TOULON, France: Toulon’s new headline recruit, South African winger Bryan Habana, said on Wednesday he was excited at joining the European champions on a two year deal. The 2007 world champion could make his first appearance for the Top 14 side as early as Friday in a pre-season friendly against Bordeaux-Begles. At his official unveiling the holder of the Springboks try scoring record of 50, said: “Toulon is a new challenge, a new environment, it’s exciting.” Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal added: “He may start for us earlier than expected, it’s possible he could put on the shirt on Friday evening.” The 30-year-old Habana’s move to Toulon was thrashed out back in January when he was playi...
July 25, 2013 at 1:07 am | News Desk
LONDON: Duke William and Duchess of Cambridge Catherine Middleton revealed the name of the royal baby with two middle names, Prince George Alexander Louis, on Wednesday. “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted to announce that they have named their son George Alexander Louis. The baby will be known as His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge,” the palace said in a statement. The name’s announcement comes a day after the duchess left hospital and two days after she gave birth to the third in line to the throne. George was the most popular name with betting firms William Hill, Coral and Paddy Power. James was also a favourite with punters, with Alexander, Henry, Louis, Richard and Arthur the next most popu...
July 25, 2013 at 1:07 am | News Desk
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) presidential candidate, Justice (Retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed signaled on Wednesday for a joint presidential candidate with Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N). Justice (Retd.) Wajihuddin Ahmed has been nominated for presidential candidate from PTI while PML-N selected Mamnoon Hussain for the top post of the country. Wajihuddin said that Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf will give positive response if Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz shows interest. It is pertinent to note, Supreme Court of Pakistan has ordered today to hold presidential election on July 30 instead of August 6. The process of contacting the political parties is continued after the announcement of presidential election schedule. Pakistan People&rsqu...
July 25, 2013 at 1:07 am | News Desk
The authorities in Pakistan have flicked the switch on world’s famous atheist Richard Dawkins website. The website is now censored for unknown reasons. All around the world governments are ordering Internet service providers to hide away content they feel is unsuitable for their citizens’ consumption. China blocks thousands of websites on political and social grounds and web blocking of torrent and other file-sharing sites is becoming a regular occurrence around Europe. Finally, another casualty of the crackdown is the website of Richard Dawkins, who was informed of the block earlier today on Twitter and responded with a retweet. There’s been no confirmation as to why Dawkins has been targeted, but his stance towar...
July 24, 2013 at 2:03 am | News Desk
LONDON: Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate on Tuesday thanked staff at the hospital where their baby son was born, as the world waited for a name and hopefully a glimpse of the future king. Palace officials said mother, father and the new third in line to the throne were “doing well”, while the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge praised the “tremendous care” they received at St Mary’s Hospital in London. The family were expected to leave the hospital either on Tuesday evening or on Wednesday — at which point the international media will likely get the eagerly awaited first picture of the child. Congratulations have poured in from around the globe for the baby, a great-grandchild of Queen Elizab...
July 24, 2013 at 2:03 am | News Desk
ANKARA: The Turkish central bank raised its overnight rate by 0.75 percentage points to 7.25 percent on Tuesday, as it fights to support its currency from a flight of foreign capital. But the bank held its key rate at 4.5 percent, the level to which it was reduced in May. But a week ago, the bank hinted that it might now have to tighten monetary policy to shore up the lira. “If necessary, more measures will be taken,” the bank said. Turkey has achieved strong economic growth in the last decade after severe financial crisis and IMF rescues, and is now an economic powerhouse in its region. The economy is estimated to be about the 17th-biggest in the world. But it is also extremely vulnerable to rapid flows of foreign capital and...
July 24, 2013 at 2:03 am | News Desk
YOKOHAMA, Japan: Manchester United stumbled to a 3-2 defeat against Japan’s Yokohama Marinos Tuesday in their second loss in three games under new manager David Moyes. The English champions fell behind after only a minute but they recovered to lead 2-1 heading into the second half thanks to Jesse Lindgard’s strike and a Yokohama own goal. However, Fabio Aguiar headed the scores level before Yoshihito Fujita’s winner three minutes from time removed further gloss from United’s pre-season Asian tour. “We had a chance to finish off the game at 2-1 and had a great chance to make it 3-1, and we thought we had chances after that as well but we didn’t take them. So it was a tough game,” said Moyes. &ldquo...
July 24, 2013 at 2:03 am | News Desk
BAGHDAD: An Al-Qaeda front group Tuesday claimed brazen assaults on Iraqi prisons that freed hundreds of militants including top leaders, killed over 40 people and threatened to erode confidence in the government. The attacks on the prisons in Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, and Taji, north of the capital, illustrate both the growing reach of militants and the deteriorating security situation in Iraq. Spiralling violence in Iraq has killed more than 620 people so far in July, making it the deadliest month of a year in which over 2,800 have died in unrest, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources. “The mujahideen (holy warriors), after months of preparation and planning, targeted two of the largest prisons of the S...
