Yasir Jaswal offers first glimpse into his 'Jalaibee'

Jalaibee is the first Pakistani film to be directed with an ARRI Alexa HD camera. PHOTO: JALAIBEE FACEBOOK PAGE

KARACHI: The trailer for Pakistani film Jalaibee was released on Wednesday by its director Yasir M Jaswal. 

The film is being produced under the label of REDRUM Films in association with Jaswal Films and Sermad Films.

Jalaibee mostly features a cast of film-debutants including the likes of the versatile actorAdnan Jafar, Asal Din Khan, Ali Safina, Danish Taimoor, Uzair Jaswal, and VJ cum modelWiqar Ali Khan. Zhalay Sarhadi is the only one in the crew to have had past silver screen experience, from her role in Ramchand Pakistani.

The film’s promoters claimed that Jalaibee is the “first of its kind feature film,” being the first Pakistani film to be shot on the ARRI Alexa HD camera. The same camera was used to shoot recent blockbusters such as Gravity, Skyfall, and Ironman 3.

The film promises through its trailer a stylised eye-pleasing visuals, powerful sound design, engaging dialogue and contemporary music.

The 56 second trailer looks extremely promising as it demonstrates the integration between animation and live-action. The trailer also reveals the first ever usage of an American muscle car in a Pakistani film. The shot that starts off right on the horse emblem of the iconic Ford Mustang, promising some fast paced action sequences in the film.

Jalaibee’s soundtrack features about 10 tracks from artists such as Qayyas, Uzair Jaswal and Humaira Arshad, according to the film’s official Facebook page.

Jaswal’s film is about the stories of numerous characters and how they come together.

2013 was an iconic year for Pakistani cinema with productions like Zinda Bhaag getting a nod for Pakistan’s first movie to get the nod for the Oscars. Bilal Lashari’s record breaking film Waar. There were other notable movies like the the critically acclaimed Chambaili, Lamhaa (Seedlings), Josh and the commercial Main Hoon Shahid Afridi and Waar.

However, the trailer for Jalaibee promises that there is something more for Pakistani cinema-goers to look for in the summer of 2014.

Cristiano Ronaldo up for two Globe Soccer awards

On 29th December in Dubai, Cristiano Ronaldo could repeat the success he had at last year's Globe Soccer awards. The Real star is again nominated for the awards for Player of the Year and Fans' Favourite.

Ronaldo has confirmed his attendance at the awards ceremony which is dedicated to professional football players. Key members of the world's footballing community will gather in Dubai during the last weekend of the year.

It is considered one of football’s most-exclusive events, where clubs, leagues, federations, agents, footballers... find a forum to discuss and exchange ideas and projects.

The event includes several conferences, which this year will mainly focus on UEFA's financial fair play initiative, the Brazil World Cup and the search for new strategic development. The event closes with the awards' ceremony. Falcao, Abidal, Mourinho, CR7 and Maradona are all previous Globe Soccer winners.

This year's shortlist of footballing attendees is headed by Ronaldo, Maradona, Guardiola, Capello, Ribéry, Xavi, Antonio Conte, Massimo Busacca, Pierluigi Collina.

A class act

CARLOS CARPIO 12/24/2013

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On 26th September 2012, Real Madrid thrashed Millonarios de Bogotá (8-0) in the Bernabéu Trophy. Mourinho made a nice gesture towards his club by fielding eleven academy players: Callejón, Adán, Morata, Nacho, Álex, Denis, Fabinho, Mosquera, Derik, Hermoso and Jesús. He made no such gesture with Jesé, who wasn't even called up and watched the game from home.

Two months earlier, Jesé had had the 'audacity' to firmly, but politely answer his manager back during a tense conversation on the club’s pre-season tour in Los Angeles. Despite knowing he was the best academy player by a mile, Mourinho sentenced him there and then, for that game and the entire season. He didn't play a single game.

As fate would have it, Jesé profited from that decision. Mou started calling Morata up to train with the first team, making him rarely available for Real Madrid Castilla. This made Jesé first-choice at Castilla. His stats show that he rose to the occasion with 22 goals and 12 assists.

"Jesé is world-class. He's one of those players who only comes along once every generation," said Toril, the former Castilla coach and the man who knows him best. They say that Ancelotti, after being amazed by his skill during his first training sessions, asked where they had been hiding such a class act."

Landmark meeting: LoC peace agreed in rare Pak-India army tryst

Lt Gen Bhatia and Maj Gen Riaz shake hands ahead of the meeting. PHOTO: ISPR

ISLAMABAD: 

Top military officials of the two nuclear armed neighbours agreed to defuse months-old tensions along the Line of Control by restoring the ceasefire, in a landmark meeting at the Wagah border on Tuesday.

Pakistan Army Director General Military Operations (DGMO) Major General Aamer Riaz and his Indian counterpart Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia, who met for the first time in 14 years, decided to restore ceasefire by ‘re-energising existing mechanisms’.

The talks are part of the efforts from both the countries to defuse hostilities along the LoC. Lt Gen Bhatia who crossed over from the Attari border checkpost was received by Maj Gen Riaz.

