Pak PM Gilani attended funeral of Headley's father in 2010

Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had attended the funeral of Mumbai attacks accused David Headley's father in 2010.

This was disclosed by 50-year-old Headley at a Chicago court during the trial of co-accused Tahawwur Rana (50) in the 26/11 attacks case.

He told jury during the course of questioning on Thursday that Prime Minister Gilani attended the funeral of his father Syed Saleem Gilani and also offered condolences to the bereaved family.

Saleem Gilani, who died in December 2010, was a well-known poet, author and musicologist. He was former Director General of Radio Pakistan and worked for the Pakistani Embassy in Washington DC.

Headley's half-brother Danyal Gilani works as a public relations officer at Prime Minister Gilani's office.

Sachin Tendulkar flops as a skipper once again

The Little Master can work wonders with his bat, but when it comes to captaincy, it just doesn't click for Sachin Tendulkar. It has happened in his two stints as India skipper and even after his fourth year as Mumbai Indians captain, it's the same old story. The world knows that Tendulkar has one of the shrewdest cricketing minds, but when it comes to taking decisions as captain, all the moves seem to backfire.

It happened in last year's IPL final when he held back Kieron Pollard till the 17th over and the West Indian just didn't have enough overs to take them to the title. This time too, some of the decisions Tendulkar took at the MA Chidambaram stadium against Royal Challengers simply defied logic. It started with winning the toss and choosing to field first on a pitch where teams batting first have won six of the seven games this season.

Tendulkar had an explanation to give at the prize distribution ceremony but it hardly had takers. "When we were playing CSK in the first season, they scored more than 200 and we lost by three runs," Tendulkar said. Three years have passed since then and Tendulkar has played enough games here to know that the pitch has only got slower.

Daniel Vettori, the Royal Challengers skipper, made it clear that Tendulkar, by opting to field, had made things a little easier for him. "If we had won the toss, we would have batted first... But then, sometimes, it works, sometimes it doesn't," Vettori said.

Mumbai Indians' James Franklin looked like a lamb to the slaughter as he was made available by the management to face a barrage of questions to the media. "The toss decision was the team management's, I didn't know much about it," he said as scribes across the media-room couldn't hide their smiles when the Kiwi came up with that explanation.

If the decision to field first was a mistake to begin with, the second blunder was to ask Abu Nechim Ahmed bowl the first over. With Lasith Malinga in the line-up, one could expect that the Sri Lankan would be unleashed to keep Chris Gayle in check. The Assam bowler just didn't know where to bowl as Gayle plundered 27 runs off the first over to set the tone for the game.

Vettori, quite predictably, avoided the query whether he was surprised saying "someone had to bowl", but the fact remains that Mumbai Indians struggled to fight back after that one over. Tendulkar said that he expected the middle-order to be a little more consistent, but then he didn't specify why Harbhajan Singh got promoted to No. 3 while a chance was never taken with somebody like a Pollard.

Harbhajan may have a couple of Test centuries under his belt, but he is not known to anchor an innings coming in at No. 3. "He hit the winning runs for us against Kolkata Knight Riders, that's why we took a chance with him," said Franklin, offering a very weak explanation.

The Little Master will probably try his luck once again next year. And who knows, something better may just be in store.

Rajnikanth in ICU in Singapore hospital

Tamil superstar Rajnikanth, who was flown in here from Chennai for treatment, has been admitted to intensive care unit of the city-state's Mount Elizabeth Hospital and is stated to be in a stable condition.

The 61-year-old actor is in stable condition, the Channel News Asia reported Saturday night quoting Dhanush, Tamil actor and the mega star's son-in-law.

Rajnikanth had suffered from exhaustion on April 29, the first day of the shoot of his latest venture 'Raana', and was admitted to the Isabel Hospital in Chennai.

He was discharged the same day only to be readmitted there on May 4 for allergic bronchitis and viral fever.

On May 13, he was admitted to Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre for respiratory infection and other problems.

He was flown in Singapore on Saturday for treatment.

