KARACHI: The wait is finally over: Pakistan’s biggest music reality show, Pakistan Idol 2025, will kick off on October 4 with its grand return to television screens.

The much-celebrated competition will be aired exclusively on Pakistan’s leading entertainment channel, Geo TV.

With excitement at its peak and dreams shining in the eyes of thousands of aspiring singers, the nation’s most-awaited music show promises to capture hearts once again.

This season’s judges’ panel features a stellar lineup: Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Fawad Khan, Zeb Bangash, and Bilal Maqsood. Adding charm and wit to the stage, the ever-energetic Shafaat Ali will host the show.

Together, they bring a magical blend of expertise, melody, and entertainment never before seen on Pakistani television.

Auditions kicked off in Sukkur and later reached Multan, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, and Karachi, where hundreds of young singers showcased their talent. From classical renditions to regional folk melodies, extraordinary voices emerged in every city. Among the participants were differently-abled and visually impaired contestants, whose passion for music deeply moved both the judges and audiences.

Now, the chosen talent will step onto the grand stage, where their voices, journeys, and dreams will be tested before the star-studded judges’ panel. The show will not only highlight their singing abilities but also their stories of perseverance and dedication.

As anticipation builds, one question dominates: Who will be crowned Pakistan’s next superstar? The answer begins to unfold on October 4, when Pakistan Idol 2025 premieres, only on Geo TV.

A huge communications blackout hit Afghanistan on Monday, weeks after Taliban authorities began severing fibre optic connections in multiple provinces to prevent “vice”.

“A nation-wide telecoms blackout is now in effect,” said Netblocks, a watchdog organisation that monitors cybersecurity and internet governance.

“We’re now observing national connectivity at 14% of ordinary levels.”

The watchdog said the incident “appears consistent with the intentional disconnection of service”.

AFP lost contact with its bureau in the capital Kabul around 6:15pm (1315 GMT), including mobile phone service.

Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities began a crackdown on internet access earlier this month, severing connections in multiple provinces.

The move, ordered by Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, effectively shut down high-speed internet in several regions.

Fibre optic internet was completely banned in northern Balkh province on the leader’s orders, provincial spokesman Attaullah Zaid said on September 16.

“This measure was taken to prevent vice, and alternative options will be put in place across the country to meet connectivity needs,” he wrote on social media.

At the time, AFP correspondents reported the same restrictions in the northern provinces of Badakhshan and Takhar, as well as in Kandahar, Helmand, Nangarhar and Uruzgan in the south.

Over the past several weeks, internet connections have been extremely slow or intermittent.

In 2024, Kabul had touted the 9,350-kilometre fibre optic network — largely built by former US-backed governments — as a “priority” to bring the country closer to the rest of the world and lift it out of poverty.

Since regaining power in 2021, the Taliban have instituted numerous restrictions.

• BCCI to file complaint against Naqvi over trophy row: official.
• BCCI secretary confirms directives to team for closing ceremony.
• ACC T20 Asia Cup 2025 winners left ground without title trophy.

After sparking controversy during the presentation ceremony following the Asia Cup 2025 final, India is taking the winner’s trophy dispute to the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The Indian team refused to collect the trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Mohsin Naqvi after defeating Pakistan in the final by five wickets in Dubai on Sunday.

The move reportedly came on the directives of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI); however, Naqvi — who is also the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) — remained firm that he would present the trophy as the ACC president.

BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia has now confirmed the same to Indian media outlets.

“We decided not to take the trophy from the ACC chairman, who happens to be one of the main leaders of Pakistan,” Indian media outlets quoted Saikia as saying.

The dispute resulted in a brief delay in the presentation ceremony, which saw Pakistan players collecting their medals as the runners-up.

Presenter Simon Doull confirmed the conclusion of the post-match ceremony without the winning team receiving the trophy.

“I have been informed by the ACC that the Indian cricket team will not be collecting their awards tonight. So that does conclude the post-match presentation,” informed Doull.

India players Tilak Varma, Abhishek Sharma, and Kuldeep Yadav, however, turned up to accept their individual awards.

Subsequently, the organisers took the Asia Cup trophy with them, leaving the Indian team waiting to get their hands on the title trophy.

Naqvi’s insistence on presenting the trophy to the winning team came despite the Indian team’s recent acts of dragging politics into the game, with Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav refusing a customary handshake with Pakistan’s Salman Ali Agha in their group stage game.

He repeated the same in their following two games, an act which has been condemned by pundits across the world.

The BCCI secretary has now confirmed their plans to file a complaint against Naqvi over the trophy row in the next meeting of the ICC, scheduled in November.

The BCCI secretary spoke in the same lines as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who equated the cricket victory to “Operation Sindoor”, the name given to India’s series of strikes in Pakistan, which resulted in the martyrdom of several civilians.

“#OperationSindoor on the games field. Outcome is the same – India wins! Congrats to our cricketers,” Modi wrote in a post on X following the Asia Cup final.

Adamant on bringing politics and war into the sport, Saikia said that the Indian “armed forces delivered in the border area. Now the same thing has been repeated in Dubai”.