US Senator Charles Schumer calls Infosys 'chop shop'

Criticising companies outsourcing highly-paid American jobs, a US Senator has described Indian IT major Infosys as a "chop shop", a place where stolen cars are dismantled and parts sold separately.

The comments were made by Democrat Senator of New York Charles E Schumer during discussions on the Border Security Bill, a $600-million emergency package aimed at strengthening security along the porous Mexican border.

"The emergency border funds will be paid for by assessing fees on foreign companies known as chop shops that outsource good, high-paying American technology jobs to lower wage, temporary immigrant workers from other countries.

"These are companies such as Infosys," Schumer said on the Senate floor on Thursday.

Indian credit terms 'good': Bangladesh

Bangladesh finance minister AMA Muhith on Sunday described as "good" the terms of the $1 billion credit India has offered as the two neighbours reviewed the growing economic and security cooperation during finance minister Pranab Mukherjee's visit here.

Muhith rejected opposition criticism that the Indian terms were higher than the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, saying in the past Bangladesh had paid as high as five per cent for foreign loans for 15 years.

The loan agreement between India's Exim Bank and Bangladesh's Economic Relations Division was signed on Saturday in the presence of Mukherjee.

Muhith said the interest rate is 1.75 per cent and commitment charge is 0.5 per cent and wondered how the opposition could make such an allegation. "This is utterly false," The Daily Star quoted him as saying.

The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party had said the government was getting the loan from India with an interest rate seven times higher than that from any multinational bank or donor agency.

The loan is the biggest ever credit package by India to any nation. It is also the single largest loan to Bangladesh from any nation, development bank or donor agency.

The credit will finance 14 development projects of Bangladesh. The projects mostly relate to development of railways and other communication infrastructure in Bangladesh, particularly to facilitate transshipment of Indian goods to its northeastern region through Bangladesh.

During Sheikh Hasina's visit to New Delhi in January this year, Bangladesh had agreed to allow India using the Chittagong port, while Delhi had agreed on giving transit facilities to Bhutan and Nepal for increasing connectivity, trade and investment.

Mukherjee said India would earmark the non-tariff barriers and remove the obstruction for Bangladeshi products to access the Indian market.

Muhith said border markets will start functioning soon.

Mukherjee's visit was the first visit by a key Indian leader since Sheikh Hasina's trip to New Delhi. He met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and discussed a wide of range of bilateral issues.

These included a quick implementation of the joint declaration of the two countries on Dahagram and Angarpota enclaves, food procurement, and increasing regional connectivity involving Nepal and Bhutan, The Daily Star quoted Abul Kalam Azad, the premier's press secretary, as saying.

Mukherjee also held talks with foreign minister Dipu Moni and reviewed the implementation of the agreements reached between the two countries.

China landslides: around 96 die, 2,000 missing

Massive landslides triggered by rains hit northwest China's Gansu province, killing at least 96 people while 2,000 were missing, authorities said on Sunday.

While 96 people were confirmed dead in Zhouqu county in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous prefecture, over 680 people were rescued after the Bailong river overflowed and a large body of water inundated Chengguan township.

"Torrential rains began at around 10 pm on Saturday, then there were landslides," Xinhua quoted Diemujiangteng, head of the county, as saying.

"Many people were trapped. Now the sludge has become the biggest problem. It's too thick to walk or drive through," he said.

At least 50,000 residents were believed to be affected as floods had submerged half of the county and many houses were buried by landslides.

Li Tiankui, a resident who lived near the Bailong River, said: "People are looking for their family members and friends."

Yueyuan village was buried in the disaster. Over 120 homes in Chengguan township and Jiangpan village were extensively damaged. Some 300 residents were still trapped, said the provincial committee of the Communist Party of China.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has left Beijing to visit the landslide-hit Zhouqu county. The county covers 3,010 square km and has a population of 134,700, about 33 percent of which are Tibetans.

Man hurls both shoes at Zardari in Britain

An elderly man from a crowd in Britain threw both his shoes at Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari when he was addressing a public meeting in Birmingham. The shoes landed just short of him.