Djokovic marches on as del Potro falls

A relentless Novak Djokovic shrugged off Juan Martin del Potro while Andy Murray overcame a nasty ankle injury as the second and fourth seeds joined champion Rafa Nadal in the French Open fourth round on Saturday.

An impromptu night's rest after Friday's match was suspended because of bad light at the end of the second set allowed Djokovic to swing the momentum back his way and take his 2011 winning streak to 40 matches with 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph.

Murray thrashed Germany's Michael Berrer 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 despite turning his ankle when trying to slide on the clay to reach a ball early in the second set.

The Briton, yet to win a Grand Slam title having lost to Djokovic in the Australian Open final in January, had extensive strapping and was able to carry on despite continued winces and an immediate loss of serve.

Perspiration rather than inspiration had been the hallmarks of Murray's campaign so far but, apart from the injury and the navy-coloured shirt he shared with Nadal, the blues disappeared.

If fit, Murray next meets Serbia's 15th seed Viktor Troicki, a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 winner over Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Nadal has it easy

Champion Nadal stuttered through his first two matches but was all smiles in a 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 win over Croat qualifier Antonio Veic with his recent vulnerability only in evidence on first serve in the first set and when broken twice in the second.

“I felt things were much better than the previous days. I'm happy about that, I've got to continue that way,” Nadal said.

Bidding for a sixth title here in seven years, the Spaniard enters round four with much more confidence but with much more dangerous opponents to come who could exploit a nervousness caused by recent Madrid and Rome losses to Djokovic.

The Serb faced his toughest test since those finals when coming back out onto a packed and sunbaked court with 2009 U.S. Open champion and 25th seed del Potro threatening to upset all the pre-tournament predictions of more Djokovic success.

Big queues

But any belief the Argentine has picked up by levelling late in Friday's gloom evaporated when Djokovic broke for 4-2 in the third set having earlier fought off two break points including with one tremendous slugging rally of 23 shots.

Del Potro then double-faulted to hand the World No. 2 one of the three breaks in the third game of the fourth as he nears John McEnroe's record of 42 wins since the start of a year.

Djokovic now locks horns with home favourite Richard Gasquet, who won through on Friday along with Roger Federer. China's lightning-quick Li Na earlier wrapped up an easy women's third-round victory over Romanian Sorana Cirstea before most of the fans had arrived.

Big queues for the middle Saturday were still forming on the streets when sixth seed Li, the Australian Open runner-up, sealed a 6-2, 6-2 win on a quarter-full Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Organisers were happy with Li's speedy work given an elongated programme because of Djokovic's tie being rolled over.

Over on Court Philippe Chatrier down the tree and boutique-lined way, fourth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus easily got the better of Italy's Roberta Vinci with a 6-3, 6-2 win which further highlighted her strong title credentials.

“I think I played very well. I was serving well, dominating, and trying to be as aggressive on her serve,” Azarenka said.

With top seeds Caroline Wozniacki and Kim Clijsters crashing out and several players missing with injury, any woman left could realistically triumph in next Saturday's final and Azarenka has continued her good form from the buildup events.

Czech ninth seed Petra Kvitova, who won the hardcourt Paris Open in February, is another contender and beat American Vania King 6-4 6-2 as Ekaterina Makarova and Andrea Petkovic also won.

Paes-Bhupathi bow out

In doubles, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi bowed out with a straight-set defeat against unseeded Australian combination of Stephen Huss and Ashley Fisher.

