Disney announced Wednesday that it will close at least 60 of its North American stores this year in order to focus on its online sales activities. The closures are only a first step, with the world’s number one entertainment company emphasizing in a statement that it intends to “significantly reduce its brick-and-mortar footprint” in order to focus on e-commerce. “While …

B-Town superstar Deepika Padukone’s recent ad came under fire after the makers were accused of plagiarizing an Indian film. Director Sooni Taraporevela accused the makers of the Padmaavat actor’s latest ad for plagiarizing from her film Yeh Ballet. Sharing her grievances on Instagram, Sooni wrote: “A couple days ago someone brought this @levis_in ad to my attention.” “I was shocked to see our …

Pregnant Ashley Tisdale appears to be pleased with the arrival of her longtime friend  Vanessa Hudgens as the High School Musical co-stars celebrate Ashley’s baby bump. The 35-year-old actress shared the lovesome picture of Vanessa hugging her baby bump on Instagram. Sharing the cute picture, Ashely captioned it: “It’s taken 9 months but safely we got a picture before my …

Dolly Parton is over the moon after she won a nomination for Grammy for the 50th time. The music icon got her first Grammy 51 years ago and is happy to carry on the legacy this year too. Expressing her thoughts on the prestigious honour, Parton revealed, “It’s always special. You always love to be acknowledged. Like I’ve always said, …

ISLAMABAD: Qatari land forces commander Maj Gen Saeed Hassen Mohammad Al-Khayareen on Wednesday said Pakistan’s friendly and cooperative ties with Qatar were growing and termed them mutually beneficial. He made this observation during a meeting with Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa at the General Headquarters. “Visiting dignitary appreciated Pakistan Army’s sincere efforts for regional peace and reiterated that Pakistan and …

SAN FRANCISCO: Google on Wednesday pledged to steer clear of tracking individual online activity when it begins implementing a new system for targeting ads without the use of so-called “cookies.” The internet giant’s widely used Chrome browser this month will begin testing an alternative to the tracking practice that it believes could improve online privacy while still enabling advertisers to …

WASHINGTON: FBI Director Christopher Wray bluntly labeled the January riot at the US Capitol as domestic terrorism on Tuesday and warned of a rapidly growing threat of homegrown violent extremism that law enforcement is scrambling to confront through thousands of investigations. Wray also defended to lawmakers his own agency’s handling of an intelligence report that warned of the prospect for …

PARIS: The French government on Wednesday banned far-right group Generation Identity, which gained notoriety through several attempts to block migrants from entering the country. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin posted the decree dissolving the group on Twitter, saying it “incites discrimination, hatred and violence” and has ties to white supremacist groups. The decree added that the group, which has branches in …

BAGHDAD: A US contractor died of cardiac failure after rocket fire hit an Iraqi base hosting coalition troops on Wednesday, the Pentagon said, just two days ahead of Pope Francis’ visit to the country. Around 10 rockets slammed into the sprawling Ain al-Assad military base in Iraq’s western desert after several weeks of escalating US-Iran tensions on Iraqi soil. “A …

ISLAMABAD: The 14th summit of the 10-member Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) will be held virtually on Thursday (today) for deliberating prospects of enhancing regional cooperation in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Imran Khan will open the summit as Pakistan is the chair of the 13th summit, which was held in Islamabad in March 2017. Turkish President Recep …