Several die in Thai mosque attack

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Bangkok, June 09: At least 10 people were killed in the mosque attack in Narathiwat province on Monday.

At least 10 people have been killed and 19 injured after armed men opened fire on a mosque in southern Thailand.

Men armed with assault rifles entered the mosque in the Cho-ai-rong district of Narathiwat province during evening prayers on Monday and opened fire, the army and police said.

“They opened fire indiscriminately at about 50 worshippers inside the mosque,” a police official said on condition of anonymity. The dead included the local imam, he said.

Despite slowdown, Andhra eyes 8-9 percent growth

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Hyderabad, June 09: Despite the economic slowdown, Andhra Pradesh has targeted eight to nine percent average annual growth for the next five years.

The Congress government, which was re-elected last month, has set 4 and 10 percent growth rates for the agricultural and industrial sectors respectively.

The targets were spelt out in Governor Narayan Dutt Tiwari’s address to the joint session of both houses of state legislature Monday.

Angry Advani aides rubbish RSS feed

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New Delhi, June 09: As the RSS lumbers along examining the course for Sangh Parivar at its meet, it is facing attacks from those closely associated with prominent BJP leaders including LK Advani.
This is the latest in the acrimonious blame game in the BJP, sparked off by its defeat in the Lok Sabha election.

Blind man wrongly arrested for motoring offences

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Birmigham, June 09″ A blind man who has never held a driving licence was left stunned after he was arrested by the police for motoring offences. Mr Day, 50, from Birmingham, said he initially thought the arrest was a joke.

“A friend who I was staying with phoned me at work to say police were looking for me and had a warrant for my arrest to do with driving offences,” he said.

“I thought it was an April Fools joke at first.”

The father-of-one was blinded as a child after being hit on the head by a brick, which led to cataracts forming in his eyes.

Angry Advani aides rubbish RSS feed

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New Delhi, June 09: As the RSS lumbers along examining the course for Sangh Parivar at its meet, it is facing attacks from those closely associated with prominent BJP leaders including LK Advani. This is the latest in the acrimonious blame game in the BJP, sparked off by its defeat in the Lok Sabha election.

Saudi Arabians go to movies after 30 yrs

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Riyadh, June 09: They only had a few hours’ notice, but a few hundred Saudis braved a small band of religious hardliners to take part in a historic event on Saturday night: the first public showing of a commercial film in decades in the Saudi capital.

With bags of salty popcorn and soft drinks in their laps, the men-only crowd of more than 300 in Riyadh’s huge King Fahd Cultural Centre cheered, whistled and clapped when the first scenes of the Saudi-made Menahi hit the screen and the film’s score erupted in surround sound.

Rahman in Top 50 of a new power list!

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Mumbai, June 09: Allah Rakha Rahman is one of three Indians in a just released list of ‘100 Most Creative People in Business’, published by the business magazine FastCompany. He is No. 47 on the list, which has people like Apple’s product design guru Jonathan Ive, designers Stella McCartney and Marc Jacobs and artist Damien Hirst.

Last month, Rahman, who was on the Time list of ‘100 Most Influential People in the World’, found himself sitting at the same table as US First Lady Michelle Obama and TV mogul Oprah Winfrey.

India is very important to us: US

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Washington, June 09: The Obama administration has said it would to “work really hard” to strengthen ties with New Delhi as part of a strategic set of priorities, saying India is very important to the United States as the world’s largest democracy.

“This region of the world is very important to us. India is very important to us, as the world’s largest democracy,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters Monday ahead of a visit by America’s top diplomat.

NSG centre in Hyderabad

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Hyderabad, June 09: The National Security Guards hub will come up at the Airports Authority of India (AAI) land in Trimulgherry here. The NSG chief, Mr N.P.S. Aulakh, on Monday met the principal secretary (Home), Mr Ajoyendra Pyal, and discussed the issue.

A home department official said, “The CISF used to have barracks at the AAI land spread over 20 acres in Trimulgherry cantonment area. This was vacated by the CISF. There are helipads for operational use here. At least 250 NSG commandos will be staying here.”

Iraqi cops train to hunt militants with DNA, dogs

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Baghdad, June 09: At a sparkling new forensic crime office in Baghdad, trainees in white lab coats drip blood into test tubes in search of genetic clues.

The seven-month-old DNA analysis facility is an important part of efforts by Iraq to bolster its security forces as the US military hands over responsibility to locals ahead of the withdrawal of US combat troops from urban centres this month.

‘This is the first step, to analyse DNA in Iraq,’ said Shafan Khalid, a student from Arbil in the widely autonomous northern region of Kurdistan, looking up from his work.

Who will Sehwag replace?

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Mumbai, June 09: Virender Sehwag isn’t fully fit yet, but it’ll be interesting to see how and where Mahendra Singh Dhoni accommodates the dashing batsman when he is available for selection. Dhoni will have a pleasant headache when Sehwag is declared match fit.

Rohit Sharma has blossomed in his new role as an opener making runs in all three games, including the two warm-up matches. Gautam Gambhir has found the sweet spot on his bat again. Sehwag should reclaim his opening spot and Sharma should bat down the order. But who will Dhoni leave out?

Visitor Jailed for Sex Out of Wedlock

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Dubai, June 09: A 43-year old Italian visitor was on Monday sentenced to six months in jail for having sex out of wedlock with a Filipina. The Criminal Court of First Instance, however, acquitted him of the charge of illegally confining the woman in an apartment. He will be deported after completion of the jail term.

In the same case, a 54-year old businessman was cleared of the charge of criminal complicity. He was accused of forcing the Filipina to have sex with the Italian defendant by holding her up in the apartment.

