News YAK

Pakistan assures UK of its commitment against terrorism

pamela — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 13:00:30 +0000

Pakistan has once again assured the world that it is devoted towards fighting extremism and maintaining peaceful relations with all its neighbours.

Pakistan Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sherry Rehman met British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Robert Brinkley and stated that “Pakistan is steadfast in its commitment towards elimination of extremism and for maintaining peaceful relations with all its neighbors.”

Chinese foreign Minister may visit India next week

pamela — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:59:38 +0000

In a bid to defuse tension between India and Pakistan, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi may visit India next week.

On Yang’s arrival, India is expected to provide evidence of Pakistani element’s involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks.

Yang Jiechi will also hold a meeting with his Indian counterpart, Pranab Mukherjee on the latest developments in Indo-Pak relations trying calm down the things between two neighbours.

Pranab Mukharjee had spoken with Yang last month and urging him to pressurise Pakistan to arrest the culprits of the Mumbai terror attacks.

Childhood disease unlikely to have killed Travolta’s son, say docs

pamela — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:58:49 +0000

Doctors say that the childhood illness that Oscar-winning Hollywood star John Travolta’s son Jett had been suffering from, scientifically called Kawasaki disease, could not be blamed for his death because it was unlikely to cause the boy’s reported seizure.

"Seizures are not part of Kawasaki disease," the New York Daily News quoted Dr. Stanford Shulman, a specialist in the disease at Northwestern University''''''''''''''''s Feinberg School of Medicine, as saying.

"If a teenager had a seizure and died, that would not commonly be due to Kawasaki disease," the expert added.

Kolkata auto-rickshaw operators set two buses on fire

pamela — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:57:59 +0000

Two buses were reportedly set ablaze today by protesting Trinamool Congress-backed auto-rickshaw operators who were agitating against a court ban on ageing public transport vehicles in the city.

The strike turned violent with irate auto drivers vandalising a government bus at Park Circus.

The agitators turned violent, and stoned and set fire to a West Bengal Transport Corporation bus. The bus was only partially damaged as locals managed to douse the flames. No one was injured.

Frozen embryos may address long-term IVF health issues

pamela — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:57:13 +0000

Women opting for IVF treatment would soon get rid of the traumatic drug therapy, for the researchers from Oxford Fertility Unit have found that freezing the embryos can significantly reduce long-term health risks.

The researchers found a drastic improvement in the success rate of fertility treatment using frozen embryos.

The procedure reduces the need for repeated cycles of hormone therapy and egg extraction, which can be traumatic and result in serious side effects such as polycystic ovary syndrome.

PM asks Pak to hand over Mumbai terror criminals

pamela — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:55:46 +0000

Following Pakistan’s rejection to extradite any Pakistani national to India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked Pakistan to hand over “criminals” responsible for the Mumbai attacks so that they can face trial in India.

Singh hoped that "some sense" would prevail in the Pakistani leadership and that it would recognise that those behind the “horrible acts” in Mumbai should to be brought to justice.

Politics takes new turn as PPP-PML-N gap widens in Punjab

pamela — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:54:59 +0000

The political game in Pakistan’s Punjab Province is taking a new turn, with neither the PPP nor the PML-N willing to compromise or budge on their respective stances.

The Nation quotes political observers as saying that the distance between PPP Governor Salman Taseer and PML-N Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is widening with the passage of time and warns that a direct confrontation between them may create a new problem, especially for the province and for the country in general.

Brussels moot speaks of long-term peace for Kashmir

pamela — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:54:21 +0000

A two-day conference held here last month on the cultural heritage of Kashmiris, has declared that there is a need to forge “a peaceful pathway through identifying and implementing a series of steps that will lead to a prosperous and cohesive future for all of the people of Kashmir, wherever they may reside.”

In its eight-point declaration, the conference recognising that, irrespective of their location, all people of the Former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir share a unique and ancient heritage.

Four militants killed in Manipur encounters

pamela — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:51:35 +0000

In separate encounters, the security personnel have gunned down four militants in eastern Imphal and Bishenpur Districts of Manipur.

Reports reaching here from Imphal said that a joint team of police commandos and Assam Rifles raided Sanjenbam village in Imphal East District on Saturday morning after getting some leads on militant movement in the area.

During the search operation, the militants shot gunfire at the security forces and vice-versa. One militant was gunned down during the retaliatory fire from the security personnel. Rest of them managed to rescue.

Annie Lennox and Alexei Sayle call for ceasefire in Gaza

pamela — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:49:48 +0000

In a bid to put an end to Israel''s bombing of the Gaza Strip, Scottish singer Annie Lennox and English stand-up comedian Alexei Sayle have joined high-profile campaigners in voicing their concerns.

During a news conference in London, Lennox said that TV footage of the attacks, which have taken the lives of more than 400 innocent people, left her shaken.

“A few days after Christmas I came downstairs, put the television on and saw smoke pyres emanating from buildings and it shook me to the core,” the BBC quoted her as saying.