The formidable third seed Indian pair lost 6-7(7), 4-6 in the second round in a contest that last an hour and 32 minutes. There was only one breakpoint in the whole match, which Fisher and Huss converted in the second set to move to the next level. — Agencies

Men: Third round: 2-Novak Djokovic (Srb) bt 25-Juan Martin del Potro (Arg) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2; 1 -Rafael Nadal (Esp) bt Antonio Veic (Cro) 6-1, 6-3, 6-0; 4-Andy Murray (GBR) bt Michael Berrer (Ger) 6-2, 6-3, 6-2; 15-Viktor Troicki (Srb) bt 21-Aleksandr Dolgopolov (Ukr) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Juan Ignacio Chela (Arg) bt Lukas Rosol (Cze) 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5); 18-Gilles Simon (Fra) bt 10-Mardy Fish (USA) 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

14-Stanislas Wawrinka (Sui) bt 17-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) 4-6, 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-3; 13-Richard Gasquet (Fra) bt 23-Thomaz Bellucci (Bra) 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Doubles: Second round: Stephen Huss & Ashley Fisher (Aus) bt 3-Leander Paes & Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) 7-6(7), 6-4.

Women: Third round: 6 -Li Na (Chn) bt Sorana Cirstea (Rom) 6-2, 6-2; 9-Petra Kvitova (Cze) bt Vania King (USA) 6-4, 6-2; Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) bt 16-Kaia Kanepi (Est) 6-4, 7-5; 4-Victoria Azarenka (Blr) bt 30-Roberta Vinci (Ita) 6-3, 6-2.

3-Vera Zvonareva (Rus) bt Anastasia Rodionova (Aus) 6-2, 6-3.

Mixed doubles: Leander Paes (Ind) & Iveta Benesova (Cze) bt Chia-Jung Chuang (Tpe) & Marcin Matkowsk (Pol) 6-4, 7-6 .

Tata Motors to launch new Nano variants

Homegrown auto major Tata Motors plans to launch new variants of its small car Nano during the 2011-12 financial year.

Although the company has not specified anything about the forthcoming variant, it is widely speculated that a diesel version of the car is in the offing.

In a presentation, the company said it will introduce a host of products in 2011-12 fiscal.

"Future products in pipeline for FY'12 -- Nano variants, Vista refresh, Manza limited edition, New Safari, Aria 2WD," the presentation mentioned referring to product line up for its passenger vehicles for the ongoing fiscal.

Currently, Nano is available in three different petrol variants and are priced between Rs 1.41 lakh and Rs 1.97 lakh.

When contacted, a company spokesperson said the firm does not have any detail at this moment.

Chennai Super Kings crowned again

Chennai Super Kings defended its IPL title, overpowering Royal Challengers Bangalore in Saturday's final in front of an adoring home crowd at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here.

After scoring 205 for five in 20 overs thanks to a marvellous partnership of 159 between M. Vijay (95, 52b, 4x4, 6x6) and Michael Hussey (63) – an IPL record for the first wicket – Chennai restricted Bangalore to 147 for eight.

Bangalore's chase was impaired by off-spinner R. Ashwin. Much depended on Chris Gayle, who had had an incredible IPL-4, but the left-hander from West Indies couldn't fire in the final. Ashwin, who took the new ball, had Gayle caught behind for a ‘duck' in the first over.

Bangalore never recovered from that early strike and lost wickets at regular intervals. Ashwin, who was again Chennai's best bowler, ended with figures of three for 16, ensuring that his side finished the edition unbeaten at home.

Earlier, Hussey and Vijay punished Bangalore after M.S. Dhoni had elected to bat.

Both batsmen put on a phenomenal display of ball-striking hitting seven fours and nine sixes between them during their record opening partnership. They also ran well between wickets, exerting pressure on Bangalore's fielders, who were playing their second match in as many days.

Vijay saved his best for the tournament's biggest occasion. He made light of the anxiety associated with grand finals and batted brilliantly. He cleared the ground with ease, depositing the ball in the stands with effortless, attractive strokes off both the seamers and the spinners.

The experienced Hussey complemented his younger partner, picking up the pace to give Vijay the time he needed to recover in humid conditions. The left-handed Hussey eventually fell, caught at long-on off left-arm spinner Syed Mohammed's bowling.

Vijay fell five short of a well-deserved century, dismissed by left-arm seamer S. Aravind, and left the ground to a standing ovation. Aravind struck with his next ball to remove Dhoni for a quick-fire 22.

