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1 2 20 1 Mountain Man – Crash Kings (/Universal Motown)
2 1 15 1 Resistance – Muse (/Warner Bros.)
3 4 41 3 Savior – Rise Against (/Interscope)
4 7 17 4 Your Decision – Alice In Chains (/Capitol)
5 8 18 5 Letter From A Thief – Chevelle ()
6 5 38 1 1901 – Phoenix (/RED/Glassnote)
7 3 31 3 Again – Flyleaf (/Interscope)
8 6 34 1 Uprising – Muse (/Warner Bros.)
9 39 2 9 Between The Lines – Stone Temple Pilots ()
10 9 18 9 Brick By Boring Brick – Paramore (/RRP)
Chennai, Aug 27 (ANI): Multiple Guinness World Record breaker Suresh Joachim of Canada has began karaoke singing continuously for 100 hours as he eyes his 60th Guinness record.
Joachim began his attempt at around 3.35 pm on Wednesday and would end around 7.35 pm on Sunday.
He would be singing in Tamil, English and Tamil languages and would repeat a song in four hours.
“This is my 60th world record item because my aim is to help children from poverty, disease and war around the world. And to be a more world record holder, number one world record holder… in the world more than any other one. That’s my main goal. Recently we made film, that was my 59th world record,” said Joachim.
Joachim is the number one record breaker in Canada and number two in the world. His 59th record was producing a fastest feature film in Tamil language within 11 days, 23 hours and 45 minutes that would be released in September.
Joachim has been breaking records since 1996. His first record was 1,000 consecutive hours of running.
He has been travelling around the world performing much different type of world records. He has drummed continuously for 84 hours in Switzerland, ran on a treadmill for 168 hours to cover 659.27 km in France, bowled for 100 hrs in Canada, carried a 4.5 kg brick in a nominated ungloved hand in an un-cradled downward position for 126.675 km in Australia.
Joachim, born in Sri Lanka, also created a record during his wedding when his nuptial knot was attended by 79 bridesmaids and 47 groomsmen, setting world record for highest number of each at one ceremony.
Some other records have been longest karaoke marathon (25 hours, 49 minutes), longest time spent standing on one foot (76 hours, 40 minutes) and longest continuous ironing (55 hours, five minutes).
Joachim’s next attempt would be pushing car 30 miles in 24 hours in Chennai itself. He has planned to set on a journey for World Peace from Jerusalem in 2011 to Toronto, Canada in 2012. During the tour he would travel 88 major cities across 5 countries, passing a symbolic peace torch. (ANI)
Colombo, July 3 (ANI): Despite promising to resettle 80 percent of Tamil refugees by the end of this year, the Sri Lankan Government has reportedly started building permanent camps for most of the 300,000 refugees, who are being held there since Tamil Tigers’ defeat in May.
The Times quoted aid workers, as saying that permanent buildings are being erected at the Manik Farm site where the UN says that 230,000 of the refugees are kept.
The aid workers were able to do humanitarian work in four of six zones at Manik Farm but were barred from two others, including the mysteriously named Zone Zero.
“We’re not allowed to work in these areas. But you can see from the outside proper brick-walled buildings going up,” said Rajinda Jayasinghe, the head of Relief International in Sri Lanka.
The Government originally proposed holding the Tamil refugees in “welfare villages” for up to three years to check that they were not Tigers, and to clear their villages of mines.
Aid workers said that the new structures violated UN guidelines on temporary refugee shelters, and suggested that the Government meant to hold refugees for much longer.
Aid groups’ concerns over the buildings grew when the Government proposed giving people in each tent two bags of cement to build their own floors, a leaked document obtained by The Times shows.
“The use of concrete flooring is inconsistent with temporary structures and is one of the recognised criteria of a semi-permanent structure,” the document said.
A spokesman for the Sri Lankan High Commission in London, however, denied that the Government was building permanent structures in the camps.
