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MJ's doc to be charged with manslaughter

2009-08-20T07:32:00.000-07:00

Michael Jackson’s personal physician, who allegedly administered strong anaesthetic to the star before his death, will be charged with

MJ's personal doctor Conrad Murray (AP Photo)

manslaughter, according to recent reports.

Dr Conrad Murray, who apparently admitted giving the sedative Propofol via an IV drip to help the singer sleep, will purportedly be taken into custody within two weeks.

According to Fox News, which quoted an anonymous police source, investigators may not go for a more serious charge of second-degree murder unless new “smoking gun” evidence emerges, reports Times Online .

Murray recently uploaded a video on YouTube , saying, “I have done all I can do [to help the police]. I told the truth, and I have faith the truth will prevail.”

The medic has not been the only one at the centre of Jackson’s death probe. The music legend’s dermatologist, Dr Arnold Klein, has also been under the police scanner after he confessed giving the singer Demerol, a painkiller.

Meanwhile, Jackson, who died on June 25 at his rented LA mansion, is to be laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, on August 29, on what would have been his 51st birthday.

Michael Jackson won't fade from limelight soon

2009-07-08T01:18:00.000-07:00

LOS ANGELES – The public mourning of Michael Jackson may be done, but the saga that was his personal life is far from over.

Nothing made that more clear than the one surprise of Tuesday's memorial service, watched by millions around the world: the emotional speech by Jackson's 11-year-old daughter, Paris-Michael.

"Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father I could imagine," she said, dissolving into tears and turning into the arms of her aunt Janet. "I just want to say I love him so much."

Custody of Jackson's three children is one of the biggest legal issues still in play. In his 2002 will, Jackson made his wishes clear — his three children should remain under the care of his mother, Katherine.

Debbie Rowe, the biological mother of Paris and her 12-year-old brother, Prince Michael, has indicated she may seek custody. The surrogate mother of Jackson's youngest child, 7-year-old Prince Michael II, is unknown. A custody hearing was scheduled for Monday.

As the world paused to remember Jackson, authorities released his death certificate, which did not list a cause of death. The official determination will likely wait until toxicology results are completed, which could be weeks away.

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said Jackson's brain, or at least part of it, was still being held by investigators and would be returned to the family for interment once neuropathology tests were completed.

Investigators have honed in on drugs that were administered to the insomniac Jackson. The powerful sedative Diprivan, which is usually administered by anesthesiologists in hospitals, was found in his home, according to a law enforcement official.

Jackson's final resting place was another unknown. Some have suggested burying him at his former home Neverland Ranch but special permission is needed. A private memorial was held at a cemetery in the Hollywood Hills that is the resting place of many stars, but it does not appear Jackson will be buried among them.

No plans have been announced for Neverland, but it's already drawn comparisons as a potential West Coast version of Graceland.

Then there's Jackson's money. He died deeply in debt, but with tremendous star power, earning potential and an estate potentially worth $500 million.

Former Sony Music chairman and CEO Tommy Mottola has said Jackson left dozens of songs that included newer material and leftover works from some of his biggest albums. Mottola predicted the potential playlist was bigger than the one left behind by Elvis.

The singer also left behind an elaborate production dubbed "The Dome Project," which could be Jackson's last complete video piece. Little is publicly known about the production, but its existence has been confirmed by two knowledgeable sources who spoke to The Associated Press on condition they not be identified because they signed confidentiality agreements.

There also is more than 100 hours of footage of preparations for his London concerts, which were canceled because of his death. Randy Phillips, president and CEO of concert promoter AEG Live, said last week that the company also has enough material for two live albums.

On Tuesday, about 20,000 people gathered inside the Staples Center on Tuesday for a somber, spiritual ceremony, watched by untold millions more around the world.

Crowds gathered outside Harlem's Apollo Theater in New York to soak it in. In Santiago, Chile, national police band played "We Are the World" during the traditional guard change at the presidential palace. About 50 fans lit candles and laid flowers in the main square in Stockholm, as "Billie Jean" and "Earth Song" poured out of a small stereo.

In London, dozens of fans sheltered under umbrellas against the rain as they watched the event on a big screen outside the 02 Arena, where Jackson was to have performed 50 comeback shows starting next week. Many more stayed dry at home after the BBC announced it would cancel scheduled programming and show the ceremony live.

"His whole life was a global broadcast in a way, so I suppose it's fitting that his death also is," said barista Robert Anderson, 26, in London.

Calculating just how many people in total watched the ceremony — around the world and across all platforms — will take several days and even then will likely have to resort to an approximation, given the huge variety of outlets.

In Los Angeles, a star-studded lineup of performers closely linked to Jackson's life and music remembered Jackson as an unparalleled singer, dancer and humanitarian whose music united people of all backgrounds.

"Don't focus on the scars, focus on the journey," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, whose fiery eulogy was one emotional high point of the service.

"There wasn't nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with!" he said to Jackson's three children in the front row, drawing the longest ovation of the service.

Unlike Jackson's life, the ceremony was not spectacular, extravagant or bizarre. Outside the arena, however, the celebrity-industrial complex that Jackson helped create was in full swing.

More than 3,000 police officers massed downtown to keep the ticketless at bay. Helicopters followed the golden casket as it was driven over blocked-off freeways from Forest Lawn cemetery to the Staples Center. A bazaar of T-shirts, buttons, photos and other memorabilia sprouted in the blocks around the memorial. Movie theaters played the service live and people paused around the world to watch.

Inside, however, the atmosphere was churchlike, assisted by an enormous video image of a stained-glass window with red-gold clouds blowing past that was projected behind the stage.

The Rev. Lucious W. Smith of the Friendship Baptist Church in Pasadena gave the greeting, standing on the same stage where Jackson had been rehearsing for a comeback concert before his death on June 25 at age 50.

The ceremony ended with Jackson's family on stage, amid a choir, singing "Heal the World."

"All around us are people of different cultures, different religions, different nationalities," Rev. Smith said as he closed the service. "And yet the music of Michael Jackson brings us together."

Deficit-ridden Los Angeles asked Jackson fans to help pay the bill for police and other public servants needed for the entertainer's memorial service.

A Web site was posted Tuesday seeking donations to cover the costs, estimated at between $1.5 million and $4 million, according to Matt Szabo, a spokesman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

But Jack Kyser, founding economist of the Kyser Center for Economic Research of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, estimates the city could rake in $4 million from the event, thanks to the throng of media and other visitors who stayed at hotels, ate at restaurants and shopped in Los Angeles.

