Friday, January 6, 2012

Mid Day International News

Mid Day International News

Indian worker killed in Malaysia

Posted:

An Indian national working in Malaysia was killed while two of his fellow foreign workers were critically injured after an air-conditioning compressor exploded in a scrap yard near here.

Police said the incident happened at Putra Heights when the three workers were dismantling the unit.

The dead worker has been identified as S Ganesan from India. Police said the victim succumbed to multiple injuries and his left hand was severed.

Malaysia relies heavily on foreign workers from India, Indonesia, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

'Pak economy can't absorb 'shocks' of drastic review of ties with US'

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Pakistan may face international isolation on the economic front if it undertakes a drastic review of its ties with the United States, the country's finance minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh has warned.

"There are some shocks Pakistan can absorb but there are others it can't. A single incident must not determine our relations with the US," the Express Tribune quoted Shiekh, as saying.

"Any decision should be taken while keeping in mind the multidimensional paradigm of security, prosperity of the country and economic diplomacy," he added.

He warned that the US might influence the financial institutions to hit Pakistan's economic interests.

A committee member, requesting anonymity, quoted Sheikh as saying that Pakistan's weak economy would be at risk if its ties with the US deteriorated further.

"It is not about American aid but its clout over the IMF, World Bank and other financial institutions that can pose a real challenge for us," the committee member said, quoting Sheikh's statement.

Sheikh also called on the Pakistan Government to adopt a 'balanced' approach towards its relations with the US.

His statement came in the wake of the parliamentary committee meeting, which finalized its recommendations for the review of Pak-US ties.

The Pakistan Government had vowed to review its ties with the US as its response to the November 26 airstrike that had killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in Mohmand Agency

Some committee members, however, questioned Sheikh's statement, pointing out that Pakistan had survived 'crippling sanctions' imposed by US in 1998 for testing nuclear devices as a response to tests carried out by India.

Man undergoing surgery to get 90kg tumour removed

Posted:

A Vietnamese man is currently undergoing an operation to get 90 kg tumour removed from his right leg.

Dr. McKay McKinnon, who is known worldwide for successfully treating similar tumour cases, visited and examined Da Lat native Nguyen Duy Hai at the hospital situated on Nguyen Luong Bang Street in District 7 shortly after he and his landed wife at Ho Chi Minh City-based Tan Son Nhat Airport on Tuesday morning, TuoiTreNew reported.

The American doctor asserted that Hai was in better health and no longer suffered from lung problems, thus his condition satisfied all requirements for the coming surgery. Hai's surgery is expected to last for 10 to 12 hours.

Having successfully treated many giant tumours in his 30-year career, particularly one of a similar size to Hai's on an American woman in Michigan in 1999, Dr. McKinnon insisted he is positive about the chance of success for the surgery, which could reach 50 percent or more.

"The patient was a little bit older and in worse shape than Mr. Hai. She had a massive operation done, even when we knew her heart was not functioning and her lungs were either compromised or failing," Dr. McKinnon said

"She survived that surgery after 50 units of blood transfusion. She was in the hospital for about 6 weeks, and required physical therapy for about a year. "And the woman is now leading a normal life, I am happy to say," Dr. McKinnon added.

Originally the surgery was planned to take place on November 18, with a Vietnamese - American surgeon team led by Dr. McKinnon performing the operation. However, it was called off because of Hai's worsening health condition, a report from the HCMC Tumor Hospital said.

Industrial trade fair opens in Coimbatore

Posted:

The 13th edition of International Industrial Trade Fair (INTEC 2012), was inaugurated here on Wednesday by Tamil Nadu Industries Minister, S P Velumani at the city's Codissia Trade Fair Grounds.

Speaking to mediapersons, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Secretary R K Mathur highlighted the importance of the event.

"In the country's GDP, the manufacturing sector contributes about 16 percent. The country requires that the manufacturing sector should contribute between 25 to 30 percent. This is necessary because unless the manufacturing sector has a higher share in GDP, the economic strength of the country would not build up to the level that is needed for the country," said Mathur.

