Samad

Microsoft to release free PC security software

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Seattle, June 20: Microsoft plans to release a beta test of its free computer security program next week and is on track to launch a finished product in the fall.

The program, Microsoft Security Essentials, is designed to find and kill malicious software that can steal passwords and other personal information or turn PCs into spam distribution hubs.

Once the PC security software is installed, Microsoft said it will download updated lists of identified malware daily, but will keep a low profile unless it detects dangerous software.

NYC child burned in voodoo ritual

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New York, June 20: A New York City woman has been accused of burning her 6-year-old daughter during a voodoo ritual and then ignoring her cries for help and sending her to bed.

Prosecutors say Marie Lauradin poured a flammable liquid over her daughter during a Haitian practice known as Loa and made her stand naked in a ring of fire, engulfing her in flames.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown says Lauradin and the girl’s grandmother washed her and put her to bed despite life-threatening burns over 25 per cent of her body. He says another relative found her the next day.

T-shirt gets man in trouble

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Dubai, June 20: A Lebanese man is facing 30 days in jail in Dubai for wearing a cancer awareness T-shirt featuring an image of a partially clothed Victoria Beckham.

The man, identified only as RN because of Dubai’s secretive court system, lost an appeal against the conviction for offending public decency.

RN, 28, was wearing the T-Shirt with the slogan “Protect the skin you’re in” last November when he was confronted by another Arab man, who complained to the police.

Men trying to help turtle cross road hit by car

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Harrison Township, June 20: Police say two men were seriously injured when they were hit by a car as they tried to help a turtle crossing a road.

Macomb County sheriff’s deputies found a truck stopped on the Harrison Township road early Friday and discovered the injured men nearby.

Derek James Redmond of Mount Clemens was arraigned on charges that include drunken driving. A preliminary hearing is set for July 1.

Redmond didn’t have an attorney on record with the court.

–Agencies–

Queen Rania visits Mulberry School for Girls in London

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London, June 20: Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah on Friday visited the Mulberry School for Girls in London to discuss education-focused programs supported by Mosaic; a Muslim Mentoring Network, launched in 2007 by Prince of Wales.

Accompanying His Majesty King Abdullah II on a working visit to the UK, Queen Rania arrived at the school to meet with HRH Princess Badiya Bint El-Hassan, Chairman of Mosaic, Vanessa Ogden, Head teacher at the Mulberry School, John O’Brien, Managing Director of Mosaic and Khawar Mann, Mosaic Board Member.

UGC warns students against off campus centres of private varsities

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Bangalore, June 20: Keeping in view the probe carried out by the Karnataka Government, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has warned students against enrolling themselves at the off campus centres of the private universities in Karnataka.

The government is to confirm the legal status of more than 50 such off-campus centres of the country’s private universities.The probe has been carried out to delimit them of ripping off the student.

The Bangalore University has also warned students against getting admission in 11 colleges affiliated to the varsity for inadequate infrastructure.

Tamil University installs e-governance facility

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Chennai, June 20: The Tamil University has installed e-governance facility.

M. Rajendran, Vice-Chancellor has announced it. National Informatics Centre has taken up the responsibility of installation of e-governance facilities.

“The e-governance will ensure automation of routine work, reduce drudgery, make file management efficient, easy handling of personal register, prioritisation of work, provision of inter-departmental co-ordination etc,” said G. Chakrapani, technical director, NIC.

–Agencies–

From cooking to homework, single fathers do it all

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New Delhi, June 20: Being an only parent is as challenging for men as it is for women. From attending office to cooking to looking into matters like homework, single fathers have to do it all and they say it’s not a cakewalk for them.
For 50-year-old Sunil Joshi, a Delhi-based professor, the world fell apart when his wife succumbed to a disease in 2004, leaving behind two daughters, then aged 11 and seven respectively.

BlackBerry posts $643 mn profit

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Toronto, June 20: BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) has reported a profit of $643 million for the first quarter of the year, compared to $518.3 million posted during the previous quarter.

However, its quarterly revenue was slightly dwon at $3.42 billion from $3.46 billion in the previous quarter. But it is still up 53 percent from $2.24 billion during the same period last year.

BlackBerry added about 3.8 million net new subscribers accounts during the quarter, taking its total subscriber base to nearly 28.5 million.

Obesity surgery thins bones, but enough to break?

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Washington, June 20: It isn’t just the thunder thighs that shrink after obesity surgery. Melting fat somehow thins bones, too. Doctors don’t yet know how likely patients’ bones are to thin enough to break in the years after surgery. But one of the first attempts to tell suggests they might have twice the average person’s risk, and be even more likely to break a hand or foot.

UN appoints panel to probe facts of Bhutto’s murder

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New York, June 20: A three-member United Nations panel was set up to investigate the facts and circumstances of the murder of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, but not the crime itself, the UN said Friday.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he had informed by letter Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari that the Commission of Inquiry will begin work July 1 for a period of six months.

But the UN said it will not be a criminal investigation, which is the responsibility of the Pakistani government.

Air France flight AF447 passengers naked and mutilated

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Brazil, June 20: Air France AF447 Brazilian medical examiners have told the French Bureau d’Enquetes et d’Analyses, the French accident investigation board, that the bodies of Air France AF447 passengers were found naked and mutated.

Paul-Louis Arslanian, director of the bureau, confirmed reports published in a major Brazilian newspaper earlier this week that 95 percent of the bodies so far had shown fractures in the legs, arms and hips similar to injuries found in people who fall from great heights.

