had been rented by the St. Paul Parks and Recreation department. Their job: To eat invasive plants on a difficult-to-reach bluff along the Mississippi River.
    It was the St. Paul Police Department's first known case of goat-thieving, said spokesman Steve Linders. The motive is still a mystery.
    "I wish I knew," said Clare Cloyd, a spokeswoman from St. Paul Parks and Recreation, which was only three days into its experiment with the goat herd when the theft occurred.
    Linders said two 29-year-old men were arrested on potential charges of gross misdemeanor theft and fleeing police.
    Gordy was returned unharmed to the park. Some of his herd had escaped through a damaged fence and were rounded up, according to park officials. Since then, a police Facebook post about the incident has gotten an usual amount of attention with comments like "stealing really gets my goat."


  9. Waqas Dar
    Joe Root shone with bat and ball to inspire England to a comfortable 85-run victory over Ireland in the second and final one-day international at Lord's on Sunday.
    Root made a fluent 73 to lay the platform for England's imposing total of 328 for six and he took three wickets with his part-time off-spinners to help the hosts win the series 2-0.
    Eoin Morgan scored 76 and shared a third-wicket partnership of 140 with Root before Jonny Bairstow's sparkling unbeaten 72 off 44 deliveries gave the England innings a late boost.
    Ireland captain William Porterfield struck a battling 82 but his team lost wickets at regular intervals and they were dismissed for 243 in the 47th over.
    England play South Africa in a three-match one-day series before hosting the Champions Trophy next month.


  10. Waqas Dar
    Arsenal scored twice in three minutes through a deflected Granit Xhaka strike and Danny Welbeck's header to claim a deserved 2-0 win over Manchester United on Sunday and inflict a first Premier League defeat on the visitors in 26 games.
    The victory at the Emirates Stadium keeps sixth-placed Arsenal's hopes of a top-four finish alive, but they are six points adrift of Manchester City, who currently occupy the final Champions League qualifying slot, albeit with a game in hand.
    The win also takes Arsenal within two points of fifth-placed United, who stay four points behind City having played the same number of games as their local rivals.
    "Hopefully this result will give us confidence," said man-of-the-match Aaron Ramsey. "I said a couple of weeks ago we had to win every match and unfortunately we didn't do that against Tottenham (in a 2-0 loss last weekend). But we will see."
    For all of United manager Jose Mourinho's pre-match bluster about fielding a weakened team, his only concession to youth in eight changes from his midweek Europa League team was 19-year-old defender Axel Tuanzebe, who made his Premier League debut.
    Everything else was familiar, with United under orders to produce the sort of bodies behind the ball performance that makes them so hard to beat.
    However frustrating the tactics, there is no doubting their effectiveness and the first half finished with Arsenal having spurned a series of chances and the Emirates again jittery.
    Twice United defenders had denied Welbeck on the six-yard area while darting runs from the ever impressive Ramsey almost saw him get on the end of pinpoint balls from Aaron Sanchez.
    United also had their chances before the break, with Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech saving from Anthony Martial.
    But after a battling first-half display, the visitors were undone after the interval with Xhaka's 25-metre shot looping up off Ander Herrera to catch out United keeper David De Gea after 54 minutes and then Welbeck adding a second against his former side with a header from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's cross.
    There was no way back for United and, for once in a troubled season, the Arsenal fans could relax and forget the will he-won't he concerns about whether manager Arsene Wenger will renew his contract. The win could not have been better timed and was Wenger's first over Jose Mourinho in a league game.
    For United, the only realistic route to Champions League qualification now lies in winning the Europa League in which they host Spaniards Celta Vigo at Old Trafford in the semi-finals on Thursday holding a 1-0 win from the first leg.
    "Yes is all on the Europa league," said Mourinho, "but you cannot say we did not try to win."