In complete contrast to the recent flaring up of tensions, the DGMOs were seen smiling and shaking hands with each other before they began their crucial talks.

A joint statement issued after their discussions said the meeting was held in a ‘cordial, positive and constructive atmosphere’.

“Both DGsMO showed their commitment to maintain the sanctity and ceasefire on the LoC and agreed to re-energise the existing mechanisms,” the statement read.

The two sides also developed consensus to make hotline contact between the two DGsMO ‘more effective and result-oriented’.

It was also decided that both sides would inform each other if any innocent civilian inadvertently crossed the LoC, in order to ensure his/her early return.

“To carry forward the positive spirit of DGsMOs meeting, two flag meetings between Brigade Commanders will be held on the LoC in the near future to ensure maintenance of peace and tranquility along the LoC,” the statement said.

Tensions between the two neighbours had flared up in January and then in August this year when the two sides accused each other of violating ceasefire in the disputed region.

The ensuing clashes left a number of soldiers and civilians dead on both sides of the LoC.

Talks between the two DGsMOs took place as part of the agreement reached between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh during their talks in New York on the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly session in September.

A senior military official told The Express Tribune that it was a political decision to arrange the meeting of the DGsMOs.

“Both the civilian and the military leadership are on the same page as far as relations with India are concerned,” added the official, who asked to remain anonymous.

Although there are little chances of resumption of the stalled peace talks in the near future due to India’s preoccupation with the upcoming parliamentary elections, the United States is believed to have been pushing the two neighbours to remain engaged at a time when it is pulling out of Afghanistan.

Washington, which is thought to have encouraged the two sides to defuse LoC tensions, fears that any hostilities between the nuclear neighbors could undermine its efforts to stabilise Afghanistan.

A foreign office official hoped that the meeting would lead to resumption of composite dialogue, which India has so far refused to enter into due to what it claimed ‘slow progress’ to prosecute perpetrators of November 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Nawaz, Erdogan ink deal: ECO container train to chug off soon

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaking at the joint press conference with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at PM House in Islamabad on December 24, 2013. PHOTO: PID

ISLAMABAD: 

In a bid to boost economic ties, Pakistan and Turkey inked agreements on Tuesday to make the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) Container Train operational and also decided to conclude a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) in the first three months of 2014.

On the second day of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s official visit to Pakistan, the two premiers pledged to intensify cooperation in energy, trade, urban development, infrastructure and housing sectors, an official statement said.

“Regular operations of the train would not only strengthen connectivity, but also harness greater economic integration between the region and beyond,” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was quoted as saying in the statement.

The two prime ministers held a one-on-one meeting followed by talks between their delegations. “Consistent with our shared vision to strengthen economic ties, we have decided to conclude a PTA in the first three months of 2014,” stated the joint statement issued by the Prime Minister Office. Economic frameworks like the PTA, would significantly contribute towards trade facilitation, it added.

Turkish PM Erdogan also expressed the hope that the PTA between the two countries will go a long way in further expanding their economic ties.

The two sides have also signed a number of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs).

“As two pillars of strength, Pakistan and Turkey stand united in our joint endeavour to promote peace and stability in the region,” Prime Minister Nawaz said.

They also called for the expansion of trade between the two friendly countries. The strong business delegation accompanying Prime Minister Erdogan is an affirmation of the confidence that Turkish companies have in business opportunities in Pakistan, PM Nawaz said.

“I’m confident that the representative business forum would build on the synergies and strengths of our respective business communities.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Erdogan also announced the opening of a Turkish Cultural Centre in Lahore.

The prime ministers also emphasised on the prompt implementation of the common economic agenda within the framework of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC).

Meeting with the president

President Mamnoon Hussain met with the Turkish prime minister on Tuesday and called for a strategic economic partnership between Pakistan and Turkey.

Welcoming the Turkish premier and his delegation, the president said that Pakistan attaches great significance to its fraternal and multifaceted ties with Turkey and desires to strengthen relations. Friendship with the Turkish people is part of the legacy inherited from our forefathers, he said.

Highlighting the investment-friendly policies of the government, the president said the present government has embarked on an ambitious socio-economic development agenda and various steps are being taken to attract both domestic and foreign investment in Pakistan.

Discussing the regional situation, President Mamnoon said Pakistan and Turkey, as two pillars of strength, stand united in their joint endeavour to promote peace and stability in the region

Christians increasingly under threat: Catholic observers

ASWJ activist blame them for sacrilege of copies found at an abandoned house. PHOTO: REUTERS

VATICAN CITY: Thousands of Christians are killed every year because of their faith and the persecution is becoming more widespread, Catholic observers said as Christmas celebrations are increasingly marred by attacks in at-risk countries.

Pope Francis addressed the killings in a recent interview saying there was “an ecumenism of blood”, meaning that Christians of all denominations including Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox are targeted.

“The narrative about Christianity in the Western mind is that a Christian is rich, powerful and has massive political influence,” said John Allen, a Vatican expert and author of the new book “The Global War on Christians”.

“It doesn’t reflect the reality. They are impoverished, linguistic and cultural minorities,” he said.

