subhan Lahore, July 17: Aamir Sohail’s serious differences with the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt may soon result in former captain’s resignation from the post of director of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and Game Development.
Tehran, July 17: The Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has appointed his close confidante Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei as his new First Deputy.
Mashaei served as the head of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization before receiving the elevation.
Prior to the tourism portfolio, Mashaei was the head of Tehran Municipality’s Cultural and Art Organization during Ahmadinejad’s mayorship. Mashaei also served for a while as a deputy interior minister.
Washington, July 17: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has tried to portray Iran’s nuclear program as the greatest threat to international security, demanding a global action to curb the plan.
Gates, giving a downbeat assessment of Iran’s nuclear work, said that in his eyes Tehran’s development of nuclear technology was the main source of concern at the present juncture.
Jerusalem, July 17: The Israeli Foreign Ministry has slammed Switzerland for holding diplomatic talks with representatives of the Hamas movement.
“We are angry, since Hamas is still considered as a terrorist organization by the European Union, even if Switzerland is not an EU member,” said Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.
“By officially receiving a Hamas delegation, Switzerland is not placing itself among those who support moderation,” he added.
London, July 17: Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe says though he “loves girls” and enjoys their company, they don’t find him attractive because he is “nerdy and geeky”.
“I’m not particularly a Lothario with women at all, really. I mean, I love women’s company and I love talking to girls. I’ve always had more friends who are girls than guys because I’ve always found them more interesting, for obvious reasons.
Cuba, July 17: US-backed mediation talks for resolving Honduras crisis would weaken democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya, says former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
“It is obvious that each day of delay has a cost for the constitutional president and tends to dilute the extraordinary international support he has received,” Castro wrote in a column on Thursday.
“The Yankee [US] maneuver does not increase the possibilities of peace, but completely to the contrary, it diminishes them and the danger of violence grows,” he said.
Mumbai, July 17: Tomorrow is a special day for actress Priyanka Chopra. It’s her birthday.
But unlike in the past, she has puzzled the media by not announcing birthday party. Is she not going to throw a party for her special friends? Well, she is planning for a birthday escapade with her beau Shahid Kapoor if the latest news is to be believed.
London, July 17: Australia is still hopeful that Nathan Hauritz would recover in time from his finger injury and will be able to bowl in England’s second innings here at Lord’s.
Hauritz dislocated the middle finger of his bowling arm when he failed to latch on to a fierce drive from England skipper Andrew Strauss which bent back the off-spinner’s digit and had to leave the field immediately.
However, wicket-keeper Brad Haddin after the opening day’s play yesterday, said Hauritz could still make an impact in the match and may be back in action in the second innings.
New Delhi, July 17: Bollywood’s prestigious banner Yash Raj Films has denied reports that it has signed Salman Khan for a movie, saying they are “completely baseless”.
It was reported that writer-turned-director Vijay Krishna Acharya, whose directorial debut “Tashan” was produced by the banner, is directing his second film for Yash Raj Films and that Salman would star in it.
Mumbai, July 17: Drama queen Rakhi Sawant will shock the audience with another of her crazy stunts in Rakhi Ka Swyamvar.
If marrying through a television reality show wasn’t crazy enough Rakhi will observe Karvachauth for not one but five potential husbands. Although Karvachauth a festival that celebrates women’s love for husband is months away but Rakhi has decided to prepone it this year.
Islamabad, July 17: Pakistan’s Supreme Court Friday acquitted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the 10-year-old plane hijacking case lodged against him by the government of General Pervez Musharraf, a media report said.
A five-member bench of the apex court, which heard the case June 18 and reserved its verdict, unanimously acquitted the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader declaring earlier court decisions invalid, media reported.
Mumbai, July 17: Just two weeks ahead of the release of Love Aaj Kal director Imtiaz Ali doesn’t seem to be too happy with Saif Ali Khan who is also the producer of the movie.
First it was her regular mention of how much he wanted lady love Kareena Kapoor instead of Deepika Padukone in the movie and now it is promotion techniques that is making the director upset.
Mumbai, July 17: No actress will admit to cosmetic surgery, even in the face of photographic evidence. But Shruti Haasan admits without hesitation that she had a nose job done recently. That’s what sets this child-woman apart from the rest of her tribe.
Sehat ke liye!
