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British Airways is set to resume talks with the Unite union later on Wednesday in an attempt to avert further strike action, the airline said.
Cabin crew are currently in their third day of a five-day strike, protesting over job and pay conditions.
The Unite union representing the bulk of the crew has threatened another 10 days of strikes if the dispute is not resolved.
No further details on the talks were available.
(Writing by Avril Ormsby; Editing by Kylie MacLellan)
SYDNEY (AP) Veteran Australian triathlete Greg Bennett has switched his allegiances to the United States so he can be part of his American wife’s 2012 Olympic campaign. Triathlon Australia said Monday it has granted a request by the 38-year-old Bennett to be released from representing Australia.
Bennett has dual citizenship and a long family history in the United States, marrying U.S. triathlete Laura Bennett (formerly Reback) in 2004. He has based the majority of his racing career out of the U.S. since the 2000 Olympics.
There was no indication whether Bennett planned to attempt to qualify for the U.S. in 2012. Bennett has competed in more than 80 World Cup events, with 26 podium finishes for six wins and two world series titles.
New York, May 20 (ANI): Former Playboy model Kendra Wilkinson is said to be trying to have another child with husband, NFL star Hank Baskett, to save their marriage.
Wilkinson’ sex tape rumors with her former boyfriend has reportedly created problems in her marriage.
Life & Style Magazine reported their plans of having their second kid after rumors of marital problems surfaced earlier this month.
An insider told the magazine the couple is trying for baby number two in an attempt to make their relationship strong.
“They’ve been trying for a second child for a while. And Kendra hopes it will happen sooner rather than later, the New York post quoted a source as saying.
“Kendra knows she upset Hank over all this sex tape stuff, and she wants it all to go away… Focusing on another baby would help. Plus, it would make for more great TV for the show [''Kendra''],” the source added. (ANI)
Kathmandu, May 14 (ANI): Pushkar Shah, who has acquired fame by cycling through 150 countries, has begun his first attempt at scaling Mt Everest by bike.
Calling it the “Peace expedition 2010″, the Nepali cyclist had earlier told the media that he was going on this expedition to pray for world peace.
Accoding to Xinhua, he said his request for financial aid for the undertaking had been turned down by the Nepal Government, forcing him to sell off his belongings, including the cycle on which he rode around the world.
A five-member team led by Shah, which was stationed at the Base Camp situated at an altitude of 5,343 meters, left for the second camp situated at an altitude of 6,900 meters Thursday morning, according to Nepalnews.
The team aims to reach the top of Mt. Qomolangma, the Nepali name for Everest, on May 16. (ANI)
West Midnapore (West Bengal), May 14 (ANI): Suspected Maoists killed four people in West Bengal’s West Midnapore District on Friday.
According to the police the four bodies were found at Jabalpur, near Silda.
The incident occurred during a 24 hours shutdown call given by the Maoists.
The Maoists were protesting the arrest of its four women activists.
The Maoists claim that one Soma was arrested from Jhargram three days ago, but was not produced before a court.
They also alleged that security forces were targeting and harassing innocent people during operations and demanded the immediate release of arrested cadres.
On Tuesday, the Maoists triggered a blast near Salboni damaging a culvert on the road connecting Midnapore to Lalgarh.
The road is one of the two taken by security forces to move between Midnapore town and Lalgarh, the other being via Dherua.
According to police, the Maoists targeted the route in an attempt to block movement of forces.
During, the shutdown, shops, offices and other establishments in the area remained closed because and public transport remained off the roads.
The People’s Committee has also announced it will block roads in the tribal-dominated areas in the Jhargram subdivision for an indefinite period. (ANI)
New York, May 12 (ANI): So paranoid are security agencies, including the New York Police Department, that if they find anything suspicious near Times Square, even if it is an empty paper bag, they evacuate people from the area and shut of access to it till sanitation is complete.
This is what happened on Tuesday.
The New York Post quoted an official of the department, as saying that police had to evacuate several blocks of midtown so the bomb squad could investigate a paper bag on top of a brown box near the Morgan Stanley building located at West 48th Street and Broadway.