Kyser believes the city also got a major image boost because the memorial service went off without any major problems. "This thing went off very smoothly," Kyser said. "I think you had some good exposure for downtown and for the entire city."

US endorses Indian role in Afghanistan

2009-04-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON: The United States has endorsed India's regional primacy, including the role it is playing in Afghanistan, against strenuous objections from Pakistan.

In the process, Washington also rubbished Islamabad's allegations that New Delhi was using Kabul to destabilize Pakistan, saying once again that Pakistan needs to worry about its own terrorists rather than Indian presence in Afghanistan.

Key American pronouncements in this regard came during an interview by US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (Af-Pak) Richard Holbrooke to a Pakistani television network, whose host asked him about India's locus standi vis-à-vis Afghanistan when "it does not have a common border or a Pashtun population."

"Of course...India will have a role. It is the second biggest country in the world! What India does matters to the world!" Holbrooke exclaimed.

When the host followed up by asking Holbrooke about what Pakistan claims are subversive actions carried out by over-staffed (by spies) Indian consulates in Afghanistan bordering Pakistan, Holbrooke simply laughed at the idea.

"Pakistan has told me India has hundreds of people in (the consulate) at Kandahar," he chortled. "I asked people...asked Americans and the UN...how big is the Indian consulate in Kandahar...and they said six to eight people."

"Pakistan does not have to worry about Indians in Afghanistan. It has to worry about miscreants in western Pakistan," Holbrooke advised.

The allegation that India is supporting separatist elements in Balochistan has become a part of the new Pakistani narrative. Some Pakistanis see a grand conspiracy involving New Delhi, Washington, and even Israel to divide Pakistan and divest it of its "nuclear assets." No less a person than Pakistan's interior secretary Rehman Malik offered "proof" of Indian involvement in Balochistan to Pakistani law-makers recently.

While even the liberal Pakistani media has scoffed at the idea of India's involvement in Balochistan, it has been advanced by some American experts in Washington who are seen as sympathetic to Islamabad. Christine Fair, an analyst with Rand Corporation, recently suggested darkly that New Delhi was not entirely above board, saying Indian personnel were doing more than just distributing visas at its consulates bordering Pakistan's western border.

But Holbrooke, who would have access to definitive intelligence, showed little patience for such conspiracy theories that appear aimed at manipulating domestic public opinion in Pakistan against India. He said there is "no evidence at all, that Indians are supporting miscreants" in Pakistan along its border with Afghanistan.

Further defending New Delhi's role in Afghanistan, Holbrooke said the United States did not tell India what to do in that country. India had given $ 1 billion to Afghanistan and "the assistance is very public." India had built Afghanistan’s parliament building, "a very useful road in the south west" linking Iran, trained agriculture experts and given scholarships.

"All of that is open. What India is doing is part of the international efforts. I don't think it should be of concern to Pakistan," Holbrooke said. It is the first time that any administration official has so bluntly told Pakistan that it was way out of league and out of line in objecting to India's presence in Afghanistan, with which New Delhi claims historical and millennial ties, and a contiguity that predates Islam. It appeared to be part of the many "painful, specific" conversations that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently said US officials were having with Pakistan to explain its place in the scheme of things.

Holbrooke also avoided the interviewer's effort to draw him into a discussion on Kashmir, saying "my job is only Afghanistan and Pakistan...and when I go to India it is only to consult them and keep them abreast and to let them know what is happening."

He joked that the media was constantly trying to get him "to say the K-word and I try not to say it."

NATO ships, helicopters hunt down 7 pirates

2009-04-19T10:47:00.000-07:00

AP – This is a photo made available by NATO CC-MAR HQ Northwood, England, taken from the Dutch vessel, HNLMS …

NAIROBI, Kenya – NATO warships and helicopters pursued Somali pirates for seven hours after they attacked a Norwegian tanker, NATO spokesmen said Sunday, and the high-speed chase only ended when warning shots were fired at the pirates' skiff.

Seven pirates attempted to attack the Norwegian-flagged MV Front Ardenne late Saturday but fled after crew took evasive maneuvers and alerted warships in the area, said Portuguese Lt. Cmdr. Alexandre Santos Fernandes, aboard a warship in the Gulf of Aden, and Cmdr. Chris Davies, of NATO's maritime headquarters in England.

"How the attack was thwarted is unclear, it appears to have been the actions of the tanker," Davies said. Fernandes said no shots were fired at the tanker.

Davies said the pirates sailed into the path of the Canadian warship Winnipeg, which was escorting a World Food Program delivery ship through the Gulf of Aden. The American ship USS Halyburton was also in the area and joined the chase.

"There was a lengthy pursuit, over seven hours," Davies said.

The pirates hurled weapons into the dark seas as the Canadian and U.S. warships closed in. The ships are part of NATO's anti-piracy mission.

"The skiff abandoned the scene and tried to escape to Somali territory," Fernandes said. "It was heading toward Bossaso we managed to track them ... warning shots have been made after several attempts to stop the vessel."

Both ships deployed helicopters, and naval officers hailed the pirates over loudspeakers and finally fired warning shots to stop them, Fernandes said, but not before the pirates had dumped most of their weapons overboard. NATO forces boarded the skiff, where they found a rocket-propelled grenade, and interrogated, disarmed and released the pirates.

The pirates cannot be prosecuted under Canadian law because they did not attack Canadian citizens or interests and the crime was not committed on Canadian territory.

"When a ship is part of NATO, the detention of person is a matter for the national authorities," Fernandes said. "It stops being a NATO issue and starts being a national issue."

The pirates' release underscores the difficulties navies have in fighting rampant piracy off the coast of lawless Somalia. Most of the time foreign navies simply disarm and release the pirates they catch due to legal complications and logistical difficulties in transporting pirates and witnesses to court.

Pirates have attacked more than 80 boats this year alone, four times the number assaulted in 2003, according to the Kuala Lumpur-based International Maritime Bureau. They now hold at least 18 ships — including a Belgian tanker seized Saturday with 10 crew aboard — and over 310 crew hostage, according to an Associated Press count.

Tomb sweeping day in China

2009-04-06T08:40:00.000-07:00

BEIJING: Millions of Chinese visited cemeteries across the country to clean tombs and offer flowers to their forefathers on Qingming, the traditional tomb sweeping day, which is akin to the Indian ceremony of sradha or tarpan. But the occasion also sparked a debate about the high costs of funerals and death related ceremonies.