  11. Waqas Dar
    Liverpool's James Milner missed a penalty as his side wasted a chance to bolster their bid to qualify for the Champions League in an uninspiring 0-0 draw with Southampton on Sunday.
    With rivals Arsenal and Manchester United clashing in Sunday's late kick-off, Jurgen Klopp's team had a golden opportunity to seize the initiative in the race for a top-four finish.
    But the Reds never got out of first gear at Anfield in a terrible contest best remembered for Fraser Forster's brilliant penalty save from Liverpool skipper Milner.
    It was Milner's first missed penalty since November 2009, when he was playing for Aston Villa against Bolton, and it summed up the feeling that this would not be Liverpool's day.
    Liverpool moved above Manchester City into third place, but they will hope fifth-placed United fail to close the gap with a win at Arsenal.
    Philippe Coutinho started despite suffering a dead leg against Watford last week yet he had little impact during a match where nobody in a red shirt stood out.
    Liverpool had failed to score against Southampton in their three previous encounters this season, once in the Premier League and in both legs of their League Cup semi-final tie, and the opening stages of this game contained very little attacking ambition from either side.
    In fact, this match furthered the idea that Liverpool struggle against Premier League sides of a lesser calibre, especially those teams that look to do little else but cling on for a point, as Southampton did for most of this match.
    In the opening 45 minutes, the home side had the lion's share of possession but they did very little with it as Southampton sat deep and were more than happy to contain the likes of Divock Origi, Emre Can and Roberto Firmino.
    Fractious

    Firmino had the first real effort of note after 15 minutes, firing a shot straight at Maya Yoshida and Anfield soon became as stale and as flat as the contest itself.
    The match became increasingly fractious as Liverpool grew frustrated by their inability to break down the disciplined visitors.
    Immediately after the interval, Sofiane Boufal had the visitors' first effort, dribbling through a packed six-yard box but his tame effort was easily smothered at the last second by Liverpool's defence.
    The half-time break had done few favours for either side though as Liverpool remained dull and Southampton were more than happy to get nine men behind the ball and concentrate on defence at all costs.
    Firmino's trickery could not unlock Southampton?s back-four while Origi and Coutinho remained virtually anonymous during an occasion when Liverpool really needed them at their best.
    Finally though, Liverpool got the opportunity they needed to punish Southampton as Jack Stephens elbowed away the ball inside the area after challenging Origi.
    It was well spotted by referee Bobby Madley and although Milner's spot-kick was right in the corner, Forster did well to get down and palm the effort away.
    The passionate way Southampton's players celebrated the fine save was also an indicator of how desperate they were to hold on for a point.
    Klopp brought Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana on with 20 minutes to go in a bid to give Liverpool a spark.
    But the Liverpool boss became increasingly restless and angry on the sideline.
    Sturridge could have lifted the mood when 12 yards out but he poked an effort straight at Forster.
    Lallana then had his own 20-yard effort saved by Forster with five minutes left before the Southampton keeper made another stunning save in stoppage-time, tipping over a Marko Grujic header to help the visitors hang on.


  12. Waqas Dar
    PARIS: Emmanuel Macron was elected president of France on Sunday with a business-friendly vision of European integration, defeating Marine Le Pen, a far-right nationalist who threatened to take France out of the European Union, early projections showed.
    The centrist's emphatic victory, which also smashed the dominance of France’s mainstream parties, will bring huge relief to European allies who had feared another populist upheaval to follow Britain's vote to quit the EU and Donald Trump's election as US president.
    The 39-year-old former investment banker, who served for two years as economy minister but has never previously held elected office, will now become France's youngest leader since Napoleon with a promise to transcend outdated left-right divisions.
    Three projections, issued within minutes of polling stations closing at 8 p.m. (2 p.m. ET), showed Macron beating Le Pen by around 65 percent to 35 - a gap wider than the 20 or so percentage points that pre-election surveys had pointed to.
    Even so, it was a record performance for the National Front, a party whose anti-immigrant policies until recently made it a pariah in French politics, and underlined the scale of the divisions that he must try to heal.
    Le Pen's high-spending, anti-globalisation 'France-first' policies may have unnerved financial markets but they appealed to many poorer members of society against a background of high unemployment, social tensions and security concerns.
    The 48-year-old's share of the vote was set to be almost twice that won by her father Jean-Marie, the last National Front candidate to qualify for a presidential runoff, who was trounced by Jacques Chirac in 2002.
    Macron's immediate challenge will be to secure a majority in next month's parliamentary election for En Marche! (Onwards!), his political movement that is barely a year old, in order to implement his program.
    However, at least one opinion poll published in the run-up to the second round has indicated that this could be within reach.


