Millions of Iraqis around the world headed to cast their votes for one of the two candidates, Nouri Al Maliki, the incumbent prime minister, and who is known for his secular anti Iranian views. A day after the vote, preliminary results revealed a slight advancement of Nouri Al Maliki, although official results are not expected to be declared for weeks. Iraqis voted, with dreams of a positive change for their country and people, despite fears that the country is still not ready for the along waited bright future after years and years of occupation, killing and destruction of a land and its people.
A worsening dispute between the Gulf drug cartel and its former security force, the Zetas, has resulted in 200 deaths in two weeks in the northeastern states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo León and unprecedented censorship along Mexicos border with Texas. The news blackout is backed by threats, kidnapping, and attacks against journalists. In the past 14 days, at least eight Mexican journalists have been abducted in the Reynosa area, which is across the border from McAllen,” One died after a severe beating, according to reports that could not be independently verified. Two were released by their captors. The rest are missing.The five missing journalists are a reporter for El Mañana newspaper, a freelance photographer from the papers afternoon edition, La Tarde, two journalists from an online news service, and a TV cameraman, Corchado says, citing editors and reporters who spoke anonymously. Even in Mexico, one of the worlds most dangerous countries for journalists, the recent intimidation campaign is more far-reaching and effective than previous attempts. UnlikeCiudad Juárez, a drug-plagued city where news organizations update the daily death toll, news media in the Gulf Cartel region say they have no other choice but to censor themselves. The city of Reynosa, has created a Twitter account to give details about violence in the city.
The current hockey world cup hosted by India has revealed the worst state of Pakistans international hockey team. Losing all but one pool match and yielding before a significantly weaker team like South Africa have proved that hockey in Pakistan has crashed to the ground. The captain of the national hockey team has even apologized to the nation for failing their expectations. Considering Pakistans legacy of brilliant performance in hockey, it can be assumed with confidence that this sport in Pakistan has also fallen a prey to corruption and favoritism. Media, on the other hand, has also been quite negligent of this national sport of our country and hockeys rapid decline has deprived Pakistan of the recognition that it once enjoyed in the international sports. So far, no one has bothered to open a forum for collecting learned opinion on how to revive the tradition of playing hockey well in Pakistan and outside it. Hopefully, the shock of losing to the weakest team will stir at least some degree of care among the concerned authorities.
The passage of the womens reservation bill providing for 33% reservation for women in the Rajya Sabha is indeed a historic moment every Indian should be proud of. The jubilant scenes of women, across the country, celebrating the passage of the bill was simply amazing to watch. The Yadav trio is simply a bunch of egotistical shameless politicians who would never want the bill to get passed therefore tried scuttling the bill on the pretext of relooking into the same and ensuring reservation for SC/ST and OBC women. It is however sad and unfortunate that being a woman themselves Mamata Banerjee and Mayawati pulled back from giving support to the bill.
This was for the third time in the history of Oscars that a science fiction box office hit lost to its modest competitor The Hurt Locker which won the Best Picture Oscar and whose Director Kathryn Bigelow became the only woman to have won the best directing Oscar. “The Hurt Locker” a gritty Iraq war movie has been the least-seen best-picture recipient in Oscar history — at least in theaters. The Hurt Locker which was just a modest box office competitor against James Cameron’s “Avatar, earned just $12.6 million worth of domestic earnings against the box office hit Avatar which tops the revenue charts by ringing in more than $700 million. Science fiction is a genre that has been rarely been awarded an Oscar in the past as much as in the present. They have a history of losing. Woody Allens small comic drama “Annie Hall” won best picture and director for 1977 over George Lucas’ “Star Wars,” which was then the biggest modern blockbuster.
Year 2009 delighted the tech savvy generation with iphones and Flip camcorders which sold by millions. With the announcement of Apple tablet many of us are already looking into the next big thing in 2010 that would be greeted with open arms and open wallets. Here are 2010s soon-to-be hot gadgets.
The initial investigation into the terror attacks that jolted Kabuls Indian Guest house Friday has brought to light evidences linking Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba to the attacks. At least 16 people, including 9 Indians, were killed Friday in a string of explosions and gunfire in the Commercial Zone of Kabul. Sayed Ansari, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security said, “We are very close to the exact proof and evidence that the attack on the Indian guest house ... is not the work of the Afghan Taliban but this attack was carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba network,”. The Afghan intelligence agencys spokesman said Lashkar-e Taiba are dependent on the Pakistani military. He further said, There were four men armed with rifles and suicide vests, one of them was heard speaking Urdu, and that they wore burqas to hide their gear.
Pastor Martin Ssempa was quoted by the BBC, saying that he was showing the film to educate his church about what homosexuals do. He continues further to say that in Africa, what one does in the bedroom affects the clan, tribe and the entire nation. The Uganda anti-gay bill, which proposes the death penalty for some gay people, has caused outrage around the world. US President Barack Obama described the bill as horrible. Homosexuality is already against the law in Uganda and punishable by lengthy jail terms. But supporters of the bill, including the pastor, want the punishments ramped up. Monica Mbaru, from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, condemned the pastor’s behavior writing him off as somebody who badly needs medical assistance. The anti-gay proposals have gained huge support among Ugandan Members of Parliament, but President Yoweri Museveni recently hinted that he was coming under huge international pressure to scrap the homosexuality bill.
Ironically enough some have called the new construction project being built in Al Rawabi, north of Ramallah on the West Bank, as the first Palestinian Settlement, to actually be the first legal settlement in an area filled with illegal Israeli settlements. The new project is supposed to house more than 40,000 people once it is finished after an expected period of 5 years. Most of the 700 m dollars needed for the project were invested by the Qatari Government. Inspite of hurdles created by the Israeli government regarding permission for the new city road, Palestinians have started building the city, with the hope that it will be a place to live in with higher standards than ones allowed by Israeli government.