Tom Cruise may be sued for copying Hitlers globe in Valkyrie

pamela — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:48:30 +0000

American actor Tom Cruise could end up being sued by a San Francisco advertising executive for using a replica of Adolf Hitler''''s globe in his movie “Valkyrie”.

Robert Pritikin owns several of Hitler’s artefacts, including the notorious globe, which the Fuehrer used to plan U-boat attacks from his compound in the Bavarian Alps.

Pritikin, who had bought Hitler’s globe in 2007 for 100,000 dollars, decided to take legal action after he saw a copied version of the globe in Cruise’s movie.

Jenna Fischer would rather shed her clothes on a movie set than at home

pamela — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:46:51 +0000

While most starlets find being naked on a film set daunting, American actress Jenna Fischer has revealed that she would rather do it on screen than at home.

Fischer, who had donned skimpy lingerie in the hilarious “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” early in 2008, likes being naked on a film set because it is possible to hide all the blemishes.

“In your house you don''t have a team of people lighting you perfectly. They can light your cellulite so you see it or don''t see it; it''s the most amazing thing,” Fox News quoted her as saying.

Senior Hamas leader’s son converts to Christianity, speaks against the outfit

pamela — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:45:54 +0000

Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of influential Hamas Leader Sheikh Hassan Yousef, has converted to Christianity, and said that there will never be peace between Israel and Palestine.

Mosab Hassan Yousef stated, among other things, “Is there any chance for fire to co-exist with the water? It’s not about Israel, it’s not about Hamas: It’s about both ideologies,” FOX News reported.

Yousef (30) went on to state that Hamas betrays the Palestinian cause and tortures its own members.

Untimely rain hits onion prices

pamela — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:44:22 +0000

Unexpected rains have affected Rajkot''s onion crop severely causing a sharp rise in the prices of the product.

Just a month ago, onions were priced at seven rupees per kg. Now it is soared to 22 rupees per kilogram.

Untimely rains have also affected the production of the crop in other parts of Gujrat and Nashik and Maharashtra.

Rajesh Parekh, an onion trader blamed on the excess shortage of onions in various cities for the recent price rise.

Earlier the onion crop demand in the state used to be 5000 kg a day, but it has dropped to 1500 kg.

British school bans the word school

pamela — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:43:34 +0000

The head teacher of a new school in Sheffield, South Yorks, has banned the usage of the word “school”, as it could have a negative impact on the pupils’ parents.

Watercliffe Meadow, known as a “Place for Learning”, has 481 pupils and the kids from nursery to Year 6, are allowed to wear slippers instead of shoes.

“We decided we didn’t want to use the word ‘school’,” the Sun quoted head teacher Linda Kingdon as saying.

“One reason was many parents of children here had very negative connotations of school.

“Instead we want this to be a place for family learning.

American airline apologises for booting nine Muslim passengers

pamela — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:42:12 +0000

A US airline has apologized to nine Muslim American passengers from the Washington area who were removed from a flight out of Reagan National Airport.

But a Muslim civil rights group has said that it intends to press a discrimination complaint against the airline for its treatment of the passengers, The Washington Post reported.

Cold wave grips north India

pamela — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:40:54 +0000

A cold wave swept through North India on Saturday with temperatures plummeting and fog disrupting transport in New Delhi and Chandigarh.

New Delhi was gripped by dipping temperatures coupled with dense fog, making life difficult for people.

The minimum temperature fell to 4 degrees Celsius on Friday, one of the coldest winter mornings of the season.

Mukhesh Kumar Dixit, a rickshaw puller, who woke up at around 5:00 in the morning, was unable to bear the winter chill. He said his hands were freezing and that he would not be able to work in such weather.

CA chairman Clarke defends Ponting, Hilditch

pamela — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:39:40 +0000

Cricket Australia chairman Jack Clarke has said that chief selector Andrew Hilditch and captain Ricky Ponting have been unfairly criticised.

Clarke chose to draw on Australia’s past success as World Cup winners and Test cricket’s top ranking in his attempt to defend Hilditch and Ponting, whose field settings and bowling tactics have been questioned, The Herald Sun reported.

“Both men have been crucial to the Australian men’s team’s success during this period, and I believe that they have recently received unfair criticism,” Clarke said in a statement released on Saturday.

World Bank says UAE is the easiest country for business in the Middle East

pamela — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:38:20 +0000

The World Bank''s report Doing Business in the Arab World 2009 says the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the easiest country to do business in the Middle East. The report ranked UAE in the 14th place globally in its assessment of 181 countries.

"Economies that have efficient customs, good transport networks and fewer document requirements, making compliance with export and import procedures faster and cheaper, are more competitive globally," the report said.

Meet the orang-utan that enjoys riding on a jet ski!

pamela — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:37:31 +0000

Surya, a four-year-old rescued orang-utan, enjoys riding on an inflatable jet ski at The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species in Miami, Florida, USA centre, which is its home.

Surya, who was dressed in a child''s wetsuit to keep warm, enjoyed floating across the wide pool, waving at onlookers as the inflatable moved around.

Trainers at the centre put him in the pool every week to keep him active and challenged, and he enjoys splashing about with them.