South Asia: Last News

Naman Ramachandran Streamer Lionsgate Play has teamed with Grameenphone, a leading telecom services provider in Bangladesh, to expand its presence in the country. Grameenphone, part of Norway’s Telenor Group, has some 82 million subscribers, to whom it offers a bouquet of streaming services.

Naman Ramachandran A-list Bollywood actor Rani Mukerji and Turkish star Hande Ercel will be among the luminaries speaking at the Frames conference in Mumbai. Organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the annual confab is one of the largest media and entertainment industry events in Asia. The theme of Frames 2024 is “RRR: Reflections, Realities and Road Ahead.” Participants this year also include Arjun Nohwar, senior VP and general manager, South Asia, Warner Bros.

Naman Ramachandran Prime Video and BBC Studios have launched BBC Player and BBC Kids on Prime Video Channels in India. The subscription-based service will provide Indian viewers a curated line-up of popular British content spanning dramas, comedy, documentaries, factual shows, entertainment, lifestyle programming and children’s shows. Prime members can purchase an annual add-on subscription to BBC Player for INR 599 ($7.30) that includes full access to BBC Kids. Alternatively, members can also subscribe to BBC Kids only for INR 199 ($2.42) annually. Title available at launch on BBC Player include “Six Four,” “The Diplomat,” “Chivalry,” “Citizen Khan,” “Sherlock,” “Unforgotten,” “Happy Valley,” “Top Gear,” “The Great British Bake Off,” “This is Going to Hurt,” “Small Axe” and “Strictly Come Dancing.” BBC Kids will feature “Hey Duggee,” “Go Jetters,” “JoJo & Gran Gran,” “Sarah & Duck” and “Junior Bake Off.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorUniversal Music Group has announced the launch of Def Jam India, a new label division within India and South Asia dedicated to representing the best hip-hop and rap talent from the region. According to the announcement, Def Jam India “will follow the blueprint of the Def Jam Recordings label.” The first flagship artist signings to join Def Jam India are rappers Dino James and Fotty Seven, who will release singles this month titled “Lost” and “Banjo,” respectively.

Prince Charles referred to his wife Camilla Parker-Bowles as "my Mehbooba" during a speech at a British Asian Trust event on Wednesday night. The Prince of Wales used the phrase, which means "my beloved" in Urdu, while addressing some of the nation's most prominent politicians just days after it was announced that Camilla would become Queen Consort when Charles is crowned King.

pregnant woman had a nail hammered into her head by a faith healer who claimed it would 'guarantee' that she gave birth to a boy.The woman attended Lady Reading Hospital in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan with the two-inch nail pierced into the top of her forehead and in 'immense pain'.She had already attempted to remove the nail with pliers but sought emergency assistance when she couldn't get it out.Initially, the woman had told hospital staff that she had done it to herself on the advice of the faith healer, but later admitted it had been done to her.The mother-of-three visited the healer after being told by doctors she was going to have another girl and her husband threatened to divorce her if she failed to give birth to a boy, Geo News reports.In South Asia, a son is often preferred as they give the parents more financial security than daughters.The two-inch nail had pierced the top of the woman's forehead but missed her brain, an X-ray showed.For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.Doctor Haider Khan said that a hammer or other heavy object was used to knock it in and added that "she was fully conscious, but was in immense pain" when she arrived at the hospital.Peshawar police said victim support officers are aware of the incident and will be taking details from the victim so the appropriate 'legal action will be taken' against those involved.City police chief Abbas Ahsan said: "We have collected the CCTV footage from the hospital and hope to reach the woman soon."We will soon lay our hands on the sorcerer."Exploitative faith healers, that practice Sufism, are common across Muslim-majority Pakistan despite the disapproval of some

Jake Kanter International TV EditorWarnerMedia Pulls Plug On South Asia Channels WarnerMedia has announced that it plans to close its linear HBO and WB TV channels in India, Pakistan, Maldives, and Bangladesh from December 15. Siddharth Jain, SVP and managing director of WarnerMedia’s entertainment network in South Asia, said: “After 20 years of successes for the HBO linear movie channel in South Asia and more than a decade with the WB linear movie channel, this was a difficult decision to make.

Naman Ramachandran WarnerMedia is pulling the plug on linear channel HBO in India and Pakistan. It will also terminate the WB movie channel in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives from Dec.