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Yashraj Productions is making its debut on a small screen but just like films their TV show has all the star power as well. The numero uno banner of Bollywood is coming up with a show called Rishta.com, apparently, a comedy series which will show a matrimony office through which couples meet. YRF has tapped all their loyalists including Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta, Uday Chopra, Tabu and Riteish Deshmukh to make an appearance on their show but opening the curtains will be biggest Khan of them all, Aamir Khan. According to reports, Aamir has agreed to be a part of YRF’s new show and the main reasons for his nod is the fact that it’s very close to real life. The perfectionist star's inclusion also comes as a surprise as the banner has always flaunted SRK to be their lucky mascot. Industry sources indicate that it’s going to be big indeed, however, the details of Aamir’s role on the show haven’t been divulged as yet.

(CNN) -- Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has been called "The King of Hearts" by many of his countrymen, referring to what they believe are his compassionate attempts to reform his ultra-conservative kingdom. He used his power Monday to overturn a criminal court sentence of 60 lashes and a two-year travel ban imposed on female journalist Rosanna al-Yami. Under the travel ban, she could not have left Saudi Arabia. Al-Yami was sentenced for her work on an episode of the television show "A Thick Red Line" that featured a Saudi man who bragged about sexual escapades. The controversial show explores social taboos. It is carried by the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp., for which al-Yami works as a coordinator and guest booker. "King Abdullah's swift revocation of this punishment sends an important notice to the Saudi judicial system that it should not go after journalists for exercising free speech," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director for Human Right...

SRI NAGAR: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought to reach out to the Pakistan government by saying that it was the desire of India and the people of Pakistan to live in peace.Addressing a gathering in Anantnag before flagging off a train service between south and north of Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister, however, underlined that Pakistan needed to curb terrorism."For a productive dialogue it is essential that terrorism must be brought under control," the prime minister said."I strongly believe that the majority of the people in Pakistan seek good neighbourly and cooperative relations between India and Pakistan. They seek a permanent peace. This is our view as well," he said.He said India was ready to discuss humanitarian "and other issues" with the Pakistani government.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 BERLIN: German lawmakers on Wednesday formally re-elected Angela Merkel for a second four-year term as chancellor, this time at the head of a new centre-right coalition.In general elections on September 27, Merkel, 55, was able to ditch her previous partners, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), in favour of a tie-up of her conservatives with the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP)."I accept the result and thank you for your trust," she said, as lawmakers applauded and presented her with bouquets of flowers in the main chamber of the Reichstag parliament building.Out of the 612 MPs present in Germany's lower house on Wednesday, the Bundestag, 323 voted in favour of Merkel, with 285 against and four abstentions. Her Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the FDP hold 332 seats.The new government has pledged to make Germany, Europe's biggest economy, emerge from the global recession in better shape than before the financial crisis sent it into it...

