Death does not allow her to fight . Indian gang rape girl died in Singapore

SINGAPORE: The 23-year-old victim of the brutal gang rape and assault in Delhi that had triggered an outrage across India died early this morning here after putting up a brave battle for life for nearly a fortnight.

The girl, who was admitted to the well-known multi-organ transplant facility Mount Elizabeth Hospital   in Singapore on 29th Dec 2012 Thursday morning in an extremely critical condition, breathed her last at 4:45 AM (2:15 AM India time). She was earlier treated at the Safdarjung Hospital  in Delhi.

"We are very sad to report that the patient passed away peacefully at 4.45am on 29 Dec 2012 (Singapore time)," the hospital's Chief Executive Officer Dr Kelvin Loh said in a statement.

"Her family and officials from the high commission of India were by her side. The Mount Elizabeth Hospital team of doctors, nurses and staff join her family in mourning her loss," the statement said.

The body has been moved to the mortuary in the Singapore General Hospital and will be flown back to India by a chartered plane. Accompanied by her family, the body is expected to arrive in Delhi in the night.

President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a host of political leaders condoled the death of the girl and paid rich tributes to the victim of the sexual assault for her brave fight.

The girl was raped and brutally assaulted in a moving bus by six men in Delhi on December 16 and thrown out along with her companion.

Indian High Commissioner T C A Raghavan told reporters that the family was yet to decide on the plans for the last rites back home.

He said the girl fought a brave battle till the end. She was brought to Singapore for being provided good medical treatment.

The envoy "The family is shattered by this development. At the same time, they realised that best possible medical attention was given. And in the end it was the scale of injuries that proved too much for the medical attention provided to her".

He said the final few hours was a trying time for the girl's family and they bore the entire process with a great deal of fortitude and courage.

Raghavan said he has passed on the condolence message of the Prime Minister to the family in which he had spoken of the desire to make India a demonstrably better and safe place for women to live in.

Raghavan said the High Commission has received numerous messages from various quarters including the Singapore government deeply mourning the death.

He appreciated the help extended by the Singapore Foreign Ministry, the government and the Mount Elizabeth Hospital for all their support in the last two days.

Replying to questions on the shifting of the girl from Delhi to Singapore, he said consultations were held between doctors of Safdarjung hospital and Mount Elizabeth Hospital and they must have given full thought to it before taking it.

Delhi gang rape victim arrives in Singapore hospital

A female student who was gang-raped on a bus in India's capital Delhi has arrived in Singapore for better  treatment.

The 23-year-old victim - who remains on life support - is being treated at a specialised facility and may require an organ transplant.
The attack earlier this month triggered violent public protests, which left one police officer dead.
An inquiry into possible lapses by the authorities is now under way.
The investigation is being led by retired judge Usha Mehra.
Six men have been arrested and two police officers have been suspended following the 16 December attack.
An air ambulance carrying the woman landed at Singapore Changi International Airport early on Thursday, the Indian High Commission in Singapore told news agencies.
The victim - who has already had three operations in Delhi - was then taken to the city's Mount Elizabeth hospital.
The hospital said in a statement quoted by the Associated Press that she was admitted to the intensive care unit "in an extremely critical condition".
"She is being examined and the hospital is working with the Indian High Commission," the statement said.
'Prolonged treatment' Senior Delhi doctor BD Athani told the Press Trust of India that the hospital had "a state-of-art multi-organ transplant facility" to treat the victim's severe intestinal injuries.
The woman's family have accompanied her to Singapore because the treatment might take a long time, Dr Athani added.
Police in Delhi have opened roads and metro stations shut since Monday as protests against the incident eased.
The government has tried to halt the rising anger by announcing a series of measures intended to make Delhi safer for women.
These include more police night patrols, checks on bus drivers and their assistants, and the banning of buses with tinted windows or curtains.
The government has also said that it will post the photos, names and addresses of convicted rapists on official websites to shame them.
But the protesters say the government's pledge to seek life sentences for the attackers is not enough - many are calling for the death penalty.
The victim and her friend had been to see a film when they boarded the bus in the Munirka area, intending to travel to Dwarka in south-west Delhi.
Police said she was raped for nearly an hour, and both she and her companion were beaten with iron bars and thrown out of the moving bus into a Delhi street.

Another woman allegedly gang-raped in car, dumped in Delhi

A 42-year-old woman was sedated and raped allegedly by three men in Uttar Pradesh who then dumped her in south-east Delhi, police said on Thursday.

The fresh case comes close on the heels of a 23-year-old girl being gang-raped in a moving bus in south Delhi on December 16.

Police claimed that the woman, who hails from Jaipur, was raped somewhere in Vrindavan and then dumped in south-east Delhi's Kalkaji area on 26 december 2012 Wednesday night.

The incident came to light around 9.15 pm when a passerby saw the woman lying on a road and called the police.

The victim had gone to Vrindavan on December 22 and was returning home yesterday.

She met Verma (the accused) there and he accompanied her in a car to her hometown. On the way, Verma's two friends joined them.

"She told us that she was gagged, sedated and raped by the trio. They took turns to rape her. A medical examination has confirmed rape," a senior police official said.

Police said she was conscious and taken to AIIMS where she is undergoing treatment.

A case of gang-rape under section 376(G) has been registered.

One of the accused identified as Dilip Verma has been detained.

Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said Verma was picked up from Agra and he is being brought to Delhi for interrogation. He claimed that he knows the victim for five years.

Three teams have been formed and are raiding several places to catch the other two accused.

New Delhi police fire water cannon at India rape protest

Police in India blasted protesters with water cannon and tear gas Saturday as clashes broke out at a rally in New Delhi against rape, leaving scores of people drenched and angry.

The demonstration was prompted by wide public outrage over what police said was the gang-rape and beating of a 23-year-old woman on a moving bus in the capital last Sunday.

Her injuries were so severe she spent days in intensive care in a city hospital, battling for her life. Police said Saturday that she had recovered enough to give a statement to a magistrate from her hospital bed the previous evening.

Dozens of police, some equipped with bamboo canes, flanked the water cannon as it blasted out on to the thousands of protesters assembled by New Delhi's historic India Gate.

Some demonstrators attempted to break through the security barriers blocking access to the country's government district, parliament building and presidential palace.

Others chanted, punched the air in defiance and waved banners as the police sought to disperse them from Raisina Hill, the seat of Indian power.

