ONE NEWS

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 MEXICO CITY: Mexico, the epicenter of last year's swine flu outbreak, has received less than half of the 30 million vaccine doses it ordered last year, the country's health secretary said Tuesday. Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said Mexico has struggled to secure enough doses because there are no factories in Mexico producing the vaccine. Meanwhile, some countries have started to sell surplus swine flu vaccines. We had to wait in the second line to buy the vaccine, because obviously, the first shipments were for the countries that make the vaccine,'' he said. After the first case of the H1N1 virus in the world was confirmed in Mexico last April, drug makers began preparing vaccines to control a potential pandemic.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 PARIS: The French capital braced for a snow and sleet storm Wednesday, banning lorries from motorways and warning of massive flight cancellations as icy conditions made for treacherous travel around northern Europe. French road authorities issued a ban against heavy commercial road traffic starting at midnight until noon on Wednesday on motorways in eight departments around Paris due to a new winter storm brewing. Conditions were expected to be especially hazardous because of icy sleet. Some 58 departments in northern and central France have been placed under an orange alert by Meteo France. At Paris's main airport, aviation authorities warned that the storm may force airlines to cancel up to half of their flights, with disruption compounded by a strike. The state civil aviation safety authority DGAC "has asked airlines to cancel from tomorrow morning at least 30 percent of their flights from Roissy (Charles de Gaulle airport), which coul...

Sunday, January 10, 2010 MUMBAI: Shahrukh Khan has signed Kareena Kapoor for his first ever superhero film ‘Ra. 1’ and now reports reveal that the movie will also have an animated version of her. Yes, sassy Bebo that too animated. Sounds amazing! This is going to happen for the first time that a Bollywood actress will get an animated avatar. So it has to be seen how she looks in her new computer-designed character. As a source tells about this to daily, “Shahrukh plays a video-game designer in the film. He’s obsessed with their animated characters. When he falls in love with Kareena, he imagines her as one of the characters.” Last seen in a virtual version was Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie in the animated movie Beowulf, and that created quite a stir because she appeared naked in the film.

Sunday, January 10, 2010 MUMBAI: Actor-turned politician Sanjay Dutt has decided to resign from his post of general secretary of the Samajwadi Party. The resignation comes after senior leader Amar Singh quit all party posts just a few days earlier. Sanjay Dutt addressing a press conference said that he was announcing his resignation as general secretary of the party and that he was toing the line of Amar Singh. Sanjay Dutt also said that he is hurt by the members of his own party. Adding that it was Amar Singh who brought him into the Samajwadi Party fold, Dutt said that he would follow his elder brother to any other party even. Dutt also said that he was upset by comments that filmstars like him were no good for the party. He, however, said he would remain in the party as long as Amar Singh is there. He said despite slogging for the party in his poor health condition, certain leaders of SP mistreated Singh. Dutt was appointed to the post of SP general secretary in April...

Sunday, January 10, 2010 LONDON: Extreme winter weather is continuing to batter Europe. In Germany, cold, ice and snow are severely hampering road and air traffic. Frankfurt airport, Germany's biggest, has already cancelled over 200 flights. Police in France closed the A5 motorway going to Germany causing extensive traffic jams. The German authorities are advising people to stock up on food and drink ahead of major blizzards. Air traffic in France has also been badly affected by ongoing snowfall. Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris expects to cancel a fourth of its flights. Toulouse airport was closed all morning. Around 15,000 homes in southern France are still without electricity. Britain is experiencing its coldest winter in decades, with more heavy snowfall expected over the weekend. Most Premier League football matches have been postponed as a result. It has even snowed on the Spanish Mediterranean island of Mallorca. Parts of northwestern Spain are covered by up to...

NEW DELHI: It was touted as the world's cheapest car at 2,000-dollars apiece, but a new version of the snub-nosed Tata Nano will be available soon at a price closer to that of a top-end Ferrari or Porsche. Mumbai-based firm D.C. Design says it is refitting the 3.1-metre (10.23 feet) five-seater hatchback, doing away with its plastic seat coverings, small wheels and single-dial dashboard. The car's basic silhouette will be retained, but everything else will go in the new 220,000-dollar bespoke models that will have a top speed of 200 kilometres (124 miles) an hour, double that of the original. A prototype is expected in two months. "Our hallmark is high-technology products," said Dilip Chhabaria, head of D.C. Design, a specialist car refitting group that has worked for Bollywood stars and other wealthy drivers. "We would like to keep the cost low but with the technology and the amount of work we will be putting into the car, the 10 million rupee (220,000...

ABU GHOSH: Fifty chefs in the Arab-Israeli village of Abu Ghosh on Friday (January 08) broke a Guinness World Record for the largest hummos bowl, weighing over four tonnes - beating the record set in Lebanon just two months ago. Lebanon's record weighed nearly half as much as this newest record. Neighbouring Lebanon, Israeli's political rival, has become its culinary one as well, in this gastronomic warfare which was waged some two years ago. Both Lebanon and Israel have vied for the various titles of world's best and largest hummus dishes. Hummus, a regional delicacy, made of mashed chickpeas, sesame paste, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic - is loved equally by Palestinians: Christians and Muslims, and, Jews living in the Middle East. In spite of the shared appreciation, the origin of the dish is a source of heated debate with both Arabs and Jews claiming ownership. This latest salvo in the culinary war has brought about a Guinness World Record made up of 2.5...