subhan

Israeli talk of attack on Iran ‘vain’ threat

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Jerusalem, July 09: Amid US conflicting signals on an Israeli attack on Iran, a dignitary in Tehran rejects Tel Aviv’s threats as a ‘vain propaganda campaign’.

Ali-Akbar Velayati, foreign affairs adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, said late Wednesday that any military attack against Iran would be a failure.

The former Iranian foreign minister said Israel’s allies intrinsically know that any military attack on Iran could backfire and upset the balance of the whole region.

India could tour Pak as early as next year, hopes PCB

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Lahore, July 09: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief operating officer Saleem Altaf believes that country’s bilateral cricket exchanges with India will be revived ‘sooner than later’. ”It is a case of ebb and flow when it comes to Indo-Pak relations,” Altaf said. ”In 2004, India came here after 15 years. But I personally don’t expect it to be that long this time,” he added.

The former Pakistan Test pacer is also hopeful that India could tour Pakistan as early as next year.

New monkey discovered in Brazilian Amazon

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Brazil, July 09: Researchers have discovered a new species of monkey, related to the saddleback tamarin, in the remote reaches of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest.

The distinctive long-tailed monkey, which was first spotted in 2007, is related to the saddleback tamarin, a species known for the distinctive markings on its back.

The tiny monkey is only a little over 20 centimeters tall, with a 30-centimeter-long tail and weighs around 213 grams. The monkey is mostly grey and brown with mottling on its back.

CIA lied to US Congress: chief

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Washington, July 09: Head of the US Central Intelligence Agency, Leon Panetta, has admitted to the agency’s reservation of facts and dissemination of false records since 2001.

In his Congressional testimony published on Wednesday, Panetta did not disclose manners in which the agency misled US lawmakers.

However, a number of Congress members indicated in a letter that the CIA director had prior knowledge of the veracity of allegations implicating the agency.

It’s not enough for me to speak Hindi, English…: Akshay Kumar

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Mumbai, July 09: Voice modulation and languages were earlier considered Akshay Kumar’s weak points as an actor. But he is determined to change all that.

Akshay recently visited the Spanish-speaking countries Honduras and Puerto Rico and picked up a smattering of Spanish terms and phrases which he uses generously on his family, much to their amusement and annoyance.

ICC Champions Trophy To Kick Away From 22 September

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London, July 09: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has rescheduled the Champions Trophy tournament, which will be now played from September 22 to October 5 in South Africa, advanced by 2 days.

This decision of starting this tournament early has been taken by ICC after the recommendations of some cricket boards who have requested for a proper break between the matches in the tournament.

In another major decision, the ICC has selected only two venues, the Wanders in Johannesburg and Centurion in Pretoria, for all the 14 matches, which will be played in the tournament.

Shoaib declares himself ‘hundred percent fit’

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Lahore, July 09: Controversial pacer Shoaib Akhtar has declared himself ”hundred per cent fit” and said he would silence his critics by making a successful international comeback.

Shoaib further claimed that his current form will allow him to make a international return very soon.

Pakistan are currently touring Sri Lanka where they lost the Test series opener in Galle by 50 runs.

Obama plans nuclear security summit

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L’Aquila, July 09: US President Barack Obama is planning a top-level summit in March next year in Washington to discuss nuclear security, broadcaster CNN reported Thursday.

Obama reportedly made his suggestion to other world leaders during a dinner Wednesday night at the G8 summit of industrialised nations in the Italian city of L’Aquila.

During the president’s visit to Russia earlier in the week, he had also mentioned a conference on the threat posed by the proliferation on nuclear materials.

The summit is also likely to focus on Iran’s disputed nuclear programme.

WI announce second-string squad

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Chaguaramas, July 09: The West Indies have picked a second-string squad, which include nine uncapped cricketers, for the first of the two-Test series against Bangladesh following a boycott by the country’s players’ association.

