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Thursday, January 21, 2010 JEDDAH: The Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu urged all OIC member states and civil society organisations to extend a helping hand to the Haitian population following the devastating earthquake on Jan 12. The 7.3 magnitude earthquake killed about 75,000 people while 250,000 injured and a million left homeless. According to Qatar media, Ihsanoglu expressed his shock and sadness following the disaster, which hit the Republic of Haiti and the large scale destruction inflicted on the people of this Island Nation. He also praised the international community for its swift reaction in responding to the appeal made by Haiti government, Qatar News Agency said. Ihsanoglu also expressed his gratitude to the OIC member states, which have already provided assistance and displayed solidarity by coming to the rescue of the Haiti people in the wake of this unprecedented catastrophe. One week after the ea...

Thursday, January 21, 2010 BEIJING: Google's threat to leave China should not be "over interpreted" or linked with Sino-US ties, state media quoted Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei as saying Thursday.

Thursday, January 21, 2010 WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday defended US relief efforts in Haiti, saying it was "really remarkable" how much has been accomplished given the challenges. "Of course, I'm not satisifed about (not) getting material and personnel in for everyone who needs it," Clinton told reporters when asked if she were satisfied with the relief effort. "But I'm realistically aware of the difficulties that this terrible natural disaster has posed," the chief diplomat said. Having followed previous disaster, she said it is "really remarkable how much" has been accomplished. "It is a heroic, historic effort," she added. But she added: "We are not satisfied. We are working every day to get better."

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 TAIPEI: A 42-year-old Taiwanese man with a history of high blood pressure has died of a stroke likely triggered by over-excitement from watching the blockbuster "Avatar" in 3D. The man, identified only by his surname Kuo, started to feel unwell during the screening in the northern city of Hsinchu and was taken to hospital. Kuo died from the brain haemorrhage, and it was the first death linked to watching James Cameron's science-fiction epic "Avatar".

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 LOS ANGELES: Science-fiction epic "Avatar" surged past the 500-million-dollar mark at the North American box office this weekend, maintaining its push towards an all-time record, final figures showed Tuesday. Director James Cameron's groundbreaking 3-D spectacular added to its haul over the four-day Martin Luther King holiday weekend with another 54.4 million dollars, box office tracker Exhibitor Relations said. The movie has raked in more than 1.6 billion dollars worldwide since its release and is on course to overtake Cameron's 1997 Oscar-winner "Titanic," which remains the highest-grossing film of all time with 1.8 billion dollars. In North America "Avatar" has earned 504.9 million dollars in only 32 days, and now stands third behind 2008 Batman sequel "The Dark Knight" (533.3 million dollars) and "Titanic" (600.8 million). "The records are starting to look inevitable now -- Cameron ...

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 PARIS: A celebrated kosher restaurant in the heart of Paris' Jewish quarter has reopened as a jeans shop, the latest loss for a historic district that now caters mostly to trendy Parisians and tourists. For decades, the Goldenberg Pletzl restaurant -- better known as "Jo Goldenberg's" -- served up potato latkes, matzo ball soup or corned beef sandwiches to Parisian Jews and tourists in Le Marais district, until it shut down four years ago. The establishment, targeted in a grenade and machine-gun attack in 1982 that left six people dead, reopened this month as the "Temps des Cerises" (Cherry Time) jeans shop, offering designer labels. All that is left to remind passers-by of the famed restaurant is a red "Goldenberg Pletzl" sign with white lettering on Rosiers street, which has been a centre of Paris Jewish life for centuries. "The reactions have been mixed," said a saleswoman at the new shop. "So...

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 PORT AU PRINCE: A miracle occurred in Haiti's rubble, when a woman was pulled out from under the ruins of Port-au-Prince's cathedral, alive -- after an agonizing week. Mexican rescuer Javier Vazquez said his team had been searching for survivors for six days -- the combined Mexican and South African team found the woman after hearing noises under the rubble. Mexican Rescue Worker, Javier Vazquez said, "We continued excavating and excavating, we heard the woman's voice and finally we saw some movement. Our brothers from South Africa helped us. We kept working but we couldn't reach the woman and when I felt that she grabbed my hand and squeezed it, it felt like God was squeezing it. I kissed her hand and she said, 'son'." Dusty, weak and dehydrated, the liberated woman called out to the rescuers -- a determined voice in the midst of so much misery. Some 52 rescue teams from around the world have saved about 90 people...