Month: January 2011

Man arrested with explosives at US mosque

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Chicago, January 31: A man found with explosives outside one of the nation’s largest mosques in suburban Detroit is in jail facing felony charges, police said.

Roger Stockham, 63, of California, was arrested with explosives last Monday outside the Islamic Centre of America in Dearborn, Michigan, and faces felony charges that carry up to 35 years in prison, Dearborn police said by phone.

Stockham was arraigned on January 26 on one felony count of making a false report or terrorist threat and one count of possessing explosives with unlawful intent.

India among most corrupt countries: Advani

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New Delhi, January 31: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader LK Advani on Sunday said India had slipped three points to the 87th spot in worldwide transparency and corruption index. He attributed the fall to alleged corrupt practices in the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG).

Train crash in Germany kills 10, injures 33

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Berlin, January 31: A head-on train crash in eastern Germany killed 10 people and injured at least 33 others, eight of them severely, local firefighters said on Sunday.

A passenger and a cargo train crashed head-on near Hordorf village, close to Saxony-Anhalt’s state capital Magdeburg, and several train cars derailed and overturned, a spokesman for the district’s firefighters said. He declined to be named in line with department policy.

Shiv Sena plans to start union for DJs

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Mumbai, January 31: Disc Jockeys can now raise their voice through Shiv Sena which has formed an organisation to bring them together.

A cine wing of the party, Maharashtra Cinema and Television Sena has set up a federation for DJs to solve their issues.

“There are about 50,000 DJs in the country and we are bringing them together for the first time. We want to solve their problems and give them professional security like licences and identity cards,” the President of the Cinema Sena Akshay Bardapurkar said.

Muslims not getting justice: Digvijay

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Bhopal, January 31: Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh on Sunday said “a feeling” was developing among Muslims that justice was not being done to them, due to several reasons.

“We should take the responsibility for this and should not have any problem in accepting it,” he told a news agency here.

Singh said Hindus were in a majority in India and it was their responsibility to ensure that Muslims develop belief that this country was theirs too.

“Muslims must be made to feel that they would get justice in this country and no wrong would ever be done to them,” he said.

Tagging of Indian students unacceptable: SM Krishna

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Bangalore, January 31: India on Sunday slammed the US authorities for tagging some Indian students duped by a ‘sham’ university in California.

“The way some of the students have been treated by authorities is unacceptable,” External Affairs Minister SM Krishna told reporters here.

“In the opinion of the government of India the developments were unavoidable and adding insult to injury,” he said.

Krishna told the US that it “must realise the tremendous stakes involved in higher education, in interaction between our two countries in higher education.”

US move of tagging Indian students unacceptable: Krishna

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Bangalore, January 31:India Sunday slammed the US authorities for tagging some Indian students duped by a ‘sham’ university in California.

“The way some of the students have been treated by authorities is unacceptable,” Krishna told reporters here.

“In the opinion of the government of India the developments were unavoidable and adding insult to injury,” he said.

Krishna told the US that it “must realize the tremendous stakes involved in higher education, in interaction between our two countries in higher education.”

300 Indians returning from Egypt Monday

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New Delhi, January 31:Amid political upheaval in Egypt, around 300 Indians, mostly women and children, are returning to India early Monday morning aboard a special flight of Air India.

“The government has arranged a special Air India flight at the request of the Indian community in Egypt in view of the prevailing conditions there,” the external affairs ministry said in a statement.

“The special flight will carry 300 Indians, mainly women and children. The arrangements are being supervised by the Indian embassy in Cairo,” the ministry said.

10 members of Colombian soccer team injured in accident

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Bogota, January 31: Eight players, the coach and assistant coach of a second-division soccer club in Colombia were injured when their bus overturned in a rural area in the northeastern part of the country.

The vehicle – carrying the members of the Alianza Petrolera club – flipped over near San Alberto town on way to Barrancabermeja in Santander province.

Sunday’s accident was apparently caused due to excessive speeding, Santander highway patrol chief Col. John Fredy Suarez said.

The men were returning from Tunja, where they had played a match Saturday afternoon.

Halliwell hopes to convince Posh for Olympics gig

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London, January 31:Singer Geri Halliwell hopes to convince former Spice Girls bandmember Victoria Beckham for a performance at next year’s Olympics Games.

Apart from Halliwell, Melanie Chisholm, Melanie Brown and Emma Bunton are also on board.

“It would be an amazing privilege to represent our country in 2012. So we’ll discuss it with Victoria and see what she thinks,” mirror.co.uk quoted Halliwell as saying.

——-IANS

Reid wants Price to buy him a posh flat

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London, January 31:Cage fighter Alex Reid has reportedly said he will leave estranged wife Katie Price’s house only if she buys him a posh flat.

“He has told her he will accept a flat to leave, but there would still be other financial issues to discuss,” thesun.co.uk quoted a family friend as saying.

Meanwhile, the former couple is reportedly communicating only by text messages, despite living together.

———–IANS

10,000 people evacuated after fire in Venezuela arms depot

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Caracas, January 31:Around 10,000 people had to be evacuated after a fire broke out in an arms depot in Venezuela, killing at least one person, officials said.

The fire broke out Sunday in the Anonymous Venezuelan Campaign of Military Industries in Maracy city in Aragua state, Xinhua reported.

Aragua Governor Rafael Isea said the victim was a woman.

“Apparently she was exposed to the explosion (in the arms depot),” Isea said.

Isea added that the people living in the area were evacuated for their own safety.

Pattinson, Stewart love riding bicycles

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London, January 31: “Twilight” co-stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart love riding bicycles.

