Tue, 21-Oct-2025

Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts – The End of a Beautiful Era

Harry Potter

A beautiful mix of tears, joy, and nostalgia, this Harry Potter reunion special takes you back where all the magic began. 2022 started off with quite a bang for most people – there were fireworks, loud and exciting parties, lots of food and of course, the customary ‘New Year resolutions’. The start of a new … Read more

Environmental crackdown

environmental

KARACHI: The Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) has penalised scores of industries, claiming Rs3 million in fines for violations of environmental laws under the Sindh Environmental Protection Act 2014, Bol News has learnt. In addition to this, the environmental protection agency recovered Rs80m water charges from bottled water companies while 4,373 vehicles were fined during … Read more

Rescue, relief operation underway to evacuate stranded tourists in Murree

GALIYAT: Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrrukh Habib on Sunday said the rescue and relief operation was underway to evacuate stranded tourists in Murree. “Expressway (N-75) from Murree to Islamabad has been cleared for traffic,” he said talking to local news channel. Read more: Army starts evacuating tourists stranded in Murree He said … Read more

Iraqi women boxers eye to defy gender taboos

Iraqi boxer Bushra al-Hajjar jumps into the ring, gloves raised to eye level, and strikes out at her sparring partner. Her bigger struggle, though, is to deliver a blow against social taboos. In Iraq’s Shiite Muslim holy city of Najaf, the sight of a women’s boxing hall is unusual but, like others here, the 35-year-old boxing instructor is fighting … Read more

Beijing seals ‘bubble’ for Winter Olympics

Beijing sealed up its Winter Olympic “bubble” on Tuesday, preparing the Games venues, transport and staff for the world’s strictest mass sporting event since the global pandemic. China, where the virus emerged toward the end of 2019, has pursued a zero-tolerance strategy on Covid-19 and is taking the same approach to limit the pandemic’s potential … Read more

Tariq Saeed: Artist behind the art of Urdu commentary

Tariq Saeed, the sensational Urdu cricket commentator, was once a budding college-level cricketer. He used to play for FC College Lahore. However, the man who used to dream to represent Pakistan at the highest level was once struck by a bouncer on the head near his right eye, which halted his progressive career. He still … Read more

Breakaway stars of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2021-22

Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

Sport is played at different levels. From amateurs to professionals, hundreds and thousands of athletes put hard yards every day to reach the very top. In cricket, reaching the very top means representing your country as, unlike football, playing international matches is the way to earn recognition. To be able to be considered worthy enough … Read more

A year of growth without respite for common man

growth

Just like the whole world, Pakistan’s economy also showed signs of recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021 but rising twin deficits and inflationary pressures eroded the gains and made the life of a common man miserable. Unlike 2020, in which lukewarm economic activity was witnessed, the year 2021 remained better for the economy. The … Read more

20 minutes with Badar Mehmood

Badar Mehmood

Starting his career at the age of 19, Badar Mehmood accomplished so much in such a short span of time that one could only dream of. He entered the field as a video-editor and gradually become one of the most famous directors of Pakistan. He has numerous soaps and telefilms to his credit. He has … Read more

The Professor’s Paradox 

There are some famous paradoxes that continue to bemuse even today, like The Barber’s Paradox or Zeno’s Paradoxes. The personality and career of Mohammad Hafeez now add to those eternal paradoxes. Naming it The Professor’s Paradox would probably describe it best.   I say this because very few batters in the history of the game … Read more

Ayesha Omar – The Queen of Fashion

Ayesha Omar

Ayesha Omar is one of the fashion divas who makes heads turn left and right, wherever she goes. Many of us may know her as her famous TV character, Khubsoorat, the name of which is perfectly on brand for she looks eloquent and fashionable almost all the time. The Pakistani actress initially started off her … Read more

Three held over Muslim women ‘auction’ app

Three young Indian Hindus accused of setting up an auction app advertising the sale of prominent Muslim women have been arrested, police said Wednesday. Photos of more than 100 women — among them a number of prominent local journalists and activists known for speaking on issues affecting Indian Muslims — were featured on the “Bulli … Read more

‘Very few universities in Pakistan are producing globally competitive graduates’

Pakistan

KARACHI: Professor Dr Wasim Qazi has been in academia for over 25 years. Currently he is serving as the vice chancellor of Iqra University, a private varsity. Here he talks to Bol News on a variety of topics concerning the education sector in Pakistan.   Why do you think the reading habit is so poor … Read more

Talk of The Town: Adnan Siddiqui becomes the first meme of 2021

Adnan Siddiqui

The first weekend of 2022 brought with it the first meme of the year featuring Adnan Siddiqui. The actor was present at the destruction ceremony of confiscated goods organised by the Customs (Enforcement) Karachi where he recorded himself joining in the process of destroying seized liquor and drugs. He posted the videos of the process … Read more

