Jeddah, June 22: The Council of Ministers urged the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) to ban smoking at all airports and their facilities in the Kingdom. It also advised GACA to impose a fine of SR200 on people who violate the new regulations.
The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, approved the recommendations of the 150-member Shoura Council.
Islamabad, June 22: Pakistan will abide by any U.S. sanctions on Iran, which Washington has warned could hit Pakistani companies involved in a $7.6 billion Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline deal, the prime minister said on Monday.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s remarks came the day after U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke warned Islamabad against becoming too committed to the project because of the expected sanctions’ effects.
Beirut, June 22: One of two aid boats planning to sail to Gaza from Lebanon has received the green light to depart for Cyprus on the first leg of a trip that aims to break Israel’s blockade, organisers said.
“The (Lebanese) transport minister has tentatively agreed to allow us to sail to Cyprus on condition our boat meets standard sailing criteria,” Thaer Ghandour of local non-governmental organisation Journalists Without Limits said.
“We are used to Israeli threats,” Ghandour told. “We will continue to pursue our goal and reaffirm our commitment to humanitarianism.”
Islamabad, June 22: Pakistani security forces have captured a key commander of the militant group Tehrik-E-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the country’s southern city of Karachi.
Security forces arrested Asmat Ullah Mehsud during a raid in Karachi’s Industrial and Trading Estate area on Monday, Police officials told Media.
According to officials, the arrested militant commander was planning to carry out terror attacks in the city.
Istanbul, June 22: Three people were killed and six others wounded on Tuesday in a bomb attack on a coach transporting soldiers in Istanbul, Turkish television reported.
The bomb apparently exploded around 0445 GMT when the vehicle was passing through the Halkali district, a suburb on the European side of the city, according to TV channels NTV and CNN-Turk, which broadcast images of the heavily damaged coach.
There were also family members of the soldiers on board the coach, including children, the TV stations reported.
Srinagar, Jun 22: A government engineer was killed and his driver seriously injured when their vehicle was hit by a stone during a landslide on under-construction Mughal Road in Poonch district, police said here today.
Assistant Executive Engineer of Roads and Buildings Department Mohammad Younus Mughal was killed on the spot and his driver Mukhtiyar Ahmed seriously injured when the stone hit their vehicle on Mughal Road at Poshana, about 242-kms from here, in Poonch district yesterday, they said.
Patna,June 22 :Ever since the Narender modi advertisement episode opened up in Bihar both the partners Jdu and BJP are at loggerhead .Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is keeping his political cards close to his chest amid speculation over his next move.
“ Relax, ( there’s) no need to get tense,” Nitish said here on Monday when asked about the growing rift between his JD( U) and the BJP over his decision to return a Rs 5- crore cheque donated by the Gujarat government towards Kosi flood relief.
Mumbai, June 22: Bollywood siren Kareena Kapoor is the female answer to action hero Akshay Kumar, for the svelte actress pulled off a dangerous car stunt in ‘Golmaal 3’ without using any body double.
Kareena surprised the cast and crew of ‘Golmaal 3’ when she performed a high action sequence for her entry in the film as she stood on the bonnet of a fast moving sports car.
Jerusalem, June 22: Observers have said that a decision to demolish 22 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem could lead to increased friction between Israel and the United States.
The Los Angeles Times has reported that the Jerusalem City Council, in a Monday decision the Palestinian Authority called “unacceptable,” approved a controversial development plan to demolish the houses in Arab neighborhoods.
New Delhi, June 22: India has set an ambitious target of making 2012 the year of double digit growth even as it grapples with the twin problems of mounting deficit and rising inflation.
“India is back on a high growth trajectory,” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in a presentation here Monday to the Institute of International Finance, a global association created by 38 banks of leading industrialised countries in 1983 in response to the international debt crisis of the early 1980s.
Birmingham, June 22: One of two brothers accused of repeatedly raping their six-year-old sister told a jury that his mother was “paranoid” about contact between her children.
The 13-year-old boy, who cannot be named, told Birmingham Crown Court he had never touched his sister in a sexual way and also denied “copying” his older brother’s alleged behaviour.
Sitting beside a relative in the well of the court, the teenager began his evidence by confirming details of his schooling to his barrister, Jerry Hayes.
Mumbai, June 22: Taxis and auto-rikshaws in the maximum city went on strike demanding a fare hike. File photo
Over 80,000 taxis and a lakh auto-rickshaws in Mumbai today went off roads, over demand for hike in fares.
The recent increase in the prices of CNG has prompted auto and taxi drivers to demand a hike in fares.
Auto unions are demanding that the minimum fare for rickshaws be increased by Rs. 6 to Rs. 15 and Rs. 8 for every subsequent kilometre. Rickshaws currently charge Rs. 9 as minimum fare.
New Delhi, June 22: After the authors of “Super Freakonomics” belittled the Indian male in a chapter about condoms, medical researchers here have said he can still hold his own in the world.
The authors, US economist Steven D Levitt and journalist Stephen J Dubner, had inferred from an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) study that Indian men are less endowed than men in other parts of the world.