Gayle bowled five extraordinary deliveries in the 20 {+t} {+h} over, getting rid of both Albie Morkel and Suresh Raina and conceding just one run before Dwayne Bravo smashed the last ball for six to take Chennai past 200.

High-level radiation found on seabed off Japan nuclear plant

High levels of radioactive materials were detected on the Pacific seabed in a 300-kilometre stretch off a damaged nuclear plant in north-eastern Japan, news reports said Saturday.

The government said radioactive materials up to several hundred times higher than normal were found ranging from Miyagi prefecture to Chiba prefecture and warned that the contamination could affect the safety of seafood.

The science ministry detected iodine and caesium on the seabed at a dozen locations 15 to 50 kilometres from the coast between May 9 and 14, the Kyodo News agency reported.

Since the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station was crippled by a magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, it has leaked radioactive materials into the environment.

In early April, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co started to dump low-level radioactive water into the ocean to make room for more highly contaminated water that had been leaking into the sea from the plant in Fukushima prefecture.

Greenpeace Japan said Thursday that it found radioactive materials above official limits for consumption in 14 of 21 samples of products including seaweed, shellfish and fish caught 22 to 60 kilometres from the plant.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the government’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, has repeatedly said radioactive materials would significantly dilute by the time they were consumed by marine species.

But Greenpeace said it had observed a reconcentration of the substances in the ocean and called for long-term research.

iPhone 4 launched in India

Eleven months after Apple’s next-generation smartphone hit stores worldwide, the iPhone 4 was launched on Friday in India, the world’s second biggest market for mobile phones.

Declaring the rollout of one of the most expected smartphone in the world by Bharti airtel in Kolkata and in 34 other cities in India, Airtel CEO (West Bengal and Orissa) P.D. Sharma told PTI the iPhone 4 will create a separate space from the clutter of smartphone in the market, many of them having copied Apple features.

“iPhone 4 will stand out for its original applications and cater to the middle segment as well, with attractive pricing which will not create a pinch both in the long and short term,” Mr. Sharma said on the sidelines of the launch in Kolkata.

Asked about the delay of almost one year in the product arriving in India after its June launch in the U.S., Mr. Sharma said, “With third generation (3G) mobile networks only coming of age in recent times in India, there was no other option but the iPhone 4 to wait.”

“The handset will be priced at Rs. 34,500 with 16 GB capacity and Rs. 40,900 with 32 GB capacity, which is attractive considering the long-term use. The set is powered by Apple’s A4 (operating system), boasts of a retina display, FaceTime for video chat, 5 MP rear facing camera with LED flash and HD video recording,” he said.

The iPhone 4 has a higher-quality screen and longer battery life than the previous model, he said, adding that Bharti already sells earlier models of the iPhone in India.

“With the high number of mobile users, smartphone market will grow in the country,” he said.

The iPhone 4 was launched in June 2010 in the U.S., followed by other countries.

The iPhone 4 was launched in the city by Tollywood actress Paoli Dam, who was among the 35 celebrities in different cities of the country gifted a handset on the occasion of the launch.

Blind ‘can develop bat-like sonar’

In ray of hope for the blind, a research has found that visually challenged people can develop “sonar”, that is, learning to navigate like bats by “seeing” objects from sounds reflected off them.

It’s well-known that bats use a biological version of sonar, called echolocation, to find their way around at night.

That blind humans could do it too was suspected but not known. Now, Canadian researchers have proved that they can.

Intriguingly, they did so by using a part of the brain normally involved in processing visual images. They discovered this by carrying out brain scans on two male volunteers, aged 43 and 27, who had both been blind since childhood.

Each was asked to stand outside and try to perceive different objects such as a car, a flag pole and a tree by making clicking noises and then picking up their very faint echoes. Tiny microphones were placed in the volunteers’ ears to record the outgoing and incoming sounds.

The men later had these sounds played back to them, while their brain activity was monitored using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans. During playback, they were able to identify which object was which from the echoes.

