White House News and UK Trends

Pakistan blocked You Tube, 450 links in the countryside

2010-05-20T07:26:00.000-07:00

Pakistan, home to half of the largest Muslim population in the world, blocked Google Inc. service YouTube and over 450 web links and the government has increased the crackdown on the Internet material deemed blasphemous.
Sites were blocked because of the increased level of profanity and derogatory material, the basis of Islamabad, Pakistan Telecommunications Authority said in a news release today. The regulator, which makes access to the site Inc. closed yesterday Facebook, other sites to block blasphemous content, "said Khurram Mehran, spokesman of the regulator.
Pakistan escalating campaign of online censorship after a Facebook user to create a page with an invitation to other cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, considered by Muslims as blasphemous act of drawing. Demonstrators gathered in Karachi waving banners and chanting slogans against Facebook and text messages circulated yesterday to ask users of the site in Pakistan to support the ban.
"The attitude of administrators on Facebook and YouTube is in violation of resolutions of the WSIS and its own stated policy on the web for the general public," said Mehran in the statement, referring to the World Summit on the Society Information adopted by the United Nations. "PTA would like to see the competent authorities of Facebook and YouTube to communicate with the PTA to resolve the problem."
Blackberry Browsers
Google looks at the issue and working to ensure its YouTube service is restored, the Mountain View, California, the company said in an e-mail. Agency Facebook not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
The regulator has also blocked Internet browsers on Research In Motion Ltd. BlackBerry phones, Mehran, said today.
A Facebook user to set up a page called "All Day Draw Mohammed", inviting others into a representation "creative and funny Muhammad sent May 20, according to the site.
"We just want the extremists to threaten people because of their images Muhammad evil we're not afraid to show them," according to the description page of Facebook. "They can not leave our right to freedom of expression, trying to scare us to silence."
Pakistan has an effective plan for the anti-Islam to avoid "hurting the feelings of Muslims", state-run Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Religious Affairs Saeed Kazmi Islamabad naturally. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Kazmi at a meeting of Islamic countries to formulate a common policy to deal with the anti-Islamic to do, APA.
Court Ban
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority Facebook blocked after the Lahore High Court to prohibit the Department of Information Technology, she charged, according to Mehran.
Now, stop in the Constitution of Pakistan and is an expansion of the order of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Government's policies, "said Mehran. The controller has a number of phone calls for regulatory sites with offensive content knowledge, the statement said.
Caricatures of Muhammad in a Danish newspaper in 2005 led to protests from the Muslim community around the world include
Blackberry Browsers
Google looks at the issue and working to ensure its YouTube service is restored, the Mountain View, California, the company said in an e-mail. Agency Facebook not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
The regulator has also blocked Internet browsers on Research In Motion Ltd. BlackBerry phones, Mehran, said today.
A Facebook user to set up a page called "All Day Draw Mohammed" and others calling for a creative and humorous representation of Muhammad sent May 20, according to the site.
"We just want the extremists who threaten people because of their images Muhammad evil we're not afraid to show them," according to the description page of Facebook. "They can not leave our right to freedom of expression, trying to scare us to silence."
Pakistan has an effective plan for the anti-Islam to avoid "hurting the feelings of Muslims", state-run Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Religious Affairs Saeed Kazmi Islamabad naturally. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Kazmi at a meeting of Islamic countries to formulate a common policy to deal with the anti-Islamic to do, APA.
Court ban
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority Facebook blocked after the Lahore High Court to prohibit the Department of Information Technology, she charged, according to Mehran.
Today, stop in the Constitution of Pakistan and is an extension of orders by the High Court of Pakistan and the Government's policies, "said Mehran. The controller has a number of phone calls for regulatory sites with offensive content knowledge, the statement said.
Caricatures of Muhammad in a Danish newspaper in 2005 led to protests from the Muslim community around the world, including Pakistan. The cartoons, one of the prophet with a bomb in his turban and accompanied by an article on freedom of expression and self-censorship in the media.
Pakistan Internet traffic has dropped 25 percent after two sites are blocked, CNBC Pakistan reported, without citing anyone.
Pakistan ng. The cartoons, one of the prophet with a bomb inside his turban and accompanied an article on freedom of expression and self censorship in media.
Pakistan Internet traffic has dropped 25 percent after two sites are blocked, CNBC Pakistan reported, without citing anyone.

Pakistan Blocked Facebook Today

2010-05-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) directed Internet service providers to block Facebook indefinitely on Wednesday because of an online competition to draw the Prophet Mohammad.

The order followed a decision by the Lahore High Court temporarily banning Facebook in Pakistan after the country's media reported that the competition would be held on May 20.

"The court has ordered the government to immediately block Facebook until May 31 because of this blasphemous competition," Azhar Siddique, a representative of the Islamic Lawyers Forum who filed a petition in the Lahore High Court, told Reuters.

"The court has also ordered the foreign ministry to investigate why such a competition is being held."

A spokesman for the PTA, the country's telecommunication watchdog, said the government on Tuesday ordered Internet providers to block only the Facebook page showing these caricatures. But on Wednesday the court ordered the entire Facebook site blocked.

Any representation of the Prophet Mohammad is deemed un-Islamic and blasphemous by Muslims.

By late afternoon, Facebook was unavailable to Pakistan''s computer users, although Blackberries and other mobile devices appeared able to access the site.

But some warned the court's response could backfire.

"Blocking the entire website would anger users, especially young adults, because the social networking website is so popular among them and they spend most of their time on it," said the CEO of Nayatel, Wahaj-us-Siraj.

"Basically, our judges aren't technically sound. They have just ordered it, but it should have been done in a better way by just blocking a particular URL or link."

On the Facebook information page for the contest the organisers described it as a "snarky" response to Muslim bloggers who "warned" the creators of the Comedy Central television show "South Park" over a recent depiction of the Prophet in a bear suit.

