BP says has financial strength to deal with spill

(Reuters) – Oil giant BP (BP.L) said it had the financial flexibility to deal with liabilities related to its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and that it was unaware of any justification for the collapse in its shares on Wednesday.

“BP faces this situation as a strong company,” the company said in a statement.

The cost of the response effort to date has been around $1.43 billion, the company added.

BP’s New York-listed American Deposit Receipts fell around 15 percent on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Tom Bergin; Editing by Hans Peters)

UPDATE 1-BP says has financial strength to deal with spill

LONDON, June 10 (Reuters) – Oil giant BP (BP.L) said it had the financial flexibility to deal with liabilities related to its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and that it was unaware of any justification for the collapse in its shares on Wednesday.

“BP faces this situation as a strong company,” the company said in a statement.

The cost of the response effort to date has been around $1.43 billion, the company added.

BP’s New York-listed American Deposit Receipts fell around 15 percent on Wednesday. (Reporting by Tom Bergin; Editing by Hans Peters)

Finnish outlook ‘unusually uncertain’ -IMF

June 7 (Reuters) – Finland faces an “unusually uncertain” economic outlook given the steep impact of the recession last year and the country’s rapidly-ageing population, International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday.

“The deep recession is likely to reduce the trend level of output, and may also have a negative impact on the growth of potential output,” the IMF said in a statement on the Nordic country’s economy. “Activity has rebounded in recent quarters, and consumer and business confidence have picked up. Nonetheless, growth is projected at only 1.25 percent this year and at about 2 percent in 2011,” it said.

(Reporting by Terhi Kinnunen)

Lahore High Court directs Govt. to use all means to defend terror suspect Dr.Aafia

Lahore, Jun.6 (ANI): The Lahore High Court (LHC) has directed the federal government to use all its diplomatic means to defend Aafia Siddiqui, who is currently in detention in the US for having alleged links with Al Qaeda.

LHC Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry also asked the Foreign Office to write a letter to the American court and bring all documents and materials, which would prove Siddiqui’s innocence, to its knowledge, The Daily Times reports.

The court’s directive came during a petition filed by one Javed Iqbal Jaffree, who submitted that Siddiqui was kidnapped along with her three children from Karachi in 2003, and that the government should be directed to seek her release from the US custody.

Siddiqui, a trained neuroscientist, has been charged by the US for allegedly shooting at her American interrogators in Afghanistan in July 2008.

Aafia faces up to 20 years in prison on the attempted murder charges and life in prison on the firearms charge. (ANI)

Man who posted naked Emma Watson pics online faces jail

London, June 4 (ANI): The man, who had created digitally altered photographs of Emma Watson and posted them online, is facing jail.

John Cavanagh has pleaded guilty to 19 counts of making an indecent image of a child. He had mocked up eight pictures of the Harry Potter star and pasted it on another picture of an under-aged girl.

“If you look at it you will see that the head is marginally too big for the body (but clearly too big!) and the angle of the face is physically impossible with the body in that position,” The Daily Express quoted Watson’s representative as saying.

The images were discovered on Cavanagh”s computer when officials tried to arrest him – and he has since pleaded guilty.

Judge Anthony Hammond told the 39 year old, “Miss Watson will be very distressed to learn what you have been doing.”

The case has been adjourned for two weeks after Cavanagh dismissed his legal team. (ANI)

US man offers to swap his child for beer

London, May 19 (ANI): A man in Chicopee, Massachusetts, US, was so frantic to quench his alcohol thirst that he made an offer to swap his baby for two bottles of beer.

Matthew Brace now faces a child endangerment charge for allegedly asking to strike the deal for the three-month old baby girl.

Cops challenged 24-year-old after allegation that he made the strangest offer to a maintenance man outside a petrol station, reports the Sun.

The man called the police and they found Brace hiding with the girl behind a litterbin.

Brace was not arrested but will be summoned to court and the child has now been taken into care.

The child”s mother was inside the garage shop at the time and was not charged. (ANI)

Flintoff likely to play for Queensland in Australia’s T20 Big Bash

London, May 18 (ANI): Injured all rounder Andrew Flintoff, who has still not given up hope of returning to England’s limited-overs team, is all set to play in an Australian domestic Twenty20 tournament.

Flintoff, 32, who watched England secure a historic win over the Aussies in the World Twenty20 final, is scheduled to play for Lancashire in late July.

He has been approached by three Australian states to play in the Big Bash tournament, with Queensland being his likely destination, The Sun reports.

The tournament clashes with the one-day series versus Australia in January, which builds up to the 2011 World Cup in Indian subcontinent.

But Flintoff admitted that he faces a battle to get into the England’s side following their recent success. (ANI)

Heat wave continues unabated in North India

New Delhi/ Ahmedabad, May 15 (ANI): Various parts of the Country continue to reel under intense heat wave following the mercury shooting beyond the normal temperatures as on Saturday.

With the mercury hovering above the 45-degrees Celsius mark, tourists visiting New Delhi are having a tough time in the sizzling heat.