Digital life encroaches on US ‘quiet zone’ refuge

Digital

Green Bank, West Virginia Yvonne Wallech loves the digital respite and sense of community in her tiny US town, where cell phone service is effectively barred and outsiders come seeking the shelter of that quiet. She has internet at her property in Green Bank, West Virginia but as soon as she leaves home, and is … Read more

Unnerved Bangladesh roar like tigers

Bangladesh

Bangladesh was awarded the status of the Test Playing nation around two decades back on 26 June 2000. However, their journey has been far from perfect as they only managed to win three out of the first 78 Test matches played. In the recent past, things have started to improve in the five-day format as … Read more

Why did Hollywood blockbusters fail in Pakistan?

With the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home, cinemas in Pakistan were able to stage a comeback after a closure of more than one year. The film crossed Rs. 200 million milestone in just 10 days, and if its run continues, it might go on to become the highest-grossing Hollywood movie in the country. However, … Read more

PCB awards in retrospect: Rizwan wins big after fabulous 2021

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) hosted a virtual digital ceremony of the PCB Awards 2021 on Thursday to appreciate the best performers of the year. The players were nominated in different categories including the Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year, ODI Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year, T20I Cricketer of the Year, … Read more

Don’t Look Up, apparently the critics just didn’t look

Italicise: Don’t Look Up, “I’m mad as hell”, Network, Second Nature, The world is ending, and nobody cares. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Our scientists have been practically shouting about the end of days that our inaction and negligence towards global warming will bring, but the response from the majority (read: right-wing) has been pretty underwhelming. … Read more

The Photographer: Tapu Javeri

Tapu Javeri is no ordinary man, he is an ace celebrity/fashion photographer, budding entrepreneur, jewelry designer, and radio jockey. Son of jeweler Hassan Ali Mohammad Javeri and Ayesha Javeri, his roots stretch all the way to his ancestors who were court jewelers to the Nawabs of Kutch. His first photograph was published in a leading … Read more

PSG visit Lyon as Covid-hit Ligue 1 returns

Paris Saint-Germain return to Ligue 1 action this weekend at struggling Lyon, with Mauricio Pochettino’s men building towards their Champions League clash against Real Madrid. But most of the spotlight at the capital giants is focused off the pitch, with Kylian Mbappe’s future more uncertain than ever, Lionel Messi still returning from a positive Covid test and Neymar … Read more

Football in Pakistan: From chaos in 2021 to hope for 2022

Football

This is an unkind era for Pakistani football. Political turmoil for controlling the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has made the sport in a downward spiral since 2015’s disputed elections. Forced takeovers, FIFA bans, disruptions in national events and almost zero international football have been constant. 2021 saw all that repeat at once. Troubled beginning The … Read more

The need for representation in our media

media

Glee, One Tree Hill, Skins, The Danger of a Single Story, The End of the F***ing World, Freaks and Geeks, Yeh Meri Family. Our lives, our cultures, and our struggles are composed of many overlapping stories. Eventually, these stories are transformed to tell tales on a television screen, comprising all the trials and tribulations of … Read more

The cancer menace

cancer

KARACHI: Cancer is a disease mostly understood in society as a grave threat to human health. It is widely seen as an illness of excruciating pain. It is becoming a serious health threat in Asian countries including Pakistan where it is a burden on the healthcare system. Cancer, a leading cause of death in the … Read more

Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts – The End of a Beautiful Era

Harry Potter

2022 started off with quite a bang for most people – there were fireworks, loud and exciting parties, lots of food and of course, the customary ‘New Year resolutions’. The start of a new year is always marked with celebrations and merriment after all. However, for all the Potterheads out there, the beginning of 2022 … Read more

Kicking the tyres

Awais Saeed Piracha

LAHORE: Volatile exchange rate and illicit trade are major challenges for legal businesses both in the manufacturing, as well as trade/import sector, said Awais Saeed Piracha, chief executive officer of Trinity Enterprises, a major importer of variety of tyres from two- to four-wheelers to trucks, buses and industrial and agricultural machinery. “We give 80 to … Read more

Talk of The Town: Adnan Siddiqui becomes the first meme of 2021

Adnan Siddiqui

The first weekend of 2022 brought with it the first meme of the year featuring Adnan Siddiqui. The actor was present at the destruction ceremony of confiscated goods organised by the Customs (Enforcement) Karachi where he recorded himself joining in the process of destroying seized liquor and drugs. He posted the videos of the process … Read more

China leads peace rally

China

BEIJING: China had pushed forward a joint statement by the leaders of the five nuclear weapon states on preventing nuclear war and avoiding arms races by urging the others to join the reaffirmation that a nuclear war cannot be won and shall not be fought, after the process under the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty … Read more