Continental Pilot Dies In Mid Flight

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Brussels, June 20: Continental Airlines The pilot of a Continental Airlines passenger flight died while on board. The two co- pilots managed a safe landing for the Boeing Co. 777 plane in spite of the mishap. The 61 year old pilot was in charge of the passenger flight that had started from Brussels, Belgium and was headed towards Newark, New Jersey.

Wreckage of sunken ‘gold ship’ located

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Aires, June 20: A ship that sank in the South Atlantic in January, allegedly with over nine tonnes of gold and silver on board, was located off Argentina’s Patagonian coast.

According to Argentine media reports Friday, it remained unclear whether the ship’s load – worth an estimated $16.4 million – was still inside the Polar Mist.

The recovery mission had to be interrupted Friday due to strong winds, but was expected to be relaunched in the coming days.

Iran’s leader: End protests or risk ‘bloodshed’

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Tehran, June 20: Iran’s supreme leader sought Friday to end the deepening crisis over disputed elections with one decisive speech _ declaring the vote will almost certainly stand and sternly warning opposition leaders to end street protests or be held responsible for any “bloodshed and chaos” to come.

But a first sign of possible resistance came shortly after nightfall in Tehran. Cries of “Death to the dictator!” and “Allahu akbar” _ “God is great” _ rang from rooftops in what’s become a nightly ritual of opposition unity.

Gilani, not Zardari, will meet Manmohan

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Islamabad, June 19: When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh goes to Sharm-al-Shaikh for the Non-Aligned Movement meeting, it will not be President Asif Ali Zardari from Pakistan who he will meet on the sidelines to take forward the process launched at Yekaterinburg, but Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani.

Earlier this week, after the meeting in Russia between Mr. Singh and Mr. Zardari, officials on both sides said the two leaders would meet again in July on the sidelines of the NAM summit, preceded by a meeting between their foreign secretaries.

His TV show helping the actor’s new found ‘understanding’ of people

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Mumbai, June 19 : Getty Images Bollywood hunk Salman Khan, who is now the host of the reality game show “Dus Ka Dum”, feels that the show has helped him to understand people and he believes that the best books of knowledge are human beings.

“‘Dus Ka Dum’ has given me a platform to increase my understanding of people and appreciation of life,” Salman wrote in his blog.

He finds it a little difficult to understand people but his senses help him in the process. He wrote: “Though these human books are a little difficult to read, the heart and eyes alone help to read them.”

Rahul turns 39 without much fanfare

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New Delhi, June 19: It was a perfect setting for a birthday — a cake, balloons, flowers and crackers — but the birthday boy was missing.

The venue was outside the 24, Akbar Road AICC headquarters where Congressmen gathered in large numbers this morning to celebrate the 39th birthday of Rahul Gandhi.

However, Gandhi, hailed in the party circles as one of the architects of the party’s victory in the Lok Sabha polls, was not present as he is abroad.

Like Obama, Lincoln had run-in with a fly

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Chicago, June 19: President Obama launched his campaign from Abraham Lincoln’s hometown, used his bible to be sworn in and quotes Lincoln at the drop of a stovepipe hat.

Now it seems the two share something else: an encounter with a fly.

Daniel Weinberg, the owner of the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop in Chicago, has a photograph of Lincoln with a house fly on him.

Torrential downpour halts US Open for day at soggy Bethpage

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Farmingdale, June 19: Heavy rains forced an early end to first-round play Thursday in the 109th US Open as water-logged Bethpage Black became unpla yable and stars such as Tiger Woods battled through a deluge.

Soaked spectators braved intense showers to watch a super group of reigning major champions navigate the 7,426-yard par-70 course but rain swamped holes so badly that one green had a flagpole in the center of a pond.

Buoyant Federer ready to reclaim Wimbledon crown

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London, June 19: Will Roger Federer reclaim his Wimbledon throne? Will Rafael Nadal’s knees permit him to defend his title? Can Andy Murray finally put the wo Those are the three burning questions as the All England Club’s famous lawns get their final trim before the start of the year’s third grand slam on Monday.

A sun-kissed first week is in store, according to the weather forecasters, but the British climate can be unpredictable, just as the men’s game has been in recent weeks.

Emraan replaces Shahid in Neelima Azim’s film

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Mumbai, June 19: Tired of waiting for her son Shahid Kapur to star in her film, Neelima Azim has no option but to scout for options. Apparently, she asked Emraan Hashmi to play the lead. But even he has turned it down.

Our source said, “Neelima Azim was extremely confident that Shahid would act in her film. However, Shahid opted to do a film with his father instead.

Neelima tried repeatedly to rope him in, but her attempts were futile. Finally, Shahid even stopped taking her calls and did not even meet her.

Hottest couple in Bollywood

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Mumbai, June 19: Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan won the second spot on the hottest couples of Bollywood list bagging 24% votes. From Sangeeta Bijlani to Aishwarya Rai, Salman has always dated the best of Bollywood beauties and his current love interest Katrina Kaif is nothing less.

—Agencies

Asin Injured and Alone In Her New Home

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Mumbai, June 19: Asin has badly injured her right leg while practising her martial arts Kalaripayattu in Kerala.

The leg, apparently, was so swollen that Asin could hardly move let alone walk the ramp at a film awards event that was to take place a few days later.

However, a commitment is a commitment. That’s what this spunky South Indian lass has been taught by her parents. So off she went limping to Macau all alone, and hiding it so well that no one knew the pain she was going through. Adding to her pain is the fact that Asin takes no allopathic medicines.