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If you believe that modern fashion began with the rigorous Spanish couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga, who subsequently passed the force on to Emanuel Ungaro, you may shortly come over faint. For Ungaro is now under the creative directorship of one Lindsay Lohan, an actress whose many talents don’t necessarily include rigour. She was offered the gig (alongside the lesser-known but more technically qualified Spanish designer Estrella Archs) by Ungaro’s president and CEO, Mounir Moufarrige, the self-same who slotted a certain pop star’s daughter into the top job at Chloé a decade ago. True, her qualifications are of the pragmatic variety: she’s a shopaholic (“you should see my hotel room,” she told me when I viewed the collection before the show, “it’s a mess, with clothes everywhere”). But she’s reasonably clued up about quality and fabric. And she’s stylish. This season she’s chanelling Balmain, “but it’s so expensive”. Well, she won’t need to shop there any more. Inevitably, some of that...

Tuesday, October 06, 2009 ATHENS: The New Democracy Party of Greece's Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has conceded defeat in the general elections, handing power to the opposition Socialist party. With 87 percent of votes counted, the PanHellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) party is leading with 44 percent of the ballot, compared with New Democracy's 34 percent, according to figures announced by the Interior Ministry late on Sunday. The margin, which indicates a victory for PASOK, is the largest seen in a Greek vote in decades. This could mean 160 seats for the Socialists in Greece's 300-seat Parliament, while the ruling party would receive only 93 seats, officials said, CNN reported.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009 WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama called up Greece's next prime minister, George Papandreou, to congratulate him on his success in Sunday's elections, the White House said.Obama "wished all Greeks well who participated in the democratic process. The president reiterated the importance of the US-Greece relationship and said he looks forward to working with Mr Papandreou", according to a statement released by the White House. Papandreou's Socialist party won 44 percent of the votes, or 160 of 300 parliamentary seats, according to the interior ministry, which had counted 87 percent of the votes. Papandreou's victory was seen as an expression of voters' discontent over the conservative government's handling of the economic crisis and corruption. His father and grandfather also served as prime ministers in Greece over past decades.

Monday, October 05, 2009 LOS ANGELES: Due to high winds and rising temperatures, several new wildfire flared up across Southern California, threatening households and public security, authorities said. Among the fires, the so-called Guiberson fire in Ventura County near Los Angeles is the biggest. It has prompted the closures of two elementary schools and a community college, said Mike Mohler, a spokesman for California Fire Department. The Guiberson fire is expected to grow to more than 10,000 acres (4,050 hectares) later Wednesday due to low humidity and strong winds, said Mohler. Firefighters are expecting temperatures around the 100-degree mark as they continue to beef up efforts to control the blaze, which is 10 percent contained, Kaufman said. About 600 firefighters are battling the blaze. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Ventura County Sheriff's Department officials have said it appeared to have been started by spontaneous combustion of manure from a ...

Monday, October 05, 2009 BANGKOK: A passenger train derailed in Thailand early Monday killing eight people and injuring scores of others, police said. The overnight train, travelling from southern Trang province to Bangkok, came off the tracks 13 kilometers (eight miles) south of the coastal resort town of Hua Hin, they told foreign news agency. "From the information we have now, seven were found dead at the scene. They were all Thais. Forty-five people were sent for treatment at two nearby hospitals," said Police Colonel Krisna Jamsaweng, chief of Hua Hin's police station. He said they were investigating the cause of the incident.

Monday, October 05, 2009 NEW DELHI: Floods triggered by heavy rains have killed more then 200 people in the past five days in southern India, destroyed standing crops and left tens of thousands of people homeless, officials said.At least 167 people have been killed in Karnataka, where several rivers burst their mud embankments following heavy rains and swept away houses.Authorities said vast areas of agricultural land, including sugarcane and paddy fields were under water in the state.More than 100,000 people were homeless and television pictures showed hundreds of people waving at helicopters carrying relief materials from rooftops. Some were seen clinging on to tree branches.In the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh, at least 33 people have died and more than 1.8 million people have been affected by the floods, officials said.