July 24, 2013 at 2:03 am | News Desk
ZURICH: Swiss banking giant UBS said Monday it had settled a lawsuit linked to US subprime housing mortgages which sparked the 2008 global financial crisis. The bank did not specify how much the settlement amounted to, but said it had set aside 865 million Swiss francs ($922 million, 700 million euros) in the second quarter to meet litigation costs including the case. “The full cost of the settlement is covered by litigation provisions established by UBS during the second quarter of 2013 and in prior periods,” Switzerland’s biggest bank said in a statement. UBS and 17 other financial institutions were sued by the US Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in September 2011 for violating federal securities laws when selling...
July 23, 2013 at 2:05 am | News Desk
LONDON: Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge has given a birth to a baby boy, the future heir to the British throne, at St Mary’s hospital in London. The boy and his mother Kate Middleton are doing well. She will be spending the night in hospital. The former Kate Middleton gave birth to the couple’s first child, a son, on Monday afternoon. The birth was announced via a formal press release issued by Kensington Palace The full statement from Kensington Palace: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a son at 4.24pm. The baby weighs 8lbs 6oz. The Duke of Cambridge was present for the birth. The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry and members of bot...
July 23, 2013 at 2:05 am | News Desk
LONDON: Britan Royal Family including Prince William and his wife Duchess of Cambridge Catherine (Kate) Middleton has been gifted by a ‘baby boy’ on Monday, at 4:24pm (London Time). The boy and his mother Kate Middleton are doing well but she will be spending the night in hospital. The former Kate Middleton gave birth to the couple’s first child, a son, weighing 8lb 6oz, at 16:24 BST at St Mary’s Hospital on Monday afternoon. The birth was announced via a formal press release issued by Kensington Palace. Prince William will not, of course, be able to share the joy of his newborn child with his own mother, Diana, princess of Wales, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997. Prince Charles has issued his first ...
July 23, 2013 at 2:05 am | News Desk
DUBAI: A Norwegian woman sentenced to prison in Dubai after reporting she was raped was set free with a full pardon on Monday after her case sparked an outcry. Marte Dalelv, 24, expressed relief at the end of a four-month ordeal which had seen her prosecuted and convicted for extramarital sex, perjury and consuming alcohol without a licence, after she lodged the complaint against her boss. The convictions could have seen her serving a 16-month jail term in the United Arab Emirates but Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum pardoned her on all counts. The boss, against whom she lodged the complaint and who had been sentenced to 13 months for alcohol consumption and sex outside marriage, was also pardoned, her lawyer Mahmoud Azab...
July 23, 2013 at 2:05 am | News Desk
WASHINGTON, District of Columbia: More than 125 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation, and 30 million more girls are at risk in the next decade, UNICEF said Monday. Although genital cutting is on the decline, the practice remains “almost universal” in some countries, said the UN Children Fund’s report that spans 20 years of data across 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East. The tradition involves removal of some or all of a female’s external genitalia. It can include cutting out the clitoris and sometimes sewing together the labia. Laws are not enough to stop the practice entirely, and more people must speak out in order to eliminate it among certain ethnic groups and com...
July 23, 2013 at 2:05 am | News Desk
Ahead of Apple’s release of next range of products including iPhone 6, iPhone 5S and tablets, the hacking of developer site of Apple was shocking for the tech savvies. Claiming to be leader of tech and mobile devices, Apple was considered to have some of the best Internet security around its empire. But even a Turkish security analyst managed to breach into Apple’s empire and tens of thousands of developers are now in safe hands. Following is an email from the Cupertino firm over the issue Last Thursday, an intruder attempted to secure personal information of our registered developers from our developer website. Sensitive personal information was encrypted and cannot be accessed, however, we have not been able to rule out the ...
July 22, 2013 at 6:31 pm | News Desk
MUMBAI: Ramadan is a holy month where peoples forget their enemies and spread brother hood. MLA Baba Siddique organized an Iftaar party where many Bollywood and political personality was seen in the party. The Iftaar party has seen a miracle when superstars Shahrukh Khan hug his old friend Salman khan which finally ends their five year old rivalry due to the efforts of Baba Siddique and his friends Madhur Bhandarkar, Sohail Khan, Salim Khan, Arjun Kapoor, Boney Kapoor, Parvez Lakdawala and Nadeem Lakdawala who were also seen at the remarkable event and witnessed the “hug”. Parvez Lakdawala said, “I am quite happy that two megastar ends their cold war at holy month of Ramadan. It’s double celebration for Bollywoo...
July 22, 2013 at 6:31 pm | News Desk
GULLANE, United Kingdom: British Open champion Phil Mickelson has his eyes firmly set on joining the elite list of golfing legends who have won all four of the majors. (more…)
July 22, 2013 at 6:31 pm | News Desk
Pakistan Rupee Exchange Rate