06:08
Karthick Dharman
Posted in: Tamil ActorsSaturday, 18 June 2011
Thursday, 16 June 2011
Osama Bin Laden Would Have Sex When Not Waging War, Reveals His Wife
Osama Bin Laden used to have sex with his first wife for days on end whenever he came back from waging jihad. The late Al Qaeda leader would vanish into his bedroom with Najwa bin Laden - his first cousin whom he married in 1974 when she was 17 - upon his return and not come out until they had properly reacquainted themselves.
Asked by an interviewer to name her favourite time when living with the terrorist, she replied: "The sleeping time." Najwa was the first of six wives of bin Laden and they had 10 children together but separated before the 9/11 attacks. She was interviewed by the Atlanta, US-based investigative reporter, Jean Sasson, for her biography (co-authored with Najwa and her fourth son, Omar), Growing Up Bin Laden, but the journalist has revealed details which have not come out before.
"When I asked Najwa what her favourite time of day was, she admitted that it was 'the sleeping time'," Sasson said. She added that Najwa was not referring to actually going to sleep but "that's when he (bin Laden) was giving her all his attention". Sasson specialises in writing books on Middle Eastern society and is bestknown for the Princess trilogy, where she documents "life behind the veil" in Saudi Arabia. "Omar (Najwa's son) said that when he was a child, Osama would come home from Afghanistan and take Najwa into the bedroom and they wouldn't come out for days," Sasson said. At the time of bin Laden's killing, he was living with three later wives in a compound in Abbottabad in Pakistan where it has been reported that U.S. soldiers found herbal viagra. Sasson said she "wouldn't be surprised" at all if that were true.
"He had a younger wife plus two other wives there," she said. "I remember that on the day a clinic opened in Saudi Arabia for men who were impotent, cars lined up through Riyadh waiting. "And most of the men were elderly, and they were very concerned because they had four wives, and they said they could only do it twice a day. Some of these men were, like, 80." Sasson also revealed bizarre details about the bin Laden family's road trips into the desert. "Osama had these kicks where he would take the boys out into the desert and have them march long distances and not give them water," she said. "But after 1994, after the Saudis froze Osama's assets and revoked his passport, and there had been attempts on his life, he became more paranoid and decided that the whole family had to survive with nothing," Sasson continued.
"He started including the wives and the small children, and he would drive them into the desert and have them dig holes and sleep in them, using only the sand to keep them warm." Sasson said that Najwa bin Laden's life was tough but that once she overcame her uncomfortableness about speaking, she "enjoyed talking about her life". The journalist added that she did not think bin Laden was insane, although his son told her that he "often suffered from depression and got very quiet".
The publisher of Growing Up Bin Laden said in an interview with the New York Times magazine that it was not a revenge memoir but added about Omar: "He just always wanted a normal life, and he couldn't have one with his father." Omar, now 30, denounced the Al-Qaeda leader's killing as "criminal" last month and said he reserved the right to take legal action against America, according to a statement apparently made by him on an Islamist website.
Married to a British woman 25 years his elder, he has been based in the Gulf in recent years. In April, his wife - formerly known as Jane Felix-Browne, but who now goes by the name Zaina Bin Laden - became pregnant with the couple's baby following IVF treatment.
Asked by an interviewer to name her favourite time when living with the terrorist, she replied: "The sleeping time." Najwa was the first of six wives of bin Laden and they had 10 children together but separated before the 9/11 attacks. She was interviewed by the Atlanta, US-based investigative reporter, Jean Sasson, for her biography (co-authored with Najwa and her fourth son, Omar), Growing Up Bin Laden, but the journalist has revealed details which have not come out before.
"When I asked Najwa what her favourite time of day was, she admitted that it was 'the sleeping time'," Sasson said. She added that Najwa was not referring to actually going to sleep but "that's when he (bin Laden) was giving her all his attention". Sasson specialises in writing books on Middle Eastern society and is bestknown for the Princess trilogy, where she documents "life behind the veil" in Saudi Arabia. "Omar (Najwa's son) said that when he was a child, Osama would come home from Afghanistan and take Najwa into the bedroom and they wouldn't come out for days," Sasson said. At the time of bin Laden's killing, he was living with three later wives in a compound in Abbottabad in Pakistan where it has been reported that U.S. soldiers found herbal viagra. Sasson said she "wouldn't be surprised" at all if that were true.
