Thursday, January 27, 2011

Mid Day International News

Mid Day International News

30 chained people rescued from brick kiln in Bangladesh

Posted:

At least 30 people, including children, were found tied up with chains at a brick-kiln Wednesday evening on the outskirts of the Bangladesh capital city, a media report said.

The elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) rescued the people from Savar area.

RAB media wing director M. Sohael confirmed over phone that 30 chained people, including one woman, were rescued from the Ekota brick field around 8.30 p.m.

He said the RAB personnel conducted the raid after a tip-off that several people were being forced to work at the field, and were tortured and held in chains.

Sohael said the people were aged between eight and 30, and hailed from various places across the country.

Egypt blocks Twitter

Posted:

Micro-blogging site Twitter confirmed Wednesday that its service had been blocked in Egypt, indicating a probable government crackdown on technology that could disseminate information about the widening anti-government demonstrations.

"We can confirm that Twitter was blocked in Egypt around 8 a.m. (Pacific Time, 1600 GMT) today," Twitter confirmed on the @twitterglobalpr feed. "It's impacting both Twitter.com & applications. We believe that the open exchange of info & views benefits societies and helps govts better connect w/ their people."

According to Herdict.com, which tracks government attempts to block internet sites, Egyptian authorities appear to be taking action against other popular communications sites, too, such as Facebook, YouTube, Person.com and veoh.com. However it appears that such actions have been partially circumvented, because many users in Egypt still reported being able to access the sites, including by mobile telephones.

Facebook founder's fan page hacked

Posted:

The fan page of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been hacked by a mystery invader who posted a message decrying the company's attempts to cash in on its hugely successful site

Facebook declined to comment on the embarrassing security snafu, but did take down the compromised page.

"Let the hacking begin: If Facebook needs money, instead of going to the banks, why doesn't Facebook let its users invest in Facebook in a social way?" said the message, posted just days after Facebook confirmed that it had raised $1.5 billion from global investors at a valuation of around $50 billion.

"Why not transform Facebook into a 'social business' the way Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus described it?" the message continued, referring to the founder of the Grameen Bank which has transformed millions of lives by extending micro-loans to poor people.

Zuckerberg's fan page has more than three million followers and is probably managed by media assistants to the social networking magnate, according to cyber-security experts.

Meet the Brit couple that was forced to cancel wedding ten times

Posted:

Planning a wedding usually takes a lot of hard work and time, but for a British couple it was more like a nightmare, after they were forced to cancel it ten times

Nicky Pretty, 41, from Bournemouth, was first due to marry fiance Trevor, 43, three years ago, but a series of disasters prevented them from actually tying the knot.

Their first attempt had been in February 2008 when they were due to get married in Cyprus. But they had to cancel when Nicky''s brother and sister both backed out because of their newborn babies.

Then on April 2008 they made their second attempt by booking Christchurch Captain''s Club as they though it would be cheaper. But had to cancel when it cost 140 pounds a head.

During their third attempt in August 2009 they decided to fly to Hong Kong. They had to call it off when they found out that it would take five days to process the marriage - and it was after they were due to come home.

Their fourth attempt was on June 2010 when they decided to hire a hall for the wedding and reception, but was priced out by another couple.

For their fifth attempt in July 2010 they planned a home reception, but cancelled after neighbours complained about the noise the party would create.

They then decided during their sixth attempt on August 2010 to hold it away from home, and booked a ceremony in Fiji, which they had to call off at the last minute as no friends or family would be there.

During their seventh attempt in September 2010 they booked a hotel, but called the wedding off as another couple had hired on the same day.

On their eighth attempt in October 2010 they booked a nautical-themed wedding on a boat, but discovered low tides meant they couldn''t use the boat.

The couple''s ninth attempt in November 2010 did not work out either after they tried to switch slots after discovering caterers were booked up, only to discover registrar was fully booked.

The tenth attempt on December 2010 saw them booking a registry office. But they had to cancel when they realised they couldn''t get all their family and friends there.

The two were finally married last month at Lothian Chambers in Edinburgh but only after snow threatened an 11th postponement.

Nicky, a market research project manager at Bournemouth University said she was relieved to finally be married.

"I was beginning to think the wedding would never happen so I am relieved to be Mrs Pretty at last," the Daily Mail quoted her as saying.

"When we finally said our vows it was perfect. For some people things fall apart on the day but for me it came together and got better and better," she stated.

The wedding cake was a giant cupcake iced with the words: "Trevor and Nicky have finally done it".

Nelson Mandela admitted to hospital

Posted:

South Africa's former president Nelson Mandela, 92, was admitted to hospital for age-related medical tests.

The tests were described by the Nelson Mandela Foundation as routine, Xinhua reported.

Talk Radio 702 in Johannesburg said Mandela's admission to the city's Milpark hospital is nothing out of the ordinary and is in line with health checks for a man of his age.

The radio said that green netting was erected to conceal the activity behind the hospital entrance. A number of black VIP cars were parked outside.

Several members of the Mandela family were at the hospital. Mandela's wife Graca Machel was seen leaving the facility in a luxury car Wednesday evening. His grandchildren and great-grandchildren also left.

On Tuesday, South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu told the South African Press Association (SAPA) that Mandela was "frail". "I saw him last week," Tutu said in Cape Town. "He was all right, I mean he's 92, man, you know. And he's frail."

Earlier this month, a report circulated on online social network Twitter saying the elder statesman had died. The report was condemned as malicious and insensitive by South Africa's ruling African National Congress.

According to local newspaper Rapport, although the rumours were false, reliable sources had confirmed that Mandela's health had deteriorated.

Mandela became South Africa's first democratically-elected president in 1994. The icon of South African anti-apartheid movement served 27 years in prison before being released in 1990. He retired from public life a few years ago.
Posted by Harshad at 7:32 AM

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