Month: May 2011

Barcelona to fine bikini-wearers on the streets

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Madrid, May 01: Tourists in Barcelona who wander off the beach onto the streets in just their swimming costumes — or even less — will now face stiff fines.

The city hall voted yesterday to ban “nudity or virtual nudity in public places” and limit swimming costumes to swimming pools, beaches, adjacent roads and beach walks.

Nudists who stray off their designated areas of the beach will be subject to fines of 300 to 500 euros ($450 to 750).

Those who wander into the streets in bikinis, swimming trunks or swimsuits face fines of 120 to 300 euros.

‘US, NATO after Libyan oil reserves’

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Washington, May 01: Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast says the US and NATO want to take control of Libya’s oil reserves and other natural resources rather than helping its people.

Mehmanparast made the comment in a press conference in the Cuban capital, Havana, on Saturday.

His remarks come as the United States on Wednesday permitted oil deals with Libyan Transitional National Council.

The order, issued by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, will remove legal difficulties pertaining to the ownership of Libya’s oil for potential buyers.

Putin slams Japan over nuclear crisis

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Moscow, May 01: The Russian prime minister has criticized Japan’s nuclear industry for poor handling of the Fukushima disaster and the building of nuclear power plants in seismic zones.

“The Japanese have a unique situation. I don’t know why they build their plants in seismic zones. The whole of Japan is a seismic zone,” AFP quoted Vladimir Putin as saying on Saturday during a meeting of physicists in Penza, south of Moscow.

I am in no way connected with the attack: Mohammad Pahalwan

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Hyderabad, May 1: Mohammad bin Omer al Yafai, better known as Mohammad Pahalwan denied the reports that his supporters made an attack on Chandrayangutta MLA on Saturday.

Talking to media correspondents Mohammad Pahalwan said that a group comprising of MIM leaders and anti social elements attacked his relatives’ houses however the report was made public that the MLA was attacked by him.

70% sex workers opt for prostitution

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New Delhi, May 01: Nearly 70% of female sex workers in the country have joined the profession voluntarily, and were not forced or sold. Also, prostitution is just one among several labour options available to women from poor backgrounds — a majority of them join the trade at a much older age compared to other informal labour markets such as domestic work or hawking.

See Any Girl Out Here?

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Avon Kanwar lives in fear. She is scared her food may be poisoned. She is afraid to sleep at night because she suspects she may be strangled. Avon, eight years old, is convinced her parents will kill her. “I don’t know where she hears such things,”says her father Sangh Singh, “We stopped killing girls in Devda long ago.”

Nation is directionless: Bal Thackeray

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Mumbai, May 01: Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray Saturday said the nation is directionless and people need to keep a check on where it is going.

At a book launch function, Thackeray also lamented the shoe throwing trend that has caught up with protesters. “Shoe throwing is not our culture. This is not how we register protest,” he said.

Citing an incident of women not being allowed in a Mahalakshmi temple of Maharashtra’s Kolhapur a fortnight back, Thackeray said that religion should not be politicised.

Gujarat to replace Bombay in old state laws: Modi

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Gandhinagar, May 01: “Bombay” will now be replaced with “Gujarat” in all the acts and rules in force the state, Chief Minister Narendra Modi announced Saturday, terming it his government’s gift to the people on the completion of the year-long golden jubilee celebrations of the state.

The measure comes into force Sunday.

According to an official press release, there are 67 acts and laws still in force in the state which still carry the name ‘Bombay’.

1.5 mn narcotic tablets seized in Dubai

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Dubai, May 01: A huge consignment of narcotics – 1.5 million tablets of a restricted medicine – has been seized by the customs department at the Dubai International Airport, officials said.

A senior manager of air cargo operations at the airport said they found 35 cartons weighing a total of 863 kg coming from an unnamed Asian country. On inspection, they found 1.5 million tablets inside.

Man finds wallet lost in school 50 years ago

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New York, May 01: A man from Florida, US, who lost his wallet during prom night at his school, has got it back after 50 years.

Construction workers found James Simpson’s wallet stuck in a wall as they prepared to knock down the Mariemont elementary school in Cincinnati, Fox News reported.

The wallet still had Simpson’s driver’s license, photographs, a lock of hair and tickets to the 1963 prom.

Simpson, who now lives in Florida’s Anna Maria Island, remembered losing his wallet on the night of the prom at the institution, which at the time was a high school.

Mom finds sex education book with child, sues school

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Washington, May 01: A mother in Washington state in the US has filed a complaint against her 10-year-old daughter’s school after she found a sex education book that was “too graphic”.

Jennifer Swedeoson said she was caught “off guard” when her daughter Kaleigh brought the book home from school.

“I start flipping through – but it starts talking more about sex, and I get into it and it’s completely too graphic for her,” Swedeoson was quoted as saying by Fox News.

20 injured in clash between Muslims and Christians in Pak

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Lahore,May 01:Twenty people were injured in a clash between Muslims and Christians over the alleged desecration of the Quran at Gujranwala in Pakistan’s Punjab province today, police said.

Forty people were arrested by police following the clash.

Police officials said there had been tension between Muslims and the minority Christian community in Gulzar Colony at Gujranwala city for the past 10 days following reports that some unidentified persons had allegedly burnt pages of the Quran.

Police initially registered a case against two Christians and arrested them.

