Beirut, May 29: Informed sources in Lebanon blame Salafi extremists and elements associated with the country’s al-Mustaqbal party for direct involvement in the recent unrest in Syria.
The Lebanese sources say former Mustaqbal MP Mustafa Hashem has rented a large number of gas stations in the northern border region of Wadi Khaled, where the nomad residents on both the Lebanese and Syrian sides of the frontier are engaged in widespread smuggling.
Ankara, May 29: Turkish prosecutors have summoned eight more active-duty officers for interrogation on suspicion of involvement in a plot to overthrow the government in 2003.
The eight, among them five generals, two colonels and an admiral, were called into an Istanbul prosecutor’s office on Friday, Reuters reported on Saturday.
The most senior officer among those questioned by prosecutors was General Bilgin Balanli, who is a commander of the military academies.
The latest interrogations come on the heels of a new seizure of documents from the home of a retired colonel.
Washington, May 29: The family of an innocent Iranian woman imprisoned in the US says American authorities have agreed in principle to allow them to visit her.
Shahrzad Mir-Qolikhan’s father told Media that the supposed agreement will allow four family members, Sharzad’s twin daughters and her parents, to visit her the US prison where she is being held.
However, he noted that visas have not yet been issued.
In case the visas are actually issued by American authorities, it will mark the first time that Shahrzad’s family is allowed to visit her in more than 3.5 years.
Washington, May 29: A US military rape victim condemns the House for rejecting a law covering abortion costs of female army personnel who become pregnant after suffering a sexual assault.
Jessica Kenyon — herself a rape victim and inspired by her own suffering — began campaigning for awareness to help others who were sexually harassed within the military.
After two years of campaigning, she founded a charity in 2009 for the cause.
“When I went to Korea, I was indecently assaulted by someone in my unit and later raped by someone in another unit,” Kenyon told Media in an interview.
London, May 29: There are now five times as many rectangular-shaped women as those with the classic Marilyn Monroe hourglass, research suggests.
Despite this, many of the fashions sold on the high street still apply this outdated silhouette, reports dailymail.com.
As a result, nearly 60 percent of women complain that they are unhappy with the fit of clothes labelled as being their size.
Almost one in two British women fall into the rectangle category, where there is little difference between the bust, waist and hip measurements.
Hyderabad, May 29: The bumper draw of Siasat Shopping Dhoom 2011 was conducted with great splendour at Lalit Kala Thoranam, Nampally, Public Garden on Saturday, at 6:30 pm.
The first prize Maruti Alto went to the customer of Cali shop a showroom of ladies dresses. Mr. R K Mama (actor film Angrez) drew the lot for the first prize.
The second prize of Hero Honda was won by the customer of Raymonds Second shop, Chikadpally, this lot was drawn by Mr. Mast Ali alias Saleem pheku (actor film Angrez).
Hyderabad, May 29: Stating that the Centre has already made its stand clear, suspended Telugu Desam Party MLA Nagam Janardhan Reddy said that it is time for the concerned parties to make their stand clear on the separate Telangana statehood demand.
Suspended from the TDP for pursuing his own course on Telangana, Mr Janardhan Reddy on Saturday said that the party has failed to clarify its stand on the separate statehood issue even on the second day of its annual conclave.
Hyderabad, May 29: Minister for Health and Medical Education DL Ravindra Reddy, who could not retain his deposit in the recent by-elections to the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat, challenged both the Telugu Desam Party and the YSR Congress Party to introduce a No Confidence Motion on the Floor of the House against the N Kiran Kumar Reddy government, ‘if they had the guts to do so.’
Cairo, May 29: Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been fined $34 million for “damaging the economy” by enforcing a shutdown of telephone and internet connections during the country’s popular uprising.
In the first clear ruling against the 83-year-old Egyptian dictator since he left office in February, a Cairo court slapped a fine of $34 million (20 million pounds) for cutting off access to internet and mobile phone services, the BBC said on Saturday.
Hyderabad, May 29: Giving voice to the concern of thousands of parents whose wards study in private educational institutions, senior Congress leader and MLC Paladugu Venkat Rao on Saturday said that most of these institutions availed of the benefits offered by the Education Department while treating the students like chicken in a poultry farm.
Hyderabad, May 29: In all likelihood, former Agriculture Minister and brother of late chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, YS Vivekananda Reddy’s political future has been left at the crossroads, if the list of the names to be nominated by the Governor to the Legislative Council is correct.
According to sources, Mr Vivekananda Reddy’s name does not figure in the list of the five candidates to be nominated to the Legislative Council under the Governor’s quota.
Sources say that the All India Congress Committee has on Saturday finalized the names of the five candidates.
Yamunanagar(Har), May 29: A woman today alleged that four of her relatives gangraped her and threw her into a canal following a property-related dispute.
In a complaint lodged at the local police station here, the woman alleged that she was kidnapped from her village in Kaithal district late last night by four of her relatives in a car.
She alleged that she was gangraped and the accused pushed her into a canal in a bid to kill her but said she somehow survived.
The woman claimed that her husband was mentally challenged and his relatives were trying grab his property.
