Cairo, June 24: Students wearing the niqab (a full face veil) plan to lodge a complaint with the United Nations against Egypt’s biggest public university for allegedly violating their rights, according to their lawyer.
Cairo, June 24: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak says Israel cannot escape its responsibility towards the plight of Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip and place it on Egypt.
“We are exerting all efforts to lift the Israeli blockade on Gaza,” Mubarak told the members of his ruling National Democratic Party on Wednesday in a speech quoted by AFP.
“We reject attempts by Israel, the occupying force, to free itself of responsibility towards the strip and place it on Egypt,” he said.
Jeddah, June 24: Women in Saudi Arabia have joined in the football fever that has sweeped the world with colourful abayas sporting the flags of the teams they support.
Saudi designer Rania Khoger created the unique line of abayas, the traditional loose-fitting garment worn by most Gulf women, to commemorate the FIFA World Cup taking place in South Africa.
Colombo, June 24: At least nine people have been wounded after a bomb detonated in a commercial area of Sri Lanka’s capital city of Colombo, police say.
According to police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody, the explosion occurred in the Pettah area of the city on Thursday.
A hospital spokesman announced that nine people were transported to the National Hospital Colombo with minor injuries.
Meanwhile, police ruled out that Tamil rebels were behind the attack.
“The incident was probably due to a personnel vendetta,” the police spokesman was quoted as saying by AFP.
Beijing, June 24: China said Thursday it had broken up a gang of “hardcore terrorists” who plotted attacks in the western region of Xinjiang, which was hit by deadly ethnic violence last year.
Public Security Ministry spokesman Wu Heping said the attacks were planned for last year, after long-simmering tensions between Uighurs and majority Han Chinese migrants turned deadly in the regional capital Urumqi last July 5.
Nearly 200 people died in the violence Beijing accuses overseas organizers of plotting.
Mumbai, June 24: While several stars are vying their way into the IPL avenue, this actor wants to keep himself away from its shor-sharaba.
Although hes a huge fan of cricket, Aamir Khan wants to enjoy the game, instead of getting involved in the cricket business.
When asked as to why hes not willing to own an IPL cricket team, Aamir Khan remarked that he doesnt want to get stressed due to it.
Mumbai, June 24: Madhur Bhandarkar is all set to perform “Operation Salvage’ on Shruti Haasan’s career. In what is quite clearly a manoeuvre to give the mighty Kamal Haasan’s daughter a commercial boost that Soham Shah’s Luck could not. Madhur Bhandarkar has signed her to play a key role in his first comedy Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji.
The self-admitted fan of Kamal Haasan, Madhur says, “Shruti had met me some months ago expressing a desire to work with me. I thought she would suit the part opposite Emran Hashmi perfectly.”
Islamabad, June 24: The foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan will Thursday hold talks on all issues, including terrorism and Kashmir, the first such effort at their level after the Bhutan thaw to explore trust-building steps to revive the bilateral dialogue.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will have delegation-level talks with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir on a range of issues, official sources said.
Anzio (Italy), June 24: An Indian man, who is suspected of murdering a fellow Indian whose headless body was found on a beach in a town south of Rome in March, has been arrested, an official said.
The suspect, whom police have only identified as “G” Singh, is the second man arrested for the murder of 46-year-old Hoshiar Singh in Anzio March 13. The victim is believed to have come from India’s Punjab state, but little is known about how he came to be in Italy.
Kolkata, June 24: Bengali actress Arunima Ghosh cannot hide her excitement. The actress has every reason to be happy after having been roped by none other than Basu Chatterjee for his untitled next.
The actress has already worked with the director in the movie Hochheta Ki? The movie is expected to hit the floors early next month as the male lead is yet to be finalised.
The movie will be based on the contemporary life of Kolkata where a person is always busy with his adda and has little time for his wife.
Mumbai, June 24: Suspended IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi’s lawyer Mehmood Abdi today questioned the legality of BCCI’s July 3 Special General Meeting, which will decide his client’s fate, calling it a “khap panchayat”.
Abdi accused the BCCI of sweeping the charges against Board secretary N Srinivasan made by Modi under the carpet.
“Now it is not a Lalit Modi and Srinivasan fight but evidence of the manner in which the country’s premier sport body is being administered. Complaints making serious charges against the Secretary have been made yet these are being swept under the carpet.
Jerusalem, June 24: Israeli leaders are facing more legal action from rights activists who are filing new lawsuits in connection with Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.
Two Belgian lawyers filed an indictment on Wednesday on behalf of more than a dozen Palestinians, calling for some 14 Israeli officials to stand trial for crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed during Tel Aviv’s December 2008-January 2009 offensive against the Gaza Strip.
New Delhi, June 24: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has got a feel of Pakistan’s most modern fighter aircraft during a multi-nation exercise in France even before the aircraft have been delivered to the Pakistani Air Force (PAF).
Later this week, Pakistan will get its most modern fighter aircraft when the US delivers the first four of the advanced Block 52 F 16 aircraft as part of a deal to upgrade its military.
Los Angeles, June 24: Hollywood actress Megan Fox wants to play lesbian superhero Sarah Rainmaker from the comic book series “Gen 13″.
