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Anti-Kremlin protestors were stopped Sunday by Moscow police in Moscow after being warned not to rally.

The Other Russia movement gathered in the heart of Russia to call for the resignation of the Putin government, the BBC News reported.
Moscow police had denied permission to the group to rally. The police said they told the group they would stop a protest if it were to start.

When the protestors lined the streets, plice began to arrest them and throw them into trucks, the New York Times reported.

Moscow police said they detained 90 people, one of whom was the co-leader of the group, Eduard Limonov. The movement however said that 130 of its members were detained.

Posted by dadov003 at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Shah Rukh Khan, one of Bollywood's biggest stars, is set to star in a film that exposes the misconceptions of Muslims and terrorism in a post 9/11 world.

The film, titled "I am Khan," follows six men with the Muslim surname Khan who are all targets of discrimination after the 9/11 attacks, Yahoo News reported.

The goal of the movie is to show that not all Muslims are terrorists.

"(The film) is an attempt to try and do that in an entertaining way," Khan said.

The film was written by Shibani Bhatija, a popular screenwriter in the UK, the BBC reported.

Khan is an advocate against religious fundamentalism and said he hopes this movie will bring light to the issue but will also teach viewers not to judge someone based on their looks.

Posted by dadov003 at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thai anti-government protesters in Bangkok that occupied the city's two airports, turned to police, Sunday, to ask for help.

Thai activists are protesting for the resignation of the government, which they believe to be bringing corruption to their monarchy, the BBC News reported.

The tensions have been growing between the protesters and pro-government groups. On Saturday, a grenade attack from a pro-government group left 50 of the protesters injured, the New York Times reported.

The recent attacks against the protesters have caused them to turn to the police for help. The protesters have been in negotiations with police stemming from Saturday's attack.

"We are in a negotiation process. We want to avoid any violent confrontation. We will not use weapons," police spokesman Pongsapat Pongcharoen said.

While the talks are taking place, Thai protesters are adamant that they will not budge on their stances.

Posted by dadov003 at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Nepalese teenager has been drawing crowds of thousands as he meditates and blesses the people in a Nepal village, leading them to believe he is the Buddha's reincarnate.

Ram Bahadur Bamjan, 18, was first discovered three years ago meditating in the Ratanapuri village in Nepal's Bara district. It was said by village witnesses that he did not stop meditating for six months and went without food and water, the BBC News reported.

Now, Bamjan is at it again, meditating in a nearby jungle in Ratanpur, sitting under a peepal tree with his legs crossed, all imitations of Siddhartha Gautama, the original Buddha, who Buddhists believe was born in Nepal in 560 BC.

On Friday, Bamjan silently greeted the thousands of spectators and began to bless them by tapping them on their foreheads, Yahoo News reported.

Although the villagers believe Bamjan to be a reincarnation of the Buddha, Buddhist scholars say the feat is not likely.

In the Buddhist religion, becoming the Buddha means reaching enlightenment and therefore it is the highest and final level one can achieve in reincarnation. The scholars say the Buddha cannot have another reincarnation as a Buddha.

Posted by dadov003 at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday, India celebrated as it succesfully sent their first lunar probe, Chandrayaan 1, to the moon.

"We have now successfully put our national flag on the lunar surface," said Madhavan Nair, the chairman of India's space program.

Chandrayaan 1 orbitted the moon just three weeks after it was launched in Southern India.

Russia, the US, Japan and the European Space Agency, were the only places to have landed moon probes in the past, Yahoo News reported.

The probe will chart water and ice precence, as well as map a three-dimensional atlas of the Moon, the BBC News reported.

India has set a second mission already for 2012.

Posted by dadov003 at 9:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Americans were not the only ones celebrating Barack Obama's Presidential win Tuesday, other countries also joined in on the celebration, one even declared it a holiday.

Kenya, the place Obama's father was from, declared the Thursday after election day a holiday, in honor of Obama's win, the BBC News reported.

"We the Kenyan people are immensely proud of your Kenyan roots," President Mwai Kibaki said.

Many Kenyans gathered around TVs and watched the results come Tuesday. When Obama was announced the winner, dancing and cheering ensued.

Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black President, also took part in the celebration, the Associated Press reported.

"Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place," he said in a letter of congratulations to Obama.

Although Obama was born in Hawaii and barely knew his late father, Kenyans still honor Obama's Kenyan roots

Posted by dadov003 at 1:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Japanese General was fired Friday for writing an essay which stated that Japan was not an aggressor during World War II and the U.S. was to blame for the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Gen. Toshio Tamogami, the 60-year-old chief of staff of Japan’s air force, posted his essay on a private company's website and was fired hours later by the Japanese Defense Ministry, the New York Times reported.

"It is certainly a false accusation to say that our country was an aggressor nation," Tamogami said in the essay.

The essay also said that U.S. President at the time Franklin D. Roosevelt had manipulated Japan into the war, the BBC News reported.

The Japanese government said Tamogami's views do not represent the views of Japan.. “It was improper for a person in his capacity as air force chief of staff to publicly state a view clearly different from the government’s,� Yasukazu Hamada, The Japanese defense minister said.