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 JERUSALEM: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to the Middle East on Saturday in an attempt to help peacemaking efforts, Israeli and Palestinian radio stations reported on Wednesday.It will be Clinton's second visit to the region since U.S. President Barack Obama took office in January. A senior U.S. envoy, George Mitchell, has been shuttling between Israeli and Palestinian leaders every few weeks.Asked about the reports on Israel Radio and Voice of Palestine radio, an Israeli official would only say: "Israel is preparing to receive Secretary of State Clinton on the weekend."In the West Bank city of Ramallah, a Palestinian official said a schedule for a Clinton visit had not been received yet.The U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv had no immediate comment.Mitchell was expected to fly in on Thursday and stay on into next week, said an official involved in the planning.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 CAPE CANAVERAL: Bad weather was interfering with NASA's attempt to launch a new, experimental rocket for the second day in a row early Wednesday.An estimated 154 lightning strikes were reported within a five-mile radius of the launch pad overnight. Launch controllers were retesting the Ares I-X rocket systems to make sure nothing was damaged. The extra work delayed Wednesday morning's liftoff. NASA had until noon to get the rocket flying.Tuesday's launch attempt was thwarted by clouds and wind. More of the same was expected Wednesday.The Ares I-X is a precursor to the rockets NASA hopes to launch with astronauts to the International Space Station and, ultimately, the moon. The White House may scrap it, however, in favor of other rockets and destinations.NASA has invested $445 million in the test.The first-stage booster will be recovered from the ocean for analysis.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 TOKYO: The Japanese eyewear company behind Sarah Palin's designer glasses has come up with a high-tech solution for obsessive video-gamers and bookworms whose eyes dry out from lack of blinking.Masunaga Optical Manufacturing Co. Ltd. said Tuesday its "Wink Glasses" -- retailing for 40,000 yen (430 dollars) -- were an answer to the ocular dehydration caused for instance by prolonged computer use.When a sensor detects that the wearer has not blinked for more than five seconds, the glasses "fog up" by gradually making a liquid crystal display over one eye turn opaque.A simple blink clears the lens again.Masunaga, based in the central Japanese city of Fukui, has enjoyed a boost in sales since Palin burst to international prominence last year as the Republicans' vice presidential pick in the United States.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 SYDNEY: A giant shark that could be up to 20 feet long has sent shockwaves across Australian beaches after a great white was nearly bitten in half.A stunning picture shows a 10 feet predator thrashing about with two massive chunks missing on either side of its body, off the Queensland coast.Experts said its rival may be 20 feet long, judging by the size of the huge bites. The great white was savaged after it got snared on a drum line — a baited hook attached to a buoy — near North Stradbroke Island, east of Brisbane.The wounded creature was still alive when a crew hauled it onto a boat, close to Deadman's Beach. "It certainly opened up my eyes. I mean the shark that was caught is a substantial shark in itself," Queensland Fisheries' Jeff Krause said while talking to a local newspaper.Swimmers have been warned to stay out of the water near the island.The attack also worried many at a nearby tourist Mecca: Surfers Paradise, south of Brisbane...

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 WASHINGTON: Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of the embattled Afghan president and a suspected drug trafficker, has been on the CIA payroll for most of the past eight years, The New York Times reported Tuesday. The US spy agency pays Karzai for a variety of services, the newspaper said, such as fielding recruits for an Afghan paramilitary force operating at the CIA's direction in and around his home city of Kandahar, a Taliban stronghold. He also helps the CIA contact and sometimes meet Taliban followers.Karzai, who is said to have ties to Afghanistan's lucrative illegal opium trade, has a "wide-ranging" relationship with the CIA, the Times said, citing US officials.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 LONDON: British authorities say the fossilized skull of a giant sea monster has been found off England's southern coast.The fossil came from a pliosaur, a ferocious predator that lived in the oceans 150 million years ago.The skull was discovered in Dorset by a collector and measures 2.4 meters (8 feet) in length. The discovery was announced Tuesday.Scientists believe the creature would have been about 16 meters (52 feet) long.David Martill, a palaeontologist from the University of Portsmouth, says pliosaurs had short necks and huge, crocodile-like heads with powerful jaws and a set of razor-sharp teeth.He said they used paddle-like limbs to propel their bodies through the water and were generally carnivores.The skull will be put on display in a Dorset museum.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 KABUL: Gunmen with automatic weapons and suicide vests stormed a guest house used by U.N. staff in the heart of the Afghan capital early Wednesday, killing 11 people including six U.N staff officials said. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility, saying it was meant as an assault on the upcoming presidential election.Later, a rocket slammed into the grounds of the luxury Serena Hotel, which is favored by many foreigners. The device failed to explode but filled the lobby with smoke, forcing guests and employees to flee to the basement, according to an Afghan witness who asked that his name not be used for security reasons. U.N. spokesman Adrian Edwards said six U.N. staff were killed and nine other U.N. employees were injured in the assault, which began about dawn in the Shar-e-Naw area of the city. Guests scurried from the building during the assault, and flames were seen on the roof as smoke billowed out and over the city. Afghan police official Abdul Gh...

