Nkorea: Annual Arirang mass perfromance

SEOUL: North Korea has opened an annual festival featuring tens of thousands of performers praising the ruling Kim dynasty, amid reports this year's Arirang event will be the last.

The festival began Wednesday evening at Pyongyang's May Day Stadium with a display of "music, dances, gymnastics, acrobatics and ever-changing background", the official news agency reported Wednesday night.

The extravaganza, named after a famous Korean folk song, involves artists including young children performing synchronised acrobatics, dances and flip-card displays of politicised messages.

The impoverished communist state has drawn thousands of Chinese and other foreign tourists to the festival, which began in 2002 and became an annual event in 2007.

Performances this year are in honour of "the leadership of the dear respected Marshal Kim Jong-Un, holding President Kim Il-Sung and leader Kim Jong-Il in high esteem for all ages", the news agency said.

Slogans such as "Long live heaven-sent illustrious commander General Kim Jong-Un! were displayed and the stadium became a "huge sea of flowers and dances", it added.

Jong-Un took over as leader when his father Jong-Il died last December.

Jong-Il succeeded his own father and founding president Kim Il-Sung, who helped establish an all-pervasive personality cult around the family.

A Beijing-based tour firm which for years has organised trips to the North has said this year's Arirang festival, from August 1 to September 9, will be the last.

The North plans to present new shows with different themes beginning next year, Koryo Tours said in June. (AFP)<script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script> <!-- Landscapee --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:728px;height:90px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1670575567185137" data-ad-slot="8405523128"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script>

Dancing robots competition held in China

BEIJING: A robot dancing competition took place in northeast China, attracting 29 teams from China, Russia, Mexico and South Korea.

A pair of giant panda-shaped robots drew attention as they had to move over 20 joints in costumes when they were dancing.

"We worked very hard on these giant panda robots. It took a lot of work to ensure even easy moves. For example, we spent three days to complete the giant panda costumes," said He Rong, student of Xihua University.

A robot that could write calligraphy stood out at the competition as well. The robot wrote "Welcome to Fujin" and won applause from competitors and judges.

A team from a Mexican University won the first prize for the solo dance category after a day-long competition. (Monitoring Desk)

 

Visa scam: Asad to release more videos

LONDON: The central character in Olympic visa scandal, Muhammad Ali Asad in an interview given to Geo News on Tuesday said he was all set to release more videos to expose the reality of the passport system that is in place Pakistan.

"I have only released a trailer, the whole movie still remains to be released," Asad said during an exclusive interview with Geo News.

Asad claimed to have video footage of many hours in duration and that the moment it is released would completely unnerve Rehman Malik.

He said he was waiting for the day when Prime Minister's Advisor on Interior Rehman Malik takes action against him. "I am not a villain, I just want Pakistan's passport system in a better shape," he said and termed the claim of the country's passport system being error-free as 'ridiculous'.

He believed that terrorists were gaining undue advantage from the weaknesses of Pakistan's passport apparatus.

"I haven't besmirched the name of Pakistan, only fulfilled journalistic responsibilities," Asad maintained.

 

'Mission of the decade’ nears Mars

WASHINGTON: The last time the United States landed a mission on Mars to look for extraterrestrial life or its building blocks, Gerald Ford was president and the nation had just finished celebrating its 1976 bicentennial.

Next week, the long-delayed second attempt will try to deposit a rover on the planet’s surface.

The descent and landing in the early hours of Aug. 6 will be the most complex and hair-raising in planetary history. The destination is a deep crater with a three-mile-tall mountain that NASA could only dream about using as a landing site until very recently.

It’s the most ambitious, the most costly ($2.5 billion) and the most high-stakes mission ever to another planet. It was also described last week by the agency’s top scientist, former astronaut John M. Grunsfeld, as “the most important NASA mission of the decade.”

“There is no doubt that this is a risky mission, and that is coming from a human-spacecraft guy,” Grunsfeld said. “It’s hard to get something this big and complex to the surface of Mars, and then to get it to start roving. Thousands of people around the world working on it will be feeling their lives are riding on the mission landing successfully. We’ll all know soon if the risk was worth it.”

What the Mars Science Laboratory mission and its rover named Curiosity bring to Mars is a capacity to analyze the planet with much more sophistication than before, and to do it over a sizable and scientifically rich expanse.

The goal is not to find Martian life per se but rather to ferret out carbon-based organic compounds that are building blocks of life, and then to determine whether the Gale Crater landing site was ever suitable for creatures. Both are integral parts of the science of astrobiology — the search for life beyond Earth.

At 10 feet long and seven feet high at the top of its camera mast, Curiosity is the size of an SUV and weighs almost a ton, about three times more than the Spirit and Opportunity rovers sent to Mars in 2003 on a primarily geological mission. Its robotic arm for digging soil and drilling rock is seven feet long, almost three times longer than previous rover arms. This tool will provide more and better samples for the lab’s instruments, which will do their analysis on Mars and send back the results to scientists here.

Curiosity will have numerous ovens to bake soil and rocks up to 1,800 degrees and analyze what comes out; it will have a laser zapper to free up potentially important targets in rocks; it will have cameras with unprecedented capabilities, including one that will take video of the last several minutes of the high-drama landing, now dubbed “seven minutes of terror” by NASA.

Getting to Mars, and especially landing on it, is difficult. Forty-four missions — flybys, orbits and landings — have been sent to the planet by NASA, the former Soviet Union, Russia, the European Space Agency, Japan and China, and about one-third have made it. All six successful landings were flown by NASA. (A Soviet capsule made a soft landing in 1971 but then sent back only 14 seconds of data, so it is not considered to have succeeded.)

Ramazan fasting could help quit smoking

ISLAMABAD: With bundle of blessings the holy month of Ramazan offers for human beings, the bad habit of smoking can also be avoided through fasting.

Fasting is considered as a strong tool to maintain good health and effective cure for various psychological and medical disorders and health experts suggest fasting as a best way to quit smoking.

"The holy month of Ramadan serves as a best exercise for smokers to maintain good health and avoid bad habits of nicotine dependency to stay normal," said Dr Haseeb Sitaar of Holy Family hospital.

Fasting keeps a person healthy and clean both physically and spiritually and when it comes to quit smoking, it can be a best way for those having serious infections from smoking, he said.

In normal days, it becomes hard for smokers to leave smoking completely as hectic routine and other social pressures compel some to smoke while the period of fasting keeps them away from smoking.

Fasting is a religious obligation and the faithful follow this
obligation prior to anything else during Ramadan, which leads them to
avoiding all the bad habits.

Taking a month-long break from the practice of smoking sometimes get converted to a permanent avoidance of health hazardous things.

"Will power is needed to quit smoking, which the fasting provides people during this holy month and the people refrain themselves to smoke to fulfill their religious obligation," Dr Haseeb said.

Other than Ramadan, smokers experience withdrawal symptoms, like irritability, anger, restlessness, impatience, insomnia and difficulty concentrating but the fasting helps them to maintain patience.

"Fasting is a spiritual help to spend smoke-free days during Ramadan and an excellent practice for leaving many bad habits," said Hanif Ejaz, a student suffering from serious infections of smoking. (APP)

Phelps new record Olympic medals winner

LONDON: Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian of all time on Tuesday, winning a record 19th medal in the pool as China's swimming sensation Ye Shiwen grabbed her second gold of the Games.

Phelps anchored the US team to a convincing victory in the 4x200m freestyle relay to secure gold and beat the record of 18 medals amassed by Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina between 1956 and 1964.

The American had earlier had his bid for a 200m butterfly Olympic treble thwarted by Chad le Clos of South Africa, but the silver allowed him to match the record medal haul before the relay sealed his unprecedented achievement.

Phelps, 27, won six golds and two bronze medals at the 2004 Athens Games, then brought home a spectacular eight golds from Beijing.

He has suffered a testing Games in London, slumping out of the medals in the 400m individual medley and then having to settle for silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay.

