Washington, April 30: The Pentagon said on Friday that NATO-led forces were making “tangible progress” in the Afghanistan war, with Taliban insurgents under pressure and forced out of key southern strongholds.
Although the US military acknowledged the battlefield gains were tentative and “fragile”, the cautiously optimistic assessment painted a more positive picture than the Pentagon’s previous reports to Congress.
Cairo, April 30: Forty three people drowned on Friday when a bus on a ferry fell into the Nile River in a southern Egyptian province, state media reported, revising an earlier death toll down from 43.
The official news agency put the death toll at 22, after initially reporting that 43 people died when the ferry capsized.
It said that the bus plunged into the river when the ferry crashed into the shore.
State television reported that rescue workers were looking for more victims and had transferred survivors to hospital.
Tokyo, April 30: A senior nuclear adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan submitted his resignation on Friday, saying the government had ignored his advice and failed to follow the law.
Toshiso Kosako, a Tokyo University professor who was named last month as an advisor to Kan, said the government had only taken ad hoc measures to contain the crisis at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Washington, April 30: Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden had planned to hijack American planes travelling across Southeast Asia and crash them into U.S. military facilities in the region in coordination with 9/11 attacks, according to a secret interrogation report of one of his bodyguards.
Mumbai, April 30: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray Friday challenged Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan to prove allegations that his party had taken Rs.5 billion from 11 corporates to scuttle the 9900-MW Jaitapur nuclear power plant coming up in Ratnagiri district or quit.
Chennai, April 30: Veteran filmmaker K Balachander on Friday became the first filmmaker from Tamil Nadu to receive the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, which was presented by the Indian government for his contribution to Indian cinema. The 80 year old filmmaker said he considered the award as a recognition for his pathbreaking films and his role in introducing several popular artistes in the film industry.
New Delhi, April 30: Home Minister P Chidambaram on Friday said the Gujarat government was duty bound to provide security to police officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who has filed an affidavit implicating Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots.
“I think it is the duty of the state government to ensure his security and that no harm comes to him,” Chidambaram told reporters at his monthly press conference.
He was reacting to reports that security cover of Bhatt has been removed.
Varanasi, April 30: Gandhian Anna Hazare on asked the people for repeat of a sit-in protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar if the government does not pass the Jan Lokpal Bill within the stipulated time.
Addressing an ‘India Against Corruption’ rally here over phone from Pune, he said, “The country has not attained freedom in its true sense yet and we have to fight a second freedom struggle. We are prepared to go to jail for that.”
Hazare said elimination of corruption in the country would start from the day the Jan Lokpal Bill is made into law.
Mumbai, April 30: Despite the Delhi High Court ordering the striking Air India pilots to get back to work and the airline management threatening stern action and declaring a lock-out, the 850-plus agitating pilots today said they will go ahead with the stir and are willing to go the jail.
Hyderabad, April 30: TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao has reiterated that his party would not be merged in any other party. Claiming that it was the biggest party in the Telangana region, he said several surveys have stated that even if elections were held now, the TRS would romp back with majority of seats. When such is the position, where is the question of merging the party in any other party, he questioned. He has appealed to the people not to be carried away by the roumers being created by ill-meaning people.
There is no doubt that social media has revolutionized online communication in the last few years. In just over a few years has Facebook become one of the most popular websites visited on the internet and today has more than 500 million members. If Facebook was a country, then it would have the 3rd largest population in the world.
Washington, April 30: The White House Friday congratulated Britain’s Prince William and his bride Catherine Middleton on their marriage.
The White House wished the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge “a lifetime of happiness together”, Xinhua reported quoting a White House statement.
“On this occasion, the American people extend heartfelt congratulations to the peoples of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth and share in their hopes for a bright future for the Royal couple,” the statement said.
London, April 30: Actress January Jones is pregnant with her first child, but has not revealed who the father of her baby is.
The “Mad Men” actress whose relationship with “Saturday Night Live” star Jason Sudeikis ended in January after around six months of dating is due to give birth to her first child in the autumn, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
“January Jones is happy to announce that she is expecting her first child this fall,’ said her spokesperson.
A friend of the star insisted she is not worried about raising the child alone.
Beijing, April 30: China will launch two unmanned space modules in the second half of this year, a media report said.
The modules, named Tiangong-1 and Shenzhou-8, will take part in the first space docking maneuver ever conducted by Chinese astronauts, said Yang Liwei, deputy head of China’s Manned Space Engineering Office.
The 8.5-tonne Tiangong-1, or “Heavenly Palace 1”, is expected to dock with the unmanned Shenzhou-8 spacecraft, according to China Daily Friday.
