Miss Universe faces police case over Taj Mahal photo shoot

Indian police said Thursday they had filed a case against Miss Universe for conducting an unauthorized footwear fashion shoot at the Taj Mahal which was slammed as an “insult” by the monument’s caretaker.

Twenty-one-year-old American Olivia Culpo, wearing a long peach-colored dress, visited the world-famous “monument to love” in Agra on Sunday during a 10-day tour of India.

“We have registered a case against Ms. Culpo and her team members after receiving a complaint,” Sushant Gaur told AFP from the tourism police station in Agra, 180 kilometers south of New Delhi.

“We have booked her under various sections... of India’s Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act,” he added.

Guantanamo Bay detainees assert right to claim mistreatment

Lawyers for Guantanamo Bay detainees accused of the 9/11 attacks said Tuesday their defendants’ rights were violated because they are prevented from open discussion of alleged mistreatment in secret prisons.

Speaking at a hearing in Guantanamo as the five detainees listened, lawyers for the men asked for the death penalty to be eliminated as a possible sentence, in light of alleged torture the inmates had undergone while being held by the United States, before their 2006 transfer to Guantanamo.

Detainees could not file complaints under the U.N. Convention against Torture, their lawyers said, because their treatment in U.S. detention was a classified matter.

Amnesty International urges U.S. to end drone attack secrecy

The United States should end the secrecy surrounding its drone campaign in Pakistan and bring those responsible for illegal strikes to justice, Amnesty International said Tuesday.

The rights group said there appeared to be no justification for two drone attacks in northwest Pakistan last year, one of which killed a 68-year-old grandmother as she picked vegetables.

Amnesty’s call came on the eve of White House talks between U.S. President Barack Obama and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, at which the drone attacks are expected to be discussed.

White House official fired over anonymous tweets

A senior White House official who was helping negotiate nuclear issues with Iran has been fired after being unmasked as the acidic voice behind a Twitter account known for its insults of public figures at the White House and on Capitol Hill, a government official said on Tuesday.

Jofi Joseph was director of nuclear non-proliferation on the White House National Security Council staff, but for more than two years sent hundreds of anonymous and abrasive tweets using the handle @NatSecWonk.

He was fired last week after he was caught, the official said.

A White House official confirmed Joseph no longer worked there, but would not comment on personnel matters. The firing was first reported by the website Daily Beast.

Dubai inaugurates first phase of mega solar energy project

Dubai inaugurated the first phase of a solar energy park on Tuesday as the Gulf emirate seeks to diversify its energy sources, official Emirati news agency WAM reported.

The park, named the “Mohammad bin Rashid al-Maktoum Park” after the emirate’s ruler, will produce 1,000 megawatts of electricity when completed, and will cost 12 billion dirhams ($3.3 billion), WAM said.

The first plant of the solar energy megaproject is 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the city of Dubai and can produce 10 megawatts of energy on its own.

Yemeni 15-year-old girl burned to death for ‘meeting fiancé’

A 15-year-old Yemeni girl has been burned to death for allegedly meeting her fiancé before their wedding, police said on Tuesday, adding that her father was the chief suspect.


Prosecutors are to press charges against the 35-year-old over the death of his daughter in the village of Shabaa in the southern highland province of Taez, the police website said.

Killings of daughters, wives or sisters to punish perceived breaches of family honor are not uncommon in Yemen, despite pressure from the United Nations and human rights watchdogs for more effective action by the authorities to protect women.

Libyan al-Qaeda leader Abu Anas al-Libi returns to New York courtroom

Suspected Libyan al-Qaeda leader Abu Anas al-Libi, seized earlier this month in a U.S. raid in Tripoli, was back in a New York courtroom on Tuesday, where his lawyer demanded at least six months to prepare his defense.

The 49-year-old Libi, who is accused in a pair of 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, maintains his innocence.

The 1998 al-Qaeda bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa killed 244 people and wounded more than 5,000 others.

Throughout the hearing, Libi remained fixed ahead. At times he looked tired and worried, squinting his eyes in concentration, according to Agence France-Presse.

Hundreds call for Tunisia’s govt to resign

Hundreds of opposition activists protested in central Tunis on Wednesday demanding the resignation of Tunisia’s Islamist-led government, ahead of a national dialogue aimed at ending months of political deadlock.

The protesters gathered on central Habib Bourguiba Avenue, waving Tunisian flags and shouting slogans such as: “The people want the fall of the regime,” “Get out” and “Government of traitors, resign!”

The demonstration took place amid a heavy security presence, with armored vehicles and anti-riot police deployed along the central Tunis boulevard, which was the epicenter of the January 2011 revolution that ousted former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Sultan of Brunei introduces tough Islamic punishments

The Sultan of Brunei on Tuesday announced the phased introduction of tough Islamic punishments including death by stoning for crimes such as adultery.

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah – one of the world’s wealthiest men – said in a speech that a new Sharia Penal Code which has been in the works for years had been gazetted Tuesday and would “come into force six months hereafter and in phases”.

Based on the details of particular cases, punishments can include stoning to death for adulterers, severing of limbs for theft and flogging for violations ranging from abortion to consumption of alcohol, according to a copy of the code.

Violin that played as Titanic sank sells for $1.5 million

LONDON: A violin that was being played as the Titanic went down was sold for 900,000 pounds at auction on Saturday, a record price for memorabilia from the doomed ocean liner.

Band leader Wallace Hartley played the instrument, trying to calm passengers as the ship slipped into the frozen waters of the North Atlantic in April 1912 after colliding with an iceberg during its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York.

Hartley's band played the hymn "Nearer, My God, To Thee" as passengers climbed into lifeboats. Hartley and his seven fellow band members all died after choosing to play on. More than 1,500 people died.

