Pak man arrested in Chile charged for illegal possession of explosives

May 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 16 (ANI): The Chile Government has charged Muhammad Saif-ur-Rehman Khan, a Pakistani student arrested at the US Embassy in Chile, for having traces of volatile material, with illegal possession of explosives.

Police said traces of Tetryl, a compound used as a booster to help detonate explosives, was found on documents and the mobile phone recovered from Khan, who was arrested on Monday, The BBC reports.

However, Khan has denied any wrongdoing and has been freed pending an investigation.

Earlier, he had blamed the US for his arrest and bringing unnecessary trouble for his family back home in Pakistan.

“I have nothing to do with bombs. I have nothing to do with terrorists. I don”t have a beard. They (the US) just want to cover up their shame and guilt for what they have done or are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he had told media persons just after being detained.

Khan’s father, Mehmood Ahmad Rehman Khan, had alleged that his son has been implicated in a trap, and made a victim of racial profiling.

“My son became a victim of racial profiling and has been detained without a valid reason or evidence. His arrest was clearly a setup,” Mehmood had said earlier. (ANI)

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MJ’s bodyguards trying to prove he wasn’t gay

May 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New York, May 8 (ANI): Michael Jackson’s former bodyguards Bill Whitfield, Javon Beard and Mike Garcia, who were interviewed by ABC in March, will again appear in a chat show to dismiss rumours that the singer was gay.

They will also be seen talking about the late legend’s financial woes.

Publicist Lelani Clark confirms that according to the bodyguards, Jackson had two girlfriends in the last years of his life. One of them was called ‘Friend’ who had a European accent, reports The New York Post.

The guards are penning down a book ‘In Defense of the King’ which is about their three years with the King of Pop. (ANI)

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Friends, relatives ‘shocked’ over Shahzad’s sensational Times Square bombing plan

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Peshawar, May 6 (ANI): The sensational arrest of Faisal Shahzad, an American civilian of Pakistani origin who has been accused of plotting the botched Times square bombing plot, has shocked friends, relatives and natives of his ancestral village in Pakistan.

Shahzad’s friends and his family neighbours in Peshawar are baffled as to how a highly educated man like him can turn to terrorism, especially when his father, former Pakistan
Air Force (PAF) Air Vice Marshal Baharul Haq was not considered to be a ‘religious’ man.

Wing Commander (retired) Aziz Khan, one of Haq’s closest friends, said he has been trying to contact him since Tuesday, the day US authorities nabbed Shahzad while he was trying to flee to Dubai.

“I tried calling him a number of times. I suppose he and his family have vacated their Hayatabad town home in Peshawar,” Khan said.

He recalled noticing a change in Shahzad’s appearance some months ago, when he was in the country.

“I asked Faisal whether his beard was for fun or religious reasons. I didn’t get an answer. He just kept quiet,” The News quoted Khan, as saying.

He also recalled Haq telling him about the birth of Shahzad’s second child a few months ago.

“He was happy to share the information about the birth of his grandson. He said the boy had been named Zalan, which is a typical Pakhtun name,” Khan added.

Khan also pointed out that Shahzad was a ‘lonely’ but friendly person who loved pets.

Residents of Mohib Banda village in Pabbi, Nowshera, Shahzad’s village home, couldn’t believe what they were hearing about the 30-year old man who tried to bomb New York’s magnificent Times Square.

They believe Shahzad is being implicated in a false case.

“They are a well-respected family. They are apolitical. I know Shahzad’s family very well. They are highly respected in the entire village and adjoining areas,” said Kifayatullah Khan, Shahzad’s family friend.

“The entire family is highly educated and enlightened. The villagers don’t believe that Shahzad could act in such a manner,” he added. (ANI)

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Jesse James’ mistress Michelle McGee to dance topless at Las Vegas club

April 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New York, April 19 (ANI): The mistress of Sandra Bullock’s husband Jesse James is reportedly cashing in on her notoriety with a topless appearance at the Deja Vu Showgirls club in Las Vegas.

According to People magazine, Michelle McGee is set to sign autographs, pose for pictures, and dance topless at the club on Friday.

“We”re just cashing in on her celebrity right now,” the New York Daily News quoted Larry Beard, the club”s advertising and marketing director, as telling the mag.