Ongole, May 29: PRP’s youth wing ‘Yuva Rajyam’ Prakasham district president Mr.Vellampalli Gopi was brutally murdered on Saturday.
The assailants killed him in his office.They threw chilly powder in his eyes, stabbed and beaten him up.However, reasons for the murder were not immediately known. The incident caused sensation in the town.
—Courtesy:AH
Jakarta, May 29: A shallow-undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 jolted Sumatra island earlier Sunday, however, suggested no potential danger of a tsunami, Xinhua quoted the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency as saying.
The quake, which struck at 00.07 a.m. (Jakarta time) Sunday (1707 GMT Saturday), had its epicentre at 119 km southwest Krui of Lampung province and a depth at 10 km under sea bed, an official of the agency stated.
—-IANs
Bangalore, May 29: Anti-graft activist Anna Hazare appeared to target Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday, saying “remote control” is creating “problems” even as he praised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a “good person”.
“Prime Minister is a good person. Prime Minister is not bad. Problem comes because of the remote control,” he told a public meeting, in an obvious reference to the Congress President without naming her.
Then he went on to say: “Now, we are all confident that in every government, people’s power is the strongest.”
Chennai, May 29: The Chennai Super Kings, riding the high wave of unbeaten run at home, outclassed the Royal Challengers Bangalore by 58 runs to retain the Indian Premier League trophy here on Saturday in a most one-sided final.Winning the toss and batting first, the Super Kings, courtesy a 159-run partnership between openers Murali Vijay (95) and Michael Hussey (63), piled up 205 for five, setting a rather stiff target for Royal Challengers.
Deauville, May 28: Extending hands of friendship to the Arab and Muslim countries, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi praised the spring of democracy that has shaken the Arab world earlier this year as showing Islam’s compatibility with democracy.
“The principle has been established that democracy is not only compatible with western countries and their civilizations,” Berlusconi told journalists at the Group of Eight summit in Deauville, ADN Kronos International news agency reported on Friday, May 27.
“I believe this is very important.”
A woman jumped into the well to commit suicide
Hyderabad, May 28: Ms. Bharati (27) a resident of Sabzi Mandi, in Kulsoompura Police Station limits who was suffering from blood pressure jumped into the well and committed suicide. Very frequently she used to get out of control and Muglaiah, her husband used to be her target. Police registered a case and the investigations are in progress.
A woman caught the thief bravely
Mumbai, May 28: Salman Khan has seen several ups and downs in his over two-decade-old Bollywood career, but he says it is primarily the love of his fans which motivates him to continue his association with the industry.
“When I feel like letting it go sometimes, and then when I think of how you guys (fans) appreciate what I’ve done, then I feel that it is my moral responsibility to get out of all those feelings and control and get my will power back and start working once again,” Salman told a fan.
Hyderabad, May 28: The Congress party has cold-shouldered late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s younger brother Y S Vivekananda Reddy by denying him a seat in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council under the Governor’s quota.
Though it was widely expected that Vivekananda would be ‘nominated’ to the Council following his drubbing in the by-election to Pulivendula Assembly constituency, his name did not figure in the list of candidates announced by the Congress to fill the five vacancies in the Upper House of the state Legislature.
London, May 28: The British royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine has given a much needed boost to the weak economy of the country, according to a new “consumer confidence” report.
Levels of optimism among the people have soared due to the “feel good factor” following the wedding and the bank holiday weekends in April, reports the Daily Express.
Fashion sales have been up by 11.5 percent and those of home goods rose by 3.3 percent.
Mumbai, May 28: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has given BJP, his alliance partner of over two decades, food for thought with his remarks on longevity of the alliance, saying he was not close to the younger generation in the ally.
“In politics, nobody is close to anybody,” he told Times Now, adding that he was not ideologically close to the BJP’s new generation the way he was with Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani.
“There is no question of being close in politics.
Vishakapatnam, May 28: A slew of crimes over the past few months are sending shockwaves across the city. An alarming rise in use of fire-arms in criminal cases has become disconcertingly common. If recent incidents are anything to go by, Visakhapatnam, which has been known to be a city of peace and tranquility, is slowly but surely slipping into the world of organised crime, inter-state criminal network and above all, gun culture. Recently, two unidentified assailants opened fire at realtor V Sai Babu and his son Pavan Naresh at Aganampudi village in the city.
Hyderabad, May 28: The AP Public Service Commission has a new chairperson. Retired IAS officer Rachel Chatterjee has been posted in the vacancy. Governor ESL Narasimhan on Friday gave his assent to the proposal of the state government.
According to sources in the chief minister’s office, the choice of Rachel Chatterjee, who retired from service in December, is part of an exercise that has begun to appoint people known for their integrity to important offices. “This is the first in the series of initiatives that are going to be taken,” a senior official in the CMO said.
Hyderabad, May 28: Claiming that the Telugu Desam alone can provide a stable and clean government in the state, party president N Chandrbabu Naidu has criticised the Congress for changing chief ministers in the state often.
In his inaugural speech at the three-day Mahanadu here on Friday, which lasted one and a half hours, Naidu recalled that the Congress had changed chief ministers four times between 1979 and 83 and thrice between 1989 and 94. In the very recent past the Congress changed three chief ministers, he noted.