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London, January 29: A Muslim pilot working for a well-known British carrier has said he was fired because his bosses feared he might copy the Sep 11 terror attack.

The London-based pilot — who was not named for legal reasons — was judged a security risk after the discovery of his link to two alleged extremists suspected of “planning to use an aircraft as part of a hostile or terrorist act”.

According to the unnamed airline, the pilot was “in a position to divert or sabotage an aircraft”, the Daily Mail reported.

Islamabad, January 29: Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar will visit Kabul on February 1 to boost Pakistan- Afghanistan ties and efforts to engage the Taliban that were affected by the assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani last year.

Khar will become the first Pakistani woman politician to lead a delegation to Afghanistan when she arrives in Kabul on a daylong trip.

The visit is being seen as “an icebreaker in bilateral ties”, The News daily quoted its sources as saying.

Washington, Jan 29 (IANS) One promised the moon, the other “fired” him for the loony idea and the man they hoped to challenge in November lowered his lofty vision from “hope and change” to “fairness and equality.”

Election season 2012 is hotting up with two leading Republican contenders, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, vying for the right to take on President Barack Obama, entering into a no holds barred combat.

With her child-like enthusiasm and ready smile, Prince Charles’s new girlfriend was just the type of house-guest to appeal to the Queen. The year was 1980. And there was no doubt that Lady Diana Spencer had just passed the Balmoral test with flying colours.

‘We got hot, we got tired, she fell into a bog,’ remembered Prince Charles’s friend Patty Palmer-Tomkinson, ‘She got covered in mud, laughed her head off, got puce in the face. She was a sort of wonderful English schoolgirl who was game for anything.’

Tehran, January 29: A delegation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has arrived in Iran to discuss the country’s controversial nuclear programme, Iranian media reported Sunday.

Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, said last week that a delegation of the UN nuclear watchdog would visit Iran Jan 29-31 “to negotiate and discuss issues raised by the IAEA”.

New Delhi, January 29: Days after Salman Rushdie was not allowed to speak at the Jaipur Literature Festival, the issue continues to touch a raw nerve among Muslim clerics and intellectuals even as liberals excoriate the brazen violation of a writer’s freedom of creative expression.

“It was the right thing not to let him speak. And it’s a good thing he did not come,” Darul Uloom Deoband vice chancellor Maulana Abul Qasim Nomani told IANS when asked whether he felt vindicated after Rushdie’s video-conference was cancelled Jan 24 amid apprehensions of protests.

New Delhi, January 29: A year after the people’s uprising in Egypt that toppled the 30-year regime of president Hosni Mubarak, a university scholar says Egyptians believe it is time to govern the newly-democratic country in an “Islamist way”.

“There is this simple conviction among people that with Islamists, things will be better. Or else, the Tahrir Square is always there,” Mustafa Riad, professor of English literature at the faculty of arts in Ain Shams University in Cairo, told IANS in an interview here.

Mumbai, January 29: Actress Anushka Sharma, who has worked with some of the top guns of B-town in her four-year acting career, is all excited about her forthcoming project, Vishal Bhardwaj’s Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola.

The 23-year-old model-turned Bollywood actress, who made her debut opposite Shah Rukh Khan in a Yash Chopra production, says she was dying to work with the critically acclaimed filmmaker Bhardwaj as he “brings out the best in his actors”.

Prophet Ayoub (Alaihi-salam – May be peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was one of Allah’s very sincere worshippers. We find in his story many lessons that we can reflect upon to assess our relationship with Allah. This story especially should make us question whether all our sincerity and worship for Allah is dependent on His blessings on us.

The following story was documented by Ibn Kathir.

Prophet Ayoub (A) was Allah’s thankful, repentant, patient and steadfast worshipper. Allah the Almighty has praised Him in the Quran thus:

ISlamabad, January 29: Pakistan is again going through a crisis. But this time for optimists like me the instability is dynamic. It is dynamic because this kind of struggle between a civilian government and the judiciary can also nudge the country towards a real democracy.

In this case the fight is between a principled chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, who is trying to establish the supremacy of the judiciary in the country, and a corrupt civilian government that came to power, ironically by supporting the independence of the same judiciary.

New Delhi, January 29: The Railways appears to have firmed up plans to raise passenger fares in AC classes in face of depleting financial resources and little options available to generate funds.

As pressure is mounting on it from various quarters including the Finance Ministry and the Planning Commission to raise fares untouched for last eight years, the Railway Board is understood to be preparing a blue print for a possible fare hike.

The hike could be anywhere between 10 and 12 percent or Rs 35 for every 500 km, highly placed Railway sources said.

Bhopal, January 29: The Madhya Pradesh High Court dismissed a petition challenging the state government decision to introduce the ‘Gita Sar’ (summary of the sacred book) in school curriculum.

The division bench of Justices Ajit Singh and Sanjay Yadav on Friday dismissed the petition filed by Catholic Bishop Council’s spokesperson, Anand Mutangal.

The petitioner had argued that the BJP’s government decision is the violation of Article 28 (1) of the Constitution of India.

He had sought a stay on the state government order to introduce ‘Gita’ summary in schools.