The fMRI scans showed that these echoes were being processed by brain regions normally used to process visual information; no echo-related activity was seen in the auditory brain areas, which would be expected to process sound, ‘The Daily Telegraph’ reported.

The 43-year-old, who’s lost his sight earlier, performed better. His eyes were removed at 13 months due to a rare cancer called retinoblastoma. The same test on sighted people showed no ability to echolocate, and no echo-related activity in their visual brain regions.

Dr Mel Goodale from the University of Western Ontario, led the study, said: “It is clear that echolocation enables blind people to do things that are otherwise thought to be impossible without vision, and in this way it can provide blind and vision-impaired people with a high degree of independence in their daily lives.”

The study has been published in the ‘Public Library of Science One’ journal.

Keywords: blind people, bat-like sonar, visually challenged people

NASA makes history with spacewalk

HOUSTON: NASA astronauts made history twice on Friday, venturing on the final spacewalk of the agency's 30-year shuttle program and completing assembly of the $100 billion International Space Station.

Astronauts Mike Fincke and Greg Chamitoff floated outside the orbiting outpost's Quest airlock for the fourth and final spacewalk planned during shuttle Endeavour's 16-day mission, the next to last in the US space shuttle program.

After Fincke and Chamitoff transferred the shuttle's 50-foot (15-metre) inspection boom to the station, doubling the reach of the station's robotic crane, shuttle commander Mark Kelly called Mission Control in Houston to mark the milestone -- after 12 years of efforts.

"Space station assembly is complete," Kelly said. It was the last spacewalk that shuttle-bound astronauts will undertake before NASA turns over Endeavour and sister ships Discovery and Atlantis to museums. Space station crew will continue to make spacewalks for maintenance and repair tasks.

Later, Chamitoff used a special camera with a wide-angle "fish eye" lense to photograph the space station and paused to reflect on the event.

"We're floating here on the shoulders of giants," said Chamitoff. "This space station is the pinnacle of human achievement and international cooperation."

The spacewalk was the 159th in support of assembly and maintenance of the station, which began with the robotic attachment of the US. Unity node with the Russian Zarya base block in 1998.

Since then, the project of 16 nations has grown to more than 1 million pounds (455,000 kg) of hardware orbiting 220 miles (355 km) above Earth.

In over 1,000 hours worth of ventures in the dark vacuum of space, dressed in bulky spacesuits and wielding all manner of tools and gadgets, astronauts have steadily bolted the station together.

Its interior has grown to the size of a Boeing 747 jet and the wingspan of its power-generating solar wings would nearly cover the surface of a US football field.

NASA will set yet another orbital milestone later on Friday. Fincke, a veteran of two long-duration stays on the station, will eclipse fellow NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson's record of 377 days in space, more than any other US spacefarer.

Bitter sweet

Officials have repeatedly used the term "bitter sweet" to describe the current mind-set at NASA.

"I am sad to see the three space shuttles be rolled into a museum here shortly," Kelly said during an in-flight news conference. "I think it's a necessary step so we can go on and do some more exciting things."

NASA plans to save the shuttles' $4 billion annual operating budget and develop new vehicles that can travel beyond the station's orbit where the shuttles cannot go.

In the meantime, NASA astronauts will hitch a ride to the station on board Russian Soyuz capsules, at a cost of about $50 million a seat.

Endeavour and its six-man crew are due to leave the station late on Sunday.

The shuttle delivered the station's premiere science experiment, the $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer particle detector, and spare parts.

Landing is scheduled for 2:32am EDT (0632 GMT) on Wednesday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Shuttle Atlantis is targeted to launch on July 8 for NASA's 135th and final flight.

Arts topper wants to serve the nation

Nayesha Lapalkar, a student of LAD College, emerged as topper in the Std XII examinations in arts stream by securing 509/600 (84.8%) marks. It was jubilation on the premises of their residence in Banerjee Layout as her mother Shobhna, teachers and classmates greeted Nayesha, who is in Nashik.

