Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Mid Day International News

Mid Day International News

Indian accused of molesting teen in Dubai-bound flight

Posted:

A 36-year-old Indian national has been accused of molesting a teenage Moroccan girl on board a Dubai-bound Emirates flight, charges he has denied.

Prosecutors accused the man of consuming liquor and sexually molesting the 15-year-old Moroccan girl on board the flight, a newspaper report here said. It was not clear when the incident happened.

The man, who works as a blacksmith and identified only as VD, pleaded not guilty to the molestation charge as he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance. He, however, admitted to consuming liquor. "I consumed liquor but I did not molest the girl. I am innocent on that count," the man said before the court.

According to the chargesheet, prosecutors said that the Moroccan girl was asleep when VD sat beside her and molested her. The 15-year-old schoolgirl, BB, testified that the alleged incident happened while she was seated alone on the window seat, Gulf News reported.

"The seat next to mine was empty. The defendant who seemed drunk came and sat beside me. I neglected him although he tried to open up a conversation with me. I couldn't understand his language and I had my earphones on listening to music. When he grabbed my hand, I pulled it away and scolded him. Shortly after that, he pretended to be opening the window shutter when he touched my breast I shouted at him and felt embarrassed and angered," she was quoted as saying.

The girl's Emirati brother-in-law testified that when he and his wife [BB's sister] went to pick her from the airport, they were informed about the incident.

The newspaper said a steward claimed: "The defendant admitted to me that he molested the girl and apologised for his wrongdoing we kept him until police came and took him."

Indians top buyers of space in world's tallest tower

Posted:

Indians top the list of buyers in the world's tallest tower having acquired space worth USD 7.9 million in the first seven months of the skyscrapers opening.

Prominent buyers of swanky apartments in the 100 floor Burj Khalifa tower include London-based NRI businessman Raj Kundra, who presented an apartment to his wife Shilpa Shetty. Local businessman of Indian origin BR Shetty, who is managing director and CEO of the New Medical Centre Group of Companies in Abu Dhabi, has also bought the entire 100th floor in the tower.

Rizwan Sajan, Chairman of Danube Group is also reported to have recently purchased an apartment in the tower. As the world still reels under a economic downturn, the local UAE nationals come second having spent USD 2.62 million on buying space in the tower, a news report citing real estate information company Reidin.com has said.

Other major buyers of tower's space include Australians USD 1.25 million, Omanese USD 1.14 million, Chinese USD 0.62 million and Iranians USD 0.73 million.

According to Reidin.com, the figures are based on the actual transactions registered with the Land Department of Dubai. Reidin is an exclusive partner and primary data source for the information service in the emerging markets is Real Estate Regulatory Agency and the Land Department.

In November, Raj Kundra gave an apartment in Burj Khalifa to his wife and actress Shilpa Shetty as wedding gift. Burj Khalifa has 900 studios, one, two, three and four bedroom units, while the exclusive Armani Residences located in the world's tallest tower has 144 fully furnished private apartments.

It offers luxurious recreational and leisure facilities including four swimming pools, an exclusive residents' lounge, health and wellness facilities. It also boasts of the world's highest fine dining restaurant on 122nd floor and at the top. It also has the world's highest observatory deck with an outdoor terrace on Level 124.

Woman burns man alive for touching her chest

Posted:

An Australian woman has been charged with murder after she allegedly doused a friend in petrol and then set him alight for touching her breasts while she was sleeping.

Kerry Anne McNiven, 43, made an appearance in Wangaratta Magistrates Court charged with the murder of Gary Stewart, 50, on November 18 last year.

At the committal hearing, the court was told McNiven admitted to Sergeant Brian McCormick, of Wangaratta police, that she was responsible for the attack on Stewart.

The attack had occurred on the banks of the Ovens River near the Templeton Street boat ramp.

She said, "Look, I'll tell you this whole thing is because he touched my boobies last night while I was asleep", the Border Mail quoted Sergeant McCormick as saying in a statement.

"She put both her hands on her breasts as she explained. "I've already been molested once, years ago. I wasn't going to let someone do it again and get away with it", McCormick stated.

Another officer, Senior Constable Brad Beecroft, told the court McNiven had appeared 'upset and agitated' when he arrived.

He saw that she had a lighter in the middle of her bra and, and asked if it was the one she used to set Stewart alight.

"I think so," she replied.

The police officers said McNiven's breath smelt of alcohol, but she was coherent and did not appear to be heavily intoxicated at the time.

But friend Anita Saunders in her evidence to the court said she had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana with McNiven throughout the day.

Another friend, Ray Flemming said McNiven had developed a 'full on' drinking problem. She would begin consuming cask wine as soon as she got up in the morning.

Stewart died on December 10 last year after suffering burns to 72 per cent of his body, including much of his back.

Passers-by John Patrick and Graeme Cripps told police they saw Stewart being showered with a fluid they hoped was water, and they started walking away.

But when they glanced back, they saw he had become a human fireball.

Cripps rushed to Stewart's aid, burning his finger as he dragged the victim into the water.

Stewart was taken to Wangaratta Base Hospital and then the burns unit at The Alfred hospital in Melbourne where he later died.

The committal hearing continues before magistrate John Murphy.

