Woman ticketed in France for wearing face veil

It is the first reported sanction under a new ban on the garments. Another woman in Paris suburb was stopped for wearing a veil, but was let go with a warning. The inconsistent response illustrates the challenge for towns with a large Muslim community in enforcing a law that some view as Islamophobic.

Though such veils are very rare in France, many of the country s 5 million Muslims see the ban as a stigma. Islam is France s second-largest religion after Catholicism. The ban also has been criticised by Iran s government and activists in Jordan.

A 27-year-old woman was stopped by police in the mall parking lot in the town of Mureaux. She was handed a ticket that requires her to pay $216 fine or register for citizenship classes within a month.
Police said the exchange was brief and calm. The incident occurred on Monday, the day France s ban on veils such as the niqab and burqa came into effect.

Another woman was stopped on Tuesday for wearing a veil in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. The 35-year-old was brought to the police station and reminded of the law.

While these were the first publicly reported incidents, it was unclear how many women have been stopped so far nationwide. The French government has estimated only about 2,000 women in France wear such veils, and a few vocal wearers have said they will defy the ban.

Tiger Woods vows to make strong comeback

After a tumultuous year that included a sex scandal, divorce and a shortened, winless season on the PGA Tour, Tiger Woods said Tuesday that he’s continuing to improve his game and his life.

As a golfer I learned so much more this year than any other year, and as a person infinitely more, Woods said after practicing for the Chevron World Challenge, an 18-player tournament at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks that benefits Woods’ charities.

So it’s been a very successful year even though it was a very painful year as well, said Woods, 34, a winner of 14 major championships who’s made major changes to his golf swing to help him win again.

Woods has won the Chevron World Challenge four times but has missed the tournament the last two years. He was recovering from knee surgery in 2008, and last year he withdrew because the event came only days after his Thanksgiving night car accident in Florida that set in motion his sensational sex scandal.Woods also lost golf’s No. 1 ranking — a position he held for more than five consecutive years — last month when Lee Westwood of England took the top spot.

Butt, Amir fight to get ban lifted at ICC appeals hearing

Pakistani cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir have arrived at the International Cricket Council (ICC) headquarters in Dubai for a hearing by an independent tribunal over allegations of corruption.
Butt, who captained Pakistan in the recent test series against England, and fast bowlers Amir and Mohammad Asif were suspended last month after they were linked by a British newspaper to alleged spot-fixing.
The trio appealed against their suspensions but Asif withdrew his appeal on the grounds that he wanted more time to prepare for his challenge.
Michael Beloff QC, chairman of the ICC’s code of conduct commission, will hear the appeal, which is expected to continue on Sunday.

Asif withdraws appeal against ICC ban

KARACHI: Fast bowler Mohammad Asif has withdrawn his appeal against the ban imposed on him by cricket’s world governing body (ICC) over spot-fixing allegations.

“Mohammad Asif confirmed earlier today that he has withdrawn his challenge to the provisional suspension imposed on him on 2 September 2010 pending determination of the charges brought against him under the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Code,” the ICC said in a statement on Friday.

Asif along with former Test skipper Salman Butt and Muhammad Amir were provisionally suspended by the ICC after a British tabloid accused three Pakistan players of involvement in spot-fixing. AGENCIES

Gillard sworn-in as Australian PM

Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been sworn in on Tuesday and is now faced with the challenge of holding together a precarious coalition government after cliffhanger elections.
The ceremony caps weeks of drama after the party revolt against former leader Kevin Rudd, followed by polls that produced the first hung parliament in decades and left Gillard relying on Greens and independent MPs for support.
Gillard’s first cabinet as an elected leader contains potential divisions with Rudd sitting alongside the party powerbrokers credited with orchestrating the sudden and surprising Labor mutiny in June. The prime minister was forced into a late change just hours before the ceremony by announcing a minister for Aboriginal health, following strong complaints when the post was left out of the original line-up. Ex-Midnight Oil singer Peter Garrett returns with an education brief despite being reprimanded after a botched free home insulation scheme that was blamed for four workers’ deaths and hundreds of house fires. Garrett is one of three government members sharing education after Gillard, a former education minister, decided to split the ministry, prompting concerns among student groups and universities over a possibly fractured approach.
Disillusionment with the major parties was blamed for creating Australia’s first minority government since World War II, despite strong economic growth and low unemployment underpinned by buoyant mining exports to Asia. Gillard has promised to introduce a new tax on resources profits and measures to ease pollution, while maintaining an eclectic coalition which groups an environment-minded MP with two conservative-leaning independents. Gillard, a red-headed industrial lawyer, became Australia’s first woman leader by ousting Rudd on June 24 and called polls three weeks later, banking on a wave of support. But the anticipated honeymoon period failed to materialise as many voters turned away from the two main parties and handed the environment-focused Greens a record ballot share.