“Delhi is hotter than Patna but as we have come here to spend our vacation, we have to go out to enjoy the place…we have been carrying water and other liquid items so that we can give it to the children at regular intervals,” said Shaheen, a tourist from Patna.
Meanwhile, at Ahmedabad, locals were seen moving around with their faces covered to avoid the heat.

Ahmedabad saw a sharp rise in the maximum temperature and reportedly it was beyond 45 degrees mark.

“The weather is too hot. Earlier I used to leave for my office at around 10.30 in the morning but now I have started reaching office at around 9.30 so that I can avoid the extreme heat,” said Avinashbhai, a resident.

As per media reports, at least 30 persons have succumbed to heat across the country this year.

Temperatures usually go up to mid-forties at many places in northern India.

Usually, till the onset of the monsoon, the months of May-June are the hottest in the country with the temperatures hovering in the range of 40 to 45 degrees Celsius in several regions.

However, this year, the people were startled at the mercury shooting beyond the 40 degrees mark in the month of April itself. (ANI)

Witness brain scan doesn’t help

London, May 12 (ANI): Monitoring brain activity of witnesses reveals no more than what they say they remember, a study has shown.

The study by Jesse Rissman and his team at Stanford University in California comes amid controversy over whether to admit functional MRI scans as evidence in US courts.

As part of their research, the team asked 16 volunteers to view 200 mugshots, reports New Scientist.

An hour later, they were again shown pictures of faces, some of which they had seen before and others that were new.

The researchers recorded fMRI scans of the volunteers” brains as they reported which faces they recognised.

While the brain scans matched the volunteers” decisions on whether the faces were familiar, they could not predict if the recollection was accurate.

The team also don”t know how easily a witness could cheat the system: remembering a recent event or fabricating a lie may look the same to the scanner.

The study has been published in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (ANI)

Malaysian Indian woman rejects cheating charge, faces trial

Kuala Lumpur, May 11 (IANS) A Malaysian Indian woman entrepreneur Tuesday rejected the charge of cheating a corporate body, which she headed, and opted for a trial.

Former Maju Institute of Educational Development (MIED) CEO P. Chitrakala Vasu was charged in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court Tuesday with three counts of cheating

The corporate body was cheated of about RMN four million ($1.24 million).

The court allowed her bail a day after she was formally arrested and interrogated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Star Online, website of The Star reported.

MACC director of investigations Mustafar Ali said Chitrakala was called to the commission headquarters and was arrested when she arrived at 2.30 p.m. Monday.

It is learnt that the 39-year-old spent a couple of hours at the MACC headquarters where her statement was recorded.

MIED is the education arm of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) that distributes scholarships among the ethnic Indian students.

Vasu was once close to Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) president S. Samy Vellu. But the two fell apart over control of MIED funds.

Aquino poised to win Philippine presidential polls

Manila, May 11 (ANI): Liberal Party leader Senator Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III is poised to become the next president of the Philippines after Philippine Nacionalista Party standard bearer Manuel Villar Jr. conceded defeat on Tuesday.

“It was a fight well fought. My fellowmen, the Filipino people have already decided. It”s now clear that despite our efforts, we were not blessed to win on Monday”s elections,” The Telegraph quoted Villar as telling a news conference in Metro Manila.

“I congratulate Senator Noynoy Aquino on his victory. The challenges he and our country faces are enormous and we should all work together,” Villar added.

Aquino is leading the presidential race with 12.3 million votes followed by former Philippine president Joseph Estrada who garnered 7.75 million votes, an unofficial canvass of Philippines” Commission on Elections showed.

Villar was far third with 4.33 million votes. (ANI)

Teenager faces charges over road death

A teenager has been charged over a fatal crash in Tasmania’s north-west in February.

The 19-year-old from Forest is facing a number of charges, including causing death by dangerous driving, drink-driving and driving while disqualified.

The charges relate to a crash on the Bass Highway at Wiltshire, near Stanley, that killed Drew Betts and seriously injured an 18-year-old woman.

The man has been released on bail to reappear in court at a later date.

Reading porn mags, emptying colostomy bag – Gross things people do on flights!

Melbourne, May 6 (ANI): Reading porn magazines, joining the mile-high club solo and emptying a colostomy bag are just some of the grossest things plane passengers do.

According to a list compiled by travel website ‘Jaunted’, passengers perform some absolutely revolting activities in flights like using the neighbour’s blanket to wipe hands and mouth after a meal, dumping chicken bones onto the floor after eating and even clipping toenails.

“I once witnessed a man use the hot cloths passed around to refresh hands and faces as an underarm rag,” news.com.au quoted Terra Lynne Walker, a passenger, as saying.

But the one incident that tops this ‘sick list’ belonged to Kweena, who posted about her experience sitting next to an elderly passenger.

“I was on a plane next to a sweet looking elderly woman, who asked me if I had a pin. I was young, it was the ”90s, I had some flair on my purse, so I took off a button and gave it to her, wondering why she needed it,” Kweena wrote.

“Well, she said that her colostomy bag was filling with gas and she needed to release the pressure before the bag burst. She released it all right, and the most horrific stench filled the plane. Everyone thought it was coming from me.”

