Tripoli, March 03: Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi has warned of a “bloodbath” and a “very long war” in the country if the West decides to take direct military action against his regime.
“If the Americans or the West want to enter Libya they must know it will be hell and a bloodbath worse than Iraq,” Gaddafi as said in a live address on the state television on Wednesday.
The Libyan ruler said it is not “at all in their interest to shake the Libyan regime.”
London, March 03: Teen sensation Justin Bieber’s hair has reportedly become a hot item on auction website eBay.com as bids pass $12,000.
The pop superstar had cut his famous hair last month and he is offering his locks to various charities in an effort to help them raise money, reports contactmusic.com.
Bieber had handed his locks to chat show host Ellen DeGeneres, when he appeared on his show.
DeGeneres plans to hand over the proceeds from the hair auction to California animal rescue centre The Gentle Barn.
–IANS–
Bangalore, March 03: A distraught English skipper Andrew Strauss late Wednesday was gracious to acknowledge that minnows Ireland fully deserved victory in their Group B encounter in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 at the Chinnaswamy stadium here.
“Though I am shocked and bitterly disappointed over the defeat, Ireland fully deserved the victory for way they fought against us and chased the big score (327) with an extraordinary batting by Kevin O’Brien, who snatched the game away from us,” Strauss told reporters after Ireland beat favourites England by three wickets in 49.1 overs.
Bangalore, March 03: A sensational victory over England emboldened minnows Ireland to put co-hosts India on notice in their next Group B encounter Sunday in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.
“This dramatic victory has given us more confidence to play the next match against India with full potential. We will have to win every match hereafter if we have to move into the second round,” an elated Irish skipper William Porterfield told reporters here Wednesday after beating England by three wickets chasing an imposing 327 runs.
London, March 03: British comedian Russell Brand and Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle are reportedly teaming up for a soccer-based film.
“Russell told Danny what a fan of his work he is, Danny admitted he’s a fan of Russell’s stand-up and they talked about working together,” contactmusic.com quoted a source as saying.
“They’d love to make a film about football. Danny’s secret wish is to film ‘365 Days In The Life Of Bury FC’. Russ loved that,” he added.
–IANS–
United Nations, March 03: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the assassination of Pakistan’s only Christian minister, calling him a “prominent advocate” for minority rights.
A statement, released here Wednesday by Ban’s spokesperson Martin Nesirky, called Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti a “prominent advocate” for minority rights and a promoter of inter-faith understanding, Xinhua reported.
New York, March 03: Charlie Sheen has been forced to surrender the custody of his kids after the actor’s estranged wife Brooke Mueller obtained a restraining order against him.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge granted Mueller restraining order based on recent allegations that Sheen was physically and verbally abusive to Mueller.
“I am very concerned that (Sheen) is currently insane. I am in great fear that he will find me and attack me and I am in great fear for the children’s safety while in his care,” Mueller said in her court documents.
London, March 03: Actor Matt Damon who married Luciana Bozán Barroso in 2003 says meeting his wife in a bar made him sure they were destined to be togaether for long.
“I had never really hung out in Miami and one night in the middle of the shoot, the crew, a couple guys, said, ‘We’re going to get a beer somewhere.’ I said, ‘I’m not really into it.’ They said, ‘Come on,’ and kind of dragged me along,” contactmusic.com quoted him as saying.
London, March 03: Actor Robert Pattinson has revealed he’s a big fan of troubled star Charlie Sheen and rarely misses his sitcom “Two And A Half Men”.
“I never change the channel in my trailer. I just watch re-runs of ‘Two and a Half Men’,” contactmusic.com quoted him as saying.
Pattinson has recently posed in wetlands with an alligator on his shoulders for the cover of the magazine Vanity Fair’s April edition.
–IANS–
Nanded, March 03: The famous Sikh pilgrim city of Nanded and surrounding areas were rocked by a quake early Thursday, forcing people to come out on the streets, police said.
The quake measuring 3.27 on the Richter Scale shook the district at 3.17 a.m.
As people were forced to run out of their homes, there were at least 17 aftershocks since then but of lower intensity, a police official said.
Frankfurt, March 03: A gunman shot dead two US soldiers and injured two people seriously in a US Army bus at Frankfurt airport Wednesday, said Boris Rhein, interior minister for the state of Hesse.
The gunman was apparently a Kosovo national, he said.
Security round the airport has been tightened and an investigation is under way, Rhein said.
“Whether the incident was linked to terrorism I cannot say at this stage,” he told journalists.
A spokesman for Frankfurt airport operator Fraport said the shooting took place in a U.S. Army bus in front of Terminal 2.
Los Angeles, March 03: Actress Kate Winslet has revealed that she was once teased for being chubby.
“I will tell you that when I was heavy, people would say to me — and it was such a backhanded compliment — they would say, ‘You’ve got such a beautiful face’, in the way of, like, ‘Oh, isn’t it a shame that from the neck down you’re questionable’,” Winslet told Glamour magazine.
According to usmagazine.com, the actress also denies ever going under the knife.
Mumbai, March 03: Singing legend Asha Bhosle is ready to don a new role. She is making her acting debut in a Hindi film at the age of 77.