“Concrete is laid only for the safety and to maintain cleanliness. It should not be considered as an indication for permanency. People will be resettled as fast as possible. 180-day target is a huge challenge. However, the Government will accomplish it with the help of the UN and friendly foreign countries,” he said. (ANI)
United Nations, June 27 (ANI): The United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees has refuted media claims in Pakistan that a large number of internal refugees uprooted by the anti-Taliban offensive were returning to their native places, by saying that there was no large-scale movement out of the makeshift camps.
The Nation quoted UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler as saying that most IDPs in NWFP have not visited their native place, while some of the people returned on a “go and see basis” to harvest crops, secure cattle or check on homes.
According to a UNHCR rapid survey conducted on 4,000 IDPs sheltering in a camp in Swabi District, some IDPs had gone back to help bring their family members, especially the elderly who were left behind because they could not move quickly enough, said Spindler.
Spindler added that the displaced were not willing to return unless ‘improvements in security conditions’ were made.
He noted that the destruction of houses and infrastructure, such as electricity supply, as well as concerns over education and the provision of food were also preventing returns.
In the meantime, an average of 1,800 IDPs a day continue to flow into the renowned Jalozai camp, in Nowshera district, which is being expanded as other camps in NWFP are full, said UNHCR.
The new arrivals include people who were previously staying with host families and those referred on from camps, which are full.
“In all the organised camps, we are continuing to improve conditions, building shade structures over tents to relieve the heat and privacy walls around groups of tents. We are also improving infrastructure like lighting and fencing,” said Spindler.
The UNHCR is also making preparation for the upcoming Monsoon season by reinforcing drainage systems. So far, many people are protecting their family tent by building up low brick walls or draining canals. (ANI)
Washington, May 20 (ANI): A team of scientists has developed a new way of dating archaeological objects, by using fire and water to unlock their ‘internal clocks’.
The scientists, from the University of Manchester and the University of Edinburgh, call this technique as ‘rehydroxylation dating’, which can be used to date fired clay ceramics like bricks, tile and pottery.
Working with The Museum of London, the team has been able to date brick samples from Roman, medieval and modern periods with remarkable accuracy.
They have established that their technique can be used to determine the age of objects up to 2,000 years old – but believe it has the potential to be used to date objects around 10,000 years old.
The method relies on the fact that fired clay ceramic material will start to chemically react with atmospheric moisture as soon as it is removed from the kiln after firing.
This continues over its lifetime causing it to increase in weight. The older the material, the greater the weight gain.
In 2003, the Manchester and Edinburgh team discovered a new law that precisely defines how the rate of reaction between ceramic and water varies over time.
The application of this law underpins the new dating method because the amount of water that is chemically combined with a ceramic provides an’internal clock’ that can be accessed to determine its age.
The technique involves measuring the mass of a sample of ceramic and then heating it to around 500 degrees Celsius in a furnace, which removes the water.
The sample is then monitored in a super-accurate measuring device known as a microbalance, to determine the precise rate at which the ceramic will combine with water over time.
Using the time law, it is possible to extrapolate the information collected to calculate the time it will take to regain the mass lost on heating – revealing the sample’s age.
According to Lead author Dr Moira Wilson, Senior Lecturer in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering (MACE), “We are extremely excited by the potential of this new technique, which could become an established way of determining the age of ceramic artifacts of archaeological interest.”
“The method could also be turned on its head and used to establish the mean temperature of a material over its lifetime, if a precise date of firing were known. This could potentially be useful in climate change studies,” Dr Wilson added. (ANI)
Forte dei Marmi – At the turn of the century, the Tuscan coastal town of Forte dei Marmi became hugely popular with artists, aristocrats and intellectuals from all over Europe.
