Hours after an accountability court on Friday indicted ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif in third corruption case, his daughter Maryam Nawaz took to the microblogging website, saying “fire tests gold, adversity tests brave men”.

“Fire tests gold, adversity tests brave men. Allah is Sufficient for us,” twitted Maryam who is widely tipped to be the political heir apparent of Nawaz Sharif.

The accountability court indicted the deposed premier in the Flagship Investment Ltd reference filed against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). However, the Sharif’s representative, Zafir Khan, pleaded not guilty.

If Sharif convicted, Shehbaz will be PML-N candidate for PM slot

The charge sheet, read out by Justice Muhammad Bashir, stated that the former premier had assets beyond his means of income. It also said Sharif held public offices between 2007 and 2014, when he was also the chairman of Flagship Investment.

A day earlier, Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Captain (retd) Mohammad Safdar were indicted in a NAB reference pertaining to Avenfield apartments in London.

In its July 28 landmark judgment in the Panamagate case, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court unanimously ousted Sharif for concealing assets in his nomination papers for 2013 elections.

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Source: Tribune News | ‘Adversity tests brave men,’ Maryam tweets after Sharif indicted in 3rd graft case

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court rejected on Friday the bail application of Taimur Ahmad, who is accused of creating a fake Facebook account of a girl and posting her photographs online without her permission.

Justice Roohul Amin Khan heard the case and rejected the bail application, ordering police officials to send the accused to jail.

The complainant accused Ahmad, a resident of Swat valley, of impersonation, arguing that the latter made a fake Facebook in the name of the girl, and uploaded her photographs on the internet.

The court was told that a session court had already rejected Ahmad’s bail, as his crime was of a “serious nature” in the digital age.

The case against the accused had been registered with the Federal Investigation Agency; he was arrested and produced before the court after an investigation.

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Source: Tribune News | Young man accused of creating girl’s fake Facebook profile sent to jail

The first official trailer of Shaan Shahid’s film, Arth – The Destination was released on Friday and it suffices to say that it is most definitely a contemporary take on Mahesh Bhatt’s Arth.

The cast, comprising Shaan himself, Humaima Malick, Mohib Mirza and Uzma Hassan, will be reenacting the roles from Mahesh Bhatt’s original story of Arth, which was released in 1982.

Bearing very little semblance to the style of the original, the upcoming flick radiates a panache that screams ‘up-to-the-minute’ and exudes fashion in every snippet.

From Shan donning rocker style leather jackets to Humaima adorned in modish dresses, the movie will surely impart style goals.

But that’s not it…

The trailer will also, undoubtedly, incite various emotions within audiences. From disappointment, enamour and envy to obsession, joy and utter gloom, Arth – The Destination is chock-full of scenes and characters that are larger than life.

Shaan and Humaima’s take on Mashesh Bhatt’s Arth will be first Bollywood film to be remade in Pakistan

Extremely relatable and thought-provoking, the promo gives a sneak-peak into what’s in store for us. All the characters emit emotional vibes and seem to be possessed by diverse tendencies.

And with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s vocals resonating in the background, the visuals seem all the more intense.

While Shan’s character of ‘Ali’ comes off as a complex singer, who is confused, pensive yet driven, Uzma’s character, which is that of a writer, portrays passion, devotion for her husband, and an undying thirst to be herself.

Mohib plays ‘Umar’ who seems to be a prolific film-maker with a heavy gust of confidence, someone who is unapologetically sure of himself – and Humaima’s character is brimming with superstardom, yet you’ll find traces of instability and obsession in her tone.

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The film circles around the lives of these characters – the paths they choose and the destinations they reach, and how, in this trajectory, their lives evolve. It is expected to be released worldwide in cinemas on December 21, 2017.

“I have put my heart and soul into making this movie for it was a challenge to make a romantic film after so many years,” Shaan said in a statement. “I view the forthcoming film as an opportunity to strengthen the film fraternity of the two countries.”

Shaan will step into Raj Kiran’s shoes while Humaima – the Bol star – will be seen playing Smita Patil’s role of Kavita and Uzma will be essaying Shabana Azmi while Mohib will play the role of Inder Malhotra.

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Source: Tribune News | First trailer of Shaan Shahid’s ‘Arth 2’ released and it’s thought-provoking

A hand-written letter found on the body of a man killed in the sinking of the Titanic is expected to fetch up to £80,000 at auction on Saturday.

The letter, written by first-class passenger Alexander Oskar Holverson to his mother on embossed Titanic “on-board” stationary, describes his impressions of the palatial ship, praising the food and music.