Guinness World Record of National Anthem made by Pakistan

Guinness World Record of National Anthem made by Pakistan

Guinness World Record of National Anthem made by Pakistan on 20, Oct 2012 at National Hockey Stadium Lahore.

Thousands of Pakistanies are singing National Anthem at National Hockey Stadium Lahore.

Chief Minister Punjab Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif are also sing National Anthem. Actors, TV Hosts and many of Pakistan Official in the row.

National Savings Prize Bond Draw Rs. 750 - October 15, 2013 in Karachi

Central Directorate of National Savings Government of Pakistan will organize balloting / Draw of National Prize Bond of Rs. 750 today (Monday, October 21, 2013) in Karachi. This is 56th draw held so for.

Results of Prize Bonds Draw of Rs. 750 Published on This Page after some time. Keep Visiting SIALNEWS.COM Good Luck!

The Sun journalist charged over theft of MP's phone

A journalist from The Sun newspaper has been charged in relation to the theft of a British lawmaker s mobile phone.

Nick Parker, chief foreign correspondent for the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid, is already facing charges over alleged corrupt payments to public officials charges that stem from Britain s wide-ranging phone-hacking scandal.

British prosecutors said Friday that Parker has been charged with unauthorized access to computer material and receiving stolen goods namely, a mobile phone belonging to Labour Party lawmaker Siobhain McDonagh.

At least 400 civilians killed by drone strikes in Pakistan: United Nation

The government of Pakistan has confirmed that of some 2,200 people killed by drone strikes in the past decade, at least 400 were civilians and an additional 200 victims were deemed "probable non-combatants," a U.N. human rights investigator said on Friday.

Ben Emmerson, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, also urged the United States to release its own data on the number of civilian casualties caused by its drone strikes.

Breaking News: Toxic milk kills two children in Multan

An eight-year-old girl and her three-year-old brother died on Saturday after drinking poisonous milk in a locality of Punjab’s Multan city.

Our correspondent reported that the awful incident took place in Qadirpur Ran area where health of four children of a family destabilized after they drank milk in their house.

The affected kids were moved to a local hospital in serious condition, however, Rehan, 3, and his sister Anisha, 8, could not survive and breathed their last during the treatment.

First ever printed British newspaper is up for sale

A rare copy of the first ever newspaper printed in Britain is to be auctioned nearly 350 years after it came off the press.

The Oxford Gazette was published on November 7, 1665, at a time when London was in the grip of the devastating bubonic plague.

It was the first newspaper in the world to be printed in English.

The two-page first edition contained an eclectic mix of news including military and naval engagements, debates in the House of Commons and overseas dispatches.

International conference on Syria in London on Tuesday

Britain will host an international conference on the Syrian conflict next Tuesday to prepare the way for a planned peace meeting in Geneva, Foreign Secretary William Hague said Friday.

The conference in London will bring together representatives of the Syrian opposition and the foreign ministers of the so-called London 11, the core group of the Friends of Syria, including the United States, France and Saudi Arabia.

Hague said the nations would "discuss preparations for the Geneva Conference, support for the (opposition) Syrian National Coalition, and our efforts to achieve a political settlement to this tragic conflict".

Newly-married couple stabbed to death in Bahawalpur

 

BAHAWALPUR: Unknown persons barged into a house and stabbed a newly-wedded couple to death in Bahawalpur on Friday.

According to police, Abid and Kulsoon, residents of Sahiwal, got married one and a half month ago.

They were living in a rented house at Islamia Colony in Bahawalpur.

According to neighbors, both the husband and wife were found dead in the courtyard. Their bodies bore marks of knife stabbing.

Obama to nominate Jeh Johnson as new Homeland Security chief

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama will on Friday nominate Jeh Johnson, formerly the Pentagon's top lawyer, to lead the Department of Homeland Security, an official said.

Johnson, who will succeed Janet Napolitano who left earlier this year, was in his previous job responsible for a prior legal review of every military operation ordered by the president or the secretary of defense.

"The President is selecting Johnson because he is one the most highly qualified and respected national security leaders, having served as the senior lawyer for the largest government agency in the world," a US official said.

Johnson was also part of a review team behind the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" prohibition on gays serving openly in the military, earlier in the Obama administration.

Johnson was also involved in legal decisions surrounding the US drone program that has targeted terror suspects, and other key military operations.

The Homeland Security Department was set up after the September 11 attacks in 2001, and is responsible for counter-terror operations and protection on US soil.

It also oversees border enforcement, agencies including the Secret Service and works to combat natural disasters such as hurricanes.
Johnson served as the Defense Department's general counsel during Obama's first term.

His nomination must be confirmed by the Senate.


Johnson was also part of a review team behind the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" prohibition on gays serving openly in the military, earlier in the Obama administration.

Johnson was also involved in legal decisions surrounding the US drone program that has targeted terror suspects, and other key military operations.

The Homeland Security Department was set up after the September 11 attacks in 2001, and is responsible for counter-terror operations and protection on US soil.

It also oversees border enforcement, agencies including the Secret Service and works to combat natural disasters such as hurricanes.
Johnson served as the Defense Department's general counsel during Obama's first term.

His nomination must be confirmed by the Senate.

(AFP)

PIA starts post hajj operation today

LAHORE: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)will start its Haj operation from Saudi Arabia today (Saturday).

According to a PIA spokesperson, during the month long operation, the national flag carrier would bring back 67,000 Haj pilgrims, who were airlifted to Saudi Arabia via 149 flights.

The operation would conclude on November19, he added.


The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)will start its Haj operation from Saudi Arabia today (Saturday).

According to a PIA spokesperson, during the month long operation, the national flag carrier would bring back 67,000 Haj pilgrims, who were airlifted to Saudi Arabia via 149 flights.

The operation would conclude on November19, he added.