But Phelps' record 19th medal was never in doubt in Tuesday's relay as he took over the final leg with a healthy lead and powered home to leave France trailing in silver and China with bronze.

Ye, just 16, is likely to fuel more speculation about her remarkable performances after she added the 200m individual medley title to the 400m individual medley crown.

The Chinese girl was lagging behind the leaders at the turn in the Aquatics Centre, but produced a powerful final 50m to overhaul Australia's Alicia Coutts in an Olympic record time of 2min 7.57sec.

Her swim came just days after her lightning freestyle leg in the longer medley propelled her to a new world record.

Ye's emergence has raised unproven suspicions of doping, with John Leonard, executive director of the World Swimming Coaches' Association, describing her display in the 400m medley as "impossible."

But Chinese authorities went on the offensive, saying it was unfair to point the finger at their swimmers.

"The Chinese athletes, including the swimmers, have undergone nearly 100 drug tests since they arrived here," Jiang Zhixue, the head of anti-doping at China's General Administration of Sport, told Xinhua news agency.

"Many were also tested by the international federations and the British anti-doping agency. I can tell you that so far there was not a single positive case.

"I think it is not proper to single Chinese swimmers out once they produce good results. Some people are just biased."

Former British swimmer Adrian Moorhouse, a gold medallist in the 100m breaststroke in the 1988 Seoul Games, issued a strong defence of Ye, saying it was possible China had unearthed their own Phelps.

"I think it's sour grapes," Moorhouse said. "I think it's quite insulting actually."

In the gymnastics arena, the United States won the women's team final to claim their first gold medal in the event since 1996. Russia had to settle for silver while Romania pipped 2008 Olympic champions China to bronze.

The first of 15 golds up for grabs Tuesday was won by defending champions Germany in the equestrian three-day eventing, with Michael Jung then becoming the first rider to hold the European, world and Olympic individual titles.

Great Britain finished second in the team event to earn a silver medal for Queen Elizabeth II's granddaughter Zara Phillips.

China won their third diving gold in three events when world champions Chen Ruolin and Wang Hao clinched the women's 10m synchro platform.

Chen, the individual 10m platform champion from the Beijing Games and the synchronised 10m platform champion, teamed with Wang to tally 368.40 points from their five dives off the tower. (AFP)

Crude mixed in Asia

SINGAPORE: Crude was mixed in Asia Tuesday as wary traders looked to meetings this week by the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank (ECB) for market leads, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September added six cents to $89.84 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for September delivery shed 29 cents to $105.91.

Crude markets were expecting additional stimulus to be announced during the two-day Federal Reserve meeting which starts Tuesday as well as at the ECB meet on Thursday, analysts said.

But markets were tempering their optimism with "worries that expected stimulus from the United States and Europe may fail to lift their economies", Phillip Futures stated in a commentary.

In Europe in particular, expectations that the ECB would resume its bond purchase program was met with a tinge of caution, IG Markets said in a report.

"While there was an air of optimism about the willingness of European policymakers to act to stabilise the bond markets, on the ground there is still an underlying sense of unease," it stated.

Data issued by the ECB on Monday suggested that the bank had last week opted not to resume its programme of buying up bonds of eurozone nations, its 20th week in a row of not doing so.

The ECB launched its bond-buying blitz under the Securities Market Programme (SMP) in 2010 to help debt-wracked eurozone countries that were finding it difficult to drum up financing in capital markets.

But the SMP has lain dormant since February following the ECB's moves to pump more than one trillion euros ($1.23 trillion) into the banking system via three-year funding operations in December and February.

'Dark Knight' soars at box office

LOS ANGELES: The new Batman flick "The Dark Knight Rises" was number one at North American box office despite last week's mass shooting in Colorado, final data released Monday showed.

Twelve people were killed and 58 wounded when a gunman sprayed bullets into a midnight premiere of the final installment of the Batman trilogy in Aurora, Colorado on July 20.

Still the film finished its debut weekend with the third-largest earnings ever, and this weekend raked in earnings well above its competitors, bringing in $62.1 million, according to Exhibitor Relations, which tracks ticket sales.

Second place, with $13.4 million, went to 3-D computer-animated adventure comedy "Ice Age 4: Continental Drift."

Coming in just behind was science-fiction comedy "The Watch," which opened with $12.75 million in box office receipts.

The film stars Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill and Richard Ayoade as four suburban dads who form a neighborhood watch only to end up battling an alien invasion.

"Step Up: Revolution," about a crew of street dancers protesting urban development plans in Miami, opened in fourth ($11.7 million), followed by cheeky teddy bear comedy "Ted," ($7.4 million) and "The Amazing Spider-Man" ($6.7 million).

Pixar studio's 3-D animated fairytale "Brave" dropped to 7th place ($4.3 million), ahead of Steven Soderbergh's comedy about male strippers, "Magic Mike," ($2.6 million) and Oliver Stone's thriller "Savages," ($1.8 million), about California drug traffickers facing off against a Mexican cartel.

Rounding out the top 10 was Wes Anderson's dream-like narrative "Moonrise Kingdom," with $1.4 million.

Indonesia seizes 85 endangered pangolins

JAKARTA: Indonesian police have intercepted 85 endangered pangolins, most of them alive despite being stuffed into sacks by suspected smugglers, an official said Tuesday.

The animals, also known as scaly anteaters and prized mostly in China and Vietnam as food and medicine, were packed in 14 sacks when they were seized at a bus station in the city of Medan in North Sumatra province on Saturday, said Yoris Marzuki, chief detective of the local police.

"About 80 percent were still alive. We suspect that they were being smuggled abroad via Malaysia to Hong Kong or mainland China," he said.

He said police had acted on a tip-off but that no arrests had been made.

"We are still investigating the case," he said, adding that police were working with the natural resources conservation agency to release the animals back to the wild.

The pangolin, which eats termites and ants, is protected under the UN's Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and trading in it and its products is illegal. (AFP)

Man rides rickshaw to Olympics

LONDON: It's a tale of Olympian proportions: A man, a rickshaw, and a slow journey from a Chinese village to London through 16 countries. Chinese farmer Chen Guanming claimed on Thursday that his two-year odyssey to the London games took him from Thailand's floods to Tibet to snowed-in Turkey to Britain since he started in 2010.

The 57-year-old, who said he had never travelled outside China before this trip, said he wanted to support the athletes and "spread the Olympic spirit". He's also seeking a last-minute ticket to attend Friday's opening ceremony.

"I came to support and cheer all the people from all over the world who are participating in the sports," said Chen, who sports a silvery white beard and a small ponytail. "I'm volunteering, I'm not looking for a reward."

His three-wheeled rickshaw, loaded with his possessions, is plastered with pictures of him posing in front of international landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Chen said he became inspired to come to London at the end of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, when British media invited him to the next games. He didn't have a ticket, but he promised them he would get there.

According to Chen, his journey began in April 2010 in his village in eastern China's Jiangsu province, where he farms rice and other crops. Over the next two years, he said he covered 16 countries including Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan, Turkey and Italy.

His worst experiences, he said, were travelling during Thailand's floods and being trapped in freezing temperatures in the snow in Turkey. He arrived in Britain by ferry from France on July 6, he said.

Chen said he started arranging his visas beginning in 2009 and was helped financially by friends and kind people - especially Chinese communities - wherever he went. His account cannot be independently verified and it is not clear how he managed to traverse so many countries' borders. A BBC interview with him, however, showed tourist visa stamps in his passport from countries including Pakistan, Thailand and Iran. A YouTube video posted in May shows him in Rome, surrounded by curious passersby.

John Beeston, a British insurance broker who spoke some Mandarin, said he found Chen looking lost on London's bustling streets on July 9. "We are trying desperately to get him into the opening ceremony because his story has to go around the world," he said. But Chen is proud of his epic journey even if he does not get into Olympic Stadium. ‘I came. I did it. I'm very happy to have come to beautiful London," he said.