The Telegraph Sunday reported that Zardari, who has been criticised for visiting Britain while there were floods in his country, was in the middle of his speech when the man in the crowd hurled both shoes at him.

An unidentified man was later taken away from the Saturday evening meeting by police and security officials.

"Zardari was in the middle of a long campaign speech when a man towards the back of the crowd hurled the shoes at him," an eyewitness was quoted as saying.

"They landed short of him, and it wasn`t clear what exactly the man was protesting about."

Zardari told and had dismissed claims that he should have stayed at home. He said this while he was talking to the British daily.

He said that the visit had resulted in the floods receiving far more international attention than they might otherwise have done.

Zardari said: "These meetings are planned months in advance, and my coming abroad has drawn more attention to them than I myself would have been able to draw."

In February last year, a German student hurled a shoe at Chinese premier Wen Jiabao during his visit to Cambridge University in Britain.

On Twitter, it's follower quality not quantity that matters

You see it everywhere: your friend on Facebook trying to get you to "like" their employer's new page while another friend pleads for you to follow such-and-such account on Twitter. It doesn't matter that you're a 20-something and they're tweeting about how to make the most of retired life - everyone knows that the more followers you have, the more influence you'll have, right? Whoever has the most followers wins, right?

Wrong. According to the latest research from HP Labs, it's not necessarily how many followers you have, but how passive or active they are in spreading the word.

In a video interview, researcher Dr. Bernardo Huberman frames the questions examined in HP's study, saying "In a world where all information is crowdsourced, how is it that an agenda gets set? There are zillions of messages there, millions of people and somehow, some things end up bubbling all the way to the top and grab the consciousness of a lot of people."

"There's an enormous amount of passivity in the social network," Dr. Huberman goes on to say, explaining that some people can have an enormous number of followers, but not much influence, while others can have fewer followers but much more influence.

The study finds that "the correlation between popularity and influence is weaker than it might be expected. This is a reflection of the fact that for information to propagate in a network, individuals need to forward it to the other members, thus having to actively engage rather than passively read it and cease to act on it."

Despite this claim, the report offers a top 10 list of Twitter users with the most influence, not one having fewer than 40,000 followers, and some, such as @rww, @google and @breakingnews, with more than a million followers. The top 10 accounts, given in no apparent order in the summary of the report, were @mashable, @jokoanwar, @google, @aplusk, @syfy, @smashingmag, @michellemalkin, @theonion, @rww and @breakingnews.

The list was created by way of an "IP Algorithm", which assigns a "relative influence score and passivity score to every user" by looking at how they interact with other users, the influence they have on other users, and by studying "the propagation of web links on Twitter over time."

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/technology/on-twitter-its-follower-quality-not-quantity-that-matters-42597?cp

Leh: 130 dead, 400 missing; relief planes for stranded tourists

At least 130 people are dead and about 400 people are still missing in Leh, the high altitude capital of Ladakh. Among those missing are 31 jawans of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) whose camp was washed away in flash floods following a cloud burst in the area.

The picturesque landscape of Ladakh has been completely destroyed. Fortunately, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and the ITBP have managed to completely clean up the mud and slush from the runway - both commercial and military - to ensure landing in Leh.

Mile upon mile of devastation, some of it remote villages, that are yet to be visited after the disaster struck. The assessment of loss has so far been limited mostly to Leh and its suburbs.

Some villages along the Chang La pass, the world's second highest motorable road, have been completely washed away.

The extent of the devastation here was only known today after Union Minister Farooq Abdullah reached with an aerial survey team.

Cabinet colleagues Ghulam Nabi Azad and Prithviraj Chavan joined him soon after. The destruction stretches all the way to the last Indian Army post on the border - Tyakshi. 28 soldiers have died here, most of them washed away by the floodwaters.

"A number of places have been damaged very badly and will have to be restored rapidly to carry supplies and relief material to these areas," Farooq Abdullah.