McGee will be paid 5,000 dollars for the gig, plus tips.

Beard said he is expecting big crowds.

“There”s actually a group of tattoo enthusiasts that are all going to show up. She”s a dancer. This is right down her alley,” he said.

And Beard is unfazed by the outrage over McGee’s fling with James.

“Good publicity, bad publicity, it”s all publicity to me. I mean, I don”t expect Sandra Bullock to show up,” he added. (ANI)

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Jesse James’ mistress Michelle McGee to dance topless at Las Vegas club

April 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New York, April 19 (ANI): The mistress of Sandra Bullock’s husband Jesse James is reportedly cashing in on her notoriety with a topless appearance at the Deja Vu Showgirls club in Las Vegas.

According to People magazine, Michelle McGee is set to sign autographs, pose for pictures, and dance topless at the club on Friday.

“We”re just cashing in on her celebrity right now,” the New York Daily News quoted Larry Beard, the club”s advertising and marketing director, as telling the mag.

McGee will be paid 5,000 dollars for the gig, plus tips.

Beard said he is expecting big crowds.

“There”s actually a group of tattoo enthusiasts that are all going to show up. She”s a dancer. This is right down her alley,” he said.

And Beard is unfazed by the outrage over McGee’s fling with James.

“Good publicity, bad publicity, it”s all publicity to me. I mean, I don”t expect Sandra Bullock to show up,” he added. (ANI)

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British man plans to run, cycle, swim around the world for 18 months for charity

March 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, Mar. 26 (ANI): An unemployed British teacher has decided to swim the Atlantic, cycle across Europe and Siberia and run across the US for 18 months for a charity cause.

Tourists took photographs when Dan Martin, 28, from Peterborough stood in scanty trunks and prepared to dive into the murky waters of the Serpentine in London at the tail end of the worst winter in more than 30 years.

“Lovely, isn”t it? Still, better than last week. I cut my finger on some ice when I got in,” The Guardian quoted a relaxed Martin, as saying.

Martin, who will begin his Global Triathlon on May 8, is trying to raise money for orphans in Nepal through his adventure.

“I always say it”s just to impress girls in bars, but it”s raising money for a great charity that helps orphans in Nepal. But also I think it”s the great British adventure that can be done, and should be done,” he said.

With nothing but his ginger beard and a whole lot of nerve to keep him warm, he will head out into the Atlantic, over the grave of the Titanic and up towards the Eurasian tectonic plate, the paper reports.

If all goes well, somewhere between four and six months and 3,500 miles later he will emerge in Brest, France.

There, Martin will start biking until he reaches Uelen, Asia”s most easterly settlement in Russia.

To get there, he will have pedalled through Siberia’s deadly winters.

“People think swimming the Atlantic is going to be the hardest part, but it”s probably the cycling. It can drop as low as minus 80C in the Siberian winter. Ha ha! I don”t even like cycling,” Martin said.

When Martin reaches Uelen he will be run back home.

Only when he reaches New York – probably at the end of 2011 – will his journey be concluded. (ANI)

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Bank heist triggers man-hunt

March 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Gippsland police are still searching for a man who held up a bank at gunpoint at Mirboo North yesterday.

The man entered the Bendigo bank about 2:00pm (AEDT) and threatened a female teller with a firearm.

He escaped with cash in a silver four-wheel drive.

Ambulance officers treated the woman for shock.

The man is about 195 centimetres tall, medium build, with a reddish beard and acne scarring.

The four-wheel drive was last seen heading towards Morwell on the Strzelecki Highway.

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Chelsea chief sends psychologist to check Cole

March 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, Mar. 5 (ANI): Amid reports over love-cheat Ashley Cole’s bizarre behaviour following his break up from wife Cheryl, Chelsea chief Roman Abramovich has sent a psychologist to check whether the 29-year-old England left-back was in sound mental state.

Cole, who is recovering from a broken ankle at a clinic in France, has been wracked by grief after betrayed wife Cheryl ditched him over his flings and sex texts.

According to The Sun, Cole had appeared miserable since arriving at the clinic more than a week ago – and had gone days without shaving.

But after being told Chelsea were sending the psychologist to assess him, Cole promptly cut off his beard and trimmed his hair to give a good impression.

