Month: August 2010

A fatwa against pets by Iranian mullahs

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Tehran, August 28: A fatwa has been issued against pets in Iran, leading the authorities to ban all advertisements for pets, pet food and other pet products.

Islam has a mixed record on animal issues. As with many other faiths, the Qur’an has a tendency towards anthropocentrism. It nevertheless strongly enjoins Muslims to treat animals with compassion and not to abuse them. Animals, together with all of creation, are believed to praise God, even if this praise is not expressed in human language.

The Islamic faith takes a very different view of dogs, compared to cats.

Osama is a US agent: Fidel Castro

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Havana, August 28: Fidel Castro says al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is a bought-and-paid-for CIA agent who always popped up when former president George W Bush needed to scare the world, arguing that documents recently posted on the Internet prove it.

“Any time Bush would stir up fear and make a big speech, bin Laden would appear threatening people with a story about what he was going to do,” Castro told state media during a meeting with a Lithuanian-born writer known for advancing conspiracy theories about world domination.

Woman chops-off nose of eve-teaser

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Islamabad, August 28: A young woman chopped off the nose of a father of four children who had been misbehaving with her in Punjab province of Pakistan today, police said.

Bashir Ahmed, a resident of Behak Dayam village near Sargodha, often misbehaved with 20-year-old Shahnaz Bibi, the daughter of his neighbour.

Shahnaz called Ahmed to a nearby farm today on the pretext of having a chat with him. She then she off cut his nose with a knife and fled.

Ahmed was taken to a nearby hospital. Doctors later sent him to Mayo Hospital in Lahore for specialised treatment.

Taliban attack US base in Afghan east

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Kabul, August 28: Up to 30 Taliban insurgents, including suicide bombers, attacked a US base in Afghanistan’s east on Saturday, officials said, but there were no details available about possible casualties or damage.

The attack began overnight at the well-fortified Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost province near the southeastern border with Pakistan, where US and other foreign forces have been stepping up operations against a resurgent Taliban.

Categories Uncategorised

Taliban attack US base in Afghan east

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Kabul, August 28: Up to 30 Taliban insurgents, including suicide bombers, attacked a US base in Afghanistan’s east on Saturday, officials said, but there were no details available about possible casualties or damage.

The attack began overnight at the well-fortified Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost province near the southeastern border with Pakistan, where US and other foreign forces have been stepping up operations against a resurgent Taliban.

Categories Uncategorised

Taliban attack US base in Afghan east

by

Kabul, August 28: Up to 30 Taliban insurgents, including suicide bombers, attacked a US base in Afghanistan’s east on Saturday, officials said, but there were no details available about possible casualties or damage.

The attack began overnight at the well-fortified Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost province near the southeastern border with Pakistan, where US and other foreign forces have been stepping up operations against a resurgent Taliban.

Categories Uncategorised

Taliban attack US base in Afghan east

by

Kabul, August 28: Up to 30 Taliban insurgents, including suicide bombers, attacked a US base in Afghanistan’s east on Saturday, officials said, but there were no details available about possible casualties or damage.

The attack began overnight at the well-fortified Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost province near the southeastern border with Pakistan, where US and other foreign forces have been stepping up operations against a resurgent Taliban.

Shimla’s historic Ridge develops cracks

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Shimla, August 28: The historic Ridge, which was the only promenade for the British colonial rulers when Shimla was their summer capital and rests on the city’s water supply system, is buckling under human pressure and heavy rains.

Around 40 metres of the Ridge in front of the famous Gaiety Theatre has caved in. The portion is exactly located atop the Tibetan market, a landmark of the town for the past 40 years.

But these cracks do not threaten the entire street at the moment, officials said.

UK minister admits he is gay

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London, August 28: A Conservative minister in Britain revealed Friday he is gay and has separated from his wife.

Crispin Blunt, the Tory MP and prisons minister in the coalition government, said there was nobody else involved and appealed for his family’s privacy to be respected, the Daily Telegraph reported.

“Crispin Blunt wishes to make it known that he has separated from his wife Victoria. He decided to come to terms with his homosexuality and explained the position to his family. The consequence is this separation,” his office said in a statement.

Saina loses in QF

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Paris, August 28: India’s hopes for a World badminton Championships title were doused today with the loss of ace shuttler Saina Nehwal to sixth seed Chinese Shixian Wang 8-21, 14-21 in the quarterfinals. World Number 2 Nehwal was simply outplayed by her opponent in the short encounter.

Nehwal was taken aback with Wang’s domination of the game from the word go and she could never recover from the early blows, losing the first set quickly and could not muster a fight back in the second set.

I am very settled and happy in life

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Mumbai, August 28: After going public on his much written about love life and admitting that he has “broken up with Katrina”, Salman seems to be perfectly in sync with his life.

Talking to a news daily on his professional life, a moody Salman said, “I am very settled and happy in life. As far as my professional life is concerned, I have reached a phase where I don’t need to worry about my career. I have been around for 20 years now.”

Pak thanks UAE for flood relief

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Islamabad, August 28: Pakistan has expressed gratitude to the leadership of United Arab Emirates for standing beside Pakistani people in the country’s worst floods that killed about 1,600 people and affected more than 20 million.

At a meeting with UAE’s ambassador to Pakistan Ali Saif Sultan Al Awani Thursday, Information and Broadcasting Minister Kamarulzaman Kayra also briefed him on the current situation in the flood-hit areas and the relief efforts on ground.

Maoist woman squad member surrenders

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Kolkata, August 28: A woman squad member of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) active in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district surrendered Friday, the second Leftwing rebel to do so in as many days, police said.