In Leh, the district hospital is in ruins. In absence of a mortuary, bodies lie in the open, most unclaimed.

"We have brought a very big team of doctors from Delhi," said Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Contractors from across the region have reported several migrant labourers missing. Little hamlets along the Indus where they lived, mostly unaccounted, have been wiped away.

And as Azad and Farooq Abdullah tried to reach out to people in far off areas of Ladkah, the real challenge for the government is to search for missing and relief to survivors.

Flights for stranded passengers

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has directed his ministry to organise relief flights for stranded passengers in Leh.

The ministry has directed Air India, Jet and Kingfisher to operate 3 flights each to Leh on Sunday to bring back stranded people.

Airlines have been directed not to charge excessive fares during this crisis. The ministry is also coordinating with the Jammu and Kashmir government to airlift relief supplies.

Leh disaster - what's being done:

• Five Air Force planes, three AN-32, and two IL-76 aircrafts carrying relief material, medicines and a medical team have reached Leh.
• 1200 Armymen are working round the clock to remove the rubble and are searching for people trapped under the rubble.
• Four rehabilitation centres have been set up. Over 1000 people are being fed and sheltered at these centres.
  

Control rooms have been set up to monitor the flow of information.

Control Room Numbers:

9906990613, 9906990833, 9906990807, 9906983544, 9906990748, 9906990835, 990699078

Julia Roberts converts to Hinduism

Hollywood superstar Julia Roberts has converted to Hinduism in the hope of having a peaceful life in her next incarnation.

The 42-year-old actress, who was born to a Baptist and Catholic couple, is now a practising Hindu after visiting India while shooting her upcoming movie 'Eat Pray Love'.

In the film, Roberts plays a woman hoping to find herself through Hindu spirituality.

Speaking to the September issue of Elle magazine, the Academy award winning actress said she now goes to temples to "chant, pray and celebrate" accompanied by her cameraman husband Daniel Moder and their three children, Hazel, Phinnaeus and Henry.

"I'm definitely a practising Hindu. I've been so spoiled with my friends and family in this life. Next time I want to be just something quiet and supporting," said Roberts.

The 'Pretty Woman' star was introduced to the Eastern philosophy while shooting for 'Eat Pray Love', the movie, based on the best-selling book by Elizabeth Gilbert, Roberts plays a recently-divorced woman travelling the world trying to find herself.

The character visits Italy for food, India for spirituality and Bali, where she finds love.

To talk about the Hollywood actors who convert to Indian religion we also have Richard Gere who is greatly influenced by Buddhism and is practising this philosophy and devotedly following Dalai Lama. People are turning spiritualistic these days to attain tranquility.

Asif Ali Zardari, the thief of paintings

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has been accused of helping to steal paintings of an internationally acclaimed Pakistani artist.

Shaheen, the daughter of the late artist, Laila Shahzada has lodged court papers in Pakistan claiming Zardari colluded with her brother to steal 93 of her mother`spaintings from her Karachi flat in 1994 and shipped them to London.

Shaheen wants the London Metropolitan Police to question Zardari during his visit to Britain. Zardari has claimed in the past that he was simply looking after thepaintings for Sohail Shahzada, Shaheen`s brother. The President`s office has meanwhile rubbished the allegations by Shaheen.

Zardari, who is currently visiting various European countries, is facing strong criticisiam from Pakistani press for leaving the country when many parts of the country are facing flood sitution and sectarian violence.

Got Rs 3 crore? Buy James Bond's car in India

Aston Martin, the car that James Bond made famous through many Ian Fleming flicks, will set the roads of India afire by the end of this year, albeit at a hefty price tag of up to Rs 3 crore.

The UK-based carmaker is understood to be gearing up to launch its vehicles in India, and has tied up with Infinity Cars to open its first showroom in Mumbai.

According to sources close to the development, Aston Martin has signed an agreement with Mumbai-based Infinity Cars, which is also a dealer of BMW, and appointed it as the company's exclusive distributor for the Indian market.