  13. Waqas Dar
    SIALKOT: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf`s Chairman Imran Khan said on Sunday that Pakistan will lose its freedom if it keeps on taking loans from other countries.
    The PTI chairman was  addressing a rally in Sialkot. “If Nawaz takes steps against corruption then he would get caught himself,” jibed Imran.
    Imran said that he was happy to see the gathering , saying that he is grateful to the people especially women who came to the gathering.
    “Here (Sialkot) people have political awareness,” he said.
    “In one direction there is road to greatness, at the other is destruction,” the PTI chairman said.
    He said that the loans are taken by a few and the brunt of it is faced by the nation.
    If taxes are raised then inflation will rise too, he said, adding that those nations prosper who strengthen its institutions.
    PTI rally in Sialkot marred by disorder
    Earlier, the rally was marred by chaos after the arrival of the senior leadership of the party at the venue. 
    A large crowd of people attempted to reach the stage at Jinnah Stadium by putting barbed wires out of the way while another large group of men tore down the walk-through gate.
    The party workers also blocked the entry route of leaders at the ground.
    Speaking to Geo News, the organiser of the event, MPA Shoaib Siddiqui had earlier claimed that as many as ten screens were setup in the stadium. He further said that 20,000 seats will be arranged in the stadium while 25,000 people were expected to be sitting at the stands.
    Siddiqui said that two stages have been made by using 30 containers and a separate enclosure for women will also be arranged.
     


  14. Waqas Dar
    SANAA: At least 570 suspected cases of cholera have surfaced in war-torn Yemen in the past three weeks, sparking fears of a potential epidemic, Doctors Without Borders said Sunday.
    Healthcare has dramatically deteriorated in Yemen as conflict between Iran-backed rebels and the Saudi-supported government continues to escalate, leaving hospitals destroyed and millions struggling to find access to food and clean water.
    The World Health Organisation now classifies Yemen as one of the worst humanitarian emergencies in the world alongside Syria, South Sudan, Nigeria and Iraq.
    "We´ve treated more than 570 cases we suspect may be cholera over the past three weeks," Doctors Without Borders (MSF) spokesman Ghassan Abou Chaar told AFP.
    "There are fears that the disease could turn into an epidemic. Two years into the war, the healthcare system has collapsed, hospitals are destroyed... and government employees´ salaries have not been paid," Abou Chaar said.
    He said MSF had seen a marked hike over the past week in suspected cholera cases in five provinces across the country.
    A general strike in the capital Sanaa has also sparked sanitation concerns in the capital, as the streets began to flood with garbage at the weekend.
    An official with Yemen´s health ministry confirmed cholera had reappeared last week in Yemen, with cases reported in 10 provinces across the country.
    Ministry spokesman Abdelhakim al-Kahlani told AFP two cholera-related deaths had been confirmed in Sanaa, three in the central Ibb province and four in the western Hodeida province.
    Yemen has been devastated by two years of conflict between Huthi rebels and forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, including a Saudi-led military coalition.
    The United Nations estimates more than 7,700 people have been killed and millions displaced since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015.
    The fighting has left 19 million people -- or 60 percent of the population -- struggling to find food, the United Nations says, with a third of the country´s provinces on the brink of famine.
    A cholera and acute watery diarrhoea outbreak last year killed 99 people, with 15,658 suspected cases of cholera reported.
    Cholera, a bacterial infection which causes severe diarrhoea and dehydration, can be fatal if not treated immediately.


