
London: Changes to the Formula One tyres due to be introduced next month will be less dramatic than some have feared or hoped for, supplier Pirelli said on Monday. Motorsport director Paul Hembery told Reuters that the Italian company would find a solution that all teams could agree on without the outcome having a major impact on the championship. He said the aim was "to make the changes that you...

07:05 PM, May 20, 2013

London: Lewis Hamilton will be reunited with Paddy Lowe sooner than expected after Mercedes announced on Monday that the former McLaren technical head was joining their Formula One team next month. Mercedes said in a statement that the Briton had been appointed executive director (technical) and would start on June 3 - the week of the Canadian Grand Prix - after agreement was reached with McLaren for him to be...

06:57 PM, May 20, 2013

New Delhi: India is mulling a law to deal with the issue of spot-fixing in sport following last week's arrest of cricketers and bookmakers, government officials said on Monday. Former India Test bowler S Sreesanth and two other players were arrested along with 11 bookmakers on Thursday on suspicion of spot-fixing in the country's ongoing Twenty20 league. The cricket board immediately suspended the trio, who have been accused of taking...

03:42 PM, May 20, 2013

Seoul: North Korea fired two short-range missiles on Monday, making six launches in three days, and it condemned South Korea for criticising what it said were its legitimate military drills. South Korea's Defense Ministry said North Korea had fired one missile on Monday morning and a second one in the afternoon. Both were fired into the sea off North Korea's east coast, a ministry official said. The launches come hard...

03:17 PM, May 20, 2013

Baghdad: At least 20 people were killed by a series of car bombs in mainly Shiite districts of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Monday and 11 others were killed by attacks in the southern city of Basra, police and medics said. Scores of people have been killed in attacks over the past week as tensions between minority Sunni Muslims and Shiites who now lead Iraq have reached their highest level...

02:59 PM, May 20, 2013

Fiorentina's players and officials were furious after being deprived of a place in the Champions League playoff by two late goals from AC Milan on Sunday, who clinched third place in Serie A and qualified at their expense. Milan, needing to beat relegated Siena to hold on to third spot, won 2-1 after equalising with a controversial penalty won and converted by Mario Balotelli before Philippe Mexes grabbed the winner....

02:34 PM, May 20, 2013

Singapore: Gold fell for an eighth straight session on Monday to its weakest level in over a month, as fears that the US Federal Reserve may wind back its economic stimulus programme hurt the metal's appeal as a hedge against inflation. Investors have been dumping gold, which is down 20 per cent so far this year, as stocks and the dollar continue to outperform. If gold closes in the red...

11:30 AM, May 20, 2013

Wellington: New Zealand's media were muted in their reaction to their side being bundled out for just 68 runs to give England a 170-run victory in the first Test at Lord's on Sunday, instead turning their focus towards the second match in Leeds. Their second innings score, sparked by Stuart Broad's career-best figures of seven for 44, was New Zealand's ninth-lowest in their 83-year Test history. Unlike the furore that...

11:25 AM, May 20, 2013

San Francisco: Yahoo's board has approved a deal to buy blogging and social networking site Tumblr for $1.1 billion in cash, the Wall Street Journal cited people familiar with the matter as saying on Sunday. Such an acquisition would be Marissa Mayer's largest deal since taking the helm of the once-iconic Internet company in July 2012. Yahoo is keen on fast-growing Tumblr because its younger user base would bolster the...

06:55 AM, May 20, 2013

Amman: Lebanese Hezbollah militants attacked a Syrian rebel-held town alongside Syrian troops on Sunday and Israel threatened more attacks on Syria to rein the militia in, highlighting the risks of a wider regional conflict if planned peace talks fail. Activists said it was the fiercest fighting in Syria's two year-old civil war involving Hezbollah, a Shi'ite group backed by Iran which they said appeared to be helping President Bashar al-Assad...

06:23 AM, May 20, 2013

Paris: Carlo Ancelotti's future at Paris St Germain was in doubt on Sunday when Qatar-owned television channel BeIN Sport reported that he was leaving while sporting director Leonardo said the Italian had asked to go but the club wanted him to stay. "Carlo Ancelotti will not be the PSG coach next season. He met (club president Nasser al-Khelaifi) and (sporting director) Leonardo this afternoon in Paris for more than an...

10:25 PM, May 19, 2013

London: England captain Alastair Cook was satisfied with his team's performance after they beat New Zealand by 170 runs in a fluctuating first Test at Lord's on Sunday. Widely criticised following the recent 0-0 series draw in New Zealand against a side ranked six places below them, England produced a disciplined bowling display to skittle the touring side for 68 in their second innings. "It was a good Test win...

09:45 PM, May 19, 2013

Melbourne: Australia opening batsman David Warner will face a disciplinary hearing for his Twitter outburst against two senior Australian cricket journalists, the country's cricket board said on Sunday. The flamboyant left-handed batsman criticised News Limited journalists Robert Craddock and Malcolm Conn in an expletive-filled tirade, which grabbed headlines in Australia. The 26-year-old has been charged with breaking the code of behaviour which pertains to "unbecoming behaviour, regarding comments posted on...

12:57 PM, May 19, 2013

Mumbai: The Congress party is debating holding a General Election in November, six months ahead of schedule, senior party leaders said, reflecting an internal discussion over whether to pull the plug on the shaky ruling coalition or have it serve a full term. Officially, the Congress party says the government - which has been battered by a series of corruption scandals and now governs as a minority after two allies...

11:45 AM, May 19, 2013

Washington: As online titans compete to deliver instant maps to smartphones, the Library of Congress in Washington is focusing attention on an antique "cosmology" printed in 1507 that serves as America's birth certificate. The black-and-white map created by Martin Waldseemuller, a French cleric, was the first time the name America had appeared on any map. Waldseemuller was prescient enough to show the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean at a...

11:37 AM, May 19, 2013