"Hang them till death," read the placard of one protester seeking capital punishment for rape suspects.

"Stop this shame," read another. A third said, "Give them the same physical torture."

Shouts of "We want justice" also rose above the large and diverse crowd, symbolizing a widely felt anger over attacks against women. Banners proclaiming the same message were marked with a hangman's noose.

One young woman protester, who said her leg was injured by a blow from a police baton, lamented what she called a failure of democracy in the country.

"Today, I have seen democracy dying," she said.

New Delhi's police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said up to 35 protesters and nearly 40 police personnel were injured.

Thirty barricades were damaged in the course of the protest, he said, and police fired 125 tear gas shells. A number of vehicles were also damaged, he said.

Saturday's furious protest was just the latest held across the country in the past week, where official data show that rape cases have jumped almost 875% over the past 40 years -- from 2,487 in 1971 to 24,206 in 2011.

New Delhi alone reported 572 rapes last year and more than 600 in 2012.

Egypt army erects barriers at Cairo presidential palace

The Egyptian army has set up barricades outside the presidential palace, after ordering protesters to leave the area.

It follows violent overnight clashes between supporters and opponents of President Mohammed Morsi that left five people dead and 644 injured.
Most protesters left the palace by the 15:00 (13:00 GMT) deadline, though some opposition activists remained.
Meanwhile, Egypt's top Islamic body has called on the president to suspend his decree claiming sweeping powers.
The Al-Azhar institution also demanded an unconditional dialogue between the president and his opponents.
Mr Morsi is expected to address the nation on Thursday evening, although his statement appears to have been delayed.
Mr Morsi, who narrowly won Egypt's first free presidential election in June, says he will give up his new powers once a new constitution is ratified.

Philippine Typhoon Bopha death toll passes 300

Three-year-old boy was among those rescued from the mud

More than 300 people have died and hundreds more are missing in the wake of Typhoon Bopha, which cut a swathe of devastation across the southern Philippines.

The Civil Defence Office said at least 325 people were confirmed dead and another 379 missing.
People were killed in eight provinces but eastern Mindanao was worst-hit.
In Compostela Valley province alone at least 184 people died, many when flash floods hit emergency shelters.
"We have 325 dead and this is expected to rise because many more are missing," civil defence chief Benito Ramos told a news conference early on Thursday.
"Communications are bogged down, there is no electricity, roads and bridges have been destroyed," he said. "We're still on a search-and-rescue mode."

Philippine death toll from Typhoon Bopha rises

The death toll from a powerful storm that hit the southern Philippines is continuing to rise, as rescue teams headed for affected areas.

More than 100 people are now thought to have died after Typhoon Bopha struck Mindanao island on Tuesday, bringing rain and high winds.
Tens of thousands were evacuated ahead of the storm, which is now passing over the western island of Palawan.
In Andap village in east Mindanao, at least 43 were killed in flash floods.
Water and mud rushed down mountainous slopes to engulf a school and a village hall serving as evacuation centres.
A road into the town was blocked by debris, reports said, but the military said it was hoping to get helicopters into the area to assess the situation.
Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said body bags and other emergency supplies would be rushed to affected areas.

Iran says captures US drone in its airspace

Iran captured a US intelligence-gathering drone that entered its airspace over the Gulf, its armed forces said on Tuesday, the latest in a recent succession of alleged US violations of Iranian territory.

The incident highlighted tensions in the Gulf as both the Islamic Republic and the United States seek to demonstrate their military capability over the waterway amid a standoff over Iran's nuclear program.

Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz - the artery for 40 percent of the world's seaborne crude oil shipments - if it comes under military attack. US commanders have said they will not let that happen.

The compact ScanEagle drone was gathering information over the Gulf and had entered Iranian airspace when it was captured by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) naval unit, a statement on the Guards' website said.

The drone was "captured" in the last few days, it said, without specifying where the incident occurred and whether the unmanned spy plane was shot down or crashed.

The IRGC released what it said was video of the ScanEagle being displayed and examined by military officials beneath a sign reading "We will trample the United States."

Clashes outside Egypt presidential palace in Cairo

Police have fired tear gas in clashes with tens of thousands of protesters gathered near the presidential palace in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

Some of the protesters reportedly cut through barbed wire around the palace.
Crowds gathered to protest against what they say is the rushed drafting of a new constitution, due to be voted on on 15 December.
President Mohammed Morsi was in the palace but left as the crowds outside began to grow, sources there said.
Protesters are also reported to have gathered in large numbers in Egypt's second city Alexandria.
New powers Many of those gathered outside the presidential palace chanted slogans similar to those directed against the regime of former president Hosni Mubarak during protests in February 2011.
As well as their complaints about the new constitution, activists have also been angered by a decree issued by Mr Morsi last month in which he awarded himself sweeping powers.
Mr Morsi, elected in Egypt's first free presidential election in June, says he will give these up once a new constitution is ratified.
On Sunday, tens of thousands of Islamist supporters of Mr Morsi held demonstrations in support of his decisions and of the new constitution.