Estimates on Christian deaths are contested and vary widely.

Out of around 2.3 billion Christians in the world, between 9,000 and 100,000 people are said to be killed because of their religion every year.

In an editorial for Italy’s top-selling Corriere della Sera daily on Monday, Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Sant’Egidio Catholic charity in Rome, criticised the “silence at Christmas over the persecutions”.

The US evangelical group Open Doors said the worst country for anti-Christian violence is North Korea, followed by Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Maldives, Mali, Iran, Yemen and Eritrea.

The situation was said to be worsening in Egypt, Ethiopia and Syria as well.

Open Doors has said that 100 million Christians are being persecuted – a figure that has been widely criticised for including entire communities and not individual Christians at risk for their faith.

Some observers say the reasons for anti-Christian violence are much more varied than simply a question of faith and are often linked to a variety of local issues.

An upsurge in attacks in Central African Republic or South Sudan, for instance, is being seen as linked more to ethnic discord and battles for control of resources.

The issue is a highly sensitive one, as shown by the criticism of Allen’s talk of “war on Christians” by US professor Andrew Chestnut, an expert on Pentecostalism.

“Allen has not only done a disservice to Christians around the globe suffering real repression and persecution, but has dangerously fanned the flames of religious conflict,” he wrote in the Huffington Post.

Chestnut said that Allen had written about “a fictitious war that exists only on the pages and in the questionable data of certain Christian organisations”.

Experts have pointed to three main types of anti-Christian violence – the main one being religious radicalism and particularly rising levels of Islamic as well as Buddhist and Hindu extremism.

Allen said there were also cases of Christians being attacked by other Christians, like US evangelicals singled out by traditionalist Catholics in Mexico.

The second threat is in states where governments see Christians as a possible subversive danger – like in Eritrea or North Korea, where tens of thousands of Christians have been imprisoned, Allen said.

There is also a persecution linked to businesses, mafia groups, paramilitaries or guerrillas that see Christian social teachings as a threat to their interests.

EPL set for Boxing Day shoot-out

CLASH OF THE TITANS: Liverpool will be banking on star striker Luis Suarez as they take on Manchester City at a top of the table clash on Thursday. PHOTO: AFP

LONDON: The concertina effect at the top of the Premier League table means that no fewer than five teams will have designs on top spot in Thursday’s traditional Boxing Day fixtures.

For the first time in the post-1992 Premier League era, just two points separate the top five teams on Christmas Day, and the erosion of Arsenal’s seven-point lead has also given hope to seventh-place Tottenham Hotspur and eighth-place Manchester United.

Arsenal’s bruising 0-0 draw at home to Chelsea on Monday left Liverpool top at Christmas for the first time since 2008.

However, the new leaders face a stern test on Thursday when they visit a Manchester City side who have won all eight of their home games to date this season, scoring 35 goals.

City, 4-2 victors at Fulham in their last outing, will leapfrog Liverpool if they prevail at the Etihad Stadium and visiting manager Brendan Rodgers says that his side must not get carried away by their early-season form.

“You don’t get the rewards at Christmas,” said Rodgers. “It is a nostalgic time and people always want to know where the team is at around Christmas Day.

“We want to be there, but we want to be there at the end of the season and for that there is a lot of hard work ahead.”

Rodgers remains without Steven Gerrard, Daniel Sturridge and Jose Enrique due to injury, but in 19-goal top scorer Luis Suarez he can call upon the outstanding player of the season so far.

City’s own leading man, Sergio Aguero, is currently sidelined with a calf complaint, and having seen Liverpool rout Tottenham Hotspur 5-0 in their last away game, manager Manuel Pellegrini predicts a ‘very difficult’ encounter.

“Liverpool is a very good team and Suarez is in a very good moment,” said the Chilean.

“But I think this Premier League; we are just finishing the first-half, in two more games.

“And this Premier League will not just be Liverpool and Manchester City. Five or six teams will fight until the end.”

Arsenal hoping to capitalise against West Ham

Second-place Arsenal, behind Liverpool on goal difference, will hope to capitalise on any slip-ups by Rodgers’s side when they visit London rivals West Ham United.

Fourth-place Chelsea, meanwhile, host Swansea City, with fifth-place Everton hosting bottom club Sunderland.

Chelsea have failed to sparkle during the first half of the season, but with Liverpool only two points ahead of them, captain John Terry knows that Jose Mourinho’s side remain very much in contention.

“We all know, and the fans have seen it home and away, that we can get better,” Terry told Chelsea TV.

“So whilst everyone is dropping points around us, hopefully in the new year we have to start firing and put ourselves on a good run of games.

“If we do that we’re more than capable of pulling away from everyone.”

Tottenham, four points below the top five, host West Bromwich Albion, while defending champions United will look to close the eight-point gap that separates them from arch rivals Liverpool when they visit Hull City.

Thursday’s Fixtures

Hull v Man United
Aston Villa v Crystal
Cardiff v Soton
Chelsea v Swansea
Everton v Sunderland
Newcastle v Stoke
Norwich v Fulham
Tottenham v West Brom
West Ham v Arsenal
Man City v Liverpool