His journey doesn't end with the British capital. In a month or two, he said he plans to take a ship to the US and Canada, and he also wants to go to Brazil. "I want to go to the Rio Games too," he said

MJ's mother to share custody of children

LOS ANGELES: Michael Jackson's mother will share custody of his children with his nephew, lawyers said Friday after a hectic week for the musical family.

Katherine Jackson, 82, met with her grandson TJ Jackson, 34, Thursday and agreed that joint custody is in the best interest of the children, the Jackson family matriarch's lawyer Perry Sanders said in a statement.

"Mrs Jackson is extremely pleased with the prospect of enjoying the pleasure of raising Michael's children without the day-to-day tedium of items such as managing the large staff that goes with such a high-profile family and focus her attention on being a grandmother and raising Michael's children," Sanders said.

The Jackson family will formalize the new custody arrangement early next week, Sanders said, ending the family's dispute over the custody of Prince (15), Paris (14) and Blanket (10).

On Wednesday, the Superior Court in Los Angeles granted TJ temporary custody of the children, because of Katherine Jackson's mysterious disappearance for 10 days. She had previously been the guardian of the children.

The fractious Jackson family has been embroiled in legal and financial disputes since the pop star's sudden death in June 2009 from an overdose of propofol, a powerful anesthetic.

Entertainment media portrayed the 82-year-old Jackson's absence as an abduction by Michael's siblings, who are allegedly furious they did not inherit any of the singer's assets.

Katherine Jackson controls the $70,000 per month that Michael Jackson left his family in his will.

The document grants TJ custody of the children, if Katherine Jackson dies while they are still minors.

Together with his brothers Taj and Taryll, TJ is part of an R&B band they started in the 1990s, 3T, which performed a tribute to Michael Jackson in October 2011 in Britain. (AFP)

London Games open with fun-filled show

LONDON: The London Olympics burst into life on Friday with a humour-filled opening ceremony watched by 80,000 spectators and more than one billion TV viewers.

Queen Elizabeth II and James Bond, alias actor Daniel Craig, were shown in a spoof film parachuting from a helicopter into the Olympic Stadium in east London before the real monarch took her seat to loud applause.

After seven years of planning, the Games officially began in the gleaming new stadium in a once rundown area of the British capital with a colourful show devised by "Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle.

The ceremony kept Boyle's promise to showcase British history with a dash of quirky humour, tracing time from a bucolic past through the Industrial Revolution before fast-forwarding to the present day.

The show even included a tribute to Britain's state-run National Health Service while actor Kenneth Branagh, "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling and "Mr Bean" Rowan Atkinson all had roles.

More than 80 world leaders and royals attended the ceremony while First Lady Michelle Obama represented the United States alongside a host of celebrities including Angelina Jolie.

Earlier the Olympic flame was rowed up the River Thames in the royal barge as it approached the end of a 70-day relay around Britain and Ireland and made its way to the stadium.

The queen told dignitaries earlier that people in Britain had watched the progress of the flame with "growing excitement" as the Games approached.

Once the curtain goes up, the stage is set for superstars Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps and Roger Federer to dazzle in competition, while an army of unsung competitors are also aiming for gold.

A budget of #9.3 billion ($14.5 billion, 12 billion euros) has been spent on bringing the Games to London for an unprecedented third time, and the first since 1948.

There have been last-minute hitches with Britain's biggest peacetime security operation after 4,700 additional servicemen had to be drafted in when a private security contractor failed to supply thousands of guards.

But International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Jacques Rogge declared himself satisfied with the preparations.

"I can say with pleasure that London is ready and we are eagerly waiting for the opening ceremony," Rogge said ahead of the ceremony.

The London organisers have stressed they are not trying to rival the no-expense-spared extravaganza of Beijing four years ago.

Instead they have promised a Games for the athletes and ensured many of the venues can be reused or recycled.

Iconic locations such as Wimbledon, Lord's cricket ground and Hyde Park will host events while the Olympic Park complex in Stratford is home to events including athletics, swimming and track cycling. (AFP)

US suspect was under psychiatrist's care

DENVER: A former University of Colorado graduate student accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58 others in a shooting rampage at a Denver-area movie theater last week had been under the care of a psychiatrist who was part of a campus threat-assessment team.

The disclosure came in court documents filed on Friday by lawyers for James Holmes, 24, who is accused of opening fire last Friday on a packed showing of the latest Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises," in the Denver suburb of Aurora.

The defense attorneys, in their request to an Arapahoe County district judge, are seeking a court order requiring prosecutors to turn over the contents of a package that Holmes sent to Dr. Lynne Fenton and was later seized by investigators.

"Mr. Holmes was a psychiatric patient of Dr. Fenton, and his communications with her are protected," the filing said.

Fenton, medical director for student mental health services at the University of Colorado-Denver Anschutz Medical Campus, provides medication and psychotherapy for grad students in addition to her teaching duties, according to a school website.

A professional biography of Fenton posted on the site said she had conducted research on schizophrenia, including a two-year grant to work in the schizophrenia research department of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs from 2008 to 2010.

Fenton also is a member of the campus-based "behavioral assessment and threat assessment team," which helps faculty and staff deal with "individuals who may be threatening, disruptive or otherwise problematic," according to that group's website.

It could not be ascertained if Fenton was caring for Holmes under the threat-assessment program or under routine counseling she provided to students on campus.

Under Colorado law, mental health professionals cannot be held liable in civil suits for failing to predict a patient's violent behavior unless it involves a "serious threat of imminent physical violence against a specific person or persons." When such a threat is made, the mental health professional is required to take action, which may include
notifying those targeted or a law enforcement agency.

Fenton could not immediately be reached by Reuters for comment, and a spokeswoman for the University of Colorado medical school declined to comment, citing restrictions under a gag order issued by the judge presiding over the case.

The university, where Holmes had been enrolled as a doctoral student of neuroscience, confirmed earlier this week that a suspicious package was delivered by mail on Monday and that it was "immediately investigated and handed over to authorities within hours."

Fox News has reported, citing an unnamed law enforcement source close to the investigation, that two packages were sent by Holmes to a psychiatrist on the faculty of the University of Colorado, and that one contained a notebook detailing the shooting scenario. According to Fox News, the notebook contained hand-drawn illustrations of stick figures shooting at other stick figures.

The defense motion accuses the government of leaking information to the media in defiance of a gag order, thereby jeopardizing Holmes' rights to due process and fair trial by an impartial jury. It says his lawyers will request a hearing to determine "appropriate sanctions for this misconduct."

Prosecutors, responding to the discovery motion, disputed various elements of media accounts as being erroneous, suggesting that anyone who had provided information to Fox News and other outlets lacked real knowledge of the case.

Google says didn't delete St View data

LONDON: Google Inc said on Friday it had not kept its promise to delete all the personal data, such as emails, its Street View cars collected in Britain and other countries in 2010.

The U.S. company admitted in May 2010 that its vehicles, which photograph neighborhoods to create street level images, had accidentally collected data from unsecured wireless networks used by residents in more than 30 countries.

The failure to comply with a promise to delete all the data was notified to Britain's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which said the fact that the data still existed appeared to breach an undertaking signed by Google in November 2010.

"The ICO is clear that this information should never have been collected in the first place and the company's failure to secure its deletion as promised is a cause for concern," the ICO said.

Google said the data came to light when it searched by hand its Street View disk inventory.

"Google has recently confirmed that it still has in its possession a small portion of ... data collected by our Street View vehicles in the UK," Peter Fleischer, Google's global privacy counsel said in a letter published by the ICO.

"Google apologizes for this error."

Google said it was in the process of notifying relevant authorities in other countries.

The ICO told Google it must supply the data immediately so it could be subjected to forensic analysis before the ICO decided on the necessary course of action.

The Web search leader was fined $25,000 in April for impeding a U.S. investigation into Street View data collection. (Reuters)

Katrina chosen world's sexiest woman

MUMBAI: Actress Katrina Kaif has a reason to rejoice as she has topped the list of world's sexiest woman in a poll conducted by a leading men's lifestyle magazine.

