LONDON: Three men were arrested Saturday on suspicion of conspiracy to murder the British soldier who was hacked to death in a London street by two Islamists.

Two men aged 24 and 28 were arrested at a residential address in southeast London while a 21-year-old man was arrested in the street around a mile (1.5 kilometres) from the murder scene, Scotland Yard police headquarters said in a statement.

Taser electric stun guns were used on the 28-year-old and the 21-year-old, though neither needed hospital treatment.

Drummer Lee Rigby, 25, who survived a tour of duty in Afghanistan, was butchered in broad daylight Wednesday outside the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, southeast London.

The three men were all arrested between 6:00pm and 6:30pm by detectives from the Counter Terrorism Command supported by specialist firearms officers.

All three were being taken to a south London police station, the police statement said.

Officers were moreover searching four residential addresses in southeast London.

Meanwhile a 29-year-old man arrested Thursday on suspicion of conspiracy to murder has been bailed to return to a police station pending further enquiries.

Michael Adebolajo, 28, and 22-year-old Michael Adebowale remain in a stable condition after being shot by police at the scene of the grisly killing.

They have both been arrested on suspicion of murder and are under armed guard in separate hospitals.

LISBON: Thousands of Portuguese rallied in Lisbon on Saturday, calling for the resignation of the government whose austerity policies they claimed have exacerbated the country’s recession.

“Government out”, “Against exploitation and impoverishment”, screamed slogans brandished by protestors at the demonstration called by the country’s main union CGTP.

“We must do whatever we can to get rid of this government,” declared the CGTP’s secretary general Armenio Carlos.

Slogans “Austerity punishes the poor yet benefits the rich”, “Thief, thief”, were slapped against the portrait of Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho, held high by demonstrators including civil servants, the unemployed and retirees.

“The government should resign immediately,” said 57-year-old Maria, who like her husband and daughter, has been unemployed for several months.

Antonio Amoreira, from the northern city of Oporto, said: “We came to Lisbon to say ‘enough’. The government is cutting everything, even pensions.”

Some 57 percent of the country wants parliament dissolved and fresh elections called, according to a survey published on Saturday by Publico newspaper.

A new austerity plan announced in early May had sparked anger. Under the plan, retirement age would be delayed to 66 years from 65, some 30,000 civil service jobs would go and working hours for civil servants lengthened to 40 hours a week from 35 currently.

Portugal’s economy, which has been propped up since May 2011 by a European bailout package of 78 billion euros, is expected to contract 2.3 percent by the end of the year. Unemployment is forecast to climb to a record 18.2 percent.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia: African leaders on Saturday celebrated the African Union’s 50th birthday against a backdrop of economic growth yet moreover awareness of the armed conflicts and the other myriad problems faced by the continent.

AU Chairman and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn set a tone of optimism when he launched extravagant celebrations by urging leaders to “create a continent free from poverty and conflict, and an Africa whose citizens enjoy a middle income status.”

But Saturday’s party in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa will be followed by a more sobering two-day AU summit meeting to tackle the range of crises facing the continent.

Today’s 54-member AU is the successor of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), established in 1963 in the heady days when independence from colonial rule was sweeping the continent.
African leaders were joined by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, French President Francois Hollande, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, US Secretary of State John Kerry and European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso.

China’s Vice Premier Wang Yang was moreover reported to be in attendance.

Africa remains the world’s poorest continent and its most war-prone yet development indicators there — including health, education, infant mortality, economic growth and democracy — have improved steadily in the past 50 years.

Africa is home to some of the fastest-growing economies in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund, and has attracted huge amounts of foreign investment in recent years.

Brazil announced Saturday it was cancelling $900 million (700 million euro) worth of debt in 12 African countries — with Congo-Brazzaville the highest with $352 million written off — as part of a broader strategy to boost ties with the continent.

Hailemariam singled out Beijing for its massive wave of investment on the continent, expressing his “deepest appreciation to China for investing billions… to assist our infrastructure endeavours.”