  15. Waqas Dar
    BERLIN: German police on Sunday evacuated 50,000 people from the northern city of Hanover in one of the country´s largest post-war operations to defuse World War II era bombs.
    Residents in a densely populated part of the city were ordered to leave their homes for the operation, planned since mid-April, to remove several recently discovered unexploded bombs.
    Authorities had expected to remove as many as five bombs but as the day developed it emerged that there were fewer.
    By mid-afternoon, experts had extracted three British bombs -- two of which were defused successfully. The third bomb will require special equipment to be made safe.
    At two other sites, only scrap was found.
    Seven retirement and nursing homes were affected and some rail traffic through the city was disrupted because of the operation, which was expected to last all day.
    Local authorities arranged sports, cultural and leisure activities, including museum visits and film screenings for residents affected by the evacuation.
    Museums opened their doors for free, while cinemas offered special screenings at discounted prices.
    Those who needed rest could head to three sites where almost 1,000 beds were available, as well as 10,000 portions of goulash, said Bild daily.
    Local church groups also joined in to distribute food, added the newspaper.
    More than 70 years after the end of the war, unexploded bombs are regularly found buried on German land, legacies of the intense bombing campaigns by the Allied forces against Nazi Germany.
    The biggest such evacuation took place last Christmas, when an unexploded British bomb forced 54,000 people out of their homes in the southern city of Augsburg.


  16. Waqas Dar
    The fate of the European Union and the euro could hang on the outcome of Sunday's French presidential election.
    The expected victory of centrist, pro-EU candidate Emmanuel Macron would be taken by markets as a sign that political risk in Europe is receding; a surprise win for far-right candidate Marine Le Pen would raise the risk that the euro zone's number two economy could abandon the single currency and even leave the EU. Surveys on Friday showed Macron ahead by 62 percent to 38, but investors are wary of opinion polls after recent political shocks such as Donald Trump's election to the White House and Britain's decision last year to leave the EU.
    Le Pen has lately played down her plans to quit the EU and the euro, saying this may not be her top priority. But if she wins, the euro will fall around 5 percent in the immediate aftermath, a Reuters poll found this week.
    No major survey sees her becoming president, but a victory would increase volatility in financial markets, particularly in European equities, bonds, and currencies. A vote for Macron would retain the status quo.
    "We expect Macron to win the second round of the French presidential election on Sunday. This outcome should usher in a period of subsiding political risk in the euro zone," said Valentin Marinov at Credit Agricole.
    Economic growth in the bloc will be steady but modest over the coming year, but that will depend partly on Macron getting the keys to the Elysee Palace, a Reuters poll of economists showed last month.
    There is no major data due from the currency bloc in the coming week to shed light on how the economy has fared at the start of the second quarter, but numbers on Friday will show how industry rounded out the first quarter.
    Purchasing manager surveys earlier this week showed euro zone businesses raced into the second quarter, increasing activity at the fastest rate in six years in April, suggesting the bloc's economic recovery is broad-based and sustainable.
    STEADY AS SHE GOES
    Across the Channel in Britain, whose economy has performed surprisingly well since the Brexit vote, the Bank of England meets to decide monetary policy but no surprises are expected.
    None of 62 economists polled by Reuters expects the bank rate to be adjusted from its record low of 0.25 percent on Thursday. A recent Reuters survey found there would be no change until 2019 at least as the central bank waits to see how EU divorce negotiations pan out.
    Fractious talks are the biggest risk to the British economy while a smooth running of negotiations would be the most beneficial factor for growth, polls have shown.
    Having called a snap election for June 8, Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party has a runaway lead over the opposition so will likely decide Britain's stance in the talks.
    If opinion polls are right, May will win a strong new mandate endorsing her vision for Brexit, which sees the country leaving the EU's single market - a potential negative for growth - in order to win more freedom to set its own laws, control immigration and seek its own trade deals.
    "Politics is also likely to be a major focus with less than five weeks until the UK's General Election on 8 June. One potential date to look out for is Monday, where there are tentative reports that the Conservative Party will release its manifesto," noted Investec economists.
    Adding to the central bank's deliberations, inflation is above its 2 percent target and will outpace wage growth this year, hitting the shoppers who have been shoring up the economy.
    The Bank will also publish its Quarterly Inflation Report, while sector detail in the form of industrial production and construction output will be revealed by the Office for National Statistics, as well as the RICS housing survey and March trade figures.
    Other central banks meeting in the coming week include those from New Zealand, Malaysia, Peru and the Philippines. None of them are expected to change tack either.
    China will draw some attention with the start of the usual monthly run of data. Chinese authorities are addressing financial stability risks and looking closely at credit, so April's figures will be of interest
    There is little hard data expected from the United States, but retail sales and core inflation data on Friday could cement expectations for a June tightening by the Federal Reserve.