Sobha Mandi is the second Maoist cadre and the first woman in the state to surrender after the state government put in place its revamped surrender policy.

No Indian movies in Pak cinemas on Eid

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Islamabad, August 28: The Pakistani government has decided against allowing any new Indian film to be released in cinemas on Eid following demands from the local film industry.

Federal Minister for Culture Pir Aftab Shah Jillani said the decision had been taken to support the local film industry.

‘If more Pakistani films are released, the industry might be able to sustain in Pakistan,’ he said.

After the ebb in cultural activities in the month of Ramadan, Eid is considered an occasion to revive it.

Hilton is not an artiste: Gaga

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London, August 28: Pop star Lady Gaga has blasted her old schoolmate Paris Hilton, insisting she doesn’t see the socialite as an artiste.

The 24-year-old went to New York’s Convent Of The Sacred Heart as a child along with heiresses Paris, 29, and Nicky Hilton, 26. However, she said they are very different despite going to the same school.

“I don’t see Paris as an artiste,” dailystar.co.uk quoted Gaga as saying.

Three villages damaged in Iran quake

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Tehran, August 28: An earthquake rattled the northeastern Iranian province of Semnan, damaging three villages and injuring several villagers late Friday, state media reported.

The quake with a magnitude of 5.9 on the Richter scale shook several villages near the provincial city of Damqan and was felt in the capital Tehran.

China asks airline to change name after plane crash

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Beijing, August 28: China’s Henan province has asked the commercial carrier whose plane crashed during landing, killing 42 people Tuesday, not to use the word “Henan” in its name in a bid to protect the province’s image.

The Henan Administration for Industry and Commerce announced late Friday that it has ordered a change of name of the airline back to Kunpeng Airlines, which had been changed to Henan Airlines in September 2009, Xinhua reported.

Officials said the name misled the public and tarnished the province’s image.

Microsoft co-founder sues 11 companies

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New York, August 28: A company owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has filed a complaint in a US court against 11 companies, accusing them of patent infringement.

The Interval Licensing LLC Friday filed the complaint in the district court in Seattle against Apple, Google, AOL, eBay, Facebook, Netflix, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Staples, Yahoo and YouTube.

The patents in the lawsuit cover fundamental web technologies first developed at Interval Research, a now defunct business founded by Allen and David Liddle in 1992, Xinhua reported citing a Interval Licensing statement.

Falling coconut kills Colombian man

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Bogota, August 28: A man died after a falling coconut hit him on the head while he was relaxing in the shade of a coconut palm in the Colombian town of Melgar.

Jose Abelino Ramirez, 69, was resting in a rocking chair Thursday, as he did every afternoon, when a coconut fell from a 12-metre-tall palm tree outside his home.

The autopsy found that Ramirez suffered injuries to the skull and brain that caused his death.

Probe launched against HIV-infected US sergeant

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Washington, August 28: Authorities in the US have launched a probe against an Air Force sergeant infected with HIV for allegedly failing to inform a “multitude of sexual partners” about his medical status, a media report said.

The Air Force Office of Special Investigations launched a criminal probe after receiving information that Sgt. David Gutierrez, 43, “engaged in numerous, unprotected sexual acts over the course of three years”, Fox News reported Friday.

I can’t do films where I just look pretty: Kareena

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Mumbai, August 28: Bollywood star actress Kareena Kapoor feels she has managed to strike the right balance between commercial and meaningful cinema. Hailing from an illustrious film family, she says she can’t do films where she only has to dance around trees.

“I enjoy acting. Acting is in my blood, it is in my genes, it is in my DNA and you can see that on screen I like doing different roles. I can’t do just those films where I am looking pretty and sing and dance around trees. I want to act,” Kareena told IANS in an interview.

Spain is world leader in organ transplants

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Madrid, August 28: Spain conducted over 4,000 transplants in 2009, making it the world leader in the field of organ transplants.

This has been declared in the 2010 edition of the EU’s newsletter Transplant, which will be released in early September, though part of its content was revealed Friday by Spain’s health and social policy ministry.

“Transplant activity in Spain, which retains its world leadership in this field, continues to grow in a sustained manner, basically thanks to donations from family members of elderly people who have died,” the report said.

Embattled airline Mexicana to stop flying

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Mexico City, August 28: Mexicana, Mexico’s largest airline by passengers carried, will halt all flights Saturday, Transportation Minister Juan Molinar Horcasitas announced in Mexico City.

The action was announced after Tenedora K, an investor group that has acquired most of the embattled carrier’s shares, announced that it was still seeking additional investors. The newspaper El Universal quoted Horcasitas as saying Friday that Tenedora K could not keep Compania Mexicana de Aviacion afloat by itself.

No money from Iran, Hamas for Ground Zero Mosque

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Washington, August 28: Sharif El-Gamal, the developer behind the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque,” told media News in an interview last night that the backers of the project will not take money from “organizations that have un-American values.”

“We will not take money from Iran. We will not take money from Hamas,” said El-Gamal of the funding for the project, a proposed Islamic cultural center two blocks from the former site of the World Trade Center called Park51.

Keep Friday sermons short: Imams

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Riyadh, August 28: The Ministry of Islamic Affairs in Saudi Arabia has ordered Imams not to deliver lengthy Friday sermons.

The order also stressed that those who do not keep their sermons short and meaningful will be punished.

Dr Azam Al Shewair, Chief of the Committee for the Assessment of Imams and Khateebs at the ministry’s branch in Riyadh, said the Imams who ignore the ministry’s instructions will be forced to undergo training. If they repeat the offence, they will get a final warning and their salaries will be cut.