“He desperately wanted to look good for the psychologist. He knew the results would go straight back to the top and he wanted them to be positive,” the paper quoted a source close to Cole, as saying.

The psychologist arrived at the Centre Europeen Reeducation Sportif (CERS) facility near Biarritz on Wednesday and had lunch with Cole and Blues team-mate Michael Essien, who is there for treatment on his knee.

“The day the psychologist arrived at the clinic, Ashley was in a completely different frame of mind. He had smartened himself up and was trying to be serious and sensible. It wasn”t the Ashley we”ve been used to – he was clearly worried about something,” the source said.

A Chelsea spokesman confirmed a psychologist had flown out to assess Cole.

“It is a very normal procedure. We have a duty of care to all our players and we regularly send members of our medical team to help them get fit, especially those undergoing long-term treatment,” he said. (ANI)

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Supreme Court issues fresh notice to MP school on beard sporting row

September 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep 11 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Friday issued a fresh notice to Niramla Convent Higher Secondary School in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh on a Muslim student’s right to sport a beard.

Earlier, Nirmala Convent Higher Secondary School a government-aided minority Institution terminated Mohd Salim a class 10th student from the school for sporting beard.

Salim, refused to shave his beard on religious grounds

A Bench of the apex court consisting of Justices B N Agrawal and G S Singhvi termed the school’s decision to remove the student as ridiculous.

The bench issued the fresh notice to the school authorities after another bench of the apex court consisting of Justices R V Raveendran and Markandey Katju refused to continue the hearing of the plea.

Justice Katju’s statement during the hearing of the petition sparked off a controversy.

Earlier, the Madhya Pradesh High Court also dismissed the petition filed by Salim questioning the decision of the school administration. (ANI)

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Sambhavna: Why do you talk sex, Baba Ramdev? | Sambhavna Seth | Baba Ramdev

August 16, 2009 By Leave a Comment

What happens when a yoga guru meets an item girl, as happened on a ‘mock courtroom drama’, which took place in a television studio, recently?

Baba Ramdev known to be very voluble about his beliefs met the even more talkative Sambhavna Seth and sparks flew. We present a sneak preview of the show to be aired this Saturday.

Sambhavna Seth: You say item girls spoil the youth. Yet, you invite Mallika Sherawat and Shilpa Shetty for your yoga events. You even felicitate them.

Baba Ramdev: !

Sambhavna Seth: I don’t find anything wrong with gays. My friend is gay. I will send him to your ashram. It remains to be seen if you can cure him. Let’s hope you don’t become one.

Baba Ramdev: Gays are mentally sick and I do not support them. I can never change. And I have cured all major illnesses, including cancer.

Sambhavna Seth: Why are you always talking about sex and sambhog? Where did you learn all this?

Baba Ramdev: (Stays mum; is shocked by the question.)

Sambhavna Seth: Is your beard and hair natural? Do you colour them?

Baba Ramdev: They are absolutely natural.

Sambhavna Seth: I have immense respect for you but I don’t agree with everything that you say.

Baba Ramdev: Thank you.

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UK cop gets 11 K pound as compensation for ‘Osama’ slur

June 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, June 27 (ANI): A Muslim cop won 11,000 pounds in a religious discrimination case – after his boss said he looked like Osama Bin Laden.

Darren Yates made several remarks about the length of 42-year-old Tariq Dost’s beard.

Yates compared his West Midlands Police colleague to a newspaper picture of al-Qaeda chief Bin Laden – and once referred to Muslim prayer as “shouting and wailing”.

According to The Sun, constable Dost told a Birmingham employment tribunal he found the comments “ignorant”.

Judge Pauline Hughes said: “This was a sustained course of conduct.”

She said the remarks were offensive, more so because Dost was “very religious”.

Dost, 40, said Yates laughed at his off-duty Islamic clothing and said: “You look like a terrorist.”

Dost, who had filed a case of racial and religious discrimination against West Midlands Police, won the claim, though victimisation was not proven.

He said later: “This was never about money, it was about principle. I feel vindicated.” (ANI)

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2,000-year-old Egyptian mummy turns out to be a daddy

June 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, June 25 (ANI): The CT scan of a 2,000-year-old mummy in Egypt, who was believed to be a woman, has revealed that the preserved corpse actually belongs to a man.