Monday, October 05, 2009 NEW YORK: The Obama administration says it is committed to diplomacy with Iran, but is reviewing the possibility of imposing enhanced sanctions. US officials stress they will not wait forever for Tehran to come clean about its nuclear ambitions.The White House says the latest round of multilateral talks on the Iranian nuclear dispute began well. Officials say they are now waiting to see if Iran follows through on the pledges made Thursday in Geneva.US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice says the onus is on Tehran to adhere to the commitments it has made."If it does not, time is short. We are not interested in talking for talking's sake," said Rice. "We are not interested in interminable negotiations. They have to demonstrate conclusively that their program is for peaceful purposes."During an appearance on the NBC television program Meet the Press, Rice declined to discuss specific deadlines.

Monday, October 05, 2009 NEW DELHI: To beef up air defence capabilities and react in quickest possible time along the international border with Pakistan, the Indian Air Force has decided to station all its MiG 29 squadrons at Adampur, the second largest Air Force base in the country. The Adampur Air Force station, which is also known as home of MiG 29s, already has two frontline fighter squadrons and will see another squadron moving from Jamnagar in Gujarat soon. “We consider ourselves to be a strategic air power establishment of the IAF in the western sector, ever ready for operations. We are fully geared up to operate in any given time frame like any other Air Force stations of the country,” said Air Commodore HS Arora, Air Officer Commanding of the Adampur air base. To extend the service life of MiG 29 by 25 to 40 years, the RAC MiG aircraft corporation signed a contract with the Ministry of Defence to upgrade over 60 fighters in service with the IAF since the 1980s.

Monday, October 05, 2009 LA PAZ: A group of disabled people in Bolivia are taking extreme measures to demand financial assistance from the government.A Bolivian television network showed at least half a dozen protesters, wheelchairs included, suspended from the Urubo Bridge, near the city of Santa Cruz.A second group buried themselves in sand by the Pirai River that runs under the bridge.According to Bolivian media reports, they are demanding an annual allowance of 3,000 Bolivian pesos (£255) from central government.This protest is the latest in a series staged over the last few months calling for more financial assistance, President Evo Morales' government claims that giving an annual allowance to every disabled person in Bolivia was not "sustainable".But his vice-president, Alvaro Garcia Linera told a Bolivian radio station that 40 million pesos (£3.4 million) would be used to improve health centres, infrastructure and housing earmarked for the disabled.

Monday, October 05, 2009 NEW DELHI: A 24-year-old airhostess with Air India has alleged that she was beaten up and molested by the pilot and a co-pilot on the Sharjah-Lucknow-Delhi flight on Saturday.In her complaint to the police the victim claimed she was “abused and pushed” by the two pilots inside the cockpit when she refused to grant them “personal favours”.The incident took place in the cockpit of the Air India flight that was coming from Sharjah in UAE, the complaint said. The flight arrived in Delhi around 2 am on Saturday. The victim lodged a complaint at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) after the flight landed. The airhostess was then sent for medical examination where it was confirmed that she had “simple injuries”. A case of hurt, molestation and outraging the modesty of a woman has been registered at the Palam Airport police station. Police said the victim airhostess was traumatised after the incident.

Sunday, October 04, 2009 MANILA: A 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck off the Philippines Sunday, seismologists said, but at 630 kilometres (390 miles) below the seabed it was considered extremely deep and no destructive tsunami was expected.The quake hit in the Moro Gulf, off Mindanao, at 6:58 pm (1058 GMT), but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries and the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said it did not expect a destructive tsunami.The epicentre was 100 kilometres southwest of Cotabato, in Mindanao, the US Geological Survey said.Asia-Pacific has in the past week been hit by earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons that have left nearly 2,000 dead.

Shane Watson's second hundred in a week sealed Champions Trophy glory for Australia as they clinched a six-wicket win over New Zealand at Centurion. Watson hit an unbeaten 105, getting to his landmark and securing victory and a successful title defence with consecutive sixes off Jeetan Patel, following his man-of-the-match performance against England three days ago. Ricky Ponting's Australians, who have been in imperious one-day form since losing the Ashes, were rocked by the fall of two early wickets in pursuit of a 201-run target. But they got home in the 46th over thanks largely to Watson's 128-run stand with Cameron White. Watson crashed seven sixes in his 136 not out against Andrew Strauss' team and showed the advantage of being able to clear the rope once again, doing so four times on the same surface used for Friday's semi-final. Australia crawled along at under three runs per over until Watson pulled Ian Butler into the advertising boards at midwicket and f...