The website says that flights warn passengers against reading ‘adult’ magazines, changing nappies or joining the mile-high club solo on board the flight. (ANI)

Kate Moss ”pays graffiti artist Banksy £150k to paint mural at her home”

London, May 4 (ANI): Supermodel Kate Moss has asked British graffiti artist Banksy to paint a one-off mural on a wall in her mansion.

The graffiti artist was given Moss” mansion keys to paint the mural measuring around 12ft by 18ft, reports The Mirror.

The artwork reportedly cost Moss 150,000 pounds.

“Kate is a big fan of Banksy and has several prints of his, plus a few originals, collected at home. He has even done a portrait of Moss herself,” a source said.

The source added.

“She explained exactly what she wanted doing and Banksy gave her a quote. It wasn”t cheap. Kate asked for an entire wall to be painted, showing Kate on the catwalk at all stages of her career – from a fresh-faced 16-year-old to her last appearance earlier this year.

“The painting also shows various well known faces including pals Sadie Frost, Naomi Campbell, Lily Allen and even Gordon Brown and his wife, Sarah. It is pretty eclectic.

“Weirdly, the fashion shows ”audience” also features a few animals. It is surrealist in nature, and extremely eye-catching.”(ANI)

Demolition firm faces asbestos prosecution

A Geraldton demolition company is facing charges of failing to handle asbestos material properly .

Earlier this year, the City of Geraldton Greenough confirmed rubble dumped behind the Geraldton Grammar School contained asbestos.

Yesterday in the Geraldton Magistrates Court, the city began prosecution action against Softail Proprietary Limited.

Lawyers representing the company yesterday requested a 21-day adjournment.

The company is due back in court on May 6.

Thai police, government left embarrassed after fialed raid on Red Shirts’ hotel

Bangkok, Apr.16 (ANI): Thailand’s police and government were left with red faces this morning when a commando raid to arrest a group of hard-core red-shirt leaders staying at a Bangkok hotel failed miserably.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban went on the television about 10 a.m. to announce the raid on the SC Park Hotel – where red-shirt protest leaders Arisman Pongruengrong, Suporn Atthawong alias Isan Rambo, Pramual Chuklom alias Jiew Dokchik and Payap Pankate, have been hiding out.

These leaders are among the 24 wanted on arrest warrants in connection with the violent protests, the Bangkok Post reported.

Unfortunately, the police bungled the raid. The wanted men apparently got wind of the operation and alerted their supporters, who rushed to the hotel. Red-shirt guards reportedly opened fire at the police as they resisted arrest.

Arisman was seen on TV making an ungainly escape, sliding down a rope from a room on the third floor of the hotel to a truck parked beneath and into the waiting arms of red-shirt supporters, who whisked him away.

The other four leaders also made good their escape, escorted away by protesters as police stood idly by, unable to take any action. (ANI)

Teacher pleads guilty to sex with 13yo student

A Darwin teacher has pleaded guilty in the Northern Territory Supreme Court to maintaining a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old student.

The 36-year-old man was teaching the girl dance last year when they formed a friendship after the girl confided in him about being sexually abused as a child.

The victim’s lawyer told the court the girl “looked to the accused as a teacher and friend and he abused that trust.”

If found guilty, he faces a maximum term of 20 years in prison.

He has been in custody since his arrest in November last year.

The court heard the case is the first of its kind to go before Northern Territory courts.

Man faces 20 child sex charges

An alleged paedophile charged with 20 child sex offences has appeared in the Magistrates Court at Mount Barker.

The man, 65, cannot be named publicly.

It is alleged he committed offences against four children at Wistow and Kingston-on-Murray in the 1970s.

His lawyer sought a bail variation to let the man travel interstate in July.

The case was transferred to Adelaide Magistrates Court for a hearing next week.

Morgan Stanley bows out of Atlantic City project

(Reuters) – Morgan Stanley is bowing out of the Revel casino in Atlantic City, a move that will result in a “substantial loss” of its $1.2 billion investment in the partially built property.

U.S.

The financial services company said in a filing on Thursday that its board authorized a “plan of disposal” for Revel Entertainment Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley that has been developing the beachfront casino-hotel on the boardwalk.

“The company will consider various alternatives to effect the full disposition of Revel, which may include a direct sale to a third party or an auction process,” the company said.

Morgan Stanley did not say why it was withdrawing from the project in its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company was not immediately available for comment.

The bank’s departure comes as Atlantic City faces stiff competition from slot parlors in neighboring states. The $2 billion Revel casino was widely viewed as a project that would lure more gamblers and tourists to the city.

But the project, which began in 2007, has faced challenges. In January 2009, Revel slowed construction on the project, focusing solely on the exterior, and laid off workers.

(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman; Editing by Jan Paschal)

Barassi bashing accused appears in court

A South Melbourne man accused of bashing football identity Ron Barassi on New Year’s Day last year has appeared in court.

Travis Bowling, 27, will face the a two-day committal hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates court in July.

Barassi told police he was attacked when he went to the aid of a woman being assaulted in Fitzroy Street in St Kilda.

Bowling faces five charges for allegedly assaulting a woman and four charges for injuring Barassi.