WANA: Thirteen people have been killed and several injured in two missile attacks by US drones in South Waziristan.
According to sources, US drone fired a rocket at a suspect camp of militants in Kokatkhel village of Sarokai area. Thirteen militants have been killed and several injured in the attack.
Another missile has been fired at maddarsa in Mantoi area. Eyewitnesses said no damage was done due to closure of the maddarsa.
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The Brazilian military says it has ended its search for bodies from the Air France jet that crashed into the Atlantic almost a month ago.
Fifty-one bodies have been recovered since the plane went down on 1 June. A total of 228 people were on board.
A Brazilian spokesman said the recovery of any more of the bodies was “impossible”.
But a French-led search for the plane’s black boxes - which will emit signals until at least 2 July - will continue.
The cause of the accident has not yet been established. The Airbus 330 was flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris when it plunged into the sea.
See a map of the plane’s route
“It has been nine days since we have located bodies,” Brazilian air force spokesman Lt Col Henry Munhoz told journalists.
Searchers had concluded that “it is impossible to recover more dead bodies or remains in the search area”, he said.
Several French vessels, including a nuclear submarine, will continue to listen out for signals from the plane’s flight recorders. They emit audio signals for at least 30 days after a crash.
The crash was the worst in Air France’s history.
There has been speculation that faulty data on the old-style speed sensors may have been the cause, but French investigators have warned against drawing early conclusions.
An initial report by France’s Investigation and Analysis Bureau (BEA) is to be released on 2 July.
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KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari will donate blood to commemorate the birth anniversary of his late wife, slain Pakistan Peoples Party chairperson and former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, today, June 21. She would have been 56 years old.
Zardari is also scheduled to address party workers in Naudero, Larkana, the Bhutto hometown.
The PPP has officially declared that the day will be observed solemnly; usually party units, no matter how small celebrate by cutting giant cakes.
Some party members have been vocal about separate choices. Naheed Khan, who was Bhutto’s secretary and personal body guard till her assassination, felt that party workers should have the freedom to commemorate the day as they wished. Some people have written poems and ballads for their late party leader, she pointed out. They would like to pay tribute to her.
Meanwhile, a meeting was held on Saturday at Bhutto’s residence in Karachi, Bilwal House, to review security. The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar-uz Zaman Kaira, Babar Awan, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah.
The president was also briefed on development projects in Sindh.
A delegation of the PPP’s coalition partner Muttahida Qaumi Movement led by Dr Farooq Sattar met President Zardari.
Sunday, June 21, will be commemorated as Benazir Bhutto’s birth anniversary across Pakistan. However, the fortunes of her party may not be something worth celebrating. (June 20, 2009)
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WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Saturday challenged Iran’s government to halt a “violent and unjust” crackdown on dissenters, using his bluntest language yet to condemn Tehran’s postelection response.
Obama has sought a measured reaction to avoid being drawn in as a meddler in Iranian affairs. Yet his comments have grown more pointed as the clashes intensified, and his latest remarks took direct aim at Iranian leaders.
“We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people,” Obama said in a written statement. “The universal rights to ssmby ndfre pechmut berepete, ndth Uitd Staesstand with all who seek to exercise those rights.”
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SWAT: The forces during operation at Shamozai of Tehsil Barikot area in Malakand division kept advancing.
Curfew in different area of Dir remains relaxed until 8.00 P.M in the night. Security forces targeted extremists’ hideouts at Totanubandai and Dadahara of Tehsil Kabal areas in Swat. The forces have taken control of the Kotlai area in Tehsil Kabal and, thereafter, advancing towards Shamozai area of Barikot. Curfew remained clamped in the entire district.
Security forces from headquarter Timargara kept shelling overnight different areas of Maidan, however, no loss of life was reported. While Dir media center said that curfew would remain relaxed up to 8.00 P.M. in the night at Tehsil Maidan and Adeenzai, while curfew break for Bannu areas until 6.00 P. M. in the evening has been announced.
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Personal
Date/ Place of birth:
9 June 1976, Bombay, Maharashtra, India
Relationship Status:
Dating
Spouse/ Partner:
Kanav Puri
Debut Film:
Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai (2000)
Biography
Amisha Patel belongs to a true multi racial family as her father Amit Patel is a Gujrati Maharashtrian and her mother Asha Patel is a Sindhi. Amisha’s grandfather was a well known lawyer and politician Barrister Rajni Patel who was the Congress Committee President of Bombay.