  17. Waqas Dar
    JAKARTA: From a restaurant serving burgers and pizzas made with local noodles to a social media star giving street food a touch of haute cuisine, a new wave of innovative chefs are putting a modern twist on Indonesia´s traditional fare.
    New eateries have sprung up rapidly in recent years in the capital Jakarta offering a wide array of foreign foods to cater to a growing consumer class which has emerged after a long economic boom.
    But rather than focus entirely on cuisine from overseas, some chefs decided to fuse the new influences with age-old Indonesian foods.
    One eatery offering fusion food is "Mammamie", whose name is a playful take on an Italian expression of shock combined with the local word for noodles, "mie".
    It uses the country´s favourite instant noodles, Indomie -- cheap blocks of fodder in colourful packaging that are sold at almost every grocery store and supermarket -- to make Western dishes.

    Among the most popular are the "mizza", a pizza whose base is made out of noodles, and a "merger", a burger which has buns fashioned from Indomie. It also serves burrito, quesadillas and sushi dishes made with the noodles.
    Cafe owner Muhammad Luqman Baehaqi said he was trying to appeal to young Indonesians who were keen to try Western foods but still enjoyed Indomie.
    "There isn´t a single Indonesian person that doesn´t know Indomie," the 39-year-old said. "It´s tasty and familiar to all of us."
    The small cafe can seat about 20 people on chairs designed to look like Indomie packing cases and has a distinctly hipster vibe, with young office workers enjoying dishes that cost the equivalent of about two to four dollars under an image of late Apple founder Steve Jobs.
    Gourmet street food
    While the "Mammamie" cafe uses Indonesian ingredients to spice up Western dishes, Jakarta chef Dede Akbar is taking local dishes as his starting point, and seeking to make them classier.
    In his brightly-decorated kitchen, the 34-year-old carefully placed two blocks of tempe -- a traditional soybean patty -- onto a plate. He blowtorched a hard-boiled egg, and added small flowers as a garnish before artistically dripping sauce across the dish.

    Satisfied with his creation, he took out a camera and snapped pictures from various angles, before uploading them to Instagram. It was his popular Instagram account "Warteg Gourmet", which currently has about 40,000 followers that catapulted him to fame.
    Wartegs are modest stalls or kiosks selling cheap food, often cramped spaces on street corners where blue-colour workers stop for a bite and to smoke a cigarette.
    But rather than drab dishes for people earning low incomes, Akbar said he celebrates warteg food as it has "different textures and a wide range of colours that we can play with".
    Akbar was inspired to make haute-cuisine, warteg-style food after becoming annoyed at the careless presentation of dishes at the traditional streetside eateries.
    What started off as a hobby became an obsession, and eventually Akbar found he was receiving so many invites to be a "food stylist" at events that he quit his day job as an advertising agency art director to become a full-time chef.
    He hopes his efforts can help raise the profile of humble Indonesian street food, which is not as well-known as local cuisine from other parts of Asia, such as Thailand.
    "I want to make Indonesian food more appreciated by Indonesians in general and recognised internationally," he said.