The mummy has been kept at the Brooklyn Museum in New York.

According to a report in Daily News, after decades of billing the preserved body from Egypt as Lady Hor, museum officials got a big surprise when a CT scan revealed the lady was a man.

The mummy, discovered 70 years ago in Thebes, was believed to be a woman because the coffin lacked the beard ornamentation male mummies sport.

The ancient twist came when doctors at North Shore University Hospital ran scans on four mummies and found Lady Hor had a penis and scrotum.

“It’s definitely a man. Physiologically, it’s really clear,” said Edward Bleiberg, curator of Egyptian art at the museum.

“Because the coffin was beardless, we’ve assumed since 1937 that she was a woman. I never even thought twice about it,” he explained.

“This is actually going to revise some of our ideas about how you can tell if a mummy is male or female,” he added.

According to Bleiberg, “This is the kind of thing you can only see on a cat scan, and that’s maybe why nobody has noticed it before.”

“The level of detail we can get with these machines is so much higher. It allows us to see things we never would have been able to,” he said.

Bleiberg said that the scans will add a new dimension to the exhibit for museum visitors.

“From my point of view, we learn something about the basic humanity of ancient Egyptians,” he said. “We realize that the ancient Egyptians are humans, just like we are,” he added. (ANI)

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Brit Muslin cop called Osama bin Laden by boss sues over racial discrimination

June 26, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, June 24 (ANI): A British Muslim cop has complained to an employment tribunal that his boss allegedly said that he looked like terror mastermind Osama bin Laden.

PC Tariq Dost, 40, said force recruitment manager Darren Yates compared his beard to the al-Qaeda leader’s, and referred to Muslim prayers as “shouting and wailing”.

The officer, from Birmingham, also said Yates laughed at his off-duty Islamic clothing and said: “You look like a terrorist.”

PC Dost claims racial and religious discrimination against West Midlands Police, saying: “I feel betrayed by the force.”

The hearing in Birmingham continues, The Sun reports. (ANI)

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There’s more to virtual game ‘Second Life’ than just sex, say experts

May 26, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 26 (ANI): Virtual reality game ‘Second Life’ is not just about sex and pornography, it also educates its users about a wide range of health related problems, according to researchers at the University of Toronto and the University Health Network’s Centre for Innovation in Complex Care (CICC).

‘Second Life’ is free for users with basic accounts, and reported over 16 million registered users worldwide in 2008 and players of the game create online alter egos who live full lives, including having jobs, relationships and children.

But, despite instances of pornography and “cheating” spouses, the web-based platform is also used to educate people about illness, train physicians, nurses and medical students with virtual simulations, enable disease-specific support and discussion groups, fundraise real-life dollars for medical research, and to conduct research.

The researchers found that health-related activities in the virtual world have significant implications in the real world.

“Virtual worlds and the social networks that populate the Internet offer a new domain for healthcare. Although it is early in the development, there is a great opportunity to use these platforms for education, research and even disease surveillance,” said Dante Morra, Medical Director of the CICC.

Jennifer Keelan, the Principal Investigator on the project, suggested that a major feature for users is the “relative anonymity where patients can seek out information and share health experiences in a safe environment.

She added: “There is also a great potential for patients to practice being patients by virtually experiencing a mammogram or navigating a hospital’s virtual ward-they can gain insight into medical procedures and processes to become more informed.”

“There is a great opportunity here to understand the design features of social media that make it so appealing and accessible to people. Once we understand what pulls people to Web 2.0, we can design and apply more effective communication strategies both within and beyond the Internet,” said Leslie Beard, the designer on the team.

The findings have been published in the open access publication Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR). (ANI)

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Jesus has ‘risen’ in Sussex – and he’s wearing baggy jeans!

May 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, May 14 (ANI): It’s 21st century after all so why Jesus Christ should be left behind. A church in East Sussex has unveiled a new seven foot high statue of a modern day Jesus wearing jeans and a shirt.

Father David Buckley unveiled the 35,000-pound Marcus Cornish statue dubbed “Jesus in jeans” at the Our Lady Immaculate and St Philip Neri Catholic church in Uckfield depicting Christ as a man of the 21st century.

