Manmohan Singh to watch Kurbaan's premier

NEW DELHI: Amidst all the controversy surrounding the Saif Ali Khan-Kareena Kapoor starer movie Kurbaan, the movie might just have a special person watching its premier.

The person is no less than Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. There is unconfirmed buzz in the tinsel town that Rensil D’Silva will hold an exclusive premier for the Prime Minister.

If Dr. Singh watches the movie it will be a huge political statement against parties like the Shiv Sena which have raised objection to the posters of the movie.

Kurbaan is a film which comes with the backdrop of terrorism coupled with the element of love. The Kurbaan team claims that the movie will portray terrorism in a completely different light.

Cairo recalls ambassador from Algiers

CAIRO: Egypt recalled its ambassador in Algeria on Thursday after attacks against Egyptian football fans in Sudan and businesses in Algiers, amid a brewing diplomatic crisis over a World Cup showdown.

An Egyptian foreign ministry official confirmed to a French news agency that the ambassador in Algiers was recalled for "consultations," after Egypt earlier the same day summoned the Algerian ambassador in Cairo to protest against the disturbances.

The foreign ministry said that it informed the ambassador of "Egypt's extreme displeasure with the assaults on Egyptian citizens who went to Khartoum to support the Egyptian team."

It was the second summons in a week for ambassador Abdelkader Hadjar, who was called to the Cairo foreign ministry last week after Algerian fans attacked Egyptian businesses and homes in Algiers.

"Egypt also expressed its outrage and it denunciation after continuing reports and many appeals from Egyptian citizens residing in Algeria over the assaults and intimidation they face," the statement said.

In another twist to the diplomatic crisis, the Sudanese foreign ministry summoned Egypt's ambassador to protest at Egyptian media coverage of an alleged lapse in Sudanese security, the ministry in Khartoum said.

Khartoum police spokesman Abdel Majid al-Tayeb earlier played down the level of violence after the game in which Egypt was defeated 1-0 and lost the chance to advance to the World Cup finals in South Africa next year.

"There were minor incidents, four people were lightly wounded," Tayeb, whose forces mounted a security operation for Wednesday's crunch decisive match, told a press conference.

But Egyptian fans said that stones were thrown at their bus as they made their way back to Khartoum airport after the loss, which followed a 2-0 victory for Egypt in Cairo on Saturday.

In an interview with state television, Egyptian Health Minister Hatem al-Gabali said 21 Egyptians were injured in attacks in Sudan. "All of them are considered minor injuries," he said.

Before the match in Cairo, several Algerian footballers were hurt after the team bus was stoned on the way from the airport to the team hotel.

A similar fate befell some visiting supporters after Egypt won the game, leaving the teams neck and neck in their qualifying group and triggering the replay in Khartoum.

People then took to the streets in Algiers, attacking 15 offices belonging to a local subsidiary of Egypt's Orascom Telecom and twice ransacking the Algiers offices of Egypt Air.

The attacks prompted Orascom to pull out 25 Egyptian employees and their families.

In its statement, the foreign ministry in Cairo said that the Egyptian companies had begun seeking compensation for the losses sustained in the attacks.

Orascom executive chief Naguib Sawaris said earlier this week that Orascom suffered at least five million dollars in damage.

Google previews Chrome open source operating system

Internet search giant Google has lifted the lid on its operating system, known as Chrome OS.

The free and open source system is initially aimed at low-cost netbooks and does away with many of the features of a traditional program.

All applications are designed to run in a web browser and all the user's data is stored on Google's servers.

Engineers from the firm said the first computers running the system would be available before the end of 2010.

"We are trying to offer a choice for users," said Sundar Pichai, vice-president of product management, during an event at the firm's headquarters in California.

"This model of computing is fundamentally different."

The event follows the recent launch of Microsoft's Windows 7 and Apple's operating system upgrade, Snow Leopard.

Speed test

Google first announced its intention to build an operating system in July this year.

