Latest News |
- Egypt blocks Twitter
- Rahul Gandhi begins three-day Maharashtra visit
- Nepal to hold fresh PM election Feb 3
- India to Pakistan: Ready to discuss all issues, step-by-step
- Kate Moss in racy video
- Portman ‘honoured’ by Oscar nomination
- ‘Scarlett Johansson not dating anyone’
- Aniston not adopting baby
- Padma Lakshmi upset with public custody drama
- No unaccounted income declared, says Katrina’s accountant
| Posted: 27 Jan 2011 12:54 AM PST
“We can confirm that Twitter was blocked in Egypt around 8 a.m. (Pacific Time, 1600 GMT) today,” Twitter confirmed on the @twitterglobalpr feed. “It’s impacting both Twitter.com & applications. We believe that the open exchange of info & views benefits societies and helps govts better connect w/ their people.” According to Herdict.com, which tracks government attempts to block internet sites, Egyptian authorities appear to be taking action against other popular communications sites, too, such as Facebook, YouTube, Person.com and veoh.com. However it appears that such actions have been partially circumvented, because many users in Egypt still reported being able to access the sites, including by mobile telephones. |
| Rahul Gandhi begins three-day Maharashtra visit Posted: 27 Jan 2011 12:53 AM PST
After landing in Nagpur, Gandhi proceeded by helicopter to attend a Scheduled Tribes convention in Gadchiroli. He will also attend an Other Backward Castes (OBC) convention in Buldhana and a minority meet in Parbhani. He will Friday attend a Scheduled Castes convention in Osmanabad, a meeting of potential candidates for elections in Dhule and a young women’s convention at Shirdi in Ahmednagar district, according to an official announcement. He will also attend a meeting of the state Congress in Aurangabad in the evening. Gandhi will Saturday morning address the media in Aurangabad before leaving for the coastal Konkan region, where his first halt will be Thane to attend a Scheduled Tribes convention in Palghar. Then he will go to Mahad in Raigad for a meeting with elected representatives, followed by a nomadic tribes convention in Satara. His previous visit to Maharashtra – Sep 7 last year – was dedicated to meetings and interactions with college students and the youth across the state. He had met students and youth in educational institutions in Akola, Aurangabad and Pune, and urged them to join mainstream politics. |
| Nepal to hold fresh PM election Feb 3 Posted: 27 Jan 2011 12:49 AM PST
The Business Advisory Committee of parliament, which runs the prime ministerial poll, Thursday announced that the parties would have to file nominations Feb 2, following which fresh elections would be held Feb 3. The decision came after the three major parties – the ruling Communists, their ally, the Nepali Congress, and the opposition Maoists – remained deadlocked in a bitter contest for power that began in June 2010 after Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned, and shows no sign of resolution even after nearly seven months. The warring parties, which failed to name a consensus government by last Friday, the deadline set by President Ram Baran Yadav, sought more time but failed the extended time limit too Wednesday, forcing the head of state to call for elections and a new premier chosen on the basis of majority support in parliament. To prevent last year’s debacle when 16 rounds of fruitless polls turned the exercise into the butt of public jokes and anger, the rules have now been changed. If there is only one contestant in the Feb 3 poll and he fails to garner half the votes in the 601-seat parliament, the election will be scrapped unlike in the past, when the race was run and re-run to allow him garner simple majority. If there are more than two candidates, the voting can go on till three rounds. However, only the top two candidates will be allowed to take part in the final round. Also, unlike in the past, lawmakers will not be allowed to skip the vote or stay neutral. The Business Advisory Committee also said if the Feb 3 poll did not produce a winner, the second and final rounds of election would be held Feb 5 and 6 respectively. The poll dates were announced ahead of the president leaving for India on a 10-day official visit Thursday. The three major parties remained locked in negotiations in a five-star hotel in the capital Thursday but with little possibility of a breakthrough. The Maoists are seeking to lead the new government on the ground that they emerged as the largest party after the 2008 election. However, the ruling parties say they will not support the Maoist bid till the former guerrillas disband their nearly 20,000-strong guerrilla army, which is still feared to be under the control of the party though it was formally handed over to the government last week. |
| India to Pakistan: Ready to discuss all issues, step-by-step Posted: 27 Jan 2011 12:47 AM PST