New Delhi, January 28: A 20-year-old man was arrested Saturday in connection with the gang rape of a minor girl in north Delhi, police said. The girl had become pregnant.

Deepak Shah, who is a labourer at a factory, was arrested after the girl’s complaint to police Saturday after a medical check-up confirmed she was pregnant. Shah, along with two associates, raped her over the last five months.

The victim, daughter of a tea vendor, was gangraped by Shah, Vicky and Lucky at a factory in north Delhi’s Bawana Industrial area. The factory was owned by Lucky.

Abu Dhabi, January 28: Women MPs from over 50 Muslim majority countries took part in a Muslim female parliamentarians conference in Indonesia.

The Federal National Council (FNC) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) led by Sheikha Ali Al Owais also took part in Friday’s conference held in Palembang.

The one-day conference was part of meetings of the Parliamentary Union of the member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The conference discussed ways for enhancing the role of women for strengthening democracy in the member states.

Bahraich, January 28: Calling the Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid a “communal person”, Congress leader Digvijay Singh today said that Muslims of Uttar Pradesh will not be misled by his appeal, in which has urged them to vote for Samajwadi Party candidates.

“Bukhari was a communal person, who at one time supported Osama Bin Laden and in 2004 issued fatwa in favour of BJP,” Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh said.

Nagpur, January 28: A pharma company executive has been arrested for allegedly taking obscene pictures of his girlfriend and uploading them on a social networking site, police said today.

Ajay Shalikram Gajbhiye, working as regional chief of a pharmaceutical firm here, took the girl to a nearby resort and offered her spiked soft drink. He then took her objectionable pictures on his mobilephone, they said.

The 37-year-old managed to gain the victim’s confidence and got the password of her account on the social networking site, where he uploaded these photos, they said.

Tirupati, Jan 28 (INN): Home Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy on Saturday warned that the government would act sternly against those who were desecrating the statues of national leaders in the state and causing law and order problem.

Talking to media persons here, after having the darshan of Goddess Padmavathi Ammavaru at Tiruchanur, the Home Minister said that the government would not spare anybody, however high and mighty they were and take stern action against the guilty. She said that the police arrested three persons in this connection and that others would be traced soon.

Hyderabad, Jan 28 (INN): Former minister and senior Congress leader J C Diwakar Reddy on Saturday called upon political leaders to resolve the Telangana statehood issue through sharing of power between those from Seemandhra and Telangana.

Hyderabad, January 28: Andhra Pradesh Police Saturday arrested three people for recent desecration of statues of B.R. Ambedkar in East Godavari district as Dalit groups continued protests in parts of the state.

Police brought three arrested youths before media and said they were on the lookout for 10 others involved in the Monday incident at Amlapuram.

Special investigating officer Krishnam Raju said the youths damaged the statues in an inebriated condition. “It is an act committed on the spur of a moment and no political group or any other section is involved in it,” he said.

Mumbai, Jan 28 (IANS) Suspected Shiv Sainiks barged into the Times of India office and damaged its reception area in south Mumbai Saturday to protest an article, an official said.

The daily paper had written that the party’s Anand Rao Adsul was to switch over to the Nationalist Congress Party, but he did not do so. The Shiv Sena activists attacked the office to vent their anger against the news.

The Hague, January 28: The Dutch government Friday approved a ban on face-covering clothing, such as a burqa, a niqab, a forage cap, or a full face helmet.

People going on the streets with one of these now risk being fined for up to 380 euros ($499).

“It is very important that people in an open society meet each other in an open way,” Minister of Interior Affairs Liesbeth Spies said after the cabinet meeting.

Secunderabad, January 28: Unable to cope with financial problems, four members of a family committed suicide here, police said Saturday.

The bodies of K. Balaji, his wife and parents were found Saturday morning at their house in R.K. Nagar neighborhood of Malkajgiri area of Secunderabad.

Balaji, 32, was found hanging in one room while the bodies of his wife K. Prasanna (24), father A. Nageswara Rao (60) and mother Vijayalakshmi (52) were lying in the other room.

A suicide note found on the body of Balaji said they were committing suicide due to financial problems.

Ananthapur, Janaury 28: She dreamt of being a teacher, but fate forced her to do begging! Educated, speaking in English, and having her left hand disabled by birth, she presents a curious sight.

Seventeen-year-old Shravani, a native of Ananthapur in Andhra Pradesh, was rescued by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) on Friday while she was begging in the town here. Soon, she was sent to the Mahilamandiram in Alappuzha for rehabilitation.

London, January 28: She’s got a hunky footballer boyfriend waiting for her at home, but Irina Shayk still has to keep up her day job. And if that means lazing topless on a male model, so be it.

Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo must be a secure man to let his gorgeous Russian girlfriend close to up and coming Vinnie Woolston.

Especially because the couple themselves met through the Armani Exchange campaign. The 26-year-old is seen with New Zealander Vinnie in the spring/summer campaign for Replay, the Daily Mail reported .

Bhopal, January 28: Holding that Gita contained philosophy and not religious teachings, the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday dismissed a petition challenging introduction of ‘Gita Sar’ (essence of Gita) in school curriculum.

When the Catholic Bishop’s Council filed the PIL in August last year, the court gave the petitioner’s counsel two months to read the holy book in entirety and make up his mind.