"We are not trying to slander the average Muslim," the Facebook page creators wrote. "We simply want to show the extremists that threaten to harm people because of their Mohammad depictions that we're not afraid of them. That they can't take away our right to freedom of speech by trying to scare us into silence."

Publications of similar cartoons in Danish newspapers in 2005 sparked deadly protests in Muslim countries. Around 50 people were killed during protests in Muslim countries in 2006 over the cartoons, five of them in Pakistan.

Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on Denmark's embassy in Islamabad in 2008, killing six people, saying it was in revenge for publication of caricatures.

Pakistan also blocked the popular video sharing site YouTube in 2007 for about a year for what it called un-Islamic videos.

Karachi a paradise for mobile-snatchers

2010-04-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

Karachi, the largest city in the country, has become a haven for mobile phone pouch Snatchers and Citizen Police Liaison Committee, The (CPLC) at least 0.4 million units or mobile phone snatched Karach Was iites consistently exposed to two years.
CPLC Chief Ahmed Chinoy told PPI This fits consistently two years approximately 0.4 million people contacted the CPLC and a request to block your SIM handle or mobile phone. He Said that period standing 24,000 Was phones recovered due to the concerted efforts CPLC and police.
The sum of 0.4 million mobile phone snatching in two years does not show real picture, because only people who belong to the educated class property knowledge of MCPP and the system for Sims or blockage or stolen or seized mobile phone while ordinary people do not bother to report to police or MCPP When your cell phones seized in street criminals.
Although the figure of 0.4 million mobile phone snatching has duties as a base, that means nearly 550 cellphone snatching Every Day, sometimes give a glimpse of the freedom that street crime in Karachi and the inability of the police crime to cover.
That it was learned cell phones, purse thieves prey on citizens and other valuables, but because of negative behavior by the police to the general public, very few victims dare to visit police stations and accommodation FIRS. Chinoy Said Karachi, the commercial and industrial center in the country, is a favorite place or a street criminals. He Said differential parts from many people or upcountry live here to earn livelihood. He Said also differentiate criminals from parts of the country to visit Karachi Proceedings lucrative criminal activities.
He Said mobile phone snatching was very easy job and start as a street criminal can earn Rs5, 000 and RS6, 000 daily snatching a mobile phone. He Said MCPP to maintain detailed information on crime patterns in Karachi. Suggested that, should he follow the police to control crime CPLCs recommendation. He Said shaft Police On The MCPP INFORMS repl areas with street crime, the prison police forces in the region should be the thesis problem of law and order in Karachi can be controlled.

Bomber Strikes Rally of Religious Party in Pakistan

2010-04-19T09:05:00.000-07:00

A teenage suicide bomber waded into a political rally by an Islamic party, and his explosives detonated Monday, said a policeman.

The bomb, which went to Peshawar, a northwestern town who were tormented by bombs last year, with more than 20 people, including a leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, a hard-line political party, which until recently in the had publicly supported the Taliban. A policeman was among the dead.

Television pictures showed a scene of mad-capped Muslim youth protest help people on stretchers. Nobody has claimed responsibility.

It was unclear whether the target was to rally, or the police station nearby. A bomb disposal officer said the young bomber was wearing an amazing 15 pounds of explosives.

If the goal was rally would be highly unusual. Jamaat-e-Islami is the oldest Islamic Pakistani political party and its hard-line language sometimes echoes of the Taliban: anti-Western, anti-India and strongly against small religious minorities in Pakistan - Christians, Shiites and an Islamic sect known as Ahmedis. But the party is also part of government's operations in Pakistan and critical of any direct attack on Pakistan army, his people.

A senior police official in Peshawar, Kareem Khan, said the policeman who was slain Gulfat Hussain, a Shiite. The members of the sect are several goals since late last week in the violent attacks in western Pakistan.

Mr Hussain was active in protecting the Shiite processions, often the procession to Holy Places militant attack dragging, said Officer Khan. Al Qaeda is fiercely anti-Shiite. Sectarian militancy is so widespread that Shiite policemen sometimes pray not to be posted in the field, for fear that they will get because of their sect.

It was the second bomb on Monday. The first exploded just seven hours before the close of a school and a student slain and wounded 10, authorities said.

Action to be taken against Musharraf: Malik

2010-04-19T08:44:00.000-07:00

Following the report of the United Nations, which accused the security arrangements are inadequate to Musharraf's regime for the assassination of Bhutto, said Interior Minister Rehman Malik and action will be taken against the former president after the concrete evidence is reached.

And accused the king of the Punjab government for not providing adequate security for Bhutto. He said that the Pakistani officers also investigate the assassination of Bhutto.

The minister said the government has the full support of the international investigation committee.

The UN report also accused the intelligence officials and others that severely hampered the investigation into who was behind the murder.

After these results, the Pakistan People's Party said that any person named in the report would work, including the former news Pervez Musharraf.

Suicide bomb at police station kills 7 in Pakistan

2010-04-18T03:29:00.000-07:00

A suicide bomber rammed a truck loaded with explosives into a police station in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing a child and six other civilians, police said. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility.

The attack was the second this weekend in the Kohat area, illustrating the resilient nature of militant networks in Pakistan despite army offensives targeting their sanctuaries along the Afghan border.

At least 26 people were wounded, including six police, officials said.

Qari Hussain, a top Pakistani Taliban militant commander who allegedly trains suicide bombers, called an Associated Press reporter from an undisclosed location hours after the blast to claim responsibility.

He said the suicide blast was revenge for a recent army strike on a militant-run hospital in the South Waziristan tribal area.

Hussain and other Taliban commanders are believed to be hiding in North Waziristan to avoid the army onslaught in South Waziristan.