“There might be some apprehensions in Pakistan that India is not willing to discuss all outstanding issues, but I want to say that India is willing to discuss all the issues that make our relationship very difficult and strain our relationship,” External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said in an interaction with visiting Pakistani journalists. “The biggest problem between the two countries from being good neighbours is trust deficit. That’s why these meetings between the prime ministers, foreign ministers and foreign secretaries of the two nations,” Krishna said. Krishna was responding to questions on why India was not willing to discuss all the outstanding issues between the two nations during the proposed visit of Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to India later this year. Krishna, however, stressed that as there were issues between the two sides for the last 62 years, these could not be resolved in just one sitting or meeting between the foreign ministers or even the prime ministers. “That is exactly why I took up the matter when I met Foreign Minister Qureshi, telling him that a step-by-step, graduated, forward-looking approach needs to be taken to discuss the issues,” he added. Krishna’s comments came ahead of the meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries on the sidelines of the Standing Committee meeting of the SAARC in Thimphu Feb 6-8. The meeting could set the stage for a meeting between Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Qureshi in Thimphu and a subsequent visit by Qureshi to Delhi. Krishna added he was looking forward to a fruitful visit of Qureshi to New Delhi soon. The two sides are yet to finalise a date for Qureshi’s trip to India. Referring to repeated assurance by Pakistan that it will not allow its soil to be used by forces hostile to New Delhi, Krishna conveyed through the visiting journalists that Islamabad must follow this assurance in letter and spirit. He said India being a democracy, its government had to consider the public opinion and their sensibilities on the outrage in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks and the loss of lives, both domestic and foreign. Taking a long-range view of the relationship, Krishna stressed that the two countries should “push some of the differences we have to the back-burner” to concentrate on developmental agenda. “India and Pakistan have to put some of their differences on the back burner and concentrate on addressing the development challenges facing the two nations. For that, trust is needed and we have to put in place mechanisms to build trust,” he said in his hour-long meeting. A group of 13 senior journalists from newspapers, news channels and magazines of Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, viasiting India, attended the meeting. “Let me make it abundantly clear…India desires a peaceful and friendly relation with Pakistan. This will enable both the countries to effectively address development challenges we face. For that, the basic need is that our mindset, which is often adversarial, has to be changed,” he said. “We need to look at things in a positive manner. Our relationship has so many potentials, only if we come out of that mindset. Let me assure you, India has come out of it,” he added. Alluding to his talks with Qureshi in Islamabad in July last year that ended in mutual recriminations, Krishna said: “Though the media thinks so, I am fully satisfied with the trip as I largely met the purposes of the meeting.” “India has placed on the table its core issue of terrorism and how terrorism has inflicted substantial damage to our relationship. Dialogue was initiated in 2004, but the terror attack on Mumbai happened unprovoked. That put the clock back,” he said. |
| Posted: 27 Jan 2011 12:45 AM PST
The 37-year-old appears to be playing a hooker, wearing white pants, a black Dolce and Gabbana top, a black Jean Paul Gaultier style brassiere, black and white polka dot Moschino skirt and red and white polka dot platform sandals. The video is part of a project based on a fashion shoot by photographer Nick Knight, reports dailymail.co.uk. Called “Editing Kate” and organised by Knight’s own fashion film website showstudio.com, it will see the footage of Knight’s shoot “remixed” by various people. The video featuring Moss is the first version, edited by Paris-based filmmaker Jamie Harley. The shoot has been turned into a pop video by soundtracking the model’s moves with Los Angeles-based electro pop artist Evan Voytas’s song “Tomorrow Night We’ll Go Anywhere”. “Few people are as iconic as Kate, and the opportunity to work on footage by Nick Knight made it impossible to resist. I wanted the result to be as obsessional as possible,” said Harley. |
| Portman ‘honoured’ by Oscar nomination Posted: 27 Jan 2011 12:42 AM PST
