
Karachi: Cricketer turned politician Imran Khan has held the chief of Mutthaida Qaumi Movement (MQM) directly responsible for the killing of a senior leader of his party in the city. "I hold Altaf Hussain directly responsible for the murder as he had openly threatened Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf workers and leaders through public broadcasts," Imran said in a statement from his hospital bed late Saturday night. The statement came hours after the...

08:55 AM, May 19, 2013

Barcelona: Real Sociedad came back to win 2-1 at Sevilla and Valencia beat Getafe 1-0 on Saturday as both teams remained locked on points in their fight for a fourth-place finish in the Spanish league. Sociedad remained ahead of fifth-place Valencia on head-to-head goal difference and in control of Spain's last Champions League spot with two rounds to go. The Basque side fell behind 10 minutes in at Sanchez Pizjuan...

08:29 AM, May 19, 2013

New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) may hand life bans to the tainted quartet of S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila, Ankeet Chavan and Amit Singh in a meeting in Chennai on Sunday. Sreesanth, Chandila, Chavan have played several matches for Rajasthan Royals this season, while Amit represented the Jaipur-based IPL team for the first few seasons. Sreesanth, Chandila and Chavan have reportedly confessed to spot-fixing in...

08:25 AM, May 19, 2013

Kolkata: In the backdrop of the chit fund scam, the State Bank of India on Saturday said Reserve Bank of India or Securities and Exchange Board of India should take up major campaigns to create awareness among investors being lured to ponzi schemes. "RBI...or SEBI should begin a major campaign in line with Jago Grahak Jago, woolmark or hallmark (gold) to create awareness among the investors about these ponzi schemes,"...

08:20 AM, May 19, 2013

Burdwan: West Bengal Agriculture Minister Malay Ghatak on Saturday said he has received a letter threatening to kill him and his family unless he resigned from the Cabinet and quit Trinamool Congress. "I saw the letter this evening. It was sent by post from Kharagpur in West Midnapore district on May 13 by N Rama Rao of Indian People's Liberation Army," Ghatak told reporters. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the...

07:59 AM, May 19, 2013

Berlin: Germany has approved new measures to rein in high-risk financial business of banks and to decouple them from retail banking as part of a comprehensive reform to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis five years ago and to minimise the costs for taxpayers if banks were to be bailed out in the future. The Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, on Friday voted with the majority of the...

07:40 AM, May 19, 2013

A car driven by an elderly man who may have lost consciousness plowed through a small-town parade of hiking enthusiasts in southwestern Virginia on Saturday, injuring dozens of people, nine seriously enough to be sent to hospitals, authorities said. The incident occurred in the Appalachian town of Damascus at the start of the annual Trail Days festival, as the main street was filled with hikers making their way from one...

07:35 AM, May 19, 2013

Austin: The Powerball jackpot Saturday night could be even higher than the record $600 million being advertised, possibly rivaling the largest lottery jackpot in US history, a Texas Lottery official said on Saturday. "Oftentimes, the advertised amount is lower than what the actual jackpot ends up being," said Kelly Cripe, a spokeswoman for the Texas Lottery. "It's entirely possible this $600 million jackpot will end up being a bigger jackpot."...

07:11 AM, May 19, 2013

Cape Canaveral: An automated telescope monitoring the moon has captured images of an 88-pound (40 kg) rock slamming into the lunar surface, creating a bright flash of light, NASA scientists said on Friday. The explosion on March 17, 2013 was the biggest seen since NASA began watching the moon for meteoroid impacts about eight years ago. So far, more than 300 strikes have been recorded. "It exploded in a flash...

06:53 AM, May 19, 2013

Moscow: Part of an airliner carrying more than 130 people caught fire as it was landing in Moscow, and passengers evacuated the plane by jumping off one of its wings and shooting down an evacuation slide. The Emergencies Ministry says none of the passengers and crew members were injured by the fire on the landing gear of the Boeing 737 at Vnukovo Airport on Saturday. A ministry statement said the...