The firm has designed the system around its Chrome browser. The program was released 14 months ago and already has 40m regular users, the firm said.

"It's very familiar and intuitive to users - most people know how to use the browser," said Mr Pichai.

All programs or applications - such as word processing and e-mail - run in different tabs in the browser.

"There are no conventional desktop applications," said Mr Pichai. "That means you don't have to install or update software.

"It's just a browser; a browser with a few modifications."

Mr Pichai said the system was based around speed, simplicity and security.

He showed it booting up in seven seconds.

"We're working very, very, very hard to make that time shorter," he said. "We want Google Chrome OS to be blazingly fast."

He said they wanted it to be like a television, where a computer could be switched on and instantly running and connected to the web.

Google has been able to boost the speed of the system by designing it for specific hardware. The firm said that it would only run on computers using "solid state drives" instead of traditional hard drives.

In addition, the firm has been talking to hardware manufacturers to specify which components to include on finished machines.

This means that the company could "optimise" the code to run as quickly as possible, said Mr Pichai.

Memory games

He used the demonstration to show the machine doing many common tasks such as playing games and music, as well as reading books and writing text.

Any documents and files created on the computer were automatically synced and saved on Google's servers, said Matthew Papakipos, an engineer working on the system.

As a result, he added, anybody who lost their computer would be able to buy a new machine and easily recover all their data.

"In a matter of seconds, all the data syncs back to the machine."

Although the firm envisages most tasks will be done online, it will also offer the capability to use some programs when there is no connection.

It already offers a similar feature for programs such as Gmail and Google Docs using its Gears program.

Initially, the firm envisages people will use the operating system on a second, portable machine.

Memory intensive tasks, such as video editing, would require a more powerful machine.

Open offer

The demonstration could dramatically change the market for operating systems, especially for Microsoft, the biggest player with about 90% share of the market.

When it was first announced, Rob Enderle, industry watcher and president of the Enderle Group, described it as "the first real attempt by anyone to go after Microsoft".

The fact that it is free could encourage many users to try the system.

Currently, Mr Pichai said the company did not have a business plan but admitted that encouraging people to use the web and Google services "benefits us as a company".

Google derives most of its revenue from selling advertising around search and its other online products.

Most consumers will have to wait until 2010 to get their hands on a device running the system.

However, the firm used the event to release an early version of the code for developers.

"You can get Chrome OS up and running today," said Mr Pichai.

They said they had chosen to release the code and the designs for the system because it was based on other open source projects including the Linux operating system and the Ubuntu distribution of it.

Open source systems allow people to tinker and use the underlying code to build and customize applications. It is normal to publish any modifications to allow other people to take advantage of the changes.

"We're looking forward to feedback from the open source community," said Mr Pinchai.

Mixed response as top EU figures named

The appointment of two little-known figures to the new top jobs in the EU has drawn a mixed response.

Belgian PM Herman van Rompuy was named President of the European Council, while Briton Baroness Catherine Ashton was made EU foreign affairs supremo.

The US welcomed the choice, saying it would make Europe a stronger partner.

However, the BBC's Jonny Dymond in Brussels says there has been some dismay at the choice of two candidates with a low international profile.

The post of president has become a much less important one than originally envisaged, he adds.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Mr Van Rompuy would bring consensus and political competence to the presidency.

However, Turkish member of parliament Onur Oymen said he was concerned about what Mr Van Rompuy's presidency could mean for Turkey's aspirations to join the EU.

He told the BBC's World Today that Mr Van Rompuy had "said a few years ago he was totally against Turkish membership because of religious and cultural reasons".

"We are not very optimistic about the future of our relations during his presidency," Mr Oymen said.

British newspapers said the choices would not help the EU to achieve a greater global impact and questioned whether Baroness Ashton would carry much weight in her role.

Mr Van Rompuy said he would be "discreet" in his new job, adding that he sees climate change and Europe's high unemployment as key concerns in the years ahead.

