Kamran Danish

Sydney ranked 10th best city in the world for quality of living: Mercer survey Sydney has been named as the best city in Australia for quality of life and the 10th best in the world, in a global survey examining 450 cities. The harbour city – which tied 10th in the world with Basel, Switzerland – was the only Australian city to make the top 10 in Mercer’s 19th annual  Quality of Living survey , which provides rankings for 231 of the 450 cities. The Austrian capital of Vienna took out the top spot for the eighth year in a row, and Switzerland’s largest city, Zurich, came in second. Sydney was the only Australian city to make the top 10 in Mercer’s 19th annual Quality of Living survey, which examines 450 cities and provides rankings for 231 of them.  Photo: Shuttershock Auckland, which ranked third, and Vancouver, which nabbed fifth place, were the only other non-European cities to make the top 10. Sydney beat out the likes of Amste...

Facebook suspends location-sharing feature in Italy Facebook Inc has suspended its location-sharing feature in Italy after a Milan court ruled last year that the social networking giant had violated competition and copyright laws by effectively copying a similar app from a local start-up. Italian software developer Business Competence filed a lawsuit in 2013, accusing Facebook's Nearby feature of having copied its Faround application, which helps users locate Facebook friends in the vicinity. A copy of the court's ruling, issued on Aug. 1 last year but only made public by Business Competence on Monday, said that Facebook launched its Nearby feature only months after Faround was included in the social network's app store in 2012. The complaint alleged that the two applications were "extremely similar" in their functions and general set-up. Facebook said it has discontinued offering what it now calls Nearby Places in Italy while it appeals against ...

BBC interview dad: ´My wife deserves a medal´ SEOUL: The professor who became an incidental internet sensation when his family crashed a live television interview says his wife "deserves a medal" for looking after him and his now-famous children. Video of the interview with Robert Kelly, an expert on East Asian affairs, went viral and sparked a debate about racism after many commentators originally assumed his Asian wife was a hired helper. As Kelly, a professor at South Korea´s Pusan National University, shared his insights from his home office last Friday, his daughter Marion waltzed into the room, followed by his toddler son James, who wheeled in on his baby walker. Kelly´s wife Kim Jung-A, who was watching the interview on television from their living room, flew in seconds later, flinging her arms in a desperate attempt to retrieve the young intruders, before returning on all fours to reach out and close the door. The interview -- described as a "pe...

States pile pressure on new Trump travel ban WASHINGTON: A group of US states run by Democrats on Monday stepped up the pressure in federal court for the suspension of Republican President Donald Trump´s amended travel ban, if possible before it takes effect Thursday. The state of Washington filed a request to this effect with the same Seattle judge who on February 3 issued a stay against Trump´s first executive order on immigration. Washington state attorney general Bob Ferguson hopes to win the same kind of suspension for the new order, which the White House tweaked in a bid to make it unassailable in court. Under the new order, the refugee program would be suspended for 120 days. And for 90 days, no new visas would be granted to travelers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The first version of the order, signed by Trump on January 27, triggered howls of protest at home and abroad as well as chaos at US airports as some people were detained upon arri...

Spot-fixing scandal: PCB suspends Mohammad Irfan LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board has suspended pacer Mohammad Irfan and handed him a charge sheet for being involved in the PSL spot-fixing scandal, one day after he appeared before the Anti-Corruption Unit, on Tuesday. According to details, the Islamabad United fast bowler was handed over the charge sheet for being involved in the Pakistan Super League spot-fixing scandal. Irfan has to reply to the charge sheet within 14 days of its issuance. The fast bowler had said that he was mentally upset due to illness of his parents so he could not inform the board about the bookies who had made contacts with him for match-fixing. Another player Shahzaib Hasan who was also called in yesterday by the Anti-Corruption Unit, along with Irfan, for questioning by the PCB was also told to appear before the ACU today. Mohammad Irfan represented Islamabad United while Shahzaib played for Karachi Kings in the second PSL in Dubai last month ...

T he upcoming edition of Lahore Music Meet will feature, among other things, a curated showcase for contemporary visual artists called Rang Saazi plus Face Music Mela 2017 announces new dates. In this climate of uncertainty and relentless violence and grief, few things can bring joy to people. One such activity is music and there’s nothing more special than the two-day symposium that is Lahore Music Meet, where music truly comes alive. Returning with its third edition later this week (Saturday, February 11) at the Alhamra Arts Council, it’s a space that holds incredible promise and is about the astonishing potential that can be found in the music scene, particularly in indie music. We know that over the course of two days, artists such as  Poor Rich Boy, Javed Bashir, Slowspin, Ali Suhail, Hathi, Abdullah Siddiqui, Ehlerock, Janoobi Khargosh, Kashmir, Jaubi, Keeray Makoray, TMPST, MU, Patari Tabeer, Saakin, Wooly and the Uke, Shajie, Shorbanoor, Wisdom Salad, Tonight Us, No...