Washington, July 22: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has applauded the Indo-Pak leadership for reviving peace talks despite opposition to it in their countries, while ruling out mediation on the issue of Kashmir.
At a round table with Pakistani journalists in Islamabad last week, Clinton said US mediation on the Kashmir was not a possibility as for that to happen both sides need to agree, which is not the case now.
Galle, July 22: Sri Lankan off-spinner Muthiah Muralitharan made a perfect finish to a stellar career, claiming his 800th Test wicket in his last match against India here Thursday and becoming the first bowler to reach the milestone.
Muralitharan, who was eight wickets short of the landmark figure of 800 coming into his swansong Test, finished with match figures of eight for 191. He took five for 63 in the first innings and three for 128 in the second.
Pragyan Ojha became Muralitharan’s 800th Test wicket when he was caught by Mahela Jayawerdena in the slips.
Mumbai, July 22: Actress Asin Thottumkal was linked to Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the past but the latter put an end to all the rumours by marrying Sakshi Singh Rawat recently. However, their past is not going to let them off. They bumped into each other a couple of days ago and had an awkward time.
Mumbai, July 22: If you still don’t know the secret behind Priyanka Chopra’s success, read on. She was a big name even before she entered films, as she had the Miss World crown on her head.
But she never let success into her head. She has belted out many hits over the years yet she is down to earth as ever. And above all, she is not averse to taking up small roles unlike many of her counterparts.
New Delhi, July 22: Mahatma Gandhi”s diary written during the year of Indian Independence and held till recently under private possession will soon be open for public viewing at the National Archives here.The small diary handwritten by the Bapu in Gujarati is among a collection of other letters and documents handed over to the Archives by Varsha Das, former director of the Gandhi National Museum.
Mumbai, July 22: Deepika Padukone has always been in news more for her affair with the Kapoor kid than her movies; this beauty made her debut with none other than the King Khan of Bollywood and made a status for her in tinseltown.
We can see the promos of Lafangey Parandey which stars sizzling hot Deepika and Neil Nitin Mukesh. According to the grapevine, Deepika is sharing a good rapport with Neil. Both the stars are working and traveling to promote their film. She always believes that Neil is friend of her for lifetime as he is a wonderful human.
Cairo, July 22: Egypt Wednesday denied recent reports about the deterioration of President Hosni Mubarak’s health.
‘The president’s intensive activity recently is the best answer to such news stories,’ Xinhua quoted Egyptian presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad as saying.
Unsubstantiated media reports are behind rumours over the president’s health, the spokesman said.
The Washington Times reported Sunday US and Western intelligence agencies assess that Mubarak is terminally ill and is thought to be dying from terminal cancer affecting his stomach and pancreas.
Gaza, July 22: The Islamic Hamas movement has blamed US and Israel for the ongoing impasse between the Palestinian resistance movement and rival Fatah party.
“US intervention in the region, the issue of indirect talks, banning residents from receiving passports, and besieging them in Gaza” have made a unity deal between Fatah and Hamas “difficult now and in the near future,” Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan told Ma’an news agency on Wednesday.
Washington, July 22: The US led coalition has quietly dropped plans to begin handing over control of provinces in Afghanistan to Afghan security forces by the end of 2010.
This comes amid fears among NATO member states that the new US commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, is less committed to a speedy transfer of power, the British daily The Guardian reported on July 20.
According to the Guardian, this was revealed in the final agreement of the international conference in Kabul.
Gaza, July 22: Two Palestinians, including an Islamic Jihad (holy war) movement militant, were killed and seven wounded in Israeli strike against north Gaza Wednesday, the Israeli army said.
The army fired several shells at a group of Palestinian gunmen who were spotted approaching the fence that separates Gaza and Israel in eastern Beit Hanoun city, a spokesman for the Israeli army told Xinhua.
The spokesman said that the shells killed one member of the group.
Islamabad, July 22: Fifty years after its founding, Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, has established itself as a modern city, but it continues to grow with no clear direction or identity, away from realities of the country and vulnerable to its problems.
Designed in 1960 by Greek architect Constantinos Dioxadis, Islamabad, or ‘the place where Islam lives’, was founded at a strategically secure zone with a pleasant climate, surrounded by lakes and hills not far from the Himalayas.
Srinagar, July 22: Two separatist guerrillas were killed in a gunbattle with security forces in a forest in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district early Thursday.
Troops of the Rashtriya Rifles and the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police surrounded the Wanderbal forest area near Handwara, 80 km from here, on a tip-off about the presence of a group of guerrillas there, a police officer said.
Nagpur, July 22: Four Naxals were arrested after a brief exchange of fire in Maharashtra”s Gadchiroli district, police said today. Acting on a tip-off, a combing operation was launched in Bukota forests in Etapalli taluka.
The Maoists opened fire at the police patrol, which retaliated and apprehended the naxals in a swift operation yesterday, they said. Four rifles and six cartridges were seized from them.
