Pakistani tribesman to sue CIA over drone deaths

PESHAWAR: A Pakistani tribesman is to sue the CIA for 500 million dollars after his son and brother were killed in America’s covert drone war against Al-Qaeda, his lawyer said Monday.

Karim Khan from North Waziristan, the district on the Afghan border where the US campaign has stepped up in recent months, claimed his house had been hit by US missiles on December 31, 2009.

“That drone attack killed my son, my brother and a local man. We are not terrorists, we are common citizens,” he told a news conference where he and his lawyer Mirza Shehzad Akbar announced his plan to sue.

Pakistani intelligence officials said at the time that four militants were killed in the US missile strike in the Mir Ali area.

“According to Islamic law the punishment for blood is blood. If I have the means, I will take revenge for this attack,” said Khan.

“We need

New Harry Potter movie breaks box office records

LOS ANGELES: The new Harry Potter movie has broken box office records around the world, taking some 330 million dollars globally in one of the biggest weekends of all time, its makers and estimates said Sunday.

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One” made 125.1 million dollars in the United States and scored Britain’s biggest ever opening weekend with 28 million dollars, said Warner Brothers, the studio behind the franchise.

In Australia the movie made 15 million dollars while it earned 12 million in Russia — both the highest opening weekends of the Potter series, which will climax with the Part II of “Deathly Hallows” next year.

“This is truly a motion picture phenomenon, and it is just the beginning for the penultimate release of the franchise,” said Dan Fellman, head of US distribution.

Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, head of international

Slow US economy hits states’ smoking cessation programs

WASHINGTON: The slack US economy is forcing states to cut funding for smoking prevention programs, and the cutbacks could stall efforts to get Americans to stop lighting up, activists said Tuesday.

“The states have cut their tobacco prevention funding to the lowest level since 1999,” Peter Fisher, vice president of the Washington-based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK), told AFP.

US states have allocated 517 million dollars for tobacco prevention and cessation programs in the 2011 fiscal year, the CTFK says.

That’s down from 569 million dollars a year earlier and 28 percent less than was allocated in 2008, according to CTFK, which is preparing a report due out next week on anti-smoking efforts.

Much of the funding for states’ smoking cessation and prevention programs comes from a 1998 legal settlement under which several of the biggest US tobacco

Stunt show ‘Jackass’ in 3D tackles box office

LOS ANGELES: The latest comedy stunt film “Jackass” toppled the Facebook movie from its two-week reign over North American movie theatres, debuting with 50 million dollars in ticket sales, preliminary figures showed Sunday.

The 3D movie featuring prankster Johnny Knoxville and his crew surpassed predictions with the whopping open of its third movie, 10 years after they started their daring comic antics with a show on MTV, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Appealing to a more mature crowd, spy thriller “Red” featuring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren took in 22.5 million dollars for the second spot with its tale of retired intelligence agents who get back in the game.

Facebook movie “The Social Network” fell to third place with 11,000 in ticket sales in its third week in theatres.

Disney’s “Secretariat,”

Rajnikanth’s ‘Robot’ collect record breaking 950 million rupees in opening week

MUMBAI: Indian cinema’s most expensive movie “Endhiran” (Robot), starring former bus conductor Rajinikanth, had a record opening weekend at the box office, Bollywood analysts said.

“In the opening weekend, all the three versions of Robot have together collected 950 million rupees (21 million dollars), the highest-ever in India,” said Komal Nahta, a Bollywood trade analyst.

The sci-fi fantasy adventure, made in three languages, opened in India last Friday, with sales twice that of the previous record opener — Bollywood star Salman Khan’s recent hit “Dabaang” — Nahta said.

He expects Endhiran — which cost 35 million dollars to make — to collect a further 28 million dollars from ticket sales, as reviews have been encouraging.