Baroness Ashton and Mr Van Rompuy were chosen unanimously by the 27 EU leaders at a summit in Brussels.

Both have been seen as consensual politicians with limited foreign policy experience.

US President Barack Obama said the appointments would "strengthen the EU and enable it to be an even stronger partner to the United States".

He said the US had "no stronger partner than Europe in advancing security and prosperity around the world".

'Milestone for Europe'

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the appointments were a "milestone for Europe and for its role in the world".

She said she was looking forward to working closely with Mr Van Rompuy and Baroness Ashton on issues of mutual concern, including the Iranian nuclear debate, achieving stability in Afghanistan and promoting a peace agreement in the Middle East.

The President of the EU Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, also praised the appointments, saying it would be "impossible to find a better choice than those personalities for the European Union leadership".

Mrs Merkel said of Mr Van Rompuy: "We got a candidate who brings consensus and whose political competence have long been tested and tried throughout his political career."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said it had been "a very wise decision" to choose a candidate from "an important country but not one of the most important countries, so that no-one will feel excluded" from EU debate.

Addressing the summit after his appointment, Mr Van Rompuy said the EU was "living through exceptionally difficult times".

He said the financial and climate crises "threaten our very survival" but that the problems "can be overcome by a joint effort between our countries".

Baroness Ashton said she would pursue a policy of "quiet diplomacy" in her role as High Representative for Foreign Affairs.

She said she had the relevant skills for the job and that she had developed strong relationships during her time as EU Trade Commissioner.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown denied accusations that Baroness Ashton lacked sufficient clout, and said her appointment was "a sign of the regard that people have for Britain".

The two new posts were created by the Lisbon Treaty, which will come into force on 1 December.

The EU president will chair regular meetings of the European Council at which decisions are taken about the political position of the bloc.

However, correspondents say the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, as the post is officially known, could have an even more powerful role.

Lockdown for Algeria-Egypt clash

Sudanese security forces have thrown a tight cordon around the capital Khartoum for Wednesday's Egypt-Algeria World Cup play-off.

Gates to Al-Merreikh stadium opened five hours before the 1730 GMT kick-off, with fans carefully segregated inside and outside the ground.

The winner of the game gets the last African place at the World Cup finals.

Sudan has deployed 15,000 police after a series of violent incidents involving fans of the two countries.

The play-off was arranged by Fifa at a neutral venue after Algeria controversially lost 2-0 in Cairo on Saturday, hours after their team bus was attacked by Egyptian fans.

Egypt's win left the top of Group C deadlocked, with both sides having identical records, but Algeria's coach blamed the defeat on injuries suffered by three of his players in the bus attack.

Violence between fans also flared after the game. At least 32 people were hurt, and the next day Egyptian businesses in Algiers were ransacked.

On Tuesday, the head of the Algerian football federation, Mohammed Raouraoua, said his Egyptian counterpart, Samir Zaher, was to blame for the trouble.

"He is the origin of all the events that occurred, including the barbaric aggression that injured... our players," Mr Raouraoua said.

But Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit in turn told Algeria it must confront what he called the "saboteurs" who have attacked Egyptian businesses in Algiers.

Tickets for the match were reported on Wednesday morning to be selling on the black market for five times their original price.

Egypt and Algeria have been allocated just 9,000 tickets each, with capacity at the Al-Merreikh stadium reduced by 6,000 to 35,000 for security reasons.

Egyptian fan Nedal Nabil, who flew in from Dubai, told Reuters news agency: "There's going to be trouble because there aren't enough seats."

Hotels in Khartoum were booked out well ahead of the game, and the authorities have set up two camp sites for rival fans several miles apart.

The stakes for each country are high. The last time Egypt reached the World Cup finals was 1990, while Algeria's last appearance in the finals was in 1986.

There is a history of trouble between supporters of the two teams and riots broke out in Egypt in 1989 after an Egyptian win in Cairo.