VALENTINE'S Gifts
Friday, 30 December 2011
Thursday, 29 December 2011
BBC News - Turkey admits 35 civilian deaths near Kurdish village, Dec 29, 2011
"A senior Turkish official has acknowledged that 35 civilians were killed in an air strike near a Kurdish village close to the border with Iraq.
Turkey's military said earlier it had targeted suspected Kurdish militants.
But the victims of Wednesday night's attack are believed to have been villagers involved in smuggling cigarettes into Turkey from Iraq.
Governing party vice-president Huseyin Celik said an investigation was looking into possible intelligence failures."
Turkey's military said earlier it had targeted suspected Kurdish militants.
But the victims of Wednesday night's attack are believed to have been villagers involved in smuggling cigarettes into Turkey from Iraq.
Governing party vice-president Huseyin Celik said an investigation was looking into possible intelligence failures."
FIJILIVE- Turkish air strike kills 35 Kurds in blunder, Dec 29, 2011
"Turkish air strike kills 35 Kurds in blunder
Turkish fighter jets killed 35 Kurds in an air strike the country's ruling party admitted Thursday could have been a "blunder" that mistakenly hit civilians instead of Kurdish separatists.
Turkey's military command said it had launched an air raid on Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants after a spy drone spotted a group moving toward its sensitive southeastern border under cover of darkness late Wednesday.
"According to initial reports, these people were smugglers and not terrorists," said Huseyin Celik, vice-president of the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP)."
Turkish fighter jets killed 35 Kurds in an air strike the country's ruling party admitted Thursday could have been a "blunder" that mistakenly hit civilians instead of Kurdish separatists.
Turkey's military command said it had launched an air raid on Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants after a spy drone spotted a group moving toward its sensitive southeastern border under cover of darkness late Wednesday.
"According to initial reports, these people were smugglers and not terrorists," said Huseyin Celik, vice-president of the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP)."
TELEGRAPH Au. - Actress Debra Messing was having an affair with Smash co-star Will Chase before announcing divorce from Daniel Zulman, Dec 29, 2011
"AN ACTRESS, who announced nine days ago she was getting a divorce, is having an affair with co-star.
Debra Messing, 43, best known for starring in TV comedy Will and Grace and 2008 movie The Starter Wife, announced on December 20 that she was divorcing her husband of 10 years, the writer and producer Daniel Zelman."
Debra Messing, 43, best known for starring in TV comedy Will and Grace and 2008 movie The Starter Wife, announced on December 20 that she was divorcing her husband of 10 years, the writer and producer Daniel Zelman."
Helicopter Crash Kills Medical Team, Dec 29, 2011
"On Monday, a Mayo Clinic medical team in Jacksonville, Florida departed around 5:45am on a helicopter with a pilot, surgeon and technician. The group was on its way to retrieve a heart for a transplant, but all of them were killed when the helicopter crashed. Due to this, the transplant patient has been left waiting for another organ to become available."
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
BBC News - Kim Jong-il state funeral held in North Korea, Dec 26, 2011
"North Korea has begun two days of funeral services for late leader Kim Jong-il with a huge procession in the capital, Pyongyang.
Footage showed tens of thousands of soldiers with their heads bowed as a giant portrait of Mr Kim was carried slowly through the streets.
His successor and third son, Kim Jong-un, walked beside the hearse, images from state television showed.
Kim Jong-il died of a heart attack on 17 December, aged 69, state media said.
He has been lying in state for the past 10 days."
Footage showed tens of thousands of soldiers with their heads bowed as a giant portrait of Mr Kim was carried slowly through the streets.
His successor and third son, Kim Jong-un, walked beside the hearse, images from state television showed.
Kim Jong-il died of a heart attack on 17 December, aged 69, state media said.
He has been lying in state for the past 10 days."
INDIA Today - Congress hunts for numbers as Rajya Sabha set to debate Lokpal Bill, Dec 26, 2011
"Ahead of the debate on the Lokpal in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, the Congress expressed confidence of getting the landmark legislation approved in the upper house.
Congress spokesman Raashid Alvi said on Wednesday that though the party did not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha, it was confident that the Bill will be passed.
"We are sure the Lokpal Bill will be passed. It is a Bill in the interest of the country. We and our allies will make all efforts to get the bill passed. I have confidence we will be successful," said Alvi."
Congress spokesman Raashid Alvi said on Wednesday that though the party did not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha, it was confident that the Bill will be passed.