West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) yesterday decided to boycott the home Test and ODI series against Bangladesh after a long-pending and bitter contractual row with the cricket board remained unresolved.

Computer-related injuries increasing, kids particularly at risk

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Washington, July 09: Computer-users need to be more careful — the number of severe injuries associated with computers is on the rise, according to a recent study.

Researchers have found a seven-fold increase in computer-related injuries. These include head injuries due to computer monitor falls, tripping over computer equipment and other physical incidents.

According to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database, over 78,000 cases of acute computer-related injuries were treated in the U.S. emergency departments between 1994 and 2006.

Kites To Go Global

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Mumbai, July 09: Kites all set to go global; Rakesh Roshan has also revived the idea of a Krissh sequel. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra will not be directing the Krissh sequel for Rakesh Roshan.

Rakesh has decided to take over the responsibility from Rakeysh, and with good reason. After Kites, Rakesh Roshan wants to take Hrithik’s career to the next international level.

The next instalment of Krissh will therefore be a super-hero film to compete with the Hollywood films of the genre like Batman, Superman and Spiderman.

Pietersen’s ‘brain snap’ fodder for Aussie media

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Melbourne, July 09: Australian media on Thursday seized on Kevin Pietersen’s “brain snap” dismissal but most commentators agreed it was honours even after the opening day of the Ashes series against England in Cardiff.

England were 336 for seven at stumps at Sophia Gardens after paceman Peter Siddle claimed two wickets in the final overs of the first day to drag Ricky Ponting’s tourists back into the contest.

But it was the cheap dismissal of England’s most potent batsman that dominated discussions of the opening day down under.

Dravid to play in Chennai league

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Chennai, July 09: Rahul Dravid will play in the Chennai first division league to get into match form ahead of the Champions Trophy to be held in South Africa.

Dravid will represent Vijay CC (India Cements) in the league which begins on Thursday.

Vijay CC coach S. Suresh said the move would provide Dravid the perfect opportunity to find serious match practice. “I have talked to him and he is extremely keen to play,” Suresh told the Times of India. “This is a perfect opportunity for him to get into the groove even before the KSCA and the Buchi Babu Invitational meets in August.”

I want to return home, Taslima Nasreen tells Sheikh Hasina

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Dhaka, July 09: Controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen has petitioned Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to be allowed to return home 15 years after fleeing death threats by Islamic militants. She has not yet received any response.

She is unhappy with all regimes in Dhaka and with India, where she lived for some years, but had to leave in 2007 following threats from Muslim extremists.

“The problem of all political parties in India is that they tend to appease the Muslim fundamentalists,” Nasreen, who holds a Swedish passport and lives in Paris, told a Dhaka weekly.

Successive bombings kill 20 in northern Iraq

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Baghdad, July 09: At least 20 people have been killed and 60 others wounded in two bomb explosions in the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar, police say.

The first blast occurred when a bomber detonated an explosive vest in the town, 420 kilometers (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad.

The second attack followed as people gathered at the scene of the first blast, Reuters reported.

The blasts came a day after two car bombs went off within minutes of each other in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, killing 12 and injuring dozens.

Police say the death toll is expected to rise further.

No more nudity for Kate Winslet

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London, July 09: After doing nude scenes in “The Reader”, Oscar winning actress Kate Winslet says people have seen enough of her body and she is planning to avoid such scenes in her future films.

“I’ll be 34 in October. I can’t keep getting away with it. There was so much of it in ‘The Reader’ because the story required it, but people have seen enough of my bum and my boobs,” thesun.co.uk. quoted Winslet as saying.

—–IANS

President Yudhoyono all but assured victory in Indonesian poll

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Jakarta, July 09: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was all but assured a second five-year term as counting continued Thursday after the second direct presidential election in the country’s history.

An exit poll and quick counts of early voting conducted by three survey institutions on Wednesday’s election day all showed Yudhoyono leading with around 60 per cent of the vote.