Acting, she says, will not be a challenge because it runs in her family and singing too involves a certain degree of acting.
New Delhi, March 03: He was just 33 years old when he found himself at the helm of a Delhi University college whose financial and administrative systems had collapsed and which had the dubious distinction of principals being ousted by student agitations. But a determined Rajendra Prasad, who completed 25 years in office last year, took it upon himself to make Ramjas College a top institution.
Appointed as principal in 1985, Prasad recalled those terrible days when there was no alignment between the administration and students.
New Delhi, March 03: The Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter fleet is all set to get a boost during the next nine years with plans for inducting 300 attack, transport and observation choppers in advanced stages of implementation in deals worth $5.5 billion.
Among the new choppers to be inducted will be 12 VVIP transports, 22 attack, 15 heavy-lift, 130 medium-lift and 120 light utility helicopters of varying types, sizes and capabilities.
Mohali, March 03: The Netherlands won the toss and decided to field against South Africa in a World Cup Group B match here Thursday.
The Dutch are playing the same eleven from the last match while South Africa picked Morne Van Wyk in place of spinner Johan Botha.
Teams:
The Netherlands: Peter Borren (captain) Alexei Kervezee, Wesley Barresi, Tom Cooper, Ryan ten Doeschate, Bas Zuiderent, Tom de Grooth, Mudassar Bukhari, Pieter Seelaar, Bernard Loots, Berend Westdijk.
Patna, March 03: Greenpeace India, the environment protection organisation, has charged Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led coalition government in Bihar with going back on its promises, especially on renewable energy.
The group has said that the government, enjoying a huge majority in the state assembly, should have taken brave and visionary steps towards ending energy starvation in the state.
Greenpeace India raised the charge in its reaction to the Bihar state budget presented Feb 25 which, the group said, reflected the government’s apathy to the issue of renewable energy.
Toronto, March 03: Expressing his shock over the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s minister of minorities, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper Wednesday asked Pakistan to prevent the misuse of anti-blasphemy laws.
Bhatti, a Roman Catholic, was killed for speaking out against Pakistan’s blasphemy laws which have been misused against the country’s minorities, mostly Christians.
Shimla, March 03: Thirty-two members of a marriage party were killed when the vehicle they were travelling in fell into a gorge in Himachal Pradesh’ Chamba district, police said Thursday. In a separate accident, seven people died when their SUV rolled into another gorge in the same district.
The members of the marriage party were killed when their mini truck (Tata 407) carrying 35 to 40 people fell into a 300-metre-deep gorge near the Chamera dam, some 45 km from district headquarters Chamba, Superintendent of Police Madhu Sudan told IANS on phone from the spot.
Islamabad, March 03: Militants gunned down the only Christian in Pakistan’s government outside his widowed mother’s home, the second assassination in two months of a high-profile opponent of laws that impose the death penalty for insulting Islam.
Shahbaz Bhatti was aware of the danger he faced, saying in a videotaped message that he had received death threats from al-Qaida and the Taliban. In it, the 42-year-old Roman Catholic said he was “ready to die” for the country’s often persecuted Christian and other non-Muslim minorities.
Benghazi, March 03: The final figure of those killed in the ongoing clashes between forces loyal to the Gaddafi regime and pro-democracy protesters is 6,500, Gulf News has learned.
An informed source has told Gulf News that according to the transitional national council, the latest death toll in the clashes in country stands at 6,500.
Meanwhile, clashes continued across Libya on Tuesday as forces loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi fought to regain control over areas taken over by protesters.
New Delhi, March 02: Guru Govind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) will now be introducing three new courses – MBA ( Hospitality Management ), MBA ( Financial Market ) and BBA ( Finanacial Market)- from the academic session 2011-12.
London, March 02: The London School of Economics (LSE) said on Tuesday it was looking into claims that Colonel Muammer Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, had plagiarised his doctorate thesis.
“LSE is aware that there are allegations of plagiarism concerning the PhD thesis of Saif Gaddafi,” the university said in a statement.
“The School takes all allegations of plagiarism very seriously, and is looking into the matter in accordance with standard LSE procedures.”
Saif al-Islam studied at the LSE between 2003 and 2008 and left with a Master of Science degree and a doctorate.
Toronto, March 02: Canada’s world-famous McGill University, which is the first-choice destination for Indian and other foreign students seeking to study in this country, faces fine for 900 percent hike in tuition fee for its MBA programme.
The Montreal-based university had announced last spring to raise the tuition fee from $1,673 per semester to $29,500 a year for its two-year MBA programme.
While students earned an MBA degree until now by paying just about $6700, they will now have to shell out $59,000 to earn the degree.
New Delhi, March 02: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) examinations started on Tuesday on a disappointing note to many, with several class-12 students complaining that the physics paper was too lengthy to finish in three hours.
According to students, the physics paper, though easy, could not be completed as the questions marked 2 and 5 were a bit too lengthy.
“The paper was easy but lengthy and I could attempt only 70 percent of the questions,” said a nervous looking Ankit Kumar, a student of Kendriya Vidyalaya Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in the capital.