"Such attacks will continue in revenge for the deaths of our fellows," Hussain said.

The truck was loaded with up to 550 pounds (250 kilograms) of explosives, area police official Dilawar Khan Bangash said. It struck a concrete barrier in front of the building, which was heavily damaged, as was an adjoining school.

Twin suicide attacks in the Kohat area on Saturday targeted refugees who were fleeing a separate army offensive in the Orakzai tribal region. That attack killed 41 people in line to register for food and relief supplies.

The victims of Saturday's attacks were among around 200,000 people who have left the Orakzai region since the end of last year, when the Pakistan army began airstrikes against militants believed to have fled there from South Waziristan.

The registration point in Kohat was managed by the local government, but was sometimes used by foreign humanitarian groups to deliver aid. There was no claim of responsibility for Saturday's bombings, which is not unusual when large numbers of Pakistani civilians die.

The registration point - essentially a small building in a dusty field - may have been hit to persuade people not to have any contact with the local administration or foreign relief groups.

The United Nations temporarily suspended work helping displaced people in Kohat and neighboring Hangu after Saturday's attack.

The bombers were men disguised in burqas, the all-encompassing veil worn by conservative Muslim women, allowing them to get close to the building without arousing suspicion, police said.

The tempo of the offensive in Orakzai has picked up since March. On Sunday, one soldier and 13 militants were killed in a clash in the Sangra area, said Jahanzeb Khan, an official in Orakzai.

Volcanic ash cloud can cause acid rain

2010-04-15T14:12:00.000-07:00

If Iceland's active volcano gets even more active, Icelanders and air travelers won't be the only ones impacted. Gases from past large volcanoes have actually lowered Earth's temperatures, triggered lung ailments, caused acid rain and thinned our protective ozone layer.

The Eyjafjallajokull volcano isn't there yet. "This is not like Pinatubo. So far the scale is not big enough to have a global effect," Hans Olav Hygen, a climate researcher at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, said in reference to the 1991 eruption in the Philippines.

But the potential is there. The new eruption is 10 times more powerful than another nearby last month, threw up a cloud of ash nearly seven miles high and closed down air traffic across northern Europe.
The most dangerous gases released during an eruption are sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen fluoride.

High levels of ash particles can cause increased coughing and irritate the eyes and skin and sometimes result in serious lung conditions.
When the acid coating on ash is removed by rain, it can pollute local water supplies and damage vegetation. On the other hand, ash deposits can be beneficial by improving the fertility of soil.

Already in Iceland, residents and visitors are being urged to say indoors due to the ash fall and to wear dust masks if they must venture outside. Moreover, farmers are worried that their livestock will eat and digest ash, causing a die-off like the on in 1918 when another Icelandic volcano erupted.
Three previous eruptions of Eyjafjallajokull are known in the 1,100 years of Iceland's recorded history. The most recent began in December 1821 and lasted for more than a year, then a neighboring volcano erupted in 1823. Other eruptions include one around 1612 and 920.

Longer term, sulfur from volcanoes has the potential to cool the Earth. Sulfur reacts with water in the air to form sulfuric acid droplets that reflect sunlight hitting Earth, thus blocking some rays. The reduction in sunlight can reduce temperatures for a year or so, until the droplets fall out of the atmosphere.
Indeed, Pinatubo is known to have cooled the planet by 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit.

Some experts advocate the deliberate injection of sulfur dioxide in the stratosphere in a "geoengineering" short cut to slow global warming.

That option has become attractive for some after a U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen in December failed to produce a binding global deal to cut emissions of greenhouse gases. Others say the risks are too big — ranging from disruptions of weather patterns to acid rain.

Other examples of how the environmental impacts of volcanoes can go far beyond their immediate area:

* In 1783, a poison cloud from the eruption of Iceland's Laki volcano killed thousands of people across Europe and undermined farm output by spewing an estimated 120 million tons of sulfur dioxide into the air, said Colin Macpherson, a geologist at the University of Durham in England. That amount of sulfur dioxide was three times European industrial output in 2006.
# In 1815, the Tambora volcano eruption in Indonesia killed an estimated 92,000 people, and its ashes swept all the way to Europe, blanketing the continent and turning 1816 into a "year without summer."
# In 1883, Krakatoa erupted in Indonesia killing 36,000 and created vivid red twilights in Europe from November 1883 through February 1884 — a fact reflected by painters of the period.
# The 1980 Mount St. Helens volcano eruption in Washington state, in which 57 people died, created a cloud of ash 2,500 miles long and 1,000 miles wide.

Celebration time for Sania-Shoaib

2010-04-13T07:57:00.000-07:00

The much talked about Sania- Shoaib wedding finally happened on Monday afternoon at the Taj Krishna hotel at Hyderabad. It certainly came as a surprise for all and a big relief for the Mirzas.

After the nikaah ceremony TOI spotted Sania’s parents Imran and Naseem exiting Taj Krishna, while the newly wed couple stayed in the hotel. According to the hotel sources, “ Sania and Shoaib left the wedding venue after lunch to their room on the 6th floor.” It’s also believed that Sania will now be staying in the hotel till the wedding reception. After the nikaah , family members of Shoaib Malik were spotted relaxing and chatting at the hotel lobby. They were later surrounded by the guests of the hotel and the media. Speaking on the nikaah, a family member said, “ Bahut achi tarah se nikaah ho gayi...hum sab khush hain.”

The security personnel of the hotel however stopped the media from interacting with the family members. There was tight security outside the hotel area too. Two bouncers Mustafa and Sayed have been deputed for the past few days for Sania’s security. Mustafa, who’s also a professional boxer said::We were called for the nikaah at the last minute. hume pata hi nahin tha.” The mehendi, sangeet ceremony and reception will be held in the hotel. The mehendi, an exclusive all-ladies function was held on Tuesday afternoon. Six mehendi artistes were seen making their way to the Mirza residence around 10.30 am. Later, women were seen leaving the home flaunting their mehendi. Dholakwallahs reached the Mirza household at 2 pm. For the mehndi dishes like biryani, halwa, dahi murg ka salan, salad, dum ka chicken, baigan ka subji were served.

