Tehran, May 01: If the Jewish state attacks Damascus, Iranian Vice President Mohammad Rida Rahimi vowed on Friday at the end of a two-day visit to key regional ally Syria.
“We will stand alongside Syria against any (Israeli) threat,” Rahimi said at a news conference with Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otri.
“If those who have violated Palestinian land want to try anything we will cut off their feet,” he said in reference to the Jewish state.
New York, May 01: Indonesia said Friday it will soon ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, a step hailed by disarmament advocates as helping the treaty to enter into force.
“I warmly welcome the statement made today by Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa to the Indonesian Parliament that Indonesia will soon ratify the CTBT,” said Tibor Toth, the executive secretary of the treaty’s secretariat in Vienna.
Mumbai, May 01: He’s given us hits like “Garam Masala”, “Dhoom” and “Dostana”, but they’ve all been multi-starrers. Now John Abraham says he is in pursuit of solo hero movies after taking a sabbatical to groom himself and restructure his life to step into the best phase of his career.
John’s last film “New York” (2009) received much critical acclaimed, but that too was a multi-starrer.
Paris, May 01: France will jail and impose huge fines on anyone who forces a Muslim woman to wear a full-face veil, according to a leaked version of a proposed law revealed.
While women will face only a 150 euro penalty if they choose to don a burqa or a niqab, President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to slap one-year prison terms and USD 20,000 fines on those who make others wear them.
Agra, May 01: Seven pilgrims were killed and 10 injured when the Tempo three-wheeler they were travelling in collided head-on with a car on the Agra-Jaipur highway, police said Saturday.
The accident took place late Friday when the pilgrims were on their way to Goverdhan in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura district. The Tempo collided with a Scorpio coming from Agra on the highway under Malpua thana area, 20 km from the Taj city.
Srinagar, May 01: One person was killed on Friday when a group of stone pelting youths attacked a mini bus in Batmaloo locality of central Srinagar, police said.
40-year-old Shafiq Ahmad Sheikh, who was travelling from Natipora to Batmaloo, was hit by a stone on the head resulting in serious injuries. He was taken to S K Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, where he succumbed to his wounds, a police spokesman said.
Kuala Lampur, May 01: It has emerged that a syndicate in Malaysia has been delivering prostitutes to its customers the way fast-food outlets delivered food.
According to Kosmo!, the service came to light after police nabbed 12 women, who were moonlighting as masseuses at a spa in Kuala Lumpur, in a raid on April 28.
It is understood that the women did not conduct any sexual activity at the spa although the syndicate would ask customers to make bookings via telephone, and it would then send the women to various locations.
New Delhi, May 01: Laying all controversy to rest, the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee has clarified that during the Games scheduled to take place in the national capital later this year beef will not be served .
The organising committee replied an emphatic “no” to a query by Right to Information (RTI) activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who wanted to know if beef was a compulsory item to be served during the Games, scheduled Oct 3-14.
Santiago, May 01: Chilean police say a 16-year-old boy has been charged with killing his brother in a fight over a PlayStation.
Police say the younger boy was angered when his 18-year-old brother turned on the game console without his permission. He then allegedly grabbed a knife and stabbed him. Police say the youth told them that “things got out of control.”
The boy could face five years in prison under charges filed on Wednesday.
President Sarkozy must be having nightmares every night. Little did he know last June that his idea of banning the niqab in France, “the country of human rights”, would so lamentably backfire. Today, he is struggling to put an end to l’affaire. And it is of little satisfaction to him that Belgium should be the first country to legislate against the full veil.
Kabul, May 01: A Taliban splinter group in the tribal belt has executed a former intelligence officer and prominent jihadi activist, raising fears for two other hostages being held by the same group.
Khalid Khawaja’s body was found dumped by the road near Mir Ali, a notorious centre of militant activity in North Waziristan.
Khawaja, a retired Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) agent, had been shot in the head and chest. A note pinned to his body warned that other “American spies” would face a similar fate.
Mumbai, May 01: Husna loves to colour her canvases blue and darken the lighted spaces in her nature-scapes with thick dabs of acrylic pigments. The 14-year-old lost her father and lives in a home for the destitute in the capital.
Art is known to have healing qualities and street children like Husna, Firoz, Pranav and Ajay – who have had a tough childhood, with some even having spent time in juvenile homes – will vouch for it.
Mumbai, May 01: Manasvi Mamgai, 22, was crowned Pantaloons Femina Miss India World 2010 at a gala event Friday night. She will represent India at the global pageant later this year.
Neha Hinge, 23, was crowned Miss India International 2010, while Nicole Faria, 20, is Miss India Earth 2010.
A bevy of Bollywood stars like Shahid Kapoor, Salman Khan, Lara Dutta, Neha Dhupia and Vivek Oberoi mesmerised the audience with their performances.
