Saturday, June 25, 2011

Mid Day International News

Mid Day International News

Fans Flock to MJ's hometown

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The city of Gary will mark the second anniversary of Michael Jackson's death with a memorial tribute today at his boyhood home. "The world can expect a 'Tribute to Michael' every year in June in Gary, Indiana," Mayor Rudy Clay said in a press release. "The world is invited." Gary will honor its "favourite son" at the modest, one-level house at 2300 Jackson St. where the King of Pop lived before he and his family left Gary for California in 1969. The free-admission tribute is expected to include vendors selling summer fare such as ice cream. The outdoor event is likewise scheduled to roll out the music of Jackson, who died June 25, 2009, at age 50.



A candlelight vigil at dusk will conclude the tribute in Gary. Those participating in the vigil are being asked to bring their own candles. The Jackson salute will showcase Beautiful Soul, which features Gary talent, according to LaLosa Burns, mayoral press secretary and Gary's special events director. The city says Beautiful Soul is striving to be an integral part of the arts community in Gary, and has already performed in some major American cities. Burns also said local officials are set to speak, including Mayor Clay.

Rs 7,800 Price of a ticket for a helicopter ride over Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch at Santa Barbara
50 Number of copies (millions) of Thriller sold, making it the biggest selling album of all time
$500 Jackson's total earnings (in millions) from music
13 Number of Grammy awards Michael Jackson won
$3.8 million Cost of making 'Scream', the most expensive video to date


Did Shakespeare smoke Marijuana?

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Scientists say William Shakespeare (in pic) may have been a 'Bard boy' who took drugs to dream up his dramas.
Their claim comes after smoking pipes found buried in his back garden revealed traces of cannabis. The scientists have submitted a formal application to the Church of England for exhumation of William Shakespeare's remains so that they can find out about his life and death, and if he smoked weed.



The team led by Francis Thackeray, an anthropologist and director of the Institute for Human Evolution at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa hopes to dig up the bard's grave in Stratford-upon-Avon.
"We have incredible techniques. We don't intend to move the remains at all," Thackeray was quoted as saying about the "non-destructive analysis" the team has planned.

The team also looks to address a controversial suggestion Thackeray made a decade ago, when he
examined a collection of two dozen pipes found in the playwright's garden and determined that Shakespeare was an avid marijuana smoker.


Michelle Obama plays ball on Aids

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US First Lady Michelle Obama showed her soccer moves to children at the Cape Town Stadium yesterday. The First Lady's focus on her trip to South Africa is on youth leadership, education, health and wellness. Obama spent the day in Cape Town continuing her commitment to engaging young people, supporting educational opportunities and promoting youth mentoring.


Work out: US First Lady Michelle Obama breaks out in a sweat while
dribbling a ball at a Cape Town Stadium. pic/AFP

She met organisations who use soccer as a means to educate South African children about HIV/Aids. An estimated 70 children from the city were invited to participate from Grassroots Soccer, LoveLife Games, CTC Ten Foundation and Amandla Edufootball. Obama told the children that the solution to the issue lay with them and that they could stop HIV/Aids with better information.

"You have to have the knowledge and the internal wisdom to make sure you are taking care of yourself and that you are making good choices so that you're healthy and grow up strong," Obama said. Obama also met Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. "Archbishop Tutu has been playing such a significant role with the work that he has done through his foundation, around HIV/Aids education, raising awareness, bringing the world's attention to how important it is to work on this issue in this country," Obama said.


Osama wished to rebrand Al qaeda

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Slain chief wanted to change the name of the terror outfit, as he felt it was suffering from a marketing problem and losing the PR battle against the west

As Osama bin Laden watched his terrorist organisation get picked apart, he lamented in his final writings that al-Qaeda was suffering from a marketing problem. His group was killing too many Muslims and that was bad for business. The West was winning the public relations fight. Faced with these challenges, bin Laden, who hated the United States and decried capitalism, considered a most American of business strategies.


In need of a PR agent? Osama in one of his letters to Zawahiri said
that al-Qaeda's image was suffering because of attacks that have killed
Muslims. File pic/Getty Images

The problem with the name al-Qaeda, bin Laden wrote in a letter recovered from his compound in Pakistan, was that it lacked a religious element, something to convince Muslims worldwide that they are in a holy war with America. Maybe something like Taifat al-Tawhed Wal-Jihad, meaning Monotheism and Jihad Group, would do the trick, he wrote. Or Jama'at I'Adat al-Khilafat al-Rashida, meaning Restoration of the Caliphate Group. As bin Laden saw it, the problem was that the group's full name, al-Qaeda al-Jihad, for The Base of Holy War, had become short-handed as simply al-Qaeda. Lopping off the word 'jihad,' bin Laden wrote, allowed the West to "claim deceptively that they are not at war with Islam."

The letter, which was undated, was discovered among bin Laden's recent writings. The letter was described by senior administration, national security and other US officials only on condition of anonymity because the materials are sensitive. The documents portray bin Laden as a terrorist chief executive, struggling to sell holy war for a company in crisis.

"The information that we recovered from bin Laden's compound shows al-Qaeda under enormous strain," Obama said. "Bin Laden expressed concern that al-Qaeda had been unable to effectively replace senior terrorists that had been killed and that al-Qaeda has failed in its effort to portray America as a nation at war with Islam, thereby draining more widespread support."

In one letter sent to Zawahri within the past year, bin Laden said al-Qaeda's image was suffering because of attacks that have killed Muslims, particularly in Iraq, officials said. In other journal entries and letters, they said, bin Laden wrote that he was frustrated that many of his trusted longtime comrades had been killed or captured.

Mobile clues
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, while living in Pakistan, kept in touch with a militant group linked to the country's spy agency, new clues indicate. The clues were obtained from the cellphone recovered during the May 2 raid. The cellphone clues indicate Harakat-ul-Mujahedin may have served as part of bin Laden's support network inside Pakistan.


Woman wakes up at own funeral, dies

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A sick woman died of shock on waking up at her own funeral. Fagilyu Mukhametzyanov, (49) woke up as relatives were praying at her open coffin. She screamed on realising that she was going to be buried. The woman was promptly taken to a hospital in Kazan, Russia, where, however, she was declared dead from a suspected heart attack.

Indian-American makes largest flag

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Exuding unflinching patriotism, an Indian-American here has created the world's largest Indian flag, weighing 250 kg, as a symbol of peace and harmony in the country. The tricolour, which stretches 153 by 102 feet, was created by entertainment businessman Monty Saiyed and has found place in Limca Book of Records in April this year.



Posted by Harshad at 7:30 AM

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