The change was evidently visible at a recent event held last week in Mumbai. The actress, who makes her B-Town debut with Luck next week, fails to see what the big deal is about. The actress told a South paper, “I didn’t do it because I thought my nose wasn’t the best. I did it for health purposes.”
Mumbai, July 17: Ayesha Takia’s sibling Natasha is Bollywood bound. Like her elder sister, she too wants to be part of the film industry. The youngster has already begun the process of grooming herself to be an actress.
Says a source, “Though Natasha harboured aspirations of acting as well, she did not pursue it seriously. But after Ayesha’s marriage, she became more focussed and made up her mind.”
Mumbai, July 17: If Deepika Padukone had taken this move two years ago, you would understand, but why now after having established herself in Bollywood?
This pretty girl has taken film lovers by surprise, as she has plunged into Telugu movies, that too in a hot item number, while the actresses down south are making a beeline to enter Bollywood.
London, July 17: The United States Cricket Association has been keen to start a Twenty20 cricket tournament within two years after the big success of the Indian Premier League, which was hosted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The main aim of the USA Cricket Association behind organizing this T20 league will be to promote top-class international cricket in their country with the help of revenues, which will be earned through this league.
New Delhi, July 17: Gambhir Credits His Success To SehwagThe Indian opener Gautam Gambhir, who has been ranked first in the latest ICC test batsmen rankings, has credited his success in the International cricket to his aggressive opening partner Virender Sehwag.
Gambhir has maintained an impressive average of 54 in the 25 test matches to emerge as only the sixth Indian batsman to top the ICC Test rankings.
Gambhir said that the main reason for his success in the recent past has been the support and guidance provided by his best friend at the other end with whom he batted for long time.
London, July 17: Ashes greats Allan Border, Neil Harvey, David Gower and Derek Underwood were inducted into ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
The quartet was accorded the honour during the tea interval on the first day of the second Test between England and Australia at Lord’s.
Melbourne, July 17: New South Wales bowler Aaron Bird’s action has been cleared by Cricket Australia. The board announced that the 25-year-old’s suspension had been lifted after a biomechanical analysis of his bowling action.
Kingstown, July 17: West Indies captain Floyd Reifer has said the team is aware of the need to level the two-match Test Series against Bangladesh, having lost the first match in Kingstown.
“We are raring to go in this Test match because we know we have to play cricket for the six million people in the Caribbean,” Reifer said. “This match means a lot to Caribbean cricket and people in the West Indies, so we know we have to level the series.”
Mumbai, July 16: Despite giving a power packed performance in Abbas-Mustan’s ‘Race’, Bipasha Basu was ousted from the Race sequel and the mastermind behind the in and out game is learnt to be none other than the man madly in love, Saif Ali Khan.
He is desperate to have Kareena Kapoor instead of Bipasha Basu in the Race 2 and therefore convinced the director duo to rope in Kareena.
New Delhi, July 16: The internet giant Google has declared that its Friend Connect service now supports 47 different languages. Google Friend Connect service helps connecting users with their friends on different websites and blogs.
Google Friend Connect, the service which helps website owners offer provide social networking features for visitors, was initially available in English language. However, Google Friend Connect service is now available in 47 different languages.
Kabul, July 16: Three officers have been killed and four others wounded in a car bomb attack on a police convoy in Afghanistan’s southwestern province of Nimroz.
The incident happened when a militant rammed an explosive-laden car into a police convoy on Thursday.
“A police supply convoy came under attack from a suicide bomber. As a result, three border police, including their commander, were killed and four other police wounded,” said the Interior Ministry.
London, July 16: Australia edged ahead of Pakistan in a high-scorer at the Allan Border Field to take the one-day series 2-1.
Opener Tim Paine cracked 134 to steer his team to an imposing 316 before his counterpart Khalid Latif responded with an exact 100, which wasn’t enough as Pakistan fell short by 15 runs.
Beirut, July 16: Lebanese President Michel Suleiman says his country will use ‘all legitimate and available means’ against the Israeli threats.
Speaking at the opening session of a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit on Wednesday, Suleiman reiterated that Lebanon has the right to defend itself against Israeli the threats and to liberate its lands occupied by Israel.
Suleiman slammed Israel’s daily violations of Lebanese territorial sovereignty and ‘its aggressive espionage acts in breach of the UN Security Council Resolution 1701’.