The sangeet ceremony which will take place today will have dance performances by close friends of Sania. The much awaited grand wedding reception is tomorrow and will be attended by high profile guests.

Kristen Stewart Falls Deeply In Love With Robert Pattinson

2010-04-13T07:26:00.000-07:00

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Steward portray a perfect couple in their box office hit movies like Twilight and New Moon. The chemistry between the couple is too strong that even off-cam; people can see that they’re in love with each other.

Actress Kristen Stewart just can’t stop raving about her co-star Robert Pattinson. She admits that she has a strong feeling for him. She has several reasons why she loves Pattinson. Rob always wants to be the best and she admires him for it. He can be very childish at some point, which makes her smile. When he does something right or wins something, he talks in a different way just like a five-year-old boy with a little voice. The actress finds him sexy in a tortured artist way, maybe because he is British. He’s tall and he looks like he’s thinking all the time, which is incredibly funny. It breaks her heart when the actor sings. She also added that Rob is a very bad liar, because he just can’t do it.

Stewart claims that Pattinson had already proposed to her once. He asked her to marry him, but it was just a joke.

A new 'panic button' for Facebook

2010-04-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

The social networking Web site has been criticized by UK child experts and police authorities for not doing enough to make it easier for children to report bullying or sexual abuse.

Jim Gamble, chief executive of the London-based Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center (Ceop), wants Facebook to install a "panic button."

Gamble, who is seconded to Ceop from the Serious and Organized Crime Agency (SOCA), has said that there is "no legitimate reason" for Facebook not to have a "Click Ceop" button.

Gamble is due to meet Elliot Schrage, vice president of policy and communications at Facebook and Joe Sullivan, chief security officer.

A Ceop spokeswoman told CNN the agency had received 253 complaints about Facebook in the first quarter of this year and that only one of these had come "through the Facebook environment."

"We have been trying to engage with Facebook for some time, this meeting is happening after a long build-up.

"More and more children are using Facebook and a panic button would allow them to report potential threats directly. We have experts who can respond immediately.

"Ceop says there is an urgent need to install the button and that it will help both children and parents.

A Facebook spokeswoman told: "We will be discussing many issues, there are lots of initiatives."

The lack of a Facebook panic button was highlighted after the murder of a 17-year-old student last October by Peter Chapman, who she met on the social Web site.

Chapman had posed on the Web site as a young man and spent time grooming Ashleigh before the pair exchanged mobile phone numbers and agreed to meet. After killing her he dumped her body in a field near Sedgefield in County Durham, northeast England.

Last month Chapman, 33, was jailed for at least 35 years at Teeside Crown Court for the killing.

Until now Facebook has said adopting a button would have no effect on reducing abuse and that it had a number of measures in place to report bullying or abuse.

The company, which claims to have over 400 million users worldwide, has said it has a "robust" reporting system in place.

Women with hormonal disorder at risk of heart disease

2010-04-12T09:28:00.000-07:00

Adelaide researchers have found evidence of a link between a common hormonal disorder in women and heart disease - and they're seeking more women to take part in a new study to confirm their results.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal disorder affecting about 10% of women of reproductive age and is a leading cause of infertility.

A preliminary study - conducted by researchers with the University of Adelaide's Robinson Institute and the Cardiology Department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital - has exposed other major health risks and some common misconceptions about PCOS.

The pilot study, involving a small sample of women, showed that:

Young women (average age of 31 years) with PCOS had significant abnormalities in blood clotting and blood vessel function, which are important risk factors in heart disease;
This risk was not limited to overweight or obese women with PCOS - it affected women of all body shapes and sizes, including lean women.

"The degree of blood clotting and blood vessel abnormalities seen in women with PCOS in this study was very striking, similar to what we would normally see in older patients with known heart disease," says Dr Alicia Chan, Cardiologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and PhD student with the University of Adelaide's Robinson Institute.

"With women now making up almost half of all Australians affected by heart disease, it's very important that we understand the link between PCOS and these heart disease risk factors.

"Importantly, this is the first study to suggest that PCOS is strongly associated with an increased risk of heart disease independent of women's weight or evidence of diabetes. It's a common misconception that only overweight or obese women are affected by PCOS - we need women to understand that they could still have these heart disease risk factors regardless of their weight,"

Shoaib-Sania nikkah solemnized

2010-04-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

HYDERABAD: Mirza married Monday after a troubled engagement in a union that bridges the two nations' bitter sporting and political divide.
The wedding was the final chapter in a complex and often contradictory saga during which Malik consistently denied claims by an Indian woman, Ayesha Siddiqui, that she had married the cricketer in 2002.
The ceremony took place in the presence of family and friends at a hotel in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, Mirza's spokeswoman Rucha Naik said.
"The (wedding) has just been completed. Please pray for the couple," Naik told reporters.
The marriage was originally scheduled for April 15. The Press Trust of India cited family sources as saying it had been brought forward after Muslim clerics in Hyderabad criticised the fact that Malik was living in his future bride's house before the wedding.
Last week, Farisa Siddiqui, Ayesha's mother, announced that a settlement had been reached and "divorce papers signed," allowing Malik's marriage with Mirza to go ahead.
Ayesha had initially lodged a complaint with police in Hyderabad, prompting officers to quiz Malik over the saga and confiscate his passport.

