Archive Posts

Under a cloud because of recent match-fixing allegations, Pakistan’s cricketers are being extra cautious in a bid to avoid any new scandal during their tour of England that got underway last week. ‘The News’ has learnt through reliable sources that the team management has warned the players against showing any kind of carelessness that might trigger suspicions of match-fixing against the team or any team member.

According to sources, team manager Yawar Saeed has held separate meetings with the players to brief them about precautionary measures aimed at minimising the chances of any ugly episode taking place during the tour that will conclude on September 22.

Sources said that the players have been told in clear terms not to entertain any guests in their hotel rooms apart from their own family members. The instructions, according to sources, are particularly aimed at discouraging the players’ agents from interacting with them during the tour that includes back-to-back series against Australia and England.

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The last time thousands of people marched on Toronto streets, a police car was lit on fire. But on Sunday Toronto police were applauded by the crowd as they marched in the 30th annual Pride Parade as hundreds of thousands — more than a million, by many estimates — swelled downtown streets on a broiling Sunday afternoon.

On a day that could have been overshadowed by  controversies involving alleged police treatment of gay detainees following the G20 and the involvement of the Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, the parade maintained its ear-splitting, boisterous example of tolerance and celebration.

In the end Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair didn’t show, though the majority of onlookers and parade participants left violent memories of the G20 behind in favour of festivity, with only a few odd signs decrying police action at the G20.

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Ever since FIFA World Cup 2010 kicked off in South Africa June, the buzzing of the vuvuzela -- a cheap, plastic, monotone trumpet -- is the incessant accompaniment to every match. Although it has become an unlikely symbol of South African football and an unusual element of public attention across the world, the opinion is different among most people, especially players.

A recent survey found that the sound emitted by a vuvuzela was the equivalent to 127 decibels - louder than a drum's 122 decibels or a referee's whistle at 121.8 decibels. Prof James Hall III, Dr Dirk Koekemoer, De Wet Swanepoel and colleagues at the University of Pretoria found that the vuvuzelas can have negative effects on people’s eardrums when exposed to the high-intensity sound for a certain amount of time.

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I Hate Luv Story’s is free of controversies: Unlike any other film being linked with a controversy post release.Such as link between the lead pair, scenes being objected by the censor board or content of the film being protested by organizations.

Punit Malhotra’s “I Hate Luv Story’s” starring Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor is free of all controversies and its lead pair is very much satisfied with it. Unlike a few stars who can go to any extent for the publicity of their films, Imran and Sonam are both against cheap publicity of films. Although, much has been talked about Imran and Sonam’s on and off screen chemistry.

I cannot understand why FIFA does not want to use technology in assisting referees officiating at World Cup and other football matches. And I am not alone in feeling this way. I believe that millions of fans all over the world feel the same too.

This is despite repeated calls by both current and former great players, top football officials, commentators, and the fans all over the world. The latest demand for the use of technology was sparked by Carlos Tevez’s offside goal in the 2010 World Cup which was allowed and Frank Lampard’s which was not.

The ruling out of Lampard’s goal was simply outrageous, to say the least. I’m no England fan but hey, a goal is a goal. Millions saw the ball bounced into goal. Sadly the referee did not. Television replays made it very clear it was a goal. But the referee did not have the benefit of TV replays. And FIFA wants to keep it that way.

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Oprah Winfrey is now facing one of the biggest controversies of her life as she allegedly rigged the result of her own reality talent show contest.

The controversy has risen when just last Tuesday, the vote of Zach Anner, the favorite among the other 6,000 contestants, was dramatically surpassed by Dr. Phyllis votes.

Dr. Phyllis’ votes substantially exceeded that of Anner’s by 300,000 in 20 minutes and 600,000 in an hour. This change raised red flags among those who closely watched the show. It was called suspicious and unfair, thus the surfacing of nasty rumors.

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It wouldn’t be a World Cup for England without a traditional controversial ending for the team. Ever since winning the trophy back at the old Wembley Stadium in London in 1966, it seems the team has been cursed. In fact, that’s when the controversies started, when the home team beat West Germany 4-2 in extra time. England was leading the game 2-1, but Germany drew level in the 89th minute to force extra time.

Geoff Hurst, who had scored in the 18th minute, then slammed a shot that hit the underside of the crossbar and came crashing down on or just over the goal line. The action stopped and the Swiss referee went over to his Russian linesman to confer with him. After several seconds, a goal was given and England led 3-2 after 101 minutes.

Hurst then added another in the last minute of extra time to become the only player to score a hat trick in a World Cup Final game and gave England their one and only trophy. Hurst’s second goal is always referred to as the ‘ghost goal’ as it was never proven if it actually crossed the goal line.

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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and controversies seem to go hand in hand, as members of the selection committee have now threatened to resign, saying they were not consulted over the team picked for the upcoming England tour.

According to reports, a member of the selection committee Salim Jaffer has objected to the team selected for the exhaustive tour and alleged that chief selector Mohsin Khan did not consult them before announcing the 17-man squad. "Jaffer pointed out that normally when teams are selected, all the selectors put their signatures on the final sheet but this time no such thing happened," highly placed sources in the PCB said.

Sources said that the selectors want to resign in protest, as they felt betrayed by Mohsin, who had told them that only the team for the Twenty20 internationals against Australia would be picked in the first phase. "But they went ahead and picked the Test squad as well for the six Tests against Australia and England which is unacceptable," The News quoted sources, as adding.

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The candidates fighting to become California's next governor each faced stumbles in recent days, but the polar-opposite ways in which Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown dealt with the fallout say much about their personalities and the campaign machines they've built.

Whitman faced revelations that she reportedly paid a $200,000 settlement to an EBay employee after shoving her during a confrontation in 2007, when Whitman led the online auction house. Her campaign issued two clipped statements and the candidate remained out of the public eye, as she had planned to do before the New York Times published the accusation.

Brown, facing criticism after comparing Whitman's campaign to that of a Nazi propaganda minister, unintentionally kept the story alive with a series of somewhat disjointed remarks during appearances in which the former governor took myriad media questions.

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Controversies regarding troubled celebrities are like two sides of the same coin, sometimes it’s the desperate attention seeking plea of the star itself or sometimes it’s the plain annoying interference of the paparazzi. In this case, I vehemently support the latter.

Miley Cyrus resurfaced with the latest trouble tidbit; an upskirt picture of her was posted on Twitter by an infamous celebrity blogger. It showed MileyCyrus without underpants while exiting a $ 129,000 red Tesla roadster electric car.

The problematic image had the following tagline attached to it, “If you are easily offended, do NOT click here. Oh, Miley! Warning: truly not for the easily offended!” The infamous blogger is none other than the annoying Perez Hilton, who was quick to retract the image as soon as many of his followers on Twitter were infuriated by his actions and wished he would be prosecuted for spreading child pornography.

He also posted a video on his website, apologizing to his insulted fans and said he intended to draw attention to how the pop singer got out of a car and encourage her to be lady-like. Yeah like we believe any of that!