Mathur added it was crucial that infrastructure, credit flow and technological development keep up with country's industrial growth.

"The country has its own difficulties not only in terms of infrastructure, but also in terms of credit flow and in terms of marketing. Each of these problems is being addressed through a set of solutions. MSME is one sector which has shown a growth rate which is faster than the normal industrial overall growth rate of the country," added Mathur.

More than 500 participants from India, Europe, the United States, Japan, China and the Middle East exhibited their products at the trade fair.

The focus of INTEC 2012 is on new trends and long-term prospects of the industry along with the future of industrial automation and energy efficient systems.

Marriage proposal goes wrong at basketball game!

Posted:

As far as marriage proposals go, the efforts of one young basketball fan at a college game in Los Angeles appeared, at the very least, sweet and well-intended.

Embarrassingly for him, however, his girlfriend didn't think so and flatly rejected his proposal in front of a stadium of booing spectators.

The pair were captured on the stadium camera during the half-time entertainment during a game between UCLA and Richmond.

The crowd watched the scene unfold as the young man knelt down to ask for his girlfriend's hand.

Initially showing great excitement at being given the chance to kiss her partner on the big screen, she affectionately reached for his face with a big smile. But as he stood up and the UCLA host came over to offer him the microphone, her smile turned into a look of mild confusion and surprise.

Her boyfriend then reached into his pocket, produced a box and said, "I knew that I was going to do this since the first day that I met you, and I figured now was as good a time as any."

When he opened the box to present the ring, the young woman's attitude appeared to change.

She asked him a barely audible question which could have been, "Is this a joke?" To which he quite clearly replied: "No, it's serious."

The girlfriend hesitated for a moment and then picking up her bag, left the scene in a hurry.

Offering words of consolation the host said, "Sometimes we get a little camera shy," but the rejected lover departed shortly after with his head hanging low in shame.

Several blogs are now debating whether the proposal was even genuine.
"


Kate Middleton joins the Scouts

Posted:

The Duchess of Cambridge is joining the Scouts, it was revealed.

Outdoor-loving Kate plans to work as a volunteer with branches local to her home in North Wales.

She will also be dropping into Scout jamborees across the UK as she lends her name to the youth movement.


Scout spirit: The Duchess of Cambridge paddles a canoe with husband
Prince William while visiting Blatchford Lake, Northwest Territories in July
last year. File pic/AFP

Details of Kate's plans emerged as her office revealed the list of good causes she will back as a working royal.

Since September, she has been sifting through hundreds of requests from charities for support. Kate will become patron of several organisations and Royal Patron of four -- the National Portrait Gallery, East Anglia's Children's Hospice, Action on Addiction and The Art Room, which helps build kids' self-esteem through art. Sources said she will visit all her good causes this year.

As an adult volunteer with the Bob-A-Job movement, Kate will need to be prepared to wear the uniform, including the necktie, called a woggle. But she should be comfortable helping members win their badges for achievement -- because she's done it all before. She joined the 1st St Andrew's Brownies in Berkshire in 1990 when she was eight. Yesterday, 10-year-old Patrick Simpson, of the 4th Enfield Scout Group, said, "It's amazing the Duchess wants to get involved. She'll be good. She'll get to try all sorts of things like camping and climbing and making new friends."


Japanese Tuna sells for record Rs 3.88 Cr

Posted:

A Japanese restaurateur paid a whopping R3.88 cr -- a price almost double of last year's record sale

This tuna is worth savoring: It cost nearly three-quarters of a million dollars.

The bluefin tuna caught off northeastern Japan fetched a record 56.49 million yen (Rs 3.88 crore), yesterday in the first auction of the year at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market.


Big catch: Kiyoshi Kimura, who runs the Sushi-Zanmai sushi restaurant
chain, poses with the 269-kg bluefin tuna, which he plans to sell to the
locals in order to lift their spirits. pic/afp

The price for the 269-kilogram tuna beat last year's record of 32.49m yen (Rs 2.22 crore).