"We are sure the Lokpal Bill will be passed. It is a Bill in the interest of the country. We and our allies will make all efforts to get the bill passed. I have confidence we will be successful," said Alvi."
BBC News - Greece jails Abbot Ephraim in Mount Athos fraud case, Dec 26, 2011
"The abbot of the prestigious Vatopedi monastery on Mount Athos in Greece has been jailed pending trial for alleged fraud and embezzlement.
Abbot Ephraim, 56, is accused of arranging land swaps between Vatopedi and the state which are thought to have cost the government millions of euros.
The abbot, now being held in Korydallos prison in Athens, denies wrongdoing. His arrest has triggered protests."
Abbot Ephraim, 56, is accused of arranging land swaps between Vatopedi and the state which are thought to have cost the government millions of euros.
The abbot, now being held in Korydallos prison in Athens, denies wrongdoing. His arrest has triggered protests."
Travel Top 5: World's Best Low-Cost Airlines, Dec 28, 2011
"Travellers are flocking to low-cost airlines like never before, but they still want good service for their money. Those airlines that managed to do that the best were recognized earlier this year at the 2011 World Airline Awards."
CBC News - Pop artist James Rizzi dies at 61 - Arts & Entertainment, Dec 28, 2011
"James Rizzi applied his playful, cartoon-like art style to unusual projects worldwide, from Volkswagen Beetles and Japanese train ads to cow sculptures in New York and the front page of a German newspaper.
His creations included images for German postage stamps and a tourist guide to New York published this year. He was the official artist for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and soccer World Cup games in France."
His creations included images for German postage stamps and a tourist guide to New York published this year. He was the official artist for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and soccer World Cup games in France."
Cheetah, chimp star of Tarzan movies, dies at 80, Dec 28, 2011
: "heetah, the chimpanzee that purportedly appeared in Tarzan movies in the early 1930s, has died of kidney failure at the age of 80, WTSP TV reports.
The Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor, Fla., says the community "has lost a dear friend and family member" with the death of Cheetah on Dec. 24.
Sanctuary outreach director Debbie Cobb tells The Tampa Tribune that the chimp was outgoing, loved finger-painting and liked to see people laugh."
The Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor, Fla., says the community "has lost a dear friend and family member" with the death of Cheetah on Dec. 24.
Sanctuary outreach director Debbie Cobb tells The Tampa Tribune that the chimp was outgoing, loved finger-painting and liked to see people laugh."
The Associated Press - Against odds, Lipitor became world's top seller, Dec 28, 2011
"TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Lipitor, the best-selling drug in the history of pharmaceuticals, is the blockbuster that almost wasn't.
When it was in development, the cholesterol-lowering medicine was viewed as such an also-ran it almost didn't make it into patient testing.
By the time Lipitor went on sale in early 1997, it was the fifth drug in a class called statins that lower LDL or bad cholesterol. The class already included three blockbusters, drugs with sales of $1 billion a year or more. Normally, that would make it very tough for a latecomer to sway many doctors and patients to switch.
But a 1996 study showed Lipitor reduced bad cholesterol dramatically more than the other statins, from the very start of treatment and even more so over time. A striking graph of those results helped Lipitor sales representatives turn it into the world's best-selling drug ever, with more than $125 billion in sales over 14 1/2 years."
When it was in development, the cholesterol-lowering medicine was viewed as such an also-ran it almost didn't make it into patient testing.
By the time Lipitor went on sale in early 1997, it was the fifth drug in a class called statins that lower LDL or bad cholesterol. The class already included three blockbusters, drugs with sales of $1 billion a year or more. Normally, that would make it very tough for a latecomer to sway many doctors and patients to switch.
But a 1996 study showed Lipitor reduced bad cholesterol dramatically more than the other statins, from the very start of treatment and even more so over time. A striking graph of those results helped Lipitor sales representatives turn it into the world's best-selling drug ever, with more than $125 billion in sales over 14 1/2 years."
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
FIJI LIVE- Smiling Prince Philip leaves hospital, Dec 27, 2011
"Britain's Prince Philip was reunited with his wife Queen Elizabeth II and other family members for a late Christmas on Tuesday when he left hospital four days after having heart surgery.
The outspoken 90-year-old smiled and waved from the open window of his Range Rover vehicle as he was driven away from the specialist Papworth hospital near Cambridge, eastern England, an AFP photographer witnessed.
Trailed by police protection officers, he was then driven to the royal Sandringham estate where the queen, the couple's children and their grandchildren have spent the Christmas holiday without him."