Despite the celebration, 24 out of the 25 nations at the bottom of the UN’s human development index are in Africa, with several of those suffering from unrest or conflict.

Hollande warned of “the scourge of terrorism” faced on the continent, as he invited leaders to December summit in Paris to boost “peace and security”.

Leaders, who said the celebrations would promote pan-Africanism and assist unify the often divided continent, nodded their heads as the classic reggae hit “you’re an African” by late Jamaican singer Peter Tosh boomed out in the crowded hall.

“When we therefore talk approximately African solutions to African problems, it is because we know that we can only permanently silence the guns if we act in solidarity and unity,” said Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, head of the AU Commission, the organisation’s executive arm.

But while speaking optimistically in the AU’s modern Chinese-built headquarters approximately “the bright future of Africa”, she moreover noted that “the self-reliance and economic independence that our founders spoke of remains a bit elusive and social inequalities remain.”

Drummers, dancers and musicians after performed to a packed crowd including leaders in a giant hall, telling the history of Africa through song, dance and a flashing light show.

Music legends including Congo’s Papa Wemba and Mali’s Salif Keita were due to play after Saturday.

The AU has budgeted $1.27 million for Saturday’s celebrations, according to official documents seen by South Africa’s Institute for Security Studies (ISS).

AU Commission deputy chief Erastus Mwencha said he did not have the exact figure yet that some $3 million would be spent on Saturday’s festivities and other events over the coming year.

In recent years, the AU’s role in combat — such as its mission in Somalia to battle Al-Qaeda linked Islamists — has shown it can take concrete action, even if the funding for that mission comes mainly from Western backers.

But at the same time, the splits revealed by the 2011 conflict in Libya — when AU members squabbled between those wanting to recognise rebels and those backing Moamer Kadhafi — showed its disunity and lack of global clout.

Kadhafi’s death moreover stripped the AU of a major source of funding. Leaders will discuss finding backers for the cash-strapped body at the summit meeting opening Sunday.

The agenda will moreover likely include the ongoing crisis in Mali, which is preparing to receive a UN peacekeeping force to support French soldiers fighting Islamist rebels in the desert north since January.

Leaders are moreover tipped to endorse a motion to urge the International Criminal Court to pertain crimes against humanity trials for Kenya’s leaders back to their country, after foreign ministers agreed a draft proposal on Friday.

Conflict in Somalia, violence in Nigeria and rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are moreover expected to be discussed.

Bollywood films often have international releases and Russia is among the countries that have always shown interest in Hindi movies. One of the most recent was Cocktail, which received a huge response. Now, after the success of the Deepika Padukone, Saif Ali Khan starrer Cockail (2012), Eros International is releasing seven more films Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Rockstar and DesiBoyz (all 2011), Student of the Year, Vicky Donor and Bhoot Returns BD (all 2012) and then Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (YJHD) in the county.

“Based on the substantial response that Cocktail generated in Kyrgyzstan and another CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries, We\'re expecting a huge a response from the Russian market,” says Kumar Ahuja, President, business development, Eros International.

YJHD will be the first of the lot, with the tentative Russian release dated fixed at July 4. â��Dates for the other films are being worked upon. The Dubbing process will start shortly,” says Ahuja.

A distributor from Russia, on conditions of anonymity, says, �Cocktail drew in audiences, so We\'re looking forward to an equally favorable response for the other releases as well. We are anticipating a huge response for Ranbir Kapoor movies like YJHD and Rockstar taking into considerations his Kapoor lineage. There�s moreover a tremendous demand for 3D movies here, so Bhoot Returns 3D will be a film to watch out for�.

Eros moreover plans to promote their films in Russia alongside the release. �The actors have shown interest in promoting the films there. So we might consider sending them. The Kapoor family has enjoyed a long-standing personal and professional relationship with the Russian. So after Raj and Rishi Kapoor, it is Ranbir who is taking this tradition forward, � says Ahuja.

Eros and Bollywood goes to Russia with 7 films! Source: BollySpice

Eros and Bollywood goes to Russia with 7 films! Source: on BollySpice.