The package was found to be non-suspicious, a NYPD spokesman said.
The evacuation came ten days after the failed Times Square car bomb attempt.
Security forces were immediately placed on heightened alert. (ANI)
London, May 12 (ANI): The Yemen unit of Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the suicide attack attempt on Britain’s Ambassador to that country, Tim Torlot.
It identified Uthman Noman al-Salwi as the would be assassin.
Ambassador, Tim Torlot, a 52-year-old career diplomat, who has served in the Arab state since July 2007 escaped injury when al-Salwi, dressed in a schoolboy’s shirt and suicide vest threw himself at the ambassador’s armour-plated vehicle in the capital, Sanaa.
The Times quotes the terrorist monitoring organisation SITE, as saying that it was in possession of a communiqué from AQAB which identfied al-Salwi as a member of the organisation’s ‘Brigade of Sheikh Abu Omar al-Baghdadi,’.
Al-Salwi, 22, had previously been jailed for two years for suspected ties to al-Qaida.
His father said in an interview after the April 26 bombing that authorities had agreed to release his son into parental custody as long as he checked in with police daily and attended school. Instead, he said his son disappeared without notifying his family of his whereabouts.
Torlot was reportedly about 600 yards from the embassy in the new part of Sanaa, close to the heavily fortified US mission, when he was attacked.
The attack has heightened concerns about security in Yemen, where AQAB, a relatively new organization. (ANI)
London, May 11 (ANI): Manchester United has still not given up hope of getting French striker Karim Benzema.
United boss Alex Ferguson lost out in his first attempt to sign the 22-year-old last summer, when he was outbid by Real Madrid.
Benzema made a 31 million pounds switch from Lyon. But he has been a flop for the Spanish giants, who are now ready to sell for around 25 million pounds.
The French striker has started only in 14 La Liga games this season and scored just eight league goals, The Sun reports.
United’s owners, the Glazers, are desperate to make a big-name signing to silence some of the opposition to their reign.
Nemanja Vidic could be used as a 10 million pounds makeweight in a Benzema deal. (ANI)
Chandigarh, May 3 (ANI): The bail plea of former Haryana Police chief SPS Rathore, will come up before sessions court in Chandigarh on Monday.
Rathore was sentenced to six months in jail for molesting 16-year-old Ruchika Girhotra.
He had moved the plea against the sentence and his conviction.
Sixty-eight -year-old Rathore, a 1965 batch IPS officer, who retired in 2002, was awarded the sentence by a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on December 22, 2009, for molesting Ruchika, a budding tennis player, in 1990.
Ruchika committed suicide three years later on December 28, 1993, and died the following day.
Subsequently Rathore was booked in two other criminal cases after Ruchika”s father Subhash Chander Girhotra and his son Ashu filed two fresh complaints against Rathore accusing him of attempt to murder, wrongful confinement and forging of the post-mortem report of the victim.
In April, Rathore returned his Police Medal, almost three weeks after he was ordered by the Centre to do so. (ANI)
London, Apr.26 (ANI): A study carried out by the British think tank Migrationwatch has claimed that over a million illegal immigrants are living in the country.
The Sun quoted the study as saying that this figure is double of the previous estimate, and added that it equals the population of Birmingham.
The study warned that if the Gordon Brown Government approves the proposed amnesties, this number could double when spouses and dependants are allowed in.
Previous studies by the Home Office and London School of Economics estimated that 618,000 lived in Britain.
Migrationwatch Chairman Sir Andrew Green said “a serious attempt” is needed to resolve the situation, which could take years. (ANI)
A Queensland prisoner has apparently used a science trick in an attempt to escape from his cell at the Lotus Glen prison, west of Cairns.
The 29-year-old inmate, serving a life sentence for murder, successfully breached the bars of his cell window about 1.30 am (AEST) yesterday.
But the man, who has been in jail for seven years, was caught attempting to escape a second meshed cage.
It is understood he corroded his cell bars over several months by putting salt water on them and conducting an electric current to them by inserting a one-metre length of wire into a power point and attaching it to the bars with electrical tape.