"Infinity will open the booking process for Aston Martin from next week. The cars are likely to be delivered in the next 5-6 months," a source said Aston Martin will initially sell four models - V8 Vantage, DB9, Rapide and DBS-in India and the ex-showroom prices have almost been finalised, sources added.

"While V8 and DB9 will come for Rs 1.35 crore and Rs 1.9 crore, Rapide and DBS will be offered for Rs 2.3 crore and Rs 2.8 crore. Above this, customers have to pay for the insurance and registration charges," sources said.

Aston Martin is primarily a sports cars manufacturer. Established in 1914 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford, the company was part of US car giant Ford from 1994 to 2007.

In 2007, a joint venture company, headed by David Richards and co-owned by Investment Dar and Adeem Investment of Kuwait and English businessman John Sinders, acquired Aston Martin from Ford for 479 million pounds.

When asked about its India plans, an Aston Martin spokesperson said: "Aston Martin is currently in discussion with potential dealers in India."

Infinity Cars director Lalit Choudary said: "It is not the right time and pre-mature as we are still finalising the prices and what models to bring in... The picture will be clear in a month's time

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/007-car-aston-martin-to-hit-indian-roads-42279?cp

Ahmadinejad survives bomb attack

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad survived an attack on his convoy in Iran on Wednesday, Lebanon's Future television quoted the Iranian presidency as saying.

Al Arabiya television said an attacker had thrown a bomb at Ahmadinejad's convoy before being detained. Both television reports said some people had been wounded in the attack.

Dubai-based Al Arabiya cited its own sources as saying the bomb had hit a car carrying journalists and presidential staff. However, the media department at the Presidential Office denied the president came under attack.

Ahmadinejad appeared on live Iranian television at a sports stadium in the western city of Hamadan. He was apparently well and made no mention of any attack.

40 US billionaires pledge to donate to charity

Forty billionaires and their families in the US have pledged to donate more than half of their fortune to charity.

The donators include Microsoft founder Bill Gates, businessman Warren Buffett, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, pharmaceutical tycoon Patrick Soon-Shiong, Oracle founder Larry Ellison and Hollywood director George Lucas, Xinhua reported.

The list also include David Rockefeller, from the Rockefeller family, and Barron Hilton, son of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton.

The families all participated on Wednesday in the 'Giving Pledge', a donation drive launched by Buffett and Gates. The idea was to invite the wealthiest individuals and families in the US to give the majority of their wealth for philanthropic causes and to charitable organisations during their lifetime or even after their death.

'The pledge is a moral commitment to give, not a legal contract,' a statement from the Giving Pledge said.

Buffett said the drive has 'just started, but already we've had a terrific response'.

Obama's day out with daughter

US President Barack Obama took some time out of his busy schedule to spend with his lovely daughter Sasha. Here are a few snapshots.

US President Barack Obama speaks with Washington Mystics owner Sheila Johnson as his
daughter Sasha looks on.

Read more at: http://goodtimes.ndtv.com/PhotoDetail.aspx?Page=2&ID=7866&AlbumType=PG#talk&cp

US President Barack Obama attends the Washington Mystics basketball game with his daughter Sasha.

Read more at: http://goodtimes.ndtv.com/PhotoDetail.aspx?Page=3&ID=7866&AlbumType=PG#talk&c

9 killed in US warehouse shooting: Official

Nine people are dead after an employee summoned for a disciplinary hearing opened fire at a beer distributor in Manchester, Conn., on Tuesday morning, the police said.

One of the dead was the suspected gunman, said Sgt. Sandy Ficaro of the Manchester Police Department. Investigators had been at the company, Hartford Distributors, throughout the day trying to determine the number of fatalities.

"We do know that there are eight deceased and the suspect as well," Sergeant Ficara said. "That is the final count."

Lt. J. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police, which is conducting the investigation with the Manchester Police, said the suspect went on a rampage in the warehouse, then "probably" turned the gun on himself. "We're still piecing a lot of it together now," he said earlier.