"I will be going to Australia soon for study. I have come here to get the blessings of my forefathers so that I am successful," Liu Xu, a 19-year-old girl visiting Beijing’s biggest cemetery of Babaoshan told TNN on Saturday, which marked the All Souls Day in China.

The dead are being pandered with a wide range of goodies with family members leaving bottles of liquor, packets of cigarettes, sweets and an assortment of fruits and foods on the tombs. Most tombs are decorated with flowers, both real and paper ones, while some of them have been offered incense sticks and tiny bottles of perfume.

The vast cemetery, which holds the remains of more than 50,000 people, has turned into a sea of money-fake paper money given to the dead to make their life in the other world comfortable. Paper money resembling past and present Chinese currencies besides the US dollar carry prints for exaggerated sums like one million yuan or $10,000.

"I am here to pay respect to my parents. But the younger generation is no more keen about such traditions," Zhang Qing, 72, who had traveled 90 kms to a Beijing cemetery told TNN, while repainting the names of his parents on old tombstones.

Indeed, most visitors to the tombs in Beijing were either the elderly or middle-aged people. There were very few young people to be seen apart from some children accompanying grandparents. The young mostly pay their respects by burning paper money in street corners near their houses instead of taking the trouble of visiting cemeteries.

The Ministry of Railways said it was expecting about 22 million passengers to travel during the three-day tomb sweeping holidays that began Friday. But a lot of passengers would be making the best of the holidays and traveling for pleasure instead of visiting tombs.

Thousands of young people wrote or read complained voiced over the Internet about the high cost of maintaining tombs and traditions related to funerals. Many ranted against what they called malpractises of the funeral industry, which was charging abnormal sums for flower wreaths and things like urns that are used at the tombs.

Tombs usually contain the ashes of people cremated in electric crematoriums. Very few, if any, are actually buried because of the high cost of burials and official discouragement of the practise. In many cases, tombs are concrete boxes mounted on walls instead of being stand-alone pieces. In such cases, family members use gum tapes to paste flowers on them and leave wines and foods at the foot of the wall for the dead to partake.

Reality TV star Jade Goody laid to rest

2009-04-06T08:34:00.000-07:00

LONDON: The British reality TV star Jade Goody, who lived a short but eventful life in the public eye, was buried on Saturday with thousands of

Jade Goody's funeral at St John Baptist church at Buckhurst Hill in London. (Reuters Photo)

More Pictures

fans attending her last journey.

The 27-year-old was laid to rest after a service at St John Baptist church in Buckhurst Hill in Essex, as per her last wishes.

Her funeral attracted international media attention, with cameramen running along the vintage Rolls Royce carrying her coffin, to capture the one perfect shot of the star's last journey.

The mother of two died on 22 March after losing her seven month long public battle with cervical cancer.

Goody's funeral procession began its journey from her childhood home of Bermondsey in the morning and ended at the St John Baptist church.

The TV star wanted her funeral to be "a celebration of her life" and true to her words, it was far from a solemn occasion as the crowd stood applauding in the rain when her cortege passed by.

"She will have a big smile on her face when she sees what is going on today," Goody's publicist Clifford told reporters.

"In life she loved being loved and it is pretty clear that this is the overwhelming feeling today," Clifford added.

Over 90 dead in Italy earthquake

2009-04-06T08:27:00.000-07:00

L'AQUILA: A powerful earthquake struck central Italy as residents slept on Monday morning, killing more than 90 people and making up to 50,000

homeless.

"Some towns in the area have been virtually destroyed in their entirety," a somber Gianfranco Fini, speaker of the lower house of parliament, said before the chamber observed a moment of silence.

The Italian news agency Ansa, quoting rescue workers, said the death toll had reached 92 nearly 12 hours after the quake struck.

Most of the dead were in L'Aquila, a 13th-century mountain city about 100 km (60 miles) east of Rome, and surrounding towns and villages in the Abruzzo region.

Houses, historic churches and other buildings were demolished in the worst quake to hit Italy in nearly 30 years. Hundreds of people were injured and some 15,000 buildings declared off limits.

"I woke up hearing what sounded like a bomb," said Angela Palumbo, 87, said as she walked on a street in L'Aquila.

"We managed to escape with things falling all around us. Everything was shaking, furniture falling. I don't remember ever seeing anything like this in my life," she said.

Interior Minister Roberto Maroni visited the area and said the death toll had surpassed 50.

Luca Spoletini, a Civil Protection Department spokesman, said the quake may have made up to 50,000 people homeless. Some 26 cities and towns were seriously damaged.

In the small town of Onna alone, 10 people were killed, said a photographer who saw a mother and her infant daughter being carried away in the same coffin.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi cancelled a trip to Moscow and declared a national emergency, which would free up funds for aid and rebuilding. Pope Benedict said he was saying a special prayer for the victims.

Older houses and buildings made of stone, particularly in outlying villages that have not seen much restoration, collapsed like straw houses.

Hospitals appealed for help from doctors and nurses throughout Italy. The stench of gas filled some parts of the mountain towns and villages as mains ruptured.

Residents of Rome, which is rarely hit by seismic activity, were woken by the quake, which rattled furniture and swayed lights in most of central Italy. It struck shortly after 3:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) and registered between 5.8 and 6.3 magnitude.

Pope decries African wars at Mass for 1 million

2009-03-22T09:42:00.000-07:00

LUANDA, Angola – Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass for the largest gathering of his African pilgrimage Sunday, telling a crowd on the outskirts of this seaside capital that reconciliation on the war-ravaged continent would come only with a "change of heart, a new way of thinking."

The Vatican said as many as 1 million people turned out on the dusty field near a cement factory to hear the pope at the last major event of his seven-day trip, which began Tuesday in Cameroon.

Speaking from a tented pink altar, the pope said evils in Africa had "reduced the poor to slavery and deprived future generations of the resources needed to create a more solid and just society."

"How true it is that war can destroy everything of value," said Benedict, wearing a pink cape and mopping his sweaty brow with a white handkerchief kept inside his sleeve.

Later he was scheduled to meet with representatives of women's rights groups to praise the role of women in African society.

Angolans have been enslaved, subjugated and at war almost nonstop since Portuguese colonizers brought the first Catholic missionaries in 1491. Many of the slaves taken to Brazil, for example, came from Angola.

The Catholic Church was an ally of the colonizers who discriminated against the people until independence from Portugal in 1975, when civil war erupted, in part fueled by the country's oil and diamond wealth.

