NEW DELHI: Former ICC umpire Simon Taufel, who was on the ill-fated bus that was attacked by terrorists in Lahore, hopes that international cricket returns to Pakistan. Taufel, while talking to AFP, mentioned his most vivid memory which is a moment that shook the cricketing world in 2009, when he was on a bus in Lahore that was attacked by extremists...
BRISBANE: New Zealand and England will take their cricketing rivalry into the Test arena Thursday after finding themselves evenly matched in recent limited-overs thrillers. England have bragging rights after winning a rollercoaster World Cup final in July, then edging the Black Caps 3-2 in a desperately close Twenty20 series completed earlier this month. Both the one-day decider and T20 series needed...
LONDON: Australia’s Tim Paine has said the upcoming Test series against Pakistan and New Zealand may be the last time he captains the side at home as he enters the twilight of his career. Paine, who turns 35 next month, was named captain after former skipper Steve Smith was handed a one-year ban in March 2018 for ball tampering and...
PARIS: Pakistan head into the opening Test in Brisbane on Thursday seeking a rare win on Australian soil, and could unleash a 16-year-old debutant in a teenage pace attack against seasoned stars Steve Smith and David Warner. Pakistan have drawn a series in Australia, but have never won one, and last tasted a Test victory at Sydney in 1995. A handful...
SEOUL: Two out of three vessels seized by Yemen's Houthi rebels on the weekend are South Korean, Seoul officials said Tuesday, as are two out of 16 people captured. The vessels — a South Korean dredger being towed by one South Korean and one Saudi-flagged tug — were seized by the Houthis at the southern end of the Red Sea...
BEIJING: China insisted on Tuesday it alone held the authority to rule on constitutional matters in Hong Kong, as it condemned a decision by the city's high court to overturn a ban on face masks worn by pro-democracy protesters. The statement raised hackles among activists in Hong Kong after months of violent protests over concerns that Beijing is chipping away...
WASHINGTON DC: Donald Trump's doctor denied reports that the US president had recently suffered chest pain after he attended an unannounced medical checkup in Washington. Trump, 73, spent just over an hour on Saturday having "examinations, labs and discussions" at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, his physician Sean Conley said in a statement issued by the White House. "Despite...
SRINAGAR: Economic losses in Indian-Occupied Kashmir (IOK) have run well over a billion dollars since India revoked its autonomy and statehood in August, the main trade body in the Himalayan region said, adding that it planned to sue the government for damages. India turned its erstwhile state of the occupied valley into a federally-controlled territory, tightening control in a shock move...
PETERBOROUGH: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will probably win the Dec. 12 election with a small majority but the campaign has so far been uninspiring with a host of unrealistic promises on both sides, Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said on Tuesday. “The one prediction I am going to make is that it is going to be a low turnout...
DUBAI: Iran on Monday alternatively downplayed and demonized ongoing protests across the country that have killed at least five people and renewed pressure on the government as the country struggles under the weight of U.S. economic sanctions. The full scale of the protests, which began shortly after a 50% increase in gas prices took effect early Friday, was unknown after...
ANKARA: Turkey’s state-run news agency says prosecutors have issued warrants for the detention of 133 military officers over suspected links to the U.S.-based Muslim cleric who is blamed by Ankara for a failed coup attempt in 2016. Anadolu Agency said Tuesday that 101 of the suspects were detained in simultaneous raids in 45 provinces for alleged links to Fethullah Gulen’s...
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said it intercepted four incoming rockets from Syria on Tuesday and explosions were heard shortly after that in Damascus, a week after another Israeli strike targeted a top Palestinian militant in the Syrian capital. Israeli air defence systems captured the projectiles, the military said, and no harm was caused to Israeli communities in the Golan Heights...
WASHINGTON:  The Trump administration on Monday said it no longer considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be a violation of international law, reversing four decades of American policy and further undermining the Palestinians’ effort to gain statehood. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the U.S. is repudiating the 1978 State Department legal opinion that held that civilian...
BRUSSELS: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says he will travel to Paris next week for talks with President Emmanuel Macron after the French leader lamented the “brain death” of the military alliance. Macron’s public criticism of NATO has shaken the alliance. His remarks were rejected by German Chancellor Angela Merkel the day after they were published in The Economist. Senior U.S....
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s newly elected president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, may struggle to consolidate his victory. With many executive powers clipped and the opposition in control of a powerful Parliament, the former defence official who inspires respect but also fear may have difficulty assembling a government. Rajapaksa, who is credited with helping end the country’s long civil war, comfortably won Saturday’s presidential...
LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn prepared to square off Tuesday in the first televised debate of this year’s election campaign. The hour-long encounter offers Corbyn a chance to make up ground in opinion polls, which show his Labour Party trailing Johnson’s Conservatives ahead of the Dec. 12 election. The debate will feature only two candidates...
SEOUL: US and South Korean officials on Tuesday publicly acknowledged the allies remain far apart in negotiations for increasing South Korea’s contributions to the costs for maintaining the American military presence on its soil. U.S. negotiator James DeHart said the U.S. side decided to cut short a meeting that lasted less than two hours because Seoul’s proposals “were not responsive...