Nowadays, the “beautiful people” still flock here to spend their holidays among the pine trees. In downtown Forte dei Marmi, the fashionable Café Versilia on the Piazza Garibaldi was a popular haunt for famous cultural names such as English writer Aldous Huxley, Italian poet Gabriele d’Annunzio or German author Thomas Mann. The latter allegedly based the character of the sorcerer, Cipolla, in his 1929 novella Mario and Magician on someone he met on the premises.
The tranquil resort on the attractive Versilia coast continues to lure an immaculately-clad jet set and remains a byword for elegance. Guests sip a glass of prosecco under the linen sunshades which line the far-reaching golden sands.
The beach bars are abuzz in the summer months, competing for attention alongside an extensive range of water sport activities and an ambitious cultural programme. The main beach stretches five kilometres between the rivulets of Fiumetto in the south and Cinquale to the north.
The name Forte dei Marmi translates as The Fortress of the Marble and the first settlers in this swampy area were dealers in the glossy white rock whose use in architecture goes back to classical Greek times.
In the 16th century, a certain Michelangelo Buonarotti, the Renaissance all-round genius commonly known only by his first name, was commissioned by Pope Leopold X. to draw up plans for the road to connect the marble quarries at Massa and Carrara in Apennine Mountains with the coast.
The artist set to work and both the road and a 300-metre along the pier were built so that the prized stone could be hauled aboard sailing ships. Today both locals and tourists gather at the spot to admire the spectacular sunsets.
A century later, the resort began to attract fishermen, farmers and quarry workers and it was in 1788 under the aegis of Grand Duke Leopold I that the town acquired its most notable landmark, the red brick fort in the main square “Il Fortino.”
Tourism in Forte dei Marmi only began to boom after World War II when wealthy Italian industrialists chose it as a summer retreat. Today the “Fortino” is home to the Museum for Satire and Caricature and visitors can admire exhibits dating back to antiquity as well as contemporary works. For those who want more there is even a specialised multimedia archive on the topic.
This town of around 8,500 residents – known to its admirers as “Forte” – offers an unusually rich tableau of cultural activities. There are numerous galleries and the town is a useful springboard for visits throughout Tuscany. Lucca, Florenz and Pisa are only a short ride away by local train.
There are plenty of chic cafes to visit in the central Forti and the town offers a wide range of hotel accommodation to suit all budgets. Four-star hotels line the promenade behind a fringe of oleander and palm trees while the more reasonably-priced establishments are generally found in the centre or on side streets.
The nearby Apennines offers all manner of sporting pursuits such as hiking and climbing tours while at the seaside windsurfers and kite surfers will find plenty to keep them occupied. A fine way of seeing Forti is from the saddle of a bicycle since in contrast to most places in Italy, the town has an extensive network of cycle paths. (dpa)
London, Apr 28 (ANI): If you thought it was only Spiderman who could glide on any surface with no apparent gravitational pull, then it’s time to get out of fiction and look closer to reality – scientists have created robots that can scale walls and hang off the ceiling just like geckos.
Metin Sitti and Ozgur Unver of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, have claimed that their new robots – a sticky-tracked wall climber and a 16-legged ceiling walker – could tackle many jobs in the home including painting ceilings and clearing cobwebs.
The researchers said that the robots could also play a part in exploration, inspection, repair and even search and rescue.
Moving ahead of using suction for locomotion in previous wall and ceiling climbers, scientists have resorted to a “sticky” elastic polymer, or elastomer, that can adhere to a variety of surfaces, including wood, metal, glass and brick.
By using the elastomers, scientists are hoping to mimic the mechanism, which geckos use to climb walls and walk upside down- the millions of tiny hairs called setae on their toe pads, reports New Scientist.
The researchers showed that the geckos’ setae do this by harnessing van der Waals forces- a weak electrostatic attraction which operates only at an intermolecular level.
Thus, Sitti has been experimenting with squishy elastomers to mimic the forces that geckos’ setae use.
Both robots made by Sitti use sticky elastomers, though not in the form of hairs, to grip surfaces using van der Waals forces.