Some 15,000 died, including missionaries, before the war ended in 2002, and the scars still are evident among the many people who lost limbs in one of the most heavily mined countries in the world.

A Marxist revolution also has left scars, though the country's president for 30 years, Eduardo dos Santos, abandoned communism and improved relations with the church starting in the late 1980s.

Critics say last year's massive election victory was marred by fraud and corruption and that the pope must beware of allowing his visit, sponsored by the state, to be seen as legitimizing an authoritarian regime. The bishops in Angola twice have denounced the government for leaving its people mired in poverty while leaders enrich themselves off oil and diamonds.

Since he arrived on Friday from Cameroon, the pope has met with dos Santos and spoken out against corruption in Africa, the continent with the fastest-growing Catholic population in the world.

Before he said Mass on Sunday, Benedict clasped his hands, as if in prayer, and offered his condolences to the families of two 20-year-old women trampled to death in a stampede at a Luanda stadium before a youth event he addressed on Saturday.

He also wished a speedy recovery to some 40 people injured in the crush. Dozens of others collapsed and were treated at the site for heat exhaustion.

Later, the Vatican's No. 2 official, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, blessed the bodies of the two victims, laid out under white sheets at Josina Machel Hospital. Accompanied by Angola's Foreign Minister Assuncao Does Anjos, the cardinal visited with injured victims.

State radio appealed to people to take water and food to Sunday's Mass. People also carried parasols and stools amid the hooting cars and motorbikes making their way to see the pope. Some men hoisted children onto their shoulders and mothers strapped babies to their backs.

Even before he landed in Africa, the pope provoked protests after he told reporters on his chartered Alitalia jet that condoms were not the answer to Africa's severe AIDS epidemic, suggesting that sexual behavior was the issue.

He condemned sexual violence against women, but also chided the 45 African countries including Angola that have approved abortion in cases of rape or incest or when a mother's life is in danger.

Gunman kills 3 officers, wounds 4th in Oakland

2009-03-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

OAKLAND, Calif. – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered flags at California's state capitol flown at half-staff for the three Oakland police officers killed by a gunman.

Police said a parolee with an "extensive criminal history" opened fire at a routine traffic stop Saturday in the city and hours later gunned down members of a SWAT team who were searching for him.

Schwarzenegger headed for a meeting with Oakland police on Sunday.

A fourth police officer who was wounded Saturday is hospitalized and battling for his life.

The gunman also was killed Saturday.

The Oakland Police Department says it was the worst day in its history. Never before had three police officers been killed in the line of duty on the same day.

Rapturous welcome awaits Indian Idol trio in Nepal

2009-03-07T06:09:00.000-08:00

KATHMANDU: A rapturous welcome awaits the top trio of Indian Idol, who would be holding their first concert in the Himalayan republic next Saturday.

Sourabhee Debbarma, dubbed India’s Shakira by Nepal, who made history by becoming the first woman to win the title, and her biggest contenders army boy Kapil Thapa and Asansol’s Torsha Sarkar will be singing before a packed ground in Kathmandu valley and Pokhara city.

Kathmandu-based event management company DMI, that also represents Sony in Nepal, is flying over the trio on Friday, its chief Raju Singh told TNN. The first concert will be at the open ground in front of the zoo in Lalitpur, where a year ago Nepali youngsters had braved a downpour and slush to turn out in droves for a concert by the top contenders of Indian Idol’s third edition.

The second concert is at the Exhibition Grounds in Pokhara. Also appearing with the Idol finalists would be rising Nepali pop star Kranti Ale.

“It is going to be interesting this time,” said Singh. In 2008, Nepal was rooting for Prashant Tamang, who went on to win on the strength of votes pouring in from the Nepali diaspora who revelled in his Nepali ancestry.

This time too, there was considerable support for Kapil, whose ancestors hail from Nepal’s Baitadi district. His elder brother Keshav visited the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu on the eve of the grand finale to pray for Kapil’s success.

“This time, there was a lot of support for Sourabhee in Nepal,” Singh says. “Because of her oriental looks, she was not regarded as a foreigner by Nepal. However, she won support mostly due to her talent.”

Last year, Prashant’s progress was watched keenly by the Nepali Prime Minister’s Office as well and the then premier Girija Prasad Koirala invited Prashant to tea twice and plied him with gifts, including a traditional Nepali cap.

It remains to be seen this time if Sourabhee would receive a similar invite from the new Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda.

The former revolutionary is said to have been a hummer in his young days and even now finds time to pen lyrics, some of which have been used in films directed by Maoists and revolutionary plays. Though she lacks Nepali roots, perhaps Sourabhee would also be able to strike a chord of empathy coming as she does from a state that has been mostly under communist rule.

'Man girdle' to help metrosexual drop a size

2009-03-07T06:08:00.000-08:00

LONDON: It's for the man who has a little too much of everything - the man girdle, or
"mirdle."

In a land where metrosexuals reign, a London department store is hoping to cash in on the lucrative men's underwear market by launching a throwback to the Victorian era, a gut-cinching garment that designers say will help men make it through these belt-tightening times.

The stretchy contraptions resemble normal sleeveless tank tops or long-sleeved T-shirts - only shrunk down two or three sizes in a blend of Spandex, nylon and polyester. Control underwear will be launched later this year.

"It makes waists look trimmer, improves posture and helps men get into the latest slimmer fitting suits," said Gavin Jones, head of the Australian company Equmen, which launched its male shapewear line in Selfridges on Thursday. "Men are under a lot of pressure right now to perform financially, socially and romantically. Why shouldn't we have the same products that women have had for years to make us feel better?"

Europe has been at the forefront of the metrosexual revolution, illustrated by images of a svelte Daniel Craig in tight bathing trunks or a fitted tuxedo as 007, and a near hairless David Beckham in white Armani bikini briefs - larger-than-life ads that stretch out across London's double-decker buses. Even Clive Owen, the British actor known for his rugged good looks and reticent characters, is the face of Lancome's new anti-aging skin-care line.

As male vanity has increased in the past decade, so have retail sales. In the United Kingdom, sales of men's grooming products - moisturizers, home waxing kits, manicure kits - totalled some $1.18 billion last year, according to a report from market research firm Mintel.

Similarly, men's underwear sales are growing faster than women's. In Selfridges, sales of men's underwear were up 21% whereas women's underwear grew by some 10% last year. The UK alone totalled roughly $957 million in men's underwear sales in 2007 whereas the US tallied about $4.9 billion in 2008, according to Mintel.

