Bushehr (Iran), August 21: Iran’s first nuclear power plant was opened Saturday by Iranian and Russian nuclear officials in the southern port city of Bushehr after a delay of almost three decades.
With the opening of the Russian-built plant, the 82 tonnes of nuclear fuel that were already delivered to Iran by Russia were unsealed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and kept in an outdoor “fuel pool” near the reactor.
Mumbai, August 21: Gangster star, Shiney Ahuja is all set to return to limelight with the fourth season of ‘reality’ show ‘Big Boss’ this year.
If buzz is to be believed, Shiney has been approached by the channel but things aren’t yet clear if he has agreed to be a part of the show. His entry into the Bigg Boss’s house, will surely make the show very interesting.
Ever since he was charged for raping his housemaid, Shiney has been keeping a low profile. He is not even being supported by the film industry. Hardly anyone is willing to work with the actor.
Washington, August 21: Israel and the Palestinians are set to resume direct peace talks in Washington, DC in early September with the aim of reaching a deal within a year to create an independent Palestinian state, US officials have announced.
In the first direct talks in 20 months, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas will meet face-to-face in Washington on September 2 with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Toronto, August 21: Canada’s Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University here plans to offer its world class courses to Indian students and forge tie-ups with Indian universities.
Currently Indian origin students account for about 10 percent of the enrolment at the Ted Rogers School of Management, which is Canada’s largest undergraduate management school and sits right in the heart of the country’s financial hub here.
Mumbai, August 21: India has drafted in health workers from Medecins Sans Frontieres to help tackle what they said Friday was a record number of malaria cases in the country’s financial capital, Mumbai.
The organisation said it was responding to a request from the local health ministry “to reinforce the supply of treatment”, including for the most deadly form of the disease, which has struck 10 to 15 percent of victims.
Hyderabad, August 21: Congress MLA Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy on Friday said that the very people whose political careers were built by former chief minister late YS Rajasekhara Reddy have now turned against his son YS Jaganmohan Reddy solely with an eye on Cabinet posts.
The MLA told media persons in Assembly premises that these ‘vested interests’ are conniving with each other to send wrong signals to the party High Command over the Odarpu Yatra.
Hyderabad, August 20: Praja Rajyam Party spokesperson Vasireddy Padma on Friday stated she was withdrawing her letter to the party disciplinary committee in which she complained against her colleague Shobha Rani.
Ms Padma told media persons that her withdrawal of the letter comes after the personal request of party president K Chiranjeevi.
She said that all the bad blood between her and Shobha Rani was now a thing of the past with the interceding of Mr Chiranjeevi and she now has no grouse left.
Melbourne, August 21: An Austrian couple having sex in the street were busted by police after neighbors thought a crime was being committed outside their homes.
Linz police arrested the 18-year-olds spotted making love in the middle of the road after neighbors heard groans and screams around 4:30 a.m., the Austrian Times reports.
Police said they were only going to reprimand the heavily intoxicated pair until they attacked officers. Instead, they were arrested and taken into custody for 24 hours. It was unclear if they were charged with a crime
–Agencies–
Oslo, August 21: A Norwegian administrative court on Friday said a ban on police women wearing the Islamic headscarf was illegal, in response to a government refusal last year to allow officers to don the hijab.
The Norwegian Equality Tribunal said in a non-binding opinion that the ban ran counter to the country’s freedom of religion and anti-discrimination laws by depriving a whole category of women from access to the police profession.
“The official objective is for the police to mirror Norwegian society as a whole,” the tribunal wrote in its ruling.
Kabul, August 21: The prospect of bringing the Taliban to the bargaining table is raising fears that the rights of girls and women in Afghanistan will be sacrificed.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was in Kabul last month, promised they would not be bargained away in any peace settlement with the Taliban.
But President Karzai asks, “if you had to choose between saving a girl’s life or enabling her to go to school, which would you do first?”
Chennai, August 21: Has your well-fed pet cat suddenly gone missing? For all you know, your feline friend might have ended up as the toast of a gypsy-wedding feast – off your rugs and onto their plates.
Cat meat is a delicacy for us, says Shyama of the Narikuravar (Gypsy) settlement in Kotturpuram. At their marriage feasts, ‘Cat Biriyani’ is the main course! “For special occasions, we go for cats from rich houses that wander out in the mornings. They are the best fed. The quantity and quality is very good.”
Washington, August 21: Astronomers have declared that the moon is shrinking after spotting wrinkles all over the lunar surface. The tell-tale contraction marks were discovered by US scientists who examined thousands of photographs of the moon’s surface taken by a Nasa orbiter.
Some of the wrinkles are several miles long and rise tens of metres above the dusty terrain. Researchers believe they arise from the moon decreasing in size by around 200 metres across its diameter. The moon’s mean diameter is generally calculated to be 2,159 miles.
New York, August 21: The wife of the cleric of the controversial mosque to be built at Ground Zero here has said that they will not back down in the ongoing debate to build the place of worship near the site of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Centre.
