Baghdad, July 31: Colonel Timothy Reese, a senior US military adviser in Iraq, has issued a memo urging the US to dramatically speed up its pullout from Iraq, saying it should be announced that all troops will be out of the nation by August 2010.
Washington, July 31: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pressured the British intelligence service not to disclose evidence of alleged US torture of a British national, Britain’s foreign secretary told the UK’s top court Wednesday.
Asked about the claim at a press availability by a BBC reporter Wednesday, Clinton declined to comment.
“I’m not going to comment,” Clinton said when asked. “Obviously, the issue of intelligence sharing is one that is critically important to our two countries, and we have both a stake in ensuring that it continues to the fullest extent possible.”
New Delhi, July 31: Will she? Won’t she? Rakhi Sawant moved from being an outspoken item girl to a coy bride, and now the question whether she will actually get married through her televised ‘swayamvar’ has middle class India in a thrall.
The “wedding” is slated for Sunday on her show “Rakhi ka Swayamvar” — which saw Rakhi choosing the most suitable groom from a list of 16 in 25 episodes — and excitement is peaking.
Riyadh, July 31:Saudi Arabia Thursday reported the second A/H1N1 flu death in the country, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said citing the health ministry.
A 28-year-old Indonesian woman was taken to Dammam central hospital Monday and died Thursday, the ministry said.
This is the third A/H1N1 death report in Arab countries since July 19.
Egypt confirmed July 19 the first influenza A/H1N1 death, a 28-year-old Egyptian woman who came back from Saudi Arabia after making Umrah (pilgrimage to Makkah at any time of the year).
Islamabad, July 30: As Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf defied summons and failed to show up before the country’s highest court for the second day on Thursday, Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhary has observed that the ex-President can be tried for “high treason” by Parliament.
The Chief Justice also observed that the Parliament can also annul all ordinances issued post-emergency imposed by Musharraf.
But, Chaudhary, who himself was the victim of more than 60 Judges sacked by the former army chief, however, turned down a plea to launch a treason case against Musharraf.
Baghdad, July 30: A bomb blast on Thursday in a building used by a Sunni-backed political group in Iraq’s Diyala province killed at least seven people, a reflection of the deep political and ethnic divisions in Iraq despite its security gains.
Diyala has been the scene of other violence this week, with two days of clashes between an Iranian opposition group living in a camp in the province and Iraqi security forces that also left seven people dead.
Dambulla, July 30: Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan by 36 runs in the first ODI and race away to a 1-0 lead in the 5 match series.
Needing 233 runs for victory, Pakistan made a heavy weather of the moderate target, managing just 196 runs in 44.4 overs, failing to survive even full quota of their stipulated overs.
Pakistan had endured a fairly decent start as openers Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal added a brisk 29 runs for the opening wicket in 7 overs. However, once Malik (9 runs) was cleaned up by Kulasekara, Pakistan’s middle-order came a cropper against ruthless Sri Lankan attack.
Mumbai, July 30: What’s common between the ace Bollywood actor John Abraham and the King of pop music? Well, it’s the formers bodyguard who’s taken charge of John Abraham’s security these days.
John’s secret date revealed
Lee Flisher, who was the personal bodyguard of Michael Jackson, has a new job cut out for him. John, who’s shooting in London for his upcoming film 1-800-LOVE has been provided special security to keep his ever-growing fans at bay during the shooting of the film.
Chennai, July 30: Top seed and favourite Dipika Pallikal of India sailed smoothly into the quarter-finals of the girls singles in the 13th junior World Squash Championships at the ICL Academy courts, here Thursday.
Leaving nothing to chance, Dipika, the 17-year old from Chennai blasted past Yathreb Abel of Egypt 11-5, 11-7, 11-5 in 22 minutes. She will next meet another Egyptian, the fifth seeded Nouran El Torky Friday.
Mumbai, July 30: Though there have been many actors who have tried their hand at singing, the list will have one more name added very soon.
After the likes of Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, it’s the turn of Arbaaz Khan to flex his vocal chords. The actor, who recently turned producer with the announcement of his film project DEBANGG, is all set to croon for his upcoming film.
Salman passes his ‘Prem’ to Arbaaz!
Mumbai, July 30: Guess what was one of the biggest reasons that led to the downfall of LUCK? An outrageously hilarious epilogue around Imran Khan’s heart being on his right side instead of left that totally and truly succeeded in putting off audiences. In fact this scene contributed in a major way to really kill the film which was reasonably engrossing till its interval point at least.
Patna, July 30: After years of neglect, the 391 schools that were set up in Bihar to fulfil Mahatma Gandhi’s dream that one day all Indian children will have access to basic education are set to get a new lease of life.
State Human Resources Development Minister Hari Narain Singh told IANS here Thursday that the government has decided to spend Rs.50 crore to improve the infrastructure of the Buniyadi Vidyalayas (basic schools), about six of which were set up by the father of the nation himself.