The contestants dazzled in beautiful creations by designers Ritu Kumar and Anita Dongre.
New Delhi, May 01: Shocked over the death of a person due to exposure to radioactive material it sold as scrap, Delhi University tonight announced a compensation of Rs eight lakh to the family of the deceased and a job for the widow.
“The Delhi University accepts moral responsibility for the tragic occurrence of exposure to radiation leading to severe harm to six individuals, one of whom has succumbed to the exposure,” DU registrar AK Sinha said in a release.
Hyderabad, May 01: A special court in Hyderabad today posted the matter on examination of former chairman of Satyam Computers B Ramalinga Raju, through video conferencing in connection with the multi-crore financial fraud in the IT firm, to May 7.
Raju, the prime accused in the Satyam fraud, who is suffering from Hepatitis-C is currently undergoing treatment at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) in Hyderabad, and has not been attending court proceedings since September last year citing health reasons initially the heart ailment and later the hepatic ailment.
New Delhi, May 01: Aspiring to lead the coalition government in Jharkhand with its own nominee as the Chief Minister, the BJP has put on hold its earlier decision to withdraw support to the Shibu Soren Government in the state.
The BJP parliamentary board on Friday decided to summon NDA leaders in Jharkhand, including Hemant Soren (JMM) and Raghuvar Das (BJP), to Delhi for consultations before taking a final decision.
Lucknow, May 01: Noted Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawwad today objected to reports in Pakistani media that Indian diplomat Madhuri Gupta arrested on spying charges may have embraced Islam and was perhaps a Shia Muslim, saying a traitor has no religion.
“A traitor and spy has no religion or sect. He is neither Shia, Sunni, Hindu nor Muslim. He is the one who changes his garb as per requirement,” Jawwad, who is also a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said here.
Mumbai, May 01: Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, who is under scanner of Income Tax department for suspected financial irregularities in the bidding process, is facing death threat with the underworld allegedly conspiring to bump him off, police said.
Modi was on the target list of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim even before IPL season III had begun, police said, adding Dawood’s men had plotted to eliminate him either in Mumbai or Bangalore.
Mumbai, May 01: In the climax of Housefull, laughing gas is let free in a roomful of people in Buckingham Palace. There’s your entire principal cast and foreign junior artistes – including one playing Queen Elizabeth II who says “Jai Maharashtra” for some weird reason – and they all start laughing uncontrollably, even though they are angry or upset or just irritated with each other. As a viewer, you are angry, upset and irritated too. You are just not laughing uncontrollably. Or laughing at all actually.
Mumbai, May 01: The Indian Premier League was about fun, frolic and also cricket.
The World Twenty20 will be only cricket. There won’t be any late-night parties in the West Indies.
At least not for the Indian team. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has handed out a list of dos and don’ts for Mahendra Singh Dhoni & Co currently in the West Indies for the World Twenty20.
Mumbai, May 01: A host of enumerators will be out on the streets of Mumbai as the first phase of data collection for Census 2011 starts in Maharashtra today.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials will cover households in the first phase and institutions like jails, hostels, hospitals, orphanages and old age homes in the second starting February next year. A Unique Identity Card (UID) will be issued to everyone, including foreigners, living in the city for more than six months.
Lucknow, May 01: In a shocking development, the Uttar Pradesh Special task Force (STF) on Friday arrested two CRPF jawans and two others on charges of stealing arms and ammunitions from the armoury to allegedly supply them to Naxals.
The arrests were made after STF conducted massive raids on CRPF camps located in Moradabad, Rampur and Jhansi of Uttar Pradesh in view of intelligence inputs that some CRPF men were allegedly selling arms and ammunition to the banned CPI-M ultras.
Beijing, May 01: Shanghai opens the World Expo to the public on Saturday, a multi-billion dollar event showcasing China’s booming economy and resurgent national pride, as well as the latest green technology from 189 countries.
Organisers kicked off the six-month extravaganza on Friday evening with a spectacular fireworks display, the largest LED screen ever constructed and dancing water fountains along the banks of the city’s murky Huangpu River.
Mumbai, May 01: He’s given us hits like ‘Garam Masala’, ‘Dhoom’ and ‘Dostana’, but they’ve all been multi-starrers. Now John Abraham says he is in pursuit of solo hero movies after taking a sabbatical to groom himself and restructure his life to step into the best phase of his career.
John’s last film ‘New York’ (2009) received much critical acclaimed, but that too was a multi-starrer.
New Delhi, MAy 01: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Friday said the sugar prices that had touched Rs.50 a kg last year have started coming down and would see further decline with increased cane production this season.
Rejecting claims of the Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha that the prices had not declined, he said: “From last year’s price of Rs.50, sugar is now being sold at Rs.35 a kg in the retail market and will further come down in weeks to come.”