Castration as punishment: RAPE

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New Delhi, May 01:Expressing concern over the spurt in rape and sexual abuse cases in Delhi, a local court today said that lawmakers should explore possibility of permitting imposition of alternative sentences like surgical or chemical castration in such cases.

Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau, while sentencing a youth to ten years jail for raping her minor stepdaughter, said that alternative punishment for offence of rape should be there as it is the “crying need of the hour.”

Akber Uddin Owaisi regains consciousness

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Hyderabad, May 1: Doctors told late night that MIM legislature Akber Uddin Owaisi has regained consciousness and his health is gradually improving. A formal health bulletin regarding his health condition will be carried out today.

Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) Floor leader Akber Uddin Owaisi was injured when assailants opened fire at him at Barkas on Saturday, sparking off tension in the old city of Hyderabad.

A profusely bleeding Owaisi, was rushed to the Owaisi Hospital in Santosh Nagar.

Later the legislature was shifted to CARE Hospital at 9 PM on Saturday.

Siasat news

Zulqarnain wants to make a comeback

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Lahore, May 01: His international career was just one Test old when Zulqarnain Haider retired while in hiding in London and the Pakistan wicketkeeper, who has received death threats from match-fixers, wants to return to the big stage now that he is back in his country.

“I may be losing valuable time by not playing cricket but I will stage a comeback,” said the 25-year-old, who returned to Pakistan earlier this week after being in London for five months citing death threats from match-fixers.

Saleh backs away from resignation deal

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Sanaa, May 01: Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has backtracked on an Arab-brokered deal that would require him to step down in exchange for legal immunity.

Saleh said on Saturday that he would not sign the deal mediated by the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council ([P]GCC), the Associated Press cited his close ally Abed al-Jundi as saying.

The deal had been scheduled to be signed in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh on Sunday.

2 Chhattisgarh cops held for rape

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Kanker, May 01: Two policemen were arrested and charged with raping minor girls late on Friday night. The policemen, Lekhraj Sonwani and Suresh Kumar Baiga, are attached as cooks to the Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare (CTJW) college based on the outskirts of Kanker town in north Bastar region of Chhattisgarh.

The girls, aged 15 and 17, live in Patharri, a village adjoining the CTJW campus of the college, sprawled over a forested hill.

No more hunger strikes, doctors tell Anna

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Mumbai, May 01: Anna Hazare’s recently held hunger strike in the country’s capital demanding the Lok Janpal Bill might have improved the country’s health system but has deteriorated his own. So much so that the doctors treating him at the city’s hospital for the knee pain, has told Anna not to undertake any more hunger strikes.

Speaking to the media, Dr Parag Sancheti, chairman of the Sancheti Institute of Orthopedics and the one treating Anna said that the crusader is undergoing treatment for high blood pressure and osteoarthritis.

Australia to hold nude Olympics

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Sydney, May 01: Over 500 competitors will take part in a nude Olympics to be held in Australia during the weekend, Australian broadcaster ABC reported.

A range of physical competitions including tug of war, marathon and beach sprint will test participants’ prowess and capabilities.

Less conventional events like the “best bum” competition, conga lines and egg throwing will also take place.

Modi or Sanjeev Bhatt: Who is lying?

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The shadow of his alleged post-Godhra vindictive reflexes continues to follow Narendra Modi, says B Raman

The tussle between Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Indian Police Service officer of the Gujarat cadre Sanjeev Bhatt, who is currently posted in Junagadh, is becoming murkier.

The tussle has given rise to suspicions of petty-mindedness and vindictiveness on the part of Modi and a motivated unprofessional agenda on the part of Bhatt.

13 Iraqis die in day of deadly blasts

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Baghdad, May 01: At least 13 people have been killed and several others wounded in separate bombing attacks across Iraq.

One blast happened near an army post at the entrance to a busy market in the northern city of Mosul on Saturday, a local security official was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

Five soldiers were among the eight killed in the deadly incident, which also left 19 people injured.

In other bombings on Saturday, five more people, including a judge and an industry ministry official, were killed near Baghdad.

Work without fear or favour: PM to CBI

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New Delhi, May 01: Asking officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation not to indulge in any kind of witch-hunt, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the probe agency should act without fear or favour and bring all those guilty to book irrespective of their positions.

The prime minister said the handling of high profile cases constitutes a litmus test for CBI officers.

CBI investigations should be without vendetta, witch hunt and harassment of the innocent, he said while inaugurating the new headquarters of the premier agency in Delhi.

PM mastermind of anti-Joshi campaign: BJP

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New Delhi, May 01: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday charged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with orchestrating a vilification campaign against the Public Accounts Committee chairman Murli Manohar Joshi after the parliamentary panel had asked a PMO official and the Attorney General to appear before it for questioning in the 2G scam.

Attack on Chandrababu’s convoy by YSR Cong supporters

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Hyderabad, May 01: Telugu Desam Party president Chandrababu Naidu’s convoy was on Saturday allegedly stoned by supporters of YSR Congress party when he was addressing a road show as part of the by-election campaign at Lingala in Kadapa district.

The incident occurred close on the heels of a similar attack on Praja Rajyam Party chief K Chiranjeevi’s road show in Pulivendula constituency on Friday night.

Undeterred by the attack, Chandrababu continued his road show, asserting that he would not be cowed down by such attacks.