In the statue Christ can be seen wearing jeans and a shirt billowing in the wind while his hair and beard are neatly and fashionably trimmed.
Cornish’s sculpture was funded by money left by Winifred Gregory, 87, a member of the congregation who passed away last year, reports The Telegraph.
Father Buckley said: “You are always looking for new ways to enrich people in the experience of Christianity and it is good people can be open-minded to appreciate it.

“On the continent you often encounter modern representations of Jesus but it is not so common over here. We wanted a figure of Christ not in suffering but dynamic and welcoming.

“We felt this design summed up the spirit and activity of Christ perfectly and I think it speaks for itself.”

Cornish said: “The sculpture is simple and direct and I hope it sums up the feeling that Christ is always with us and that we are not to be afraid.

“His clothing is being blown vigorously to add the sense of him being alive and his strength in defying earthly cares.

“The clothing is loosely contemporary in order to connect Christ to his people now as much as to his past. I hope this sculpture will inspire and communicate in very human terms, reaching out and being relevant to both the congregation and local community.” (ANI)

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Gary Glitter’s new Rolf Harris-style disguise

May 4, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, May 3 (ANI): Pop paedophile Gary Glitter has reportedly taken a new disguise to trick the crowds in London with a Rolf Harris makeover and a new name Darren.

The glam rock singer-child abuser was allegedly trying to ape the Aussie singer and TV presenter by sporting a curly grey wig, black specs and neat beard for deception, reports News of the World.

The 64-year-old, who was jailed and listed as a sex offender following conviction for downloading 4,000 images of child pornography in 1999, was seen armed with the coiffured hairpiece, along with smart jeans and blazers as he stepped out his 1.8-million pound luxury pad.

The fallen rocker was spotted eyeing pretty young waitresses and making an excuse out of his hearing problem to bring them close to him.

The pop pervert, who was deported from Vietnam last August following a jail sentence for molesting two girls aged ten and 11, later tried to pick up young women on the street, as per reports.

He then purportedly returned home in a drunken state, but not without trying to make a desperate bid to lure two attractive blondes and young man up to his flat.

Glitter apparently told the trio he was called Darren, adding: But that’s not my real name.”

And when the group looked perplexed, he insisted he could not reveal his real name.

He said: “I’ve only just returned to England. . . I was away for ten years. The government won’t let me leave the country. I hate it here. It stinks. I want to leave and if I had the chance I ould.” (ANI)

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Paramdeep Singh wishes to promote Sikhism in glamour world

May 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Ludhiana, April 29 (ANI): Ludhiana-based Paramdeep Singh, the first runner up at ‘Mr. Singh India 2009′, is keen to promote Sikhism while building a career in the glamour world.

Paramdeep walks down the ramp as a proud Sikh’. Despite making a professional career through fashion, Paramdeep wants youngsters to not put aside their religious identities in the name of fashion.

“I am 23-year-old and I found the youth of my age cutting their hair. Also, they hate to wear a turban. They believe turban as a burden. I want to send a message that if by cutting hair and trimming beard they believe it gives a smart look. They are wrong. Being a Sikh, I walked down the ramp at a national level competition. I stood 1st runner-up there. I mean to say that a complete Sikh is more handsome to those who trimmed or cut their hair,” said Paramdeep Singh, first runner up of Mr.Singh India 2009.

“After the release of the film ‘Singh is Kinng’, the turban attained more respect in films. If you monitor any of the recent films, it has one character as a Sikh. If they don’t have a Sikh, there is an essence of Punjabi in the film. If, it’s not there, the film flops. A Punjabi touch in the film has become a trend now,” Paramdeep added.

Paramdeep tells how he has been keen on fashion since his school and college days. He used to be a fashion choreographer in many of the fashion shows and also received the best singer award at Mumbai for singing devotional songs.

Despite his busy schedule, Paramdeep regularly recites Kirtan at the gurudwara and many times at home during family functiond. Besides, he has been drawn to theatre.

“I also remained the president of cultural society. No doubt, we shouldn’t run off with our principles. As we stayed in Mumbai for 10 days, we performed dance, did practice on the ramp and even offered prayer at the gurudwara and sung ‘kirtan’. Our routine was so excellent that we wake up and do fitness exercises in a gym and then offer prayer. That was our routine,” said Paramdeep.