"He had a younger wife plus two other wives there," she said. "I remember that on the day a clinic opened in Saudi Arabia for men who were impotent, cars lined up through Riyadh waiting. "And most of the men were elderly, and they were very concerned because they had four wives, and they said they could only do it twice a day. Some of these men were, like, 80." Sasson also revealed bizarre details about the bin Laden family's road trips into the desert. "Osama had these kicks where he would take the boys out into the desert and have them march long distances and not give them water," she said. "But after 1994, after the Saudis froze Osama's assets and revoked his passport, and there had been attempts on his life, he became more paranoid and decided that the whole family had to survive with nothing," Sasson continued.
"He started including the wives and the small children, and he would drive them into the desert and have them dig holes and sleep in them, using only the sand to keep them warm." Sasson said that Najwa bin Laden's life was tough but that once she overcame her uncomfortableness about speaking, she "enjoyed talking about her life". The journalist added that she did not think bin Laden was insane, although his son told her that he "often suffered from depression and got very quiet".
The publisher of Growing Up Bin Laden said in an interview with the New York Times magazine that it was not a revenge memoir but added about Omar: "He just always wanted a normal life, and he couldn't have one with his father." Omar, now 30, denounced the Al-Qaeda leader's killing as "criminal" last month and said he reserved the right to take legal action against America, according to a statement apparently made by him on an Islamist website.
Married to a British woman 25 years his elder, he has been based in the Gulf in recent years. In April, his wife - formerly known as Jane Felix-Browne, but who now goes by the name Zaina Bin Laden - became pregnant with the couple's baby following IVF treatment.
Posted in: Breaking News
Volcanic Ash From Puyehue Disrupts Flights In Australia
Thousands of passengers were left stranded after ash from Chile's Puyehue volcano drifted across southern parts of Australia disrupting flights. Strong winds have drifted the ashes from the volcano more than half way around the world, across the Pacific into Australian and New Zealand airspace.
Chile's Puyehue volcano erupted more than a week ago. National airlines Qantas cancelled all services to and from Tasmania and New Zealand for the rest of the day on Tuesday morning while its Adelaide services remain grounded because of the ash cloud, according to media reports.
Dozens of flights are delayed or cancelled because of the ash cloud, which is streaming over Adelaide and Tasmania. However international carriers are still operating.
Virgin Australia, on Monday, resumed normal services in and out of Melbourne, Tasmania and New Zealand and said, on Tuesday, it planned to operate normal scheduled services again.
About 20,000 Qantas passengers have had their flights disrupted, with 15,000 yet to reach their destination. More than 50,000 people in total were caught up in the travel chaos.
Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Safety Authority, on Monday, said it had no issue with airlines continuing operations provided they avoid the areas of forecast volcanic ash and any actual areas of ash.
Tiger Airways said its flights between Melbourne and Adelaide had been cancelled as had flights from Avalon Airport and Perth. About 7,000 Tiger passengers were affected, a spokeswoman said.
Air New Zealand said it had not cancelled any flights, but its planes were flying at a lower altitude to avoid the plume.
Rob Walker from Airservices Australia said Adelaide was the main airport being affected on Tuesday. "It looks like Qantas, Jetstar and Tiger have cancelled their flights into and out of Adelaide this morning," he said.
"Virgin has made the decision that they are happy to fly and Melbourne that was impacted on Monday is obviously open for business this morning," he added. Walker said another plume about 1,200 kilometres in diameter and located 4,000 km west of Perth was also being closely monitored.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Angeline Prasad said the ash cloud was moving from west to east, however winds over the mainland were blowing parts of the plume westerly over Adelaide.
Prasad, based at the bureau's Darwin's Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, said although the ash was diffusing it was difficult to say when it would cease to be a hazard for flights.
Chile's Puyehue volcano erupted more than a week ago. National airlines Qantas cancelled all services to and from Tasmania and New Zealand for the rest of the day on Tuesday morning while its Adelaide services remain grounded because of the ash cloud, according to media reports.
Dozens of flights are delayed or cancelled because of the ash cloud, which is streaming over Adelaide and Tasmania. However international carriers are still operating.
Virgin Australia, on Monday, resumed normal services in and out of Melbourne, Tasmania and New Zealand and said, on Tuesday, it planned to operate normal scheduled services again.
About 20,000 Qantas passengers have had their flights disrupted, with 15,000 yet to reach their destination. More than 50,000 people in total were caught up in the travel chaos.
Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Safety Authority, on Monday, said it had no issue with airlines continuing operations provided they avoid the areas of forecast volcanic ash and any actual areas of ash.
Tiger Airways said its flights between Melbourne and Adelaide had been cancelled as had flights from Avalon Airport and Perth. About 7,000 Tiger passengers were affected, a spokeswoman said.