Fresh attack on Indian student in Australia

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Melbourne, June 09: A 23-year-old Indian student was beaten up for the second time in a fortnight by a group of youths in Melbourne, the 11th person from the community to be assaulted within a space of a month in Australia.Kamal Jit was found unconscious and bleeding by another Indian student in western suburb of the city on Sunday.

It was the second attack in two weeks on Jit, who was previously pelted with eggs by several masked men after getting off a late night train at St Albans station in western suburb.

Divorce Rate Among UAE Couples Drops

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Abu Dhabi, June 09: The divorce rate among Emirati couples who benefited from Marriage Fund grants, dropped from six per cent to two per cent last year. This was stated by Dr. Maitha Salem Al Shamsi, Minister of State and Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Marriage Fund, at a press conference on Monday.

How the fashionista spent her night in jail

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Mumbai, June 09: The high-flying socialite Sheetal Mafatlal – for at least one night in her life – will have craved for the most basic of comforts as a local court on Monday sent her to jail custody. The court postponed the hearing of her bail application to Tuesday, which is why Sheetal – who is part of Mumbai’s jet-set – was forced to spend the night in prison.

The wife of industrialist and Mafatlal Mills owner Atulya Mafatlal was returning from London on Saturday night when she was arrested by customs authorities for carrying undisclosed jewellery worth Rs 53 lakh.

Sehwag, Harbhajan, Rohit skip nets; cold war with media on

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Nottingham, June 09: Three star cricketers, including vice captain Virender Sehwag, were conspicuous by their absence from the nets as Team India’s cold
war with the media continued for the fourth day.

No national cricketer came forward to speak to the huge press contingent at the Lady Bay Ground, after absence of Sehwag from the nets only added grist to the rumour mills.

Apart from Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Rohit Sharma could not be spotted at the nets.

Younis comment on T20 lands him in trouble

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Karachi, June 09: Pakistan captain Younis Khan finds himself in trouble for his comment that Twenty20 is played just for fun and it would not be a
Younis Khan disaster even if his team fails to make the Super Eights stage of the ongoing World Cup in England.

After the team’s loss to England on Sunday night, Younis went on to say that failing to reaching Super Eights would not be a disaster.

“It would be sad if we don’t make it but I have never attached too much importance to Twenty20 cricket, as it is fun cricket,” Younis said.

24 bodies recovered from Air France crash

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Sao Paulo, June 09: The number of bodies recovered from the Air France flight that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean last week rose to 24, Brazilian authorities said.

Another eight bodies from the flight that had been carrying 228 people were found Monday, the Brazilian Navy and Air Force said in the northeastern city of Recife.

The teams have also discovered hundreds of large and small pieces of the Airbus A330-200 that disappeared June 1 while on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris as well as personal belongings of its passengers, they said.

New Zealand develops swab test for lung cancer risk

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Wellington, June 09: New Zealand researchers have developed a mouth swab test to predict smokers’ risk of getting lung cancer, news reports said Tuesday. Associate Professor Robert Young, of Auckland University, said the test combined clinical risk factors, including age, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and family history of lung cancer, with DNA obtained through mouth swabs.

He said all smokers faced an increased risk of developing lung cancer but the risk was much greater for some than others.

Woman burned by relative dies in hospital

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Chennai, June 09: A 27-year-old woman, who suffered burns after her husband’s uncle poured hot oil on her last month in Mangadu, died at the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital (KMCH) on Saturday.

According to the police, Nithya married Selvamani 10 years ago and they lived in Ranganathapuram, Mangadu, with their three children. Selvamani’s parents had passed away and his only close relative was Mahalingam, his father’s brother. Both lived in the same compound.

4 students charred to death at teacher’s house

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Hyderabad, June 09: Four students died and two others suffered serious burns in a fire at their teacher’s house in Mayapatnam village in U Kothapalli mandal in East Godavari district. Electric short circuit is said to be the reason behind the fire.

While two students died on the spot, two others succumbed to burns at the government general hospital on Monday. Sources said the short circuit caused by loose wiring in a TV set spread to the false ceiling of a wedding pandal in the house where the students and the teacher slept late on Sunday night.

MCA student ends life, parents allege ragging

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Hyderabad, June 09: A second-year MCA student committed suicide after he was allegedly ragged by his seniors in the college. The body of D Devender Kumar was found on the railway tracks at Dharmaram in Geesukonda mandal of Warangal district in the early hours of Monday.

The deceased, a native of Choppadandi village in Karimnagar district, was a student of Vasavi engineering college at Ibrahimbagh in Hyderabad.

Teen detained for sodomizing, killing 6-yr-old

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New Delhi, June 09: In yet another case of a minor being involved in a heinous crime, a 14-year-old boy has been detained for allegedly sodomising and murdering a six-year-old. The shocking incident was reported from near the Inder weighing bridge off Sarai Kale Khan area on the banks of Yamuna.

Pay for dad’s upkeep, court tells NRI son

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Ahmedabad, June 09: Like any doting parent, Aspi Satarawala fulfilled all the wishes of his only son Pesi. Not only did he pay for his education till he got an MBA degree and got him married, the father spent his entire life’s savings to help Pesi settle in the US. But, at 65, Satarawala is regretting that he did so much for his son.

Couple gets Rs 60L compensation for son’s death

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Chennai, June 09: It was only a small consolation for an old couple, but it turned out to be the highest compensation ever awarded by the Tamil Nadu Legal Services Authority (TNSLSA). An amount of Rs 60 lakh was given to the aged parents of a software professional, who was killed in a road accident near Chennai last year.