Muslim elders in Hyderabad, where both Siddiqui and Mirza live, were understood to have negotiated the settlement after days of frenzied press coverage and lurid speculation.
Even without the added drama provided by Ayesha's revelations, the marriage of two of South Asia's best-known sports personalities across one of the world's most volatile borders was always going to make headlines.
Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence and broke off all official contact following the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which Indian blamed on Pakistan-based militants.
The stand-off extended to the sporting world, with a freeze on non-tournament matches between their respective national cricket teams.
Malik and Mirza's sporting marriage is unprecedented in the perennial rivalry between the south Asian nations, and some right-wing Hindu groups in India had denounced the union, accusing Mirza of betraying her country.
The only similar union came when former Pakistani Test batsman Mohsin Khan, who is now Pakistan's chief selector, married the Indian actress Reena Roy in the 1980s. The couple later separated.
The Pakistani government is preparing lavish celebrations to welcome the couple during a widely expected visit.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will treat the newlyweds to a reception and Pakistan's minister for population welfare, Firdous Ashiq Awan, told AFP that she would travel to India to attend the wedding reception.
"It is a very happy occasion for both Malik and Mirza and for millions of people in both the countries and we are having a detailed discussion as to how we could celebrate the occasion in Pakistan," Awan told AFP.
Team-mates of Malik, a former Pakistan cricket captain who is serving a one-year ban on charges of indiscipline during Pakistan's tour of Australia and New Zealand, also passed on their congratulations.
"It's a happy occasion that Malik has wed Sania. I congratulate him and wish him the best in his married life," said Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi.
Mirza, whose short tennis skirts have drawn the ire of Islamist groups in India, has been a nationwide celebrity since 2005 when, aged 18, she became the first Indian woman to win a WTA Tour title.
She is currently recovering from a wrist injury that has seen her world ranking slip from 27 in 2007 to 89.
The couple, who are both Muslims, are thought likely to base themselves in Dubai.
Malik had admitted beginning a telephone relationship with Siddiqui in 2001 after she sent him photographs -- but said he later believed the pictures were of another woman.
Before the divorce settlement, Siddiqui appeared on television news channels to denounce Malik as a cheat who dumped her because his team-mates said she was overweight.

'Fatwa' against Sania, Shoaib for living together before marriage

2010-04-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

Tennis star Sania Mirza's marriage with Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik has sparked another row with some religious scholars issuing a 'fatwa' or religious edict against their living and mingling freely even before the marriage is solemnised.

Sunni Ulema Board, a group of religious scholars, said both the sportspersons were bringing disrepute to Islam and Muslim community through their actions.

The board issued a 'fatwa' terming their actions haram (forbidden) and asked Muslims to stay away from the April 15 marriage.

"The kind of actions the two are indulging in like living together and addressing media together are haram in Islam," said Moulana Haseebul Hasan Siddiqui, a religious scholar.

Shoaib has been staying at Sania's residence in Hyderabad for more than a week and television pictures showed them dancing and doing physical exercises together.

"Islam permits a man and woman to see each other only once before marriage and it does not allow them to live together and indulge in this sort of activities before marriage," he said.

He felt that all the actions of Sania and Shoaib were bringing a bad name to Islam and the Muslim community and advised invitees to stay away from their marriage as men and women would mingle freely there in total disregard of Islamic principles.

"Muslims should stay away from such gatherings where men and women mingle freely in violation of Islamic principles," he said.

The religious scholar had also issued a 'fatwa' against Sania Mirza for favouring pre-marital sex three years ago. He had opined that Sania committed a big sin by promoting 'zina' (fornication). The tennis ace, however, denied making the remarks.

Shoaib has already come under criticism from clergy for denying marriage with Ayesha Siddiqui even after admitting that he signed the 'nikahnama'. The Pakistani star last week divorced Ayesha after the latter filed a case of cheating against him.

Robert Pattinson Reveales:''I am a confused romantic''

2010-03-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

Robert Pattinson has revealed that he tries to be romantic.

Pattinson, who recently confirmed that he is dating his Twilight co-star Kristen Stewart, admitted that it is hard to have relationships in the public eye.

"It's difficult either way," he told OK. "Everyone always tells you, 'Just accept having people taking photos and stuff is part of your life. Don't let it rule your life'.

"But I always just thought it's not life if people are photographing you all the time, unless you want that."

When asked if it was "difficult being caught with your famous girlfriend in public", Pattinson replied: "No comment."

However, he explained that he is romantic "in a kind of confused way", adding: "I mean, I think I try to be. I guess the way to be romantic is to be sort of un-cynical and innocent about the way you see relationships. I guess I am pretty innocent about that."

Sandra Bullock's Absence Canceled Blind Side's German Premiere

2010-03-23T09:12:00.000-07:00

The Berlin premiere of The Blind Side was canceled after Sandra Bullock pulled out of the event, People reports.

Report: Sandra Bullock moves out amid model's claim of infidelity by Jesse James

The premiere, which was scheduled for Monday, is the second one Bullock, 45, has backed out of in less than a week. Last Wednesday, the Oscar winner abruptly withdrew from the film's London premiere amid accusations from tattoo model Michelle "Bombshell" McGee that Bullock's husband, Jesse James, had an affair with her.

"Obviously that included everything that was scheduled for the European tour which included press and two premieres," Bullock's rep told People.

Jesse James apologizes to Sandra Bullock: "I deserve everything bad coming my way"

Bullock reportedly has moved out of the home she shares with James, 40, who publicly apologized to his wife last week and called a majority of the reports of infidelity "untrue and unfounded."

Scientists discovered a new specie of dinosaur

2010-03-19T04:37:00.000-07:00

Scientists have discovered a new species of dinosaur that was closely related to the Velociraptor.

The 1.8m-long predator was a dromaeosaurid - a family of theropod dinosaurs from which modern birds descended.

The researchers discovered its exquisitely well preserved skeleton in sediments dating from the Upper Cretaceous period in Inner Mongolia.

