Tag: Talk

MADRID - Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho turned up at a press conference Friday on the eve of his side's league clash against arch-rivals Barcelona but refused to speak, leaving it up to assistant coach Aitor Karanka to field reporters' questions.
"Jose Mourinho will not answer any question," a club spokesman said at the start of the news conference, causing many journalists to abandon Real's press centre in protest.

karachi: Following are some interesting parts of the 'interesting, bold and straightforward' conversation witnessed between the PPP lawmakers and an official of the Provincial Census Commission, Joint Census Commissioner Farooq Baloch during the briefing:
Nisar Ahmed Khuhro: People need to take half of the housing census process duration just to understanding what it is. You should extend its duration. We (Sindhis) are already hurt.
Baloch: Our staff faces difficulties in

NEW DELHI - Australian spin legend Shane Warne on Wednesday denied media reports that he was interested in coaching World Cup champions India.
"Just got told on bus - apparently I put my hand up to coach India. Wow - first I have heard of it - Sorry to disappoint but never said that!!!" Warne tweeted.
Leg-spinner Warne, 41, is in the country to take part in the Indian Premier League where he leads the Rajasthan Royals franchise in the lucrative Twenty20 competition, starting

NEW DELHI - India and Pakistani officials began their first formal peace talks since the 2008 Mumbai attacks in a meeting pushed into the background by the decision of their leaders to meet during a World Cup cricket match between the two countries.
The two home secretaries, the top civil servants in charge of security issues, met in New Delhi to repair relations between nuclear rivals broken off after the Mumbai attacks when Pakistani militants killed 166 people in a three-day

LAHORE - The semi-final between Pakistan and India is being taken very seriously by the locals of the metropolis. Forwarded messages which include jokes, mild conspiracies reservations and religious tips for the match are being sent to one and other.
Yes, this is the same match which was being discussed by everyone even before the World Cup series had started, Pakistan versus India and adding to the excitement the life long rivals are meeting in a very crucial game, its the semi

LAHORE
Xari Jalil
Kuldip Nayar's first impression is that of a friendly man, somewhat absent minded, and maybe slightly impatient to get things organised around him as soon as possible. He is a well-built man of Punjabi descent (Sialkot to be specific), very sturdy for a man in his late eighties (he was born in 1923); wisdom and experience are stamped onto his face and eyes, which in their brilliance can only be superficially 'hidden' behind thick black rimmed glasses, and a

CHENNAI - England's Paul Collingwood has scotched speculation on his one-day future after coming in to bat at number eight during the World Cup defeat to Bangladesh. Collingwood quit Tests during the Sydney Test against Australia in January this year to allow himself to focus on one-day internationals and Twenty20 cricket. The Durham all-rounder, who led England to a famous World Twenty20 triumph last year, has had an unimpressive run in the tournament so far, managing just 61 runs

NEW DELHI - Kevin O'Brien, the World Cup monster slayer of England, lists his favourite TV show as Gossip Girl, but it's the free-swinging Irishman who's the talk of the town in India. The barrel-chested Dubliner, whose 50-ball century was the quickest of all time in the World Cup and sparked Ireland to their famous win in Bangalore, will turn 27 on Friday.
The perfect gift will be for him to deliver another shock when his unheralded side tackle a brittle-looking Indian bowling

COLOMBO - Pakistan coach Waqar Younis Wednesday insisted the World Cup was clean and urged an end to talk about match-fixing in cricket. His comments come after Sri Lankan state TV channel ITN speculated over whether Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera may have changed the game by getting out cheaply in their team's defeat against Pakistan.
The station added a local businessman had placed an $18,000 bet on Sri Lanka losing the game. Sri Lanka's cricket authorities angrily

COLOMBO - Kenyan skipper Jimmy Kamande Monday brushed aside reports of a rift between the players and their West Indian coach Eldine Baptiste, saying such issues crop up only after defeats. Reports coming from Kenyan capital Nairobi said there were divisions within the squad, with Cricket Kenya chief Samir Inamdar blaming those differences for the team's lacklustre performances.
But Kamande said his team, with two crushing World Cup defeats so far, were united.
"I have read

NEW YORK - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday said it was "no secret that we have not always seen eye-to-eye with Pakistan." Pressure from the Pakistani side will help push the Taliban (Afghan) towards the negotiating table and away from al Qaeda," she said in her speech at the Asia Society.
She also warned Pakistan that it risked major instability and hampering the war effort in Afghanistan unless it implemented broad reforms and stops fomenting anti-American

BRUSSELS - EU chief diplomat Catherine Ashton urged Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to immediately hold talks with the opposition Monday and respond to the aspirations of anti-government protesters.
"The legitimate grievances of the Egyptian people should be responded to. Their aspirations for a just, better future should be met with urgent, concrete and decisive answers, and with real steps," Ashton said.
"There needs to be a peaceful way forward," she told reporters.

MELBOURNE - Rafael Nadal said Tuesday he avoids reading reports about his quest for a 'Rafa Slam' and was not obsessed about winning a fourth consecutive major. The world number one was gifted passage into the Australian Open second round Tuesday when Marcos Daniel retired hurt, putting him a step closer to a non-calendar year Grand Slam.
The French Open, Wimbledon and US Open champion was leading 6-0, 5-0 when Brazilian journeyman Daniel, 32, conceded defeat after being

LONDON - Manchester United's Darren Fletcher has insisted talk from title challengers Manchester City that the Premier League is the Red Devils to lose as nothing more than "kidology".
Appropriately enough, the comment was made by Manchester City assistant manager Brian Kidd, once deputy to United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who as a striker made his name at Old Trafford before also playing for City.
United, chasing a record-breaking 19th English title, head into the New Year

ISLAMABAD: The US has been urging India to engage Pakistan in talks on bilateral issues, but the latter has not been receptive on this count citing "no follow-up action" by Islamabad against the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks, revealed a diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.
A diplomatic cable sent by the US embassy in New Delhi to Washington DC on June 29, 2009 quotes former US National Security Adviser James Jones asking the former Indian army chief General Deepak

BEIJING: China is likely to raise interest rates in the coming days in a demonstration of the government's resolve to tame inflation, an official newspaper said on Tuesday.
In a banner headline across its front page, the China Securities Journal said this weekend offered a "sensitive window" for a rate rise, which would be the country's second following a surprise increase in October, the central bank's first rate hike since 2007.
An increase in rates would also put flesh

PARIS: France on Friday rejected demands from an Al Qaeda cell holding five French hostages in northern Africa that it negotiate their freedom with Osama bin Laden and pull its troops out of Afghanistan.
"France cannot accept that its policy be dictated by anyone outside," new Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said after Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) head Abdelmalek Droukdel made the demands in an audio recording on Thursday.
His message said that France would