06:32 AM, May 19, 2013

New Delhi: Ahead of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to India, about 50 people on Saturday held a protest in Delhi demanding suspension of talks with China. The protest was organised at Jantar Mantar by the Nationalists Forum of India and support by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad - the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh - and the Swadeshi Jagran Manch. The protestors burnt an effigy of the...

06:02 AM, May 19, 2013

Chennai: A drunk truck-driver who lured away and raped a five-year-old girl in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore town has been arrested, police said on Saturday. According to police, the incident took place May 12, 2013, when 25-year-old K Saravanan was cleaning the vehicle near house of the girl, whose parents had gone out on work. He took the girl playing outside her home to his house nearby and sexually assaulted her,...

05:30 AM, May 19, 2013

Kozhikode: Kerala and Himachal Pradesh on Saturday announced they will strengthen implementation of their rural development projects by sharing information about feasible models and best practices. Ministers and senior government officials from the two Congress-ruled states met here to discuss ongoing projects and ways to enhance cooperation. Kerala's Panchayats and Social Welfare Minister MK Muneer gave details about local self governance in the state, community farming and the Kudumbashree programme...

05:04 AM, May 19, 2013

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Saturday sent Vivek Dutt, a CBI officer heading the probe into the allocation of coal blocks, to the custody of the probe agency till May 21 for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 7 lakh from a businessman for settling a land dispute. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge VK Gupta sent Dutt, inspector Rajesh Karnatak, alleged middleman Rajesh Pachisia and businessman Dinesh...

04:41 AM, May 19, 2013

Kolkata: The West Bengal State Election Commission on Saturday wrote to the state government seeking a change in the schedule for the panchayat polls and the bunching of districts in each phase. The state government had issued a notification on Friday proposing three-phase polls. Nine districts are to go to the hustings July 2, and four each July 6 and July 10. The SEC's latter has sought a regrouping of...

04:15 AM, May 19, 2013

Thane: A local court on Saturday rejected the anticipatory bail plea filed by builder SP Agarwal, accused in the Navi Mumbai builder Sunil Lahoria murder case. Lahoria was shot dead outside his office in Sector 28 of Vashi, Navi Mumbai, on February 16. Police have arrested eight persons, including shooters Venkatesh Shettiar, Wajid Qureshi, developer Sumit Bacchewar and former encounter specialist Emmanuel Amolik. However, three builders - Suresh Bijlani, SP...

03:45 AM, May 19, 2013

Beijing: India is ready to write a new chapter of its relationship with China and the two countries should align their positions in many areas despite differences, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on the eve of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to India. "This visit is special because it is the first visit abroad by the Chinese premier since he assumed office in March. The relationship between our two...

03:05 AM, May 19, 2013

Amritsar: A ship, which had got struck along with its 39 crew members, for the last several months off the shores of Mumbai port, has not been provided with fuel, provisions or any means of safe exit by the owning company, a human rights organisation alleged on Saturday. "The ship, Kamal XXXVI, owned by Jaisu Shipping Co Pvt Ltd, with the 31 Indian crew members and eight from Ukraine on...

02:32 AM, May 19, 2013

New Delhi: A delegation of MPs and MLAs from Delhi on Saturday met Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and requested him to release water to the national capital from Munak Canal in his state. The Munak canal was constructed by Haryana with financial assistance of around Rs 400 crore given by Delhi government on the condition that the national capital will be supplied 80 MGD water from it. But...

01:57 AM, May 19, 2013

Pithoragarh: Ruling Congress MLA in Uttarakhand Harish Dhami on Saturday surrendered before a local court which rejected his bail plea and sent him to jail. Dhami, an accused in a clash that took place between two groups in 2007, surrendered before the first class judicial magistrate at Didihat on Saturday, two days before the time given to him by the Nainital High Court. The court on Saturday rejected the Dhami's...

01:33 AM, May 19, 2013