RSS chief favours Kalam for president - Hindustan Times
"It will be good if he (Kalam) is elected as President. The comman man thinks that he is a nice man. While rest of the people have a political background, he does not. We can only give our opinion. But only lawmakers can elect the president,” Bhagwat told reporters in Haridwar.
Bhagwat's remarks came on a day the NDA deferred its decision on whether or not to contest the Presidential election as it was divided over opposing UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee.
While Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee has rooted for Kalam, the former President is yet to announce whether he will contest.
Rodney King, symbol of 1992 L.A. riots, dies - CBC
Rodney King, whose videotaped beating by police led to the 1992 Los Angeles riots, has died, California police said Sunday. He was 47.
King's fiancée called 911 at 5:25 a.m. local time to report she found him at the bottom of the swimming pool at their home in Rialto, Calif., said police Lt. Dean Hardin.
Officers arrived to find King unresponsive in the water, Hardin said. He was transported to Arrowhead Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:11 a.m.
There were no signs of foul play, Hardin said. The San Bernardino County coroner will perform an autopsy within 48 hours.
The Los Angeles riots erupted on April 29, 1992 when a mostly white jury acquitted three of the four officers accused of beating and kicking King and failed to convict the fourth.
Rodney King is seen in May 1992 in Beverly Hills at a news conference, where he called for the end of violence in the city. (Robert Sullivan/Getty)A bystander with a video camera recorded the beating after King, a black motorist, was pulled over by the officers on March 3, 1991.
During the riots, there was another shocking scene, this time involving a white motorist. Reginal Denny was dragged from his truck and nearly murdered on live television. He was rescued by strangers and taken to hospital.
Fifty-five people were killed during the riots that followed the verdicts and King became a symbol of police brutality and racial tension in the city. Looting, vandalism and arson left an estimated $1 billion in damage.
Rev. Jesse Jackson called the incident a "wakeup call."
"It illuminated the darkness," said Jackson, speaking to CBC News from Washington D.C. on Sunday. "He showed us how ugly and unfair racial profiling is. We have not yet stopped it ... blacks remain the weak link in the justice chain."
Jackson said King moved on but "the beating lingered and the impact on his emotional and mental health, we'll never know."
At the time of the incident, the 25-year-old King was on parole after a robbery conviction. In a CNN interview in 2011, he recalled he had been drinking and was headed home when he saw a patrol car following him. He thought he would be sent back to prison, so he panicked after stopping the car.
Eventually, four LAPD officers — Theodore Briseno, Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind and Stacey Koon — were indicted on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and excessive use of force by a police officer.
After a three-month trial in 1992, three of the officers were acquitted of all charges. The jury, which had mostly white members, were deadlocked on one charge of excessive force against Powell, and a mistrial was declared on that charge.
'Can we all get along?'
The result triggered rioting in LA that lasted for three days, leaving more than 2,000 injured and swaths of the city on fire. At the height of the violence, King pleaded on television: "Can we all get along?"
A year later, the four officers stood trial in federal court on civil rights charges. Koon and Powell were found guilty and sentenced to 30 months in prison, while Briseno and Wind were acquitted.
King also sued the city for damages and got $3.8 million US.
In 2008, he released a memoir, The Riot Within, chronicling his difficult upbringing and his reflections on the beating. In several interviews, King said he had forgiven the officers.
In an interview with The Associated Press this year, King was in relatively good spirits: "America's been good to me after I paid the price and stayed alive through it all. This part of my life is the easy part now."
With files from The Associated PressLiddle stars as Sussex win at Lord's (From The Argus) - The Argus.co.uk
Liddle stars as Sussex win at Lord's
5:37pm Sunday 17th June 2012 in Sport By Steve Hollis
Chris Liddle was the hero as Sussex Sharks belatedly got their FL T20 campaign off to a winning start.
Liddle took 5-17 - including three wickets in the penultimate over - as Middlesex fell 11 runs short of Sussex's total of 143-8 at Lord's.
Sussex's total was largely down to the efforts of Goodwin and Styris.
The experienced duo rescued the Shraks after they had slumped to 26-3 from the opening six overs.
Goodwin put on 30 with Joe Gatting before adding a further 56 with Styris in good time.
The veteran was making his comeback after being dropped for the last two matches and made 43 before being bowled by Tim Roland-Jones.
Styris made the most of being dropped on 25 to score 48 when he was caught off the bowling of Roland-Jones, who finished with figures of 2-19.
Middlesex looked on course to chase down their target after recovering from the early loss of Joe Denly and Paul Stirling.
Dawid Malan made 38 while Neil Dexter (36) and Gareth Berg (23) put on 53 for the fourth wicket to put the hosts in a strong position.