Men's control wear has been around since Victorian times in Britain, where dandies such as Lord Byron and Oscar Wilde were known for their fanciful and slightly feminine outfits.

Clinton: US officials holding talks in Syria

2009-03-07T06:05:00.000-08:00

ANKARA, Turkey – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Saturday that talks were underway between two U.S. representatives and Syrian officials in Damascus.

The Obama administration's decision to send Jeffrey Feltman, the top State Department envoy on the Mideast, and Daniel Shapiro from the White House to Syria was the most significant sign yet that it is ready to improve relations with the Syrian government after years of tension.

The two American officials held talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem shortly after arriving in the Syrian capital Saturday. But it was not clear whether they would meet with President Bashar Assad during the visit, which was ignored by state-run newspapers in an indication of Damascus' cautious approach.

Clinton also said President Barack Obama will visit Turkey in the "next month or so."

At a news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, she said Obama had asked her to deliver the message that he would visit soon and said the two allies will consult on the safest, most effective way to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq.

Turkey is an ally seen as key to resolving several U.S. foreign policy problems, including moving the U.S. military out of Iraq, blocking Iran's nuclear ambitions and turning around the war in Afghanistan.

Turkey has said it is ready to serve as an exit route for U.S. troops pulling out of Iraq. The southern Incirlik air base has been used for transfer of U.S. troops and equipment to Iraq and to Afghanistan.

The U.S. withdrew its ambassador to Syria in 2005 following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut. The killing was widely blamed on Syria — a charge Damascus denies.

Anti-Syrian protests in Lebanon and international pressure eventually forced Damascus to withdraw its army from neighboring Lebanon after nearly three decades of Syrian domination. But the U.S. has accused Syria of supporting terrorism and has not reinstated its ambassador.

On the Syrian side, Assad has welcomed improved ties, something he has long sought but was hampered by the Bush administration's attempts to isolate his country. Assad has said he is impressed by Obama's friendly gestures but was still waiting to see results.

Clinton talked with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for nearly two hours at his residence before visiting the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey's national founder. There, she recalled being in Ankara during her husband's presidency and said she had returned to help Obama promote "the work the U.S. and Turkey must do to forge peace, prosperity and progress."

Erdogan's office said in a statement that the two discussed bilateral relations, the Middle East, Iraq, Afghanistan and combatting terrorism.

6, not 72, army officers missing

2009-03-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

Army rights its BDR massacre list; death toll stands at 85; 40 officers rescued

The namaz-e-janaza of 50 victims of the BDR headquarters massacre being held at the National Parade Square yesterday.

After reviewing information about how many army officers were in fact inside the BDR Pilkhana headquarters during the last week's bloody carnage, the army authorities yesterday revised the number of missing officers down to six from the previous 72.

According to army sources, because of chaos and confusion in the aftermath of the massacre and hostage situation at Pilkhana over Wednesday and Thursday, they could not have the earlier figures based on solid facts.

At a press briefing Saturday, the director of military intelligence (MI) said 72 army officers deputed to BDR had been unaccounted for since the mutiny broke out.

Speaking at a briefing at the army headquarters last night, Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Sina Ibn Jamali said bodies of 53 army officers have been recovered so far. 40 officers have been rescued, and seven are still missing.

About the previous figures, he said, “Those were assumptions, and the numbers we are giving now are based on confirmed information.”

Meanwhile, an army source told this correspondent late at night that they had mistakenly included among the missing ones an officer whose body was already sent to his village home.

Other sources said 101/102 army officers were at BDR Pilkhana when disgruntled border troops seized control of the compound. They said it might take some more time to confirm the number and also the break-ups like how many have died and how many survived.

They said the confusion over the figures was because almost all bodies retrieved were in BDR uniforms and so they took many BDR personnel for army officers.

Morgue sources said there are now seven unidentified bodies in Dhaka Medical College and Mitford morgues.

So far, 40 officers are reported to have survived the butchery that ended Thursday evening after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina warned the mutineers of stern action. This leaves whereabouts of seven officers unanswered.

Colonel Gulzaruddin Ahmed, widely praised for his role in anti-militant campaign, is among those missing. The others are Lieutenant Colonel Elahi Manzoor Chowdhury, Major Ahmed Azizul Hakim, Major Kazi Ashraf Hossain, Major Abu Syed Dastagir and Captain Tanvir Haider Noor, said sources.

Besides, the rescuers have retrieved bodies of retired army officer Col Delwar and his wife and the slain BDR chief Major General Shakil Ahmed's wife Naznin Shakil.

Civilian fatalities stand at five and the number of BDR personnel dead in the revolt is eight.

Meanwhile, rescuers drew a blank in their search for the missing ones in and around the Pilkhana headquarters yesterday. They also did not find any new place that might have corpses buried or dumped.

“One possibility is that a few officers might have been taken hostage by the mutineers fleeing the scene. Besides, there's a chance that bodies dumped in the sewers have drifted far along the Buriganga,” said a source.

Meanwhile, new Director General of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) Brigadier General Md Mainul Islam told The Daily Star yesterday, “BDR is now carrying out duties at all border outposts. We have restored communications between the headquarters and the battalions.”

At an assembly of army men at Senakunja in Dhaka cantonment, a large number of officers requested Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to disband the paramilitary force and reconstitute it under a new name like Bangladesh Border Guards. The PM agreed to the idea in principle.

Sources said the government yesterday began the process of reorganising the border troops. Operational responsibilities of the paramilitaries would soon be re-delineated.

“The PM herself would announce the new name for the border force as well as some other changes,” said a source.

In the wake of the mutiny, many army officers in charge of BDR battalions had left their outposts on security concerns.

Some of them have joined work while others, who still do yet comfortable about the situation, are staying in contact with the headquarters from outside.

As of yesterday, the rescuers recovered a large number of grenades, ammunition magazines, and pistols from Pilkhana. The search for arms and ammunition will continue as new items are being found every day.

“It's not possible to assess the amount of arms and ammunition used on Wednesday and Thursday till we finish collecting those outside the armoury.

“The Pilkhana compound is not yet fully functional. All official records on the armoury have been damaged. The personnel who might have known about the arms and ammunition are not available or missing,” said a source.

Some rescuers suspect that some mutineers might have taken small arms and grenades along with them. Boxes of some brand new arms that were yet to be designated to officers or troops were found open in the armoury and many of them are missing.