Australian PM sworn in after election drama

CANBERRA: Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been sworn in on Tuesday and is now faced with the challenge of holding together a precarious coalition government after cliffhanger elections.

The ceremony caps weeks of drama after the party revolt against former leader Kevin Rudd, followed by polls that produced the first hung parliament in decades and left Gillard relying on Greens and independent MPs for support.

Gillard’s first cabinet as an elected leader contains potential divisions with Rudd sitting alongside the party powerbrokers credited with orchestrating the sudden and surprising Labor mutiny in June.

The prime minister was forced into a late change just hours before the ceremony by announcing a minister for Aboriginal health, following strong complaints when the post was left out of the original line-up.

Ex-Midnight Oil singer

No reason to feel daunted by Pakistan bowlers

NOTTINGHAM: Paul Collingwood is adamant there is no reason why he or his fellow England batsmen should feel daunted by the challenge of facing Pakistan’s bowlers here at Trent Bridge.

Read more from the original source:
No reason to feel daunted by Pakistan bowlers

MQM, ANP delegations meet Indian FM

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani politicians called on visiting Indian External Minister S M Krishna here on Friday.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) delegation was the first who met with Krishna followed by ANP delegation.

Talking to media after a meeting, MQM leader Farooque Sattar said terrorism is a regional issue and India should also come forward to meet the challenge.

He called for positive talks between Pakistan and India adding that all contentious issues including Kashmir should be discussed in the process of talks.

He said the party delegation urged the Indian minister for arrangement of the visa facility in Karachi. He said the delegation also talked over boosting bilateral trade ties and making the SAARC forum more effective. He said the Indian foreign minister denied any deadlock in the talks.

Indian External Minister invited MQM delegation to visit New Delhi. Later, a three-member delegation of ANP comprised of Haji Adeel, Hashmi Baber and Tajuddin met Krishna.

Bachchan-Balki get together to make 15-minute short-film on Indian cinema

Even as Balki puts finishing touches to the script for his third film featuring the Big B in the lead, the twosome who gave us the two extremely unconventional hits Cheeni Kum and Paa will now be getting together for a 15-minute film celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema.

While details for the project are yet to be finalized, it is understood that PVR Cinemas has commissioned 8 leading filmmakers to make 15-minute films which would all be released as one feature film in 2013 when Indian cinema celebrates a 100 years of existence.

The first director to start his film would be Balki.

Says the director, “Doing a short film with Amitji would be a special challenge for me because I’ve never done a film in that format before, and neither has he. We’ve done numerous ads and two feature films together. Now let’s see what I can do with Amitji in the 15 minutes that we’ll be provided.”

Balki says another film with the Big B, no matter what its duration was imperative. “I was beginning to get withdrawal symptoms. That man is addictive. Once you work with him, there’s no way you can resist working with him over and over again.”

While the challenge of creating a 15-minute full and comprehensive film replete with a plot and a background score will be taken up by Balki in the pre-winter months, at the end of the year, he’ll start his third feature film with Mr. Bachchan. Apparently, it would be the Big B’s most intensely romantic film since Yash Chopra’s Kabhi Kabhie in 1975.
And no, this time there would be no Abhishek Bachchan.

Sana asks Taseer to accept his challenge

LAHORE: Punjab’s Law Minster Rana Sanaullah has said that leveling allegations and blame-game have become a lifestyle of Governor Salman Taseer and only God can help him mend his way.

In a statement issued from Lahore, he said: “The governor has started hurling allegations instead of responding to my challenge.”

“Still 48 hours are still left in the challenge I have given to Salman Taseer,” he said.

The provincial minister said the PML-N has introduced a self-accountability system, under which it took action against its own members.

Sanaullah had said on Wednesday that status of Governor Taseer was not more than a Toilet Paper after the 18th Amendment.

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