Juan Theron struggled on his debut with his four overs going for 43 but Liddle ensured it was Sussex's day.
He removed Berg in the 17th over and then got rid of Dexter, John Simpson and Chris Rogers to leave the Panthers needing 22 off the final over.
Modi needs to review style of working: RSS mouthpiece - in.news.yahoo.com
New Delhi, June 2 (IANS) In an apparent disapproval by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's style of working, an article in the organisation's mouthpiece has indicated that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has several prime ministerial candidates.
It also disapproved of Modi's reported insistence on resignation of Sanjay Joshi from the BJP's national executive last week.
The article, which figures in the latest issue of Panchjanaya, said it was being felt that Modi needed to do a rethink about organisational capabilities.
"It seems Narendra Modi needs to review his style of working and organisational ability," it said.
The article assumes significance because its author Devendra Swaroop is a former editor of Panchjanaya and has access to views of the RSS insiders.
"The role of Narendra Modi in the Sanjay Joshi episode at BJP's national executive meeting in Mumbai is worth considering...why despite having faith in the Sangh, Modi could not control his unhappiness towards a fellow RSS functionary is a mystery. He made Joshi's presence a prestige issue and allowed the media to attack the BJP and the Sangh," the article said.
It also attacked Modi over media reports about Joshi changing his travel plans and boarding a plane instead of going by train after the Mumbai meeting as the train would have touched places in Gujarat.
"It allowed opponents of the BJP to speak against Modi," it said.
Modi apparently insisted that he would attend the conclave only if his bete noire Joshi resigned from the party's national executive and the party bowed to his demand.
In a dig at Modi's prime ministerial ambitions, it said that the BJP had several chief ministers and central leaders who were capable of being its prime ministerial candidates. But it said that the decision should be taken by the the parliamentary party after the party won the Lok Sabha election.
The article in the RSS mouthpiece slamming Modi's action at the BJP executive close to veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani launching an attack on party president Nitin Gadkari, saying "the mood within the party is not upbeat".
Advani said in his blog that people were angry with the Congress-led government but they were upset with the BJP too.
UK to order reactor for nuclear-armed submarine - source - Reuters UK
LONDON |
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will order the first reactor for a new generation of nuclear-armed submarines next week as part of a 1 billion pound ($1.6 billion) contract with Rolls-Royce, a defence ministry source said on Sunday, in a move that could strain the coalition government.
The deal will include an 11-year refit of Britain's sole submarine propulsion reactor factory at Derby in central England, said Defence Secretary Philip Hammond, who will formally announce the plans to parliament on Monday.
"This is sustaining a sovereign capability in the UK and some very high end technical skills in the UK for the next 40 or 50 years," he told BBC television, without giving further details of the contract.
The investment will protect 300 jobs at the Rolls-Royce factory and many others at suppliers elsewhere, the source said.
The 1 billion pound value of the deal will be shared between Rolls-Royce and its other industrial partners, a source close to the company said.
The two-party coalition government is split over plans to replace Britain's four Vanguard submarines at an estimated cost of 25 billion pounds when they retire from service in the 2020s.
Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party - to which Hammond belongs - wants a new fleet of submarines that will continue to carry the Vanguard's Trident missiles, maintaining Britain's independent nuclear capability.
Their smaller Liberal Democrat partners are pushing for cheaper and less potent alternatives, arguing that the current capability - the ability to obliterate Moscow - is an outdated hangover from the Cold War.
The two parties have postponed a final decision till 2016, after the next parliamentary election, while agreeing in the meantime to fund the advance work needed to allow the submarines to be built on schedule should they be commissioned.
The Liberal Democrats insist that the advance contracts do not represent a commitment to a like-for-like renewal, but some analysts say it is unlikely that cash-strapped Britain would lay out huge sums on design and equipment that it would later ditch.
Hammond insisted the government had not yet made up its mind about Britain's future nuclear deterrent.
"The government's policy is very clear. We are committed to maintaining a credible nuclear deterrent and we are placing orders now for the long-lead items that will be necessary to deliver a successor to the Vanguard class submarines in the late 2020s," Hammond said.
"But the actual decision to go ahead and build them won't have to be taken until 2016 and what we are doing at the moment is ordering the things that have to be ordered now to give us that option."
The government said last year it expected to spend 3 billion pounds by 2015 on preparatory work for the new submarine fleet.
The Rolls-Royce deal also includes a contract to build the reactor for the last of seven Astute class nuclear-powered attack submarines that Britain already has on order.