The vital documents being looked for by the rescuers include the laptop of the slain BDR DG Shakil Ahmed.

Meanwhile, the “Operation Rebel Hunt” spearheaded by the police aided by Bangladesh Army was not launched yesterday on schedule. The authorities have asked the army personnel to mobilise to circuit houses and DC offices across the country.

Over 1,000 sued for BDR mutiny

2009-03-01T10:03:00.001-08:00

A police officer last night filed a case against more than 1,000 members of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) on charge of having ties to the mutiny at Pilkhana.

Lalbagh police chief Nabo Jyoti Khisa filed the case.

According to the case details, four deputy assistant directors (DAD), a sepoy and a BDR personnel led the revolt that left at least 64 army officers killed.

The suspected ringleaders are DADs Touhidul Alam, Nasiruddin Khan, Mirza Habibur Rahman, Abdul Jalil, sepoy Md Selim and BDR member Abdur Rahim.

Nabo Jyoti alleged that the accused people killed the officers and their relatives in a planned way.

The police officer accused the BDR men of taking hostages, committing arsons and hiding dead bodies.

Accused Abdul Jalil was now undergoing treatment at the Holy Family Red Crescent Medical College and Hospital in the capital.

He was part of the 14-member team that met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday to vent their demands.

Md Nowsher Ali, joint commissioner (crime) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, who has been supervising the case, told The Daily Star that the six suspects were identified in the primary investigation.

He said further investigations would identify the rest.

Experts call Turkish airliner crash 'a miracle'

2009-02-26T07:33:00.000-08:00

AMSTERDAM: Safety experts on Thursday hailed the "miracle" that limited the death toll from the crash of a Turkish Airlines jet as it came into

A Turkish passenger plane crashes at the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. (AFP)

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land at Amsterdam airport as dozens of investigators pored over the wreckage.

Relatives of the nine dead and 86 injured arrived in the Netherlands as the crash inquiry gathered pace in a field near Schiphol Airport.

"It is a real wreck," Fred Sanders, a spokesman for the Dutch Safety Board said. "That so many people were able to walk out was truly remarkable. Some have called it a miracle."

Turkish transport minister Binali Yildirim has also said the low death toll was a "miracle".

The Boeing 737-800 jet, carrying 127 passengers and seven crew, crashed into a muddy field just short of the runway on Wednesday morning, in what survivors and witnesses likened to a brick falling from the sky.
Witnesses described seeing the tail of the het hit the edge of a busy road in light fog and drag along the ground before the plane broke in three.

The plane glided the final distance before hitting the ground, its tail angled towards the ground, witnesses said. The engines were found some 100 metres from the rest of the wreckage.

Of the nine dead, three were crew members. Six of the 86 injured were in critical condition and 25 were serious, officials said.

Casualties were cut by the fact that the plane did not catch fire when it crashed, said Sanders.

"It may have something to do with the fact that it came down in a muddy field rather than on a concrete road or on a landing strip where sparks would have increased the chances of a fire."

It appeared that the plane fell at a very straight angle, he added.

"This may indicate that the plane had lost its forward momentum, that there was no motor function."

Sanders said the investigation at the crash scene would take a few days, after then the wreckage would be moved away. He said an interim report could be released in weeks.

Accident investigators worked all night at the crash site looking for clues, Rob Stenacker, a spokesman for the Schiphol police said.

About 40 investigators were taking part of the probe led by the Dutch Safety Board supported by local and airport police teams.

Sixty-seven relatives of those on the ill-fated Flight TK 1951 arrived at Schiphol on a special flight from Istanbul on Wednesday night.

Authorities have still not released the identities or nationalities of those killed or hurt, apart from saying they included Dutch and Turkish citizens.

Turkish newspapers criticised Turkish Airlines (THY) and the Turkish government for their handling of the crisis after the crash.

The airline and transport ministry at first said everyone on the jet survived the accident, while Dutch rescuers were still examining the wreckage.

The popular Vatan newspaper called the announcement a "scandal," while Aksam said the crash aftermath "turned from celebration to torture" for relatives.

The liberal Radikal called the handling of the emergency "amateurish" and said the airline and ministry had created a separate "crisis."

Turkey's air workers' trade union, Hava-Is, said "the respectability of the THY and the whole aviation sector was damaged."

THY is one of Turkey's most prestigious public sector companies and has grown steadily, increasing the number of passengers by 89 percent to 19.6 million from 2003 to 2007, according to company figures.

According to the company's web site, in 2007 THY topped 27 airlines that are members of the Association of European Airlines in operational safety, defined as making flights at the planned time with no malfunction of any kind.

Its last deadly accident was in 2003 when a domestic flight to the southeastern city of Diyarbakir crashed on landing, claiming 74 lives.

Army closes in on BDR headquarters

2009-02-26T07:32:00.001-08:00

The army is apparently set to enter the BDR headquarters with heavy arms through all gates near Nilkhet and Hazaribagh, flaring up the fear of a heavy bloodshed.

Around 4:15pm, army personnel fired several gunshots on way to the mutineers' centre of operations.

Some private television stations reported that army already entered the BDR headquarters through gate No 2, triggering a battle as the BDR mutineers retaliated.

Residents of the surrounding areas were evacuated.

Home Minister Sahara Khatun earlier told reporters that BDR jawans agreed to surrender arms and go back to barracks.

Egypt's top archaeologist unveils ancient mummy

2009-02-11T09:33:00.000-08:00

SAQQARA, Egypt – Egypt's chief archaeologist has unveiled a completely preserved mummy inside a limestone sarcophagus sealed 2,600 years ago during pharaonic times.

The mummy was exposed for the first time Wednesday. It lies in a narrow shaft 36 feet below ground at the ancient necropolis of Saqqara outside of Cairo.

It's part of a burial chamber discovered three weeks ago that holds eight wooden and limestone sarcophagi, along with 22 other mummies from the 26th Dynasty — Egypt's last independent kingdom.

Laborers used crowbars to lift the sarcophagus' lid and exposed the linen-wrapped mummy inside.

Antiquities chief Zahi Hawass says the mummies are an important discovery and much of Saqqara has yet to be unearthed.

Bankers challenged to reform system — quickly

2009-02-11T08:57:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON – The top members of a key House panel told banking leaders Wednesday they must win over a disgusted public and work harder to right the deeply troubled financial system.

"I urge you going forward to be ungrudgingly cooperative," said Rep. Barney Frank, the Democratic chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. "There has to be a sense of the American people that you understand their anger ... and that you're willing to make some sacrifices to get this working."