Sergeant Ficara said, "It's been a crazy scene out there."

He identified the suspect as Omar Thornton, who is 34.

John Hollis, a legislative affairs representative for the Connecticut Teamsters, said Mr. Thornton had been called in for a disciplinary hearing that could have resulted in his being terminated. Mr. Hollis called the suspect "a bottom guy" because he was the last man hired, and said he brought a union representative from Local 1035 for the hearing.

The death toll increased throughout the chaotic morning. At first, officials confirmed three dead. The total is believed to have increased as investigators searched the family-owned warehouse about 10 miles east of Hartford. Three of the injured, all with multiple gunshot wounds, had been transported to Hartford Hospital, and one victim died later in the morning, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

The spokeswoman, Rebecca Stewart, said one patient at the hospital remained in critical condition and another was in fair condition.

Mr. Hollis said Mr. Thornton was a driver for the company, the last to be hired within the previous three years. Public records show that Mr. Thornton, 34, graduated from East Hartford High School in 1996.

Mr. Hollis said Mr. Thornton had run through the warehouse at the busiest time of the morning, right before 7:30 a.m. At that point, more than 100 drivers, sales people and executives would have been in the building during a shift change.

"He came in to meet with the company and after that, all hell broke loose," Mr. Hollis said. "He pulled the gun and ran through the warehouse."

Mr. Hollis said the State Police told him they confronted the suspected gunman and ordered him to drop the gun. The suspect most likely shot himself, Lieutenant Vance said, adding, "There was no police discharge of weapons."

Lt. Joe San Antonio, a spokesman for the Manchester police, said that when officers responded to an emergency call at 7:30, they searched the building and found the suspect shot.

Buses transported employees from the warehouse to Manchester High School, where union representatives and Ross Hollander, the owner of Hartford Distributors, were comforting families of the victims, Mr. Hollis said.

In a statement, Gov. M. Jodi Rell of Connecticut called the shootings a "senseless act of violence."

"In the wake of this tragedy," Ms. Rell said, "we are all left asking the same questions: How could someone do this? Why did they do this?"

One man, who did not want to be identified, walked out of the high school on Tuesday afternoon and quickly got into his car. "It was a sad day," the man said. "I was in there."

45 killed in street violence after Karachi official is assassinated

Raza Haider was attending a funeral at a mosque when gunmen on motorcycles killed him and a bodyguard. Dozens of stores and vehicles are set on fire.

The assassination of a prominent lawmaker in Karachi triggered a wave of revenge attacks that had claimed at least 45 lives as of Tuesday and raised fears of a new cycle of reprisal killings in Pakistan's largest city.

So-called targeted killings, often motivated by political feuds and sectarian divisions, have plagued Karachi for years. This year, however, their number has risen sharply, with an estimated 170 people slain in targeted killings and reprisal attacks. Last year, the total was 152, according to government figures.

As in years past, many of the attacks this year have centered on the rivalry between two powerful political parties, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Awami National Party. The MQM party, which dominates government in Karachi, represents descendants of Indian migrants who settled in Pakistan when the country became independent in 1947. The Awami party, a secular movement, represents Karachi's large Pashtun minority.

The violence that swept through Karachi was fueled by the killing of Raza Haider, a senior MQM leader and a member of the Sindh provincial legislature. Haider, 51, was attending a funeral Monday at a mosque in Karachi's Nazimabad neighborhood when gunmen on motorcycles appeared and shot him and his bodyguard dead.

Haider's slaying spurred a wave of reprisal killings that left at least 45 people dead by Tuesday afternoon. Dozens of stores, buses and cars were set ablaze late Monday night as police struggled to stem the violence. At least 93 people were injured.

On Tuesday, dozens of shop owners closed and traffic on many city streets was almost nonexistent, as residents feared another wave of unrest. Pakistani paramilitary forces were deployed throughout the city to maintain calm. The government also shut down Karachi's colleges.