Nayesha, who lost her father when she was six months old, intends to become an IAS officer. She did her Std X from Mount Carmel and scored 92%. Despite her good score, she wanted not to go with the flow of other students who all wanted to either become engineer, doctors or CAs. She had decided to become an IAS officer to serve the nation. Nayesha has been receiving the general proficiency prize for coming first since schooling.

"I was confident of securing a rank but getting the city's first rank was a pleasant surprise," Nayesha said. She did not attend any private tuition as she is against such a practice. "I owe this achievement to my mother and teachers," she said, acknowledging the contribution made by each one of them in her achievement.

Asked how she prepared for the examinations, she said it was intense, but more of a revision. "She has been a consistent performer since day one," said proud mom Shobhana, who works in an insurance company. However, she had also stopped watching TV and did not see any movies during the academic year.

Apart from studies, she is also good at badminton player and also done many school and college level skits. She wants to take admission in BA in Mumbai.

Mayur overcomes all handicaps to top board exam

Overcoming his physical handicap, Mayur Chandrakant Phad has brought laurels to Late Shri GM Khode Deaf and Dumb Junior College by securing 55% marks in the class XII examination results. Mayur is the topper in Nagpur division among handicapped category candidates. Incidentally, the college itself scored a success, as it has got a 100% pass percentage in HSC exam.

The gutsy Mayur never let his handicap stand between him and success. He is deaf and mute since birth. However, the results on Friday brought smiles to the faces of family members and school teachers, for whom it was like a dream come true.

Frenchwoman holds photo exhibition in Chandigarh

Tiphanie Fievet, a young French architect and photographer got so inspired by Le Corbusier that she decided to hold the first exhibition of her works in Chandigarh. She began to capture the contemporary buildings in her native country France almost four years back, while visiting different cities there.

Being an architecture student she was already inspired by Corbusier and opted for contemporary architecture rather than the traditional form. Then, while travelling around the cities of France, she developed an interest towards photography and thus began her journey towards unveiling the wilderness of modern architecture.
"Le Corbusier has been my inspiration and his creativity brought me here to hold my first exhibition ever," said Tiphanie.

Her exhibition of photographs, 'Perspectives d architecte,' is underway at Alliance Francaise in Sector 36. The exhibition would continue till June 10. The main theme of the exhibition is the contemporary architecture of cities
of France namely, Nantes and Les Sables dolonne.

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Barack Obama Announces To The World That Osama Bin Laden Is Dead

Barack Obama has announced to the world that the U.S. military has killed Osama Bin Laden. At this point nobody can examine the evidence because supposedly the body has been dumped into the North Arabian Sea from aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier. U.S. officials say that this was necessary because "Islamic law" requires a rapid burial.

The compound where Osama bin Laden was supposedly killed by U.S. forces is located a bit more than 1,000 yards from a Pakistan Military Academy.

Pakistan declared the killing of Osama bin Laden a “major setback” to global terrorism, but it will inevitably come under pressure to explain how the al-Qaeda leader was holed up in a mansion near a military facility.

Thousands of people poured into the streets outside the White House and in New York City early Monday, waving U.S. flags, cheering and honking horns to celebrate al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden's death.

Not everyone is celebrating the death of Osama bin Laden. Between 800 - 1,200 protestors marched in Quetta, Pakistan on Monday, to pay homage to Osama Bin Laden.

The Taliban has already threatened fresh attacks on Pakistani leaders and US targets.

The London Guardian has suggested that the fake image of a dead Osama Bin Laden used by several British mainstream media websites this morning on their front pages was the work of “conspiracy theorists” who claimed it was genuine.

An article in the New York Times reported that Osama Bin Laden was dead back in 2002, and an article on Fox News reported that Osama Bin Laden was dead back in 2001. In fact, there have been quite a few reports of the death of Bin Laden over the years.

As news of Osama bin Laden's death made its way across the globe Sunday night, Internet traffic exploded.