An early count by the General Elections Commission, the official body that organized the poll, gave Yudhoyono 61.7 per cent, with almost 19 million votes counted on Thursday.

Roadside bomb hits southern Thailand

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Bangkok, July 09: A roadside bomb attack aimed at a military convoy in Thailand’s southern Pattani province has left one soldier killed and five others wounded.

The soldiers were reportedly patrolling a road in the town of Pitoomdee on Thursday, when their vehicle was struck by a roadside blast, police said.

In June, a number of militants raided a mosque in Narathiwat province, killing at least 11 prayers and wounding another 12.

Inzamam Slams PCB For Disbanding

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Karachi, July 09: Inzamam-ul-Haq has slammed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for disbanding the national senior and junior selection committees into a single governing body terming it as a laughing stock in the world cricket.

Inzamam admitted that the whole matter of selection committee issue has made them a laughing stock in world cricket, as it does not make sense to dissolve the selection committee just after Pakistan won the ICC T20 World Cup.

Biker gang loots Rs 50 k from petrol pump; one held

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New Delhi, July 09: The biker gang struck again in the capital and looted Rs 50,000 from a petrol pump in the Kirti Nagar area in west Delhi late last night, police said this morning.

Around ten robbers on three motorcycles first did a recce of the petrol pump and then deactivated CCTV cameras installed on the premises of the petrol pump. After that, they snatched Rs 50,000 from the employees of the filling station and fled, petrol pump owner Sachin told UNI.

Foreign Players Discarded From Next Season Of Ranji

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New Delhi, July 09: The Technical Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has recommended discarding the foreign players rule from the next season of the Ranji Trophy championship as BCCI showed lack of interest in hiring foreign player in the tournament last year on Wednesday.

Ranji Trophy teams hired young players including under-19 players while they were also allowed to hire foreign players except Maharashtra, which hired Bangladesh left-arm spinner Enamul Haque (Jr.) with a contract of Rs.25 lakh.

Woman pilgrim killed, 4 injured in helicopter accident

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Srinagar, July 09: A woman pilgrim was killed and four others were wounded when a helicopter, carrying pilgrims to holy Amarnath cave, met with an accident today, official sources said.

They told UNI that the helicopter carrying the Amarnath yatris from Baltal met with an accident near the helipad near the shrine. A woman on the ground was killed while four pilgrims travelling in the helicopter were injured. The injured were being airlifted to Srinagar.

Further details are awaited.

——Agencies

Shilpa Shetty’s date with Prince Charles

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Mumbai, July 09: Shilpa Shetty was face-to-face with Prince Charles on Tuesday evening — and still can’t get over the meeting — even though Raj Kundra was there to hold her hand! Shilpa, who was at his home in Clarence, says laughingly, “I have been very lucky to have met almost all the heads of state in Britain right from the Queen to Tony Blair and now His Highness Prince Charles. I can’t believe it!”

Ousted Honduran leader attacks new administration ahead of talks

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Costa Rica, July 09: Deposed Honduran president Manuel Zelaya called his designated successor, Roberto Micheletti, a “gorilla putschist” ahead of talks between the two men Thursday in Costa Rica.

“He is a criminal who has beaten down our people and the rights of our democracy,” Zelaya said Wednesday night upon his arrival in Costa Rica.

Zelaya, whose ouster in a June 28 military coup was condemned by the international community, stressed that he had not come to San Jose for negotiations on his reinstatement as president.

Deepika Padukone ignores Kareena Kapoor

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Mumbai, July 09: Saif Ali Khan has time and again said that he wanted Kareena Kapoor and not Deepika Padukone as his female lead in his home production Love Aaj Kal.

But it was director Imtiaz Ali who was adamant to do the movie with Deepika or not not do it at all. Imtiaz felt Deepika was fit for the role in spite of him delivering the super hit Jab We Met with Kareena.