They describe the find in the journal Zootaxa.

The fossilised skeleton was in almost perfect condition - with complete claws and teeth - despite being between 145 and 65 million years old.

Its examination was led by Xing Xu from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.

He and his colleagues described several distinguishing features, particularly of its jaw and feet, that enabled them to identify it as a dromaeosaurid - a name that means "running lizard".

It had, for example, what the researchers described as "raptorial claws" on its feet.

The highly evolved predator, which has been named Linheraptor exquisitus represents an entirely new genus within that family.

"Linheraptor is similar to Velociraptor in many features," wrote the scientists.

They pointed out, however, that it was not Velociraptor's closest relative within the dromaeosaurid family.

Sandra Bullock husband apologizes over affair accusation

2010-03-19T04:27:00.000-07:00

Sandra Bullock's husband Jesse James has apologised to his wife and children following accusations he had an affair.

In a statement, the reality TV star said: "I am truly very sorry for the grief I have caused them."

He added that "the vast majority" of the allegations reported were "untrue and unfounded".

The UK premiere of The Blind Side, due to be held next week, was scrapped after Oscar-winner Bullock pulled out citing "unforeseen personal reasons".

"There is only one person to blame for this whole situation, and that is me," James, 40, said.

"This has caused my wife and kids pain and embarrassment beyond comprehension and I am extremely saddened to have brought this on them. I hope one day they can find it in their hearts to forgive me."

He added: "Beyond that, I will not dignify these private matters with any further public comment."

Allegations of an affair surfaced earlier in this week after In Touch magazine published an interview with tattoo model Michelle McGee who claimed to have had an 11-month relationship with James while Bullock was filming The Blind Side - a role which earned her best actress at the Oscars.

A spokesman for the actress would not comment on Miss McGee's claims.

Bullock, 45, and James met in 2003 before marrying in 2005.

Interesting History of Pi

2010-03-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

Everybody knows that the value of pi is 3.14…er, something, but how many people know where the ratio came from? Actually, the ratio came from nature--it's the ratio between the circumference of a circle and its diameter, and it was always there, just waiting to be discovered. But who discovered it? In honor of pi day, here's a brief (sort of) history of how pi came to be known as 3.14(1592653589793238462643383279502884197169…etc).

It's hard to pinpoint who, exactly, first became conscious of the constant ratio between the circumference of a circle and its diameter, as human civilizations seem to have been aware of it as early as 2550 BC. The Great Pyramid at Giza, which was built between 2550 and 2500 BC, has a perimeter of 1760 cubits (one cubit is about 18 inches, though it was measured by a person's forearm length and thus varied) and a height of 280 cubits, which gives it a ratio of 1760/280 or approximately 2 times pi. Egyptologists believe these proportions were chosen for symbolic reasons, but, of course, we can never be too sure.

The earliest textual evidence of pi dates back to 1900 BC; both the Babylonians and the Egyptians had a rough idea of the value. The Babylonians estimated pi to be about 25/8, while the Egyptians estimated it to be about 256/81.

The Ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse (287-212 BC) is largely considered to be the first to calculate an accurate estimation of the value of pi. He accomplished this by finding the areas of two polygons: the polygon that was inscribed inside the circle, and the polygon in which the circle was circumscribed (see fig. 1). Archimedes didn't calculate the exact value of pi, but rather came up with a very close approximation--he used 96-sided polygons to find an average value of 3.1485.

Figure 1: Archimedes' Polygons

Chinese mathematician Zhu Chongzhi (AD 429-500) used a similar method to approximate the value of pi, using a 12,288-sided polygon. His best approximation was 355/113.

Pi, or, at least, the approximate ratio, also appears in the Bible:

"And he made a molten sea, ten cubit from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about." --1 Kings 7:23

(It should be noted that the Biblical ratio for pi could be more accurate than one might think, since cubits changed depending on a person's forearm length. So, assuming the Bible isn't quoting cubits from the same person each time…)

In the 15th century, Indian mathematician Madhavan of Sangamagramam discovered what is now known as the Madhava-Leibniz series (named after German mathematician Gottfried Leibniz, who rediscovered the series in the 17th century), an infinite series that converges to four, and was subsequently able to calculate pi to 11 decimal places.

The Greek letter pi (p) was first used to denote the constant ratio in 1707, by Welsh mathematician William Jones, though the use of the symbol was not popularized until 1737 by Swiss mathematician and physicist, Leonhard Euler. Pi was taken from the Greek word for perimeter.

The most accurate calculation of pi before the advent of the computer was by D. F. Ferguson, who calculated pi to 620 digits in 1945 (previously, William Shanks had calculated pi to 707 digits in 1874, but only 527 of said digits were correct).

Of course, then computers entered the picture and calculating pi knew no bounds--beginning with D. F. Ferguson's calculation of pi to 710 digits in 1947 with a desk calculator to Takahashi Kanada's calculation of pi to 206,158,430,000 digits in 1999 with a Hitachi SR8000. The longest calculation of pi to date was performed in 2002 by a team at the University of Tokyo--1,241,100,000,000 digits, with the help of Hitachi.

So there you have it--Egyptians calculated pi using pyramids (or did they calculate pyramids using pi?), Archimedes busted out the 96-gon, Zhu Chongzhi one-upped him with a 12,288-gon (or is that 12,192-upped him?), Ferguson calculated 620 digits by hand, and the University of Tokyo used a Japanese super-machine to calculate a mere 1,241,100,000,000 digits.

Aren't you glad they did all that work for you, and that all you have to do on pi day is troll geek havens in search of free pie?

Doctors team formed for conjoined twins surgery

2010-03-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

The Ministry of Health has constituted a three-member doctors team from Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) to examine the conjoined twins of Sahiwal.