Hyderabad, July 22: The principal of an international school here has been arrested on charges of raping a Class 11 student from Mumbai, police said Thursday. The victim had become pregnant.
A case of rape and criminal intimidation has been booked against Salahuddin Ayub, principal of Parkwood International School at Manneguda near Vikarabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Crime Station (CCS), J. Satyanarayana, investigations into the complaint were on.
Hyderabad, July 22: There’s fresh tension on the Andhra Pradesh-Maharashtra border. After Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) protest over the Babhali dam project in Maharashtra, it is now the Shiv Sena’s turn to rake up a controversy over a lift irrigation project in Andhra Pradesh.
Tension prevailed on the Andhra-Maharashtra border near Bodhan in Nizamabad district of Andhra Pradesh as Shiv Sena activists Thursday march towards the Salura lift irrigation project across the Manjira river.
Patna, July 22: All 12 Lok Janashakti Party MLAs today resigned from Bihar Assembly in protest against their suspension by Speaker Udaya Narain Chowdhary for the rest of the session.
“All the 12 MLAs of the party have submitted their resignation letters to National President Ram Vilas Paswan and state chief Pashupati Kumar Paras in protest against their suspension from the state Assembly yesterday,” LJP spokesman Keshav Singh said.
Panaji, July 22: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday sought a ban on contraceptive pill advertisements on television, saying it encouraged unprotected sex and increased the possibility of AIDS.
Speaking during Question Hour in the Goa assembly, BJP’s Damodar Naik said the state health department should urge the central government to ban “I-Pill ads”.
“On one hand you promote the use of condoms to prevent AIDS and on the other hand television channels are promoting I-Pill. The state government should talk to the central ministry and ban these advertisements,” Naik said.
Muzaffarnagar, July 22: A newly-wed bride allegedly cheated her husband and escaped with cash and ornaments at Gangoh town in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, police said today. Zainab Khatun (50) was married to Shabbir Hasan (60) three days ago.
Khatun yesterday ran away with some cash and ornaments worth Rs 30,000, they said. An FIR has been lodged by Hasan against Khatun, police said.
-PTI
Lucknow, July 22: The Uttar Pradesh government has announced cash rewards of Rs 15,000 for anyone providing information on whereabouts of the nine prisoners who escaped from Meerut jail earlier this week, officials said here today.
The decision to announce the reward was taken by the government last night on recommendations of the police headquarters, they said.
London, July 22: Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s order to go to war against Iraq in 2003 along with the United States ‘gave Bin Laden his jihad,’ claims the director-general of MI5 Lady Eliza Manningham-Buller.
“Arguably we gave Osama bin Laden his Iraqi jihad so that he was able to move into Iraq in a way that he was not before,” she added.
Sky News quoted Manningham-Buller as telling the Lord Chilcot led Iraq Inquiry that the UK’s involvement in Iraq gave “fresh impetus” to “home-grown” terrorists who saw the attack on Saddam Hussein as an attack on Islam.
Mumbai, July 22: A man married to a sexless woman is blaming her and her in-laws because he contracted HIV from having sex with sex workers.
Raj and Shabnam (names changed) were married in 1993 at the age of 16 and 12 respectively. When Raj wanted to consummate the marriage two years later, he discovered that his wife did not have any reproductive organs.
Raj then confronted his in-laws for not informing him about Shabnam’s condition and told them that he would go to sex workers.
‘In-laws to blame’
Jakarta, July 22: Indonesia’s Muslims learned on Friday they have been praying in the wrong direction, after the country’s highest Islamic authority said its directive on the direction of Mecca actually had people facing Africa.
Muslims are supposed to face the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia during prayer and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued an edict in March stipulating westward was the correct direction from the world’s most populous Muslim country.
New York, July 22: EastEnders bosses have defended a scene in which a Muslim character slammed down a copy of the Quran after complaints from viewers.
The BBC has heard from a number of viewers who were upset by the incident, which was screened earlier this week.
Fans have watched gay Syed Masood, played by Marc Elliott, struggle with his love for Christian Clarke (John Partridge) in the face of disapproval from his devout family.
Syed was seen to drop the religious text in frustration.
New Delhi, July 22: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned Gujarat Minister Amit Shah, a confidante of Chief Minister Narendra Modi, in connection with the murders of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kauserbi in a police encounter.
Shah, the Minister of State for Home, has to appear before a court in Ahmedabad before 1300 hrs (IST) or else he will be declared a wanted man in the case.
West Bank, July 22: Amnesty International has reiterated its call on Israel to stop the demolition of Palestinian houses and other buildings in the West Bank.
The international rights watchdog on Wednesday condemned the Israeli demolition policy and charged the Israeli regime with removing the Palestinian population from the West Bank through the demolitions.
The current system, which Israel has adopted, of what Palestinians can or cannot build “is unacceptable,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.