Their wall-climbing robot, called Tankbot, is a palm-sized, 60-gram machine with a tacky elastomer tank track on either side of it, and its trick is to keep its tracks in close contact with the surface whilst continuously “unpeeling” itself.
Tests showed that Tankbot could deftly scale walls and even carry small payloads. However, Sitti said that its “adhesion falls short for upside-down ceiling climbing.”
So for scampering on ceilings, the researchers are working on another design with stronger adhesion- the FourBar robot- which has a four tough plastic bars that move parallel to one another driven by a motor.
Each bar has four tacky elastomer footpads, mounted in pairs on rockers. When the eight footpads on the interior bars are stuck to a surface, the outer bars unpeel their footpads and move forwards. When they are safely restuck, the inner bars unpeel and move forwards.
Although the robot moved 30 metres upside down in tests, the researchers observed one problem with both robots-their elastomers can clog with dirt and dust and lose their crucial tackiness.
Sitti hopes to overcome this on future bots by using his hairy gecko-like elastomers-ultrafine nanoscale hairs do not provide micro-scale dirt particles with enough contact – so they simply roll off.
The details on the robots will be presented at the annual International Robotics and Automation Conference (ICRA) in Kobe, Japan, in mid-May. (ANI)
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Cairo, April 27 (ANI): Archeologists have uncovered the remains of what is believed to be the largest New Kingdom temple ever discovered in Egypt./pp
According to a report in Al-Ahram Weekly, the temple was found by an Egyptian archaeological mission at Tel-Hebua, known in Pharaonic times as Tharo, the area from which the ancient Egyptian army embarked on military campaigns along Egypt’s eastern borders./pp
The temple, which covers an area of 80×70 metres, is built of mud brick decorated with paintings. /pp
It consists of four rectangular halls containing a total of 34 columns, three limestone purification basins, and a number of secondary chapels, suggesting that the temple was an important religious centre on Egypt’s eastern front. /pp
The site is heavily fortified and surrounded by a four-metre-thick wall. /pp
Paintings featuring Horus, Hathor, Tefnut, Montu and Renenutet were unearthed within the temple walls along with others showing kings Tuthmosis II and Ramses II./pp
On the east and west of the site are two groups of storehouses consisting of 13 rooms each, which probably date to the reigns of Seti I, Ramses II and Seti II. /pp
They contain thousands of inscriptions and seal impressions of the three kings. /pp
One of them is particularly important, points out mission director Mohamed Abdel-Maqsoud. It depicts Ramses II before the god Set, patron deity of the Hyksos capital Avaris, now known as Tel Al-Dabaa, some 50 kilometers from Tel Hebua in the eastern Nile Delta./pp
Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), described the discovery as the most important to date in Sinai. (ANI)/p
Mumbai, Apr 19 (ANI): Bollywood actor-director Farhan Akhtar lent a hand for a cause when he launched an innovative campaign for building a school for specially-abled children in Mumbai on Saturday.
Akhtar joined the Sadhana School’s ‘Brick-by-Brick’ campaign, for building an additional wing in the school building.
The campaign invites volunteers to purchase a brick for rupees 5,000, and help the school to raise money through the campaign for the building.
“The initiative which has been started is that the people can donate and contribute in buying a brick that can help build an additional wing in the school,” said Akhtar.
Akhtar was also treated to an exclusive performance by the school children on the song from his film ‘Rock On’.
The actor also expressed plans for making a children-based film in future.(ANI)
London, Apr. 19 (ANI): World’s leading architects have slammed the Prince of Wales for “using his privileged position” to interfere in the design of a controversial luxury development in London’s most attractive part.
Five Pritzker prize-winning architects alleged that Charles has “skewed” the democratic process by using his royal connections in an attempt to stop modernist plans for the former Chelsea Barracks.
In a letter to the Sunday Times, top architects Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Lord Foster, Zaha Hadid, Renzo Piano and Frank Gehry attacked the traditional architect supporter prince.