Katrina, who has a string of films lined up release like 'Ek Tha Tiger', 'Dhoom 3' and Yash Chopra's untitled film with Shahrukh Khan has for the fourth time topped the list of world's sexiest woman.

She has beaten the likes of her Bollywood contemporaries including Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Anushka Sharma and Hollywood stars like Megan Fox, Angelina Jolie and Blake Lively.

"Being sexy is not about clothes. For me to wear a cotton sari without any make-up and still be desirable is sexy," Katrina said in a statement here.

On being voted sexy, Katrina says, "I am really excited with the news. It feels nice. It means that people are not voting for me only based on physical looks, they are also looking at me in entirety."

Black widow wins hot dog eating contest

NEW YORK: World champion hot dog eater Sonya Thomas crushed her previous record Wednesday in the annual showdown, wolfing down 45 dogs and buns in 10 minutes, to the cheers of an entranced crowd.

The 44-year-old "Black Widow," weighing in at 100 pounds (45 kg), said she achieved her goal of eating her age in dogs. The Korean-American, one of 14 competitors, beat her record from last year by five.

Thousands of spectators braved scorching temperatures to attend Wednesday's contest, held each year in a carnival atmosphere at Coney Island on the July 4 US independence day.

Men's champion Joey Chestnut earned his sixth consecutive Mustard Belt, putting away 68 hot dogs to tie his 2009 record and take home the $10,000 prize.

Chestnut, known as "Jaws," a 28-year-old, 210-pound (95 kg) Californian, beat his 14 competitors by a wide margin -- the second-place finisher ate a mere 52 hotdogs.

The separate women's contest was created last year. "It's good, because we have smaller throats, so we can't swallow as quickly," Thomas said before the competition.

When the Coney Island contest was first held 1916, the winner ate 13 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

Today, the "sport" of competitive eating has taken off in the US, with contestants gorging on hot dogs, chicken wings, hamburgers, crayfish, oysters or fruitcakes at a variety of events all year long. (AFP)

Crude prices down in Asia on ECB

SINGAPORE: Crude prices slipped in Asia Friday as worries over the global economy were rekindled following interest rate cuts by central banks in Europe and China, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for August delivery shed 37 cents to $86.85 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for delivery in August slid 69 cents to $100.01.

An expected slashing of interest rates by the European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday coupled with a far more surprising rate cut by the People's Bank of China raised fresh questions about the state of the world economy, analysts said.

"The latest round of news of central banks in Europe and China cutting rates actually raised concerns about the European and Chinese economies," said Victor Shum, senior principal of Purvin and Gertz energy consultants in Singapore.

"Concerns about the economy mean concerns about oil demand," he said.

China -- the world's largest energy consumer -- had on Thursday surprised traders by announcing that its benchmark one-year lending rate was cut by 0.31 percentage points and the deposit rate by 0.25 percentage points.

"The market interpreted that news as trouble ahead in the Chinese economy," Shum said.

The ECB's slashing of its key rate to a record low 0.75 percent on Thursday also sent markets south by way of a weakening euro, he added.

"The announcement by the ECB to cut its benchmark interest rate also failed to inspire investors... (and) caused the euro to weaken and that made the dollar stronger and caused a selling of crude futures," Shum said.

The euro plunged more than one percent against the US dollar in late New York trade Thursday following the announcement of the ECB's rate cut. It was trading at $1.2383 against the US dollar in early Asian trade from $1.2391 in late New York trade Thursday.

A weaker euro would make dollar-priced crude more expensive for traders using the European currency. (AFP)

Yahoo!, Facebook resolve patent dispute

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook and Yahoo! announced Friday they were launching an advertising partnership as the two tech giants settled a longstanding dispute over patents.

The deal includes "a patent portfolio cross-license" and will allow the two firms to "work together to bring consumers and advertisers premium media experiences promoted and distributed across both Yahoo! and Facebook," a statement by the companies said. (AFP)

Murray storms into Wimbledon final

LONDON: Andy Murray ended Britain's 74-year wait for a male Wimbledon finalist on Friday as the world number four clinched a 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 semi-final victory over French fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Murray's triumph consigned a miserable run of 11 semi-final failures by British men to the history books and emulated the achievement of Bunny Austin, the last home challenger to reach the Wimbledon men's final back in 1938.

The 25-year-old had lost at the semi-final stage for the last three years, joining Tim Henman, Roger Taylor and Mike Sangster on the list of British near-misses at the All England Club.

But decades of anguish faded from view in front of a jubiliant Centre Court crowd as Murray booked a showdown with six-time champion Roger Federer in Sunday's final.

While Murray's victory has put one ghost to rest, the Scot won't be truly satisfied until he has become the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.

Murray's meeting with Federer will be the Scot's fourth attempt to win a Grand Slam final following defeats at the Australian Open in 2010 and 2011 and the 2008 US Open.

After surviving a gruelling examination against David Ferrer in the last eight, Murray was battle-hardened and playing with the kind of focused determination he has lacked in the past.

Even so the weight of expectation on Murray could have proved crippling. Yet he showed nerves of steel to emerge victorious from two hours and 47 minutes of high drama.

Murray, who had won five of his six meetings with Tsonga, has often been criticised for his grumpy on-court demeanour but he looked totally at ease as he broke Tsonga in his first service game.

When Tsonga, a beaten semi-finalist at Wimbledon last year, earned two break points midway through the set, Murray simply came up with a series of dazzling winners to get out of trouble.

Tsonga had lost just four of his 90 service games en route to the last four, but Murray broke again for a 3-2 lead in the second set when the Frenchman blazed a forehand wide.

Murray easily closed out the second set but, with the finish line in sight, his concentration wavered and Tsonga broke for the first time in the second game of the third set.

Tsonga seized the lifeline and saved three break points at 3-1. He followed that by recovering his composure to close out the set after suffering a painful blow when Murray drove a volley straight into his groin area.

Murray looked back in control when he broke for a 3-1 lead in the fourth set, but Tsonga was going for his shots with abandon and broke straight back with a barrage of sublime winners.

Both players were living on the edge now, saving a pair of break points each, before the match reached an incredible conclusion when Murray unleashed a superb return on match point that was only called a winner once the Scot challenged successfully.

In the build-up to Wimbledon, Murray spent time sitting on the deserted Centre Court thinking back to those painful semi-final defeats and trying to visualise how it would feel to finally win one. Now he knows. (AFP)

Childhood headaches activated by stress 

ISLAMABAD: Stress factors are among the most important triggers of headaches and migraines in children, Italian researchers reported in the European Neurological Society in Prague. School stress and nightly computer sessions ranked highest among the causes of such pain.

Stress factors were the trigger for headaches or migraine attacks in two-thirds of the children examined at an outpatient clinic, Italian researchers reported at the 22nd Meeting of the European Neurological Society (ENS) in Prague, Medical Health news Reported.

"In 72% of the cases we studied, stress could be identified as a major factor behind their headaches," said Dr Dacia Dalla Libera (San Raffaele Institute, Milan). "School stress and a burdensome lack of sleep due to night time computer or television activities head the list of frequent stress factors.

In the future, we will need to incorporate these insights much more into the individual counselling and therapy of childhood headache patients."

More and more children and adolescents suffer from headaches. In studies during the mid 1970s, only 14% of children and young people admitted to having suffered from a headache in the previous six months.

Now, every other child is familiar with the painful condition. In adolescents between eleven and 18 years of age, migraine affects seven percent of boys and 12 percent of girls.

There are no guaranteed hypotheses as to why headaches occur more and more among young patients. It is assumed, however, that an unfavourable lifestyle is partially responsible.At the Headache Center of the San Raffaele Institute in Milan, the research group assessed the headaches and migraine history of 125 children and adolescents.

Sexy players, sexier tattoos

A look at the hottest tennis stars and their sexy tattoos.

