PARIS: Hosts France and Argentina will extend their recent rivalry in men’s football as they meet for the first time at an Olympic tournament for a place in the semi-finals in a high-profile clash in Bordeaux on Friday. Despite being an under-23 contest, both teams are eager to knock out their rivals in a repeat of the most recent World Cup final in Qatar, where Lionel Messi’s Argentina claimed the world title by edging Kylian Mbappe’s France on penalties. They previously played three times in World Cups, with Argentina’s first-round victories in 1930 and 1978, before France came on top in the last 16…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
LAHORE: Maintaining their winning streak, Pakistan outplayed Chinese Taipei 3-1 in a Super Eight match to raise their semi-final chances at the 15th Asian Men’s U-18 Volleyball Championship in Manama, Bahrain on Thursday. After a flawless performance in the group stage, where they won all three matches, Pakistan were drawn into a challenging Super Eight group alongside Japan, Chinese Taipei and South Korea. According to a press release issued by the Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF), Pakistan overcame a mid-game collapse to defeat Chinese Taipei 25-20, 24-26, 25-18, 25-23 to move a step closer to securing a semi-final berth. Mehd Ali…
LAHORE: Following reports that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has reportedly sought the inclusion of a security consultant for its national team’s tour of Pakistan — which includes two Test matches later this month — the latter’s cricket board has said that doing so is the right of any visiting side. A spokesperson for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) clarified that while it is within the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s rights to request such an addition, no formal security concerns have been raised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board thus far. “Security managers or consultants are now standard members of player support teams, similar…
PARIS: Italian boxer Angela Carini pulled out of the Paris Olympics on Thursday after she sustained a series of crunching blows from her Algerian opponent Imane Khelif, who last year failed a gender eligibility test at the World Championships. Khelif, whose participation in the Games was permitted by the IOC and had divided boxers, landed multiple punches in the first 30 seconds before a powerful right to Carini’s nose prompted the Italian to raise her hand and return to her corner. Her coach signalled she was pulling out of the women’s welterweight round of 16 bout. A distraught Carini fell…
COPENHAGEN: Extreme heat kills over 175,000 people a year in Europe, where temperatures are rising quicker than the rest of the globe, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) European branch said on Thursday. Of the some 489,000 heat-related deaths recorded each year by the WHO between 2000 and 2019, the European region accounts for 36 per cent or on average 176,040 deaths, the WHO said. The health body noted that temperatures in the region are “rising at around twice the global average rate.” The WHO’s European region comprises 53 countries, including several in Central Asia. “People are paying the ultimate price,” Hans…
While motherhood was once seen as incompatible with a career in competitive sport, Olympian mums have shown that old stereotypes are giving way, from judo to fencing, basketball and beyond. With times changing for competitors who travel to the Olympics with kids in tow, retired track great Allyson Felix has partnered with Pampers to set up a first-of-its-kind nursery for athlete parents and their children. Felix, the most decorated female track and field athlete in Olympic history with 11 medals, told Reuters the facility could help level the playing field between athletes with vast resources and those without. “We’re talking about (athletes…
PARIS: Simone Biles recaptured the Olympic all-around crown on Thursday, seeing off Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade for her sixth Olympic gold and second in Paris. Biles, who famously withdrew from multiple events at the Tokyo Games three years ago with the disorientating “twisties”, followed up her team gold with the United States earlier this week. Defending Olympic champion Sunisa Lee took bronze. In a tense final at the Bercy Arena, Biles edged Andrade with her total of 59.131, just over a point ahead of the Brazilian at 57.932, one of the closest calls the gymnastics star has ever endured at a major international…
AT a recent meeting of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication, the state minister for IT and telecom requested that a briefing on the ‘firewall’ be deferred to the next meeting but that it should be “in camera” as it was a “sensitive” matter. For over a month now, news of the installation of a ‘firewall’ has created a storm. While it is good that there has been a lot of media attention on the issue, in the absence of any disclosure by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) or the government, and silence by telcos and internet service providers,…
ISLAMABAD: An investigation by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has revealed that millions of consumers across the country were subjected to ‘inflated bills’ during the April-June period as they lost their entitlement to subsidised rates and slab benefits. A report based on information and data provided by Power Information Technology Company (PITC) — a subsidiary of the power division — revealed that the scope of pro rata billing had been expanded beyond its original intent — instead of solely revising bills for periods exceeding 30 days. All power companies, including Karachi Electric, have started applying pro rata adjustments…
ISLAMABAD: In their first public event together after coming to power almost five months ago, former and incumbent finance ministers — Ishaq Dar and Muhammad Aurangzeb — on Thursday were unanimous about the need for structural reforms to pull the country out of economic challenges and take course to sustainable development. Both the financial wizards — a chartered accountant and a banker — were also undivided over further easing in the central bank’s monetary policy. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, after he assumed leadership of the coalition government for the second time, appointed Muhammad Aurangzeb to replace Ishaq Dar, the PML-N’s…