Frank also asked banks to impose a moratorium on mortgage foreclosures until Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner comes up with a systemwide mortgage modification.

The panel's top Republican, Spencer Bachus of Alabama, said the bankers and Congress will have to do their part to sway people by "winning back their trust and their confidence."

Taxpayers are furious with big banks that benefited from the federal bailout designed to get credit moving again but that also spent lavishly on company retreats and office redecorating, and lawmakers are feeling the heat for signing off on the $700 billion plan.

Eight chief executives and company chairmen were testifying before Frank's panel in what was the first examination by lawmakers since they passed the legislation last year.

Members of both political parties have been smarting over the implementation of the financial package, which started under President Bush and now is in the hands of the Obama administration. The lingering suspicions present one of President Barack Obama's biggest obstacles as he attempts the dual challenge of prodding the financial sector to ease credit while aiming to create jobs with an economic stimulus package.

The CEOs were met with deep skepticism from lawmakers who told tales of furious constituents and aggressively quizzed them on how they have used more than $160 billion in taxpayers' money.

Even so, the banking leaders brought a message of accommodation and gratitude. They applauded the program for making more loans available and promised to pay their share of the money back to the Treasury over time. Anticipating confrontations over their own compensation, several asserted that none of the government's money went to bonuses or dividends.

"We are frugal," said Wells Fargo's John Stumpf. "We're Americans first. We're bankers second."

They also generally agreed with lawmakers' calls for better cooperation and better public relations. They were contrite and conceded they face a bitter public. They had little choice but to acknowledge as much, given intense anger by both lawmakers and the public as the troubled financial system continues to spiral downward in the midst of an already deep recession.

"We understand taxpayers are angry" and they are right in demanding that institutions receiving their money take a "conservative, sober and frugal" approach to using it, said Kenneth D. Lewis of Bank of America.

Added Lloyd C. Blankfein of the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.: "We have to regain the public's trust and do everything we can to help mend our financial system to restore stability and vitality."

Yet, for all the words of contrition, the CEOs also sought to show they were being prudent.

"We lent more even as customers cut back on their spending" during the last financial quarter of 2008, said JP Morgan Chase & Co.'s Jamie Dimon. Still, he added: "We stand ready to do our part going forward."

Robert P. Kelly of The Bank of New York Mellon promised "a very good return on the investment for taxpayers" and acknowledged "we still have a long way to go" to jump start the U.S. credit market.

Hearings on the bailout were taking place across the Capitol, with the CEOs appearing in the House while Neil Barofsky, the watchdog of the government's Wall Street rescue package, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

FBI Deputy Director John Pistole told that Senate panel that there are 530 active corporate fraud investigations, and 38 of them involve corporate fraud and financial institution matters directly related to the economic crisis.

Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo accused Merrill Lynch & Co. executives of corporate irresponsibility by secretly and prematurely awarding $3.6 billion in bonuses as taxpayers were bailing out the industry.

Cuomo made the claims in a letter to Frank, saying that instead of disclosing its bonus plan in a transparent manner designed to assure the payments were warranted, Merrill Lynch moved the date of bonuses to richly reward "failed executives." Cuomo says Bank of America, which acquired Merrill last fall, was apparently complicit in the move to award bonuses before Merrill's dismal fourth quarter earnings were announced.

There was no immediate comment from the company.

On new bailout initiatives that Geithner announced Tuesday, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the Banking Committee, assailed the administration for what a lack of details.

"He had nothing really to say," Shelby said. "We want to know where the specifics are and he doesn't have them."

The bankers are not sympathetic figures in Congress, particularly in the more populist House. The initial spending of the bailout funds was secretive, lacking strict requirements that the banks account publicly for how they were using the money.

Banks weren't helped by reports that Wall Street firms doled out more than $18 billion in bonuses to their employees last year or that Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo had planned conferences in Las Vegas. Goldman Sachs moved its three-day event to San Francisco; Wells Fargo canceled its employee recognition retreat.

Most of these bankers didn't beg for their money. They were selected because they were relative healthy banks that could spur more banking activity and eliminate the stigma of taking taxpayer money for other financial institutions.

'Ragging' at Cambridge University

2009-02-08T08:11:00.001-08:00

LONDON: In what could be described as the outer limits of ragging, students are often initiated into Cambridge University by being asked to drink water containing a live goldfish, eat raw squids and wear kippers around necks.

According to student newspaper 'Varsity', the tests, organised by sport and drinking clubs for first years, usually involve excessive amounts of alcohol and can include carrying out degrading and depraved acts often by female students.

In fact, the "ordeal" involves a "meal" consisting of over 15 courses, specially prepared for those to be initiated, and many of the rituals are carried out shirtless because they often involve vomiting.

"... the first ten courses are served without alcohol, and include such questionable delicacies as a pig's snout with with wasabi sauce, and a pint of water with a live goldfish; a dish, if regurgitated with the said creature still alive, it exempts the diner from two of the following courses," it said.

According to the newspaper, the latest initiation took place last week and featured raw leeks, whole, uncooked squids and entire chillies. The four prospective members were then adorned with kippers around their necks and doused in treacle.

At the end of the trial, they had to down four "dirty" pints in three minutes, each containing foods, spices and some foreign liquids, spurred on by yells from onlookers of "down it, down it!"

World War II bomb found in southern Japan

2009-02-08T08:08:00.000-08:00

TOKYO: Flights were cancelled and residents evacuated while an unexploded bomb believed to have been dropped by US forces during World War II was made safe in southern Japan on Sunday.

The 120-centimetre (48-inch) long rusty bomb was found in late January by workers at a construction site in Miyazaki prefecture.

Japanese bomb disposal forces on Sunday safely removed the bomb after ordering 1,700 people out of their homes and delaying or cancelling more than a dozen flights into or out of Miyazaki airport.

"Everything has returned to normal now as the bomb was safely removed," a Miyazaki city official said.

Sixty years after the war ended unexploded bombs and shells are still occasionally found in Japan, particularly on the southern island of Okinawa, the site of an extremely bloody battle towards the end of World War II.

Last month, a construction worker there was severely injured by a World War II bomb while working on an underground water pipe.

9 held in 2008 Bangalore blasts case: Police

2009-02-07T08:28:00.001-08:00

NEW DELHI: Nine persons have been arrested in connection with last year's Bangalore serial blasts, police commissioner Shankar Bidari said on

Bangalore blasts accused being produced at police commissioner office. (TOI Photo)

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Saturday.

