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In a first, women throng Saudi stadium for national day

In a first, women throng Saudi stadium for national day RIYADH: Hundreds of women thronged a sports stadium for the first time to mark Saudi Arabia´s national day Saturday, celebrated across the conservative kingdom with a raucous display of concerts, folk dance and fireworks. The presence of women at the King Fahd stadium marks a departure from previous celebrations in the Gulf kingdom where they are effectively barred from sports arenas by strict rules on public segregation of the sexes. Women were allowed to enter the stadium, a previously male-only venue used mostly for football matches, with their families and seated separately from single men to watch a musical show and a play on Saudi history. As a swell of enthusiastic women cheering swept through the stadium, with a few wearing colourful wigs on top of their veils, some Saudi men on social media lauded their participation as a "historic" moment. Ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia has some of the world´s ...
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Singapore bodybuilder dies after kickboxing match

Singapore bodybuilder dies after kickboxing match SINGAPORE: A Singaporean bodybuilder has died after taking part in a celebrity Muay Thai kickboxing match, organisers said Sunday.   The bout on Saturday was the first time Pradip Subramaniam, 32, had taken part in a kickboxing fight.  He was competing against Steven Lim, a former contestant on a reality song contest known as Singapore Idol, who is also a kickboxing amateur.  According to The Straits Times, Pradip appeared shaken after the match, which Lim won through a technical knock-out.  He was helped out of the ring and taken to hospital where he died on Saturday evening.  Fight organisers AFC Holding Singapore said that acording to a preliminary medical report Pradip suffered "a cardiac arrest respiratory failure episode." Pradip was a last-minute replacement after singer Sylvester Lim, whom Steven Lim was originally slated to fight, pulled out due to insurance reasons.  The ma...

Pak-China joint air exercise underway

Pak-China joint air exercise underway BEIJING: The PAF contingent, comprising combat pilots, air defense controllers and technical ground crew is participating in an exercise "Shaheen-VI," between Chinese and Pakistani air forces. During the exercise, the contingents from both sides demonstrated mutual trust by sitting in the same fighters. In the ongoing joint drills, air force personnel cooperated in planning and implementing strategies, as well as learning operational concepts and tactics from each other. The previous drills only provided experience of sitting in the same fighter instead of co-operating in fighting. JF-17 Thunder, Mirage, F-7PG and ZDK aircraft from PAF along with PLA Air Force J-8, J-11, JH-7 and KJ-200 AWACS aircraft and ground forces including surface-to-air missile and radar troops are taking part in the exercise, which commenced at Korla Air Base in China on September 7. Li Wengang, Head of China-Pakistan joint training command o...

Grand auto show in Indonesia

Grand auto show in Indonesia The three day annual auto show in the convention center of Indonesia’s Surabaya will conclude today with the organizers terming it a huge success. New vehicles by auto giants Mercedes Benz, BMW, Nissan, Land Rover, Chevrolet, Jaguar, Ford and Honda were the highlights of the show. Like every year, car makers from around the world introduced hundreds of spectacular and luxurious models as well as showcased vehicles with advanced systems and innovations. Started on September 20, the auto show will end on September 24. There are many models of luxury cars, vintage cars, driverless cars, sports cars, advanced trucks and bikes and Street cars on display in the exhibition.

US warplanes fly off North Korea coast in new show of force

US warplanes fly off North Korea coast in new show of force WASHINGTON: US bombers and fighter escorts flew off the coast of North Korea Saturday in a show of force against its nuclear weapons program, escalating already sky-high tensions. The hermit state´s foreign minister, meanwhile, assailed US President Donald Trump at the United Nations, deriding him as a "mentally deranged" leader whose threats had increased the chances of military confrontation. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un have exchanged increasingly bellicose rhetoric in recent days, as international alarm mounts over Pyongyang´s weapons ambitions -- including a hint this week that the country is considering detonating an H-bomb over the Pacific. US bombers have carried out similar flights before, as the United States and the international community struggle to rein in North Korea´s weapons programs. But in a new stage for such show of force operations, the Pentagon stressed this w...

Rulers on way out, not to get back: Khursheed

Rulers on way out, not to get back: Khursheed SUKKUR: Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah on Saturday said rumours were doing the rounds that the current rulers were on their way out and will not get back home. Addressing a ceremony here, he said the country’s situation was discouraging, as the state institutions were on a collision course. He said confrontation among the state institutions bode no good for the country, adding that anyone weakening parliament was not loyal to Pakistan. He lashed out at former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, asking him to get back and face cases rather than passing statements while sitting abroad. Musharraf stirred up a hornets’ nest when he alleged that the PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari was involved in Benazir and Murtaza Bhutto murders. “Return to the country like Benazir did, do politics like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and spend time in prison like Asif Ali Zardari,” said the opposition lead...

Musharraf’s statement riddled with self-contradictions

Musharraf’s statement riddled with self-contradictions ISLAMABAD: Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf triggered a national level debate when he alleged that the PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari had masterminded the murders of Benazir Bhutto and her brother Mir Murtaza Bhutto. Musharraf quickly rose to his defence when the finger was pointed at him for the murder of Ms Bhutto. Mincing no words, he said Zardari and some powerful elements in Afghanistan (Hamid Karzai and TTP leader Baitullah Mehsood) were behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. The PPP leader was martyred in a gun and bomb attack at Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007 while leaving the venue after addressing a rally. Musharraf appeared to be clear in his statements, but he may not have realised that it was riddled with self-contradictions, negating his own claims. The plain and simple fact is that being the  president  at that time he cannot absolve himself of his responsi...