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 OSLO: A man has been arrested in Norway trying to smuggle two dozen snakes and geckos into the country by hiding them under his clothes. Customs agent Helge Breilid said Monday the 22-year-old Norwegian citizen was apprehended in the southern town of Kristiansand after getting off a ferry from Hirtshals, Denmark. He said the man had 14 royal pythons and 10 albino leopard geckos under his clothes.Breilid said the non-venomous snakes — the smallest species in the python family — were hidden in stockings duct-taped to the man's abdomen. The geckos were in boxes taped to his thighs.Customs officials found the reptiles, which are not endangered, Sunday during a search following the discovery of a tarantula in one of the man's bags.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 KABUL: Six foreigners among nine have been killed and another five wounded in an attack on a Kabul guesthouse used by staff of the United Nations, an Afghan official said Wednesday.The United Nations confirmed earlier that six UN staff members staying at the guesthouse were killed. "Three suicide bombers have been killed during the police operation, they were armed suicide bombers," said Zemarai Bashary, spokesman for the interior ministry."Unfortunately six foreigners have been killed, five foreigners have been wounded and three suicide bombers have been killed," he told media. He had no other details. An Afghan soldier by the site of the attack, in a busy shopping district near Kabul's Butcher Street, said four men and one woman were among the dead. One police officer and one intelligence officer had also been killed, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.Six foreigners were among nine killed and five others wounded in the att...

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 KABUL: All three terrorists have been killed who attacked and captured a United Nation guesthouse in Afghanistan. According to Geo News, Afghan officials said that all three terrorists who captured a UN guesthouse here today were killed and the building has been cleared. The attackers were wearing suicide jackets, sources added.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 KABUL: The Taliban claimed responsibility Wednesday for a fatal attack in central Kabul, saying it was the "first step" in a campaign of violence aimed at disrupting an upcoming presidential election run-off. At least three UN staff members were among the dead following the attack on a guesthouse in a busy shopping and hotel district of central Kabul, a UN official said earlier. "We claim responsibility," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed told media by phone."This is the first step, as we have warned that we will disrupt the second round of the elections," he said, referring to the November 7 run-off of the presidential election.Speaking from an undisclosed location, he said three militants wearing explosives-packed suicide vests and armed with automatic weapons were involved in the raid. The attack began at around 5:30 am (0100 GMT). Police said at least one of the attackers had been killed, and several police officers were ...

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 KABUL: Gunmen attacked a guest house used by U.N. staff in the Afghan capital of Kabul early Wednesday, killing at least seven people including three U.N. staff, officials said. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility, saying it was meant as an assault on the upcoming presidential election. Heavy gunfire reverberated through the streets shortly after dawn and a large plume of smoke rose over the city following the attack in the Shar-e-Naw district. Kabul police Chief Abdul Rahman said seven people were killed, including some attackers. U.N. spokesman Adrian Edwards confirmed that three U.N. staff was among the dead and one was seriously wounded. He said 20 U.N. staff were known to be registered there but he was unsure whether all were there at the time of the attack. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to foreign news agency, saying three militants with suicide vests, grenades and machine guns carr...

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 BEIJING: A troupe of Chinese Michael Jackson impersonators grabbed their crotches and moonwalked for hundreds of screaming fans in Beijing as a documentary of his final concert rehearsals opened here. Fans wearing single white gloves and clutching posters of the late pop star shrieked as the lookalikes danced in unison to hits such as "Thriller" and "Beat It" outside the central Beijing cinema where the film was screened at midnight Tuesday. "I came here from Shanxi province to pay my respect to Michael Jackson. I admire him," state news agency quoted high school student Bai Bin as saying. Another diehard Chinese fan, 60-year-old Zhao Min, said Jackson's music was "full of vitality". "I love his moonwalk very much," Zhao said before the midnight screening of "This Is It", a two-hour documentary culled from more than 100 hours of never-before-seen footage of rehearsals for a series of concerts i...

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 KABUL: Afghan forces exchanged gun fire with a group of militants holed up inside a U.N. guest house in the centre of Kabul on Wednesday, police said. "There are five or six terrorists inside," said Waheed Sadiqi, a policeman at the scene. "The attack is inside a U.N. guest house."