They disclosed that the prince had been successful in persuading the Qatari royal family, who own the site, to consider having more traditional brick and stone buildings for the development at the expense of the glass and steel proposals submitted by Lord Rogers, the project’s architect.
“If the prince wants to comment on the design of this or any other project we urge him to do so through the established planning consultation process,” they write.
“It is essential in a modern democracy that private comments and behind-the-scenes lobbying by the prince should not be used to skew the course of an open and democratic planning process that is currently under way,” they added.
The prince argues that the proposed buildings would look inappropriate adjacent to the Royal hospital, Chelsea, designed by Sir Christopher Wren.
The architects, who have attacked prince, have been attributed for the “bird’s nest” stadium for the Beijing Olympics, the Gherkin and Tate Modern in London, the Pompidou Centre in Paris and the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao.
Charles seems to have a particular dislike of designs by Rogers. Rogers put in proposals for the extension for the National Gallery in 1984, which were criticized by the prince.
He famously called one of the plans “a monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much loved and elegant friend”. He also objected to Rogers’s ideas to redevelop Paternoster Square, next to St Paul’s Cathedral.
Architect and academic Richard Burdett said: “The prince is basically saying that Rogers should be fired.”
Robert’s famous designs
Lord Foster’s City Hall, housing the London mayor, was nicknamed “the glass testicle”. Boris Johnson rechristened it “the onion”.
Foster’s National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham, opened in 1996, has been called “excruciatingly dismal” by critics.
Heathrow’s terminal 5, designed by Lord Rogers, was called “a disaster” after baggage-handling chaos last year. (ANI)
Toronto, April 16 (ANI): A remarkably well-preserved monumental temple in Turkey, believed to be constructed during the time of King Solomon in the 10th/9th-centuries BC, is shedding light on the so-called Dark Age.
Uncovered by the University of Toronto’s Tayinat Archaeological Project (TAP) in the summer of 2008, the discovery casts doubt upon the traditional view that the transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age was violent, sudden and culturally disruptive.
Ancient sources, such as the Homeric epics and the Hebrew Bible, depict an era of widespread famine, ethnic conflict and population movement, most famously including the migrations of the Sea Peoples (or biblical Philistines) and the Israelites.
This is thought to have precipitated a prolonged Dark Age marked by cultural decline and ethnic strife during the early centuries of the Iron Age.
But, recent discoveries – including the Tayinat excavations – have revealed that some ruling dynasties survived the collapse of the great Bronze Age powers.
“Our ongoing excavations have not only begun to uncover extensive remains from this Dark Age, but the emerging archaeological picture suggests that during this period Tayinat was the capital of a powerful kingdom, the ‘Land of Palastin’,” said Timothy Harrison, professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Toronto and the director of the project.
“Intriguingly, the early Iron Age settlement at Tayinat shows evidence of strong cultural connections, if not the direct presence of foreign settlers, from the Aegean world, the traditional homeland of the Sea Peoples,” he added.
Excavations uncovered the temple’s southern approach, which once faced a broad stone-paved courtyard, and consisted of a monumental staircase and porticoed-entrance, supported by a large, ornately carved basalt column base.
In addition, fragments of monumental stelae – stone slabs created for religious or other commemorative purposes – carved in Luwian (an extinct language once spoken in what is now Turkey) hieroglyphic script, were found.
They are thought to have once stood on stone platforms in the courtyard.
“The building’s central room was burned in an intense fire. It was filled with heavily charred brick and wood, as well as a substantial quantity of bronze metal, including riveted pieces and carved ivory fragments – clearly the remains of furniture or wall fixings. Fragments of gold and silver foil were also found along with the carved eye inlay from a human figure,” said Harrison.
