Crowded house drummer dies in Australia
Saturday, 19 May 2012
A former drummer with Australian rock group Crowded House has died, the band announced Saturday, with reports saying he had succumbed to brain cancer. Crowded House, led by New Zealander frontman Neil Finn, said they were “in mourning today for the death of Peter Jones”, who joined the group in 1994 after ... Read More
Will Smith slaps journalist who tried to kiss him
Saturday, 19 May 2012
Hollywood star Will Smith has slapped a male television reporter who tried to kiss him before the Moscow premiere of “Men in Black III.” The reporter from the Ukrainian television channel 1+1 approached Smith on the red carpet, put his hand on the actor’s shoulder and tried to kiss him. Smith pushed ... Read More
Muslim gay Canadian launches book in Malaysia despite ‘ban’
Saturday, 19 May 2012
A Canadian Muslim gay activist launched her controversial new book on liberal Islam in Muslim-majority Malaysia Saturday despite a government minister’s attempts to shut down the event. Irshad Manji launched “Allah, Liberty and Love” at a hastily arranged event in the capital Kuala Lumpur after two other venues ... Read More
73-year-old Japanese becomes oldest woman to climb Everest
Saturday, 19 May 2012
A 73-year-old Japanese woman climbed to Mount Everest’s peak Saturday, smashing her own record to again become the oldest woman to scale the world’s highest mountain. Tamae Watanabe reached Everest’s 8,850-meter-high (29,035-foot-high) summit from the northern side of the mountain in Tibet on ... Read More
New French leader shows up in a tie at tieless G8 summit
Saturday, 19 May 2012
New French President Francois Hollande was the only foreign leader who showed up at a Group of Eight summit in Maryland wearing a tie, a fact that did not remain unnoticed by President Barack Obama. “Francois, we said you could take off the tie,” Obama noted as Hollande came walking up. “For ... Read More
French minister shows up in jeans and causes sensation
Friday, 18 May 2012
France’s housing minister has caused a sensation by showing up in jeans while her colleagues donned dresses and suits for the new left-wing government’s inaugural cabinet meeting at the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris. Cecile Duflot, 37-year-old head of the Greens ecology party, struck a lone figure in denims on Thursday ... Read More
Warda, legendary Arabic singer of politics and love
Friday, 18 May 2012
Algerian singer Warda, who died in Cairo aged 72 late on Thursday, was a regional icon whose powerful patriotic tunes were matched in popularity by her romantic ballads. Known throughout the region as Warda al-Jazairia (the Algerian Rose), she performed for presidents and popular audiences, reinventing herself ... Read More
Tunisian revolution victims sew lips in bloody protest
Friday, 18 May 2012
A group of victims of Tunisia’s Arab Spring revolt sewed their lips shut to express their anger and frustration on Thursday to highlight their plight. They call themselves ‘The Injured of the Tunisian Revolution’, and have been protesting for more than one year about the lack of health care. In protest, they set camp ... Read More
Malaysia scientist says found new Borneo frog
Friday, 18 May 2012
A Malaysian researcher known for finding new amphibian species said Friday his team had discovered at least one new species of frog in studies he said highlight Borneo’s rich biodiversity. Indraneil Das of the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak said the brown frog is just 4-5 centimeters (1.6-2.0 inches) long and ... Read More
The ‘Queen of Disco’ dies at 63 after long battle with cancer
Thursday, 17 May 2012
Five-time Grammy winner Donna Summer is understood to have died this morning after a battle with cancer, reported U.S. based website TMZ. Hot stuff singer known as the queen of disco, passed away in Florida, according to TMZ. “Early this morning, we lost Donna Summer Sudano, a woman of many gifts, the greatest being her ... Read More
Egyptian director sends messages to Islamists and Israel in Cannes
Thursday, 17 May 2012
Egyptian director Yousry Nasrallah, in Cannes presenting a drama on his country’s revolution, defiantly vowed Thursday that the Islamists jockeying for power back home would never succeed in stifling art. “Our presence here in Cannes is a wonderful message to all those who want to put an end to art in Egypt,” ... Read More
UK envoy hopes Saudi woman will compete at Olympics
Thursday, 17 May 2012
Britain’s envoy to Saudi Arabia said he had spoken to state officials about the possibility of a Saudi woman competing in the Olympics for the first time in London this summer and hoped it would happen though Riyadh’s official team will be all-male. In April the head of the kingdom’s sporting body said no female athletes ... Read More
Arab press blushes at new French PM’s name
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
The Arab-speaking media was in a quandary after the appointment of Jean-Marc Ayrault as France’s new prime minster on Tuesday − about how to mention the head of the French government without causing offense. Transcribed into Arabic from the French pronunciation of his name, “Ayrault” refers to the male sexual ... Read More
Baron Cohen pulls camel stunt at Cannes
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
Flamboyant British comic Sacha Baron Cohen sparked minor chaos on Cannes’ fabled Croisette beachfront Wednesday as his zany alter ego General Aladeen took a morning stroll on his camel Osama. The star of “The Dictator” ordered his mini-skirted Amazonian bodyguards to point their assault rifles at the press ... Read More
WHO warns of high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
Health data released on Wednesday provided the clearest evidence to date of the spread of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease from developed nations to poorer regions such as Africa, as lifestyles and diets there change. The United Nations data showed one in three adults worldwide has raised blood pressure ... Read More
Indonesian lawmaker warns ‘Middle East culture’ as dangerous as Lady Gaga
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
An Indonesian lawmaker warned that the “Middle East culture” influence is as dangerous as that of the American pop star Lady Gaga, an Egyptian news website reported on Wednesday. The comments by Ahmed Basarah, of the House of Representatives’ legal affairs commission, came after the cancellation of Lady Gaga’s concert, ... Read More
‘Casablanca’ turns 70 with free show on facebook
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
The stars of much-loved classic film “Casablanca” may always have Paris, but on Wednesday they will have Facebook. The legendary black-and-white film starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Berman will be streamed free at Facebook in the United States to celebrate the release of a 70th anniversary edition by Warner ... Read More
Scientist lift lid on turtle evolution
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
The turtle is a closer relative of crocodiles and birds than of lizards and snakes, according to researchers who claim to have solved an age-old riddle in animal evolution. The ancestry of the turtle, which evolved between 200 and 300 million years ago, has caused much scientific squabbling -- its physiology ... Read More
Cannes film festival curtain up with comedy, chaos
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
Comedy will dominate the opening of the Cannes film festival on Wednesday, with Wes Anderson’s child fantasy “Moonrise Kingdom” in a tussle with Sacha Baron Cohen’s anarchic alter ego General Aladeen for the attention of the world’s media. Thousands of journalists and movie executives are in the glamorous Riviera resort for ... Read More
Lady Gaga will have to cancel Indonesia concert because of sexy clothes
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
Lady Gaga will have to cancel her sold-out show in Indonesia because police worry her sexy clothes and dance moves undermine Islamic values and will corrupt the country’s youth. National police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said Tuesday the permit for her June 3 “Born This Way Ball” concert - the biggest show on her ... Read More