Abu Dhabi, September 04: Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has expanded its US operations by adding one more city to its network, news agency reported on Friday.
The airline has launched flights from its Abu Dhabi home-base to the US city of Chicago. The inaugural flight took off Wednesday Sep 2 and landed 14 hours later at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
London, September 04: Prime Minister Gordon Brown defended Britain’s military presence in Afghanistan on Friday — a major policy speech that came as a defense aide quit over the mission’s strategy and a soldier was court-martialed for refusing to return to the war-torn country.
NATO, meanwhile, used an air strike to blast two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan, killing up to 90 people — dozens of whom were civilians.
Brown said insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan still presented major terrorist threats.
Cernobbio, September 04: The Arab League chief says any Israeli offer for a settlement freeze that doesn’t include east Jerusalem is unacceptable and “will suspend the peace process.”
Amr Moussa spoke Friday at a conference on Italy’s Lake Como. Moussa said a freeze of settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians hope to make their capital, is a precondition for any meaningful talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Urumqi, September 04: China’s police chief accused ethnic Muslim separatists of staging a bizarre series of hypodermic needle stabbings that sent thousands of Chinese into the streets in angry protests for a second day Friday to demand increased security in this western city.
Ranchi, September 04: A special vigilance court Friday rejected the bail petition of former Jharkhand minister Enos Ekka, arrested in a graft case.
Special Vigilance Judge Vinay Kant Khan refused Ekka bail as the charges were serious in nature.
The court had heard the petition Sep 1 but had reserved its judgment.
According to sources close to Ekka, his bail petition will be soon moved in the Jharkhand High court.
The court had Aug 29 rejected the bail petition of another former minister Harinarayan Rai, who too was arrested on similar charges.
Kolkata, September 04: India’s men recurve archers hit the target as they finished third in team qualifiers that saw the South Koreans setting three world records on the third day of the 45th World Archery Championship at Ulsan (South Korea) Friday.
The Indian trio of Mangal Singh Champia, Jayanta Talukdar and Rahul Banerjee cobbled together a total of 4,006 points to finish behind South Korea (4,122) and France (4,026).
The South Koreans bettered their existing word record of 4,074 set in 2003.
London, September 04: Black Eyed Peas star Will.I.Am wants to be a footballer and is requesting the American football team, Miami Dolphins, to give him a chance to fulfil his long cherished dream.
“I always wanted to play football – from the age of 10 that was my dream. I always loved the game of American football. I’m sad that I never followed my football dreams. Lately I’ve been thinking, is it too late to do it now? No way,” he posted on his blog.
“I want to try out for the Miami Dolphins,” he added.
Ranchi, September 04: A special vigilance court Friday rejected the bail petition of former Jharkhand minister Enos Ekka, arrested in a graft case.
Special Vigilance Judge Vinay Kant Khan refused Ekka bail as the charges were serious in nature.
The court had heard the petition Sep 1 but had reserved its judgment.
According to sources close to Ekka, his bail petition will be soon moved in the Jharkhand High court.
The court had Aug 29 rejected the bail petition of another former minister Harinarayan Rai, who too was arrested on similar charges.
Chennai, September 04: Sri Lanka-born Indian Niranjan, who is doctor by profession, is making hit Tamil movie “Kasi”, which starred Vikram, in Sinhalese and says the film’s success in four south Indian languages inspired him to take it to Sri Lankan audiences as well.
“The movie was based on a Malayalam film titled ‘Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njanum’, which was remade in Tamil by the same director Vinayan. Then it was adapted in Telugu and Kannada. The reason I chose the film was because it proved to be successful in all its adaptations,” said Niranjan.
Kolkata, September 04: India’s men recurve archers hit the target as they finished third in team qualifiers that saw the South Koreans setting three world records on the third day of the 45th World Archery Championship at Ulsan (South Korea) Friday.
The Indian trio of Mangal Singh Champia, Jayanta Talukdar and Rahul Banerjee cobbled together a total of 4,006 points to finish behind South Korea (4,122) and France (4,026).
The South Koreans bettered their existing word record of 4,074 set in 2003.
London, September 04: In some news that could bring cheers for the fans of Andrew Flintoff, the news of his sudden death has turned a hoax one.
The news was seen on various websites claiming that the English cricketer Andrew Flintoff has died suddenly.
However, in a great relief, the news now has turned hoax and one can heave a sigh of relief if the news has hurt him a lot.
The news regarding the death of Andrew Flintoff had increased the traffic on internet and the rumours spread like a wild fire.
—Agencies
London, September 04: Black Eyed Peas star Will.I.Am wants to be a footballer and is requesting the American football team, Miami Dolphins, to give him a chance to fulfil his long cherished dream.
“I always wanted to play football – from the age of 10 that was my dream. I always loved the game of American football. I’m sad that I never followed my football dreams. Lately I’ve been thinking, is it too late to do it now? No way,” he posted on his blog.
“I want to try out for the Miami Dolphins,” he added.