Air New Zealand said it had not cancelled any flights, but its planes were flying at a lower altitude to avoid the plume.
Rob Walker from Airservices Australia said Adelaide was the main airport being affected on Tuesday. "It looks like Qantas, Jetstar and Tiger have cancelled their flights into and out of Adelaide this morning," he said.
"Virgin has made the decision that they are happy to fly and Melbourne that was impacted on Monday is obviously open for business this morning," he added. Walker said another plume about 1,200 kilometres in diameter and located 4,000 km west of Perth was also being closely monitored.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Angeline Prasad said the ash cloud was moving from west to east, however winds over the mainland were blowing parts of the plume westerly over Adelaide.
Prasad, based at the bureau's Darwin's Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, said although the ash was diffusing it was difficult to say when it would cease to be a hazard for flights.
Posted in: Breaking News
War On Terror: US Puts Rider For Aid To Pakistan
Islamabad's efforts in the war against terror are not enough for the US and a Congressional committee has made that extremely evident to Pakistan.
The US will now impose limits on aid to Pakistan. A defence spending bill for the same has been approved by a committee.
The Congressional committee approved the allocation of $1.1 billion to Pakistan next year for its counter-insurgency operations under the bill.
President Barack Obama has been under increasing pressure from the US lawmakers to cut down on US aid to Pakistan, especially as terrorists continue to operate in the country.
This bill also threatens to withhold three-fourth of this budget till the Obama administration reports on how it intends to spend the money.
In a move to bring in more transparency and accountability, the Secretary of Defence will have to provide a report to Congress on a strategy for the use of these funds.
This move also marks the first major approval of Pakistan-related funding by the Congress after the killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad.
The US will now impose limits on aid to Pakistan. A defence spending bill for the same has been approved by a committee.
The Congressional committee approved the allocation of $1.1 billion to Pakistan next year for its counter-insurgency operations under the bill.
President Barack Obama has been under increasing pressure from the US lawmakers to cut down on US aid to Pakistan, especially as terrorists continue to operate in the country.
This bill also threatens to withhold three-fourth of this budget till the Obama administration reports on how it intends to spend the money.
In a move to bring in more transparency and accountability, the Secretary of Defence will have to provide a report to Congress on a strategy for the use of these funds.
This move also marks the first major approval of Pakistan-related funding by the Congress after the killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad.
Posted in: Breaking News
India Is Fourth Most Dangerous Place In The World For Women: Poll
A country headed by a woman President and powerful women as chief ministers in four influential states should have been safest place in the world for women.
On the contrary, India is the fourth most dangerous place in the world for women. A Thomson Reuters Foundation global poll reveals this shocking fact. It's an unflattering irony for a country where women make it to the top political positions - President Pratibha Patil, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, chief ministers Mayawati of Uttar Pradesh, Sheila Dikshit of Delhi, J. Jayalalithaa of Tamil Nadu and Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, ruling Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj. Yet there are women deprived of their basic right to be born.
The report says the country is worse than war-torn Somalia because of high instances of female foeticide, infanticide and human trafficking.
It is only a little better than war-ravaged Afghanistan and Congo. The African nation is saddled with the ignominious title of "rape capital of the world".
India can, like it always does, take pride in the fact that it is a notch below its arch-rival Pakistan on the shame list. South Asia, as can be deduced from the poll, is the most dangerous region for women.
Evidently, India's apparent economic progress finds no reflection in the status of its girl child - most of whom are even denied the right to be born.
"This survey shows that hidden dangers like lack of education or terrible access to healthcare are as deadly, if not more so, than physical dangers like rape and murder which usually grab the headlines. In the top five countries, basic human rights are systematically denied to women," Monique Villa, chief executive of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, said.
The poll conducted among 213 gender experts who ranked countries on their overall perception of danger, as well as by six key categories of risks - health, sexual violence, nonsexual violence, harmful practices rooted in culture, tradition or religion, lack of access to economic resources and human trafficking.
The Thomson Reuters Foundation explained why it ranked India so low on the list. The main reasons were female foeticide, infanticide and human trafficking.
In fact, it quotes the government's own horrific statistics on trafficking. A CBI report in 2009 says 90 per cent of trafficking took place within the country and there were some three million prostitutes, of whom about 40 per cent were children.
Criticising the government's response to prevent trafficking of women, who invariably end up in decrepit brothels, Cristi Hegranes of the Global Press Institute said: "The practice is common but lucrative so it goes untouched by government and the police."
The report goes onto quote the US state department's 2010 dossier on trafficking, which cites sex slavery, forced labour and forced marriage as crime against women taking place unabated in India and the other countries mentioned on the list. Worst of all, traffickers hardly get caught and punished in India.
