Hong Kong Open Badminton live..!

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TSUNAMI HITS JAPAN

At least 29 people are reported to have been killed after one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Japan, triggering a 10-metre-high tsunami along parts of the country's northeastern coastline.The massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck Japan on Friday, sweeping away cars, boats, homes and people as widespread fires burned out of control.

Police and authorities said 29 people had been confirmed dead in the aftermath of the quake and tsunami, though some news agencies put the number of dead as high as 32.Japan's NHK television reported many injuries and showed pictures of major tsunami damage in the north, with buildings being inundated by waves of water in Onahama city in Fukushima prefecture.A ship carrying 100 people was swept away by the tsunami, Kyodo news agency reported.News of the dead and missing came amid a warning that another strong quake could be imminent on the northeast Honshu island, Japan's main island.

Houses washed away

Shortly after the quake struck, a 10-metre tsunami hit Sendai airport in the north-east. Television footage showed people standing on the roof of the terminal building.The tsunami roared over embankments in Sendai city, washing cars, houses and farm equipment inland before reversing directions and carrying them out to sea. Flames shot from some of the houses, probably because of burst gas pipes.

A tsunami warning has been issued for the entire Pacific basin except mainland United States and Canada, the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said."An earthquake of this size has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines near the epicentre within minutes and more distant coastlines within hours," the centre said in a statement.

Among the countries for which a tsunami warning is in effect are: Russia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru.

High alert Meanwhile, a huge fire engulfed an oil refinery in Iichihara near Tokyo, where four million homes were said to be without electricity. Plumes of smoke rose from at least 10 locations in city.Military airplanes were flying over the worst-affected areas to assess the need for rescue efforts and 30 international search and rescue teams were prepared to go to Japan to provide assistance following the quake, the United Nations said.Tokyo's metro and suburban trains were halted and airports were closed for parts of the day. The quake that struck at 2:46pm was followed by a series of powerful aftershocks, including a 7.4-magnitude one about 30 minutes later. Several earthquakes have hit the region in recent days, including a 7.2-magnitude quake on Wednesday. Friday's quake struck at a depth of 24 kilometres, about 125 kilometres off the eastern coast, the country's meteorological agency said.The quake's magnitude surpasses the 7.9 Great Kanto quake of 1923, which killed more than 140,000 people in the Tokyo area. Japan lies on the "Ring of Fire"- an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones that stretches around the Pacific Rim and where about 90 per cent of the world's quakes occur.

Seat sharing - Congress upsets Kalaignar

Chennai: The seven-year-old alliance between the DMK and Congress touched a dramatic low on Friday, with the regional party's president and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi issuing a midnight statement against his partner's unfair demands ahead of a crucial Assembly election.

Karunanidhi said his party had offered 60 seats to its ally, 12 more than what it contested last time around. AICC incharge Ghulam Nabi Azad took the message to the high command and the general feeling here was that an agreement will be formally signed in a day or two. But on Friday, the DMK leadership was told that the Congress would take nothing less than 63, that too the ones of their choice.

A final decision about the matter would be taken at the high-level committee meeting that has been convened at the party headquarters on Saturday evening, Karunanidhi added in the statement.

Vallipuram Parvathi ammal, Mother of LTTE leader Passed away

Colombo, Feb 20: Tamil Tiger leader V Prabhakaran’s mother passed away in a government hospital in Jaffna on Sunday. Vallipuram Parvathi Pillai, 81, had multiple health problems and had been in a hospital in Valvettithurai for several months. Her health further deteriorated in the last five weeks.

Her remains will lie at the Theervil ground in Valvettithurai from 5 p.m on Sunday till 10.30 am on Tuesday for the public to pay their last respects, former Member of Parliament Sivajilingam told.

The final rites will take place at the Valvettithurai Public Cemetery on Tuesday at 2.30 pm, he said. Quoting anonymous sources, Daily Mirror reported that black flags had been put up in several places in the Valvettithurai area to mark her death.

Parvathi was earlier in Malaysia but was brought down to Sri Lanka last year. Since then she was in protection custody of the Sri Lankan military and was later released. She stayed at a lodge in Colombo for a short period until she moved to her native place at Valvettithurai. She was deported from India last April when she landed in Chennai for treatment. Prabhakaran’s father died in January, 2010.