New Delhi, September 04: The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the Delhi government to put up information on the utilisation of the legislators’ development funds on its website.
The decision came on a complaint filed by an NGO, Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS), which has demanded that information about development funds should be available in the public domain in compliance with the provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Chennai, September 04: Sri Lanka-born Indian Niranjan, who is doctor by profession, is making hit Tamil movie “Kasi”, which starred Vikram, in Sinhalese and says the film’s success in four south Indian languages inspired him to take it to Sri Lankan audiences as well.
“The movie was based on a Malayalam film titled ‘Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njanum’, which was remade in Tamil by the same director Vinayan. Then it was adapted in Telugu and Kannada. The reason I chose the film was because it proved to be successful in all its adaptations,” said Niranjan.
Shimla, September 04: Marooned for over 24 hours on a rock in the middle of a swollen river, a fisherman in Himachal Pradesh managed to swim his way to safety Friday while authorities failed to come to his rescue.
Sushil Kumar, 31, had gone for fishing in the river near Kangra town Thursday when he got trapped in the flood waters.
Strong currents swept Kumar to the other side of the river where he managed to climb the high rock, which was in the middle of the river. He spent more than 24 hours on the rock waiting for the water to recede.
Panaji, September 04: The Goa Children’s Court has denied the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) permission to put the two accused in the slain UK teenager Scarlett Keeling’s case through a lie detector test.
In his order Friday, GCC president B.P. Deshpande rejected the CBI’s request to put Placido Carvalho and Samson D’Souza through three tests – the psychological evaluation test including polygraph, brain signature profiling and a narco analysis.
A similar request made by the Anjuna police was rejected by the GCC last year.
Kolkata, September 04: The state-owned India Infrastructure Finance Co Ltd (IIFCL) will raise Rs.3,000 crore from the domestic market by issuing bonds by March, a top company official said here Friday.
“We have already raised Rs.1,000 crore and we intend to raise another Rs.3,000 crore by March 2010,” said company chairman and managing director S.S. Kohli on the sidelines of a banking conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
New Delhi, September 04: The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the Delhi government to put up information on the utilisation of the legislators’ development funds on its website.
The decision came on a complaint filed by an NGO, Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS), which has demanded that information about development funds should be available in the public domain in compliance with the provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Shimla, September 04: Marooned for over 24 hours on a rock in the middle of a swollen river, a fisherman in Himachal Pradesh managed to swim his way to safety Friday while authorities failed to come to his rescue.
Sushil Kumar, 31, had gone for fishing in the river near Kangra town Thursday when he got trapped in the flood waters.
Strong currents swept Kumar to the other side of the river where he managed to climb the high rock, which was in the middle of the river. He spent more than 24 hours on the rock waiting for the water to recede.
London, September 04: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee began meeting with his counteparts from Brazil, Russia and China ahead of a G20 meeting here Friday, as two key European leaders said India should help replenish a massive funding gap in the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Mukherjee, participating in his first Group of 20 meeting as finance minister, met Guido Mantega of Brazil, Xie Xuren of China and Alexey Kudrin of Russia to firm up the position of the BRIC group ahead of the full G20 meeting Saturday.
Jeddah, September 04: Foreign ministers of the Gulf region countries have concluded their two-day meeting here, WAM news agency reported Friday.
The 112th session of the meeting of foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was presided over by Yousuf Bin Alawi Abdullah, foreign minister of Oman, which chairs the current session.
New Delhi, September 04: Key differences still remain between rich economies like the US and advanced developing nations like India, China and Brazil, said World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director General Pascal Lamy here Friday.
“The US is ready to even clinch a final deal, but that may not exactly be the Indian view or a Chinese view or the Brazilian view,” Lamy said at an interactive session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here, after the conclusion of the two-day mini-ministerial meeting among representatives of some 40 key WTO members.
Panaji, September 04: The Goa Children’s Court has denied the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) permission to put the two accused in the slain UK teenager Scarlett Keeling’s case through a lie detector test.
In his order Friday, GCC president B.P. Deshpande rejected the CBI’s request to put Placido Carvalho and Samson D’Souza through three tests – the psychological evaluation test including polygraph, brain signature profiling and a narco analysis.
A similar request made by the Anjuna police was rejected by the GCC last year.
Mumbai, September 04: Well, reading this some of you must have had your heart in your mouth but not to worry Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor don’t share any complications as of now but it’s just their new flick in which the real pair will be seen breaking each other’s trust.
In the spicy thriller movie “Agent Vinod” chhote nawab Saif Ali Khan faces the dilemma when it comes on to trust Kareena. Agent Vinod is directed by Sriram Raghavan and resembles James Bond series and is being produced by Saif Ali Khan himself, the sources revealed.
Jeddah, September 04: Foreign ministers of the Gulf region countries have concluded their two-day meeting here, WAM news agency reported Friday.
The 112th session of the meeting of foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was presided over by Yousuf Bin Alawi Abdullah, foreign minister of Oman, which chairs the current session.