With these arrests, the police commissioner declared the serial blasts case solved.

A series of nine bombs rocked Bangalore on July 25, 2008, killing at least two and injuring more than 20 persons.

All the nine are from Kerala, Shankar Bidari told reporters here.

Abdul Sattar, Abdul Jabbar, Sarfudin, Sakariya from Mallapuram, Kerala and Mujeeb, Faizal, Abdul Jaleel, Manaf of Kannur, and Badruddin from Ernakulum have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the July 2008 blasts, Reported PTI quoting DGP Ajai Kumar Singh said.

Four others involved in the blasts were killed in an encounter with the Indian army in Jammu and Kashmir while they were attempting to crossover to Pakistan between October 4 and 7. They were identified as Abdul Raheem, son-in-law of Sattar, Mohammad Fyas, Fayis and Mohammad Yasin from Kerala, he said.

Police, however, did not reveal the name of the group they belonged to. Police also did not divulge anything regarding its association to any militant outfits like Lakshar-e-Toiba.

The module was "radicalised by general feeling of perceived injustice to Muslims in India due to Babri Masjid demolition and Godhra incident and Gujarat riots," the police officer said.

They decided (to trigger blasts) on Bangalore due to the iconic status it acquired after the IT boom and the economic prosperity and that it was BJP-ruled, they said.

Oxford to honour 1971 Indo-Pak war refugee activist

2009-02-05T22:49:00.001-08:00

LONDON: A poverty campaigner, Fazle Hasan Abed, who founded the Bangladesh rural advancement committee (BRAC) in 1972, will be given an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Oxford.

Abed founded the BRAC after the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan to provide relief and rehabilitation to war refugees in a remote area of Bangladesh before turning to long-term poverty alleviation.

The organization now works in health, education and microfinance and is the world's largest NGO.

Abed is among seven leading figures from various fields to receive honourary degrees from the university on June 24.

The degree of Doctor of Letters will also be conferred on Philip Pullman, a novelist of international distinction. He is best known for the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, which is being made into a series of films.

Pullman's novels, many of them aimed at children and young teenagers, have won a large number of literary prizes. These include two awards as Author of the Year, the Carnegie Medal, the Children's Book of the Year Award and the Whitbread Book of the Year.

Others to get the honour are: Dr Santiago Calatrava-Valls (architect), Professor Natalie Zemon Davis (historian), Prof Erwin L Hahn (physics), Professor Barry Marshall(microbiology) and Mitsuko Uchida (pianist).

'Al-Qaida is a growing challenge for US'

2009-02-05T22:47:00.001-08:00

WASHINGTON: In the backdrop of reports that al-Qaida has established a strong base in Yemen to target America, the US has termed the terrorist organization as a "growing challenge" for it.

Without going into specifics of reports related to Yemen, the state department spokesperson, Robert Wood told reporters in response to a question that the US is working with partners across the globe to eliminate the threat of al-Qaida.

"It's not easy. This is a growing challenge for the United States," Wood said and referred to the recent statement of President Barack Obama in which he had said that "this is something that the US has to meet, there is no alternative but to meet this challenge".

"We need to work closely with our partners and others around the world to try to do what we can to eliminate the threat," Wood said.

He said there are concerns about al-Qaida activity in a number of places around the world, not just Yemen.

"Let me just say that al-Qaida remains a concern for us in a number of places around the world. It's still active. It still remains a threat to the US and its allies. And we'll continue to pursue al-Qaida," he said, adding that al-Qaida is operating in a number of places around the world.

Mother should 'pay' in US incest case

2009-02-05T22:44:00.000-08:00

HARRISONVILLE, Missouri: The older sister of a girl allegedly molested and impregnated four times by their father said Thursday their mother allowed the abuse and should face more than a child-endangerment charge.

"I want her to get more charges," the 20-year-old said outside a western Missouri courthouse. "I want her to pay as much as my father. I don't want either of them to get away with a slap on the wrist."

The mother is charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child. Cass County prosecutors said additional charges were possible but declined to elaborate. The woman is free on $10,000 bond.

The Associated Press is withholding the names of the suspects and other family members to protect the identity of the daughter who was allegedly sexually assaulted. A judge entered not guilty pleas on behalf of the mother and father during their initial court appearances, prosecutors said.

The 47-year-old mother was allowed to miss a scheduled court appearance Thursday; a preliminary hearing was set for March 5. Her public defender, Angela Weatherford, declined to comment on the case.

Her husband, also 47, faces charges including second-degree murder in the death of a boy born in November 2006. The infant is believed to have died months later after not receiving medical treatment for pneumonia.

The baby's remains were found last month in a cooler on a rural property where the family once lived near Harrisonville, a town of about 9,000 people about 40 miles south of Kansas City.

Two other babies the man is suspected of fathering with his now 19-year-old daughter also died. Charges have not been filed in those cases.

The body of one of those babies was found in a different cooler last month on the Harrisonville property. The other infant is believed to have been buried in Oklahoma, where the family briefly lived.

A surviving child, a 3-year-old boy, is in state custody. The man also is charged with endangering the welfare of a child, statutory rape and two counts each of incest and abandoning a corpse. He is being held on $500,000 bond.

Family members and investigators have said the daughter who had the babies was 13 when the molestation started. She has not been charged with any crime.

Row in Oxford over 'kababs'

2009-02-03T07:05:00.000-08:00

LONDON: A 'kabab' vendor in Oxford has been asked to move his van away from a college area as the alleged smell of cooking wafts to students’rooms and prevents them from sleeping.

Saeid Kashmiri has been selling kababs near the Christ Church College for 15 years from a van called 'Sid's Kitchen', but now the university authorities have applied to the Oxford City Council to revoke his licence.

The council, however, rejected the university's application and instead asked Kashmiri to move his van 200 yards away from the college in a compromise agreement.

Kashmiri, 62, sells kababs between 7 pm and 3 am every day, reports from Oxford said.

An Oxford University spokesman said: "The smell from the van outside the college lingers on long after it leaves for the night. A number of staff members have raised concerns over whether it is suitable for students to work best in such conditions.

"We encourage students to eat healthy but the issue with Sid's Kitchen has nothing to do with that. The college is concerned with students having the best possible environment for study," spokesman said.

But Kashmiri insisted he was providing a useful service. He said: "For 15 years, we have been serving people including the students. They come down and get a baked potato when studying at night. They are quite happy we are here."