Fueling the cycle of targeted killings that plagues Karachi every year is the nexus between Karachi's organized crime leaders and the city's political heavyweights. The affiliations revolve around rival gangs' never-ending battle for the city's prime real estate, which can generate millions of dollars in profits.

MQM leaders stopped short of blaming Haider's murder on the Awami party, but they accused the ANP of aligning with Karachi's powerful gangs and stoking the city's endless cycle of violence.

"ANP publicly supports the land mafia," said MQM leader Raza Haroon. "We are not saying that ANP is directly involved in the killing of Raza Haider, but they should be investigated. ANP is instigating Pashtuns and fanning ethnic violence."

Amin Khattak, the ANP's provincial general secretary, said MQM's claims about ANP were unfounded. "MQM fears that the demography of Karachi may be changing in favor of ANP and the Pashtun community, and that's why they kill Pashtuns," Khattak said.

Israel backs flotilla probe 'to patch up Turkey ties'

Israel's surprise decision to back a UN probe into its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla was taken in a bid to patch up its ties with Turkey, a senior official said on Tuesday.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday announced the creation of a four-member panel to investigate the May 31 raid in which nine Turkish activists were killed, and in a surprising U-turn, Israel gave its blessing to the inquiry.

"We have nothing to be afraid of -- the facts are on our side," a senior government official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"We also hope that this panel will help us to improve our relations with Turkey... that it will be a turning point in our relations with Turkey," he said.

Israel has for the past two months consistently rejected diplomatic pressure for an independent probe, with the Jewish state setting up two of its own panels to look into the chaotic pre-dawn raid in international waters.

But Israel's government made a strategic about-turn by agreeing, for the first time ever, to cooperate with a United Nations inquiry into an Israeli military operation.

The volte-face followed weeks of contact between Israel and the UN, and came after deliberations by the Forum of Seven top Israeli ministers to ensure that "this was indeed a panel with a balanced and fair written mandate," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Media reports suggested Israel had come under heavy pressure from Washington to comply with the UN probe -- but the official denied the reports. "Israel took its own decision independently," he insisted.

The UN's Ban first raised the idea of a UN panel just days after the raid, and over the past month Washington has also thrown its weight behind efforts to push Israel into accepting the inquiry, the Haaretz daily reported.

"The Americans argued that Israeli acceptance would prevent further anti-Israeli resolutions at the UN General Assembly or Security Council over the flotilla issue, and may even result in the abolishment of the committee set up by the UN's Human Rights Council in Geneva to investigate the incident," it said.

Last month, the Geneva-based UN Council named its own panel of experts to probe whether the raid breached international law in a move condemned by Israel which would likely jump at the chance to see that probe neutralised.

The decision to cooperate with Ban's probe caused concern in Israel, with some commentators warning it would set a "worrying precedent."

"The government has given in to international pressure and for the first time, a UN commission of inquiry is going to look into the actions of the government and the Israeli army which has created a worrying precedent," political scientist Shlomo Avineri told army radio.

Opposition leader Tzipi Livni took the same view but couched it in slightly stronger terms.

"The government's stuttering has placed Israel in a situation in which we have five investigative committees probing one military operation that was small by any standard," she said, her remarks referring to the two UN panels, two internal Israeli committees and another inquiry by Israel's State Comptroller.

"Now Israel is paying the price... in terms of constraints on the operational capability of the IDF (Israel Defence Forces), which is by far the most worrying thing."

Ban's four-man panel will also include Israeli and Turkish participation and is to begin its deliberations on August 10, the UN said on Monday.

Ankara denounced the May 31 raid as a violation of international law and threatened to completely sever ties with Israel unless the Jewish state complied with an international committee, issued an apology and paid compensation to the victims.

French woman admits to suffocating her 8 newborns

A French woman who admitted suffocating eight of her newborns and concealing their corpses in the garden and garage of her home has been charged with manslaughter, a prosecutor said Thursday.