The team members headed by Neurosurgeon Professor Khaleeq-ul-Zaman with members included Paediatric Surgeon Dr. Zaheer Abbasi and Plastic Surgeon Hameed-ud-din have been given task to investigate the case for successful surgery.

“We will first check the status of brain of these children besides other tests to be conducted in the hospital. After thorough investigation we will be able to make decision of operation in suitable time,” Prof. Khaleeq said talking to journalists here on Monday.

Meanwhile, Managing Director Pakistan Bait ul Maal (PBM) Zamurd Khan handed over a cheque of Rs. 600,000 to PIMS administration for bearing the treatment expenses of conjoined twins.

He also provided Rs. 50,000 to the parents of twins from Pakistan Bait-ul-Maal to bear expenses of lodging and food for attendants in the hospital.

Robert Pattinson broods again in "Remember Me"

2010-03-12T02:46:00.000-08:00

Starring Robert Pattinson, Emilie de Ravin, Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper and Lena Olin. 109 minutes. Directed by Allen Coulter. At major theatres.
f Remember Me is remembered for anything at all, other than being yet another Robert Pattinson vehicle, it will be for its over-the-top ending, which ranks high amongst the most shameless jerkers of tears ever unleashed upon lachrymose teens.

The fact that it likely will succeed in causing flash pubescent floods in theatres should not be taken as proof of the picture's general excellence. The reverse is true: Any movie that requires something this maudlin and exploitive to unblock the tear ducts prior to rolling the credits has failed in the intervening two hours or so to do anything worthy of emotion.

It's becoming increasingly apparent that the curse which afflicts Pattinson isn't the immortal vampire lust that his character Edgar profitably summons in the Twilight franchise.

No, it's the requirement made of him by every director that he brood all over the place. Pattinson isn't allowed to live a normal life like the rest of us. He is a more than capable actor, yet he is doomed for all eternity to sit in a corner and brood about the girl/fish/life that got away. Even when he has good reason to brood – the suicide of his character Tyler's older brother in Remember Me would certainly qualify – he seems excessively brood-y about it.

The fact that Pattinson is a championship brooder doesn't change the picture. I'm not the first, nor will I be the last, to compare him to James Dean in that furrow of his brow and that concentrated suck on the ciggie.

The real problem is that he's stuck with scripts that revolve around the intensity of his brooding. I would venture to say that 99 per cent of the problems his various characters endure is the result of excessive brooding, with the exception of that unfortunate vampire curse in Twilight – probably the result of another vampire having grown bored of his constant moping about.

In Remember Me, Pattinson's Tyler is brooding over having won the genetic lottery. He is a New York University student with a fabulously wealthy dad (Pierce Brosnan), a gorgeous mom (Lena Olin) and enough free cash that he can drink and smoke to abandon without causing the slightest ill effect to his rakishly slender body. Is he happy? Of course not.

Earlier we saw what happens when Tyler foolishly takes his brooding off the leash. He gets involved in a fight with thugs in an alleyway. He bravely attempts to be the Good Samaritan, but his actions are judged by the cops to be suspicious. Angered by their lack of mind-reading ability, Tyler begins to pummel Sgt. Neil Craig (Chris Cooper), who – lawdy! – will later turn out to be the dad of Ally. (Don't brood; this isn't a spoiler.)

While attempting to brood his way into Ally's heart, Tyler will also have to brood his way out of dad's doghouse – and dad bites. Tyler could try using sex to break the ice, with Ally at least. But based on the evidence in Remember Me, that only leads to more brooding.

It is another curious fact about Pattinson that 99 per cent of the scrapes his characters get into (with the exception once again of that vampire thing) could be solved if he were just to pop open a beer, or brew a pot of tea, and just explain to the aggrieved other party what it is that he's brooding about.

But then there wouldn't be much reason for a movie in the first place, would there? Now that's really something worth brooding over.

Two powerful blasts in Lahore, killed 39

2010-03-12T02:24:00.000-08:00

LAHORE: Two powerful blasts went off near a crowded mosque within the heavily-guarded cantonment in Lahore on Friday, killing at least 39 people and injuring almost 100 others in the latest in a slew of terror attacks across Pakistan.

"Thirty-nine people were killed and 95 wounded in the attacks," Punjab provincial police chief Tariq Saleem Dogar told reporters on live TV.

"We have collected concrete technical evidence, which will help identify the attackers. Both the attackers were on foot," he added.

The blasts occurred in R A Bazar area at 12.48 pm local time, when a large number of people had gathered for Friday prayers in the mosque. Many army personnel were in the gathering, local residents said.

The wounded were taken to nearby military and civilian hospitals.

There were reports that the blasts were preceded by firing but this could not immediately be independently confirmed.

Army soldiers and military police cordoned off the area and barred people and media from going to the site of the blasts.

Footage on television showed ambulances removing bodies and the injured from the area.

All roads and entry points in the cantonment are guarded by the army and it could not be immediately ascertained how the attackers managed to evade the security dragnet.

An emergency was declared in hospitals across Lahore.

No group has, so far, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Lahore has witnessed several terrorist assaults since last year, with most of the attacks targeting government installations and offices of sensitive organisations like the Inter-Services Intelligence and Federal Investigation Agency.

Today's attack was similar to another terrorist assault last year on a mosque frequented by army personnel in Rawalpindi. Several senior army officials were killed in that attack.

Other parts of the country have also been rocked by such attacks since the military launched a massive operation against the Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan in October last year. Hundreds of people have died in these attacks.