  18. Waqas Dar
    Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy continues her winning streak as her documentary ‘A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness’ won an award at the 49th Annual Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards.
    The documentary, which narrates the story of a girl who narrowly avoids an honour-killing attempt, had already landed Sharmeen her second Oscar Award.
    The much-discussed documentary bagged the Television award under the International category.
    The Robert F Kennedy Journalism Awards were launched in 1968 by a group of journalists. “The RFK Journalism Awards recognise writing in the public interest on the issues of poverty, political inclusion, and justice. The twelve award categories honor exceptional works of journalism and social critique in many forms including documentary film, photography, radio, and cartoons,” states the official website.
    Sharmeen’s documentary had received the Academy Award in the category of Best Documentary (Short Subject) at a star-studded ceremony in Hollywood in March, 2016.
    “A Girl in the River” brought to the world the story of Saba—the woman who had dared to love and marry a man of her choice in a society where absurd notions of honour stop women from exercising this basic right.
    Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy’s award-winning documentary narrates Saba’s ordeal at the hands of her father and uncle, who shot and dumped her body in a river after her marriage. That she survived was almost miraculous, and more praiseworthy was her resolve to campaign against “honour” killing.
    Sharmeed Obaid holds a rare distinction of being among the nine women film directors in the world to have won Oscars for non-fiction films.


  19. Waqas Dar
    Miley Cyrus says she is steering away from her eccentric – often frowned-upon – shenanigans and rolling out a new sound that could help people take her more seriously after she was dubbed one of pop music's bad girls.
    Speaking to Billboard Magazine in an interview published late on Wednesday, the 24-year-old former Disney star said she wanted to be "super clear and sharp" and focus on a new collection of songs that takes her back to her country music roots.
    "I haven't smoked weed in three weeks, which is the longest I've ever [gone without it]. I'm not doing drugs, I'm not drinking, I'm completely clean right now! That was just something that I wanted to do," Cyrus said.
    The singer, whose father is country music singer Billy Ray Cyrus and whose godmother is Dolly Parton, will release new single Malibu on May 11. Billboard said it was a love song inspired by her fiance, actor Liam Hemsworth, with whom she reunited last year after a 2013 breakup.
    Read more: Did we see this coming when Miley said she wanted 'to be a hopeful hippie'?
    Cyrus, who rose to fame on the Disney Channel show Hannah Montana, ditched her innocent image in 2013, admitting to drug use and appearing scantily clad in public and in music videos.
    She grabbed headlines when she dressed in latex lingerie and twerked on stage with R&B singer Robin Thicke at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, in a performance that landed her the title of pop music's bad girl.
    Her upcoming new album will feature more acoustic songs and melodies written by Cyrus and will include a song for Hillary Clinton, whom she supported in last year's US presidential election, and another anthem dedicated to women in the workplace, Billboard said.
    Discussing politics, Cyrus, who will return as a judge on NBC reality singing show The Voice later this year, said she wanted to reach out to her more conservative fans.
    "I like talking to people that don't agree with me, but I don’t think I can do that in an aggressive way," the singer said.