The Chinese official news agency Xinhua is reporting that Osama Bin Laden was killed by Pakistani forces, and that U.S. forces merely swooped in the pick up the body.

Adolf Hitler's death was made public 66 years to the day before Bin Laden's.

The State Department issued a travel alert Monday, warning Americans traveling or living abroad to be cautious about anti-American violence in the wake of Osama bin Laden's death.

On Monday, the NYPD flooded the city’s subway system with additional cops. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, “out of an abundance of caution,” said it has added more police at airports, the George Washington Bridge and ground zero.

China has again urged an end to fighting in Libya, saying it has "always opposed" any action not authorized by the U.N. Security Council, after Libya said Muammar Gaddafi's youngest son and three grandchildren were killed in a NATO airstrike.

The British embassy in Tripoli was set on fire and other western missions were ransacked by angry Libyan crowds recently in retaliation for a Nato air strike that killed members of Muammar Gaddafi's family.

Persistent, heavy rains have helped swell the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to the highest levels ever recorded, said an Army Corps of Engineers official Sunday.

The F5 tornado that ripped through the Tuscaloosa, Alabama area recently was reportedly so monstrous that it is still kind of difficult to believe that it was actually real. The thing was a mile wide and scientists are estimating that it had winds that exceeded 260 miles an hour. According to National Geographic, this monster tornado may have traveled a whopping 300 miles across Alabama and Georgia.

After jumping more than 3 cents over the weekend, gas prices across America could top $4 a gallon this week, according to one industry analyst.

The number of "low income jobs" in the U.S. has risen steadily over the past 30 years and they now account for 41 percent of all jobs in the United States.

The U.S. dollar is becoming incredibly weak.

Honda has warned its U.S. dealers that there will be shortages later in the summer of popular models such as the just-on-sale, redesigned Civic compact.

Mainland China has decreased its holdings of U.S. Treasury securities since last October, according to a report updated today by the U.S. Treasury Department.

Atlantic City has been very busy putting homeless people on a bus and sending them back where they came from.

According to the American Association of Medical Colleges, we face a shortfall of more than 150,000 doctors over the next 15 years.

Billions of dollars in unclaimed life insurance benefits are at the center of a legal wrestling match as cash-strapped state governments step up their efforts to go after unclaimed insurance benefits.

It sounds like Donald Trump has definitely decided to make a run for the White House in 2012.

Facebook has removed dozens of political activist profiles from its site, causing an outcry from campaigners trying to organize anti-austerity protests this weekend.

Sleeping too little or for too long disrupts how we think and can age the brain by up to seven years, a new study has shown.

Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said on Saturday that the country's economic outlook was very severe and that the central bank would take appropriate action to support the economy.

Radioactive leakage from fuel rods at a nuclear power plant in the city of Tsuruga in Fukui prefecture on Honshu island of Japan are believed to be the cause of a surge in the density of toxic substances detected in coolant water, the prefectural government said Monday.

Furious parents in Fukushima have delivered a bag of radioactive playground earth to education officials in protest at moves to weaken nuclear safety standards in schools.

The northwest coast of the U.S. could be devastated by a huge movement of undersea plates known as a ‘megathrust’ earthquake, scientists say.

Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano recently hurled massive pyroclastic boulders more than a mile in a powerful eruption that prompted at least 300 people to flee their homes, authorities said.

A former Miss USA's claims of being groped during a pat-down at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport could be a felony under a bill gaining momentum in the Texas Legislature.

Barack Obama’s father was forced to leave Harvard University before completing his Ph.D. in economics because the school was concerned about his personal life and finances, according to newly public immigration records.

Battle corruption with the audacity of hope

Sixty-three years have passed since India won her freedom after a struggle of 150 years. How much longer will it take before the country becomes free from corruption?

There's a deep, systemic corruption that affects the common man in his dealings with virtually every department of the government. And there's mind-boggling corruption involving a well-entrenched nexus of politicians, bureaucrats, corporates and builders. That's where favourable policies get framed and manipulated, tenders awarded selectively and land reservations lifted or modified with an ulterior motive. This is the arena of the big politicians, where enormous amounts of kickbacks are generated that help fuel ambitions, fortify electoral war chests, and help them stay in power one way or the other repeatedly.