100 Rohingya Muslims Killed in Myanmar

At least 100 Rohingya Muslims have been killed in a recent wave of sectarian violence in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine, a Muslim party leader says. Hla Thein, the vice chairman of the National Democratic Party for Development (NDPD), said on Friday that over 100 Muslims have lost their lives over the past week in clashes between extremist Buddhists and Rohingyas. The deadly violence peaked on Tuesday night, but people have been killed every day this week, said the leader of the Muslim political party that won four seats in Myanmar’s 2010 election. Meanwhile, Rakhine state spokesman Win Myaing said 112 people had been killed in six townships in clashes that began Sunday between members of the Buddhist Rakhine and the Muslim Rohingya communities. He said 72 people were reported injured, including 10 children. The government announced earlier that almost 2,000 homes had been burned down in the conflict. In June, ethnic violence in the state left at least 90 people dead and destroyed more than 3,000 homes. About 75,000 have been living in refugee camps ever since. A resident of another township, Ramree, said there also was violence there Friday morning. “There were some clashes between the two sides in Ramree this morning,” Kyaw Win, 30, said by phone. “Residents are very fearful of imminent attacks by the Muslim community because security presence is very little. We don't feel safe. We want the Bengalis to be moved away from the Rakhine community,” Kyaw Win said. Rakhine prefer to use the term Bengali for Rohingya, whom they contend are not a distinct ethnic group. Kyaw Win said that a few houses had been burned down but that no casualties were reported. The mob violence has seen entire villages torched and has drawn calls worldwide for government intervention. “As the international community is closely watching Myanmar's democratic transition, such unrest could tarnish the image of the country,” said a statement from the office of President Thein Sein published Friday in the state-run Myanma Ahlin newspaper. Thein Sein took office as an elected president last year, and has instituted economic and political liberalization after almost half a century of repressive military rule. “The army, police and authorities in cooperation with local people will try to restore peace and stability and will take legal action against any individual or organization that is trying to instigate the unrest,” the statement warned. The long-brewing conflict is rooted in a dispute over the Muslim residents' origin. Although many Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for generations, they are widely denigrated as intruders who came from neighboring Bangladesh to steal scarce land. The U.N. estimates their population in Myanmar at 800,000. But the government does not count them as one of the country's 135 ethnic groups, and so — like neighboring Bangladesh — denies them citizenship. Human rights groups say racism also plays a role: Many Rohingya, who speak a Bengali dialect and resemble Muslim Bangladeshis, have darker skin and are heavily discriminated against. A statement issued late Thursday by the office of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described the latest violence as “deeply troubling.” Ban called on Myanmar authorities “to take urgent and effective action to bring under control all cases of lawlessness.” “The vigilante attacks, targeted threats and extremist rhetoric must be stopped,” Ban said. “If this is not done, the fabric of social order could be irreparably damaged and the reform and opening up process being currently pursued by the government is likely to be jeopardized.” In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S. was deeply concerned about the reports and urged restraint. In a hospital in Sittwe, the state capital not yet hit by the latest round of violence, an Associated Press photographer talked to four wounded people brought in from the affected areas. Aung Moe Khaing, 25, was wounded in an arm and a leg, saying he was shot Tuesday when soldiers dispersed the crowd. Phyu Thein Maung, 39, from Yathetaung township, said he was shot in the buttocks. “Muslims provoked us from inside their village and challenged us from their community, guarded by soldiers,” he said. “People were very angry as they shot iron spikes at us with catapults and made abusive gestures. I was hit by a gunshot when soldiers dispersed the crowd.” There have been concerns in the past that soldiers were failing to protect the Rohingya community, but accounts this time from Rakhine villagers suggest that Myanmar's military may have been defending the Rohingya. The crisis has proven a major challenge to Thein Sein's government and to opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been criticized by some outsiders as failing to speak out strongly against what they see as repression of the Rohingya. The U.N. warned Thursday that the crisis had sent a new wave of refugees to seek shelter in camps already overcrowded with 75,000 people from the June violence. Bangladesh has put its border guards on alert, fearing a new influx of Rohingya refugees. On Thursday, Bangladesh border guards turned away 45 Rohingya trying to enter into Bangladesh by boats, said Lt. Col. Khalequzzaman, a border commander. Local police chief Selim Mohammad Jahangir said Friday that at least another 3,000 Rohingya Muslims had been spotted on about 40 boats on the Naaf River off Bangladesh's Tekhnaf coast. He said the boats may try to enter Bangladesh, but “we have instructions not to let them come here.” Bangladesh says it's too poor to accept more refugees and feed them. Bangladesh is hosting about 30,000 Rohingya who fled Myanmar to escape government atrocities in 1991.

Husband cooked his wife's body



David Vien with his wife

 David Viens was an abusive, conniving husband who murdered his wife, cooked her body to dispose of it and then tried to cover his tracks with a string of lies and fake text messages.
In the defense's telling, Viens did kill his wife -- but by accident. After duct-taping her mouth, binding her hands and feet and falling asleep, he awoke to find her dead. Convinced no one would believe his wife's lifeless body was the result of a mishap, Viens tossed it in a dupmster  at his Lomita restaurant.
Jurors heard the two versions of the October 2009 slaying Monday during closing arguments in Viens' murder trial; the attorneys are scheduled to wrap up their cases Tuesday. Viens, 49, is accused of killing his wife, Dawn, whose body has never been found. In February 2011, after he discovered investigators suspected he'd killed her, Defense attorney Fred McCurry never challenged the premise that Dawn Viens was dead, nor did he suggest that she was slain by someone other than her husband. But he said the prosecution's evidence didn't support a first-degree murder conviction, which requires proof of premeditation.
"Dawn Viens died as an unintentional result of David Viens' actions," McCurry said. "That's not murder."
McCurry also challenged the veracity of the prosecution's most haunting piece of evidence: an interview with sheriff's investigators in which Viens said he boiled his wife's body over four days and dispatched much of what remained in his restaurant's grease trap.
At the time, McCurry reminded jurors, Viens was hospitalized from his cliff jump, suffering from "excruciating" pain and taking a cocktail of drugs that a defense expert suggested could impair his alertness and memory. During the interview, Viens spoke of being "confused" by his dreams and, while he told investigators that he'd stashed his wife's skull in his mother's attic, authorities never found it.

Love affair between Bilawal, Hina Rabbani Khar emerges. He is 24 and she is 35 with three children!

Social media is abuzz with a shocking revelation of love affair between Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

One of the Western intelligence agencies have reports regarding romantic relations between youngest foreign minister of Pakistan, Hina Rabbani Khar and Bilawal Bhutto, the son of President Asif Ali Zardari and slain Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

It said the intelligence report even indicated a ‘cold feud’ between the father and the son, following Bilawal’s decision of marrying Hina Rabbani Khar, as she is poised to end her marital relations with millionaire businessman Firoze Gulzar, from whom she has two daughters named Annaya and Dina.

The weekly tabloid quoting sources said  that President Asif Ali Zardari is vehemently opposing his son’s willingness of knotting marital relations with a woman with two children, saying it would not only jeopardize Bilawal’s political career but would also invite political doom for the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

It added being aggrieved by his son’s ego and determination in making a family with Hina Rabbani Khar, Asif Ali Zardari played key-role behind using country’s intelligence agencies in spreading the scandal about the evasion of electricity bills worth 70 million Rupees by Galaxy Textile Mills, a company owned by Khar’s husband Firoze Gulzar and father-in-law.

Media reports also alleged that she and her husband are also among many other beneficiaries of NRO – an ordinance drafted to save corruption money and provide immunity to corrupt.

It claimed that, at this stage, sensing his father’s aggressive attitude towards Hina Rabbani Khar, Bilawal expressed anger and even threatened of resigning from the post of  Presidency of Pakistan People’s Party.

The tabloid said  Bilawal told Asif Ali Zardari that he would settle in Switzerland with Hina Rabbani Khar and her daughters, though later he even told his father that, Hina might leave her daughters with her husband after the divorce.

It said that  Bhutto’s mother Benazir Bhutto left a hidden wealth worth billions of  dollars in Switzerland and Bilawal is the legal nominee of all those properties.

The tabloid claimed that the secret affair between Bilawal Bhutto and Hina Rabbani Khar came to the knowledge of Asif Ali Zardari, when the duo was caught in compromised situation inside the official residence of the President, where his son Bilawal Bhutto also resides. Later, President Zardari collected mobile call records between Bilawal and Hina and found evidences of relations between the two.

The relations became much exposed to Asif Ali Zardari, when Hina Rabbani Khar sent Bilawal a greeting card on his birthday on September 21, 2011 with hand-written message stating – “The foundation of our relations is eternal and soon we shall be just ourselves.”

Mass detention, torture of Syrian children among atrocities documented by UK charity

A boy witnesses his family members blown apart when a rocket falls on a funeral procession. A teenager is imprisoned and tortured in his own school, transformed by the regime into a mass detention center for children. The six-year-old son of an anti-government activist is abducted, then starved and beaten to death.
A new report by the British charity Save the Children documents these and other alleged atrocities in Syria’s 18-month-old civil war that according to activists have left thousands of children dead and many more traumatized. The report released Tuesday compiles 18 first-hand accounts from Syrian refugee children
Although it did not always specify which side had committed the alleged acts, most — random bombardment of civilian areas, mass abductions by mysterious gunmen — have been linked in the past with the regime’s forces or its allied shabiha militias.
“Every crime against children must be recorded to send a clear message to all sides in the conflict that these atrocities will not be tolerated,” the group said.
Among the accounts in “Untold Atrocities: The Stories of Syria’s Children”: Hassan, a 14-year-old boy now living in a refugee tent camp in Jordan, described what happened when a rocket landed in a funeral procession in his home village.
“Dead bodies along with injured people were scattered on the ground,” he said. “I found body parts all over each other. Dogs were eating the dead bodies for two days after the massacre.”

Sivaski : India's most dangerous town

Sivakasi town in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu is known as the country's fireworks capital. But frequent accidents have blotted the town's image.

The 5^th September blaze at firework factory that claimed 38 lives was the worst in recent memory.
In some of the biggest factory fires, about 40 people died in 2009, 30 in 2001 and more than 60 in 1991. The list of casualties in smaller mishaps is much longer.
But more than 700,000 workers of Sivakasi have no other option but to depend on one of the most hazardous industries for their livelihood.
About 20-25 workers die each year in fire accidents in this industry which boasts of an estimated annual turnover of more than $365m (£225m).
India is the second biggest producer of fireworks after China and, manufacturers say, almost all of it is for domestic consumption.
Sivakasi - also known for its matchbox and printing industries - contributes more than 90% to India's overall fireworks production.

Painful scars

But those who work in the industry carry painful scars - a broken leg or skull, or a hand burnt by explosives, and many here complain of chronic respiratory problems.
"In the last 12 months, before this accident, 22 workers lost their lives and 50 were injured," says Dr M Kathiresan, chief medical officer at the local government hospital.
The hospital has a shortage of staff and equipment and has no supply of morphine, the standard pain relief drug for burn victims.
After a brief shutdown following the 5 September accident, the factories have reopened and the workers are back.
"We are scared, but what else do we do," said Pummeraj, who is recuperating at home with extensive burns on his body.
The industry is criticised for observing poor safety standards and paying as low as $3 (£1.85) a day to workers.
The industry rejects the charges, saying it contributes by running schools for the workers' children and providing employment.

Deadly film protests: 19 die in Karachi and Peshawar in Pakistan

At least 19 people have died as violent protests erupted on the streets of Pakistan's main cities in anger at an anti-Islam film made in the US.

Fourteen people were killed in the port city of Karachi and a further five died in the north-western city of Peshawar, hospital officials said.
Protesters also breached the diplomatic enclave in the capital, Islamabad, near the US embassy.
There has been widespread unrest over the amateur film, Innocence of Muslims.
Dozens of people have been reported wounded and some were in a critical condition.
Protests have already left several people dead around the world, including Pakistan, where the government had appealed in advance for peaceful protests, declaring a holiday and "day of love" for the Prophet Muhammad.
Although US targets have borne the brunt of protests against the film, anti-Western sentiment has been stoked further by caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad published this week in the satirical French magazine, Charlie Hebdo.
France shut embassies and other missions in around 20 countries across the Muslim world on Friday.
Protests were banned in France itself and in Tunisia, where France is the former colonial power, but there were widespread demonstrations elsewhere.

Sam Bacile ‘Innocence of Muslims’: YouTube banned in Egypt, Lilbya, Afghanistan and most of Mulsim countriesover anti-Islam film

Video-sharing website YouTube has been banned in Libya, Egypt,Afghanistan , Bangladesh and most of the Muslim countries in the wake of an anti-Islam film ‘Innocence of Muslims’, which sparked a riot in Benghazi, Libya that killed four American officials, including US ambassador.
In the wake of the incidents, YouTube has decided to block the video in Egypt an Libya. Fast Company reports that the video will be made unavailable "temporarily" in both Libya and Egypt.

The Afghan presidency earlier condemned the film as “inhuman and insulting,” calling for it not to be broadcast.

The film was made by an Israeli-American and is promoted by extremist US pastor Terry Jones who has drawn protests for burning the Holy Quran and vehemently opposing the construction of a mosque near Ground Zero in New York.

It was made by an Israeli-American Sam Bacile who describes Islam as a “cancer”, the Wall Street Journal reported.

It has been promoted by controversial US pastor Terry Jones, who has drawn protests for burning the Holy Quran and vehemently opposing the construction of a mosque near Ground Zero in New York.

Australia Considers Killing 1.2 Million Farting Camels to Fight Global Warming

The Australian government is considering a plan to slaughter all of the nation’s 1.2 million wild camels in a bid to reduce carbon pollution.
Camels,over a million of them, and growing fast– their population is expected to double by 2020. The animals were brought Down Under by Afghan migrant workers in the 1800s to help lay roads and railroads across the massive, forbidding desert continent. They were also used to transport goods to remote settlements and mines.
But today the camels are seen first and foremost as a nuisance by farmers, and even conservationists. Each camel farts the equivalent of one ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) every year. Add that up and you’ve got a real problem– well over 1.2 million metric tons of methane polluting the air over Australia. The camels are one of Australia’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters.
The camels also cause more than $5 million in damage to pastoral lands, fences and buildings each year, according to the Australian government.
Killing the animals, which would be done by shooting them from helicopters or off-road vehicles, is “a critically important part of the solution to climate change and bringing Australia along with the rest of the global community in reducing emissions,” Tim Moore, the managing director of Northwest Carbon and the man behind the cull plan, told Bloomberg.
“We’re a nation of innovators and we find innovative solutions to our challenges,” he added. “This is just a classic example.”
It seems to me like it’s a classic example of man dealing with a manmade problem through violence against innocent sentient beings. Killing more than a million animals in this manner is nothing short of a camel Holocaust. Yes, the meat would be processed for human and animal consumption and yes, Australia does have a camel problem. But there’s got to be another way to solve it other than the wholesale slaughter of innocent animals.

Singapore Muslims condemn anti-Islam film that sparked protests in Egypt, Libya

There is a look of concern around the table at this Middle Eastern restaurant in Singapore’s Muslim Street. Much of the frustration is directed towards a film produced by an Israeli-American writer and director aimed at increasing sectarian tensions. For these Singapore residents, they are searching for ways to support Muslims in the Middle East as protests continue against the insulting film.
“We are all very disturbed by the events over the past two days in Egypt and Libya because this is not the Islamic way,” said cafe owner Mahmoud, a Pakistani Muslim who has lived in Singapore for 15 years and is a citizen.
He told that “the film that shows Mohammed as a child sexual abuser and homosexual is obvious hate speech.”
He further condemned the violence against the United States consulate in Libya, calling it a “misunderstanding of how Muslims are supposed to respond to such attacks of our faith.”
Others at the table nod their head in agreement. They are feeling the situation close to home. As Muslims they argue that all members of the religion should work together to end this misinformation in an adequate manner.

Filmmaker Sam Bacile in hiding after anti-Muslim film "Innocence of Muslims"sparks violence in which American ambassadort was killed...

Controversial Movie "Innocence of Muslims "

Sam Bacile, writer and director of the film “Innocence of Muslims” has gone into hiding following the violent reactions the film spurred by fundamentalist Muslims in Libya. A two-hour movie, Bacile’s film cost $5 million to make and starred 59 actors with 45 people behind the scenes.
Bacile, a California real estate developer who identifies himself as an Israeli Jew, made the film with the hopes of exposing Islam’s flaws to the world.
At the center of the controversy is the claim that in “Innocence of Muslims” the Islamic prophet Muhammad is a fraud ( Naujubillah) Bacile depicts Muhammad as a philanderer who approved of child sexual abuse. (Naujubillah).

Since Muslims find it offensive to portray Muhammad in any way, shape or form, to say there is unrest in Islamic countries would be an understatement.
Bacile’s film have inadvertently caused the death of four diplomatic officials in Benghazi, Libya, including American Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens. Ambassador Stevens’ death comes as the first American ambassador to be killed anywhere in the world since 1979.
Similar outrage has occurred in many Muslim countries following depictions of Mohammad in a Danish newspaper’s 2005 publication of 12 caricatures of the prophet.
Bacile, though apologetic about the officials who lost their lives because of his film, claims that, “Islam is a cancer, period.”
Bacile is also credited as saying via a telephone interview at an undisclosed location that the security situation regarding the American embassy in Libya should have been prepared for such a violent reaction.

.

Nine years since acid attack, still Sonali mukherjee begging for justice

Sonali Mukherjee before and after acid violence

In 2002, Sonali Mukherjee, a 19-year-old girl from Jharkhand, topped her college and was aspiring to be a professor someday. But less than a year later, her world fell apart when three men, whose advances she had been spurning for a while, threw acid on her. Today, nine years since the incident, Sonali and her family are still struggling from day to day to pay for her treatment. She has now appealed to the state for help.

"The pain and the torture of the last nine years I can't even describe in words. I am appealing to the state to help me, get me justice, otherwise I don't want to live," she says.

On April 22, 2003, the three men who had been making advances came late at night and poured acid all over Sonali, who was fast asleep on the terrace of her house in Dhanbad, Jharkhand. With 72 per cent burns, she was lucky to have survived, but lost her sight, her face, her body and life as she knew it. Each day since then has been a struggle for her.
Sonali's family, which does not have much to begin with, has sold every last thing they owned for her treatment, but she is far from okay - both physically and emotionally.

Her attackers included a 40-year-old married man, and an 18-year-old. The teenager was let off on account of being a juvenile, the other two were convicted for nine years, but appealed to a higher court and got out in just four, while Sonali continues to struggle to put together the Rs. 15 lakh she still needs for her treatment.

"Everything we owned has been sold, including cows, but till today I'm fighting," said her father Chandi Das Mukherjee.

Sonali's family says they can't do it alone anymore.

"I am appealing to everyone through you to help me... I am really desperate," she says.

How you can help:

Send your cheques to: Chandi Das Mukherjee

Account Number: 0612000103217964
Punjab National Bank, New Delhi

Or contact her brother at: +91 9437638600

Indian minister tells bureaucrats it's OK to 'steal a little ...

Shivpal Yadav

Shivpal Singh Yadav, in charge of housing and construction in northern Uttar Pradesh state, on Friday hastily withdrew the offer he made a day earlier during a meeting with government employees, which was also attended by journalists.
Yadav is an uncle to the state chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, whose Samajwadi Party stormed into power on an anti-corruption platform in elections held in Uttar Pradesh in March.
"If you work hard, you can steal a little, but don't behave like bandits," Yadav as saying at the meeting in Etah town, about 124 miles from capital Lucknow.
The comments drew flak from political opponents, prompting Yadav to retract his offer and accuse journalists of sneaking into the gathering.
"I have taken back those words," he told reporters in Lucknow on Friday. "Why are you raking it up? I don't know why the media is targeting me," he said.
Shame !! Shame !! Shame !!!!!!!!!!

Iran quake death toll hits 250, with over 2,000 injured, six villages leveled

A 6.4 -magnitude earthquake killed at least 250 people and injured over 2000 others in northwestern Iran on Saturday,
Iran's main news channel said the quake hit the towns of Ahar, Haris and Varzaqan in East Azerbaijan province at 4:53 p.m. local time (GMT 12:23), also damaging hundreds of homes.
The TV quoted Khalil Saei, local Crisis Committee chief, as saying that 30 people were killed in Ahar, 40 in Varzaqan and 17 others in Haris.
The broadcast said at least 60 villages sustained damage ranging from 50 to 80 per cent, while 4 other villages had been totally levelled to the ground.
 At least three aftershocks — measuring 6.0, 4.7 and 4.1 — jolted the same area and were felt in a wide region near the Caspian Sea.
Iran is located on seismic fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. It experiences at least one earthquake every day on average, although the vast majority are so small they go unnoticed.

Usain Bolt becomes living legend at London 2012 Olympic

“I won’t let Yohan beat me over 200 metres,” he said. “In the 100 maybe, he might have a chance, but the 200 is my favourite event. I’ve worked hard to perfect it over the years. I told him already that I won’t let it happen.” Last night Bolt was true to his word, even having the audacity to look across the line to check whether his friend had kept up with him. It was a performance that ended all the arguments about who is the greatest sprinter on the planet.

Yet, when he reflects on his achievement of becoming the first sprinter to win the Olympic double-double, Bolt will know just how big a contribution his 22-year-old understudy made to his history-making week in London, for it is impossible to overstate the impact Blake has had on Bolt’s return to his best, all-conquering form.

Bolt said as much after his 100m triumph at the olympics last Sunday, when he admitted that his training partner had jolted him out of his complacency by beating him not once, but twice at the Jamaican Olympic trials in June.

“The trials woke me up,” said Bolt. “Yohan gave me a wake-up call. He knocked on my door and said, 'Usain, wake up! This is an Olympic year.’”

Jism - 2 Official song Yeh kasoor

Girl molested by mob in Indian State Assam at night video

India blackouts leave 700 million without power

More than 700 million people in   India  have been left without power in the world's worst blackout of recent times, leading to fears that protests and even riots could follow if the country's electricity supply continues to fail to meet growing demand.
Twenty of India's 28 states were hit by power cuts, along with the capital, New Delhi, when three of the country's five electricity grids failed at lunchtime.
As engineers struggled for hours to fix the problem, hundreds of trains failed, leaving passengers stranded along thousands of miles of track from Kashmir in the north to Nagaland on the eastern border with Burma.
Traffic lights went out, causing jams in New Delhi, Kolkata and other cities. Surgical operations were cancelled across the country, with nurses at one hospital just outside Delhi having to operate life-saving equipment manually when back-up generators failed.
Elsewhere, electric crematoriums stopped operating, some with bodies left half burnt before wood was brought in to stoke the furnaces.
As Delhiites sweated in 89% humidity and drivers honked their horns even more impatiently than usual, in West Bengal the power cut left hundreds of miners trapped underground for hours when their lifts broke down. All the state's government workers were sent home after the chief minister announced it would take 10 to 12 hours for the power to return.  
First to fail was India's northern grid, which had also collapsed the previous day leaving an estimated 350 million people in the dark for up to 14 hours. It was quickly followed by the eastern grid, which includes Kolkata, then the north-eastern grid.
An estimated 710 million people live in the affected area, ever more of whom require electricity as they snap up the air-conditioning units, flat-screen TVs and other gadgets that have become status symbols among India's burgeoning middle class.
India has five electricity grids – northern, eastern, north-eastern, southern and western. All are interconnected, except the southern grid. The northern grid covers nine regions: Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Chandigarh.
At least six states are covered by the eastern grid: West Bengal, Chattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Sikkim; the north-eastern grid connects Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.

Stop Genocide of the Muslim in Myanmar

Thousands of Muslims of Burma is facing worst conditions of killings in the Northwest Myanmar. There is 0.7 million Muslims in Burma having total population of about 75 million. The situation become tense after the violence overwhelmed its largest city last month. The mobs of Buddhists torching the houses of Muslims Rohingya communities and brutally killing them, according to Muslims this is all supported by the government officials. Thousands of Muslims were killed and annihilated. The Budhist mobs and army are free to play this blooded game.
This is the worst communal violence since the reformist government replaced a military janta last year and Thein Sein becomes the president. Burma is of the most ethnically diverse countries of Asia.  The agitations were founded in the Muslim Rohingya and Buddhist Rakhine since last many years. Muslims are stateless in Burma, living near the border of Bangladesh. This fighting erupted and after the killing of many Muslims, government declared the state of emergency and imposed a dawn-to-dusk curfew.
The Muslims of Burma demanded recognition as an aboriginal ethnic group with full citizenship rights, which the Muslims against government regarded it illegal. They considered them immigrants from Bangladesh while the Indian influenced government of Bangladesh denies them and not allow crossing borders. The government of Bangladesh refused to tender them asylum.
The human rights organizations all over the world have maintained a criminal silence; most amazingly the Muslim world is also silent as in sound sleep. The world behaving as callous in this situation as killing of thousands of Burman Muslims are not any issue.
This is not the unusual thing, Muslims have been subject to such massacre and injustice even before. In Kashmir and now in Nigeria they are facing the same situation. Even in Syria the Muslims were faced the same situation but no one speaks out and all the human rights agencies including the United Nations were quite.

Reporter who filmed girl's molestation in Guwahati arrested

News Live reporter Gaurav Jyoti Neog, who filmed the molestation of a 17-year-old girl outside a pub in this main Assam city was arrested, on charges of instigating the mob of harassing the girl.

Neog, who worked for TV channel News Live, quit the job after he was accused of instigating the mob that molested and stripped a teenaged girl on a main road of Assam's main city July 9 night.

The activist had produced the video footage of the whole incident before the media to prove his allegation and also submitted the footage to Assam Police

Neog resigned from the channel following the controversy. The channel's editor-in-chief Atanu Bhuyan also resigned from the channel later.

The police have so far arrested 12 people for their alleged involvement in the crime and seized the raw video footage captured by the TV channel on the molestation.

Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has recieved a lot of flak for being insensitive in issuing a press release with the name and photograph of the victim.

A mob molested and stripped the teenage girl after she came out with her fiends from the restaurant-cum-bar Club Mint on the busy G.S. Road Monday night.

The clip of the girl being molested was also caught on camera and went viral on the youtube .

Ramadan in Singapore

Ramadan Bazar in Singapore

There are many celebrations which take place on the island of Singapore. Singapore is a multi-cultural island. And, each culture has its own celebrations.
Singapore is a relatively young country, sewn together from radically different races and cultures. No wonder their holidays are also quite diverse! Both religious holidays and secular celebrations take place in Singapore, and guests are encouraged to take part in any of them, no matter what your particular religious or cultural allegiance!
Ramadan in Singapore is a celebration of receiving the Holy Quran. It is a time of worship and contemplation. 
The time of this event changes every year. It is a time of fasting for Muslims; from dawn to dusk they eat and drink nothing. During Ramadan food stalls are set up in the evening in the Arab Street district, near the Sultan mosque. Geylang Serai, one of the theme villages in Singapore, featuring Malay culture is well worth a visit in the evening.

Rajesh Khanna Funeral: Nation Pay Respects To Bollywood Icon

Bollywood stars and film fans have paid their last respects to one of India's first superstars, Rajesh Khanna, as his body was cremated in a Hindu ceremony in Mumbai.
Khanna's grandson Aarav performed the last rites Thursday after the star's body was carried from his home in a glass coffin by a truck festooned with photographs.
Thousands lined the streets to view the funeral procession.
Khanna died Wednesday of undisclosed causes at age 69.
He was known as the "King of Romance" and played the lead in most of his 170 movies, earning fame that had directors booking him for his box-office draw.
Screaming fans would surround Khanna in public, and women wrote him letters in their blood. But his appeal waned as Bollywood shifted toward action films.

Hilary Clinton in Egypt facing huge public demonstration

India bed-wetting: outrage after schoolgirl forced to drink urine

The warden of a school hostel in India, who allegedly forced a student to drink her own urine as punishment for bed-wetting, has been granted bail.

The girl's parents lodged a complaint alleging that the warden had "squeezed urine into the girl's mouth from the bed sheet".
The incident has caused outrage and sparked debate in India.
The Patha Bhavan school has begun an investigation in to the incident. The warden has made no public comment yet.
The parents, who were also arrested for "unauthorised entry" to the school, have been released on bail too.
Patha Bhavan school, in the town of Santiniketan in West Bengal state, is run by Viswa Bharati university, which was set up by Nobel-winning poet Rabindranath Tagore.
A spokesperson for the university said they had received a complaint from the girl's parents and formed a four-member committee to investigate the case. The girl was in the school's fifth grade, and she is reported to be about 10 years old.

Spain demolished Italy by 4-0 retains the Euro-2012

Coach Vicente del Bosque has hailed Spain's "great generation of footballers" after their historic win over Italy in the final of Euro 2012.

La Roja's 4 - 0 made them the first team to win three successive major international tournaments.
Spain Euro 2012 ruled and they have scored couple number goals . Italy is good in the game but not that good which have defeat Germany this is a big game and Italy can not score a single and totally destroy their winning dream. Its Spain day who score 4 goals Cesc Febregas , Sliva , Torres , and Jordi Alba scores the best goals of Euro 2012 for Spain.
Spain's third Euro success also brings them level with Germany's record after the Spanish also won the trophy in 1964. 

Spain vs Italy Final Euro 2012 - 1 July 2012

Spain vs Italy Final Euro 2012 - 1 July 2012. Well the team of the Spain will face the team of the Italy in the Final of Euro 2012. Spain have won the 2 major trophies in Previous few years in 2008 Euro Cup 2008 and in 2010 they were crowned as World Cup 2010 Champions . Will this time they retain their title to their hands against the Italy.

Spain defeat Portugal , They have already defeated in the Group stages well now its final count down not team wants to lose the match. Spain got every thing they need in the match they have a better defence , better attacking and some of the best midfiled options. Italy is not an easy side to face they have defeated England , and now Germany in the Euro 2012 semi finals.

Spain rules all over the Euro 2012 and they have been undefeated side so far while the same results for the Italy .

Euro 2012: 2nd semifinal. can germany take the revenge ?

Euro Cup 2012 Semi Final - 28 June 2012 .Italy will take on the team of the Germany in the Euro Cup 2012 . It will be a tough game to watch because Italy is a great ever defensive team in the Euro and they try to compete the match in the Penalties . But last week they show some attack against the England but win the match on Penalties. But this time they must becarefull about their defensive tactics because they are going to face Germany.Germany is one of the best and strongest teams in the Euro 2012 they have finished the group stages with most points and now they were looking to win the Euro 2012 .

Germany is one of the best and strongest teams in the Euro 2012 they have finished the group stages with most points and now they were looking to win the Euro 2012 . Who ever wins will face the team of Spain in the Euro Cup 2012 .

Euro-2012 Portugal v Spain 1st semifinal

Spain know better than most that Portugal are more than just a one-man team, even if Cristiano Ronaldo invariably hogs the headlines. Portugal thrashed the reigning world and European champions 4-0 in their last meeting, in November 2010; Ronaldo was not amongst the scorers, and was rested in the second half, when the hosts netted three of their four goals, condemning Spain to their heaviest defeat since a 6-2 loss to Scotland in 1963. And while the match was a friendly, the Spanish were by no means under strength - they included 10 of the side who started the World Cup final, plus David Silva.

Ronaldo was denied a memorable solo goal in the 4-0 win, finishing a jinking run with an audacious lob - only for Nani to unnecessarily head the ball in on the goal-line from an offside position. Clearly infuriated, Ronaldo reacted by hurling the captain's armband at the turf. The 27-year-old, who has adopted a shoot-on-sight policy at Euro 2012, knows that his legacy depends on reproducing his scintillating club at international level.
The world's second greatest player has failed to score in three previous appearances against Spain, including an anonymous display at the 2010 World Cup. In contrast, his great rival Lionel Messi has netted twice in three games against the Spanish. It seems that whatever Ronaldo does, Messi can (usually) do better - although neither player has won a major international tournament. If Ronaldo can inspire his side to victory in their next two matches, the argument about which of them is the world's greatest may not be quite so one-sided.

Spain's ability to retain possession means they are rarely on the defensive, but they have been put on the back foot following criticism of their style, much of it from the Italian media. La Repubblica branded the 2-0 win against France "really boring", lamenting the lack of an orthodox centre-forward. There were even a few jeers, presumably from Kiev neutrals, as the quarter-final meandered to a conclusion. Has "Tiki Taka" really morphed into "Tiki Takanaccio" - or were Spain merely conserving energy for the tougher tests that lie in wait?

Facebook's email switch prompts criticism by users

Facebook is facing a backlash from users after replacing email addresses listed in members' contacts with those provided by its @facebook.com system.

The company said it had acted to make details "consistent" across its site.
If Facebook's email system takes off it could drive more traffic to the firm's pages helping boost advertising sales.
But some users have branded the move "annoying" and "lame" and publicised instructions on how to display original addresses instead of the Facebook ones.
Facebook first announced plans for the move in April, although the news attracted little attention at the time.
"We are providing every Facebook user with his or her own Facebook email address because we find that many users find it useful to connect with each other, but using Facebook email is completely up to you," said a statement from the company.
Emails sent to @facebook.com addresses appear alongside posts sent via the network's internal message system, allowing users to pick up both types of communication from the same place.

Tense Egypt awaits presidential election results

Egypt's election authority is preparing to announce the result of last weekend's presidential run-off vote.

The panel of judges has begun announcing its decisions on the hundreds of complaints by the campaigns of Mohammed Mursi and Ahmed Shafiq.
Security is tight, with tanks deployed around the commission's headquarters.
Both Mr Mursi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Mr Shafiq, a former prime minister, have claimed victory and vowed to form unity governments.
Thousands of Mursi supporters have gathered in Tahrir Square to hear the result and are urging the ruling military council to respect the will of the people. Some are chanting "revolution, revolution until victory".
A pro-Shafiq rally is being held in the northern district of Nasser City.
Correspondents say the atmosphere at both gatherings has been peaceful, but tense.

Many people are still apprehensive about the intentions of the ruling generals, who gave themselves sweeping new powers last week after the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that the Islamist-dominated parliament should be dissolved.

Shops are closing early and people are hurrying to their homes to watch the decisive news conference at the Higher Presidential Election Commission headquarters in Nasser City.
Government employees were also advised to leave early, in another signal of the security precautions being taken.

Paraguay's President Lugo impeachment trial under way

Mr Lugo's supporters, many of them poor peasants, gathered to protest against the trial

Lawyers representing Paraguay's left-wing President Fernando Lugo have begun his defence in impeachment proceedings.

Mr Lugo, who asked the Supreme Court to stop the trial, announced he was not going to defend himself in person.
Both houses of parliament voted on Thursday to begin impeachment proceedings over his handling of clashes between farmers and police in which at least 17 people died.
His 2008 election ended 61 years of rule by the right-wing Colorado party.
A vote is expected at 16:30 (20:30 GMT), with a two-thirds majority need to remove Mr Lugo from office.
The impeachment trial is being held in the upper house of parliament, the Senate.
The two main political parties, Colorado and Liberal, have put aside their differences and voted in favour of the motion to begin the impeachment trial.
The Liberals are part of Mr Lugo's ruling coalition.
The vote in the House of Deputies was passed with an overwhelming 76-1 majority. Reports suggest only five out of 45 senators support Mr Lugo, who has likened the impeachment bid to a coup.
In an appeal filed with Paraguay's Supreme Court on Friday, Mr Lugo's lawyers said the proceedings do not ensure due process, and that the president should be granted more time to prepare.
"The president has been given fewer guarantees and fewer rights to defend himself than someone with a traffic fine," one of Mr Lugo's lawyers, Adolfo Ferreiro, told the AP news agency.
The Senate's decision to schedule the trial for Friday gave Mr Lugo less than 24 hours to ready a defence.
A centre-right legislator, Carlos Maria, denied allegations of unconstitutionality. "There's nothing illegal here, there's no constitutional rupture, no coup,"
Supporters of Mr Lugo gathered amid tight security outside the National Congress building in the capital Asuncion before the trial was due to start.
If Mr Lugo is impeached, Vice-President Federico Franco would take over as president until the end of Mr Lugo's five-year term in 2013.
There are fears the vote could prompt violent street protests.

Windows Phone 8 system update announced by Microsoft

Microsoft's new system supports NFC touch-and-go payment technology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Microsoft has unveiled the next version of its smartphone operating system.

Windows Phone 8 shares much of its code with the firm's PC system, making it easier for developers to write programs for different types of devices.
The company said it should mean there would be some "amazing games" for handsets running its new release.
A tie-up with Nokia has already bought several Windows Phone devices to market, but sales lag some way behind models running Android or Apple's iOS.
Microsoft said Nokia, Samsung, HTC and Huawei would all be making devices powered by the system upgrade.
High-def handsets Other new features announced at the Windows Phone Summit event in San Francisco included:

• Support for multi-core chips, allowing devices to turn on cores to access extra processing power when needed, and to switch off cores when not to preserve battery life
• The ability to work with different screen resolutions including the high definition 720p format
• Support for removable Micro SD cards allowing users to store more media files or install apps saved on the format
• A new "wallet" app allowing the phone to act as both credit and membership cards. It also supports NFC (near field communication) payments
• Built-in maps from Nokia's Navteq division with turn-by-turn navigation
• A more customisable start screen allowing users the choice of three tile sizes to represent installed software and more colour options
• A warning alert if the software believes a website contains malware or is otherwise unsafe

Application tiles can be made to look smaller

Background Skype The update also allows internet call software based on VoIP (voice over internet protocol) and video chat technologies to run in the background.
This addresses a complaint that the firm's own Skype program could not be used to receive calls while its owner was using another application - a function offered on rival platforms.
The firm said VoIP calls should now "feel like any other call" made or received by Windows Phone handsets.
Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 strongly resemble each other - at least when the PC system is run under its Metro interface - and Microsoft was keen to stress that their relationship goes deeper than appearance alone.
The two will share a range of components including graphic drivers, the DirectX collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) and the NT kernel that ties application software to the hardware it is installed on. They can also both support native code in the C and C++ programming languages.
Microsoft said this should not only make it easier to port software between the two environments, but should speed up the time it takes developers to recode programs originally built for iOS and Android.