Dominique Cottrez, a 46-year-old nurse's aide with two grown daughters, said that after a bad experience with her first pregnancy she never again wanted to see a doctor. She admitted delivering the babies herself and placing the corpses in plastic bags. She buried two of the newborns in the garden and hid the other bodies in the garage, prosecutor Eric Vaillant said.

"She explained that she didn't want any more children and that she didn't want to see a doctor to take contraceptives," Vaillant told a news conference. "She was perfectly conscious of the fact that she was pregnant each time."

Cottrez's husband, who was not charged, was in a state of shock but the family remained united behind the mother, his lawyer said.

"I want to emphasize that, as we speak, there is a sacred union within the family," attorney Pierre-Jean Gribouva said.

"That is to say there is a strong union between the children, the father and this mother of two (grown) children. There is no rejection and they are very united," he said.

Cottrez and her husband Pierre-Mariewere detained Wednesday after two corpses in plastic bags were discovered in a garden by the new owners of a house that had belonged to the woman's father in the town of Villers-au-Tertre in northern France. Under questioning, the woman admitted that there were six other corpses and told investigators that they were in plastic bags in the garage of her home, where they were found, officials said.

The woman remained in detention and will undergo further psychiatric testing, Vaillant said. Her husband was freed from custody and not charged, although he remains under judicial control. He claimed he knew nothing about his wife's pregnancies.

"As for Mr. Cottrez, the sky is falling on his head he told us," the prosecutor said. "He told us that he was absolutely not aware that his wife was pregnant."

Vaillant noted that Mrs. Cottrez is quite heavy, making it easy to conceal a pregnancy. The prosecutor had said earlier in a statement that the husband could be charged with failure to report a crime and concealment of corpses.

The husband's lawyer said his client was unjustly stigmatized for not noticing his wife's numerous pregnancies, but "we can make the same analysis about other people who should have noticed and haven't," a reference to colleagues, neighbours and others.

The couple's two grown daughters, who are in their 20s, have been questioned, Vaillant said. He refused to provide further details about them or what they said.

Neighbours in this village in northern France expressed shock after learning that Cottrez had killed her newborns.

"It's revolting. It is monstrous," said Janique Kaszynski, who lives next door to the couple. "For me ... they aren't human beings. It's monstrous to have killed eight viable babies."

Police sealed the doors, gate and windows of the house where the remains of some of the babies were discovered. DNA tests are being conducted to establish for sure whether the couple are the parents, and autopsies are being conducted on the corpses to try to determine the cause of death.
The prosecutor said the bodies "don't show any sign" of injuries.

France has seen a string of cases in recent years of mothers killing their newborns and saving and hiding the corpses.

In one case, Celine Lesage was sentenced in March to 15 years in prison after acknowledging in court that she killed six of her newborns, whose corpses were found in plastic bags in her basement in northwest France.

Another Frenchwoman, Veronique Courjault, was convicted last year of murdering three of her newborn children. Her husband discovered two of the corpses in a freezer while the two were living in South Korea. During the trial psychiatrists testified that she suffered from a psychological condition known as "pregnancy denial."

Germany also has seen similar cases. In one, a woman was convicted of manslaughter in 2006 and sentenced to the maximum 15 years in prison for killing eight of her newborn babies and burying them in flower pots and a fish tank in the garden of her parents' home near the German-Polish border.

Chelsea Clinton and her $5-million wedding

It's the New York-to-Washington social event of the season: The impending marriage of Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former US President Bill Clinton and current Secretary of State Hillary, to Marc Mezvinsky, son of two former Democratic Members of Congress

Nepal SC upholds Sobhraj's conviction

Nepal's Supreme Court on Friday upheld the conviction and life imprisonment awarded to Charles Sobhraj in a 35-year-old murder case.

A division bench of Justices Ram Kumar Prasad Shah and Gauri Dhakal upheld the 20-year imprisonment handed over to Sobhraj, The Himalayan Times reported.

The resurrection of the 1975 murder has been probably the most sensational Nepal has ever witnessed.

In December 1975, two badly charred bodies were found in different parts of Kathmandu valley.