The temple’s inner sanctuary will be the focus of the 2009 field season which begins on July 1. (ANI)
LOS ANGELES, CA, Apr 14 (MARKET WIRE) —
Mesa Garage Doors is proud to announce that it has signed Collective
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Mesa Garage Doors, founded by Dwight Esnard, in Irvine, California in
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Their service area ranges from San Diego to Santa Barbara, essentially
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Mr. Stern believes that while Mesa is already doing a great job getting
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Mesa President Esnard said: “We have learned never to be complacent as
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If you would like more information on Garage Doors and SEO Services, or to
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Copyright 2009, Market Wire, All rights reserved.
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KOLKATA: Uncertainty looms over Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s high-decibel public rally in the city, following Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s
(KMC) decision not to allow parks to be used as meeting venues.
Traditionally, heavyweight Congress campaigners hold their public meetings at south Kolkata’s Deshapriya Park. In 1989, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had held his meeting at this park.
This year, too, the state Congress had scheduled Deshapriya Park as one of the two possible venues for Sonia’s public gathering, and the date would be sometime soon, it was learnt, though it has not been finalized yet. Congress and Trinamool leaders confirmed the choice of Deshapriya Park as the venue for Sonia to share the dais with Mamata Banerjee.
But, with days to go for the high-profile event, KMC authorities have thrown a spanner in the works, citing an amended policy that disallows the use of parks for public meets. According to a senior civic official from the parks department, the KMC top brass had already announced a ban on public meetings at parks a year ago. “How can we bend rules? If we do that, there will be lots of requests, which we wouldn’t be able to turn down,” the official said.
Senior state Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharya said he would approach KMC for permission for venues once he returns from Delhi.
The KMC official was particularly touchy about Deshapriya Park, as it has been beautified at considerable expense. In fact, some beautification work is still under way.
Notwithstanding KMC’s reluctance, the top brass of the civic body is well aware that a refusal to give permission to such a high-profile event could spark trouble. Though some point to Park Circus Maidan as an alternative venue, it is also being beautified under the Asian Development Bank-funded Kolkata Environment Improvement Project.
KMC staff, however, confirmed that rules were being blatantly flouted by leaders of all political parties. “Workers’ meets are being held in small and medium-sized parks across the city without the civic body’s consent,” said a KMC source. Mayor Bikash Bhattacharya tread cautiously. While emphasizing that rules would not be flouted, he said a decision would be taken after organizers sought permission. “Let them approach us. We will think over it,” he said.
VILLUPURAM/CUDDALORE: Rare silver coins were unearthed by villagers at a remote village in Villupuram district while labourers were undertaking
construction work.
The district administration sources said Govindasamy (70) of Sorayapattu village near Thirukovilyur and his two sons were involved in laying foundation to build a house on March 27 when they accidentally hit upon a mud pot that contained silver coins. The officials led by Thirukovilyur tahsildar M K Shanmugam visited the village on Saturday and recovered 21 silver coins from the possession of the villagers.
“The silver coins are as big as an old Re one coin and weigh approximately from five to ten grams. Arabic texts are engraved on it and we will seek the help of ASI officials in Cuddalore to gather information on its origin,” Shanmugam told The Times of India.
The officials suspected that the villagers were hiding a part of the find and proposed to lodge a complaint with the Manalurpet police station seeking a detailed interrogation.
Meanwhile, in Cuddalore district, a three-member team from Annamalai University led by the head of history department Dr N Alagappan found three rock inscriptions, ancient bricks, roofing tiles and a statue of a Hindu deity belonging to different periods during an exploration on Friday in remote hamlets of Santhavelipet and Kottaimedu near Vadalur.
The rectangular rock inscription belonged to Chola period (10th century) while the cylindrical rock inscription belonged to the 13th century and another inscription belonged to the 18th century. “All the inscriptions in the rock are in Tamil and throws vital information that the region (presently Santhavelipet) flourished between 13th and 18th centuries. However, people migrated to different parts at the end of 18th century,” a member of the team and history lecturer J R Sivaramakrishnan told The Times of India while outlining the significance of their find.