“I would like to be Rainmaker in ‘Gen 13′ if they ever made that into a movie. She’s a Native American, and I have a little bit of that blood in me,” aceshowbiz quoted Fox as saying.
“It would be a bit of a stretch, but if Jake Gyllenhaal can be the ‘Prince of Persia’, I think that I can do that,” she added.
———IANS
Washington, June 24: US President Barack Obama called his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai to inform him about the decision to nominate General David Petraeus, as his new commander for Afghanistan.
During the telephone call, Obama underscored that his personal change in no way impacts the US policy in Afghanistan or the level of American commitment to the future of that country, the White House said in a statement.
Mumbai, June 24: Ever after ‘Slumdog millionaire’s’ success, there is not turning back for Frieda Pinto. Though she isn’t doing that well in Bollywood, she’s flying high in Hollywood.
News is that, Freida will join James Franco in 20th Century Fox’s “Rise of the Apes” the prequel to “Planet of the Apes.” In the movie Freida will play the role of Caroline, a primatologist.
Mogadishu, June 24: The leader of the Darfur militant group JEM says peace talks between opposition groups and the Sudanese government will get nowhere if his group is excluded.
“Peace is impossible without the JEM,” Justice and Equality Movement leader Khalil Ibrahim told Al-Jazeera television when asked about the negotiations between the Khartoum government and the Liberty and Justice Movement being held in the Qatari capital Doha.
Mumbai, June 24: We are all aware that, the world celebrated Father’s Day last Sunday. Some of the Bollywood kids celebrated it in an extra ordinary way.
In a playful mood, Shahrukh Khan approved of a spitting contest with his son, Aryan.
The son got inspired by the spitting talent shown by the beautiful Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic. SRK tweets, “With my son. Had seen spitting contest in Titanic. Trying to recreate this awful dirty and childish prank with him. It’s Father’s Day!”
Hyderabad, June 24: CBI today arrested S N Sharma, suspended Chairman of the Railway Recruitment Board, Mumbai and another senior officer in connection with the alleged multi-crore Railway recruitment scam.
Sharma was arrested for his role in the job scam in which his son and seven others had earlier been apprehended.
G Sethi, senior divisional personnel officer at Raipur, was also arrested today by CBI in connection with the same case. The two will be produced in the CBI Court here tomorrow, CBI DIG V V Lakshmi Narayana said.
Brazzaville, June 24: The death toll for a train derailment in the Congo Republic has risen to 76, Red Cross and hospital sources said on Wednesday.
“The definitive toll from the train accident as established by the crisis commission and the Red Cross stands at 76 dead and 745 injured,” state radio in Brazzaville announced, according to Reuters.
Part of a passenger train plunged into a valley while speeding around a corner on a dangerous rail link between the coastal town of Pointe-Noire and the capital Brazzaville late on Monday.
Washington, June 24: In order to put a better spin on his resignation, US General Stanley McChrystal says he has stepped down to help the United States’ war effort in Afghanistan.
McChrystal, a former commander of the Joint Special Operations Command who ran all special operations in Iraq, was the top commander of US and NATO troops and all other US-led forces in Afghanistan.
He was relieved of his command on June 23 after disdainful remarks he and his staff members made about top US administration officials became public.
Jerusalem, June 24: The Israeli intelligence agency Mossad has failed in an attempt to assassinate Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a Jordanian weekly says.
Informed sources in Turkey say that the Mossad plot has been foiled by the country’s securty forces, al-Manar quoted a report in the most recent edition of the Al-Majd weekly as saying.
There are also reports that Israel has been trying to incite violence inside Turkey by lending support to the militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
New Delhi, June 24: “After doing a hell lot of hopping and jumping off the buildings sequences, it was a relief to stand still and kiss him.
Plus, he’s a wonderful kisser,” declared British actress Aruna Shields who was in Noida yesterday to promote her Friday release Mr Singh Mrs Mehta. “But the experience of kissing Prashant (her co-star in the flick) wasn’t that wonderful as he fancies a stubble.
He was very uncomfortable shooting intimate scenes and finally I had to pitch in with ‘much needed help’. Later, he was comfortable,” said the bold (and obviously beautiful) Aruna.
Cairo, June 24: An Egyptian court Wednesday sentenced a man to death after convicting him of carrying out terrorist attacks in the country.
Abdel Hamid Osman Abu Akrab was found guilty of killing a number of security personnel in the 1990s and joining an outlawed terrorist group called Al-Jamaa Al- Islamiya, Xinhua reported quoting state-run MENA news agency.
According to the court, Abu Akrab was behind the killing of a senior police officer in 1993. He also led a group of 32 terrorists which committed eight terrorist attacks in Egypt’s southern governorate of Assiut.
–IANS–
Mumbai, June 24: A R Rahman has cancelled the remaining shows of the North America leg of his tour. He made the decision following a mishap last week.
The Oscar winner posted on his FB account: Members of our tour miraculously escaped a big disaster in Detroit, when part of the Pontiac Silverdome infrastructure collapsed on our set.
We are working to recoup all that has been lost (the lights, the sets)…. with that, we have decided to reschedule at a later date. We will go ahead with the concerts in Europe and UK.”
——Agencies