The body of the woman, who was first stabbed to death, was identified as that of Connie Jo Bronzich, whose husband and boyfriends had died under violent circumstances in the US.

The second body, that of a male, could not be identified. Police conjectured it could have been that of a Canadian tourist, Laurent Armand Carriere, who had shacked up with Bronzich in Kathmandu.

Police say Sobhraj came to Nepal from Bangkok same year, befriended Bronzich for some gems she had bought in India and killed her.

Sobhraj says he never came to Nepal before 2003, when he arrived as a bona fide entrepreneur to explore various ventures, ranging from making documentaries for his Paris-based Gentleman Films company to starting a mineral water business.

On Sep 17, 16 days after his arrival, a local daily carried his photograph, which alerted the police who traced him to a casino and arrested him.

Initially, police charged him with having come to Nepal in 1975 on a forged passport.

But as the court acquitted him, he was re-arrested from the court premises and charged with the murder of Bronzich.

Bullfighting around the world: from conquistadors to Hindus

A villager is flung by a bull during Jallikattu, a bull-taming sport as part of the harvest festival of Pongal, in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Photograph

Bullfighting is also practised in a small number of other countries besides Spain – albeit with regional twists:

Portugal

Portuguese bullfighting is generally described as "bloodless" because the bull is not killed in the ring. Often, however, a butcher will dispatch a wounded animal backstage though the lucky ones are packed off to take part in American rodeos or put out to pasture. Unlike the Spanish version, in Portugal the bullfighter is usually on horseback, and the bull's horns are sometimes filed down to make them less sharp.

France

Bullfighting has been popular in pockets of southern France for 150 years. Though the practice contravenes a 1976 act that outlaws the torture and deliberate mistreatment of animals, the law makes an exception for La Corrida in areas where there is an "unbroken, local, tradition". Nîmes in Languedoc-Roussillon is particularly passionate with a million visitors flocking to the five-day festival at Pentecost each year.

Mexico

The conquistadors brought bullfighting to Latin America in the 1500s and nowadays Mexicans are probably the most enthusiastic after the Spanish. Mexico City boasts the largest ring in the world, which can accommodate 60,000 spectators. Mexican bullfighting is similar to the Spanish style – the matador is the star of the show, teasing the animal with a cap before killing it with a sword.

Peru

Conchita Cintrón made her debut in 1937 at the main arena in Lima, aged 13. Famous for her skills on foot and horseback, Cintrón reportedly killed more than 750 bulls in Europe, Central America and South America. She died in Lisbon last year.

Ecuador

In Quito, bullfighting is the highlight of the Las fiestas de Quito festival each December when internationally renowned bullfighters are invited to show off their prowess. Outside of the capital, bullfighting enjoys less support: in 2007, Baños de Agua Santa city council declared itself anti-bullfighting.

India

A form of bull running called Jallikattu is practised in Tamil Nadu, southern India, as part of the annual Hindu festival of Pongal. The bull is not killed and the "matadors" are not supposed to use any weapons.

Headley's revelations 'ticking time bomb' in Pak-US ties

David Headley's revelation that LeT planned the Mumbai attacks with possible help from the ISI is a "ticking time bomb" that could wreck the US-Pakistan relationship and take the subcontinent to disaster, a former CIA official has warned.

Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official and now with the prestigious Brookings Institute, said Pakistan should carry out a "thorough house cleaning" of its military after the Pakistani-American LeT operative's revelations that attackers had links to the ISI.

"Thanks to David Headley's extraordinary confessions, we now know how thoroughly LeT planned its 2008 Mumbai attack and how closely linked it is to al-Qaeda - and perhaps to the Pakistani military," said

"There is no excuse for not executing a more robust crack down on Lashkar-e-Taiba and its front organisations from the Pakistani government and for not conducting a thorough house cleaning within the Pakistani army," he said commenting on the recent statements of top Indian officials that Headley's interrogations had given ample proof of ISI's involvement in the Mumbai terrorist attack.