The first auction of the year is traditionally a time for exorbitant bids on the choicest tuna, but the owner of the Japanese sushi chain said he was determined to outbid foreign buyers who had beaten him in recent years.

Kiyoshi Kimura, president of Kiyomura Co, which operates the Sushi Zanmai restaurants, said the fish would be a gift to the Japanese people for all the hardships they had endured in 2011, not least the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster, as well as the general economic malaise that is affecting the country.

"Rather than having it taken away overseas, my wish is for Japanese people to be able to enjoy good tuna together," Kimura told reporters after landing his record catch.

"Despite the March 11 earthquake and the sluggish economy, I want to lift up Japan's spirits and urge people to work hard together," he said.

The purchase also sets a new record of Y210,000 (Rs 1.45 lakh) per kilogram, although the 46 Sushi Zanmai restaurants across Tokyo will not be bumping up the price when it is served to consumers, the company has promised.

The approximately 10,000 slices of sushi will be served at regular prices, ranging from Y135 (Rs 93) to Y418 (Rs 300) for a cut of the best fatty "otoro" sushi.

Kimura fought off strong bids from restaurant operators in Hong Kong who have snapped up the best fish landed at Tsukiji for the past four years.

269 kg
The weight of the bluefin tuna that was cut into approximately 10,000 slices

Rs 1.45 l
Cost of one-kilogram of sushi

342 kg
The weight of the record breaking sushi last year


Cop shoots Teen brandishing pellet gun

Posted:

An eight grader was shot to death by the Brownsville Police cops after he refused to put down his pellet gun which was pointed towards them.

It was only after shooting down the 15-year old teenager; the cops realized that it was just a harmless gun. The incident happened in Brownsville, situated in the southern tip of Texas, when the cops hurried towards Cummings Middle School around 8 a.m. today after school officials reported them of a student-carrying weapon in the school. "The student engaged the officers and was shot," said a statement from the Brownsville Independent School District.

Investigators then went on to search the entire school but didn't found anything suspicious, according to the police statement. The student was identified as 15-year-old Jaime Gonzalez, the ABC News reports.

Interim Brownsville Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez told a foreign press agaency that Gonzalez had loads of opportunities to put down the gun, but he repeatedly refused to do so. Rodriguez also informed that two police officers shot him at least twice on, which led to his death. Gonzalez was declared dead after his body was taken to the hospital and no other casualty was reported.

Are Arnie and Maria getting back together?

Posted:

Estranged Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver have sparked rumours their 25-year marriage is back on -- after both were seen wearing rings on their wedding fingers again.

The Terminator star's wife promptly removed her band last June after Arnie confessed to secretly fathering a child with the couple's former housekeeper 14 years earlier.


Marital bliss... again? Arnold and Maria who ended their 25-year
marriage last year have sparked rumours of a reconciliation after both
were seen wearing their wedding rings. File pic

However, Maria has been snapped sporting a ring over the festive period -- much of which she reportedly spent with her husband and their three children.

Speculation over their reconciliation started last week when Arnie was pictured with his signet back on his wedding finger as he enjoyed coffee with pals in Sun Valley, Idaho.

And Maria was yesterday spotted wearing a ring very similar to her chunky wedding band in Beverly Hills.

She filed for divorce last July after revelations surfaced of Arnie's affair with ex-employee Mildred Baena.

Maria moved out of their mansion in Brentwood, California, and outgoing California Governor Arnie said in a statement, "After leaving the Governor's office I told my wife about this event, which occurred over a decade ago."

Details of his infidelity began to flood in subsequent to their split, most notably that Maria was pregnant with the couple's fourth child while Mildred was working at home carrying Arnie's baby.

It was also reported that Arnie found ways to spend time with his illegitimate child behind his wife's back.


More sexual assault on women at work in China

Posted:

Women activists at a seminar in Beijing claimed that more and more Chinese women are receiving counseling for sexual harassment at their workplace nowadays but only few of them are turning up in court.

