Saturday, December 25, 2010

Mid Day International News

Mid Day International News

Pakistan to review blasphemy laws

Posted:

Pakistan will review blasphemy laws to prevent them from targeting innocent people.

The government will form a committee of scholars to revisit the law, said Shahbaz Bhatti, the federal minister for minority affairs.

It will submit its suggestions and procedures, which will be implemented to stop the law's misuse, he said yesterday.

"After the formation of the committee we will find the way that whether through the legislation or some other procedural way we can stop the blasphemy law," Bhatti said.

On pardoning of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy of Islam, Bhatti said the president will wait for the judicial proceedings.


Is that Kate on the royal coin?

Posted:

Critics slam commemorative coin

The Royal Mint has unveiled the design of its �5 (Rs 350) coin commemorating the engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton to a torrent of complaints that the couple are barely recognisable on its face.

The profile image of William engraved on the collector's piece bears a passable resemblance to the second in line to the throne, but Middleton, who is face on beside him, appears to have aged and gained some weight.

In fact, several critics have compared William's pic to Al Gore.

Ingrid Seward, editor of Majesty Magazine, said she did not like the coin: "This coin is of historical importance. To get it so wrong seems ridiculous."

The royal couple's heads are ringed by a script that reads: "Celebrating the engagement of William and Catherine".

The coin was approved by William and his grandmother the Queen, who appears on the reverse.

"The inspiration for the design came from photographs of the couple at a sporting event," said a Royal Mint spokesman.

"The play on the traditional portrait is that Prince William is seen in profile, alluding to his royal status."

When asked about the unflattering image of Middleton, the spokesman stressed that the design "does go through a rigorous approval process".

The Royal Mint, which is over a thousand years old, has cast many commemorative medals and coins for the monarchy, including a coin in 1981 to mark the marriage of William's father, Prince Charles, to Princess Diana.

Prince William and Middleton are due to wed at Westminster Abbey in April.

Their coin is available in four different metals, from cupro-nickel, priced at �9.99 (R700), to a 22-carat gold one costing �1,550 (Rs 1 lakh).

Rings for less

Chinese vendors looking to cash in on the frenzy over the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton are selling copies of her engagement ring for as little as $3 (Rs 135).

Knock-offs of the sapphire-and-diamond ring that the prince gave Middleton are on offer at Taobao.com, China's largest online mall.

Most are selling for less than 100 yuan (R675), with the cheapest allegedly made of zircon and unspecified alloys available for just 19.9 yuan, or about Rs 135.


Actor sues Kevin Costner over BP oil spill deal

Posted:

Stephen Baldwin has sued Costner over their investments in a device that BP used in trying to clean up the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill

Stephen Baldwin has sued fellow actor Kevin Costner over their investments in a device that BP used in trying to clean up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The federal lawsuit filed in New Orleans by Baldwin and a friend claims Costner and a business partner duped them out of their shares of an $18 million (Rs 80 crore) deal for BP to purchase oil-separating centrifuges from a company they formed after the April 20 spill.


BP ordered 32 of the centrifuges, which separate oil from water, and deployed a few of the devices on a barge in June. BP capped the well in July and kept any more oil from leaking until the seafloor gusher was permanently sealed in September.

Costner's publicist, Arnold Robinson, declined to comment on the suit's allegations.

Baldwin and his friend, Spyridon Contogouris, owned shares in Ocean Therapy Solutions, the company that marketed the centrifuges to BP.

But Baldwin and his friend claim they were deliberately excluded from a June 8 meeting between Costner, his business partner Patrick Smith and a BP executive, Doug Suttles.

At the meeting, the suit says, Suttles agreed to make a $18 million deposit on a $52 million order for the 32 devices.

Baldwin and Contogouris said they didn't know about the deal when, three days later, they agreed to sell their shares of the company for $1.4 million and $500,000, respectively.

Baldwin and his friend say they were entitled to shares of BP's deposit. Instead, their suit claims Costner and Smith "schemed" to use money from BP's deposit to buy their shares in the company.

Costner and Suttles visited Port Fourchon in June to talk about the plan to use the centrifuges.

"It was designed to give us a fighting chance, to fight back the oil before it got us by the throat," Costner said at the time.


Posted by Harshad at 7:25 AM

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