He was caught after a guard saw a light coming from the cell and went to check on him.
A Corrective Services spokesman said an investigation has been launched into how the man breached the bars.
The prisoner has been charged with attempting to escape custody and will appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on May 10.
Srinagar, Apr 19 (ANI): In an attempt to popularise cricket in Jammu and Kashmir, a T20 Jammu Kashmir Premier League has kicked off in Srinagar.
The league has been organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA).
Around 128 clubs from all across the state, including from far-flung areas of both Jammu and the Kashmir Valley are participating in the event. Out of these teams eight top performing teams will get a chance to play the semi finals and finals, which will be held in Srinagar.
New and Renewable Energy Minister and President of JKCA Farooq Abdullah said: “With this tournament the officials of JKCA will get a chance to evaluate the budding players. We are trying to expand JKCA for improving the game in the state.”
“This is a very nice step taken by the president of JKCA to improve the game in the region. The tournament will provide a boost to all players,” said Abid Nabi, a cricketer.
The winner of the T20 Premier League will bag a prize money of Rupees five hundred thousand, whereas the runner up team gets Rupees three hundred thousand and the team securing third position gets Rupees one hundred thousand. (ANI)
Srinagar, Apr 19 (ANI): In an attempt to popularise cricket in Jammu and Kashmir, a T20 Jammu Kashmir Premier League has kicked off in Srinagar.
The league has been organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA).
Around 128 clubs from all across the state, including from far-flung areas of both Jammu and the Kashmir Valley are participating in the event. Out of these teams eight top performing teams will get a chance to play the semi finals and finals, which will be held in Srinagar.
New and Renewable Energy Minister and President of JKCA Farooq Abdullah said: “With this tournament the officials of JKCA will get a chance to evaluate the budding players. We are trying to expand JKCA for improving the game in the state.”
“This is a very nice step taken by the president of JKCA to improve the game in the region. The tournament will provide a boost to all players,” said Abid Nabi, a cricketer.
The winner of the T20 Premier League will bag a prize money of Rupees five hundred thousand, whereas the runner up team gets Rupees three hundred thousand and the team securing third position gets Rupees one hundred thousand. (ANI)
WASHINGTON, April 14 (Reuters) – U.S. securities regulators are considering requiring that high-frequency traders reveal their identities and disclose their trades — the regulator’s latest attempt to get a grip on how the lightening-fast trades are shaking up equity markets.
Financials
At a meeting Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission will consider proposing rules to tag high-frequency traders with ID numbers and give the SEC access to information on their trades. This would allow the SEC to analyze the fast traders’ activities as well as the impact their trades have on the markets.
The SEC is already examining whether additional rules are needed to curb fast traders, or firms that use sophisticated algorithms to buy and sell stock in a fraction of a second.
The rapid trading is estimated to account for some 60 percent of all U.S. equity trading
“The need for the commission to consider monitoring these entities is heightened by the fact that large traders, including high-frequency traders, appear to be playing an increasingly prominent role in the securities markets,” the SEC said in a statement.
At the same meeting, the SEC will consider proposals to ensure investors have fair access to the options markets. (Reporting by Rachelle Younglai, editing by Maureen Bavdek)
Kyrgyzstan’s interim government says it is planning a special operation against ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who warned any attempt to seize him would result in bloodshed.
“Let them try to seize me. Let them try to kill me,” Mr Bakiyev told reporters after addressing a rally of supporters in his home village of Teyyit.
“I believe this will lead to such a great deal of bloodshed which no-one will be able to justify.”
Mr Bakiyev fled Bishkek to his stronghold in the south of the country on April 7 after troops fired on protesters outside his offices, killing at least 81 people.
The interim government says he must step down or possibly face arrest.
“We are preparing a special operation [against Mr Bakiyev],” Almaz Atambayev, the first deputy leader of the interim government, told reporters in Bishkek.
“But he is hiding behind a human shield… We hope we can carry it out without the deaths of civilians,” he said.
He refused to give any further details about the operation or to say when it would take place.