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama renewed sanctions on Sudan Tuesday, a week after unveiling a new policy of pressure and incentives toward the Khartoum government aimed at settling the simmering conflict. "The crisis constituted by the actions and policies of the government of Sudan... has not been resolved," Obama said in a message to Congress about the one-year extension of sanctions. "These actions and policies are hostile to US interests and pose a continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States."The sanctions restrict US trade with and investment in Sudan, freezes the Sudanese government assets in the United States, and bans transactions with individuals and entities linked to the conflict in Darfur. They are part of a revised US policy that seeks to ensure the country does not become a "safe haven for terrorists" and that a peace deal to end a 22-year civil ...

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 WASHINGTON – Sami Ibrahim: The handsome alluring amount of money has been allocated in US defense bill for Taliban over withdrawal of resistance against allied forces in Afghanistan, Geo news reported on Tuesday.The chairman of US Senate Armed Committee (USSAC) Senator Carl Levin has said a new Article has been made part of US defense bill, allocating money for Taliban to lay down arms and surrender to US-led allied forces in Afghanistan.According to this freshly inducted Article, a new Iraq-liking program will be commenced in Afghanistan, which will be aimed at Taliban-based militants to remake them productive part of society.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 KABUL: The biggest killer of U.S. soldiers — claimed eight more American lives Tuesday, driving the U.S. death toll to a record level for the third time in four months as President Barack Obama nears a decision on a new strategy for the troubled war.The homemade bombs, also called improvised explosive devices or IEDs, are responsible for between 70 percent and 80 percent of the casualties among U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan and have become a weapon of "strategic influence," said Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz in Washington.The attacks Tuesday followed one of the deadliest days for the U.S. military operation in Afghanistan — grim milestones likely to fuel the debate in the United States over whether the conflict is worth the sacrifice.Obama has nearly finished gathering information on whether to send tens of thousands more American forces to quell the deepening insurgency, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. A meeting Friday with the Jo...

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 LONDON: Launching the 10th British Hajj delegation here on Tuesday, the UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband praised the contributions of the Muslim community in the progress and development of the country, pledging dispensation of all possible facilities for British Hajj pilgrims, Geo news reported on Tuesday.He appreciated Islamic values for compassion, equality and empathy and said the role of British Muslims in various fields of British life cannot be overlooked. He spoke of the diversity within the Muslim communities living in the UK and said though they may have come from different Muslim backgrounds, yet they are united by bonds of brotherhood and tolerance and mutual respect as enshrined in the Islamic teachings. Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan and diplomats from other Muslim countries based in the British capital were also present at the occasion. The Foreign Secretary said the UK has been sending Hajj delegation for a number...

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 PESHAWAR/Pakistan: The death toll of the blast occurred in Meena Bazar Peshawar has climbed to 89, hospital sources said. More then 200 people injured in the blast.According to reports, three persons have been rescued from the rubbles of the buildings collapsed after the explosion. The injured have been shifted to Lady Reading Hospital and other hospitals where emergency has been announced. The children and women are also among the wounded. Some of the injured reported in a critical condition. The administration of Lady Reading Hospital has appealed for blood donation. The blast shattered windowpanes of nearby buildings and created panic among the people. The charred bodies have been recovered from the blast site as several persons still trapped under the rubbles. A nearby mosque Umme Habiba has been destroyed in the explosion. Police have cordoned off the area as rescue operation is on the blast site. President Asif Ali Zardari has expressed his heartfelt g...

Tuesday, October 27, 2009 DOHA: The eight best tennis stars of the world will be seen in action here in the WTA Tennis Championship, which is beginning today.The championship being held in Doha, a city of Qatar, is not a Grand Slam but its importance is considered equivalent to a Grand Slam event.The tennis season will be ended with this event.Other tennis contests are held on the knockout basis but this event is played like round robin league.As last year, the competitors have been divided into two groups named for the colors of the Qatari flag.The White group comprises number one seed Dinara Safina, number four seed Caroline Wozniacki, number six seed Victoria Azarenka and number eight seed Jelena Jankovic. The Maroon group is made up of number two seed Serena Williams, number three seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, number five seed Elena Dementieva and number seven seed Venus Williams.