Grammy Awards ceremony set for overhaul
Changes are to be made to next year's Grammys, in what organisers say is the biggest overhaul in the 53-year history of the US music awards. The number of categories will be reduced from 109 to 78 with many existing categories merged, while some will be dropped completely.
Each category must now start out with at least 40 contenders instead of 25.
Grammy president Neil Portnow said: "It ups the game in terms of what it takes to receive a Grammy." Read more....
Dramatic rescue in Ivorian city
French forces have snatched the Japanese ambassador to safety from near the besieged presidential residence in Ivory Coast's main city, Abidjan.Soldiers exchanged fire with guards at the compound where Laurent Gbagbo is holed up, refusing to stand down.
His rival Alassane Ouattara's forces surround the residence, where fighting continued through the night.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe says Israel has now asked Paris to extract Israeli diplomats from Abidjan.
Mr Gbagbo has refused to step down despite being beaten in an election in November. Read more...
Japan tackles hydrogen buildup, cumulative radiation
Japan pumped nitrogen gas into a crippled nuclear reactor on Thursday, trying to prevent an explosive buildup of hydrogen gas as the world's worst nuclear disaster in 25 years stirred atomic safety debate and inspections in the United States. Engineers worked through the night injecting nitrogen into the containment vessel of reactor No.1 at Fukushima Daiichi power plant, following success in stopping highly radioactive water leaking into the sea at another reactor in the complex.
"It is necessary to inject nitrogen gas into the containment vessel and eliminate the potential for a hydrogen explosion," an official of plant operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) told a news briefing. Read more....
Silvio Berlusconi and Ruby 'exchanged 53 messages in three months'
Silvio Berlusconi and Karima El Mahroug - Ruby the Heart Stealer - exchanged 53 phone calls and messages during a three month period last year, according to leaked prosecution papers.
Prez Yadav crossing limit: MJF-N Chair
KATHMANDU- Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Nepal (MJF-N) Chairman Upendra Yadav Thursday accused President Dr Ram Baran Yadav of crossing the limit with his remarks.MJF-N Chairman Yadav who arrived in Rajbiraj to resolve the issue surfaced within the party in Saptari Chapter said President Yadav seems more like the well-wisher of the Nepali Congress. Read more...
Sai Baba's health improving, say doctors
HYDERABAD, PUTTAPARTHI -
There is a marked improvement in the condition of Sathya Sai Baba and he is responding to medication, doctors treating the spiritual guru said on Wednesday.
“His condition shows improvement and he is in a stable state of health. There are signs of improvement in the functioning of his kidneys although he is still on dialysis,’’ a statement from Dr A N Safaya, director of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences (SSSIHMS), said. Read more....
'Idol' finalists branch out with rock tunes
"American Idol" finalist Pia Toscano is on a high.
After weeks of expectedly performing ballads, the soaring 22-year-old songstress from Howard Beach, N.Y., earned praise from the Fox talent competition's judges for strutting around the stage while powering through Tina Turner's up-tempo tune "River Deep — Mountain High" on Wednesday's rock `n' roll edition. Toscano previously promised to sing that tune."Murderer! Murderer!" screamed "Idol" judge Steven Tyler. "Pia, you killed it."
Other singers who switched it up included 17-year-old high school student Scotty McCreery of Garner, N.C., and 22-year-old rocker James Durbin of Santa Cruz, Calif. Randy Jackson said he'd seen "a new Scotty" after McCreery jazzed up Elvis Presley's "That's All Right," while an emotional Durbin slowed down on George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Read more....
‘Would-be bombers’ held
KATHMANDU- Police arrested five senior members of an underground armed group—the Communist Party of Nepal (Rebel) Maoist—from Baluwatar in the Capital and Jagati in Bhaktapur on Wednesday.
Police said the men were holding a meeting and making plans to bomb several places in the Kathmandu Valley when they raided the hideouts and arrested them. Acting on a tip-off, a special squad from the Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD) raided the hideouts from where they also seized three pistols, some explosives and paraphernalia containing plans to carry out the bombings. Read more....
Dahal to stay as oarsman of statute drafting panel
KATHMANDU- Despite opposition from the hardline faction of party Vice Chairman Mohan Baidya, the UCPN (Maoist) has decided to let Party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal stay on as coordinator of the sub-committee under the Constitutional Committee (CC) of Constituent Assembly.
Earlier on Tuesday, Chairman Dahal had proposed Vice Chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha as the new head of the sub-committee citing his tight schedule.
According to a Maoist leader, the party decided to send Dahal to the committee following requests from top leaders of other parties, including former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal. A meeting of Maoist office bearers held at the party headquarters in Parisdanda decided to give continuance to Dahal’s leadership of the subcommittee, after leaders of other political parties protested the decision to change the coordinator saying
that contentious issues cannot be settled without the top leader’s participation in the sub-committee. Read more.....
‘US will assist peace process’
KATHMANDU- The US Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake said on Wednesday that the US is ready to assist Nepal for the timely accomplishment of the processes of peace and statute drafting. Read more.....
PLA integration
The party has decided to conduct a detailed study of the proposal once it gets a chance to have a look at the plan. Read more ......
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