  20. Waqas Dar
    CHAMAN: Over 50 Afghan soldiers were killed and more than 100 injured when Pakistan retaliated to unprovoked firing and shelling by Afghan forces at Chaman border, Balochistan Frontier Corps Inspector General Major General Nadeem Ahmed said on Sunday. 
    "We are not pleased to announce this but the Afghan commanders are responsible for this," he said while briefing the media on the Chaman border firing issue. "We had informed them about our census activity."
    The census was carried out in the areas that are situated within the Pakistani border, he further said.
    While talking about the Afghan forces' attack, the IG said the census was carried out in Killi Luqman and Killi Jahangir for four days until April 29 when they started to hinder the process. "But we restrained so that peace is not disrupted."
    The next day a meeting between border forces was held where the Afghan authorities told their Pakistani counterparts to resume the census process after three to four days.
    "We informed them, but our positive attitude was misused," he said. "The Afghan forces entered villages on Pakistan's side and used locals as human shields so that they could make a position for attacks."  
    However, on May 4 the Frontier Corps personnel started the operation and by May 5, got hold of their areas back.  "We could have done this earlier, but we knew civilians reside in the villages on the border."
    When the Afghan forces found out they were losing their position, they started firing, killing over 10, including one pregnant woman and injuring more than 40, the IG added.
    The FC official said he was thankful to the tribal people of Chaman as they were ready to help and also donated blood. 
    A flag meeting between Afghan, Pakistan military authorities is currently under way at Bab-e-Dosti border of the two neighbouring countries.  
    The Pakistani delegation is led by FC Commander North Sector Brigadier Nadeem Sohail and Afghanistan’s delegation is headed by Colonel Sharif. The meeting is also being attended by Pakistan and Afghanistan’s geological survey teams.


  21. Waqas Dar
    PESHAWAR: Adviser to Prime Minister Engineer Amir Muqam remarked on Sunday that the cosmetic changes won’t last for more than a day while taking a dig at rival party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) agenda for change.
    Muqam, who is also Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz, was addressing a PML-N public gathering in Peshawar.
    People in KP have understood that if they want to move forward then they must support Nawaz Sharif, he remarked.
    Speaking about PTI’s health card service, he remarked that the party started caring about people’s health after wasting more than four years. “Health cards are being used to toy with people.”
    Billions of rupees are being misappropriated in the name of health card, he claimed, adding “people should know the reality of the people who engage in negative politics.”
    “PTI’s government is suffering from confusing,” he remarked.  People need to support Nawaz Sharif if they want the country to progress, the leader added.


  22. Waqas Dar
    The courtyard of the Louvre Museum in Paris, where French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron was due to speak later on Sunday, was briefly evacuated after a suspect bag was found.
    Police in the French capital said they made security checks of the area as a precaution and later added that the situation there had returned to normal.
    Centrist Macron, who is tipped to beat the far right National Front candidate Marine Le Pen in an election for president on Sunday, is due to address his supporters at the grounds of the Louvre in the evening after the result comes out.
     
     


  23. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Sunday that the Interior Ministry will issue a notification on Dawn Leaks on Monday or a day after that.
    Speaking at a press conference, the state minister said that before the issuance of the notification it would not be appropriate to say anything on the matter.
    “Politics is being done over Dawn Leaks – the interior ministry will issue a notification on Dawn leaks tomorrow or day after tomorrow as directed by Prime Minister Nawaz,” she added “the notification will address all apprehensions. Today, Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan has also met the PM on this issue.”
     “A detailed notification will be issued which will tell us who played what role in Dawn Leaks. It is right now premature to comment on what is in it and what are the recommendations.”
    Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Saturday met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and discussed with him the inquiry report of Dawn Leaks and government notification issued in this regard, sources told Geo News.
    Sources said the two figures discussed the inquiry report and the notification issued by the government on recommendations by the inquiry committee formed to probe the leaks. The meeting also discussed orders issued by PM's secretary in this regard.
    On April 29, the federal cabinet division issued a notification, ordering the withdrawal of the portfolio of Foreign Affairs from the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi.
    “In terms of rule 4(6) of the Rules of Business, 1973, the Prime Minister has been pleased to withdraw the portfolio of Foreign Affairs, with immediate effect, from Mr Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister with the status of Minister of State,” the notification read.
    The notification was issued because of Fatemi's alleged role in Dawn leaks case.
    According to 4(6) of Rules of Business 1973, the Prime Minister has the right to determine his special assistants. “There may be a Special Assistant or Special Assistants to the Prime Minister with such status and functions as may be determined by the Prime Minister,” it reads.
    However, the military rejected the government notification on Dawn Leaks saying it was "incomplete and not in line with recommendations by the Inquiry Board."
    How did it start?
    An English-language daily, Dawn, had published the story on October 6, last year, in which journalist Cyril Almeida had written about an alleged civil-military rift during a National Security Committee (NSC) meeting over the issue of tackling jihadi outfits.
    The story stirred a major controversy last year, resulting in resignation of Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed and Almeida coming under fire.
    An inquiry committee was formed comprising one member each from the ISI, MI and IB, Secretary Establishment, Tahir Shahbaz, Ombudsman Punjab Najam Saeed, and an FIA director.
    The inquiry committee in its report had placed blame on Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi and Principal Information Officer at the Press Information Department Rao Tehsin, sources had earlier told Geo News.
    The report stated that the publishing of the story was a failure on part of some government institutions including Information Ministry and Foreign Ministry.
     