The team also unearthed brick and roofing tiles belonging to the 10th century at Kottaimedu. The brick and tiles resembled those excavated from Gangaikondacholapurum. The members also found a statue of Kandegeswarar, an incarnation of Lord Shiva in the same village. The 10th century rock deity in seated posture (Veerasanam) measures 150 cm high.
London – A 17-year-old boy was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday on a murder charge in the slaying of a police officer earlier this month in County Armagh, a Police Service of Northern Ireland spokeswoman said.
The youth was charged late Monday in the killing of Constable Stephen Carroll. He faces additional charges of membership in the banned Continuity IRA, possession of a firearm with intent and collecting information likely to be of use to terrorists.
The officer suffered a fatal gunshot while responding a call about a brick thrown through a window.
Four other suspects remain jailed for questioning in the police officer’s slaying. Earlier Monday, two men, aged 27 and 31, were released without charge in the case.
Four suspects are jailed in the killings of two British soldiers killed in North Ireland in a shooting two days before the Armagh attack. (dpa)
Washington, Mar.15 (ANI): While Pakistan continues to boil over the political bedlam, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Michael Mullen has rebuked the notion that the Pak Army is set to take over the country.
Mullen said he actually stopped Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani from interfering in the prevailing political stalemate in the country.
Mullen added that Washington is closely monitoring the developments in Pakistan, and is extremely concerned by it.
Mullen said that he had talks with the Pak army chief several times in the recent past, and Kayani has assured him that he is committed to a civilian government in the country.
Mullen, however, said that if the political brick bating continues for long then it could provoke the army to intervene.
“He (Kayani) wants to do the right thing for Pakistan. But he is in a very tough spot. There is not a high probability right now, but the political crisis could provoke Pakistani military to intervene,” Mullen said.
“The situation continues to deteriorate, very slowly under a political leadership because of the totality of the crisis,” he added.ullen also expressed fears that the on-going political crisis in Pakistan may see militants initiating some big operation in future.
“Pakistan is a country with nuclear weapons. It’s 165 million people and should we move to a point where somehow there is a theocratic government there with nuclear weapons, that’s something that keeps me up,” he said.
Mullen said the US would go ahead and hit high-value targets inside Pakistan if Washington felt threatened from this part of the world, The Nation reports.(ANI)
Sydney, Mar.15 (ANI): Australia’s Brett Lee has revealed that he intends to return to international cricket by bowling faster than ever.
Once regarded as the “Golden Boy” of Australian cricket, Lee, 32, is under pressure to reclaim his place in the Test and one-day teams for the Ashes Tour.
He will try to win his place on a diet of four-over spells in the Indian Premier League that gets underway next month.People might think 32 is old for a bowler, but the way that I look at it, you look at the great sprinters around the world,” the Daily Telegraph quoted Lee, as saying.
“You’re using the same type of muscles, it’s the same type of build-up, it’s all about fast-twitch fibres … most of those guys don’t reach their peak until they’re 34 or 35. I still firmly believe that I can be in the same boat as them. I actually want to get quicker and be better than what I have been,” he added.
The emergence of the new breed of Australian pacers on the tour of South Africa has put Lee’s position under threat.
Looking back, the past eight months must be almost unfathomable for the blond speedster.
First there was his public blow-up with captain Ricky Ponting in India, when the skipper refused to bowl him.
Then followed a lean summer on home soil against New Zealand and South Africa, when he was hampered by stress factures in his foot.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, privately his world was caving in as the breakdown of his marriage put him under enormous stress.
“It’s obviously been a very tough time in my life. It’s been a difficult 12 months in all aspects – cricket and personal,” Lee said.
“I’ve been up against a bit of a brick wall. But I’m through that brick wall now and I can see light out the other side,” he added.
“I firmly believe things happen for a reason in all aspects of life,” he said.
Last Friday, Lee allowed The Sunday Telegraph to watch him train at the SCG nets.