The two actors, who are rumoured to be dating, have been spotted riding their bikes together around Louisiana when not filming their scenes for the upcoming “Twilight” movies.

“I see Rob and Kristen riding around the parking lot almost daily,” showbizspy.com quoted a source as saying.

“Recently I spotted Rob riding out of the main studio gates on his bike and the next thing I knew, he was in front of my car at a stop sign, and Kristen was behind me,” the source added.

Obama speaks with foreign leaders on Egypt situation

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Washington, January 31:US President Barack Obama has spoken with leaders from Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Britain on the present situation in Egypt, the White House said.

Obama spoke to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi King Abdullah Saturday, and to British Prime Minister David Cameron Sunday, Xinhua reported citing a White House statement.

In his calls, Obama reiterated his opposition to violence.

Matt Damon feels he’s lucky

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London, January 31: Actor Matt Damon is grateful for the opportunities he has got in his career and says luck has also played an important part.

“I like to think that my choices matter, but I’ve had so much luck in my life that it leaves me wondering,” contactmusic.com quoted him as saying.

“It’s all those things that you wish for at the time and then you realise, thank God that didn’t happen for me because things worked out so much better.”

“Looking back at myself at 20 going on auditions, I’m so lucky that I didn’t get those parts,” he said.

Mulligan is brilliant at crying: Knightley

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London, January 31:Actress Keira Knightley has revealed that her “Never Let Me Go” co-star Carey Mulligan is brilliant when it comes to enacting a crying scene.

Knightley said Mulligan, who plays Kathy in the big screen adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, was “on another level”, reports digitalspy.co.uk.

“It was like clockwork. I’ve never seen anything like it. Actually, no. Sienna Miller can do the same thing. It’s astonishing,” she said.

“I had to say to [Mulligan] after every scene ‘I’m just so sorry.’ She’d say ‘It’s all right. It’s pretend,” she added.

Bangladesh to get $63 mn loan from Kuwait

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Dhaka, January 31:Bangladesh will receive $63 million in loan from Kuwait for help in a power project and to achieve food security in the country, a statement said.

The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) approved the loan Sunday under an agreement signed in Dhaka between itself and the Economic Relations Division of Bangladesh’s finance ministry, Xinhua reported citing a ministry release.

Brittany Murphy’s house up for grabs

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Los Angeles, Jan 31 (IANS) Late actress Brittany Murphy’s house, located at Hollywood Hills, is set to go under the hammer.

The house, where the “Clueless” star and her husband Simon Monjack died, is 8,000 square feet in area. It has had a long history since Murphy passed away in December 2009. Back in March 2010, her mom Sharon put the home on the market with an asking price of $7.25 million, reports tmz.com.

Jennifer Aniston loves knitting

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London, January 31: Actress Jennifer Aniston loves knitting and creates her own hats and scarves.

The actress was gifted a basket of wool and some special needles recently, and is now making the most of her new hobby to create new items for her wardrobe.

“I’ve been knitting a lot lately. My make-up artist gave me a basket of needles and yarn as a present and I just said, ‘Alright, I can do this. I did it in school.’ Now, I’m loving it,” contactmusic.com quoted her as saying.

“I’ve knitted a couple of hats and a couple of scarves and I’m starting on my first poncho,” she added.

Chhattisgarh journalists protest colleagues’ killings

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Raipur, January 30:Dozens of media persons staged a sit-in Sunday here to protest the killings of two mainline journalists in the state in recent weeks.

Nearly 100 journalists gathered outside Raipur Press Club complex in the heart of the city for the protest. They expressed concern over rising attacks on journalists in the state and police failures to track down the attackers.

2,500 quintal rice for mid-day meal recovered from mill

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Etah, January 30:About 2,500 quintal of rice meant for mid-day meal scheme was recovered when police raided a closed mill here.

Four workers present at the mill were arrested yesterday, but the owner managed to escape, police said, adding that they have seized Rs 46,000 in cash from the mill.

–PTI

Amit Jogi arrested for violating ban on gathering

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Raipur, January 30:Amit Jogi, son of Congress leader and Chhattisgarh’s former chief minister Ajit Jogi, was arrested Sunday in the state’s Raigarh district for violating ban on assembly of five or more people.

Jogi was arrested at Hati village on way to Dharmajaygarh town, about 300 km from here, where he planneed to lead a protest Monday against a public hearing for aluminium major BALCO.

US wants orderly transition of power in Egypt

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Washington, January 30:The US wants to see an orderly transition of power in Egypt, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday.

Tens of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators thronged the streets of Egypt’s main cities for a sixth day Sunday, defying curfews and a heavy military presence, demanding that President Hosni Mubarak step down.

Centre on alert over Karmapa issue: Shinde

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Jammu, January 30:Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde today said the government was on alert in connection with the recovery of huge foreign currency in the 17th Ugyen Trinley Dorje Karmapa’s transit home in Dharamsala.

“Do not worry, Government of India is alert on this issue. They are doing the job in this regard,” Shinde said, addressing a rally of Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) at Muthi here.

“All precautions have been taken and it will be further taken in order to meet the security aspects. There would be no security lax,” he said.

British period coins found in Sri Kalahasti

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Tirupati, January 30:About 1,800 coins bearing the image of Queen Victoria, believed to be about 120 years old, were seized from three fishermen in Sri Kalahasti, 40 km from here, revenue officials said today.

The seized coins, dating back to 1891, are believed to be made of brass and weigh a combined three-and-a-half kg, the officials said.

The fishermen were trying to sell the coins to a pawn broker in Sri Kalahasti when they were detained, they said.