Amisha is not just a famous Bollywood actress but also a Biogenetic Engineer from a university in United States. Amisha is also a gold medalist in economics. Before getting into films, she worked for a financial company, but she did not continue for long.
She soon joined Satyadev Dubey’s theatre group and started doing plays. Although her parents did not like her theatre as she was academically a brilliant student and was not using her degrees. With her excellent foreign degree and superb family background, Amisha was supposed to be the CEO of her family business. But Amisha could not leave her acting passion aside.
Amisha’s parents had good relations with the Roshan family of the Indian film industry. It was at a dinner at the Roshan’s house that Rakesh Roshan offered Amisha a role in ‘Kaho Na Pyaar Hai’. This role was initially offered to Kareena Kapoor but she did not do it. So Amisha got lucky in getting ‘Kaho Na Pyar Hai’ which became a superhit and Amisha became a star overnight.
After ‘Kaho Na Pyar Hao’, life was not a bed of roses for Amisha. She had number of flop films to her credit like ‘Suno Sasurji’ with Aftab Shivdasani, ‘Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage’ with Hrithik, ‘Yeh hai Jalwa’ with Salman, ‘Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar’ with Jimmy Shergil. But then ‘Gadar’ opposite Sunny Deol became one of the biggest hit of Indian cinema. Amisha’s stunning performance in the film made her to stand in the front row of actresses in Bollywood.
In real life, Amisha is a very simple girl. She is a shy girl with a good sense of humour. Amisha loves to read books and listen to Jagjit Singh’s ghazals in her leisure time. She loves food and loves butter chicken and parathas. Amisha Patel has the best collection of bags and belts in Tinsel Ville. Recently she accused her father for not using her money correctly and since then she has quite strained relations with her parents. She is seeing director Vikram Bhatt these days.
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Pop princess Britney Spears last night brought her raunchy new act to the Irish public as she hit the stage in Dublin.
The star singer was in the Irish capital last night for the first of two concerts at the O2 Arena.
Fans and followers will be wondering if wedding bells might once again be in the air for the singer after her previous visit to Ireland ended in an engagement.
Five years ago she got his-and-hers tattoos on her wrist with beau Kevin Federline, before the pair got engaged on their return flight to the US.
The latest tour has seen her donning risque apparel for her stage act, including a blindfold, a sexy dominatrix outfit and a whip before being thrown into a cage by muzzled, leather-clad men.
Spears is travelling in style for the show, with her tour party staying in three of Dublin’s top hotels — the Morrison, the Merrion and the Four Seasons.
Her 100-plus strong entourage includes 60 dancers, her band and road crew as well as her young sons, Jayden James and Sean Preston.
However, it has been reported that one hotel refused outright to a request to install a stripper pole during her stay.
Spears will also be performing in Paris, Moscow and Berlin before returning to the US for a number of dates later this summer. Since hitting the charts ten years ago with her hit single Baby One More Time, Spears has become one of the world’s biggest selling female artists.
But she has become well-known for her recent personal problems, including drug rehabilitation and shaving her head in 2007.
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MUMBAI: In possibly the biggest role that a Hollywood superstar has essayed in an Indian film so far, Basic Instinct siren Sharon Stone is being cast opposite Amitabh Bachchan in a new movie titled Lost Love.
It will be jointly directed by Kolkata-based Tapan Saha, who assisted master filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak, and Ron Calvy, who assisted Francis Ford Coppola on The Godfather. Saha is also in talks with Abhishek Bachchan for the younger version of Big B and Amanda Seyfried of Mamma Mia! for the younger version of Sharon Stone. Shahid Kapur may join the cast, too.
“Sharon has read the script and has given her consent,” says Saha. “I will go to Hollywood soon to make her sign the contract.” The actress, he adds, “will be in India end of this year or beginning of next year for the shoot”. As for Bachchan, “we have almost finalised the deal with him”. The shooting would be at a hill station. “Kodaikanal, Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar are options.”
The film is about an American girl who is dumped by her Indian boyfriend but still waits for him for 25 years. To find him, she comes to India. Saha is in talks with Lionsgate chairman Harald Ludwig to produce the movie. He is riding high on Slumdog Millionaire’s success. “There is a big wave of India in Hollywood, toh maine socha kyun nahin kuch hum bhi kar le,” says Saha, who is also directing Chimera with Billy Zane and Bipasha Basu.