The Thomson Reuters Foundation highlights the plight of missing girls in India, citing the UN Population Fund report. It says up to 50 million girls have gone "missing" over the past century because of female infanticide and foeticide.
Human Rights Watch's South Asia director Meenakshi Ganguly more or less agreed with the report. "It is true that South Asians don't, in general, value their daughters. This for instance is apparent in the dwindling gender ratio in India. Domestic violence is rampant and various forms of sexual assault often remain an untold horror that women endure," she said.
Domestic violence, rape, sexual harassment, incest, acid attacks and dowry deaths, gender experts say, are just the tip of the iceberg.
Women continue to have little say over their lives. They have practically no access to finances, land, inheritance rights, education, employment, justice, healthcare and nutrition.
Mona Mehta, leader of Oxfam's We Can campaign against violence against women in South Asia, said: "It's not enough to have a law. The implementation needs to be resourced well enough for it to work."
On the contrary, India is the fourth most dangerous place in the world for women. A Thomson Reuters Foundation global poll reveals this shocking fact. It's an unflattering irony for a country where women make it to the top political positions - President Pratibha Patil, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, chief ministers Mayawati of Uttar Pradesh, Sheila Dikshit of Delhi, J. Jayalalithaa of Tamil Nadu and Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, ruling Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj. Yet there are women deprived of their basic right to be born.
The report says the country is worse than war-torn Somalia because of high instances of female foeticide, infanticide and human trafficking.
It is only a little better than war-ravaged Afghanistan and Congo. The African nation is saddled with the ignominious title of "rape capital of the world".
India can, like it always does, take pride in the fact that it is a notch below its arch-rival Pakistan on the shame list. South Asia, as can be deduced from the poll, is the most dangerous region for women.
Evidently, India's apparent economic progress finds no reflection in the status of its girl child - most of whom are even denied the right to be born.
"This survey shows that hidden dangers like lack of education or terrible access to healthcare are as deadly, if not more so, than physical dangers like rape and murder which usually grab the headlines. In the top five countries, basic human rights are systematically denied to women," Monique Villa, chief executive of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, said.
The poll conducted among 213 gender experts who ranked countries on their overall perception of danger, as well as by six key categories of risks - health, sexual violence, nonsexual violence, harmful practices rooted in culture, tradition or religion, lack of access to economic resources and human trafficking.
The Thomson Reuters Foundation explained why it ranked India so low on the list. The main reasons were female foeticide, infanticide and human trafficking.
In fact, it quotes the government's own horrific statistics on trafficking. A CBI report in 2009 says 90 per cent of trafficking took place within the country and there were some three million prostitutes, of whom about 40 per cent were children.
Criticising the government's response to prevent trafficking of women, who invariably end up in decrepit brothels, Cristi Hegranes of the Global Press Institute said: "The practice is common but lucrative so it goes untouched by government and the police."
The report goes onto quote the US state department's 2010 dossier on trafficking, which cites sex slavery, forced labour and forced marriage as crime against women taking place unabated in India and the other countries mentioned on the list. Worst of all, traffickers hardly get caught and punished in India.
The Thomson Reuters Foundation highlights the plight of missing girls in India, citing the UN Population Fund report. It says up to 50 million girls have gone "missing" over the past century because of female infanticide and foeticide.
Human Rights Watch's South Asia director Meenakshi Ganguly more or less agreed with the report. "It is true that South Asians don't, in general, value their daughters. This for instance is apparent in the dwindling gender ratio in India. Domestic violence is rampant and various forms of sexual assault often remain an untold horror that women endure," she said.
Domestic violence, rape, sexual harassment, incest, acid attacks and dowry deaths, gender experts say, are just the tip of the iceberg.
Women continue to have little say over their lives. They have practically no access to finances, land, inheritance rights, education, employment, justice, healthcare and nutrition.
Mona Mehta, leader of Oxfam's We Can campaign against violence against women in South Asia, said: "It's not enough to have a law. The implementation needs to be resourced well enough for it to work."
Posted in: Breaking News
Government Slams Team Anna, Says Draft Will Be Ready By June 30
The logjam over Lokpal bill continues. Soon after Team Anna criticised it over lack of transparency, the government on Thursday lashed out at the civil society members over the anti-corruption ombudsman, saying "they want to run a parallel government". The government also said it will be ready with the Lokpal draft by June 30.
A day after the joint Lokpal panel meeting ended in a deadlock, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare had said the government had no intention to fight the graft and that he would start another satyagrah on August 16. Team Anna has said there are no discussions at the meetings and the government is simply trying to push its version through.