“We have too important a moment to back down. We have to take our opponents and transform them,” Daisy Khan, the wife of imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, said.
Michigan, August 21: The first Muslim crowned Miss USA spoke out against the planned mosque near Ground Zero yesterday, saying the project is insensitive to 9/11 victims.
“We should be more concerned with the tragedy than religion,” said Miss USA Rima Fakih, who was born in Lebanon but raised in Dearborn, Michigan.
“I totally agree with President Obama with the statement on Constitutional rights of freedom of religion,” Fakih told.
“I also agree that it shouldn’t be so close to the World Trade Center.”
New Delhi, August 21: Lalu Prasad was the ‘Prime Minister’ and Gopinath Munde was the ‘Speaker’.
This was the scene in the Lok Sabha after it was adjourned for the day in view of uproar created by members over salary hike demand and protest of passage of Indian Medical council Bill without discussion.
As soon as Deputy Speaker Karia Munda adjourned the House, members from RJD, SP, BJP staged a dharna inside the well.
Later they staged a mock session in which Munde, Deputy Leader of BJP, became the Speaker and RJD chief Prasad posed as the Prime Minister.
New York, August 21: The furor over the planned mosque and Islamic center near ground zero has put Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf in a curious position: At the same time he is being vilified in the U.S. for spearheading the project, he is traveling the Mideast on a State Department mission as a symbol of American religious freedom.
Some the imam’s American critics said they fear he is using the taxpayer-funded trip to raise money and rally support in the Muslim world for the mosque.
Mumbai, August 21: She is young and raring to go. Deepika Padukone says she is hardly content with what she does and even though she has managed seven films in her three-year-old Bollywood career, she wants a lot more.
“I live life on my own terms. I have certain goals that I have set for myself, I want to achieve those goals and I expect a lot from myself. I’m extremely ambitious and I will not stop for anything or anybody. I am a go-getter and I am very rarely satisfied with what I do,” Deepika told IANS.
New York, August 21: Number one Serena Williams Friday blamed a mysterious summer foot injury with forcing her withdrawal from the US Open.
The American, who has not played since winning the Wimbledon title last month, cut her right foot in Europe – reportedly at a Munich restaurant – under circumstances that have yet to be fully explained.
She underwent surgery and had hoped to be fit for the final major of the season starting a week from Monday.
London, August 21: An eight-year-old girl who wanted to pet a Japanese Akita received 175 stitches in her face and head after she was mauled by the dog in West Yorkshire, a media report said.
Sky Barker was playing in Rastrick, West Yorkshire, last Thursday when she asked the owner of a fearsome Japanese Akita if she could pet the animal.
However horror struck when the dog – which was tied to a wall – leapt forward and grabbed her head in its mouth as she approached, Daily Mail reported on its website Friday.
New Delhi, August 21: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has recommended the use of 10-digit numbers for fixed-line phones by December 2011. At present, only mobile phone numbers have 10 digits, while fixed-line phones have eight.
Washington, August 21: A new poll in the United States shows that a majority of US citizens oppose the war in Afghanistan, nearly nine years after US-led NATO and coalition forces attacked the country.
Six out of ten US citizens are dissatisfied with Washington’s handling of the Afghan war, according to an media poll conducted from August 11 to 16 and published on the website on Friday.
Nearly half of US citizens believe that no progress has been achieved despite the troop surge last fall.
Jerusalem, August 21: On Friday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called the US invitation misleading and said the new US plan is not acceptable because it does not serve the interests of the Palestinian people.
“Hamas rejects the American call for the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The Palestinian people will not feel bound by the results of this misleading invitation,” Abu Zuhri told.
New Delhi, August 21: The water level in the Yamuna river has crossed the danger mark in the capital, posing a threat to low-lying areas, an official said late Friday night.
The water level has just crossed the danger level of 204.8 metres.
The level has increased to a centimetre above the danger mark, and is expected to rise further, an official said.
An alert has been sounded among colonies in the low-lying areas.
Italy, August 21: A growing number of Italian women are undergoing surgery to remodel their genitals and boost their sex lives, an expert has said.
In a sign of rising popularity of these operations, the final of the 2010 Italy’s Miss Cosmetic Surgery contest scheduled Friday in Adriatic coastal resort of Rimini includes a ‘Vaginoplasty’ section.
Vaginoplasty, or rejuvenation and remodelling of the vagina through laser surgery is especially popular with women who have had children or older women, according to surgeon Alessandro Littara.
Italy, August 21: The escort who revealed she spent the night with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has claimed she was held prisoner and gang-raped by a businessman and two other guests at his villa.
Patrizia D’Addario alleges local businessman and chairman of a minor league soccer team, Salvatore De Lorenzis, held her against her will at the villa in the southern Puglia region from Monday to Thursday.
High on drugs, De Lorenzis repeatedly attacked her together with two other guests and filmed the rapes, D’Addario alleges.