Bangalore, April 30: Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Pune Warriors by 26 runs in an Indian Premier League match here on Friday.
Sent into bat, Bangalore made 181 for five and in reply Pune scored 155 for five.
Brief Scores:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 181 for five in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 67, Chris Gayle 49; Alfonso Thomas 2/23, Rohit Sharma 2/27).
Pune Warriors: 155 for five in 20 overs (Jesse Ryder 51, Yuvraj Singh 41).
—-PTi
Ranchi, April 30: Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda yesterday sought an appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to “clarify certain media reports” published today quoting a Union Cabinet minister against the Munda government.
“I have officially requested an appointment from the Prime Minister to know certain reports published in the newspapers. Whether these reports were given in the capacity of Spokesman of the Union Cabinet or any resolution was taken up (in the Union Cabinet) or there is anything like that,” Munda told reporters here.
Cairo, April 30: The US State Department has allowed non-essential staff and their families to return to Egypt and has announced that the embassy in Cairo will resume regular business.
The embassy evacuated staff from Cairo when anti-government protests – which toppled long-time president Hosni Mubarak – broke out in January.
Egyptian daily Al-Ahram reported that there has been recent improvement in the security situation. Security in Luxor, Aswan and in the Red Sea resorts is “very good”, the daily said.
Mumbai, April 29: Actor R Madhavan is having the best time of his career.
After the success of Tanu Weds Manu the actor is looking forward to do something that he hasn’t done before.
You might have seen him in romantic and comic roles but the actor is now bored of playing the same kind of roles. Madhavan wants to do something that Hrithik Roshan has done in Krissh and now Shah Rukh Khan is doing in his forthcoming film Ra.One. The actor wants to play a superhero which he hasn’t done in any of his films.
Gandhinagar, April 29: Two police officers who were summoned by the Gujarat High Court-appointed Special Investigation Team to appear before it for questioning in the Ishrat Jahan staged shootout case failed to turn up Friday.
The duo, Indian Police Service (IPS) officer G.L. Singhal and Deputy Superintendent of Police Tarun Barot summoned on Thursday did not come, a source in the SIT said.
Ahmedabad, April 29: In a bid to provide quality healthcare services about 475 hospitals, including government ones, across the country are gearing up to adopt NABH accreditation, a top medical official said here today.
“Around 85 hospitals have got NABH accreditation so far and about 475 more across the nation are going through various processes to obtain the accreditation,” Quality Council of India Secretary General and CEO NABH Giridhar J Gyani told newsmen.
Mumbai, April 29: Soni Razdan and Mahesh Bhatt to file a legal suit against MeeraPakistani actress Meera had earlier accused Mahesh Bhatt of slapping her. Changing track, on Tuesday, the girl who landed up at the filmmaker’s office declared that she thought of him not only as her Guru but also her boyfriend- in the presence of Emraan Hashmi, Shagufta Rafique, writer of Raaz and Murder and Sevy Ali.
Standing up for her husband, Bhatt’s wife Soni Razdan has decided to take legal action against the Pakistani actress.
Mumbai, April 29: Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra, who donned a bikini in ‘Dostana’, says she is not comfortable going nude.
“When it comes to drawing a line at my individuality…
nudity is something I am not comfortable with,” Priyanka told reporters after launching the book ‘Age of Sinnocence’ at MTV’s Youth Marketing Forum here.
However, the actress said she was open to kiss her female co-stars on screen.
“I would love to kiss an actress on screen…but she should be hot,” she quipped.
London, April 29: Latino actresses Eva Longoria, Rosario Dawson and America Ferrera have met US President Barack Obama to discuss immigration reform.
Musician Emilio Estefan and his TV star niece Lili were also among the stars who Thursday visited the White House, where Obama stressed his commitment to overhaul the immigration policy, reports contactmusic.com.
After the conference, Longoria revealed that Obama had voiced his support for the Dream Act that would help young immigrants become legal and get an affordable education.
Kuala Lumpur, April 29: The government has always been committed in giving priority to women leadership and empowerment programmes to counter the negative perception that Islam discourages women from becoming leaders.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said such a perception was inaccurate because Islam honoured women greatly and empowered them to be successful both in this world and the hereafter.
Chennai, April 29: Tamil movie superstar Rajnikanth was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of St. Isabel Hospital here Friday after a bout of vomiting in the morning, doctors said. He was discharged in the evening.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and his daughter Kanimozhi visited Rajnikanth at the hospital and enquired about his health.
Earlier, speaking to reporters, the actor’s wife Lata Rajnikanth said he had eaten something in the morning and started throwing up.