The nuclear propulsion plant for the Vanguard's successor will be the more advanced Pressurised Water Reactor 3 (PWR3) system, the government said last year.
Last month Hammond announced 350 million pounds of contracts, mainly with defence contractor BAE Systems, to design the Vanguard's successor submarines.
(Additional reporting by Rhys Jones; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
HKEx to examine LME warehousing rules -FT - Reuters UK
LONDON, June 17 |
LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEx), the prospective buyer of the London Metal Exchange (LME), said it will look at the lucrative metal warehousing business that has attracted investments from Goldman Sachs and Glencore, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
LME regulations allow companies operating warehouses in the global network registered by the exchange to release only a fraction of their inventories each day - much less than is regularly taken in for storage.
Clients of the exchange - the world's biggest marketplace for industrial metals - wait in queues to collect the metal, all the while paying rent to warehouses. The warehouse operators blame logistical bottlenecks for delays but critics say it is a tactic to increase rental income.
HKEx, which on Friday agreed to buy the 135-year-old metals marketplace for 1.4 billion pounds ($2.19 billion) subject to shareholder approval, said it planned to change the rules governing the LME's warehouse network in an attempt to shorten the wait to take delivery of metal, the FT reported.
Charles Li, chief executive of HKEx, was quoted as saying that warehousing was a "very challenging issue."
"It is no longer just a simple logistic challenge issue There are behaviour issues. We need to look at the rules, what behaviour they encourage and what behaviour they discourage," Li was quoted as saying.
But in a later statement clarifying his views, he added: "Our position is no different from the current LME position."
HKEx's bid must still pass a vote of the LME's shareholders, of which the largest are JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs.
Martin Abbott, chief executive of the LME, has in the past attributed the problem to logistical challenges in removing metal from warehouses and low interest rates that make it easy to finance inventories.
The LME said, "We are constantly monitoring the way that LME warehousing functions and will take action when appropriate." ($1 = 0.6393 British pounds) (Reporting By Veronica Brown; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
UPDATE 1-'Madagascar 3' romps over Cruise, Sandler films - Reuters
* "Prometheus" takes the No. 2 spot for second week
* Sandler's "That's My Boy" fails to win many laughs
* Cruise doesn't rock box offices in "Rock of Ages"
By Piya Sinha-Roy and Lisa Richwine
LOS ANGELES, June 17 (Reuters) - The animals of "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" held the top spot on U.S. and Canadian box office charts for a second straight weekend with $35.5 million, beating new films from Tom Cruise and Adam Sandler, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
The third "Madagascar" movie about the misadventures of escaped zoo animals lifted the animated family film above new release "Rock of Ages," a 1980s-era musical starring Cruise that was No. 3, and comedy "That's My Boy," which landed with a thud at No. 5 in what box office watchers said was the worst opening for a live-action Sandler movie since 1996's "Happy Gilmore."
In "Madagascar 3," the animals - voiced by Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith and others - run into trouble after joining a European traveling circus. The movie, produced by Dreamworks Animation, has pulled in $120.5 million in domestic theaters since its release a week ago.
Director Ridley Scott's sci-fi thriller "Prometheus," the story of explorers who discover a clue to the origins of mankind, pulled in $20.2 million to finish second. Its total ticket sales after two weeks is now roughly $89 million.
"That's My Boy," an R-rated comedy pairing Sandler with fellow "Saturday Night Live" alum Andy Samberg, who plays the son of Sandler's deadbeat dad character, failed to excite fans and had a take of $13 million. It cost about $65 million to make, a source familiar with the production said, and was released by Columbia Pictures.
Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box office division of Hollywood.com, said the film's R rating, which restricts it to audiences 17 years of age and older, was likely a key factor in the film's poor performance in its debut weekend.
"Even though Sandler keeps getting older, his key constituency is still in the sweet spot of the PG-13 rating and remain his key demographic," Dergarabedian said.
In 1996, Sandler's golf movie "Happy Gilmore" turned in roughly $8.5 million in its debut and went on to make only $38.8 million in domestic theaters, according to Boxofficemojo.com.
SLOW START FOR "ROCK OF AGES"
Broadway musical adaptation "Rock of Ages" finished in third place with $15.1 million for its story of a young couple, played by Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta, who pursue their dreams of stardom. Cruise plays an aging rocker and Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Bryan Cranston and Catherine Zeta-Jones also star.
"I thought it would do a little bit better this weekend," Dan Fellman, president of theatrical distribution for Warner Bros, told Reuters, adding the strong ensemble cast should lure audiences for several weeks to come. "It didn't jump out of the box but I think we'll catch up slowly."