EU starts probe on Google

Posted:

The European Union launched a full-frontal attack on Internet king Google yesterday, formally opening an antitrust probe after rivals accused the Silicon Valley giant of rigging the online search market.

European Union competition watchdogs announced their investigation, after smaller companies accused Google of "unfavourable treatment" of their services in both unpaid and sponsored search results.

Competition authorities are also probing whether Google's own services including YouTube video, book-scanning project or telephony are getting "preferential placement" when users punch in search queries, some of which may lead to consumer spending.


Man eats nothing but potatoes

Posted:

A man who ate nothing but potatoes for two months has said he plans to celebrate the end of his restrictive diet with a meal of beef tacos ... and grilled potatoes Chris Voigt, executive director of the Washington Potato Commission, set himself the task of cutting out all other foodstuffs for 60 days to prove the nutritional value of the starchy vegetable.

His challenge was an attempt to prove to the US Government that the potato should remain a part of the school lunch programme, amid claims from the US Institute of Medicine that it should be replaced by other vegetables.

For 60 days, the 45-year-old denied himself all foods except potatoes, seasoning such as salt and pepper, and a little oil to cook them in. As he ended his trial yesterday at midnight, Voigt, denied that the experiment had damaged his health, claiming it had helped him lose 9.5 kg and lower his cholesterol.

He said, "I feel absolutely great. I've always had lots of good energy on this diet, I've had no strange side effects, I sleep well at night. I just had my last medical exam today and it came back fabulous."

The only negative health impact Voigt would admit to suffering during his potato marathon was a deficiency in some fat-soluble vitamins such as Vitamins A and E, but he added, "Luckily I was a little overweight so there was a natural store of a lot of those in me already."

He accepted, however, that eating nothing but potatoes was not a "sustainable diet". He admitted: "While the potato is a good choice if you were to pick one food, it certainly doesn't meet all your needs."

1,200
The number of potatoes Voight ate in 60 days


Ghana to halt sale of second-hand underwear

Posted:

Ghana plans to enforce a ban on the sale of second-hand underwear beginning in February, an official said yesterday, citing the health risks involved in the hawking of the garments by street vendors.

"We are collaborating with the Ghana Standard Board to halt the importation of second-hand underwear into the country as a measure to promote good health and reduce government's expenditure on health," said Appiah
Donyinah, director of import and export at the trade ministry.

The enforcement of the ban on imports and sales in the West African nation would extend to other used goods as well, including mattresses, handkerchiefs, socks and pants, he said.

"We banned the importation of these items into the country sometime in 1994, but the implementation was not effective," said Donyinah. "Now we are going to make sure that it is fully implemented."

Youth who sell wares on the streets of the capital Accra also deal in second-hand underwear that is brought in from outside the country.

"The government will throw us out of business should this ban come into effect. This is my only source of livelihood," said Seth Opare, a dealer at Accra's Makorla Market. Another dealer said the ban was unfair.

"People patronise my goods because they are not expensive as compared to the new ones," said Kwesi Anim.
"The government must consider the poor and change their decision."


Hunt Wikileaks founder like Al-Qaeda: Palin

Posted:

Ex-governor of Alaska believes that Julian Assange, who is on the run, should be hunted down like terrorist Osama Bin Laden

Julian Assange branded as "an anti-American operative with blood on his hands" by the prominent Republican Sarah Palin has asked why he has not yet been caught by the authorities.

In an explosive Facebook post, she accused the Obama administration of "incompetence" and a "strange lack of urgency" in not stopping the release of 2,50,000 leaked diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks, given that it had already published sensitive information about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The former governor of Alaska suggested that "cyber tools" should be used to shut down the whistle-blowing website permanently.

Assange, a 39 year-old Australian former computer hacker who set up WikiLeaks in 2006, has kept out of public view since the release of the first leaked American diplomatic cables on Sunday. He has denied he has blood on his hands.

Assange is the subject of an international arrest warrant over allegations of rape in Sweden.
Palin questioned why the US authorities were not looking for him in the same way that it had hunted suspected terrorists.

"First and foremost, what steps were taken to stop Wikileaks director Julian Assange from distributing this highly sensitive classified material especially after he had already published material not once but twice in the previous months? He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands.

His past posting of classified documents revealed the identity of more than 100 Afghan sources to the Taliban. Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders?"

Palin, who is tipped to run for President in 2012, also said that "serious questions" had to be asked about how the "highly sensitive" memos from intelligence officers could have been uploaded onto a computer memory stick and given to WikiLeaks from a supposedly secure US defence department.

Palin concluded: "We are at war. American soldiers are in Afghanistan fighting to protect our freedoms. They are serious about keeping America safe. It would be great if they could count on their government being equally serious about that vital task."

Apologies

The Obama administration has said that it "deeply regrets" the leaking of the embarrassing cables that have disclosed exactly what American diplomats think of foreign leaders and promised to take "aggressive steps"
against those who "stole" them.

Prince's Rant
Prince Andrew slammed British anti-corruption investigators and journalists for getting in the way of trade deals in a diplomatic cable leaked by Wikileaks. US ambassador Tatiana Gfoeller wrote that the prince called the UK and US governments stupid and bemoans the "idiocy" of anti-corruption investigators for nearly scuttling a key trade deal.


Posted by Harshad at 7:11 AM

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)