Swimming granny fails to reach Florida

 

  MIAMI: An attempt by British-Australian woman Penny Palfrey to swim unassisted from Cuba to Florida ended in failure early Sunday after she had to be pulled out of the water unable to cope with a strong ocean current.
"Penny Palfrey had to be pulled out of the water, after swimming for more then 40 hours," the team said in a tweet.

It said Palfrey had to abort her bid to reach the Florida Keys at about midnight (0400 GMT Sunday) due to a strong southeast current "that made it impossible for her to continue her swim."

"Penny is presently on her escort boat being taken care of by her crew," the team said.

The mother of three and grandmother of two had been seeking to become the first to complete the historic feat without a protective cage.

The 49-year-old, who left the Cuban capital of Havana shortly after sunrise Friday, had already covered 139 kilometers (86 miles), or three-quarters of her itinerary when she ran into trouble.

She was just 43 kilometers (27 miles) south of Key West, her final destination.

By making it this far, she has already broken her own world record of the longest unassisted ocean swim of 59.64 nautical miles (110.45 kilometers), her team members said.

Despite her failure, her Facebook page quickly filled with comments by well-wishers, expressing support and saying that making it so far was already a great achievement.

The 166-kilometer (103-mile) trek from Havana to Key West is considered risky and fraught with unexpected dangers even by the best of athletes.

Earlier, Palfrey's support team reported that she had suffered "constant" jellyfish stings overnight and that her mouth was "very sore and painful" while a school of hammerhead sharks was briefly sighted below her.

Still, slathered in a fresh layer of sunscreen, she was in good spirits before hitting the treacherous current while her journey appeared to be aided by extremely calm seas.

Before diving into the water at Havana's Hemingway International Yacht Club early Friday, Palfrey told reporters she was "a little excited, a little nervous."

Palfrey was seeking to accomplish the feat in a "call for friendly relations between the peoples of the United States and Cuba," according to the Cuban foreign ministry.

But even Cuba's national commissioner for swimming, Rodolfo Falcon, sounded a note of caution when he told AFP that "sea conditions are not similar to the pool, where she trained for many hours."

"At sea, the salt water weighs you down," said Falcon, who won a silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games.

Susie Maroney, a former Australian marathon swimmer, swam from Cuba to Florida in 1997 when she was just 22, but she used a shark cage.

Veteran US endurance swimmer Diana Nyad, 62, has tried, and failed, to complete the trek three times, twice without a shark cage.

Her latest attempt was in September, when she quit two-thirds of the way into the crossing after suffering dangerous jellyfish stings. She plans to try again later this summer.

Two yachts, a kayak and a boat were part of Palfrey's support team. The vessels carried ultrasound equipment to ward off sharks.

Palfrey, who was born in Britain and moved to Australia at the age of 19, is among the most accomplished open-water swimmers in the world and has completed swims in the Caribbean and Pacific without a shark cage.

Two years ago, she crossed the Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco in three hours and three minutes, setting a new record for women.

Last year, Palfrey -- who began swimming at age nine -- swam from Little Cayman to Grand Cayman Island, again without a cage.

Football: Spain win Euro Cup 2012

KIEV: Spain cemented their status as soccer's global superpower in vintage style by thrashing an overwhelmed Italy 4-0 to retain their European championship title on Sunday.

The victory in an excellent final full of attacking intent meant they become the first team to win back-to-back European Championships - either side of their maiden World Cup triumph in 2010.

Spain attacked from the start and went ahead after 14 minutes with a David Silva header and doubled the lead four minutes before halftime when left back Jordi Alba galloped past a frozen Italian defence onto a precise Xavi pass before planting a confident shot beyond Gianluigi Buffon.

Italy's slim hopes of a comeback disappeared when third substitute Thiago Motta pulled a hamstring, leaving his side down to 10 men for the final half-hour. Fernando Torres became the first player to score in two Euro finals when he made it 3-0 six minutes from time and fellow substitute Juan Mata added the fourth. (Reuters)

Measles cases rise in parts of Mansehra

MANSEHRA: Two children have died of measles and several others are being treated for the disease in Torghar district, a health department official said on Saturday.

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, executive district officer health, Torghar, Dr Mohammad Idrees said the measles cases had been reported in Daray, Zamlay, Larri and Todum villages where medical teams had been sent.

The National Research and Development Foundation (NRDF) country coordinator Maulana Waseeur Rehman and district coordinator Mohammad Zubair also spoke on the occasion. Dr Idrees said two teams headed by Dr Zahid were treating the affected children and administering vaccines to the normal kids.

The EDO said there was no disease early warning system in Torghar where only nine basic health units existed in the past but later two were destroyed in the 2005 earthquake.

He said nine medical technicians were recently appointed for vaccination of children in the district.

“There is no rural health centre there and no routine vaccination of children is carried out in the area. That is why the measles broke out in the district,” said Dr Idrees.

'Ted' tops North America box office

LOS ANGELES: "Ted," a comedy starring Mark Wahlberg and his raunchy teddy bear pal, topped the North American box office this weekend, besting the male strippers of "Magic Mike," industry estimates showed Sunday.

"Ted" -- a film directed by "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane in which Wahlberg's childhood toy comes to life -- earned $54.1 million in its debut, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

"Magic Mike," starring Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey as male strippers, raked in $39.2 million in ticket sales in its opening weekend.

"Brave," Pixar's 3D fairytale about a Scottish princess trying to rescue her mother from an evil witch, dropped from first to third place, taking in $34 million.

Tyler Perry's "Madea's Witness Protection" debuted in fourth place with $26.35 million in ticket sales. Animated hit sequel "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" dropped to fifth place at $11.8 million.

"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," a slasher flick casting America's 16th president as a crusader against both slavery and vampires, earned $6 million for sixth place.

It was followed by Ridley Scott's sci-fi adventure "Prometheus" with $4.9 million in ticket sales.

Eighth place went to "Moonrise Kingdom," the latest from director Wes Anderson starring Bill Murray, Bruce Willis and Edward Norton. The indie coming-of-age film took in $4.87 million.

"Snow White and the Huntsman," a new twist on the classic fairy tale starring Charlize Theron and Kristen Stewart, finished in ninth place with $4.4 million.

Rounding out the top 10 was family drama "People Like Us," which took in $4.3 million in its opening weekend.

Final figures were due out Monday. (AFP)

Three astronauts land on Earth from ISS

MOSCOW: A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying three astronauts on Sunday landed on schedule in the Kazakh steppe, the Russian mission control said.

"At 12:14 Moscow time (0814 GMT) the Soyuz TMA-03M capsule landed with an international crew," Russian flight control centresaid after Russian Oleg Kononenko, NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers were parachuted to Earth.

"All the operations on descending from orbit and landing went by without any concerns," Russian flight control said in a statement posted on its website.

"The crew members who have returned to Earth are feeling well," it added.

The capsule descended through an overcast sky to land in a grassy field with the three men who had spent more than six months on the International Space Station.

The astronauts, weakened by their landing, were extracted from the capsule and lowered into armchairs in the steppe, chatting to rescue workers and speaking on a telephone to family members, in footage shown live on NASA TV.

The expedition commander Oleg Kononenko, who was first to be pulled from the descent module, looked pale and blinked in the daylight as the men adjusted to gravity after spending a total of 192 days in space.

The men blasted off on December 21 from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, docking with the ISS two days later. While on the ISS, Kononenko took part in a two-man spacewalk lasting more than six hours.

The men leave three astronauts on the ISS: Joe Acaba, Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin, who will be reinforced later this month with three more crew members expected to blast off from Kazakhstan on July 14.

The next Soyuz flight will take up NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Russian Yuri Malenchenko and Akihiko Hoshide of Japan, who are due to stay on the ISS until November

US to claim disputed dinosaur skeleton

NEW YORK: US authorities said they expect this week to seize a 70-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton that was discovered in Mongolia more 65 years ago and now is stored in New York and at the center of an international legal dispute.
A federal judge in New York has signed a warrant that allows the US Department of Homeland Security to seize the skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus bataar - an Asian cousin of the North American Tyrannosaurus rex - from Dallas-based Heritage Auctions.