Mumbai, July 30: Deepika Padukone started off with a double role in her very first film OM SHANTI OM. This was followed by playing one of the three women in BACHNA AE HASEENO. In her very next release though, CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA, she was back to playing a double role while in her Friday release LOVE AAJ KAL she is enjoying all the attention all over again. In her forthcoming release HOUSEFULL though, she has Lara Dutta as well as Jiah Khan for company. Doesn’t she feel that from being THE leading lady, she is being one of the leading ladies in this Sajid Khan directed film?
Lucknow, July 30: A criminal case was lodged against 10 students of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) after they were caught ragging their juniors, officials said Thursday.
Eight second year and two third year students of B.Tech (Applied Mathematics) were caught ragging juniors on the Assi Ghat by the university’s security staff Wednesday, BHU spokesperson Rajesh Singh told IANS.
‘The university has imposed a fine of Rs.50,000 each on the students. They have been expelled from the hostel for six months and barred from attending classes for 15 days,’ Singh said.
Mumbai, July 30: Playing a cool dude on screen is a tailor made job for Saif Ali Khan, because he can do such roles with his eyes closed. But producing a film was certainly a job not cut out for the ”Chhote Nawab”, who found the task a lot tougher than acting.
Impatient Saif watches his film trial at 2 in the Night!
New Delhi, July 30: The sensational kidnapping and murder of a 16-year-old boy has left several questions about the probe that a top Delhi Police official could not answer.
Investigating officers, for example, were not even aware whether victim Ribhu’s father Sanjay Chawla had paid the ransom amount till the death of the child.
‘The family only revealed only some information to us,’ Joint Commissioner of Police Ajai Kashyap told reporters here Thursday when asked about ransom.
Mumbai, July 30: The Mumbai court trying the 26/11 attack Thursday urged police to take action against the officer who leaked Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab’s confessional video to a TV channel here.
A 67-minute video CD of Kasab’s confession, recorded by police in a hospital soon after his arrest during the last year’s terror attacks in Mumbai, was repeatedly telecast by TV9 last week.
Mumbai, July 30: Now this is what one calls a true teaser. It reveals a little but still makes you look forward to a lot more. These are pretty much the sentiments in the offering after one has a dekko of the 1 minute teaser of WANTED, Salman Khan’s next outing which is all set to hit the screens this Eid.
There seems to be a lot of excitement in Shruti Haasan’s life, who have made her debut with Shree Ashtavinayak Cinevision Ltd’s ‘Luck’ directed by Soham Shah! The latest news is that musician-actor Shruti Haasan has geared up to pay tribute to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson on August 29!
Lucknow, July 30: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Thursday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to keep off “the internal affairs of the state” after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi demanded a central authority for development of Bundelkhand region.
“Any move to set up a central authority for special development of an area in a state would tantamount to direct interference in the internal affairs of the state,” Mayawati wrote in a letter to the prime minister, according to an official statement.
“Such a step could seriously affect centre-state relations,” she added.
Srinagar, July 30: Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra Thursday turned down Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s resignation he had submitted Tuesday after the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) linked him to a 2006 prostitution racket.
The rejection of Abdullah’s resignation triggered jubilation as hundreds of slogan shouting National Conference supporters gathered outside his residence in the evening.
“I am happy I have been proved innocent,” a relaxed Abdullah told reporters after Vohra sent a communique asking him to continue as the chief minister.
New Delhi, July 30: The government has accorded approval for setting up nuclear power plants in Gujarat and Rajasthan with a combined generating capacity of 2,800 MW, parliament was informed Thursday.
The plants will be located at Kakrapar in Gujarat and Rawatbhata in Rajasthan and will each have two units of 700 MW each, Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Prithviraj Chavan said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
Lucknow, July 30: The Indian Institute of Information Technology Allahabad (IIIT – A) administration Thursday said it will soon withdraw the fine and punishment on 19 senior girl students after they apologized for ragging junior girls.
On Tuesday, 19 B. Tech final year girl students were fined for ragging newly admitted girls at the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in Allahabad.
Besides a fine of Rs.50,000 each, the institute also withdrew the scholarship of the girls expelled from the hostel after the matter came to light.
Kolkata, July 30: Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly’s induction into cricket administration will be the lone point of interest in an otherwise routine annual general elections of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) Friday with veteran Jagmohan Dalmiya set to retain his president’s post unchallenged for one more year.
New Delhi, July 30: The battle of broadband heats up the market as Bharti Airtel slashes rates.
Subscribers will be able to experience 1 Mbps surfing speeds from Airtel at Rs. 1,699 per month, which costs 100 bucks more than the current 512 Kbps and the 512Kbps speed plan will now cost Rs. 1,099, which is Rs. 200 more than the current 256 Kbps.