Timeline Refresh
"We can confirm that Reeva Steenkamp has passed away. We are in communication with people on the scene, please wait for official statements, as there is too much speculation at this moment in time. We will provide further information as soon as we are able to provide accurate information as to what transpired. Our thoughts and prayers go to the Steenkamp family, who have asked to have their privacy respected during this difficult time, everyone is simply devastated. She was the kindest, sweetest human being; an angel on earth and will be sorely missed." -- Guardian.
Jay Cartwright: If this Oscar Pistorius thing goes to court he wont have a leg to stand on
Aidan McLaren: Pistorius making up for his lack of legs by clearly being very well armed
Ethan: I bet Pistorius shot his wife because she bought him shoes for Valentine's....
At the end of trade, TCS commanded a market value of Rs 2,83,209 crore, the highest for any listed company in the country. This is about Rs 6,523 crore more than RIL's market value of Rs 2,76,686 crore.
The company is said to be in early discussions with the Meredith Corporation to put most of Time Inc's magazines -- including People, InStyle and Real Simple -- into a separate, publicly traded company that would also include Meredith's titles, such as Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies' Home Journal and Family Circle. Read
"I don't know nothing. It will be extremely obnoxious and rude to speculate. I don't know the facts," Henke Pistorius told SABC radio news.
"If anyone makes a statement, it will have to be Oscar. He's sad at the moment."
He added that his heart goes out to the victim's family. Earlier, a convoy of about 10 cars arrived at the Boschkop police station in Pretoria following the shooting. Pistorius's sister, Aimee, was among those arriving at the station. Police have opened a case of murder.
The South African police to oppose any bail application by Oscar Pistorius at the court appearance over murder charge.
According to the Beeld newspaper, the athlete known as the "Blade Runner" was arrested early today following the shooting at his home in an upscale area near the South African capital.
Police spokesman Katlego Mogale said a "26-year-old man had been taken into custody for shooting a 30-year-old woman".
Mogale could not confirm if the suspect was Pistorius, saying his identity would be revealed only once he appears in court later on Thursday.
The deceased was shot four times and died on the scene."
The deceased, South African model Reeva Steenkamp, was the girlfriend of the accused. Steenkamp, a former FHM model and law graduate, was the face of Avon cosmetics in her native South Africa.
She did not live to see the day. More
"Bribes are a phenomenon that exists and it's useless to deny the existence of these necessary situations," Berlusconi said in a televised interview. "These are not crimes. We're talking about paying a commission to someone in that country. Why, because those are the rules in that country," the former premier was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
In February 2010, India had inked the deal to acquire the 12 three-engine AW-101 helicopters from AgustaWestland for IAF's elite Communication Squadron, which ferries the President, PM and other VVIPs. The deal came under the scanner of Italian agencies after allegations of kickback given in India surfaced.
According to the report filed by Italian investigators in an Italian court, the middlemen had agreed for a 7.5 per cent commission in the Rs 3600 crore for 12 VVIP helicopters.
Finally, the kickbacks were to the tune of about Rs 362 crore. The payment of bribes through contracts between firms registered in Tunisia and India, was "still underway" when the scam was unearthed.
St Malachy is said to have travelled to Rome in 1139, where he experienced a vision of future popes, writing down a series of 112 cryptic phrases that described each one in turn.
The saint's final prediction 'Petrus Romanus' is now being linked to leading contender Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson.
According to Malachy's visions, 'Petrus Romanus' will be the 112th and final pope after whom it is stated that the "the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people.'
Although not part of official Catholic teaching, the Prophecy of the Popes is well known by Vatican officials and Catholic scholars.
The 'Come Away With Me' singer took the stage at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, four days after accepting her father's posthumous Grammy Award, the Daily Mail reported.
The 33-year-old singer-songwriter took the stage in a demure blue cotton dress and crooned her hits as fans packed into the venue.
Ravi Shankar passed away on December 11, five days after undergoing a heart-valve replacement surgery.
"I will be talking to the Foreign Minister of Maldives (Abdul Samad Abdullah) regarding the issue," Khurshid said. Nasheed (45) yesterday took refuge in the Indian High Commission in Male to evade arrest warrant issued by a local court in a case concerning the detention of Chief Judge of the Criminal Court during his Presidency in January last year. Sources here said that senior Indian officials are going to understand from Nasheed his future plans.
When the reporter asked Ravi if the High Command still stood by Kurien in the sex scandal issue, the Minister shot back: "Do you have anything personal against Kurien? I am sure you do. Has something happened between you and him in the past?"
The minister has apologised after a furor over the remarks.
Read more
Kurien apparently wanted to meet Gandhi in person but could not get an appointment, till today. He was learned to have stated in the letter that all allegations against him were cooked up and politically motivated. He denied any involvement in the 17-year-old case, contending that various courts had already exonerated him.
Also see the slideshow on rediff.com: Roses bloom at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
"I am sad that the accused in this is an Italian company. It seems that we have forgotten them. What we are focusing on is only what did the chief do," Singh told media here.
"The Air Chief Marshal is a distinguished retired officer. We should not casually denigrate these higher officers of the armed forces," he added.
Emphasizing that the extent of scam in Italy is bigger than in India, Singh said a thorough probe must be conducted into the entire matter so that all hidden facts are cleared and the truth comes out.
Johannesburg's Talk Radio 702 said Pistorius was understood to have shot his girlfriend in the head and arm, although the circumstances surrounding the incident were unclear. He may have mistaken her for a burglar, the radio report said.A police spokeswoman told Reuters that a woman had been found dead at the house but declined to give any more details.