"We should have it by the end of the week," said Luis Martinez, a spokesman for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The seizure will be a "major step forward" for the government of Mongolia, which is claiming sovereign ownership and seeking the skeleton's return, said Robert Painter, a Houston attorney who represents Mongolian President Elbegdorj Tsakhia.

The skeleton - 8 feet (2.4m) tall and 24 feet (7.3m) long - has been stored in crates in New York City since Heritage sold it at auction to an unidentified buyer for more than $1 million on May 20.

At the request of the Mongolian government, a US District judge in Dallas issued a restraining order preventing the skeleton from being moved or the ownership transferred while the dispute is pending.

Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara filed a lawsuit seeking the forfeiture of the nearly intact skeleton and its return to the Mongolian government.

In New York, US District Judge Kevin Castel later issued an order to seize the fossil, ruling there was probable cause it was subject to forfeiture under federal laws.

"From a legal standpoint, the US government's lawsuit shifts the burden of proof from Mongolia to Heritage and others who might make a claim to its ownership," Painter said.

Heritage officials have said they will continue to cooperate with authorities. They say the skeleton was legally obtained and brought to auction by a reputable consignor.

"We believe our consignor purchased fossils in good faith, then spent a year of his life and considerable expense identifying, restoring, mounting and preparing what had previously been a much less valuable matrix of unassembled, underlying bones and bone fragments," Jim Halperin, co-chairman of Heritage Auctions, said in a statement. "We sincerely hope there is a just and fair outcome for all parties."

Federal officials said smugglers made false statements about the skeleton when it was imported into the United States from Britain in 2010. The skeleton did not originate in Britain nor was its value only $15,000 as claimed, they said.

The skeleton was discovered in 1946 during a joint Soviet-Mongolian expedition to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia's Omnogovi Province, Bharara said. Mongolia has had laws in place since 1924 prohibiting the export of dinosaur fossils that are considered national treasures and government property.

Heritage Auctions and the Mongolian government agreed in May to jointly investigate the ownership of the skeleton. Several paleontologists examined the skeleton several weeks ago and determined it was removed from the western Gobi Desert in Mongolia between 1995 and 2005. (Reuters)

Raja Pervaiz Ashraf elected PM

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People's Party's Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has been elected as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. During the election for the prime minister in the National Assembly Ashraf secured 211 votes, whereas PML-N candidate Mehtab Abbasi received 89.

"Raja Pervez Ashraf is declared to be elected as prime minister of the Islamic republic of Pakistan," speaker Fehmida Mirza announced after the counting.

A total of 300 votes were cast in the election. 10 MNAs did not cast their votes.

Ashraf will take oath as the 25th prime minister of Pakistan later tonight (Friday) and was congratulated by President Asif Ali Zardari who said that Ashraf’s victory is an indication of the nation’s confidence in democracy.

Raja Pervaiz Ashraf is the fourth prime minister from the PPP succeeding Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani who was disqualified by the Supreme Court.

Earlier on Friday, Ashraf met with leaders of the PPP's coalition partners and secured their support for the election. Speaking to the media alongside PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervazi Elahi, Ashraf said that his main priority, if elected, would be to deal with and overcome the energy crisis.

As the National Assembly session began, JUI-F chief and PM candidate Maulana Fazlur Rehman appealed to the Speaker to adjourn the proceedings due to the demise of MNAs Fauzia Wahab and Zayed Khan. PPP leader Naveed Qamar rejected the suggestion saying this was not an ordinary session.
The Speaker, then decided to continue with the session.

Following this exchange, Fazlur Rehman announced to withdraw from the election adding that his party shall abstain from the process.

Raja Pervaiz Ashraf Profile
Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, born on December 26, 1950 in Sanghar is serving as Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarian’s Secretary General. Ashraf is an agriculturist and businessman by profession. He obtained his undergraduate degree from University of Sindh and did his diploma from United Kingdom in Industrial Management.

Right after his graduation, Ashraf continued his profession in the agricultural sector until he joined center-left PPP. After being affiliated with largest political party of the country, Ashraf made Gujar Khan his new home. He has being elected twice as member of National Assembly from his Gujjar Khan. Furthermore, Ashraf served as the chairman of Social Action Program from 1994 to 1996.

Ashraf started his political drive in 1988 and participated in 1989 bye-elections. Ashraf made his appearance in the elections of 1990, 1993 and 1997. In national elections of 2002, Ashraf defeated PML (N)’s candidate Chaudhary Zaman by a huge margin. In 2008 elections, Ashraf defeated PML (Q)’s candidate Qasim Javed.

After PPP’s victory in 2008 elections, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf took the office as Minister of Water and Power. However, Ashraf was found accused in rental power corruption scam, on which he was reshuffled to the Ministry of Information and Technology. Court’s proceedings regarding the case are still in progress.

26 die in Kabul hotel attack

QARGHA LAKE: At least 15 civilians were killed when seven Taliban militants shot their way into a popular lakeside resort here and took scores of hostages, Afghan officials said on Friday. The seven attackers, a police officer and three private guards also died as Afghan security forces fought their way into the compound to end the siege.

The onslaught lasted nearly 11 hours as Afghan security forces tried to rescue hostages and the hotel’s other customers.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that Afghans drank alcohol there and that there was prostitution and dancing. “These acts are illegal and strictly prohibited in Islam,” said Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman. He added that: “Women dancers were sexually misused there.”

Police officials described the sprawling resort at Qargha lake and the Spozhmai hotel, where the drama unfolded, as a daunting place to mount a rescue operation because it is wooded and easy for attackers to hide. In addition to the main hotel, there is at least one other hotel and numerous small cottages.

“The Afghan security forces managed to evacuate 250 to 300 customers at the hotel in the initial hours of the attack and in the morning we resumed our operation and so far we’ve managed to rescue 40 more hostages including women and children,” said General Ayoub Salangi, the Kabul police chief.

“We also rescued four men who were stuck in the water,” he said, referring to guests at the hotel who in the initial moments of the attack jumped into the lake. Because they could not swim, they had to cling to the stone sea wall, immersed in the chilly mountain waters until they were fished out by police in the morning.

This is not the first time the Taliban have attacked civilians. They stormed a branch of Kabul Bank in Jalalabad in early 2011, executing customers, and nearly a year ago they stormed the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, killing at least eight people.

At least two of the attackers appear to have died when they detonated suicide vests they were wearing.

Beginning at dawn there was gunfire, and Afghan police officers were fighting with the attackers but trying to stage their counterattack, said Gen. Mohammed Zahir, head of the Kabul Criminal Investigation Division.

“The Spozhmai Hotel is not a military facility, it’s a civilian hotel,” General Zahir said. “We still do not know why the Taliban targeted the Spozhmai Hotel.”

General Zahir said that the attack began at 11:30 p.m. when the Taliban entered the hotel and “started shooting indiscriminately and injured a lot of civilians who were having a late dinner.”

“Some of the civilians managed to escape and some were taken hostage,” he said. By early morning, American helicopters were shooting flares and the area was swarming with Afghan National Police and army troops. More NATO forces were on the way, according to Afghan officials at the scene, and NATO officials confirmed that it was a joint operation.

The picturesque hotel is the centerpiece of the resort, which was once the property of Afghanistan’s royal family and is now owned by the government. About 10 miles from the capital, it is one of the few places in Kabul Province where people can go for a break from the crowded city streets. There are boats for rent and cottages for families, and the resort is popular with families on the weekly Friday holiday.

The lake is also a favorite spot for young Kabul residents who buy illegal alcohol and drink it in the picnic area

Play your tune as it's World Music Day

 

ISLAMABAD: Music lovers and those associated with music as a profession are celebrating World Music Day across the globe including Pakistan on Thursday to show respect for all forms of music.