The rewards of his six-day regime under personal trainer Paul Haslam were obvious.
From the glint in his eye and the purpose in his training, it is obvious Lee is serious about his comeback. (ANI)
Washington, February 25 (ANI): An anxiety-stricken Kate Winslet had a panic attack a month before the Academy Awards.
The 33-year-old finally won the gong, after five previous nominations, for her portrayal of a German woman with a secret Nazi past in the romantic drama “The Reader” this year.
The actress confessed making a desperate call to her sister after suffering the jitters.
“I didn’t know what it was. It was a little like when your water (breaks), and you think, ‘Did I just pee a bit, or is this it?’” Contactmusic quoted her as telling Time magazine.
“I called my sister and said, ‘I can’t breathe, and I feel like I’ve got a brick on my chest and I’m seeing funny, and it sounds like everyone’s talking to me in Hebrew.’
“She said, ‘Yeah, that’s a panic attack,’” she added. (ANI)
London, Feb 24 (ANI): Slumdog Millionaire, which is likely to hit the 170-million-pound mark in worldwide ticket sales, following the Oscar sweep nearly went straight to DVD.
Slumdog, which cost only 8.7 million pounds to make, last night scooped eight Oscars, including Best Picture.
According to The Times, studio executives at Warner Bros had decided to sell the distribution rights to Slumdog Millionaire last August – three months before the film’s release.
The movie’s earnings are likely to go on raking in millions of dollars a year for decades, thanks to DVD sales, TV licensing, and revenues from Internet streaming.
Last year, because of crisis of confidence Warner Bros had decided to circumvent its relatively small bet on Slumdog by handing over 50 per cent of the US distribution rights to Fox Searchlight, part of News Corporation, parent company of The Times.
Simultaneously, Warner Bros decided to pack up its Warner Independent Pictures division, which had co-produced Slumdog along with Path, Celador Films, and Film4.
The move was made to focus on more mass-appeal movies such as The Dark Knight.
Of all the movies that were on Warner Independent Pictures’ 2008 plate, it was believed that Danny Boyle’s film was the only one that had its distribution rights sold to a third party.
Boyle – who was told that the film was going to go straight to DVD in the US – made sure to reference Warner Bros in his acceptance speech for the Best Director award.
“I’ve got to thank everybody at Warner Bros for having the great grace to pass the film on to the extraordinary guy at Fox Searchlight, Peter Rice, and all his team,” he said.
Peter Carlton, the senior commissioning executive at Film 4, remembered showing a director’s cut of the film to Warner Bros last June.
“It was like showing it to a brick wall. They told us afterwards they were thinking of sticking it out on DVD,” he added.
Carlton, however, added that Slumdog’s eventual distribution deal with Fox Searchlight remained heavily biased in favour of the studio.
He accused big American studios like Fox and Warner Bros of “damaging British film” by imposing distribution deals that gave little or nothing back to independent film financiers.
“They make sure they’re the first in line for the profits. And the second and third in line as well. It’s damaging to the whole British film industry,” he said. (ANI)
Dallas, Feb 21 (ANI): A month after leaving the White House, former President George W Bush and his wife Laura, shifted to their new home in a wealthy Dallas neighbourhood.
Bush’s motorcade drove past a security barricade on Friday evening, bringing the former first couple to their new residence.
Apparently, the barricade was set up by Dallas Police and Secret Service agents to limit access to the neighbourhood.
“President and Mrs Bush are glad to be back in Dallas, appreciate the warm welcome by their neighbours, and look forward to once again being part of the Dallas community,” said Rob Saliterman, a spokesman for Bush’s office in Dallas.
The Dallas home is a 1959 ranch-style brick home located at the dead end street of the posh locality. It consists of four bedrooms, four-and-a-half bathrooms and a wet bar.
The 8,500 square feet house has a wide front yard and dark shutters, with a gate at the top of the driveway that lends privacy. (ANI)
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