A well-known public interest lawyer, specializing in rights of women and children, Guo Jianmei believes this trend is due to the growing number of sexual harassment cases at work in China. Guo is also the director of Beijing Zhongze Women''s Legal Counseling and Service Center. His center has received around 183 counseling calls on sexual harassment since 2007 and around 34 percent of these are related to work places.

Guo takes it as a positive since it's a signal that Chinese women are gradually getting more aware of their rights and prefer reporting their case instead of mutely suffering. But Guo also believes that there is lot left to desire in this matter and women who are reporting sexual crimes against them are still present in marginal numbers, the China Daily reports.

"First, victims need to know how to claim help and where to get the information from," she added. She also stressed on the need for more legal service centers that can help these women. "About 100 to 200 million women in China have suffered or are suffering sexual harassment in the workplace, but only very few legal service centers provide counseling," she further added.

Chen Wei, an attorney specializing in women''s rights protection at Ying Ke Law Firm in Beijing believes that she has received many phone calls for advice about harassment in workplaces, but only few clients would take the case to court.

Women are a mystery to Hawking

Posted:

The biggest mystery in the universe perplexing one of the world's best known scientists is -- women.



When New Scientist magazine asked Stephen Hawking (in pic) what he thinks about most, the Cambridge University professor renowned for unravelling some of the most complex questions in modern physics answered, "Women. They are a complete mystery."

The wheelchair-bound Hawking, who only recently retired from a post once held by Isaac Newton, talked to the magazine in the run-up to celebrations for his 70th birthday about his biggest scientific blunder and his hopes for modern science.

Hawking is due to celebrate his 70th birthday on Sunday with a public symposium.


Police warned against relationship with journalists

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A new report on ethical standards of British police officers warns them against "flirting" and having "secret conversations" with journalists. The report titled "The ethical issues arising from the relationship between police and media" was prepared by former parliamentary commissioner for standards, Elizabeth Filkin, and was released Wednesday.

It said that "the close relationship which developed between parts of the MPS (Metropolitan Police Service) and the media has caused serious harm". In 2011, News Corporation, a media holding owned by media magnate Rupert Murdoch, came under intense criticism after it emerged that some journalists employed by the group had written stories based on material hacked from phone messages, including those belonging to crime victims, celebrities and politicians.

Soon after the scandal, Filkin headed the working group to develop the new ethical standards for the police. The report advises policemen to "watch out" for "late-night carousing, long sessions, yet another bottle of wine at lunch - these are all long-standing media tactics to get you to spill the beans".

"Mixing the media with alcohol is not banned but should be an uncommon event," the report said, adding that having drinks with police officers "may be seen as inappropriate hospitality". Among other key points were that "confidential briefings should be the exception" and "all contact should be available for audit".

Doctor to remove man's 90-kg tumour

Posted:

A Vietnamese man will have an operation to remove a 90 kg tumour from his right leg.

Nguyen Duy Hai (31) will have the gruelling 10-hour surgery at the France-Vietnam hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.
The team of surgeons will be led by American doctor McKay McKinnon, who has successfully removed other large tumours in his 30-year career.



An attempt to remove Hai's tumour in 1997 was unsuccessful and doctors were forced to amputate his right leg below the knee.

Hai's condition has now improved just enough for the procedure to be carried out.

"It's common for people to fear death, and I'm no exception," said Hai.

"But when I heard Dr McKinnon had decided to come back to Vietnam one more time to give me a new life, I became more hopeful."

Hai's tumour began growing when he was a boy and is thought to be the biggest ever recorded in Vietnam.

Dr McKinnon successfully operated on a similar size tumour growing out of a Michigan woman in 1999.

He said this patient was older and in worse shape than Hai, but came through the operation and is now leading a normal life.

As such Dr McKinnon said he is feeling positive about Hai's surgery, despite the operation carrying a 50 per cent success rate.


Fashion website caught with their pants down

Posted:

One of France's biggest mail-order fashion retailers has apologised for publishing a photo in which a naked man appears behind a group of children advertising beachwear

Posh French clothes retailer La Redoute put the snap -- featuring four children running up an idyllic looking beach -- on its website, which is viewed by thousands of people daily.