Instrumentalists‚ singers‚ composers‚ ensembles‚ individual musicians‚ musicologists and others related to the field of music are marking the day with concerts‚ community events and other programs to highlight the value of music as part of life.

The 21st June has been designated as World Music Day‚ a day when world will celebrate the magical gift of music. To celebrate this day‚ local and amateur musicians are allowed and encouraged to perform their music in public spaces without any restriction in most parts of the world. The music lovers consider it as a fabulous day to celebrate the spirit of music in all its forms.

World Music Day began in France in 1982 and has since spread to Belgium‚ Britain‚ Luxembourg‚ Germany‚ Switzerland‚ Costa Rica‚ Israel‚ China‚ India‚ Lebanon‚ Malaysia‚ Morocco‚ Pakistan‚ Philippines‚ Romania‚ Colombia and other countries. (PPI)

Twitter sets off jitters due to ‘bug’

SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter said a "cascading bug" caused outages Thursday affecting millions of users of the wildly popular site, and dismissed claims of a hacker attack.

The outage led to a barrage of complaints and comments, some serious and other ironic, which the company said underscored "how critical Twitter has become."

The on-again-off-again service led to a range of speculation and one claim of a denial of service attack, but Twitter said this was unfounded.

In a blog post, Twitter vice president of engineering Mazen Rawashdeh said the company learned around 1600 GMT "that Twitter was inaccessible for all Web users, and mobile clients were not showing new tweets."

He said an investigation "found that there was a cascading bug in one of our infrastructure components. This wasn't due to a hack or our new office or Euro 2012 or GIF avatars (animation which is banned by Twitter), as some have speculated today."

Rawashdeh said a cascading bug "isn't confined to a particular software element, but rather its effect 'cascades' into other elements as well. One of the characteristics of such a bug is that it can have a significant impact on all users, worldwide, which was the case today.

"As soon as we discovered it, we took corrective actions, which included rolling back to a previous stable version of Twitter."

He said a "full recovery" was made after about two hours and that a "comprehensive review" was underway.

But the outage nonetheless provoked users to vent on other social media sites, and to tweet about it when Twitter came back up.

"Twitters broke, my life has no meaning anymore," one user wrote on the social media website Tumblr during the outage.

Another wrote, "OMG TWITTER BROKE. I feel so alone right now."

The outage caused many users to tweet about the experience when the site became accessible.

"My boss shut down Twitter because he wanted me to get back to work. Feel free to kill him if you want," one tweet said.

Another said: "Twitter went down, I looked up & was like, who are these people in my house? Turns out I have a wife & a daughter."

And still another tweeted: "Unlike my ex-wife, Twitter came crawling back."

On Facebook, a member wrote: "Be honest. Did you spend most of Twitter being down desperately trying to tweet about Twitter being down?"

When word of the bug surfaced, one Twitter member said, "Oh great. Now I have to ask my exterminator whether he has a poison for 'cascaded bugs.'"

Twitter put a positive spin on this by boasting about how important the site has become in getting news and updates out quickly.

"We know how critical Twitter has become for you -- for many of us," said Rawashdeh.

"Every day, we bring people closer to their heroes, causes, political movements, and much more."

He reposted a tweet from user Arghya Roychowdhury which said, "OMG..twitter was down....closest thing to living without oxygen for most of us...."

"It's imperative that we remain available around the world, and today we stumbled. For that we offer our most sincere apologies and hope you'll be able to breathe easier now," Rawashdeh said.

Just after the outage, one tweet claimed credit for a so-called denial of service attack. (AFP)

Danish Kaneria to appeal lifetime ban

LONDON: Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria said Friday he will appeal the lifetime ban handed down to him by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for his role in a spot-fixing scandal.

"I will definitely be doing an appeal. The people trust me. I'm an honest man. I've been playing cricket with passion and love. I have done nothing wrong," the 31-year-old told Sky Sports News.

Kaneria was given a life ban from English cricket on Friday for his involvement in the Mervyn Westfield spot-fixing case.

Westfield was jailed for four months in February, but served two before being released in April, after admitting he accepted #6,000 ($9,346) to under-perform during a Pro40 match between Essex and Durham in 2009.

The now 24-year-old Westfield named Kaneria -- arrested with him in 2010 but released without charge -- as the link between bookmakers and players.

And an ECB panel disciplinary panel agreed Friday, saying: "We are left in no reasonable doubt that Danish Kaneria knowingly induced or encouraged Mervyn Westfield not to perform on his merits in the Durham match."

The panel said: "We regard Danish Kaneria as a grave danger to the game of cricket...Accordingly, we are unanimously of the view that the only appropriate sanction in relation to both charges is one of suspension for life and that is the sanction we impose."

In a damning indictment of 31-year-old Kaneria, the panel added his evidence "simply does not stand up to scrutiny and is plainly lies".

However, Kaneria, who has always maintained his innocence, said: "I'm very upset about this decision. For what reason they have convicted me I do not know.

"It is a very, very unfair decision against me. I've come all the way from Pakistan to say the truth.

"They (the ECB) don't have any proof against me. I don't know why they are saying this," he added after he, along with Westfield, was punished by a three-man panel chaired by lawyer Gerard Elias and featuring retired former England one-day international cricketer Jamie Dalrymple.

Westfield was given a five-year ban for bringing cricket into disrepute, a charge the seamer accepted, although he will be able to play club cricket in the final two years of his suspension. (AFP

26 die in Kabul hotel attack

QARGHA LAKE: At least 15 civilians were killed when seven Taliban militants shot their way into a popular lakeside resort here and took scores of hostages, Afghan officials said on Friday. The seven attackers, a police officer and three private guards also died as Afghan security forces fought their way into the compound to end the siege.

The onslaught lasted nearly 11 hours as Afghan security forces tried to rescue hostages and the hotel’s other customers.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that Afghans drank alcohol there and that there was prostitution and dancing. “These acts are illegal and strictly prohibited in Islam,” said Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman. He added that: “Women dancers were sexually misused there.”

Police officials described the sprawling resort at Qargha lake and the Spozhmai hotel, where the drama unfolded, as a daunting place to mount a rescue operation because it is wooded and easy for attackers to hide. In addition to the main hotel, there is at least one other hotel and numerous small cottages.

“The Afghan security forces managed to evacuate 250 to 300 customers at the hotel in the initial hours of the attack and in the morning we resumed our operation and so far we’ve managed to rescue 40 more hostages including women and children,” said General Ayoub Salangi, the Kabul police chief.

“We also rescued four men who were stuck in the water,” he said, referring to guests at the hotel who in the initial moments of the attack jumped into the lake. Because they could not swim, they had to cling to the stone sea wall, immersed in the chilly mountain waters until they were fished out by police in the morning.

This is not the first time the Taliban have attacked civilians. They stormed a branch of Kabul Bank in Jalalabad in early 2011, executing customers, and nearly a year ago they stormed the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, killing at least eight people.

At least two of the attackers appear to have died when they detonated suicide vests they were wearing.

Beginning at dawn there was gunfire, and Afghan police officers were fighting with the attackers but trying to stage their counterattack, said Gen. Mohammed Zahir, head of the Kabul Criminal Investigation Division.

“The Spozhmai Hotel is not a military facility, it’s a civilian hotel,” General Zahir said. “We still do not know why the Taliban targeted the Spozhmai Hotel.”

General Zahir said that the attack began at 11:30 p.m. when the Taliban entered the hotel and “started shooting indiscriminately and injured a lot of civilians who were having a late dinner.”

“Some of the civilians managed to escape and some were taken hostage,” he said. By early morning, American helicopters were shooting flares and the area was swarming with Afghan National Police and army troops. More NATO forces were on the way, according to Afghan officials at the scene, and NATO officials confirmed that it was a joint operation.