Six girl students die in hostel blaze

2010-03-08T10:04:00.000-08:00

At least six students were burnt to death as fire broke out at a girl’s hostel at Lal Kurti area here Monday. According to private TV, intense efforts were carried out for hours by the firefighters to extinguish the blaze erupted at a private girls hostel, home to near 155 working women and students, situated in downtown city.
Many female students were evacuated by the emergency relief workers as they were caught inside their dormitories and went unconscious due to suffocation. At least six female students were burnt to death in the fire cause of which was not immediately known.
At least four females, including students, were also severely burnt by the blaze and were rushed to local hospital where condition of them is said to be critical, the channel added.
Six female student die, several injured as fire broke out at girls hostel in Rawalpin At least six female students died and several others injured on Monday after fire erupted at a National Girls Hostel located in cantonment area of Rawalpindi , police and hospital sources said.
The hostel was filled with smoke as the fire which caused suffocation, stirred stampede, falling many to unconscious, police added. The fire brigade team and rescue 1122 rushed towards the scene and initiated the rescue operation.
Two bodies of girls among the three died were shifted to down town District Headquarter Hospital , where one was moved to Military Hospital . Identity of three deceased could not be ascertained as yet. Couple of girls also went missing as a result of fire, says the hostel management.
The rescue workers had to break the window panes to rescue girls out of the hostel as the stairs were engulfed with inferno and smoke causing suffocation and hindering the rescue work. The fire was extinguished after one hour struggle by the fire-fighters.
The hostel usually houses around 150 students but only 60 to 70 were present at the time when the fire broke out. The hostel building is owned by Fauji Foundation but currently handed over a private company on contract.

Earthquake in eastern Turkey, killed at least 57

2010-03-08T04:27:00.000-08:00

A strong earthquake killed 57 villagers in a remote part of eastern Turkey before dawn on Monday, officials said, and aftershocks continued for hours after while rescuers searched for trapped survivors.

People were sleeping in their mud-brick houses when the 6.0-magnitude quake struck at 4:32 am local time (0232 GMT) in a sparsely-populated area of high steppe in Eastern Anatolia.

"There was a lot of fear and panic among the people. It lasted about a minute," Nursel Sengezer, a Dogan News Agency correspondent in Elazig province, told broadcaster CNN Turk.

"We felt it very strongly and everyone tried to get out onto the street."

Turkey is criss-crossed with faultlines and frequently suffers earthquakes. A large earthquake measuring 7.4 killed about 18,000 people in August 1999.

On Monday, families huddled in the open around fires lit to keep them warm, as the ground shook with more than 40 aftershocks, the largest of which had a magnitude of 5.5.

The quake toppled the minarets of three mosques in stricken villages in the Basyurt region of Elazig, according to provincial governor Muammer Erol.

Television images from the area showed women crying and embracing amid the ruins of their one-storey houses, and cars and ambulances ferrying injured to a hospital in the nearby town of Kovancilar.

"I ask my citizens in the region not to go into damaged houses because earthquakes and aftershocks are continuing," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told a meeting of his AK Party.

Erdogan lamented the loss of life due to the vulnerability of the traditional mud-brick village homes, and pledged to rebuild houses using stronger materials.

Para-military and police directed operations on the outskirts of affected villages, where crowds had gathered, and a Red Crescent team had reached the area and set up a crisis centre.

Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek and three other ministers travelled to the quake zone, state-run Anatolian news agency reported. Cicek said the death toll had risen to 57, confirming estimates given by local officials to broadcasters.

There were no reports of any damage to the strategic hydroelectric Keban Dam, further west in Elazig. The Keban Dam was the first and most upstream dam built by Turkey on the Euphrates River as part of the Southeast Anatolia Project.

Powerful suicide blast rocks Lahore, at least 7 killed

2010-03-07T21:17:00.000-08:00

LAHORE, Pakistan — A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden truck into the main gate of a safe house used for interrogation by the Pakistani military in the city of Lahore early Monday. The explosion killed at least seven people, including guards, the police said, and flattened the building.

More than 30 people were wounded in the explosion, according to early reports from a nearby hospital where the victims were taken.

The blast was heard across the city, witnesses said. Rescue workers dug through the rubble of the destroyed building looking for people trapped in the debris.

A number of schools and religious institutions, including the Quran Academy, are located in the neighborhood known as Model Town. A number of prominent politicians, including a former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, live in Model Town.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, which came after a lull of several months in attacks on military and security targets in Pakistan’s main cities by militants from Al Qaeda and their affiliates in the Pakistani Taliban.

Installations of the security forces in Lahore, the cultural heart of Pakistan and a cosmopolitan city of more than six million, have been a particular target of the militants.

Last year, a large complex owned by the Federal Intelligence Agency, as well as several safe houses, were blown up by suicide bombers in Lahore.

The attack on Monday came as the Pakistani military announced it had completed an offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan, the major base of the militants in the remote tribal area.

UN warns HIV/Aids leading cause of death in women

2010-03-07T08:09:00.000-08:00

HIV has become the leading cause of death and disease among women of reproductive age worldwide, the UN programme on HIV/Aids says.

At the start of a 10-day conference in New York, UNAids launched a five-year action plan addressing the gender issues which put women at risk.

One of the key issues, it says, is that up to 70% of women worldwide have been forced to have unprotected sex.

UNAids says such violence against women must not be tolerated.

"By robbing them of their dignity, we are losing the opportunity to tap half the potential of mankind to achieve the Millennium Development Goals," said Executive Director Michel Sidibe.

"Women and girls are not victims, they are the driving force that brings about social transformation," he said.

The agency says that experiencing violence hampers women's ability to negotiate safe sex.

It warns that, nearly 30 years from the beginning of the epidemic, HIV services do not respond to the specific needs of women and girls.

Women, it says, continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV/Aids.

In sub-Saharan Africa, 60% of those living with HIV are women and in Southern Africa, for example, young women are about three times as likely to be infected with HIV than young men of the same age.

The programme - which will include improving data collection and analysis of how the epidemic affects women, and ensuring the issue of violence against women is integrated into HIV prevention programmes - will be rolled out in countries including Liberia.