A month ago, Dabaang (Fearless) grossed 10.8 million dollars during its opening weekend, surpassing Aamir Khan’s mega-hit “3

India’s biggest budget movie hits screens

MUMBAI: Three years after his last blockbuster, bus conductor turned Indian film megastar Rajinikanth returned to the silver screen Friday with a movie expected to break all box-office records.

The 60-year-old’s latest film, the Tamil-language “Endhiran”, has a budget of 1.65 billion rupees (35 million dollars) according to the movie’s official website, making it the most expensive Indian film ever made.

The science-fiction fantasy thriller, which will be screened in nearly 2,000 theatres worldwide, had its first screening in India as early as 5 am, with some fans queuing through the night for tickets.

Some celebrated the release by bursting crackers, beating drums, showering the movie screen with flowers and even washing life-size posters of Rajinikanth with milk — a sign of purity.

A star of more than 150 films, Rajinikanth’s presence on screen has

Biden telephones PM Gillani, discusses flood

US Vice President Joe Biden telephones Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani as he reaffirms US support for Pakistan during flood crisis. Biden says United States is standing by Pakistan during this challenging time.
According to the statement issued by the White House, Biden said that US government had provided 260 million dollars so far in emergency humanitarian aid, including halal meals, pre-fabricated steel bridges and other infrastructure. The statement also said that United States was now using 25 helicopters, two C-17s, and five C-130 transport aircraft to distribute supplies, and had transported 13,000 people to safety.
Biden highlighted that US is also pursuing a full-fledged diplomatic effort to encourage additional international resources to help Pakistan rebuild, while continuing immediate flood relief.
The two leaders discussed ongoing coordination as Pakistan transitions from relief to recovery efforts.

Bangladesh plans to build dams to reclaim 600sqr km land

DHAKA: Bangladesh plans to build a series of dams to reclaim 600 square kilometres (230 square miles) of land from the sea over the next five years, officials said Sunday.

The government has approved the ambitious project under which dams would be built in the Meghna estuary to connect islands and help deposit hundreds of millions of tonnes of sediment, project chief Hafizur Rahman said.

“The project would cost only 1.20 billion taka (18 million dollars). The dams will expedite sedimentations and manage the tidal system. They won’t allow loss of any sediments to the sea,” he told AFP.

“The whole process will reclaim at least 600 square kilometres of new land from the sea in just five years.”

The mighty Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers join in Bangladesh before flowing into the Bay of the Bengal.

Studies have found that the two rivers carry

UNICEF Executive Director arrives Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: UNICEF Executive Director, Anthony Lake, arrives in Pakistan Monday to visit flood-hit areas and see UNICEF operations to assist the millions of flood-affected people, especially the most vulnerable, the children and women.

On Monday, Mr Lake will travel to Charsadda district, one of the worst affected districts in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He will visit schools being used as shelters by thousands of families where UNICEF is providing safe drinking water, family health and hygiene kits and repairing sanitation systems.

The worst floods in the country’s living memory displaced over 17 million people, including 2.1 million children under five. At least 13 per cent of them are suffering from severe or moderate malnutrition, the UN said.

United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF said that it immediately needs 80 million dollars to provide emergency

PTCL employees protest continues for salary raise

Staff Report

LAHORE: Employees of Pakistan Telecommunications Corporation Limited (PTCL) are continuing their protest in Lahore for the second day; they have also indicated a country wide strike, SAMAA reported on Thursday.

Yesterday they staged a protest for a salary raise in front of the Lahore Press Club. One employee tried to burn himself in protest, but others foiled his attempt.

PTCL employees started their protest on Egerton Road and took the protest rally up to the Lahore Press Club.

Furious PTCL employees brought out a ceremonial funeral of the management; upon reaching the Press Club, they burnt it.

During the protest, one PTCL employee Abdul Ghafoor was chanting slogans against the management and beating his chest in protest. In between, he suddenly tried to burn himself but fellow protesters foiled his attempt. SAMAA

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