Fashion faux pas: The naked bather (circled) appears in the background
of a La Redoute publicity shot which appeared on its website


But whoever put the picture up failed to notice that behind the happy children was a naked, chubby, middle-aged man walking out of the sea -- with everything on show.

The nudist can clearly be seen strolling knee-deep in the sea while in the foreground four children run towards the camera in bright clothing.

Magnified error
The mistake was compounded by the fact that La Redoute provided a magnifying glass to allow people to get a closer look at the beachwear and thus any outstanding items in the beach scene.

In a tweet La Redoute said that it "apologises for the photo published on its site and is doing what's necessary to remove it".

But the shot has gone viral on the Internet and spawned a host of spoof montages.

These feature the unidentified nudist as part of the Moon landing, with the face of the disgraced former International Monetary Fund chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, or strolling behind French President Nicolas Sarkozy as he goes for a summer dip in swimming trunks.

He is also seen taking on Darth Vader in a Star Wars pastiche.

La Redoute is one of France's biggest mail-order retailers and is owned by the luxury goods conglomerate PPR, parent company of Gucci and Puma among others.

A spokeswoman for La Redoute said an internal inquiry had been launched to determine how the error had happened.

"We are aware that it might have hurt the feelings of Internet visitors," he said, adding that the group promised to "bolster the validation process for all of the brand's communication so that it doesn't happen again".

Some commentators remarked that the "bad buzz" surrounding the photo was actually useful publicity for La Redoute.

On its Facebook page, one commentator suggested it was a "publicity stunt by La Redoute's web team ahead of the sales".

Another, more sympathetic, noted: "Error is human".


Man tests gun, kills woman

Posted:

A Chinese man who tested the lethal power of his homemade gun on a pedestrian and shot her to death has been arrested, the China News Agency reported.

The 41-year-old suspect, Jia Baodong, shot the woman, Wang, 40, in the head with a modified nail gun in Dunhua city Dec 16. Wang died in a hospital.

Jia fled the city but was caught in his own house Jan 1, Xinhua reported. He said he didn't know the victim and shot her only to test his gun.


31 killed in Mexico prison fight

Posted:

A fight involving several groups of inmates at a prison in Mexico has left at least 31 dead, officials said. The incident took place in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas.

Officials said inmates from one wing of the prison entered another section, sparking the brawl in which 22 inmates serving sentences for state crimes and nine for federal offences were killed Wednesday.

Another 13 people were wounded in the fight, in which the inmates wielded knives and other tools as weapons. A special police unit was dispatched to the prison to help restore order.

The prison, located near Altamira city, is being guarded by marines and federal police. The prison fight was the deadliest since a brawl at a penitentiary in Tamaulipas city in October led to the death of 20 inmates and wounded 12. Tamaulipas, which borders Texas, has long been the scene of a brutal turf war between drug cartels.

52 mn pirated, porn publications seized in China in 2011

Posted:

Over 52 million pieces of pirated, pornographic and illegal publications were confiscated in China in 2011, authorities said. The National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publication made the seizures, Xinhua reported.

Authorities investigated around 18,000 cases in 2011, including 10,932 cases of intellectual property rights infringement and 1,717 violations of anti-pornography laws.

A total of 1.8 million online posts containing lewd information were taken offline in 2011, the office said. Among the confiscated items were 31.5 million audio and video items, 6.6 million books and 988,000 electronic publication copies. In 2010, China had confiscated over 44 million such illegal publications.

Man tests homemade nail gun, shoots woman dead

Posted:

A Chinese man who tested the lethal power of his homemade gun on a pedestrian and shot her to death has been arrested, the China News Agency reported

The 41-year-old suspect, Jia Baodong, shot the woman, Wang, 40, in the head with a modified nail gun in Dunhua city Dec 16. Wang died in a hospital.

Jia fled the city but was caught in his own house Jan 1, Xinhua reported.
He said he didn't know the victim and shot her only to test his gun.


Posted by Harshad at 7:27 AM

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