The outspoken 90-year-old smiled and waved from the open window of his Range Rover vehicle as he was driven away from the specialist Papworth hospital near Cambridge, eastern England, an AFP photographer witnessed.
Trailed by police protection officers, he was then driven to the royal Sandringham estate where the queen, the couple's children and their grandchildren have spent the Christmas holiday without him."
The Top 100 Best Songs Of 2011: 9. Beyoncé – ‘Run The World (Girls)’ « The Gospel According To Richard Eric, Dec 27, 2011
"When I first heard ‘Run The World (Girls)’ I was with my friends Adem and Ben in Geelong. I don’t remember exactly what my feelings were, but the general consensus was that the song was okay and that that warped-carnival noise was awesome. The heavy sample of ‘Pon De Floor’ divided listeners, but I still thought this would be huge. It wasn’t, despite being given every big promotional push short of being beamed directly into the heads of every human on the planet. I guess it goes to show that you just can’t make people like a song if they don’t no matter how much money you throw at it. But for me, ‘Run The World’ revealed itself to be an utter beast of a song, an assault on the senses from every angle, and it would be a track I came back to again and again. Misunderstood, bullied and hated by many pop fans this year, ‘Run The World (Girls)’ is like Kelly Rowland: one day everyone will realise just how special it is. But it will be too late."
Inside Movies - Pedro Armendariz Jr. dies, Dec 27, 2011
"Mexican character actor Pedro Armendariz Jr. died Monday at the age of 71. There was no immediate confirmation of the cause of death.
Armendariz was best known for playing sly, sometimes cynical characters he endowed with wit and charisma. Armendariz played Gov. Riley in the 2005 movie The Legend of Zorro, and had roles in 1989′s Old Gringo and Once Upon a Time in Mexico in 2003."
Armendariz was best known for playing sly, sometimes cynical characters he endowed with wit and charisma. Armendariz played Gov. Riley in the 2005 movie The Legend of Zorro, and had roles in 1989′s Old Gringo and Once Upon a Time in Mexico in 2003."
BBC News - Oxford Street stabbing: Teenager dies near Foot Locker, Dec 27, 2011
"An 18-year-old man has been stabbed to death in London, on one of the UK's busiest shopping streets.
The victim died outside the Foot Locker sports shop on Oxford Street, near the junction with Stratford Place.
Police said they were called to the scene at about 13:45 GMT. Eleven people were arrested and part of the street, near Bond Street Tube, was closed.
Det Ch Insp Mark Dunne said there appeared to have been two groups of young people "opposing each other"."
The victim died outside the Foot Locker sports shop on Oxford Street, near the junction with Stratford Place.
Police said they were called to the scene at about 13:45 GMT. Eleven people were arrested and part of the street, near Bond Street Tube, was closed.
Det Ch Insp Mark Dunne said there appeared to have been two groups of young people "opposing each other"."
Motoring Industry News - 19 killed in horror head-on collision, Dec 27, 2011
"Nineteen people were killed when a minibus taxi and a car collided head-on in the Free State, police said on Tuesday.
Sergeant Mmako Mophiring said both the car and taxi caught fire after they collided on the R26 between Frankfort and Tweeling on Monday.
“Some of the people were burned beyond recognition after the impact,” he said.
He said it was alleged that the accident occurred when the car, with four occupants, tried to overtake another car on the barrier line but instead collided with the on-coming taxi."
Sergeant Mmako Mophiring said both the car and taxi caught fire after they collided on the R26 between Frankfort and Tweeling on Monday.
“Some of the people were burned beyond recognition after the impact,” he said.
He said it was alleged that the accident occurred when the car, with four occupants, tried to overtake another car on the barrier line but instead collided with the on-coming taxi."
World News - 143 killed by tainted batch of bootleg booze in India, Dec 27, 2011
"KOLKATA, India -- A tainted batch of bootleg liquor killed 102 people and sent dozens more to the hospital near the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, in the state of West Bengal, officials said.
Day laborers and other poor workers began falling ill late Tuesday after drinking the brew that was laced with the toxic methanol around the village of Sangrampur, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Kolkata, according to district magistrate Narayan Swarup Nigam."
ENTERTAINMENT News - Top Films Of 2011: Best Movies Ever List - Best Movies Ever, Dec 26, 2011
"2011 was quite an interesting year of films with a real grab bag of good and bad and plenty that were nice but that’s about it. Here’s our 2011 Best Movies Ever list of the films we loved the most."
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