Nokia Announces N86: 8 MegaPixel Camera Mobile

After a long wait, Nokia has finally announced their first 8 MegaPixel phone. The phone is called N86 and it will now compete with the likes of Samsung Memoir and Samsung Omnia i8910 HD. The phone comes with a wide-angle Carl Zeiss Tessar lens and can be compared to a high quality stand alone digital camera capturing brilliant and wide angle images.

It is a slider phone and resembles the N8X series. It has a 2.6 inch QVGA , OLED screen having 240 X 320 resolution and a scratch resistant hardened glass display. It is the first mobile device that comes with variable aperture which can produce good results even in low light conditions. The Camera also has auto focus along with Dual LED flash. Connectivity options include HSDPA, Wi-Fi, EDGE, Bluetooth with A2DP and USB 2.0. The phone also has GPS and A-GPS support and comes with 8GB of memory which can be extended to 16GB using microSD cards. FM radio with FM transmitter and 3.5mm AC socket is also present.

The phone will begin shipping in the second quarter of 2009 and the expected price is Rs 23,331 (EUR 375) before taxes.

47-million-year-old human link revealed

NEW YORK: Scientists in New York unveiled on Tuesday the skeleton of what they said could be the common ancestor to humans, apes and other primates.



The tiny creature, officially known as Darwinius masillae, but dubbed Ida, lived 47 million years ago and is unusually well preserved, missing only five per cent of the skeleton.



The finding was displayed at a press conference at New York’s Natural History Museum and is due to be the subject of a documentary showing on the History Channel, BBC and other broadcasters.



Organisers said that scientists led by Norway’s fossil expert, Professor Jorn Hurum, worked for two years on Ida, first discovered in 1983 by private collectors who failed to understand her importance.



The monkey-like creature was preserved through the ages in Germany’s Messel Pit, a crater rich in Eocene Epoch fossils. Although bearing a long tail, she had several human characteristics, including an opposable thumb, short arms and legs, and forward facing eyes. ‘This is the first link to all humans — truly a fossil that links world heritage,’ Hurum said in a statement.



David Attenborough, the renowned British naturalist and broadcaster, said the ‘little creature is going to show us our connection with all the rest of the mammals.’ ‘The link they would have said until now is missing..., it is no longer missing,’ he said.—AFP

US wronged Pakistan for 30 years, admits Hillary

WASHINGTON, May 19: The US secretary of state acknowledged on Tuesday that Washington had not been consistent in its dealings with Islamabad.

Talking to reporters at the Foreign Press Centre and the White House, Hillary Clinton said ‘it is fair to say that our policy towards Pakistan over the last 30 years has been incoherent. I don’t know any other word’.

About the military operation, Hillary Clinton said the United States was working with Pakistan to determine and disrupt the route for supplying weapons to the Taliban.

‘Yes, we know that the extremists are being supplied,’ she said when asked why the US was unable to determine and disrupt the Taliban supply route.

The secretary recalled that in the 1980s, the US partnered with Pakistan to help train the Mujahideen.

‘Their security service and the military were encouraged to go after the Soviets in Afghanistan’ and when they withdrew in 1989, ‘we said thank you very much’.

Mrs Clinton said while it was fair to apportion responsibility to Pakistan, but the US also shared the responsibility for what happened during and after the Afghan war.

‘What President Obama is doing is qualitatively different from anything done before. We support the elected government … it is a relationship very clear, honest to each other.’

The US, the secretary added, was assisting the new government in Islamabad to be ‘as successful as possible in delivering, we believe the future of Pakistan is extremely important for the US … the advance of extremism is a threat to our security’.

She underscored America’s ‘very strong’ support for the effort by the Pakistan army for defeating the terrorists.

Mrs Clinton said the Al Qaeda and their allies were intent upon harming not only US friends and allies in Pakistan and Afghanistan but also in the US homeland and to American citizens.

‘They have not given up on their desire to inflict damage, harm and murder on the USA … this is how we see helping our friends and allies … we have walked away in the past … now we are going to forge a partnership with the government and the people of Pakistan.’

‘We are working very closely with the intelligence service of Pakistan and others to determine where are the weapons coming from. We are working with Pakistan to disrupt the supply line.’

Pakistan presses military offensive as thousands flee

PESHAWAR: The military Saturday pressed its offensive against Taliban militants in the northwest of the country after tens of thousands more people fled the conflict zone.

‘Helicopter gunships and fighter jets shelled militant hideouts in Peochar, Shamozai and Khwaza Khela areas of Swat, which started Friday night and continued until Saturday morning,’ a military official said on condition of anonymity.

US drone attack kills 29 in North Waziristan

MIRAMSHAH: Twenty-nine people were killed when a US drone fired two missiles at a residential compound in the Mirali tehsil of North Waziristan tribal region here on Saturday.



Residents said that a remotely-piloted US aircraft which was hovering over the area fired two missiles at the house of Hikmat Roshan in the Khaisore village of Mirali at around 8am, killing 29 tribesmen present there. The house was reduced to rubble, while a religious seminary near it was also damaged.

Manmohan Singh claims Congress victory in elections

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has declared victory in India's national elections, saying voters have given the Congress party-led coalition a 'massive mandate.'

Singh made the comments to reporters as results indicated his alliance has achieved a sweeping success in the month-long polls which will keep Singh in power for another term.

UNHCR warns of humanitarian crisis

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has warned of a humanitarian crisis if the international community does not come up with a massive and speedy assistance to the affected people of troubled areas in Pakistan.

'Since May 2 until yesterday we have registered 1.171682 million refugees who have come down from Sawat, Buner and Lower Dir after military launched operation against militants in these areas,' António Guterres said at a press conference on Saturday.

Asia Cup final: South Korea shatters Pakistan’s hopes

KUANTAN: South Korea's defense proved too strong for Pakistan's attacking firepower as they handed the greenshirts a 1-0 defeat in the final of the eight Asia Cup in Kuantan, Malaysia and as a result also qualified for the hockey World Cup in 2010.

Car bomb blast kills 11 in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: A car bomb ripped through a packed street in Peshawar and killed 11 people, including women and children, near an ice cream shop and Internet cafe Saturday, officials said.The blast exploded in the densely populated Kashkal area of Peshawar.

TNSM declares Darul Qaza set up unilateral

SWAT: Tahrik-e-Nifaz Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM) has declared the setting up of Darul Qaza unilateral.

Sources said that the TNSM ‘shoora’ headed by Maulana Sufi Muhammad in a meeting at its central office located at Aman Dara Batkhel here deliberated on the setting up of Darul Qaza, postings of Qazis in shriat courts and other important matters and declared the Darul Qaza set up unilateral.

TNSM spokesman, Amir Izzat Khan said that the announcement relating to the setting up of Darul Qaza and Qazis postings has nothing to do with the TNSM. He said that they were waiting for the second round of talks, but the government unilaterally announced the setting up of Darul Qaza. He said that the maintenance of peace was the exclusive responsibility of the government and added, “We are not satisfied with the setting up of Darul Qaza.”