Singar Malaysia Vasudevan passed away

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Chennai, Feb 20: Noted play back Singer, actor and movie producer Malaysia Vasudevan, died today at a hospital in Chennai, around 1.00 Pm due to cardiac arrest.

Malaysia Vasudevan aged 66, was admitted in the hospital few days back after a cardiac arrest. According to reports he was acting for a movie, when he had complained about not being able to breathe,and he was immediately admited in a city hospital. While today at around 1.00 PM he passed away in the hospital

Malaysia Vasudevan has a son Yugendran and daughter Prashanthini, both of them are play back singers

In a career spanning over three decades, Malaysia Vasudevan has sung more than 8,000 songs in different languages, of which over 4,000 are in Tamil.

Malaysia Vasudevan has also acted in around 85 movies, including 'Oru Kaidhiyin Diary', 'Jallikattu', 'Mudal Vasantham' and 'Povae Unnakaga'.

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Protest against the Government in Bahrain - 4 Killed

as reported by Mr. Rajasekar From Riyadh

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MANAMA, Feb 17: Bahraini police stormed a protest camp in a central Manama square early on Thursday, killing at least four people, and armored vehicles rumbled through the capital as the government tried to quell three days of protest.Later, more than 50 armored vehicles rolled down a highway toward Pearl Square, a road junction that demonstrators had sought to turn into a base for protests like those in Cairo’s Tahrir Square which led to the fall of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak.Thousands of overwhelmingly Shiite protesters, emboldened by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, took to Bahrain’s streets this week demanding more say in the Gulf Arab kingdom where a Sunni Muslim family rules over a majority Shiite population. From a distance, the square appeared nearly empty of protesters early on Thursday after police moved in. Abandoned tents, blankets and rubbish dotted the area, and the smell of teargas wafted through the air.

Helicopters clattered over the city and tow-trucks dragged away cars abandoned by protesters, their tires squealing on the tarmac because the brakes were still on.Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said on Twitter that security forces had “cleared Pearl roundabout” of demonstrators, and that a section of a main road was temporarily blocked.On Wednesday the Wefaq party demanded a new constitution that would move the country toward democracy.King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa introduced a new constitution giving Bahrainis more political rights a decade ago, but the opposition says he has not gone far enough to introduce democracy. Most of the cabinet are royal family members.

Protesters have demanded that the king fire his uncle, Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa, who has been prime minister since the modern state was founded in 1971. Wefaq members say they want elections for prime minister.Protesters’ wrath had already been stirred up by the deaths of two of their number during this week’s demonstrations, the second killed in clashes at the funeral of the first.“The people demand the fall of the regime” protesters chanted outside the hospital, echoing a slogan of Egyptian demonstrators.King Hamad has expressed condolences to relatives of the two dead men killed on Monday and Tuesday and said a committee would investigate. His government says it has detained people suspected of blame for the deaths.Protesters who on Wednesday had expressed confidence they were secure in the square, said they had no idea the police would swoop in and forcibly break up their encampment.

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ICC Cricket World cup 2011 live streaming

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Chennai Feb 17: ICC Cricket World cup 2011 live streaming will be available in this blog for free. expecting your usual cooperation. All the matches, opening and closing ceremonies will be available live online here.

Fixtures for this week:

February 17, 2011 13.15 GMT Opening Ceremony

February 19, 2011 08:30 GMT India V Bangladesh

February 20, 2011 04:00 GMT New Zealand V Kenya

February 20, 2011 09:00 GMT Sri Lanka V Canada

February 21, 2011 09:00 GMT Australia V Zimbabwe

February 22, 2011 09:00 GMT England V Netherlands

February 23, 2011 09:00 GMT Pakistan V Kenya

February 24, 2011 09:00 GMT South Africa V West Indies

Enjoy Unlimited Cricket..

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Mubarak stepped down.. democracy wins.. unity wins..

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CAIRO: Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak finally stepped and handed control to the military on Friday after 29 years in power, bowing to a historic 18-day wave of pro-democracy demonstrations by millions of enraged citizens.

As Vice President Omar Suleiman announced on nationwide TV that Mubarak has left the national capital, cheers thundered across the country.“The people ousted the president,” chanted a crowd of tens of thousands outside his presidential palace in Cairo.