The movie went on to pick up five Oscar nominations, including one for the actress, Tuesday. “I am so honoured and grateful to the Academy for this recognition. It is a wonderful culmination of the 10-year journey with Darren to make this film,” Portman has been quoted as saying by femalefirst.co.uk. “Making ‘Black Swan’ is already the most meaningful experience of my career, and the passion shown for the film has completed the process of communication between artists and audience. I am so thankful for the support we have received and I share this honour with the entire cast and crew of the film, especially Darren Aronofsky,” she added. Portman recently received the best actress award at the Golden Globe for her performance in “Black Swan”. At the Oscar, she is competing with Annette Bening (“The Kids Are All Right”), Nicole Kidman (“Rabbit Hole”), Jennifer Lawrence (“Winter’s Bone”) and Michelle Williams (“Blue Valentine”). The Oscar ceremony is to be held Feb 27. |
| ‘Scarlett Johansson not dating anyone’ Posted: 27 Jan 2011 12:41 AM PST
The actress split from Reynolds Decemeber 2010, and subsequently filed for divorce, after which she was spotted on a recent night out with the Sudeikis. But her representative has shot down rumours of an affair, reports dailystar.co.uk. “Scarlett is not dating Jason, nor is she dating anyone for that matter. It was just a friendly outing amongst friends,” said the representative. Sudeikis also recently turned single after parting ways with girlfriend January Jones.             |
| Posted: 27 Jan 2011 12:40 AM PST
Rumours have been making rounds that Aniston is in the process of adopting a child from Mexico. “It is completely false. Jennifer is not adopting a baby from Mexico, nor does she have a nursery in her home and she has not hired a nanny. It is all a work of fiction,” people.com quoted the representative as saying. |
| Padma Lakshmi upset with public custody drama Posted: 27 Jan 2011 12:38 AM PST
“She said, ‘I’m living in a nightmare’. She’s a single working mother who is trying very hard to have a peaceful and calm environment for her daughter. The recent events are making it difficult,” people.com quoted a friend as saying. Another source said Lakshmi, 40, has “encouraged Mr. Dell to be in Krishna’s life.(Krishna) needs to know her father and have a consistent relationship with him.” Dell’s attorney said that his client isn’t interested in garnering attention, but simply getting more time with his daughter. “There was no desire for publicity and Adam regrets that there is some – but (he) can’t help it given that he was forced to go to court to assert his rights as a father,” said lawyer, Bill Zabel. However, Lakshmi’s attorney, Jay D. Silverstein is calling the facts laid out in Dell’s court papers “inaccurate and misleading.” “Ms. Lakshmi looks forward to correcting the record in the courts, not the press. She is saddened and gravely disappointed that Mr. Dell has chosen a very public means of filing his petition with the court rather than doing so in a confidential or sealed manner, which is customary in cases involving a very young child,” Silverstein said in a statement. |
| No unaccounted income declared, says Katrina’s accountant Posted: 27 Jan 2011 12:36 AM PST
“A search was conducted by the Income Tax department (on Monday) at the residence of my client Ms. Katrina Kaif. My client is disturbed by the speculative reports circulating in the media that she has disclosed unaccounted income running into crores (of rupees) and unaccounted lockers were found. “The fact of the matter is that no unaccounted income has been declared by her. Katrina is fully cooperating with the IT department, which she holds in high regard,” Katrina’s chartered accountant said in a press statement. The IT department also raided the house and office premises of actress Priyanka Chopra, as well as celebrity photographer Atul Kasbekar. The officials were investigating whether the celebrity trio had paid taxes proportionate to the known income earned by them during the past year and more from various sources.             |
Micro-blogging site Twitter confirmed Wednesday that its service had been blocked in Egypt, indicating a probable government crackdown on technology that could disseminate information about the widening anti-government demonstrations.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi arrived here Thursday on a three-day whirlwind tour of Maharashtra to boost the party’s membership drive among backward castes, minorities and women.
Supermodel Kate Moss has featured in possibly one of her raciest shoots, which has been turned into a pop video. She looks sensual as she hitches up her skirt and pulls up her top to reveal her inners in the video.
Hollywood actress Natalie Portman is “honoured” for being nominated in the best actress category for “Black Swan” at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards and thanks director Darren Aronofsky for the success of the movie.
| You are subscribed to email updates from Latest News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment