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Sikh American woman is Republican whip
Benazir blames Musharraf for unrest in Pak
‘Brokeback Mountain’ leads Globes with 4 awards
Frail, blind convict executed
Allow female bishops, says Church report
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Laughter goes to heart
World’s oldest mother at 67
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Sikh American woman is Republican whip
Nikki Randhawa Haley, a Sikh American woman, has been named a majority whip for the House Republican Caucus in the South Carolina General Assembly.
The Republican whips are the party leaders on the floor of the legislature, responsible for lining up votes in support of caucus priorities and setting the direction of the 74-member Republican majority in the state. “Rep Randhawa Haley was selected because of her proven leadership skills,” said Republican Chief Whip Shirley Hinson. “She is always prepared when we go to the floor and she’s passionate about issues of concern to her constituents.” In addition to serving her constituents from Lexington County, Ms Haley serves as secretary of the Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee and was elected chairman of the Freshman Caucus before the last session. “I’m honoured to be recognised again by my peers and I know this new position helps me serve my constituents,” Ms Haley said. “This position will help me drive legislation that will benefit Lexington County and the entire state.” Ms Haley is the only freshman serving as a whip for the Republican Caucus. “Republican Randhawa Haley proved throughout her first year that she is a leader,” said Majority Leader Jim Merrill. “Her hard work and enthusiasm, day in and day out, will be a valuable addition to our leadership team.” In June 2004, Ms Haley trounced incumbent Larry Koon in a run-off election in South Carolina’s House District 87. Mr Koon was the longest-serving member of the South Carolina House of Representatives. |
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Benazir blames Musharraf for unrest in Pak
Islamabad, January 17 “The unrest threatens the unity and integrity of the
country and calls for political solutions that were unlikely to come with the present regime as military interventions have always undermined national unity and integrity,” Ms Bhutto to party workers in New York, media reports here said. Pakistan was created on democratic principles and only those principles could keep the country together, she said. On the US support to Pakistan, she said: “General Musharraf does what Washington wants him to do and President George W Bush is happy with him.” It is a pity that General Musharraf pays no attention to what the people of Pakistan were saying. “General Musharraf has failed to protect people from unemployment. He may be applauded in Washington for his support and understanding of the needs of President Bush, but he does not understand the needs of the people of Pakistan,” Ms Bhutto added. “The present regime was based on force and if her party been in power in 2001, the 9/11 attacks on the US would not have taken place, as her government would have put an end to support for the Taliban and, consequently, for Al-Qaida,” she noted. “The press in Pakistan was “not free” as it was only free to write against politicians, not against General Musharraf or any of the generals otherwise ‘your car will get burnt or you will be beaten and end up in exile in Washington’,” she said. —
UNI |
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‘Brokeback Mountain’ leads Globes with 4 awards
Beverly Hills, (California), January 17 It was a triumphant night for films dealing with homosexuality and transsexuality. Along with the victories for “Brokeback Mountain,” acting honours went to Felicity Huffman in a gender-bending role as a man preparing for sex-change surgery in “Transamerica” and Philip Seymour Hoffman as gay author Truman Capote in “Capote.” “I know as actors our job is usually to shed our skins, but I think as people our job is to become who we really are and so I would like to salute the men and women who brave ostracism, alienation and a life lived on the margins to become who they really are,” Huffman said. The Johnny Cash biography “Walk the Line” won the Globe for best musical or comedy film and earned acting honours for the stars Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. Director Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain,” the story of two rugged Western family men (Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal) concealing their affair, has emerged as a front-runner for the Oscars — which occasionally have handed out top acting prizes for performers in homosexual or gender-bending roles but have never given the best picture Oscar to a gay-themed film. Oscar nominations come out January 31, with the awards presented March 5. “Brokeback Mountain” also won for the best screenplay and song, “A Love That Will Never Grow Old.”
— AP |
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Frail, blind convict executed
San Francisco, January 17 Clarence Allen was put to death by lethal injection after failed efforts to convince Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the US Supreme Court that he was in such poor health that killing him would be cruel. Frail, diabetic and confined to a wheelchair since he was revived after a near-fatal heart attack in September, Allen was executed in San Quentin Prison across the bay from San Francisco, according to Lt Thomas Mullen. Allen was
pounced dead 18 minutes after the execution began in the prison’s death chamber at 12:20 am (1250 IST), prison officials reported. “It was very quiet,” Mullen told AFP. “There were no problems.” The Supreme Court had refused to intervene on Monday, the panel of judges dismissing his claims that the death penalty being imposed on an elderly, sick and legally blind prisoner would constitute cruel and unusual punishment. The federal court also rejected Allens argument that the 23 years he spent on death row was cruel and unusual. Allen was sent to death row in 1982 after being convicted of arranging the 1980 murders of three persons from his prison cell in order to silence witnesses in another killing. He was California’s oldest death row inmate and the second oldest prisoner to be put to death in the USA since the US moratorium on the death penalty ended in 1976.
— AFP |
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Allow female bishops, says Church report
London, January 17 The report, looks at ways to create women bishops without splitting a church that has suffered deep divisions over the ordination of women and homosexuals. The report said the earliest an appointment would open up for a female bishop is 2012, 18 years after women were first ordained and the possibility of a female archbishop remained remote. Women have only been ordained as priests since 1994, although today one in five Church of English priests is female and supporters argue that it is illogical and unspiritual to prevent them taking higher roles in the church. The report rejected a call from traditionalists to set up a separate church province to cater for the opponents of female bishops.
— AP |
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Laughter goes to heart
Paris, January 17 University of Maryland researchers got 20 young persons to watch movie segments lasting between 15 and 30 minutes, taken from comedy films and serious films, with at least 48 hours between the two sessions. Blood flow was reduced in 14 of the 20 volunteers when they watched extracts such as the distressful opening scenes to “Saving Private Ryan”. But it rose in 19 out of 20 when they watched funny clips, such as scenes from “Something About Mary” The difference between the two flows was more than 50 per cent, according to the study, which appears today in a British specialised journal heart. Watching a sad movie has about the same effect on heart flow as doing mental arithmetic, it says. But watching a comedy is equivalent to a bout of aerobic exercise or starting a course of cholesterol-busting statin drugs.
— AFP |
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World’s oldest mother at 67
Bucharest, January 17 Celebrating her baby girl’s first birthday yesterday, Mrs Adriana Iliescu said her age had little impact on the controversial pregnancy, her daughter’s health or her ability to care for her child. “I feel very well. I feel perfect,” the frail-looking woman with deep wrinkles on her pale face told Reuters. Mrs
Iliescu, gave birth to Eliza-Maria following several attempts at in vitro fertilisation from donated eggs and sperm. Her pregnancy fanned a debate in Romania and internationally about the ethics of older-age parenthood, and Bucharest officials said limits on vitro fertilisation would be introduced but no laws have come into force.
— Reuters |
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Beverly Hills, (California), January 17