Several hundred thousand protesters massed in Cairo’s central Tahrir Square exploded into joy, waving Egyptian flags, and car horns and celebratory shots in the air were heard around the city of 18 million in joy after Vice President Omar Suleiman made the announcement on national TV just after nightfall.

Suleiman also confirmed news reports that Mubarak and his family had left for the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, 250 miles from the capital Cairo, as protesters deluged squares and marched on presidential palaces and the State TV building.

Mubarak had sought to cling to power, handing some of his authorities to Suleiman while keeping his title. But an explosion of protests Friday rejecting the move appeared to have pushed the military into forcing him out completely.

Hundreds of thousands marched throughout the day in cities across the country as soldiers stood by, besieging his palace in Cairo and Alexandria and the state TV building. A governor of a southern province was forced to flee to safety in the face of protests there.

It was the biggest day of protests yet in the upheaval that began Jan. 25, growing from youth activists working on the Internet into a mass movement that tapped into widespread discontent with Mubarak’s authoritarian lock on power, corruption, economic woes and widespread disparities between rich and poor.

“In these grave circumstances that the country is passing through, President Hosni Mubarak has decided to leave his position as president of the republic,” a grim-looking Suleiman said. “He has mandated the Armed Forces Supreme Council to run the state. God is our protector and succor.” Nobel Peace laureate Mohammed ElBaradei, whose young suporters were among the organizers of the protest movement, told The Associated Press, “This is the greatest day of my life.” “The country has been liberated after decades of repression,” he said adding that he expects a “beautiful” transition of power.

Outside Mubarak’s Oruba Palace in northern Cairo, women on balconies ululated with the joyous tongue-trilling used to mark weddings and births.

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India and Pakistan to resume talks

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New Delhi, Feb 11 2011: India and Pakistan have agreed to resume formal peace talks after a meeting between Nirupama Rao, the Indian foreign secretary, and Salman Bashir, her Pakistani counterpart, in the Bhutanese capital Thimphu. A statement released simultaneously in New Delhi and Islamabad on Thursday said the new talks would focus on counter-terrorism, humanitarian issues, peace and security, the disputed Kashmir region and other border issues.

The two sides had agreed to the talks following the discussions in Thimphu which took place on Sunday.The talks, expected to start by July, would be the first since New Delhi broke off peace negotiations after gunmen unleashed a series of attacks in the port city of Mumbai in 2008.

Yousuf Raza Gilani, the Pakistan prime minister, welcomed the talks and praised his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, for the "opening of a new chapter in the relations between the two countries, which Pakistan fully reciprocates".

Rao said that sincere effort was needed to take the process forward and said that eventual normalisation would be good for both countries and most importantly for sustained economic growth and development.

Rao said that both the countries would discuss all outstanding issues like counter-terrorism, Kashmir and people to people exchange.

The announcement of talks is likely to be welcomed by the international community which had been pushing both countries back to the negotiating table to help ease tensions in an already volatile region.

-Agencies

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Flood level in Jeddah exceeds Nov. 2009 flood accumulation

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AS REPORTED BY Mr. Raja sekar. from Saudi..

Jedhhah, 26 JAN 2011: In just three hours Wednesday morning Jeddah was inundated with 111 millimeters of rain, the King Abdulaziz University's (KAU) meteorology Department said. Mansour Al-Mazrouie, head of the department, said Wednesday's volume of rainfall exceeded the 90 mm recorded in four hours during the Nov. 25, 2009 flash floods that killed at least 123 people and damaged thousands of vehicles and homes.

The average amount of rain during the winter months (November to January) is about 51mm. He said what Jeddah is presently witnessing is due to climate change.As of Wednesday afternoon, reports of three electrocuted teens, hundreds of stranded students and a broken dam were pouring in from different parts of the city. Civil Defense officials, however, said there were yet no reports of any deaths related to the flooding.

Eyewitnesses told Arab News that East Jeddah was swamped and floodwater was rushing west toward the Red Sea, turning streets into rivers once again.Witnesses say Um Al-Khair dam has been breached, flooding nearby neighborhoods.Water in Al-Hamra district was waist-deep in some places and some schools were keeping students from leaving. The heavy downpour did not begin until after students went to class where they are currently taking end-of-semester exams.

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