Pistorius, who races wearing carbon fiber prosthetic blades after he was born without a fibula in both legs, was the first double amputee to run in the Olympics and reached the 400 semi-finals in London 2012.
Prime Minister VP Singh in 1989 brought out a parliament resolution that IB and RAW have to be made accountable to Parliament. A joint Parliament committee was set up with Jaswant Singh as Chairman with reference to bringing intelligence agencies to the Parliament control. But such moves had never taken off-in 20 years.
A bench presided over by Justice Altamas Kabir sought the response of the government to the PIL by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) seeking accountability of IB, RAW and the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) like in other democratic countries such as UK and the US.
The bench has also sought the assistance of Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati in the matter.
Also see: the slideshow on rediff.com
"Curfew is in force in some places as a precautionary measure which includes six police station areas in the city and some towns in rest of the Valley," the spokesman said.
The former head of the Indian Air Force is at the centre of the row over the AgustaWestland 101 VVIP helicopters since an Italian court named him as one of the beneficiaries of the "skyfall to windfall' bribes that Finmeccanica is alleged to have paid. Read
Well, according to a new survey, men should propose after exactly two years of dating, on a deserted beach, on Valentine's Day, the Daily mail reported.
Of the 200 polled, one in four women (22 percent) said this would be their ideal proposal situation and although it might be considered corny by some, this Thursday is still seen as the most appropriate time to ask.
If you really want to ensure that she says yes then you need to include an element of surprise (32 percent), a romantic setting (21 percent) and to get down on one knee (20 percent).
You'll need to ask her father's permission too - as one in ten women said that was a proposal essential.
He inspected the guard of honour and also met members of the Indian Cabinet. The visiting President said it was a great honour for him to visit India and thanked his Indian counterpart for extending a warm welcome to him.
"It's a great honour for me to be visiting India. I thank you (Pranab Mukherjee) President for this welcome. I am sure that this visit will lay our relationship at the best level we can hope. And we must always improve the relationship between our two countries. India is a great democracy," Hollande said.
During his visit, Hollande is expected to hold delegation level talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid besides calling on United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj.
On February 15, Hollande will deliver a lecture at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Teen Murti House. Following that, he will honour Nobel laureate and renowned economist Amartya Sen with Commandeur de la legion d'Honneur. Thereafter, the French President will visit Mumbai, where he will have a meeting with the Governor of Maharashtra and participate in a business conference.
"There is no question that North Korea constitutes a threat to the United States, to regional stability and to global security. The combination of a recent missile test combined with what apparently was this nuclear test, we believe, represents a real threat to the United States of America," Panetta told reporters at his last press conference.
"Make no mistake: The US military will take all necessary steps to meet our security commitments to the Republic of Korea and to our regional allies," he told Pentagon reporters. Panetta said the actions of the North Korea regime are undermining regional security.
AFP: Iran agreed on "some points" in talks with experts from the UN atomic watchdog in Tehran today, its lead negotiator at the meeting said, quoted by local media.
"Some differences were resolved and agreement on some issues in the modality was reached," Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, was quoted as saying after the meeting.
Soltanieh said "new proposals" had been put forward, which would be discussed at "future meetings," ISNA news agency reported.
The EU is urging members to conduct random tests to tackle a widening scandal over mislabelled horsemeat. All members should carry-out DNA tests on processed beef for traces of horsemeat for three months from 1 March, the health commissioner said.
Horsemeat should also be tested for the presence of the veterinary medicine phenylbutazone ("bute"), he added. Tonio Borg was speaking after a meeting with ministers from the UK, France and other affected countries in Brussels.
The European Union has regretted the hanging of the Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, asking India to put a moratorium on executions.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said it was with "regret" that she learned of the execution of Afzal Guru last Saturday. While recognising that "terrible murders" were committed in the attack and aware of the sufferings of the victims and their families, the EU "reiterates its principled opposition to the death penalty under all circumstances", Baroness Ashton said in a press statement.
Afzal had been on a death row during the last ten years since he was convicted in December, 2002 for playing a central role in the attack on the Parliament on December 13, 2001 that left nine people dead.
His execution at the Tihar Jail in New Delhi last Saturday comes less than three months after Ajmal Kasab, the only survivor among the perpetrators of the terror strike in Mumbai in 2008, was hanged in November.
US Secretary of State John Kerry today called for a swift, clear and strong response to North Korea's "highly provocative" nuclear test to send Iran a message that the world is serious about nonproliferation.
"North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program are a threat now to the United States of America because of what they are pursuing, specifically, as well as to global security and peace...The international community now needs to come together with a swift and clear, strong, credible response, as pledged in the UN Security Council Resolution 2087," Kerry told reporters.
"So my message about this is really simple, that this is not only about the DPRK (Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea -- or North Korea) and its continued flaunting of its obligations under three separate UN Security Council resolutions; this is about proliferation," he said, adding that this is also about Iran.
"They're linked. You connect the dots. It is important for the world to have credibility with respect to our nonproliferation efforts. Just as it is impermissible for North Korea to pursue this kind of reckless effort, so we have said it is impermissible with respect to Iran.
BBC: Pope Benedict XVI has celebrated his last Mass as Pope in St Peter's Basilica in Rome following the surprise announcement that he is to retire. He presided over an Ash Wednesday ceremony marking the start of the Roman Catholic Church's season of Lent.
It came two days after the surprise announcement that the 85-year-old was to retire at the end of the month.
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