The picturesque hotel is the centerpiece of the resort, which was once the property of Afghanistan’s royal family and is now owned by the government. About 10 miles from the capital, it is one of the few places in Kabul Province where people can go for a break from the crowded city streets. There are boats for rent and cottages for families, and the resort is popular with families on the weekly Friday holiday.

The lake is also a favorite spot for young Kabul residents who buy illegal alcohol and drink it in the picnic area

Amsterdam has a 527-year-old house

AMSTERDAM: A 527-year-old home that is believed to be the oldest in Amsterdam has been discovered in the city's famous red-light district, officials said Saturday.

"We have discovered what is believed (to be) Amsterdam's oldest home, dating back to 1485," Boudewijn Oranje, an alderman for the city centre, told AFP.

The wooden structure of the historic house, situated in the Old Side district, lay hidden behind a facade built in the 1800s.

Two years ago, a fire broke out in the building used as a bar, causing extensive damage, Oranje said.

"A council inspector afterwards noticed that there was something special to the heavy wooden structure, which was barely damaged. Samples were taken and sent for testing in Germany," he said.

The tests revealed the home dated back to the 15th century.

Until now, Amsterdam's oldest home was believed to have dated from 1530, situated about a kilometre away.

Called the "wallen", the Dutch word for the banks of the city's old canals, the red-light district has been around since the 1400s, with prostitutes doing business with visiting sailors and tourists ever since. (AFP)

Alka sings late Mehdi Hassan's praises

KARACHI: Humbling herself down to an artiste who was still in the phase of learning, Bollywood singer Alka Yagnik Saturday said she was no one to comment on late Mehdi Hassan’s vocal excellence as she had herself grown up listening to his ballads, Geo News reported.

She said this while talking to Geo News after visiting Ghazal King Mehdi Hassan’s last resting place in Karachi along with Kaumar Sanu, another legendary voice from Indian music.

They said that Mehdi Hassan’s death marked an end of an epoch in the subcontinent’s music history.

“No one would ever be able to fill the vacuum created by his demise, he was one of his kind Ghazal singer”, said they in concert.

When asked about her favourite of Khan sabib's ghazals, Alka said she was in love with his "Dono Jahan Teri Mohabbat Main Har Kay, Woh Ja Raha Hay Koi Shab-e-Gham Guzar Kary" by famous poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

Both the songsters had come to Pakistan to attend the last rites of Mehdi Hassan but could not get the security clearance for the same.

China to launch ambitious space mission

BEIJING: China is due to embark on its most ambitious space mission Saturday with the launch of a spacecraft that will propel three astronauts -- including the nation's first woman -- to the final frontier.

The Shenzhou-9 spacecraft is expected to take off on China's fourth manned space mission at 6:37 pm (1037 GMT) from the remote Gobi desert in the nation's northwest, in a bid to achieve its first manual space docking high above Earth.

The crew will be headed by Jing Haipeng, a veteran astronaut who has gone to space twice already. Liu Wang, who has been in the space programme for 14 years, is in charge of manual docking manoeuvres.

Liu Yang, 33, meanwhile, who has created a stir in the media and online for becoming China's first woman to travel to space, will be conducting aerospace medical experiments and other space tests.

The mission will last 10 days, during which the crew will perform experiments and the manual space docking -- a highly technical procedure that brings two vessels together in high speed orbit.

Successful completion of the space rendezvous -- which will see Shenzhou-9 attach itself to the Tiangong-1 module currently orbiting Earth -- will take China one step nearer to setting up its own space station in 2020.

The Asian powerhouse last year achieved a similar docking, but the mission in November was unmanned and the procedure was conducted remotely from Earth.

"The manual space rendezvous... is a huge test for astronauts' ability to judge spatial position, eye-hand coordination and psychological abilities," Jing told reporters ahead of the launch.

He added that the three would work well together after months of intense training that saw them rehearse the mission some 16 hours a day.

"One glance, one facial expression, one movement... we understand each other thoroughly," he said.

The crew has rehearsed the procedure more than 1,500 times in simulations, Wu Ping, spokeswoman for China's manned space programme, told reporters.

But more than the upcoming challenge, it is the inclusion in the crew of Liu Yang -- a trained pilot and major in the People's Liberation Army who began astronaut training two years ago -- that has captivated Chinese people.

China sent its first person into space in 2003 and has since conducted several manned missions, the latest in 2008, but has never yet included a woman.

6.4 quake hits off east coast of Japan

HONG KONG: A 6.4-magnitude earthquake on Monday jolted the sea area off the east coast of Honshu, the main island of Japan, US seismologists said.

The US Geological Survey said the quake had a depth of 31 kilometres (20 miles) and hit at 4:32 am (2032 GMT Sunday) some 140 kilometres east of the city of Sendai. (AFP)

France Socialists sweep parliament polls

PARIS: French President Francois Hollande's Socialists have won an absolute majority in Sunday's run-off parliamentary election, according to polling firm estimates obtained by AFP.

The Socialists' parliamentary bloc obtained between 312 and 326 seats -- far more than the 289 seats needed for a majority in the 577-seat National Assembly -- so will not need to rely on support from either the Greens or the far left. (AFP

Ronaldo double sends Dutch crashing out

KHARKIV: A double from captain Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Portugal to a 2-1 victory over Holland here on Sunday in their Euro 2012 Group B match, sending the 2010 World Cup finalists out of the tournament.

Ronaldo's goals - one in each half - saw the 2004 finalists progress to the last eight as they came from behind after Rafael van der Vaart had given the Dutch hope in the 11th minute with a stunning effort.

Ronaldo also laid to rest the criticism he had come under after failing to score in their opening two matches.

"This is for you my son," the 27-year-old Real Madrid star mouthed to the TV camera after his first goal.

It is the first time since the 1980 edition that the Dutch have gone out at the first hurdle - ironically also two years after they reached the World Cup final. (AFP)

UK: Ban lifted on 9-yr-old food critic

LONDON: A 9-year-old blogger won a food fight with authorities in her Scottish town Friday, after an online outcry prompted officials to lift a ban on posting photos of her school lunches.

Martha Payne's images of uninspiring school meals — one consisted of two croquettes, a plain cheeseburger, three slices of cucumber and a lollipop —drew international attention. The blog, set up about six weeks ago as a writing project and to help raise money for a school-meals charity, has drawn more than 2 million hits.

Martha, who lives in the coastal town of Lochgilphead, about 130 miles (210 kilometers) west of Edinburgh, gave each meal a "food-o-meter" rating, and offered an assessment of its contents.

"I'd really like to know where the chicken comes from," she wrote in an entry about chicken fajitas, "so I am going to write to the lady in charge to ask. I know it comes from a hen but I'd like to know where the hen lived."

Local officials weren't amused, and ordered the schoolgirl to stop taking pictures.

In a statement, Argyll and Bute Council said Payne's photos were misleading and had caused distress to cafeteria staff. The council was particularly irked by a report about the blog in Scotland's Daily Record newspaper headlined "Fire the Dinner Ladies."

The council complained of "unwarranted attacks on its schools catering service" and said the blog "misrepresented the options and choices available to pupils."

As a result, it said, "a decision has been made by the council to stop photos being taken in the school canteen."

Martha's father David Payne said the blog was never intended to make the food look unappetizing. It includes such positive assessments as "lunch was really nice today and it helped cheer me up."

"The last photograph of a meal at school that she blogged, she gave it 10 out of 10," Payne told the BBC.

The ban quickly became an online talking point Friday, with free speech group the Index on Censorship even weighing in on Payne's behalf. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver tweeted "Stay strong Martha" to his more than 2 million followers.

The Internet storm was quickly followed by an official U-turn. Council leader Roddy McCuish said he had ordered officials to lift the ban on cafeteria photos.

He praised Martha as "an enterprising and imaginative pupil."
"There is no place for censorship in this council and never will be whilst I am leader," McCuish said.

Amid the blaze of publicity, donations to Mary's Meals, the charity the blog had been promoting, climbed from 3,000 pounds ($4,700) to almost 20,000 pounds ($31,000) Friday.