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MUMBAI: A day after a police complaint was filed against him for “hurting religious sentiments” in Islam, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh said on Friday that his comments to a magazine were misinterpreted due to a “writing error”.
The First Information Report (FIR) was lodged by the Mumbai Aman Committee (MAC) at the Bandra police station here on Thursday after they read in Time’N Style-Luxury that Shah Rukh had listed Prophet Mohammad as one of the most unimpressive personalities in history alongside Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill.
‘Blame it on a typo’
But Shah Rukh said it was a “writing error” and that he had named the Prophet among the most impressive personalities in history.
“Obviously I think that there is no more important figure in history than Prophet Mohammad in the most positive way possible. Also, being a Muslim and standing up for the tenets of Islam is my most important agenda. If they (MAC) have seen my interviews on TV about Islam and Prophet Mohammad, they would know it’s a writing error and not a thought or view that I believe in,” Shah Rukh said.
“For all practical purposes, Prophet Mohammad is the most important positive figure in Islam,” he added.
Correction carried out
A corrigendum from the magazine was also published across Mumbai newspapers on Thursday wherein the magazine accepted the error.
The corrigendum stated: “This is with reference to the interview with Shah Rukh Khan that featured in Time’N Style-Luxury Vol-1 issue: The answer to question ‘According to you (Shah Rukh) who is the most impressive figure in history?’ should have appeared as: ‘There are lots of them. Some negative ones like Hitler. Then Napoleon, Winston Churchill were impressive.
” ‘If I can call it history then most impressive, positive figure Prophet Mohammad and from recent times there are the nice ones like Nelson Mandela, Gandhiji and Mother Teresa.’ This is a clarification and the error is deeply regretted.”
Too late?
However, an official from the Bandra police station, however, confirmed that the FIR had not been withdrawn even after the corrigendum was published.
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TEHRAN - Iran’s most powerful figure, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, endorsed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday as the victor of the disputed presidential election and demanded a halt to street protests.
He said if demonstrations did not halt, their organisers would take responsibility for any bloodshed. Here is a brief outline of what might happen next and whether defeated candidate Mirhossein Mousavi will heed Khamenei’s appeal in his first address to the nation since the protests broke out on June 13.
Will street protests end?
Mousavi’s supporters have taken to the streets in tens of thousands to protest official results of the vote, in Iran’s most serious unrest since the overthrow of the U.S.-backed shah in 1979.
Khamenei’s demand for a halt to street protests will put huge pressure on Mousavi to press for an end to massive street protests.
Mousavi, prime minister during Iran-Iraq war in 1980-88, is unlikely to go against the interests of the Islamic republic following the leader’s speech, and will therefore likely follow Khamenei’s demand. He will probably continue his activities through judicial channels.
Mousavi may urge his supporters to stay away from a planned rally on Saturday to prevent the bloodshed Khamenei warned of.
Authorities may opt for a violent crackdown if pro-reform Iranians defy the leader’s demand and continue their protests. If Mousavi supporters proceed on saturday in defiance of Khamenei’s explicit warning they risk a severe response from security forces, which have so far not tried to prevent mass demonstrations.
End of reforms in Iran?
If Mousavi decides to abandon his election demands, then a large group of pro-reform Iranians will become disillusioned. It will mark the end of Mousavi’s political career as well as that of many other leading reformist figures who backed him.
This will open the way to conservatives winning the next elections to the national parliament and city councils.
Iran’s top legislative body, the Guardian Council, is considering complaints by the three losing candidates, but has said only that it will recount some disputed ballot boxes. Mousavi rejects the limited recount, demanding a new election.
Direction of Foreign Policy
Iran’s ultimate authority, Khamenei acknowledged for the first time since Ahmadinejad was elected in 2005, that his views on foreign policy were closer to those of the hardline president than to those of his moderate critics.
Khamenei has the last say on Iran’s major policies, including Iran’s disputed nuclear programme and whether Iran should resume ties with the United States.
Khamenei’s remarks showed that Western hopes for a more conciliatory approach by Iran’s leadership was unlikely in the next four years.
Mousavi has criticised Ahmadinejad for isolating Iran by denying the Holocaust and making fiery anti-Western speeches.
Human Rights
Many European countries and rights groups have criticised Iran’s human rights record. Tehran denies violations, blaming the West for not respecting people’s rights.
Analysts believe Khamenei’s uncompromising remarks may lead to arrest of many political activists in the coming days.
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