"We are analysing their views in the context of the framework of the Constitution," Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal shot back.
"We have agreements on many issues, but there is a divergence of views about the structure of the Lokpal bill. They want to create an independent Lokpal. We asked 'where will you find the manpower?' Can there be a change of heart among the same people who will work under you?" asked Sibal, flanked by Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Minister of Water Resources and Minister of Minority Affairs.
"Why do you want audio/video recordings - to flash it on TV channels, to castigate ministers? This is a very serious business (drafting of the bill)," Sibal asked, referring to RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal's remarks a while ago that the government was not sharing the clippings.
Chidambaram said the political process must be respected and promised that the government would complete the Lokpal draft by June 30.
"There is big gap between what is desirable and what is feasible. We must respect the laws of Parliament. We must respect the political process," he said.
Earlier, Anna, who announced to go ahead with his fast from August 16, had castigated the government over lack of any discussions at the meetings and the government's two-draft theory.
"What is the point of a joint panel, if there are two drafts," Hazare, who was flanked by other civil society members, including RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal and lawyer Prashant Bhushan, said on Thursday.
"I was surprised by the government stand on the Lokpal bill," said Hazare, who has threatened to go on a hunger strike again accusing the government of being uninterested in a strong bill. Referring to the government announcements on two drafts in case of disagreements, Hazare had stated earlier that he was not optimistic about expecting anything from the government anymore.
Hazare had led a mass indefinite hunger strike at Delhi's Jantar Mantar in April.
Kejriwal said the government has refused to listen to the arguments of the civil society members, saying even 20% of the basic issues were not discussed at the meetings. Calling the Lokpal meetings a farce, Kejriwal said if the Lokpal bill was introduced in Parliament without civil society's grievances beings addressed, it would be 'a jokepal bill'.
He said the government has also refused to give any promise on sharing the audio recordings of the meetings.
Meanwhile, Law Minister Veerappa Moily said, "I am the convenor of the Lokpal drafting committee. We are keen to bring the bill. It is our genuine intention to bring the bill in Parliament in the monsoon session. But we observe that after every meeting is over, the civil society members go to public attacking us. This is not right."
A day after the joint Lokpal panel meeting ended in a deadlock, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare had said the government had no intention to fight the graft and that he would start another satyagrah on August 16. Team Anna has said there are no discussions at the meetings and the government is simply trying to push its version through.
"We are analysing their views in the context of the framework of the Constitution," Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal shot back.
"We have agreements on many issues, but there is a divergence of views about the structure of the Lokpal bill. They want to create an independent Lokpal. We asked 'where will you find the manpower?' Can there be a change of heart among the same people who will work under you?" asked Sibal, flanked by Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Minister of Water Resources and Minister of Minority Affairs.
"Why do you want audio/video recordings - to flash it on TV channels, to castigate ministers? This is a very serious business (drafting of the bill)," Sibal asked, referring to RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal's remarks a while ago that the government was not sharing the clippings.
Chidambaram said the political process must be respected and promised that the government would complete the Lokpal draft by June 30.
"There is big gap between what is desirable and what is feasible. We must respect the laws of Parliament. We must respect the political process," he said.
Earlier, Anna, who announced to go ahead with his fast from August 16, had castigated the government over lack of any discussions at the meetings and the government's two-draft theory.
"What is the point of a joint panel, if there are two drafts," Hazare, who was flanked by other civil society members, including RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal and lawyer Prashant Bhushan, said on Thursday.
"I was surprised by the government stand on the Lokpal bill," said Hazare, who has threatened to go on a hunger strike again accusing the government of being uninterested in a strong bill. Referring to the government announcements on two drafts in case of disagreements, Hazare had stated earlier that he was not optimistic about expecting anything from the government anymore.
Hazare had led a mass indefinite hunger strike at Delhi's Jantar Mantar in April.
Kejriwal said the government has refused to listen to the arguments of the civil society members, saying even 20% of the basic issues were not discussed at the meetings. Calling the Lokpal meetings a farce, Kejriwal said if the Lokpal bill was introduced in Parliament without civil society's grievances beings addressed, it would be 'a jokepal bill'.
He said the government has also refused to give any promise on sharing the audio recordings of the meetings.
Meanwhile, Law Minister Veerappa Moily said, "I am the convenor of the Lokpal drafting committee. We are keen to bring the bill. It is our genuine intention to bring the bill in Parliament in the monsoon session. But we observe that after every meeting is over, the civil society members go to public attacking us. This is not right."
Posted in: Breaking News