Warner Bros. unit New Line Cinema produced the movie for about $75 million, and Fellman said he hoped that "word of mouth" would help the film grow with the coveted younger male audience in the next few weeks.
"The film plays older. It will take a little bit of time to catch the younger male audience, but while the music of the film is not their generation, it's certainly become classic and they listen to it," Fellman said.
"Snow White and the Huntsman," a dark, action-filled take on the classic fairy tale starring Charlize Theron and Kristen Stewart, earned $13.8 million over the weekend, taking fourth place in the chart. Its total domestic sales hit $122.6 million after three weekends in theaters. Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures distributed "Madagascar 3," which was produced by Dreamworks Animation . Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros. released "Rock of Ages," and Sony Corp's movie studio Columbia Pictures distributed "That's My Boy."
"Prometheus" was released by 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp. Universal Studios, owned by Comcast Corp , distributed "Snow White and the Huntsman."
RSS favours Kalam but NDA divided over its Presidential candidate, Sangma insists he is in the race - indiatoday.intoday.in
Rashtriya Seva Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday came out in support of the candidature of A P J Abdul Kalam in the Presidential poll, saying he is apolitical and that it will be good if he is elected.
"It will be good if he (Kalam) is elected as President.
The comman man thinks that he is a nice man. While rest of the people have a political background, he does not. We can only give our opinion. But only lawmakers can elect the president," Bhagwat told reporters in Haridwar.
Bhagwat's remarks came on a day the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) deferred its decision on whether or not to contest the Presidential election as it was divided over opposing United Progressive Alliance (UPA) nominee Pranab Mukherjee.
While Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee has rooted for Kalam, the former Indian President is yet to announce whether he will contest.
The NDA failed to firm up a position on the Presidential poll as it was divided over opposing UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee and there was lack of clarity on extending support to P A Sangma.
With an intention of using the Presidential poll to rope in parties like AIADMK and BJD and possibly Trinamool Congress, the main opposition BJP-led alliance decided at a meeting in New Delhi that talks would be held with these parties to have a common candidate against Mukherjee.
At a two-hour meeting of the NDA which was skipped by Shiv Sena, JD-U leader Shivanand Tiwari is believed to have disfavoured a contest against Mukherjee because of his stature, reflecting a divide in the coalition.
BJP leaders L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj were said to be of the opinion that there should be a contest but there was no consensus as to whether to support Sangma, who has been propped up by AIADMK and BJD, or Kalam, who is being pushed into the race by Trinamool Congress.
There was a strong view that supporting Sangma would help NDA win back AIADMK and BJD. However, to finetune this, talks should be held with leaders of these parties before any decision is reached, sources said.
Munich residents vote against new airport runway - Reuters
MUNICH |
MUNICH (Reuters) - Munich residents voted against development of a third runway at Germany's second-biggest airport, dealing another blow to airlines clamoring for growth in Europe's biggest economy.
Just over 54 percent of polled voters were against the new runway and 45.7 percent in favor, according to preliminary results of the vote on Sunday.
Airlines such as Deutsche Lufthansa and Air Berlin have already been hit by a ban on night flights at Germany's biggest airport in Frankfurt and delays to the opening of a new airport in Berlin.
"The fact that a relative majority of Munich residents voted against the construction of a third takeoff and landing strip shows how difficult it has become to make clear the significance of important infrastructure projects in our country," Munich airport chief Michael Kerkloh said in a statement.
Airport expansion is a major issue around the world as the interests of airlines and airport operators trying to meet growing demand for air travel are pitted against those of people who live near airports and see their property values diminished by planes roaring overhead.
Business leaders in Britain earlier this year urged the government there to rethink its opposition to the developed of a third runway at Heathrow airport, which is operating at almost full capacity.
Hong Kong has approved construction of a HK$136 billion ($17.5 billion) third runway at the city's international airport, though there are lingering concerns over environmental costs.
A German district government ruled in favor of the 1.2 billion euro ($1.5 billion) project in Munich almost a year ago.
But the city of Munich, which owns 23 percent of the airport, polled residents on whether it should use its veto power to block the airport expansion, which the airport's operator has said would create about 11,000 new jobs.
Munich airport has said the new runway is necessary to meet growing demand for air travel. Lufthansa said the outcome of the vote was "regrettable" and reiterated its warning that it could shift investments elsewhere if it cannot add capacity in Munich, one of its two German hubs.
Munich airport handled almost 38 million passenger last year and expects that figure to rise to more than 50 million in 2015, thanks to a 650-million-euro expansion of its Terminal 2, some 40 percent of which is being financed by Lufthansa.
(Reporting by Irene Preisinger; Additional reporting by Maria Sheahan; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
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