In an attempt to boost visitor numbers, the Victorian Government has decided to make entry to all of the state’s national parks free.
The Premier, John Brumby, is expecting the move will boost visitor numbers by 25 per cent.
The changes will come into effect on July 1.
Mr Brumby says entry to parks such as Wilsons Promontory, Mount Buffalo and Baw Baw will now be free.
“We think it’s a great thing for people to be able to enjoy the magnificent parks that we’ve got across our state,” he said.
He says it is important for families to not have to worry about the financial cost of visiting the state’s parks.
“There are many families where $10 or $20 makes a difference so we hope that they get out there, we hope they enjoy it, we hope children get to appreciate the beauty of our parks across the state.”
A life-long friend of Des Moran has told the Melbourne Magistrates Court Moran planned to cut Judy Moran’s grandchildren out of his will.
Judy Moran was one of four people charged with murder after Des “Tuppence” Moran was shot dead in an Ascot Vale cafe last year.
In a statement tendered in court, his friend, Sandra Cummins, said weeks before his murder Moran told her he wanted to change his will.
The court was told the estate was to be split equally between Judy Moran and her dead partner Lewis Moran’s four grandchildren.
“Tuppy said he wanted to change his will as Lewis’s grandkids never visited him or saw him,” she said.
She told the court Judy Moran always suspected her brother-in-law was cheating her out of millions of dollars.
Ms Cummins told police that a short time after an earlier attempt on Mr Moran’s life, family statues bequeathed to Judy Moran were stolen during a break-in.
“Tuppy also thought that because the shooting was at night that maybe the shooter was there for the break-in rather than to kill him,” she said.
The court heard Judy Moran believed her dead partner Lewis had put aside millions that went to his brother after his murder.
Ms Cummins told the court in that in 2005, Judy Moran had visited her brother-in-law and stated, “I want what I am entitled to”.
The murder committal hearing for Judy Moran, Suzanne Kane, Geoffrey Armour and Michael Farrugia is continuing.
Geelong key forward Cameron Mooney and Hawthorn youngster Liam Shiels will both contest charges at the AFL tribunal on Wednesday night.
Mooney will attempt to overturn a one-match ban after he was charged with engaging in rough conduct against Hawk Rick Ladson in Monday’s physical encounter at the MCG.
Shiels is challenging a two-match suspension for striking Geelong skipper Cameron Ling.
It is something of a risk for Shiels, who could have accepted a one-match sanction with an early guilty plea.
The other two players reported during Geelong’s nine-point win – Cats full-back Matthew Scarlett and Hawthorn utility Michael Osborne – have accepted early guilty pleas and will be suspended for one match.
London, March 29 (ANI): The mystery surrounding the death of Princess Diana has been resurrected amid renewed claims by Britain’s renowned defence lawyer that her death was brought about by a failed attempt to end her romance with Dodi Fayed.
Michael Mansfield QC claims the car crash deaths in 1997 were the result of the plot to “end their relationship violently”.
“I don’t believe they wanted them dead. But they did want to end the relationship by a serious accident and in that case they still can be prosecuted,” the Daily Star quoted him as saying.
Mansfield, 67, added the plotters remained the “unknown quantity”. (ANI)
Treasurer Kevin Foley has accused the Liberals of dirty tricks just two days out from the South Australian election.
Mr Foley has been forced to defend taxpayer-funded expenses on overseas trips, in particular a visit to New York two years ago.
He said on Wednesday that a drinks bill at a New York bar was charged partly to taxpayers because he was buying his staff drinks after hard day’s work.
But the Liberals say the itinerary shows there was no official business that day.
The Treasurer insists all his expenses have been properly documented.
“It’s just a grubby attempt before the election for the Liberal Party to attempt to cause embarrassment to me and it just doesn’t warrant further comment,” he said.
Liberal finance spokesman Rob Lucas says Mr Foley clearly got it wrong.
“When Kevin Foley says that it’s a dirty trick and that it doesn’t warrant further comment, it’s a pretty fair indication that the Treasurer’s been caught out,” he said.
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