Islamabad, June 22: Pakistan will release 17 Indian prisoners as a goodwill gesture on June 23, official sources said on Monday.
The prisoners will be released through the Wagah land border ahead of the meeting between Foreign Secretaries of the two countries on June 24, the source told PTI.
Further details about prisoners to be released could not immediately be ascertained.
Humanitarian issues, including prisoners being held in jails in India and Pakistan, are expected to figure in the talks between the two sides on June 24.
Mumbai, June 22: The muscular man of bollywood is again in the news for wrong reason. Salman Khan, who was part of IIFA.
Which happened in Colombo, Sri Lanka recently, was completely mesmerized by the its beauty so much.
That he convinced the maker of his forth coming film ‘Ready’ to shoot in Sri Lanka. Initially Mauritius was finalized.
As a location for ‘Ready’, but giving to will of Salman, the makers are contemplating about Sri Lanka.
This decision of changing the location from Mauritius to Sri Lanka has earned the wrath of South.
Mumbai, June 22: Bad monsoon weather has not just caused problems for local Mumbaikars but it has also derailed actor Deepika Padukone’s ambitious sky diving plans.
However, the actor is not letting this little hitch to dampen her spirits.Deepika tweeted that she is not giving up on her plans but is just rescheduling the day of her daring act. “Couldn’t do the jump yesterday…bad weather…have to reschedule it now,” she wrote.
Lucknow, June 22: UP Chief Minister Mayawati today said her government was committed to stop incidents of adulteration in food and drugs and asked officials to take strict action against those found guilty.
Mayawati was reviewing the works of Food and Drug administration department at a high-level meeting held at her official residence here.
She said if an incident of adulteration was reported from any particular area then action should be initiated against the concerned field level officer.
Abu Dhabi, June 22: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is keen to boost cooperation with the European Union (EU) to fight human trafficking, an official said Monday.
‘The UAE is among the first countries in the region which issued a federal law on combating human trafficking,’ Lt. General Saif Al Shafaar, interior ministry undersecretary, said during a meeting with the EU diplomats.
He told the diplomats that the ministry has set up specialised units to tackle human trafficking and shelters for the victims.
Both sides explored mechanisms for exchange of information and expertise.
London, June 22: A coroner said on Friday that anti-bullying policies at his school failed to protect an Australian teenager driven to take his own life by persecution on- and offline.
The Sydney Morning Herald has reported that Deputy New South Wales Coroner Malcolm MacPherson recommended that schools with more than 500 students should have fulltime counselors. The state needs clear policies on when police should be informed about school violence, he said.
Alex Wildman, a student at Kadina High School in Lismore, was 14 when he killed himself in July 2008.
Baghdad, June 22: A suicide bomber killed eight people, including six policemen, and wounded 10 in a market in the northern Iraqi town of Shirqat late, an Interior Ministry source said.
The bomber detonated an explosives belt when police and civilians gathered to inspect the site of a roadside bomb minutes earlier, in which no one had been hurt, the source said.
—Agencies
Baghdad, June 22: According to health officials, the need for treatment of rampant mental illness in Iraq far outstrips resources in the war-ravaged country.
The Washington Post has reported that though the war has subsided and many American troops have pulled out, medical specialists say they’re overwhelmed with mental health cases induced by war-related trauma.
New Delhi, June 22: No lessening of temperatures as heat wave continues to soar the temperatures in North India. Heat is brushing most parts of north India with a constant increase in humidity levels. In parts of Hisar, in Haryana extremely hot day at 45.8 degrees was witnessed.
The capital was under the blazing sun resulted in the maximum temperature rising to 43.2 C, four notches above normal; the minimum was seen at 27.8 degree Celsius. The humidity levels too lurked between 64 and 35 per cent.
On June 20, New Delhi registered a maximum and minimum temperature of 42 C and 28.4 C.
Mumbai, June 22: City girls in their desi avatars are captivating more and more public interest in the Imagine TV’s reality show ‘Desi Girl’ but not all of them are finding it simple to do acts as after bold Sambhavna Seth, it’s the turn of her best friend Monu (Monica Bedi) to get eliminated from celebrity reality show.
Sambhavna who was backing her friend Bedi tried her best to save the latter from being evicted voluntarily going out the show, but Bedi could not save herself.
New Delhi, June 22: For launching a division in New Delhi without a license, the country’s central banking institution (RBI) has imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on the Postal and RMS (railway mail service) Employees Cooperative Bank at Ambala Cantt in Haryana.
Mr. Devender Singh, RBI Deputy General Manager stated that the banking institution had opened an arm in New Delhi in 2010 without getting an approval and license under Section-23 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
Dubai June 22: UAE Economy Minister Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori said Monday his country is looking forward to a new era of economic cooperation with Slovenia.
During a meeting with visiting Slovenian Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Zbogar, Al Mansoori said the UAE is keen to organize economic forums to showcase investment opportunities in the country.
The Slovenian minister praised the UAE for its efforts in the development of renewable energy.
-IANS