  24. Waqas Dar
    MALAGA, SPAIN: A life-size model of the corpse of Pablo Picasso lies on a plinth in his home city of Malaga, eyes closed, hands folded.
    The artist who transformed his subjects into Cubist abstractions is immortalised in an eerily realistic sculpture dressed in his trademark blue and white striped jersey and black rope-soled shoes.
    The work, made of silicon, resin, and fibreglass, with human hair and real clothes, was created by Spanish artist Eugenio Merino – best known for his hyper-realistic models of dictators, including Spain's Francisco Franco.
    Picasso lies in a small room in the city's branch of the Alliance Francaise cultural institute, the end point of a tour following the landmarks of his life.
    On the surface, it looks like another scheme to draw in tourists. But, say the organisers, the tour and sculpture are actually a critique of the way the city has used Picasso for commercial ends.
    "The project is meant to criticise mass tourism and the culture industry of the city as a brand, in which tourism goes against the needs of the residents and where reality is replaced by settings created for the visitors," said Los Interventores, a group of artists who commissioned the exhibit.
    Their Picasso tour passes by the church where he was baptised, his school and the bull-ring, before ending abruptly with his body, laid out near a marble gravestone that reads in gold lettering: 'Here lies our good friend Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)'.


  25. Waqas Dar
    Lion star Dev Patel talked to Reuters this week about his views on politics, typecasting in the film industry, and his next film project.
    Patel was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor award at this year's Oscars for his role in Lion, the tale of an Indian boy adopted by Australians who sets out to find his long-lost family.
     

     
    The actor spoke at the Chivas Icon awards ceremony in Dubai, where he was honoured for his #Lionheart campaign, which works with underprivileged children in India and elsewhere.
    Here are excerpts of his interview with Reuters:
    On immigrants
    "I'm a product of immigrants. So if you ask me about migration or integration or freedom to travel within borders I'm very pro-[all of] that. There are voices of division, divisive voices, and negative voices. But through our art and films such as Lion and many other films this year – Moonlight for instance – we can break down those barriers of prejudice."
     

     
    On typecasting
    "That is something that actors such as myself have to constantly try and defend, you know just playing who we are. [...] I feel really proud of being able to be a part of representing a diverse cinema and that's breathing life into diverse stories so that people that look like myself have something to aspire to on screen."
    On #Lionheart campaign
    "There are 80,000 children that go missing on the streets of India every year, and there are about 11 million children in total on the streets. And what we're doing is breathing life into one of those stories.
     

     
    On terrorism seeping into films
    That story in particular really affected me because, at the end of Slumdog Millionaire, we danced on this train platform... And during those attacks, you know, a gunman walked into that station and unloaded an AK-47 (assault rifle) on to hundreds of travellers.. [...] So when there were talks of a story going to be made, a film going to be made I really wanted to be a part of breathing life into that and making sure it is done with a level of humanity and sincerity."


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