“Besides following strict principles we should also do fitness exercises and participate in the fashion shows, and go for swimming and play sports. This is our right and how can we leave all this?,” said Paramdeep. (ANI)

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Taliban ban political parties in FATA

April 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Apr.21 (ANI): The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) have now banned political parties in the Bajaur region of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Both the separatist organizations have also issued a jirga banning meeting of more than three persons at a same place.

According to the Daily Times, the decision was taken after four persons were killed in a clash between the activists of these two groups.

The latest ban adds to the long list of activities that the Taliban has prohibited in the region.

The outlawed outfit had also barred women from venturing out of their house alone. Sale and purchase of music cd’s and film videos have also been banned.

Growing beard and wearing turban has been made mandatory for men in the region. (ANI)

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Video of Taliban flogging girl a fake: Investigators

April 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, April 19 (IANS) The video footage of a girl being flogged by Taliban militants in Pakistan’s restive Swat valley is a fake, a five-member team of investigators has said in its final report.

Interior Secretary Kamal Shah said: ‘It (the probe team) has completed its investigation and handed over a report to me.’

The report said the video footage was ‘false and fake’ and no such incident had taken place, Shah was quoted as saying by the Dawn.

Shah was speaking at a press conference Friday at the Commissioner’s House in Saidu Sharif in Swat district.

He said the probe team, headed by the Malakand deputy inspector general of police, had been formed after the Supreme Court chief took a suo motu notice of the incident.

The report would be submitted before an eight-member bench of the Supreme Court during the next hearing, he said, adding the team had recorded statements of ‘both the girl and the man who were allegedly flogged and they had disowned the video tape’.

The dangers of imposing Sharia laws in Pakistan’s restive Swat Valley were brought into sharp focus earlier this month with the airing of a two-minute video showing the 17-year-old screaming, burqa-clad girl being whipped by Taliban fighters for coming ‘out of her house with another guy who was not her husband’.

The grainy video, shot on a mobile phone, showed the girl face down on the ground. Two men held her arms and feet while a third, a black-turbaned fighter with a flowing beard, whipped her repeatedly, London’s Guardian newspaper had reported.

The newspaper said it received the video through Samar Minallah, a Pashtun documentary maker.

After 34 lashes the punishment stopped and the wailing girl was led into a stone building.

The NWFP government ceded authority to the Taliban under a peace deal, giving the militants a free hand to impose their puritan Islamic rule on the around 600,000 people of Swat and its neighbouring districts.

The peace accord signed with pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Sufi Mohammad includes measures to establish Islamic courts, a ban on music, expulsion of prostitutes and pimps from the area, closure of businesses during prayer times, and a campaign against what they call obscenity.

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NY Hospital Pays $20,000 For Shaving The Beard Of A Sikh Patient

April 16, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The news is that a New York hospital has paid $20,000 for negligently shaving the beard, eyebrows, and mustache of an elderly Sikh patient at its facility.

In a press release, a US-based community coalition, United Sikhs said Westchester county healthcare has paid out the sum in an out of court settlement with the family of Pyara Singh Sahansra.

It can be recalled a nurse cut Pyara Singh Sahansra beard, eyebrows, and mustache on June 3, 2007. A little over a month, Singh died on July 18, 2007. Singh was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. It is learnt that the nurse was not trained to care for Sikh patients.

The patients family had instructed the staff at the hospital about Sikhs and the religious practice of keeping kesh (unshorn hair).Moreover, they had also placed signs on Pyara Singh’s bed to remind staff of the practice.

The hospital now has agreed to pay $20,000 in compensation to Pyara Singh’s family. Apart from this, the final settlement also included provisions for training Taylor care centre employees on Sikh patient care.

Speaking on this, attorney Robert Greene, who led the settlement discussions said, “We are very pleased with this agreement. It points the way for other health care facilities across the country to treat Sikh persons with true respect for their religious human rights.”

On the other hand, United Sikhs’ staff attorney Jaspreet Singh said, “It is extremely unfortunate that a Sikh patient in a hospital was treated in such an egregious manner.”

In Sikh religion, keeping of hair in its natural state is regarded as living in harmony with the will of God, and is a symbol of the Khalsa brotherhood and the Sikh faith. Moreover, they had also placed signs on Pyara Singh’s bed to remind staff of the practice.

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