“If all goes well we will arrive in New York Wednesday A.M.,” Holverson wrote the day before the ship’s fateful encounter with an iceberg. Holverson was a Minnesota-born salesman, who was travelling on the ship with his wife, Mary Alice, who survived the sinking.

In the letter, he also describes his experiences rubbing shoulders with one of the ship’s most famous passengers.

“John Jacob Astor is on this ship,” he said of the American financier and real-estate investor, who was one of the world’s richest men at the time.

“He looks like any other human being even though he has millions of money. They sit out on deck with the rest of us.”

The letter is one of the last known to have survived the sinking – it still carries stains from its time in the Atlantic.

The Titanic was the largest ocean liner in service when it struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912 in the Atlantic while travelling from Southampton to New York. More than 1,500 people died.

The letter is being auctioned by the Holverson family at Henry Aldrige & Son auctioneers in the southern English town of Devizes.

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Source: Tribune News | ‘If all goes well…’ Titanic victim’s letter expected to sell for thousands

KARACHI: The stock market continued to be on the positive streak and finished last trading day of the week on a positive note.

The market witnessed directionless trading in early hours, however, when it resumed business after midday break, the index shot up. Investors bought stocks at attractive valuations, taking the benchmark index above 42,000-point barrier.

At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index registered an increase of 529.82 points or 1.27% to finish at 42,087.89 points.

Elixir Securities, in its report, stated that Pakistan equities stood strong as the KSE-100 index added to Thursday’s gains to close above 42,000, up 1.2%.

“Activity in the wider market remained upbeat as recent progress and some clarity on legal matters faced by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif as well as expectations of a relief package for the stock market helped rebuild investors’ confidence,” stated Elixir.

Market watch: Stock market blossoms on positive investor sentiment

Although the morning session saw somewhat limited activity and range-bound trading where most volumes went to small and mid-cap plays, from the onset of afternoon session, the KSE-100 saw a sharp climb upwards, helped by gains in blue chips across major sectors on reported local buying.

On the results front, Habib Bank (HBL, +1.3%) recorded a loss in the Jul-Sep quarter as the result was largely in line with market expectations post-fine on the bank’s New York branch by the US regulator.

“We see the market inching up next week with sectors and stocks tracking institutional flows and earnings announcements. However, investors will remain sensitive to the data of foreigners’ trading as any large outflow at highs can halt the current momentum,” the report added.

JS Global analyst Maaz Mulla said investors showed bullish sentiment for most part of the day as the market hit an intra-day high of +598 points and closed at 42,088.

The positive sentiment could be attributed to attractive valuations of stocks on the KSE-100 index, he said.

Market watch: Late buying helps bourse recover from early blows

The banking sector gained as United Bank (+0.87%) and MCB Bank (+2.03%) closed positive. Fauji Fertilizer Company announced its results for 9M2017 where the company declared earnings per share of Rs4.66 and cash payout of Rs1.50 per share for the third quarter.

The exploration and production sector rose following a slight increase in crude oil prices in the global market. Pakistan Petroleum (+1.54%) and Oil and Gas Development Company (+1.18%) were major gainers of the sector.

“The market is expected to recover in coming days; we recommend investors to trade in main board stocks and take long-term positions in the same to benefit from undervalued stocks,” Mulla said.

Overall, trading volumes rose to 261 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 232 million.

Shares of 386 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 270 stocks closed higher, 99 declined while 17 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs12.9 billion.

Engro Polymer was the volume leader with 20.7 million shares, losing Rs1.01 to close at Rs36.99. It was followed by Azgard Nine with 17.6 million shares, gaining Rs1 to close at Rs13.83 and TRG Pakistan with 15.9 million shares, gaining Rs1.67 to close at Rs36.39.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs556.7 million during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited.

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Source: Tribune News | Market watch: Positive streak continues as index rises past 42,000

KABUL: A suicide bomber killed 32 people including women and children and wounded 41 others when he blew himself up in an imambargah in Kabul on Friday, officials said.

“Unfortunately this evening a suicide bomber detonated himself among the worshippers inside a mosque in Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood of Kabul city,” Kabul police spokesperson Abdul Basir Mujahid said.

The interior ministry confirmed the toll of 32 dead and 41 wounded.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but recent assaults on imambargahs mosques have been carried out by Islamic State militants.

The last attack on Shias in Kabul happened on September 29 as Muslims prepared to commemorate Ashura, one of the holiest days in the Islamic calendar.

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Source: Tribune News | Kabul imambargah attack toll jumps to 32 dead, 41 wounded