Trapped in such an environment decade after decade, it's natural for the common man to feel frustrated. It is years of such pent-up frustration that threw up an Anna Hazare, who roused hope that at last something will change. Then followed attempts to pick holes into what he's trying, debate and discuss his "arm-twisting methods" and ask whether he's disrespecting parliamentary rights and procedures.

Hazare did not break the rules but created new ones. Weeks after Hazare broke his fast, there's been fatigue and doubt over the initial, euphoric victory. Will the hard-won gains in getting civil society to participate in the revised drafting of a Jan Lokpal Bill really fructify? Or will the effort get entangled in red tape?

Pessimism comes naturally, especially in matters as insidious as corruption, and yet, there's reason supported by cold logic to be hopeful. Most certainly, civil society can win this war against corruption. Think of what we have today which our freedom fighters didn't possess when they stood up against the British raj. The people then were extremely poor, the middle class was struggling to eke out a decent living, and there was no live television. There was tremendous unity, will and hope. But there was no computerisation, internet and Facebook and the people were not well-educated.

Modern systems make it easier to track the trail of financial dealings within and outside the country. If one probes into the affairs of a suspect company, it's not difficult to get the records one way or the other; identify the real and dummy shareholders, question the undue favours from the government and basically, connect the dots to unravel the fraud.

The Right to Information Act, 2005, which is a relatively recent legislation, was born out of civil society initiatives and is a potent weapon in the hands of the anti-corruption crusaders.

In this age of terrorism, India and the global community has realised the need for transparency when it comes to hawala transactions and the stashing of black money in Swiss banks. There will be increasing pressure to fix this. These are the many reasons why civil society must be alert, aware and vigilant; optimistic and not pessimistic in this war against corruption.

Today's Reason to Celebrate: World Turtle Day

Today is World Turtle Day, sponsored yearly since 200 by the American Tortoise Rescue, to bring attention to, and increase knowledge of and respect for, turtles and tortoises, and encourage human action to help them survive and thrive.

Despite that hard exterior, they're really big softies on the inside and need your protection. This World Turtle Day, be kind to the turtle. I mean, what's he ever done to you?

Turtle Day is celebrated worldwide in a variety of ways, from dressing up as turtles to saving turtles caught on highways, to research activities.

In Costa Rica authorities are using the day with a special appeal to prevent overfishing and implement a tougher stand against those who violate the laws of preservation.

Turtle species that today are in danger of extinction are the "lora" (ridley) and the "baula" (leatherback) and the "verde" (green) and the "carey" (hawksbill), due to impacts such as global warming but also because of poor fishing practices.

The leader of the Programa de Restauración de las Tortugas Marinas, Jorge Ballestero, explained that in the case of the endangered leatherback turtle the species could disappear completely.

Data from environmental organizations dedicated to the conservation of turtles reveal a decrease to 3.9% annual spawning of the Hawksbill species since 1960.

World Turtle Day was started to increase respect and knowledge for the world’s oldest creatures.

These gentle animals have been around for about 200 million years, yet they are rapidly disappearing as a result of the exotic food industry, habitat destruction and the cruel pet trade.

Adults and children can do a few small things that can help to save turtles and tortoises for the next generation.

Never buy a turtle or tortoise from a pet shop as it increases demand from the wild. Never remove turtles or tortoises from the wild unless they are sick or injured. If a tortoise is crossing a busy street, pick it up and send it in the same direction it was going – if you try to make it go back, it will turn right around again.

Write letters to legislators asking them to keep sensitive habitat preserved or closed to off road vehicles, and to prevent off shore drilling that can lead to more endangered sea turtle deaths.

Report cruelty or illegal sales of turtles and tortoises to your local animal control shelter.• Report the sale of any turtle or tortoise of any kind.