Posted by dadov003 at 5:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Japanese woman was arrested Wednesday, after she virtually killed her online husband in a role-play game, who divorced her without her knowledge.

The woman, 43, of Miyazaki, was taken by police 620 miles to Sapporo, the city where her online husband lives, BBC News reported.

After learning that her online husband was divorcing her, the woman logged into his account on the popular virtual reality game Maplestory. She then proceeded to kill her online-husband's character.

"I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry," the woman told investigators.

Police said the woman did not try any real-life retaliation against the man.

The woman faces charges for illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data, the Star Tribune reported.

If convicted, the woman could face up to five years in prison and a fine of $5,000.

Posted by dadov003 at 3:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A 35-year-old Indian woman beheaded a man Thursday, after allegedly trying to rape her, Lucknow police said.

The woman was cutting grass in her field when she said the man attacked her from behind,BBC News reported.

The woman told a BBC worker that she used her sickle to behead the man.

"He tried to rape me and I hit back with the grass-cutting weapon to save my honour," she said.

Ram Bharose, a village police officer, arrested the woman Thursday after getting news from various villagers that a woman covered in blood was walking around with a head, MSNBC reported.

Bharose did point out that the woman had bite marks and bruises on her body.

The woman said she did not regret killing the man.

Posted by dadov003 at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After making a deal with the U.S. to disable all of its nuclear facilities, North Korea was removed from the terrorism sponsor list Saturday.

The Bush Administration created he deal with hopes to rescue a nuclear deal that was seemingly close to failing, the New York Times reported.

This deal came after North Korea agreed to fully disable its plutonium and other nuclear facilities and agreed to have regular U.S. inspections to ensure the process is happening.

A spokesman for North Korea's foreign ministry said North Korea was welcoming its removal from the list. "We have decided to resume the disabling of nuclear facilities in Yongbyon and to allow US and International Atomic Energy Agency monitors to carry out their work again," he said.

Recently, North Korea said it would reassemble its facilities as a result of the U.S. not acknowledging a removal from the list, BBC News reported.

This act from the U.S. has received some criticism from other countries. Japan, who referred to the decision as "extremely regrettable," is especially wary.

The U.S. however is optimistic about their decision and sees it as a step forward.

Posted by dadov003 at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Two days after Bollywood workers went on strike Wednesday, a deal was reached achieving higher pay and better working conditions.

According to Bollywood Unions, some of the problems included excessive work days and lack of compensation for work, the BBC news reported.

In some cases, workers complained they had not received pay for up to six months of work. Others say that filming of movies would extend past 30 hours.

All of these are violations of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was drafted a year earlier. The MoU ensures certain benefits to Bollywood workers, such as a 15% guaranteed pay increase to workers each year. There have been controversies surrounding the MoU since its signing.

After just four hours of talking on the phone with producers, Dinesh Chaturvedithe, the head of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FIWCE), said the problem was solved and the strike was over, Yahoo News reported.

Posted by dadov003 at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Somali pirates captured a Ukrainian ship Saturday, carrying 21 crew members and military supplies and demanded a $35 million ransom for their return.

The Ukrainian ship was carrying 33 T-72 battle tanks, along with other military supplies heading for Kenya, the BBC News reported. The ship's crew of 21 are also being held hostage.

The Kenyan military has not yet made contact with the pirates who seized the ship, the New York Times reported.

Januna Ali Jama, one of the Pirates involved in the seizing, said they are willing to negotiate with the Kenyan government, but warned other countries not to interfere or try any rescue missions.

"We are warning France and others who are thinking of carrying out a rescue that we have the power to reach them wherever they are," he said. "We are demanding a random of at least $35 million."

A spokesperson for the Kenyan government said they do not negotiate with terrorists, but will continue to try and reclaim the ship.

The Somali waters are considered to be some of the most dangerous in the world, as this year alone, pirates have seized over 30 vessels. Each time they have requested large ransoms, and often, they have received them.

Posted by dadov003 at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to the BBC, A Muslim extremist group going by the name of "Indian Mujahideen," have killed atleast 18 people and have injured many in five bombings Saturday in New Delhi.

Shortly before the bombings occured, various Indian news stations had received an email from the group stating their intentions. "In the name of Allah, Indian Mujahideen strikes back once more. ... Do whatever you can. Stop us if you can," said the message, according to Yahoo News. The message also allegedly noted that India was about to receive "the message of death."

The Indian Mujahideen group is reportedly responsible for other bombings that have occured in India since May, which have taken the lives of over one hundred Indians.

Though the bombs were believed to be small, they were set up in highly crowded public places, such as parks and shopping centers. This has been an ongoing pattern for the extremist group.

"They have tried this in other places before and they have not succeeded and they will not succeed here. They will not scare us," said Arti Mehra, the Mayor of New Delhi.

Bombings in India have increased in recent years and authorities are finding it difficult to prevent such attacks.

Posted by dadov003 at 8:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)